The Elements of Rage | ✔

• T W E L V E •

I shake my head sympathetically, knowing all too well how bad his concussion is going to suck when he wakes up.

Straightening up, I look out at the cheering crowd. It isn't the same cocky feeling that feels me, though. It is a sense of dread. Maybe his words just affecting me more than I thought. I don't know what is setting my alarms off, but something is not right.

No.

Something is wrong.

Very wrong.

I scan the crowds with an intense glare. A familiar calculating look gazed back at me. A swish of red hair and the woman is gone, swallowed up by the crowd.

It was the woman from the forest. From just this afternoon. Why was she following me?

Questions begin to swarm in my mind and I wait the ring to go sign up for as many fights as possible. I don't want to sleep tonight. I want to fight. I need the pain, the adrenaline, the smell of blood.

I've always known to trust my instincts. People will lie and leave you, but your instincts are rarely rare and will stay as long as you use them. And my instincts are telling me that that woman is dangerous. Highly dangerous.

"Hey, are you okay, Raven?" Victoria's voice cuts through my thoughts.

Snapping my gaze to her, I see Victoria with a guy. He isn't tall, but he looks tall compared to Victoria. His strong arm is wrapped loosely around her shoulders as he grins at her in a way that shows me that he is clearly the boyfriend she was talking about.

"I'm fine," I answer, not noticing how cold my voice is as I scan the crowds, trying to catch a glimpse of the woman from earlier.

Victoria blinks her dark eyes and shrugs. "This is my boyfriend, Trey."

"Raven," I reply, nodding at him. I finally give up trying to spot the woman again. "Nice to meet you."

Trey nods back and says, "You fight well. Where do you train?"

"I recently started training here," I answer honestly. "Before then, I trained at home."

"Impressive," Trey grins.

Seeing his grin, a smile spreads across Victoria's face. I shake my head and smirk at the couple.

Turning to me, Victoria asks, "Got anymore fights tonight?"

"Hopefully," I respond. "I just need to speak with Flynn and schedule them in."

Trey gives me a thoughtful look. "Do you really have powers?"

"Yes," I answer somewhat uneasily.

"How many?" He asks eagerly.

Victoria laughs, "Trey, you're gonna scare her off with your questions."

Trey rolls his eyes playfully and I excuse myself to go schedule more fights.

My shadow powers make it so that I don't ever need sleep. No, what I need is to fight. The fighting will help calm me down. It'll help me figure out a solution to the rising situation.

• • •

Darkon's POV

• • •

I drum my fingers on the armrest of my chair as I lean back from my desk. I finished all of my homework already. I know that I won't be able to complete it later.

"Darkon!" Malstrom calls.

Placing my books in my backpack, I quickly head into the living room where my parents are. I ignore the pain that stabs through my sides as I hurry to them. Colette, Emerson, and Hardy are watching television from the couch and Malstrom is standing in the middle of the room.