“I didn’t want to, Ivy.” Charlie managed to choke out the words, though his shoes kicked at the floor.
“And I don’t wanna be in here neither, but guess where I am.” Ivy’s chest heaved. I didn’t think he’d hurt Charlie, not with me here, but there was a darkness inside of him that was definitely contemplating it. I could feel it.
I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to stop this, until I heard someone say, “Ives, let him go.”
Chancey really did look like shit. His face was swollen and bruised, and he had a nasty black eye that he could barely see out of. Charlie had done a number on him. I could hardly blame Ivy for being pissed. If things were the other way around, I’d be plucking Chancey’s feathers out one by one.
Chancey put a firm hand on Ivy’s arm. “You don’t want to hurt him, Ives. He’s our friend, remember?”
“Yeah? You gonna call him a friend after he did that to you?” Ivy challenged.
“He had to, Ives. I let him. Just back off.”
Ivy glanced at me, and I figured I had to look pretty desperate. At my pleading, and at Chancey’s demand, Ivy backed down. He let go of Charlie, and he fell to the floor. I knelt beside him, rubbing his back as he coughed. Oberi knelt down and sniffed his hair.
“So which one of you two palookas are gonna tell me why you felt the need to beat the shit outta each other?” Ivy said, putting a hand on his hip. “Or am I gonna have to strangle that outta you, too?”
“It… it was fight club,” Chancey admitted heavily.
Oh, shit. I swear something dark flashed in Ivy’s red eyes as he completely lost it. “You’re in thefucking fight club?”
“Yeah, I’m in fight club,” Chancey shot back. “And sometimes it ain’t pretty, as you can see.”
“You just can’t stop gambling, can you? Iknewyou were doing some shit behind my back, losing money betting on fights,” Ivy growled.
“I quit all that,” Chancey argued. “All I do now is get in the ring.”
“And get your mug turned to a pulp! Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Ivy yelled.
“Because I knew you’d react like this,” Chancey shot back. “You can’t beat the shit out of every shifter, vamp or elemental that kicks my ass!”
“Can’t I?Can’t I?” Ivy screeched.
“Look, Charlie and I are trying to get out of it. We gotta talk about this someplace else,” Chancey said, and he put his arm around Ivy’s shoulders. “You’re coming with me, doll face.Now.”
Ivy sneered, but he let Chancey lead him off. I could hear Ivy yelling insults all the way down the hallway as Chancey dragged him in the direction of the angel cellblock.
“Are you okay?” I asked Charlie as he slumped against the wall.
“I’m fine,” he said, rubbing his neck. “Ivy’s got one hell of a grip, though. You were right about him being strong.”
“Why didn’t you defend yourself?” I demanded.
“I couldn’t hit him back. I already felt bad enough about Chancey. At this point, everyone I care about is getting hurt because of me. It felt justified to let Ivy do what he wanted.”
“You shouldn’t be punishing yourself, or letting other people punish you.” I looked closer at his neck. Ivy hadn’t left any bruises, so maybe he hadn’t wanted to hurt Charlie after all.
“Why not? Maybe I’ll stop fucking up.”
I shook my head. “Charlie, you’ve got to get out of fight club. At this rate, it’s just as bad as Marcus’ gang. It’s going to kill you.”
“I’m doing what I can to figure out who’s fixing the fights, but I haven’t gotten anywhere. All the people I’ve talked to say they know nothing,” Charlie replied.
“Someone’s lying. They have to know,” I insisted.
“If they do, they aren’t telling me.”
I helped Charlie off the floor and brushed off his clothes. It was so natural, I didn’t realize I was doing it until he was all clean, so I stopped. “I was going to the music room, but I think my creativity’s been rattled out of me.”
