Page 56 of Make Me Lie (Rich Demons of Darkwood 1)

His nostrils flared and his eyes heated, but that was all I got. I pushed away from him and, surprisingly, he let me go. "I'm sure I could make it hurt for you, kink or not," I threatened.

Cain slowly slid a thumb across the drops of blood trickling from the superficial cut I'd made and then stuck it into his mouth, licking the blood off seductively.

I resisted the urge to squirm. I wasn't going to admit to anyone, not even myself, that a part of me wished I'd been the one sucking the blood off his finger.

Cain just laughed before he grabbed my arm that wasn't holding the knife and began to pull me forward. I wrenched my arm away from him just for the heck of it and followed a few steps behind him with my chin up in the air.

He led me down the side of the warehouse and around the back of another, and that's when I heard it, the faint pulsing beat of music coming from within the enormous warehouse in front of us. We turned another corner and I saw a guy dressed in all black leaning against a door while he smoked a cigarette. There was graffiti sprayed all over the wall behind him, a giant skull with a gaping mouth...and a cock.

Because graffiti artists were, for the most part, nothing if not predictable when it came to their penchant for dicks.

There were still no cars around, but you could clearly hear the beat of music from within. The guy spotted us and immediately became alert, pushing away from the wall and throwing the cigarette on the ground frantically like he was afraid that Cain was going to push it down his throat.

Which was actually a good probability now that I thought of it.

I heard the sound of footsteps, and I looked around to see three others dressed in black emerging from random spots around the building. I tensed, wondering if they were going to ambush us or something before Cain gave them all a chin lift that sent them scurrying back to wherever they'd been hiding.

"Everything good?" Cain growled.

"Yes-ss, sir," the guy said excitedly, like he was hoping that Cain would pat him on the head like a dog now that his cigarette was safely stowed away.

Cain grunted in response, and I watched in disgust as the guy's whole demeanor crashed.

The guys' gaze flicked to me and his eyes widened as he took in the outfit that Cain had put me in.

"Want to keep your eyes?" Cain asked cruelly.

A little squeak escaped from the sniveling peon in front of us and he quickly averted his gaze, staring at the ground like it held one of the wonders of the universe.

Cain pulled open the door and then grabbed my arm again, dragging me into the building behind him. We entered a small room, not unlike the entrance to the Sphinx, and there was another door across from us where another guy dressed in all black had been standing. This guy looked a bit more formidable than the one outside, but he reacted the same way, standing at attention and watching Cain closely like he could attack at any moment.

“Everything’s good. Pax’s about to fight,” the guy hurriedly said before Cain had to ask anything.

Cain nodded and pulled me towards the door. The door opened up, showcasing a giant staircase comprised of metal stairs that had been liberally painted with what appeared to be black tar. The music was blasting up to us and there was literal steam wafting up as if the gates of hell were just a few feet below us. It sounded like it was packed; people were screaming and yelling. Despite the fact that I’d had no intention of being here tonight, I couldn't quell the curl of excitement in my gut.

"Ready, little devil?" Cain asked, holding out his hand. And even though I hated that name—loathed it, in fact—I put my hand in his and started down the stairs with him.

The metal door slammed behind us and I jumped, adrenaline coursing through me because of the unexpectedness of the night. I knew how to flay a man into a hundred pieces...but I'd never really lived.

I wasn't sure if an illegal underground fight exactly constituted "living," but it sure as hell felt like it at this moment.

The music and the crowd grew louder and louder as we got down the steps.

My jaw dropped when I saw all the people in this place. It said a lot about the organizer of this event that I hadn't had any idea anyone was even around while standing on the outside of the warehouse.

People of all ages were compacted like sardines, writhing against each other as a DJ spun a heavy, thumping club beat. There was a large roped off ring in the center of the room where I assumed fights took place. Above the ring someone had built glass-enclosed rooms where you could see people walking around there.

Probably for the high rollers. If that was a thing in real life. It had at least always been a thing in the books I'd read.

"Who organizes this?" I asked as we stood there at the bottom of the stairs just taking everything in.

"Who do you think?" Cain responded with a smirk as he began to walk through the crowd without a look back.

Of coursetheywere in charge of this thing. I don't know why I hadn't considered that before. I watched, half in awe, half in annoyance as the swarming masses of people parted for Cain, like he was Moses parting the Red Sea.

He didn't even have to say anything. The combination of his reputation and the magnetism that came off of him in waves was enough. No one stood a chance.

The crowd closed behind him and I belatedly realized that I needed to hurry after him or I was going to be lost in here.

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