When Sinners Kneel Page 2

  As I stalked closer and closer to the line of women in order to get to the bar, they seemed to gather the energy to straighten into what was meant as an appealing pose. A few seemed desperate to attract my attention, trying to outshine the next faceless, spiritless girl, by pushing out their chest, and cocking their hips.

  They were like ghosts, no light could be found in their eyes. No life.

  Their skin looked clammy from the heat, and their eyes were zoned in on me, but glazed over. Unfocused.

  “You wanna taste, Savage?” one girl asked, her words slurred, her grin tired. “You deserve it after that fight. I can help you relax, I can make you feel good…”

  I stared coolly back at her. My beast wanted a taste, wanted the energy that incubi thrived from, but she looked far too weak to handle me.

  “Are you going to fucking watch her all night like a pussy, or are you going to fuck her?” Danny said from behind me, wearing his black fitted suit, fixing the cuffs of his shirt. I turned and saw him nodding toward her, hunger and need flashing through his eyes. Danny ran the Pit, but he didn’t own it. Whoever did kept their face hidden.

  I gritted my teeth.

  Danny was a slimy bastard who had his own reputation around here. And he hated that I overshadowed his precious, little fame.

  I pushed past him and made my way to the bar that overlooked the ring below, where a glass of whisky was already waiting for me. I swallowed some of it down, enjoying the burn it left in its wake. Most of the men stayed below, venturing upstairs for a drink during breaks. They wanted to be in the midst of the gore.

  I preferred to observe alone, from up here, in my usual spot by the ramp.

  The upstairs was a large platform with two separate hallways. One led to the Aphrodites’ rooms and the other to a meeting room and Danny’s office. On the bottom level was the entrance to the fighters’ change rooms and gym. In the center of it all, was the ring, dirty and glorious. The steel and concrete walls made it so that every sound echoed tenfold. Each cry, each sound of bones breaking created the Pit’s soundtrack.

  Just as I went to put the glass down on the bar’s shiny surface, something caught my attention below.

  A new fight was starting and Tegan, a woman with whom I had spent some time in and out of the bedroom, stepped into the square of dirt. The both of us had shared a few rough, meaningless moments when we’d both needed a release. But it had always been just that, sex. A boost of energy. Being two incubi demons, physical intimacy was fundamental to our survival and strength.

  Tegan was walking along the ropes enclosing the ring as she taped her hands. Her dark hair seemed to shine as her thick braid brushed against the sweaty skin of her back.

  She looked like a deadly warrior and a sinful lover all wrapped into one dangerous but tempting package.

  Judging by the suggestive looks she was getting from the men surrounding the ring, I wasn’t the only one to think so.

  But these men were fools to think she was prey.

  If they knew her, they’d know she was the real predator.

  A predator covered in delicious ink, skin tight black spandex and luscious curves.

  A lazy smile tugged at my lips as I gulped down more of my whisky.

  Whoever fought against her tonight would no doubt meet defeat.

  One of the men in the audience touched her ass as she walked close by, and she stopped instantly. Standing deadly still.

  Without even looking back, her hand snaked its way behind her back, gripped the unwanted hand touching her and twisted it until it hung limp from the man’s wrist.

  I chuckled darkly, shaking my head at the stupid asshole.

  Tegan took the time to scan the crowd, unbothered, calm, focused, and when her gaze caught mine, a slow, wicked smile spread across her lips and she tipped her chin toward me.

  An acknowledgment.

  A show of respect.

  I stuffed a hand into my jean pocket and pulled out a smoke of belladonna. I was lighting it when a second figure caught my eyes.

  A girl.

  Thin. Breakable.

  Entering the ring.

  Not a worthy opponent for a woman like Tegan.

  That girl’s dying tonight.

  I could tell when fresh meat entered the Pit; wide-eyed and trembling, but desperately trying to gulp down their fears as they walked onto the dirt ground.

  Some pissed themselves.

  Some ended up vomiting.

  Others collapsed.

  Never had I seen such a tiny girl walk onto the dirt square though.

  Fragile, skinny and small.

  I could crush her with my thumb.

  And it was clear from the way her body moved that she knew nothing about fighting. Tegan would no doubt take her down with one blow.

  Stupid fucking child.

  Not only did the victor have access to the Aphrodites as a prize, they also took home a good handful of cash. And newbies had the bad habit of thinking it was easy money.

  It fucking isn’t.

  Not when you were dealing with demons that had grown up in the Pit. Demons that hungered for its deviance. Its gore.

  Demons like myself.

  Men behind me started slamming their bets down onto a nearby table cracked with age, desolation and despair. I didn’t need to ask to know they were all betting in Tegan’s favor.

  The tiny thing moved to face Tegan, half a head shorter than the trained fighter. She let her arms rest on each side of her, cracking her fingers in preparation.

  Fergus—an incubus whose every inch of flesh had been pierced—stepped into the ring, raising his arm. Most people around here referred to him as Steel because of the number of piercings he had, it looked almost like an armor of steel atop his skin.

  He spoke to the two women, lips moving fast as his eyes moved between the two of them, lingering a few seconds longer onto the shorter of the two.

  Then, he shouted, signaling the start of the fight and the crowd roared some more.

  There were only one rule fighters had to abide by in the ring; nobody was allowed to use weapons other than their own body.

  Tegan lunged with the grace of a starving lion pouncing on its prey.

  Skilled, efficient, trained.

  My eyes narrowed as I witnessed the girl ducking with surprising swiftness and stability, effectively dodging Tegan’s blow.

  Chaos renewed through the crowd, the hunger in the men’s eyes flashing to new heights.

  Horny bastards.

  I took a slow drag of belladonna, letting it slowly seep into my lungs. I breathed out slowly, creating a thick cloud of smoke around me.

  After a few more drags, the shaking in my fingers slowed down and eventually disappeared.

  I debated whether to go outside and cool off or stay in the blinding heat to watch a fight that would no doubt end shortly.

  The room was humid and stuffy, and I would rather not watch a kid get beaten to oblivion.

  I was heartless. Not a sick fuck.

  Just as I was about to turn and leave, Tegan flipped the girl over her back and crashed the tiny body onto the dirt floor, dust floating around their bodies.

  The girl’s lips seemed to part, and I could have sworn I heard her tiny gasp of pain all the way to where I was standing, despite the roars below.

  And it was at the sound coming from the tiny thing that it hit me.

  And it hit me fucking hard.

  That girl in the ring wasn’t just any girl.

  I knew exactly who the hell she was, and she wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near a place like the Pit.

  Alexandra Harvey.

  Lex.

  My brother’s friend.

  And the little fucking soul-eating brat was looking for trouble it seemed.

  My hands grasped the railing in a death grip, knuckles turning white, as I watched the souleater stumble to her feet only for Tegan to sling her fist against her jaw once again.

  My hands shook and I tr
ied telling myself to walk away.

  To walk outside and smoke some belladonna.

  To let it fucking go.

  She did this to herself. You don’t owe her shit. Certainly not help.

  Blood splattered and Lex tried regaining her balance once more.

  She was going to get herself killed.

  Fucking hell.

  “Little brat,” I hissed under my breath and tossed my cigarette onto the tiled floor, stomping on it with more force than necessary.

  I pushed past Danny and his entourage and took the steps two at

  a time, down to the lower levels of the Pit. I had no patience to deal with this sort of shit, but I wasn’t going to let my brother’s friend get killed on my watch.

  People moved aside as I stomped my way to the ring.

  Steel caught sight of me and frowned, quickly approaching.

  When he stepped in front of me, clearly in no rush to let me pass, I growled.

  “Move,” I warned him, my tone low and deadly.

  “No one can interfere during fights, you know that, Savage,” Steel said, tilting his head to the side. I could tell by his pinched lips that he didn’t want to say no to me, but the rules were the rules.

  Where there was only one rule to abide by in the ring, there was also only one rule to respect outside of the ring; never interfere with a fight. Ever.

  Steel, unlike most of the scum here, liked to live by the rules.

  “That girl,” I said, my head jerking in Lex’s direction. “She’s a fucking minor,” I half-lied, teeth clenched. Just as I did, the girl was flipped onto her back once more, a pained whimper leaving her lips.

  She wasn’t really a minor, Lex was eighteen, but that was still too fucking young to be fighting in the Pit. Too young, too inexperienced, and too weak.

  Everyone here would eat her alive.

  She and I, we were going to have a few words once I got her far away from this dump.

  Steel cocked a brow and swallowed, but the longer I waited to get the girl out of there, the more bruises appeared on her pale skin.

  I didn’t have that fucking time to waste.

  I didn’t need anyone’s permission, I took whatever the hell I wanted and right now, what I wanted was that girl out of the damn ring.

  I pushed past him and lifted myself over the ropes and into the dirt pit. The crowd went wild at the sight of their savage beast entering the ring.

  They probably thought I was going to join in the fight.

  I didn’t pay them much attention. All my focus was on her. She swayed as she again forced herself up onto her shaky legs, Tegan pacing around her like she was raw meat.

  Tegan lunged again and Lex braced herself—but she never felt the blow.

  My hand caught Tegan’s arm in a tight grip and she froze instantly.

  “We’re done here,” I said through gritted teeth, lips tight and fury burning the back of my eyes.

  Tegan looked back at me, her eyes narrowing at my sudden appearance. Anger flashed in them. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Savage? This is my fight.”

  “Not anymore. This is ending right now,” I hissed and pushed her back, away from Lex.

  Lex held an arm underneath her chest, as if holding her ribs. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were bruised, and I knew from experience just how much that fucking hurt. I swore under my breath.

  As she caught sight of my beat up combat boots, Lex froze too.

  Slowly, ever so fucking slowly, she traced the length of my body and the closer she got to my face, the quicker her chest heaved.

  When her gaze found my face, her busted mouth parted open in shock.

  That’s when I saw the full damage done to her.

  Bruises lined the side of her cheeks, her bottom lip sliced open, bleeding down her chin, and one of her eyes was swollen shut.

  “Beau—” she whispered, sounding almost shocked as her fat bottom lip caught my attention.

  “It’s fucking Savage in here,” I warned her.

  No one called me Beau here and I preferred it that way. I was still a Knight, still the heartless beast, but in the Pit, I was also Savage, the fighter. Someone I’d chosen to become instead of all the other names that had been imposed on me.

  Her shock vanished at the harshness of my words and her eyes became livid slits. “I’m busy right now, can’t you fucking see?”

  My blood boiled at that. Her fucking attitude.

  The crowd had quieted now, so they could hear our conversation.

  And I didn’t fucking like it.

  I wasn’t one for public displays. I kept my life to myself and my conversations private.

  I go the fuck out of my way to save her neck and she gives mouth?

  “Get the fuck out of here,” I told her, jerking my chin toward the entrance of the Pit. “Now.”

  Her dark brows dropped into a frown. “No.”

  And it was that single word that did it for me.

  The demon side of me—the more dominant, uncontrolled side of me, roared at the disobedience and disrespect.

  Lex’s body shuddered, as if she could feel the beast raging within me, but her glare didn’t waver.

  I snarled and with one move, lifted her off her feet. She gasped and immediately punched my chest, but I didn’t stop.

  “Fucking. Asshole,” she snarled back, as she kept hitting my chest with her tiny fists.

  And she thought she could earn money in the Pits with those tiny hands? Fucking ridiculous.

  The crowd grew loud once again as I walked across the Pit with Lex trapped in my arms.

  Steel observed us, a brow raised in surprise. I kept walking, ignoring Lex’s pathetic punches and her mouth cursing me out.

  That filthy mouth.

  I shoved open a heavy door and then another, entering the men’s restroom.

  It was dirty and dark in here, just like the rest of this dump.

  A few men were standing with their dicks out and one turned, about to cuss me out for bringing a girl into the restroom, but when he saw me, he paled.

  “Out,” I said, and Lex finally stopped smacking me.

  They all shoved their dicks back into their pants and zipped them up mid-pee, before rushing out.

  I moved to the sinks and placed her on the edge of the counter, caging her in with my body so that she couldn’t escape.

  I knew the brat. It wasn’t above her to try something as fucking useless as running away from me.

  Flee. Always flee.

  It had been engraved into her since birth.

  “Fuck you,” she spat out, jerking forward, but I gripped her wrist, forcing her back and scowled when I saw her wince in pain.

  “You’re too fucking tiny to fuck,” I said lowly through a tight jaw. “And you’re too fucking weak and young to fight. What the fuck are you doing here, Alexandra?” I asked slowly, rolling her name on my tongue, allowing my faint Italian accent to come through. Her violent blue eyes narrowed at my use of her full name.

  She breathed out harshly at that and my teeth gritted together some more. I knew I had hit a nerve, but I really didn’t give a damn.

  “None of your fucking business, you asshole,” she said, and her chin lifted as if to challenge me. “I can do whatever the hell I want. And whether that’s fighting the guys here or fucking them, it’s my choice.”

  All I had to do was look at her—look at the damage Tegan had inflicted on her in only a matter of minutes to know she shouldn’t be here.

  Ever.

  I clenched my jaw, my muscles already so tense from keeping my anger to a minimum. The beast within, the beast controlling me, wanted more. It wanted out. But I couldn’t. Not with her.

  But the brat still needed to be taught a fucking lesson.

  “Well if you think you’re good enough to fuck, maybe I should do just that, Alexandra,” I said, and the dark, predatory smile appearing on my lips wasn’t as forced as I would’ve liked.

  All the
blood rushed to my cheeks and I felt both his hunger and anger hit me in hard waves as his arms kept caging me in.

  For a long time, Beau Knight had been the symbol of what I feared most. He was the living, breathing reason why people like me avoided places like the Pit.

  But things had changed, I was different now.

  Being kidnapped and tortured for days by demon hunters tended to change a girl’s perspective on life, it seemed.

  Tensley had warned me about his older brother for years. And I knew now, standing so close to Beau Knight himself, he’d been right to do so.

  I hadn’t seen him much over the years since the Knights had taken me under their wings, if at all, but I had heard rumors about him. And

  I’d also heard rumors about Savage, but I hadn’t put the two together. I hadn’t known.

  Until now.

  I hadn’t told anyone of my plan—to go to the Pit and fight. To find whatever information I could on the whereabouts of Dolores. I knew what they would have said.

  A big fat no.

  I knew how dangerous the Pit was. Only the ones who had lived in that hole, their souls and their bodies inked in blood and sin and sex ventured into its dark depth.

  A souleater—one that hadn’t tasted a soul properly for months—didn’t just waltz into the Pit.

  When the bouncer first saw me and I told him I wanted to fight, he laughed.

  Right in my fucking face.

  He let me in as a joke, thinking it would give the Pit’s scum a good laugh. I knew from the start that I wouldn’t win a fight, but I still had a bit of experience living on the street. I knew I could survive a fight. It’d be all defense and no offense, but I didn’t care. I didn’t go to the Pit to win. I’d gone in looking for answers. For leads to where Dolores was, a friend who had taken me in when I was broken and weak.

  She had told me she was going to pay off a debt with another demon at the Pit, but I never saw her again. No one had.

  The last place I knew she had gone was here.

  The place even she had warned me against ever stepping foot in.

  But as I stepped inside the Pit, I felt the pull.

  My parents had warned me about the addictive nature of certain environments for souleaters. How one thriving, chaotic place could sing to my soul and make me impulsive, dangerously living on the edge of life and death. And as soon as I tasted the heavy emotions of anger and lust and violence in the air, I knew I’d be coming back. After months without feeding, I needed the pain, the feeling of danger and risk.