Page 132 of The Beast's Heart

I meet Tod’s gaze. He gives a small nod. He’s willing to go along with my plan. He stalks towards us.

“What, what’s Chevalier doing?” Rod asks.

Todd tries to come for Jonathan, but I block him. He tries to get around me, I block him again, drawing myself to my full height. Todd slams a fist into my gut and I double over as if winded.

“Run!” I tell Jonathan.

He darts out from behind me. Todd grabs him. I hope he’s gentler than it looks. He squeezes him against his chest, hand to his throat, and I know he’s whispering instructions. The announcers are having a ball with the story they’re spinning, but I can’t pay it much attention. I prowl around the two of them, just like a beast, looking for an opening to get to Jonathan.

Jonathan kicks back and Todd lets go of him, but not his jacket. Jonathan manages to squirm out of the jacket and retreat to the other corner. Todd tosses the jacket aside and we face each other. Nostrils flaring, breath coming fast and angry. I return to the choreography we practiced and head butt him. He bodyslams me.

“Want to tap out?” he murmurs as he presses his forearm on my neck.

Him defeating The Beast won’t read the same now Jonathan’s here.

“We need more drama,” I respond, covering my mouth with my hair.

He eases up his grip, places a foot on my chest instead and hits me with a double axel handle.

I make a few aborted tempts to get up, then grab his foot and twist so he falls down on top of me. I roll over and pin him. The ref runs over and starts to count, but Todd kicks out at the last second.

We circle each other again. I’m trying to get a read on what Todd wants to do next. We trade a few blows and he delivers a spinning wheel kick. I stagger back, letting him come on the offensive. He rains down blow after blow, pushing me into the corner.

Then, out of the opposite corner, comes Jonathan. He sprints for Todd and jumps on his back, pulling him away from me. I hope to God that was planned.

Todd makes a good show of struggling to shrug him off before reaching back, grabbing Jonathan’s shirt and hauling him over his shoulder. Jonathan slams to the mat and I surge forward, driving Todd back into the corner with a high-impact turnbuckle thrust.

I pin him in the corner, roaring and driving my fists into him. He jabs upwards and I jerk back as if hurt, giving him space to escape. As he climbs to his feet, I aim a kick at his torso, but he grabs my ankle and slams me down again. Then he starts to climb the ropes. I clutch my ankle, giving him time to prepare his splash.

Before he can dive, Jonathan’s there, standing between us again.Fuck.I cry out and it works to get Jonathan’s attention.He kneels down by me again. I pull his face close, ready to tell him to get out of the fucking way.

He kisses me.

I have no idea how a real crowd will react, or what will happen online. But the fake crowd roars. Rod and Alan are losing their shit. I don’t know if it’s good or bad but it sure is entertainment.

Todd pulls Jonathan away from me, throwing him to the side.

He double stomps my chest. I roll away and he grabs my legs and wraps me in a figure-four. He’s giving me another opportunity to tap out, but this still isn’t dramatic enough to be a career maker for him. It’s not a good enough story yet. I sit up and cry out in genuine discomfort.

I manage to roll over, reversing the pressure. He drops the leg lock and crawls away. He’s crawling towards Jonathan. I grab him and lift him in an overhead press. Thankfully I can still manage this. Rod makes some comment to the same effect, impressed that after 10 years out of the ring I can still lift a man over my head. I can, but I can’t hold him long. I toss him over the ropes.

Fortunately, he lands safely. That was a risk I didn’t intend to take today. I stalk after him, ducking beneath the ropes. Todd’s still playing up his disorientation, so I grab his head and drive my knee up into it.

Geoff is sitting at the one announce table, next to Rod. He’s still nursing his nose, so he doesn’t catch the look in my eye. But Rod does. Rod’s great. He grabs his laptop and scrambles away just in time for me to throw Todd onto the table. The table obediently breaks. And I get the added joy of hearing Geoff squeal. I hope he was close enough to Rod that it got picked up on the mic.

I take a second to check Todd is okay. He’s blinking up at me from the floor, but doesn’t give any indication he’s actually hurt. The medic runs over to him to check. I turn and climb back beneath the ropes. Jonathan is standing in the centre of the ring looking lost. I lift him and sling him over my shoulder.

He makes a little surprised sound.

“Are you hurt?” I ask as I carry him up the stage towards gorilla.

“No. I’m really sorry about all this.”

It’s all I can do not to start laughing.

“Beast!” he shouts the warning one moment before Todd drop kicks me in the middle of the spine.

It’s improv, so I’m not prepared for it. I stagger forward, automatically moving to protect Jonathan rather than my own face. I go down hard and winded. The stage is not padded. Jonathan scrambles off me.

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