Chapter 42
Elijah sat in his seat, the healing warmth moving through his body, knitting the last of the damage from the fight. His lip was almost closed now, the split pulling together. His ribs still ached, but the ache was distant, manageable. His knuckles were raw, but the skin was already starting to smooth.
The adaptation and healing was working. The Eternal Grounded Tree breathed through him, slow and patient, drawing strength from the strain he had put his body through. His stats had increased—small increments, barely noticeable, but real. Endurance up by one and Defense up by two. Not much, but more than he had expected from a single night of fighting.
His body was learning. Adapting. Growing stronger because he had pushed it to the edge and refused to let it break.
He opened his eyes and stood up. "I'm going to the registerer."
Kai looked at him. "You want to go again?"
Elijah nodded. "Eight thousand now, I want to make it sixteen."
Kai's smile was slow, almost lazy. "That's what I thought."
Elijah walked down the steps, the crowd parting around him. The noise was constant now, a roar that never fully faded, just shifted in pitch and intensity. He reached the betting windows and leaned over the counter.
The man behind it recognized him. "Another match?"
"Double," Elijah said. "Eight thousand to sixteen."
The man raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. He took the slip, wrote something in his ledger, and handed it back. "You're in the last match. Main event."
Elijah folded the slip and put it in his pocket. "Who am I fighting?"
The man looked at him for a moment. "Tristan Quinn"
Elijah's hands went still in his pockets. He nodded once and walked away.
Kai found Aurora in the corridor behind the ring.
She was sitting on a bench, her silver hair pulled back from her face, a towel pressed against the cut above her eye. Her bag was at her feet, already packed, her jacket draped over her arm. She looked up when Kai approached, her blue eyes flat.
"What do you want?"
Kai leaned against the wall across from her. "Elijah sent me."
Aurora's expression didn't change. "The guy I just fought?"
"Yeah."
"He fight well, Good technique with Sloppy footwork, but he doesn't panic." She pressed the towel harder against her cut. "What does he want?"
Kai watched her for a moment. The cut above her eye was deep, still bleeding, but she wasn't complaining. She wasn't asking for help. She was just sitting there, handling it herself.
"He liked the way you fought," Kai said. "Not in a sexual way. He's not like that. He just respected what he saw. He wanted me to ask if you'd be interested in joining our gang."
Aurora's hands stopped moving. She looked at him, and for a moment, something flickered in her blue eyes. Surprise, maybe Or amusement.
Then she chuckled. It was short, dry, without humor. "No."
She stood up, slinging her bag over her shoulder. The towel fell from her face, and Kai could see the cut clearly now, still wet with blood, the skin around it already starting to bruise.
"You lost a lot of money tonight," Kai said.
Aurora stopped walking. She didn't turn around.
"Word travels fast in this place," Kai continued. "Everyone knows you bet on yourself. Everyone knows you lost. That's a lot of money to walk away from."
She turned slowly, her blue eyes sharp. "What's your point?"
Kai pushed off from the wall. "Elijah is fighting in the main event. Against Tristan Quinn."
Aurora's face went still.
"Bet on him," Kai said. "Put everything you have left on him. He'll win."
Aurora stared at him for a long moment. Then she laughed, the sound bitter. "You're insane. Tristan Quinn is at the Peak of Beginner Knight Stage. He hasn't lost in a year. Your boy is good, I'll give him that, but he's not that good."
"No," Kai agreed. "He's not, not yet."
"Then why would I bet on him?"
Kai held her gaze. "Because if he loses, I'll stop my next match and give you everything I've made tonight. Eight thousand. You walk away with your money back, plus what you lost."
Aurora's eyes narrowed. "And if he wins?"
"Then you walk away with double what you lost. And you watch Elijah put Tristan Quinn on the mat."
The corridor was silent. The noise of the crowd was distant here, muffled by the walls. Aurora stood with her bag over her shoulder, her jacket draped over her arm, her silver hair falling across her face. The cut above her eye had stopped bleeding, but the blood was still wet on her cheek.
"You're that confident in him," she said. It wasn't a question.
Kai smiled. "I've known him my whole life. He's never lost a fight that mattered."
Aurora was quiet for a moment. Then she dropped her bag and walked toward the betting windows.
Kai fell into step beside her. "You're not going to ask about joining the gang?"
"Just watch him fight Tristan, and you will want to join."
"Something like that... huh."
Aurora shook her head, but there was something in her face now that hadn't been there before. Curiosity, maybe. Or the beginning of it.
"You're strange," she said.
Kai laughed. "You have no idea."
They reached the betting windows. Aurora leaned over the counter, spoke to the man behind it, slid her slip across. The man nodded, wrote something in his ledger, handed it back.
Aurora folded the slip and put it in her pocket. "If he loses, I'm coming for you."
"If he loses, you won't have to."
She looked at him for a moment, her blue eyes searching his face for something. Then she turned and walked toward the seats.
Kai watched her go, then turned and walked back toward Elijah.
The main event was coming. And everything they had was riding on it.