rules. I ran away and hid with the misfits like a coward. I deserve to be punished.
I know what he’s saying, but my heart is pounding in my ears so loudly that the words just filter into my consciousness and settle there without me really hearing them.
And then the audience applauds, like thunderclaps, and the numbness around me cracks like a scorched earth. Sharp awareness takes over. My limbs bend and straighten, muscles readying to be pushed like they’ve never been pushed before. I steel my spine, I fill my lungs, I open my senses, I follow my gut, and I narrow my eyes with deadly attention.
The sound of the bell rings to mark the start of the fight, and everything snaps into place.
It’s go time.
My troupe members are on me in a second.
In a flash of white, I realize what the purpose was for the three circles that they formed around me. A layer system, no doubt to draw the fight out. I’ll get to fight four of them at a once, while the others circle around me, dancing, moving, taunting, waiting for their turn. By the time I make it to the third circle of troupers to fight, I’ll be exhausted, which is exactly how Kaazu wants me. If I lose concentration for a second and get thrown off balance, it will mean the death not just of me, but the two people hanging high above me.
But I refuse to let that happen.
So when two females and two males come at me, I’m ready for them.
The females attempt to attack me at the same time, dual hands chopping toward my throat. I throw up both arms to block, and as soon as I feel their strike hit my arms, my hands shoot out. I simultaneously grab them by the wrists and snap.
Twin screams erupt from both of them—hitting a high-pitched note that rings in the air. One of them drops to her knees, cradling her useless wrist, while the other one stumbles back out of reach. The two males move in on me—I know the larger one is Perry based on his bulk.
He sends a fist to my stomach, but I keep my feet planted on the square and swing my upper body to the left to dodge it. The other male manages to land a punch to my face, snapping my neck to the right as blood and spit flies out of my mouth. Pain blooms from my cheek, but I can’t think about it.
Kaazu essentially cut off my legs in this fight. He knows my moves, and I have an advantage because I’m quick on my feet. I’m hard to grab hold of. I move fast and go in hard, never letting anyone grab hold of me. But with me being forced to stay on the square, half my attention on keeping my feet balanced in the center, it gives me no way to evade.
I can’t stand here and take hits from these two males—I think the other smaller one might be Welk. If I do, I’ll be out for the count in minutes, if not seconds. So I have to be precise and quick with my moves.
Before I even get to turn my head back around, I see another fist flying in my peripheral. I drop to the ground, and then spin with one heel braced in the center of the square and my other leg outstretched, as I sweep both male’s legs out from under them.
They fall down hard, like a pair of Goliaths slamming back on their asses. They land out of reach, so I stay poised in my crouched position, my eyes locked on Perry as he picks himself up. Even with the mask, I know he’s pissed. I can smell the tang of vengeance coming off of him.
With a growl, he and Welk are up again and coming at me from both sides, like they want to trap me between them. But this works for me perfectly. I jump back up to my feet in a flash. As soon as they’re within reach, they’re both rearing back to aim punches at me, but I ignore that, not even trying to block. Instead, I grab them by the backs of their necks and use their forward momentum to my full advantage by smashing their heads together as hard as I can.
They drop like rocks. The crack I felt that came from their skulls reverberates in the joints of my hands, but I