Page 40 of Ava: Part Two

Her opponent was a vampire. She hadn’t been lucky enough to be paired with her housemates, and when she saw Coach Baxter sneer, she knew that had been his doing. She had never seen this vampire before, but he was huge and looked fresh as a daisy. For everyone else, a five-minute break was more than enough to recover from their matches, but for her, the day was already taking a toll on her.

He was expressionless as he stood across from her. He was taller than Dexter but leaner, as vampires tended to be. And his allure was incredibly strong. If he was allowed to use his talents in this match and told her to just lie down and let him win, she probably would. She didn’t feel strong enough to resist anyone.

The whistle blew, but she remained where she was. Vampires were the kings of speed; he would see any attack coming a mile away as if she was moving in slow motion. Her father had taught her that but she could never figure out how she was supposed to fight a vampire and win.

In the other rings, the fighting was already underway, but the vampire stood as if he was made of stone. She only needed one blow from him to allow her to tap out. One blow to end this nightmare so she could go home and think about what she had done.

Somebody won in one of the other rings, but the vampire still didn’t move a muscle. The knots in her stomach became unbearable. Why was he prolonging her agony?

Another person won. And then another. She didn’t remove her eyes from her opponent, but when there was complete silence around them, she knew they were the last ones standing.

The vampire finally moved, but he didn’t attack as she had expected.

He took a step towards an instructor and said loudly, “I yield.”

What?

There was dead silence as he slipped between the ropes and left the ring.

Her eyes were wide open as she watched him walk away. Could they do this? He yielded. She had won.

What the hell?!

Chapter 26

“Canweevendothat? Can we yield?” Ava asked again as she paced Zeke’s dressing room floor.

Her anxiety levels were through the roof, and she didn’t think even Zeke could get her out of this.

What the hell was happening today? She'd expected her day to be over by now. She’d expected to be recovering in the infirmary by now or Zeke’s bed, where she usually woke up after something like this. But here she was, about to fight expert fighters—Zeke’s equals who were probably as ruthless as he was.

“It’s against the rules. You invalidate all your progress for the term and get a day in Isolation,” Zeke said quietly.

She whirled around to face him, horror filling every part of her. Even Jared warned her about Isolation and how it broke someone. Zeke seemed to have come out unscathed, but she knew how much pain he had been in. How could someone like her survive that? And why would anyone do that to themselves on purpose?

“Is that vampire crazy? Does he have a history of doing such messed up things?”

“He is from Prince Gideon’s nest, and I don’t know why the fuck he was told to do that,” Zeke growled.

Only then did she see how he was clenching and unclenching his fists.

“If the prince sent him, maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t drink that blood.”

Was she now being put in the middle of whatever vendetta the vampires had against Zeke the way she had been placed between him and Jared?

“I should have known better than to trust anyone,” Zeke growled.

There were cheers in the arena, which meant the current matches would all be over soon. Derek and Myles were fighting, but none of them had seemed worried about their ability to progress. Would that mean all four of them would be fighting the last matches at the same time?

Would that mean there would be no one to help her when she was being beaten and broken in the ring?

The door opened, and Derek rushed in. He was bloody and breathless, but it looked like none of the blood was his. How was she expected to fight such powerful students? Myles came in behind him in the same state, and their gazes landed on her briefly before they looked at Derek.

“Gideon is in his dressing room,” Derek said.

Zeke was up like a shot.

“Myles, watch her,” he growled before leaving the room.

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