Page 33 of The Wild Moon
I got to my feet again, the entire right side of my body one giant ache. Nothing was broken that I could tell, but that impact hadhurt. Johnathan came at me relentlessly now. Dull blue eyes were filled with frustration as he advanced. He might be winning the fight, but he’d been forced to dance tomytune, and he didn’t like it.
Well, too bad, Johnny Boy.
“Just end this now,” he growled at me. “You don’t have to get hurt.”
I grinned and snapped my leg out as he advanced. I caught him as he was transferring his weight with his step, and the force of my kick—which I hadn’t pulled—whipped his leg out from under him, and he fell. I scrambled to get on his back like some sort of spider monkey, holding on tight.
My arm slipped under his chin. This wasn’t the type of fight Johnathan was used to, and it showed. He wasn’t prepared at all for that move, and he didn’t stop me from locking it in.
The crowd knew, however, and they shot to their feet, erupting with shouts and chants. I squeezed, holding on for dear life, doing my best to avoid Johnathan’s wild attempts to pry me off while taking backward punches and elbows that sent flashes of agony through my body when they connected.
But I didn’t let go. I had this fucker where I wanted.
“You should never have come after me,” I said as his blows started to weaken. “Now you’re going to lose to me twice, you little bitch.”
I don’t know if he heard that last taunt or not because he’d run out of blood to his brain and was slipping into unconsciousness. I braced myself, holding on tight as we fell to the ground. Thankfully, he didn’t fall backward. That was probably the only move he could have made that would have dislodged me. Instead, we fell to the side. I grunted at the impact but kept holding tight until he was completely limp. Then I held on for a few more seconds before finally releasing.
Scrambling free, I got to my feet before Johnathan woke up with a roar, the blood returning to his head.
I slammed a fist into his face, keeping him down.
“You lost,” I shouted over the bar patrons as they went ballistic. “Get the hell out and leave me alone.”
He got to his feet, bleeding from his nose from that last punch. I braced myself for him to continue the fight. If he did, I wasn’t stopping next time.
I don’t know if he read that in my eyes or if the crowd’s taunts were getting to him, but he didn’t come at me again.
“Smart choice,” I said. “Now get out of here.”
Glaring daggers at me, he left the cage, grabbing his shirt and heading for the exit to a chorus of jeers and taunts.
I took a deep breath, letting some of the tension leave me. It was done. I would have the rest of the night to myself, at least.
Looking over at the bar, I spied Mr. Unknown still sitting there. He had a very,verysmug smile on his face. I could tell he approved of what he’d seen.
Maybe my night hadn’t been ruined after all.
I started to smile, only to have it fade as Mr. Unknown got up and left without looking at me once before.
I stood in the middle of the ring, surrounded by chanting fans. Carl was pushing his way through the crowd, a smile from ear to ear. He must have bet on me after all. Which meant I had just won a large sum as well.
Yet, none of that seemed to matter as I watched Mr. Unknown walk away.
I was still alone after all.
Chapter Nineteen
Ieventually made my way from the cage to the back room, leaving the cheering adulations of the crowd behind.
It was the second time I’d been back there that night, but this time I had no clean clothes, nothing to change into. I sat on the bench, sweat still dripping down my forehead, ripped clothing stained with blood. Apparently, my hit against the cage had torn open my shoulder. It wasn’t bad, but blood and a white shirt didn’t play nicely together.
The door was on my left, while in the back right corner, the open shower waited if I chose to use it. Lockers were on my right against the same wall I was now leaning against, cursing my idiocy.
“How could I have been sostupid?” I hissed to myself.
Did you really think you could come here and make a new life for yourself? That he wouldn’t find you?
The city of Kellar wasn’t exactly far away or anything. A few hours’ drive from Seguin, no more. I should have gone farther. Another country. Hell, maybe another continent. Perhaps that would have weakened our Soulbond to the point that Johnathan couldn’t have found me.
