Page 98 of Blackwood

ME:Other than Lex, do you have any contacts at the pit?

CADE:His cousin Damien. Why?

ME: Because I have an idea I need to run by you. Do you think you can come back to Rosethorne after your classes?

Chapter 33

BELLA

The Pit – Northvale University

580 Days Since Zeke’s Death

Cade’s hand is wrapped around mine. His thumb strokes lazily over my knuckles like he’s soothing something in me he can’t see but feels anyway. Ellie, Haley, and Knox follow close behind us. We’re walking into the belly of Redspire Mansion, down a set of stone stairs that leads to a door guarded by two men in suits with Hollow King rings glinting on their fingers. No one says a word as we pass, they just nod at Cade.

Apparently, we’re expected.

“Why does this feel like we’re walking into hell?” Haley says, pausing a beat before she adds, “A beautiful hell, but still.”

The doors swing open. It hits me all at once, the heat, bass, and light. The Pit isn’t what I expected. It’s better. The walls are jet-black, matte and seamless as if they swallowed the light and liked it. Red accents pulse behind sharp architectural cutouts, looking like veins under skin. The lighting doesn’t glow, it burns. Overhead, spotlights slice through faint trails of smoke, casting everything in crimson and shadow.

The floor is polished concrete, stained the color of dried blood. Elevated ringside seating curves around the four-sidedring in the center. Thick bands of black and red wrap the perimeter like a warning.

It’s like a Roman coliseum redesigned by a billionaire sadist, all brutal elegance and high-stakes spectacle.

It’s dark.

Violent.

Sexy.

We wind down closer to the ring, where black velvet ropes part for us. Cade leads me to our reserved seats, one of the best seats in the house. Dead center with a perfect view of the ring. Knox slides in next to Haley, already checking the lighting rig above.

Ellie’s sits on the other side of me, taking it all in, “Okay… this is not what I expected. It’s giving billionaire fight club meets Satan’s VIP lounge.”

We’re barely settled when she shows up. Madison Rae Holloway. And, of course, her two backup dancers, Barbie 2.0 and Botox Lite, flanking her like a clearance aisle Mean Girls reboot.

“Well, well, well,” Madison mocks, stopping right in front of us with a sneer that makes my knuckles itch. “Who in the world let you bitches in here?”

Haley scoffs under her breath. Ellie just crosses one leg over the other, calm and unbothered like a rich cat at a peasant party.

I lean back slowly in my chair, arching a brow. “Wow. No warm-up? No hello? Straight to the hostility, Maddie Rae, that’s not very hospitable of you.”

She scowls. “This is Hollow Kings territory, sweetheart. Not some Wexley dance circle.”

“Oh,” I say, mockingly concerned. “Then what exactly are you doing here? You’re not a King, Mads.”

Her jaw ticks. Behind her, the blonde one glares at me like she wants to bite, but I’m pretty sure she couldn’t even chew a protein bar without cracking a veneer.

Maddie steps closer. “You don’t belong here.”

“And yet, here I am. Front row. VIP. Funny how that works.”

Her eyes drop to Cade’s hand on my thigh, fingers curled possessively as he squeezes. Her laugh is sharp and fake as hell.

“You cannot be serious, Cade. You… with her?”

Before I can answer, Cade beats me to it. “Us with her Maddie. Lex wants Bella just as much as I do.” Then he turns my chin and kisses me. Deep. Open. Tongue and heat and a little bit of showmanship just for her.