Page 23 of Callous Shot

Then Anton Volkov strode into the fighting area, his usually cool, expressionless face twisted in anger. He put his arm around Nova, steering her out of the ring, but my attention was on Kimberly. Tears streaked down her face as she pushed through the crowd, her body hunched over as if she were trying to make herself smaller. It was a distinct contrast to her usual outgoing persona.

“Kim! Over here!” Cara called, and her head whipped around. Her gaze connected with mine, and a sob tore from her throat. I acted on instinct, moving to wrap my arms around her trembling body.

“I-I thought you’d be proud of me,” she whimpered, and I cursed the red-headed demon who’d brought this on her.

“It was a malicious rumour. I don’t enjoy seeing women fight.”

Another sob tore through her at my words, and I looked to Jasper helplessly. What the fuck was I supposed to do? He held up his hands, shaking his head, and I glared at him.

“I-it was all for nothing.” Lifting her tear-stained face, she gave me a tremulous smile. “At least I have my man to make it all better.”

My brain screeched to a halt, the two words bouncing around inside my head. My man.

Oh, fuck no.

I opened my mouth to refute her words but closed it again. I couldn’t do this to her now, not while she was so upset. Her hesitant smile solidified, and before I knew what was happening, she was wrapping her arms around my neck and dragging me into a kiss.

Panic made me jerk away, and the hurt in her eyes had me cursing Daniel all over again. This was all his fault. “Uh, I need to get ready for my fight. Go with Cara. We need to talk later, okay?”

The wary look she shot me told me that she was well aware of what our conversation would be about, but she nodded. “O-okay.”

“Good.” I mustered up a smile before glancing at Cara. She immediately stepped over, sliding her hand around Kimberly’s waist. I didn’t stick around. Maybe it made me an asshole, but the simmering anger I’d been feeling had turned into fury, and there was only one way to make it go away.

When I reached Jasper, he nodded towards the ring. “You’re up next.”

“Good. Hold on to my shit.” Ripping off my hoodie and T-shirt, I thrust them at him, and then stalked over to Neo, who was officiating the fights. He wordlessly handed me two strips of tape so I could wrap my hands. Giving him a nod of acknowledgement, I entered the ring.

Through the ringing in my ears, I noticed the whispers and the growing excitement of the crowd. Everyone knew there was bad blood between me and Daniel Hoyton. Everyone knew that when we clashed, it was explosive.

Widening my stance, I flexed my knuckles.

Tonight, the Cranham students would see me take one of their kings down.

11

DAN

For the first time, I was having second thoughts. I’d seen many iterations of Lincoln Bellingham’s anger, but this time, it was different. He looked murderous, ready to kill me without a second thought.

“If I die, tell my mum I died a hero,” I instructed Neo. He laughed, which was rude. How was he even able to breathe properly, let alone laugh, with the waves of suffocating hatred coming from the middle of the ring?

Lifting my hands, he examined my wrapped knuckles. “You’re good to go. Get in there and give the people what they want.”

“For me to die? Can I use my knuckleduster to give me a fighting chance?” I shot him a hopeful look as I dug my mouthguard case out of my back pocket and fitted my mouthguard.

“You know the rules. No weapons, unless the other party agrees to it in advance.”

Well, there was no way Lincoln was gonna agree to that. Even so… I patted my pocket, feeling the reassuringly solid metal weight beneath the fabric. Given his murderous rage, it was best to be prepared for all eventualities.

Bare-chested, with my sweatpants riding low on my hips, I flexed my muscles for the appreciation of the crowd.

Someone didn’t appreciate my display, and that person’s name began with an L and ended in “bellend Bellingham.” His voice rose over the noise of the crowd in a challenging roar.

“Stop wasting time. Come and fight me, you fucking coward!”

One thing I was not was a coward, and him calling me one was a guaranteed way to piss me off. That, and the fact that he’d just had his tongue down his girlfriend’s throat, doing his own time-wasting.

His girlfriend. My jaw clenched. My friend Liana had told me about the rumour that she’d heard from Enzo’s sister, Vesper, but I’d brushed it off. Yeah, I’d seen him coming out of what I now knew was Kimberly’s bedroom, the morning after the night that would never be mentioned again. And yeah, Vesper was one of Kimberly’s housemates, so she was in the know, but even so, I hadn’t believed it. Bellingham tying himself to one person? It was unimaginable. He slept with just as many women as I did, if not more.