Page 60 of Psycho

“Maybe that witch was wrong. Maybe she was just fucking with us,” Trigger suggested.

It was only him, Menace, and me in the cager so I felt easy about being honest.

“It could be, but you never know. Though I got the impression she really seemed to dig Nera, and didn’t charge us for the locator spell, so I think she was legit,” I said, rubbing my fingertips down my beard as I stared out the window into the night sky.

As Trigger steered toward the industrial area, my mind drifted. It shouldn’t be drifting, I should be laser-focused on finding Nera, but after hours of driving around, I started to lose hope, like I had when I’d been with the Hellcats.

“You wanna be a prospect forever, or do you wanna get patched eventually, you little bitch?” This was followed up with a slap upside the head, and the only reason Uncle Jimmy was able to was because I was on my knees.

I stood, panting out loud, and raised myself to my full height. “If you put your hands on me one more time, you and me are gonna have some problems.” I set my jaw and stared at my uncle in his cruel blue eyes.

He laughed. “Oh, is that so, son?”

“I’m not your son,” I gritted out.

“You’re my fucking prospect and that’s good enough.” He took a plastic bottle filled with wolfsbane-laced water and used the nozzle to shower my head with it.

The wolfsbane burned temporarily and I knew he had done that to enrage me. To get my testosterone flowing and to hype me up.

“Now, go kick some vampire ass,” he said, smacking me on the butt.

We were nothing more than dogs, fighting in a ring. The vampires did it for entertainment purposes, but the wolves did it for money. Ten grand in cash to the winner, and after I’d staked that vamp, apparently Uncle Jimmy thought I was ready for the ring. I’d only been training a few weeks before this, but he’d run out of patience—and apparently, money.

The rules were simple: No supernatural tricks—super speed, or fangs and claws. Super strength was allowed.

The tall Black vamp was a wall of muscle. He had caramel-colored eyes that made him look ethereal and massive biceps. Mine were coming along, but even with me at six-two, he was still taller than me.

I raised my fists and bounced on the balls of my feet, waiting for him to make the next move. He glared at me and then smiled, punching out quickly to catch me in the jaw. My head snapped back, spit flying from my mouth.

Fuck, that hurt.

I heard him chuckle under his breath and that just pissed me off.

I dove for his mid-section, my high school football days coming back to me, and tackled him to the floor of the ring. I straddled his middle and hammered punches to his face, only getting in a few before he bucked me off and flipped me on my back. I managed to get up before he could pin me, and punched him in his wall of muscle stomach.

He grunted but it didn’t do much. Vampires’ healing ability was much quicker than ours, so the sting only lasted a few seconds. He lunged at me and his fist caught me on the side of the head, taking me down with a blinding headache. Then, he leapt on me and dug his fingers into my stomach, cracking my two bottom ribs and almost crushing my stomach. I whimpered and curled into a protective ball, gripping my head with one hand and my midsection with another, resisting the urge to cry out like the little bitch Uncle Jimmy said I was.

“Get your fucking ass up right now!” he shouted. Speak of the devil.

I glared at my uncle, and if I’d had a free hand, I would have given him the finger.

“…four, three, two, one!” I barely heard the ref count down to indicate I’d been down too long.

I rolled over with a groan to see the ref lift the vampire’s arm up high, declaring him the winner.

Fuck.

I stood and limped to the side of the ring, Jake lifting the nylon ropes enough for me crawl though.

“What the hell is wrong with you!” Uncle Jimmy bellowed.

“Quit it, Pops. I got this,” Jake snarled at his dad, my arm over his shoulder to help me out of there.

Jake got into the back of the van with me, immediately plucking the first-aid kit off the wall. He wrapped my ribs in gauze and medical tape, and hissed while he wrapped it tight. I would heal quickly, but my temper would not.

Uncle Jimmy and his second-in-command, Enforcer, yanked the doors open. My uncle looked murderous.

“How the hell did you let a disgusting-ass vampire best you? Huh, boy?” he seethed.

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