Page 102 of Blackwood

“Bella, this is not fine. The stuff he said to you, what does it meanDamn, Izzy. That shot was slick. Nice work wrecking Carlos’s dick.Who the hell is Carlos?”

He leans in closer, eyes searching mine. “Bella, talk to me. What is going on?”

I take a shaky breath and squeeze his hand. “It’s almost time for our performance.”

“Bella—”

“I promise,” I whisper, cutting him off gently. “I will tell you everything. Just… not here. Not yet. Please trust me when I say we’ve got this under control.”

His jaw works like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t. He just nods once, tightly, eyes still burning with worry as the lights begin to dim again.

“And your winner… Rez!”

The crowd roars as Rez lifts both fists and basks in the frenzy.

“Alright, Northvale. We’ve come to the main event of the night. And it’s going to be one hell of a show! First up, repping Wexley University, give it up for Callum Whitmore!”

The entire Row section erupts.

“WHITMORE!” Haley screams. Ellie’s whistling like a damn banshee. Knox throws both fists in the air.

Cade cups his hands and shouts, “Let’s go, Cal!”

“And his opponent… from Northvale University… Leader of The Hollow Kings and the undisputed King of The Pit… Aleksandr “Lex” Barinov!”

As us girls get into our places, Lex walks out from the shadows like pure fucking sex wrapped in black silk.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him. I remember the first. Ellie’s eighteenth birthday. He showed up late with Cade, allquiet confidence and brutal beauty, leaning against the wall like he was bored as fuck. I remember thinking he looked like a storm in a damn leather jacket. Dangerous. Untouchable. And I hated how jealous I was of the way he looked at Cade.

But this? This is a whole different breed of feral.

He’s shirtless, just fight shorts slung low on his hips, clinging to every hard-cut line of muscle. Black gloves. Black boots. And those tattoos. God, why is it always the damn tattoos?

Both arms are sleeved in ink. Same Hollow Kings crest as Rez. Same Orthodox architecture mixed with deeper, darker lines, and geometric shapes. There’s a bird on his chest that looks like a phoenix forged from smoke and fire.

But it’s the ink on his right bicep that stops my breath cold. Hidden in the geometry, bold and defiant, are two initials in Gothic black: CW.

Cade Whitmore.

My heart slams. There’s a pulse between my legs that doesn’t care about timelines or the fact that he still hasn’t even looked at me. His black hair is damp, pushed back from his forehead. And his eyes? Ice-blue and cutting. Like they see through skin and soul. Like they’ve already undressed me, mapped me, and completely ruined me.

He looks like wrath carved out of stone. A myth made of violence and want. And worst of all? I already know I’m completely, devastatingly fucked.

Chapter 34

LEX

The Pit – about to kick Callum Whitmore’s smug quarterback ass.

580 Days Since Zeke’s Death

“And his opponent… from Northvale University… Leader of The Hollow Kings and the undisputed King of The Pit… Aleksandr ‘Lex’ Barinov!”

The second I hear my name, I take off down the corridor. Cheers explode around me like a fucking war drum. The lights slam into my face the moment I step into the ring and I feed on it. All of it. The noise, the pressure, the bloodlust in the air. It’s my oxygen.

But even with the crowd chanting my name, even with The Pit shaking from the sound of it, I’m scanning.

For her.