Page 87 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

He barely moves and responds with a heavy swipe for my ribs.

I jump to the side and spin towards the back of the ring, all while glancing towards where Haley is sitting on a hay bale in the front row.

The fight continues like that for too long—long enough that the crowd is growing restless and begins to boo both of us.

But eventually, Mutant Felix grows tired.

Sweat drips down his forehead, collecting in his brow, and I’m able to land a few sharp body blows.

When he doubles over after a rib punch, I follow with a left hook to the face and a kick to the knee.

From there, it’s just a matter of keeping him from standing back up, which, considering the size of him, isn’t difficult.

It’s over pretty quickly after that.

The card girl comes into the ring after the fight is over, and I recognize her as the redhead I almost went home with the night I heard Haley screaming in the alley.

I wasn’t immediately certain, but when she narrows her eyes at me and curls her upper lip in disgust, I think it’s a safe assumption.

She holds up my hand, holding my wrist between her thumb and pointer finger like I’m a dirty piece of garbage she is taking to the trash can, declaring me the winner to the crowd.

As much as I try not to, I still find myself seeking out Haley.

I expect to find her smiling and clapping in honor of my victory.

But instead, her attention is on the man sitting on the hay bale next to her. He is much too close and it is obvious Haley is uncomfortable.

Her body is angled away from him as much as is possible without falling to the floor, and she keeps shaking her head when he says things to her.

The man grins to himself, pleased, and then turns back to make eye contact with someone behind him. I follow his eye line and see Bumper not too far off.

He is standing against the side wall of the barn, hidden away in a pocket of shadow.

But his eyes are on Haley.

And he’s laughing.

Clearly, Bumper is enjoying this, but why? What is his goal?

The card girl lets my arm drop just as the man next to Haley turns towards me, and I get a glimpse of his full face for the first time. My vision goes red.

Truly, I think I blackout, because the next thing I know, I’m jumping over the rope edge of the ring and yelling in Levi’s shocked face.

“You owe me a proper fight, you son of a bitch!”

He jumps back from Haley immediately and looks towards John, but his best friend hasn’t budged. John isn’t coming to his defense, and Levi knows it.

The cheering crowd goes silent, tension filling the room.

“It’s fine, Caleb.” Haley stands up and lays a hand on my arm, but I shake her off. She doesn’t give up. “Really, it’s fine. You just fought. You don’t need to do it again. I’m okay.”

“Only because of me.”

That night, my anger with Haley overshadowed all of my other feelings, but now the vision of Levi pressing her against the wall fills my mind, and I want an honest fight.

One where he isn’t drunk off his ass.

One where it doesn’t take one punch to knock him down.

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