Prologue
Lance
The lights flicker when I’m about to lose a fight.
It’s not a mistake.
It’s purposeful.
That’s how things go in the fighting ring hidden beneath the Round Table Tavern.
The Lye.
They flick off, then on. Just enough to signal it’s time to take the hit and fall.
It used to hurt my pride, but pride doesn’t matter. Not mine, anyway.
I came down here to keep the people I love safe. Istaybecause they hold my past above my head. But someone’s always waiting, rich and corrupt, eager to bet on a rigged match. And the world people think they know?
It’s a lie.
Flicker.
Uppercut, jab, kick. Miss a block. Break a rib. Lose the fight.
Fight, dog, fight.
I steal a glance at the ringside between hits. It’s hard to see through the cage’s wire mesh, especially with sweat blurring everything, but I hear the crowd—raucous shouts echoing off the dark, soundproofed walls. Expensive shoes stomping concrete. We’re buried so deep underground the noise vanishes into the earth, as if it never existed.
Like none of us wereeverhere.
Flicker.
I grit my teeth. My opponent grunts, wipes blood from his mouth with his thumb, and resets his stance. “Come on, Excalibur, you piece of shit.”
The crowd screams, and I toss a wink his way, then crack my neck and bounce on my feet, fists loose in front of me.
Flicker.
Annoyed, I glance up at the lights, and on the way back down, something snags my attention.
No, not something.
Someone.
Burnt red and jade green.
A foot catches me in the ribs.
Pain spreads across my stomach. A fist smashes my temple and my vision blurs. I’ve been hit harder. Hell, I’ve been hit by guys twice his size.
Still, I can’t remember the last time I lost focus in the cage.
But there it is, that emerald color dragging me back like a hand on my collar. Warmth in an ocean of depravity.
Theresheis.
Calm washes over me, and I’m determined to figure out who she is when this is over.
