NovelEnglish170 Chapter 170
Seraphina’s POV
The roar of the crowd hitlike a physical wave before | even stepped through the curtain.
My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I clenched them into fists, tried to steady my breathing, tried to remember
everything Rico had drilled intoover the past three weeks.
*Keep your guard up. Move your feet. Don’t let him corner you.*
“You ready?” Rico appeared beside me, his face all hard angles in the harsh backstage lighting.
“No.” My voice cout smaller than | wanted.
“Good. Nerves keep you sharp.” He grabbed my shoulders, forcingto look at him. “Listen to me. Kade-that's
your opponent tonight- he’s big. He's strong. He's going to try to intimidate you.”
“He already is intimidating me,” | admitted.
“But he’s slow. And he underestimates women.” Rico's grip tightened. “Use that. Be faster. Be smarter. And for
God's sake, don’t let him
pin you against the ropes.”
The announcer’s voice boomed through the warehouse: “Ladies and gentlemen! Our next fight features a
newcomer to the circuit!”
This was it. This was really happening.
“You got this,” Rico said, but his eyes said something different. Something that looked uncomfortably like doubt.
1
| stepped through the curtain.
The noise tripled instantly. But it wasn’t cheering. It was laughing. Jeering. The kind of cruel mockery that made
my skin crawl.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” someone shouted from the crowd.
“She looks like she weighs ninety pounds!”
“This is gonna be a massacre!”
“I'll take bets on which bone he breaks first!”
My legs felt like jelly as | climbed the steps. The canvas was stained with old blood. Sof it might be mine
soon.
The overhead lights were blinding, making the crowd beyond them look like shadows. Faceless. Hungry. Waiting
forto fail.
“In the blue corner,” the announcer bellowed, “making her debut tonight-SERA!"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe crowd erupted in boos and catcalls so loud it felt like the walls might collapse.
“Go home, little girl!”
“Someone call child protective services!”
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170 Chapter 170
“I got fifty bucks says she doesn’t last thirty seconds!”
“Make it twenty! She won't last fifteen!”
Heat flooded my face. My hands trembled as | gripped the ropes. The rough material bit into my palms. This was
a mistake. This was all a
huge, terrible mistake.
Then the opposite door opened, and Kade stepped out.
Oh God.
He was a monster.
Not just tall, but built like a mountain. Dark skin stretched over muscles that looked carved from stone. His
shaved head reflected the
overhead lights like polished obsidian, and his shoulders were so broad they barely fit through the doorway.
The crowd went absolutely insane. Cheering. Whistling. Chanting his nlike he was skind of god.
“KADE! KADE! KADE!"”
The sound vibrated through my chest, through my bones. Dozens of voices merged into one deafening roar of
bloodlust.
He climbed into the ring with the easy confidence of a predator entering familiar hunting grounds. Someone who
knew exactly how this
would end..
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said as he moved pastto his corner. His voice was deep, amused, with a
Southern drawl that somehow
made it worse.
The crowd laughed. Someone threw a beer can that clattered across the floor outside the ring.
The referee called us to the center of the ring. Up close, Kade was even more terrifying. His fists looked like
sledgehammers.
“Touch gloves,” the referee ordered.
Kade’s fist met mine with enough force to make my entire arm go numb. His grin widened, showing perfect white
teeth.
“Gonna enjoy this,” he said softly. Just forto hear.
We returned to our corners. Rico was climbing through the ropes, his face grim.
“Remember what I taught you,” he said, fitting my mouthguard. His hands were steady, but | could see the
tension in his jaw. “If you get
knocked down-get back up. No matter what. You hear me?”
| nodded, not trusting my voice.
The bell rang.
The sound cut through the air like a gunshot.
Kade catlike a freight train.
| barely got my hands up in time. His first punch caught my forearms with enough force to send shockwaves up
to my shoulders. The
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170 Chapter 170
impact rattled my teeth. His second punch-Jesus Christ, his second punch-slammed into my ribs like a baseball
bat.
I ducked under his next swing and circled away, my feet remembering the footwork Flint had drilled intountil
I could do it in my
sleep. Light. Quick. Don’t be where he expects you to be.
But Kade was faster than I'd anticipated. Way faster. He cut off my escape route like he’d read my mind, driving
ropes with a series of jabs that whistled past my face.
“Nowhere to run, little girl,” he said.
His fist caughtin the jaw.
The world exploded into stars and pain. The taste of copper flooded my mouth-hot, metallic, wrong. Blood. My
blood.
The crowd roared with savage approval.
“FINISH HER!”
“TEAR HER APART!”
“THIS IS WHAT SHE GETS FOR THINKING SHE COULD FIGHT A MAN!"
| raised my guard, trying to protect my face. Trying to think through the ringing in my ears. His next punch drove
into my stomach so
hard | thought my spine might snap. Then another to my ribs-the sribs he'd already hit. Another to my
shoulder that sent
electricity shooting down my arm.
Each hit felt like being struck by a car.
| threw a desperate punch at his face. He blocked it with contemptuous ease and countered with an uppercut
that liftedcompletely
off my feet.
My vision went pure white.
When it cleared, | was on the canvas. The rough material scraped against my cheek. The referee was counting,
his voice distorted like he
was underwater.
“...three...four.. five...”
“...six...seven...”
| staggered to my feet at eight.
The referee grabbed my face, checking my eyes. “You good to continue?”
| nodded, even though I could barely see straight. Even though my legs felt like they might collapse any second.
“Fight!”
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