Page 74

Chapter Fifteen

Quinn

Standing outside the entrance, Cadence curled her fingers into mine. We stood side by side, her small face looking up, eyes as large as the sun, but not nearly as bright. Her hands trembled inside my grip, the shaking so intense, it worked its way up my arm.

My stomach was a giant ball of knots and heavy chains. The thumping inside my chest rang so loudly, the world around me was on mute.

I was ready to cement my claim on her. This was it, I was about to end a long nightmare for the woman who breathed life back into my veins.

Was I nervous?

Yes. But not for me, or my fate inside the ring.

It was for Cadence.

We had spent the last few weeks together. She rejected all her father's calls, and was finally able to taste the gratifying sensation of exemption. I couldn't bring myself to tell her that her father had us watched from a distance the entire time, or that our every move had been studied by some set of eyes.

She just looked so light, like the weight had been shifted off her shoulders. I don't think she stopped smiling till this very moment, when we stood hip to hip, waiting for Dizz to open the door.

She was about to face the one person who she had betrayed, the one person who had kept her on a leash, and if I failed...

I won't fail.

Her time here, with this life, it's over.

I'm finishing this.

My lips were closed blade thin, but beneath my mask of calmness, my teeth ground down against each other. Rage filled my head and bled into my eyes.

The door squeaked open, the rusty hinges trying to hold the wall in place, keeping it sealed from the outside world. The musky scent of moldy wood and corroding metal permeated the dense air.

“Thanks, Dizz,” Cadence said, her tone grave and gloomy. Stepping through the threshold, her shoulders slumped forward. “You know you don't have to do this.”

“Yes, I do.” She had barely finished her sentence before I answered. “I'm ending this, Cadence.”

“Why can't we just runaway, Quinn? Maybe... Maybe we should just—”

“I know what he plans to do, and he will never stop looking for you. I'm not letting it happen. No fucking way.”

Stopping short, she tugged my shoulder to face her. “What?! What's he going to do, huh? You haven't told me shit about what you guys talked about, you just keep saying you won't let it happen! Why won't you just tell me?!” she yelled into my face, her eyes pleading with me to just give her the answer.

But how was I supposed to tell her? How the fuck do you drop that kind of bomb on someone?

'Oh, your dad just wants to sell you like a piece of meat. So if you want, I can turn and walk away.'

I stood silent, unable to move my tongue, my eyes glazed over trying to prepare for what was ahead. I wanted to tell her, but wanting and having the heart, those were two different things.

Standing silently, I shook my head no. “It won't help you to know, just understand that it all ends here tonight.”

“Fine. Fine, don't tell me. But did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, I deserve to know? That maybe I'd like to be included in why this is so fucking important to you? No, you obviously think it doesn't concern me, or I'm too weak to hear it. Thanks, thanks a lot for that.” Whipping her head around, Cadence turned and stormed down the hall.

“Cadence, wait!” I yelled. “I'm not telling you because it's fucking sick. What he plans to do if I don't fight...” Brushing the hair from my eyes, I said, “It's not something you want to hear. I asked you to trust me, so trust me.”

Huffing out a loud burst of air, her eyes rolled in her skull, brows furrowed in anger. “Whatever. Let's just go, come on.”

We walked in silence down the small corridor, echoes of water dripping off fractured pipes was the only voice between us.

Reaching the splitting wooden door at the end, small bursts of light crept out between the cracks. The loud yells and commotion broke through into my ears. Cadence threw the door open, its frail planks bouncing against the wall.