9. Thea
9
Thea
T he fight club was in a large warehouse on the edge of an industrial estate. From the outside, it looked like any other anonymous building. An old sign suggested it housed a manufacturing business, but inside the place was empty of machinery.
An octagonal cage surrounded by bench seating stood in the center of the cavernous space. Because we were late, the first fight was already underway. The watching crowd screamed with excitement as two large tattooed guys fought. The smaller of the two was faster on his feet, taking advantage of his opponent’s lumbering size. I watched with interest as the smaller guy danced around while getting a surprising number of hits in.
Then the larger guy finally landed a brutal uppercut, and it was game over. The smaller fighter went down hard and, despite the ref screaming at him, didn’t get back up.
There was a mix of boos and yells as people exchanged money, uncaring about the fallen fighter being dragged away. I hoped he was being paid well to take a hit like that. The possibility of sustaining permanent brain damage was real.
Eden pulled me toward a gap in the crowd. “Come on, we need to get closer before the next fight starts.”
I followed her while trying to ignore the many interested glances being thrown our way. While there were a few women here, including Olivia and her clique, the audience was mostly men. From the hungry way they looked at us, coming here was a terrible idea.
Thank god I had my favorite blade tucked in my boot. Eden was oblivious to all the attention. The girl had no sense of self preservation whatsoever. If I ever met her cousin, I’d be having a stern word with him. He needed to teach her how to read a room, and more importantly, how not to end up raped and murdered.
It was a good thing Eden had me to watch out for her. She was so busy focusing on the edge of the ring that she completely missed the way a lecherous older man with long, stringy hair tried to grab her ass.
Luckily, I intercepted him before he got close enough to actually touch her. I pressed my blade to his pathetic little dick. The moment he felt the sharp edge, he froze.
“Keep your grabby little hands to yourself in future. Women don’t like being touched by strangers.”
From the furious expression on his face, he wasn’t happy about being force-fed a lesson on consent. Sadly, I was all out of fucks to give.
“Listen, you little—”
I pressed harder with my blade. “Yes?”
“OK! Let me go, you crazy bitch!”
How dare he call me a crazy bitch! A bit more pressure and I drew blood. A cacophony of heavy rock music, yells, and piercing whistles drowned out his pathetic scream as the next two fighters appeared from a side entrance.
Realizing Eden had left me behind, I jogged after her, leaving Mr. Grabby Hands clutching his precious little dick and blubbering like a baby. Honestly, he should be grateful it was still attached. Sure, it had a second hole in it now, but nothing that wouldn’t heal in time.
Several hulking men stood around Eden, watching her lasciviously when I caught up. She was too busy yelling with excitement to notice, and I rolled my eyes. When they saw me, they stepped back. It may have been the murderous expression on my face, or more likely the wickedly sharp blade in my hand. Either way, once they’d moved a respectable distance away, I sidled in next to her.
“Look, it’s that Russian guy from college!” she whisper-yelled.
I looked up to see Landon’s friend in the ring in a pair of silky black shorts, his broad chest covered in tattoos. His fists were taped and he wore a mouth guard. Judging from the way he circled his opponent, like a hungry apex predator, this was going to be a quick fight.
The other guy was less bulky and a couple of inches shorter. The ref blew his whistle and the shorter guy lunged, probably hoping to get a few hits in before he got knocked out.
I watched with fascination as Landon’s friend moved with brutal precision, toying with the smaller guy while landing hit after hit. The fight finally ended when he took him down with a roundhouse to the legs before choking him unconscious.
Nobody seemed all that surprised at the result, but there were a few grumbles here and there.
“Ooh, he’s really good,” Eden said. I had to agree. I’d seen a lot of fights in my time, and Landon’s friend was a strong fighter. It made me wonder how he’d fare against a more equally matched opponent. Or one that liked to fight dirty. I had a sneaking suspicion nothing would faze him.
“What are you doing here?” A shrill, nasal voice cut through the ambient noise. When we turned around, a tall blond stood staring at us venomously. “You don’t belong here.”
I took in her bandage dress, Louboutins, and Chanel bag, and rolled my eyes. “And you do?”
She ignored me and turned to Eden. “How did you hear about this place?”
“From you, Olivia,” Eden replied innocently. “You were talking it up, so I figured we’d check it out. Was it invitation only?”
“We’re with Cassian, so of course we got invited. You, on the other hand, are not welcome.”
“Nobody stopped us from entering,” I pointed out. “So that suggests you’re full of shit.”
Olivia’s friend sucked in a sharp breath like she couldn’t believe I was being so disrespectful.
Eden clapped her hand over her mouth in a feeble attempt to rein in her laughter while Olivia seethed. “I can have you thrown out, you know!” She folded her arms across her skinny chest and glared at me. I’m sure she thought she looked threatening, but I’d faced down people a lot scarier than her.
“Don’t let me stop you.” I half hoped she’d try. It was as good a time as any to meet Cassian, assuming he was here. So far, the only one I had seen was Landon’s friend, the fighter.
“Fine! You better fuck off right now before Cassian hears about this!” She flounced off in a huff with her friend trailing after her.
“We should probably leave,” Eden admitted. “I don’t want a run-in with Cassian Forsyth. He’s a real asshole.”
“Oh?”
“Have you not heard of him?”
I shook my head, figuring it was better to pretend ignorance.
“Yeah, his father’s super important in political circles, as well as being obnoxiously rich. So Cassian acts like he’s better than everyone else. Girls literally queue up to fuck him. Honestly, it’s pathetic.”
From the way Eden pursed her lips, it sounded as if she was a teeny-weeny bit jealous.
“Got a crush on him?” I teased, as we followed some thickset guys heading toward the exit.
“God, no,” she said, before smirking. “Well, he is hot, so I guess it would be fun to find out if all the rumors are true.”
“Rumors?” Now my curiosity was well and truly piqued.
Eden leaned in and whispered, “I’ve overheard a few girls talking about him. They say he has a massive cock!”
I rolled my eyes, pretending like I knew why it mattered. If a guy was that big, it sounded painful rather than fun, but I wasn’t about to admit I had no clue. Eden acted like she thought I was cool. If she found out I was clueless about sex, she’d probably ghost me.
Not that it mattered. Or so I kept reminding myself.
We passed a bathroom just as my bladder reminded me it hadn’t been emptied in a while, and it was a good 45-minute drive back to college.
“Hey, I’m just gonna visit the bathroom. I’ll meet you back at your car.”
“Will you be alright on your own? I can wait?” Bless her, Eden looked concerned about my safety. If anything, she was the one who needed to worry. But since there were still plenty of people around and the parking lot was well-lit, I figured she’d be fine walking to her car.
“Nah, it’s OK. I’ll be five minutes max. You go.”
“Alright, if you’re sure.” Eden disappeared outside while I visited the facilities. They were grim, but at least some kind soul had left a roll of toilet paper. After I’d done my business and washed my hands, I headed to the exit.
Just as I reached the door, the dickhead from earlier appeared. It seemed my threat hadn’t sunk in. Or more likely, he’d drunk a shit-ton of booze and was now so inebriated his last remaining brain cell had died.
I almost laughed until I saw three more guys sidle over, all of them looking pissed. Oh good . He’d brought his friends along. Things were about to get interesting.
“This her?” One of them asked, cracking his knuckles while maintaining a respectful distance. Asshole one must have warned his buddies I was carrying a knife.
A prickling sensation at the back of my neck warned me a fifth guy had moved in behind me, no doubt hoping to catch me by surprise. My favorite blade was still tucked into my boot, but I had a second one hidden in a sleeve inside my jacket.
Before the guy behind me could move, I’d spun around, swept his legs from under him, and had my knife pressed against his throat.
“If you want trouble, bring it on, boys, but be prepared for this chump to be your sacrificial lamb.”
The other four men looked at each other and shook their heads.
“Look, we don’t want any trouble, yeah?”
“Really? That’s not the vibe I’m getting.”
I pressed the knife down harder, drawing blood. My victim whimpered. Pathetic.
“Let Tam go and we’ll be gone!” The rest of them backed away, but my instincts warned me they weren’t about to give up so easily. Men like this didn’t enjoy being emasculated by a girl much smaller than them.
“OK.” I removed my blade and kicked Tam away. He fell face-first onto the concrete floor, breaking his nose in the process. Oops .
The minute he was out of reach, the rest of them circled me like hungry predators. What a shame they’d misread the room.
The only predator here was me.
As long as Eden stayed away, I could take this lot down in my sleep.
The first man swung for me. I ducked and slashed his bicep. Blood splattered everywhere; the cut was deep enough to need several stitches. He howled like a bitch, but it didn’t put off his friends.
They all attacked at once.
I punched one in the balls, head-butted the second, and took the third down easily, stabbing him in the thigh for good measure.
That left my original target, the man with the hole in his dick. He stared in horror at his friends, cupped his junk, and fled.
A small huff of laughter threatened to escape just as the metal door flung open. Eden took one look at the men lying groaning on the floor and raised one eyebrow. To her credit, she didn’t seem at all horrified.
“What happened? I left you alone for five minutes!”
After wiping my blade on my jeans and shoving it back in my boot, I shrugged.
“These idiots got handsy.”
“Really?”
I nodded. Eden scowled at them and kicked the nearest one in the balls. He shrieked in pain and vomited all over the place. Ouch, I guess Eden’s pointy boots pack a bigger punch than me.
“Come on, we better get out of here before anyone finds out what you did. I’d quite like to come back, and if the guys who run this place realize you’re a ninja, they might try and put you in the ring.”
She grinned at me and I rolled my eyes. “I was only protecting myself. Same as any woman.”
“Err, most women are not armed and dangerous,” she scoffed before dragging me outside. “You and I are having a conversation about this when we get in the car.”
Ugh. It looked like I was going to have to tell Eden a bit about who I was. Not all of it, because I didn’t want to put her in danger, but maybe she deserved to know some of it.
Judging by how unfazed she was at the sight of grown men lying bleeding on the floor, I had a suspicion my new friend wasn’t half as innocent as I’d assumed.