He glares down at me. I’m used to it now so I glare right back at him. “I assume you’ve heard the rumors,” I say. He growls a little. Okay. Yeah. He heard them. And he’s pissed, more than usual. “You have to back out of the fight,” he says. “To hell with the consequences.” “Back out? I’m not
The morning of the fight, Angela knocks on my bedroom door. She smiles when I open it, and I pull her into a quick hug. It’s good to see her, though I’m always a little surprised when she makes time for me. Is this what it feels like to have a friend? “I want to show you my support,” Angela says.
“Archer, Beau, and Steven will be there,” I say. “Me, too!” calls Angela, reminding me of our audience. “Angela too,” I add softly. Neil pulls back, I think because of the mention of Angela. But instead, he only goes so far as to look down into my eyes. “It’s not the same as being there myself
When we reach the door to the gymnasium, everyone stops to look at us. The roar of the crowd dims to more of a purr. I feel like I am in one of those nightmares where you feel like everyone is looking at you. Only I’m awake and everyone is actually looking at me. This isn’t my imagination! “Uh,” I
Wyatt and I slowly circle each other, neither of us ready to make the first move. As I’ve been trained, in part by the women fighters of the underground tournament, I let the background noises, the roars and jeers of the crowd, fade away into the background. Instead, I focus fully on Wyatt. Every
Smaller, we thought, than a ponytail. Unfortunately, for all of his misses, Wyatt catches me here. I jolt back, captured. He roars as he throws me head first toward the floor. I lift my arm to save my head, but my body collides with the full impact of his throw. The breath knocks clean out of me
When I blink my eyes open, I’m in my bed in the Pyramid. Steven is beside me, resting on the edge of the bed. My ribs ache, but the pain isn’t so all-encompassing this time. It’s more a dull thrum, present, unavoidable, but not overwhelming. “You have several broken ribs,” Steven says. He delivers
“Please get back in bed.” “Chloe, please.” “You need to rest.” And finally, “You are as stubborn as Neil is.” Eventually, I make to Neil’s room. The door is open, a nurse and Beau are inside. “What the hell is this?” Beau demands. He jumps to his feet. “Steven?” “She wanted to see Neil,”