Page 132 of Ruthless Legacy

Pax

Shit, she’s fast. She must’ve been practicing this move because she’s executed it perfectly. Thea turns us until I’m in a chicken wing wrestling move, my arm pulled behind my back. My body vibrates as I’m held immobile underneath her. It’s been a long time since anyone’s got the upper hand on me.

“Look at you all splayed out for me.” She pats my cheek. “You’ve never looked cuter, big guy.”

“Enjoy it now, cause when I turn this around on you…”

“Turn this around? Big talk from you. I’ve won this round, and you can’t break this hold.” She laughs. “I wish I could take a picture.”

“Go ahead. Get your phone. I’ll wait right here for you.”

She pulls tighter the tendons in my shoulders scream from the strain. “Submit.”

I laugh. “Is that what you think I’ll do? Little girl, you’re wasting your time if you think you can break me. I’ve had years of training, learning how to ignore pain like this.”

She rocks back, adding weight and pulling a little more. “You feel that strain? Hear that little crackle? That’s the tendon in your shoulder reaching the end of its stress point. Submit.”

“Or what?”

“Or pop goes the tendon in your shoulder. We’ll be sporting matching shoulder scars.”

“My tattoo will hide it.”

“You don’t care about your shoulder? Fine, then how about I take your grandfather up on his offer to come to him, anytime? I think he’d like to know what you’ve been getting up to in your free time. How do you think he’ll feel if I tell him how you’ve treated me? ”

“He won’t care.”

“Won’t he? Because I get the impression he’ll have an issue with me almost being burned alive.”

“He’s gotten the official report. The league accepts it was an initiation prank that went wrong. Saying otherwise now that you’re a prospect just makes you look bad.”

She pulls again. She’s right. My shoulders are right there at the limit. My right one has more strain on it. It won’t take much more pressure to tear it. “And whose idea was it for Eloise to invite me to pledge Zeta Nu?”

I meet her eyes in the mirror, taking in the wildness of her gaze.

“Now she’s a prospect too. Are you two planning to team up for her challenges?”

Is that what’s brought this on? I really fucking regret making that deal with Eloise. “The only people I work with are Finn and Holden, andeveryoneknows that.”

She releases my arms and shoves my head into the mat, holding it there. “I like Finn and Holden. I’m giving them a chance because you said they had nothing to do with what happened. Don’t drag them into your shit with Eloise. If you do, I promise everything you worry about me doing to them will happen.”

I roll onto my back and watch her walk out of the gym. It was my idea to humiliate her, but Eloise went too far. There’s no way I would ever team up with her again, or do something as stupid as targeting Thea outside of a challenge. Not when my friends and I are about to enter a new level in The League.

Chapter53

Thea

The text came in an hour ago while I was in class. Wolfe’s challenge is happening tonight. I rush into Vale Tower, repeatedly stabbing the call button for the elevator. I need to be there. The elevator finally comes and I step inside, scowling at the girls carrying laundry bags who slip in before the doors close.

I rush through my shower and getting dressed. Tonight calls for edge. Skinny jeans cuffed at the ankle, black bralette, sheer drop shoulder mesh top, and my ankle boots. I throw my hair in a sleek ponytail, swipe on some shadow, mascara and lipstick. I snag my wristlet off my bed, and hide my knife. I’m ready to go.

The venue where the challenge is being held must be a league property. The guy at the door was working security at one of the houses during review week. I stand with my arms out while he frisks me, knowing he won’t find my blade. If he does, that means his hands are somewhere they’re not supposed to be, at which point he’ll lose them. He gives me the nod to go inside, then moves on to the next person in line.

This event is just as much a cash grab as any other one. I pay my entry fee and step fully into the space. The boxing club is nice. Upscale. But I prefer the rawness of Syl’s underground club. I sit in a middle seat in the fourth row. It has a good vantage point of both sides of the ring.

The location is the only information given. I don’t even know who Leo picked as a proxy. Music starts and a giant walks from the dressing room to loud cheers and applause. Wolfe is tall, but this guy has four or five inches, and easily thirty pounds on him. He’s in the wrong sport. They need him on the basketball court or football field.

I fight outside of my weight class all the time, but that doesn’t stop me from being nervous for Wolfe.

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