Chapter 10 #2
“Get some rest,” he said. “You’ll need it.”
Bullet closed the door and the lock clicked in place. A prisoner until I could win my freedom. I knew something had to be coming. It had been too easy. I knew when I took the vow that if I ever broke it, I’d be killed and yet here I was, having to fight for my freedom.
Just fucking great.
I’d always liked Bullet, he was a fun guy, and always handy with knowing a little bit about everything. He’d be tasked in keeping me here until the fight. I prayed it wasn’t him that I was fighting. I’d seen him in hand to hand combat, and I really didn’t fancy my chances.
The fight for freedom wasn’t just any regular fight.
It was the fight of your life.
Because at the end, one was left standing, and the other was dead.
I was going to have to kill my opponent tonight.
Or I was going to be killed.
The sound of cheering and general mayhem could be heard outside my door. I knew it was almost time. I’d heard grunting and yelling all morning as they set up the warehouse for their illegal cage fight and here I was, about to fight to the death for my freedom.
My freedom so I could be with Shae.
Fuck.
I prayed she didn’t know about this. I couldn’t bear to see what would happen if she saw what I was about to do, what I was capable of doing.
She’d never look at me the same way again.
This was for her.
The lock unclicked on the door as I was finishing taping up my hands. Bullet appeared in the doorway with Wolf close behind.
“They told you about it?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Who am I fighting?”
“Still don’t know that,” he told me. The look on Bullet’s face told me it wasn’t going to be good. I didn’t want to know. “You good?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be ringside for you,” he said. “Need anything?”
I shook my head. “Wait.”
He stopped moving back outside and turned to face me. “Tell my family I’m okay. Tierney’s probably freaking the fuck out.”
“She’s all good. I already told them. They’ll be waiting for you when you beat this fucker, yeah?”
I nodded, pushing Shae and Tierney out of my mind so I could focus. As long as they were safe, I was going to be fine.
Wolf turned and left me in the room with Bullet who sat down on a chair by the door, his phone in his hand.
“Who is it?” I asked him.
He didn’t look up, a slow smirk making its way onto his face. “You’ll find out soon.”
I wanted to throttle the man, but I didn’t have the time or energy to expel on it. I sat down on the edge of the cot, the anticipation was almost killing me but soon…it would be over.
Shae
Bear, rebel and I saw Wolf amongst a host of other men in black shirts with the Outlaws insignia on it. They didn’t wear cuts all the time, mostly they just wore this uniform of black on black. My heartbeat was in my throat as I proceeded to the ominous looking cage in the middle of the warehouse.
“Jesus,” I heard Bear let out on a breath as he looked up at the structure himself. Sharp barbed wire was wrapped around the ring. If his head smashed against that, his face or body would be ripped to shreds.
“What is this?” I asked Wolf as he came over to us, holding us away from eavesdroppers.
“It’s a rite we perform when someone breaks their vow,” he admitted. “He just needs to fight one of the senior members and win, and once he does, he’ll be free. He can leave the Outlaws and there will be no one to come after him. It’s the best way forward for everyone.”
“What?” I gasped, looking over at the structure again. “He’ll be killed.”
Wolf looked away, watching over the Outlaws gathered who were all cheering for the show to start, and back at us. His expression gave nothing away.
“That’s the point,” Bear added. “It’s a death match.”
“What?” I gasped.
“Keep it in,” Wolf said. “You guys aren’t even meant to be here. So stay back, lose the cuts and watch if you want, but he has to do this or he’ll be killed anyway. He’s a skilled fighter, I’ve seen it myself. He stayed hidden for a year, escaping from pretty shitty circumstances. He’ll be fine.”
He walked off to go and talk to some men while I felt my knees wobble as I looked over the makeshift structure again.
“He can’t…”
“He has to,” Bear said. “Come on, we’ll put our cuts on our bikes and come back.”
Rebel pushed me to follow Bear, the support I didn’t know I needed and numbly, I followed what they were doing until Rebel slung his arm around my shoulders and walked me back inside. Somehow the ring looked larger, loomed more dangerous than before, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.
He was going to get killed and all I could do was watch on helplessly. Surely we could do something.
“You need to let this play out,” Bear said to me so that only I could hear. “There’d be no point in rescuing him for him to go on the run again.”
“He’s going to die.”
“No, he’s not. Have faith, Shae.”
Bear never called me Shae. He called me Valkyrie so for him to use my name now, I knew I had to trust in him. I pushed back the tears and let them lead me into the crowd, one man on either side. My family, protecting me as I watched my man fight for his freedom.
For our future together.
Dempsey
“Come on,” Bullet said, opening the door. “It’s time. You good?”
I nodded, jumping up and down on the spot to warm my muscles up again. “Let’s get this over with.”
Bullet led me out of the room and into the warehouse. Men I knew as Outlaws and others who weren’t all gathered around the ring, cheering and jeering at me. I ignored them, focusing on the ring of death in front of me.
When I got to the door, I saw one of the senior members standing there. “You know the rules, Viking.”
“There are no rules,” I said to him. His toothy grin met my stony expression and he held the door open for me. “Don’t catch yourself on the barbs, would hate for your mug to get any uglier.”
A loud raucous chuckle erupted from him. “You’re all right, Viking, you know that? Don’t get yourself killed, yeah?”
Fucking imbecile.
I bounced around the ring, moving over to my corner where Wolf was standing on the opposite side of the barbed wire. I squatted down.
“Who is it, Wolf?”
“You ain’t going to like it,” he grumbled. “They tossed for it and the fucker won.”
I was about to ask who when the door opened again and I looked up to see the one person I didn’t want to face.
Fuck.
“Don’t let him get in your head. You know how to fight, you know combat. Tell me you hid something in your bindings.”
I didn’t respond, only stood up and moved to the center of the ring where I saw the face of the one man I knew I’d never beat.
He’d be my executioner today.
But everyone else called him Pit.
“Ready to die, Viking?” he asked with a cocky laugh. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure to stick your body in a boat and throw you over the edge of a waterfall.”
“That’s mighty generous of you,” I shot back. “And when you fall, I’ll make sure to dig you a nice little pit to wither away into.”
He chuckled, because we both knew the likelihood of me winning was low.
I waited for him to finish warming up by the side of the cage and kept my eye on him, blocking out all the noise around me.
I needed to see Shae again, I needed to see those beautiful eyes looking into mine with desire, I needed to taste her again, to kiss those lips, to tell her how much I fucking loved her.
This wasn’t going to be the end.
She wasn’t going to have to bury me without ever knowing how much I fucking loved her.
No fucking way.
“Hurry the fuck up, old man, I ain’t got all day,” I yelled over to him. Pit’s snarl told me he was ready. He and I squared up in the centre.
“Time to put on a good show,” Pit said just before I clocked him in the mouth, my fist hitting his teeth.
They cut into my skin, a slight tingle erupting over my fist as I watched his head shoot backward, blood spraying through the air.
He stumbled from the velocity before he spat out blood and what looked like part of his tooth.
He’d been surprised, sure, but now he was pissed.
I braced myself for what was to come. His sweeping leg almost got me, but I jumped out of the way before he could get me.
Launching at him, I shoved him back on the barbed wire.
His sharp intake of breath told me that he wasn’t prepared for the pain.
He pulled himself free and ran for me. I dodged the first run, but he caught me by the hair and yanked me backwards.
I slammed onto the ground, where he kicked at my ribs.
Fuck.
Rolling away, I pulled myself up quickly before I dodged another run. He stopped just before he got to the cage and wheeled around. I got into my fighter’s stance just as he landed a punch into the side of my ribs. I felt the pain radiate around my chest immediately.
Shit.
That couldn’t be good. I landed on my back, just as I saw him coming over to me again. I pushed back up, the pain so deep I could scarcely breathe as I heaved in as much air as I could.
Pit ran at me again and I dodged it just as I felt my ankle tip over and I fell into the cage. My hands gripped on the sharp barbs as I pushed myself back up.
That’s when I saw her.
In the crowd, next to Alex and Rebel.
Shae’s worried face looked up at mine, just as I felt pressure on the back of my head.
My face was delivered into the sharp pieces of metal, the skin ripping on my cheeks as Pit shoved my head up and down for maximum damage.
I kicked back, connecting my foot with his ankle.
My head was released and I pushed back, feeling the sticky wetness drizzle down my face and onto my chest. Pit was bouncing back to his feet just as I laid punch after punch into him like he was a punching bag.
His bloody mouth was open in pain as he tried to move away, each breath splattered more blood onto his chin.
Wheezing from my own pain, I stepped back. He found his way to his feet again, my own feet not wanting to stand anymore.
Finish it.
“You know what to do,” I heard Wolf yell.