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Archer swings his fist again. Kai ducks and lunges to grab his waist, but Archer kicks him hard and jumps back.
It’s a bare-knuckle fight, which makes the punches so much harder on the hands as well as on the opponent.
Archer and Kai throw a couple of punches at each other, but it’s nothing spectacular. The crowd is growing impatient.
I lean over to Marlow. “So you are an engineer by trade. And in charge of security here at the island. And rich. What are you doing with the Divide patrol? In the jungle. Swatting flies.”
“I don’t patrol.”
“I mean the day the guys and I hiked there.”
Now he leans over so he doesn’t have to shout over the music. “You don’t get it, do you? Archer sent me. This is a chess game for him. Everything is.”
Marlow doesn’t say much more. I understand. He is loyal. But his loyalty is starting to split with Ty and others from the Eastside getting into a fight with Archer.
I turn my eyes to the cage again.
Kai looks tired. His moves are heavy. He has a wrestling background. His tactic is not attacking but waiting for the right moment to lock and incapacitate his opponent. He might not have gotten much training in the last few years but looks determined.
But Archer…
I can’t take my eyes off him.
He is rippling with muscles. He definitely takes care of himself and works out. You don’t get a six-pack like that from sitting in the office. He is gorgeous, smooth, and almost elegant in his movements.
Archer throws another punch, and Kai lunges at him, grabs him by his waist, and wrestles him to the floor. Archer throws punches, and one of them seems to catch Kai in the ribs, because his grip loosens, Archer kicks away, and in seconds, both are on their feet again, panting, hunching, and circling each other again.
Kai is definitely used to taking an opponent down and applying pressure.
Archer is better at attacking. He starts throwing punch after vicious punch, getting Kai in the jaw once, then strikes with his knee to Kai’s side, making him back away, and the crowd roars.
I lean over to Marlow again. “They really do hate each other, huh?”
When Marlow doesn’t answer, I turn to look at him. He is watching the fight with his lips pressed tightly together, eyes fixed unblinkingly on the cage. He probably sees something I don’t.
Marlow is a beautiful creature. Not my type—I like guys slightly on the brutal side. But he has a big heart—that’s always a turn on for smart girls. The not-so-smart usually fixate on assholes.
I’d love to be smarter, but my eyes go back to watching Archer.
“I am not sure,” Marlow finally says when I’ve already forgotten what I asked. “There is a lot of backstory with these two.”
“Well, yeah, Kai flew all the way to this island to get revenge…” I snort. “And by doing that, he escaped the war, and possibly death. Don’t tell me it’s not some strange fate.”
“Listen, you don’t know many things,” Marlow says with an edge in his voice.
“Then tell me.” I tear my eyes off the cage to look at him.
He rolls his eyes. “Nosy, aren’t we?” His smile grows as his eyes meet mine, then fades. “Crone told Qi Shan to lure Droga to Zion. For spring break.”
I frown. “Why?”
“Well, for one, Crone doesn’t let go of things easily.”
“You don’t say.”
“Two…” Marlow stalls, looking away.
“Yeeeaaaah?” I dip my head to make him look at me. “C’mon,solnyshko, spill.” Me calling him sunshine brings his smile back.
