Fallen Angels (11 page)

I was greeted by my many regulars as I entered, heading past the crowded bar before entering the Arena itself. The crowd roared as the scheduled battle began in the ring. I moved quickly to the enclosed booth at ground level, entering the door marked STAFF ONLY.

My business partner and manager Jeanie greeted me with a smile as I entered. Today her hair was black with hot pink streaks in a short spiky mess, and her black eyeliner accented the pink contacts she wore. “Jeanie, how are we doing tonight?” I asked, kissing her cheek after taking note of the tiny skirt barely covering her fine ass. 

“Hey sexy, I thought you were taking the night off?” she replied with a devilish grin.

“On the contrary, gorgeous, cancel the remaining matches, announce my return to the ring. All takers, and I will be using the wheel of death.”

Her grin faded as she stared at me. “Ravyn, what are you doing? You said you were done.  What will happen if—?”

“The Arena goes to you if anything should happen Jeanie. I trust it will be in good hands.”  

“Ravyn, please don’t do this. We have a good thing here. I can’t run this place without you.”

I gave her an assuring grin and a wink. “Announce it Jeanie, then spread the word and make damn sure Devlin hears about it first. I will take on all challengers who enter, to the death. It’s going to be quite the show,” I said, leaving the booth and heading down the secret passage that led under the ring.

I stood on the elevator platform, listening as the match above finished while wrapping sport tape around my hands. I slid my coat off and tossed it to the man working the elevator. He smiled. “It’s going to be a busy night, a good night,” he said, bowing his head. 

Jeanie’s voice echoed from above, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce a very special treat for you on this night. Welcoming all who wish to challenge her presence in the Arena, using the wheel of death. It is time for the darkness to arise!” she announced like she had so many times before. 

The lights went off and my theme song started. The floor above opened and the elevator rose into the darkness. The crowd instantly recognized the song that had always introduced me into the Arena, and silence fell. Red strobe lights flashed around the stadium while the tone of the music grew. I stood with my head down and arms at my sides, waiting for the song to announce my presence. “ARE YOU READY!” the Korn song screamed, and the red spotlight swung down to illuminate me. 

The crowd went wild when they saw me standing in the center of the ring once again. Raising my arms I let out a tremendous roar, exciting them even more as the laser lighting flashed and danced like its own concert.

Jeanie joined me in the ring, and the bright white spotlights swung down to follow her to the center. Lighting a cigarette I headed to the table of weapons and waited for her to announce the first challenger.

“In her first fight in the arena, Serenity!” Jeanie’s announcement brought a round of laughter from the crowd. 

It was a woman, half-breed like myself, with long brown hair and dark chocolate eyes that glared at me with hatred. I recognized the woman but couldn’t place her. “You killed my brother, bitch!” she hissed as she spun the wheel for me.

“I’ve killed many brothers,” I replied as the wheel came to a stop.

“Trident!” Jeanie announced as the brown-haired woman grinned widely. “Challenger, choose your weapons. Dual Gladius!” She worked the crowd into a frenzy.

Flicking my cigarette butt away, I crouched down, sweeping my wrapped hands through the fine stone powder floor of the Arena, rubbing it against my hands and arms while Jeanie reminded the crowd of the rules. “No demon form in the ring. You may ask your opponent for mercy by holding your index and middle fingers up together. Only your opponent can grant you mercy. Are we ready?” she asked as the gates around us closed. Jeanie stepped out of the ring, closing the last gate. “Fight!” Her order triggered the lights above the dirt ring to come to life, illuminating the entire ring.

Serenity rushed at me with her two short swords at the ready while I stood with one hand resting casually on the wooden handle of my trident. When her attack came I dropped to one knee, letting her fly by, then went to work. Serenity fought hard and fast so I played to the crowd, knowing if I ended her life as quickly as I could, no one else would step into the ring with me. And tonight, I needed a real fight that would challenge me to the very end. 

I gave the woman every opportunity to wound me, but she was a slow, incapable fighter, and if I kept this act up any longer the crowd would hate me. So, I went on the attack, knocking the swords from her hands and shoving my trident through her chest without giving her any option for mercy.

The night went on and opponent after opponent entered the ring with me, only to leave in a body bag. After twenty kills my brutality was beginning to make its evil self known and so were the tougher opponents. Fighters who had retired from the arena undefeated were returning to fight me. 

Finally, I was getting the fight I wanted. My blood was being drawn, and I was feeling pain again. By three in the morning I had destroyed sixty challengers, not giving a single opponent mercy. 

My next challengers always fought as a pair in dual matches at my Arena, and they were currently undefeated. The twin brothers stood at a menacing six foot ten and tipped the scale at about three hundred pounds of solid muscle each. I hated the thought of destroying their legacy, but I couldn’t turn down such a challenge.

I welcomed the giants into the arena and could only laugh when the wheel stopped on the Bronze Cestus, a leather glove with hardened bronze knuckles. Strapping the gloves to my bloody hands, I watched the brothers pick their weapons. One chose dual falx while the other chose dual battle axes. I knew this would be my biggest test of the night. 

The brothers had a great tactic, distract and strike, and they were currently using it to their advantage. Both drew blood on the first attempt, one slashing my arm and the other striking my back, but they made a big mistake by backing off, letting me get to my feet to welcome their second attack.

I took quite a beating from the two while trying to calculate the amount of time I had before the second attack. I had approximately two and a quarter seconds to take them both out, which left me with only one option. 

I stood my ground and waited for the first brother to attack. Side-stepping his stabbing attack, I slammed my gloved fist into his elbow, shattering it, and when my count reached two seconds, I spun the wounded brother in front of me, letting his own brother slash his chest open. They were both distracted, and I wasted no time tackling the uninjured brother to the ground, hammering his face with my bronze fists.

“Mercy!” the other brother shouted. I stopped immediately and waited for the crowd to decide. Echoes of mercy quickly filled the arena. I stood, giving the two brothers a curt nod, accepting their pleas for mercy. 

Jeanie greeted me by the table of weapons as I dropped the pair of bloody gloves.  “You have to stop this Ravyn. Your wounds are barely healing and they can see it,” she said while I dumped a bucket of water over my head, letting it wash away the blood. 

“How many more have signed up?”

“Devlin and Abigail are here.”

Her words had my full attention as I lit a cigarette. I smiled widely and looked around the stadium for other familiar faces. Finding only Angela, I bowed my head slightly to acknowledge her presence. “Devlin, final fight. Announce it, please Jeanie,” I said, sweeping my hands through the dirt for the final time. 

“Jeanie, inform the crowd I will be fighting bare,” I added when Devlin entered the ring wearing only jeans. No shirt, no shoes, just jeans. My demon shook and slammed at my inner cage, but I forced it to remain locked up.

Devlin looked over the weapons on the table. “Kara is not happy with you, my dear,” he said with a wicked grin.

“I do hope you said goodbye.” 

“Perhaps it is time for you to leave this world again, Ravyn.” He chuckled, grabbing the two small daggers from the table.

“I will not hold back for Kara’s sake Devlin,” I warned.

“Nor will I,” he agreed before walking to the center of the arena.

The crowd was quietly whispering stories of our powerful friendship, broken by a human woman. “You take me down, you better make sure I stay there,” I said with a wink, knowing he had a good chance of beating me. 

I took my stance several feet away and watched as he calmly walked toward me, holding the daggers at the ready. Then he lashed out, trying to find an opening, but my hands knocked his attacking arms away time after time. 

“She wants to be over you. Just die already!” he yelled.

I missed a block and let his small blade jab into my shoulder. I missed another and another. His small daggers jabbed quickly in and out of my body as his anger and sadness drove him forward.

I counted while I let him wear his emotions down; seventeen puncture wounds to my midsection, arms and thighs. His final strike drove the blade into my chest, directly through my scar, dropping me to my knees. Leaving the dagger sticking out of my chest he backed away, staring at me in disbelief while my wicked laughter grew louder and louder. 

I slowly rose to my feet, ripping the dagger from my chest and tossing it aside. My laughter suddenly stopped. “My turn,” I growled, charging him. My fist slammed into his chest. I beat him to a bloody pulp in that ring.

I didn’t let him have an inch after his initial attack. His massive body absorbed punch after punch. I could feel bones breaking as I held nothing back. Devlin felt the full force of my hatred, and when he could no longer get up, I brought the fight to him. Straddling his body, I pounded on his face, just lightly enough to keep from killing him. 

“Mercy! Mercy Ravyn!” a familiar voice screamed. It sounded like she was standing in the ring with me. “Stop!” Abigail begged, shaking the gate, trying to get in.

“Finish it,” Devlin gurgled, his mouth filled with blood.

“Fuck you Devlin! You were supposed to finish me. I have no heart you fucking piece of shit! Now put your goddamn fingers up so Abby doesn’t get hurt.” I waited with my fist at the ready until he finally held up the mercy sign. “Stay away from Kara!” I limped away from his battered body.

“Ladies and gentlemen, with sixty-two consecutive victories in one amazing night, give it up for the one and only RAVYN!” Jeanie announced. She turned to me, looking quite worried at the sight of my still-bleeding wounds, and held up a profit sheet for the night. “One hundred twelve million!”

“Not bad Jeanie, not bad at all,” I replied with a smile.

“You need to feed. Then you can tell me what the hell happened that made you come back. I’ll finish up here and meet you back home in an hour, okay?” She kissed my cheek.

Abby glared at me while Angela helped Devlin to his feet. I knew I just broke all the trust I had worked to regain with both Abby and Kara. I couldn’t help but wonder if Abby would feel the same if she knew why Devlin stepped into the ring with me. I thought she would agree with me, and she might even have second thoughts about saving his life. Because if she weren’t here, Devlin would be leaving in a body bag, which was probably why he brought her along.

Kara could take Devlin’s beating however she wanted; I really didn’t give a fuck at this point. She would always guess wrong though. Devlin betrayed her trust and mine, and in my world it should have cost him his life. Instead it probably cost me Kara.

I used my powers to persuade two gorgeous young women to accompany me back to my penthouse. Once there I let my demon play with them, showing them the monstrous thing I was. Jeanie came home before I could drain them, and she was not thrilled with my behavior at all.

“Jesus Christ Ravyn!” she yelled, pulling the barely conscious women into my bedroom.

I watch her tend to their wounds and compel them to sleep. “I needed the blood to heal.”

Jeanie shoved me out of the doorway and slammed the door closed behind her. “You lost control tonight. You just ruined all of the work we did. Everything we worked so hard for, you just threw it away. You also killed a majority of our best fighters for the arena!”

“Lost control? I controlled myself for sixty-two rounds. I have more control than you have faith in me,” I said.

Jeanie shook her head and stormed over to the couch, flopping down with a huff. “That is not the control we worked for. Everything we did was to get you back to Kara. How are you going to fix this? What happened anyway?”

“I don’t want to talk about it Jeanie. I just want a night to myself. Is that too much to ask?”

“Oh, you want a night? You got it Ravyn!” She stomped out the door.

Damn Jeanie for bringing up Kara. The mere mention of her irritated the piss out of me. Even more so because Devlin was still alive. I wanted him in a room where I could torture him for days. That was what he deserved for his betrayal.

Chapter Ten

Kara

More Secrets

After my failed conversation with Ravyn I went downstairs to check on Chloe. She was sitting with Mom, who was teaching her about her wonderful Witch-half. Mom was teaching her about the elements and how to respect them, which was always the first step. Chloe was so smart and willing to learn, it almost made me feel bad about cutting the lesson short.

“Hi, Mom. Are you hungry Chloe?” I asked, sitting on the couch next to her. She nodded immediately and crawled into my lap, her little fangs peeking from behind her smile. I knew she needed the bite; it had been a week since she first fed from me, but I was too tired to give in. “Are your fangs tingling?” Still it seemed strange to ask my daughter such a question.

She nodded. “A little.” 

“Okay. Mommy is tired, let’s see if Aunt Angela will help today?” I suggested, getting a big smile from Chloe.

Thankfully Angie happily let Chloe feed from her wrist. We watched a couple of movies together, letting her stay up late, but no movie could keep my focus off Ravyn’s actions, or Devlin’s, for that matter.