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Ilet my watery attack subside, hoping the assault would be enough to force his hand. To make him win.
Dominic shook his head, flinging water everywhere, and swiped a hand down his face. “What did you mean about the gym? Why would my family own the gym?”
I drew my eyebrows together. Was it possible he wasn’t involved or even aware? “Don’t pretend like you don’t know.”
His face contorted with frustration. “Know what?”
If he truly wasn’t involved, then I’d been angry for no reason. Worse, for two days, I’d avoided the man I lov?—
I blinked. Crab on a hot plate. This had to end. I needed him to win before my resolve crumbled. I couldn’t let him go against Ichiro over this debt, and I definitely couldn’t let him die.
Taking a deep breath, I started to sing, “But oh…”
He staggered backward with wide eyes. Rumbling behind him, his dragon’s red eyes fixed on me with deadly intensity.
Infusing each word with my magic, I continued the song he’d walked in on me singing while mopping, “…if we call the whole thing off…”
He clutched at his chest as my magic took hold, tendrils of lyrical power curling around his heart and squeezing. As his face contorted with pain, his dragon reared back on two feet, its head rising several feet above Dominic’s.
The crowd had gone silent, waiting with bated breath for what came next.
“Then we must part.” Each word tightened my grip on his soul, and I moved toward him. “And oh, if we ever part…”
As he blinked and then narrowed his eyes, I knew the song had worked. My magic had made him believe I was the enemy, that I’d betrayed him. My heart withered inside my chest.
“…then that might break my heart.”
With a thunderous roar, Dominic swung his fist at my chest. At the same time, his dragon launched itself toward me in a blaze of fury. Their double blow hit me with the force of a breaching whale.
My feet left the mat as I flew out of the ring. Landing hard on my back against the cement floor, pain exploded across my entire body. My vision blurred as the wind whooshed out of me, and I gasped for air.
Sometimes, it really stunk to do the right thing. And hurt. So much hurt. Ouch.
My head throbbed as the crowd cheered for the victorious Red Dragon, and I hauled myself up to sit with a grimace. Not that I’d expected anyone to rush over and help me, considering no one had a clue who I was with this mask on, but it would have been nice.
Instead, I was basically out of sight, out of mind.
A familiar figure pushed her way through and knelt beside me. Marissa’s blue eyes were wide with fear, and she leaned close to whisper, “We have to go. Now.”
Nothing had ever scared me so much in my entire life than the look on her face. Ice practically formed in my veins, the fight forgotten. I tried to stand, but she held me down with a tight grip on my arm.
She nodded in the direction of the basement door, hidden behind a sea of legs. Before I had a chance to ask her what had happened, she dove between limbs while staying crouched down.
Wincing as my battered body protested each movement, I followed after her. Everything would heal soon, but not fast enough. Just before I ducked inside the open door, I glanced back at the ring.
Dominic leaned against the ropes, his chest heaving. Beneath furrowed brows, he scanned the audience until his gaze locked on mine. Anger, hurt, and confusion filled his expression, breaking my heart all over again.
I urged every ounce of my heart and soul into my gaze and smiled. My magic would last for a few days, and I wanted him to know how I truly felt when he looked back on this moment.
The crowd shifted, hiding him from view.
When we were safely inside our room and the door locked, Marissa whirled to face me. “They found us.”
Oh, thank the tides. I slumped back against the door. “I know.”
“What do you mean, ‘you know’? Why aren’t you freaking out like I am?” She ran down the steps and grabbed a bag from under her bed. Throwing it on the bed, she rummaged through her drawers.
“You don’t need to pack just yet.” I pushed off the door and descended the stairs, each step heavy with exhaustion. “I saw Demetri two days ago. But he said he wasn’t here to bring us home. “
