Page 24 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal (Kennedy Rain #4)

I leaped to my feet and spun, damp cloth held ready to fling like a puny dart as Melissa stormed into the room.

“Are you suicidal?” she demanded.

“Are you? You’re barging in—”

“Move away from the goddamn bed.”

“Melissa?” Christian called. “What’s going on?”

“She’s alone in Deagan’s room.”

“I’m taking care of him.” I matched her angry tone. Now that my adrenaline was leveling out and there wasn’t another emergency dropping on my head, I was pissed at the way she’d charged in here.

“Yeah,” she said. “You’re taking care of an unconscious vampire so deep in bloodlust his master couldn’t bring him out of it. Very smart.”

“Melissa, chill,” Christian said.

Her eyes fastened on the phone. “Chill? If he kills her, we’ve lost everything. Plus I’ll feel like shit for not watching her back. She’s growing on me, even if she’s so dense I want to scream sometimes. No offense.” She threw those last two words my way with a quick glance.

“I’m offended.”

“It’ll be handled soon,” Christian said calmly. “Plus Deagan’s in the Null. The chance he wakes up and kills anyone is small.”

“Not small enough.” Anger still iced Melissa’s blue eyes. Yelling at me wasn’t the best way to show it, but I guess it was nice she cared if I was alive or dead.

“He’s not waking up anyway,” I said, trying to be the levelheaded person in the room.

Melissa blew out a breath. “Okay. Maybe I’m overreacting a little, but next time, please make sure someone else is with you. Just in case.”

I grabbed my phone off the nightstand. “Hopefully he wakes up soon and there won’t be a next time.”

“Hopefully,” she agreed. Then she eyed my phone. “Can I talk to him?”

I didn’t want to hand it over, but I also wasn’t going to keep Christian from his sister. “Make it quick.”

“Thanks,” she said. Then she took the phone off speaker and held it to her ear.

I pressed my lips together. She’d already figured out what Astrid was up to. She already knew about Garion and my bargain. Would Christian tell her about my idea to use the spell? Did it matter if he did?

She and Christian talked for a minute or so, but nothing made much sense on this end of the call. She tapped the phone to hang up, then handed it back to me.

“Really,” she said. “Be careful. Christian doesn’t need to run off to rescue you again.”

“I don’t need rescuing.” Yeah, that was a flat-out lie. Was I taking it back? Nope.

“I disagree.” Her voice sounded peppy now, like she hadn’t been worried or angry at all. Nice talent. I found it harder to let her sudden entrance and attitude go. I’d sleep it off. Eventually.

I didn’t intend to avoid the staff on the way back to the main building. But I definitely didn’t expect to encounter anyone three steps outside the Catalans’ door.

Phedre and Thordis popped out of the shadows.

Yelping, I threw my flashlight. It missed both of them by a very wide margin.

“Wow.” Thordis stared at the broken device. “She can’t even hit a target at close range.”

“She just needs practice,” Phedre said. “I think.”

“It was a reflex, not my aim,” I said. The Valkyrie exchanged a look that suggested my excuse made my reaction worse. “Never mind. Did you two need something?”

“Well,” Phedre said, drawing out the word. “We couldn’t help but notice there are no lights in The Rain.”

“Or hot water,” Thordis put in.

“And all the food seems to be”—Phedre waved her hand toward the paranorms hanging out near the pool and grill—“there. We’ve also observed you tend to get injured.”

“A lot,” Thordis added.

“And since you agreed to let us train you…” Phedre looked at me expectantly.

She was referencing the first night I’d busted them running the fight club. My exact words had been “It sounds like a good idea.” They’d taken that as an enthusiastic yes.

It was just past nine p.m. I had some time. Plus my self-defense skills were lacking.

“Okay. Yeah,” I said. “We can do that.”

Both Valkyrie whooped.

“We have a plan,” Thordis said, way too excited. She hooked her arm through mine. “You’re joining the fight club.”

I planted my feet when she tried to pull me forward. “That’s not what I agreed to. You were just going to teach me some moves.”

“We’re teaching you to fight.” Thordis practically bounced beside me. “A few moves won’t save your life.”

“That’s why it’s a terrible idea. I just need a few seconds to get away.” If I ever broke my habit of staying to help my friends. “And the treaty protects me.” From intentional murder, yes. From everything else? Not so much. “No one on staff is going to risk triggering it.”

“We planned for that too,” Thordis said.

“Really?” The question came out flat.

“Uh-huh.”

“Blackmail,” Phedre explained.

I sighed. They weren’t listening. “You can’t blackmail the staff—”

“Already done!” She hooked my other arm, and both Valkyrie pulled me toward the gathering.

“Phedre,” I protested. “This isn’t teaching. It’s throwing me to the wolves.”

She snorted. “Funny. We’re not teaching you yet. We need to assess your skills first. This is the perfect opportunity.”

“Not if it triggers the treaty!”

They stopped towing me forward, and Phedre took a step back to really look at me. Finally she seemed to listen. The enthusiasm drained from her expression, replaced by… sympathy? Something else? “You’re worried about your opponent being struck by excruciating and unending pain. That’s so sweet.”

“And a good way to get dead,” Thordis added.

Oh my God. These two were impossible. Sure, their points were slightly valid, but I really didn’t want to fight my staff. It seemed… unprofessional.

“First lesson,” Phedre said. “Always worry about yourself, not your enemy.”

Telling her no one here was my enemy would be a waste of breath. And a lie, most likely. I still didn’t know who’d murdered Jasmine outside my door last week.

Phedre took my arm again and ushered me toward the staff, who were all now staring at us.

“Don’t worry about having an opponent. Pretty much everyone here has lost a fight to us.

We’ve won soooo many bets and called them in just for you.

” She put her hands on both my shoulders and maneuvered me past the paranorms despite my trying to stand my ground.

I found myself in the middle of a plantless garden bed. “You moved fight club?”

“It was too muddy,” Phedre said. “Plus everyone’s here.”

I would have preferred the mud. The pool formed the north edge of the makeshift arena, potted plants made up another, and the staff themselves formed the rest of the misshapen circle.

I was totally going to be thrown into the pool.

“Kennedy’s here!” Phedre announced.

Thanks for making this even more awkward.

Sighing, I turned to face the staff. “Just so you all know, this wasn’t what I agreed to.”

“It never is with those two,” a vampire named Louis said.

More than a few staff members chuckled, and I found myself smiling.

Maybe this was a good thing. I didn’t exactly fit in here, partly because they were paranorms and I was a Rain, but also because I hadn’t visited much during college.

When I did finally return in the spring, I’d kept my distance, wanting nothing to do with the hotel, the paranorms, or magic in general.

I put in the minimal amount of effort because I was supposed to be temporarily covering for my parents.

That behavior hadn’t made me any friends.

Interacting with the staff might improve our relationship.

“After much contemplation and many contests”—Phedre sounded like a mashup between a circus announcer and MMA official—“we narrowed the contenders down to four, and the person who drew the short straw—”

“Spaghetti,” Thordis said beside me.

“Spaghetti,” Phedre corrected, “is…”

“Dum da de dum!” Thordis sang.

“Thad!”

He stepped forward, reluctance and annoyance vying for control of his expression.

Thordis leaned close to my ear. “Don’t worry. We rigged it. Thad is the worst fighter in the Null.”

He didn’t look it. Like most humans turned paranormal, Thad had good looks, a lean, muscled body, and, given he was a werewolf, most likely a decent history of fighting.

“Why can’t I fight a girl?” I asked.

Thordis’s eyes narrowed. “If you’re suggesting girls can’t fight.”

“Most girls don’t spend their entire lives training and killing.”

“She has a point,” Phedre said. “But no woman would agree to fight us, so we couldn’t blackmail them.”

“Smart of them,” I quipped.

“Therefore, you get Thad,” she said.

I faced the werewolf. “How did they rope you into this?”

His mouth tightened. “It was either this or they shove me out of the Null. They were too excited to be bluffing.”

I shook my head. They were too insane to be bluffing. “You can fight back. You won’t trigger the treaty.”

He gave me a dubious look. “I think I’ll pass.”

“Really,” I assured him. “I’m a willing participant.” Sort of. “It’ll be fine.”

“No, thanks. I’ll just defend.”

My shrug said Suit yourself.

A thunderous, hollow clanking made me jump and whirl around. Phedre stood there, eyes glinting, an oversized and very dented cowbell in one hand, a hammer in the other. “Begin!”

I rolled my eyes, then turned back to face—

Thad’s leg whipped out, hitting behind my knees hard enough to sweep my legs out from under me.

I went airborne, landed flat on my back, then oomphed when Thad pinned my arms to the garden bed.

“Can this be over now?” Thad looked at the Valkyrie. He didn’t have a firm grip on my wrists. I probably could have freed myself, but I felt bad about the short spaghetti. As a way for him to get out of this fight fast, he’d chosen a good tactic.

“She’s terrible,” one of the Valkyrie whispered. “Was she even ready?”

“I rang the cowbell,” the other whispered back.

“Well, looks like I lost,” I said.

Thad gave me a grateful look, let go of my wrists, then offered a hand to help me up.

We both stood. Then, finger-combing shredded bark and dirt from my hair, I turned to the Valkyrie. “Looks like I need some pointers before trying anything like this again.”

Both sets of Valkyrie green eyes narrowed. “You let him take you down on purpose.”

“Nope. He won fair and square.”

Phedre held my gaze, raised the cowbell like she was summoning the Gates of Valhalla, then hammered it twice.

This time I spun and backed up quickly to keep space between me and Thad. Landing might not have hurt, but it hadn’t been fun.

Thad didn’t move toward me. He just shook his head and said, “Thanks for trying.”

“Anytime.”

That made him smile.

I lifted my hands and shifted my weight to the balls of my feet. I vaguely remembered my self-defense classes and sort of knew what I needed to do, but my muscle memory, my speed, and probably my strength, were all very subpar. My best chance was to end this quickly.

I shot forward and kicked out, aiming for his groin. Thad’s eyes widened in surprise. I was so sure I had him, but he rotated his hips at the last second, protecting himself while also, somehow, sending me crashing down on my back again.

Wheezing, I tried to suck back in all the air that had whooshed from my lungs. When I finally coughed and spluttered my way back to a normal breathing rate, Phedre and Thordis stood over me.

“We mentioned he’s the worst, right?” Phedre asked.

“I’m standing right here,” Thad said.

Ugh. I didn’t think I’d be this bad. I mean, I’d survived a lot—the fight in the alley in Cincinnati, Shelli’s coven in Owen’s store and on the mountain. Hell, I’d even survived Arcuro. Thad should have been beatable.

I let him help me to my feet yet again.

“We thought you were faking the first time,” Phedre said.

“You said you had self-defense training,” Thordis added.

“That was over five years ago.” I rotated my right shoulder, which I must have either landed on or strained when Thad took me down.

“How are you even alive?” Phedre asked.

Irritation slid into my voice. “Are you two going to try to help me or just criticize everything I do?”

“It’s our job to tear you down.”

“Physically, maybe. Not mentally. Some encouragement or advice, please.”

“Don’t fall down,” Thordis said.

I glared. “I should fire you two.”

“You can’t,” Thordis replied happily. “I’m not an employee.”

I finger-combed more dirt and bark shreds from my hair. “Yes, you are. I read your paperwork.”

“Phedre is employed by you. I’m just here for the sex.”

My brain stumbled over the last word. I’d expected her to say food or company or some other normal reason.

“I think you offended her human sensibilities,” Phedre said.

“Because I said”—Thordis dropped her voice to a whisper—“sex?”

Phedre nodded vigorously.

“Oh.” Thordis’s face brightened. “Then you must be happy we started the fight club. Before that, all the entertainment we had was sex.”

I was not going to comment on that. “What do I need to do to get better?” When they both stared at me like dumb hyenas, I quickly added, “Helpful advice only, please.”

They must have simultaneously decided I was in desperate need of a few lessons.

We left the terrace, and they actually took time to show and explain the how and why of both offensive moves and defensive ones that could be turned around and used as attacks.

They didn’t let me get out of the fight club, though, insisting I practice every simple step and grapple they taught me before they added anything else.

I didn’t win against Thad, but I did manage to last almost three minutes once.

When the Valkyrie were finally done with me for the night, I was completely and utterly exhausted. I climbed into bed, hoping my mind would stay quiet long enough to fall asleep.

I did, but it wasn’t exactly restful. Blake stepped into all my dreams, whispering into my ear. I haven’t been with anyone since before Beltane.