“We found the arena. Is King’s Warren where they had Fiona?”
“Yeah. I don’t know who that guy was, but he was the one who pulled me out in the morning. No idea whose side he’s on, but it feels as if he was helping me. They had Fiona sit on a throne and watch the fight. Whoever won was to become her champion and get sucked into King’s world. The audience was chanting ‘War Bringer,’ like it meant something to them, too. The last guy who came up to fight me was the same one I killed in the rotunda.”
“So this shot caller pulled you out in the morning? What happened to you then?”
“I was tranqed and left out on the prairie. But they made it easy for me to find my way back to the garage with the lift, which is where I was when I called Max.” He looked at Kit. “I left some bodies there, too.”
“Yeah, we found them. Kind of a bloody breadcrumb trail you left for us. And the next time Max says to wait, you better fucking wait.”
“I couldn’t. The guy from the arena said that he couldn’t save Fiona, that only I could. I had to get back in there. There was another guy in the warren who took me to a cell and tried to kill me.” Kelan grinned at Kit. “Didn’t work.”
“I see that.” Kit looked at Kelan’s bruises. “They came pretty damned close, though.”
“When I got out of the pen, Rocco was there. He knew where the rotunda was from his tour of the site earlier with Jafaar. We found Fiona, then you guys caught up to us.”
“You think you can describe the two shot callers well enough for a sketch?”
“Oh yeah.”
The nurse came in and said that Fiona was ready for him to return. Kit went to sit in the waiting room so he could watch for Angel. Kelan held Fiona’s hand as the doctor told them she had no injuries or bruises that would indicate she’d been sexually assaulted, but they had collected some samples and were sending them in for tests to confirm.
“She’d been drugged with a date-rape cocktail of ketamine and Rohypnol. Give her lots of fluids to get it out of her system. If you notice any odd aftereffects, contact us or your primary care physician. We’re going to keep her here until she recovers her mobility, just to make sure she doesn’t have any seizures, then we’ll release her.”
Fiona nodded, then began to weep, the relief too overwhelming. Kelan climbed onto her bed, resting on his good side. He pulled her close. “I’m so sorry. I should have done something different, tried harder to keep you safe, Fiona.”
“Nothing you could have done, Kelan. Can’t outthink my father.”
Her voice was getting back to normal. What a relief. “Your father isn’t going to win.”
“Not the war, perhaps, but a lot of the battles.”
“Not for long.” He kissed her forehead. “Let’s shut our eyes for a bit until they release you.”
Kelan closed his eyes. He must have dozed off for a bit, because he startled awake when she started to stroke his arm. She turned her head toward him, and he heard her whisper his name. His arms tightened around her. He spread his fingers into the hair at her temple, tilting her toward him for a kiss.
“I saw him. King.”
“When?”
“He came to my room.”
“What did he look like?”
She shook her head. “He was covered head to toe. I can only tell you he was almost your height.”
“What did he say?’
“A lot of things. That he’d watched me grow up. That he’d killed a boy I dated for a little while last year. And my mom, too. And that you were on his hit list.”
“That’s fine. He’s on mine.” Kelan kissed her forehead again. “I’m sorry about your mom and your friend. You said you thought she’d been killed that first night you were with us.”
“He said you had no right to call yourself the War Bringer, that he had selected the true bearer of that title.” She looked at Kelan. “He’d picked the satyr to be his War Bringer.”
Kelan shook his head. “I have no idea why a term I picked for my own use has any meaning to them.” He frowned as her words sank in. “A satyr?”
“The guy who almost raped me. He was a satyr. He was the fourth guy in fight, the one I tried to stop.”
“That’s just the drugs distorting what you saw, honey. And he’s not going to be hurting anyone ever again. He died in the rotunda.”
*
Angel arrived about the time they were ready to release Fiona. He brought with him a shopping bag of clothes for her and another with some blankets. “I didn’t know what size she wore, so I just guessed. It should be good enough to get her home at least.”
“It will be. Thanks, Angel,” Kelan said.
Kit came over to say goodbye. He took Fiona’s hand and gently squeezed it. “You’re going to be okay, Fiona. We gotcha now.” He looked at Kelan. “I’m going to talk to Angel, then head out. He’ll drive you home. Get some rest. We’ll have a full debriefing tomorrow when you get up.”
Angel set their bags down in the chair. “Let me know if you need help. I’ll just be out front with Kit.” He paused and looked back at Kelan. “Oh—your stuff’s in the bag, too.”
“Thanks, Angel,” Kelan said. He got off the bed and pulled the curtain for privacy. He couldn’t wait to get back to the house and take a long, hot shower. He looked at Fiona, imagining she felt the same way. He lifted out her clothes from the bag and set them on the bed, then removed the tags.
“We’ll get you dressed, and then we’ll get out of here.” He helped her sit up in the bed. She let her bare legs dangle over the edge so that he could pull her panties on. She was so petite and frail that his hands shook. He helped her to her feet, then finished pulling them all the way up. There was no bra in the bag, but there were a couple of tees along with a pink workout set of pants and a zip jacket.
“Kelan!” She grabbed his arms. “What happened to my cape?”