Page 6 of Ignited

So she was in a race against time—following a chain of clues like a treasure hunt, all the way back to the person she hated most in the world, to get her revenge. To make everything right. Shoring up her control with fights and black-market potions—whatever it took.

And the next link in that chain was somewhere in this godsforsaken wilderness of central New York state. She just had to find a way to get to him.

Karisma left the fight ring, climbing through the ropes and leaped lightly from the platform to the ground. Walking past the line of bouncers who kept the crowd away from the fighters, she touched her forehead where the blood was still sticky from one of the hits she’d taken. That would close up soon—nothing like shifter healing to give you an advantage in a fight.

She just had to get out of here before it became noticeable, how quick she was healing.

Backstage in the ‘ready’ room, she ignored the naked guys in the open showers, sluicing the blood and sweat off themselves before heading out. She headed straight for her locker, at the end of the row, battered and with half the paint worn off. Everything about this place was low-rent.

She liked it that way. Low-rent, illegal, under the radar. Just like her.

Karisma rubbed off most of the blood and sweat with a towel from her locker, and then put her clothes on over her skin-tight fight spandex. She’d shower at home.

Reaching into her duffel bag, she felt for the tiny potion vial in the inner pocket, closing her hand around it, the touch of the metal making her feel safe. Did she need it? Her tiger seemed sated—maybe she could save it. She was running low, and she wasn’t sure when she could get more.

Behind her she caught the scent of Tucker, the club owner, and swung around.

He held out a wad of cash. “That was great stuff tonight, babe,” he said.

She took the money and put it down her cleavage, inside her fight top. “Don’t call me babe.”

He ignored that. “I want you to stay on another two weeks.”

She hesitated. The money was good here, and the fights were easy. Nobody knew she was a shifter except the other shifters, and they weren’t telling. Shifters were a secret from humans, and as fighters, it gave them an advantage. She didn’t know if Tucker knew what they were, but he’d never said anything.

It was a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ kind of place.

Two more weeks of fights could help her eke out her potions. On the other hand, it could also bring too much attention and distract her from her real mission.

“I don’t know,” she said slowly.

“Come on,” Tucker coaxed. “The word’s just starting to get out on you. You’re bringing in the crowds. What’ll it take? A percentage of the cover charge? I can do that. You’ll clean up. Look!”

He pulled a slightly crumpled flyer out of his vest pocket. It had her picture right smack in the middle of it in living color.

And below the photo, it said:

KARISMA, THE SIBERIAN TIGER QUEEN

UNDEFEATED FIGHT CHAMPION

WATCH HER DESTROY THE COMPETITION

LIMITED TIME

DON’T MISS THIS AMAZING SPECTACLE!

For fuck’s sake.

“I’m gonna put these up in all the towns around here,” Tucker said. “Maybe even Lake Placid. And on the internet.”

Oh, hell no. “I told you when I started, no internet publicity. And nothing in Lake Placid. Only local. You break your word, I’m out. As in, not even showing up tomorrow night.”

She could not afford internet publicity. There were people after her, and it wasn’t like the world was full of women with tiger-striped hair. If she could have dyed it black, she would have, but it wouldn’t take dye.

Part of the fucking magic.

Tucker’s face fell. “If you say so, babe. But you’re losing out on a lot of money.”