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Her features harden when she realizes I’m not messing around. She pulls her wrist out of my grip and widens her stance.
I advance again, shifting around to attack from behind. I grab the back of her neck, and she throws her elbow back, catching me in the ribs hard. Of course, it’s more annoying than painful, but it still puts more distance between us, which allows her to whirl around and slam her fist into my jaw. I lift my hand to rub it, and the second time she attempts to hit me, I catch her fist in my hand, closing my fingers around it tightly, and spin her around, hauling her back against my chest. She immediately tries to pull away, but I’m not about to let her go. The sound of her heart pounding in her chest calls to the beast in me like a siren. I drop my mouth to her shoulder and bite down without my fangs, to send a message.You lose.
“Fuck you,” she snaps, the anger clear in her voice as it shakes.
“You only get a reward if you win,” I taunt lowly, my lips teasing the shell of her ear.
She scowls, trying to pull away again. This time, she reaches for her dagger. Between one moment and the next, she stabs backward blindly, and the damn thing sinks into my thigh.
I growl loudly and let go of her, stumbling back as pain shoots through my veins. My eyes fall to where the dagger is sticking out of my leg, and I blink at it before lifting my gaze to where Calla is staring at me, wide-eyed with flushed cheeks and a racing pulse.
Slowly, I reach for the dagger and pull it out, gritting my teeth against the fiery pain licking up my thigh. My blood drips onto the floor of the ring. I grab a towel hanging over one of the ropes and wipe the dagger clean, walking back to her and sliding it into the holder against her thigh. “Not bad,” I say mildly.
The anger remains in her voice when she says, “I’ll aim higher next time.”
I laugh, caught off guard by her dig. “Yeah?” I step in closer, forcing her back until she collides with one of the padded corner posts. Her eyes narrow, flicking between mine as I cage her in between my arms.
“You want to get stabbed again?” she warns.
“Perhaps we should get going?” Gabriel asks from somewhere nearby. I’m so focused on Calla, I didn’t catch his approach.
I keep my eyes on her. “Not sure. Calla?”
She lifts her chin in what I can only imagine she intends as an act of defiance.
My brows lift. “Are you done?”
She blinks at me. “Me? AmIdone?Youstarted this!”
I dip my face closer, my nose nearly touching hers. “I mean, are you done being pissed at me?” I ask in a low voice.
She opens her mouth to respond, but nothing comes out, so she snaps it shut, clenching her jaw. “That depends on you,” she finally says.
I exhale through my nose, stirring the hair swept across her forehead. “What would you like me to do? Shall I kidnap your friend from her father?”
Tension creases her forehead as she stares at me. “That’s not… I just want to make sure she’s okay.”
“And I need to make sure you stay alive. In their eyes, you may as well have fangs.”
Calla frowns. “Brighton—”
“Is a hunter now,” I cut in. “You can stand there and try to deny it all you want, but that is the truth. You’ve seen it with your own eyes, whether you want to accept it or not.”
She blinks quickly, swallowing visibly. “She doesn’t want to be, which is exactly why we need to help her.” Calla shakes her head. “We’re talking in circles, Atlas.”
“I’m aware,” I remark dryly.
She lowers her gaze for a moment before meeting my eyes. “Please.” Her voice is quiet, small. Concern is clear as day on her face, but I can’t put the others—myfamily—in danger for a human we don’t trust.
I inhale slowly, dropping my hands off the post on either side of her. “Is she in immediate danger?”
“What?”
“Do you believe her father will harm her?”
Her eyes widen slightly. “No, he wouldn’t.”
“Fine.” I step away. “We need to get to Chicago, but we’ll address Brighton’s situation once Selene is dealt with.”
