The door to the van rolled open, four men stepping out. Phoenix didn’t recognize any of them and she was pretty sure she’d remember them if they were from the western ghetto. Each guy was bigger than the next. She wondered if they were genetically altered because she was pretty sure muscles like that weren’t natural.
“They from your side?” she asked, assuming they were eastern lowers if they were the General’s.
“Nope,” Trent said. She turned to look at him in surprise, but he kept his focus on them when he continued. “They’re not rebels.”
That statement shocked her into silence, which was difficult for her.
“Are you sure?” she asked after a moment.
“Positive,” he said, his jaw working as he observed the situation. Phoenix looked back at the men wondering who the hell they were then. There was no way they were soldiers, they didn’t have the look about them.
“How can we help you, boys?” Trent called out.
One of them stepped forward with a smile that brought her chills.
“We’re going to need you to come with us,” the man said calmly.
Phoenix laughed outright. “You could have at least brought me flowers first,” she said.
The man turned his head slowly to look at her.
“I’ve got something better than flowers for ya, darling,” he replied.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Trent said, interrupting them.
The man smiled again, wider than before. “I was expecting you to say that.”
Phoenix had no time to register the sound behind her before the sharp pain in her neck hit. Her vision blurred almost right away. When she turned to look at Trent, she saw him grab a dart from his neck before meeting her gaze. She opened her mouth to say something but it never came out before blackness overwhelmed her.
CHAPTER TEN
They walked back to where Tyler was, stopping just in front of him. Missy tried to silently convey a message to him to please cooperate, but she didn’t think it worked. He gave the doctor an almost bored look. She had a feeling he wasn’t going to give in to whatever they demanded of him, even if they threatened her.
A fine sheen of sweat dampened her forehead. These men seemed to put a lot of faith in their belief that Tyler was feeling possessive toward her, but she was starting to have serious doubts. He didn’t even know her anymore. Why would he care if they hurt her? She wanted to grab the doctor’s sleeve and say she’d changed her mind, but he was already speaking.
“2140,” the doctor addressed him. “As you already know, we need you in the ring to start your training. We need to assess your level of skill.”
They all seemed to wait with bated breath for Tyler’s response.
“As you already know,” he said slowly, his deep brogue sounding dangerous compared to the doctor’s voice, “my answer is the same as always. Fuck you.”
The doctor frowned. He turned his head to the technician on her other side and gave him an imperceptible nod. She saw him pull a long wand out from the corner of her eye right before the technician brought it down across the backs of her legs. She cried out in surprise, falling forward on her knees. More pain ricochet as they made contact with the unforgiving concrete floor.
Tyler growled loudly pulling so hard on his restraints a vein popped on his forehead. Missy turned to give the doctor an accusing look. So much for no one actually touching me, she thought. Her thighs burned from the wand and she knew she’d have bruising.
“Let’s try this again,” the doctor said slowly, avoiding her glare. “I want you in that ring and ready to fight.”
Missy looked up at Tyler but he kept his gazed locked on the doctor. If looks could kill, the doctor would be nothing but ash and bone right then. She wasn’t prepared for the next strike that hit her across the back this time. Crying out again, she crumpled to the floor, her skin screaming out from the blow.
“Do you see what you’re doing to her?” the doctor said. “It will continue on this way until you start to agree with what we ask. You fight, she remains unharmed. You give us trouble, she gets punished. I’m sure you don’t want to see the poor girl injured further for your defiance. I was under the impression she was yours.”
Missy couldn’t even look at Tyler, afraid of what she’d see there. What if he was completely indifferent to what they did to her? She was starting to realize that the men standing around her would have no problem beating her for as long as they needed to. What have I agreed to?
She sensed more than saw the technician raise his arm to attack again. She tensed, curling into a ball on the floor, waiting for the hit. How similar she was to her sister right then, though she didn’t know it.
“Stop,” a deep command rang out. Missy wanted to sigh in relief, but wasn’t fooled into thinking that her torture was over – not by a long shot. She’d officially made a deal with a devil, and he wore a lab coat. “I’ll fight. Do not touch the girl anymore.”
Missy could hear the smile in his voice when the doctor replied. “That’s what I like to hear.”
“She stays where I can see her,” Tyler demanded. “You leave her with me and I’ll fight each day. No one touches her anymore.”
“You can’t keep her in your room, 2140,” the doctor said calmly. “She’s a nurse here, not a prisoner.”
“She stays with me.”
The doctor sighed dramatically. “You’re not really in a position to make these sorts of negotiations, 2140. She will stay here and watch you from outside the ring so that you may see her, but she does not go back to your room. As long as you do as you’re told, she won’t be injured.”
Missy finally looked up at Tyler to see him glaring at the doctor in anger.
“You will let me keep her,” he said.
“No, I won’t. Now get in the ring,” the doctor replied, “unless you want to hear her scream again?”
Missy gasped as one of the men grabbed her arm roughly, pulling her to a standing position. Her back and legs ached, but that was the least of her worries as a hand wrapped around the thin column of her neck, keeping her pressed against his chest. The pressure was light, but firm enough to promise her air was completely under their control. She looked to Tyler with pleading eyes.
“Let me out,” he said simply. “I will fight.”
The man behind her didn’t lessen his hold as the others removed the restraints from Tyler. The doctor took a step back. Missy wanted to laugh at the coward. She almost wished Tyler would just rip the man apart, if they weren’t so outnumbered. As soon as he was free, the technicians all backed away. He took a step forward, his eyes glued to her. He reached out a hand.
“Let her come to me,” he said.
Missy wanted to move, but the man behind her only tightened his hold. Her eyes widened in fear at the restriction to her air supply.
“You may see her after you train,” the doctor said. “She’ll be right out here waiting for you.”
Tyler turned to look at the doctor, his hand still outstretched. She wanted so badly to grab it and feel the safety of being close to him. He might not know her and display high levels of aggression, but she’d trust him over any of the men in this room, any day.
Tyler smiled slowly at the doctor. Not the gentle smile she was used to from him on the rare occasions she’d seen it. No, this one promised things that made her skin crawl and made the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Thankfully the man loosened his hold as Tyler turned and headed to the door that led inside the caged area. Missy took a deep breath, savoring the simple act.
The man that stood outside the gate took a step back as Tyler walked through into the ring. Missy watched him as he walked calmly to the middle, his expression blank. Another man was led into the ring. She didn’t see where he came from, her attention riveted on the man she was sent to save.
As he faced off with the other man, who wasn’t nearly as large as Tyler, he reached down to the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head in one quick
movement. Missy’s eyes roamed over the muscles that rippled over his stomach and arms. She swallowed, her mouth dry. Unease slithered up her spine at the realization she was about to watch Tyler fight with another man, locked inside a cage. What if he was hurt?
Unconsciously she took a step forward but was halted by a firm hand clasped around her forearm. She didn’t bother to look at the technician holding her, her attention focused on the men inside the cage.
An older man stepped inside with them. He wore black track pants and a plain grey t-shirt, a towel draped over one shoulder. He looked exactly like the type of man who would spend his days at a gym training boxers. Except this wasn’t a normal gym, and those weren’t normal fighters. Nothing about this situation was normal, and Missy had an uneasy feeling the outcome would be far from it as well.
He spoke to the men in a tone so low that she couldn’t make out what he was saying. The other man nodded at whatever he’d said, but Tyler simply stared at his opponent. The doctor suddenly walked forward, grabbing onto the cage as he spoke to the older gentleman. Missy had no idea what was going on, but if they didn’t just fight and get this over, she was bound to have a heart attack from the stress of anticipation alone.
The older man was shaking his head emphatically as they argued over whatever the doctor was saying. From the way his mouth thinned out, Missy had the impression that whatever the doctor was asking of him, he had no choice but to comply. Calling out to the man that had let Tyler inside the caged area, Missy watched as another patient was called up from the weight lifting area. He entered the cage, standing side-by-side with Tyler’s opponent.
“It’s two against one?” Missy asked, shock making her body still and stomach clench with worry.
“We need to see what he is capable of,” the technician behind her explained simply.
Missy turned to look at him, her mouth agape. “He could be severely beaten! How is that fair?”
The man smirked. “I think you’re highly underestimating your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she denied instantly. Shaking her head, she ripped her arm out of his gasp, stepping forward so there was enough space for her to turn and face him fully. “That’s not the point,” she continued. “No one said anything about having him go in there and fight two men alone. I don’t see how getting him beaten half to death will prove anything.”
“Listen, sweet thing,” he said derisively, “these men are hyped up on so many drugs, I doubt they feel anything when they get hit. Your man there; he’s the toughest son of a bitch I’ve seen yet. I bet two men are a walk in the park for someone like him.”
“But you don’t know that,” she argued. “You guys said so yourselves, he’s never fought before. What if he’s horrible?” Missy turned back around, starting toward the doctor. The man behind her tried to grab hold of her arm again, but she evaded his grasp for a couple more steps before he finally got her to stop.
The doctor noticed her attempts, and turned with raised eyebrows. “Yes? Is there a problem?”
“Yes,” Missy said firmly. She pointed toward the ring where the four men inside all watched curiously. Even Tyler had finally dragged his gaze from the other men and onto her. “I don’t see how it’s fair that you’re putting him against two men. You’re setting him up for failure.”
“You don’t get to have a say in it,” the doctor replied. “Now stand over there and shut up.”
A warning growl came from inside the ring. She didn’t have to look to know who it came from. As she opened her mouth to argue further, a large hand clapped over it, muffling any sounds. She struggled as an arm wrapped around her ribs, crushing her back against his chest, but it was useless. When she looked over at the cage, she saw Tyler watching with pure rage in those clear, green eyes.
Missy stopped fighting instantly so he wouldn’t get more worked up. The last thing she needed was for Tyler to be more focused on her than on what he needed to do to get out of there in one piece. The two men set to fight him were massive. Missy prayed there was skill to go along with his strength.
The older man spoke to the three men again, tearing Tyler’s attention away from her. They spoke quietly for another moment before the old man left the ring, and the fighters spread out to face each other. Despite facing two men, Tyler looked surprisingly at ease. The hand covering her mouth dropped away as the men started to circle each other.
There was no warning before all three men went at one another in one big blur of activity. There were too many fists and feet striking for Missy to even keep track of who was landing what hit where. One of the men went flying into the cage, his head banging off one of the horizontal bars with a resounding thwack. Missy cringed at the sickening sound. He slid down, sitting there for a moment as he seemed to be trying to refocus. She was almost positive the man would have a wicked concussion.
She was relieved that one of them was out of the way for now at least. Tyler faced off against the other man, his fist connecting hit after hit. Missy watched as his body moved like it was born to fight this way. There was an impalpable energy surrounding him as he twisted and turned, kicking and punching with effortless skill. She almost felt silly for having doubted him in the first place.
Tyler landed a wicked sidekick just then in the other man’s stomach, sending him flying backward. Missy saw him look over at the doctor, a sly grin stretching across his gorgeous face as he walked toward the other man. His hand reached out, gripping the man by his neck and lifting. Missy gasped as Tyler raised him off the ground, the other fighter dangling from his hold.
With a slight compression, Tyler tightened his hand a fraction, and the man instantly went limp. The technician still holding her cursed under his breath as Tyler let the body drop. Missy’s breath got lodged in her throat. His opponent wasn’t moving.
As if in slow motion, Missy watched Tyler walk toward the second fighter who was scrambling back, hitting the cage. Reaching down, Tyler lifted him easily to his feet, holding him against the cage by the neck. He turned to look directly at the doctor.
Missy turned her head in the same direction. The doctor was visibly shaken, his face drained of colour. Tyler’s voice drew her attention back.
“She stays with me,” he said, his voice even deeper than usual, guttural. “If you say no again, I will kill every man you put into this cage with me.” His hand tightened as if to prove a point. The scared man he held struggled uselessly against Tyler’s strength. “I will fight if she is with me. That is the deal. Understood?”
Missy looked to the doctor, holding her breath for his reply. She couldn’t decide what she wanted him to say. One part of her wanted to be with Tyler just because she knew that he’d keep her safe from the other men. It would also give her ample time to come up with a plan of escape and try to regain some of his memory, if possible. The other part was terrified the doctor would say yes, because right now Tyler scared the crap out of her. His strength was beyond anything she’d expected. He’d just killed another man as if it were nothing, and now he wanted her locked inside a room with him? Her hands shook at the thought even though the other half of her tried to believe that he would never do the same to her.
How could she be sure though? Perhaps he’d see her as a weakness that the men could use against him and therefore he’d want to get rid of her. She paled at the thought. The doctor slowly shook his head.
“I can’t risk her life like that,” he said. Missy’s bullshit radar went off. Like he cared what happened to her, she thought. He was just looking for excuses. From the look on Tyler’s face, she suspected he thought the same.
“She is safer with me than with anyone else,” Tyler said. “There is no negotiating. She stays. I fight. You don’t comply, your men die. One. By. One. Make your choice.”
“I could just kill you,” the doctor said through clenched teeth.
“No!” Missy said before she could stop herself.
Tyler glanced at her for a second before turning
to the doctor. “You won’t kill me. I’m the best you’ve got. Stop playing games.”
The two men stared at each other in a tense silence before the doctor finally nodded saying, “fine, she’s yours.”
Missy gulped at the thought.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Two technicians walked on either side of her as they made their way down the hall back to Tyler’s room. He walked behind her, flanked by four other technicians and the doctor. They wouldn’t let her near him yet, keeping a safe distance away should Tyler do anything violent.
One of the two walking with her kept a small pistol against her side. When he’d first drawn it, Tyler had reacted badly, slamming his palms into the cage. The doctor had ordered him to remain calm or she would be hurt. Missy had noticed how far back the doctor had kept himself when they’d finally let Tyler out of the ring.
Despite what she’d just witnessed Tyler do, her entire body was aware of him behind her, and ached to be closer. The sense of safety and comfort she got from him was unlike anything she’d felt in a long time – perhaps forever. There was just something about him that made her feel untouchable to the rest of the world. It was stupid, considering he was the most dangerous man in the hall right now.
When they approached the door to his room, the group leading Tyler stopped further down the hall, away from them. Missy glanced back at him for the first time, their eyes meeting. He didn’t look happy, not that he normally did. But she could see his anger simmering. His body looked primed to move forward should he need to.
“Get inside,” one the technicians said, shoving her forward.
Missy stumbled into the room just as she heard Tyler snarl a warning, “Keep your hands off her.”
Moving, her back hit the wall on the far side of the room, her eyes trained on the door. She froze when his impressive body filled the doorway. His eyes instantly found her, unwavering as he entered the room, until he turned to face the men, keeping his body between them and her.
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