Page 40 of Taking Jenny
Intrigue flashed in Surge’s eyes. “You have something in mind, outside of our training her, don’t you?”
“You know me too well, Surge.”
Discord arched a brow. “Are you going to cheat to protect your little cina?”
“When have you ever known me to cheat, Discord?”
“So, how do we help you cheat?” Discord grinned.
I chuckled and shook my head, then grew more serious. “We can’t. Helping someone cheat at Illiapol is tantamount to treason. We would all be beheaded for it. Even having this conversation could get us thrown into the royal prison.”
“I have a guy who can get us out.” Surge shrugged. “What’s the plan?”
“No plan, you two,” I said firmly. “I was only teasing about cheating. There are other ways to enhance her chances at survival. Discord, what weapons does she like?”
Discord rolled her eyes. “None, really.”
“Hand-to-hand?”
She grimaced. “Yeah, not great at it.”
“So then it won’t hurt to let the hunters know she is a well-skilled soldier on her planet, who relishes in dismembering and killing men with her bare hands.”
Discord snorted a laugh. “She is none of those things. If you tell them that, then they will…hesitate to attack her in hand-to-hand combat. Okay, I see what you mean.”
“You intend to mount a whisper campaign?” Surge asked. “That’s a risky maneuver.”
I drummed my fingers on the tabletop. “Whatever it takes.”
He nodded, lifting his coffee cup in a salute. “Whatever it takes. I’ve placed a large wager on her survival, so I have found myself rather motivated. Discord, you?”
“I have yet to place my wager. Still weighing the facts. Mal?”
In the distance, Longshot was trailed by Jenny, her short legs struggling to keep up. She was red-faced again and likely tired. But that morning, she didn’t stop to brace her hands on her knees in a stoop, or beg him to slow down. Jenny wasn’t a quitter and she wasn’t a defeatist.
The training Longshot was putting her through was clearly difficult for her, but she pushed forward, no matter the odds. The same girl who kicked guards to protect Tiger from getting his tail lopped, when she was walled by a court, gagged and manacled, facing torture and execution.
Jenny Hollinger would fight to the bloody end.
“I’ve already placed my bet.”
CHAPTER 13
Jenny
“And that’s all it takes?” I asked Surge.
We were in a kitchen of the mansion, but it wasn’t the one where our food was prepared. Surge’s kitchen looked more like an apothecary’s hovel from a medieval film. There was a stove, two sinks, and a few ovens like a commercial kitchen, but there were also bubbling glassware, stone walls lined with shelves for tiny bottles, and books upon books in every direction and on every surface but the stove.
The miniscule man nodded with glee. “One drop of this, and poof, no more erections for the rest of his life." He snickered. "I gave a dose to a particularly troublesome guard the first time I was arrested as a boy.”
I laughed. “That’s awful!”
“He liked to harass us street children, so I don’t feel bad about it at all. Not one bit. He thought since we were orphans, no one cared if he mistreated us. It did backfire somewhat,” headded thoughtfully. “With no erections, he had more time on his hands than he knew what to do with and took his anger out on us, so…” he showed me another bottle, this one with blue liquid, “I gave him a few drops of this one, and now, he has an enigmatic numbness in his hands every time he gets angry. Hard to beat children with numb hands.”
I laughed at his ingenuity. “You don’t have anything that could make him not be a dick?”
“I’m afraid there is no known cure for being a dick.” Then his eyes widened. “Wait—do you have something on Earth for that?”
