Page 16 of Fractured Future

“Their security is held up with our friend upstairs, collecting Gael’s earnings. We’ve got one minute until guard change.”

Their friend?

“Then let’s hurry, hmm?” he responds, his grip on my arm flexing. “Watch our six.”

Gesturing for one of the others to follow, the duo take position behind us. We’re left following a third, blue-haired figure. It takes a moment for me to register that it’s a woman.

“This is stupid,” she hisses under her breath. “What are we doing here, Blaine?”

“I don’t want to hear it. You know I have my reasons.”

“We should be focusing on your fath?—”

“Enough,” Blaine interrupts icily. “You have your orders, Raye. Follow them.”

Shaking her navy pixie cut head, showing off rows of multicoloured ear piercings, she doesn’t bite back. The sounds of the jam-packed club roar in the subsequent silence as we near the rear exit doors.

With a final surveying look behind us, Blaine tows me outside into the blazing heat. Even after years, the raw intensity never fails to steal my breath. It’s the kind of heat that crisps bare skin into a dry lake bed within minutes.

“Gracias.” Raye stops to shake the hand of the first guard we meet, palming him a roll of Pesos. “You’ll want to split quick once we’re gone.”

Both guards nod in deference, avoiding looking at me. I’ve seen them here before. This underground club has been on my fight list several times before, and they’re regular staff.

“Head down,” Blaine murmurs to me. “We don’t need attention.”

“Why should I trust you?” I snarl at him.

“Believe it or not, sweetheart, I’m not here to hurt you.”

“That means nothing to me.”

“Fine, try this... If I meant you harm, don’t you think I would’ve done so by now?”

My next sassy remark dies in my throat. He had the opportunity to take me out in the changing room. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready to trust these unknown people who sound like home.

Something inside me breaks when I lower my head as told. Instead, a defiant animal, salivating for its next kill, tucks its tail. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t fight off this group.

“Get in.” Blaine nods towards an unmarked blue van close by. “Quickly.”

Raye throws open the back door, her feet remaining planted on the dusty road. The abandoned warehouse that conceals the fight club seems so unsuspecting in the early evening sunshine.

Teeth gritted, I climb into the van as quickly as my injuries will allow. Not even the return of my surging adrenaline can distract me from the pain wracking my entire frame.

The other two men climb into the front while Raye joins me and Blaine in the back of the vehicle. We take off in a squeal of spinning tyres, causing me to clatter against the thin metal wall.

The impact jolts my spine, aggravating nerves on the verge of splitting apart. The pain from being repeatedly acquainted with a concrete wall is quickly making itself known.

Rubbing a hand over his five o’clock shadow, Blaine looks at me. “You’re not gonna like this next part.”

“Try me.” I hold in a cry while straightening.

“Where did they put it?”

“Huh?”

Crouching on the van floor, Raye unzips a backpack to pull out a small travel case. She clicks it open, exposing two glinting scalpels embedded in foam and a compact suture kit.

“The tracking device,” Blaine explains grimly. “Our intel says that all of Gael’s assets are implanted with one. He can still track you.”