Page 43

There were about twenty warehouses in this area and I knew that one belonged to the Mov clan and another was an Etherian clan.

There were a few Etherian clans, but the most dangerous was the Corpse Killers.

They thought it would be funny to have a racial slur in their name, couldn't just leave it at Demon Killers.

Their group was large, rumour says the leader had Angel blood which easily helped expand their clan.

They were also the most violent Etherian group and directly clashed with the Kokkino clan.

Every week, the clan held a fight that anyone could participate in, and everyone bet on.

The large man at the door gave me a nod to enter and barely looked at Celestine close behind me.

Honestly, with her size and the large hoodie devouring her, she looked like a little kid following her older brother.

The inside was dark, only the elevated cage standing in the centre was lit, showcasing the fight.

The two men wore nothing but shorts, their hands bloodied and bruised and their faces swollen.

Around a hundred people were watching, some wearing masks to hide their faces, and some who didn’t care.

The air was stuffy, the smell of sweat and cigarette smoke lingering.

I pulled Celestine in front of me so I could see her and allowed her to lean back against my chest. “You see the guy in the black shorts?” I started in a low voice. “He’s the Corpse Killers’ most ruthless fighter, Elijah Voss. Watch how he finishes the others.”

Whispers said he’s a descendant of one of the four families in the Kynigos.

He was in his mid-twenties, but due to all the fighting, tattoos and muscle he had, he looked to be in his thirties.

His dark hair was braided back and out of his face, displaying his cauliflower ears and the Etherian tattoo on his neck inked in white.

All the Etherian clans had a white tattoo, the only way to distinguish them was that the Corpse Killers had the letters ‘CKC’ branded on their chest.

Elijah ducked before his opponent could strike him and using the momentum to stand up right, he threw a punch that struck his opponent’s temple.

The man flew back into the fence, blood shooting out of his nose, and he crumbled to his knees.

Before the man could get up, Elijah whipped a kick at him and his body slammed down, completely knocked out.

Elijah got on top, continuing to punch the unconscious man over and over. The crowd yelled, cheering Elijah on.

“Is no one going to stop him?” Celestine gasped.

The man was barely recognisable as a human being, when someone finally stepped into the ring, yanking Elijah off him, shouting at him to step back. Elijah spat blood onto the floor, turning his head sideways to crack it.

“He gets more and more unhinged as he ages,” someone said next to me.

I turned to meet Jerome’s eyes.

“Hey Psycho.” A wide grin spread across his face that was completely marred with scars.

He usually covered them when he was outside of his home, a ski mask and a hood over his head, but when he’s the Jack of Spades, it’s all out for everyone to know exactly who he is.

Jerome was in his early twenties. His shaved head accentuated his dark bushy eyebrows and long dark lashes framing his hazel eyes.

Though he was tall, he didn’t take care of himself well, opting for instant food and energy drinks rather than healthy meals, so he wasn’t very well built, more on the skinnier side.

I smirked at him, clasping his hand. “Socio.”

His eyes curiously looked down towards Celestine. “Who’s that?”

Celestine turned up to meet his eyes and a deep blush crept up Jerome’s cheeks and ears. She glanced at me, and I nodded, reassuring her he was safe for her to talk to. “I’m Celestine.”

Jerome put a hand over his face, suddenly insecure of his scars, but it didn’t matter, she'd already seen them. “Jack Spades,” Jerome muttered, avoiding her eyes. He leaned closer to me and whispered, “why'd you bring a kid here?”

“She’s seventeen.”

Jerome blinked. “Seriously?”

I nodded .

I looked back to the cage where Elijah was impatiently waiting on the side, while two people were trying to pick up his opponent and drag him out.

“So, you know Vulture how?” Jerome asked Celestine.

“We go to the same school.”

“I’m training her,” I said in a low voice.

Jerome’s eyes widened, connecting the dots. “Why did you bring her here? Vulture, if they find out–”

“Shut your bloody mouth,” I growled as a few people turned to look in our direction at Jerome’s sudden outburst. “They won’t.”

Jerome pursed his lips, realising his mistake and quickly deflected their interest away from us. “So, the other day, yeah? I was waiting in line, like a good citizen, you know?” The thing about Jerome was that even if we hadn’t spoken in months, he talked as if we just seen each other an hour ago.

“In line for what?” I asked.

“For this new frozen yoghurt shop, we should go, it’s actually really good–anywho, so I was waiting, and these two guys just cut me in line, not even subtle about it!”

“How rude.” Those around us grew bored of listening to our conversation and one by one they turned away.

“So you know what I did?”

I waited for him to continue in his dramatic style. One time, he was skateboarding, and a pebble got caught in the wheel, causing him to fall and scrape a bit of his skin. So what did he do? Took the pebble and threw it off the Great Bridge, so that it would 'drown.'

“I found where they lived. You want to join me?”

“When?” I asked.

“Tomorrow night.” He smiled. “Two people, one for each of us.”

I nodded .

The next fighter entered the cage, a man twice the size of Elijah and Elijah wasn’t that small. Reaper stiffened against me. “There’s no way he could take him down, right?”

“Just watch,” I said as the two circled each other. “See what Elijah is doing?” Elijah used his foot to kick at his opponent’s legs. “He’s trying to break his base. Without a solid stance, he’ll lose balance and it’ll give Elijah the advantage.”

Just as I said it, the man wobbled and Elijah took that opportunity to lunge at him and throw punch after punch, not allowing the man any breaks, forcing him down to his knees.

The giant grabbed onto Elijah’s ankle and pulled, sending him to his back with a grunt.

The crowd roared in shock and excitement.

The man grabbed Elijah, lifting him up over his head, and threw him against the cage.

While the man took a moment to celebrate his early victory, Elijah got back up to his feet, swaying a bit, fire in his eyes.

He charged at the man and sent a flying kick to the back of his head, knocking the large man out instantly.

“The fight was so quick.” Celestine breathed.

“That’s how it usually is,” I said. “Just because you’re small, doesn’t mean you can’t fight those who are larger than you.”

She turned back up to meet my eyes with a slight smile. “Thanks for showing me this.”

The knocked-out man came back to consciousness after being slapped a few times in the cheeks and he was assisted out. Elijah left the cage to grab some water and take a break while another two fighters took the space.

Elijah spotted Jerome and I, and pushed away the medic who was mending his injuries before making his way towards us.

“What are you two troublemakers doing here?” Elijah said with a smile.

He was missing his front tooth and had quite a few chipped teeth that he replaced and fixed with shiny gold ones. “Decided to finally fight against me?”

“Just here for the show,” I replied.

“You were great in there, thought that giant had you for a moment!” Jerome said .

“He would have if he didn’t take the time to celebrate.” Elijah sighed.

“If he didn’t distract himself, how would you have gotten out of it?” Celestine asked in a low voice. It was drowned by the crowd’s cheers, so I was surprised Elijah heard it.

He only just seemed to notice her now and leaned down to her level. “And who are you?”

I put my arm around Celestine, pulling her closer to me and Jerome took a step forward, ready to step between Elijah and Celestine.

Elijah lifted his eyes up to meet mine, then Jerome’s, and back down to Celestine.

“Looks like you’re well protected, aren’t you?

” he said, a spark of interest in his eyes.

“Let’s see… Two Apex protecting a little girl, hm…

You must be Vulture’s little sister, but you two don’t look alike. Adopted?”

“Doesn’t matter what she is to us,” I said.

“Tell me, Vulture, why would you bring a child to this place?”

Jerome put an arm around Elijah’s neck. “Hey, come on Elijah. What does it matter anyway?”

Elijah wasn’t stupid, he knew there was something off about our reluctance in him knowing who she was.

“You’re training the Grim Reaper from the Kokkino clan, aren’t you?

” Elijah said, his eyes widening. I could see the pieces coming together in his head.

“No, she couldn’t be… Could she? She’s just a kid. ”

I was staring so intently at Elijah and occupied with feeling Celestine’s racing pulse that I didn’t react quick enough to the two large men yanking me away from Celestine and restraining me. Two others held Jerome before he could move. Celestine was alone with Elijah just in front of her.

Elijah pulled her hoodie down, grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her close.

“Angels above…” he mumbled. She attempted to lean away from him, but he kept he r still with a solid grip, slowly moving her hair away from her neck, finding her red Stygian tattoo. “How old are you, Reaper?” he spat.

She winced when he dug his dirty nails into her. “Seventeen,” she breathed.