Epilogue 3
VALERIA
“Do you need anything else?” Harley says.
“No?”
She laughs. “Valeria you are Eligere now. You can have whatever you want. Just tell someone if you think of something, okay.”
“Okay. Thanks. For everything.”
She winks and slips through the door.
I bite my lip and look at the clock, it’s only 9. I can still make it. When I walk out of the gathering room, two of my guards are waiting for me. It pisses me off pretending like I need their protection. I could slice off both of their heads before they knew I entered the room.
“Miss Lopez,” one of them says with a head dip. The way his eyes slip over my skin makes my blood boil.
“You both are dismissed.”
The bigger one wrinkles his brow.
“Miss Lopez, we have to—”
My fists bunch at my sides.
“Yes. I’m aware of what Frost has ordered you to do.”
I can’t wait until I can slice his belly open with my staff.
The need to fight makes my palms itch.
“We’re going back to the estate then.”
The drive is quiet and I tap my toe in these ridiculous heels the entire way.
I’m escorted to the door and I make my way up an ungodly amount of stairs to my bedroom chambers. Again ridiculous, I have a chamber for sleeping now when the last bed I was given as a solider, was in a ten by ten foot room with a small, attached bathroom.
When I get dressed in the spandex training outfit, I push on my favorite boots. They make me think of Gabe. He’s going to be so mad at me for just leaving like that. Nothing is secret in this world and I don’t know who to trust yet.
Although Harley might be someone I can get on my side. Nevertheless, I can’t let anyone know about my relationship with the handsome solider or they could kill him or worse.
I slip the pack holding my staff over my shoulders and take the service stairs down.
Most of the people assigned to the estate are gone, dismissed with carefully placed orders and a few well-timed lies, which makes sneaking out almost insultingly easy.
The enforcers wait at the front of the estate. The incompetence is real.
At the end of the hall, behind the wine closet, a secret tunnel waits in the dark.
I slip inside, follow the narrow passage beneath the estate, and pull myself up through the grate at the far end.
Brushing the dirt from my hands, I fit the grate back into place. One twist, one careful shove, and I’m break through the garden trees. The clearing beyond is too open, too exposed, so I run hard until the forest closes around me and the estate falls away behind my back.
My car is waiting in the dark, right where I hid it.
Of all the wasted Eligere money, this car was the best use. It’s a custom Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, smoked black carbon with wine-red leather, gold accents line the interior dash. The Lopez crest is stitched beneath the headrest, subtle enough to miss unless you know exactly where to look.
I throw my pack into the passenger seat and slide behind the wheel. The engine wakes with a low, violent purr that vibrates through my ribs. It sends a tiny spark up my spine close to what I feel when I win a fight.
The tires squeal when I turn onto the road. In a blur the large ornate estates pass by and I’m taken to the rundown part of the city. Rusted warehouses and dimly lit alleyways help hide the place.
I pull the baclava up over my mouth. My hair is already pulled back into a long braided ponytail.
The valet gives me a whistle when I step out. He could be whistling at the car. That would make more sense.
“Name?” he asks, clicking on a tablet.
“Val.”
“No, your fighting name?” He stares so hard it’s like he thinks he can see through my shirt. Odd.
I shrug.
He tilts his head while surveying me. I don’t understand this person. I can’t hit him though; I have to wait my turn. I learned that the first time I came.
“Hellcat, that you?”
“Oh nice one, Hellcat, that sounds better than, Val. You’re up next,” he smirks at me until he looks over his shoulder. Suddenly he turns and becomes very interested in his tablet again.
I step forward when someone grabs my elbow. On instinct I whip around and put my bo against their chest. It’s a very large chest but I’ve been against worse odds.
A boyish smile crosses his face and I look up into golden-brown eyes.
“Riley?”
“Yeah, hey,” he cuffs his hand behind his neck. Is he nervous? Oh right, I’m holding a weapon against his chest. I lower it.
“You caught me off guard,” I say, sliding it into my pack again.
I give him a quick smile and walk through the warehouse doors.
Riley follows me.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, keeping my pace so he can walk next to me.
“You know what I’m doing here. Fighting. I’m on the roster tonight.”
“Hellcat, no.”
I turn on my heel and look at him.
“What do you mean, no?”
There is a spark in his eye. It’s sharp and dangerous. and his lip tips to the side.
He’s incredibly handsome, at least 6’5 and towers over me.
His brown hair is slicked back on the top like he’s just showered.
There is a fresh cut on his lip and red is seeping out.
His knuckles are wrapped like he just finished a round.
I hold back the urge to ask how it went. Riley is acting really strange.
“No. Sorry Valeria, I can’t let you fight.”
I hold his gaze for one hard second, then turn on my heel, boots scraping loud against the concrete.
A rough groan rolls out of his chest. “Hellcat, stop. You’re killing me.”
With gritted teeth I turn. “If that were true, you’d be bleeding out on the sidewalk. Does this have something to do with the Vega’s or my sister? Are they safe?”
“Yes, they are fine, of course.” He looks down at my feet then. “But if I let you walk in there, you won’t be for much longer,” he says almost under his breath.
“Fuck off, Riley.” I push on the door to enter the ring.
“Val, I’m really sorry about this,” he says. Then tosses me over his shoulder and jogs out of the arena.
I fight him. Punch at his kidneys and kick at his gut. He grunts and curses but doesn’t stop.
“This is insane. I’m going to fight. Put me the fuck down,” I shout.
“Oh, trouble.” A smooth as silk voice washes over me.
“Gabe?”
“Yeah, baby. I tried to let you do it your way.” His voice is strained and he pushes me against Riley’s back and puts handcuffs on me. Then Riley spins me around and Gabe yanks at my feet until my ankles are zip tied.
Riley stops in front of a black car I don’t recognize.
“Let me? What has gotten into you two?”
“Always you, Val. Don’t hurt yourself, yeah?” Riley says, then slams the door over my head and I’m surrounded by the darkness of the trunk.