When Nothing Is All You've Got Page 11

  This was good. Grace would be safe, for now. The blues were here for petty crimes, mostly thieves, prostitutes, and some minor drug offenses. Scotty wouldn’t harm a child, and Regan would give her the gentle comfort she needed to get settled in. Rocket and Claire were a good match. They’d been lovers in the above world before being charged with NIM possession and distribution, and since being dropped in the Underworld almost two years ago, they’d kicked the drug habit and had made a hardworking contribution to the underworld. Rocket was a big man, the kind that looked full of air with bulging muscles. Claire was the opposite, fine and petite with a shy disposition. They made one of the best beer brews in the Underworld, and Kingsley paid them well in supplies and a large two room home that, up until recently, had been shared with Ivy, a girl in her late teens who had moved on to live with her new boyfriend. Rocket could definitely protect both Claire and Grace, and Claire would add a motherly touch.

  “Oh, and, girl,” Kingsley stopped at the doorway and spared me a backwards glance, “you’re back in the cage in three nights. Timber apparently has a score to settle.” With that, he left.

  Shadow cursed softly from the other side of the room, and Dejohn ushered Regan back in to help collect Grace and her worldly possessions. As the door closed, silence descended on the small room as Dejohn and Shadow watched me with something akin to fear in their eyes.

  “You’re not healed,” Shadow growled.

  “How bad ah yuh ribs?” Dejohn asked calmly.

  “They’ll be good enough in three days, but you might want to get your hands on those happy pills you found for me that time when Greta and the floozy whores beat on me.”

  Dejohn cursed this time, which was as amusing as it was surprising, and Shadow’s face morphed back into that stony mask he wore so well. It was the same look he possessed the night he whipped me, and I could see it with more clarity now. There was no pleasure behind those dark eyes; it was pure fear and fury forcing the adrenaline through his veins. “While you two ladies talk doom and gloom, I’m off to the gym.”

  I couldn’t stand the worry in Dejohn’s eyes, or the fear in Shadow’s. They were wearing emotions neither of them wore well, and I couldn’t handle that right now. I needed steadfast acceptance and action. There was no point dwelling on possibilities. I had a fight, and I’d win; there was no other choice.

  *

  I sat with my hands tied tightly behind a stiff, wooden chair, and a dark length of fabric covered my eyes and tied at the back of my head. This was a vulnerable as I got, willingly tied up like the proverbial Thanksgiving turkey, which I had never once been fortunate enough to set eyes upon, let alone taste. Ironically, this was also as close to freedom as I ever got. I was on the other side of the Wild Zone, in the maze of corridors that led to the above world. After sitting on the floor in the middle of one of the cages, my eyes already covered by the fabric I had willingly wrapped around my head, I was led by an unknown man into the above world side of confinement. One right, followed by ten paces, a left, twelve more paces, a right, the smell of antiseptic strong for a stretch of half a dozen more steps. Soon, we passed through a doorway, and then I was seated in a chair, facing away from the door. It had been the same routine on the same date every year for eight long years now. The first time I had taken this journey, I’d been tempted into such a defenseless position with the promise of salvation. Eight years later, we were still playing the same game, only now I knew there would never be salvation. However, if they were going to use me as their pawn, I was damn well going to get something in return for it.

  The shuffling of footsteps indicated someone else had entered the room. There were now perhaps five in total surrounding me.

  “Good to see you again, Nada,” came the familiar voice. It was a man’s voice, gentle and articulate, indicating intelligence. I didn’t bother replying; after all, it wasn’t like it was good to see him, too. “Are you ready to begin?” he went on, obviously sensing my reluctance for pleasantries.

  “I have more to add to the list.”

  Silence filled the room, and as much as it unnerved me to be sitting amongst unknown forces, tied up with a neat little bow, I kept steady and still.

  “We agreed it would be innocents only.”

  “I think it’s clear to everyone in this room that there are more innocents down that hole, not just the unfortunates born there. I think you are more than aware that there are people being delivered into the Wild Zone who shouldn’t be here.”

  More silence.

  “We can’t help them all; we don’t have the resources.”

  “You’ve had eight years in the making. I’m sure you can manage it.”

  “We are only but a handful. Between the danger of facing off against Kingsley and his men, getting them out, then hiding them from Maximus and his soldiers in the world above, it’s impossible.”

  “If you want me to talk, you will add to your list. It’s as simple as that.” I wasn’t backing down, and I had nothing to lose. They could toss me back in the Underworld, and life would go on. They could put a bullet in my head and free me from this pathetic existence, or they could meet my demands, and I would tell them everything they wished to know.

  “How many?” the voice grudgingly conceded.

  “At least fifty-two, but I’ll need to review some records. There may be more.”

  My numbers were met with a deep sigh, and, of course, more silence.

  “We can’t do any more than sixty on top of the eighty-five innocents, and, Nada . . . I trust you’re not unleashing any reds back into our world. We are trusting your judgement on this.”

  I nodded. “You’ve got your own people inside. Will you be taking them, too?”

  I heard the soft whisper of clothing move. The man in front of me had shifted . . . with unease?

  “How do you know we have someone else inside?”

  “Rumors. Kingsley talks about it often. He believes there is a mole. I believe there are several.”

  “We take care of our own. You don’t need to worry. Now, tell us what you’ve got.”

  “I’m not meeting with you any more after this.”

  “Our plan for extraction is in two months. You won’t need to. Let’s start with eleven months, three weeks, and six days ago, the day after our last meeting.”

  I drew in a deep breath of air, and expelled it before I began. “October third,” I whispered, “Kingsley had one of his soldiers, Digger, put down. He took Kingsley’s latest whore without permission. He caught them in bed together and dragged them to the cage where they were both killed as a lesson to everyone in the Underworld: you don’t fuck with the king’s possessions. Their throats were slit, and they were as naked as the day they were born.”

  And for the next six and a half hours, I told them everything. Every sordid detail, names, fights, alliances, secret passageways, underground bunkers, weapons, weaknesses . . . everything old and everything new. Meeting number eight would be the last in eight long years of memories spilled to strangers while tied up and blindfolded.

  I wasn’t getting my own freedom out of this. The rebels were afraid of me, as if the way they had tied me up for their meetings wasn’t a dead giveaway. They didn’t want to unleash someone like me into their world. But I wouldn’t be staying. My salvation lay behind a crumbling stone in the corner of my room. This meeting was about the lives of innocents, some born in the darkness, some like Grace, one hundred and forty-five souls who were not meant to be in the Underworld. The last eight years of my life had been about carefully cultivating a rebel alliance in an effort to save those who couldn’t save themselves. And in two months’ time, their plan would be put into action, and I would take my disheveled piece of paper, my own salvation, and disappear.

  12

  SHADOW

  I watched as Nada threw a punch at Dejohn’s gloved hand. She moved light and fast on her feet around the old man, her hands held high, her body coiled tight, her muscles dancing as she thre
w punch after punch. Dressed in nothing more than black tights and a black sports bra, she was a sight to behold. The holster, with her knife tucked safely away inside, strapped to her leg almost made me come in my fucking pants. She was beautiful, even the black and purple bruises decorating her body couldn’t take that away. We were twenty-four hours out from the fight, and if Nada hadn’t been in her room eating and sleeping, she was down here in the darkest, dingiest gym in the Underworld, working the bag, skipping a rope, and throwing punches and kicks. A combination move of a jump and kick missed Dejohn’s head by no more than an inch, and that was about as much as I could take. I pushed myself off the wall and stepped into the grimy light that made a half assed effort at brightening up the large room.

  “Timber is going to throw punches back. It’s about time you worked with someone who can hit like a man.”

  They both paused, and Dejohn cast me a raised brow. “Ah you insulting mi?”

  “You’re too soft on her, Dejohn. She needs someone who’s not gonna pussyfoot around.”

  Dejohn suppressed a grin and lowered his arms, stepping aside with a grand sweep of his hand. “Be mi guest, Shadow.” He spoke my name with the respect it warranted, but something told me he was highly amused by the entire situation, and there was little deference to be found in his attitude.

  Nada watched me amble forward, a sheen of haughtiness behind those dark eyes, but also a shitload of wariness, which was what had kept her alive all these years.

  “Timber looks like a brawler, but in fact he’s a trained boxer. He’s quick, and even though he’s a few pounds heavier, you’re pretty evenly matched. His downfall is a high disregard for women, you especially. He knows you’ve got skills, but he’s too arrogant to consider he might lose this fight.”

  Nada shrugged and her eyes tried to follow me as I took a slow, leisurely stroll around her lean body, to her spectacular ass and legs, then back up again.

  “Doesn’t sound like anything I haven’t already encountered in the cage.”

  “Yeah, but he’s your first male trained fighter . . . and you’re injured.” She rolled her head, stretching out the muscles in her neck that would be quickly cooling down. “Timber favors his right, his feet move fast, but he can’t kick, and he has a tell.” Her head tilted slightly to one side as she considered the information I was divulging. I could see her confusion; she wondered what I was doing. Protecting what is mine. “He blinks hard before he throws a punch, and if he’s going with a right, he’ll dip ever so slightly to that side, same goes for the left.”

  Signaling to Dejohn with a ‘give me’ gesture, he threw me the gloves he’d been wearing moments before. I stuffed my fists into the hot confines, made sure they were secure, and smacked them together just once before raising my hands into a defensive position. “Show me what you got, tough girl.”

  Her grin took me by surprise, blinded me I guess you could say, because the sweeping kick she gave me took my feet out from under me and had me on my ass in less than five seconds flat. Taking a few short steps away, she bounced on the balls of her feet, her smile gone, her pissed off persona back in place. I grinned as I climbed to my feet, and she almost seemed as taken aback by it as I was by her.

  “Good start. Let’s hope Timber is as surprised by those rare smiles as I am. Again.”

  She only hesitated a moment before she began dancing around me. I threw a couple of punches, tapping her gloves, feeling her out. When her feet shifted and one leg rose to kick again, I blocked it and followed the move with an uppercut that she blocked easily. Instead of stepping away, as most opponents would, Nada kept her fists raised and continued to step into my body, reaching out with a heavy right jab, following it up with an elbow. It was a direct attack, and it had always been her best advantage. Nada always kept her combinations simple, but it was the clever way she delivered them and her direct approach that served her so well. She was able to break an attack down into fundamental maneuvers, taking into consideration things like the range, rhythm, depth, and angle, which basically gave her endless possibilities to keep things fresh and unexpected. I grunted when her elbow connected, and as soon as she dropped her fist, I swung. Her head snapped back as my fist connected, and for the briefest of moments, she looked shocked. She shook it off, though, and raised her hands again. The punch hadn’t been full strength, so it had been nothing more than a love tap. After whipping her tender flesh I’d made a decision, I’d rather die than ever truly hurt her again, I was as good as pussy-whipped.

  “Timber keeps a tight guard. You’re gonna have to open him up.” I drew my fists tightly together in front of my face. “Try it.” Her first attempt was to slap my gloves away to create an opening, but she didn’t have the strength to move me. Then she drew on dirty tactics and went for the crown jewels, raising her leg to knee me in the nuts. My hands instinctively dropped to protect the assets, and as soon as the opening was created, she went for my face. “Good girl,” I growled out as I tried to protect myself from her battering. Using my glove, I found an opening and more or less pushed her out of my space. Bouncing on the balls of her feet again, she stepped forward, feigning a jab with her right hand and bringing herself into my body with her right foot forward. When she went in low with the predictable right hook, she came at me with a solid punch from the left. I’d been prepared for it, so I was able to brush it off, but it was a good tactic that had taken out many of her opponents. I went on the offensive and threw a few heavy punches, moving forward, and she counteracted by taking a few steps back. Grinning, I feigned a right jab and went for her bruised, battered ribs, only to find myself flat on my back, the world around me spinning as it dipped in and out of focus. The sneaky bitch had allowed my offensive, drawing me in until I had overcommitted my footwork. Nada had used my forward momentum to duck and swing, which took me down heavily to the mat.

  When I regained my focus, it was to find a smiling Nada and Dejohn standing over me.

  “Good to see yuh don’t pussyfoot around,” Dejohn remarked. “Go get some rest an well meet back here tomorrow afta lunch for a light work-out before de fight,” he said to Nada before leaving the gym.

  “Anything else?” Nada asked as she pulled off her gloves. I shook my head, still lying prone on the mat. “I’m gonna hit the showers and get some sleep. You might want to grab some ice for your jaw.”

  And with that, she walked away, my eyes firmly glued to her ass. The girl was fucking spectacular.

  *

  I don’t know what I expected when I banged on her door an hour later, but a freshly showered Nada in a tiny pair of shorts and a thin, stretched black shirt that hung off her slim shoulder was not it. I appreciated it, but I’d never seen the girl in so few clothes before, and my cock sure as shit appreciated it, too. I held up a box of grilled chicken and some lettuce and tomato I had acquired from the hydroponic room. The Underworld had come a long way in a hundred years, creating their own way of growing vegetables in the darkness. In my other hand was some warm bread. Nada practically salivated all over me as she reached for the front of my shirt and dragged me into her room.

  “Where’d you get this?”

  “Someone owed me.”

  I set the food down on her small table and took in the cramped space. She didn’t have much . . . to be honest, she had nothing. A table, chair, and makeshift bed set slightly off the floor by a wooden pallet. A small box acted as a bedside table with a lantern burning away on top of it. Her clothes were tossed over an old, battered armchair that was squeezed into the corner. There was nothing that made the room hers, no personal items, nothing but a couple of half empty boxes filled with stuff for trade. I know she had some books stashed away in here somewhere; I’d caught her reading one the other day. But she obviously had a special place for things that were treasured or valuable. Stuffing the chicken and salad between two uneven slices of bread, Nada sat on her bed, her legs crossed before her, and began to eat like she hadn’t eaten in days. She ate better than m
ost, but the meals weren’t regular and fresh meat was few and far between. She paid me no attention as I sat on the wooden chair by the table and made my own dinner.

  “Where’d you go yesterday?”

  Nada went still at my question, and I could have sworn she looked panicked for a split second, before composure resettled on her shoulders.

  “Had shit to do and wanted to do it without someone looking over my shoulder.”

  There were plenty of places to hide in the Underworld, but Nada wasn’t the type to hide, and she had been MIA for several hours. Several hours that left me unsettled as I searched all the usual places I might find her. When I turned up with nothing, I could barely contain my panic. Then Scotty had mentioned he’d seen her up near the Wild Zone. I had no idea what she’d been doing up there, but I felt a curious emotion settle in my chest just knowing where she was and that she was safe.

  “What do you want with me, Shadow?” Nada asked, not so subtly changing the topic.

  “You’re mine,” I replied with a shrug as I bit into my sandwich.

  “I’m nothing. You can’t possess nothing,” she murmured.

  “You’re my nothin’,” I answered after a short moment.

  “So what? Daddy gave me away just like that? I’m worth too much in the cage for him to simply discard.”

  “I’ve never heard you call him that before.”

  “Did you not note the sarcasm?” she growled out.

  “Daddy issues?”

  “You think?” she retorted with a raised brow.

  “Anyway, Kingsley owns your ass in the cage. I own it everywhere else.”

  She barely contained a growl as she stared me down, the conflict and anger behind those simmering eyes clearly evident. I didn’t feel like I had won the battle of wills when she simply shrugged and turned her attention back to her dinner. I felt like I’d been fucking dismissed. I watched as Nada greedily licked each of her fingers once her sandwich was gone, and I imagined that mouth on a part of my anatomy, definitely not my fingers. I began to harden as the mental image filled my mind. Pushing the box of leftover chicken towards her, she didn’t hesitate to finish it. It was a survival instinct in the Underworld; eat while you can, because you never know when there’s gonna be a shortage.