Page 17 of Creatures that Breathe

I duck a sloppy fist, shove the druggie to the floor, never taking my eyes off her.

Who would mistake me for a hero? No one.

Absolutely no one, my curse confirms.

I sidestep a tackle and over a chorus of boos ask her, “What’s your great plan when I get out of this ring?”

“Only winner’s leave,” she returns, tone lacking any animosity. “Are you going to hit him? He’s hit you.”

Once, and he cheated. I bow dramatically for her, arms spreading wide. “Apologies for dragging out my death.”

“Given the roster—” She winces as I throw my forearm up to block a harsh combination, the force of the impact reverberating through my bones. “Given the roster, I hoped for this to be brief. I thought ...” She pauses, voice strained, gaze tracking the predatory movements of my opponent. “I thought it’d be easy for you. No one would get hurt.”

“Should I explain the concept of cage fighting to you?” I ask, spitting a swell of blood and ducking a kick before rocking back on my heels as the Annihilator’s momentum throws him to the floor like a sack of flour. “Would you like to tag in and find out?”

“You’re one of the Blackguard,” she hiss-screams, as if that explains everything. All it does is rile the creatures watching, their cheers growing louder, pressing her tighter into the metal, her grip turns white.

My boots are leaving slush marks across the concrete, and Team Roids falters mid combination. Is he really their best fighter? Lev could kill him with a sneeze. My focus is on Leni. “Hey, next time, why don’t you yell it next time for the nosebleeds?”

“Why don’t you end this so we can get out of here?”

“My sincerest apologies,” I deadpan. “Does the Great Plan have a time limit?”

“Yes in fact, it does.” I bet she’s tapping her little silver boot like a rabbit late to tea.

I smile. It’s nice. Chatting. Even with a bright red target painted on my back. A target she painted on my back. She worked with the Chire children to lure both Lev and me here. For what reason, other than to enter me in the ring,?

No. She couldn’t have, that’d mean she’d have remembered my name.

“You will pay!” The Annihilator roars, his face purple with frustration. He’s swinging out like a cat dunked in water, all skill abandoned. I twist from Leni as attack after attack steals my focus, annoying the ever-loving shit out of me.

I almost end it, fed up. Until I notice the dazed frosted blue gaze chasing me around the ring. By the time I return to her, her pupils are overtaking the blue.

“You’re light on your feet.”

I could hear her if I was deaf in heavy gunfire, as if I’ve trained myself to her frequency, but I shrug, nonchalant, pretending she doesn’t sound impressed. Admiring. My veins heat. The first bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. “Hate to disappoint.”

“The opposite.” Her nose scrapes the fencing. “It’s just …” The Annihilator’s angry shout cuts her off, demanding a fight, blood, bones, a fiver for a cab ride home—I’m not listening. Leni’s eyelashes are the color of frostbite. “I didn’t expect you to be graceful. It’s—”

I’m on my toes for her to finish. My heart pounding in my chest, my cheeks, my fingertips.

A foot slams onto her fingers, rattles the fence. Leni cries out.

My limbs lock.

A bolt of anger consumes me as fast and vicious as a bomb’s wick, drowning out everything else. The seedy lights, the smell of sweat, Lev’s impatient stare. I only hear her plea to get off while the Annihilator demands I stop fooling around.

Something poisonous and white hot rolls through my blood, coiling and lashing. It’s been so long, I almost fail to recognize it, scarcely think to acknowledge it. But it grows until I can’t feel anything else, sharp and dirty and tempting.

Possession.

Before he can blink, I throw my elbow across his jaw, chase the impact with my white knuckled fist, and slam my boot into the curve of his knee. Only then, when he’s piled on the ground, blinking rapidly, sucking down air, do I begin.

Knocking him forward, pounding his face into the dusty concrete, I grind my boot into his hand. It’s a sickening crunch, the bones cracking and splintering, flattening beneath me. I push harder, teeth clenching.

Payback. A cruel smile spreads across my face.

Every muscle in my body is taut, pulsating with fury. I flip him over so he can see me smiling. The sound of the Annihilator’s skull hitting the concrete echoes, a sharp crack that silences the Ballasts. Whispers permeate up into the rafters, a blend of murmured shock and disbelief.

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