Thirty Two
Axle
“It can’t be what it looks like,” Ethan says for the tenth time in as many minutes. My feet are carrying me away from the gate, but I hardly notice I’m moving. I don’t feel the fire in my veins anymore, the voices in my head still and silent.
It’s as though the rage has finally, after all these years, left me completely. In its place I only feel numb.
“And what did it look like?” I reply, my voice even. I’m not even really asking. Ana’s complete indifference, the way he touched her, her swollen lip.
I may not know much, but I’m not a stupid man.
“She played me,” I answer for him. “She played us all from the start.”
Ethan is still following but I basically ignore him. The only thing I can do now is numb this last little bit until I achieve darkness. My feet take me where I need to go.
Rum.
Without hesitating, I cross our chambers—no, not Ana’s, not ours—mychambers and grab the last bottle. Pulling the cork out with my teeth I immediately bring the bottle to my mouth, chugging deeply until a hand strikes it out of mine.
“What the fuck…” Before I have a chance to say more, a heavy fist connects with my cheek. “What the fuck!” I grit out, spitting blood from my mouth where I bit it.
“What the fuck was that for!” I bring the bottle back up to my mouth, glaring at Ethan and daring him with my eyes to hit me again.
“You gotta hold your shit together, man,” he hisses out. “Ana wasn’t playing you, or any of us.”
“And how the fuck would you know?” I ask, moving away to take another healthy swig, relishing how it burns down my throat. As I move away, I get closer to a pile of Ana’s clothes and a whiff of her scent catches me unaware. That with the rum is too much and I shout a curse before throwing the bottle against a wall, wasting the last of my liquor.
“How the fuck would you know!” I shout, my chest heaving.
Rather than the pity I would have expected, the look in Ethan’s eyes speaks of something else. Anger, perhaps. Disappointment. The look he gives me speaks volumes, but I’m too dumb right now to hear whatever it is it’s saying.
All he does is shakes his head when he begins to walk out.
“When you’re done being a fucking idiot, I’ll be below,” he mutters, slamming the door shut behind him.
Fuck him. Fuck ‘em all.
Thirty Three
Ethan
“Why stop the Pit Battles?” Emilio asks the table, getting a few grunts in return. I’m standing toward the back, just listening. For now.
“It’s a means of control, a test,” Theo finally speaks up from the back and I nod in agreement as he continues, “They are finally using the fact we rely on them against us. So, they take the one person that these savages listen to and use her. They tell us to stop doing something innocuous at first, like Pit Battles. Despite the spectator aspect, most people didn’t relish the possibility of a conflict ending up down there.”
Everyone’s eyes are on the old man and he clears his throat, his weathered cheeks reddening slightly. “They’re taking control again, this is just the start. Mark my words.”
Emilio is nodding along, and Luis looks unsure, but he hasn’t been here as long as us. A few others I don’t know seem to be sitting around fifty-fifty as well, but no one looks happy. Whatever is happening, we can all agree it isn’t good.
Sighing, I move a bit further to the back. I could certainly be running this meeting, but for now I need to let this shit run its course. Ax is fucking losing it, and for now he needs to letthatrun its course. I’ve never seen him like this before though. It’s eerie how calm he is, especially compared to the violence of earlier. I cringe when I think of the state, I found him in with John. Whatever is going on with Ax, I can’t pull him back this time, not right now. I need to focus on our original plan. Riot. Escape.
Whatever’s going on with Ana is irrelevant until we get outside these walls. If I can get this ball rolling, I can get Ax out of his slump.
Then I can go find Sammi.
My dick actually jumps just at the thought of her and I have to grit my teeth to stop a full-blown tent from happening. The few people who know about Sammi all consider it to be an obsession. Boy who’s been imprisoned his whole life gets a woman and gets pussy whipped.
It is so, so much more than that.