He gives me a curt nod. “Which fighter, ma’am?”
I lift my chin, a reflexive action. “Atticus.”
Points go to me for remembering to use Wraith’s fake name.
Nate hesitates for a fraction of a second. Front gate,” he says into the mic strapped to his left shoulder.
After a brief pause, a voice returns, “Go ahead.”
“Elite escort needed.”
No one other than authorized personnel is allowed to roam free in the Coliseum. God only knows what other secrets David is hiding down here.
“Affirmative.”
“It’ll be a minute, Mrs. Crane.”
I have no words to describe how much I loathe being called that name. And Nate, a bear of a man, doesn’t make the wait pleasant. He stands there, geared to the teeth for an imaginary battle, making me all kinds of uncomfortable.
“Thank you.” I turn away to look everywhere but at him.
The man seems to want to make it impossible to ignore him. “Don’t take this the wrong way, ma’am, but I’m surprised to see you here.”
I swing around, taken back at his audacity. “Are you?”
“As I said, Mrs. Crane, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way because I don’t mean any disrespect. I just didn’t peg you for the type.”
I arch a brow and square my shoulders. “What type would that be, Nate?”
He removes the sunglasses, and a hint of a smile plays on lips almost entirely hidden by a thick brown beard. He’s not an ugly man. Not exactly handsome, but he’s not entirely unappealing. “You’re such a tidy little thing. Didn’t take you for a woman who likes it rough.”
“Ah, I see.” I scrape a scowl over him, taking him in from the tip of his steel-toe boots to the top of his black-baseball-capped head. I suck in a breath between my teeth, then blow it out on a wistful sigh. “Guess it depends on who’s doing the roughing.”
He takes a step toward me. Glances at the camera. Shakes his head as if second-guessing whatever it is he plans to do, then moves back to his station. “Not much surprises me, Mrs. Crane, but you sure shock the hell out of me.”
Give me time, Nate, and I’ll hopefully shock you to death—you and everyone else who has a hand in running Gomorrah.
And then the door opens, and out steps Roger, who looks wrong in this bleak environment. I should have never brought my friends in on my plan, but I can’t save Wraith alone. And yes, my snap decision was also a selfish one, but what’s done is done, and I can’t take it back. All we can do is move forward and make sure we pull this off with none of us getting killed in the process.
“Ma’am.” Roger greets me with intentional formality. There’s a world of worry reflected in his warm brown eyes. It sends an icy wave of dread crashing over me.
I offer him an equally banal smile. “Good morning, Roger.”
“Follow me, Mrs. Crane.”
I fall in step behind him. When I walk by Nate, the brassy bastard brushes my arm. I bite back disgust at the contact and enter the Coliseum. The weight of the building’s misery is crippling as I skirt along the edge of the arena. I blink against the overwhelming sting of bleach. David has every inch of the place sanitized after an event—a necessity given the mess left in the wake of a Fight Night.
Cameras watch us, so we say nothing. Instead, I keep my expression blank as we descend the corridor toward the dungeon. My shoes bang against concrete, the echo like gunfire. I can’t stop myself from thinking about the fighters who marched this hallway, not knowing if they’d make a return trip. And then I think about Wraith, and a selfish side of me rears its ugly head. It makes me want to disappear with him. Forget Gomorrah and the Coliseum. But what David is doing, and the people he’s hurting… Someone has to stop him and help them.
Afraid of what I’ll see when I get to Elite, I remind myself that Wraith is strong. Strong enough to survive whatever torture he’s endured. He has to be because I can’t accept losing him when we’re so close to freedom.
You never had him.
I try to silence my conscience, but it’s persistent. A nagging voice to remind me I lost Wraith the day I decided not to return to Mayhem.
“Kill the cameras and open Gate One for Mrs. Crane,” Roger calls out to Control when we arrive at the first barrier. The bars slide open, the creak loud in the insulated dungeon.
I note the red indicator lights on the surrounding cameras die, and I fall in step beside Roger as we enter the Hub.
