I stood under the shower letting the hot water sting my bruises and relax my muscles. Thinking about the match I began to smile. It had felt good to be back. The Crusher hadn't been a trained fighter, or at least not that long in training. If he had been an experienced fighter I would have been in some trouble. He simply fell back on his brute strength and reflexes. As a natural fighter he had potential.
The truth was I could have easily dodged most of, if not all, his attacks but I wanted to give the crowd something to watch and I felt alive with every blow. I don't know why but the stronger and more deadly the fighter the more I had a desire to fight them. It's not like I haven't killed already, hunters and unstable rogues had come after me a few times, but I've never taken a life for money. It just seemed wrong.
I heard the door to the changing room squeak open and someone walked in. With a sigh I rolled my eyes as his scent filled my nose.
"What are you wanting Rodger?" He chuckled.
"What? I'm not allowed to enjoy the backstage show?" I turned the water off and looked around to watch him as he leant against the wall. "Anyway, I came to tell you I have your winnings up in my office. Bella delivered them to me a little while ago. I want to discuss you coming back to fight on a regular rota. Like..." He waved a hand. "Twice a week?" I shrugged and grabbed my towel as I dried myself off.
"Maybe, let's start with two times a month." He nodded and his eyes were watching every movement I made.
"I can work with that." He smirked. "Could really bring in the crowds if I choose the best opponents..." He began to get lost in thought but with the way he was watching me I couldn't tell which thoughts. As much as I hated to admit it Rodger was good at what he did. He was a devious underhanded werewolf that could turn a profit selling a dead horse and his charm was legendary.
"So, what was the word about tonight's fight?" I went to my bag and grabbed a pair of underwear and slipped them on.
"Ugh, the fight yes." He shook his head. "Your dramatic comeback to the ring left them all speechless." He chuckled. "Now there's no doubt that the pink Banshee is a fake." I snorted with laughter as I pulled on a t-shirt. Rodger raised his brow. "No bra for your way home?" I shrugged.
"The underwire will rub on my bruise." I pointed to the middle of my chest. "What? Didn't you notice the massive wound while you stood there gawking?" He shrugged.
"You have many assets that can distract one from their medical observations."
"Medical observations? Is that what you're calling being a pervert now?" He shrugged.
"You know me, Werewolf lust runs rampant in me." He sighed. "Anyway, the overall reaction to the fight was positive. They want you back." He turned as I pulled on a pair of jean shorts. "When you're done come to my office and collect your money. We can discuss your return to the ring too while you're here." I watched him leave then packed my stuff into my bag then looked to the locker. Slowly I pulled out my key and opened the locker door. I had cleared everything out and it looked odd. With a grin I turned to my bag and began to put my toiletries inside along with a few other things like wound dressings and a hairbrush. It felt so good and so natural to be doing this. I stood back and grinned.
"Perfect..." I grabbed my fighting gear from the cleaning box and nodded. "I need one of these enchanted things at home too..." I placed my towel in and after a few moments the box beeped, and I pulled out my towel all fluffy and clean. With a smirk I looked to the label on the side of the box before placing what was left into the locker and closing it. Now I had nothing to carry as I had even stored my bag at the back of the locker. With a jingle I placed my keys into my pocket then left the locker room.
I walked up the stairs to the little office that overlooked the ring. If you hated heights, you would freak out with the drop to one side. This, of course, was the backdoor entrance and it opened onto a balcony at the back of Rodger's office. Rodger would use his office and the balcony to entertain platinum members when he was cruising for new talent and I was often brought here to sign memorabilia and rub elbows, always with my mask on.
There was a noise from below and I saw that the death match had come to an end. The Soul Sucker had claimed another life and was devouring what was left of his opponent. I gave a shudder.
'How could anyone that nasty save me?' The Soul Sucker was an anomaly. He was from one of the rare races that thankfully don't usually live to be more than fifteen and the ones that do are all female. The females, although strong, have no desire to fight. The Soul Sucker not only made it to twenty five as a male but he seemed to enjoy killing and eating his opponent. Why Rodger ever took this psycho on was beyond my understanding.
The backdoor to Rodger's office was already open and smooth jazz drifted out. With a sniff I stopped. I could smell the bourbon and chocolate inside the room. Carefully I peeked in through the large wide window and frowned. Rodger sat alone in his office a glass in hand seeming to get lost in the music.
'Suspicious...' I thought as I knocked on the door. He looked up at me and waved me in.
"No need to knock babe." He pointed. "Your money's over there." I looked to where he pointed and a large duffle bag sat open and wads of money could be seen inside.
"Good," I entered the office and reached for the bag.
"Hang on a moment, I have questions for you." I let the bag fall back to the floor and sighed.
"What now?" He shrugged and indicated I should sit in the comfortable looking armchair.
"Like I said earlier I want to know if you're coming back to fight properly." He took his feet off the sofa and placed them to the floor as he leant his arms onto his knees to look at me. "Especially since I had to call in the Soul Sucker to clean up the mess." I frowned.
"You make it sound like it's my fault that Psycho is here." Rodger grinned and handed me a glass of Bourbon.
"It is in a way." He sighed. "As soon as Vox heard that the Banshee was fighting he immediately went into a rage and demanded that the imposter be taken from the ring." He pointed. "That's you in this scenario." I rolled my eyes and took a sip. "When I said no he demanded blood and all that shit. You know, quoting rules and regulations ya ya ya." He waved a hand. "To cut a long story short as soon as you called me about fighting I got on the phone to the Soul Sucker and he agreed to come in. I guess he was hungry." He shuddered. "Anyway, I told Vox where to shove it and quoted my own rules and regulations at him and the chairman agreed with me and a death match was set and we could both put forward a fighter. He refused the fake Banshee which meant I didn't have to fight you." He waved a hand to the balcony.
"So... the Soul Sucker came in to do the fight instead of me?" He nodded.
"Like I said. He must've been hungry." He sighed. "It's not like he wants to do what he does. It's more because he needs to do what he does." I frowned.
"What?" Rodger shrugged.
"He's a fairy." He saw the look on my face. "Not gay... well..." He shrugged. "He might be. It's never came up in a topic of conversation... but I mean he's from the fairy races." Rodger took a swig from his glass. "Look, you and I are from the human were-family. Part human part werewolf. All human were-creatures are mammals like cats, wolves, bears, monkey... If its mammal, then there's probably a were-form... I even heard that there was a were-dolphin, but I think someone was pulling my leg there." I nodded.
"Where's this going?" Rodger smirked.
"The Soul Sucker is a were-fairy. Part fairy, part were... there were-forms are more extreme..." He raised one eyebrow and smirked his pleasant features at me. "His were-form is a spider. He's from the spider fairy group of things and has to eat living pray to sustain his life." He shrugged. "He also can't mate with his own kind as the female eat the male after sex to kickstart the baby making prosses and give birth to a nest of eggs." He shuddered. "Poor fellow." With a gulp of my Bourbon I looked to Rodger.
"So you took him in as a fighter because he can clean up messes for you?" Rodger nodded.
"And he can make money and I protect him from the consequences of randomly killing in the human world." He held up his arms. "Not perfect but it's a win win situation." I shook my head
"If you say so." He nodded then sighed.
"You're a really smart woman, a double bachelor is nothing to sniff at, but why focus on the mundane?" He took a sip. "I mean with just one fight and a well-placed bet you've made more than most people make in a year. You could really take this fighting business to the next level and be up there with the gold club fighters." I nodded as he poured me another bourbon but remained silent.