Page 57 of Celestial Combat

I exhaled sharply, refocusing.

Another shot. Another clean hit to the head.

I turned to him, lips twitching. “Still think I need lessons?”

Zane gave me a small smirk, but I saw it in his eyes – the empathy beneath.

The tension stretched, thick and charged, before I finally looked away. My fingers curled around the gun, but the weight of Zane’s attention was heavier.

“I still don’t think I can kill a real person,” I admitted, voice quieter than intended.

Zane didn’t answer right away.

He just hummed, stepped forward and handed me a different firearm.

Like he knew something I didn’t.

Chapter 18

Present

Manhattan, New York City

THE ROAR OF THE CROWD was deafening.

A living, breathing beast that shook the walls of Python’s underground fight club.

I rolled my shoulders, stretching my arms out as I stepped toward the center of the cage. The bright overhead lights cast a harsh glow on the bloodstained mat beneath me, the scent of sweat, metal, and adrenaline thick in the air.

Across from me, my opponent loomed – a massive wall of muscle, easily six-three, with arms thick enough to snap a man’s neck like a twig. His knuckles were already split from a previous fight, blood smeared across his chest like war paint.

Another undefeated fighter.

Another test.

My second grand fight.

I exhaled through my nose, keeping my face neutral, my stance loose.

To the side, outside the cage, I caught sight of Tony.

He wasn’t cheering, wasn’t grinning like the rest of the maniacs in the crowd. He met my eyes and gave me a single, sharp nod.

I let out a slow breath, but my attention drifted higher –

To the pit.

To the colosseum-like structure above, where the real power watched from multiple levels of the warehouse.

I could barely make out their faces in the dim lighting, but I could feel their presence, their energy bleeding into the space below.

And yet…

I only cared about one person.

I turned my head toward the black glass wall of Zane’s office.

I couldn’t see through it. No one could.

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