Page 26 of Splintered Desire

No, it’s best to wait until we’re in the den.

“Regardless of who started what, you can’t be that rough with her. She’s small, and Mother will lose it if she knows you made her bleed.” Jace hates to upset Mother—we all do—which is why I said it. I know how to make him hear me.

“She might be small, but she’s something else, brother.” Finally, he turns to face me, and I get a good look at his split lip.

She got him good.

Despite thinking she was giving herself some privacy, all she really did was clue Isaac in that she was there and wanted to be alone. She also proved she has no idea who she’s dealing with, if she believes the only cameras in the room are the ones she can see.

Every room that isn’t a bathroom or bedroom is under general surveillance; the cameras Mother had installed to ensure the house is secure. We have our own though; the ones that Isaac put in. He can monitor ‌them from anywhere but has a wall of monitors in his room just for this type of thing. We also have most of The Pit running on them, with the exception of the fighters' rooms, of course.

At the rate things are going with Zela, I doubt the bedrooms will stay clear of them for long. Something tells me she needs a little more attention, and I’m happy to give it to her. She has more than one lesson she needs to learn now that she’s a DuPont.

“Don’t pretend ‌you didn’t see her the same way I did. Besides, I’m clearly not the only one she’s putting hands on if her hit and hip are anything to go by.”

I ignore the first part. He’s right, I did see, but that’s not the part that caught my attention.

“Her hip?” I ask, confused about what the fuck he could mean by that.

“Her right hip had a bruise, rather large and greenish-yellow, clearly a few days old.”

I look back at her door, debating on busting my way in there or letting this go.

I need Zela to fall in line, but right now we have business to attend to before the next fight, which means I don’t have time for distractions.

None of us do.

“Regardless, stay away from her, Jace. She’s to be our new sister, not your plaything.” I turn and head back down the hall to the stairs. I don’t need to look to know they both follow, and I pretend not to hear Jace when he mumbles about how she could be both…

Yes, she could be, and I get the feeling for once, Jace might be on to something.

Most of Friday was spent outside ‌the house, tying up a few last-minute things before the fight tonight. I don’t even have to ask Isaac to keep an eye on her; he’s already watching her with a tendency that borders on obsessive, yet somehow she still manages to slip away.

“I’m going to put a fucking leash on her,” I growl as we move up the stairs to our seats before the fight.

“Fuck, don’t say shit like that,” Jace says, making no attempt to hide his growing excitement at the idea as he adjusts in his seat.

For now, I file all thoughts of her away.

“Our co-ed fight, obviously, will be Tank versus Vixen. The idea will bring in a crowd, but I’m unsure she can survive that fight, no matter how good she is. We may very well need another front-liner for our female division.”

Both Isaac and Jace look at me with varying levels of shock, though I can only see Isaac’s because I know what to look for.

“You can’t just throw her away. Vixen is my future wife,” Jace says in horror as he moves to the edge of the platform to look out into the pit as if she’s down there.

She’s not. The first few fights are always the lower ranks. Vixen is our best female fighter, which means she goes last.

The star of the show.

“I thought that was Zela.”

“Careful, brother. You sound a little green.” Jace smirks at me, and I grind my teeth together in an effort to keep from shoving him over the edge. “Our sister is fun, but Vixen.” He presses a hand to his chest where his heart would be if he weren’t the cold, heartless bastard I know him to be. “She was made for me.”

“Nobody deserves to be stuck with you forever.” Isaac’s comment makes Jace bark a laugh and flip him the bird.

“You two seem to be doing just fine,” he snaps back, and I roll my eyes.

“That’s because we’re just as broken as your crazy ass, just in different ways.”