The Grace In Darkness (9 page)

The Soul Keeper
,
aka River White, stood and bowed dramatically. He was tall and wide, and unlike more than half of the guys here, he was a ladies
’
man. Not that you could tell that by the way he was dressed, but he liked playing the part. His face was painted black and a white skull outlined his facial features. He wore a top hat and jacket to match his persona and the surroundings. He looked like a cross between Jack Skellington and the Mad Hatter. River was in charge of taking, placing, and collecting every fighter
’
s
soul,
as they referred to it. He was also in charge of
the placers;
those were all the stragglers who put bets on their fighter.

River was an all right kid. He ran with Stitch and his crew and he was the baby of the group. We
’
d gone to school together, but that was short lived when he got kicked out for hitting a teacher. The wildfire that is high school rumors spread like crazy, but it was all speculation because River never told anyone the real reason he lashed out. Ever since then, he
’
d been in and out of schools and in and out of trouble. Stitch wasn
’
t the best influence, but he wasn
’
t exactly the worst, and since River had become a part of The Underground, he was doing all right for himself.

“
Don
’
t you ever get tired of this hellhole, Sebastian?
”
“
Do
you
ever get tired of this hellhole?
”

River grinned at us and straddled his chair again.
“
Not one damn bit.
”
He nodded his head toward me.
“
Long time no see, Dare. I heard you got into some trouble this summer.
”

My eyes narrowed and my shoulders tensed.
“
Trouble?
”

“
Yeah...
”
he said slowly and looked at Sebastian.
“
I heard your big brother got you a couple hours in jail for being in the wrong place at the wrong time...
”

I relaxed.
“
Yeah, he
’
s a douche like that. It
’
s what I get for trying to help his sorry ass.
”

“
That
’
s what brothers are for, right?
”
Sebastian said, throwing an arm around my neck, cutting off my air supply.

“
Get off me,
”
I growled and shoved him away.

“
So what am I collecting?
”
River asked Sebastian.

“
The usual. Who
’
s fighting tonight? Anyone good?
”

River
’
s lips thinned and he shrugged.
“
Eh. A lot of the regulars. No one special. You making a comeback tonight, Ryland?
”

“
I wouldn
’
t put it that way.
”

Sebastian pushed my shoulder and moved in close to make a dome of privacy.
“
You don
’
t have to fight tonight, little brother. You know I was all talk,
”
he said quietly.

“
You
’
ve got to be shitting me.
”

Sebastian and I groaned and turned around. Craze and his flock stood behind us. He was squinting at us with a dumbass grin on his dumbass face.

He looked exactly the same as he had the last time I saw him, except he was sporting a massive busted eye and split lip. His knuckles were covered in blood and he kept closing and opening his fists. He spit toward our feet, but it came up short. I looked up toward his spit and grinned at him.

“
You missed.
”

“
What the fuck are you doing here, little Dare?
”
he asked, folding his arms and shifting.
“
You
’
re not seriously planning on fighting, are you?
”

“
So what if I am?
”

He slapped his thigh and hollered.
“This
I
’
ve got to see! Better yet. This
I
’
ve got to be a part of. Soul Keeper, put me down with little Dare.
”
He glanced at me and lifted his eyebrows.
“
Unless you
’
re too chicken shit, little Dare? What do you think, guys? You think he
’
s too chicken shit to fight me?
”

“
You win
one
fight and you think you
’
re king of the fucking world?
”
I laughed.
“
I hate to tell you, Craze, but you
’
re like a Chihuahua. All bark and zero bite.
”

“
Come on, Ryland. He
’
s not even worth the wasted blood.
”

“
No,
”
I said, and Sebastian stopped mid-turn.
“
I
’
ll fight him. He needs to be put in his place and I
’
ll be more than happy to be the one to do it.
”

I took off my hoodie and shoved it toward Sebastian. I could see him staring at me out of the corner of his eye. He was worried, but he didn
’
t need to be.

“
Slow down, fellas,
”
River said behind us.
“
There
’
s the matter of your soul to take care of.
”

Twenty minutes later, Sebastian and I stood outside the pit. Everyone had gathered around like it was some grand event. Sebastian was pretty famous around here so everyone wanted front-row seats to see what his little brother could do.

“
Are you sure you want to do this with your hand all fucked up?
”

“
It
’
s fine,
”
I said, dismissing it.

Truth was it was sore as hell. The swelling had gone down and that was something. I flexed my fingers and tried to ignore the slight pain along my knuckles.

“
You can
’
t fight it bare, Ryland. You
’
ll only screw it up more. Give it here.
”

“
Sebastian-
”

“
Ryland, quit being so damn stubborn and give me your fucking hand!
”

I sighed and held it out in his direction. He placed something soft over my knuckles and I made a face at the discomfort. Starting at my wrist, he wrapped up my hand and over my knuckles. I gritted my teeth against the pain as he weaved through my inflamed fingers.

“
This isn
’
t a magic wrap, but it will keep you from screwing up your knuckles more.
”

I nodded and he did the same thing to the other side. I was too busy watching the growing crowd that I wasn
’
t paying attention to Sebastian. He smeared something under my eye and across my cheekbone, and I pulled away from him, putting up my hands.

“
What the fuck are you doing?
”

I touched my cheek and my fingertips came away slick and greasy.

“
Dude, chill out. It
’
s just Vaseline. It
’
ll give you an edge.
”

I frowned at him and then took it from him to finish smearing it on the other cheek.

“
Drink this,
”
he said, handing me a shot glass.

I looked at the shot in his hand and then at him, taking it slowly. He was staring at Craze, who was surrounded by a group of people on the other side of the pit.

“
What is it?
”
I asked, bringing it to my lips.

He finally looked over at me.
“
Liquid super power. If you
’
re anything like me, you
’
ll fight better after two or three of these,
”
he said, producing two more shots out of nowhere.

“
Two or three? I don
’
t want to be knocked on my ass, Sebastian.
”

“
Just drink it,
”
he said, holding the small glass toward me.

I eyed him for a second before hitting my glass to his. Gold liquid coated the rim and slid down the side onto my fingers, but I ignored it and slammed the shot the same time as Sebastian. It was a bitch going down, burning a trail along my throat, but by the time it hit my stomach, only a warm sensation lingered. I handed him back the shot and he shoved another one in my hand.

“
One more for the road.
”
He tipped his round toward me and downed it before I could comment. I followed suit and handed him the second empty glass.
“
Go get
‘
em, little brother.
”

I took a deep breath and waited for that warm sensation to flow through my system, pulling my shirt over my head. I decided not to waste a perfectly good shirt with Craze
’
s blood.

“
How much do you remember from watching me fight?
”
Sebastian was at my side again.

“
Enough,
”
I said curtly, planting my hands on my hips.

I was starting to feel numb and I knew the alcohol was working its magic.

“
This isn
’
t the time for Dare ego, little brother. I need to know what you remember and what I need to teach you in the next five minutes.
”

“
I said enough, Sebastian!
”
I snapped and walked over to the pit entrance.

Sebastian followed, but I ignored him and pulled myself onto the pit platform. The floor was scuffed up from one end to the other and covered in dirt and old bloodstains. Bright lights bore down on the pit
’
s stage and it felt like I was being cooked under their harsh heat. Everything around the pit was swallowed in darkness and I tried to squint to see the growing crowd around us.

“
Fighterssssssss... to your corners!
”
River
’
s voice boomed overhead and everyone cheered.

I backed into my corner and Sebastian was there behind me. He leaned onto the rope that lined the pit, marking the boundaries between fighters and placers.

“
Keep your punches low. He
’
s already taken more broken ribs than he can handle. It
’
ll also hurt less. He
’
s left-handed so use that to your advantage. Remember, there are no rules, so don
’
t worry about fighting dirty because you can bet your ass he will.
”

“
Anything else I should know?
”

“
Yeah. Don
’
t let him knock you out.
”

“
Gee, thanks.
”

River
’
s voice boomed again and he repeated his spiel from before and then went on to confirm Sebastian
’
s earlier statement.

“
And the rules...
”
River smirked.
“
Well, that
’
s easy. There are no rules!
”

“
Let
’
s get on with it,
”
Craze yelled, spitting off to the side. A random girl squealed in disgust as she was hit by it. She cursed Craze out and threw him the middle finger before storming off. Craze showed no interest as he stared me down with a small tilt to his lips, cracking his knuckles with his other hand.

Off to the side of the pit, a fight broke out between two placers. Glass bottles shattered and girls screamed as two guys fought over whatever had pissed them off. Finally, the two guys were pulled apart and dragged outside.