CHAPTER ELEVEN #2
The bell rang.
My head snapped back to the cage as the fight began.
Stone charged forward with surprising speed for his size, but Adrian sidestepped with casual grace, as if he were simply moving out of someone’s way on a crowded street. He didn’t even raise his hands to defend himself.
The crowd went wild.
Holy shit.
Stone lunged again, throwing a wild punch that Adrian ducked under. In the same fluid motion, Adrian delivered a devastating blow to Stone’s kidney. The larger man grunted in pain but recovered quickly, turning with a snarl.
I didn’t understand how fast Adrian could move, almost like he could anticipate all of Stone’s movements before he could even make them.
I couldn’t breathe.
My chest felt tight as I watched Adrian dance around his opponent, landing precise, calculated strikes while barely seeming to exert himself. It was like watching a predator toying with its prey.
“Your brother is quite the fighter,” Damon commented.
“He is,” Matteo agreed, but his voice was tinged with something I couldn’t quite identify. It wasn’t pride. But it was almost a hint of resentment.
A gasp escaped past my lips when Stone landed a punch in Adrian’s face. Even though I knew nothing about fighting, it was so obvious that he could have avoided that, but he didn’t…
Why didn’t he?
Stone’s fist connected with Adrian’s jaw again. I didn’t hear it over the crowd’s roar, but I could feel the sickening crack. Blood sprayed from Adrian’s mouth. My stomach lurched.
“God,” I whispered, my fingers digging into my thighs.
Adrian stumbled back, but instead of countering, he simply stood there, his body absorbing another brutal punch to his ribs. I flinched as if I had been struck myself.
Watching such brutality made me sick.
“He’s letting him hit him,” I said, the realization dawning with horrifying clarity. “Why would he do that?”
Matteo’s expression remained impassive. “Adrian loves being dramatic.”
But this wasn’t a drama.
This was pain and barbarity.
Stone landed another blow, this time to Adrian’s temple. Adrian’s head snapped sideways, but when he turned back, his lips curved into a smile.
This man was insane. Truly, completely insane.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he was... laughing.
The sound was barely audible over the crowd’s intensifying roar, but I saw it—the way his shoulders shook, the flash of teeth-stained crimson.
God, he was enjoying this.
Nausea built in my throat and swallowed down bitter bile. My skin crawled with revulsion.
This was… sickening.
He was sickening.
What kind of person found manic pleasure in their own pain? In such brutality?
Adrian bent low and spat blood onto the floor of the cage.
And then it happened fast. Too fast that I didn’t know how…
Adrian’s posture shifted, his body coiling like a snake preparing to strike. The laughter died in his throat, replaced by something cold and lethal.
He moved with sudden, terrifying speed, delivering a blow to Stone’s ribs that made the larger man double over. It was the type of lethal precision that made you gasp both in horror and awe.
His eyes never left his opponent.
The crowd went wild, their bloodlust reaching a mad frenzy as Adrian’s movements became a brutal dance of controlled violence. Each hit was precise and devastating. Stone staggered backward, his earlier confidence crumbling as Adrian easily dismantled him.
Stone was no longer fighting. He was simply trying to survive.
My heart lurched in my throat as Adrian wrapped his arm around his opponent’s neck, with terrifying efficiency as if he had done this too many times. Stone’s eyes bulged as Adrian locked him in a headlock. His face turned purple as he clawed desperately at Adrian’s arm.
The Pit fell into an eerie silence, the only sound Stone’s choked gurgling.
Adrian lifted his head. Blood streaked his face, his shirt was torn but his gaze was clear and focused… as they found me across the expanse of The Pit.
Thud.
Those mad, mad blue eyes locked onto mine, unblinking, unwavering.
Thud. Thud.
In them, I saw something I would never forget.
Raw primal rage.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Adrian was devastatingly beautiful and utterly terrifying all at once—a dark avenging angel. A monstrous warrior.
He held my gaze as he gave one sharp, decisive twist.
The crack was a sickening, final sound that echoed through my bones and my whole body shuddered.
The Pit erupted with a roar as Stone’s body went limp in Adrian’s hold and then he crumpled to the floor like a discarded puppet.
Dead.
My hand flew to my mouth, stifling my gasp.
I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe…
I just watched a man die.
I watched Adrian kill a man in cold blood. Purely for entertainment.
He was killing for… sport.
Shit, I was going to be sick.
Adrian took a step away from the limp body, eyes holding mine for a second longer before he turned around and stalked away.
He didn’t stay to enjoy his win or the love of the crowd.
No, he simply walked out of the cage, and once again blended into the shadows of The Pit.
“Serafina?”
Giulia’s voice made me practically jump out of my seat. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin. My flesh was alive, tingling like hundreds of sharp needles poking me.
“Are you okay? You look very pale.”
No, no I was not okay.
I was absolutely not okay.
“I need to excuse myself,” I said, stuttering a little.
Giulia started to stand up, but I shook my head, smiling tightly. “It’s okay, I know where the restroom is. I saw it when we came in.”
I needed to be alone.
I couldn’t handle an audience right now. Especially not if I was going to empty my stomach.
I got up and walked past the bodyguards to the back of The Pit. It was darker, but quieter, and I followed the bathroom signs on the walls.
My stomach heaved.
I had never seen death with my own eyes before and I hadn’t realized just how… quick it could happen. With just a snap of a neck.
How fragile we were.
And yet how stupid we were… to find entertainment in death. To play with it. To tempt it.
The glowing sign for the bathroom was right in front of me when I felt it. Felt him.
My body tingled.
My heart thudded.
And my protesting scream was stuck in my throat when I was pulled away.
It happened so fast, the world spinning under my feet. An arm wrapped around my waist and I was dragged into the dark corridor next to the bathroom.
Away from any seeing eyes.
My back slammed against the wall, hard. “Ah,” I yelped, pain vibrating through my spine.
“Shh, Princess.”
His voice cut through the chaos of the crowd—dark, throaty, and utterly unhinged.