“Oh. I’m sorry, sweet cheeks. Did that hurt?”
Aric responded with a spinning back kick into my solar plexus. I stepped back to catch my breath, but Jet Li continued with a spinning back fist into my temple and followed with a hammer fist to my forehead. For a moment, I thought my brain had actually fallen out of my skull. I shook my head to try to clear it.
Okay . . . that got my attention. When brawn failed, it paid to rely on strategy. Time to get a little dirty. “So, Aric, have you talked to Celia lately?”
A united gasp spread throughout the crowd, followed by a deafening silence. Even the damn birds in the trees stopped chirping.
Aric paused, shooting me a death glare hot enough to singe.
Liam cut through the mob of students. “Bren, I wouldn’t mention her name if I were you.”
Koda clasped Liam’s arm and pulled him back to the edge of the circle. “Let him talk, Liam. We’ll see just how far his mouth gets him.”
My head jerked around, like I had no clue whom Liam meant. “Mention whose name? Oh! Do you mean Celia, his ex-girlfriend who’s now shacking up with a vampire?”
Aric’s deep growl rumbled low into his chest. “I’m warning you, Bren, don’t go there. She’s not here to save your pathetic ass.”
Heh, heh, heh. Am I getting to you, lover boy? “Oh, I know she’s not here, Aric. She’s busy with Misha.”
Aric attempted an uppercut to my chin, but his fury made him sloppy and I drove my knee into his balls. He dropped like a chunk of granite. Heh, heh . . . a snarling chunk of granite.
I stood over him and shook my head. “Sorry, Celia. . . . Well, then again it shouldn’t matter to her, now that she’s got Misha to help her out in that department—”
“Oh!” The crowd yelled when Aric leaped up and nailed me in the face. Two of my teeth hit the grass like hail. I kicked his boys again—more out of instinct than tactic. He hunched over in agony. I spit out a lot of blood and about three more teeth. No worries, they’ll grow back in a few hours.
Things were starting to go my way, so I decided to have a little more fun. “You probably heard that Celia is staying in Misha’s guesthouse. I heard the same thing, but I don’t believe it for a minute. If I know my boy Misha, Celia is probably with him right now—if you know what I mean.”
Aric broke my nose with his fist then under-hooked my left shoulder and slammed me into the frozen ground. I choked, trying to breathe, and spit out more blood.
Okay, now I’m pissed. I’d bled enough, now it was his turn. I staggered to my feet. “Nice one, Aric. Do you think that’s how Misha throws Celia on the bed every night?”
My trash talk didn’t have the effect I wanted. When I charged, he flipped me onto the ground again. I whirled back to my feet—not wanting him to realize how bad he’d knocked the wind out of me. We faced each other again, circling with challenging stares.
Enough is enough. Time for you to go down, you cocky son of a bitch. I prepared to take him out with my best move, but not before letting one last comment sink in. “So, do you think Celia screams out Misha’s name? You know, when they’re doing it like monkeys?”
• • •
I’m not sure how it happened exactly, but the world went black. When I opened my eyes a hell of a long time later, it was white and I couldn’t see a goddamn thing. It took me a moment to realize that it was because I had a note conveniently stapled to my forehead. It read:
Dear Loser,
From now on, you will be at the Den on time and ready to work. When you are here you will be respectful to my Warriors and to me, and you will abide by our ways. You will also be in charge of cleaning this bathroom you’re lying in by six o’clock every night for the next month.
One more thing. Celia is my mate. If you ever disrespect her again, I’ll tear out your f**king throat.
Sincerely,
Aric Connor, aka Your Fearless Leader, who knocked the shit out of you