Page 16 of These Dangerous Fates

“Come here,” I say, waving Sterling my way and trying to hide my smile.

He kneels next to me and removes his hand from his face. Blood immediately dribbles out of his now crooked nose. I run my finger down the bridge as my magic surges forth to find all the broken pieces to put back together.

“Ellis broke your nose?” I ask, glancing at the girl again.

She crosses her arms over her stomach and hunches her shoulders, making herself smaller. “It was a reflex,” she mumbles. “He startled me.” The toe of her shoe scuffs the dirt on the cave floor as she shuffles her foot back and forth.

“A reflex?” Kai drawls and leans back on his hands, studying Ellis intently. “Interesting.”

“You’re good.” I pat Sterling on the arm, and he moves to a bag along the wall.

Ellis tracks his movement as he pulls out clothing. The glint of lust in her eyes is not quite hidden. Her gaze travels to me and our eyes meet. I give her a knowing smile, and she flushes further, a delectable blush crawling up her neck and into her cheeks.

Sterling is a sight to behold when he’s naked. Hell, he is a sight to behold when he isn’t naked. But all that tan skin over layers and layers of muscle is certainly distracting. Of the three of us, Sterling is the bulkiest. I joke with him that he should wear plaid shirts—with his long hair, scruffy beard, and scar, he’d pull off the lumberjack look perfectly .

I notice Ellis cradling her fist against her belly and motion her over. She settles next to me and I grab her right hand, shoving down the weird swooping in my stomach as her skin touches mine. Nothing is broken, but I let my magic flow over her, anyway. She jumps as the purple light weaves around her fingers and quickly heals her bruised knuckles. When I’m done, I pull back, and she studies her hand as if she’s never seen magic at work before. Which is crazy, because her dad is a mage.

My eyes take in the poorly concealed bruising on her face. I noticed it when I lowered her from the window, but I didn’t have time to study her then. Underneath the thick layer of makeup, faint bruising is noticeable around her right eye and along her jaw. A small scab is barely visible in her eyebrow, and her lower lip is slightly puffier than it probably should be.

Someone has hurt her, and I’m unprepared for the rush of emotion that surges forth at that thought. Protectiveness, sadness, and righteous fury burns through me. Without thinking, I cup the side of her face and she flinches from that gentle touch. I grit my teeth and push down the anger that begs to be let loose on whoever did this to her, letting my magic flow through her again, healing her cuts and bruises.

I keep it flowing, going further than her face, scanning for any other injuries, and just as I suspected, I find two broken ribs and more bruising. What the fuck has happened to her? Who hurt her this badly? I let my magic heal those injuries as well.

She jerks, and her gaze flies to me as if she’s surprised—or maybe ashamed. Shadows linger in her amber eyes and she quickly looks away, mumbling her thanks, and rotating her trunk to test for any lingering pain. There isn’t any. I made sure of that.

On the other side of the cave from us, Sterling and Kai watch like eagles with their prey in sight. The flashlights on the floor make their eyes glow, and they look just like the predators they are. I hold in a snort at their expressions. I have a feeling this is going to get more interesting than just a contest for fun and training purposes.

Kai snaps out of it first with a shake of his head. “We should rest while we can. We move at dusk.”

Sterling tosses me another blanket and I wad it up to use as a pillow, it’s too hot to actually need to cover up with one. The cave is plunged into darkness when Kai flips off the flashlights, and I hear him and Sterling settling in. I tap into my magic to allow myself to see better in the dark. With no natural predator instincts like Sterling or Kai, I have to resort to using my magic. Usually, it’s not a problem. Using too much of it will drain me, but I have such an outrageous amount rolling through my blood, I frequently need to burn off extra, anyway.

Ellis looks around with uncertainty, trying to see into the darkness, and I tug her down. I hear her small gasp of surprise and smile to myself as I tuck the blanket under her head and use her discarded hoodie for a pillow instead.

I have so many questions for her. This entire situation is unreal and confusing. Why is her dad hosting this contest? What happened with her engagement to Sam? And underneath those, there is a burning desire to know more about her. Who is this tiny, mysterious woman who is fierce enough to throw a punch at a naked shifter, but is clearly hiding something dark, and most likely heartbreaking? As she settles in as best as she can on an uncomfortable cave floor, I give in to my curiosity.

“Tell me about yourself,” I ask her quietly, though I know the others will listen in with their heightened hearing.

She stills and draws in a breath before releasing it. “What do you want to know?”

“Anything. Favorite color? Job? Hobbies? … Boyfriends?”

She shifts again, her arm brushing against mine. “Purple. My dad won’t let me work. I enjoy boxing and reading.”

I noticed she skipped the last question, but I let it go. “Boxing? I assume that’s how you knew how to break Sterling’s nose without breaking your fingers. Tell me about that.”

“My best friend and I started boxing about seven years ago. She was almost raped and the owner of a gym happened to be there. He stopped it and offered us free gym memberships if we took him up on some boxing lessons. We’ve been doing it ever since.”

I hum in the back of my throat. “That’s probably a good skill to have. Being able to protect yourself in this city may one day save your life.” She doesn’t respond, so I think of another question, something else to keep her talking.“What’s your favorite animal?”

“Sloth.”

I turn my head in her direction. “Sloth?” With my magic-heightened vision, I see her shrug.

“They look like they give really good hugs.”

While the answer is cute—and true—based on the bruises, ribs, and fear of human touch, I suspect that reason hits deeper for her.

“If you could work, if your dad let you, what would you want to do?” I ask.

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