Page 125 of The Monster and the Masochist

She was in full offense, and she was much faster than I remembered, which was another thing I vaguely recalled Jerry warning me about.

Fuck. It was taking all my energy and focus just to avoid getting hit.

Retaliating at all seemed impossible. Not when she was coming at me like she wanted me dead.

Maybe she did.

Hoping that if I maintained a strong enough defense in the first round, she would eventually tire and make a mistake, I focused on getting my body to move fast enough to evade her.

But even that was hard, as the more I sweated, the more my buzz seemed to fade, which opened the door for Father Samwell to walk into my mind.

Out of nowhere, I was hit with a flashback so strong the ring around me winked in and out of existence.

I barely managed to dodge another cross when I physically felt Samwell step up behind me.

Not real, not real, not real!

Christ, Theo! You know it isn’t real!

Despite knowing there was no way Samwell was actually in the ring with me, it didn’t matter.

It felt like he was literally standing at my back, whispering in my ear the way he used to when he locked me in that dark office with him.

‘So docile, Theodora… Such a pretty little lady,’ he cooed as I barely managed to block a jab. DeLuca’s fist connected with my forearm, and a splintering pain shot down my arm to my elbow.

She was like a brick wall. Her broad shoulders rippled with muscle, and the focus in her eyes was sending me into a tailspin as I did my best to shake off Father Samwell’s phantom voice.

My ears pricked as I heard the familiar shouts and cheers from Callum.

I hadn’t known he was coming to this match…

I glanced over at him to find him beaming with his silly foam finger, and my heart sank as I realized Cassandra was standing there next to him.

Cass was here!?

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

For once, she wasn’t wearing her designer business-casual labels. Tonight, she was in expensive athleisure, and her perfect, toned legs looked fucking killer in tight black leggings.

But it was the look on her face that made me break out into a cold sweat.

She was frowning, and her hands were tucked in the front pockets of her blood red Lululemon hoodie. Her entire body was tense, and she looked extremely uncomfortable.

She was so pissed.

I didn’t have time to dwell on her presence as DeLuca came for me again.

My reflexes kicked in, and I ducked, nearly tripping over my feet in my effort to get out of the way.

But she didn’t stop.

Again and again, she unleashed vicious combo after vicious combo, and I was too slow.

I could barely keep up.

Duck, swerve, spin, FUCK, duck again!

Cass’s eyes were burning a hole into the back of my head, and if Father Samwell’s ghost hadn’t been pressed up against my back the entire time, I would have relished my chance to show off in front of her.