Seeing him get knocked down, the crowd's cheering grew louder, delighting in his pain.They're a bunch of savages,Uriel thought. But he was no better than the spectators since he enjoyed egging on both the crowd and his opponents.
He’d been coming to Vanis's illegal underground fights for a couple of years and had yet to lose a match. Vanis Balleas was a former gladiator fighter and a gargoyle, who no longer took part in the games but ran and organized them.
Uriel had found out about the underground matches from a previous client who required his body double services. As with most of his clients he doubled for, someone was trying to kill him and had threatened his family. Not only that, the client had a gambling problem and enjoyed betting on the gladiator-type fights.
The fights weren’t the kiddie kind where the competitors wore gloves and protective gear. Opponents had to fight until they were incapacitated. Few knew, but some opponents weren’t all human. Some were supernaturals who enjoyed taking out their grievances on other supernaturals.
The winner won the pot of gold, of course, but they had to pay the club ten percent of their winnings. It was how Vanis was able to support the fights. Vanis was a smart businessman and knew how to cover his ass in case the fight club got shut down.
Above the arena was a restaurant, and not far from it was a nightclub that was unconnected to the fight club and was anonymously owned. A year ago, Vanis was looking for a silent partner, and as luck would have it, he found one with money to burn.
A smile crossed Uriel's lips when he recalled sitting in the V.I.P. stands, watching, and trying to control his body from joining in on the matches. Uriel could hear his blood pumping, coursing through his veins, and the excited pounding of his heart. Uriel attributed his new bloodlust to his years of captivity. The beatings and relying on his will to survive. Or it could be his desire for revenge that sometimes ate at him whenever he thought about his past.
After walking away from Dio’s side, Uriel had become partners with Kayne and Synder Vale and worked tirelessly for Vale’s Bodyguard Training & Services. He had a special skill that he liked to call body cloning or body doubling. Uriel had met Kayne and Synder during one of the darkest periods of his life and found out that they came from a quaint magical town called Vale Valley that was conveniently two hours from Valleywood.
Uriel smiled, thinking about his best friends. With their help and support, Uriel wasn’t sure he would have been financially secure after serving twenty years of imprisonment. Nor would he have a place for him, his son Kristoph, and his son's godfather to live. Uriel’s life had changed drastically so many years ago, and he was still picking up the shattered pieces. An image of Azazel flashed in his mind, and he quickly, mentally swatted it away. He didn't want to think about his bastard ex-lover.
Other than taking care of himself and his son, Uriel drowned himself in his work, leaving no room for anything else. Furthermore, he wasn't interested in anyone. After his affair with Azazel, he couldn't find anyone he liked. It wasn't that he didn't have people ask him out or didn't have needs and desires, it was just that he always compared other men to Azazel.
From their body, to their smile, to their personality and intellect. He found none of them appealing. The word mate was whispered in the back of his mind, and again he banished the thought away and focused on his job.
His job wasn’t painstakingly hard, but gave him great satisfaction. Being part owner of the company gave him the freedom to do as he pleased. Although he had other responsibilities within the company, he wasn't tied down to a desk like Kayne or sometimes Synder.
He had been a body double for ten years and didn’t mind pretending to be someone else, even if it was only for a short time. Uriel's job came with some dangers, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
With his abilities, it wasn't bothersome to change into one of his clients this way. It didn’t require make-up, and there was no room for error. Other than Kayne and Synder, none of the employees knew that he was a body double—or that he was an angel, for that matter. The company was broken up into three parts; Kayne was in charge of the bodyguard and training department, Synder took care of investigations and cyber security, and he was in charge of the stunt workers.
Over the years, Uriel had pretended to be a politician, movie star, singer, and any public figures who needed to disappear for a bit without their fans or officials noticing.
Uriel grunted when he received a kick to the stomach, pulling him from his thoughts. Uriel had let his mind wander off at the wrong time, forgetting that Tank was itching to kick his ass.
“Hey, blondie, did you finally give up?” Tank asked. “It might be for the better since I don’t want to fuck up that pretty face of yours.”
Uriel smiled and studied the muscled man towering over him. “Pretty? I think I’m more handsome...dashing even. But don’t worry, big guy, I just needed to take a breather.”
Although Tank was a werewolf, Uriel limited his own powers to two percent, which was why he was so easily hurt. However, Uriel was certain Tank couldn’t tell he was an angel and maybe thought he was a human, strong enough to take his punches.
“You should stay down,” Tank advised. “I fucked you up enough and I don’t want to send you to the hospital tonight.”
Uriel barked out a laugh along with the crowd. “Don’t you worry about me, just try to win.”
“Haven’t I already won?”
Uriel sighed and shook his head—his opponents were all the same. They figured once they knocked him to the ground that he was out for the count and that they'd won, completely forgetting he was still moving, no matter how bloody and beat-up he looked. He'd been through worse and survived.
“How about we make a deal?” Uriel said.
“What kind of deal?”
Uriel enjoyed coming to the underground fight club to pass the time, but he also had another purpose. He’d like to call it redemption for his past sins—or, according to his friends, he was a glutton for punishment. Uriel didn’t deny there was some truth to their words, but he would admit that he had a small addiction to the environment. He was certain that once a competent opponent beat him in an equal match, Uriel would quit for good. Until then, he would continue to indulge in his pleasure.
Uriel felt a camaraderie with his opponents. They were good people who had somehow lost their way because of some unfortunate incidents on their life path. Uriel felt he could help them get back on track. It might've been his guilt, but he had never lost the desire to help others. Besides, Uriel needed the good karma points for the bad deeds he might commit later down the road.
His current opponent, Tank Carter, was his first good deed for the day. Tank had once been an outstanding boxer, but because of gun and drug charges, coupled with an addiction, he’d lost everything.
Rising to the top was always the hardest mountain to climb, but falling to the bottom because of stupid mistakes was the easiest. The boxing title he was aiming for was snatched away because he was too high to focus. The night he lost the title, Tank’s wife took their kids and left him. The friends he thought would have his back dropped him like a hot potato once they found out he didn’t have any money. Tank wasn’t a bad guy, just had terrible habits.
According to Uriel’s investigation, Tank had lost everything, although he avoided spending time in jail. Tank still had to pay hefty fines to the state and boxing commission. Since getting clean, Tank had been working odd jobs as a bouncer, construction worker, and showing up at the fight club, sending all of his earnings and winnings to his wife to feed his six kids. Uriel understood Tank in some ways, having to do even the worst jobs no one wanted, whatever it took to support his family.
