Page 43 of Claiming Sarah

She gave a short laugh. “In my culture, alcohol is good for a lot of things, particularly for calming the nerves.”

“He will be fine, I swear—”

“Kocha,” she insisted. “Where do I find it?”

Figuring she was not going to give in on this, I glanced around and spotted a seller station. “There, but the line is terrible. You’ll likely have better luck if you go to the interior station beneath the seating. Everyone is outside, so they do not miss the beginning of the fights.”

She nodded and started for the station, but I touched her shoulder. “Where are you going?”

She turned back around. “To get kocha—”

“You have no credits.”

“Huh?” She scrunched up her nose at me in confusion. “Wait, you mean money, right? I didn’t think of that.”

I smiled, and from my rucksack I presented her with a tiny gauntlet driver. It was black, like mine. “Put this on your forearm.”

“Okay,” she said suspiciously, but trusted me enough to strap the device in place.

I showed her how to work the small gadget, then transferred several thousand credits. “This will be more than enough for both kocha and anything else you might want for the next few months.”

“Thank you, Deacon.” She gave me a tremulous smile. “I’ll be right back.”

“Take Omen with you,” I said before she could dart off. “For safety.”

She huffed. “Fine.”

She wrangled Omen into going with her for kocha, and I was glad for it. I did not like the thought of her wandering around the arena without protection and I knew that Omen would guard Sarah with every last bit of her ghost.

I returned to Cin, who’d waited during my conversation with Sarah.

“She is unhappy about the fighters dying?” Cin asked.

“Our companion is fighting today,” I explained.

Cin’s pretty face dropped. “You two, you share a companion? I knew the Ladrangs were traditional, but moons above, Deacon, that is verifiably ancient.”

“We love who we love,” I said with a shrug, because I was the happiest I’d ever been. “Are you involved with anyone these days?”

She flashed a sinful grin. “A man in every port.”

I chuckled. “So your leisure activities havenotchanged that much since last I saw you?”

“No, not at all, much to my family’s dismay,” she replied cheerfully. “I am in Faithless to visit with a few of my men, actually.”

I did not want to ask, but it felt inevitable. “Would one of them be Rex Terian?”

“Is that why you’re here?” she asked curiously. “To see your old mentor?”

Mentor.Yeah, that was an interesting way of putting things. “I am here on family business.”

“Regarding Rex, he and I have had a dash of fun here and there, but alas, he is not one of my men.” She paused and smiled. “Yet.”

I shook my head, trying to not judge her for her tastes. “That is a dangerous game to play, Cin.”

“Dangerous games are the only kind I have ever liked, Deacon.”

CHAPTER 13

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