Page 8 of Splintered Desire

I should have taken Reed’s number one of the million times he offered me it.

Rolling my eyes, I get the satisfaction of watching his narrow in annoyance.

“Fine.”

I don’t give him time to rethink his threat before I slide across the leather seat toward the opposite door. He’s fucked in the head if he thinks I’m going to try to squeeze past all three of them.

None of us says another word as we head toward the building. Isaac and Kolson walk ahead of me while Jace walks a few steps behind me as if I’m a sheep he’s herding toward the door.

It makes my skin crawl having him at my back, and I can’t stop myself from looking back over my shoulder at him every few seconds.

We’re parked around the rear side of the building. A few other cars are scattered throughout the lot, but not many.

What the fuck are we doing here?

Kolson stops at the back door, rapping his knuckles on the hard steel six times before it swings open.

Jace flops his arm down on my shoulders as we make our way inside. I shrug him off, and he barks a laugh that bounces off the concrete walls of the hallway before putting it back again and pulling me into his side.

It’s going to be a long day.

“Aww, don’t be like that, Zela. You’re family now.” He smiles at me as he all but drags me under his arm. Unwilling to play this game with him, I stay put and choose to ignore him. I can see that he lives for reactions, and while I have no problem standing my ground, I won’t be his source of entertainment.

The hallway feels like it goes on forever with them as company, but as we get closer to the end, I hear signs of life from the rest of the building. Shouts and movement, the scrape of something heavy being dragged along the concrete floor.

Isaac and Kolson disappear ahead of us, but I don’t see where they go as I look around the room.

Fuck.

I stop dead.

Jace’s arm all but slams into the back of my neck at how sudden, but I hardly feel it as I force him to a stop beside me.

Tables and chairs are being set up throughout the space. People pull large stacks of chairs from one area to another as others roll large, round tables into place. I watch as others bring out tablecloths and other decorations to set them up and make them look fancy once they’ve been put in place. Everyone moves seamlessly from one place to the next; the occasional bark of an order is the only sound that can be heard amongst the almost frantic movements of people and furniture alike.

It would be far more impressive if I weren’t about two seconds from a panic attack.

They can’t know. It’s not possible.

I repeat the words in my head over and over like a mantra. But despite how true it might be, it doesn’t bring me any comfort.

What other explanation could there be?

How else would one explain the fact that these three, my new soon-to-be stepbrothers, have just brought me to The Pit?

I’m not a strong believer in coincidences, but the longer I stand here looking at the cage in front of me, the more I want to be.

I haven’t fought in over a month while they relocated to a ‘bigger and better’ location. Not to mention, I didn't even know where the location was until just now.

Nobody knows I fight.

Well, that’s not exactly true.

Two people do, but one of them disappeared 5 years ago, so it’s not as though I think he told anyone. Besides, the last time I saw him, I was still weak. Even he wouldn’t assume this is what I did every other weekend, and he didn’t know Vixen.

Only one person knows that, and despite knowing better, I trust him not to tell anyone.

I’ve been careful, just like he taught me.