Page 1 of Our Tricks

Chapter 1

Dax

The shock my whole display of shooting the camera caused seemed to wear off all at once, and people started to flood toward the cage. Then at the same moment, others were leaping after them, attacking those who were coming for us, holding them off. It would seem the overall theory of picking sides tonight was true, and people were showing their allegiance here and now.

“So, Dax, did you have a plan to get us out of this after your declaration?” Tommaso asked dryly as I handed him back his gun.

Was declaring war in the middle of an underground fighting ring full of criminals the smartest thing I’ve ever done? Probably not.

Would I do it again to prove my point to the one man who’d been hunting my ass down over the last four months? Fuck yeah, in a heartbeat.

Should I have given my guys and team a better heads-up to what kind of stunt I was pulling? Yeah, that might have been smart since we now had a mass of angry people who had zero qualms about killing others.

“Yeah, so about that. How fast can you run?” I asked, cocking a brow.

Tommaso gawked at me. “You have got to be kidding.”

Laughing, I punched him in the arm. “Of course, I’m kidding. There’s no way we could outrun this many people. Don’t happen to have an extra magazine of bullets on you, do you? I’ve only used two so that should leave you six unless you have an extended clip?”

“It holds ten, and no, I don’t have a backup. Typically, I don’t put myself in situations where I’d need it,” Tommaso muttered.

“Come on,” I said, tugging on his sleeve. “We aren’t going to make it out the doors we walked in at this rate. We’re going up and over the cage fencing on the backside away from the bleachers. Betta mentioned a back exit that would take us up to the street instead of through the subway where we entered.”

“What about your guys?” he asked as we climbed.

I looked down at him as I swung my leg over the top of the chain-link surrounding the ring. “Don’t you worry about them, they’ll find me no matter what.”

Vaulting off the fence, I landed in a crouch position on the concrete floor, ready to take my knife in hand if I needed to. Looking up, I found Void and Eagle just off to the left waving for me to get to them. I grabbed Tommaso’s shirt and dragged him after me as I bolted in their direction.

“Come on, Betta got me the keycard so we can get the fuck out of here,” Eagle yelled to be heard over the roar of people fighting. “You sure know how to make one hell of an exit, little hellcat.”

Smirking, I let go of Tommaso, seeing he was keeping up as we jogged toward the exit. A man threw himself off the bleachers trying to get to me, but someone else slammed into him before he could reach me. I noticed it was Mr. Snake himself defending me. With a quick nod of thanks, I kept moving.

A knife came sailing past my shoulder and lodged into the wall bringing me to an abrupt halt. Grabbing the knife, I shoved Tommaso behind me and toward the guys facing off with whoever chucked the blade.

“Well, look who it is,” I said, flipping the knife casually. “Still shit with a blade, I see, Raxx. You’d think after our last encounter, you’d have worked on that. How’s the hand?”

“Fuck off, you cunt.” Raxx snarled as he grabbed another knife to throw.

Flipping the blade up, I grabbed the tip and let it fly right into his eye, sinking deep enough I knew it hit his brain. “Told you I’d never let you speak to a lady like that again. Seems like that’s just something you were never gonna learn.” Spinning on my heel, I took off, trying to catch up with the others.

“Dax,” I heard Harper scream.

Skidding to an almost stop, I used the momentum to twist myself back around. Harper was running toward me with Ghost right on her heels, holding his right arm close to his body. Charging forward, I drew my knife and got a good grip on it, looking for her other two men.

Harper tried to stop and talk to me, but I waved her off. “No, get the fuck out of here with Ghost.” I looked up at him as I said the rest, “Follow the others out. I’ll watch your backs.”

Ghost nodded and urged Harper forward even as she tried to argue. “Dax, no.”

“Harper, so help me God, if you don’t get out of here with him right now, I’m never going to speak to you again,” I threatened. “Please, I’ve been doing everything I can to keep you alive through all this, don’t make it all pointless.”

Her face fell, but she nodded and let Ghost shove her in the direction the guys went. I needed a fucking gun. As if my prayers had been heard, one skittered across the floor, and I scooped it up without thinking. Raising it, I found Magnus snapping some dude’s neck before kicking him away. He turned and spotted me then looked desperately around.

Two more guys tried to jump Magnus, but I shot them both before they got the chance, thudding to the floor. “Magnus, where’s Jaxson?” I demanded when I reached him.

“He went after Harper and Ghost, but I didn’t see where they went,” he answered.

“Then let’s go. We need to get the fuck out of here before they realize we’re gone,” I said, jerking my head, signaling him to follow me.