“Who’s the motherfucking Hunter?” he yells.
“You are!” the crowd chants.
Apparently they’ve found a new favorite.
I can’t blame them. He’s my favorite too.
Although I don’t want to admit it, because this is so fucking bad I can’t even describe it, he looks goddamn sexy as hell in that cage. His red sweatpants hang low on his hips, his V-line clearly showing. He’s half-naked. His abs are bulging as he flexes his taut shoulders, and drops of sweat roll down his chest.
A smug smile appears on his face as one of his fans, a girl with a pink blouse and boobs the size of melons, hands him a bottle of water. She squeals when he snatches it from her hand and throws the contents over his head and body.
I could enjoy seeing that, if I were to forget for even one second that he’s actually fighting people for money. Damn.
The big guy whistles, alerting two other guys to come pick up the body and drag him out, while the guy with the keys stares Hunter down. He blocks the exit, his hands hovering over his hips. In his pocket there’s a glinting object. A knife.
I gasp.
And then Hunter looks my way.
I freeze, my breath faltering. His eyes narrow as he looks at my face, and then they widen as he realizes it’s me.
I bite my lip; his jaw drops.
No. I don’t want him to know that I’m here. That I’m watching him do this fucked-up shit.
But now it’s too late.
Another guy enters the cage, this one much bulkier than the previous. He bellows, slapping his own chest like a gorilla. The guy with the keys locks the door again, trapping Hunter inside.
Hunter barely takes his eyes off me.
But I can’t take my eyes off the guy who just came into the cage.
My heart is beating in my throat. I don’t think I’m breathing.
It’s the same guy that once tried to rape me on the street.
Those tattoos, I’d recognize them anywhere. It’s him. It’s really him.
Now I understand what he meant when he said that he’d meet Hunter in the arena. This is the arena. This is his rematch. A fight for revenge.
Fuck.
The guy approaches Hunter from behind, and I watch in horror as he drags a distracted Hunter away from the bars and pounds him right in the back. Hunter arches his back, the blow too much for him to take, and blood shoots from his mouth.
Hunter immediately hits the guy in the balls with a backward kick, and releases himself from his grip. He pants, turning to his opponent, and barely manages to stand up straight. He winces, the pain clearly showing on his face.
“I’m going to kill you!” the guy yells in his face.
Cracking his knuckles, Hunter waits until the guy comes at him, while I bite my nails in frustration and fear. Suddenly I notice the guy has a knife in his back pocket.
I panic.
“Hunter!” I scream. “Knife!”
Hunter turns his head toward me, his eyes filled with primal despair as he responds to my cry. Temporarily distracted, he doesn’t see the jab coming straight for his face. It’s my fault.
His body can’t absorb the blow, and he’s hit so hard that he flies across the cage. I hold my breath as I see him crash into the bars of the cage. His eyes show an expression of pure agony.
Tears well up in my eyes. I can’t watch this. I can’t be here. I’m only hurting him. I can’t watch him do this to himself. To be the victim of someone else’s frenzy.
I stand up and run all the way to the end of the bleachers.
“Hey!” Evie screams, coming after me. “Wait up!”
I run through the crowd toward the door as Evie catches up to me.
“Where are you going?” she says.
“This is horrible, I can’t watch him getting beaten to a pulp.”
She grabs my hand before I walk away. “I’m going with you.”
We pass the guard near the door, who flashes us a look, and then we go out through the door. The noises behind us are still too much to take, so we go all the way up the stairs until we’re outside on the streets again. I can finally breathe again.
“Damn, that was scary,” Evie says. “What the fuck is going on? Why did you get tickets for this? Is Hunter in some kind of underground fight club or something? Those guys all wore the same shirt, something with Alpha Psi on it. What the fuck does it mean?”
I stare at her, panting. She squints.
“You’ve not been telling me the entire story, have you?”
“I didn’t know it was this bad,” I say. “Yes, he’s in a frat club. An illegal one. And they deal drugs and fight with people.”
“What?” she snaps. “Deal drugs? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish I was, but it’s the truth. Hunter’s involved in something way beyond normal.”
“No shit. And you knew about this?”
“Partially …” I say.
She taps her foot on the floor. “Well, I don’t expect you to share everything, but the least you could’ve told me was that your boyfriend is a freaking criminal!”
“He’s not. He’s doing this for his brother, Jessie.”
“His brother? What does that have to do with any of this?”
I sigh. “It’s hard to explain right now. There’s a lot more to it. Can you just trust me? I promise I’ll tell you when this is all over.”
She sighs, frowning. “Fine. As long as we go home right now.”
I bite my lip. There’s nothing more that I want right now than to go home and forget all about this, but something inside me wants to go back to Hunter, too. I want to talk to him. No, I need to. I need to know why he’s doing this, and why he never told me about the arena. This is about more than just the money, it has to be. There’s no way he’d be looking for the boss of Alpha Psi, putting his own life at risk, just for money. There must be something I’m missing.
“I want to talk to him,” I say.
“Oh fuck no, you’re not being serious, are you?” Evie says.
“I am. Look, you just go on ahead.”
“What? I can’t let you go in there by yourself. Nu uh, no way.”
“Please. I need to talk to him. I don’t want to drag you any more into this than I already have.”
“It’s dangerous down there.”
“That’s why I’m saying you have to go. Go to the dorm. Let me handle this.”
“No.”
“Evie! Please,” I beg.
She rubs her face with her hand, groaning. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, I need to do this.”
It’s quiet for a few seconds before she says, “Okay. But you have to promise me you’ll come back.”
“I will.”
“No, you’ll be in perfect health, no scratch on you. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I promise, Evie, I’ll look out for myself,” I smile.
She hesitantly smiles back. “Okay. See you back at campus.”
She turns around, still looking back at me over her shoulder, while I open the door and go back inside. Back down the stairs of hell.
Chapter 27
Truth Unfolds
I take one huge breath before I storm into the building again. I hold up my ticket for the guard to see, in case he doesn’t remember me storming out two minutes ago. He doesn’t even groan this time, and I pass him without an effort. I guess they’re used to fiery types here.
I walk through the crowd again, but instead of going toward the bleachers, I go straight for the cage.
I easily reach the center, and cling onto the bars as I peer inside. No one stops me. Apparently, nobody cares.
I look inside and see the man who tried to rape me lying lifelessly on the floor, his body limp. I swallow away the fear I had of Hunter going down this time. I look up and see him standing there, buckled over, holding his own head. Blood drips from his mouth. He’s still breathing, but barely.
“Hunter,”
I yell.
In an instant he turns around and gazes at me with furor. Fear settles in his eyes the moment he realizes it’s me.
He immediately steps toward me and grabs my hand. “Fuck,” is the first thing he says. “I can’t believe you came here.”
“I can’t either. What the hell are you doing? Is this just for the money?”
I jerk my hand loose.
“No, wait, let me explain,” he says. He reaches for my hand, but I step back. I can’t handle his touch right now.
“Why are you doing this? How could you …” I say.
“They found out Jaret and I were looking for the boss. They put me in here as a punishment, so I could regain his trust.”
“Why would you agree to that?” I yell, tears welling up in my eyes. “You just beat people up in here, and you think that’s okay?”
“I need to do this. There’s no other way. Besides, I can’t get out, they locked me in here.”
“Why in the hell would you let them do this to you?”
His face grows dark, full of regret, but also like he just made a pledge or something.
“There’s no other way to save my brother. I need their trust, so I can finish this.” He leans forward, putting his head through the bars. “Listen to me. I never wanted you to see this, but you have to go, right now.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s fucking dangerous in here. And now I finally understand why they got you in here. They’re testing me by using you.”
I gasp.
“Where did you get the tickets?” he asks.
I frown. “What does that have to do with any of this?”
“It’s important. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t. C’mon!”
“Jaret gave them to me. He said he got them from Brody.”
“Fuck!” Hunter slams his hand against the bars. “This is really bad.”
“Brody just helped me understand what the hell it is you’re doing here.”
“No! Don’t you see? He gave you those tickets so he could use you against me.”
“What? But he―”
“He’s not who you think he is!” Hunter yells. “He wants to have power over me, and he’s using you to do it. You have to get away from here as fast as you can. You’re in danger. I’m the one they’re after. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Jaret and I found out who the courier was.”
Sighing, I close my eyes and cross my arms. All I want is to leave here as fast as I can. I wanted to give him a chance to explain himself, but all he’s done is made it worse. He’s still talking about ‘finding the boss.’
“Listen!” he yells, because I’ve turned my head away from him. “The courier was Scarlet.”
My jaw drops. “What? Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. She was diverting our attention every time. Her buying drugs from us was just a diversion to make us think nobody knew who the courier was.”
“But she’s dead!” I scream, unable to hold back the tears now.
“Time for the next round, bud. Stop chatting up your girlfriend,” the guy with the keys says, chewing some gum.
It’s all just a fucking show to them. Hunter is bleeding so they can have some fun. All for the money.
This is sick.
“Yes, she’s dead. That’s exactly why I’m telling you you’re in danger. You have to go. Now,” Hunter whispers, his eyes flicking back and forth between me and the guy with the keys.
“Time’s up,” the guy says, and he opens the cage doors and lets another fighter in.
I gulp.
“Go. Home. Now!” Hunter says, clinging to the bars for as long as he can before he’s dragged back into a fight.
Shaking my head, I back away from the cage slowly. I can’t believe this. This isn’t happening. Scarlet was the courier? She was the one delivering the drugs to the distributors? She was the one in direct contact with the boss?
She died.
“And whatever you do, do not go to Brody. Do you hear me? Don’t go to him!” Hunter yells. “Promise me! Do not go to him. I don’t want you to get hurt. I can’t get out of here. Please, don’t put yourself in danger.”
I’m not listening anymore. My brain feels like it’s going to explode.
Brody. He was a distributor. He said he was. Jaret said Brody gave him the tickets.
No, this can’t be.
Maybe Brody knew she was going to die. Maybe Brody is something more than he claims to be.
He will explain this.
♥♥♥
I bolt through the dorm, racing up the flight of stairs until I reach Brody’s room. I don’t even bother to knock on his door.
“Brody, we need to talk.”
He’s sitting at his desk, and the moment I storm inside, he casually turns around. On his face is a relaxed smile, and he sways a pen back and forth between his fingers like everything’s normal. Well, this is anything but normal.
“Well, hi to you too. Did you enjoy the show?”
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
He chuckles. “Wow, you seem happy.”
“Time to talk,” I snap.
“About what?”
I slam the door shut behind me. “I know you’re in the frat house. You told me you’re a distributor.”
“So? That’s nothing new.”
“You knew Scarlet took an overdose. She was the courier.”
His eyes narrow. “How do you know about this?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I pace up and down his room. “The point is, I need to know what the deal is with you and this entire Alpha Psi club. You guys are bad. You forced Hunter to fight.”
“And your point is?”
“What the fuck is wrong with you for thinking this is okay?”
He stands up from his chair, his demeanor suddenly changing into something much, much darker. Something creepily scary.
“He had to be punished,” he says with a strong voice.
“Just like Scarlet? Did she have to be punished, too?”
He prowls forward, the pen dropping to the floor.
I inch back, swallowing. “She was poisoned. Murdered. And you know it.”
Brody stops in his tracks, carefully assessing me from a distance. “Yes.”
I find it hard not to breathe. I was right all along.
He was the one behind it all.
“She was a threat. She wanted to expose me for who I am. Of course I don’t want that to happen. There’s a lot at stake here.” He leans forward and picks up the pen. “Do you know what I’ve been through? Do you know how much I’ve sacrificed to get this business off the ground? How much I’ve suffered to finally be able to afford things?”
“Was it worth it?” I snap.
Brody squints and sighs. “Damn right it was. After our fight, Scarlet probably realized how advanced this whole operation was. She wanted out. I didn’t let her, yada, yada, I killed her. You know the drill.” He flicks his fingers like he just told a simple story.
I’m frozen in place, mortified.
“You killed her … You … You’re the―”
“The boss. Yes.” He balls his fists. “Unfortunately, your fucking boyfriend had to go ruin it all by pursuing me. I still have no idea how he managed to find out she was the courier, but it doesn’t matter. He’s locked up now, and he’ll be dead before the end of the night.”
“No …” I gasp.
“Yes,” he says, chuckling. “I was hoping he’d keep you out of this, but now he’s left me with no choice but to do the same to you.”
He clenches the pen in his fist, pointing it toward me. “You see, I’d do anything to keep my business going. It’s my life. There is nothing more important.”
Oh no. Oh God no. This can’t be happening. I don’t want to die.
I step back as far as I can, but Brody’s right in front of me, blocking the only exit out of this goddamn room. My fing
ers curl around the edge of a cabinet, trying to get as far away from him as possible.
I should’ve known. Dammit, I should’ve seen this coming!
Hunter was right. He was always right.
“Don’t do this, Brody,” I stammer.
“What? Kill you? Autumn, you’ve left me no choice. You should’ve just stayed out of this. Now it’s too late.”
He lurches forward.
I scream. My body twists in a way I didn’t expect to be possible. The pen barely shoots past my waist. Brody has me by the shoulder, his fingernails digging into my skin. I can feel the blood flowing.
I scream as loud as I can, grabbing a hold of his arm to keep him from stabbing me. It’s my strength against his. His deadly eyes are gazing into mine, almost searing their way into my soul.
He moves his hand toward my neck and starts squeezing, hard.
I’m coughing, choking on my own breath. Burning pain follows. My esophagus is being crushed by his hands. I fight to untangle his fingers from my throat, but he keeps strangling me. I’m trying to gasp for air, but nothing comes in. Life is slipping away from me. I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. I don’t want to die.
The door slams open.
Brody shifts his hand, holding the pen like a knife. He tries to strike me with it, but I avoid it by arching my back. My eyes can only focus on avoiding the pen. I don’t know what’s happening.
Someone comes in and grabs Brody by the shoulders, dragging him away.
Panting, I buckle over and suck in the air that was pulled from my lungs. I’m gasping for air, trying to get as much in as possible.
And then I see who it is that saved me.
“Don’t you fucking lay a hand on her, you motherfucker!” Hunter yells.
He grabs Brody by the shirt and wraps his other hand around Brody’s wrist. He turns Brody’s arm until he squeals, forcing him to drop the pen he tried to stab Hunter with, too.
“I fucking knew it,” Hunter says. “You were behind it all along.”
“Damn right I was.” Brody spits in his face.
Hunter balls his fist, pulls it back, and then punches Brody in the face so hard he flies through the room. Landing on the floor, he groans, spitting up blood and a couple of teeth.
Hunter picks him up and puts him on his chair.
Fierce Page 22
