For the first time since she’d found him again, Zephyr felt more unsure about her own decision than certain. She saw darkness, she knew darkness existed, she tried to help those who survived through it, but she didn’t belong to it. In her heart, she was light, in so many ways still untainted by the brutalities that existed in the world, and she was grateful for that.
What the hell was she doing?
“Zee?”
Oh god, not now. Not when she was on the verge of a massive anxiety attack.
She exhaled and straightened as Alec, her cheating ex, took a seat at her side, his handsome face creasing in confusion at seeing her there, his eyes dropping to her boobs.
God, she was an idiot.
“You know this guy?” Victor asked, his hand going to the gun on his hip, ready to remove him.
Zephyr sighed. “Yes. Go away, Alec,” she told her ex, keeping her eyes straight ahead on the ring.
She felt his fingers brush her burgundy hair. “Nice color. I heard you’re Villanova’s whore these days.”
Wife, but she didn't correct him, well-aware of how Alec operated. He goaded her into giving him attention and took it as an opening, so Zephyr ignored him.
“He knows how good you suck a cock?”
He was just asking for a reaction, and she grit her teeth, keeping her head straight ahead. He tugged at her strand. “I love you, Zee. I miss your tight little body. Come to the back with me.”
God, she couldn’t believe she’d been with this toad for two years. Had he always been this slimy?
The announcer jumped on again, clapping for silence. “Our last prelim match, ladies and gentlemen,” his voice boomed again, “is between last year’s champion, the Kraken of Killroy, and the notorious one-eyed beast, our very own, The Finisher!”
Zephyr watched with concentration as last year’s champion, a large dark-skinned man jumped on the stage and into the ring, bouncing on his feet and shaking his muscles loose, his demeanor confident, his intent focused.
And then, her husband, no, the Finisher got in the ring.
She’d never seen him like that.
Zephyr held her breath, her hands fisting on her thighs as she watched him walk to the center as he did, fixing the tape around his hands. He wore a bandana around his forehead, probably to keep his longish hair away from his face, his massive body and its marks exposed to every naked eye in the room, only clad in black gym shorts. She wondered how he fought with just one eye, how he made up for the disadvantage with his perfect-visioned opponent.
Alpha cracked his neck, flexed his fingers, and looked up, his eye coming to her.
She saw the surprise on his face at seeing her there, followed by something very, very dark as his eye went to Alec at her side, who she’d completely forgotten about. She saw his jaw clench, his fingers flex again, his eye taking in every detail of her seated body before lingering on the hand Alex had on her hair.
Alpha loved her hair.
Her heart in her throat, Zephyr watched as he turned to his opponent when the bell rang. Her entire body felt tight, on edge, as if she was about to fall down a very high, very steep cliff.
The announcer went off with the ring, and the match began.
The men circled each other, both observing but not making a move. The Kraken took out a knife, ducked to the right before suddenly going left, in Alpha’s blind spot, and swiped at him, slicing his chest.
Zephyr gripped the arms of her chair, her knuckles turning white, her body shaking from the adrenaline she could feel flooding her system on his injury.
Alpha didn’t even react to the cut, just turned and did a body roll on the ground, landing on his feet in an agile movement. The Kraken turned with him, never letting him get to his back. He swiped again but missed as Alpha kicked him hard in the stomach, the force of which sent him staggering back. The Kraken recovered, shaking it off, and coming at Alpha again, angered, and the Finisher took a hold of his wrist, twisting his arm behind his back as he positioned himself behind the Kraken. With his free hand, he caught the other wrist of the hand holding the knife and brought it to the Kraken’s neck.
Zephyr watched, both enthralled and aghast, as he turned them to face her, making sure she was watching.
She couldn’t look away if she tried.
And keeping their gazes locked, he sliced the man’s throat open, inch by inch.
The crowd went wild around her, chanting his name, yelling words that were all a buzz in all the blood rushing through her ears.