back, his sorrow-filled gaze telling me he could not help me.
Snapping back to Rodriguez, I licked my lips, trying to calm my frantic heartbeat.
Fear got you killed.
The bell declared the fight was on. I could feel the bloodthirsty fans salivating for violence and my death.
“Bull! Bull! Kill! Kill!”
Rodriguez smirked, strolling over to me with bored arrogance. “Wow, not really fair, is it?” He winked, pausing about five feet from me. “Guess it will be an early night for me. Shower and back in my cell in what…twenty minutes?” He moved in closer, lowering himself to attack, his nose flaring, his feet scraping at the ground.
Countering his moves, I peered around me, trying to find items I could use as weapons. They had changed the setup since my last fight, taking away some, adding others.
“Brexley Kovacs.” Rodriguez purred my name, his tone twisted with disgust and desire. “I won’t lie; I’m really gonna enjoy goring you, spilling your guts on the ground.” His nostrils puffed with excitement. “Just think, this whole time, the HDF princess has been under our nose. General Markos’s pet bitch. A rich, entitled, spoiled human girl. You will be glad I killed you tonight. Consider it kindness, as the inmates will pick at you until you’re a bag of bones.”
“You fae keep telling me that.” I offset his progression, my boots sliding over the dirt. “But yet, here I am.”
“Not for long.” He lurched for me, setting off the crowd, his head tilting as the cheers descended on him, a smile curling his lips. A showman. He thrived on the attention. Lived for the spectacle.
Use it, Brex. Use his ego against him.
The problem was how to do that. He was an excellent fighter, brutal even, feeding off the crowd’s energy.
“You are like a bright red cape dangling in front of me.” He padded the ground, ready to come for me. “And soon you will cover the ground in the same color.” He stepped closer. “Your people killed my sister. It’s only fair I kill you.”
I didn’t respond, but my eyes darted to his, making his evil smirk grow wider.
“Yeah, you have a lot of enemies here now, human. It’s why I asked to fight you tonight. My sister was just a calf, but they had no problem kidnapping her, experimenting on her, and then taking her life.” He spat at the ground.
Experimenting? What the hell was he talking about?
“And I will have no problem doing the same to you.”
The information barely sank in before he leaped forward, his bulk barreling into mine, the back of my head smacking the ground with a painful blow. He grappled for my arms, trying to pin me beneath him.
Forcefully I bucked my hips up, tipping him forward, getting him off-center as my teeth bit down on his arm, loosening his grip on my wrist. Shoving my palm into his face with all my might, he fell off me, his face hitting the dirt.
I rolled out from under him, climbing to my feet. He twisted back for me, his fingers digging into the back of my leg. I kicked out, my foot cracking across his cheek, flinging him back into the ground with a grunt. After I stomped my boot into his side, his hand clamped around my ankle, twisting and pulling my leg. My knee popped as I turned, my face hitting the ground as I dropped, leaving my back exposed and vulnerable.
Get up! I screamed at myself, hearing him get back to his feet. Rushing forward, he pounced on my back, his fingers curled around my neck, crushing down on my throat.
A gasp choked out of my mouth as my lungs searched for air, his hand clamping down harder. Ringing filled my ears as my vision blurred, my lungs burning for fuel.
He seethed in my ear, but my mind couldn’t pick up on words, trying too hard to breathe, panic swarming me like a cloud of flies.
A haze built around me as my gaze landed on the one clear thing before me, as if he were in high definition, while everything else was smeared in fog. Warwick stood up from his seat, his body rigid. His azure eyes sliced through the fuzz, zeroing in on me.
Fuck, he was viciously sexy. Terrifying. Cruel.
And pissed.
Rage and abhorrence heaved up his shoulders, all directed at me. His lips curled, hands rolling into fists, as if the way I was dying wasn’t inhumane enough.
Something about his reaction vibrated through me, sparking a fierce fury.