Page 125 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

Haley must have been lulled into complacency as well, because she freezes when Bumper runs at her.

He throws his arms around her body and lifts her off her feet, taking advantage of the size difference between them.

“Unfair!” J.C. yells.

“There are no rules,” I remind him while fighting the urge to yell the same thing. “They can do whatever they want.”

Haley squirms and kicks her legs until Bumper has no choice but to release her. She falls awkwardly on her leg, wincing as her ankle rolls under her.

But there’s no time to assess the damage.

Bumper reaches out and wraps his hand around her throat.

Every muscle in my body tenses up. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up like a dog’s hackles.

I’ve never wanted to hurt someone so much in my entire life.

He knows he can defeat Haley this way because he has done it countless times before.Thisis how he exerts control and power—by grabbing women who are smaller and weaker than him by the neck.

I can practically see the terror rolling off Haley. Her movements at the start of the fight were careful and controlled, but now she is flailing.

Her nails scrape at Bumper’s hand wrapped around her neck, and she fights to keep her toes on the ground, to regain some contact with the floor that Bumper has nearly lifted her off.

“He can’t choke her, can he?” J.C. asks. The excitement he’s had since the start of the fight is gone, replaced with a cold intensity. “When do we step in?”

She is freezing up, forgetting her training.

Fuck—do the right thing, Haley!

Just as doubt begins to creep in, clouding the faith I had in her only a few minutes before, Haley thrusts her right arm up into the air, twists her body as hard as she can, and brings her elbow down on Bumper’s arm.

Just like I taught her.

The move is flawless, and Bumper’s arm collapses, causing him to lose his grip.

When he stumbles back, Haley doesn’t give him an inch. She follows him step for step to the center of the ring and then kicks her leg straight up between his.

Bumper crumples to the ground with a sharp cry of pain.

Haley throws herself on top of him.

The transition of power is swift. Total. Merciless.

In only a matter of seconds, Bumper goes from having his hand around Haley’s neck to being on his knees on the floor with Haley’s body twined around his like a rope. Her legs are locked around his midsection, pinning one of his arms to his side, and her arms are cuffed around his neck and upper arm, keeping him immobile.

Bumper fights the hold for a few seconds, struggling for balance and any kind of meaningful traction, but anyone can see there is no point. His chest is heaving with exertion.

And then he falls.

As soon as he is flat on the floor, Haley lets go, stands up, and throws her arms into the air.

She did it.

She fucking did it.

I’m halfway across the auditorium before I even realize it. I run to her and scoop her up the way I wanted to at the beginning of the fight.

“Thank you,” she says, burying her face in my neck.

---