AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The adrenaline kicks in, and I know I need it. I don’t know how to fight. I’m fairly certain the guys know this and didn’t offer to train me because they plan on removing me from this situation as soon as it gets bloody. Well, they can fuck off. I might not be trained for this, whatever that means, but I will defend what’s rightfully mine, and if anyone goes near my guys, or me for that matter, I will cut them.
“Your time at the top is done, Crystal. This faction gets cut down tonight.”
“Is that a threat?” Crystal retorts, her face red with anger.
“Call it a promise,” I reply, my voice steady. “You want loyalty? Show us something worth following.”
“Big words,” she spits. “Let’s see if you can back them up.”
“Trust me, we can,” I answer, feeling the weight of history and the power of truth in my words.
Without any more words necessary, it happens before I can take my next breath.
Crystal’s fist flies at me, lightning quick, but I’m already moving on instinct, not about to stand there while she hits me. Ducking low, the air hisses as her knuckles graze my hair. My pulse hammers in my ears, not with fear but fierce, boiling anger. It’s not only Crystal that has me pissed, it’s my own team. The newbies, Marcus and Trent, move in to surround me, ready to whisk me away.
“Fuck off,” I growl, seeing their eyes go wide.
“Ever!” I hear Alistair shout. He’s fighting two of Crystal’s guys, feet planted firmly on the grassy turf. He looks every inch the Duke he is, commanding even in chaos and gorgeous to boot.
I don’t have time to watch because one of Crystal’s lackeys lunges at me as she regroups. Trent steps in and smashes his face so that he falls back, crashing into the trunk of an old oak tree.
Ben’s not far away, his moves sharp with the fists he throws with calculated precision.
Charlie’s laugh echoes, wild and unrestrained, as he dodges a hit and retaliates with a swift uppercut. “Come on, then!” he taunts. The Viscount might play the fool, but his moves are anything but clumsy.
When one of our opponents charges Damien, he sidesteps and uses the guy’s momentum to send him sprawling to the ground.
I am standing here in the eye of the storm, the guys fighting all around me. Protecting me.
The fucking assholes. I couldn’t get to Crystal now, even if I wanted to.
Alex is cutting through men like a man possessed. Sebastian, the first year I remember vividly from the ceremony, is holding his own. Marcus and Trent are like madmen.
I whirl and duck around Alex, shooting off to the side of the clearing with Crystal stopping mid-fight to whirl and followme. Our eyes lock, two queens in a deadly dance. One real, one pretend. The question now is who is who.
“Give up, Crystal!” I shout as we circle each other. “You’re outmatched!”
She sneers, swinging wildly, but I can tell she’s tiring whereas I haven’t even got started yet. Literally.
Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I have to make this count in my favour. No one else is taking this bitch down but me.
“Never!” she yells back, but there’s desperation in her eyes now. The fight’s going out of her, and she knows it.
My men are slaughtering her faction.
This is it—the moment that will define us both. She moves first, but I’m ready.
“Time to end this, Crystal,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Over my dead body,” she hisses back, lunging at me with her knife.
We clash amid the sounds of the battle around us. The stakes couldn’t be higher; this fight is for the future of everything we stand for, and I am determined to win.
Crystal is quick, but desperation sharpens my movements. Blades clash, the metallic ring of our conflict cutting through the chaos around us.
“Is this all you’ve got, Ever?” she taunts, her voice dripping with venom.
My mind races, knowing I lack her training but not her will to fight, not the fire that fuels me now. I sidestep another lunge and counterattack, feeling the burn in my muscles, each move a defiance of my physical limits.
