Page 61 of Savior
CHAPTER SEVEN
DEAN
My fists thud against the leather bag Viking has been bracing for me for the last thirty-five minutes. I’m still pissed the fuck off about everything that happened at the Demons’ Den. My one solace is that Vanna does seem to have grasped the danger this time.
“Do you want to talk about it, bro?” Viking asks. He’s been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time. I must look as pissed as I am. “Haven’t heard shit from you since your text about leaving that club house with Vanna.”
I don’t answer. I continue to pound my frustration out on the bag, imagining my brother’s face. How could he have just let her walk in there alone? And Legion… that fucking Demonic prick… I know he’s behind everything, keeping himself just beyond my grasp. The bastard is lurking around, though… Close enough to show up at Vanna’s beckoned call…
Motherfucker.
Jealousy drives me to pound the bag even harder.
“Alright, that’s enough.” Viking says, a level of sternness in his tone as he releases the bag. “You’ve broken skin on the knuckles of your right fist. You’re done.”
“I’m done when I say I’m done.” I growl, throwing another combination of strikes at the bag.
Viking lets out a sigh as he shoves me aside, hard, and steps in front of the bag, effectively blocking it from me. “Dean. You’re done. You wanna hit something, hit the fucking showers.”
I swipe my sweat-soaked hair back with my hand, pushing a few strands out of my eyes, slicking it back as I glare at him. “You wanna spar with me?” I challenge him. An actual fight is what I really need.
“I will.” I hear Axel say, before Viking can reply. He walks into the gym with us, right up to me. I know if I turn him down, it’s only going to reinforce the idea in his mind, that I don’t see him as an equal to the rest of us.
“Alright. Get your shit.” I tell him, glaring at Viking as soon as Axel steps away to shed his clothes and slip on his MMA gloves from the supply locker. I was hoping to go at it with Viking. He can take a Hell of a lot more abuse than Axel can. And Viking will match my aggression. With Axel, I have to keep it at twenty percent. Which I know, being in battle mode, is only going to frustrate me further. At least with Viking, I don’t have to worry as much about hurting him.
“Take it easy on him.” Viking mumbles under his breath to me, as if he actually needs to warn me. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re trying to work out in that thick skull of yours, but it’s got nothing to do with Axel.”
“I’d never hurt the kid.” Though, I do have a mind to hurt someone today. Someone who deserves it. Someone who’s had it coming for a really, really long time.
Axel is grinning as he makes his way back over to us, wearing his red fingerless gloves and matching gym shorts. “Maybe this time you won’t pussy foot around me in the ring.” He says with a cocky grin. “But I sure hope you’re okay, Dean.”
“Twenty. Eighty.” I grumble.
“Whatever.” He sighs, turning from us to duck under the ropes.
I shoot one last glare at Viking, before I join Axel. He’s bouncing around in his corner, throwing practice swings, sizing me up as he does. I’m already warmed up, though I’m not at all eager to throw down with Axel. I raise my fists reluctantly, and move in, throwing a few halfhearted jabs at him that he easily ducks and weaves out of range from.
“You’re not doing either of us any favors!” Axel scowls at me as he continues to bounce and jab back with a fluid quickness he’s obviously been working on with Viking. He’s improved a lot in the months since we last sparred. “You’re not even fighting me at twenty percent! Don’t you want me to be as good as you some day, Dean?” he throws another combination of strikes at me. I don’t fight back, I only block. “My first real fight in the underground circuit is only a few weeks away.”
What?! No…
When I drop my fists in dismay, Axel clocks me with a decent shot right in the jaw, rocking me slightly to the side.
Viking lets out a bellowing laugh at me.
“You little shit…” I begin to say, when Axel slams into me with what I can only imagine is his full force. I let him grab me behind the thighs, his shoulder driving into my core, as he lifts me up just enough to get my feet off the mat, and knocks me flat on my back.
“I’m impressed,” I grunt upon impact with the mat. Axel immediately attempts to get control of one of my arms. “You should have slugged me in the face a few times, dazed me before you tried to go for an armbar.” I taunt him. “Here’s what twenty looks like.” I wrap my other arm around the back of his neck and twist, rolling him over until I’m on top of him now, then quickly maneuver myself behind him into a choke hold. He continues to fight me, but I know it’s no use. He’s already lost. He just needs to accept it. “Tap out, Axel.”
“Give me a reason to!” he sounds frustrated, but continues to try to fight his way out of my hold.
“I’m not going to choke you out. But this is the end of this fight, Axel. You lost. Tap out.”
“Choke me out!” he shouts at me. “I’m not afraid! And I’m not tapping out until I have to!”
I flex my bicep, tightening my arm slightly more around his throat as I look at Viking. He’s watching us intently. “Axel, I don’t want to hurt you. This is it. You lost. It’s over.”
“Fuck you, Dean!” he struggles against me some more, gripping at my arm as he twists and thrashes about. “Stop treating me like a kid!”
