It’s because of her, because of the fact that I’ll never see her again, because I’m haunted by her pale face and the bloody asphalt underneath her that I can’t bring myself to touch Athena.
I park a little ways away from the warehouse where the fights are being held tonight. It’s customary for everyone to scatter a bit, so that anyone poking around won’t see a cluster of bikes and vehicles parked nearby and suspect that something is going on. The lights in the front are off, so it’s dark all around. With the fall wind whipping up and blowing leaves across the pavement, the night feels close and creepy, as if something ominous is coming.
Even Athena stays closer to me than usual as we stride across the parking lot, her mouth set in a firm line as we go to the door. I knock on it once and then three times in quick succession, and after a brief pause, the door creaks open.
“It’s Jaxon,” I say in a low voice. “And I brought a friend.”
The door opens a little wider, and the burly man standing there narrows his eyes—until he sees Athena, of course. Then his eyes go wide, lighting up with appreciation, and I feel a possessive urge to sock him right in the jaw as his gaze drops down to her tits.
“She’s mine,” I growl. “Not up for grabs.”
Athena makes a displeased noise, but I cut my eyes sideways at her, giving her a pointed look that says, clearly,let me handle this.
The moment we’re inside, I grab her elbow, pulling her close to me. “I don’t give a shit how you feel about ‘belonging’ to me or anyone else,” I tell her, bending low to speak into her ear. “But this is to keep you safe. You’re new, and if they catch the slightest whiff of weakness or of you being someone they can target, you’re going to be in trouble, and I might not be able to help you.” I pause, leaning closer. “And whatever the fuck you do, don’t give them your real name. I use Brandon here.”
Athena nods, pulling away from my grasp. “I can handle myself,” she says tightly, not quite meeting my eyes.
“I’m sure you can. But I’m responsible for you. Dean and Cayde would take it out of my hide if anything were to happen to you.”
The warehouse is steadily filling up. A few of the bikers put up the makeshift ring, the audience already crowding around. The light is coming from a couple of bare lightbulbs hanging above the ring, leaving a good deal of the room dimly lit, and the smell of yeasty beer and thick cigarette smoke is already pervading the air. Before too long, once the bouts start, there’ll be the scent of hot flesh and sweat mingling with it, ripening the already stuffy air. There are no windows, and the door is kept firmly shut, so it’s a good twenty degrees hotter inside than out and steadily rising.
“Phew.” Athena brushes her hand over her nose. “This is rough.”
“It’s only going to get better.” I glance at her amusedly. “Sure you still want to fight here?”
She glares up at me. “Don’t worry. I’d tell you if I didn’t.”
“You know there are only a couple other girls that fight. And they go up against the men, same as you will. It’s not really fair—”
“Nothing about my life has been fair.” Athena cuts me off, her eyes locked onto mine. “So don’t worry. This won’t be any different.”
Her voice is cutting, and I want to retort that neither has mine, but I know that won’t help either of us right now. I’d told myself that I didn’t really care about Athena, that whatever happened to her wasn’t my problem and that I’m only looking out for her here because Dean and Cayde ordered me to. At least right now, I still have to follow those orders.
But seeing her here, looking small next to all of the big, muscled, and burly men, thinking about her facing them down in that ring, I feel a pit in my stomach that’s only amplified by the protective urge sweeping through me.
I’m not going to let anything happen to her. No matter what she’s done, or Dean, or Cayde, no matter how much I want to pretend that I don’t care, I do. And I’m going to keep her safe. What happened to her a month ago will never happen again, not under my watch. And I won’t allow what happened to Natalie to happen again.
If they try, I’ll be the one to burn this fucking place to the ground.
“Brandon!” A tall, lanky man strides towards me, a toothy grin revealing a couple of missing teeth and some gold fillings. “You’re third on the card tonight. You’re going up against Caleb, so get those punchin’ fists ready.”
“Got it.” I give him a tight smile. “I’m ready to knock some heads. I’ll go more than one round tonight if there’s room.”
Athena opens her mouth as if to say something and then closes it just as quickly.
“Tryin’ to impress your new lady, huh?”
I shrug, grinning at him. “You know I don’t have to try that hard.”
He bursts into a peal of laughter, clapping me on the shoulder so hard that it almost pitches me forward. “You’re right about that, man. You know,” he says, cocking his head and looking at Athena thoughtfully. “I’ve never known you to bring a girl with you. In fact, I never see you talking to girls at all, ‘cept when Pixie was giving you attention few fights back.”
Oh no.I press my lips together, narrowing my eyes at him. “Well, I wasn’t particularly interested in Pixie then, and I’m not now, either.”
Athena’s mouth is twitching, and I’m not sure whether it’s with suppressed anger or amusement. Part of me likes the idea that she might be upset that another girl expressed an interest, that Athena might be jealous. And the other part of me knows that’s a dangerous road to go down. That letting myself think about how nice it would be for Athena to actually be my girl, to have some real claim on her other than what I’m pretending to keep her safe tonight, is putting both of us on a road that can go nowhere.
Zeke, the guy talking to me, seems to get the hint from my expression that I’m not enjoying him talking about other girls in front of my current one. “Anyway, get ready,” he says, shrugging as he glances back towards the ring. “Caleb’s been raring for a fight since he wasn’t on the card last week.”
“I’ll give him what he’s looking for. But right now, I need to find Rose here a good spot to watch me knock him around the ears a few good times.”