Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
The excitement from the crowd buzzed far down the corridor, lighting the air with sparks. Terror weaved deeply into my bones, and I struggled to breathe or even stay conscious.
“You’ll be fine. You can do this.” Kek strode beside me, nipping at her nail. Soon she’d have to leave, as only Zander could escort me into the tunnel used for the fighters.
“Really?” My tone escalated a few pitches, my lungs pumping in and out rapidly.
“No, sorry, you’re totally fucked.” She cringed, running a hand through her loose braid as we stopped at the gate. My body swung to hers, my mouth gaping at her.
“I’m sorry!” She tossed out her arms. “I’m not good at this whole consoling thing. Not in my nature.”
Zander unlocked the gate, the metal squealing as it opened, death shivering through my heart.
Kek’s words were brutal, but it wasn’t something I didn’t know. Everyone knew. I had received nothing but smirks and pitying eyes all day. The only time people were nice to me was on the eve of my death: a shake of the head, a pat on the shoulder, even from those who had threatened me all week.
I was a dead girl walking.
Warwick had demanded healers to mend me for the fight tonight so he could kill me properly.
“Did I not warn you?” Lynx had said to me as we left the laundry room earlier today. “This time, there is no going back.”
Despondency filled my eyes as I peered at Kek. At this moment, I realized she had become a friend. In a place of violence, death, and cruelty, she, Tad, Opie, and even Bitzy had become sources of comfort.
“Brex—” Zander cut himself off, clearing his throat. “85221. It’s time.”
I pursed my lips, my throat thickening as I grabbed Kek’s hands. “Thank you,” I whispered, trying not to cry, “for having my back. I still don’t understand why, but I appreciate it.”
Kek twisted her head to the side, her lids blinking rapidly, her nose twitching.
“And tell Tad the same. I never got to say goodbye.”
“Then walk out of the arena and tell him yourself.” Ire flared over her brow. “Do what you need to do.”
A sad smile curved my mouth, her fury inflating instantly. We both knew I would not be walking out. No one, especially a bony, weak human girl, could win against the Wolf.
He was a legend for a reason.
The man who came back from the dead took lives like he was death himself.
Not one for sentimentality, I spun away from her, stepping into the dark tunnel. My jaw locked down when I heard her call my name. I didn’t look back, cutting off everything and everyone who made me human and tucking it behind my heart.
Caden.
My father.
Hanna, the only real girlfriend I had growing up, and the rest of my comrades.
Istvan and Rebeka. They had taken me on as family and raised me after my father died. They loved me in their way.
I gathered all their faces and memories and closed the lid. If I let myself think or feel, I would collapse, fear and grief immobilizing me.
My boots crunched across the gravel as it took us lower into the earth.
The drumming and chants from the stands echoed through the corridor.
They all knew General Markos’s ward would be dead soon, my blood watering the dirt.
They’d be carrying the true knowledge: I didn’t die months ago but was cut down in front of them.
They’d probably put my head on a spike and take turns parading me around the cell block in pride.
My feet stopped, a woeful sob wrenching from my chest, my spine bowed over. Zander’s hand touched my lower back, his fingers circling in soothing motions. “Brexley.” My name barely grazed his tongue, his voice soft and laced with sorrow.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Don’t say it will be all right or I can do this.” I looked up at him, agony snaking up my chest to my face.
His brown eyes filled with emotion as his gaze dove into mine.
“Stay alive. Not everything is what it seems.” Then his hands gripped my face, pulling me to him, his mouth capturing mine.
Soft, but full of need, his lips moved over mine.
My heightened emotions seized on his desire, consuming the last moments of kindness and pleasure.
I took his hunger and passion like it was a charging station, sending fire down my spine. I was not kind or gentle, but rough and demanding. I pushed for more, my teeth biting, my tongue licking. He tried to keep up with me, but I knew I demanded too much.
I always needed more. No guy I had been with ever seemed to leave me quenched. I thought it was because I truly longed for Caden, but maybe it was just me.
Never satisfied.
Zander broke away, his head tipping back, his eyes round as he stared down in awe.
“Brexley . . .” He said my name with reverence. “I need to tell you—”
“Now I know what was taking so long.” An icy timbre wrapped around me like a boa constrictor, jerking me to the huge figure on the other side of the gate.
Fuck.
Warwick’s gaze burned into me, dread punched my lungs, and I stepped away from Zander.
“Did I interrupt your final goodbye with the donkey?” Warwick sneered, leaning his shoulder against the bars casually, rolling a toothpick in his mouth. His body seemed relaxed, but his eyes oozed with threat as he glared at Zander.
“Horse,” Zander snipped back.
“Same difference. Both an arse.” He shrugged, his eyes catching mine again. “Little surprised at your choice, Kovacs. You think by fucking a guard, you would have gotten better treatment in here. Started too low on the totem pole.”
“Shut up.” Zander stepped forward, his jaw tightening with anger.
“You think you own the world . . . think yourself so mighty. But you are a prisoner like the rest. I can’t wait for someone to take you down a few pegs.
Someday someone will kill you, and you will be forgotten. No fanfare, no one to mourn or care.”
“Someday I will probably die, that’s true, but I guarantee the world will mourn as though they lost a god.” Warwick’s confident blue eyes slid to mine. “And someone will definitely care.”
“Your mother doesn’t count.” I glared at him, my fear replaced with irritation. What was he even doing out there already? It didn’t seem his style. He didn’t wait. He came, he killed, and he left. Why was he waiting for me?
He snorted, leaning his back fully against the gate, motioning to the stands, causing them to go wild. “Soooo . . . we’re all here waiting for you. When you’re ready, princess. You are the star of the show, after all.”
“You are such an asshole.” I churned with indignation, toppling the debilitating dread I held minutes ago to the floor.
He barked out a laugh, crossing his ankles, still staring out at the crowd, his fingers rotating the pick between his teeth as if he were enjoying a relaxing afternoon. “Is that all you got? Pathetic. My grandmother used to call me worse.”
My legs moved before I could even think. I slipped my hands through the bars, fingers sliding up his skull, and knotted them in his hair, yanking back.
His head slammed into the bars with a bang, pinned in place, my mouth close to his ear. “I have a lot more, Farkas. Want me to show you?”
He curved his head to the side, showing me his profile, a hungry grin on his lips, his eye glinting with fire as I pulled harder on his scalp.
“I would like nothing more, Kovacs,” he growled, his voice seeping over my skin and between my legs. “Ready to stop fiddling with your toy pony in there and come out and play with someone who might actually challenge you?”
His energy revved through me. My belly burned, heat scorching down my limbs.
“You think very highly of yourself.” My mouth brushed his ear. His nose flared, his eyes darkening, energy puffing both our chests. “Like most men, you are probably all talk and very little action.”
“Come find out for yourself. But unlike your boyfriend, I won’t be gentle.” His one eye met mine. “And from what I just saw . . . rough is exactly what you are aching for.”
I shoved him forward, thunder crashing in my chest. “Open the gate,” I ordered Zander. Warwick chuckled, stepping back from the entrance, tossing his toothpick to the ground and opening his arms in a “come and get me” motion.
“Brexley.” Zander reached for my arm, his head shaking. “You don’t understand . . .”
Already out of patience, I snatched the keys from his hand, unlocking it myself, not even looking back as I strode out, hearing him cry out my name again. I could feel nothing behind me anymore, my entire focus on the man in front of me.
The mob went insane when I stepped out. Whistles, chants, stomping, claps all blended together like music—the soundtrack of my epic battle with Warwick Farkas.
“Finally.” Warwick winked at me. “Been looking forward to this.”
“Me too.” I sneered maliciously.
Living. Dying. Neither were thoughts crippling my mind. Somehow Warwick had removed those and only filled me with the need to fight.
To be his greatest challenge.
The dirt crumbled under our boots as we slinked around each other, our eyes locked.
Predator. Prey.
The bellows from the stands throbbed off my skin, my heartbeat pulsing in my throat. Every seat was filled: prisoners, guards, even the medical and kitchen staff were all in attendance. Not one person wanted to miss the show tonight.
“War-wick! War-wick! War-wick!” His name clanged in the air, scraping my eardrums.
I stepped closer, but instead of meeting my dare, Warwick sidestepped, his gaze darting up into the stands. Usually, he didn’t put on a show; he killed and got out. Why was he stalling? Playing with me?
“We going to dance all night?” I jeered, my gaze sweeping over the scene, trying to find anything I could use as a weapon.
Nothing. They had cleared out everything, leaving it bare of anything I could turn into a weapon.
“The only thing I do all night is fuck.” His throaty voice looped around me, flushing heat into my veins as if he was actually touching me.
“Stop it.” I brushed my arms, the demand bouncing from my mouth.