I smack Edge’s hand away as I turn to face him. “What’s there to explain? I think it’s pretty fucking simple. Venom killed my father.”
Edge doesn’t even blink. “It’s not that simple.”
Frustration ebbs into fury. The edges of my vision darken, shadows closing in on either side of me. “I saw Python kill my father with his bare hands. My father was down, unconscious, and still, he kept beating him, slamming his fists into his face and body.” My voice cracks. “Venom gave Python the order or permission or whatever the fuck you want to call it. I watched it all happen with my own eyes. Python could have refused, but he didn’t.”
Levi slides his mask from my hand. Slipping it over his head and down his face, he backs away, disappearing into the crowd behind us.
Edge’s dangerous gaze is unwavering behind his mask. “Like I said, it’s more complicated than that.”
“I don’t give a fuck how complicated it is! My father is dead because of you!” My voice is rising, but I don’t care who hears me. I start in the direction of the exit. Foolish me glances at the octagon one last time. Over the crowd, Python is being dragged away. His body is bloodied and broken.Not again.
My hand covers my mouth. “No. No. No—” I whisper.
Regurgitated feelings claw up my throat. I can’t watch another person die in the cage. As much as I hate Python for what he did, and as much as I want him to pay, I don’t want it to be Edge to do it. Edge, the guy I’m falling for, the one who wasn’t the one who killed my dad. He can’t be as bad as the rest of them. Can he?
Warm fingers slide under my chin. Gently, Edge tilts my face back to his. “I didn’t kill him.”
Does he want a badge of honor or something? Python can’t even stand. All of his dignity was ripped away by the guy standing in front of me. I slowly shake my head in disbelief. Wet streams of tears fall down my cheeks. I can’t be near him for another second. People start moving toward the exit. I jerk away from Edge and follow them.
“Ninja,” Edge calls after me. I slow just enough to hear him warn, “Be careful.”
I pull my mask down over my face and slip into the crowd.
33
KINSLEY
The housesand trees blur by as I drive through the dark, empty streets. It’s after two in the morning when I finally pull into my driveway. My thoughts are on the carousel of hell. I’m constantly wondering how deep Edge’s involvement is with Venom. He obviously supports them and their ways, or he wouldn’t be a part of them, right? The hardest part to swallow is that I have no reason to believe he wasn’t there the night my father was killed, that he didn’t watch him get beaten to death like I did. It physically pains me to imagine he had anything to do with my dad’s murder.
I shed my clothes and collapse into bed, too lazy to get back up and close the drapes. The shadows of the palm trees outside my window sway on my wall and ceiling. The few hours before dawn slowly drain away, taking the night with them as I try to fall asleep.
For the next two days, I ignore all of Edge’s texts and calls. I spend most of that time at the dojo. It’s closed for the holiday weekend, so I have the place to myself. I swear, a couple of times, I glance out the window and see a figure standing under the oak tree. But it could also be my imagination, because, unfortunately for me, Edge and Venom took my thoughts hostage, leaving me consumed with what-ifs and memories I’m not ready to let go of yet.
There has to be a way to penetrate Venom’s nucleus or find out who’s in charge. But shit me if I can figure out how to do that. I have a strong feeling that Edge is high up on Venom’s hierarchy list. Hell, maybe he’s in with the guy in the suit outside the ring. Edge could be the one calling the shots from the sidelines when he’s not fighting. My stomach twists with dread. I hate sounding so naïve, but the hope in my chest that he isn’t so heavily invested was crushed when Python was dragged away.
I’m furious for allowing myself to spiral so far down into the dangerous depths of his touch and charm. I have no one to blame but myself that I fucking let him touch me, kiss me. Thank God we haven’t fucked. He was never supposed to see the feelings I held tightly. But he knew exactly how to draw them out of me until he peeled away my toughest layers. He found a way to my core, revealing my vulnerable side that I rarely show anyone.
The admission of my weakness to him is in every punch and kick I throw at the bag. I’ve given my body no time to recuperate or heal after pushing it to the limits for the past couple of days.
Exhausted, I drop to my knees on the mat.
There’s no turning back the clock for everything that has happened between us. But I can stop it from here on out.
Edge’s last message from this morning is a verbal collage of all the others. We need to talk, I’m sorry. Blah, blah, blah. This time, though, there’s the puzzling warning to be careful. Thosewere his final words to me at the UG:Be careful.What the fuck does that even mean? Be careful of whom? Him? Venom?
I’m so fucking tired.
I vowed to avenge my father’s death and for how they wrecked my world. But as much as I hate to admit it, I feel lost and defeated. I feel the exact opposite of how I felt when I started all of this.
I fall forward, stretching my arms in front of me. My head rests on the mat, and my body relaxes into the yoga position child’s pose, allowing my back, neck, and other muscles to unwind. I breathe in and out, slowing my breath until most of the tension melts away. My head clears enough to rid the poison that Venom has flooded my bloodstream and every thought with, drugged me to the point that I lost focus. The sad part is I thought I was immune.
I’m not.
There is a silver lining to all of this. I learned that keeping your enemies close isn’t always the wisest approach. The antidote is to refocus and keep my distance from Edge and the rest of them. I can’t and won’t give up on what I set out to do.
New strength and vigor slowly seep back into my tired body. There must be a way to learn more about this fight team. It’s been less than two months since I started at Monarch. The few things I know for sure: who the four players are that make up Venom at school, Edge is considered their leader, Python is part of them but older, and there is most definitely someone higher than Edge who oversees them. As for who that may be, I have no idea. Kade said something about Edge’s dad. Could it be him?
My Sherlock Holmes brain starts kicking around some ideas. The one that sticks out is Python. He was forced to lose the other night after he was forced to win over my father. Why? He might be the key to all of this.
