𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭
Her past haunted her. Her future loomed like darkness. She wasn't prepared for all of this. After all, she was just Estelle, the Star Summoner.
(Siege and Storm/Ruin and Rising)(Nikolai Lantsov x oc)(First book in the Sa...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Snakes
"How are we going to pay this off?" whispered Estelle. "I have no ship and no crew as of now. How are your funds?"
"Practically nonexistent," said Nikolai. "We could steal some money."
"From who?"
He sighed. "I don't know."
Ana took a step towards them. In her hands was a pad of paper and a pencil. On it, she'd written, "Your old captain is in Ketterdam."
Estelle looked at Nikolai. "He's still a rich man," she reasoned.
"What business is he in?" he asked.
Estelle shrugged. Ana wrote down something else and showed them. "He owns farms in the countryside of Kerch."
"How–?" began Estelle.
Ana held up a finger, cutting her off. She flipped the page and wrote again, "And he runs an illegal fight club."
"How much is your indenture?" Nikolai asked.
1 million kruge, she wrote.
"So, what, we illegally fight against others and earn a million kruge? Do bets even go up that high?" Estelle wondered.
Ana nodded. And more. The higher you fight up the chain, the larger the bets get.
Estelle let out a breath and crossed her arms. "I don't know. Seems risky."
"Efficient," corrected Nikolai. "Technically, I could only do one fight and we'd get all the money we need. Sturmhond is a famous name around here." Ana furrowed her brows. Storm Hunt?
Estelle raised her eyebrow. "Apparently not that famous." He rolled his eyes. "And if you think you're the only one fighting, you've got another thing coming. Do they segregate male and female fights?"
Ana shook her head. It's usually just male fights. Not a lot of women enter.
"Absolutely not," said Nikolai. "Leave it to me.
Ana hadn't learned yet that eventually, Nikolai would cave in for her. Either that, or she'd be so stubborn that she just wouldn't listen to him.
"Fine," she sighed, seeing his determined face. "But if you die, I'm going to kill you."
He blinked. "Noted."
—
The plan was simple: find the underground club, get Nikolai signed up to fight, Nikolai wins, money earned, indenture paid, ship cleared of traitors.
