Chapter 8 Eight
Elara’s POV
I chugged a bottle of water as I walked into the training hall. It was a warehouse that had been divided into specific training sections; a shooting range, a boxing ring, several punching bags, and mannequins.
Two hours of sleep was all I had gotten. None of the infiltrators we caught had survived, and it infuriated me so much that I made the sudden decision to go to the Warren soiree. I knew Luca was going to be there. He would use the soiree as an alibi in case we caught his members, which we did.
I sighed in frustration and dropped my bottle at the ringside. “Let's get this started,” I called out, and others reiterated my announcement. Everyone split into their specialized groups, weapons and sparring gear clattering into motion.
We all went through all-round training, but every person had something they were better at than others. For me, it was shooting and hand-to-hand combat. “Morning boss,” Aria walked up to me. She was always the first to spar with me. “Sleep well?” She asked, climbing into the ring.
I climbed in after her. “You know the answer,” I squared up, putting my fists in front of me. “Thorne has people looking into how they came in. Too bad he's a brute. We'd have found out firsthand from those men,” she stepped towards me. She was always the first to attack. I dodged her incoming fist and kicked the side of her knee. She hissed and sprang back. “He did what he had to do,” I responded. She grinned and pulled out a knife. “Just like I'm about to.”I chuckled and cocked my head to the side.
She dove forward with the knife. I dodged by a few inches and spun around, sending my elbow into her side. She grunted and kicked my ankle so hard that I felt it pop. I backed away from her quickly.
She came after me, still smiling. I faced her head-on, attacking first. My fist connected with her chin, then I followed it up with my other fist and elbow. She stumbled against the ropes. I grabbed the wrist of her hand that held the knife. I punched it until she let it go. I caught it with my other hand and brought the knife to her throat.
“Do you surrender?” I asked, breathing heavily in her face as she did with mine.
“Never. I'd rather die,” Aria winced as she chuckled. I smiled, impressed. I had drilled it into her and the ten other women in the Syndicate to never surrender. In the world we lived in, women were treated worse than men, especially when they were weak or incapacitated. The only time they were allowed to give up was when they were dead.
I grabbed my bottle and handed it to her, hopping on my good ankle. “Need help popping that in?” I heard Thorne's voice. I turned to look at him. He was glaring at Aria. She flipped him off.
“I'm fine,” I sighed, climbing out of the ring. I sat at the edge and folded my leg to myself. I was tempted to ask Thorne to do it. I didn't. I imagined myself in a situation where I was alone, injured, and with no one to help. I needed to be able to do it myself.
I aggressively forced it back in, holding back the gasp that threatened to leave my lips.
“You're a beast,” Aria shook her head and jumped out of the ring, heading towards the shooting range.
“Well, any updates?” I looked at Thorne as he approached me.
“Someone who knows the shifts of the guards let out that information. They snuck in when the guards on duty left for the others to take over,” he explained. “The CCTV cameras were jammed, and the person in charge was on a bathroom break when it happened.”
“Fuck,” I muttered. It was going to be a rigorous endeavor to find the mole. “Don't let this get out,” I told him, and he nodded, opening his mouth to say something.
The noise of commotion at the entrance interrupted him. Some men rushed towards the large doors that were now wide open. They were asking who the man that was standing there was.
“I want to see your leader,” I heard him yell over all the noise. That drew my attention.
“Let's fuck him up,” someone yelled, and I heard the sound of metal bats being scraped across the concrete floor.
I made my way towards them just in time to stop them from pommelling him.
“But boss…” someone started talking, and I held up my hand, keeping my eyes on the man they wanted to obliterate.
“What's your name?” I stood in front of him, keeping some feet between us. He looked from my face to my feet. “You're pretty beaten up,” his lips tipped up at the corners.
My eyebrows rose. “Look at my face when you speak to me,” I said, sizing him up. I could easily take advantage of his size if I actually wanted to kill him.
He looked at my lips and licked the blood off his own. He had definitely beaten some men to get in here. I resisted the frustrated growl that clawed at my throat. What was going on with our defenses all of a sudden?
“I'm Cyric. Ex-Kordovan.” He finally spoke.
“What do you want?” I took a step closer to him. His eyebrow rose, and he chuckled.
“I want to be the boss,” he said. His words elicited murmurs of aggravation from around me. Thorne stepped up beside me, accessing Cyric.
“Quite an ambitious endeavor, don't you think?” I stared at him with a mix of interest and contempt. Before he could speak, I waved him towards the ring. “Prove yourself.”
Thorne looked at me like I was crazy.
“With pleasure,” Cyric grinned. His teeth were bloodstained. “I want your best. The strongest you've got,” he announced.
"Boss-” I cut Thorne off. “Send in the best male hand-to-hand combatants.”
I was going to shoot him in the head anyway for hurting the guards he had beaten to get here. I turned towards the nearest man. “Assess the damage outside and give me a report.”