Page 50 of The Devils They Are

We moved the fights up a night when tension started to bubble over at school. People were getting antsy at the new dynamic, unsure how to react. The atmosphere was intense, and despite rarely holding the fights on a school night, we all agreed it was a good idea.

A fight finishes in the cage, and I clap enthusiastically, poking out my tongue in a mock gesture to Tai as he looks over from the other side of the room with a disgruntled look on his face. We're up three to one so far in the fights tonight, and I just know it's annoying the ever-loving shit out of them.

They can't say I didn't warn them.

The three guys are perched in their usual seats, while I hover and balance on top of a thick plastic barricade to get a better view of the cage from the other side of the room. From here, I have the perfect vantage point over the crowd, the fights, and best of all, I'm directly in the line of sight for Tai, Hunter, and Rylan.

I want them to see me. I've proven time and time again that I'm a force to be reckoned with, and despite their efforts, I'm not going to bow down. There's nothing more pleasing than being a constant reminder of someone's failure when they've tried to break you or make you fall into line.

But still, I find it weird that we're somewhat inthisplace. When Rylan suggested a truce, I could have fallen off the rooftop in shock. I was never going to back down, but if I'm being honest, I never expected him to crack either. I assumed we'd be in a frequent place of tension until we finally got the all-clear to return back to our own school. But his words surprised me. I still have no idea what his motives are, but if it means a better environment for my people, I need to consider their position in all this.

Two more people climb into the cage and the crowd in front of me starts to murmur. Of course, I knew what was scheduled, but for the majority of the folks here, no one knew he was going to fight tonight—or ever.

It's Parker's first time in the ring. He came to me yesterday, begrudgingly asking to fight. When I pressed for the reason, it turns out Millie is closer to breaking him than I thought. Finally, he agreed she could fight butonlyafter he tried it himself first.

To be fair, I know Parker's a protective big bro, but he and Millie are two peas in a pod. They both have wild personalities, and I can tell he's been keen to jump in for some time now. But he swallowed those urges, knowing full well that she'd lose her crap if he got to do it and she didn't.

Right on cue, Millie pushes her way through the crowd toward me, and before she can even open her mouth, I move to the side and motion for her to join me on the barricade. While I want a premium view, even in the crowd I'd be able to watch it relevantly easily. But my fun-sized shadow will never be able to see past all the heads.

"Thanks, boss," she grins, keeping her balance as she turns to face the cage.

I cringe. "Bex is fine," I say with amusement. "How are you feeling?"

Millie shrugs, the two of us watching as Parker stretches his arms. "Scared."

"Really?" I ask, surprised. "Scared for Parker?"

She shakes her head, a smirk appearing on her face. "Scared for the other guy."

A laugh bubbles out of me just as the bell rings. Parker instantly tenses for a quick second, but it's not with trepidation—it's the urge to control himself. The other guy from Willowbrook juggles his fists clumsily in front of his face, egging Parker on. Stupid move. I can already tell how this is going to go down. I don't need to have seen Parker's moves to know how good he is. The tall, bulky guy in white has already made it clear that he's too hot-heated to be in the ring. It's easy to pinpoint how good a fighter is based on their pre-fighting behavior. Of course, the logic doesn't always fit, but most of the time, especially in young males, their egos do all the talking.

Neither make the first move straight away. Parker raises his fists, but they are steady, covering his face if Ego-man decides to suddenly take a surprise swing. They play a game of chicken for a few seconds before the latter rushes forward, aiming straight for Parker's face. Rookie move. He's got that area protected, so Parker easily blocks him.

Ego-man appears stunned for a moment that his hit didn't land, angrily moving forward again. Even though his strategy didn't work the first time, the imbecile tries the exact same maneuver. To no one's astonishment, he misses again when Parker blocks, but this time, a return fist comes in his direction. Ego-man is too distracted and gobsmacked by his failure that he doesn't bother to block.

Next to me, Millie laughs manically, clearly pleased at herself for being right. I give her a playful shove with my elbow, grinning at her to behave.

I turn back to the cage just as Parker's fist connects with his opponent's cheek, and without giving him a second to recover, more blows swing out. Two, three, four—and on the fifth punch, Ego-man's eyes roll into the back of his head, his entire body stumbling backward into the cage wall.

From this angle, Millie and I have a perfect view, and my face scrunches up as I anticipate what's about to happen. Ego-man falls into the fencing, his weight sending the rusty material barreling into the crowd along with himself.

People quickly scatter out of the way as he crashes through, no one bothering to try to catch the heavy, fallen fighter. He lands like a sack of bricks in the middle of the two cohorts and I watch as a few people from Willowbrook circle around to check on him. The three guys are on their feet too, watching with concern and frustration, and someone raises a hand, giving them a thumbs-up to signal their buddy is okay.

I feel his eyes on me before I see them myself. When I glance back over, Hunter is glaring at me. If I've learned anything about him recently, it's that he's a competitive little shit just like me. No doubt our four to one scorecard is bruising their egos after their confident word vomit earlier today.

And now, we have to call it a night. It's been a long-standing rule that the fights will only happen if the cage is enclosed. From previous experiences, accidents, like what just occurred, mean that innocent spectators get caught in the crossfire. They didn't consent to a fight therefore they shouldn't get injured from one. So, we're now on hiatus until we can rectify the damage.

Archie pushes his way through the crowd with Abby by his side, grinning from ear to ear. "Another victory, I guess," he shouts over the noise of the crowd.

I nod, offering a hand to Millie as Archie does the same. She grabs both of them for leverage, jumping to the ground.

"Told ya," she cackles, heading straight toward Parker who's climbing out of the cage.

She disappears in the crowd, and I jump to the ground myself, giving Abby a quick nod in greeting before turning to Archie. "They are pissed."

"Yep," he agrees. "Astor apparently wagered a huge bet that they were going to win tonight."

"It's cute that they were so confident," I smile, watching as people start moving toward the exits. "You realize we're going to have to let Millie fight next time."

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