I stood and puffed out my chest. Damn, it felt good to stand up to one of these jerks. “Who’s gonna stop me? You?”
His gun clinked against his belt as he grabbed for it. “If I have to. You really want to make a scene, Bandit?”
I leaned toward him and hissed, “If it keeps me out of the ring. I’ll fight when I say Iwantto fight.”
“You’ll fight when you’re told,” he hissed back.
“You want to see a fight?” I challenged. “Be my guest.”
I swung a fist, and it cracked against the guards’ jaw. Pain radiated through my knuckles, and adrenaline shot through my veins. I could practically dance across the cafeteria, it felt so good.
If anyone actually believed the crap I just spewed, they didn’t know me at all. Ilovedthe fight.
Gasps traveled around the cafeteria, but I didn’t care. I was just glad Ava wasn’t here to see it, or she’d make a big deal out of it.
“Get down on the ground!” the guard shouted. The cafeteria quieted.
I chuckled under my breath. He was trying to let me down easy, since I was in the fight club.
“Or what?” I challenged, shoving him. I’d probably get an infraction for it, but I didn’t care. I needed this brawl. “You’ll shoot me?”
The guard laughed in satisfaction. “You asked for it, kid,” he sneered.
Aclicksounded, and a sharp pain entered my thigh. I immediately felt my energy siphon out of me, and I collapsed to the ground.
“Charlie!” Ezekiel cried. The guard snapped at him, and he backed away.
I’d only collapsed for show. I paid close attention to the sensations spreading through my body. Tingles radiated from the injection site, and fatigue washed over me. A full dose would knock any supernatural out, but not me. I was weak, but conscious for the whole thing.
“Get him on a stretcher,” the guard growled to a couple of other guards.
Two pairs of hands landed on me, and they lifted me onto a stretcher. Ez was nearly sobbing beside me.
“Take him to the infirmary,” the guard instructed.
“You sure?” one of them asked.
“He’s learned his lesson,” the guard replied spitefully.
I resisted a prideful smirk. He’d probably bet on me for the next fight, and didn’t want to report me to the Warden.
They lifted me, and the sounds of the cafeteria drifted away as they carried me through the halls. Noxite continued to work through my system, and if I didn’t know better, I’d have thought I was in the mines. My magic went from feeling like a strong buzz inside my body to a low hum. I didn’t like how it felt— like my strength was being stolen from me.
“Noxite dart to the thigh,” one of the guards told the nurse.
“Set him right here,” she said. “He should be back on his feet in twenty-four hours.”
The guards transferred me onto a bed, then left. The nurse assumed I was knocked out and didn’t say anything to me. I waited until her footsteps faded and I heard no one else around before I tested my magic out.
A breeze passed through the room. I pushed to see how far I could go, until I created a whirlwind in my palm. I levitated myself off the bed a few inches, but I couldn’t go much further than that.
Ava’s theory was right— demigodswerestronger than noxite, but it still limited us.
I kept trying different things with my magic. I was working on blooming a flower in a vase across the room when I heard a noise and drew back my magic. Several pairs of footsteps came racing over to me, so fast I couldn’t count how many people there were.
“Charlie!” Ava cried. She flung herself onto me. Since I didn’t know who was with her, I didn’t react. Oberi jumped on top of me, and I had to hold back a grunt as his paws sank into my gut. He licked the side of my face.
“Is he conscious?” Marcus asked.
