Page 150 of Villainous Intent

Baron Ash’s body crumpled, while Cipher stood motionless, holding the severed head in his hands. He stared at it for what felt like an eternity, his chest heaving with each breath.

Then, with a sudden explosion of movement, he hurled the head against the arena wall. The impact was catastrophic, bone and matter shattering in a grotesque display of force. The sound it made was sickening, that wet, hollow crack followed by the splatter.

The crowd erupted. They’d witnessed something unprecedented: a complete execution, a fight that broke every unwritten rule of Super combat.

Blood pooled around Cipher’s feet as he stood motionless in the center of the arena. The announcer seemed at a loss for words, but the crowd needed none. Their roar said everything.

I was shaking. I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t even breathe. My vision tunneled until all I could see was Cipher standing in that growing pool of crimson, Baron Ash’s headless body crumpled at his feet.

The phantom pressure of Ash’s hands on my windpipe finally released its hold and I could breathe freely again. The lingering heat of his palms shoved against my thighs went cold.

I knew the memories wouldn’t just disappear. The tender skin under my collar would still throb when I tried to sleep tonight and I would still wake up in a sweat with the feeling of him on top of me. But seeing the monster reduced to broken bones and splattered meat severed a tether I hadn’t realized was dragging me under. I didn’t know how desperately I needed to see him destroyed just so I could stop feeling his skin against mine for a while.

Ash would never touch me again.

When Cipher finally lifted his arms, wide and triumphant in victory, the roar that answered him shook the stadium. The crowd was worshipping. This was what they truly wanted, what the sanitized matches had been denying them: blood and death, a complete lack of restraint.

I felt Five’s hand on my shoulder, steadying me. I hadn’t realized I was swaying until his grip pulled me back to reality.

“Ms. Bishop,” his voice came from far away. “Ms. Bishop, are you alright?”

I couldn’t answer. My eyes remained fixed on Cipher as he stood bathed in blood and adoration, arms outstretched like a dark messiah. The glowing lines of his suit seemed brighter now, pulsing with each thunderous cheer from the crowd.

CHAPTER 30

ANNIE

The arena swam in my vision, faces and lights blurring together as Five and Eight guided me toward the exit. My legs moved mechanically, but I couldn’t feel them beneath me. The roar of the crowd was still pounding in my ears and my hands wouldn’t stop shaking, no matter how tightly I clasped them together.

Baron Ash was dead. Decapitated in front of tens of thousands of cheering spectators.

I should have felt something more than twisted relief, but all I could see was Cipher’s violence, the way he’d broken Ash. The blood spreading across the arena floor. The sound of Ash’s head hitting the wall.

“This way,” Five murmured, his hand hovering near my elbow without touching me.

I blinked, suddenly registering our surroundings. We weren’t heading toward the post-match area, but toward the private exit tunnels.

“Where are we going?” My voice sounded strange, too high.

Eight cleared his throat. “Back to base.”

I stopped abruptly. “No. I need to see Cipher.”

The two henchmen exchanged uncomfortable glances.

“That won’t be possible,” Five said, his tone carefully neutral.

“Why not?” The trembling in my hands spread to my voice. “I need to see him.”

“Our instructions were clear,” Eight replied, not meeting my eyes. “We’re to take you directly back to base.”

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “No, you’re not. And I don’t need an escort to find the post-match area.” I turned toward the corridor that would lead to where Cipher would be, but Five stepped into my path.

“Miss, please⁠—”

“Move,” I said, the word somewhere between a command and a plea.

Five shifted uncomfortably, his hand adjusting his earpiece. “I’ll attempt to ask if you can see him.”