Burn (Brothers of Ink and Steel #2) (16 page)

My right leg curls up and around the barbed wire fence. The barbs pierce through the denim fabric of my blue jeans. It hurts, but I know it won’t hurt much longer.

I think I hear my name, but I’m probably imagining it. I’m not turning back now, anyway. I’ve come so far.

I feel strong hands with long fingers grip painfully around my waist and heave me downward.

I try to hold on, but it’s too much force. My fingers are torn away from the cold steel.

I land hard on the frozen ground, tangled around another body.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?” Liam screams into my face. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING!?”

The jolt of the ground wakes me up. The trance is broken. But now I can’t answer him. I can’t even look at him. I’m so ashamed of myself in so many ways …

“GOD-FUCKING-DAMN IT, QUINN!” he shouts. “ANSWER ME!” 

I writhe on the ground. I’m ashamed that I would kill myself, disgusted that I failed and sick because all the emotions I was trying to escape are crashing in on me with an unstoppable force.

Liam grasps my upper arms, forcing my face up, and shakes me violently. “FUCKING ANSWER ME!”

“I CALLED MY MOTHER! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!” I yell. “I DON’T WANT YOU TO DIE! I JUST DON’T WANT TO FEEL ANYMORE! I just want the pain to stop. And it’s never going to stop! I’m going to feel like this forever!”

“Why did you call her, Quinn?!” he implores.

My lip quivers and I begin to shake and cry uncontrollably. “I just want to go home! I need to go home! I want my mom! But she doesn’t even
want
me. She hates me.” I can’t stop the flurry of thoughts as I bring my knees up to my chest and wrap my arms around them. “She reminded me, in no uncertain terms, that I’m her worst mistake; that she should have aborted me when she had the chance. I’ve heard it all before, but somehow … I guess I thought maybe, since I’ve been away from home as long as I have been, she’d change her mind. She’d miss me. I knew I shouldn’t have called her … I don’t want to feel this.” I rock myself back and forth.

“Quinn.” Liam pulls me into his arms and holds me tightly. “Quinn, look at me.”

I try to gather the courage to look into his face, but I feel embarrassed. I want to run away and hide, but there’s nowhere left to run.

He sets his hands behind my ears and around my head and forces me to face him. “Open your eyes.” His voice is different; it’s choked, and I realize he’s crying.

I do what he asks. Tears are falling from his eyes.

“Just because your mother doesn’t love you, doesn’t mean nobody else does!”

“What does that mean, Liam?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“Who? Who loves me? No one loves me.”

“I love you, Quinn! I love you.” His thumbs stroke my cheeks as he searches my eyes. “You’re irreplaceable.” 

He’s so beautiful and strong and sincere, and he makes me want to believe there could be something good in this world as he crushes me against him, hugging me so hard I can barely breathe.

“Promise me you won’t
ever
do that again!” he shouts and cries at the same time. “You
promised
you wouldn’t leave me, and killing yourself is most definitely
leaving me
!”

“And what about you fighting? Isn’t that the same thing?” I whisper, afraid to make the only person who may love me angry at me and, at the same time, not able to stop myself. “I know what it is. I know the danger you’re in.”

Liam lets out a long, deep sigh. “Yeah, I suppose it is just like that.”

“If you love me, please don’t go through with it. We don’t need the money. We could hitchhike or something,” I try. “As long as we’re together we can do anything, right?”

He leans back away from me, and I know this is the part where he tells me to go fuck off and walks away.

“I already booked the fight, Quinn,” he says, stroking my hair. “They’ll come and find me if I don’t show up.”

My brain races for a cure. “There are six fights, right? I’m sure fighters have to cancel for … something.”

“The only way you get out of it is if you’re in the hospital or in jail,” Liam explains, wrapping strands of my hair around his fingers.

Those aren’t good options.

“Hospital or jail means police, and police mean I could get charged with assaulting the Richardsons.”

“Even though they attacked you? And you were defending yourself?”

“Who is going to believe that? It’ll be my word against theirs.”

“Unless I speak up.”

“Then they throw you into St. Anne’s. I don’t want you in a place like that,” he says. “I’d have a better chance of doing my time and then finding you once I get out.”

“We could run,” I say. “Right now. Turn south and just keep going.”

He considers me. “Is that what you really want to do? We’ll be hand-to-mouth, with no help and no money.”

“I’m positive,” I assure him. “I can’t stay here anymore.” I need to be as far away from her as possible.

“We’d have to leave now, today, before they come for me,” he says.

I nod. “I understand.”

Liam helps me back onto my feet. “Okay then. We’ll get our stuff and go.”

We’re both freezing, neither of us have a coat on. He takes my hand in his, puts it to his mouth and blows warm air over it.

“Do you mean it?” I ask.

“Whatever I say, I mean.”

“So, you love me?”

“I definitely love you.”

I lay my head on his shoulder as we walk back to Randy’s.

“Remember, if anything goes wrong inside of you like that or your emotions are fucking with you and you’re scared, talk to me—about whatever it is. Don’t ever run from me and never, never give up your life. That would kill me.”

I tearfully nod and hold on even tighter.

We get up the sidewalk, closer to the house, when I see a brown paper bag of groceries that looks like it was haphazardly dropped to the ground. A carton of eggs is busted open and they’re oozing onto the concrete. Liam stoops over and carefully salvages what he can.

I know it’s my fault. That was money and food wasted.

I swallow. “Liam, I’m—”

“Don’t say it,” he interrupts me. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.”

I stand quietly, biting on the inside of my cheek—a bad habit I have when I feel nervous.

He picks up the bag and we step into the house. Randy’s still sitting at the kitchen table with his face buried in his laptop.

“What have you guys been doing?” he asks impatiently.

“Nothing. Hey, Randy, I’ve got to talk to you,” Liam says.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Quinn and I are going to take off.”

“You have to leave for the city by nine o’clock,” Randy reminds him.

“That’s what I’m talking about. Her and me, we’re just going to blow town, get someplace warm, start over.”

“What the fuck, man? You can’t just fucking leave. This is a big fucking fight tonight.” He stands from his chair, confused.

“Yeah, that’s why it’s better I’m taking off right now,” Liam states with confidence. “Don’t worry, man, we’ll be out of town hours before the fight. They’ll never know I’m gone until it’s too late. I’m going downstairs to get our stuff. Thanks again, man, for letting us crash here.”

“No problem.” Randy looks unenthusiastic.

Liam and I go to the basement and start stuffing our belongings into our packs.

“It would have been nice to make something hot to eat before we took off.” He shrugs. “But fuck it, we’ll bring what we can and stop for cheeseburgers along the way.” He smiles at me. “And don’t worry, we still have some cash left.”

I manage a weak smile back. Truthfully, I’m physically and emotionally drained. I’d like nothing more than to lay here under our blankets and let him hold me and kiss me in the warm safety of our pretend house. I dig deep for some reserve strength; I know I’m going to need it tonight.

We wash up our hands and faces, getting rid of the tear streaks and grass stains, and change out of the wet clothes we rolled around on the ground in, putting on warm layers of fresh clothes to keep us going through the night.

Once we’re packed and ready, we head back upstairs. Liam says goodbye to Randy. I thank him too, and he walks us to the door.

The moment we step outside, we notice the disturbingly out-of-place black Cadillac parked across the street.

Liam eyes it cautiously.

The front passenger door opens. A big guy gets out and opens the back door.

“Keep walking, Quinn,” Liam tells me.

But it’s too late.

“Liam,” I whisper. “That’s Vince, leader of the Westhill Cartel!”

“Randy, what the fuck did you do?” Liam seethes at his friend.

“Man, I have five hundred dollars riding on you tonight,” Randy admits.

“You sold out your friend for
five hundred dollars
?” I spit.

“Why the fuck would you call Vince?” Liam’s hands keep pressing into fists as we watch Vince and his two thug cronies follow him into the middle of the vacant street towards us.

“It’s easy, you’re supposed to be fighting tonight
for
Tommy Bonito from Chicago
against
Vince Ortega’s guy. I don’t have Bonito’s number …”

“So you called Vince, ’cause he’d be losing money,” Liam finishes.

“Looks like you’re going on a vacation, Knight.” Vince’s words ooze out like slime.

“Just checking out of this douchebag’s hotel.”

“Weren’t going to skip town on fight night, were you?” Vince’s fake nice guy tone is frightening.

“Why the fuck would I do that?” Liam stiffens his back. “You shouldn’t get your information from an asshole, all you get is shit.”

Vince laughs, but it sounds sinister.

That’s when he turns his attention to me. “Hey, pretty little bitch. I haven’t forgotten you still owe me.”

“I don’t owe you anything!” My voice shakes.

“You know, Knight,” Vince begins. “I just came up with a plan that might allow you to live. I’ll keep the girl with me as collateral, and once you show up tonight at the fight, I’ll give her back to you.” Vince licks his lips as he looks me up and down. “She’ll be more—or less—intact.”

His words and intent send chills shooting down my spine.

Vince’s two goons come forward, closing in on me, as if I’m simply an object to take.

Liam steps directly in front of me. “Call off your apes, shit-for-brains, or I’ll light you up right here.”

“Now that’s the fighter I want to see,” Vince states with a lift of his chin. “It’ll be great entertainment to watch my guy kick the living fuck out of you tonight. Unless, of course, you’re already dead because these guys kill you first,” Vince says. “Get the girl.”

Liam doesn’t wait for them to get any closer. He runs at the bigger of the two and slams his fist into the guy’s face.

The second guy closes in on him and sends a right hook into Liam’s ribs.

Liam recovers, turns and elbow jabs the guy in the throat, which makes him back up and gasp for air.

I start screaming, praying someone will hear us, see what’s going on out here and call the cops.

That’s when Randy grabs my arms. “Shut up!”

I knee him hard in the balls.

“Fuck!” The single word squeezes from his lungs as he turns pale and buckles to his knees on the blacktop.

“Asshole!” I punch him in the face.

When I turn back around, Liam has Vince’s guy on the ground and is pounding his face in, but the other guy is recovering from the throat hit and is moving back in.

“LIAM, WATCH OUT!” I cry.

Vince is leaning against his car with a wide grin on his face. He looks at me and mouths the words,
You. Are. Mine.

Liam bounces up and off his opponent.

“We don’t want any trouble, Vince.” Liam points his finger at him.

“I think you do.” Vince is still smiling.

“I’ll come with you now and fight tonight,” Liam says. “But you don’t
ever
bother the girl again.”

“You’re giving
me
a stipulation?” Vince laughs.

That’s when the guy who’d been socked in the throat comes up and lunges at Liam with a long switchblade. Liam moves quickly to evade it, but the knife still catches his upper arm and slices a deep gash. Almost immediately, crimson spreads down the arm of his shirt.

“NO!” I shout and run forward to him.

“Quinn, stay back!” Liam yells at me, holding his good arm out like a barrier.

I halt in my tracks.

In that moment, the guy brings his knife hand up again, this time in a high arc. When it comes down, Liam spins out and away from him, pivots back up close and pummels the guy in the gut.