The same finger missing from my hand.
And he wriggles it around like it’s all some big bad joke to him.
Within an instant, I jump out of my seat and grab him by the collar, punching his face with fist after fist until his nose turns bloody and his tooth falls out.
“Mr. Reed! Mr. Reed!” the professor yells from down below, but I ignore his pleas and continue hammering on my opponent.
“Stop, stop, it was just a joke,” Rhett splutters, but I don’t fucking care.
I don’t know when I’ll stop.
If I’ll ever stop.
My fists have been hungry for blood for so fucking long.
And this fucker just spewed the wrong fucking joke.
I’m halfway across his desk, punching like a madman. I don’t give a shit who sees. He messed with the wrong one.
“NATHAN!” Kai’s voice calls from down below.
I look up.
Too late.
A fist hits me right in the jaw.
“You don’t touch one of our own, you fucker!” It’s another one of those Tartarus guys coming to the rescue. Arlo.
“Stay out of this!” I scream back.
PUNCH!
Another hit right in my back has me arching, and I crawl off the desk to fight him instead.
The whole class has turned around to watch us fight, each punch drawing out a collective gasp, but I pay them no attention.
Kai jumps up from his seat, running up to me, but not fast enough before this fucker and I have exchanged more punches, taking one in the gut each. Suddenly, Rhett jumps up from behind me and puts me in a chokehold.
“Fucking calm down, you bitch,” he growls. “It was a fucking joke.”
“I’ll cut off your fucking head!” I yell, kicking the one in front of me in the nuts.
But he’s choking the life out of me, and I can feel myself slipping away.
SLICE!
Kai’s knife punctures Rhett’s arm, and he releases me.
“Fuck! Stay out of this!” Rhett hisses at him.
I scramble away and suck in some much-needed breaths.
“You invited me in the moment you attacked my friend,” Kai retorts.
“This isn’t about you. I made a fucking joke, and he couldn’t take it,” Rhett says.
“You piece of shit,” I growl, grasping him by the collar and dragging him over the desk until his face hits my knee.