17 | Fight Dirty
Sweat droplets crowd my hair line and I shake out my arms, feeling the heat of the fight swim through my blood, the roar of the crowd background noise. The creature inside me screams for more, demanding I show Lachlan exactly who the monster is here.
I blink out over the crowd, eyes catching Kades, who stare at me with a small smile on his otherwise blank face. He dips his chin when we make eye contact.
I return the gesture, fingers squeezing into a fist by my side to keep the blood pumping, keep me ready for the next fight and also to keep the monster inside from making an appearance.
Killian and Malachi stand behind Kade, like two guards on either side of his shoulders waiting for any misstep from any of the hundreds of people here.
Their eyes flit to the fighting ring every now and then but otherwise keep their distance. They hadn't attended many of her matches. Not as many as Kade had anyway.
It was a telling sign that neither of her friends had figured out it was her yet.
Malac's gaze slips to the bar, brows drawing in before he slips from his position behind Kade, Killian faintly noticing his brother stalk off towards the bar and to the woman behind it.
Candace looks up at him, brow raising as he speaks.
I step closer to the ropes lining the ring, trying to hear what it is Malac is asking but it's in vain, I can hardly hear my own thoughts let alone a conversation shortening ten metres from me.
The crowd gets louder and I pull my attention back to the fight, noticing a new opponent slipping in the ring, his familiar face and hair drawing a scowl from me.
Lachlan swaggers around the ring like he owns it, raising his hands up and down as if his very presence is the reason for the raucous crowd.
He's delusional.
He stops at one end, dipping low to deliver a smothering kiss to a woman dressed in an overly big and outrageous fur jacket - and that's when I see Sienna and her little posse crowding that side, looking up at Lachlan like he hung the moon, stars and the sun.
It's sickening and I can't wait to wipe the floor with his smirk.
I shake out the adrenaline and track him with my eyes as he finally turns to me.
There's no recognition in his eyes, no sign that he knows who I am at all. He's just taken this opportunity to show his prowess in the fighting ring, that's he's a winner.
Guess me being a girl helped with that delusion.
He shrugs, readying his muscles and bounces on the balls of his feet as the announced calls something over the crowd but my focus is just on him.
• • •
I give Lachlan a little smirk, taunting him with the knowledge that I'm winning this fight and there's nothing he can do about it.
Rage and embarrassment take over his face, his movements become erratic, anything to get the upper hand.
I keep my head, dodging and slamming my fist into his exposed side, feeling and hearing the breath leave him in a rough exhale.
I dance out of the way, counting down the seconds until I can end the fight, knowing exactly how I'll take him down.
I step forward, feint left and step up close enough to hug him before slamming my fist in an uppercut at the same moment sharp pain slices its way into my abdomen.
A grunt leaves my lips, eyes dropping to where Lachlan pulls out the blade and throws it to the side.
The bejeweled dagger slides across the floor, the gems glinting under the low lights of the bar, a pang of familiarity hitting me before it's quickly replaced by pain.
Uneasiness rolls through me, fire erupting from my abdomen before I feel Lachlan's hand there, pushing on the wound and causing lava to erupt.
My movements are too slow to catch his next hit and I stumble back, feeling my own blood pump from the wound even as my black clothing hides it.
Vaguely I see a furry arm dart out and grab the blade, hiding it in the folds of her coat.
Lachlan moves quick, not giving me the chance to come back from the sudden pain, slamming his fist into my ribs, a gasping breath leaving me.
Then he's crowding me back. I blink at fogginess in my mind, letting muscle memory guide me as I duck from his next hit before stepping forward and delivery an uppercut to his jaw. His head swings back, blood arcing in the air.
Sucking in a pined breath, I spin and shove my foot into his chest, shoving him into the ropes before he slips back, no air in his lungs to feed him.
Moments later I'm announced the winner but I don't stay long to hear the rest of the spiel, stumbling from the platform and resting a hand against my side, feeling the wet swarm of blood beneath my fingertips.
The crowd gathers in but I shove past, ducking and weaving between them until I find myself at the locker room and burst in.
As soon as the door shuts behind me and I do a sweep of the room, seeking myself alone, I lift the shirt and survey the stab wound.
It's not too wide, but it'll need stitches. I swear viciously in my mind, prodding at the wound and more blood blooms, saturating the top of my tights.
The door behind me slams open, three familiar and very noticeable voices filing in.
"Red?"
Kade moves into my line of sight, his eyes sweeping up and down me for injuries. Which he usually did after my icky but none were as bloody as the stab wound in my side.
His eyes take in the wound immediately, a storm slipping over his features.
"What the fuck happened?"
I pull the shirt back down, covering the wound. "It just needs a few stitches."
"That wasn't the question, Red-" he steps forward until I have to look up to see his eyes. "What happened?"
I almost say Lachlans name but then realise they don't know I know who he is so I shrug. "The fucker fought dirty."
"He stabbed you?" I don't even get the chance to nod my head in reply before Kade is shoving out of the locker room, past Malachi and Killian who stand there like guards.
I step past Malac and Killian, my eyes following Kades tense back, his strides strong and confident as he parts the crowd and bares down on my opponent.
My fingers still press at the knife wound, a hiss slipping past my teeth.
Lachlan. The rat. Stupid, no good, cheating prick.
Kade is like a force to be reckoned with, his hand snapping out to wrap around Lachlan arms, pulling him back and away from the revelling group he'd joined, hissing at him with fire blazing in his eyes.
It felt nice to have his ire directed at someone else for a change, not that he knew it was me he was sticking up for. The real me.
He shoves Lachlan, the smaller man slamming into the side of the platform and I cringe slightly as his spine hits it, the sound reaching us all the way over here.
Kades eyes snap to us, to me and then he's yelling again, his face so dark it's a wonder anyone can look at him long enough without running.
Then those eyes are narrowed on Sienna as the girl sidles up to his side. Kade shrugs her off, almost shoving her into the platform wth a sneer of disgust and pointing an accusing finger at her.
She shrinks back, eyes widening.
Tristan appears, holding his hands up towards Kade, trying to calm him down with his words yet the smug grin on his face just works to fire him up more.
Kade shoves against Tristan's chest, sending the boy stumbling into Lachlan.
A wider man steps up, Benny motioning forward another.
Dread fills me as Kade directs their gazes towards me, the second man - who we had dubbed 'Doc' since he seemed to be the one that stitched up everyone here, starts to make his way over. Benny staying behind to try and mediate the situation between Kade and Lachlan.
I step back, almost bumping into Malachi before apologising and twisting on my heel, slipping through the crowd and ignoring the voices calling after me, Kades louder than all of them.
I rush from the building, holding my arm around me tightly so I don't drop blood everywhere and practically run to my bike, slipping on and starting it up in record time.
I don't glance behind me as I leave, breathing out through aching teeth as the wound in my side aches with a vengeance.
• • •
I slip in through the dorm door, hand held tightly against the wound in my side to stop the bleeding.
It's in vain since my blood just finds the cracks between my fingers and slithers out.
A soft groan slips past my lips, back slamming against the door to shut it with a snick, looking around the common area of my dorm for a first aid kit.
I almost stumble to the kitchen, pulling open draws and cupboards in my search but come up empty before entering the bathroom, doing the same.
Still I come up empty, frustration ebbing away at me.
"It's in the closet."
I startle at the voice, spinning around and gasping at the sudden movement, the pain that throbs from my abdomen.
The person leans against the doorway to my room, calm, collected.
But his eyes, they were on me and god were they fucking pissed.
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