Page 33 of Hard Bargain

Knox glanced up briefly. “Some. When I was younger.”

Cassian huffed a laugh. “Yeah, I figured.”

Knox finished the wraps and flexed his fingers, testing the tightness.

Cassian jerked his chin toward the mat. “Good. Get in.”

Knox stepped onto the mat, the surface giving slightly under his weight.

Cassian followed, rolling his shoulders. “No rules,” he said.

Knox blinked. “What?”

Cassian’s grin widened. “No points. No rounds. No one stepping in to break it up.” He tilted his head. “You want to learn how to protect yourself? This is how.”

Knox felt his pulse kick up. “That’s not training.”

Cassian shrugged. “Sure it is.” The easy humor drained out of his face, replaced by something focused. “Lesson one,” he said, and before Knox could fully register the shift in his tone, he moved. Fast.

Knox barely had time to react. His hands came up on instinct, just enough to keep Cassian’s fist from connecting cleanly with his face, though the blow still slammed hard into his shoulder and sent him stumbling backward across the mat.

“Too slow,” Cassian said.

Knox steadied himself, adrenaline hitting all at once. “That was cheap,” he snapped.

Cassian laughed outright. “Yeah. That’s kind of the point.”

He came at him again without warning, giving Knox no time to reset properly. This time Knox tried to create distance, stepping back, but Cassian closed it effortlessly. He caught Knox’s wrist, twisting just enough to throw him off balance. Knox hit the mat hard, air punching from his lungs.

“Get up,” Cassian said.

Knox rolled, pushing himself back to his feet with his jaw locked tight, something wilder burning through the shock.

“You don’t get to take a second,” Cassian went on. “You hesitate, you panic, you try to process what’s happening instead of reacting, and suddenly you’re done.”

Knox lunged before he could overthink it, fueled more by irritation than strategy. Cassian let him get close. That should have been warning enough. Knox managed one decent hit before Cassian moved again, and suddenly the world flipped. One second he was upright, the next he was flat on his back with Cassian pinning him hard, his arm locked in a way that made it very clear how easy it would be to break.

Knox froze, breathing hard.

Cassian leaned down, voice low. “Stop panicking. This is where people get themselves hurt. They thrash around, waste energy fighting the wrong thing.”

“I’m not panicking,” Knox bit out.

Cassian gave a quiet hum that might have been approval before releasing him and stepping back. “Good.”

Knox rolled away and stood more carefully this time. Cassian watched him without mocking, which somehow made it worse. “No one’s coming to save you in a room like that,” he said. “You either figure it out fast, or you don’t walk out.”

Knox wiped a hand over his mouth. “Yeah,” he muttered. “I got that part.”

“Again,” Cassian said.

The next round lasted longer. Knox stopped charging blindly and started watching instead, trying to track the way Cassian held himself. But the second Knox thought he saw an opening, Cassian clipped him across the side of the head. Not enough to drop him, but enough to sting, to remind him exactly how far behind he was.

“Don’t watch me,” Cassian said, circling him. “Watch what I’m about to do.”

That sounded maddeningly unhelpful until Cassian demonstrated it, slowing down enough to guide Knox through the mechanics. He showed him how balance shifted, where leverage disappeared, and why strength alone was useless if you were fighting the wrong thing.

“Feel that?” Cassian asked, adjusting Knox’s wrist.