Page 64 of Run From Me

“It’s owned by some fucking shell operation. It’s going to take our guys more time to do some digging. Lucky for us, they like to dig,” Zeid said.

“Yeah. Well, if shit goes down, they might be digging a lot more up than just the ownership of some creepy fucking carnival.”

Zeid just nodded as we both scanned the tent. For having been some crazy-secretive fight that seemed to benefit no one, there were more people showing up. It still seemed empty if it were meant to make money. The closer we watched the people though, well shit.

“How many people do you see looking strung out and high?” I asked. “You see what I see?” I asked Zeid.

He nodded. We tracked every move. These people didn’t have money.

“We need to fish out whoever is in charge. This is no longer a suspected shit show. It’s some kind of setup. No bombs though. Nothing quick to kill everyone. Our boys have checked every fucking corner. Under that ring even,” Zeid said.

Cas was around here somewhere, and neither of us liked him being separated from us.

That fucking ache in the pit of my stomach was sitting there like it wore cement shoes and couldn’t come up to the surface. Something was wrong, but I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

I jerked my head back to the ring as an announcer yelled into a mic.

“Welcome to the first annual Battle of Tithes.”

I glanced back as Cas’s hand landed on my shoulder.

“I have the crew on standby. None are here as spectators. They’ll be waiting at all exits. Look for the red.”

I nodded and went back to watching the announcer. We had escape plan after escape plan. Just like I had guys watching Cali’s place. I didn’t like leaving her, but I also didn’t like the idea that I didn’t like leaving her.

Fuck. I didn’t like that I wouldn’t have fought the idea of sleeping next to her tonight. Maybe I needed to.

The announcer called my alias. Sure, we knew what we looked like, but it was best that names were kept out of this.

“The Butcher vs. the Hammer.”

I was the Butcher because I was damn good at making sure no one was recognizable. I was good with all weapons, but my fists? I flexed my hands again as I pushed away everything around us.

“Xander, who is that?”

I looked back at Zeid as I saw who I was fighting.

“New blood?”

The guy didn’t have enough tattoos or scars to make this even look legit.

“Someone is setting us up,” I whispered over the cheer of a crowd that had no idea what they’d walked into.

“Nah, someone is setting you up. You’re the first fight of the night,” Zeid pointed out.

I got into the ring and bounced on the balls of my feet as I warmed up. These fights weren’t anything like professional ones, but something about the way guy moved screamed professionally trained. His movements were too clean.

I inched toward the center as the announcer called us forward.

We met in the center, and I smiled like the sweetheart I was.

“Never seen you before.”

He smirked.

“You won’t make it out of this ring alive tonight.”

I cocked my head, watching his every shift and move, clearing my mind of everything in the room. Only here could I let all my demons out to play. The ones that screamed to be let free. It had been too long. Ripple had merely been a snack for my damned soul.

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