Chapter 7
“Rina—”
Wraith ducked, Spook’s uppercut missing her jaw by centimeters. Enough force behind it to break her neck.
She danced back, feinted left, then shoulder-slammed Spook into a wall.
Fuck, that hurt.
Not enough padding yet—her bones rattled. She rolled her shoulder to realign it.
She didn’t want to hurt her. But she also wasn’t ready to die just to prove a point and Spook would kill her if she wasn’t careful.
Or she could fuck being careful and be tactical instead.
She stepped back. “Shall we take this in the ring? I win, you talk.”
“And when I win, you die.” Rina’s furious eyes bore into her.
The face was older, yes, but the eyes were the same. She’d let her hair grow out a bare centimeter, which did nothing to soften her. And her body, if anything, was more muscular.
Golden Boy got to his feet, mouth half open.
“Come on, Helios, I have a fight to win.”
Rina spat at their feet and stalked into the Arena ahead of them.
“Can you beat her?” he asked quietly.
The truth was no. Not as she was now. But then, she hoped she wouldn’t have to.
“Maybe,” she told him. “But if I don’t, you should get the hell out of here. You stick out like a SID officer in a merc den.”
“Very funny.”
“I wasn’t joking.” She pushed him to a seat near the ring’s entrance. Wait here. Don’t move. And you,” she pointed a finger at the kid she was sure he hadn’t even noticed, “don’t try it.”
The kid smiled brightly and melted into the crowd.
On the one hand, the mission was a complete success. They had found Spook. On the other hand, either she or Wraith was probably about to die.
And there wasn’t a damn thing Kael could do about it.
He turned to glare at the cut-purse kid that had sneaked forward again. They grinned, shrugged, and disappeared.
The ring smelled of unwashed bodies, sweat, and blood. Wraith had removed her armor, leaving just her jumpsuit. It still hung too loosely on her.
Spook, on the other hand, looked fit, healthy, and strong. She was wearing a tight sleeveless top, and pants loose enough to do the splits in if required.
When she’d been in the service, she had been deadly. By the looks of things, she had only honed her skills since then.
He turned his head as the screen flashed the odds. They were not in Wraith’s favor.
Void guide me.
Maybe a show of faith would help tip the scale.
He leaned forward and keyed in a bet for Wraith to win. Not outrageous. Not enough to draw attention. But if he could do nothing else, he could do that.
A bell tolled through the arena as bets were closed. Lights slammed on, bright and near blinding, illuminating the blood-soaked sand.
He barely saw Spook move. Doubted he would have seen it if it weren’t for his optics.
At that speed she would easily break Wraith’s bones when she hit.
Except that Wraith side stepped at the absolute last second and tripped Spook, who crashed into the sand face first.
The crowd roared. Wraith backed up. Spook got up.
They circled each other, each rotation smaller. Then Spook struck. Wraith moved, but the blow still glanced off her shoulder, knocking her backwards.
Kael found himself clenching his fists, short nails cutting into his palms. He jerked his head to the side as the kid tried to sneak up on him for the third time. Glared the way he did to terrify green recruits.
The kid faltered, spun around, and fled.
He turned back to the ring.
Wraith was on the ground now, but swung her leg around to sweep Spook off her feet. The woman jumped to avoid, which was when Wraith changed the direction of her sweep and hit Spook mid-jump. Causing her to fall.
She was just pushing to her feet when Spook tackled her, her fingers closed around Wraith’s throat. There was no hesitation in her stance, no mercy.
Kael stood, his heart pounding. This was a black ring. Fights to the death were not only allowed. They were encouraged.
All his careful plans were being strangled right in front of him. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to stop it.
Spots were dancing in her vision. Spook had the leverage and the strength. And she wasn’t letting up.
She leaned down closer to Wraith.
“They didn’t do a bad job with you, you know. The look is right, and they obviously trained you to fight like her. But you’re not her. Will never be her. And now you’re going to die knowing I know that.”
Well, shit.
Her body was screaming for air. There was only one thing she could do. Wasn’t even sure if she could still do it.
The world was graying out as she reached for Rina.
There was a gasp of shock from Spook, then the pressure eased and she could breathe again.
She rolled onto her hands and knees and coughed. Void, her neck hurt. Like someone had shoved a steel rod through to her spine.
Rina was standing a couple of feet away, looking like she’d seen a ghost. A terrible pun. She’d blame it on the oxygen deprivation.
Wraith staggered to her feet and met her eyes.
“Hi, Rina.”
Then knocked her out cold.