Chapter Five

Luc

"I s he okay?" Cash asks.

I shake my head, "I don't think so. He doesn't do very well with people leaving him, not since his mom and sister. Then Ever disappeared too, and it's left him finding shit like this difficult."

As soon as I say her name, I regret it. The effect it has on all of us is obvious, as darkness clouds all of our features. The conversation of Ever always affects us and always will until she's back with us. We quickly realized when she was taken that she belonged with us, and as we grew up, so did our feelings for her.

Usually, we can have a conversation and reminisce about her without causing such a strong reaction, but there's an extra layer to it now.

"Should we talk about the other thing Atlas leaving is going to have an effect on?" Riot asks into the silence.

Trick's shoulders are tense as he replies, "I'm not sure there's much to say. Atlas was going to help us find her, but now he's gone, and he can't."

"We've got contacts of our own, so we can try to see if they've come up with any new leads since the last time we asked." Rafe signs.

Cash nods, "It's worth a shot; we haven't asked for an update for a while since Atlas said that he'd try and help, and he has so much more reach than we do."

"Do it," Trick replies, "we've got a few people who owe us favors. See what they come up with."

"On it," Cash replies. He already has his phone out and is tapping away.

"Should we tell Jensen?" Rafe asks.

"I'll text him and let him know; you know he doesn't like to face things head-on, and he's already on edge," I reply.

"Yeah, he needs the fight at the Pit." Trick replies, "Trev should get back to me tomorrow, and then at least I'll be able to give him some good news too."

"Yeah, good idea," Riot agrees and then adds, "Right, I'm off." He turns to look at Rafe, "Do you want a lift?"

Rafe signs yes and then waves at us before following Riot to his car.

"See you tomorrow," I call out after them.

"I've got to get back to," Cash says, still looking down at his phone, "I'll keep contacting everyone that I can and reminding them of their obligations to us."

"Thanks, man, see you tomorrow. We need to start getting the word out about the Pit, but I want to make sure everything is set for the new location first." Trick replies.

"Got it," Cash replies, "just give me let me know, and I'll start to spread the word. I can get some of our guys on it."

Trick nods, and we wave goodbye as we head inside. I didn't pack a bag or anything like that, but I often end up having to stay at Trick's, so I ended up keeping some stuff here in case I ever needed it. It worked out for the best since it meant I didn't have to try and go back to the mausoleum while my father was still on the fucking warpath.

"You staying tonight, Luc?" Jenny asks as we walk in the front door.

I nod, "Yes, if that's okay?"

"Of course, you know I'm always happy to have you boys here," she replies, although her eyes study me closely.

I sometimes wonder if she knows that there's something going on at home, but then I realize that if she did, then there's no way that she would ever let me go back.

"Thanks," I reply.

"There's food in the kitchen," she replies.

"As usual, Jen made too much," Rob chuckles as he smiles lovingly at his wife.

You only have to be around these two for a few minutes to realize that they're perfect for each other and still very much in love. It makes the issues my parents have even more glaringly obvious, but it is nice to know that real love does exist somewhere out there.

"Thanks, Mom," Trick replies.

**********

I've been at Trick's for a few days. School has been tense, but nothing has kicked off so far, for which I'm grateful. If anything kicks off before we can get the Pit up and running, then it's going to bring the spotlight back on us, and we won't be able to go ahead with it.

Fortunately, there are now only two days to go, and we should be able to keep everyone in line until then.

"Trev just messaged," Trick says, and we all glance up from our food, the cafeteria is loud and although people are watching us, no one is going to bother us.

"Has he found someone?" Jensen asks, excitement lighting up his face.

Trick's eyebrows rise as anger flashes in his eyes, "I'll fucking say."

"Oh, that sounds like fun," Jensen replies with a smile.

"Explain?" Cash asks, curiosity in his eyes.

Trick clears his throat, "Trev was having trouble finding someone, but there's a new kid at the school who has been causing shit over the summer. Apparently, he doesn't know how to take no for an answer."

"What the fuck?" Riot growls.

Anger clouds all of our features; this isn't going to end well for him.

"Exactly. Apparently, he's heard about the Pit and has been spouting shit off about small-town fighters and all this shit. The guys are having trouble dealing with the fucker, and have requested Jensen take him on."

"They want us to take him on?" I question.

We have what you'd call a working relationship, but practically throwing one of theirs to the wolves, or wolf, is not something they've ever done before, despite how much they deserve it. Although I suppose this guy technically isn't theirs.

"They must really be desperate if they want us to help out," Rafe signs.

Trick hums thoughtfully, "Definitely. It would be good to have a favor to cash in when we need to though, and none of there people are willing to fight Jensen anymore."

"Can he fight?" Jensen asks, deceptively calm.

Trick nods, "Yeah, he's had training and shit, according to Trev."

"Good," Jensen replies, only looking more excited by the prospect and not worried like most people would be.

"It's settled then," Trick replies, "make sure he knows that no means no, or we'll deal with him outside of the ring with even fewer rules."

Jensen's smile is dark, "I was already planning to."

"Are the two other fights set up?" Cash asks curiously.

"Yeah, they're all set, and the new location is ready to go." Trick replies.

Riot clears his throat, "I've got everyone updated on the escape plan if things go ass up. Ronny is doing the music, and he's setting up in the back of his truck so that if we need to leave quickly, he doesn't lose any of his equipment."

"That's a good idea," Trick replies.

Rafe holds his hand up to signal that he wants to say something and then starts signing, "I've got our backup cars, the ones that can't be traced back to us, fueled up and ready to go. We're taking two of them in case we need to split up."

"Sounds good. We'll have to leave the truck in the yard when we pick up the cars. The last thing we need is the parents seeing us driving them and wondering how the fuck we paid for them and a whole host of other shit as well." Trick says.

"I think that's pretty much everything. Everyone is spreading the word, and it looks like we're going to have a pretty massive turnout." Cash replies.

"Oh, I did hear some people starting to get shitty because we're only doing three fights, but as soon as they realized that Jensen was the last fight, they didn't mind anymore," I tell them with a grin.

Watching Jensen fight is almost like watching a well-choreographed dance, except it is a hell of a lot more violent. He nearly always has to hold back in these fights, and since this guy is scum, we're going to have to watch Jensen closely to make sure that he doesn't kill the guy.

"I'm looking forward to it even more now," Jensen smirks.

"I've sent the message out to the masses to let them know the order; the bets are already rolling in. I'll give you one guess as to who the favorite is," Cash asks.

"Jensen," we all say at the same time.

You'd have to be crazy to bet against Jensen. I wonder how long it will take the fucker Jensen's fighting to realize he fucked up. I'd be willing to bet that he keeps his confidence right up until he steps in that ring; Jensen gives off an aura that automatically makes you not want to fuck with him, and since he's already on edge, that aura is going to be tenfold now.

I'd feel sorry for the fucker fighting him if it weren't for what he's done to those girls. He deserves everything he's going to get and more.