26. Zela
It’s cold, I’m wet, my head is throbbing, and it feels like I just got done choking on a razor blade.
What the hell is going on?
I push up and balk when my hand sinks into the ground beside me, my mind scrambling to remember how we ended up in the mud…
With a groan, I manage to sit up, peeling my eyes open as a flash of lightning lights up the sky, and I quickly squeeze my eyes closed against the pain it sends shooting through my skull.
The fight. I’d won, but Widow sure as fuck wasn’t pulling punches.
That explains the throbbing in my head, but not my random nap outside in the fucking woods.
A branch breaks not far away, and suddenly, it doesn’t matter how I got here; I just need to leave.
My vision sways as I push up onto my feet, but I blink past it, unwilling to find out who or what is out here with me.
I’ve got enough monsters in my life to deal with, thank you.
A quick pat-down tells me I’m phoneless and still mostly in my fighting gear, including my mask.
What the hell could have…
My thoughts cut short as another twig breaks, and this time someone calls out for me, but they don’t call me by name.
“Little sister,” Jace singsongs, and my heart lodges itself in my throat.
Isaac.
He’d come in after the fight and choked me until I passed out. My hand moves up to my throat at the thought, and sure as fuck it’s tender; no doubt I’ll be sporting a hand necklace in the form of bruises for the next couple of days.
He moves around me like the predator he is.
His mask glows in the dark of the forest, the same one he used to wear to fight before he lost it.
It's simple, just one of those purge masks you can buy at any Halloween store, with the glowing mouth and X eyes.
Usually it wouldn't hold any weight, but it's different when it's on him, when I know the monster that sits behind the mask.
It kills me to stay in one spot as he moves to my back, but he's not the only threat I'm currently facing.
“Ah, you're awake, dear sister.” It didn’t register a second ago when Jace said it, but as Kolson walks toward me, I realize the weight of their words.
They aren’t calling me Vixen or Foxy, but sister…
They know, which can only mean one thing.
I spin around to find Isaac not far away, watching, his eyes burning a trail down my body as he looks me over, and my lips pull down in disgust.
Isaac told them.
I’m not surprised, honestly. I’m shocked it took so long, but it still stings.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to shut these wretched emotions off. So unhelpful and very inconvenient.
Kolson wears a long coat that makes me think of old-timey gangsters and has an umbrella, unlike the other two. He walks up, his gaze hard as if trying to stare a hole through my head, stopping so close that his umbrella shelters me from the rain as well.
“Nice fighting tonight.” It’s not a compliment, not really. I see the ice in his eyes and know I’m not going to like whatever comes next.
“I thought before next week, you might enjoy meeting your shadow and the man who will more than likely kill you in the pit.”
The smile that curls his lips is twisted, and for the first time, I see the relation between him and Jace.
I’m not sure what the fuck he means about my shadow, but before I get the chance to ask, another man walks up, stopping just a few steps behind Kolson, and all the air leaves my lungs.
The world spins, and this time I don’t think it has anything to do with my head injury.
“Tank, I’d like you to meet my sister. She’s in need of a lesson, and you're going to be the one who delivers it.”
“What?” Jace shouts, causing Kolson to shoot him a glare. And while he doesn’t push anymore, it doesn’t stop him from groaning and moaning.
“Since you're so damned and determined to get away, we’re giving you a chance.”
I force my eyes back to Kolson and try to focus on what he’s saying. I know it’s important, but I feel as though I’m standing at the end of a tunnel, getting second-hand information.
Now isn’t the time to fall apart.
“There’s about—” he pauses, pushing his sleeve up to check his watch. “Two hours before the sun rises. If you want to be free, all you have to do is escape before the sun comes up.”
I’m no fucking Boy Scout, but something about this seems off, too easy.
“What’s the catch?” I manage to say and almost sigh in relief when my voice comes out stronger than I would have thought possible. Though not without a rasp that I’m sure comes from being strangled.
That fucking psycho’s smile grows wider, and this time he seems almost proud.
“Ah, I can’t go ruining all the fun now, can I?”
His idea of fun and mine are not the same.
He holds out his hand, and I look back at Tank before I turn to look at Jace and then Isaac, weighing my options.
Do I even really have any?
If I say no, they could just fucking kill me. We're in the literal middle of nowhere, and there are four of them and one of me, not to mention my dumb ass dropped my phone when Isaac grabbed me.
I reach for his hand but hesitate a moment.
I know better than to make a deal with the devil, but what other choice do I have?
With a deep breath, I reach out and grab his hand, attempting to squeeze it but quickly realizing I don’t have the strength right now.
Great.
“Run. If you make it out of the woods before you get caught, we’ll let you go.
” He squeezes my hand, pulling me impossibly closer so that I can smell his cologne and the alcohol on his breath.
“If not, you're mine, to do with whatever I please. There will be no escaping us. You’ll be a DuPont, forever.”
He forces me back, and I stumble but manage to stay upright, barely, but I’ll take it.
“Two hours!” Kolson shouts back over his shoulder as he once again disappears into the dense trees, and when I look around, I find it’s only Tank and I who remain.
He’s fucking huge, a wall of solid muscle in a gas mask. Not that it’s shocking; I’m not one to stick around for the other fights, especially not the men’s. Until recently, I never had a reason to care, but looking at him now, I know I should have been more interested in the competition.
Reed wasn’t joking when he said Tank could kill me.
His arms are littered with ink, but it’s too dark to make out any one thing.
I open my mouth to say something, anything really, but the words get caught in my throat when his piercing green eyes meet mine.
“You have thirty minutes,” he says, and the sound of his voice throws me. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Tank speak, not that I’ve had much time with him, but still. His voice is deep, gruff, and mean. It matches his cruel nature and hulking appearance perfectly.
“I thought I had two hours?” I don't even try to keep the disdain from my voice, but some of the effect is lost as my teeth chatter.
“Oh, you do, but in thirty minutes I’ll be chasing you, and if you're not out of the woods by then…” He looks me up and down, and it feels like a lead weight drops in my stomach. “You never will be.”
I turn on the spot and head into the woods opposite him as I try to think of how best to find my way out. I could just keep going straight, but I have no idea how big these woods are. What if I’m running parallel with the road?
Fuck, I should have had Dad put me in that summer camp when I was younger. It was just for kids in poverty, so I would have fit right in, but I didn’t want to spend time outside being eaten alive by bugs when I could have spent it at the library instead.
“You can’t escape me, Vixen!”
The deep rumble of his voice behind me sounds a lot closer than it should, despite me continuing to put distance between us, and I wonder if maybe I should just give in?
Is being a DuPont really that terrible?
I think about the time I’ve spent with my ‘brothers,’ and yeah, fuck them, I have to at least try.