I run through the crowd toward the door as Evie catches up to me.
“Where are you going?” she says.
“This is horrible, I can’t watch him getting beaten to a pulp.”
She grabs my hand before I walk away. “I’m going with you.”
We pass the guard near the door, who flashes us a look, and then we go out through the door. The noises behind us are still too much to take, so we go all the way up the stairs until we’re outside on the streets again. I can finally breathe again.
“Damn, that was scary,” Evie says. “What the fuck is going on? Why did you get tickets for this? Is Hunter in some kind of underground fight club or something? Those guys all wore the same shirt, something with Alpha Psi on it. What the fuck does it mean?”
I stare at her, panting. She squints.
“You’ve not been telling me the entire story, have you?”
“I didn’t know it was this bad,” I say. “Yes, he’s in a frat club. An illegal one. And they deal drugs and fight with people.”
“What?” she snaps. “Deal drugs? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish I was, but it’s the truth. Hunter’s involved in something way beyond normal.”
“No shit. And you knew about this?”
“Partially …” I say.
She taps her foot on the floor. “Well, I don’t expect you to share everything, but the least you could’ve told me was that your boyfriend is a freaking criminal!”
“He’s not. He’s doing this for his brother, Jessie.”
“His brother? What does that have to do with any of this?”
I sigh. “It’s hard to explain right now. There’s a lot more to it. Can you just trust me? I promise I’ll tell you when this is all over.”
She sighs, frowning. “Fine. As long as we go home right now.”
I bite my lip. There’s nothing more that I want right now than to go home and forget all about this, but something inside me wants to go back to Hunter, too. I want to talk to him. No, I need to. I need to know why he’s doing this, and why he never told me about the arena. This is about more than just the money, it has to be. There’s no way he’d be looking for the boss of Alpha Psi, putting his own life at risk, just for money. There must be something I’m missing.
“I want to talk to him,” I say.
“Oh fuck no, you’re not being serious, are you?” Evie says.
“I am. Look, you just go on ahead.”
“What? I can’t let you go in there by yourself. Nu uh, no way.”
“Please. I need to talk to him. I don’t want to drag you any more into this than I already have.”
“It’s dangerous down there.”
“That’s why I’m saying you have to go. Go to the dorm. Let me handle this.”
“No.”
“Evie! Please,” I beg.
She rubs her face with her hand, groaning. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, I need to do this.”
It’s quiet for a few seconds before she says, “Okay. But you have to promise me you’ll come back.”
“I will.”
“No, you’ll be in perfect health, no scratch on you. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I promise, Evie, I’ll look out for myself,” I smile.
She hesitantly smiles back. “Okay. See you back at campus.”
She turns around, still looking back at me over her shoulder, while I open the door and go back inside. Back down the stairs of hell.
Chapter 27
Truth Unfolds
I take one huge breath before I storm into the building again. I hold up my ticket for the guard to see, in case he doesn’t remember me storming out two minutes ago. He doesn’t even groan this time, and I pass him without an effort. I guess they’re used to fiery types here.
I walk through the crowd again, but instead of going toward the bleachers, I go straight for the cage.
I easily reach the center, and cling onto the bars as I peer inside. No one stops me. Apparently, nobody cares.
I look inside and see the man who tried to rape me lying lifelessly on the floor, his body limp. I swallow away the fear I had of Hunter going down this time. I look up and see him standing there, buckled over, holding his own head. Blood drips from his mouth. He’s still breathing, but barely.
“Hunter,” I yell.
In an instant he turns around and gazes at me with furor. Fear settles in his eyes the moment he realizes it’s me.
He immediately steps toward me and grabs my hand. “Fuck,” is the first thing he says. “I can’t believe you came here.”
“I can’t either. What the hell are you doing? Is this just for the money?”