The Cage King (8 page)

Nalah crossed her heart. “You are innocent, I swear.”

Leaving was easy after that, the guards not worth the name, and in quick work Nalah approached the first training area.

There were three training areas located on the outer edges of the compound, not much more than a large ring and basic equipment. None of the fighters would do any serious fighting before the tournament started tomorrow, so it was more for keeping limber and sticking to whatever their exercise regime was.

“Hello, pretty lady.”

Crap.
Nalah spun around, off-guard as she looked for the owner. The voice was more force of nature than mere instrument of communication, and as she located him, she took an instinctive protective step back while elemental flight-or-fight primed every cell.

He was part orc, features less misshapen than the full-blood version but no one would ever call him even average-looking, his body massive compared to a human’s, his darker-toned skin with the slight undertone of green.

“Are you lost?” he continued. There was no magic around him – not surprising, since orcs as a general rule had little magical talent – but his presence hit her as hard as Esh’s always had. He would give Esh a hell of a fight.

She cleared her throat, threw off some
I’m not to be screwed with
attitude. “No. I wanted to watch my man and get some air.”

“Maybe give them the fuck-off for telling you girls stay in the house?” Her face had to show the shock she was too late to cover up, and his laugh was deep and genuine, regardless of the coughing edge that made her think he didn’t do it too much. “I know a few women who would have shoved pointy objects up Beylor’s ass if they heard the rule about staying in the quarters, and you have that same look about you.”

She shrugged, taking a step closer. “Can’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind. Esh in this area?”

“You checking out your man’s competition? Sizing us up?”

“No need for me to. Esh will win.” She gazed around with what she hoped was an unconcerned air.

No Esh in sight, and when her gaze came back to him he was nodding in approval. “Good woman. Every man needs one like you. Keep treating your man right, and make sure you can say the same about him.”

“What’s your name?” She needed to ask Esh about him. Something about him wasn’t sitting right. He was a warrior, but he didn’t belong to the Cage. He didn’t give off that vibe. Which, if that was the case, why was he here?

“Rorth. And you’d better get back before the guards are out in more force. Hate to think of you in trouble.” With a smile that looked very wrong, given the number of sharp protruding teeth in his mouth, Rorth left.

As if his prediction had brought about the change, a large number of men appeared, most ignoring her but some stopping to give her a blatant once-over.

And that was that. Innate hunting was a bust for today. There would be other ways to find out the information she needed.

But even as she turned to face the apartments there was a tickle, a tease, a dim thrum to
come look, something here, come find me
grabbing at her…compelling her.

She walked past the edge of the training center, down a path a little more overgrown, a little less trampled than the others. The feeling tugged at her, twisted along pathways in her mind.

At the sighting of the figure in the distance, she stopped, even with the magic pulling on her. It was…
wrong
, like a saccharine sweet scent over rot, the disharmony inciting rebellion in her.

The fighter appeared to be an albino, bright and white and so large, a mountain of snow against an evergreen background. He was shirtless, the loose white pants darker than his skin. He had been shadowboxing, but within moments of her arrival he lifted his head, scented the air, before turning bloodshot eyes in her direction – not the true red of a vampire, but the unwavering stare unnerving all the same.

Further back, from behind him, evil magic…
crawl of fetid flesh

slice of the blade into decayed muscle

deep, feral joy at the pain yet to be visited upon them, on all of them…

Nalah’s pulse jackrabbited in her neck, cold sweat a clammy reality at her hairline. The only time she’d experienced anything close to this feeling was those first moments exposed to Tenro. Tenro was savagery, war, bloodlust, mixed with the last moments of the damned.

This… This was…

Pure
madness
.

And a cold, crazed love of death.

Something clamped down on her upper arm – large, with a grip that
hurt. “Get off!”
Her fist came up to hit at whatever had her. “Get off me!”

“What are you doing here?” He caught her fist, blocking her with less energy than she would use to swat a fly. Bad, but… Her pulse slowed and comprehension flowed through her. He was a guard who caught her breaking rules, not a servant to that madness. And he was
human
, large and mean in that generic way all the guards around here were, as if they’d been selected for that exact reason.

Her pulse normalized, and as she came back to herself and the evil faded, now something from this guard teased her senses, beat against her skull. He wasn’t connected to what she had just felt, but this guard was innate, and she didn’t recognize this power.

Did Beylor know? Was the guard selected because of that, or did he hide it from his employer?

She had to get away and regroup, with the least amount of trouble possible. Clearing her throat, she went for a tone of Tiffany oblivious. “I was trying to find my boyfriend.”

No, he didn’t buy that at all, as his fingers gripped even tighter. “You don’t seem in too much of a hurry to find him.”

She jerked once, twice, finally free though very aware it was because he allowed it. If oblivious didn’t work, time for attitude. “The set-up is interesting! No law against looking, and don’t fucking
touch
me again if you don’t want the Cage King crawling all over your ass for manhandling his woman!”

The look in his eyes was dissecting her, trying to decide her place here. She couldn’t do anything else but go all in, and she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him, pure put upon.

He blinked, those eyes too sharp in his big dumb face. After a few breaths of stand-off, he waved someone else over. After the prompt appearance of another guard, he said, “Here, whatever we say is law
is
law, and the law is you stay in the main house with the women. Got it?”

“Got it,” she said, putting as much pouting attitude into the words as possible.

The other guard motioned her to start towards the house, and she turned and began walking. It was a minute before the guard at her side spoke. “I would’ve thought Fallon would send someone sneakier.”

Nalah would have tripped if his hand didn’t come out and stabilize her. Before she could look at him, he spoke again. “Keep looking straight ahead. You already brought enough attention to yourself.”

Damn!
Here was her contact, and she hadn’t checked him out earlier, too intent on looking at her tormentor. “You’re acting as a guard?”

“Low-level, mostly patrols of the ground, meaning I keep an eye on the women and the house.” Which was perfect for their needs. Had he requested that, or had the Guild known exactly how to position him to get him into the right spot? “I wasn’t expecting you to make a scene.”

“It was necessary for me to get out to do my job. And I’m sorry, but if Fallon told you about me, she must have brought up my distinct lack of sneaking ability. I’m doing my best.”

“She did. I was hoping she was underselling you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

The sigh was more felt than heard. “It doesn’t matter. We’ll work around it, as long as you can find the artifact.”

“That I can do. Do you know where it is?”

Another set of guards was walking toward them and her contact shut up until they were well out of earshot. “Beylor always has multiple safes in his home. How close do you need to be to feel where the artifact is?”

The last time she had held her mother’s ring, it was like it started singing to her the moment she entered headquarters, the sound as welcome to her as her mother’s laughter. “Normally, entering the house I could lead you to it, but I don’t know how being in a blackout zone will affect my range.”

“Then I’ll need to scout and find where the safes are. We’re only going to have one chance with you in the house, and I don’t want your magic not working like you think it should.” His voice was grave, and the weight of what they were doing fell on Nalah. It wasn’t her and Esh and their baggage anymore. This was a mission. This is where she or Esh or the man behind her could die.

Dread pooled through her extremities, leaving her fingers icy numb. She’d never taken lead before. She’d been on missions before, but she was always in the back as support, and even if there was fighting she’d been surrounded by so many others, the possibility of being hurt almost didn’t exist. Now, she was in an unknown place, allied with a guy she didn’t even know what he looked like.

They were nearing the apartments. Another minute tops before they had to separate. He asked, “The Cage King – is he a tool or part of the operation?”

Esh would hate to be called a tool. And though she tried to convince herself in the beginning that he was only a cog… “He’s part of it. He doesn’t know how to find the artifact though. That is only me.”

And there was the door. In a whispered rush, the man said, “The artifact is most important. I’ll try to escape with you and the Cage King, but if I must leave either or both of you to secure the artifact’s safety-”

“I wouldn’t expect anything else. Don’t worry about it.”

He opened the door, and as she entered he gave one final warning. “Watch for Lian. You are in his sights now. You were before, as he has an obsession with Esh. He will report you to Beylor. Beylor has a severe underestimation of women. Lian does not, and Beylor will leave it in Lian’s hands.”

“I’ll watch my back,” she said, but the man was already gone.

‡

“T
he illustrious Cage
King. Truly an honor.”

The tone said it was anything but, a sentiment Esh had plenty of experience with. “Fuck off,” Esh said, not halting his work on the bag, the give of the fabric not even close to the density of skin and muscle underneath his knuckles, but all he had for now.

The voice lost the insincerity and now held only resentment. “What, you’re too good to even speak to the rest of us?”

Jealousy, loud and clear. With a glance, Esh took him in. A guard, not a fighter, so maybe he lost money on a betting against Esh. Or maybe he was a fighter on the outside, one unable to get into the Tour, and now he was taking it out on the man known to have turned down several offers. Whatever the guy’s background, his tone was personal, and the guard had a hard-on for him specific, not fighters in general.

The bitterness was seeping out of the man, but there was cunning as well. This man wasn’t stupid. Too early to tell if this guard would harm Nalah to hurt Esh or not, but guard-boy needed to be watched. “I’m in training. What do you want?”

“There was a small problem with your female companion today. I found her wandering the grounds.”

“Is that all?” Esh began on the bag again. “She’s not a dog. Let her go where she wants.”

“That’s not the rules.”

“Right, since we’re rules followers here.”

Malice dripped from the man’s words. “So you’re okay with others sharing your woman?”

Esh quit the bag and turned, and the guard lost the smarmy smile. “Let me be real clear. My woman is
mine
. She is not to be touched, and I don’t care what your
fucking rules
say, I don’t care if she’s breaking them or not – if anyone touches her, I will rip their ribs out of their chests and beat them to death with ‘em. And if any of you dumb-fuck guards get in my way, I’ll break so many bones no healer in the New Realms will be able to put you back together. Are we understanding one another here?”

The guard swallowed hard, but that was the only sign Esh’s words got to him. “Just get your woman under control.”

“I’ll talk to her. You talk to everyone else and tell them what I said.”

The guard got himself more under control, enough that he now gave a sneer. “Because you’re the Cage King, and we all jump when you speak?”

Esh went closer. The guard was his height, a little broader, but the man still cowered, still had that sneer. “Because I’m the Cage King, and you know what I can do when I want. Don’t you?”

“Yeah.” In a strange reversal, Esh’s words seemed to give the man determination, strength, because he straightened, meeting Esh’s gaze with a lot more fire. “Yeah, I know.”

“Heard you had
an interesting day,” was how Esh greeted Nalah as he entered their apartment, and the sight before him slammed into his chest and stopped him short.

Nalah was doing nothing more than sitting curled in a chair, reading a book. It was how he’d often found her, always reading, her face mobile as she absorbed whatever words lay before her – frowns, smiles, sighs of pleasure, all normal and expected.