SICK HEART Huss, JA (best way to read e books .TXT) 📖

It’s a trap. I know it’s a trap. And Rainer will figure this out very quickly if he does stay behind. Who will pay for everything?

The kids. That’s who.

We have three boys and one girl just about ready to enter the top-level fights. And Rainer will have to send them into the ring hoping they live—not just because he loves and cares about them, but because they will be supporting the camp from now on. And all the other winners coming up behind them.

And this isn’t freedom. It’s not even close.

He’s gonna figure this out, but he needs to do it on his own.

I can’t just tell him. He needs to see it, and live it, and then… he needs to regret it.

I get up and join my kids on the platform and sleep off Rainer’s moonlight confession.

But it takes me hours to finally fall asleep. And my dreams are filled with little boys in bathhouses. Running. Screaming.

And the empty face of that girl.

That one girl and what they did to her.

No.

What he did to her.

The next day starts like all the rest until the first fight is called. My kids go first since they are the youngest. Ainsey sits next to me, her nose dripping and her breath rumbling inside her chest. She’s sick. And that just feels like a very bad omen.

She’s been tired and cranky for a few days, but this breathing stuff is new this morning. Even Maart was eyeing her at breakfast. But he doesn’t have time to worry about Ainsey. Not today.

Twenty fighters. Ten fights. Ten winners, ten losers. And Ainsey.

One by one Maart calls up kids in pairs and they duke it out. Jafari ends up fighting Oscar from Rainer’s group, and the whole time I’m wondering what Maart is up to. I really thought Anya would fight Oscar. So who? Please, tell me it’s not Budi. He might only be eight, but he will kick Anya’s ass.

Jafari loses, of course. But Oscar helps him up and gets off the mat while Rainer cleans up the blood.

I’m fixated on Maart because Anya is the only one left in my group. So I am watching his mouth as he calls Irina’s name. But it takes me whole seconds to catch up with the fact that she will be Anya’s opponent.

No.

Rainer intercepts me, pushing me back as I try to make my way across the mat towards Maart. “Let it go,” Rainer says. “Don’t you dare interfere. She needs this.”

Fuck that! I sign. Fuck that! Irina will kill her!

Rainer leans into my ear just as Maart catches my eye from across the platform. Anya, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she is about to take the beating of a lifetime, is already in the middle of the mat, bouncing a little and shadowboxing, like she’s got a chance in hell of making it out the other side conscious. “She needs this,” Rainer repeats in a whisper. “Yesterday, after she fought Jafari and won, she walked off the mat and high-fived a four-year-old in celebration, Cort. She needs this.”

I look at him, shaking my head. Not Irina. That’s not fair and you know it. Irina could give me a run for my money. Hell, she could kick your ass, easy. This isn’t fair.

“Life isn’t fair,” Rainer whispers. “Anya has two months. And I don’t know what happens to her after that, but I do know this. It’s gonna be a very dark time for her. It might even be the end of her. She needs this, Cort. And if you have any feelings for her at all, you will let her learn her lessons.”

And by this time, it’s too late. Because Maart has already started the fight and Anya and Irina are circling each other on the mat.

Irina toys with her like a cat playing with a mouse before the kill. She swipes at Anya, allowing her to block, building her confidence. And then that first kick across Anya’s cheek is so powerful, Anya literally spins in place before falling over on her knees.

Irina backs off. Patient. No gloating from her. She isn’t here to fight Anya. She is here to teach Anya a lesson.

You are nothing. You do not matter. Your life has no value.

We are all going to die, but you? You’re going down sooner than later.

Anya is stunned, but she’s already up on one knee. I want to tell her to stay down, but I already know Maart doesn’t care. He has instructed Irina to keep this fight going for as long as possible. And that’s exactly what happens.

There are no rounds in this ring. There is no resting. You fight until it’s over.

And this one goes on for nearly nine minutes before Anya is unconscious on the mat, one eye swollen shut, the other one quickly following suit. Her lip is split in two places and every time she exhales, a little bubble of blood forms around her left nostril.

Maart and I meet in the middle of the mat at the same time. I am filled with rage, my breaths coming hard and fast. And I would knock him out right now. But a part of me knows… I’m not sure if I could.

And besides, I need him to stitch her back up.

He waits for me to figure all this out, his dark eyes daring me to be stupid.

And then I nod at him and we pick her up by the arms and drag her inside to the clinic.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - ANYA

I am not fully aware of everything happening to me. But I know two things.

One. I got my ass kicked by a ninja girl who is nearly half my age.

And two. I have swallowed so much blood, I am now puking.

Rainer’s calm voice is in my ear, telling me to relax, I’m fine. Then Maart, snarling at me to stay still as he stabs my eyebrow with a needle and suture.

Cort