Page 93 of Cruel Academy (Princes of Ravenlake Academy 2)

Suddenly, another figure walks through the opening. I don’t recognize him, but he has on a leather vest with the Hell Princes logo, and that’s all I need to know.

I’m fucked.

“Stupid girl,” Levi croons, looking up at me from beneath heavy brows, his nostrils flared. “You shouldn’t have come.”

His words drive home the sharpest dagger of them all—Estefania did this.

She lured me here for this.

Whateverthismight be.

Heartbreak forces tears into my eyes, and my chin begins to wobble.

The two men line up in front of me, shoulder to shoulder, blocking the exit. Panic bubbles up inside of me, and I feel my legs begin to shake. I don’t know what they are going to do to me.

Is this a kidnapping? Or an ambush?

Flashes of what Levi did that night at the abandoned schoolhouse appear in my mind, and I want to be sick.

How could Estefania do this? A tear rolls down my cheek, salty and hot.

Suddenly, I hear Caleb’s voice in my head.

Don’t freeze. Stay calm. Pay attention.

I take a shuddering breath, blink the tear away, and force myself to stare at my soon-to-be attackers. To study them.

I don’t see any obvious weapons on them. No ties, cuffs, or blindfolds, either. Plus, we are in a public park. To kidnap me and get me out of this park, they’d have to carry me past children playing. So, unless they’re idiots, kidnapping is off the table.

Which leaves an attack. A fight.

This is what I’ve been preparing for. I expected John to send someone after me, and now he has.

Time to walk the walk.

Levi is talking to me, but I’m not paying any attention to his words. I’m watching his body and his eyes. Caleb told me that inexperienced fighters give you clues about where they’re going to strike first.

When Levi is just beyond arm’s reach, his eyes flash towards my left arm.

When he reaches out to grab me, I spin out of his reach, swing my right arm back, and bring it down hard on his forearm.

Pain shoots up my arm to my shoulder, making my fingers tingle, but Levi curses.

He pulls his arm in tight to his chest, and I use the opportunity to throw a left hook. My fist lands dead center in the middle of a bruise on his cheekbone—a bruise Caleb left, almost like a road map for me to follow.

I’m so pleased with myself for fighting back that I don’t notice the other man draw close and reach for me.

He grabs my right arm, lifting and spinning it until my shoulder begins to scream.

I cry out in pain, and then, just as Caleb taught me, I relax, lean into the hold, and then circle my weight around, using the momentum to kick the man in the side of the knee.

His hold on my arm loosens enough for me to slip my hand free of his sweaty palm.

I could run through the trees, but most directions would take me deeper into the forest and away from people.

Plus, I could easily trip over something and roll my ankle, making it impossible to run at all.

What I need to do is get the two men away from the opening so I can sprint past them.

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