Page 27 of Raven

My eyes stop on two guys forty or so feet away, two rows up. Baseball hats low over their faces, they are whispering to each other, but the way they quickly turn their eyes from me when they catch me watching is fishy to say the least. I wait for a minute, then turn back and see them watching me again.

Yep, they are watching.

I am either paranoid or there are eyes on me everywhere. The next time I turn, I catch one of them pointing something at me, and I’m pretty sure it’s a phone camera.

Shit.

I shouldn’t have come out. I shouldn’t be in public, period.

The loud voice over the speakers whips my attention to the cage.

“Pleeeease! Welcoooome!” the referee roars into the mic. “Un-de-feateeeed! Rrrraaaaven!”

The audience goes wild, and there is booing too. My heart almost jumps out of my chest when Raven walks the aisle toward the door in the cage. He pulls his shirt over his head and gives it to his guard, then steps into the octagon.

He is not boasting. He doesn’t beat his chest or shake his fists above him like I’ve seen in matches on TV back in the day. He slowly turns around in his spot.

That’s when I finally get a good look at the tattoo on his back. It’s a raven with an open beak ready to attack. Black feathers. Shades of blue behind it. The wings stretch along his biceps down to his elbows and forearms.

The crowd continues to wildly cheer and whistle, and their heads turn to the other side of the octagon as the referee announces Raven’s opponent.

The other guy steps into the octagon, and I hold my breath.

He is a giant of a man, almost twice Raven’s size, considering his height and weight. The man lifts his face to the ceiling and does some war cry, then beats his massive fists against his chest.

“Jesus,” I murmur, my eyes boring into Raven, who doesn’t react to his opponent.

Kat leans over. “They say Raven is unbeatable, no matter what opponent he faces. So, they keep upping his opponent’s weight and height.”

“That’s not fair.”

“The are no rules here. No one cares. That’s why Raven is so popular. Except among those who bet on the newest opponents and lose. Raven is kind of a legend here.”

The match starts, and I still, barely breathing, as I watch the two men in the octagon.

Kat leans over to me again. “I saw him fight once. He is a not a muscle head, but he’s strong. Vicious with his punches. Calculating. He doesn’t fight hard. He fights smart.”

Despite her praise, my heart is in my throat. I want Raven to win. I can’t even imagine seeing him getting hurt. I tuck my palms between my thighs, pressing them together so hard that they go numb.

The giant is definitely powerful, his massive fists swinging at Raven. But Raven’s body is flexible, twisting and bending out of the way as he occasionally sends punches at his opponent. They don’t seem to do much damage, so I wonder if Raven is trying to wear him out.

Kat doesn’t stop talking. I guess she feels the need to entertain me and explain what’s happening. She has this unique skill of extracting info but also feeding the info to people she has interest in to see their reaction. I should know. I’ve dealt with Kat for months.

But her voice calms me as my eyes are nervously glued to the octagon.

“He never mingles with the elite crowd, you know,” she says. “Never did in two years, Archer said. Some of the Elites know his story and dealt with him back at Deene. They don’t know that by now, Raven has shares in Gen-Alpha, just like the selected few at Ayana, and has made millions.”

That’s new. Sure, I knew that Raven was important to Ayana. I didn’t suspect that he was rich. Rich and… dangerous, because he manages to send a vicious punch into his opponent’s side, making him bend, then chases it with a blow to the guy’s face, sending him stumbling backward.

The crowd roars, and I inwardly cheer for Raven.

“You know, everyone thinks Zion would have a tough time without Archer,” Kat continues. “But it would be a fucking disaster without Raven. At least for some time.”

I snap my head to look at Kat. I can’t believe she actually said that, considering she worships her boyfriend.

She only smiles and looks at the octagon, then whistles with the rest of the crowd as Raven sends the guy stumbling again.

“Where does he come from?” I ask.

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