Once the referee took the center stage, Jai and I moved over and stood on either side of the referee glaring at each other. Neither of us listened as he gave us the usual instructions. We each took a step back, then the referee signaled by raising the red ribbon he held in his hand and lowering it between us. Then the fight was on.
We went into defensive stances assessing each other. I zoned out on everything but the man in front of me. My entire focus was on everything about him, including when he blinked just before he moved to strike, but I was already moving to counter what his body broadcasted to me loud and clear.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ivy
When I got to the row of seats down in the front I saw a familiar head of blond hair already seated there. I had told Maze I would have come by myself and sit with his uncle, but I was glad he’d invited Dante. It was good to see a friendly face. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect but the place was packed. The crowd looked no different from the people who came to watch me dance other than the fact the crowd was predominantly Asian, although there appeared to be a few other nationalities peppered here and there. Dante stood up when he saw me. Because of my leg I took the seat at the end of the row, and placed the crutches down beside me. Dante was already seated in the seat next to mine. I quickly introduced him to Maze’s sorta uncle. Tsang sat on the other side of Dante and one of his bodyguards sat next to his boss. I also noticed the second bodyguard who’d been with us moved into the row behind us and sat one seat behind Tsang.
I turned my attention back to Dante and leaned closer to him. “Thanks for coming.”
Dante shrugged. “What are friends for, and besides I’ve been dying to see one of these things. And these are fucking front row seats. Don’t get better than this. Your boy has some serious pull. I did an internet search on him and he’s well known in the martial arts fighting world. And no shit he has never lost a fight. There’s a boat load a money riding on this match.”
I had no clue what winning one of these things netted and didn’t really care, but hopefully it was worth all the effort and punishment on their bodies I know most athletics put into their sport. Out of curiosity I asked. “If he wins, what’s the prize?”
“Five million but that’s not on the internet. When I came in I was given the chance to place a bet.”
My eyebrows tried to rise to my hairline. “WHAT!”
Dante merely nodded.
“Holy hell.” I shook my head and stared at the stage. “Did you place a bet?”
“Hell yes, on your boy.”
I noticed Dante turn his head to say something to Mr. Tsang, after a minute Dante turned back to me. “Mr. Tsang wants to know if you’d like anything to drink.”
I leaned forward so I could see Maze’s uncle and he me. “Thanks, but I’m good.”
“You sure, we still have a little time before the fight starts.”
Dante and I both declined and sat back settling into our seats.
“How was the performance?” I noticed Dante hadn’t said a word about it and knew he wouldn’t until I brought it up. I wasn’t going to hide from it. That would be impossible.
He turned to me and said, “I missed you like crazy. Christy has no where near your perfect timing. I almost dropped her once because she’s a little heavier than you and she missed two cues.”
As much as I wanted to gloat I couldn’t. “She’ll get it. You only had all of what really, less than a week to work with her? The more you dance together the more in sync you’ll become. But don’t get too comfortable.”
He snorted. “As if. But I don’t care how long she and I dance together it won’t be like us. We fell in to sync the first time we took the stage.”
I could only nod in agreement. Everything he said was true; we’d just naturally known each other’s rhythm. It’s also why we were best friends. Even at the beginning if I wanted more, in my heart, Maze stood in the way. He was always there, like a mental emotional block to anyone I met, that I might have otherwise wanted to get closer to. That and the fact, at first, I thought Dante was gay. Finding out he was bi never changed my feelings for him, that we were only ever going to be friends.
The roar of the crowd behind us was my first clue something was happening. One of the fighters entered the arena. The people behind us stood and applauded and then an announcer took the stage and introduced Maze. The noise in the place got louder. At first I couldn’t see him all the bodies were in the way. But he walked right down the side aisle then up the steps. His head never looked left or right, but seemed focused on some far point in front of him. He walked with his hands hanging loosely at his sides, with a smooth easy gait. Surprised he didn’t wear gloves or tape on his hands, but he told me this was different from what I might know. Once he got on the stage, he only turned to face the crowd once and bow. Then there was another roar louder on the other side of the room. I turned around, but again the people standing blocked my view. The announcer came on and gave the name of the other fighter. I didn’t recognize it, no surprise there. But when the young man took the stage and they stood there facing each other I realized he looked familiar.
It wasn’t until they began to fight I understood why his opponent looked familiar; he was one of those who’d try to mug us in the alley in Little Italy. My sharp intake of breath had Dante taking my hand resting on the armrest and squeezing it. I think he thought my reaction was for the kick the other guy aimed at Maze’s head, but Maze ducked it easily and swept his own foot out to trip the other guy, who went down on his butt. But he leaped up between one blink and the next and stood back on his feet.
The fight was fast and furious. Half the time their hands moved in nothing but blurs, I could barely register who connected and who missed. Maze was right; this was not the kind of fighting I’d seen him do on the beach or even in the alley. This was on a whole different level. And it both excited and scared the shit outta me that he could fight like that. We were close enough to the stage I heard the power of some of their kicks and punches as they cut through the air or connected with flesh.
The fight seemed to go on forever, but was probably less than ten minutes and it was pretty clear early on Maze was the better fighter. To me he blocked more hits from his opponent, and Maze’s punches and kicks when they connected got more of a reaction. The other guy would either hold onto the area that got hit and back away or go into defensive moves while Maze kept pressing and took advantage of it.
Eventually, Maze must have gotten tired of playing with his opponent because it seemed like he could have ended this fight anytime he wanted to. He leaped into the air and did a spin kick, his foot hitting the other guy on the side of his face and he went down and the crowd went wild. The referee walked over to Maze and pushed him away from the other guy, then the referee knelt beside the man who still hadn’t moved. He looked up over the heads of the crowd. I wasn’t sure what he was looking at. But then he crossed his arms over his chest and opened them wide.
“OUT! Round to Maze!”
Before Maze’s name left his mouth the guy on the ground rolled to his side but it was too late. He shook his head and someone else from his side of the stage came out and helped him up. My gaze during the entire time kept drifting back to Maze. He merely stood on his side of the stage, arms hanging loosely at his sides and his feet spread wide, ready for anything. His gaze remained glued to the guy on the ground. God, he looked savage. I’d never wanted him more.
“God damn!” Dante shouted along with pretty much everyone else in the house.
“Is it over?” I asked Dante. But it was Mr. Tsang who answered; he must have heard my question.
“No. There are two parts to this fight. Bare hands and then swords.”
“Swords!” Both Dante and I said in unison staring at Mr. Tsang.
That’s what was in those long boxes the guard carried into the dressing room. I knew Maze told me he was good with blades too but I never realized he actually fought with them. It was a
fter all how he got some of those cuts, so I guess it made sense but I had to take a few deep breaths. I wasn’t expecting to see him fight with swords tonight. But wait his opponent had been knocked out would he still be allowed to fight with swords? Oh God, what if Maze hurt the man? Not for one moment did I think Maze would lose.
I leaned forward to ask Mr. Tsang. “Is the opponent with the swords the same guy?” But someone walked past me and stopped in front of Mr. Tsang’s seat. The young man bent down and said something to him. I was already leaning forward and watching him, so I saw the frown on his face and then his eyes narrowed. I didn’t know him very well, but he looked angry. He said something in rapid fire Chinese, I think, to the bodyguard next to him. The man pulled out his cell and texted something. What the hell was going on?
The announcer stepped forward to the center of the stage. The low level voices of people talking in the place immediately quieted. “There’s a change in the second part of the competition. Souta Goya will finish the competition for the blades.”
The rest of what he said was drowned out by the cheers. I took that to mean this guy was a favorite. I leaned closer to Dante. “Can they do that?”
Dante shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m not sure what the rules are in fights like these. They’re definitely under the radar if not outright ilegal, so I’m sure they have their own rules.”
Apparently they could because another man, he looked older than Maze, maybe late twenties early thirties, walked onto the stage. He might have been a couple of inches taller than Maze and seemed broader in the shoulders. A shorter guy walked beside him carrying a case. They walked toward the referee who now stood center stage. Maze and his trainer also walked to meet them in the center. Maze’s trainer carried the case I’d seen earlier in the dressing room. The referee nodded and then the trainers, I guessed that would be the shorter guy with the new opponent. They opened the cases at the same time to show the referee. He merely looked at them without touching them. He nodded then each man closed the cases and they turned to walk back to their respective sides. But Maze and the newcomer still stood staring at each other, neither willing to give an inch. Where before I hadn’t really been too worried about Maze and the first fighter, a chill went through me at what was about to come. It was not a pleasant feeling.
Finally, the referee stepped in front of both men effectively cutting off their stare down. They returned to their trainers who stood holding the cases open. I focused on Maze when he stopped in front of his trainer. He bowed to the man then removed the swords. I don’t know why I thought there would just be one sword. This wasn’t fencing, this was something else. I suspected I was about to see the true brutality of this sport. Maze raised them crossed over each other over his head. He pulled them apart so hard and fast I could have sworn I saw sparks. I was close enough to hear the slide of the blades against each other. Then I heard an echoing sound and my gaze travelled to the other side of the stage. His opponent had done the same thing. Then he turned around. A blade in each hand extended out and away from his body. My head swung back toward Maze’s side and he too mirrored the stance.
The referee beckoned both men toward him, they stopped about an arm’s length or blade length away from him. The man raised the red ribbon held in his hand into the air and then lowered it, quickly stepping out of the way. He’d only taken about two steps when the sound of the blades meeting ricocheted around the room. This, this was what Maze feared me seeing.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Maze
I had expected something like this. As soon as I saw how much trouble Jai had coming around I knew there was no way he’d be allowed back into the second part of this fight. Even this kind of competition had some rules. They tried not to get their fighters killed. Especially on American soil. A death brought questions and unwanted attention to these kinds of fights. Something no one wanted. In truth, Jai shouldn’t have been allowed to fight to begin with. It was only because certain Triad members thought I would throw the fight. Like hell. But this guy. It was not unheard of to replace a downed fighter. I’d heard of him, he was a shadow fighter. There were underground fighting organization and then there were secretive organizations, this guy’s name had been associated with both. The kind of fights where folks got killed.
By now those sons of bitches knew I wasn’t throwing the fight, so they thought to teach me a lesson, by sending in an assassin. Oh yes, I understood exactly what he was what he had to be, because I was that good and it was what the Triad really wanted of me. Or this could have been their plan all along. A test. I didn’t give a fuck. It didn’t matter; the outcome for me had to be the same. I had to put this bastard down, without killing him. Not gonna be easy because I knew he’d aim for kill shots. When the referee stepped out of the way I didn’t wait, I already knew this man would not reveal himself in his stillness but by his movement. So I needed him to move to read him. Fucker’s first blows were decisive but also I was testing. Testing for tells of my opponent’s movements. It took awhile, but I began to feel his patterns, but in doing so I realized he’d also been testing me, and I knew I’d revealed some of my own, the trick was to make sure I learned more from him than he did from me.
I lost track of everything but the movement of my body and my Ninjato blades, the swords used for these fights. My blades and I were one, each move calculated in a split second and perfectly executed. Goya was shirtless, like me, and the line of red running along his bicep that hadn’t been there the moment before told me I’d drawn first blood. In other arenas that would have been enough to end the fight with a win for me, but not this one, I understood that. It would take more. I moved like I’d never moved in my life because I fought for me, I fought for Joe and yes, Ivy too. I fought for that life. I was not born to lose. I knew what I had to do. There was only one way, more blood would have to spill. It would not be mine. I fought with perfect synchronicity, no mistakes, biding my time, until I saw my opening. It would only last an infinitesimal amount of time. I spun, twisting my torso completely around, he was off center and his aim to block my blade was off, it was too high. I finished the turn in a crouch, my blades crisscrossing over each other in a deadly arch. If I were standing he’d have ripped open my stomach. Instead I crippled him; I sliced him just above the knees. He screamed and dropped on his side on the floor, losing his grip on the blades as he fell. I stepped back breathing hard. It took me several minutes before I came back to reality and I heard the roar of the crowd. I felt Lee take the swords and then wrap his arms around me. I’d won. I just hoped I hadn’t sold my soul while I was at it.
For the first time I allowed myself to glance into the audience to try to see beyond the lighted stage to the row of seats in the front. I knew where Ivy was seated, but there were too many people who’d rushed to the front of the stage, and climbed it now surrounding me, patting my arms, my head and blocked my view. Lee pushed them aside and heralded me to the center of the stage, the extra people moved aside for us to walk to where the announcer stood. He held a mic in his hand and made the formal announcement proclaiming me the champion. He also held a check in his hand. I shook his hand with one hand and reached for the check with the other, several flashes went off. Then I was presented with the championship belt, Lee helped me get it on and this time I heard the roar of the crowd chanting my name.
I raised my hands in the air. I’d done it. For a second the crowd parted and I saw her, standing on her crutches and it looked like she was smiling and crying at the same time. I can’t even begin to explain the emotions that ran through me at the sight of her. But the strongest of all was my love for her. I’d fallen in love with her that day when I saw her doing those crazy leaps on the beach and I loved her now. I needed her now. I wanted to jump off the stage and go straight to her but there were too many people in the way. Fuck it! I ran for the edge of the stage and leaped into the air doing a summersault, people got the hell out of the way. I landed right in front of Ivy. I immediately saw she ha
d been crying and she still was. I wiped her tears away and wrapped my arms around her. I felt her arms go around me. I smiled because she must have dropped her crutches. She’d been leaning on them when I saw her. I lowered my head and just before my lips covered hers, I said, “I love you.”
Yeah. I was where I needed to be with whom I needed. Life was good. I had won.
I was never more wrong.
About The Author
Ursula Sinclair is the alter ego for LaVerne Thompson, an award winning, best-selling, multi-published author, an avid reader and a writer of contemporary, fantasy, and sci/fi sensual romances. She writes romantic suspense and new adult under the pen name Ursula Sinclair.
She is currently working on several projects and also writes interactive character storylines for a free read site. http://rpworldgroup.org
Visit her website at http://lavernethompson.com to read excerpts of her books. Or join her on Facebook at http://facebook.com/groups/lavernesnews . On Twitter at http://twitter.com/lavernethompson
BOOKS BY LaVERNE THOMPSON
**Self-Published from Isisindc Publishing
Dragon’s Heart- Story of the Brethren
**Horny Devil Publishing
Skye High
**From Red Rose Publishing
Promises
Hold On
Ringside- Book 1 The Three Sisters Series
Masquerade- Book 3 The Three Sisters Series
Chances Are
Day in The Sun
Titanna
Living on The Edge
Kissed By A Rose
Highland Jack
Journey of the Princess of Ice- The Elementals
**From Decadent Publishing
The Ballerina & The Fighter (Book 1) Page 15