The Only Way (11 page)

Leo introduced them, and Hart was sure the gathered throng cheered louder for her than for Adler. At the clang of the bell, Hart stepped forward. Her opponent was one hundred and seventy pounds, lean and blond. Young. He moved gracefully, but Hart thought he seemed overconfident. Her grin widened. Easy.

Adler swung first and Hart smirked. She danced back, light on her feet. He moved, herding her back against the ropes. She let him, keeping distance between them, letting his fists swing but not connect.

His face was set in concentration, his brow furrowed. Hart slipped easily past him, moving back to the center of the ring. He threw a few more punches, light, quick jabs. She dodged them and felt her smirk grow. He met her eyes and raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly, Adler charged, fists swinging, cuffing her against the side of her head. She ducked, raising her arms to block the blows. They rained down on her forearms, stinging. She cupped her arms protectively around her head, muffling the sounds of the arena, of Adler's heavy breathing above her. The sound of her own heart pounded louder in her ears.

She dropped to a knee, ducking out of his range. Before she could scramble back Adler was on her again. His fists flew towards her, the long swing of his muscled arm rattling her bones on impact. She covered her face and braced herself back against the ropes. She could hear the roar of the audience, rising in pitch. She curved back into the ropes and clenched her abdomen, curling up from the floor and kicking out with both legs.

She caught Adler hard in the hips, one foot glancing off of the cup he wore. He grunted and she flew to her feet, jabbing out before he could recover. He backed off and she took a deep, steadying breath.

They circled back to the center of the ring. He swung towards her stomach; she blocked him. He raised a knee and she curled forward, bracing. It was a feint; he switched legs and caught her unaware, his foot glancing off the side of her knee. She grunted and flung herself forward, swinging for his face. He jumped back and she missed.

He swooped forward, ducking his head, catching her just under her armpit, where she was soft. She winced as she was driven back. She rained blows down on the muscular planes of his back, but he didn't stop until she was pressed tight against the ropes. Her lungs fought to expand under the pressure of Adler's bulk, trapping her.

His knee came out of nowhere, striking hard at her side and she lost her footing. She slid down to the mat, ducking to keep her head covered as Adler loomed over her.

She rolled away from the ropes, but Adler caught her, straddling her hips and pushing one shoulder flat to the mat. She was face down, her arms trapped under her.

If she could just get a leg up. She kicked wildly, bucking like a horse. He dodged easily and she cursed into the slick mat. He dropped on top of her, his chest pressed tight to her back, covering her. She wriggled desperately in his hold. He wasn't the biggest man she had fought or the strongest. She should be able to get out of the hold.

She was a winner.

Ten!
Leo's voice cut through the fog of her panic and she blinked stupidly. The weight disappeared from her back and she flopped to her side. Adler flashed a grin down at her before stepping away. Done with her.

Because she had lost.

Hart sucked in a shaky breath and then climbed to her feet. Adler was with Leo, accepting his purse. His winnings.

Cash that should have been hers.

She stormed to the side of the ring, flinging herself out through the ropes. Ruby waited on the sidelines but Hart shouldered past her, to the changing room.

She had been so sure this was her fight to win. Furious, she lashed out, punching the closest locker.

It stung, the metal giving less than the flesh she was used to. She looked down, surprised to see blood pooling up between her knuckles.

"Well, that was stupid," Ruby commented. Hart glanced over her shoulder; the girl stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest.

Hart flexed her hand, wincing at the broken skin.

"Is it broken?" Ruby asked.

"No," Hart bit the word out.

"Good. Still stupid, though."

"I lost," Hart said, trying the words out in her mouth, feeling the bitter taste of them on her tongue.

"Yeah."

She hunched her shoulders. Her hand hurt, but she still wanted to hit something. She wanted another chance at Adler, to take back what should be hers.

"Everyone loses, Hart."

"I was winning!" she snarled.

"Yeah, and tonight you lost. No one wins all the time."

"I needed that money."

"So does Adler. Tonight he won it. The next fight, it might be yours."

Hart dropped her head down against the locker, feeling the cool metal on her overheated face. "Stop being so reasonable."

Ruby laughed. She stepped up behind her, rubbing a hand across Hart's tense shoulders. "Someone's got to be. And it obviously isn't going to be you."

"I was sure I was going to win," she muttered into the unforgiving press of the locker.

"And that's probably why you lost," Ruby said, and Hart knew she would be shrugging, a dismissive hitch of her shoulders. "You should never be
sure
. People who are sure aren't hungry for it."

Hart groaned. "What am I going to tell my mother?" The idea of going home empty-handed twisted unpleasantly in the pit of her stomach.

"That you lost."

"Oh, thanks," she grumbled, pushing back, away from the locker and out of Ruby's grip.

"Look," Ruby said sharply, grabbing her shoulders and forcing Hart to face her. Her expression was stern. "You lost. Adler won. Just like last time you won and the other guy lost. Don't get cocky and you won't lose as often." She pointed a finger in Hart's face. "Every fight is a new fight. It doesn't matter if you won a hundred times before or lost the last time. It doesn't matter once you step in that ring. Got it?"

Hart's shoulders slumped. "Got it," she mumbled.

"Good. Now, let's go take care of your hand."

Hart looked down at the bloody mess she had made of her knuckles and swore. Ruby was right; she was an idiot.

Ruby threw a grin over her shoulder as she rifled through the first aid cabinet. "We'll tell my dad it happened in the fight."

She took Hart's hand gently, dabbing at the blood with a clean cloth. "Next time, you just have to be the one who wants it more, okay?"

"Okay," Hart agreed.

*~*~*

Hart ducked low, her hair ruffling as her opponent's fist sailed uselessly over her head. He was big, over a head taller than Hart, at least. But he was slow. His advantage was strength, not speed or agility. Hart thought of Ruby in the ring, small and lithe, ducking and dodging every blow that was thrown at her and tried to do the same.

She kept her feet light, dancing away from the man every time he lumbered towards her. He kept coming, though, and coming and coming. Hart panted, each breath feeling like knives in her chest.
Want it more
, she told herself.
Be hungry
. She struggled to keep herself just out of his reach. Sweat dripped into her eyes and she blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. Caine's square jaw was set firmly, his blue eyes narrowed in on her. He was breathing just as heavily as Hart.

She steeled herself and kept moving, focusing on the memory of her siblings' smiles every time she brought home her winnings. She spun and twisted, dropping into a crouch. Her leg shot out. Caine stumbled and Hart jumped up. She threw her shoulder into his torso, hard. He swayed and, shockingly, went down—his head hitting a post with a horrifying
thump
. Caine's eyes rolled up and he collapsed back to the mat. Hart stared down at him, her stomach twisting. The crowd was cheering her name, but she couldn't look away from Caine. He wasn't moving.

"Hart. Hart," Ruby's voice cut through the fog that had descended on Hart as she stared down at Caine's lifeless body. She looked up to see Ruby reaching insistently through the ropes. Ruby grabbed her arm and tugged, reeling her in. "It's fine, Hart. He's going to be fine."

Hart let Ruby pull her out of the ring and into her arms; she buried her face against Ruby's shoulder, shuddering. The image of Caine's fallen form seemed burned into the back of her eyelids, vivid even when she squeezed her eyes shut tight. After a moment, she felt Leo slip the purse into her hand.

*~*~*

"In the left corner, Hart, one hundred and forty pounds and a three-time winner! And in the right corner, Kemp, one hundred and eighty pounds and undefeated!"

Hart eyed her opponent warily as he swaggered into the ring. He was older than her and bigger than her, but so were all the other men she had fought. There was something in his eyes, though. Something harder and fiercer than she was used to seeing in her opponents. Even as they threw punches, she knew that the men she fought were doing it for the same reasons she did–family and survival. They were opponents, but they were also all Gutter trash trying to make a living in the world.

They were in this together.

Kemp, though … Kemp seemed different. There was none of the usual desperation in his eyes. Instead, he looked at Hart like she was something he had scraped off the bottom of his shoe. Beneath him and barely worth noticing. Hart remembered him from the first fight she watched at Leo's arena. She remembered the vicious gleam in Kemp's eyes as he took down his opponent, ruthless to the last.

Kemp turned and waved to the crowd, grinning and pumping his arms in the air. They ate it up, leaning forward eagerly to take it all in. Hart never acknowledged the crowd that bayed for her blood. They put money in her pocket, but she still refused to so much as glance their way.

Kemp was playing to the crowd though, riling them up, swaying them to his side. They screamed his name, bellowing for him to kill her. The smile that brought to his lips was cruel.

At Leo’s word, Hart and Kemp squared off in the center of the ring. Hart took a deep breath, meeting Kemp's eyes just as the bell rang. Unlike most of the men she'd fought, he didn't immediately charge forward. Instead, he stepped back, keeping his eyes on her as he began to circle. Careful. Watchful.

Seeing her own technique reflected back at her was unnerving, and for a moment she and Kemp did nothing but size each other up. Kemp had more bounce to his stance than most fighters; for all his size, he was surprisingly light on his feet.

The crowd screamed for someone to make a move, and Hart's heart hammered. She felt the cheers and jeers thrumming through her blood, Kemp's ease and patience only making her more anxious. She surged forward, jabbing out recklessly. Kemp turned into the punch and her fist glanced off his shoulder. He smirked and spun away from her.

Hart's feet tangled and she cursed under her breath. Kemp moved back in, swinging hard. It was all Hart could do to duck out of the way in time. She dodged his punch, but his leg came up, catching her hard on her outer thigh. She stumbled, pain shooting up her leg.

There was a glint of cruel delight in Kemp's eyes as Hart's leg buckled under her. She ground her teeth, forcing the leg to hold her weight despite the pain screaming through her thigh.

He closed in and Hart snarled. She raised her injured leg and kicked out at the knee, hard. Her foot connected soundly with his stomach and she pushed back, shoving him away from her. He grunted with the force of impact. The crowd whooped as Hart moved after him.

Hart ducked low and kicked again, catching Kemp on the ankle. He sprang back from the impact and shot her an unsettling grin.

He charged forward, bending his impressive bulk nearly in half to catch her in the stomach, driving his shoulder and his fist in simultaneously. Hart gasped and stumbled back. Kemp sprang up, following up with a sharp kick to the outside of her left knee. She felt the joint buckle ominously.

She kept her footing, her fists up and poised as Kemp took a considering step back. She darted in, trying to ignore the pain in her knee, jabbing at him repeatedly.

They circled, throwing punches that didn't quite connect. Every time Hart came in, Kemp threw a leg up as well as an arm out, blocking any attack she tried. Ruby's voice floated into her mind, berating her for focusing too much on faces and fists, ignoring the power of her opponent's legs.

Kemp sprang forward, charging at her like a bull. Hart flailed back, hitting the ropes. He barrelled inexorably forward. Desperately she curved her body over him, wrapping her arms tightly around his head. Kemp grunted into her midsection, fighting to straighten and throw her off. Hart clung on, tightening her hold until her arms pressed into his throat. He shoved her harder. His head pressed her back into the ropes, keeping her pinned. He twisted his body and her arm twisted too, suddenly, surprisingly, pinned between Kemp and her own body. With a vicious grunt, he pushed harder and she felt her wrist start to give.

She squirmed, struggling to get away, to release the pressure on her wrist. Kemp forced her wrist to bend and bend and bend, at a horribly unnatural angle, trapped between their bodies. It was going to snap. Pain screamed through her and she snarled. Releasing her hold on him with her other arm, she cuffed him, as hard as she could, on the side of the head.

She hit and hit and hit with every bit of strength she could muster, her ears tuned for the inevitable snap of her wrist.

Kemp stumbled back. Her wrist ached fiercely, but it hadn't broken. She pushed off the ropes, holding her hand delicately as she moved back into Kemp's space.

Recovering, Kemp straightened, the smirk erased from his lips. He narrowed his eyes. He spun, his elbow lashing out and catching Hart hard on the collarbone. She doubled over, groaning, and he grabbed her shoulders, bearing her back to the mat. Her eyes widened as she hit the floor. Kemp loomed over her, blocking out everything but his imposing bulk. "Got you now, boy," he laughed.

Leo started to call out a count and Hart panicked, bucking wildly. She pulled her knees up under Kemp's torso and pushed, forcing him back. He reared up and she scrambled backwards, out from under him and to her feet. The crowd cheered and she surged forward, barreling into him as he stood, knocking him back against the ropes. He twisted but she kept her hold on his shoulders. A scream ripped out of her chest as she pulled his head down and jerked her knee up.