Sawyer ignored Sebastian’s plea and instead jostled his arms to try and adjust his grip. He released his hold just enough for me to slide one of my arms between us and uppercut him in the jaw. His teeth rattled against each other, and his arms released me to clutch his chin. I dropped my body down and backed away, raising my arms to block him should he try to strike me again.
Sawyer cracked his neck, scowling at me from across the mat. He stood as still as a corpse, just watching me.
Was that it? Was he done?
He didn't take a step towards me, so I stupidly let my arms down and lowered my guard. I glanced towards Pia for a split second.
Big. Fucking. Mistake.
Sawyer sprinted forward and was on me within seconds,throwing his whole body into mine. My back slammed into the mat, his entire weight falling on top of me. My head ricocheted off the floor, making my ears ring and the room around me spin.
“You need to watch your mouth when you're talking to the king's head soldiers, Willawood,” Sawyer snarled, spit and blood dripping from his teeth.
Okay. So this is about me.
Sebastian must have told Sawyer how I'd been mouthing off to him.
I parted my lips to protest, but my jaw clamped shut when Sawyer planted his fist into the side of my face. My vision blurred from the force, my head pounding so hard that I bordered the fine line of consciousness.
“Sawyer, what the fuck!” I heard Sebastian yell, and I vaguely made out his figure as he grabbed Sawyer's shoulders and pulled him off of me.
The release of pressure aided in my vision returning to normal. I sat up slowly, holding my hand to my cheekbone. It stung to the touch, but otherwise seemed intact.
Sawyer spit out a mouthful of blood on the ground in front of me, then wiped his lips and stormed out of the arena.
“At least my punch drew blood, asshole,” I called after him.
Kohen's figure appeared above me. His blond-brown hair was matted with sweat against his forehead, and he looked just as angry as Sebastian did. They spoke briefly before Kohen darted out of the arena after Sawyer.
Sebastian watched him go, shaking his head in disappointment. “Class dismissed,” he announced to everyone in the arena. “Everyone get the hell out!” he yelled when no one moved.
While the others packed up and filed out of the arena, Sebastian reached a hand out to help me up. “Are you okay?”
I declined, swatting at his palm. I didn't need aid fromsomeone who clearly had a part in this. I tried to stand on my own, but stumbled and fell back to my knees.
Sebastian moved behind me and lifted me up by the underarms.
“I'm fine,” I grumbled, shouldering him away from me.
“You're bleeding.”
I raised a hand to my throbbing cheek, wet and warm from my blood. Damn. Sawyer’s punch actuallydidsplit my skin—I didn't notice it before.Awkward.
“What did I do to deserve that?” I snarled, spinning to face Sebastian as I wiped the blood from my face.
He looked taken aback. “What?”
I scoffed. “Don't play dumb. I saw you two whispering to each other on the mat.”
He shook his head. “No, Maeve, I had nothing?—”
Pia rushed over to where we stood, my bag thrown over her shoulder. “Are you okay? That was totally kick-ass what you did to him!”
I faked a grin while the soreness in my muscles took over my body. “I’m fine,” I repeated myself.
She took my hand. “Let's go back to the dorms. I'll try my healing magic on your wound.”
I nodded and stumbled off the mat, paying no attention to the soldier who followed after me.
