Page 38

Emilia’s mouth turns up in a smile filled with a promise of pure violence. She looks to me and mouths, “Thank you.” Then she saunters off to get changed.

Tom moves to get past me to follow her, but I grab his arm. “You’ve made a grave mistake. I would have killed you quickly, but she will leave you alive long enough to beg for your mummy before she disembowels you.” I smirk and walk towards the pit.

They’re up first. Tom is in for a rude awakening; my little viper is capable of anything. She comes into view, walking into the pit, like she owns it. Every inch of her a warrior clad in thick black leggings and a black vest highlighting her toned arms and curvy rear.

The pit is more dirt than soil. It looks like an arena of sorts— a pit in the earth with a viewing area overlooking the circular structure.

Tom enters the pit with no concern on his expression at all, if anything, he looks bored. Cyrus makes an appearance beside me, as well as Cass and Cara. They all look concerned, including Cyrus.

“Why do you all look so worried? She can take care of herself; you all know that better than anyone,” I question.

“We know that, it’s him I don’t trust,” Cass states.

We all push forward to make sure we get the best view. I need to see her. I need to make sure I’m in a position to intervene if I need to.

The gun goes off, signifying the start. Emilia doesn’t make the first strike. She observes, moving around him like she’s stalking her prey. She wants him to make the first move. Good.

Tom swings for her and she ducks, dodging the strike completely, and ends up behind him. She lands a kick to the back of his leg, making him stumble. The crowd erupts in laughter. She’s toying with him.

Tom stands, gets into his fighting stance and circles her. His fists are clenched, his face is red, and his chest is heaving rapidly. He lunges for her this time, and she rolls under his arm, punches him in the gut, then twirls again, her silver hair whipping in the wind as she turns. Every movement is calculated and controlled; she knows exactly where to strike and when. She lands another punch to his gut, and he doubles over in pain. She doesn’t stop there. She kicks him in the face whilst he’s hunched over, causing him to fall backwards. This is over before it’s even begun. I can see the smirk on her beautiful, violent face. Victory.

Tom rolls over onto his front. Suddenly Emilia drops to her knees, clutching her chest with one hand and digging deep into the dirt at her feet with the other.

Get up, get up, Viper, come on.

She’s not getting up, something is wrong. The scream I hear from her is all I need before I’m sprinting to the entrance. Cyrus grabs me before I reach the end of the viewing area.

“Look!” he shouts.

I look back down into the pit and I instantly relax. Emilia is back to standing, clenched fists at her sides whilst Tom is kneeling before her with a broken nose. He is saying something to her, but I can’t hear what it is.

Tom lunges for her again, forcing her onto her back, but she’s not there for long. She strikes his crotch with her knee and straddles him instead. He’s reaching for something. If he has a weapon on him he won’t live to see tomorrow.

Emilia goes for his watch, rips it off his wrist, and throws it against the solid stone wall. She clutches his T-Shirt in her hand, forcing him closer to her, and punches him square in the face. Strike after strike, blood pouring out of his nose, and spurting all over her face. She is a dark goddess.

An officer sprints up to me and gets in my face. “Are you not going to stop this? She’s going to kill him!” he shouts.

I can’t stop the smile on my face, watching my viper out there taking what is hers. She is still throwing punch after punch, the rage slowly diminishing in her strikes. She’s slowing down but isn’t stopping.

“She’s going to kill him, we need to intervene, before it’s too late. She can’t go down for this Kade.” Cyrus warns.

He’s right. As much as I want her to have this, as much as I want him dead, I can’t let her have her vengeance, not yet. I sprint towards the entrance and towards Emilia. She’s completely consumed by fury, this is going to be a struggle. I pull her off Tom’s body, she is feral with rage, like a wild animal. I wrap my arm around her chest and pin her to me.

“Shh, Viper, come back to me, it’s okay.” I whisper in her ear. I need to get her out of here; everyone is staring at her, probably wondering why she hates her fiancé so much.

“Cyrus! Get someone to take Tom to his tent, and get Doc to look at him.” I shout.

“Kade… let me go!” Emilia screams.

“Not fucking happening, Sweetheart,” I whisper. I duck down and throw her over my shoulder, my arm snug against her rear. She can kick out all she likes, I love it. I head back towards camp when Cara approaches us.

“Sarge, the doc wants to talk to you, says it’s urgent,” Cara says. “I can stay with her, don’t worry.” She reassures me, but I’m hesitant. I don’t want to leave her like this.

“Kade! Doc needs you, now!” Cyrus shouts. Shit. It must be serious.

“I didn’t kill him, did I?” Emilia whimpers. I put her down and look into her eyes. Tears threaten to fall any second, her breathing is jagged, and she clutches her arm wincing.

“Let me deal with this, go with Cara, now.” I order.