Page 36 of Medusa

“I do.” Odin nodded slowly, rubbing his jaw with one hand. “He’s a very dangerous man.”

“All the more reason to get Jaden away from him!” Maddie exclaimed. “Where can I find him?”

“I don’t think you should go alone…” Odin said hesitantly.

“I am more than capable of taking care of myself,” Maddie said vehemently. “Why is this guy dangerous?”

“He’s one of the oldest dragon shifters in the Underworld,” Odin replied cautiously. “He’s very strong, very fast, and very well connected.”

“Notthatwell connected,” Maddie scoffed. “I look after the child of the Lord of Purgatory.”

Odin chuckled. “Try tellinghimthat.”

“Maybe I will.” Maddie scowled. “Is he here tonight?”

A couple mouse clicks and the screen changed to a view of the interior of the amphitheater. Odin leaned forward to scan the seats. “Yup, he’s in the center block. He usually shows up for the McKellen brothers’ fights.”

“Only them?” Maddie frowned. “Why?”

Odin shrugged. “Maybe he’s a fan.”

“A fan who took things a little too far by kidnapping one of them.” Maddie turned to leave. “Thank you for showing me all this. I’m going to go talk to him.”

“Be careful,” Odin said.

“Don’t worry. What can he do to me in public?” Maddie asked with a chuckle as she left.

She decided to find a seat behind the men, to try to overhear what they were saying before she confronted them directly. Since Odin had warned her about these men, she thought it might be a good idea to be cautious on her part.

She squeezed past a pair of giggly women who had obviously visited the bar before coming here and sat a couple seats away, leaning forward as if she were riveted on the fight happening on the stage.

She strained her ears, trying to hear what the two men closest to her were saying, but it was futile over the loud fight and even louder audience.

Maddie sat back and huffed, crossing her legs and twitching her foot impatiently. She half-heartedly watched the fight, two buff women facing off against each other. They were circling each other, little swirls of sand kicked up by their feet, as they looked for an opening.

I don’t get what’s so fascinating about this.

The women charged each other, shoulders hitting with a loudcrunchthat Maddie felt in her clenched jaw. She winced, watching as they pushed each other, slipping in the sand, until one woman fell to her knees and the other did an impressive looking grapple that had the first flat on the ground in seconds.

The amphitheater burst into applause and cheers, and the women got to their feet to bow and exit the stage.

In the momentary quiet, Maddie heard a low voice say, “McKellen’s up next. Do you have the—”

She didn’t hear the rest because her heart had frozen in place. That voice… That was the man who had grabbed her ass the night before! And it was coming from the big man in front of her and to the right… The one that Odin had said was dangerous!

Of course it’s the same guy.

Maddie groaned.

Why couldn’t things be easy?

Just like that, hearing the voice of that man changed her plan. There was no way she was going to approach him directly now. She was even more relieved she had thought to cover her hair.

Augustine was fighting on the stage now. He had a completely different persona on stage, Maddie was interested to see. Different from Jaden, too. Augustine was calling out insults to his opponent to make them lose their cool, but not just any insults; fancy ones that sounded almost Shakespearean.

Maddie bit back a giggle, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

I guess it’s not too out of character.

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