Page 77 of Lock Up the Darkness

“That’s right,” she returned firmly.

Fuck. She was calling him out.

Worse, she was trying to play him at his own game and win out.

While he was in his bloodthirsty state.

Big fucking mistake.

The glint of metal caught my eye, sending a shot of adrenaline through me. My roar to tell him to hold off didn’t reach him until it was too late—he moved too fucking fast.

He was sliding it from his pant leg with his free hand in one moment and in the next split-second, he plunged it into Aurora’s left side.

“Wrong move,” he growled, as he ripped it out, making her scream.

Fuck.

She stumbled back into the chain-link, threw her hand out to maintain her balance, but missed, and ended up on her ass.

He strode toward her slowly like a predator, the hard slap of his barefooted steps echoing around the room in a real eerie way.

As he advanced on her, she scrambled, slapping her hand to her bloodied side, and struggled to get back to her feet.

“You see, little lamb, the type of training you’ve had is geared to taking down an opponent as quickly and as efficiently as possible while ensuring you sustain very little damage. The world you’re entering now, the people you could come up against, want your pain and blood. They engage you in a fight, and it’s not just about defeating an opponent and winning said battle, it’s about making you suffer as much as possible. There’s no honor in it, no rules of engagement. It’s brutality filled with underhanded moves.” He held the blade up, her blood now slicking the cool metal. “Just like this blade coming out of nowhere.”

She lifted her head in defiance and stared up at him as she made it to her knees. “Go on,” she rasped. “Finish your lesson.”

His eyes were almost completely black as he loomed over her.

I watched his fingers tightening around the handle of the blade.

But it was his empty left hand that had my full attention as I watched it trembling.

That was the sign that he was lost to the darkness, that he’d given up control to it so he could feel the freedom of it, just for a little while.

And for those at his mercy during those times… it was a death sentence.

“Asher!” I yelled, sprinting to the entrance to the ring.

“Infidels Reign,” he spoke in a creepy singsong tone.

I barreled across the ring, bellowing out his name.

He didn’t respond.

And then my heart stopped in my chest as he brought the blade down.

“Don’t! Fucking don’t, Asher!”

Aurora’s bloodied hand shot out, grasping his wrist just an inch before it made contact with her throat.

Her other hand brushed her pant leg and then a glint of metal caught my eye a split-second before she plunged a throwing knife into his side.

He choked, his grip slipping from his own blade.

She wrenched it away and tossed it across the ring, grunting at the effort on her injured body.

And then she stared at him. “Never show your hand until the most opportune moment.”

---