My eyes fluttered open, a sharp, piercing sound echoing in my ears. The first thing I saw was the cell bars. Memories from before I was knocked out slammed into me, wiping away some of the disorientation.
It was to be expected, I supposed. Talon couldn’t very well let the destruction of his property go unpunished. Still, it was worth it. I was sick of that stupid camera being in my fucking face all the time.
Holding in a groan, I rolled over to my side and—
“Good morning, sunshine.”
This time, I let my groan slip free, but it was for an entirely different reason.
Exasperation instead of pain.
Sitting on an identical cot to the one I was lying on was that annoying red-haired devil woman, Autumn.
Why?
Why me? Why did the universe fucking hate me?
She sat with her back against the concrete wall, one leg hiked up, her arm dangling over her knee. She was in different clothes than the last time I’d seen her: a black sports bra and short black shorts. The chains were gone, as were mine, but there was a thick metal collar locked around her neck that looked like some sort of mediaeval torture device. The heavy weight around my own neck told me I had the same device around me.
Wonderful.
I sat up slowly, taking stock of my surroundings. Someone had changed my clothes as well. No shirt—which was the same—but I was in a pair of black shorts instead of the pair of grey slacks I’d been wearing when Dominik kidnapped me.
A dozen cages lined the walls, each one home to two prisoners. Some of them, I recognised as winners from the fights in the ring. Others, I’d never seen before. All of them were dressed in the same attire as me and Autumn, including the collar.
My hand drifted upwards to touch it. Thick. Metal. What was its purpose? I tried to take it off—
“Don’t,” Autumn said, shaking her head. “They said that if we try to take it off, it’ll blow our heads off.”
A deterrent to stop anyone from trying to escape… Clever.
One thing became evidently clear to me as I got to my feet, stretching out my body. Those people would be my opponents—the ones fighting in the games.
Only one person in that room would walk away alive, and despite how hard I was sure Talon was going to make it for me, I had every intention of being that person.
I had maybe ten seconds to get my bearings, studying the layout, the cells, the security, my competition, before that bitch pounced on my back, her legs hooking around my waist at the same time as her arms wrapped around my neck in a tight, inescapable chokehold.
Impressive, given the barrier the collar provided, not that I’d ever admit that to her.
“I told you I would kill you,” she hissed in my ear, squeezing tighter. “And now, I finally will.”
“You…fucking…bitch,” I choked out, thrashing from side to side, trying to get her off me. “Let…go!”
“We’ve been here before, Butcher, so, to quote myself, ’I’d rather watch the life drain from your eyes’.” The pressure increased—painfully so—and I rammed into the cell bars in the hopes of dislodging her.
It didn’t work. Her hold was firm. Unwavering.
Left, right, side-to-side. I slammed into the bars over and over again, but she held tight.
“Give in, Butcher. Let the darkness take you. You can’t win. I’m locked in. It’s time to die.”
The darkness she spoke of danced in front of my eyes, my lungs burning for air. Refusing to let the panic set in, I hurled myself backwards, and since that bitch was attached firmly to my back like a goddamn spider monkey, she took the brunt of the fall with me landing on top of her.
She grunted, blowing out a wheeze of pain. Shaking off her hold after that was easy. I got up quickly and tried to stomp on her neck like I’d done to Muscle Man in the ring, but she was fast, rolling away at the last second. Then, she was up, putting distance between us.
We circled each other—hard to do in the limited space we had, but nonetheless, we managed, eyeing each other cautiously.
It was the first time we’d had the freedom to move properly, freely without the restrictions of chains, and all those threats we’d thrown at each other were about to come to fruition.
“I didn’t know I was in the presence of mafia royalty. The famous Bratva Butcher. My, my. I feel like I should ask for your autograph or something. Everyone knows who you are.”
“Sure. Why don’t you come a little closer? I’ll sign whatever you want.”
She smirked. “If you insist.” Then, she lunged, attacking with a swift roundhouse kick. I reared back and threw a punch, knee, elbow combo. She deflected each strike with ease, lashing out with her own in response. Back and forth, back and forth we went, exchanging blow after blow, blocking and attacking.
She was good. Very good. Quick, decisive. Never hesitant in the moves she made. When she saw an opportunity to strike, she took it.
Her skills made me firmly believe she’d had some sort of training. It was in the way she moved. Silent. Deadly. Confident. The way each of her strikes were coordinated to cause as much damage as possible. She also didn’t have a problem fighting fucking dirty, pulling hair, biting and scratching, doing whatever she needed to do to get a leg up in the fight. Like a true fucking savage.
She clipped me on the side of the head with a kick. My body was still recovering from everything it had endured at the hands of my brother and the fights from earlier, so I wasn’t as quick as I knew I could be. I faltered, and she didn’t waste a single second capitalising on it, unleashing strike after strike after strike, forcing me to back up each time I blocked.
Frustration mounted inside me. It was taking everything I possessed to hold her back. She was intent on killing me—that much was clear, and I’d had e-fucking-nough.
With a snarl, I charged through her next round of attacks, picking her up in a running tackle and slamming her up against the wall at the back of the cell. Her head whacked against the concrete, which I guessed must have been painfully hard, but she kept fighting, kicking and thrashing as I pinned her up by the arms, her feet inches from the ground.
She took a cheap shot, trying to knee me in the balls. I barely managed to avoid it by twisting slightly out of the way. With both of my hands occupied with holding her up against the wall, I had no choice but to use my body to flatten her against the wall.
“Let me go!” She fought with everything she had, but there was no denying she was outmatched. I was bigger, stronger. She couldn’t beat me. Not that way. “I said let me go, you bastard!”
Her body continued to thrash against mine. Involuntarily, unwanted feelings began to surface. It had been a long, long, time since I’d had a woman pressed up against me like that. Adrenaline was pumping hard through my veins, making everything even more difficult to ignore. Her breasts pushed up against my chest. All those plump curves. Soft skin.
It’s just your body’s natural response. Ignore it.
Gritting my teeth, I slammed both of her hands above her head with one of my own and then collared her throat, wedging my free hand in between that metal collar and her neck.
I lowered my head to stare her dead in her eyes. “I think I’d rather watch the life drain from your eyes,” I whispered darkly, throwing her own words back in her face.
She glared, her chest heaving, her breasts rising and falling, the movement drawing my attention because with each breath, they brushed up against me.
Why the fuck does it feel good?
I squeezed, those unwanted feelings helping fuel my anger. There was no denying the fact that I enjoyed watching her struggle. Choke. Gasp for air. I had no qualms killing a woman. Women had proved to me time and time again that they were deadly, vicious creatures and shouldn’t be underestimated just because they had a pair of tits and a pussy. If anything, that made them more dangerous. Men were easily distracted by that shit.
“Stop! Stop it!” someone from my left yelled. Another prisoner?
“Mind your own business,” I snarled, never taking my eyes off Autumn. I told her I was going to watch her die, and I fucking meant it.
I had to give it to her, though, she was one tough son of a bitch. Even so close to death, there wasn’t even a flicker of fear in her eyes. She held my gaze, glaring at me with nothing but burning anger and hatred. No fear.
“You’re going to kill her!”
“Good,” I smiled evilly, squeezing even harder. Her face started changing colour. She bucked. Thrashed. Strained to get free.
And still, no fear.
A sliver of admiration cut through me. I valued strength in a person. I despised weakness, and it was becoming quite clear that Autumn didn’t have an ounce of weakness in her.
“But she’s your partner in the games!”
I stiffened. “What?!” I barked, my head snapping in the direction of the female voice.
Big mistake.
That brief lapse in focus was all Autumn needed to take control.
She somehow managed to yank one of her hands free, and then struck me hard across the side of the head. She connected with a fresh cut already on my forehead—probably inflicted sometime during my own fights in the ring—and the blow jarred me, making me let her go and stumble back.
Autumn fell to her knees, one hand at her throat as she sucked in a huge breath of air. I thought she’d come charging at me again, but instead, she went running to the bars that separated us from the woman who spoke.
“What the fuck do you mean I’m his partner?” she rasped, her voice barely above a whisper.
The woman wasn’t someone I recognised from the fights earlier. She was tall, with broad shoulders and short, curly red hair. She backed away the moment Autumn got close, almost as if she feared she would attempt to kill her through the bars.
Something that crazy, devil woman would surely try.
“I told you to leave it alone, Rebecca,” her cellmate grunted, crossing his arms over his burly chest. “The less they know, the better our odds are. One less pair to worry about.”
“That’s not fair, Gregory.”
“Who the fuck cares about being fair? We’re fighting for our lives here.”
I ran my eyes over the room again, this time looking at things from a different perspective in light of the new information. Twelve cages, each home to two prisoners, one man and one woman.
I groaned, burying my face in my hands as I dropped into a low crouch.
A pairs fight? With Autumn as my partner? It couldn’t get any fucking worse.
“What?” Autumn demanded. “What do you know?”
When I didn’t answer, she marched over to me and whacked my hands away from my face. I glared up at her.
“What. Do. You. Know?” she growled out behind clenched teeth.
“A great deal more than you, I’m sure.”
“Do you know I’m going to shove my foot so far down your throat that it’s going to pop out your ass if you don’t start fucking talking?”
I jumped to my feet, using my full height to tower over her. “Considering you were at death’s door mere moments ago, I’d suggest you get the fuck out of my face before you find yourself there again.”
She glowered at me. “That was luck.”
“No, it wasn’t. Your form needs work. You drop your guard on your left side when you kick from the right.”
Her mouth dropped open in outrage as if I’d just gravely insulted her. I supposed I had. There was nothing more insulting than telling a fighter their form sucked. “I do not!”
“Yes, you do.”
“Yeah? Well…your eyebrows crease right before you throw out a combo, making them super easy to avoid.”
I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t know I did that. I had been wondering how she was able to avoid them so easily.
So, not only was she quick on her feet, efficient at fighting and mentally and physically strong, but she was also extremely observant.
A deadly combination.
I should have just killed her then, partnership be damned.
“No one’s explained what’s going on to you?” Rebecca asked, breaking the glare-down between us.
“No,” Autumn answered. She touched her throat lightly, wincing. A nasty bruise was already starting to form in the shape of a handprint.
“We’ve been brought here to fight against each other to the death. The person you’re sharing a cell with is your partner in the games. It’s two vs two. The winning pair earns their freedom. Someone should have explained it all to you after your match-ups?”
Sure enough, a few hours later, a guard came by with our food rations and explained everything. The games. The rules. Even a more detailed account of the collars around our necks. That if we even tried to leave our cell, they would automatically detonate and blow our entire fucking heads off.
They were fitted with sensors that were rigged to explode if we tried to escape. They even had anti-tampering devices, prohibiting us from trying to remove them ourselves.
Smart. Annoyingly smart.
“I want a different partner!” Autumn demanded after the guard finished talking.
“Not possible. The pairings have already been decided and cannot be changed.”
“Sure they can. Just get on the horn with the boss and tell him. I can’t work with that asshole.” She pointed at me, sitting on my cot.
I snorted out a laugh. “That’s something I’m sure Talon is counting on.”
The guard frowned as he pushed the last plate of food through the small gap at the bottom of the cell. He was probably wondering how I knew Talon’s name. I moved and picked up the plate. It was a generous helping of lamb chops, potatoes, vegetables and gravy. My stomach rumbled. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d eaten. It had to have been days before.
I didn’t eat on the plane because I thought perhaps Talon might have laced the food with something. That was no longer a concern. He had his fighters. Poisoning them when he needed them to fight didn’t make much sense.
“What do you mean by that?” Autumn asked.
We weren’t given any cutlery, so I picked up one of the pieces of lamb with my fingers. “Our animosity isn’t exactly a secret. It’s plainly obvious,” I said in between bites. “My guess is, Talon is hoping our hatred for one another will hinder our ability to work together effectively. In a pairs fight, it’s crucial to have a good relationship with your partner. Trust. Communication. Without that, you might as well get on your knees and let them kill you.”
