Page 42 of Celestial Combat

Toher.

“I don’t get it,” I muttered, leaning back in my chair.

Trevor let out a slow breath, his gaze settling on the desk, his usual unreadable mask in place.

“Kali doesn’t like talking about her past.”

“That much is obvious,”I said, jaw tightening.“But why fight at all? What’s the point of putting herself through this? Not like she needed the money.”

Trevor was quiet for a long moment. Then, carefully, he spoke.

“Four years ago,” He said, his voice quieter than usual. “Kali was attacked.”

I went still.

Trevor didn’t look at me when he continued.

“Some guy jumped her in the bathroom of a club. Beat her. Before he could do worse, a group of girls walked in and found her – bleeding, unconscious.”

I felt it then.

That slow, creeping burn.

A rage so cold it might as well have been ice.

I didn’t move. Didn’t let a single reaction show on my face. But inside –inside, I was already feeling it.

“She spent months recovering,” Trevor’s voice hardened. “Never found the guy that did it. Spent years looking for him. No trace. No face. Nothing.”

I forced my jaw to unlock, but it didn’t help. The rage was already there, curling through my ribs, pressing against my throat.

“Maybe this is her way of taking back control,”Trevor continued.“Fighting. Winning. Making sure no one ever touches her like that again.”

I said nothing.

The room felt heavier. Smaller.

My hands had curled into fists beneath the desk, but I forced them open, slowly, deliberately.

“I actually sent her toPythonback then,”Trevor added.“Told her to ask for you. I figured if anyone could teach her how to fight, it was you.”

My head snapped up. “She never came here.”

“Yeah. That’s what she told me too. Guess now, she’s changed her mind.”

Something wasn’t right.

“When?”

“May. June. Somewhere around then.”

I hummed in understanding, distracted.

But the moment Trevor left, I pulled up the security footage from four years ago.

Hours of grainy video flickered past.

May.

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