Chapter Twelve

Six long weeks passed. Sarah wasn’t sure how she survived it. Every muscle ached. She nursed at least three black eyes. She still had a yellow-green half-moon beneath her left eyelid from the last one. It had been sunup to sundown training to get her to this night. She accepted the hand her husband offered as she slid out of the passenger side of the truck. It was time to weigh in.

She glanced at Littlefoot and his nephews waiting for them at the door of the club where the weigh-ins were held. She didn’t even get a reprieve while Josiah was beasting out with his brothers. Littlefoot coached her as she fought the younger members of his family. The older gentleman was a much gentler instructor than her mate. And he taught her a couple of tricks she could use.

Littlefoot nodded as they and the other six brothers got closer. “We’ll surround you to keep you safe. Josh, Zeke, and Abe can bring up the rear.”

“Have them up front, Littlefoot,” Josiah countered. “If the same thing is going down like it did during the last weigh-in, I want to keep my eye on them. You know, to stop them from succumbing to temptation and getting massively screwed over.”

“We’re big boys, Joe,” Joshua protested. “We can handle ourselves.”

“You maybe.” Josiah pointed at Abraham. “Jack off there will jump on the first pretty girl to give him the ‘come hither’ look.” Then he thumbed to Ezekiel. “And he has yet to take any of this seriously. Just stay ahead of us. It makes it easier to get to the stage too.”

Joshua nodded then motioned the youngest two Hallows to follow him into the club. Littlefoot and his family surrounded Josiah, Sarah, Micah, Samuel, and Caleb as they entered.

Sarah leaned toward Josiah to talk in his ear over the noise of the crowd. “We left the other mates alone without protection.”

“Not so,” he shouted. “We’re going to find out how the UV light really works. Today, while we were working in the gym, the other boys installed some UV spotlights. If we’re right, it’ll nuke a bloodsucker on contact. Makes our camp almost daylight when they’re on. Besides they’ll only find half of what they’re looking for.” He reached in his pocket. Sarah could barely make out the chain and the red stones in the strobe lights.

“Why exactly are we s…?” Sarah’s words were cut off by a hand on her ass. By the angle, it wasn’t her husband’s. Her stomach lurched. She swallowed hard to contain the bile.

“Why are we surrounded?” Josiah replied. “By that lovely shade of green you just turned, you just figured out why.”

Sarah nodded without a word. She remembered her last weigh in and her meeting with Mr. Rothsberg. She recalled Josiah’s words. If someone other than her mate touched her, someone who desired her, it made her physically ill. And at the moment, she felt like hurling.

She heard someone behind her suck in a sharp breath. She looked over her shoulder at Caleb. He looked about as sick as she felt. He held out a roll of antacids to her.

“It helps a little,” he offered.

She smiled as she said thanks and took one. She popped it in her mouth. It didn’t taste great, but it did take the sting in her belly away.

She glanced at the mob past the wall of men that protected her. She turned her gaze away. What the revelers were doing was far from appropriate for a dance floor. Almost everyone was naked. Most of them were having sex. Right there in the club. She nearly choked on her antacid.

“I see things haven’t changed,” Micah commented in disgust.

“Stay together. We get in. We get out.” Josiah looked around. Sarah felt him tense up beside her. “Where the fuck did Abe go? Son of a bitch.”

“I’ll find him,” Noah volunteered. He nodded to them all before he pushed his way through the crowd.

They all turned as the announcer addressed the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s the moment you’ve been waiting for. Let’s weigh in our fighters.”

Each set of opponents took to the stage to be weighed and to face off. The first set included The Luchador, the wrestler Abraham had been so excited about. The youngest Hallow couldn’t stop talking about him even though the masked man had only debuted six months earlier.

“Explains where Abe took off to,” Samuel remarked. “He probably ran off to kiss this idiot’s ass.”

The rest of the brothers laughed as they watched the masked wrestler weigh in and face off with his opponent. Once they had cleared, each pair of fighters followed them. Halfway through the weigh-in, Noah returned to the group with a firm grip on the back of Abraham’s shirt. He huffed as he nudged him to the group. “I didn’t get fondled that much the last time I had sex.”

“Do I need to get a toddler leash for you?” Josiah asked him.

“Fuck you,” Abraham shot back with a snarl.

Micah turned back to the rest of them. “Sarah, you’re up.”

Sarah ascended the short staircase to the stage. She could feel Josiah’s fingertips on the small of her back as he followed her. They waited together as they watched Amara stepped on the scale and stood still. The doctor muttered to the announcer.

“One hundred and thirty-five point five. And her opponent, from Bemidji, Minnesota, Sarah M…wait. Hallow?”

Sarah glanced at Josiah. He was sporting a huge grin. He nudged her toward the scale. “Go get them, darling.”

“Of course, dear.” She strode across the stage to the scale and stepped on it. She held her breath. Weight wasn’t something she had been concentrating on. Being prepared to fight Amara was the top priority. She couldn’t remember the last time she stepped on a scale. Her new sisters-in-law had been great to her. They prepared the healthy meals every day. They were so good she didn’t crave junk food at all. That didn’t mean all the muscle wouldn’t tip her over the edge.

The doctor murmured to the announcer. Her heart seized in her chest as he put the microphone to his lips. “One hundred and thirty-four pounds. Let’s face off, ladies.”

Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped backward and squared off with Amara. Her opponent smiled at her, revealing a pair of pearly white fangs.

“Ready for me?” Amara asked with a laugh.

“Oh, my.” Sarah fanned herself in fake distress. “Aren’t those frightening? Not nearly as frightening as when my dearest husband beasts out. I guess you can’t win them all. And that includes tomorrow night.”

Amara ran the tip of her tongue across her canines. “Do you realize who you’re dealing with? I’m going to win. It’ll be a literal bloodbath.”

Sarah stepped up until she was nose to nose with Amara. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with. I’m a Hallow. And we don’t lose.”

The security guards pulled the women apart before either could attack. They each dropped into stance for pictures and then were ushered off the stage. Sarah caught sight of Rock and Cort standing at the back of the stage, each with a smug grin plastered on his pale face. It made her want to do something against her nature, something very un-Christian. Like flip both her middle fingers at them.

Josiah was rubbing off on her. For some reason, at the moment she didn’t mind.

He wrapped a protective arm around her as they hopped down the steps. The others followed on their heels. “Let’s just get outside.”

She nodded. “Sure.”

The Hallows and their entourage were a force to be reckoned with as they shoved their path through the raucous crowd to the door. Sarah took a deep breath of warm air as they crossed the threshold of the door.

Once they were across the street and standing next to the vehicles, Josiah turned to Noah and his cousins and brothers. “You have your tickets, correct? And the flashlights?”

Noah shrugged. “Tickets, yes. But not the flashlights.”

Josiah looked at Micah. “What the hell happened?”

“The mates happened,” Micah answered. “Eve. Meg, Delilah, and Henry insist they’re going. And they are going to work the flashlights. Noah and the others will take what’s left.”

“It’s too dangerous for them to be here, especially with the three women being pregnant.”

“Are you going to tell my wife ‘no’?”

“Or my wife?” Caleb added.

“Or my wife?” Samuel remarked. “Or my husband? Good luck with either.”

“Having Henry here with all the vampires is a bad idea,” Josiah reminded.

“He’ll have a UV flashlight. As much as he’s terrified of them after he watched Rock and Cort kill his assistant, we’ll be fucking lucky if he doesn’t blast every one he sees with light. Besides, Littlefoot is taking my place in Sarah’s corner. I’ll be with them, and I’ll protect them.”

Micah smirked at Josiah. “See, big brother? Everything is handled. Let’s just hope Grandpop was right about what he said about the bloodsuckers and daylight.”

Josiah smiled. “All right. Let’s head home.”

Everyone dispersed to the vehicle they rode in. Josiah helped Sarah in then climbed in himself. Before he could start the truck, she pressed a kiss to his lips.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“I don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” she answered. “I wanted you to know how much I love you, Josiah Hallow.”

He kissed her, this time harder and deeper. “I know what’s going to happen. You’re going to kick ass, and this will all be over. Now, let’s go home and get some rest.”

“Sounds good.”

He turned the key in the ignition and shifted into gear. She cuddled against him as he followed his brothers out of Duluth onto the dark Minnesota highway.

»»•««

The arena was dark except for the blinding spotlights that shone down on the cage in the center of the floor. The mat inside was already smeared with blood. Josiah shook his head. He had already seen a handful of pointed, toothy smiles. He was surprised with the number of vampires in the building they weren’t going crazy by now.

He glanced down the corridor toward the locker rooms. For about to have the literal fight of her life, Sarah was calm. She was even joking with Littlefoot as he wrapped her hands. Josiah had to step outside and get away from the merriment. He was glad she wasn’t panicking. It didn’t take away from the fact he was. She was his world, his breath, his soul. Once that cage door was locked, there was nothing he could do to protect her but yell instructions through the fence. He’d have to sit there and watch as she died at the hands of a vampire.

Was that Rock and Cort’s plan the whole time? Here was that nervous breakdown again.

Abraham threw a wave toward him as he strode past. The youngest Hallow was damp with sweat. How, Josiah had no idea.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Josiah demanded.

“Language,” Abraham taunted with a smirk.

“Sarah’s not around, dumbass. So don’t push me. Where the fuck have you been?”

“Watching. Geez. For the love of fuck, calm down.”

“Abraham Tiberius Hallow, when will you get it through your thick skull? We are all in danger. There are things out there that want to kill us and the people we love. Someday you’ll get that there’s more to this world than yourself. And you’re out running around chasing some poser who wouldn’t give you the time of day.”

“If you want me to stop running off, give me something to do.”

“Like what?”

“Get me a fight.”

“Oh, hell no. Not happening.”

“Why not? You guys fight.”

“I don’t fight. And neither will you. So drop it.”

He could still hear his little brother grumbling as he stalked off to the locker room. Josiah let out a heavy sigh as he watched one of the men in the cage’s hand raised in victory. The other was lying on the ground, motionless. He followed Abraham down the hall until he reached Sarah’s locker room. He knocked on the door before opening it.

She stopped her punch into Littlefoot’s pad in mid-flight. She laughed. “Did you knock to make sure I’m decent? Honey, you’ve already seen it.”

Her ribbing couldn’t make him smile. “You’re one fight out.”

“All right. Are you okay?”

“I don’t want you to do this. I can’t lose you.”

She crossed the room to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’re not. I believe this will work. You need to also.”

He smoothed back a lock of hair that fell from her ponytail. “You’re precious.”

“You’re not bad, either.”

The door to the locker room opened. Micah popped his head in. “It’s time. We’ve got to go.”

“Is everyone ready?” Josiah questioned.

“Ready as we’re going to get.”

“All right, then. Let’s go.”

Josiah held Sarah’s hand in his as they strode down the corridor to the arena. By the rap song echoing off the walls, they could tell Amara was heading to the cage. Sarah squeezed his hand and gave him a hopeful smile. He struggled to return it.

There was a moment of quiet before the first dramatic notes of a pop song played. Sarah pulled free from Josiah’s grasp and stormed into the arena. He rolled back his shoulders and started in after her. At this point, he was her corner, not her mate and husband.

She gave Micah, Littlefoot, and Josiah a brief hug. Josiah was mute as he rubbed the petroleum jelly on her face. No words would form in his brain, much less his mouth. She turned to the official and popped her mouthguard out for him to see. Josiah growled as he watched the tiny, thin man in a black and white striped shirt and black slacks pat her down. No other man, no matter what his capacity was, should touch his wife. It was just one more thing he was powerless to stop. Once the official was finished, he motioned her into the cage. Josiah’s breath stuck in his throat as the door was shut and locked.

The referee called them to the center of the mat as the announcer addressed the crowd. “Now for the main event. In the blue corner, from Trenton, New Jersey, Amara Toth. And in the red corner, from northern Minnesota now I can only assume, Sarah Hallow.”

The referee’s mouth moved, but Josiah couldn’t hear the sound over the roar of the crowd. He motioned to the women to shake. The two of them bumped gloves and then returned to their corners.

“Keep her on her feet, Sarah,” Josiah ordered. “The ground is too close of quarters. She can attack…”

Sarah nodded as the bell rang starting the fight. She sprung out of her corner at Amara and fired off a jab then a cross, then a hook that was cleaner and more powerful than Josiah had ever seen a Hallow throw before. The cross snapped Amara’s head back, and the hook sent her to her knees. Had the girl ever fought before? It had to do some damage.

Amara rose and grinned at Sarah through her mouthguard. The strikes didn’t faze her. It was like nothing happened.

Sarah threw another combination of punches and then landed a body kick in Amara’s gut. Still, none of them affected her. Sarah backed up a few steps. Amara rushed at her, backing her against the chain link. Sarah did her best to stay on her feet. Amara’s foot swept hers and landed her on her ass.

Amara scrambled on top of Sarah, but instead of raining down punches she spread out over her. Josiah noticed the vampire spit out her mouthguard and then bare her fangs.

Micah pointed and shouted at the referee. “Violation. Her mouth guard is out.”

Josiah didn’t wait for a response. “Buck, Sarah. Bridge. You can sweep her. Get out of there.”

Sarah lifted her hips violently, sending Amara off balance. She continued to twist as she lifted her ass until she was on top in between Amara’s bent knees. Instead of attacking, Sarah rose to her feet and backed off.

The referee waved them apart then pointed to the discarded piece of rubber lying on the mat. “Timeout. Toth, put your mouthguard in.”

Amara hissed as she scooped up the mouthguard and popped it in her mouth. She stood and returned to her corner. She glared at Sarah as the referee returned to the middle of the mat.

“We can’t let this go anymore,” Josiah said, his voice sharp. He looked at Micah. “Send the text.”

Micah glanced around the arena. “There are cell phone cameras in use. Sure. On it.”

“I don’t care if there are. My mate’s life is in danger.”

“If we flash them too soon, the rest of ours will be in danger too. Stop freaking out. It’s sent.”

They both turned as the ref yelled “fight.” The two women charged at each other with fists flying.

Suddenly Amara stopped dead in her tracks. She grimaced. Josiah searched the crowd. Yes, there were cell phone bulbs going off. If he weren’t cornering, he would be taking pictures too. Despite it being mostly on their feet, it was a good fight. But occasionally there was a brighter light that flashed on and off. It blended just right for someone who wasn’t looking for it.

He turned back to the cage and shouted. “Now, Sarah. Hit her.”

Sarah’s fists flew through the air as she threw another jab and cross. Amara staggered back, stunned. Sarah paused for a half second until she realized what was happening. Then she hammered Amara with punches until the vampire collapsed to the floor.

The referee pulled Sarah off and sent her back to her corner so he could check on the motionless Amara. Sarah grinned at her husband. Josiah could just nod at her as he hopped from one foot to the other. She still wasn’t safe yet. Once she was in his arms, he would praise her until his voice was gone.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rock and Cort trying to stop the official from unlocking the cage. It didn’t stop the referee from springing it open. Josiah sprinted up the steps and raced into the cage, wrapping his arms tight around Sarah.

“I did it,” she told him with a grin.

He kissed her damp forehead. “In spades. You did fantastic. I am so proud of you.”

He looked up at Micah and Littlefoot approaching them across the mat as photographers, officials and the announcer swarmed the cage. “Everyone is clearing out before anyone gets wise,” Micah informed him. He nodded at Sarah. “Great job. You fought like a champion.”

“Thanks,” Sarah replied.

Josiah let her go long enough for her hand to be raised in victory. Once it was released, he took possession of it himself. They made their break for the exit door. The rest of the family was in the trucks and cars on their way back home. It was their turn to get the hell out of there.

Before they could reach the door, Cort and Rock stood in their way.

“I don’t know how you defeated Amara,” Cort stated coldly. “We will find out.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Josiah replied. “We’re done fighting our war in a cage. We aren’t your performing monkeys.”

Rock smirked. “We’ll see.”

Josiah growled at him. “You want to fight? You want a war? You know where to find us. And as my mate told your little vamp last night. We’re Hallows. We’re the alphas. We don’t lose.”

“We’ll see.”

“Is that all you can say, Rock? We’re out.” Josiah wrapped his arm securely around Sarah and shoved past them. They didn’t stop until they reached the parking lot.

Micah shook his head. “I’m afraid a war is exactly what’s about to happen.”

“We’ll just have to be ready.” Josiah shook Micah and Littlefoot’s hands. “Thank you. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Anytime. Let’s get home.”

Everyone climbed into Micah’s Jeep. Josiah held Sarah close as they cuddled in the backseat. He kissed her long and deep. Loss had brought her to him. He had a feeling they weren’t done with loss yet. But for the moment, for tonight, everything was perfect. His heart and mind were finally at peace. And he was going to enjoy it.

*The End*