The Cage King Read Free Page A

she’d seen thousands of times at the fights. “Nah, you don’t need to leave now. How bout after this match we go ta my place? You can use anything you want there.”
    “I really do have to leave unless you want a big mess. Can you let me go?”
    “Told ya no.” His voice got determined, mean, and Nalah glanced around for anything she could use as a weapon.
    It was too easy. A twist of her arm broke his grasp and in quick turn she had his arm pinned behind his back. A jerk upwards wrenched his arm enough that he yelled in pain, falling away from her and onto his knees.
    People turned at the man’s cry and took in the scene, though no one stepped forward to help. A part in the crowd gave her a clear view of the ring, and he stared at her, eyes burning bright and as intense as she had ever seen.
    Five years fell away, and it might as well have been yesterday when she saw him last. The sweat that beaded off him had the same effect it always had, the desire to nuzzle into him, the desire to stick out her tongue and follow each individual droplet down to wherever it led.
    She stepped back to fade into the crowd. He started to follow, but his opponent took the opportunity to throw a punch, and as if someone had called out action , everyone turned their attention back to the ring and to the fight they had come to see.
    As she ran, in time with her heartbeat, the name she had not allowed herself to think of for five long years beat itself in her brain.
    Esh, Esh, Esh…

Chapter Three
    ‡
    F our. Five. Six…
    Safe in her apartment, Nalah counted off the locks as she engaged them, the pattern calming, bringing her down little by little until the last one clicked shut and her heartbeat approached something close to normal.
    Her head fell forward, resting on the door. Safe. Safe now, from the stupidity she had – no, Fallon had – inflicted on her.
    “The Cage King is im- pressive . How did you manage to walk away from that again?”
    Speaking of… “Why are you in my apartment, Fallon?” Long practice stopped the irritation from coloring her voice, but only just.
    “Is she asking as a serious question, or is she angry?” And there was Laire, of course. It would be too much to allow Nalah to deal with the memories on her own terms.
    Fallon’s voice again, pitched higher to make sure everything she said was heard. “I’m going with rhetorical.”
    As much as this situation begged for alcohol, Nalah needed her wits about her, so tea would have to do. Walking into the small kitchen, she said, “The briefing is tomorrow, and I like my privacy. I don’t belong to the Guild.”
    Once in the kitchen, Nalah looked over the small island to the living area, and sure enough, sitting on the arm of her sofa was Laire in a yellow dress that fell to her ankles, but with random cut-outs along the sides, showing patches of pale skin. Her black hair was the same length as the gown and had thick streaks of yellow running through it, and on her feet were yellow shoes that consisted of two thin straps and seven-inch platform heels.
    Fallon stood next to her in the usual black leather, the long coat cut to suggest her figure without being skin tight. “Don’t try that line around Kyo. Trust me, Bossman makes sure it never ends well for the speaker.”
    “I’m not speaking to Kyo, and you don’t need to be following me around and entering my house uninvited.”
    Tenro gleamed in its usual spot above Fallon’s shoulder. Five years of training, of familiarity with the sword, and Tenro still battered against Nalah’s magical shields. Fallon continued, “I needed face-to-face time to make sure you’re in the right spirit for this job.”
    Always the job, though she had just seen Esh the first time in five years and was still shaky. Fallon never let up.
    And then it was too much. “I can’t do this job ,” Nalah said, slamming the kettle on the stove.
    Neither Fallon nor Laire so much as flinched, and gods damn if that didn’t