In a flash, they were shoving against each other. Blood sprayed out into the crowd. A thin, hot stream flew across my face. I wasn’t sure who it came from, as they were moving so fast. Arsenio had brute strength, but Desi was quick.
Desi ducked down and sunk his head into Arsenio’s stomach, taking him down. Arsenio rolled him over in an instant, and his fist went straight to his jaw. I screamed when Desi’s head jerked to the side. He started to spit blood. Arsenio smiled and reached for his chin. He turned Desi’s head, and I was shocked to see Desi smiling back at him. One second later, Desi shoved Arsenio off of him and was resting his boot on his neck.
My hands went to my mouth in horror as Desi kicked Arsenio in the ribs, over and over. Every time Arsenio tried to get up, Desi moved around, making sure he stayed down.
Somehow, after an eternity, Arsenio managed to get up. He reached for Desi’s shoulders and lifted him in the air. I watched as Desi began to laugh. He didn’t fight him as Arsenio threw him into the crowd. They parted and let him hit a wall twenty feet away.
Desi stood and bit his lip. Blood was splattered all over his white dress shirt. He was covered in it. His face had tiger stripes across it. As he started back toward the fight, he reached into his chest and pulled his shirt open. Buttons flew into the air as he threw the shirt away, leaving him in just a white undershirt.
As he moved under the harsh white light to face Arsenio again, my eyes went to his chest. I blinked. It couldn’t be. I looked over at my boyfriend. He was pounding on his chest like a gorilla, shouting for his friend to come at him. He bared his fangs, and I knew that when Desi went toward him, Arsenio was going to rip out his throat. This was my time.
I took a step forward, but then I turned back to Desi. He scratched at his neck, glaring daggers at Arsenio. As he shifted his arm, the undershirt moved enough for me to see the edge of the tattoo underneath it. I knew that tattoo anywhere. It was the same one Arsenio had.
Desi was a member of The Seven Sins.
There was a brief moment where no one but Desi moved. He turned and looked at me. His eyes found mine instantly, and he winked before looking away and running toward Arsenio. Both men collided into each other like a horrible head-on car crash.
Arsenio opened his mouth, but Desi was faster. He sunk his fangs right into Arsenio’s shoulder and took him down. Arsenio screamed and dropped to the ground, but Desi didn’t let go. He continued to bite until suddenly he pulled up and spit something at the crowd. It took a minute to realize that he had taken off a chunk of his shoulder. The skin and muscle sat in a pool of blood as Arsenio finally conceded. He collapsed, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head.
The room erupted in cheers as they crowned another winner. Desi stood straight, his chest heaving. His hands were twitching, and he was staring into the crowd as if looking for his next victim. His eyes found me, and he stormed forward.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me through the crowd. I was too stunned by him taking down Arsenio to protest. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to. I followed quickly as he took me into a room I didn’t know was in the basement. He shoved the door closed and wrapped his wet, bloody arms around me. All the sounds from the other room disappeared when I looked up at him, and then his lips crashed into mine.
9
I slunk into the office before my shift and made sure to tell the guys that I was not to be disturbed.
“I’ve got phone calls to make and some other stuff. Don’t need me for anything.” I warned.
“Damn, how did you manage that?” Adam pointed to my face. I glared at him, and he cringed. I hurried out of the lobby.
“Don’t fucking worry about it.” I opened the break room door, went to the bathroom, and then right to the mirror. My right eye was bruised purple. I tried to roll my eyes, but the muscles were still tender, causing me to wince. Arsenio had nailed me right as I was leaving his house tonight.
Once in my office, I locked the door, opted to put headphones in, and then laid down on the floor with my eyes closed. I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit today.
I put my hands under my head and relaxed. When had I gotten off track with my job? I wasn’t here to fuck around with Arsenio. Movie theaters, underground fighting, none of this was in the plan. I was here to figure out where Elvie was and get the hell out. I didn’t need this shit. His fist had taken me off guard today, as the fights had ended when the sun rose. The guests left, and I retreated to my room, confused, hyped up on the adrenaline, and beat all to hell. When I woke, I was groggy and in need of blood. Arsenio had caught me while I wasn’t looking and popped me straight in the face. While the bruise would heal in a few hours, it still fucking hurt.
Someone tried the door right about the time of my and Scout’s shift. I popped an eye open but ignored it. It went away after a few knocks. I turned my phone all the way up and was debating a nap when all of a sudden, the door was blown open. I started to sit up, but the red blur moved fast.
In a flash, the door was slammed shut, and she was crouched over me. She plopped down on my lap as I lifted my head. The jolt of the weight caused my head to bob up and then back down on the floor with a clunk.
“Fuck!” I hissed. She held me down, her soft hands firm on my biceps. We looked at each other, our eyes boring into one another’s. She was breathing heavily. My eyes dipped to her full, red lips. Memories of last night filled my mind.
Taking advantage of my momentary distraction, she reached for my shirt. She took both sides of my black baseball jersey in her hands. There was a slight pause as we both knew what she was about to do. I reached for her wrists, but she was faster than me. Her jaw clenched, and her eyes hardened as she ripped the shirt open.
“Hey!” I protested as the buttons flew everywhere. She was stronger than she looked, tearing my undershirt clear off of my chest. My hands went to cover myself, but her hands caught my wrists and shoved them back down. I stared at her in bewilderment.
What was she—oh.
Her eyes were fixated on the tattoo on my right tit.
“We’re done here,” I said sharply and pushed her off of me. I was done with the games. I stood, tearing away the remains of my undershirt, leaving just my newly buttonless jersey on. My eyes were glued to the floor. I couldn’t look at her and risk telling her something she shouldn’t know. “You should leave.”
She scrambled to stand and then started toward me. I shook my head and turned around.
“It’s true. I knew I wasn’t crazy. You’re one of them too.” She pointed to my chest.
I smirked. “Arsenio’s gone soft.”
