Page 27 of Starfall

Elias was about to set off again when he paused. With a groan, he turned and offered me his hand. When he made a sound of impatience, I begrudgingly took it. Or not so begrudgingly if I was honest.

Elias was right. There was life here. An abundance of sounds and sights and faces. While it felt like all the air was sucked from my lungs and the streets closed in on all sides, I was still new to the world, and perhaps, if I had the time, I could’ve learned to appreciate the thriving madness.

A few minutes later, we made a left onto Senna Street and into the Chance Quarter. It consisted of brick buildings slathered in gold, and various symbols painted in black at the apex of each arched entrance. Foxes, horses, swords, hounds, and a pair of boxing gloves were drawn with a steady hand.

Elias’s footsteps slowed, his shoulders growing visibly tense.

He rubbed a nervous hand through his thick curls as he stared at the entrance to a bakery, a giant dome building affixed to its right side.

The building the bakery bordered had painted boxing gloves in the center of its arch.

That had to be Darren’s infamous fighting den.

“Is your boss still upset with you about the match you were supposed to lose?” The one Alecks would’ve killed him over.

Elias shook his head, his teeth audibly grinding. “No. He already exacted his punishment.”

Punishment ? I winced. All those scars and bruises…

Some might not have come from the ring at all.

If Darren beat him, then why the hell did Elias stay with him?

Why would he fight for someone who inflicted such needless pain?

The man at my side had become a puzzle, and I only desired to dig a little deeper. To uncover what made him tick.

“Turn into this shop here. We’re taking the back entrance.

” I shot him a curious look as he opened the door to the bakery.

Before I could prod him for more information, my stomach grumbled loudly in protest. The squirrel I’d killed this morning with Elias’s extra blade hadn’t been enough to fill our bellies.

“Are we getting pastries along the way?” I asked, embarrassingly hopeful.

The shop smelled divine, nothing like the street outside its doors.

People filled every gilded chair, and the round tables overflowed with fresh bread, muffins, and sweets.

Several customers drank coffee and tea, politely wiping their lips with every sip.

I turned my attention to the counter, following the delectable scent and the long line of impatient men and women. They all eyed their choices through the thin glass, practically salivating over the rows and rows of pies, macaroons, donuts, and other such sweets.

Lily would simply lose her mind. I wished she was here with me, experiencing this city. For the first time since the Fall, thinking of her made me smile. All I wanted to do was tell her about this shop, and I prayed to the Eternal that he would allow me the chance.

“Hey, you’re drooling.” Elias’s lips twisted into a smirk and he nudged my shoulder playfully.

“Naturally! Have you seen the food?” I countered, knocking him in the shoulder as he’d done to me. He staggered back a step as an oomph left him. I misjudged my strength, it appeared.

He swiped at his tunic and cleared his throat, subtly scanning the crowd to see if anyone spotted his stumble. I choked back a laugh.

“Don’t be so proud,” he mumbled. “You have an unfair advantage.”

“Oh, stop being ashamed. I’m a superior being,” I said with a smirk.

His eyes locked on mine. “You may be strong, but there’s an art to fighting.” He cocked his head. “Though you certainly don’t shy away from a challenge.”

“Challenges are fun,” I replied, noticing how close he’d moved. His chest brushed against mine. “I’d get in trouble all the time back home, but it was worth it. There’s nothing like the thrill of doing something with high stakes.”

Like sneaking out past curfew or hiding Mistress Lina’s books before lessons. I hummed in delight at the memory. She’d get so livid she would cancel classes.

Elias gazed at me in confusion, his lips tugging downward. “You are not at all what I imagined.”

“I’m probably better,” I teased, my lips inches away from his. We’d been drifting closer together, the crowd pushing us in our precarious position.

Elias’s eyes dipped down to my mouth, his brows furrowing for a second before he ripped his attention away. He moved back, his steps mechanical. Was it my imagination, or were his cheeks flushed? My own breathing had become uneven.

Elias cleared his throat pointedly. “We should get going.” He jerked his chin away from the sweets. Sadly.

“Can we just get one ?” I begged.

“Sweets will rot your teeth,” he chastised, grimacing at the glass case. “I’ll feed ya soon, don’t worry. But none of this crap. There’s no protein.”

I’d never wanted to smack him as much as I did then.

“Lily often said not to trust someone who doesn’t like sweets.”

“Well, Lily must’ve lost a lot of teeth, then.

” My lips parted in affront. “But before you argue some more”—he raised a knowing brow—“some things need to be taken care of before we fill our bellies. Darren probably knows I’m here if his boys at the gate got word to him, and if I linger, he’ll send his minions after me. ”

My gut twisted as Elias lost the spark in his eyes. Suddenly, I wasn’t as hungry anymore.

“Follow me,” he whispered, easing toward the back of the shop. “And don’t open that mouth. It’ll only get us in trouble.”

Yes. Smacking him would feel so cathartic.

Once we’d pushed our way through the mingling customers, I spotted a silver door framed in gold, a strapping man with brown skin and shortly cropped hair standing guard. My steps slowed as we approached, but when the man recognized my companion, his glower vanished from his rugged face.

“Elias!” He yanked him into a hug, and Elias let out a strangled sound of protest. “I hope everything went all right back home. I can’t imagine?—”

“It was fine.” Elias cut him off, trying to work his way out of the other man’s hold. When he was finally released, he turned his eyes to me. “I ran into a few problems on the way here. Wouldn’t mind if ya kept it quiet, eh, Billy?”

I lifted a brow. I was a problem now, it seemed. However did Grace survive his charms?

Billy peered at me from the corner of his eye, seeming to make up his mind as to what I was to Elias. A sly sort of smirk lifted his lips. “Anything for the Bloody Fist of Persh,” Billy promised, his thick accent one I recognized from the dreamers in the far northeast of Alderon .

Bloody Fist of Persh?

I was seconds away from asking more about the infamous Bloody Fist when Billy ushered us through the door. He hadn’t even asked my name. To him, I was Elias’s friend . I couldn’t make myself say the proper word.

“I’d head right to the office if I were you,” Billy called after. “I know the boss would like a word about the championship. Apparently, he’s still debating on whether or not to send in Connor.”

Elias visibly swallowed but nodded at his friend. “Will do. But we all know he’s only pretending to consider Connor to piss me off.” He forced a laugh just as the door slammed shut behind us.

Darkness swathed everything before me, and panic tightened my chest when a deafening clash rang out in the dim. A great hum filled my ears, and the clanking and whirring of gears sounded.

Light erupted, making me flinch.

Fire raced down in a straight line on my right and left, and the smell of smoke clogged my nostrils.

I gasped, realizing I stood at the precipice of a flight of stairs.

The flames rising from the metal conduits framing the stairway illuminated the space, which appeared to be an entrance to a massive arena.

We’d finally made it to Darren’s club.