Page 53 of Change

I shrugged. Who knew, I had no idea what to call him yet. “We’ll see.”

“But what…” Maria began, then raised her hand to cover her smile. She cleared her throat, her tone serious as she reclaimed her sentence. “Whatexactlyam I supposed to do?”

Wasn’t it obvious? Then again, this was why I was the manager.

“Get him to fight you,” I explained. “But try not to hurt him too badly. Just make it look good. Then win. After that, we’ll need to mysteriously disappear.”

“Butwhy?” Maria pointed to a folding table set up to our left. “I’m pretty sure that’s the ring manager right there. We can just sign up—”

“Trust me.” I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. Yes, it was clear that I should be the mastermind of this operation. After all, if she signed up her way, we’d have to not onlypaymoney, but they’d probably match her with someone weak until she proved herself. We could bypass all of that.

If we did this right, they’d bebeggingher to be here, and we could chargethemfor the honor of having her bless the stage with her presence.

We’d both get what we wanted.

Speaking of…

“We need to think of your stage name,” I told her.

“My what?” She sounded slightly perturbed.

“Your stage name.” I indicated the ring. “Like, what they call you when you’re fighting.”

“Oh…” She chewed on her lip, considering.

Two new fighters were involved in another unimpressive round. This was why I appreciated the theatrics of professional wrestling. Where was the chair throwing? The fire and smoke? The shirt ripping? Sure, everyone knew all those things were fake, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining.

“MaybeThe Lusty Lioness—” she began.

“No!” Never. I sliced my hand through the air. “TheLoneLioness.”

She frowned at me. “Why do I have to be alone?”

“It makes you more enticing!” Duh.

“You’re really getting into this.” She was watching me, expression critical. “Are you secretly an adrenaline junkie? You haven’t been terrified at all.”

I put my finger to my lip, cocking my head, unable to answer. But I didn’t understand her question.

Why should I be terrified? It wasn’t like I was the center of attention. Any lingering glances had mostly been tossed in Maria’s direction. And most people were more invested in the fight than anything.

It was only scary when people noticed me.

“I’m not complaining!” Maria shrugged, unbuttoning her blazer. She handed it to me, then loosened the buttons at her wrist and rolled up her sleeves to her elbows. “This suits me just fine.”

“You’ll do it?” My stomach twisted in sudden nervousness. It was all becoming more real. I had half-expected her to turn down this plan, to say the whole thing was stupid. Then we’d go back to Titus’s office and sit around drinking lattes while we reminisced about our almost-adventure.

The Spitter suddenly seemed meaner looking than before. “Do you think you can take him?”

“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “Bears are slow and brutish. It’ll be a cinch.”

Bears?

Hold up… These were all shifters?

“Maria…” I reached for her as the room slowly closed in around me. They were looking at me, right? They could smell me. I couldn’t be here. “Are we in a shifter—what is that?”

Maria had pulled on a purple ski mask, which, paired with heels, a black mini-skirt, and her lilac blouse, was the one thing that made her stand out among the other business-minded people also suitably attired as they placed and took bets.