170 Chapter 170

Seraphina’s POV

The roar of the crowd hit me like a physical wave before I even stepped through the curtain.

My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. I clenched them into fists, tried to steady my breathing, tried to remember everything Rico had drilled into me over the past three weeks.

*Keep your guard up. Move your feet. Don’t let him corner you.*

“You ready?” Rico appeared beside me, his face all hard angles in the harsh backstage lighting.

“No.” My voice came out smaller than I wanted.

“Good. Nerves keep you sharp.” He grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. “Listen to me. Kade–that’s your opponent tonight- he’s big. He’s strong. He’s going to try to intimidate you.”

“He already is intimidating me,” I admitted.

“But he’s slow. And he underestimates women.” Rico’s grip tightened. “Use that. Be faster. Be smarter. And for God’s sake, don’t let him

pin you against the ropes.”

The announcer’s voice boomed through the warehouse: “Ladies and gentlemen! Our next fight features a newcomer to the circuit!”

This was it. This was really happening.

“You got this,” Rico said, but his eyes said something different. Something that looked uncomfortably like doubt. 1

I stepped through the curtain.

The noise tripled instantly. But it wasn’t cheering. It was laughing. Jeering. The kind of cruel mockery that made my skin crawl.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” someone shouted from the crowd.

“She looks like she weighs ninety pounds!”

“This is gonna be a massacre!”

“I’ll take bets on which bone he breaks first!”

My legs felt like jelly as I climbed the steps. The canvas was stained with old blood. Some of it might be mine soon.

The overhead lights were blinding, making the crowd beyond them look like shadows. Faceless. Hungry. Waiting for me to fail.

announcer

in boos and catcalls so loud it

“Go home, little girl!”

child protective

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bucks says she doesn’t

She won’t

I gripped the ropes. The rough material bit into my palms. This was

huge, terrible mistake.

opposite door opened, and Kade

Oh God.

He was a monster.

tall, but built like a mountain. Dark skin stretched over muscles

lights like polished obsidian, and his shoulders were so

his name like he

“KADE! KADE! KADE!”

chest, through my bones. Dozens of voices merged into one

with the easy confidence of a predator entering

would end..

past me to his corner. His voice was deep,

made it worse.

a beer can that clattered across the floor

to the center of the ring. Up close, Kade was even more terrifying. His

the referee

met mine with enough force to make my entire arm go numb. His grin widened, showing

this,” he said softly. Just for me

returned to our corners. Rico was climbing through the ropes, his face

taught you,” he said, fitting my mouthguard. His hands were steady, but I

No matter what. You

not

The bell rang.

cut through the air like a

came at me like a

caught my forearms with enough force to send shockwaves up to

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170 Chapter 170

rattled my teeth. His second punch–Jesus Christ, his

his next swing and circled away, my feet remembering the footwork Flint had drilled into me

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