She was someone who didn’t have any connections. Thinking of her lit up a fire in his brain – a sudden realization that the answer was staring him in the face.
“Say… maybe I do have someone we can ask.”
“Oh?” Aleera perked up. “That fast? You already got someone on speed dial?”
“Well, not exactly… I still haven’t really spoken much to the person yet. She’s a human who bet on me in my last fight. And… well, it was her first time entering the fight pits. I don’t think she’s linked with anyone.”
“Okay. That’s a plus. But if she’s just a normal human, I don’t see why she’d be interested in being our front. It’s especially dangerous for a human.”
“That’s fine. We can buy her some of the protections that work against the more common magics, like with the incubi and succubi.”
Aleera tapped her foot. “I can work on getting some of those items. But we’re going to need to see if this human would even be willing to do it in the first place. Do you have a contact number since I suppose you both talked?”
“No contact number,” he said, ashamed. “I didn’t quite get around to that.”
“An address, then?”
“… Nothing.”
His sister sighed. “How the hell are you expecting to get in touch with this woman if you don’t even know where she lives and what her number is?”
“Well… she might turn up if I’m scheduled for another fight. You can grab her then. That might be the best way to do it.”
“It’s the only way we can do it at this rate. We don’t exactly have other options at present.” She let out another annoyed sigh. “Okay, I’ll try and arrange another fight. You’re still a small name, though you turned some heads with your form and your victory, so it should be okay for me to remain anonymous. I’ll continue to look for an agent. I’ll also look for this woman, but you’ll need to point her out to me. By the way – don’t look so good in the next fight. Try to look like it’s causing you trouble.”
“Easy enough.” Cyrus would be lying if he didn’t admit he wanted to see the woman again as well. He wanted to… foster a potential connection. Ask her questions. Inquire into her life, how much different it must be from his own life, with the weight of expectations he endured. Must be nice. He wondered how she might have felt looking at his dragon too. Humans didn’t have the same perception of the dragon forms as dragons did.
His sister clearly wasn’t happy with this proposal, and it was true. He was winging it, basing it on a stranger he met once. But a stranger who chose to bet on him when barely anyone else did. That had to count for something, right?
Chapter Five – Sasha
“Oh, my goodness!” Sasha’s mother sounded delighted as Sasha expected. Her mother’s voice always rose an octave higher when on the phone, and that octave came into full effect now. “I can’t believe you got so fortunate!” A pause. “There’s nothing weird about the money, is there? You’re not selling drugs or anything?”
“No, Mom. No drugs!” Although she didn’t want toquiteadmit where the moneydidcome from. Somehow, she didn’t exactly see her parents approving of the whole venture. They might have some awkward questions, and those, Sasha wasn’tquiteready to answer yet. However, she did think that she’d be able to break the news to them… in time.
“I know you’ve been asking for a new refrigerator for ages since the old one broke down and you can’t use the top component for freezing. I’ve found a deal on one for you – it’s bigger than the old one, but I’m sure you’ll have the space if you place the trashcan elsewhere… and Rosemary can get the AirPods she’s been asking for since forever.”
Her mother almost swooned from happiness at the simple news of getting a new refrigerator. Parents could be damn easy to please. So would her sister be pleased, once she got the Pods.
“As for Dad, he’s been wanting an old vinyl record player for his collection, and I’ve found someone to get one for him. When you get the fridge as well, I can come and help with the shopping.” Sasha, of course, planned to pay for the whole thing and say her parents could pay back later… except she didn’t expect any payment, and didn’t want it. She heard her mother calling to her father in excitement, and the good news spread.
Wholesome parent invasion aside, Sasha stared at the total value in her bank account, with a good chunk of it already spent on securing rent, more planned to assist her mom and dad, and the rest to be put away for a rainy day. Reserving a thousand for the big shopping trip for her parents meant just three thousand remained of that dazzling win.
I need more,she thought.I know I should be careful about going back to the fight pit, but this money isn’t going to keep me secure for long. I need a good nest egg so I can finally do what’s needed to lift myself out of this.
With those thoughts churning in her mind, she reached over to make the call to her betting friend once more. But with one extra thought – that she’d be saving a portion aside for betting on The Lonely again. Something about this dragon called to her. Perhaps it was wishful thinking because he’d helped her when he hadn’t needed to. That, and how she felt when she’d stared into his eyes and saw something warm and peaceful in their depths.
Something that made her wonder just what else loitered behind that gaze. What kind of person lay hidden, who took it upon themselves to rescue stray humans from the clutches of the underworld?
Whomever he was – she looked forward to finding out.
It took two weeks before The Lonely turned up in the listings, so it was two weeks before she ventured back into the potentially dangerous underworld of the fight pit again. She encountered the nice succubus lady, placed her bets on other fights as suggested by her friend once more – and bet the biggest chunk of her earnings on The Lonely, who now had much smaller odds than before. Twenty to one. Still significant, given that she placed two thousand dollars on a single bet. The most amount of money she’d ever spent on a single thing.
If The Lonely lost, she’d be… in trouble, but not desperate. At least her immediate worries and fears had been alleviated regarding outstanding debts.
Now she was here in the bowels of a supernatural fight pit event, once more enduring the stares of the others. No signs of the incubus who stalked her the last time, though her paranoia kept her alert for such an appearance. The other fights she bet on came and went, leaving her with this final fight that she deeply anticipated. Two thousand. What an insane amount for her to bet, especially the fact that she was able to spend this amount in the first place.
Under a mild veneer of stress, her brain had crunched the numbers that had sustained hers for so long that she’d forgotten what it felt like to have no worries or burdens at all.