Page 5 of Emperor of Havoc

For a split second, my whole world freezes. An icy chill drags its claws over my skin, and nauseating dread settles deep in my stomach.

What. The. Fuck.

My phone buzzes again.

Kaiju

Black hoodies really aren’t your look.

My fingers shake as I tap on the Venom app preferences, my pulse jangling as my eyes scan down the list.

Oh, shit.

The toggle next to “share location with matched partner” is set to “always”.

My face pales.

I remember choosing this setting when I was first looking for…well, what I was on the Club Venom app to find: someone to chase me. To hunt me, pin me down, and fuck me like an animal. Someone to tap into the darkest recesses of the fantasies in my head, even just once.

But I'd forgotten it was toggled on until just now.

My eyes land on the fine print underneath the setting:location settings are accurate to within two feet.

My throat tightens.

He knows.

Not only does he know I’m here at this initiation. He knowswhich of the initiatesI am. And the second I think that, my brain connects the final dots with horrifying clarity: it meanshe’s here too.

A brutal chill ripples through me as I turn quietly, glancing left and right at the men standing near me.

“Choose your partner now.”

The voice rips me out of my horrified stupor, yanking my attention to the savage-looking tattooed man with the bat slowly prowling down the row of initiates in front of me. He’s seriouslyhuge, towering above all the others as his blank, masked eyes sweep the crowd.

“Hey, pay the fuck attention.”

I flinch, ripping my gaze to the person standing next to me, dressed all in black just like me, with the blank blackonimask. All around us the others are pairing off, facing each other as they get ready.

Shit, this is happening.

I swallow as I move into a fighting stance, bringing up my fists. The man opposite me is only a little taller than I am but definitely has some bulk to him.

“Tap out now,” he growls, “and I won’t break you.”

Fifteen years of karate, jiu jitsu, and aikido, I think silently to myself.Let’s do this, bitch.

“What’s the matter,” my opponent snickers. “Too scared to say anything? Tap out, pussy. Save me the effo?—”

“Fight!”

The second the huge, masked leader barks the word, I’m hurling myself at the man facing me. I hear a gasp of shock from behind his mask as I slam into him, grappling at his arm and twisting as I jam my foot between his and then roll forward. The momentum knocks him off his feet, sending him hurtling over my shoulder and slamming into the floor mats.

All around us, pairs of initiates roar and grunt, hitting, fighting and kicking. My pulse roars as my opponent groans and tries to get up.

He doesn’t make it.

In one move, I’ve got him flipped face down, my knee in the small of his back and my arm wrapped around his neck. He kicks and flails, cursing me in a ragged, choked voice as he gasps for air.

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