Once he’s done with his little spiel, he fixes both of us with a nod to confirm we’re ready, which we both respond with a firm yes. He nods off to some Guard official at the edge of the ring and begins his countdown, holding his arm out between us. “In three. Two. One.” He drops his arm and the crowd roars.
Trey flies at me with his arm outstretched to deliver the first blow, but there’s no way I’m letting that happen. Not today. I dodge his advance and bring my fist up in an uppercut to his stomach. My fist connects and he bounces back, lessening the blow. I leap forward and bring my leg up to his rib to get him before he has too much time to recover all while the crowd roars at the first sign of action.
I leap back out of his space and bounce on my toes preparing for his next advance. He feints to the left and I adjust to block whatever’s coming. He double steps back to the right and takes the slightest of opportunities to throw his leg out. He connects hard with my chest and the air rushes to escape my lungs as my body is flown backward. I watch in slow motion as Trey advances on me once again.
I hit the ropes on the side of the ring and use the momentum from my hit to rebound off the ropes and propel myself forward into Trey. I come at him with my fists raised, hopefully looking like some exotic warrior princess in the process. I throw my fist out and deliver a game-changing blow to his upper chest which has him flying back.
A worried look crosses his face for the briefest moment before he fixes it with confidence. Clearly giving himself a mental pep talk. Our fight continues for the next few minutes with each of us canceling out the other’s strengths; Trey’s brute strength and size to my agility and small frame.
I hear Rylan and Ben’s encouragement from the sidelines which spurs me on. I deliver a quick, one, two punch and follow it up with a knee to his stomach. I drop to the floor and sweep my leg out. Trey stumbles and begins to fall only he throws his body weight in my direction and falls into me. We tumble down together, arms and legs flying everywhere.
Trey pins me for a moment before easing up on top of me. A grin on his face as he knows the likelihood of me getting out of this is basically next to none, all he needs is one good punch and I’m out. He looks down at me, his fist rising behind him. I wait for the last possible moment and use my size against him, just like Rylan had taught me. I throw myself up and across, just in time to see his fist flying past my ear and hitting hard into the ground. He lets out a low moan, but I don’t let that faze me.
I buck up under him, attempting to scoot lower to release him off my legs and hips. My action throws him off balance and I throw my legs up and lock them around his chest and arms from behind. Knowing I only have the slightest moment to make this happen, I move as quickly as possible. I squeeze my thighs as hard as I can and throw my legs down, using the momentum to get up on top of him.
He scrambles under me and I take the opportunity to throw a few punches, but unfortunately, against a guy like Trey, I would need my whole body to make a punch count and without my legs, he quickly recovers, freeing his arms and grabbing my body. Within the space of only a few seconds, he throws me off of him. I land beside him on the floor and he moves like a snake, suddenly on top of me. Not wasting a single moment, he delivers the blow to end the fight of all fights.
He quickly rises off me, getting to his feet with the encouragement of the crowd. My headaches as I open my eyes with stars spinning in my vision. I hear the faint ‘booing’ from deep within the crowd and am pleased to know some people still have my back. I try to sit up, but decide a few more moments might be needed.
Trey glances down at me with worry on his face. “You good?” he asks, crouching down above me.
I wipe my hands down my face and give him a smile. “I nearly had you there,” I laugh.
His face suddenly splits into a brilliant grin. “Come on,” he says, reaching a hand down to me. “I’ll help you out of here,” I grab his hand and allow him to haul me to my feet. The crowd chants my name as I get up. “Looks like you’re still their favorite,” Trey laughs from beside me.
“Well, of course I am. Look at me, I’m gorgeous.”
Trey laughs and shakes his head as he leads me out of the ring. Rylan meets me at the side and holds the ropes open for me to climb out then reaches up and places his hands on my waist before lifting me off the side of the elevated stage. “You did amazing,” he says as he lowers my body to the ground.
“I lost,” I scoff. Disappointment racing through me at the realization of the meaning behind those words.
“You didn’t lose, that’s not how I saw it,” he says with pride in his eyes and a whole lot more.
“Uh, were you watching just now?”
He rolls his eyes at my comments and fixes me with a look that tells me to shut up and listen. “You just fought as though your life depended on it. You gave it absolutely everything you had.” A smile creeps over my face at his words. “Stop worrying about your ranking and look around,” he says motioning to the crowd. “You have just earned the respect of everyone here, especially The Guard officials. From now on, nobody will doubt what you can do.”
Heat rushes into my cheeks at his praise, his words meaning absolutely everything to me. I stare up into his beautiful dark, gold speckled eyes and tell him with my eyes exactly how much I love him. He returns my look and I know he’s trying to tell me the same thing.
“Bianca,” I hear Millie calling as she struggles to get through the crowd to me, cutting off my moment with Rylan.
“Come on, let’s get you checked out for any injuries, then the mobs can have you,” he teases with a sparkle in his eyes. He leads me over to a chair opposite of Trey and gets started on documenting my injuries. Surprisingly, they aren’t too bad. Cuts and bruises cover me from head to toe and I know for a fact that I’ll have a nasty rope burn across the back of my ribs.
Rylan’s eyes blaze as I strip off my shirt and use it to cover my chest, though I don’t worry too much as I have my sports crop underneath. I turn my back on Rylan, knowing he’s going to want to put cream on my burns. He sucks in a breath at the sight of the burns and I pray that he’s being dramatic.
“Damn, sorry, Bianca,” I hear Trey murmur beside me as he also gets an eyeful of the rope burn.
Shit, it must be bad if it warrants an apology from Trey.
“Don’t stress,” I laugh. “It’s Jacinta you’ve got to worry about. She’s going to hate on you for a while,” I say as Rylan begins to rub the cold antiseptic cream into my wounds. I wince as the cream begins to sting and Rylan continues to massage it into my skin. He either really enjoys inflicting pain or he really enjoys the feel of my skin under his fingers, I'm hoping it's the latter.
Millie finally comes barreling through the crowd with mom and Jacinta in tow. Mom throws her arms around me, squeezing me tight making pain surge through my body, but I do what I can to not let the groan pass my lips as I know she needs this. “God, I was so worried about you, Bianca. Do you have any idea how hard it’s been to watch you these last few days? Now, I know you want to follow in your daddy’s footsteps and you really do have a gift and amazing skills. But come on, sweetie, you’re going to give your poor mother a heart attack one of these days.”
“Mom, come on,” Millie says, finally stepping in. “A hug that tight would hurt the strongest of people and after what Bianca has just been through, you’re probably going to kill her.” Mom gasps and quickly lets go as my friends laugh around me. I give Mom an encouraging smile, letting her know that I’m okay and begin shrugging my shirt back on.
I quickly look around for Jacinta to find her smothering Trey with kisses then yelling at him for hurting her best friend. I smirk at her comments and laugh at Trey who lets her know that I was more than okay. In fact, I had inflicted quite a bit of damage on him myself and she should be yelling at me instead.
I look back to mom to find her ranting at Rylan. He wears a guilty expression and I wonder how important it is for me to intervene. Deciding after eve
rything I’ve been through so far; Rylan can take one for the team.
I relax back in my chair, grab a drink and close my eyes as I begin to mentally prepare for my final weaponry examination tomorrow. Now that today is over, I have to make sure I kick ass tomorrow if I still want to have a shot at the top rank. I hope I’ll be facing Ben as I know winning a fight against Rylan is next to impossible, but trying to win a fight against Rylan while he’s wielding a weapon is basically a death sentence.
----------
I stand among my classmates, all squished in a small holding area watching as Ben annihilates Tom, holding not only his own weapon but Tom’s weapon as well. The crowd cheers at Tom’s downfall after watching him exaggerate his abilities over the last few days, they seem pretty happy to have watched Ben take him down a few notches. I glance up into the crowd and am still in shock at the size of it. There must be at least double the number of spectators than yesterday’s turnout. Though, I can almost guarantee it’s because the famous Rylan Neill will be put on display.
After his amazing results and ranking from when he was a student, he’s become the most feared and lethal weapon that The Guard posses. Thoughts of Rylan force my eyes in his direction to where he sits in a small area, similar to the one I’m currently being held in as he talks to one of The Guard officials, most likely finding out who his next opponent will be. Both fear and excitement race through me that it could be me who’s about to face him, but on the other hand it could possibly be another chance that I get to watch him in action.
A curious expression crosses Rylan’s face as an official in my section calls my name. My stomach drops and my eyes flick towards Rylan one last time, who now has his gaze trained heavily on me, telling me what I already know. A grin rips across my face as soon enough, there’s one on his.
I hastily get up from my chair and make my way over to the bald official who was present at my Target Examination earlier in the week. “Bianca, how nice to see you again,” he says in a tone that suggests he really doesn’t care. “Your opponent will be Rylan. You now have five minutes to choose your weapon. I advise that you choose wisely.”
I give Baldy a slight nod, confirming I understand his instructions. I make my way over to the table which holds an impressive spread of weapons. I stick with the decision I had made weeks ago and pick up the medium-sized training dagger, knowing this is the weapon I feel strongest and most confident using.
Dread fills my stomach as I glance over at Rylan and find his eyes still trained on me. He sends me a curious smile which could also double as a grimace and I know that’s because these fights usually end up with someone getting hurt and in this particular case, it will be me, and I know the thought of possibly hurting me would be tearing him apart.
He never holds back in our training, though will always stop when it’s obvious that he’s about to deliver the winning blow, even then he will always ensure that I’m okay and never hurt. I know with my lack of strength, I can’t really inflict that much pain on someone as strong as him, so I always give him everything I’ve got, and I also know he would kick my ass if I didn’t.
Baldy escorts me to the side of the ring and holds up the ropes for me to climb in. I cringe at the sight of the ropes as I’m reminded of the terrible sleep I had on my stomach last night, trying to avoid laying on my burns. The crowd roars as my name is announced alongside my opponent. Apparently, they know they’re in for a treat.
I walk into the ring with my dagger firmly in my hand and meet Rylan in the center. The sound of the crowd completely forgotten as I look up into his eyes. “Breathe, Bianca. This isn’t going to work if you’re freaking out on me,” he says. I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. “It's just like training. Pretend all these people aren’t here and it’s just you and me.”
My nerves disappear as my cocky attitude takes over. “Well, if it was just you and me, I’d probably be jumping you by now,” I say with a wicked smirk.
He raises his brows, his eyes becoming hooded as he considers my words. “Now, now, Bianca. Are you trying to throw me off my game? I think that might be cheating,” he says.
“Hmm…I don’t remember seeing any rules against trying to seduce your opponent,” I say with a wink.
Rylan lets out a low groan and I know there’s an endless pool of comebacks that he’s forcing himself not to say so I don’t get distracted, and as much as I want to hear what he has to say, I’m thankful that he keeps it to himself.
The Guard official steps up between us. “Okay, Bianca. Game time now. Are you ready?” he asks, raising his arm.
I nod. “I’m ready.”
“In three. Two. One,” he says, then drops his arm.
Chapter 6
We circle each other, waiting for the other to attack. Rylan watches, waiting for me to make my move, knowing I prefer to take the offense first. I wait him out, wanting to switch up my technique to get any sort of drop on him, which will most likely be impossible. Curiosity sparks in his eyes which is quickly replaced with understanding.
Damn. Within the first few seconds, he’s already worked out my game plan. I see the decision being made in his eyes and I prepare myself for his attack.
Rylan comes at me, springing into action and taking the offense. He feints right then left while moving himself forward. I adjust my position without missing a beat, keeping just out of his reach. Somehow, I’ve ended up blocked in by the ropes and his body and the crowd roars, hoping for an easy finish.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I taunt as I study his impressive body for his next move.
A wide grin comes over his face as he stalks towards me, switching his dagger from his left hand to the right. “Baby, you know I could go all day,” he says, our banter being drowned out by the crowd. I desperately want to think about how amazing it felt to hear him call me ‘baby’, but I mentally tuck that memory away for later, now is really not the time.
“Really, now?” I grin. “Prove it.”
Rylan doesn’t need any more encouragement than that and brings his training dagger up in a wide arch, preparing to deliver a blow. I make my move. I dive under his raised arm, into a forward roll, popping up behind him. He quickly turns on me in surprise and arches a questioning brow as I leap forward. I grin as he steps back out of reach, placing him right in the position I had been in not two seconds ago. His eyes flame. “Well…I know I didn’t teach you that,” he states, moving his dark eyes to meet mine.
“Oh, I know,” I smirk, punching out my fist with my dagger, which he easily blocks. “You see, I came well prepared. I kind of hoped for Ben because I’m pretty sure I could take him. It would be hard, but I think I could,” I say, blocking another of his advances which somehow gets us back into the center of the ring. He nods in agreement and I continue on after giving myself a second to catch my breath. “But you, the famous Rylan Neill. Being against you would be like a game of cat and mouse especially since you’ve taught me everything I know. So, I’ve taught myself a few new things over the last couple weeks,” I say with the evilest smirk I can possibly manage right now.
“Interesting,” he muses, stalking me once again. “I’m very impressed, though you know I can handle anything you’ve got.”
I raise a brow in question with a dirty comeback sitting on the tip of my tongue. His eyes blaze and I know his mind has just gone to the same place as mine. “We’ll see,” I smirk, then launch myself at him, taking the offense.
Rylan blocks my fists and kicks as he attempts to get a few hits in himself, which I might add are a lot harder than the hits he gives during practice, though I know for sure, he has a lot more power to give. The sound of the metal from our training daggers clashes together as we battle it out, my speed and conniving tricks against his sheer size and strength.
“Is it wrong that I’m actually enjoying this?” I ask as I duck under his arm and narrowly avoid being taken out by the training dagger.
“Not at all,” he grins as if this is
some sort of twisted foreplay.
We continue fighting tooth and nail with Rylan’s advances still coming on strong. I feel my body beginning to wear down as he pushes forward, clearly not having the same problems as me. “Don’t give up yet, fight for it,” he encourages. Opponent or not, he still pushes me to be the best I can be. Hell, I know he would be proud if I could take him down, though not sure how his ego will take it if I brought him to his knees in front of such a huge audience.
He steps forward again, pushing me into the ropes at the edge of the ring, another step forces us into more intense hand to hand combat. I block his blows and manage to get a few of my own in. The crowd roars around us once again, and by this point, I can honestly say the crowd has been completely forgotten. It’s only me and Rylan, in the zone.
I bring my knee up and nail him in the stomach before quickly leaning back into the ropes to create a little distance between us. My burns scream in protest as I kick my leg up once again, using the momentum from the ropes to connect hard with his chest which sends him two steps back. I dart out and around him and immediately throw myself up onto the side of his body as he recovers from my blow.
I do what little I can to get up on his back. I swing my leg higher and hook it over his arm which holds the dagger, bringing it down hard to pin it at his side. “Fuck!” he calls in surprise as I tighten my limbs around him, making it as difficult as possible for him to get me off.
I raise my hand, ready to bring my dagger down over his heart, and do what I can to immobilize the rest of his body. He uses his free hand to reach across and grab my raised hand. I lean my body over and catch his wrist while holding on for dear life as he attempts to yank it away, which in turn, gives me my one and only chance to take my swing.
I bring my training dagger down hard and fast over his heart then let out a shocked gasp as my dagger actually connects with his chest.
Heart and Revenge: Slayer Academy (Book 2) Page 5