Playboy Princes (Royals of Arbon Academy, #2)(45)

“Let me hold that. I’m not fighting tonight.”

I shrugged, handing it over. I trusted him, and this was a fairly big step in proving that.

The four of us walked in silence to a hallway I hadn’t been in before. The panel in this wall was harder to open and took two of them. “That’s why you all picked me up,” I noted as we stepped through.

Rafe nodded like he was impressed I’d managed to put two and two together to get four. “The location moves every time, and with the new threat level of the resistance being raised to a three, we’re being extra cautious.” He shrugged. “In truth there are so many different passages that it’s nearly impossible for anyone to track this without inside knowledge.”

“And yet it was tracked last time by the Swiss guards.”

Rafe made an annoyed sound, sending chills across my skin. He could be scary with the way his chest rumbled and his aura darkened. I’d never met anyone who contained so much dark energy before, and I couldn’t help but think of the way I’d left him in that secret alcove.

The way he’d brought me to orgasm with barely any effort.

He hadn’t retaliated, not yet anyway, but I knew he was biding his time. I would pay for what I did, and part of me couldn’t fucking wait to find out what he’d choose to do.

Yeah, I had issues.

“Think your guard will give us any trouble tonight?” Jordan asked him, and I forced myself to stop thinking about punishment and focus on the now. I needed to get my head in the game if I wanted to fight.

“No,” Rafe said shortly. And that was it. He didn’t elaborate and apparently no one else had questions.

“How do you know?” I snapped back because I wasn’t as good at holding my tongue.

His steps slowed, and he took a deep breath before facing me. Our gazes held.

“Because usually when I tell someone to do something, they fucking do it. You’re about the only person who seems to take my orders as suggestions.”

I stepped into him, and I had no idea why I did that— my feet were moving before my brain caught up. “There was one place I took your orders,” I reminded him, my voice husky.

The blue of his eyes went midnight dark, and I flinched as his hand bit into my hip. Not in a violent way, nope, it was all sex, and I was so fucking here for it.

He leaned down into me. “I remember,” he drawled by my ear. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about your little episode, Violence. You and I will be sorting that out later.”

Thighs clenching, pussy spasming, heart fluttering.

I was so fucked.

Swallowing hard, I forced myself to step away from him, laughing lightly. “Do your best,” I taunted before I started along the path again.

Focus. Focus on the fight.

Rafe could not distract me, especially not if I was fighting Brandon tonight. I knew it wasn’t locked in yet, but I was holding out hope that someone would make it happen.

I needed to end that fucker.





Chapter 19





It was as crowded in the newly set up fight area as it had been last time. Hundreds of faceless, nameless, black-clad individuals. The four of us had split up before entering, and now I wandered through the crowd, drawing lots of attention and ignoring most of it.

Being the only purple-clad person in a sea of black pretty much guaranteed I’d stand out. Not to mention I’d near killed my last opponent. And I was a chick.

The perfect trifecta to give me all the stares.

“All fighters to the designated area behind the rings,” a voice called over the loudspeakers.

Pushing through the crowd, I headed in the direction of the multiple fight rings that had been set up. On the way here, the guys had told me that tonight there would be three fights happening simultaneously, followed by the main event—the one that got all the attention.

No doubt it’d be Fallen Angel again, and I wasn’t even angry about it since he was, without any doubts, the most skilled opponent I’d ever fought against.

And it hadn’t even been a real fight.

I couldn’t imagine what it must be like when he completely let loose and gave it his all.

Part of me wanted to fight him in one of these events, one day, just so I could really test myself. For now, though, I had more pressing matters to worry about.

Scanning the fighters, it was impossible for me to tell if any of them were Brandon. He had no real standout features; he wasn’t tall and broad-shouldered like Rafe and Jordan, and had no particularly interesting facial features and an eye color that was instantly forgettable.

I might not even know as I fought my opponent if it was him, and that made this very difficult. I wanted to kill Brandon, legitimately wipe him from the face of the Earth, but I couldn't do that to someone else.

I had to be sure before I made any serious moves.

There were twenty of us behind the three fight rings. I caught sight of Rafe because, unlike Brandon, his height alone had him standing out.

I didn’t go near him, though. I knew better than to out him, and since we were often seen together in real life, it was best that I didn’t act familiar with any of my friends.

The announcer called up the first six fighters.

“Dragon versus Blades in ring one,” came the mechanical voice. “Frost Bite and Broken Glass in ring two. And Justice versus Violence in ring three.”