Give Me Blood

Chapter 17: Results Unintended Pt.1

Previously on Give Me Blood:

"—Whoever joins this match is out of their goddamn mind. It's practically a death sentence. No one's fighting him and leaving in one piece."

They're both looking up at me confused as I stand over their table.

"Where can I sign up?"

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William's POV

"Where is she?"

"She's good. Really good, actually. Looks like you've found us a hidden blade—sharp strikes, swift movements. Which school did you say you scouted her from again? We needed someone useful like her at the training center. Someone who can make soldiers trip over their own legs trying to land one hit on her. Watching my men get pummeled this fast hurts my pride. It's frustrating yet fascinating."

"Connor. Where is she?" The abrupt roar of cheers followed by thundering applause stops the stoic former-general from answering. For the first time in my life I hear him let out a stumble of a laugh. The massive scar carved horizontally across his face did little to mask his amusement.

"Sounds like she won the semi-finals. Poor huntress doesn't even know what she signed up for."

Immediately I push past him and weave my way through the massive crowd congesting every inch of this small underground arena. The boxing ring was completely surrounded by a busy bunch of people tracking down the bookmaker who was fervently journaling all the betting money being flung his way. Once the initial groans of protest turned to those of realization, a chain of shoulder taps and wide eyes worked to clear a path for me.

I find her immediately. Granted, she wasn't hard to find. The gathered onlookers seemed like they had a harder time dragging their gaping looks away from her.

When I saw her myself. I understood.

My physical inspection for injuries snags on the long beads of sweat sliding down her body. She glistened from the spotlight that spilled through the sunroof above the ring, highlighting her sun-bronzed skin and toned curves. The caramel colored hair strands that escaped her ponytail framed her face like a painting.

Unyielding incandescence; those words blurted their way into being as soon as I laid my eyes on Emily. She was leaning against the corner of the boxing ring bandaging her hands for the match. Confidence oozed out of her so naturally that is was almost criminal to look away. There was no denying that she was in her element.

My marveling halts when I notice her stifle a wince. It reminds me of the reason why I abruptly excused myself from a meeting to rush over here in the first place.

Doctors' orders were not suggestions. Right—that's what I came here remind her.

All the attention was mine as I hoisted myself into the ring. My attention solely hers.

She graces me with a look void of any expression. Annoyance, maybe? No. Nothing. Until I see the corner of her lip rise.

"You still carry around those painkillers? I think the poor guy could use some." Following her slight glance behind me I see Olly Evans (a renowned X-type exterminator) keeled over in a pool of red that rushed out of his broken nose and missing front teeth.

"What...are you doing?" Temporarily baffled by her unscathed appearance the question had slipped out of me. At the same time a memory resurfaces from our first encounter in the forest. That same detached demeanor paired with that hard hazel stare that makes you want to dig. For what? I wasn't sure yet.