“You’re in no position to fight.”
“Simon, I swear to God, you act like my husband right now, and you get me to the Quad.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is. Daisy’s going to need to fight.”
“It’s not Daisy I’m worried about.” Tabitha groaned as she stepped off of the bed.
“Shit, what the fuck do you mean?”
“Daisy can fight, Simon. She always has been able to, but it’s like a switch goes off in her brain. Once they trigger it, she can’t stop it. She just keeps fighting. She can kill someone.” And there was no way Anthony would stop her either. “Get me to the Quad. Please.”
“But—”
“Now!”
“Shit, okay. Fine.”
Simon helped her get into some clothes. It took a great deal of time, which she didn’t have if she was going to help her friend. Her parents hadn’t returned and Simon snuck her down the back stairs toward the parking lot.
“I’ve got my car,” he said.
“Oh, good.” She was breaking out of the hospital in so much pain.
She slid into the passenger seat as Simon got behind the wheel. “I think this is a big mistake.”
“I don’t care, Simon. Daisy isn’t going to fight.”
“I’ve never seen her fight.”
“And you don’t want to either. It’s not pretty. It’s not pretty at all.”
She cried out when he drove over speed bumps. “How long ago were they at The Quad?” she asked.
“I don’t know. An hour, but they have to drive there,” he said. “I don’t like this.”
“I don’t care what you like right now,” she said. “What are you doing back?”
“When I heard what happened, I was already on my way back. Daisy called me immediately after the ambulance. Why were you alone?” he asked.
“I needed to use the toilet and I forgot.”
“You forgot?”
“Yeah, I guess I’ve been so happy lately, I didn’t even think of all the people that want to see me dead, you know?” She took a deep breath and winced. “Fuck. They beat the shit out of me. Kicking me when I was down. Fucking cowards.”
Her heart raced. If she was too late, Daisy would never forgive herself.
They arrived at the Quad, and of course, there was a shit load of cars around. She climbed out and Simon helped her. They headed toward the main gate and Simon paid their fees.
“What the fuck happened to you?” the man asked.
Ignoring him, they stumbled inside. The stadium was lit up and Tabitha froze. The crowd was huge. Daniella was in the ring and she’d just hit Daisy.
“I don’t see the big deal,” Simon said. “She’s getting her ass kicked.”
Tabitha’s heart raced as she watched her friend. Daisy could take a lot of hits, but it was the right one that finally pushed.
She knew what she was looking for and saw it happen. Daniella hit Daisy, who stumbled back. Whatever Daniella had said, it turned Daisy. With her stumbling, Daniella thought she was the better opponent. Daisy always played fair, but the moment she pressed that button, this was like a completely different person.
“Holy shit,” Simon said.
With Daniella’s hands in the air, playing the crowd, Daisy had struck. She pulled Daniella back by the hair. The girl’s screams rang out. A fist to Daniella’s face had her going down but Daisy lifted her back up by her hair, hitting her again, and again. The punches rang down, and Daisy stomped on her as well.
At some point, Daniella was able to break free, but Daisy wasn’t allowing her to escape. She wrapped her fingers around her throat and pinned her to the ground.
“Get me to the ring.”
Anthony was there, looking so fucking proud.
“You’ve got to stop this,” Tabitha said.
“No, Daniella deserves what’s coming to her.”
She cried out as someone knocked into her. She looked toward Miles and the rest of the gang.
None of them would stop it.
Tabitha knew she had to break the rules. Once a fight started, no one intervened.
“Get me in the ring,” she said.
“Tabby, no.”
“I don’t care. I promised Daisy and I’m not going to let her down.”
Simon helped her into the ring and even as each step made her hurt, Daniella’s face was already a mess.
If she wasn’t careful, Daisy would turn on her. Remembering the one and only time this had happened, their little secret, she rushed to her friend, and wrapped her arms around Daisy, trapping her arms at her sides.
“Let me fucking go. That slut needs to die,” Daisy said.
“I’ve got you.”
“I mean it, Tabs. Let me the fuck go.”
“Not happening.” She held on even as pain exploded in her body. “If you don’t stop, you’re going to hurt me,” she said. “Please, Daisy, stop. You don’t need to fight. You shouldn’t fight.”
Daniella whimpered and moved as far away from Daisy as she could get.
Daisy laughed. “You fucking coward. How many of you were there?” she asked. “I know it wasn’t just you.”
Tabitha looked past Daisy’s shoulder and saw Luke staring back at her. He didn’t know. She saw that in the way he looked at her.
Daisy took several deep breaths.
“You shouldn’t be in the ring,” Ryan said, climbing on in.
One by one, Anthony, Miles, Simon, her crew climbed into the ring. She still held on to Daisy, not letting her go.
The Dogs joined him, Luke staring at her.
“You should look for a better crew,” she said. “This one likes to hit a woman when she’s down. Did you feel like a big tough man, huh? Is that it? You feel all hot.”
“I’m fine,” Daisy said.
Tabitha felt the change in her friend and slowly let her go.
The crowd was getting nervous, but she didn’t care. Staring at their enemies, she did something she thought she would never do.
“Is this what the Dogs are capable of?” she asked, lifting her shirt up over her head, letting them see the bruises, the cuts. Her ribs had been bound up. “I don’t even know all the damage but this is what your people do. You’re nothing but weak and as for you”—she looked at Ryan—“you shouldn’t wear a leather cut, you piece of shit.”
Simon charged forward, landing a blow to Ryan.
“Stop,” Tabitha said, moving forward. Simon went crazy, hitting, punching, and this time, Anthony intervened, dragging Simon off him.
She looked toward Luke. “Happy?”
“I had no idea.”
“Yeah, and that proves you have no fucking control,” she yelled at him.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryan. He flicked open a knife and went for Simon. She couldn’t allow anything bad to happen to her man.
She acted on instinct, stepping in the way, and as she did, the knife slid right into her stomach.
Everything went slow.
Ryan let go of the knife as he was tackled to the ground and Tabitha stepped back. The noise seemed to be silent. The knife stuck out of her stomach.
She grabbed the handle and pulled it out. Blood covered her hands. Her blood. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Simon caught her before she went down.