Val tilted her head. “Are you asking me to join your gym?”

“I’m not asking you anything.” Diego chuckled. “I’m telling you that you’re a kick-ass amateur fighter, but you could be much more. I could get you to pro in a matter of months if you want to fight for the UFC.”

Liam made a strangled sound. Isabella fanned him like she was worried he’d passed out.

“Wow.” Val blinked. “I’m honored, but... I don’t know if I have the time to train. I’m a full-time bodyguard, I run my own jewelry company, and I part-own this place.” She gestured at the bar. “I’m not⁠—”

Henry shoved her aside. “She means yes.”

“She does!” Liam announced.

“She does?” Val echoed.

“This is the kind of opportunity you don’t pass up, Val,” Liam urged.

“Easy, boys.” Diego laughed. “I understand if Val has too many other commitments.”

Val studied him, chewing the inside of her cheek. “I do have other commitments, but you nearly handed me my ass tonight, and you were playing by MMA rules. I often fight alone and outnumbered. There are no rules on the street when I’m protecting my clients. I’ve relied on sheer strength for too long. I owe it to them to be the most technically advanced fighter I can be.”

Diego grinned. “Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes,” Val told him.

Her friends whooped and cheered. Buck and Archibald chest-bumped with enthusiasm. Liam squared off to Henry to do the same, but Henry elected to high-five, to Isabella’s noticeable relief.

Diego sipped his beer. “I’ll see you on Monday, Val.” He slid a business card across the counter. “Text me for the time and address.”

“You got it.” Val took the card, grinning.

“Though this is a fantastic beer, I won’t finish it.” Diego chuckled. “Thanks to you, I need a handful of ibuprofen and my bed.”

The grizzled fighter left, and someone cranked the ridiculous song up again. Val laughed and shook her head as the drunken celebration rolled around her, but she couldn’t hold back the flood of warmth seeping through her soul.

Goosebumps rose on her skin when Tetra snatched Diego’s half-empty glass from the bar. If this night was a warm bonfire, the faerie was a cold breeze from the chill and deadly north.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Genevieve steered through the streets as Val spoke into her Bluetooth headset. “Yep, Blair and Yuka are safely at home. Their home security system is kick-ass. I doubt anyone can break in.” Anyone human, she silently added.

“Okay. Great. You’re dropping Tetra at the Iron Fist now, then?” Liam asked.

“That’s right.” Val nodded as Genevieve rolled past Continental Army Plaza.

“Fine.” Liam exhaled. “I still think you should have brought backup, Val. We could ask Diego or someone.”

“I work alone, and I’ve got this,” Val told him. “Run me through the plan one more time.”

“Okay. We’ll start at the warehouse I told you about...” Liam began.

The plan wasn’t complicated, not that that made its execution any simpler. Liam had finished outlining it as Genevieve purred into her parking spot in front of the Iron Fist. Its curtained windows made it look sleepy. Enzo’s silhouette was dimly visible as he pottered around the closed bar.

“Got it?” Liam finished.

Val grinned. “Got it.”

“You’re sure about the backup thing?”

“I don’t need backup,” Val growled. “Listen, I’m at the Fist. I’ll call you later.”

She turned to Tetra and did a double-take. Instead of her usual posture—stiff and straight, arms folded in defiance—the faerie slumped in her seat. Her hands lay limp in her lap as she stared out the window.

“Tetra?” Val muttered. “We’re here.”

“Where are you going?” Tetra growled.

Val snorted. “What do you care? You’ll be late for your shift if you keep sitting there.”

“You’re going somewhere dangerous, aren’t you?” Tetra kept her head turned to the window. “You’re going to confront those humans who’ve been trying to hurt Blair and Yuka.”

“It’s none of your business. You’re holding us up.”

Tetra’s shoulders tightened. “Liam’s right. You should have backup.”

“Were you eavesdropping on my private conversation?” Val snapped.

“You’re sitting in the car right next to me, Val! I know you think I’m stupid, but I can connect the dots,” Tetra barked. “You can’t take on an army of humans with guns on your own.”

“I can, and I will,” Val snarled.

“I was helpful last time. Don’t you remember? You needed me!” Tetra yelled.

“What’s your deal?” Val demanded. “It’s not like you give a shit. I won’t let you use my clients’ safety for your entertainment.”

“Where are you going?” Tetra repeated.

“None. Of. Your. Business.” Val’s hands ached as she clenched the steering wheel in white-knuckled fists. “Don’t make me order you to get out.”

Tetra bit back a strangled sound that could have been a sob, then shoved the car door open and lunged out.

“Don’t slam the door!” Val barked before she could think.

Tetra’s body trembled with rage as she gently shut the door behind her. She finally turned to Val, who froze. Were those tears in her black eyes?

Tetra blinked. If there had been tears, they vanished. “Can you tell me⁠—”

“Do whatever Enzo tells you,” Val snapped. “I don’t have time for this.”

She stomped on the accelerator, and Genevieve screeched away from the curb. Her left rear wheel hit a patch of icy slush that sprayed Tetra’s pants, and the faerie squealed in indignation.