Dusk

Chapter Two

Night-time in the Outer Ring is always an interesting affair, if you're awake to see what's going on... and of course, most people are.

The streets are alive with flashing lights. Some of the lights lead to bars, pleasure houses, and restaurants, but the majority of them lead to gambling arenas. I pry open one of the loose windows in my unit, and squeeze out. The space I'm in is narrow; I'm in between the backs of my unit and another. I turn sideways and hold my breath so I don't take in the stench of whatever's stinking up the area, and slowly make my way out onto the main road, my black, flat-soled boots crunching on the sand. The air bites at my exposed skin. I tug down the sleeves of my shirt and rub my hands together.

I pass a bar that's flashing lights high into the night sky. A bunch of people are gathered outside, drunkenly jeering and throwing their fists into air. When I glance in between their bodies, there are two men wrestling in the middle of their makeshift human ring. The man on the bottom is pinned down, his dark curls coated with sand, his nose dripping blood onto the ground.

"Not again," I mutter, pushing two people aside. "Alright, Ezra, what'd you do this time?"

Ezra smacks the man atop him in the face to look up at me. "Nothing I can't handle," he tells me, attempting to grin before he gets punched in the jaw. A cheer goes up from the growing crowd. Ezra groans.

One of the men in the crowd puts an arm around my shoulder. He points with his pinkie finger at Ezra, a bottle of alcohol in his hand. "Your boyfriend got himself into a bit of a mess," he slurs into my ear. "Tried to make a move on Jordan's girl. A bit unfaithful, isn't he?"

I snort and shrug the man's arm off. I crouch down in front of Ezra, who's now being pummelled to a practical pulp.

"What did I tell you about keeping your hands to yourself?" I ask.

Ezra spits out some blood as he manages to knee Jordan close to his groin, sparing himself a bit of time. "I couldn't help myself. She wanted me, Amador, you should have seen the look on her face-"

Jordan's fist makes contact with Ezra's stomach. I shake my head.

"Jordan, right? Can you give my friend a break?"

Jordan's head snaps up. I can see myself reflected in his dull eyes- broad shoulders, olive skin, a dark, curly ponytail.

"Oh, come on Deva, don't make me look weak..."

"Shut up, you little prick," Jordan spits, before laying his gaze on me once more. "Who are you, his whore?" His eyes roam over me, lingering on my biceps. "I guess you two match. You've got muscles to make up for what he's lacking."

"Right," I confirm. "And I haven't exercised them for such a long time. Could I try them out on you?"

A few people in the crowd laugh. Jordan laughs with them.

"You're kidding, right?" He's holding Ezra down like it's nothing, even though his arms twitch from the effort. "You want to try me? Fine, try me. I could take both of you at once."

"I thought you'd never make the offer." I sigh.

Then I spring forward and tackle him. It takes the crowd by surprise; shouts ring out and cries of disbelief fill my ears. Jordan grunts when he hits the ground, and he hits his head on the stoop leading up to the bar. Maybe if he were sober, he'd be able to throw me off and use his weight to his advantage, but he's much more inebriated than I originally thought, and for a few seconds he just stares at me. The blow to his head certainly isn't helping him, either.

"Are you going to do anything?" I ask him. "You know, like fight back?"

His jaw clenches and he raises his hands, attempting to grab the sides of my head. I duck and then grab his wrists, pushing them down hard onto the sharp edge of the steps I'm holding him to. He lets out a sharp cry, yowling in pain, and I don't pause to savour my victory. I'm up and dragging Ezra away by the ear before anyone can question what just happened.

Excited chatter fills the crowd. I hear it even while walking down the street.

"Do any of you know that girl from somewhere? I know I've seen someone like her before..."

"Isn't she that man Ceres' girl? You know, the one that does the X-Brawls? One?"

"That's it, that's her! One. Did you hear that, Jordan? You got your ass kicked by One."

The lights of the bar fade away, and more lights appear. Green, purple, red, blue, flashing in chromatic strobes. Music pounds from a club a block away.

"I could have taken him down," Ezra whines. "Why do you have to jump in all the time?"

I let go of his ear and push him to the side. He stumbles a bit, and then finds his way back just to bump into me.

"Do you know how badly you could've gotten hurt? You're lucky I caught you at the right time. What would've happened if you got knocked out or something? That guy looked like he was part of a gang!"

"He wasn't, though. He was just..." Ezra hiccups. "Just some bigshot who thought he owned the place."

I scoff. "Look at yourself, Ez. Your ego's bigger than your body. Maybe you should actually try to bulk up. At least then you might stand a chance."

He wipes at his bloody nose with the hem of his grungy wifebeater. "Not all of us are blessed with pretty muscles, Amador." He grumbles.

I stuff my hands in the pockets of my pants as we pass underneath a pair of floodlights that light the dark areas of the street, where not even the flashing strobes of colourful light reach. We're getting around to the seedy underbelly of the Outer Ring, a place I'm sure Blake would have quarantined just for my safety, if he could have it his way.

"Why were you at the bar tonight?" I ask quietly. "Was it... her, again?"

Ezra hangs his head. The skin of his bare arms is covered in tiny scratches and goosebumps from the cold. "Am I really that obvious?"

"Yeah."

He laughs, but it comes out bitter. "I saw her on a JumboTron this morning, talking about something useless, like the rising prices of monopasses. As if we need those here, right?" The corners of his lips twitch. "You know I try to avoid seeing her as much as possible, but I can't do much about it without becoming a total shut-in. She's everywhere, Deva. I see her all the time, but she never sees me at all. I suppose that was the point, though. She didn't want me."

I reach out and put an arm around Ezra's shoulders, warming his skin. "It's her loss," I tell him. "If I were your mother, I wouldn't... well, maybe I would let you go. You're kind of a pain in the ass." I rub his goosebumps until they sink back into his flesh. "You don't need her, Ezra."

His eyes glisten in the glare of the floodlights, but he sends a wry smile my way. "You always know just what to say, don't you?"

"Only to people that piss me off." I frown. "You're okay though, aren't you? Do you want me to storm the Elite dome and make Amelia Eccles take you back? Would that make you happy?"

He playfully nudges me in the side, even though the mention of his mother's name makes him cringe. "Storm the Elite dome, my ass. With all that security? Not even you could do that."

"Maybe I'll do it one day, just to prove you wrong."

He glances sideways at me and straightens so we're relatively the same height- relatively, because I'm taller than him by a good two or three inches.

"I don't think I'd put it past you," he says. "So, are we going to see Ceres at the arena? I hear he's planning to bet a lot on you."

"Well..." I drag the word out. "I suppose we could..."

"That's what I thought!" He wipes away the blood trickling out of his nose again. He skips ahead of me a bit, grinning like a madman. "I've got a good feeling about tonight. Let's get this show on the road."

I smile back at him as we pass underneath another floodlight, my skin heated by the energy from the many bulbs. When we're back in darkness, a chill runs over my body.

"I have a feeling, too," I say, running my hands over my arms. "I just don't know if it's as good as yours."

A/N: A brand new ch2, hot off my keyboard. I'm liking the style of shorter, more to-the-point chapters, so that's what's coming from now on.