Page 28 of Reaper
I decided to let the whole “lesser creature” thing slide because he really was trying to apologize.Besides, Becks had been trying to get me to not beat the ever-loving fuck out of people at the slightest hint of an insult.She’s trying to get me to move from “toxic masculinity” to “slightly incapacitating masculinity.”I’m not sure how well it’s working, but I was also pretty sure I was going to have a hell of a fight in a few hours, so getting into a scrap with Yannis would almost certainly burn energy I didn’t have to spare.
So I just said, “I accept your apology.Not sure I accept the concept that I’m a lesser creature, but I’m willing to concede that point in the interests of not spilling my macaroni.”I held out a hand.
Yannis shook it, although he looked a little confused as he did so.“Murray James, you are a very confusing man.I think I like you, and I will be sad if I have to kill you someday soon.I will do it, but I will be sad.”
And that’s about as good as it gets when you’re trapped in a cryptid fight club where vampires and werewolves fight to the death once a week.At least if he had to kill me, he’d be sad about it.
21
Eight hours later, I was pretty sure whoever I was about to stand across the arena from would not be the least bit sad if they managed to beat me to a bloody pulp.And honestly, I wouldn’t be all that sad if I turned them into a red smear on the sand, either.Now that I’d been awake for a while and had kept down two whole meals without painting the inside of my toilet with mac and cheese exiting the wrong direction, my slightly less than toxic masculinity was demanding I get out of my room and beat the shit out of somebody.It had been like three whole days since I kicked anyone’s ass, after all.
Pete came by to escort me to the ring, but he was still a lot more surly prison guard than the genial goofball he’d been masquerading as before my fight in the dining hall.It seemed that the guy who led me to the indoor death fighting pit wasn’t actually my friend.I would have to find some way to bear up under the weight of the crushing disappointment.“Who am I fighting?”I asked.
“You’ll see.”
“Still pissed at me for getting in trouble with the Boss, making it look like you don’t have your people under control and thus getting you in trouble with the Boss?”Maybe twisting the needle in the guy with the keys to my cell and the remote for my neck bomb wasn’t the brightest move, but it was pretty irresistible.
“Still pissed at you for putting me in a position where I had to clean up your puke and blood off the floor of the mess hall,” Pete replied.
“Okay, that I’m actually sorry about,” I said.Pete looked at me, and I shrugged.“Look, if you got a time out because I refused to be a good little gladiator, then tough shit.But cleaning up my puke?That must have been nasty.I’d had alotof bacon.”
Pete actually grinned a little at that.“Took me all day to get the smell of bacon barf out of my nostrils.”
“Pretty sure it took me two days to get theactualbacon barf out of my nostrils, so you got off easy in that regard,” I said.
He laughed, and some of the tension eased.Which I really needed, because I didn’t want his thumb slipping on my boom collar at the wrong moment.Which would beanymoment, by the way.We reached the door to the arena, and I caught a wicked grin on Pete’s face.
“Have fun,” he said as he pulled open the door and shoved me in.Going purely by the grin, I decided that maybe all was not forgiven after all.
I stepped onto the sandy floor and got my bearings just as the announcer finished shouting my name, and my heart sank as I looked across the ring at my opponent.Anthony.Yep, the faerie warrior that I’d stood up for in the cafeteria was the guy I now had to beat the shit out of to move up the ladder.
Motherfuckers.I wracked my brain for a good out, then decided,fuck it, and chose the path of most resistance.
Becks, if you can hear this, turn down your pain receptors because I’m about to get my ass kicked.On purpose this time.I’ll explain later.Love you.
I tamped down our connection before she could respond, if she even could.I could definitely feel some barrier to my magic, albeit less than in my last fight.They wanted me to have access to more power to fight Tony, because that would up the chances of me hurting him seriously and really head-fucking myself.Assholes.This whole place was full of assholes, and I promised myself then and there that I was going to bring the whole place down around their fucking ears if it was the last thing I did.
“I’m sorry, Murray,” Anthony said, walking across the sand and extending a hand.“But we’ve gotta fight, or they’ll send in somebody like Maris to take us both out, and if we piss them off any more, they might not stop him before he kills us.”
I shook his hand.“Nah, I get it.They’re all assholes, and one of these days, I’m going to make them pay.But tonight, we’ll put on a show.”I let go of his hand and stepped back, but not fast enough.Anthony shifted his weight onto his back foot and clocked me on the jaw with a wicked fast snap kick.
I danced back, shaking my head to clear the cobwebs.There weren’t any, really, but Tony didn’t need to know that.It had been agoodkick, and it didn’t look like it had cost him any real effort.Anthony was skinny, so the power in his legs surprised me.He was about my height, with short-cropped dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard, and was built like a distance runner.Which is to say, he looked like a stiff breeze would blow his ass away.But he kicked like a Tae Kwon Do black belt, and he had impressive reach.Fucking faeries, man.You never can tell what they’ll be like just looking at the cover.
He came in again, feinting low with kicks, then springing forward with a big overhand punch that I barely blocked.But blocking the big punch left my midsection open to three quick body blows that had me dancing back again.This guy was good, and he was mixing up his style enough that his moves were all hard to counter.He threw kicks, punches, and elbows, and I hadn’t managed to land a strike yet.Not that I was trying all that hard.
I wanted to lose.I was here on a case, and that case didn’t involve kicking the shit out of someone who had the potential to become a friend if we both survived.Anthony was in it for the cash, so if I could improve his value to the Boss while not dying, I was willing to give him the “W” and spend a few extra days eavesdropping in the mess and the exercise yard.
But I still had to avoid getting my goddamn head taken off with one of his kicks, so when he threw a couple of thrust kicks toward my midsection, I knew a big roundhouse would be coming for my face, and this time I decided to be somewhere else when his foot shot through the space where my head had been.I ducked, and when I stood up quickly, I stuck my fist right into his solar plexus.
His dropped to his knees, gazing for air, and I laid him flat with a palm strike and moved over to wrap him in a sleeper hold.“Chill out, asshole,” I whispered while our heads were next to one another.“I’m trying to give you the win, but I’d really rather not get concussed again in the process.”
I felt him nod, then he slammed an elbow into my ribs.I let go of my hold and scooted backward on the sand to get some separation, only to look up and see him leaping across the ring to throw a big honking Superman-style punch at my face.I rolled out of the way, but he stayed with me, peppering me with kicks and jabs.He wasn’t putting his full force behind them, but they still did some damage.
“Don’t go easy on me for my sake, Murray.I can take you out all on my own,” he hissed as we scuttled across the ring.The audience was starting to get restless as we grappled, wanting to see more flashy magic and claws, and especially wanting more bloodshed.I needed to make this look good, and so far, I was getting my ass kicked for real and we weren’t even putting on a good show.In short, my whole plan was sucking.
Time to shift gears.The next kick Tony landed, I oversold, flopping completely onto my back and lying there like he’d knocked me out.He got to his feet and came over to me to deliver a coup de grace, but when he got within a couple feet, I kipped up and slammed a magically enhanced punch right into his solar plexus.I made sure to pour a little extra magic into my fist so it would glow purple with the punch.
Anthony flew back a few feet and I let out what I hoped sounded like a horrifying war cry, but probably sounded like a constipated lion, and I charged him, head down and arms outstretched.Tony took the hint and leapt over me, landing on my back and driving me to the floor.I felt a rib crack and let out another yell, this time more genuine and definitely higher pitched.
