Page 21 of Black Hearted
She nodded enthusiastically, but then her face fell. “What if you don’t win? What if you … die?” Her bottom lip started to quiver, and I reached out to squeeze her hand.
“Remember my shadow magic? The secret magic you’re not supposed to tell anyone about?”
She nodded as a tear welled in her eye, and she batted it away.
“Well, that makes mereallyhard to kill.”
She frowned. “But you’re not allowed to use magic in the fight.”
“Right. And I won’t. Unless I think my life is in danger. Then it’s okay to break the rules.”
I was confident I wouldn’t need my magic, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use it if the fight turned dirty—which something told me it might. Rules tended to get broken in these kinds of fights,leaving you to rely on whatever you had at your disposal. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but I’d do what I had to. Most importantly, I wanted Nellie to feel safe. For the time being, I was all she had.
She nodded. “And if it comes to that, I’ll use my magic to protect you.” She crossed her arms over her chest and tipped her chin high.
Did I have that much confidence at her age? No, I didn’t.
This kid had grown on me. Beneath her tough exterior was something soft and vulnerable, and I wanted to protect that.
“I need to get a message to someone in the Spring Palace. Do you know where I could do that here?” I asked her.
If I wasn’t going to head out immediately, I at least wanted to warn Lorelei’s parents and let them know I was coming to help.
“I do,” she told me, then pointed to her stomach. “But I need to fill this first.”
Despite the situation, I grinned. “Oh, is that a fact?”
The kid could be bribed to do anything for food, which was a little scary. She was also very bony, and that made me wonder what she’d been living off of until I found her.
I glanced out the window and noticed the sun was finally starting to rise. “Come on,” I said. “Get dressed, and we’ll go find Evander and Elida to see about breakfast.”
At breakfast, I told Evander about a friend I needed to help and explained that I had to procure a horse and supplies to get to the Spring Palace. I mentioned that I wouldn’t have the money to pay until later this evening. Evander offered to help, reaching for hiscoin purse, but I waved him off. Evander and Elida had just lost their home and livelihood. They needed that money for themselves, and besides, it might not even be enough.
I explained to them that I planned to win a fight to get the funds I needed. Elida raised an eyebrow when I told her but said nothing. Evander nodded with respect and then gave me some pointers on keeping my arms up high and protecting my head.
After Evander and Elida graciously paid for our meal, Nellie and I set off to the messenger’s barn to send a note to the Spring queen. Once we arrived, I found someone willing to send a message via raven for me on loan. He was a fan of the fights and said word had spread all morning that the exceptionally tall outsider was Mr. Donahue’s new champion.
I sent a brief letter to Queen Gloriana explaining that Lorelei had contacted me in a dream and that I was coming to help rescue her. I also mentioned that I had a plan to end the curse, though I didn’t elaborate. I avoided saying I was from Ethereum and instead claimed I was a powerful fae from the Fall Court and a friend of Lorelei’s.
I didn’t know if the Spring queen would believe me—I was a stranger, after all—but if Lorelei hadn’t visited her parents in a dream yet, they needed to know what was going on. I hoped my message would spur them to ready their troops for a rescue.
Once I got to the Spring Palace and dropped Nellie off with her aunt, I was going to find Lorelei, and nothing would stand in my way. But having an army of troops at my back wouldn’t hurt.
“Now what?” Nellie asked as we walked through the shops.
I ran my hand through the longer strands of my hair for thehundredth time that day. I hated waiting. Sitting around and doing nothing was my least favorite thing to do. But the first fight wasn’t until sundown, several hours from now.
I glanced at the sweets shop we were about to pass, then down at Nellie. She grinned up at me, her expression softening something inside me in a way I hadn’t expected. I found myself wondering if Lorelei wanted kids, and if so, how many. I’d always wanted a big family. At least five children.
With those thoughts, a burning ache flared in my chest. I had to find something to occupy my mind, or I’d go crazy, so I stepped into the sweets shop.
Twenty minutes later, after a lot of charm-filled wooing, I convinced Britana to give Nellie a free bag of sweets in exchange for coming back just before closing in a couple of hours to sweep the entire shop and wipe down all the counters.
As we walked down the lane, Nellie fisting chocolates and shoving sours into her mouth, she glanced up at me with bright eyes. “I could get used to this,” she mumbled over a mouthful of candy.
I chuckled, though my smile didn’t quite reach my eyes. I could only enjoy her happiness a little, knowing that Lorelei was hurt and counting on me. The fight wasn’t for another eight hours, and waiting that long before doing anything to rescue the woman I was pretty sure was my mate was going to be one of the greatest challenges of my life.
Fate help me.
