Page 120 of Darling Wildfire
“He’s certainly impressive,” the blond said. “I heard he’s caught Albatron’s eye.”
Irritation flickered briefly across Vetticus’ face but he smirked and shrugged.
“He’s welcome to look all he wants,” Vetticus said.
He directed the men down the line with flourish of his hand.
“Have you made your bets for tonight?” He asked.
I didn’t hear the men reply as they drifted away out of earshot. I wondered who Albatron was. The owner ofAtrox? Another sponsor?Maybe—definitely someone of high status within the company. I filed the name away.
Vetticus obviously had a lot of privileges and was respected, and slightly feared, by most people here. For the next hour I periodically caught sight of him moving about the room talking and mingling. He was in his element.
An hour or two passed and people were beginning to make their way through an archway off in the corner of the ballroom. When nearly everyone had disappeared, guards came and one by one unchained us and led us through a different door.
The room they took us to was vastly different from the ballroom. It was dimly lit, dank and smelled like mildew and copper. I heard a sizable crowd cheer from down a hallway. The guards escorted man after man down the hallway and they wouldn’t return. Soon it was only Kai and I sitting on a bench.
“Sounds like some fight club shit,” he said.
When I didn’t reply he looked over at me. “We’ll see what you’re made of without your little friends around.”
I still didn’t say anything. I had no desire to be the entertainment but it didn’t look like I had a choice.
I stepped out into a sunken dirt arena with Kai on my heels.
Eight foot tall walls surrounded us and above that was chain link fencing where the crowd sat looking down into the ring. The dirt beneath my feet was already muddy with blood. The guards unchained our wrists and stepped out.
The crowd went wild and turned into a roaring mass of noise I couldn’t decipher. I stayed where I was, watching as Kai began to circle me until he disappeared behind me out of sight. My attention turned to the stands. I found Vetticus almost directly in front of me and locked eyes with him.
Now I understood what he meant when he asked if the men had placed their bets. Kai made another circle around me and was at my back again. I felt the moment he made his move and he landed a punch to my kidneys before kicking my legs out from under me.
I let him.
I fell to my knees in the dirt, my stare still fixed on Vetticus.
Kai circled back around in front of me and darted in to land a punch to myjaw. My head whipped to the side. I slowly returned my gaze to Vetticus. The crowd was still loud but the tension was heavy—I could feel their confusion sitting in the air above me. I was supposed to be the top player and I wasn’t doing anything.
Kai rushed in, delivering another hit to my face. This one sent me down onto one arm and blood assaulted my mouth as he split my lip. I straightened and looked at Vetticus. I let the pain stoke the fire of contempt inside me. I spit out blood onto the dirt in front of me and bared my teeth in a bloody grin.
Fury transformed his features and I couldn’t wipe the sneer from my face. Kai continued to attack, although he also seemed frustrated by my lack of participation and his advances became vicious and calculated. Kai came in close and hit me hard enough to send me to the ground. He crouched down, pulling my head up to look at him.
“What are you doing?” He growled through clenched teeth. I refused to answer him and struggled to my knees.
He hit me again.
I fell onto my hands and watched the blood drip from my mouth.
“Fight back,” Kai hissed.
The crowd was nearly silent now and when I looked up at Vetticus, I saw murder in his eyes. Once I was back on my knees, Kai delivered a blow to my stomach, kicked me hard in the side and landed a wicked punch to the side of my face.
I fell into the dirt, dazed. As I dragged my body upright Kai grabbed me by the neck and leaned in close.
“You know what he’s going to do, right?” He murmured. “He’s going to take it out on your team.”
“Since when–are you–a team player?” I panted.
His lips thinned into a grim line. “It’s a game, Kraven. It’s a game, and you’re losing.”
