“I don’t want Griller to hurt him,” I said, leaning closer, realizing he wouldn’t punish me for speaking my mind. He was kind to me when none of the other members of his club were present.
“There is nothin’ I can do about it.”
While I didn’t want to admit it, I realized Pike couldn’t speak up. He was one of them. Therefore, he had to follow along, no questions asked. Besides, if he did open his mouth, they’d beat him, like they’d done before. And I didn’t want him to get hurt either.
Relishing in the time I had left before the other men came back, I looked toward the ring, but I didn’t see Lincoln or his trainer. My eyes trailed over the crowd, but there was only so much I could see, my five-foot-three frame not tall enough to see everyone.
“Come on,” Pike said, grabbing my hand to pull me behind him. “We’re being summoned.” But I resisted with a slight tug, the need to use the ladies’ room coming out of nowhere. My urge to pee had nothing to do with nerves, however. For the past couple of days, I had to go quite often, and it was only yesterday that I felt a twinge of pain when I urinated.
I tugged on his hand again, and he looked back at me. We were now in a hallway, and although we were far from being alone, there were fewer people surrounding us.
“I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Can’t you hold it?” he asked, looking ahead before back at me.
I shook my head and bit my bottom lip, my leg crossing over the other with the urgent need to use the toilet.
He huffed. “Fine.”
He guided me further down the hallway until we came to a door marked with an image of a toilet. He pulled me inside, not a care there were other women present. If I had to guess, they didn’t seem to mind Pike was in here with us. In fact, two of the girls at the sink looked him up and down, licking their lips in appreciation.
If they only knew.
“I’ll be right outside. Hurry up or he’s gonna be pissed.” He let go of my hand and walked out, leaving me to wait in line behind one other person. Even though I relished in the time away from all of them, each second reminded me I had people waiting on me. I wasn’t free. I didn’t think I’d ever be free again, not until I was dead. Such morbid thoughts for someone my age, but they were all I had. If I wasn’t wishing to leave this world, in whatever way that happened, then I was dreaming of nonsensical things, like going to the movies or hanging out with my friends from back home, all scenarios which would never play out again.
As I flushed and exited the stall, I heard shouting coming from outside the door, more and more voices joining in. Something told me the noise had nothing to do with the earlier excitement of the fight and everything to do with Griller’s plan to go after Lincoln.
I didn’t know what got into me because I wasn’t a brave person by nature, but I yanked open the door and rushed outside, only to run right into the middle of an all-out brawl.
10
“Who the fuck you lookin’ for? Huh?”
Griller stood directly in front of me, a few members of his club surrounding him. There were four of them total, like last time, only there was one guy I hadn’t seen before. A prospect.
I made sure to keep my attention on the volatile bastard in front of me, though, because out of all of them, he seemed the most amped up. Not that the others weren’t, but this was on another level. He had what we called crazy eyes. Wide pupils with a blank stare.
I’d known guys like him before. They loved the thrill of the challenge, even got off on inflicting pain. Granted, most of those guys I’d met were in the ring, but I recognized instability and sadism when I saw it staring me right in the face.
“Is she here?” I couldn’t stop the question, even though I’d been warned to stay away from the girl and out of the Reapers’ business. But tonight was different. They’d come up to me, so I sure as hell was gonna inquire about her whereabouts. Every second I didn’t see her made me think the worst. Did they leave her behind tonight or had they killed her?
Jagger and Ace stood to my right, surprisingly not saying a word. Any other time Jagger would’ve tried to pull me away, but after the scuffle last time and then the fire, I believed there might be a part of him that wanted to settle a debt.
“It’s none of your business.” The comment came from one of the guys I’d only seen once before. He had long brown hair, which he kept back in a ponytail, and if it wasn’t for the burn scar on the right side of his face, he might’ve been able to pass as nonthreatening. He was shorter than my six-foot frame by several inches, and didn’t look like much of a fighter, in case things popped off again, but I’d learned not to underestimate anyone, not to make assumptions.
Hell, we had a man strapped to a table in a house an hour from here because I’d presumed he was a good guy. Jury was still out on Tag, and I prayed the research came back proving me and Kaden right.
“Why you so interested in her anyway. You can’t get your own pussy?” Griller asked. I’d never wanted to punch someone in the face so badly before, the smirk twisting his mouth like a red cape to a bull.
“I know you’re holdin’ her against her will,” I spat, taking a daring step closer. “And I know you hurt her.”
“So?”
“It’s a fuckin’ coward who puts his hands on a woman.” The warmth of my rage flowed through me with every word I spoke.
“No, it’s a real man who takes what he wants from all these whores, even when they don’t want it. In fact, I’m gonna take it from her over and over again.”
“Then I’m gonna have a go,” the Reaper with the burn scar said.
“Then me,” Rock chimed in. Unfortunately, I’d seen that guy way too many times in my life. The sight of him alone made me want to knock him the fuck out.
I glanced toward the prospect, but he didn’t say anything. He just stood there and stared at me, almost as if he was too busy studying me to add his response.
“Then when we’re done with her tonight, I’m passin’ her off to one of our guys who gets off on cuttin’ up bitches. He calls it art and shit.” Griller smiled, pleased with himself when he saw my eyes pop wide. “That’s right. We’re gonna get our fill tonight because there won’t be anythin’ left of her once my guy gets his hands on her.”
Right before my fist connected with his face, I saw the prospect’s mouth drop open before turning to look at his president, and even though I only saw his expression for a millisecond, it was enough to tell me he was as shocked as I was with who they were gonna pass the poor girl off to.
There was an explosion of fists flying all around, the narrow hallway where we fought barely wide enough for the seven of us to go at each other. The limited space didn’t do anything but propel us from one guy to the other.
Then I saw a blur of dark hair to my left from the girl in question. She’d walked out of the ladies’ room and right into the middle of the fight between our clubs.
Ace threw a wicked uppercut at the prospect, hitting him on the jaw, and while he staggered backward and hit the wall, he didn’t fall. Instead, he grabbed the girl and held her in front of him like a shield, an action which only served to intensify my anger.