Lord of Destiny (The Dragon Demigods #6) - Charlene Hartnady Page 0,4
see him drop it. West’s jaw tightens. I hear him grind his molars. He gives a curt nod because he can’t argue. He has no leg to stand on.
“You did see something though, Raven,” my brother says. “What was it? Did you read that guy? Tell us.”
“No!” I shake my head. “I didn’t,” I lie. We need to stay away from those guys. Far away from them. As long as we do, we’re A-okay. My deduction has nothing to do with what I saw. It’s pure logic. “We need to leave town. We’re packing up today.”
“I want a rematch. You heard that prick, Rage… He’s willing to put up the cash.” West smirks.
“Not happening.” I shake my head. “Back to the cameras. We can’t take that kind of risk.”
“We could use the money, Raven,” my brother argues as he uses a key to unlock the car. Yes, a key…our car is that old.
“You need to drop it, please, Maddox. I have this horrible feeling that something bad will happen if we don’t stay away from them.” Again, it’s more logic than a gut feeling, but West and my brother are more inclined to listen to my gut than common sense. So I play that card.
“We’re out of money,” Maddox says as he gets into the car, stretching over the seats to unlock each of our doors. Yes, manually. I know it’s bad. It’s worse than just plain bad.
“I needed that win,” West growls, looking like a little boy. Looking more like the man I used to know. My chest gets this ache. That man is long gone. Maybe he never really existed. We sometimes see what we want to see, rather than the truth.
We pile into the car. West in the back and me in the front. My seat is all the way forward, so that he has some legroom. That’s the one upside of driving an ancient car; they were built quite spacious back in the day. That’s literally the only benefit I can see.
“We have a hundred bucks left. Not much for the five of us,” Maddox says.
“I really needed that win,” West harps on like a broken record. “I’m calling Rage now. We can finish it tonight. I can take that prick with one hand tied behind my back.”
“No! We’ll fill the tank and head out.” I work to keep my voice even.
“Where will we go?” West glowers. “I forfeited the fight. I lost! I’m not going to get another gig anytime soon. No one wants to take on a loser. And as of right now, I’m considered to be one hell of a loser. I look like I chickened out.”
“You didn’t lose…I threw in the towel. There will be plenty of speculation as to why.” I start panicking all over again about the incident going onto media channels. This is bad! I pull in a deep breath. “You held your own in there…a little too well.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he throws back at me. “I ultimately lost. That’s what everyone will remember. I’m going to have to work my way back up, taking on small-time fights.” His eyes blaze.
It would be better if he only did smaller fights. More low-key. I don’t tell him this because I know it will fall on deaf ears. “Don’t be so pessimistic. Besides, maybe one of us can get work in the next town.”
He makes a face. “Work?” he snorts. It’s tough to get a job when you move around so much. I understand where West is coming from. “Like what? Who? You?” Then he chuckles. I know this laugh. He’s about to say something mean. I can’t believe I ever fell for the likes of him. That I wasted six years of my life. I fell for his pretty face, his charm, and yes, for all of his arrogance. Only, when I first met him, it was more along the lines of confidence. Things changed. He changed. I know he didn’t have the easiest upbringing, but that isn’t an excuse. He used to be a good guy. He went through a terrible ordeal, but we all did. It changed him.
His eyes narrow on mine. “You have two things going for you, Raven. I know you’re not about to go and rub on a crystal ball. You’re not about to tell all those humans their fortune. So, the only other thing…” His eyes drop to my chest. He has a way of making me feel cheap. It’s crazy how