Page 99 of Blackwood

Maddie’s face twists. “Ugh. You’re lying,” she screeches.

“Oh honey, my brother never lies.” Ellie leans in, voice pure sugar with a bite of venom.

Maddie makes a disgusted noise and storms off in a cloud of hairspray and fury, her clones flouncing behind her like little mean-girl ducklings.

I settle back into my seat, lips tingling, and grin. “That was fun.”

The lights strobe overhead, blinding white and pulsing like a heartbeat. The crowd hushes as a distorted voice crackles over the speakers.

“Welcome to Fight Night here at The Pit.”

Cheers erupt from every corner, the energy is sharp and charged. But the lighting and the theatrics, it’s all so underwhelming.

Knox leans over, lips near Haley’s ear but loud enough for all of us to hear. “God, can you imagine what I could do with an arena like this? This place would be fucking fire.”

Ellie snorts and Haley lets out a low, “Preach,” as she slips an arm through his.

Cade pulls me into his side. He presses a soft kiss to my temple and something tight in my chest loosens.

I lean back just enough to meet his eyes. “You ready for this?”

He nods once, sure and steady. “Everything’s set, sweetheart. Trust me. Damien hates The Revenants just as much as you do.”

I smirk. “Good. Because this night, is about to be legendary.”

He leans in and brushes his lips over mine. It’s just a whisper of a kiss but enough to leave a spark behind. “They’re not ready for you, Bella.”

The first fight ends with a brutal, bloody punch and a roar from the crowd. One guy gets carried out, the other raises his fists like he just conquered Rome. But before the crowd can settle, the DJ’s voice roars over the speakers again.

“All right, who’s ready for something sexy?” The DJ draws it out like a sleazy game show host. “Please welcome Northvale’s very own… The Revenants!”

A few cheers, mostly from the NU side of the room. Then the opening beat of “Disco Inferno” by 50 Cent drops. Madison Rae and her two try-hard lackeys strut out like it’s their Super Bowl.

Oh no. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t. Fucking. Laugh.

Their outfits are tight, shiny, and completely mismatched. Madison’s top looks like it was yanked out of a clearance bin at a stripper convention.

They start dancing, if you can call it that, and I’m instantly in pain. It’s overdone. Off-beat. One of them nearly trips on her own heel. Maddie flicks her hair like she’s headlining a Vegas burlesque show and starts air-humping the floor like her life depends on it.

Haley leans in, voice deadpan. “Good lord, Maddie looks like she’s trying to have an orgasm out there.”

Cade chokes on his laugh, covering his mouth. Ellie looks personally offended.

That’s when I notice a guy cutting through the crowd like a blade. He’s huge, at least six-five, with broad shoulders and muscle for days. His hair is so blonde it’s nearly white, cropped short on the sides and tousled up top like he just rolled out of bed and still somehow looks like sin.

But it’s his eyes that freeze me, icy-greenish-blue, sharp and otherworldly.

Mesmerizing.

Dangerous.

His left arm is a masterpiece of black and gray ink. Modern, architectural, and lethal in its precision. The centerpiece on his bicep is the Hollow Kings crest: a crowned skull framed by a laurel wreath, two crossed swords behind it, and the Latin phraseIn Tenebris Regnat—He reigns in darkness—etched beneath like a battle standard. Faint, geometric outlines of Russian Orthodox domes rise just behind the crest, stylized and sharp, as if drafted straight from a blueprint.

He stops at our row. “Whitmore.”

Cade looks up. “Damien.”

The guy raises an unimpressed brow. “Good God, man. Call me Rez. We’ve been over this shit.”