Page 70 of Fool Me Twice

Ash gave as good as he got. He somehow found leverage and flipped them over, wrapping his arm around Cane’s neck and locking it with the other.

Cane saw red.

The crowd was louder than ever, shouts ringing in his ears as he tried to free himself. They went wild when he slammed his elbow back and smashed Ash in the ribs, hard enough to cut his breath short.

Enough to make him stumble, and then Cane was free again.

Both of them jumped back up to their feet, ready to go at each other again. Ash looked just as feral as Cane felt. Just as hungry to win.

Cane saw the opening.

Ash dropped his guard on the left and Cane took a booted foot and drove the heel directly into the spot where Hart had said Ash’s cursemark was located.

Ash’s swollen eye widened as he fell to his knees, clutching the abused area.

Cane stepped forward to deliver the final blow, lifting his other leg to land a heavy kick on Ash’s temple while his guard was completely down. He could feel the buzz of victory bubbling in his blood. Could hear the baying in his ears.

“Slatehollow Police Department! Nobody move!”

Confusion and panic swept through the warehouse like a wave as bodies in familiar black and red uniforms swarmed the exits in full riot gear, weapons already drawn.

Cane felt true fear overtake him for the first time as he watched the crowds disperse, a sense of finality making a pit in his chest as cuffs and armed weapons glinted in the air. This wasn’t a house call. They had something to have come this hard.

He’d been outplayed completely.

He watched numbly as the pieces fell down around his ears. One by one. Like his blood dripping to the floor.

It was over.

“CANE!” Ash hissed over the cacophony, stumbling back to his feet next to him and wiping blood from his brow. “Where’s Hart?”

The name sparked some life into Cane, and he scanned the mass of bodies for a familiar head.

The overhead lights came on with a quiet boom, flooding the area, but Cane still couldn’t see. He walked to the cage bars just as they began to rise.

A huge officer broke through the crowd with two others flanking him, dragging a man by the arms between them. They marched straight for Cane.

Cane recognized the hair, and the clothes. He saw that even though he was being escorted, he hadn’t been cuffed, which was the most glaring detail of all.

“Ares?” Cane whispered, already guessing, somehow knowing, hating the way it affected him still. The betrayal. The sting of it.

It was stupid really.

What had he been hoping for exactly? That it would skip him somehow? That Ares’s loyalty to him would bypass the curse?

Ares glanced at him and then looked away, the same shamed, blank look on his face as the others.

“Phillip Rutter,” the officer said from behind his blacked-out riot helmet. All that could be seen was his sneering mouth. “You’re under arrest. Please come in peacefully.”

Cane clenched his jaw at the use of his government name and ignored him. “Ares.”

Ares cringed and said hoarsely, “Cane…I didn’t—”

“Mr. Redding is also in custody. You’re not permitted to exchange information,” the officer cut him off.

“Like hell I can’t,” Cane said, jumping down from the ring and storming toward them. “Move out of the fucking way.”

“Cane, don’t—” Ash called after him, but he couldn’t hear anything over the roar in his ears.