“And now we see the truth,” he said. “You are playing. But underneath you’re still just this… angry little boy who doesn’t know a lick about how the real world works.”
“Don’t you ever say anything like that about her again.”
He pouted, a mock expression of pity that made me want to rip his tongue out. “Did I strike a nerve, lad? Well, that’s too bad. I’ll say whatever the fuck I want, and there’s nothin’ you can say or do, eh?”
He stepped closer, leering down, fingers twisting into my hair, yanking my head back until I had no choice but to look up at him.
“You’re throwing those fights,” he snarled. “We can work out which ones you’re gonna win later. But for now—you are a dead man in that ring. And if you don’t play along… well.”
He tapped the buckle. “Then perhaps you’ll have to get reacquainted with this.”
I spat. A gob of thick saliva stuck to the head of the dragon.
Darragh looked down with disgust.
“That’s all you’ll fucking get from me,” I snapped.
He tutted, disappointment in his eyes, letting go of my hair with a shove. “I didn’t want to do this… Show him we mean business, boys.”
They laid me out. There was really no other way to put it. One held me back, arms tight behind my back in a vice grip I couldn’t break. The other slammed fists into my ribs and stomach. I gasped and thrashed, fighting, but the hold was too strong. I couldn’t even fall down because the guy behind me had me so tight.
Kicks sailed into my hips. Another fist struck my face. I grunted, seeing stars.
When I blinked the painful haze out of my eyes, blood running down my chin, Darragh was sliding back into his jacket like nothing had happened. “Your next fight is next week, yes?” I didn’t answer, but he knew already. “I’ll expect you to be in touch. Get your shit together, or next time I’ll have to pay a visit to that little doll of yours.”
The guy behind me released my arms and I collapsed to the ground.
I moved to go after him, but I was spent. All the air had been driven out of me. My body was alive with fire. Breaths came short and sharp, painful. It felt like my ribs were broken.
Darragh and his goons filed out. They chatted nonchalantly, as if none of this had even happened. Last I heard of them was a chorus of laughter at some little thing, at whatevernothingsthey had started to talk about between themselves—and then the door closing.
I breathed hard.
Darragh’s last words echoed in my mind:
“Get your shit together, or next time I’ll have to pay a visit to that little dollof yours.”
I couldn’t let her get involved in this.
I had to keep her safe—from my world, and from Darragh.
But how?
You know how,came his twangy voice.
You know exactly how to keep your little doll safe.
Chapter nineteen
Ingrid
Ifinished up my homework, the silence of my room louder than ever, and glanced at my phone for the hundredth time. The screen remained dark. Tristian hadn’t replied to any of my messages for the last few days, and a hollow ache was blooming inside me.
Giving in to my urge, I grabbed my phone and opened my messages to him. My thumb hovered over the keyboard, shaking as I read back through the unanswered string I’d sent across the past couple of days.
Good morning, Tristian! Do you want to get breakfast? Mr. Noah didn’t call me in to see you, so I wanted to ask.
Hi, Tristian… Is everything okay?
