Collateral Damage (29 page)

After a quick exchange, the man jerked Lacy to her feet and half dragged her to his seat close to the glass partition. He sat with her in his lap and offered her wrist to the woman at his side. Lacy's screams echoed over the music as he tore into her throat and clawed at her breasts. Another man bent down in front of her and spread her legs wide.

I couldn't see what he did, but Lacy suddenly went still. Her eyes glazed, and I covered my mouth with my hand as the man who'd taken her from Cyrus dumped her on the floor out of sight.

Used. Abandoned. Gone. Cyrus had shown her exactly how much she'd meant to him.

I said a silent prayer for her. At least it was over. She'd earned better than this with her last, unselfish act. Maybe she'd find it now.

The door to the arena opened, and Vince strode in, wearing only leather pants and his eye patch. He went to stand by one wall of weapons, head held high, never once glancing my way.

Good.
I clenched my fists in my skirts and sat up straighter.
He needs to stay
focused. I can't distract him.

Cyrus tapped a small, black clip on the collar of his glaring, white shirt. The sound came from the speakers like the strike of a gavel. The music died, and the crowd quieted.

"As most of you know, Vincent was once one of my men. I helped raise him . . .

he was almost like a son to me . . . ."

My gaze shot to Vince. His stance hadn't changed. His expression might as well have been carved in stone. Cyrus' words hadn't touched him.

That's
my
man.
I bit back a smile and brought my attention back to Cyrus.

"Unfortunately, he fell from grace as many a great man has before him. He turned on me for the love of a woman. This woman." Cyrus gestured at me and shook his head sadly. "But I can't fault him for that. I should have seen it coming. What young man could resist the temptation of a beautiful, vulnerable woman? Only, she's not as vulnerable as she appears." He pointed at the muted screen. "As you've all seen."

The looks I got from the crowd were hostile. I'd ruined a good man. Bad me.

"Since Vincent was willing to give up everything for her, I, like an indulgent father, can't find it in myself to deny him. And really, she might be all he ever wanted.

Still, there is a lesson to be learned here. We all have to fight for what we want, don't we?"

The crowd nodded as though they agreed. I doubted any of them had ever fought for anything in their lives, but the concept was so basic they pretended to understand.

"So he will fight for her, and, if he wins, he may keep her." Cyrus smiled indulgently at Vince and directed his next words to him. "But you don't expect me to make this easy on you, do you?"

"I'm here." Vince folded his arms over his chest, his stark expression shifting to boredom. "I'll do what I must. But you're wrong."

"Am I?" Cyrus scowled, as though thrown off script and not sure how to go on.

"Then, please, enlighten me."

"I don't love her. I've already told you as much." Vince shrugged. "But if I have to choose between you and her . . . well, as I said, I'm here."

"Indeed." Cyrus sat back and schooled his features. "Would you care to explain why you'd go through all this for a woman you
don't
love?"

"Sure." Vince's lips curled into a cold smile. "Because. You. Are. Wrong. Cyrus.

Because what you're doing here is wrong. Because I finally see that, and I won't pretend anymore. You might as well have left her out of it. I would have turned on you eventually. As hard as you tried, you could never turn me into the man you wanted me to be."

Damn it.
I stared at Vince, trying to figure out exactly what it was he thought he was doing. Even if it was true, even if he didn't love me, why did he have to spell that out now? All it did was turn the attention away from me to his apparent pointless betrayal.

Which answered my question, didn't it? Vince was making sure I was irrelevant.

The crowd wouldn't be fixated on me suffering for what I'd done, they'd forget me and crave Vince's defeat. Because he'd questioned them and their presence. If Cyrus was wrong, so were they. And that was unacceptable.

"So . . . ." Rubbing his chin as though at a loss for words, Cyrus nodded slowly.

"Let me get this straight. You didn't lose your eye and your pride for true love. You lost it all to take the moral high ground. Does that about cover it?"

The crowd laughed on cue.

Vince didn't say a word.

Cyrus continued. "If you won't fight for her, then perhaps our other champion will. Though it will be difficult to cheer for him considering recent events."

Recent events?
I glanced from Cyrus to Vince. Vince hid it well, but I caught the slight narrowing of his eye, the way his gaze flashed to the door before fixing straight ahead. He didn't know
who
the other champion was. But he had his suspicions.

"We've been exposed." Cyrus rose from his throne. "But those who seek to bring us down are arrogant. They sent one to fell us all. And he has become nothing but entertainment for you good people. If Vincent can kill him, he won't entertain for long."

His lips curved into a cold smile. "However, considering his experience and skills . . .

well, if you're a betting man"— he gave a slight bow—"or woman, I expect you know exactly where to put your money."

The door creaked open. A man sauntered in and then paused to glance over his shoulder at the guards who crowded the doorway. Each one had a gun aimed at his head.

"
Seriously?
" He sighed, looked up at Cyrus, and then lifted his shackled wrists.

"Do I fight with these?"

Cyrus smirked. "Would that be a problem for you?"

The man rolled his broad shoulders and leaned his head from side to side, cracking his neck. "Not really."

"That's what I thought." Sucking his teeth, Cyrus gave the man a dismissive look, and then turned his attention to the crowd. "As stated in your programs, this will be a good, old-fashioned fight to the death. To the winner go the spoils. Each man has been handicapped in some way. Yes, I know . . . ." He held up his hands as the crowd objected. "Chaining a hunter isn't much of a handicap, but the only way to really make this fair would be to chop off an arm. Or two. And I don't think a cripple could handle our sweet Nicole, do you?"

Fuck.
I shifted, trying not to rattle my restrictive chain, and gauged the distance between me and the closest wall of weapons. No good. Too far. This was Vince's fight.

And considering the trouble he'd had navigating the woods, I didn't like his odds, no matter how well he'd been trained.

Maybe I can find another way to help.

"Apparently, you don't think he can handle me now." I cocked my head and smiled prettily at the hunter. "I won't be too distracting way over here, will I?"

Vince took a step forward. "Silence, Nicole."

"Why?" My brows shot up to the untamed sweep of my hair. "You don't love me or want me. If I'm going to have a new master—"

"No!" Vince snatched a sword from the wall and eyed the hunter as he strode past him. He caught my face in his hand and tipped my head back. "I lied! Do you hear me? I won't have you put yourself in the middle of this in some misguided attempt to protect me. If I die here, you will submit to him." He lowered his voice as he bent down to kiss me. "He has a better chance than I do to get you and Alrik out of here."

Again with the "I lied." What the hell does that mean?
Had he contacted the hunters?

Had he planned for this one to take his place with me because he "had a better chance?"

"Forget it." I jerked away from him and stood shakily against the wall, glaring at Cyrus. "If you want me to submit to either of them, they better have the balls to make me."

"You haven't supplied a gag," the hunter said, dryly. "Would that be too much to ask?"

Cyrus stared at me as though wondering if I'd lost it. "Not at all."

Eddie came in, swinging a gun toward the hunter as he tossed a ball gag to Vince. Then he hustled out so fast the crowd laughed at the way he fumbled with the door.

Vince came to me with the gag.

"Don't you dare." I evaded him, going as far as my chain would allow. "Vince—"

Vince put his hand on my throat, increasing the pressure until I had no choice but to gasp for air. Then he stuffed the red ball in my mouth and swiftly did up the straps behind my head. "It's better this way, love. You'd distract me, not him. I haven't given up. Where's that trust?"

That was all I needed to hear. That he hadn't given up. I still didn't like his odds, but at least he didn't plan to go down without a fight. If I'd known, I would have kept my mouth shut.

Kind of a non issue now genius. Unless . . . .
As soon as Vince turned, I reached for the straps behind my head.

He stopped in his tracks and frowned back at me. "Take it out, and I'll use my belt to bind your hands. Don't test me, Nicole."

Folding my arms over my chest, I gave him a curt nod and then plunked myself down on the floor.

"You sure you want to do this, Vince?" The hunter assessed the swords and shook his head slowly. "Almost any other weapon would be preferable. Or better yet, none at all."

"I'm not stupid enough to get into hand to hand combat with a hunter." Vince took a solid stance in front of me and held up his sword. "Enough talk. Or is the woman not the only one who needs a gag?"

"Are you in a hurry to get hurt?" The hunter hefted up a broadsword with his bound hands. "Let's have at it then."

Vince took the invitation. He swung his sword in a low arc towards the hunter's gut. Metal clanged as the hunter blocked. The blades rang as Vince made a swift hacking motion only to be blocked once again.

Then the hunter swept Vince's feet out from under him. As Vince hit the floor, the hunter muttered. "Remind me to show you how to do this properly one day."

Growling, Vince flipped to his feet. He jabbed, veered to the left, and cut to the right so fast the sword became a silver blur. The hunter used his chains to catch Vince's sword and used his momentum to throw him off balance. Then he cracked Vince in the temple with his sword hilt.

Stepping over Vince's prone form and tossing his sword aside, the hunter came to me. He shook his head as I tried to kick out his knee. "None of that."

I scrambled away from him and tore open the gag's straps. I spat out the ball and then threw it at him. "Don't touch me!"

"You were told to leave that in. He hasn't trained you very well, has he?" He latched onto my wrists when I swung my fists at him and hauled me to my feet. Then he dragged me to the padded bench. "I think I can amend that until our boy wakes up."

My stomach hit the bench hard. Air whooshed from my lungs. I let out a strangled scream as he tossed my skirts up and bared my ass. "No!"

He leaned his body against me, holding me in place, and spoke into my ear.

"Relax. I'm not going to fuck you." One hand between my shoulder blades, he pushed me down and patted my butt. "Just buying some time, sweetheart."

Smack
. My hips jerked as pain erupted.
Smack. Smack
.

"Get your hands off her!" Vince tore the hunter away from me and cracked him in the jaw with his fist.

The hunter touched his bloody lip and grinned. "Much better."

Swords abandoned, the men faced each other. I dropped to the floor, covering myself and letting the cold floor soothe me as I watched them. I winced as Vince lunged, only to be spun around and slammed into the wall. The hunter whispered something and then released him.

Vince panted and turned, bracing his back against the wall as he stared at the hunter. "Elah?"

"Yes." Elah glanced up at the audience. And groaned. "Sneaky bastard."

I glanced up and immediately saw what he'd noticed. Cyrus was gone. A crack brought my attention back to the hunter. He'd done something to his hands and was slipping them from the shackles. I cringed as he popped his thumbs back into place.

So that's how you do it.
I blinked as he shot me a wink and retrieved his sword.

"Get her loose. Both of you go get the boy." He waved us towards the door as it gaped open. "I'll handle things here."

Guards flooded the crowd and the arena. They threw off their cloaks, and there wasn't one familiar face among them. They immediately hefted up huge guns and fired at the glass walls, shattering them. I covered my head with my arms as glass slivers rained down.

Cyrus' guard filtered through the crowd, their numbers noticeably dwindled.

The crowd seemed to come awake all at once, half rushing towards the exit, half pushing forward to join the action. The sounds of screams and guns unloading deafened me.

Vince snatched an axe from the wall and came to me, severing the chain with a blow that jammed the axe blade in the marble floor.

"Come on!" A man joined Vince and me and shoved us through the rapid throng, shooting anyone that blocked our escape. When we reached the hall, he handed Vince a spare gun and left us after tossing back. "The rest of the house has been cleared. You shouldn't have a problem getting out."

Vince grabbed my hand, and we ran down the hall, skirting around the bodies that littered the floor. We made our way up to the second floor with nothing to slow us down but more bodies and the puddles of blood that slicked the floor. The hunters were thorough.

But Alrik's room was empty.

Chapter Twenty-Five

My stomach flipped. I went to the little boy's bed and flung the covers aside.

He has to be here!

"Nicole, he's not here." I heard Vince approach slowly, speaking low, trying to hide the catch in his voice. "But we'll find him."

Of course we'll find him. He's probably just . . . .
I laughed. "God I'm stupid."

"Nicole."

"Alrik?" I dropped to my hands and knees and peeked around the sides of the bed, whispering. "Alrik, come out, buddy. It's over." I hung my head, about ready to choke on the reality I couldn't face. "Please let it be over."