With agility and grace, she tosses a balled-up towel. It lands on the mat in the middle of the cage as the bell sounds for Round 3.
The ref rushes to the center and holds out his hands to each of the opponents as a signal for them to stay apart.
“I don’t forfeit!” West shouts. “I don’t!” Even louder this time.
Rage just stands there. It’s clear that a whole lot of pent-up aggression is just below the surface. His jaw is tight. His fists are up. He’s ready.
“We’re out!” the dark-haired beauty announces, and the crowd goes completely wild.
“I refuse to forfeit!” West shouts. “Don’t I have a say?” he bellows even louder above the din of the crowd.
“You heard his second. John West is out!” his trainer shouts. He doesn’t look happy about it.
“Fuck you, Maddox!” West shouts, turning on his trainer. He lands one hell of a punch, and the guy goes flying, crashing against the side of the cage.
“West!” the woman shouts. She’s opening the cage door and entering.
“Shit!” Jarrod shouts.
I’m already running to intervene. If she gets between those guys, she’ll be in big trouble. I stop halfway up the steps that lead to the cage. I watch in awe as she digs her finger into West’s chest. “This fight is over.” Her voice is commanding. “We’re leaving right now. Suck it up!”
He gets this sheepish look and nods. Then he turns and glares at Rage. “This isn’t over,” he yells, pointing a finger at Rage.
I cringe, entering the ring. I’m preparing to break things up if need be.
Rage narrows his eyes. “Say when and where, and I’ll be there.”
“Glad you agree because this isn’t over!” West growls.
“It is over.” The dark-haired woman pulls on West’s arm. “We’re leaving now. Congrats on your win,” she says to Rage.
“It’s a hollow victory,” Rage says. “Maybe next time, we keep things a little more private and on a more equal footing.” In other words, he wants them to be able to use their powers.
Not happening!
“Bring my money,” West snarls. “You didn’t earn it. I’ll be needing it back when I beat your sorry ass.”
“We’ll see about that.” Rage actually looks like he smiles. Holy shit! It’s been years since I saw him smile.
“Fuck you, asshole!” West turns back. He’s a hothead.
“West!” the woman yells. “Get a grip.” She yanks his arm.
He allows himself to be led away by her. I catch her scent. It’s fruity more than floral. She’s even more attractive up close. “How do we contact you?” I ask her. I don’t want her number to arrange a fight.
When she locks eyes with mine, I realize that I only asked her because I wanted to look into their depths. I wanted to know their color. I wanted to know more about her…about all of them. They’re not human. Who are they? What are they?
“You don’t, asshole!” West narrows his eyes. “We’ll be in touch when we’re ready.”
Nice guy.
“Go ahead. I’ll catch up in a second,” she tells West.
West glares at me for a few seconds.
“Go already,” she tells him.
He grunts and saunters off. He has smears of blood on his face and spatters on his chest and arms. I can see that his cut lip is mostly healed. His left eye was big and puffy. Almost swollen shut. It looks much better. The bruising is more of a green color. Who are they?
“I’m Stephanus. My friends call me Stephan.” I can feel that I’m smiling. The kind of smile that makes your eyes crinkle. I need to stop. She’s just so beautiful. Like jaw-droppingly gorgeous…and she isn’t human. She isn’t fucking human! I feel giddy at the prospect. I don’t want to watch her leave.
She has big, green eyes. They’re fanned by long, thick lashes. They glitter with humor…I think it’s humor. She doesn’t smile back at me. “This is where our paths diverge. There won’t be a rematch.” She shakes her head.
“Why?” I frown.
“You know why.” She widens her eyes and gives me a look.
It’s because we’re not human. Rage and West would tear each other apart. I nod once. “Maybe…you and I could—” I’m about to ask her out, but she interrupts me.
“No, we couldn’t.” She throws me this half-smile. She goes from gorgeous to fucking incredible. “Nice knowing you, Stephan.” She starts to walk away.
I hesitate for half a second. Who can blame me? I don’t willingly touch other people…ever. Hardly ever. Since she’s not a human, I should be okay. I grip her hand. “Wait! Is your name Raven?” I heard West call her that earlier. The name is fitting.
I feel the warmth of her skin against my palm. I grit my teeth for a second. I push out a breath when I get…nothing. Sweet, sweet nothing. It’s thrilling when nothing happens. “Um…sorry, I…” I stammer and then stop talking as she turns to face me.
Her eyes are wide, and her jaw drops open. There’s this look on her face. I recognize that look. Although she’s staring at me, she isn’t seeing anything. Not with her eyes anyway. She pulls in a breath and then yanks her hand away from me.
Shit!
Crap!
“You saw...” I whisper. “You…?”
She nods once and swallows thickly. Her eyes fill with tenderness. Then she reaches up and cups my jaw. Next thing, she’s standing on her tippy toes and kissing my cheek. I feel her lips brush my skin. It’s over almost before it begins. Her eyes flare with shock. Like she can’t believe she just did that.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispers, letting me go. What she tells me next has my blood running cold. Then, I watch as she walks away. I’m not sure how my legs haven’t buckled. I’m reeling.
She saw my future.
She saw!
“What the fuck was that?” Jarrod asks.
“Nothing!” I growl, too quickly.
“Didn’t look that way to me.” He frowns. “Did you see something when you touched her?”
I shake my head. “I got nothing.” I’m not lying. I will tell my twin everything. I need to tell all of my brothers. Not here and not now.
2
Raven
West pushes the door open. It hits the wall with a bang. “What the fuck was that, Raven? What just happened?” he asks as we walk into the alley. I pick up the scent of rotting garbage and pee. Must be gallons of pee. I wrinkle my nose. A heightened sense of smell isn’t always a good thing.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say. “We need to leave…now.” I start walking towards our rust-bucket of a car. “We should never have done this.” I’m panicking. “Did you see the camera? They were filming us.” I’m breathing hard but can’t seem to catch my breath. “The audience was big. You said it was low-key, Maddox,” I say to my brother, who looks sheepish.
“We needed the money,” Maddox says, his eyes barely meeting mine.