Page 129 of More Tricks

One of the guy's brows rose as he looked me up and down. “You’re the badass he told us was coming to blow off some steam?”

I blew a strand of hair out of my face, grabbed my gun, and shot the asshole in the thigh. He dropped to the ground screaming and clutching his leg. “Fucking bitch, you shot me.”

“That badass enough for you?” I asked as I walked past him into the warehouse.

The space was huge and wide open with the late afternoon sun streaming in from the high windows. Dust motes drifted about as a breeze kicked up from the door being open. In the center of the space was a circular fighting ring with chain-link fencing around it, making it into a cage.

I spotted a bench near the ring that I headed for, pulling off my jacket. Then taking a seat, I unlaced my boots and removed my socks. Before I handed over my gun to Void, I dropped out the mag and handed that to Eagle. Sick and tired of being shot, I wasn’t taking any chances.

Standing, I debated if I was going to keep my pants on or take them off. While the leather was soft and pliable, I felt like it would still hold me back. The guys started to grumble at this until they noticed I had on black boy shorts for underwear. It would cover as much as what I would wear for fight night, so they let it go. I’d worn a lace bralette under the crop top since if I lifted my arms, you’d see under boob, so I left the shirt as is.

“Who’s got a knife? I might need a backup?” I asked.

Cam pulled one out. It was a butterfly knife he favored using. I took a closer look and found it was the one I’d given him for Christmas when we were still dating. The bastard really hadn’t ever given up on us, had he?

“You gonna tape up or use gloves?” Void asked.

“Nah, I’m not expecting these to take that long,” I answered, shaking out my arms and legs. “All I’m going to ask is that no matter what happens in the ring, you let me handle it until it truly looks like I might be in danger.”

“You’re gonna need to narrow that down just a tad, loba,” Cognac requested.

I looked them all in the face for a moment before I answered. “Where I’m about to go in my head for me to release this, I won’t feel pain. I’ll take hits left and right, brushing them off until I'm so worn out, I can’t fight anymore. That’s where you all come in. I need you to protect me from me.”

That had the guys looking a little worried, well, all but Void. He stepped forward and gripped my chin, searching my face before he kissed me ruthlessly, biting my lip hard enough I thought it might bleed. “If your demons become too much, we will save you like we promised.”

Nodding once, I turned to the cage and entered, picking a corner to start in away from the door. Since we had arrived, I hadn’t seen anyone here but the two thugs, but I knew somewhere people were watching. My money was the Four were either up in some hidden box or watching through cameras a safe distance away. It was a smart plan, and I was giving them a sample of what was to come. This might be the stupidest idea I’d ever had, but this was the only way I could process what I was going through. I’d tried therapy before, but talking about something you couldn’t change didn’t do a damn thing.

Right here, right now, I was in control of my fate. How this fight turned out was all on me and my abilities. My body had betrayed me before, and since then, I’d made a point to ensure it could never do it again. Getting shot started this spiral, and I’d managed to hold it back. Now I knew it was time. After everything I had gone through since that fateful day Kimber, my ex-sister-in-law, came to pay me a visit, shit had gone south.

Hearing someone step onto the mats, I opened my eyes and found a man standing there at the entrance. His eyes were dead, holding no hope in them. It wasn’t the same as him deciding to give up, knowing his death was inevitable. No, this was the look of a man who’d killed so many people his soul had become blackened from the hit. He would kill anyone he was told to, no longer caring about the repercussions of it.

“Knives or no knives?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “You can have a knife. It might mean you last a little longer in the ring.”

I cocked a brow at this. “Did they tell you who you were fighting?”

“Doesn’t matter, you’ll end up dead, or I will in the end. What good is knowing who you are or who I am?” he answered as he started to approach me.

Well, isn’t this guy a bundle of joy and roses. Guess this explains why they don’t care if I take him out.

Setting my blade on the edge of the ring, wanting to use Cam’s for this, I faced my opponent, feeling it was better just to use one. There hadn’t been any established rules, but I didn’t really want any either. Crouching into a low fighting stance, I took a deep breath and yanked open the door on my banked rage. It exploded out, but instead of causing it to make me once more fall into that haze of furry, I used it to hone in on my target. This man in front of me was where I placed all the pain, anger, and emotions I hadn’t dealt with over the years.

This man was the person who killed my twin, betrayed me one too many times, the faceless Marco who was hunting me down, and the first man I killed who tried to rob me and caused me to lose my baby four months along.

With that last addition, I felt the switch flip, and the darkness reared its head. That night was the first time I’d met the part of myself that created Two Tricks. It was then I knew I could do whatever it took to survive, and I wouldn’t ever be assaulted like that again. Charging forward, I dropped to the ground and slid past the guy using my knife to slice up the back of his jean-clad leg. My knife was sharp as hell, but it didn’t get as deep as I wanted it to with the fabric in the way.

Rolling away, I popped up to my feet, knife at the ready, as he turned to face me. “You’re good. I might actually die today.”

“No question about it. You won’t be getting out of this ring alive,” I stated. “They sent you in here to die.”

“It will be a good death then, one I will have to work for,” he commented before making his first move.

The bastard was damn fast and didn’t give a shit about the fact I’d sliced up his calf. Blood made the mats slick, but that made things equal footing for us. The guy had to be an expert in taekwondo or muay Thai with how much he used his legs and tried to grab me in close. I was more of a kung fu, karate gal who used speed and quick movements to keep out of my enemies’ arms. With how big he was compared to me, I knew if he got me on the mats, then I was in more trouble than I wanted to be.

Flashes of that night I was attacked bubbled up in my mind. I’d had a craving for ice cream, and I knew this 7- Eleven had it down the street. Cam wasn’t around that night. He had a final coming up he needed to study for. Harper was in and out, going to this or that party, always trying to get me to go with her. I’d never told her I was pregnant, and thankfully, I’d always turned her down for those things, not being much of a party girl. Her fashion friends were too superficial, and I didn’t know how to play nice.

I hadn’t told anyone but Cam that I’d gotten pregnant, still unsure if I was even willing to have the baby. It was my last year of college, and I didn’t have a stable job, and neither did he. Hell, I was only twenty-one, almost twenty-two, but I wasn’t planning on getting married and having a family. Neither Cam nor I were remotely ready for that kind of thing to happen to us. I’d had the world's shittiest upbringing. Who was I to parent a child?