Page 49 of Fight

Something I didn’t want to do. I was torn between regret that I had thought something else, wary because though he didn’t seem intent on making me fight, he’d want something else.

I kept my eyes down, the weave of his pants suddenly fascinating.

“P.”

I looked up when he spoke my name, drawn to answer for reasons I didn’t understand.

“You thought I was going to make you fight?” he asked.

Denial probably would have been the easier, safer path, but when had I ever taken that?

“Yeah,” I said, and once the word was out, my lungs constricted with the tension of waiting for his response.

As he always seemed to, Ioan threw me off balance. “Stupid girl,” he said, shaking his head as his lips lifted in a slight smile.

It was the nicest insult I’d ever received, and some of the ice in my chest began to thaw.

“You’re gonna fight?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Then it seems to me you’re the stupid one,” I said, smiling myself.

“Perhaps,” Ioan said, more somber now.

“There has to be another way,” I said, my own humor fading.

I didn’t want to be within a hundred miles of Markov, and I didn’t want Ioan to be either. He was the only thing standing between me and a fate I didn’t even allow myself to contemplate. Reason enough, but not the only one.

Truth was, I didn’t want to see him hurt.

Had he never come across me, he wouldn’t be in this situation. To have him risk being hurt… The thought made me sick.

I lifted my eyes to his and shook my head.

“No. You can’t,” I said.

He’d leaned forward, but after I spoke, he leaned back, looking at me through lowered lids. “After all that’s happened, you’re still bossy. Still think you have a say?”

The question was a dare to contradict him, something I was deeply considering but decided against.

“Fine. It’s your ass,” I said.

A brave front that I didn’t really believe. Because it was more, so much more.

“Glad you agree,” he said sarcastically.

“When?” I asked.

“Tonight,” he replied, and then he stood and left the kitchen.

Shit. Twelve hours to get used to the idea of Ioan fighting. Twelve hours to wait for the other shoe to drop.

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