Bridges Burned (Going Down in Flames #2)(13)

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He spun the jousting stick in his hand. “Isn’t this your dream come true?”

Why was she arguing? Crouching in a defensive position, she swung at him. He blocked the blow. She braced herself for the return strike. He stood there smiling.

“Hello? Aren’t you going to swing at me?”

“No. I plan to deflect your blows. Eventually you’ll become overconfident, swing too hard, and fall off all by yourself.”

She wanted to shove the jousting stick down his throat. Instead she swung at his shoulders. He blocked her blow, knocking her jousting stick downward. Since he wasn’t striking back, she turned in a circle and used the momentum to hit his thighs. Take that. He wobbled.

Noise from the students below caught her attention. They had an interested audience. She spun again and struck at his hips. He deflected the blow with more force, and she had to shuffle to maintain her balance.

“This is stupid,” she said.

He laughed. “Class ends in ten minutes. Try again.”

The corners of her mouth turned up. Wait a minute. Why am I enjoying this?

She swung again and aimed at the middle of his jousting stick. One of his hands came loose, but he didn’t lose his weapon.

“Well played,” he said.

“It was worth a try.” Her shoulders ached from using the drum earlier, and jousting was beginning to wear on her.

She swung at his hips. He pivoted and brought his weapon down on top of hers with force. Caught off guard, she slipped and fell off the podium.

“Dammmmn ittttttt.” She landed in the pit of foam blocks, glaring up at Jaxon, who was grinning his ass off. Losing sucked on a normal basis. Losing to him sucked worse.

She punched one of the foam blocks and struggled to sit up. It was like trying to climb out of a pit of marshmallows. Great. Now Jaxon would see her flailing around like a fish out of water. She needed something solid to grab on to. Twisting toward the edge of the pit, she reached for the wall.

Pain, razor sharp, bit into her thigh, making her cry out. What the hell is that? She held her breath and tried not to move.

Jaxon appeared at the wall, ready to gloat. “What’s wrong?”

“My leg.” The sponges shifted, jerking the object sideways. Ripping, wrenching pain stole her breath. She gasped. “Something’s…stabbing…me.”





Chapter Five


“Stop the joust,” Jaxon called out.

Clint and Ivy showed up at the side of the pit.

Jaxon pointed at Clint. “Find Mrs. Anderson.”

“How can I help?” Ivy asked.

“Hold her shoulders so she won’t sink farther into the pit.” Jaxon removed the top layer of blocks. “We need to find out what’s in here.”

“It’s going to be okay.” Ivy hooked her arms under Bryn’s shoulders. “I’ve got you.”

Sweat slicked Bryn’s skin. She took shallow breaths. Not that it helped. Her leg burned like it was coated in acid.

Jaxon removed more blocks, flinging them over his shoulder.

The blocks shifted, forcing the object deeper into her thigh. Bryn roared in pain. She clutched at Ivy. “Pull me out.”

Mrs. Anderson arrived. “What’s happened?”

“Something’s stabbed her leg.” Jaxon removed another block and reached the source of her injury. Covered in blood, the tip of a javelin protruded from Bryn’s thigh.

“Oh God.” Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up. Don’t throw up. She focused on Mrs. Anderson’s face and took shallow breaths.

“Quentin, get a medic.” Mrs. Anderson took Bryn’s hand. “We shouldn’t move you. We don’t know if the femoral artery has been cut.”

“My arms are getting tired,” Ivy whispered.

Jaxon climbed into the pit and placed one arm under Bryn’s lower back and one under her knees. “I’ve got her weight.”

Medic Williams ran into the room with Quentin by her side. She took one look at Bryn. “Don’t move her. Let me treat her first.” The medic placed a hand on Bryn’s forehead.

The familiar sensation of warm honey flowed over her body. When the warmth reached her thigh, the comforting sensation morphed into a blowtorch. Gasping, she dug her nails into Jaxon’s forearm. “It burns.”

“I’m cauterizing the wound so we can pull the javelin out without too much blood loss,” Medic Williams said. “You slept through this part the other times.”

“Look at me, Bryn.” Jaxon held her gaze. “You can do this.”

“Almost done,” Medic Williams said. “There. Lift her off.”

“On three,” Jaxon said. “One, two, three.” In a swift motion, he pulled her upward and cradled her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, ignoring the voice in her head screaming about what this meant. The extra campus security…the cameras…official recognition; none of it changed a thing. Someone was still coming after her and they wouldn’t stop until she was dead.

“I’m going to set you down.” Jaxon lowered her onto a soft surface.

She opened her eyes. He’d placed her on one of the mats surrounding the ring where she’d danced with Vivian.