?Well, why don’t I just reveal every damned secret at this point. It seems like a losing battle trying not to say shit.
?Placing my hands on his chest, I slowly push him away and he lets me. Not that, truthfully, he could stop me, but I can’t be touching those keys or doors within me.
?“The sun devil,” I start, and he goes unnaturally still. “He didn’t just curse me so when I’m exposed to the sun I burn like a regular vampire. He also cursed my scars. When there is skin on skin contact it feels like burning.” I shrug and cast my sight around. It looks like some sort of back alley or lot in the not so good part of the city. “But I was able to tolerate it when I had constant exposure. My brain got numb to it, but I haven’t been touched since that sun devil so I asked Darian to help me.”
?“Have you asked Varian or Castiel about trying to break the runic curse?”
?I glower at him and he looks away, the tops of his cheeks deepening. I focus on that for a moment before shaking my head and gesturing around.
?“Pleasure and pain,” I continue, “was Darian’s plan, but him and you all touching me obviously isn’t working anymore. So is this the fight club everyone knows about but isn’t supposed to talk about?”
?He clears his throat and nods towards a metal door. “There’s a lot more leeway and limits that can be pushed. You’ll get one non-bladed weapon to choose from, and the only rule is that you cannot use magic. It’s also preferred if you don’t kill anyone.”
?He opens the door and there must have been some sort of silencing spell because heat and noise hits me like a tank.
?There’s a bouncer of some sort who nods Thorne in and does a once over of me. “No kids.”
?Thorne places his hand on the back of my neck and shadows consume me from the shoulders down. “She looks young for her age.”
?I realize now Thorne isn’t in his uniform, and as I look around I do see some familiar faces but everyone is dressed in regular clothes. All of them shouting and cheering at the fight currently going on. I can’t see it, but I can smell and feel all the blood drenching this place.
?The bouncer looks away and Thorne begins guiding me away from him and further into the warehouse looking space. All industrial, and through the gaps I can see we’re on a higher floor with the fight somewhere below us.
?Thorne’s hands move to my waist and takes me towards the back where a door and stairway are.
?“Locker rooms are downstairs and I have a sports bra and shorts for you to change into,” he says as we take two flights before we hit the ground level of this building. He pushes me into another room and lockers line the walls with an area with shower heads. He points to the only closed locker. “In there, I’ll be waiting just outside the door.”
?He turns to leave and I watch him slip out the door. Anticipation starts bubbling because I am really about to do this. I’m about to fight in an underground fight club where the only rule is no magic.
?A smile curls onto my face as I head to the locker.
?It feels just like home.
Twenty-Two
Thorne – Novam 26
There’s a slight smile on her face as she comes out. The robe I had also stuffed in the locker covering her body for now and her hair is tied in a knot at the nape of her neck. I hadn’t wanted her to be exposed for longer than she had to – those undergarments cover next to nothing of her body. Darian said just her arms and legs, but everything except her breasts, ass, and pussy will be showing.
?I immediately wrap my arm around her and lead her to where the cage is. I see a lot of familiar faces, both as watchers and as fighters. Tonight the infamous Varian Asier will eventually be fighting.
?It’s honestly laughable because Varian would never be caught dead in the cages, but his brother? Percius likes an old fashion fist fight, he says it’s good for moral, but like with thebouncer turning a blind eye when Mavyn couldn’t be strictly identified as a student – and therefore not fully matured – unless they announce to everyone they’re rebels those running this show can’t be prosecuted for having rebels in their house.
?I’m sure Rovan will be somewhere in the crowd too, along with a few others.
?Anyone is allowed to fight. Usually they’re random for new comers with regulars in a tier system, but Darian said Mavyn would be one of tonight’s main fights. The story about her battle between Percius exceeding past the grounds of Syngenia. It’s not every day someone goes up against the Kolasi and lives.
?It’s not every day someone is able to dominate a devil – let alone a devil one with his true form.
?I nod to Syphix as the cage guard and announcer for the next fight. He also is the one to procure whatever weapon the fighter chooses. I wonder what Mavyn will choose. Percius always goes for a metal, unsharpened, katana styled sword.
?After this fight ends there will be a five minute intermission before the next fight. Mavyn will be the one fighting next with a fighter they have yet to announce.
?Her hand lifts and brushes against my chest so I lean down to listen to her. Her eyes don’t leave the fight I can tell is about to end and her light grin does not douse.
?“Who am I fighting?”
?I pull her closer to me. “I don’t know yet. But whoever it is will be experienced. Someone who has been doing this for a while in a tier higher than you.”
