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Our soundless suffering battle had us both facing the closed door as it smashed open, denting the wall into which it slammed.
Love glowed from every pore in my body as August and Spencer crowded the threshold. One looked like the devil himself, the other a faultless saint. No matter their appearance, both were sent straight from the pits of hell to save me.
Chapter 29
Psycho
Idrove into the rundown gas station, which housed a secret entrance into the Caverns. Limited on time, we’d hijacked a generic hatchback from a random side street.
Memory served me well as I pulled into the car wash out back, entered the elaborate code into the keypad and wound my driver’s window shut.
Spencer seized the passenger seat next to me, post an epic tantrum. Tanner and Emerson huddled in the back, the former kissing his knees, the latter squished tightly to the side.
I smirked in the rear-view mirror, where Emerson glared and lifted a middle finger, her lips moving. I couldn’t catch the words, but I’m sure she was cussing me out.
Tanner shifted, his knee pressing through the cheap upholstery, digging into my spine. “Oops,sorry.No room back here, you know,” he said, his tone filled with mirth.Fucking bastard.
Lighting a cigarette, my knee bounced as the car wash started up.
“Can’t you crack the fucking window?” Emerson piped. I pointed to the water jet that lowered in front of the windscreen, which preceded to douse the car exterior.
“What’s the red tattoo on your cheek for?” I asked her. “Why do they call you Meek?”She definitely looked it, until she opened that foul mouth.Spencer laughed, but didn’t say anything.
Before Emerson could answer, Tanner raised a hand to stop her and chuckled. “I want him to find out on his own.”
Ash fell from the tip of my smoke onto the overlay of Spencer’s dress that lapsed over the centre console.
She shrieked, arms flapping like mad. “This is vintage!”
I waved a hand, smoke drifting to the roof. “I’m adding to the aesthetic.” Her eyes narrowed into slits, a snake coiled ready to strike, until I revealed a packet of liquorice I spied in the side-door compartment. Her whole demeanour laxed as she snatched it from my hands, shoving the end down her gob.
“That shit’s going to kill you one day,” I said. She scoffed, pointedly eyeing the cigarette hanging from my own mouth. “Why the outfit?”
She smoothed a hand over the puffy bottom. “Beautiful, right?”
I coughed. “It’s…bright. What if someone sees you?”
“I’ll kill them,” she said matter-of-factly.
We jolted as the hoist lowered our vehicle. The gigantic car wash bristles continued churning, disguising our descent into the hidden entrance of the underground. As the car came to a halt, we ditched the confined space and I immediately led them through the complex maze.
“Why is it empty?” Tanner asked, hands casually in his damn pockets.
His answer came in the form of a mighty rumble that shook the structured tunnels, dust mites dancing in the air.
“All Ludus Maximus’ will be utilised tonight. Each will have their specific role to ensure everything goes smoothly.”
“The Gladiator Games are that revered?” Emerson asked after another bout of thunderous cheers.
“It’s the most prestigious event of the country—better yet, the world. Expensive andparticularlyexclusive, everyone who’s anyone will do just about anything to gain an invitation.”
I’d never brooded over it. Sure, I was an integral part. An undefeated Gladiator was no title to scoff at. Nevertheless, none of that mattered. If that status gave my sister immunity from the absolute shit in this world, I was willing to fight anyone, kill anyone.
“You must have been popular,” Spencer sneered. I didn’t like the type ofpopularityshe was insinuating.
I scoffed. “No one ever got close enough. The fucking pompous elite of this city. I swear, worse than bloodsucking leeches. The general public would be horrified to know their leaders, influencers and people they worshiped so freely thirsted for a touch of sin. It gave them the illusion of entitlement, that they themselves had some type of authority, a modicum of power over death. They’d eventually learn, like every other. No one outruns the devil.”
“All must bow before death,” Tanner vowed, his voice airy as all fuck, like he was the grim fucking reaper himself.
