Page 34 of Devour

Every Dove in my section sits up. I feel the shift in the room, especially with the drugs heightening my senses.

Kynlee’s hand finds mine. Her fingers thread through my own, and she squeezes until her rings bite into my knuckles. My pulse beats in my throat. Somewhere behind one of those masks is the man who’s going to claim me tonight.

“Don’t let him catch you too fast,” Kynlee says. She’s grinning but her hand is shaking in mine. “Make that fucker earn it.”

I squeeze her hand back. The drugs make my whole body hum, and I stare at the blood coating the arena floor. My pussy is already wet, knowing I’m about to watch him kill for me again.

CHAPTER 14

AXL

Ispotted my girl the second she sat down with Kynlee pressed against her right side. I’m waiting for Ryan to finish his fight so I can get this shit over with. I’m ready to claim my heathen and get her alone in my room.

I’ve watched every fight from the staging area behind the archway. Crew killed three men, one of them armed. He’s now lined up with the others who will hunt tonight.

I don’t really know Ryan all that well, but he finally won his fight and is fucking some redhead in the ass while the crowd cheers. They mix in the lower years between our fights to keep the crowd entertained while we wait for the hunt since the fifth years have to wait for the hunt to fuck.

Thankfully it doesn’t take Ryan long to finish, and she wipes his dick down for his piercing.

It’s my turn. I’m ready to get this shit over with.

I roll my neck and crack my knuckles, then I pull my mask on. The red slashes glow across my peripheral vision. This is the last fight I have to win before I earn the right to go after my girl in the dark woods.

And losing isn’t a fucking option. I either walk out the winner or I’m dead.

I walk out onto the arena floor. There are hundreds of masked faces, and the noise drops to nothing. The cage door is open, and I step inside. The metal clicks behind me.

Then the far door opens, and three men come through. All three of them have weapons.

The first one is my height and a muscular build. His head is shaved, and his knuckles are scarred. He walks into the cage holding rope in his hands. What did this guy do to piss the Ravens off?

The second one is leaner, but he looks fast. He has a wooden bat.

The third one is smaller, but he bounces around. He’s got a cut above his eye that’s already crusted over. He’s already been in a couple fights. The light catches the blade in his hand.

They all look like they’ve been given something. They’re practically jumping out of their skin. It’s like they’re on adrenaline.

What the fuck? Our fights are always a little uneven, but this is by far the toughest fight tonight. They don’t normally drug the men who fight us. I don’t get a weapon either.

The bell sounds.

The one with the bat comes first. He swings high, and I duck under it and hear the wood cut the air above my head. If that connects with my skull, I’m done. He’s fast for his size, and he resets and swings again, this time low, aiming for my ribs. I jump back, and the bat misses my stomach by an inch.

The one with the rope is circling behind me. I can’t see him, but I can hear his boots on the stone. He’s planning to get that rope around my neck while the bat keeps me busy. That’s how they’ll do it. One distracts, one chokes, and the one with the blade finishes me off while I can’t move or breathe.

Not fucking happening.

The bat comes at me again. I step inside the swing instead of away from it and catch the handle with both hands. His eyes widen because he didn’t expect me to come toward him. I rip the bat out of his grip and drive the thick end into his throat. He drops to his knees, choking, and I spin and swing the bat into the side of rope guy’s head as he lunges for me from behind. The crack is loud enough that the crowd gasps. He goes sideways and hits the cage wall and slides down it.

The one with the blade hasn’t moved. He’s bouncing on the balls of his feet near the far side of the cage, watching, waiting for me to get tired or make a mistake. I’m going to fucking disappoint him.

I toss the bat to the side. It slides across the stone and stops near the cage wall. I want my hands free for this.

Bat guy is still on his knees choking. I grab him by the back of the head and drive his face into the stone floor twice. He stops moving.

Rope guy is getting up. Blood is running from his ear, and his balance is fucked from the hit he took. But he’s got that rope stretched between his fists, and he’s coming at me with the look of a man who still thinks he stands a fucking chance.

He throws the rope over my head. I get my hands up just in time and catch it with my fingers between the rope and my throat. He pulls tight, and the rope bites into my knuckles. He’s got his weight behind it, and he’s trying to drag me backward. My air is cut in half, and my vision starts to narrow.