Page 11 of EverGreene
“You can try.” Nix snorted. “However, you and I both know you won’t be fast enough.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. I may have thedexterity and stamina on our team, but Nix far and away had the speed. Off to the side, our bags were piled against a wall near a bench overlooking the ring. I grabbed the bag with “Vengeance,” my alter ego, printed on the side, and took out my hand towel, wiping the perspiration from my face while I searched its contents for my t-shirt, finding it and slipping it on. Nix grabbed his bottle of water and sat down on the bench with me, his impressive man-spreading leg span taking up half the length of the steel structure.
In the ring, Malachi and Cole were trading jabs as they warmed up. Soon, they would pick up speed and intensity, lashing out with precise hits. Equally matched, they were fun to watch, especially with the knowledge that whichever of the two of them was able to power through their impending fatigue to stay on their feet the longest would be the winner of this fight. It was always a toss-up, depending on something as minute as who may have gotten the most sleep the night before or had run an extra lap over the week to help fortify their endurance that much more.
“So, who is she?” Nix asked, taking me off guard.
“Who’s who?”
“The girl you’re seeing. It’s the only explanation I could come up with as to how you were able to stop yourself from trying to pummel me further. My guess is you’re seeing someone. So, what is it, Loche—are you seeing someone?”
You could say that.
I saw Ever all the time. At work. Walking from her mailbox to her house. Sometimes through her picture window. And my personal favorite: while riding my dick with her head thrown back against my chest, staring into the cold, dead eyes of the mask I kept in my gym bag, while her pussy tightened around my dick. My only regret from that night was that I didn’t get to taste her.
“No. I’m not seeing anyone.” It really wasn’t a lie. Ever and I technically weren’t together. Ever and Vengeance, however? Well, that could very well be complicated.
“Huh.” Nix glanced at me skeptically. “Whatever you’re doing then, keep it up. I’ve never seen that level of restraint from you. Malachi would be proud.”
“He must have thrown a few extra Hail Marys my way.”
Nix snorted. Oddly enough, Malachi was the reason the four of us were sitting in this dimly lit training facility, hastily cobbled together in a rundown warehouse, right now. A priest who’d taken a particular interest in vigilante justice, he’d heard confessionals from each of us, effectively taking us under his wing to find constructive ways to channel our anger. Granted, those ways weren’t always legal. Then again, we could also be engaged in far worse activities than we were, and the way I saw it, if the criminal justice system wasn’t going to do its job, then that meant we would have to enforce the law in its place.
I looked up to see Malachi lay Cole out, and Cole’s body crumpled to the canvas like a rag doll. Without breaking his stride, Malachi hauled a visibly dazed Cole back to his feet with one arm before hurdling over the ropes and landing on his feet on the concrete floor. He strode over to the bench where Nix and I still sat, tugging off his gloves.
“Nice practice today, gentlemen.” He looked up, his eyes appraising each of us. “The fight next week is moving to a new location as the original one isn’t as secure. Word on the street is it’s going to be raided soon.”
Ah, yes. Having an unregulated, underground fight club did tend to lend itself to the possibility of being descended on by law enforcement due to it being illegal and all.
“I’ll be in touch as soon as I know where the new venue is going to be.” Malachi clapped his hands together, somethinghe did when he was about to change the direction of the conversation and gauge who was still listening to him. “Changing gears, is anyone here up for bringing some retribution to a young woman whose estranged husband beat her to a bloody pulp and then walked away due to, and I quote, ‘A complete lack of evidence that would render a jury of his peers unable to convict him within a reasonable doubt’? You know, despite the fact that he had cuts to his hands that a medical expert testified were most likely incurred from inflicting a beating on someone.”
I thought back to my conversation with Conrad and my promise to him that I would keep my nose clean until after the trial, finding myself at odds with, well, myself. Despite being the son of a psychopath, I respected right from wrong. Yet, I also respected breaking the law a little if it meant bettering the greater good. Kind of like Robin Hood, if Robin Hood beat the shit out of abusers instead of robbing from the rich to give to the poor.
“I’ll do it,” I said, letting out a sigh. My agreement with my uncle had been a verbal agreement, not exactly binding. Besides, if I wasn’t caught, it never happened.
“You sure?” Nix asked.
I nodded. “Positive.”
Malachi and Cole glanced at each other, an unspoken conversation occurring between the two of them.
“I’ll come with you,” Cole said. “You know, to keep watch.”
More like to babysit me. “You’re usually not my type, but it’s a date.”
“As long as you buy me dinner afterwards.” Cole winked.
“All right.” Malachi removed his phone from his gym bag. “I’ll email you both the details of where the subject should be tomorrow evening. We’ll plan on practicing again on Thursday. Try to stay out of trouble until then.”
“Loche,”Nix caught up to me as I was leaving the warehouse, headed to my sedan. I paused long enough for us to begin walking together at the same pace in the direction of my vehicle. “You know I respect you, but I think you should sit this one out and let Cole take care of the mark. There will be plenty of other dirtbags for you to handle in the future. The team needs you healthy, and it’s been too soon since?—"
I clenched my jaw. The memory of the night I nearly lost it all was still fresh in my mind. I’d gone off the rails as the flashbacks from my childhood with an abusive father flooded through my head. We were just supposed to rough the man up a little, but when he turned his head to look at me and I recognized features similar to those of the man who’d tormented my mother and me for the first fifteen years of my life, I’d blacked out. After I regained my senses, I realized that I had bashed the man’s head against the pavement. He didn’t die, but he wouldn’t exactly be the same again.
“Look, I appreciate the concern—I really do. But I need to do this to prove to myself that I can. Therapy has been going well, and I actually think I have a reason to give a shit about life again.”
Nix nodded. “That’s good to hear, man. Just take it easy.”
“I will.” I looked behind my shoulder, meeting Nix’s concerned eyes. “Promise.”
