AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A sound to my left—where the cavernous tunnel disappeared into nothing but darkness—caught my attention, and I turned my light in that direction and saw the outline of Daire up ahead.
He was hugging one side of the tracks and walking with a sure stride that told me this wasn’t the first time he’d done this. He’d been here before. He was familiar with this tunnel and wherever it went.
I glanced down to the right of the tunnel and was happy to note there was a bunch of wood and bricks lying piled up across the tracks, which would impede any oncoming train, should one come hurtling through there. A relief, to say the least, since the last way I wanted to be taken out was death by train.
Instead, all I had to worry about was death by unsavory characters or disease-infested rats. If Daire was merely skipping out on having to interact with humanity above ground, I was going to give him a piece of my damn mind.
I jumped off the platform and down on to the tracks, and even knowing I wasn’t going to come face to face with a train car, my heart still hammered erratically in my chest. My phone lit the way for my feet as I hurried in the direction Daire had gone, keeping close to the wall like he had and doing my best not to flinch at every little sound I didn’t recognize—which was all of them. It wasn’t like I spent my days in underground Manhattan. Who knew if the scurrying sound to my right was people or rodents?
I shivered at the thought, my mind conjuring up all kinds of nightmare scenarios, from radioactive lizards to mutant turtles. Was Daire doing drugs? Was he buying them down here? Did he owe money to bookies? I had no idea what could have him venturing into the bowels of New York City, but if we both somehow survived this, I just might kill him.
There was a sound up ahead, and I swung my light that way just as Daire’s form disappeared through some sort of opening. I picked up the pace, jogging in that direction. As I got closer, the muffled sound of people filled the once-silent tunnel, and I found myself standing at a small opening in the thick brick wall.
It wasn’t a door, per se, or another tunnel. It looked more like a crack in the wall that someone had taken a sledgehammer to so people could climb through.
I came to an abrupt halt as I peered inside the hole in the wall, then looked down at my pressed grey pants and jacket and grimaced. My shoes were already a lost cause after stepping in God only knows, but was I really about to climb through what looked like a demolition site?
This was crazy. Clearly I’d lost my damn mind. But just as I was about to do the smart thing and turn around, a loud, raucous cheer reverberated from inside the opening, and I went through.
“And Jackhammer’s down for the count!” a man shouted from on top of a jagged boulder several feet above the crowd, like he was the host of whatever was happening below. The horde was several people deep, though, and I couldn’t tell what was going on without getting closer.
I definitely didn’t belong here. The vibe was wild and feral, dirty and with an air of violence.
No, not just an air. This whole scene wasaboutviolence.
As casually as I could manage without sticking out like a sore thumb, I moved deeper into the crowd, searching for any sign of Daire, but it was the man knocked out cold on the concrete in the middle of a circle that caught my attention.
“Oh, come on, get up.” A towering figure stood above the guy, who still wasn’t moving. When he kicked at the man’s hips, there was a groan.
He wasn’t dead, whoever it was. But he wasn’t in good shape.
“I said get up,” the man standing growled, and that was when the host on the boulder jumped down and forced the big guy back.
“All right, that’s enough. You win.” He lifted the big guy’s arm and turned him to face the crowd. “Another notch for Shane the Destroyer.”
There were shouts mixed with more than a few boos as the Destroyer smirked at his victory.
“Who’s next?” he shouted, his teeth smeared with blood. He spat by the feet of the man he’d defeated, and I shrank back as his gaze moved over the crowd.
“How about me, fucker?”
My stomach dropped all the way down to my feet as Daire stepped into the circle. I’d seen the scowls and glares he’d given off for years, but never had I seen the menacing look on his face as he shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it aside. Then he lifted his shirt, and all those well-defined muscles came into view—along with the bruises that had sent me down here in the first place.
What the hell was he doing? Actively looking to get the shit beaten out of him? Was he crazy?
The host climbed back up on the rock and cupped his hands around his mouth.
“We have a challenger, and this one ought to be a bloodbath.” A sinister smile crossed the man’s lips, causing several in the mob below to whistle in approval. “You’ve all seen what the Destroyer can do, but can he survive…the Reaper?”
Daire sauntered around the circle, keeping his eyes on the man they called the Destroyer, as the one on the ground was pulled away by his arms. That was when the tattoo of the word “Reaper” scrawled across his upper back came into view, and it clicked.
Fuck.That’swhat that meant?
The roar of the crowd echoed off the cavernous walls, all eyes on Daire…the Reaper? Was this for fucking real? Daire was going to fight that monster of a man who’d all but killed the other guy?
No. No way this was happening. I just had to get to him, knock some sense into him before he ended up six feet under.
But then I heard the voices of those around me, saw the money being exchanged. They were placing their bets on the winner, and it was Daire’s name on their lips.
