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But he didn’t budge.
He had to weigh twice as much as I did, and getting one lucky punch in was entirely different than having the strength to shove him off me.
“Not so tough now, are you?”
The words were low, his voice almost crooning, and it set off a cold fear inside me. I shoved harder against him, but he bore down with his weight, pinning me against the lockers.
He leaned into me, and panic flared in my chest. I didn’t know what he was going to do.
Hit me? Kiss me? Something worse?
But I never found out.
People had gathered around to watch our altercation, but I knew better than to assume that anyone at Slateview would help me, especially not if it meant going up against Eli. No one here bullied me anymore, but that didn’t mean they’d be willing to stick their necks out for me.
It didn’t matter if the general population of Slateview didn’t care about me though. There were people who did.
And one of those people was Kace Sutton.
He shoved Eli off of me, following the action with a powerful right hook that cracked across the boy’s face, making blood spray from his nose in a wide arc.
Eli wasn’t an easy one to take down, however. Luke Carmine had obviously picked him out for a reason. He recovered quickly from Kace’s blow, not even bothering to wipe away the blood pouring down his face before he returned a punch just as quickly. His fist bashed against Kace’s cheek, splitting the skin there.
I watched the exchange, trying to catch my breath from the adrenaline running through me as the two continued their fight.
I was… fucking livid.
For the first time, I thought I might understand the rage that always seemed to pulse under Kace’s skin, barely contained by his self-restraint.
In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to watch him destroy Eli. To watch him tear the fucker apart limb by limb.
But I couldn’t. As furious as I was, I wasn’t willing to let Kace beat the ever-loving shit out of Eli. If he did, it would have repercussions far beyond just the three of us, far beyond Slateview, even. Eli worked for a man who was a rival of Nathaniel Ward, and if this got too out of hand, it could set off a war between the two groups. I couldn’t let that happen.
I pushed off the lockers, my backpack in hand. I swung it hard and hit Eli in the shoulder, knocking him off balance before he could lunge for Kace again. Kace’s face still flashed with raw fury, and I vividly remembered what Bishop had said about not rushing into the middle of fist-fights.
But I also remembered Kace stopping last time I’d confronted him. I remembered him reacting to my touch as if it’d shocked him out of the blackness that overtook him.
Steeling my nerves, I shoved my way between Eli and Kace.
“Enough,” I snapped, looking at Eli first. “Enough.”
Eli had his gaze locked on Kace, and there was no trace left of the ego and amusement that had flickered in his eyes when he’d been messing with me. He looked like he was out for blood, but he stopped short of lunging again, probably realizing exactly how much shit he might get into with his boss if he kept up this fight.
He chuckled darkly, wiping his hand across his nose.
“You made a big mistake, Reaper.”
Kace growled, taking a step toward Eli. Quickly, I grabbed hold of his arm, keeping him back. He glanced down at me like he was about to shake me off, his nostrils flared and his chest heaving. I shook my head at him, keeping my grip tight. I knew I couldn’t restrain him physically, but I held him with my gaze, staring up into his light green irises.
“Enough,” I repeated, my voice softer and more intimate than it’d been before, the word halfway between a plea and a command.
He stared back at me, the wild look slowly fading from his eyes. Haltingly, incrementally, he unclenched his fists.
“Good thing your little girlfriend was here to save you this time,” Eli spat, bitterness coating each of his words.
I knew he wanted nothing more than to continue this fight, but he locked his jaw and turned away from us.
We watched Eli walk away before I shook my head. My heart was still pounding so hard I felt a little queasy, and I glanced around at the gathered crowd. Everyone looked slightly disgruntled as they dispersed, as if I’d ruined their fun by stopping the fight.
