Page 66 of Dark Things
“You think you’re calling the shots, sweetie? Pretty sure this is my club,” he says, more amusement than anger.
“Up to you if you want to make this a thing, but they don’t call me Pitch for an unknown reason. Why don’t you ask Gage what he thinks about pissing me off?”
His face blanches for a moment, but then he snaps his fingers and a huge-ass bouncer comes over and he whispers in the guy’s ear. I take that as a problem solved and go back to my chair to wait.
The fight in the cage ends. This one wasn’t to the death, so they both get out of there pretty quickly. The cleanup crew still goes in and does a sweep of the floor, but it’s truly not necessary. I’m going to destroy Dozer and then go find fucking Haunt.
The announcer starts his speech, but I’m not paying attention. I climb into the cage and wait for the bouncer to bring Dozer in. The punk-ass is actually yelling, drawing more attention to himself than necessary.
“Get off of me. I’m not here to fight. This is bullshit. Do you know who I work for!?” Dozer screams, as he’s tossed into the cage on his ass.
The audience laughs; they’re eating this shit up. Me, I’m on my last nerve and have zero fucks to give. “Shut the fuck up and stand up, Dozer. Stop acting like a fucking tool.”
That gets his attention. “You? What the fuck is a whore doing here? And why are you covered in blood?”
I smirk and roll my shoulders out. “Guess you missed my first fight. Let me introduce myself. Call sign, Pitch. This is a death match and you’re definitely not leaving here alive.”
“I don’t care who the fuck you are,” he screams getting in my face and giving me a shove. I step back and look at the announcer, giving him a get-the-show-on-the-fucking-road look.
He brings the microphone up to his lipsand the bell rings. Dozer is still trying to get a rise out of me with words, so I punch him in the face, breaking his nose.
He bellows, hands going up to clutch his face. “You fucking bitch!” he roars, and charges me. I spin around to avoid the rush and kick him in the ass. He finally gets the message that this isn’t a joke and comes at me with his fists.
I dodge a couple, but one clips my jaw. It’s not the worst I’ve had, but it’s enough to leave a bruise in the morning. The crowd loves it, screaming and throwing hands up in the air. I block it all out and focus on how I’m going to take him out. This needs to end.
He gives me an opening, and I take it. Kidney shot, kick to the thigh, uppercut to the jaw. He goes down, and I’m too fast to allow him to get up. I straddle his torso and rain down blows to his face, taking all my frustrations about this fucking mission and goddamn town out on him.
I think about seeing the boys again, my time in juvie, my brother, fucking Stan. I let it all out, screaming into the void like I’ve wanted to for years. All my anger and despair makes itself known. All of my dark things bleed out with each blow.
Dozer doesn’t have a fucking chance, and by the time the bouncer comes in to pull me off of him, Dozer’s skull is caved in, and my hands are bruised and bloody. Some of the blood is definitely mine.
“Off,” I yell, shoving the bouncer’s arm. He dropsme, and I kick Dozer once more for good measure before climbing out of the ring and marching over to my bag. I’m not fucking hanging around after that shit. I have a fucking soulmate to find.
My phone buzzes as I’m walking to the car. I slip it out of my gym bag as I pull the keys out with it. Stan’s name flashes on the screen. Vince either ratted me out, or he wants to know where Haunt went.
“Boss,” I say, trying to calm the rage inside of me.
“You have to test me all the time, Pitch. It’s almost like you want Magnus to die.”
I grit my teeth and lean my head on the steering wheel. “Apologies. My other opponent took off, and Dozer wasn’t exactly loyal. I took the trash out.”
He hums for a moment. “And you were the one who thought that you could make decisions for me?”
There’s no way I’m getting out of this without some kind of punishment. I just hope the price isn’t too much to pay.
“He was a plant. We saw him at Mario’s club the other night going into the back room. We didn’t know who he was until we were at the slaughterhouse for our meeting. I didn’t think I should bother you with the details until it was taken care of.”
I lie my fucking ass off and hope he buys it, because I don’t have fucking time to deal with his bullshit.
“Next time, you come to me first. I don’t care if you have half the information. Understand?”
“Yes, boss. I’ll make sure to tell you first.”
I roll my eyes and breathe out. Thank God he accepted the fucking excuse.
“Now, tomorrow you’re racing Black Caviar at the track. Not the underground one, the real one.”
Oh fuck, I do not have fucking time for this. I need to find Haunt.
