Where Darkness Lies

by Bella Jewel

  “He’s coming?” I ask, feeling something big and emotional swelling in my chest.

  “He’s coming, but I can’t promise it’ll be before this fight.”

  My heart sinks.

  “She’s going to fuck me up, isn’t she?”

  He grumbles and holds me tighter. “It’s not looking good. Now get out of my grip.”

  I take hold of one of his fingers and twist it so far back he groans. “Nice try, but if I was using strength . . .” He pulls his finger back down, showing me I’d never be strong enough to pull it if he was trying. “You need to do better than that.”

  “Where is he?” I ask, lifting my foot and stomping hard on one of his.

  “Ow, shit. That’s a great move except your opponent probably has shoes. He’s out at sea.”

  Out at sea? Why the fuck is he out at sea?

  “Why is he not on land?” I growl, lifting my leg and shoving it backwards into his shin.

  “Good, that’s a good move,” he groans, hopping slightly. “And he’s out there looking for you.”

  Looking for me? Why would he think I’m on the ocean? Oh God, he thinks Hendrix has me. He’s taken himself out on the ocean and so far away from where I really am.

  “He’s coming back as quickly as he can. Don’t doubt that.”

  “But there’s a huge chance it won’t be quick enough, right?”

  “Right,” he says, putting me in a headlock.

  “Ow, you’re hurting me, you great big bully,” I mutter, squirming.

  “Suck it up. She’s going to hurt you a whole lot more if you don’t start paying attention. Get Dimitri off your mind and focus on this. He’s not here right now and the chances are high that you’re going to be in this fight. You need to put everything you can into it.”

  “Fine,” I grumble. “But know this . . . I’m not happy about going up against Catwoman.”

  He chuckles. “Fire Cat?”

  “What sort of name is Fire Cat anyway?” I mutter, reaching up and pinching his skin so hard I draw blood. His arm flies away from my neck.

  “Jesus, that fuckin’ hurt.”

  I grin at him. “You didn’t teach me that one, did you?”

  He grins back at me. “Apparently running with pirates has done you some good.”

  “If you gave me a gun, I’d knock Cat’s fire right out of her.”

  He chuckles. “I don’t doubt it.”

  He gets into the fighter stance and I do too. He begins swinging soft punches and I begin ducking them.

  “So, why Fire Cat?” I ask, panting and ducking between his flying fists.

  “You’ll see when you’re face to face with her. You think your hair is red . . .”

  “Okay,” I grunt as he pops me in the belly. So that explains the fire part, but what about the cat part?”

  He snorts. “She’s got these . . . claws.”

  I stop and he swings, hitting me softly in the cheek. He gives me a whoopsie look.

  “Explain claws?”

  He looks hesitant.

  “Now, Damon.”

  “She’s got enhanced claws.”

  I don’t feel so well.

  “Enhanced?”

  “She’s had some freaky fucking operation. You know how some people can actually get fake horns in their skulls?”

  “Yessss . . .”

  “Well . . . she got fake claws.”

  “You’re joking, right?” I say, feeling my stomach turn.

  “No, I’m not joking. The woman is crazy, like a cat on roids.”

  “Roids?”

  “Steroids.”

  “Great. What chance have I got up against a mental cat woman with fake claws?” I cry, dropping down into a squat and cupping my head in my hands.

  “You’ve got a chance. She’s a big girl, Blair, and she’s slow. You’re super quick. If you’re careful, you can have her down in a timely manner.”

  “Seriously?” I bark, looking up at him. “You’re such a liar.”

  He frowns. “I’m not lying.”

  “I can’t have her down in a timely fucking manner, she’s got fake claws, for Christ’s sakes.”

  He chews on his lower lip. “Okay, so maybe it won’t be timely.”

  “She’ll gouge my eyes out.”

  He looks ill.

  “Then she’ll probably poke holes in my face.”

  He scrunches up his lips.

  “She’ll—”

  “Okay,” he says, throwing his hands up. “I’ll do the best I can to help you, but I can’t promise you’re not going to have to go into that ring with her.”

  I swallow and turn away, unable to shake the sick feeling in my stomach.

  “Then teach me how to avoid her hands, at least get a few solid shots in.”

  “That I can do,” he says. “Let’s get to it.”

  I sigh and turn back to him.

  Even with him teaching me, I just don’t know if it’ll be enough.

  The sound the crowd is making is deafening. There are triple the people at this fight than my last. Damon has been training me for two solid days, teaching me the best moves he can to keep me clear of Fire Cat’s claws. It doesn’t take away the nauseating feeling in my stomach at the thought that I’m going up against someone who has a goddamned weapon. It shouldn’t be allowed, but this is illegal fighting after all.

  Roger is beside me, snarling rules into my ear that I can’t hear. All I want to do is beat him and throw him in the ring with the crazy cat lady, but I can’t. I can only pray that Dimitri shows up. I’ve been searching the crowd for him, or Hendrix, or someone, but so far there’s nothing—no familiar faces, no hope for me to hold on to.

  “Are you listening to me?” Roger barks.

  “I’m fucking listening,” I snarl, shoving through the people.

  “You need to be paying attention. If you look away for even a second she’ll have you.”

  “I heard you!”

  He takes me into the back room where the long process of getting prepared starts. I’m dressed, my hands are bound and my hair is pulled back. Damon comes in looking worried just before I’m about to go out.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” he murmurs, staring at nothing.

  “Damon . . .”

  He turns back to me. “It’s fine. You’ll be fine.”

  He doesn’t look convinced and suddenly I feel sick. Roger takes my arm just as I hear the sounds of the man on the microphone introducing the fight. My legs seem to halt as realization kicks in. He’s going to make me fight. Dimitri isn’t here. This girl could damage my face permanently.

  “I can’t,” I cry, struggling.

  Roger turns around and he slaps me hard across the face.

  “You can and you fucking will. You don’t get a choice.”

  “Rex!” Damon barks. “You want her to win?”

  “You know I fucking do,” Roger snarls.

  “Then you fuckin’ keep your hands off.”

  They have a glaring contest before Roger turns to me. Then he reaches into his pants and pulls out a gun. He’s got the cold metal pressed to my head before I can even flinch.

  “You have two choices. Fight or die. You want to fuckin’ die, I’ll kill you right here.”

  “Put that down,” Damon snarls.

  Roger ignores him.

  My entire world begins to spin at the feeling of having a gun to my head. I begin to shake and sweat trickles down my cheek.

  “F-f-f-f-fight,” I whisper.

  “What’s that?” he yells, pressing the gun into my flesh harder.

  “Fight!” I scream.

  He grins and puts the gun back into his pocket.

  “That’s what I thought.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Jess

  I stare at Fire Cat as we wait in the ring for the final countdown. My heart is thudding and I can’t help but stare at her hands. Damon was right, she’s got these claws coming out of h
er fingertips. They’re two inches long at least and they look lethal; I don’t know how she manages to do anything with them on. She’s a bigger girl, Damon was right about that too, and she’s got fiery red hair.

  She’s quite butch.

  “Are you all ready to rummmmmmble!” the emcee asks and the crowd screams.

  I blink rapidly, repeating all Damon’s words in my head. Focus, Jess. You can do this, just keep your eyes on her hands at all times. Focus on going for the parts she leaves open. You can do this. You can win this. You just have to get through this and Dimitri will be here—he’ll save you and things will be okay.

  “One!”

  My world spins and I can hear nothing but the sound of my own heart.

  “Two!”

  I can’t do it, I can’t fucking do it. She’ll kill me. I want to go home. My eyes burn.

  “Jess, head up and fight,” Damon yells.

  I lift my head, staring her right in the eyes. You have to do this—you have to.

  “Three.”

  I lunge before she does and I slide right to the floor. Her hand swings but it swings in the air, and I know it’s because she expected me to go high. Instead I did a baseball style slide right to her feet. When I get to her feet, I jerk my fist back and I punch her hard in the kneecap. She stumbles backwards slashing at my head. I roll to the side quickly, getting a vision of her before jumping to my feet.

  She spins around, her eyes wild as she lunges toward me. Her hands fly out and her claws come right to my face. At the last moment I duck and drive my head into her stomach. She makes a choking sound and her claws come down, clawing at the bare skin on my back. I scream in agony as they scratch against my skin. I can’t feel any blood and I’m almost sure she didn’t break my skin, but if that’s how much it hurts to get “grazed” then I don’t want to know what the real thing feels like.

  “Some amazing fighter,” I taunt her as I quickly roll and slide away from her. “You’re not a good fighter. If you were you wouldn’t be wearing those things.”

  She scowls at me and lifts her foot, twisting quickly and so fast I barely see her. I feel her, though, when her foot connects with the side of my head. I spin to the left, crying out in pain as my vision swims for a moment. I can’t stay here—if I don’t move she’ll— Another kick, right to my back. I stumble forward, gasping for air as all the wind is knocked out of me.

  “Twist, Blair!” Damon roars.

  I twist my body just as a foot comes soaring through the air at me. She misses me but only by a second. It’s enough. While she catches her balance, I lift my own foot and I kick her so hard at the backs of her knees, she loses her footing and falls. She hits the ground with a thump and one of her own fingernails pierces her arm, sending a shrill screech across the crowd.

  It goes wild.

  I launch myself into the air and I land so hard on her back I feel something crack. She’s quick, though, and good. I made a mistake jumping on her. She tangles her legs in mine and with a strength I’ve never witnessed from a woman, she flips me over using her body until I land on my back. She raises her elbow and I scream as it comes barreling down toward my face, crashing against my cheek.

  “Jess!”

  I hear a sound, a familiar sound, but I don’t know where it’s coming from. I can’t focus on it, I have to think. When she raises her elbow again, I turn my head to the side and I bite down on her arm so hard I draw blood. She squeals loudly and stumbles off me, gripping her arm the best she can without doing more damage. I lunge at her, exhausted and sore, but needing to keep fighting.

  I wrap my arm around her from behind and I jerk her backwards. She lifts her claw and stabs it into my hand. The pain is excruciating and I can’t hold on. I fall away, clutching my hand as blood pours out of a deep, ugly wound.

  “Jess!”

  Dimitri?

  I spin around and stare into the crowd and there he is, standing at the side of the cage, staring in at me with fear in his eyes.

  “Dimi,” I mouth.

  “Watch out!”

  I feel something smash me hard across the back of my head before everything goes black.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Jess

  You fucking useless piece of shit!”

  I hear someone roaring at me, and I blink my eyes open to see Roger storming toward me. I’m in the back room and I’ve clearly been tossed on the ground. My body aches, my head throbs and my hand is covered in dried blood. Before I can focus too heavily on my situation, Roger has hold of my shirt and is launching me into the air.

  “You lost me a fuck load of money and for that you’ll pay.”

  He shoves me back down, hard. I cry out and grip my head, trying to stop the pounding. I stare in horror as Roger pulls out a gun and aims it at me.

  “You should have died a long time ago, Blair. I should have fucked you until you were nothing but a broken shell and then I should have killed you slowly.”

  He grins at me. Oh God, he’s going to do it. He’s going to kill me and he’ll probably get away with it.

  “You did kill me,” I cry, trying to distract him. Dimitri was out there. He was. I saw him. Where is he now? “You did break my body until it was no more than a shell.”

  “And yet you’re still living, still fucking around like the whore you are.”

  I feel my entire body begin to trembling with a fear I’ve never felt before in my life.

  “You think I don’t know you’ve let Dimitri put his dick inside you.”

  My face pales.

  “You didn’t think he was going to save you, did you? Aw, poor sweet Blair. You’re forgetting something,” he murmurs, cocking the gun. “No one cares about you.”

  “You’re wrong about that.”

  I hear the sound of Dimitri’s voice and then the booming sound of a gunshot. I close my eyes, pressing my hands over my ears, too scared to open them. If Roger got the first shot in . . . oh God.

  “I care about her,” I hear softly.

  I dare to open my eyes, and when I do I see Dimitri at the door, followed by Luke, Hendrix and Drake. My heart both breaks to pieces and mends back together all at the same time. I let out a choking sob as Dimitri kneels in front of me, scooping me into his arms.

  “I got you, baby. Ain’t nobody goin’ to hurt you again.”

  I glance at the ground as he moves to the side and I see Roger’s dead body, blood seeping from a tiny hole in his head.

  “He’s d-d-d-dead?” I rasp.

  “He’s dead. Never goin’ to hurt you again.”

  I press my face into Dimitri’s shirt and I breathe him in. He smells exactly like everything I’ve needed so desperately in the past week. He smells like home. Like comfort. Like family.

  “Hendrix, you and your boys able to clean this up?” Dimitri asks.

  “On it.”

  I lift my head, staring at the two of them. They’re in the same room, both alive, both speaking . . . civilly.

  “You two . . . you’re . . .” I croak.

  “We’re fine,” Hendrix says, walking over and grinning down at me. “You fought real good out there tonight, made me real proud.”

  I try to smile but I can’t. Tears decide to break free instead. He strokes my cheek and looks up at Dimitri. “Get her someplace and clean her up. We’ve got this here.”

  “Damon,” I say as Dimitri takes me from the room. “Where is he?”

  Dimitri looks down at me, his blue eyes full of things I don’t quite understand. One of them I’m sure is relief. The rest is a mystery. “He’s in the crowd, making sure no one comes in here.”

  “He’s a good man. He has a family, a wife that’s . . . well . . . disabled. He needs the money this job brings.”

  Dimitri smiles at me. “I paid him very accordingly for taking care of you.”

  “You did?” I squeak.

  He strokes my cheek. “Yeah, baby, I did.”

  I let myself relax back into his arms.

>   “Take her home, we’ve got this covered,” Drake says, smiling down at me.

  I haven’t seen him for a while now, but I adore Drake.

  “Hey, Drake.”

  “Hey, good to see you’re still alive.”

  I smile as Dimitri carries me through the back entrance and out into the street. When we reach his car, he opens the door and puts me in.

  “Dimi?” I ask as he climbs in the driver’s seat.

  He looks over at me, reaching across and taking my face in his hands. He runs his thumbs over my swelling cheekbones.

  “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Jess,” he rasps.

  “You don’t need to be sorry, it wasn’t your fault.”

  He smoothes a finger over my bottom lip. “You have no idea how I felt when I found out you were fightin’. Shit, Jess, I thought I’d be too late . . .”

  I reach up and cup his jaw. “You’re not, though.”

  He leans in, pressing a soft kiss to the side of my mouth. “You made me real proud out there tonight, Hendrix was right about that. You fought so fuckin’ well.”

  I nestle my head into his shoulder and breathe him in. “I was scared, Dimi.”

  “I know, baby,” he murmurs into my hair.

  “Take me home.”

  “I’m on it.”

  He leans back and starts the car. I clip myself in.

  “Are you going to get into trouble for killing Roger?” I whisper, shuddering at the thought that Roger could bring the person I love harm even after he’s dead.

  “No, because Roger is a criminal and he runs illegal clubs. He’s not going to be missed and he’s certainly not going to have anyone looking for him. Those who do look for him won’t look very long before realizing he’s gone and moving on. You’re safe now, Jess. I won’t let anyone hurt you again, do you understand me?”

  I turn and stare into his eyes. “I understand.”

  “I didn’t say it to you before, and I should have, because God knows you deserve it more than anyone. You need to know . . .” He hesitates. “You need to know I want you in my life, for as long as you’ll have me.”

  I force my lips not to tremble at his words; instead I let a tear slip down my cheek. He stares at it, a muscle in his jaw ticking. Then he turns his eyes to the road and begins to drive. In the darkness reality finally hits. I realize just how close I came to having my life upended for a final time. My body begins to tremble and tears start flowing hard and fast while I make soft, squeaking sounds.