The Ruthless Read online

  She could still die tonight though, so we can’t get too attached.

  As we walk in, I start assessing everything because that’s what I do. The smell of blood is already strong in the air, and I have to choke back the bile that creeps up my throat. It’s louder in here than it is outside, thanks to all the bodies, but nowhere near what I expected. There’s a reverent sort of hush over the crowd, like this is something holy to them all.

  I guess it is.

  Lucy is wearing clothes that I can’t imagine will help her stay alive. Skintight jeans just seem like a bad idea to me, and a leather jacket? Isn’t that going to restrict her arms if she needs to hit someone?

  I mention this to Illi, and he scoffs at me. “She’s dressed like a Mounty; she’s fine. What the fuck do you think I’m wearing when I head out for the night?”

  “Well, not skinny jeans for Christ’s sake! We need her to win.”

  Illi shrugs and glances around. “We don’t though, not really. When it comes down to it, our skin isn’t in this game at all, pun intended. It would be different if you had’ve put yourself in.”

  Shit.

  I didn’t realize Aodhan had told him about that, and Illi gives me a look like he’s taking up Ash’s spot as my brother and wants to kill me for even thinking about it.

  I give him nothing but ice back. “I would’ve won if I wanted to. I decided to find a different crown to wear.”

  He huffs at me and ignores the jeering and yelling starting up from the crowd as two competitors walk into the makeshift ring taped out in the center of the room. “And I would’ve waded in there after you to kill any man that dared to throw you around. No one touches the Wolf or her fucking family, kid.”

  I duck my head to hide a smile and he nudges me gently, the closest he can get to giving me a hug in this snake-pit of a room. Lucy watches us both carefully but doesn’t say a word, just follows us through the crowd as it parts for us until we stop to stand with Aodhan and Jack. Jackson is a few feet away, standing with Atticus, Luca, and a handful of the Crow’s men.

  He waves at me like an idiot and then cackles at the look I give him.

  “Wanna put money on the fights? It’s gonna be a long and boring night if we don’t,” Illi says, cracking his neck as he looks around the room.

  He’s not wrong. We have twenty-four fights to get through, and Lucy’s is the last.

  There’s only really three fights I care about tonight, and I find myself watching Jack as he watches the fight. He looks good, dressed to fight and not nervous at all. There also isn’t an air of desperation around him, which was a real concern for me.

  When I told Harley he was going into the Game, he’d sighed and said, “So he’s decided to die then? How’s Aodhan taking the news?”

  I thought he was just doubting his cousin’s ability to fight but then when I’d spoken to Lips, she’d told me about their conversation with Aodhan last Christmas and the delicate state of Jack’s mental health.

  I don’t blame him… but I also don’t want to lose him.

  “The fighting is that way, Queenie,” Aodhan murmurs in my ear, careful not to be too close to me with this many eyes on us, but there’s nothing about his stance that isn’t protective and coveting.

  I lean into him. “I’d rather stick pins in my eyes than watch this shit all night.”

  There’s a loud crack and then a roar from the crowd. The fight is over and the first casualty of the Game is out. Two men in suits walk over and then drag the dead body out, tubs of acid already waiting to clean up the evidence. The victor, one of the Bear’s men, whoops and roars joyfully as he leaves the circle even as blood streams down his face from the cuts and broken nose.

  Atticus only waits long enough for the circle to be clear and then he calls out the next names.

  It goes on for hours.

  When Luca gets called, he removes his jacket and rolls up the sleeves on his shirt, looking far too dressed up compared to the shirtless, manic guy he’s been paired with. Their fight is the shortest so far and in less than a minute, Luca is walking back out of the ring without a mark on him, only a single missing button on his shirt to show he’d even fought.

  No one cheers for him, they all just stare at him in fear because there’s no chance any of the brawlers and brute force fighters we’ve seen so far could win against his technique.

  Relief pours through me.

  I might not be able to stand looking at him right now, but I also don’t want him dead. I want him alive and very far away from me until I’ve managed to fully process and unpack everything that happened with the Jackal. He’s borne the brunt of my trauma, but I’m also very sure he can handle it.

  Even if it does get him threatened by Aodhan and Illi every now and then.

  “Let’s fucking hope Jack and Lucy don’t get paired with him anytime soon because neither of them stand a chance,” Illi leans down to murmur, and I nod.

  There’s nothing I can do to change the pairing system. I’ve already tried and failed, but I do have a couple of options up my sleeve if that happens.

  The problem is still the fact that we have three people and only two seats.

  Lucy scoffs and kicks her boot against the concrete floor. Illi raises an eyebrow at her and drawls, “You got something to say?”

  She shrugs and snarks back, “Nothing better than being underestimated.”

  She’s being sarcastic, but it rings true deep in my chest because wasn’t that how the entire legend of the infamous Wolf of Mounts Bay started? Every person in her life underestimated what she could do, how far she’d go, and what she could survive.

  Until she was the last one standing.

  Illi looks like he’s going to chew her out just because he’s bored and she’s an easy target, so I cut in, “You should be watching and taking notes. You’re going to face these men in some way or another in the following rounds, and the best way to survive is to know what to expect.”

  She shrugs and looks around at the group of bleeding and bruised men who’ve won so far. “I already know everything I need to about them. All men are the same.”

  While I can’t argue with her because my own opinion of men is pretty similar, she’s taking a huge risk by thinking that way in this situation. Luca just proved that not all men are walking into this fight with the same capacity.

  Some are already walking in as honed killers, not just street-trained Mounties with a violent history.

  When Jack’s name is called, I want to throw up all over again, but I force myself to watch the entire fight. I hate it and even at two minutes it takes too freaking long, but Jack snaps the other guy’s neck the minute he takes him to the ground.

  It’s impressive.

  “Stop looking so surprised; it’s a little insulting,” Aodhan murmurs, and I scoff at him, rolling my eyes.

  “I’ve never seen him fight, how is it insulting to be impressed? It’s good to know I don’t have to be worried here.”

  Lucy watches us both a little too closely, her eyes dragging over all of the parts of Aodhan that are turned into me like my body is a magnet. I don’t care if the entire world knows we’re together, but there’s nothing I hate more than that sort of casual assessment.

  As if her judgement matters to me.

  Finally she looks away and says in a clear tone, loud enough for anyone around us to overhear, “If he’s put in the ring with me, I’ll kill him. Without question, so prepare yourself for that inevitability.”

  Illi huffs at her and says back, “That’s the entire fucking point of the Game. Let’s see you get through the first round and then you can talk your shit up.”

  Atticus looks over at us, Illi’s raised voice grabbing his attention away from the ring, and our eyes meet. Nothing about his stance changes, not his facial expression or the cold steel of his eyes, but it’s as though the gaping chasm between us has slowly filled in and now we’re only steps away from each other again.

  Waiting for one
of us to make a move.

  He gives me a curt but respectful nod, the same he would give any other member or representative. I give him the same back and then look away quickly when Luca glances over as well.

  Atticus will know something is going on, but I can’t fake it tonight. Not after this many fights and deaths and bodies already starting to dissolve into goo just a few feet away from me.

  Stop thinking about it, Avery, just focus on the job.

  Finally, freaking finally, Lucy’s name gets called out.

  The jeering and catcalling is so loud in the enclosed space and half of what’s being said is disgusting male bullshit. They’re all running on the highs of fight or flight, and there’s nothing they want more than to see this blond curvy woman get destroyed in the ring.

  “Fucking typical rapist bullshit,” Illi murmurs, and he inches closer to me as the yelling reaches a fever pitch. The utter bullshit they’re yelling out is explicit but not at all original.

  One way or another they all want her broken into pieces for their enjoyment.

  Aodhan can’t help but look disgusted, staring around at everyone like he’s taking notes of who to keep the fuck away from me and all of his many female cousins.

  I admit I’m doing the same.

  The Bear’s men are all in on the action and half of the Viper’s men. None of the bikers are joining in, but they’re all murmuring amongst themselves so really they could be saying anything.

  I meet Harbin’s eyes across the room and he nods at me, just the slightest incline of his head. Roxas is nowhere to be seen and I’d put money on him being at Illi’s place with Odie, one of the very few people the Butcher trusts with his pregnant wife.

  “Did you call Harbin in for backup or did they follow the Boar along for the ride?” I murmur to Illi as Lucy strips out of her jacket and steps into the ring.

  She holds out her arms to Atticus and does a slow turn, showing she doesn’t have any weapons, and with how tight her clothes are, he barely looks at her before nodding and waving her into the ring.

  Her opponent is three times the size of her.

  I wouldn’t have called her petite but, against the giant wall of muscle, she almost looks like a child. The Viper had chosen the details of this round and chosen who faced off against each other, and I’m sure he’s overjoyed at how much screaming is happening at the final pairing of his choice.

  “Did you put money on Lucy? You might make a killing here,” I say, and Illi gives me a lopsided grin.

  “Of course. The odds were like a thousand to one, so we’re gonna walk outta here loaded.”

  I huff because I’m worried we’re about to lose our sponsor and ally against the skin markets and then I force my eyes back into the ring. No matter what happens, I’m going to watch it all.

  I’m the reason she’s in there; it’s my responsibility to bear witness.

  “I’m gonna break every fucking bone in your body and then fuck you raw, slut.”

  I really, really don’t want to be forced to witness that, so Lucy better come through with these skills she was so smug about. Aodhan clearly doesn’t think she has it in her because he shifts a little more in front of me and mutters to Illi, “Get her the hell outta here if this goes south; I don’t give a fuck about keeping up appearances.”

  Illi meets his eye with a nod and then glances over at Atticus who is also looking over at me like I’m a ticking bomb about to go off.

  The guy, Travis, lunges at Lucy and tries to grab her, lurching forward as she easily ducks out of his reach and rushes behind him, the heel of her boot slamming into the back of his knee. He stumbles a little but keeps his feet, spinning around on the spot to go at her again.

  It’s game over if he gets ahold of her but without a weapon, I’m not sure how she’s going to get through this.

  Jackson moves over to stand with us, wincing as Travis finally gets a hit in and Lucy is knocked to the ground. Her head snaps back, and he dives on her as the crowd goes mental.

  Illi shifts in front of me as well, Jack shifting back until I’m completely covered by them all in case the crowd forms a fucking riot over the bloodbath that’s about to start in front of us.

  I was hoping for a little more than this from Lucy, disappointment curling in my gut.

  Travis gets her legs split open and sinks further down onto her, propping himself up onto one hand and lifting the other hand ready to beat the life out of her just like he said he would.

  One of her hands shoots up to grab him by the throat.

  There’s no way she has the strength to actually choke him out in this position, and he roars out a laugh, all mocking as she lifts her other hand up to his throat as well. I desperately want to look away, but I force my eyes to stay on her.

  She taps her fingers and thumb together, the silver jewelry making a little clinking noise and then suddenly it’s not a weirdly intricate piece of silver. It’s a claw… it’s a weapon.

  She can’t move much except her hand but the moment she sinks the claws into his throat, Travis rears back and effectively rips his own throat out with the force.

  The blood pours out of his neck in the most horrifying way, his heart pumping it out as if his neck is a hose, just gushing out until Lucy is absolutely covered in it.

  “I fucking love that kid. Can we adopt her?” Jackson mumbles to me while I try not to vomit all over his shoes.

  There’s a stunned silence from the entire crowd, no one knowing what the hell to say because… well, we were all pretty sure she was going to be raped and murdered right there in front of us and now she’s grinning like a lunatic, the whites of her teeth stark against her blood-soaked body.

  Atticus steps into the taped off ring and says, “It’s over. Lucy moves onto the next round.”

  The Bear snarls from across the room, “She fucking cheated! No fucking weapons allowed!”

  Atticus stares over at him, the room falling deathly silent. “Travis is dead. Lucy moves on. Now leave before anyone else ends up in an acid bath.”

  The room is quiet, no one celebrating or happy about the girl winning. I’m sure there’ll be a bitch fit over her jewelry, but they’re saving it for when the Crow’s men aren’t crawling all around them all. It doesn’t matter to me.

  I can deal with that aftermath.

  We stay put, waiting for the crowd to disperse so we’re not having to fight our way through all of the disgusting bodies to get out of here. Aodhan’s hand slips into mine, squeezing gently as we watch Lucy walk over to us as if she isn’t covered in blood.

  It drips down her face, and she smiles like it’s nothing. “Not the first time I’ve ripped a throat out in my life. Guess we move onto the next round.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Atticus - Two years ago

  The restaurant is full of expensive suits and cheap dresses.

  The problem with Mounts Bay is that the nightlife is renowned for the availability of drugs and skin. The high rollers come down here for all of the vices they couldn’t get away with anywhere else, and there’s at least a dozen tables here that hold girls I would wager good money are underage. It’s a sickness. A disease in this city that the skin auctions perpetuate.

  The seventeen-year-old girl I’m here to meet exits the elevator in a red silk dress that flows down her body like water. I instantly feel like the biggest fucking hypocrite in the world because I would bankrupt myself, drive my business into the ground and set it all on fire, to be the one removing it from her tonight.

  It was easier to keep her at a distance when she still looked young and fragile.

  She looks like a fucking siren in that thing.

  Luckily for me, Ash steps out behind her, ever the watchdog, and stares me down in the most Beaumont way. He could easily pass as a younger Joseph Beaumont Sr. in that charcoal suit, the top button open but with diamond cufflinks no seventeen-year-old should be so at ease wearing.

  I curse under my breath.

  I ca
n’t tell her what I need to with him here. The second the words, ‘The Crow’ come out of my mouth he’ll be throwing her over his shoulder and tearing out of this place as fast as his legs can carry him.

  The Wolf will be climbing through my window and slitting my throat before the month is out.

  I built my entire residence to be impenetrable thanks to the Jackal’s obsession with taking me out, and I’m confident that I’ve made it as solid as I possibly can… but the Jackal never sent the Wolf after me.

  That girl has taken men out that I never thought were possible.

  Her connections and her skill sets are unparalleled. If she were a little more confident to stand on her own two feet, she would definitely be the most dangerous member of the Twelve, but the Jackal has broken that confidence in her. Whatever he holds over her head, it’s enough to keep her from spreading her own wings and taking this entire city to its knees.

  The retribution I’d be facing if I took her out has always made me second guess my choices when it comes to her. I wanted her dead the moment I knew she was heading to Hannaford but then the Butcher had come knocking, letting me know he was still watching out for the kid who risked everything to help him save his wife.

  So I watched her.

  I watched Avery throw everything she could at her and I watched the Wolf not only survive it, but take that abuse without just killing the girl throwing it at her. The compassion she showed Avery the moment there was an opening for it was more than my beautiful, fierce, broken girl has ever received outside of her close-knit family and I want that for her.

  I might not love the idea of there being more killers and criminals in her circle, but even I can admit having the Wolf sleeping in the same room as Avery is a very good thing.

  No one will ever get past her.

  I stand and pull Avery’s chair out for her, ushering for a waiter to arrange another chair and table setting for Ash. Avery smiles at me in a coy way that shouldn’t hit me in the chest like a bolt, but it does.