“I wish it had been different, now,” he said, almost as if he was speaking to himself. “I wish I’d looked some of them up. Got back in touch. I wish....” His arms tightened around me again and he put his chin on my head. “I wish a lot of things. Most of all, I wish I could just be with you. Forever.”
This isn’t right. We shouldn’t lose this.We were too good together. To be split apart by an accident would be horrific, but to do it deliberately, to know forever that it was our hands that did it, however unwillingly….
Aedan looked at his watch and then squeezed me. “Time to go,” he whispered.
50
SYLVIE
Rick wasn’t goingto risk holding the fight at The Pit, where regulars could show up. He wanted this to be a private event, with only those who he could trust not to blab. So he’d told us to come to a farm way outside the city. We had to drive there, so I borrowed a car from a friend at work. I didn’t tell her that it would be Aedan bringing it back, the next day.
I kept quiet about my plan. When Aedan gently but firmly explained to me that it had to be him who died, I nodded silently. He had to believe I was going to do it, right up until the final seconds.
When we arrived, our cheap, aging car looked ridiculous next to all the high-end SUVs with their chrome and blacked-out windows. There must have been close to a hundred of them, along with a variety of sports cars. No limos, though—the guests had all driven themselves there. They were making themselves accessories by paying to see the fight, so they wouldn’t go to the cops, but a limo driver couldn’t be trusted not to rat out their employer.
The venue was a large barn. The crowd was already in there, the buzz of excited chatter audible even outside. As we walked towards it, I could see white light streaming out of every crack in the corrugated iron walls.
The big main doors were closed for privacy. Al, one of Rick’s bodyguards, nodded us towards a small side door. I took a deep breath, squeezed Aedan’s hand...and we went in.
Inside, hay bales stacked two high formed a rough circle much smaller than The Pit’s—only about twenty feet across. Two openings had been left on opposite sides for us to enter through and a single hay bale had even been provided for us to slump down on between rounds. Someone had carefully strewn hay all over the concrete floor inside the ring to give it a rustic feel.
Around the ring, the crowd was three deep. Almost everyone was in suits and many of them were chattering as if they knew each other. A few were even talking stocks and shares.They’re doing deals. They’re doing business while they wait to see one of us kill the other one.
Every single guest was a man. I wondered if the men who’d been so eager to see me get raped had come along to watch one of us die. Was that a different sort of man? I wasn’t sure.
Both of us wore what we normally wore to the gym—tank tops and sweatpants. We could have been about to train, if it wasn’t for the lack of gloves.
We moved slowly through the crowd, but it was no good trying to be inconspicuous. As soon as one person saw us, a cry went up, radiating through the people like a wave. Some cheered. Some leered at me. Some started discussing—loudly—which of us would win.
I noticed that no money was changing hands. Everyone knew this wasn’t going to be a traditional fight, where the best fighter won. They weren’t interested in betting. They just wanted to see us agonize and sob and brutalize one another.
Several men leaned in front of us and tried to grope me. Whichever way I dodged, there was another hand there to brush a thigh or grab for a breast. Aedan tried to keep me away from the worst of it, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once. When one of the men grabbed my ass, he lost it and swung at the guy. The man staggered back, clutching a bloody nose.
“You’re still protecting her?” said Rick’s voice. “That’s kind of ironic, given the circumstances.”
He’d pushed his way through the crowd from the other direction and now stood in the middle of the ring, waiting for us. I heard Aedan give a low growl and made sure I had a firm grip on his hand, ready to hold him back if need be. Carl, Rick’s other bodyguard, was standing just behind him, gun drawn—there was no need to conceal them, in here. If Aedan attacked, it would all be over in an instant. And I knew the same gun would be used to slay us if we refused to fight or tried to run.
“Have the two of you worked it out between you?” asked Rick. “Who’s going to make the sacrifice? I’m genuinely curious to know.”
I’ve never wanted to kill anyone so much in my entire life. Both of us just stood and stared at him, holding hands for strength.
Rick stepped closer to me. “And just think—all this could have been avoided.” He reached out and brushed my cheek with his thumb, which made my skin crawl. “All you had to do wasnottell your boyfriend what happened with Lowell. Then tonight would have been a few minutes of unpleasantness on your back—or maybe on your face—and you both could have gone on with your lives. Although…”—he glanced at Aedan—”he probably wouldn’t have wanted you, afterward.”
I gripped Aedan’s hand even harder, but it was to hold myself back as much as him. I knew Rick was trying to provoke me, to show off to the crowd, and I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
Rick rolled his eyes and turned his back on us, quite unafraid. Carl and his gun gave him all the bravery he needed.“TONIGHT!”he bellowed, holding his cane aloft for silence, “Two star-crossed lovers face the ultimate decision. How much will they sacrifice for each other?”
The crowd roared. I saw Al close the side door, sealing us all in the barn. He strolled over to Rick, his gun drawn, and took up a position beside him, ready to shoot if we disobeyed.
Aedan pulled me close. Both of us were breathing hard, now, trying not to panic. “You know what you have to do,” he told me. “It’s the only way. You have to do it.”
I shook my head. “I can’t!” I knew it was going to be me who lost the fight, but I had to convince him I was going along with his plan.
He knitted his fingers with mine, raising his voice over the crowd. “You can. You can do this. This is the only way we win.” And, before I could argue, he leaned in and kissed me, one last time. His lips came down on mine and it was as if he was trying to inject every ounce of his soul into mine, so that he could live on in me.
51
AEDAN
