by Ella Miles
“I would like to compete for the Black organization. I think the organization has been under terrible leadership. So many lives have been lost. Buildings destroyed because of poor leadership. I have what it takes to be your leader,” Felix says, stepping forward.
Archard nods, expecting that. He opens his mouth to speak, but Beckett interrupts him.
“I too would like to throw my name in,” Beckett says.
I grab his arm. “What are you doing? You can’t enter. This is a battle to the death.”
“I know. I don’t leave my family out to dry. You will need me to help take down Felix,” he says so only I can hear.
My heart breaks, but he’s right. We need his help.
“And who are you?” Felix asks like he has no clue who he is.
“I’m your half-brother. Eli Beckett. You can call me Beckett.”
Archard doesn’t seem surprised and doesn’t question the development. He knew of Beckett’s existence.
I frown. How many people knew of all my brothers that existed and never told me?
“Fine. I will need each of you to name an heir, add a game to the future games, and then sign the contract. Let’s start with Enzo.”
I walk to Archard and take the piece of paper from his hand. “My heir is Finn Black, my son,” I say. I hate naming him as my heir. I don’t want him to have anything to do with this organization. I don’t want him to compete in any games. But after today, I plan on destroying this organization once and for all. So it doesn’t matter.
I write his name down, hating myself the entire time I do. Then I write rules to a stupid game that will never be played. And finally, I sign my name—Enzo Black. They can never take my name from me, even if my legal name is Rinaldi, Black is my last name. I will not let what the name has become change anything.
Archard studies the paper carefully. “Good.” Then he looks to Kai. “Kai Miller.”
She steps forward. “Kai Black, actually.” She holds up her hand, displaying her wedding ring proudly.
Everyone gasps.
She grabs the piece of paper. “I name Ellie Black, my daughter, as my heir.”
More gasps.
Felix grins. “Twins? How cute. Who is watching the little ones right now while mommy and daddy play?”
“My father,” Kai says sternly, planting the seed we hope will be one small step of protecting our children if we die, giving Langston just a second of a head start in fleeing from Felix if we fail.
She writes her game furiously on the paper, then signs it, and hands it back to Archard.
He looks it over, then calls Felix.
He takes the paper. “I name my daughter, Ansley Black, as my heir.”
I raise an eyebrow, not sure if he’s lying or telling the truth about having a daughter. But I don’t question him now. I want him to play. I want him to lose. Killing him during the game is the only way to ensure his followers don’t kill us.
He scribbles his game on the piece of paper, then signs it and hands it to Archard.
“Eli Beckett,” Archard says.
Beckett steps forward and takes the piece of paper. I realize now he doesn’t have an heir to name. He frowns, looking at me like he’s about to hurt me. “I name Liesel’s child as my heir.”
It hurts. But I know it was necessary. He needs an heir to participate.
He scribbles on the paper while holding it against his knee, then hands it back to Archard.
Archard nods.
“Two will compete at a time. Each round will involve more and more dangerous weapons until only one man or woman is left standing. That person will be the winner. That person will be given all the access codes that only I know. That person will be the leader of the Black organization.”
Archard takes a blank piece of paper and rips it into four. He writes one of our names on each of the pieces of paper. “Before each round, I will draw names to decide who is competing. The first round involves no weapons. You will be required to stay within a twenty-foot circle while competing. And can only use what is within the boundaries. If you are all still alive, we will continue to the next round where you will be given your first weapon.” Archard rips a hat off a man standing near him and tosses the four pieces of paper into it.
He draws the first name. “Enzo will be competing against…”
We all suck in a breath as we wait. Please say, Felix. I want to kill him the first round and get this over with.
“…Kai.”
At least Kai is safe. I won’t hurt her.
“Which means Beckett and Felix will be competing. Each round will last twenty minutes. Kai and Enzo you are up first.”
Kai and I step forward into the circle while everyone else takes a step back. We remove our guns and knives, setting them outside the circle.
Archard sets his watch. “And go.”
Neither Kai or I move, we just stand, staring at each other, refusing to fight.
“Pussies! You see, men, they won’t even fight each other! They are weak! Undeserving of the title,” Felix shouts.
We both ignore Felix.
“I love you, stingray.”
“I love you, Black.”
I take her hand, gripping it hard as I try to push out all the hate and gather all the love and strength to surround us. These could be my last few moments with Kai, and I’m going to savor every second.
Beckett laughs. “If you think love is a weakness, then you can’t see straight. Look at them. Look how strong they are. I’ve never seen such strength. They are willing to do anything to protect those that they love.”
“I told you Beckett was on our side,” Kai whispers to me.
“I know, you are always right,” I wink.
And then I kiss her. In front of everyone. I kiss her like this is my first and last time. My tongue pushes deep into her mouth, tasting everything. This kiss is greater than love. This kiss binds us together—ensuring that as long as one of us is alive, so is the other. Nothing can separate us.
Slowly, we stop, long after the twenty-minute timer went off.
We walk out of the circle hand in hand, with no snark remarks from Felix. The rest of the crowd silent, as if in awe of what they just witnessed.
We walk over to Beckett. “Are you ready for this?” Kai asks.
Beckett nods.
“He can’t use a weapon. Your job is just to run and tire him out. Get him frustrated. You aren’t going to be able to kill him this round. The more he swings and misses, the more exhausted he’s going to feel. Twenty-minutes is a long time to fight without a weapon. I’ll distract him if I can with snide remarks,” I say.
“I got this.”
I hold my hand out, and we bump fists. “I know you do, brother.”
He smiles and then steps into the ring with Felix. Both men remove their weapons, setting them outside the ring. Then face each other head to head.
I have no doubt that before Beckett lost his arm, this would've been a fair fight, but now I’m nervous. Beckett has a lot of rage built up about losing his arm because of this bastard. He has a lot of incentive to live and protect his niece and nephew. But I’m not sure if the will to live is stronger than skill and strength.
“Go,” Archard says.
The two men take their time, circling each other, and feeling each other out.
“Nice to meet you, brother,” Felix says. “Too bad it’s going to be a short meeting.” And then Felix swings, hard and fast.
He connects with Beckett’s jaw, and Kai screams as blood shoots from his mouth. I grab Kai and pull her to my chest, covering her face with my hand so she can’t see. Beckett doesn’t need her distracting him.
But when I see Beckett’s face, there is a grin there. I take a deep breath; he’s got this. He let him hit him. He won’t again.
Sure enough, that is Beckett’s plan. To let Felix know what it’s like to hit him. How good it feels, and then never give him the chance again.
For the next fiftee
n minutes, Beckett dances around the circle, never throwing a single punch, but letting Felix throw many. He misses every time, because Beckett is focused on avoiding and tiring Felix out, instead of connecting with him.
Felix is exhausted and angry.
And that makes me happy, but also scares me, because it only takes one wrong move for Felix to do damage.
“Not willing to fight, you pussy. I guess I wouldn’t want to fight either if I only had one arm,” Felix tries to goad Beckett.
It won’t work.
Four more minutes they fight, until there is only one minute left. But one minute is all Felix needs to do damage.
Beckett makes one wrong step in his exhaustion. And Felix takes advantage. He connects with Beckett’s jaw while grabbing his arm, making Beckett practically defenseless. Beckett tries to kick, to get Felix away, but Felix holds tight to his arm as he pounds into Beckett’s face, breaking his nose, a tooth, and doing serious damage to his eye socket.
Kai tries to look, but I hold her tight against my chest, knowing the sight will be too much for her.
Come on, time.
I look at Archard who is frantically counting down the seconds.
“Ten seconds left,” he shouts, almost egging Beckett on. He doesn’t want Felix to win either.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight…
I count down the seconds as Felix gets more punches in.
“You got this, Beckett!” I shout, needing him to hang on and stay alive for just a few more seconds.
One more vicious punch before Archard yells time. Felix drops Beckett to the floor, and then Kai and I are running to his side.
I pull Beckett up and drape his arm around me. “Good job,” I say.
He laughs. “I think I lost. You shouldn’t be telling me good job.”
“He fought dirty, and you know it. But you did what you needed to,” I say as I walk Beckett to our side.
We all look over at Felix who is breathing heavily and barking at one of his men to help him bandage up his bleeding knuckles.
“He’s going to struggle to use his hand in the next round. This is a team effort,” I say.
Beckett nods.
“Alright, everyone survived round one. Which means on to round two. This game will involve one small knife.” Archard produces two ridiculously small knives.
I sigh, these games are going to last forever. Just give us a gun and get this over with.
He puts all of our names back into the hat. Kai is kneeling on the floor, trying her best to dress Beckett’s wounds when Archard calls out my name again.
“Enzo will be fighting in round two against…”
He draws a second name. “Beckett.”
“No,” Beckett and I say at the same time. We both stare at Kai who is just realizing what this means, and then we all look at Felix.
If Beckett and I are fighting each other, it means that Felix will fight Kai. She stands up, giving her fiercest stare to Felix. If the weapon was a gun, I would say it is a fair fight. Kai is unstoppable with a gun in her hand. She could kill Felix before he even got a chance.
But with a tiny knife, all it takes for him to win is to catch her. Physically he’s stronger. He could choke her. Slam her head into the ground. Or use the knife to spill her blood from any major artery. Her only chance is to do what Beckett did and avoid him. But that didn’t turn out so well for Beckett. Now Felix is angry, and I don’t think he will settle this time for just spilling some blood. He’s looking to kill.
And I don’t know how to stop it from happening.
26
Kai
Enzo and Beckett look at me with concern as the names are read. But I’m not worried. They think because I just gave birth to two twins a few weeks ago that I’m weak. They think because I’m less than half the size of Felix that he’s stronger. That because his muscles are bigger he’s going to win. That there is no way I will leave this fight without being seriously damaged or dead.
They are wrong.
If I learned one thing giving birth to my twins, it's that I am strong.
That becoming a mother changed me in a way I didn’t realize was possible. I thought I knew what love was, but not until I gave birth did I truly understand. Not until I heard those precious cries. Not until I felt them suckling at my breast. Not until I kissed their sweet lips did I understand love.
Love is strength.
Love is fierce.
Love is everything.
I may not seriously wound Felix. I may come out looking as bad as Beckett. But I will win this battle. I will not be defeated. Because I am stronger than any of the men realize.
Archard calls for Enzo and Beckett to enter the ring that has been expanded to the edge of the property that hangs over a cliff—adding another layer of danger as falling over the edge would mean death. They take the knives from him, and he yells go.
But instead of fighting, they sit in the middle. Enzo tries to help Beckett take inventory of his wounds. And I try to read their lips as they discuss a strategy to keep me safe while defeating Felix. I know they won’t let me die. I know if it looks like Felix is going to kill me when it’s my turn, they will sacrifice themselves to ensure I win.
Finally, Archard yells, “Stop.”
The two men walk out, giving me a look that confirms they have a plan to intervene. That I have nothing to worry about. But I don’t want them to intervene. I want to do some damage to Felix. I’ve earned that right.
I walk over to Archard and retrieve my weapon—a small knife. I think back to the last time I had a knife driven into my skin. That pain was nothing.
Felix grins as he steps into the expanded ring with me. I see the edge of the cliff. I hear the waves crashing up against it. That would be my best shot at killing Felix. Not with this flimsy knife, but by pushing him over the edge.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” Felix says.
I grip the knife tighter. “Me too.”
I shoot once last glance at Enzo, who tells me with his eyes to be careful. Just stay safe. Do what Beckett did. And get Felix to give up his knife.
I nod, but I don’t plan on playing it safe.
We are bringing Felix down together. And I plan on doing my part the same as Beckett and Enzo.
“Go,” Archard says.
We both grip our knives. My first task is to get Felix to release his.
So I do the same thing Beckett did. I dance around the ring, giving Felix no chance to get close to me.
“So that’s how this is going to go? You’re going to run from me like you always do?” Felix says.
My eyes darken, and I dig my feet into the ground, stopping for just a second before I spring again. “Don’t think you can hit me from across the circle.”
He growls and throws the knife at me like I knew he would. The knife grazes my shoulder before flying past me out of the circle.
“You missed,” I grin.
“I wasn’t aiming for you.”
I turn and see the knife sticking into Beckett’s shoulder. He growls and removes the knife, throwing it to the floor.
“Didn’t you ever learn not to poke momma bear?” I ask.
He cocks his head to the side. “You look more like a momma deer. Barely capable of saving herself, let alone protecting her young.”
I smirk. “You’re wrong.”
I throw my knife hard and fast, hitting Felix hard in the gut, knowing it will knock the wind out of him, even though it won’t do any serious damage. It does what I need it to do.
He gasps for air as he grips the knife lodged in his stomach.
And I charge.
I hear Enzo and Beckett scream from behind me, but I can’t hear them. All I know is I have to protect my children. And that means protecting their father and uncle too.
I run with everything I have. All of my anger. All of my rage, my fear, my protectiveness. It all comes with me.
I drive everything I have into knocki
ng Felix over the edge.
I succeed.
The force is enough to push him over the edge.
But unfortunately, I can’t stop myself from falling right along with him.
We both go over the cliff, but the force isn’t enough to knock us away from the edge.
Felix grabs hold of the cliffside, while I grab hold of his leg.
Fuck.
My life is now tied to Felix’s. I can’t kill him without killing myself. And I can’t die. My babies need me.
So all I can do is hold onto his leg as I dangle thirty-plus feet in the air and hope Felix can hang on.
“Kai!” I hear Enzo shout.
I look up and see Enzo, Beckett, and Archard standing over them.
“Hold on! We are lowering a rope,” Enzo shouts.
But then Archard interrupts. “You can’t help them, not for another ten minutes. If you do, you are automatically disqualified. And the penalty for helping them is death.”
Felix looks down at me. “Hear that, momma deer? Who are you going to choose? Yourself or Enzo? Do your precious babies get to grow up with their mother or their father?”
“Both,” I say, holding on tighter to Felix as I try my best to dig my feet into the cliffside, so I’m not relying on Felix so much. But my feet barely reach.
Felix chuckles. He tries to swing his leg to knock me loose, but every time he does, he almost loses his balance himself.
So instead, we just dangle on the cliffside for ten minutes, waiting for the seconds to tick by—neither of us moving. Knowing one move could kill our enemy but take ourselves down along with them.
Finally, Archard yells, “Time's up!”
Two ropes are lowered. I grab one, while Felix grabs the other, and we are pulled up. When I reach the top, Enzo and Beckett both tackle me in a bear hug.
“Ten minutes has never gone by so slowly,” Enzo weeps.
I pant heavily, my heart racing as I realize how close I came to death. If Felix had wanted to kill me, all he had to do was let go.
I stare over at Felix who is on all fours panting hard, just as exhausted as I am.
“Felix is tired. Now is the time to finish him off,” I say.
