Chapter Nine #2
The more I dodge his blows the more erratic his swings and kicks become, frustrated that he hasn't been able to land a blow. I spot my opening and throw an uppercut to his jaw before quickly following it up with a roundhouse kick to his head.
He drops like a very heavy sack of potatoes, just before the ref gets to three and declares a knockout, I go flying through the air, my hood ripped off and taking some of my hair with it in the process.
The son of a bitch grabbed my ankle.
As I'm falling, I position myself so my elbow lands with as much force as possible on his face. I feel his nose crunch and wet sticky blood spurt out of it before I spin round and hit him in quick succession making sure to go for pressure points, I know will knock him out cold.
After two blows he's out and the announcer declares me the victor. I ignore the crowd like I usually do and make my way back to the locker rooms as quickly as possible. I may have won but that fucking asshole ripped my hood off, I need to get out of here now.
I quickly throw on a pair of yoga pants and sneakers not bothering with showering or changing properly. Sam has already left my winnings in my locker, seeming to know I would want a quick escape, which worries me even more. I grab it all and throw it into my bag.
The sense of urgency is almost overwhelming.
I hear a crash from the other side of the locker room and curse myself for jumping.
Not waiting around, I grab my bag and make my way to the only other exit in the room.
It's not my first choice in a situation like this, since it leads out into a secluded side parking lot that no one ever uses and is the perfect place for an ambush.
I have no choice though.
"Sage," a man’s voice sing songs behind me, "the boss would like to see you; he misses his little toy." A sardonic laugh follows that horrifying statement.
I bolt out of the door making sure it closes almost silently behind me. There are no other exits so he will know where I've gone but hopefully, he will scour the locker room first thinking I'm so out of my mind with terror I will have just curled up into a shaking ball on the floor.
After all when they all knew me that's what I would've done.
I race up the dark stairway as quietly as I can and make it out of the side door with no further incidents, which makes me suspicious, that guy should have caught up with me by now.
I stay alert but figure maybe luck is finally on my side.
Sticking close to the building I check my surroundings constantly.
I only make it a few feet from the door before I'm suddenly surrounded on all sides by men.
I glance behind me praying for an escape route of some kind and my heart plummets as I see that they've closed ranks standing shoulder to shoulder and caging me in.
Well fuck, fuck, FUCK!! I internally scream.
A guy exits out of the door I just came through at a leisurely pace and I realise this must be the guy that was in the locker room. He smirks at me. Which is when I realise that I've been fucking herded like an animal. I should know better, hell I do know better. What the fuck was I thinking!
The men in front of me part and let through a man in his early twenty’s with short dark hair and murky brown eyes.
He's dressed like he should be attending a multimillion-dollar function not an underground fighting ring.
His body is lean, but you can tell just from a glance that he has no real strength.
No, this man prefers to have others do his dirty work.
I can't believe I ever thought I liked him. How was I so starved for attention and for someone to care about met that I thought he was good looking or someone I'd want to be with, I don't know.
"Brent." I manage to grit out through my teeth.
"Sage, how lovely to see you. I've missed you!" The fake sickly-sweet tone of his voice makes my stomach churn.
He reaches out a hand as if to stroke my cheek and I take a step back; I never want him touching me again. His eyes flash with malice for a brief second before the fake sugary sweetness overtakes his features once again.
"Now, now sweet Sage there's no need to be like that. The last time we saw each other was just a misunderstanding. I want you to come home to me.” He says it so assuredly.
He genuinely believes I'm going to drop to my knees and thank him for taking me back. The absurdity of it all causes me to crack and I let out a long loud laugh. The shock of me laughing in their boss’s face freezes the men surrounding me.
That is until a sharp stinging hits my cheek.
I straighten up and refuse to show him that he just hurt me, I simply smirk at him.
"A misunderstanding huh?" I ask raising my eyebrow.
Fucker just slapped me like the bitch he is.
He blusters briefly before getting himself back under control and he drops the fake sweetness as a dark glare covers his face.
"It's cute how you think you have a choice about whether you come with me or not."
I stiffen slightly at the implications in his words but force myself to relax.
I will not show fear. I can be scared later, I don't have time for it now.
I glance around me looking for an escape route or the easiest way to fight my way out without getting shot or stabbed.
As I'm scanning the shadows my eyes spot a large shape dressed in black with a black mask covering the entirety of his face.
There's something incredibly familiar about him.
My eyes lock onto his and I inhale sharply, Hunter?
What the fuck?
I move my eyes away from him quickly not wanting to draw attention to him and scan the area for the others. I know that where there is one the others won't be too far away. I spot them all, all in the same completely black outfit with a black mask.
I make eye contact with Levi and he nods slightly.
I instinctively know that, that's my cue to get down and somewhere safe before all hell breaks loose.
I almost warn them away from trying anything with Brent and his men but that same instinctual feeling pops up to tell me they can handle themselves.
However, if they think I'm sitting out of this fight they've got another thing coming.
I shake my head back at Levi and watch his eyes widen.
None of these men are armed with guns, Sam strictly prohibits anyone apart from the guards for the arena to have them.
I know for a fact though that they are all carrying knives and that more than likely Brent does have a gun.
I suddenly sprint towards one of the guys circling me. I can hear a commotion behind me and know that my guys have joined the fight.
Reaching the guy, I slam my fist into his temple and promptly knock him out. I find his knives quickly and grab one for each hand before kicking the others underneath the dumpster. No sense in leaving a man armed, even if he is knocked out.
I take a brief second to watch my guys fight with ease and precision. It occurs to me that they are very well trained. I shake out of my thoughts, there's no time for that now.
I smack the butt of my knife down onto the temple of another one of Brent's guys, watching as he drops.
I fight my way towards Brent knowing that I'm going to have to disarm him before he shoots one of my guys.
He turns to me just as I reach him, and catching him off guard, I strike out with my fist towards his throat forcing him to drop to the floor as he struggles to breathe.
It won't kill him, but it will incapacitate him long enough for me to disarm him.
I find his gun, thankful that he only has one, check the safety and put it in the back of my pants.
Glancing around at the fight still ensuing and trying to see where I'm needed most, I spot someone sneaking up behind Kai, a flash of silver in his hand giving the blade he's carrying away. I aim and throw without a second thought.
My knife sails through the air, straight and true as it hits the shoulder of the knife guy, causing him to drop the knife with a loud clatter.
Kai stares at me in shock momentarily before taking the first man he was fighting and the knife guy down swiftly.
All of my guys, except for Kai, are fighting with their backs towards each other in a circle.
Kai and I both make our way over to them, fighting through Brent's men.
It seems he called for back-up at some point.
We make it to the circle and stand with them, our backs facing inwards towards the centre of the circle, our shoulders touching. A sense of peace and strength flow through me as my shoulders brush against Kai and Hunter.
I'm surprised at how well I fight with them.
It makes sense that they fight well together, it's obvious they've been doing it for years but it's a pleasant surprise that I seem to be able to fit in so well with them.
I love how they didn't try to push me into the middle of the circle, they've seen me fight and they treat me as an equal, not a damsel in distress.
The warm feeling in my chest expands and suddenly a glowing white light covers me, spreading over each of my guys too. Everyone stops to stare before a blast radiates from me and my guys, sending Brent's guys sprawling across the ground, all of them knocked out cold.
"What the fuckity fuck was that?" Kai questions, breathing heavily from the fight.
"I don't know Kai, there seems to be a lot of explaining that needs to be done." I say pointedly looking at them all. Knowing full well I have a lot to explain too.
"How could you tell it was me?" He asks perplexed.
"Same way I know that's Hunter, Levi, Jax and Maverick," I say pointing to each one, "I just know." I shrug, and they all share a look.
"Can we get out of here; we don’t know how long they’re going to be out for."
"Yes, of course, our van is parked around the corner. We have a lot to talk about." Levi looks at me and I nod.
I don't know what that light was, but I feel lighter, freer and I trust my guys.
"Stay at ours tonight, Little Star?" Jax questions.
"I don't think any of us want to let you out of our sight right now." Maverick admits.
"Ok, I'd love to, but I've got to pick up some booze and drop it back to the house first. She won't notice I'm gone then."
"We'll go to the store now and get it out of the way."
I nod and after a quick store run, we make it back to their place. I flop onto the couch my energy starting to plummet now that the adrenaline is wearing off.
"Make yourself at home Sweetheart.” Hunter jokes and I stick my tongue out at him playfully and maturely.
They all chuckle, making me smile.
Once we've all showered, changed and ordered pizza we sit in the living room.
"So . . ." Levi starts.