because I truly longed for Caden, but maybe it was just me.
Never satisfied.
Zander broke away, his head tipping back, his eyes round as he stared down in awe.
“Brexley…” He said my name with reverence. “I need to tell you—”
“Now I know what was taking so long.” An icy timbre wrapped around me like a boa constrictor, jerking me to the huge figure on the other side of the gate.
Fuck.
Warwick’s gaze burned into me, dread punched my lungs, and I stepped away from Zander.
“Did I interrupt your final goodbye with the donkey?” Warwick sneered, leaning his shoulder against the bars casually, rolling a toothpick in his mouth. His body seemed relaxed, but his eyes oozed with threat as he glared at Zander.
“Horse,” Zander snipped back.
“Same difference. Both an arse.” He shrugged, his eyes catching mine again. “Little surprised at your choice, Kovacs. You think by fucking a guard, you would have gotten better treatment in here. Started too low on the totem pole.”
“Shut up.” Zander stepped forward, his jaw tightening with anger. “You think you own the world…think yourself so mighty. But you are a prisoner like the rest. I can’t wait for someone to take you down a few pegs. Someday someone will kill you, and you will be forgotten. No fanfare, no one to mourn or care.”
“Someday I will probably die, that’s true, but I guarantee the world will mourn as though they lost a god.” Warwick’s confident blue eyes slid to mine. “And someone will definitely care.”
“Your mother doesn’t count.” I glared at him, my fear replaced with irritation. What was he even doing out there already? It didn’t seem his style. He didn’t wait. He came, he killed, and he left. Why was he waiting for me?
He snorted, leaning his back fully against the gate, motioning to the stands, causing them to go wild. “Soooo…we’re all here waiting for you. When you’re ready, princess. You are the star of the show, after all.”
“You are such an asshole.” I churned with indignation, toppling the debilitating dread I held minutes ago to the floor.
He barked out a laugh, crossing his ankles, still staring out at the crowd, his fingers rotating the pick between his teeth as if he were enjoying a relaxing afternoon. “Is that all you got? Pathetic. My grandmother used to call me worse.”
My legs moved before I could even think. I slipped my hands through the bars, fingers sliding up his skull, and knotted them in his hair, yanking back.
His head slammed into the bars with a bang, pinned in place, my mouth close to his ear. “I have a lot more, Farkas. Want me to show you?”
He curved his head to the side, showing me his profile, a hungry grin on his lips, his eye glinting with fire as I pulled harder on his scalp.
“I would like nothing more, Kovacs,” he growled, his voice seeping over my skin and between my legs. “Ready to stop fiddling with your toy pony in there and come out and play with someone who might actually challenge you?”
His energy revved through me. My belly burned, heat scorching down my limbs.
“You think very highly of yourself.” My mouth brushed his ear. His nose flared, his eyes darkening, energy puffing both our chests. “Like most men, you are probably all talk and very little action.”
“Come find out for yourself. But unlike your boyfriend, I won’t be gentle.” His one eye met mine. “And from what I just saw…rough is exactly what you are aching for.”
I shoved him forward, thunder crashing in my chest. “Open the gate,” I ordered Zander. Warwick chuckled, stepping back from the entrance, tossing his toothpick to the ground and opening his arms in a “come and get me” motion.
“Brexley.” Zander reached for my arm, his head shaking. “You don’t understand…”
Already out of patience, I snatched the keys from his hand, unlocking it myself, not even looking back as I strode out, hearing him cry out my name again. I could feel nothing behind me anymore, my entire focus on the man in front of me.
The mob went insane when I stepped out. Whistles, chants, stomping, claps all blended together like music—the soundtrack of my epic battle with Warwick Farkas.
“Finally.” Warwick winked at me. “Been looking forward to this.”
“Me too.” I sneered maliciously.
Living. Dying. Neither were thoughts crippling my mind. Somehow Warwick had removed those and only filled me with the need to fight.
To be his greatest challenge.
The dirt crumbled under our boots as we slinked around each