Pinch followed him down the steps, staying about ten feet behind him. He thought about using mana to run faster, but his core was full, and he didn’t want to end up on his face. He needed a neophyte power that could use a ton of mana all at once. Ideally, he’d learn how to vent his mana like Rynn did.

  Pinch charged passed him—she was using mana. He could see it glowing her legs.

  She then spun around. “You’re not going to let us win, so I want another favor. You owe me.”

  He folded his arms across his chest. “But I don’t. Captain Sevanya paid you, with interest. We are even.”

  “It’s about the girl. The elf. I shouldn’t have…and I’m sorry.”

  Gray squinted in disgust. “Have you told her? I don’t think so. You did want to get naked with her in the bathhouse. But no apology.”

  Pinch clenched her fists at her sides. “It was Chaotica! I didn’t kill her! I only hit her! Saving all of your lives should’ve cleaned the slate. And then, with the guards, I put my life on the line again for you. Does that mean nothing?”

  “But then you were a bitch to us. You’ve been a thorn in our sides ever since you got here. Yes, I know, it’s a pun. Because of your name. You do know that we can’t be friends.”

  She grimaced. “Friends. I don’t need friends. Only children need friends.”

  “Then what do you need?” Gray was so very tired of this fae girl.

  “I told you,” the fae snapped. “I need another favor. I want this…this thing out of me. You don’t understand but I do. Please.”

  Gray was confused. ‘Please what?”

  “Please fight me. If you win, I will never speak to you or your squad again. If I win, you let me kiss you.”

  That made Gray laugh and laugh. “I’m not kissing you. I don’t know what that would do to your lust resonance, but I know it would do to my little life, and it would be nothing good. You savagely beat my bonded. How did you think this conversation would go?”

  She didn’t move, and she didn’t talk for several long moments. “I’ll give you money,” she said finally. “I have to know.”

  “Because of your greed resonance,” Gray said. “What kind of fucked up core oath did you make anyway?”

  The scowl never left her face, but her eyes showed a deep hurt. “We don’t talk about our resonances. Or our core oaths.”

  The whole situation felt unfair. Then he remembered his dream. Was this showing Pinch compassion? He’d just have to win the fight. He’d come so far. Why not fight the crazy fairy lady?

  He sighed. “Fine. If I win—and I will win—you’ll pay us back our thousand shekels including the interest you charged. And you won’t talk to us, you won’t look at us, we’ll be done with each other. This is idiocy, but if I can get rid of you, it’s a chance I’ll take.”

  That hurt in her eyes deepened. “But I saved you. Twice.”

  “It was a kind gesture, but it was a little too little, and a little too late.”

  Then some of Pinch’s old fire burned the hurt out of her eyes. “You want to be rid of me, well, I want to be rid of you. Let’s end this before the dawn. End it forever.”

  He laughed. “You’re not going to kill me, are you? Maybe like you killed Sindara and the dwarf?”

  “His name was Thormud Forgemace. And it wasn’t me. I have my theories but that doesn’t matter right now. Come. Let’s end this.”

  He followed her to a sparring pavilion, still not sure what was going on. But sparring with the fae woman was going to be far better exercise than running. And he was excited to use his mana against her. Finally. How many times had they fought over the summer, her using her sword and him using his stick? Countless.

  He picked up a bloodless blade and charged it. It immediately glowed yellow, buzzing in the quiet morning.

  Pinch grabbed her weapon and charged it as well. She walked onto the sands. “I’ll give the salute. We’ll fight to first blood. I’m going to win. I have to.”

  “Because you’ve been up at night, sleepless, longing for my kiss…my touch. It’s why you were up this morning so early. Is that about right?” He said it as a joke.

  Surprisingly, she growled, “Yes.”

  Was she joking?

  She took her jacket and then her blouse. She stood there with a strip of material covering her chest. Every part of her—outside of her scant breasts—was muscled.

  “Stripping already?” he chuckled. “You’ve not won yet.”

  “You strip,” she barked. “More skin for us to use.”

  “Fine.” He dropped his jacket and shirt onto the stone next to the sand.

  They faced off.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  She glared at him with such hate he had to laugh. “You can’t draw first blood with a look, Pinch. Let’s get this started.”

  “Fine. Repeat after me. ‘By instincts strong and mana bright, first blood drawn will win the fight!’”

  He pressed the pommel of his sword against his chest and repeated what she said.

  They both bowed.

  “Fight!” she called out and attacked.

  Gray leapt back out of range, and the first thing he did was give her core as much mana as he possibly could. She was already so full because yes, she had been feeling lust for him. Maybe if it were anyone else, he would’ve been tempted, but this was Pamalee Thornpinch. He’d rather sleep with a sloth dog.

  Giving her mana was easy because her core was so big and so very hungry. It accepted the mana easily.

  “What are you doing?” she shrieked.

  He didn’t answer but filled his body with the leftovers of his mana. He was going to end this fight, get his money, and walk away. He wanted no part of this fae girl and her insanity.

  He was fast, quick, strong, and he lashed out.

  Anyone else would’ve been caught in his trap, but not her.

  She parried his blade in a shower of sparks that blinded him for a minute. She lashed out and he dodged it—barely. He felt the metal slide across the skin of his arm. It was miracle that she didn’t win.

  He spun away, and shifted his feet, as if he were going to retreat farther.

  She was tricked and went after him, but he didn’t retreat.

  He stepped in close, threw an elbow, and it struck her face—he felt the bone of her chin instead of anything softer.

  She staggered back, dabbing at her nose. No blood.

  She yelled and sped across the sands, striking at him from the left, from the right, in a frenzy of attacks. He dodged some, blocked others, their blades sizzling. It was actually pretty, far prettier than the duels he’d seen growing up in the arena.

  He stepped back from the light show. “I’m bonded. Whatever infatuation you have for me is doomed. You know that, right?”

  She was breathing hard. “I’m not infatuated.”

  “They why do you keep staring at me?”

  “Enough!” she screamed.

  She attacked him again, but this time, she managed to get a leg behind him. She tripped him, and he fell back onto the sand.

  She leapt at him, but he managed to roll away. He was up on his feet, attacking her, and she was forced back—to the very edge of the sand. If he forced her out, the fight would be over, and he would win.

  She then ducked under his swing and scurried to the center of sand.

  Both of them were sweating and breathing hard.

  “You have mana,” she said after a while. “So the poaching worked. You have a brand on your chest. If I didn’t know better, I would think it’s the trayah jalana.”

  “Funny you should say that because it is the trayah jalana,” Gray said. “It’s the same one that Zaccai of the Fire used.”

  “Impossible,” the fae spat. “And I should be winning this fight. Your mana marks, on your back, you’re still basically a fucking neophyte, hardly an acolyte. Why are you so skilled?”

  “And handsome,” he said with a grin. “You forgot handsome. Where are your mana marks? I can see a lot of skin. They must be somewhere…interesting.”

  “Enough!” Pinch charged forward.

  Gray was able to block her attacks, but he was running out of mana. It was a great joke that he had this massive core, but to use his magic, he had to give most of it away.

  He chopped at his leg, and she brought her sword down, and they exchanged more blows, before he stepped forward, catching her blade with his.

  Their hilts locked together, and he was in her face. “It’s not going to be a good kiss. We hate each other.”

  Her sweaty face glowed in the sizzling light of their bloodless blades. She was pretty, yes, but also savage. Why did she smell so good? He felt a bit of lust give him mana, and he was grateful for it.

  “I….don’t…hate…you…” she grunted, using her strength to force him back.

  Once their blades came unlocked, he would have to be quick. She was so strong, but then, she’d had years of perfecting her meridians. He felt how unfair that was. He’d spent so much of his life week. Anger filled him. Yes, and with that wrath came mana.

  He used to grow stronger. He dug in his feet. And threw her away from him.

  She staggered back before she fell, tripping in the sand.

  He went in for the kill, feeling powerful and confident. He smacked her sword away.

  Fear filled her eyes for a second. She knew she lost.

  “No!” She screamed like a wounded animal, a lost ghost, trapped in darkness. She leapt to her feet and flung shuriken at him, one after another after another.

  Damn. He’d forgotten about that her mana abilities.

  He blocked some but one of the stars struck him in the face, in the forehead, and he felt that pain. His hand went to his face, and yes, he was bleeding. He’d lost.

  He dropped the sword. “You can’t…”

  “I can!” she roared and tackled him.

  He ended up on his back, on the sand, staring up into her face.

  She was straddling him, and he felt the lust in her. It was overwhelming. Why did he keep ending up with these insane women who wanted to kiss him? First Settie, then Sindara, then Ames, and now Pinch herself.

  She bent over so their faces were only inches away from him. He felt his sex stiffen. She was sitting on him in such a way that felt so good.

  She had to have felt it.

  Her eyes searched his face. “It has to be bad, doesn’t it? I mean, the kiss. It has to be bad.”

  He laughed. “Of course it’s going to be bad. I’ll be thinking of how I lost a thousand shekels.”

  “You talk too much,” she said softly. “You’re always laughing and joking, and I see how you and the elf bitch look at each other. You’re bonded. This will be a very bad kiss.”

  “At least we agree on that, Pinch,” he said.

  “Call me Pamalee. Be nice to me…just for this moment. Please. Oh, please.” Her eyes had filled with tears.

  It wasn’t just her core that was hungry. There was a vast hunger inside of her which she had spent her whole life hiding.

  “Okay, Pamalee…how should we…”

  She pressed her lips against his. Her smell overwhelmed him, the feel of her body on him, and before he knew it, he was touching the soft skin of her back. He felt the muscles there and then the softness of her hips.

  She kissed him more, switching to the other side, and then touched his lips with her tongue.

  Before he knew it, his anger at her mixed with lust, and he growled, grabbed her, and threw her down. He got between her legs, covering her body with his. He pressed her into the sand as the kiss became this wild thing, this burning inferno of lust, and he could feel her desire more than he could feel his own.

  It was that hunger in her soul, calling to him, pleading with him, threatening to devour him.

  Their cores came dangerously close, and he could see her on the ship, with the older fae woman, her eyes sunken, and her face ashen. Two things came to him. The woman was Pinch’s mother. And the woman was a husk—she’d broken her core oath. Was that why Pinch had gone into exile in the Freckle Islands?

  He broke the kiss.

  Pinch lay there with her eyes closed, in a state of ecstasy. For a moment, her hunger was gone.

  Gray touched her soft dark hair, rousing her. “It was a good kiss, Pamalee. But I’m bonded. Explaining this to Rynn is going to be impossible.”

  Pinch’s eyes opened. He expected more anger, or more tears, or something. Instead, there was a quiet calm there. “Rynn won you. You are hers. I won’t bother you or your squad anymore. Tell her I apologize for hurting her. I’m sorry, Gray. I’m so sorry for everything. Could you get off me now?”

  He got up.

  Pinch went and put on her clothes and left him standing there alone in the sparring pavilion.

  The kiss hadn’t opened any doors. It had closed them all.

  It was for the best, but why did he feel so empty?