Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) by Angela White Page A

her in the chest. She grunted, kicked again.
    I took her boot to the side of my head, and used the momentum to yank her off of the cliff. I swung her out and tried to let go, but Chelsea wrapped both legs around me in an iron vise, and dragged us from the wall.
     
    9
    I woke to see my off-limits bachelor standing next to me, worry covering his face. My Changeling sight went over his healing bruise first, then the room.
    I was in the medical bay and the gated cubical next to me held my final battle, if I was to judge from the sounds. The medical quarter was set up much like The Block, with a center area for the doctor, surrounded by seven partitioned rooms. Each one was gated and shaded by a thin white curtain, allowing knowledge of each other, but no contact.
    The bed was softer than the couch in my room and the equipment looked well cared for, but the stark, white walls were a vivid contrast to the green I’d been waking to all week. There were no windows here either, but this time, I doubted it was to keep us in. It was more likely that the Network council didn’t want anyone to see what was out there, on this side of the honeycomb complex. The view was likely staggering.
    In place of an eighth bay, there was a small walkway that led to a main door. Less than ten feet from where I was, the shadow guarding that entrance was unmistakable.
      “What deal did you make to come here?” I snarled, full of bitter jealousy and a rage that needed a target.
    Jason looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
      “It does to me!” I growled. “Don’t ever do it again.”
    He bowed to my order. “I won’t.”
    By the tone, I suspected the price was high, and I admired his courage. “Will you be okay?”
    There was little I could do, but I had to ask. Want me or not, I already felt like he was mine.
    “Yes. There’s only so much she’ll do right now.”
    My hand shot out to capture his wrist. He didn’t flinch back, but he stiffened.
    “You can use my name. I give you permission.”
    Jason smiled sadly - a small glimpse of the man I thought he might eventually become if he were set free.
    “I already did.”
    I didn’t ask what he’d used it for, feeling the medication jerking me under. I let go of him. “Why did you come?”
      “I had to make sure you weren’t… dead. I had to see you.”
    His tone told me as much as his words. I was his only hope, that was why. I closed my lids to hold in the disappointment. “It takes more than that to kill a Pruett.”
    “Good.”
    For an instant, the fury blazed hotter than the medication and my eyes turned solid red as they flashed open. I hated the sound of his fear. “This will never happen to you again!”
    Jason gave me another of those gentle smiles that I knew I could become addicted to.
    “It’s worth it. Get better. I... I need you.”
    I wanted to examine the tone, the words, but the darkness pulled me under.
     
    Jason
    I closed the door to her gated area and made sure it was locked. I then waved the guards over and gave them a sharp glare that I knew Rankin observed with interest. She’d been waiting to see exactly what I was now showing - courage.
    “If the Pruett dies and there’s no feature match, the Network will replace every one of you. Taking payments is fine, but not when it interrupts their scheduled programming. You know?”
    The nods from the hard guards allowed me to turn to Rankin with an even tone despite my dread. I’d invoked Angelica’s name to get the defender’s attention, to make her bring me here. Rankin hadn’t liked agreeing one little bit and now, I would pay the fine. “I’m yours until dawn. No fighting.”
    Rankin’s evil orbs blazed red and she grabbed me by the arm. Her claws dug into my skin, stinging, as she dragged me down the dimly-lit service halls toward her Den.
    I’d done the best I could to ensure Angelica’s safety while she recuperated. If she won tomorrow night, she would protect me for a while after that. If