The Initiation (Darkness Within Duet 1)

They didn’t go to class. None of the teachers forced them.

He sat on the hood of his car, staring up at the large building. It was a prison in its own way.

“She’s not ready.”

“We don’t know that. She’s strong, and she holds her own.”

“We’re talking fighters here, Axel. Not just some kids pretending to know what they’re doing. They’re after the prize. Some of the women, they’re going to know who she is, and they’re going to fight to hurt her, to scar her.”

“Scars or not, Harper’s ours. If you’re not willing to go all the way with her, how is your dad ever going to believe her loyalty? This way, we get to see how much she can handle and how she works within the club.”

Draven sighed. “I don’t like this. I don’t like it one bit.”

“There’s not a lot you can do. You know your father’s going to be watching. He’s waiting to see her fall.”

He nodded. “It pisses me off.” He ran a hand down his face.

“Ben’s going to go after her. He’s pissed off and angry. That’s not good for us.”

“It’s not going to be good for him either. He needs to leave well enough alone,” Draven said.

“There’s another auction happening,” Axel said.

“There is, so soon?”

“A new shipment of girls arrived this week. I swear some of them are not even ten.” Axel shook his head. “That’s what I’d stop.”

Draven knew it was hard for Axel when it came to the auctions. They had their own plans for what they’d do when the business finally came to them. “It’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say, Draven. Whatever you say.”

Chapter Thirteen

The Ring

Two weeks later

Harper stood in the open court. It looked more like an old football field. Large floodlights shone down, and music filled the air.

The tensions mounted, and as she walked between her guys, she sensed a caution inside them with every single step they took. The ring wasn’t a joke.

Men and women stood around in groups or on their own. A couple of guys were collecting bets and giving tabs to people.

“Is all this arranged in advance or something?” Harper asked.

“No, not even close. Ticket numbers are read out, and the opponents are picked at random. Girls face off with girls and guys do guys. It’s what they consider fair,” Axel said.

“When does the fighting start?” she asked.

“When you hear the gunshot,” Draven said.

He held her tightly as they moved through the crowds. They were stopped, and the man handed them each a ticket.

“No, she doesn’t get a ticket,” Draven said.

“You know the rules, Barries. Everyone here gets a ticket. No exceptions. This is not a place to bring your girlfriend, and without a ticket, you’re not getting out, and you’re not getting out without fighting. Rules are rules.”

A ticket was placed in her hand. She looked down at her ticket. Number two-three-one. She took a deep breath.

“You have to be a good girl.”

“Good girls don’t get into fights. They don’t go to parties. They’re good for a reason.”

This was anything but good.

The gunshot went off, and everyone just stopped.

The lights turned to the center of what looked like a stage. It was a fighting ring that was built for the crowd to look at.

“That’s right. Welcome to the new year of the ring, people. I can see some badasses out there tonight, and I’m only talking about the women here. Damn, girls, you’ve come for some serious dough. Let’s get this started. We’ve got a lot of fights to get through tonight. Let’s make this easy. Number three-one-nine, against two-three-seven. Up you come. Winner goes to the next round, loser goes home.”

“Now you get to watch,” Draven said. He pulled her in front of him so his arms were wrapped around her.

Her heart raced and not out of excitement either. There was no way any of this could be described as thrilling or exciting. More like scary. Yes, she was petrified.

The first fighters were two guys, and they appeared in their early twenties. She watched as they removed their jackets, and that was it, fists up at the ready.

“No protection?” she asked.

“Protection is for sports and wimps,” Axel said.

She winced as the first hit was struck. Over and over, they hit, punched, kicked, and just fucked each other up. She didn’t know who was who, but finally, one guy went down and he held his hand up in surrender.

“Loser,” Axel said.

“There’s no way this is a good thing. You do this every single year?” she asked.

“It’s not that bad.”

“This is awful. You can’t do this. It’s wrong.”

“Harper,” Draven said, spinning her around so that she could look at him. She didn’t want to see him hurting. “This is what we do. We’re not hiding this, and you’ve got to do this as well. You’ve got your ticket. I tried to warn you.”