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Bennett chimed in again, “He’s a mute. If he could respond to you he would, I promise.”
Armond sighed, placing his thumb and index finger on his brows. “So, I got a mute who’s afraid of an imaginary plague going in the ring.” He looked at Bennett. “Make it quick.”
Bennett smirked at the comment, and a second later we were being thrown into the ring.
Our plan of having no plan turned out horribly and Bennett was the only one to blame for this, considering all of my past assignments didn’t fail this bad. On top of that, everything was happening so fast. One second, Bennett had me pinned to an alley wall. The next, I was swinging for him, trying to knock him out for that little smirk he pulled.
Even as a man, people were still underestimating me.
We stumbled to our feet, and it took every ounce of willpower to not start attacking Bennett right that second. The two of us circled the ring, patiently waiting for the bell to ring.
“Don’t worry,” Bennett said calmly. “I’ll be sure to go easy on you.”
The bell rang and I catapulted towards Bennett. I didn’t even give him the opportunity to breathe before I swung my leg up and kicked him over the side of the head.
Hard.
I didn’t hold back, either. I mean, I could always heal him after this if needed.
The crowd erupted into cheers as Bennett collapsed to his knees, holding the side of his face with his hands.
A swell of pride filled me for catching Bennett off guard.
He gave me a devilish smile and then spit out of the ring, blood mixing with saliva. “So this is how we’re doing it then? Game on.”
He was up in an instant, lunging for me, but I ducked and turned behind him, wrapping my arms around the backs of his knees and slamming him to the floor. I slammed my whole body into his back, pressing my forearm against his neck.
1. . .2. . .3. . .4. . .5
The first bell rang. I got off of Bennett and reached my hand out to help him up. His calloused hand gripped mine and at once he was standing, I stood on the tips of my toes and whispered, “Well, that was quick,” and then I walked to the other side of the ring.
I was lucky I had this mask on, or else the whole stadium would see me smiling. I couldn’t say the same about Bennett, though. If anything, he looked pissed off. Good, maybe he’d actually put up a decent fight.
The bell rang again, signaling the start of the second round, and instead of pouncing on each other, we took a different approach. The two of us circled one another in the ring, slowly calculating what the other’s move might be. I crossed one foot over the other, keeping my forearms in front of my face. Bennett would always have speed on me, so it was imperative that I stay focused. If I was lucky, I could let a little of my power slip, but only if he got too close to me.
Bennett sped towards me in a blur and hit me quick and fast in the jaw.
I grunted as I tasted blood in my mouth on impact, but I didn’t stumble. I kept my eyes on Bennett as I tried to predict his next move. I took a deep breath and on instinct lunged quickly to my right, just barely dodging a jab from him. I used that opportunity to grab hold of his wrist, twisting his arm until he was brought to the ground once again.
Bennett fought me as I pinned him down, his arm still twisted behind his back, centimeters from breaking.
1. . .2. . .3. . .4. . .5
The second bell rang and I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. I just beat Bennett, and it was invigorating. I watched his eyes widen with fear. I mean, I understood I just beat him, but there was really no need for him to be afraid of me. The look of fear faded quickly as he looked at my lips.
“You should smile more often. It suits you.”
I was trying to hide my blush until it hit me.
Bennett could see me smiling. . .which meant.
Oh, shit.
“A woman in the ring?!” someone from the crowd yelled.
“Arrest her!” screamed another.
Somehow the scarf concealing my features had fallen off during my brawl with Bennett, and the entire building was staring at me as if I really did have the plague.
People started rushing towards me, and Bennett grabbed my wrist. “We need to run, now.” I let him pull me using the power of his craft and I could hardly move my legs fast enough to keep up with him. It took every ounce of my will power to match his speed, and I prayed to my star friends that we could slip out before getting caught. We rushed past the stands and people actually threw chairs at us. CHAIRS?
These people were completely mad and now more than ever I was so thankful to live in Veladis and not here.
As we sped past the third ring and towards the stairs, someone grabbed my wrist and I screamed from the sudden jerk and strength of the grip. Nails dug into my skin, drawing blood. I was being yanked back by a large man whose hands tripled mine, but Bennett’s grip on my other arm didn’t falter as his eyes turned pitch black.
“Bennett, no—”
He ignored my plea to stop him from using his Shadow blood and potentially exposing himself, but he didn’t seem to care as shadows seeped from his body and swung at full force towards the man holding me. The power of the shadows slammed into him so hard that he was flung across the room, and he tumbled back into the crowd.
Bennett didn’t even give me a chance to react before he pulled me into his arms and ran at an inhuman speed. We shot up the steps and across the pub, but as we passed in a blur I caught a group of people standing up from one of the tables in the upper room of the tavern, shaking each other’s hands. We Lanued through the wall and were back in the dark allies of Vicinus, but Bennett kept running.
