Kace
Kace searched through the crowd that remained, the woman that looked like Eva, but couldn’t be, nowhere to be seen. His beast, which would usually be resting at this point, was prominent, agitated.
“You okay?” Jax asked as he took a seat beside him, his hand absently reaching up to touch the scar that sliced down his left eye.‘Or do you need to go again?’he finished, the ability to share thoughts unique to the Guardians.
Jax was offering another fight, which meant he could sense his tension. He probably was one of the only people who could really beat him, his brother being a master of almost every discipline. He was a smooth blade compared to Kace, whose style was more of a blunt hammer.
“Do you remember Kyra's neighbour?” he asked instead, tugging at the fabric wrapped around his knuckles. The skin beneath was broken, and he savoured the slight sting as the open wounds hit the air.
“The brunette?” Jax frowned, not that he had many other expressions. “What about her?”
“I could have sworn she was in the crowd.” Except the woman who his beast had pinned as Eva wasn’t human. Her hair was the same, not simply brunette, but a golden brown with streaks of caramel blonde. Her skin had been paler, the bruises beneath her eyes deep enough to cause concern. Not to mention her eyes. Those of a fucking vampire.
“Isn't she the one who threatened you?” Jax added with a raised brow.
Kace grunted, not needing to confirm Eva’s blatant disregard for him. She had been this sunshine with an attitude, her threats amusing, considering she was trying to protect her friend. She was loyal, he understood that even if she was stupid enough to poke at someone bigger and stronger. Something about him must have pissed her off because she went from threatening him to the silent treatment, and when that didn’t get the desired reaction, she had changed to teasing.
It wasn’t a secret that he had the worst control out of the Guardians, and it had taken him years not to burst from his own skin at any inconvenience. And then Eva happened.
He remembered the exact words she had said before he finally snapped, just like he remembered everything when it came to her. It was a moment of weakness, and usually when his beast forced control he would wake up to the stench of blood and death. Fighting kept his beast tamed, calm enough he could think past the constant rage, and then Eva had teased and he saw red.
She should have been dead, but instead he had pressed her heavily against her front door, his lips crushing hers hard enough to bruise, to punish. She had been just as shocked as he was, but then she had melted at his touch, pulling him closer. His beast had purred, fucking purred as he lifted her up, settling her against his growing cock. He hadn’t even realised his fingers had reached beneath her obscenely short skirt and at the edge of lace until she had moaned. And the way she had tasted…
He was grateful when they were interrupted, because he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to stop at just one touch, at one taste. His beast was fascinated, and for that reason alone he had kept his distance. He no longer shifted when he was pissed off, but he couldn’t trust his beast around anyone, especially not her.
“Hey man, did you hear me?”
Kace blinked as Jax nudged his shoulder, one of the handful of people he allowed to touch him.
“I said if you did see Eva, you need to speak to Xee and Kyra.”
“Why?”
“Because Kyra hasn’t heard from her in months,” he continued. “She’s worried.”
Months?Kace thought. Why the fuck wasn’t he told?
“Sure, I’ll mention it,” he muttered out loud. “You hear anything tonight?” He preferred to attend the cages alone, but his brothers sometimes came to watch and listen.
Lower members of the undercity came to bet on the fights, speaking about business out in the open. It was a great place to find intel, and to learn of territorial disputes between the Lords that secretly ran the city. They controlled everything from the governors to the Metropolitan Police Force, the Lords infiltrated everything.
Jax nodded. “I need to speak to Titus and Sythe, but I’m hearing whispers of a re-opening.” He met Kace’s eyes head-on, his gaze unwavering.
He didn’t elaborate, and Kace didn’t need him too. The Pits were supposed to have been shut down by The Council, but he knew something as profitable as forced gladiator fighting would never stay closed for long. The memories of his time on the sands were vibrant, as if they happened mere days ago and not almost two decades.
The difference between his childhood and now was he fought because he wanted to, and not because he had no choice but to survive.
“You heading home?” Jax asked when he remained silent, concern edging his tone. the Guardians all knew his history, as he knew theirs. They may not have been related by blood, but their traumas and shared curse made them brothers anyway.
“I’ll meet you back there,” Kace said, waiting until Jax had left along with the majority of the crowd before he allowed himself to brush his hand along the cool metal of the cage. The wax that had been thrown haphazardly across the links had started to peel, protecting his opponent from the metal. Luckily, Croc Face didn’t seem effected, iron usually an irritant to the Fae folk. Although, the cage was more to protect the spectators than them. Hudson, the owner, had tried numerous different materials, but a metal mixture was the best without resorting to magic. Spells, enchantments and hexes were blocked from the whole establishment, the crudely designed sphere that hung from the ceiling whining as it absorbed any attempt to fix the fights.
Attention pricked along his spine, but he kept himself calm despite the agitation of his beast. The familiar scent of cheap cherry perfume mixed with desperation wrapped around him, and he didn’t need to turn to know it was Ria who had approached.
“Hey, big man,” she purred, fingers brushing gently along his shoulder, and before he had even realised he had her pressed against the cage, arm angled behind her back.
“Do. Not. Touch. Me.” Kace released her as quickly as he had struck, her eyes vacant as usual.
Ria’s smile grew, giving no indication she could feel anything other than the drugs that coursed through her veins. Her hair was tousled, dyed a bright red that matched her medically enhanced lips. It only emphasised the hollowness of her cheeks, and the harsh bites along her throat. “Aw, come on Red. The winner always gets a reward,” she said, her other hand reaching forward despite his growl of warning.
