Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Rage
The crowd is loud. Just as loud as any sanctioned fight I ever participated in, and it temporarily throws me for a loop.
For some reason, I didn’t think it would be like this.
I’ve been somewhat minimizing the impact of the fight, but now that I’m here and it’s about to begin, I feel that familiar pull.
The one that makes everything disappear, so that I’m completely immersed in the fight.
Except for the argument with Luna.
It wasn’t even an argument. I thought I was being patient, reminding her of what we talked about before, so that she doesn’t get overly anxious or stressed. Instead, it’s obvious I hurt her feelings. When I tried to back pedal, she told me she didn’t want to talk until after the fight.
I took her at her word, but now I’m beginning to second-guess myself.
I should have just apologized. Explained that I didn’t want her to be stressed—that stress could impact her ability to get pregnant almost as much as her hormones. Instead, I took a power nap while she did something on her phone. Then we left for the venue and she went in search of Candy.
After what happened at weigh-in, I decide to do the walk out on my own.
No entourage, no fanfare. Just me walking out to the cage, where Grim and Metal will be waiting, and Luna will hopefully be in the front row, along with Daniil, Courtney, Eric, Delilah, and a handful of guys from the Renegade Demons.
Everyone else had work commitments, which is fair, but it’ll be nice to have people out there cheering for me.
Especially Luna.
I don’t know why I reacted the way I did when she started talking about her face being plastered all over the internet.
She had a point.
And I ignored it.
Because I was trying to focus on the fight.
Because she has been hormonal and out of sorts lately.
Because I’ve never felt like this about anyone and it might be fucking with my head. So, instead of talking to her about how I feel, I lashed out at the worst possible time. It probably didn’t help that I was starving, but that’s no excuse.
Dammit.
I pull on my gloves and roll my shoulders.
It’s almost time.
I hear the roar of the crowd and get a quick nod from Grim before he disappears down the hallway.
Now it’s just me and my thoughts.
Bronco’s comments about Luna’s weight this morning have been sitting on the edge of my psyche all day, and I’m going to make him pay for them in the cage.
If he was trying to get me riled up, it worked.
Frankly, I don’t need to draw this out. A knockout in the first round is a perfectly acceptable way for me to end this whole thing.
“Mr. Rageis.” One of the assistants sticks his head in the room. “It’s time.”
I nod and make my way down the hall toward the tunnel that will lead out into the crowd and to the cage.
I got my nickname, Rage the Cage, because I used it as part of my arsenal—pinning guys against it so I could punch from the clinch.
It’s part of what made me a champion. That and my lethal left hook.
I’m a southpaw, so most fighters aren’t used to the way I hit, and I scored a lot of knockouts that way.
And that’s the goal tonight.
Hard, fast, done.
Garth asked us to give the spectators their money’s worth, but I don’t have time for that. I thought this would be fun. Instead, it’s turned into something stressful. Worse than that, I let my nerves get the better of me and I’m almost positive I hurt Luna’s feelings. Which is unacceptable.
The crowd goes wild as I pad across the floor toward the cage.
I see Grim and Metal standing next to it, waiting.
I see Bronco already inside.
And I see Garth in there too, ready to announce the fight.
“I love you, Rage!” a woman’s voice calls out.
I’m sure Luna loves hearing that.
“Show ’em how it’s done, bro!” That’s a man’s voice.
I just drown it all out, scanning the crowd for Luna and the others.
Daniil and Courtney are in the front row, with Silver next to Daniil and an empty seat next to Courtney. Eric and Delilah are right behind them, with a couple other guys from the club next to them.
Luna might be in the restroom. Or doing something with Candy except—Candy’s sitting a few seats away, also in the front row.
And there’s no sign of Luna anywhere.
An uneasy feeling crawls over me.
She’s not petty. Even if she’s furious with me, she wouldn’t just skip the fight.
So, where is she?
She knows the fight is starting soon.
She knows I want to see her out there.
For the first time, it occurs to me that maybe she was right—and someone recognized her. Someone who has no idea how much of the Assault Academy clientele she saw. There were a hundred thousand names, so she couldn’t possibly have memorized them all but what if they don’t know that?
What if she still has a copy?
What if—
The ref approaches us. “Gentlemen, we’ve already gone over the rules.
I want you to protect yourselves at all times.
Listen to my instructions at all times. Fight hard, but fight clean.
Touch gloves if you like—” The referee nods at us and Bronco surprises me by tapping his knuckles to mine. “Step back. Good luck.”
Here we go.