Before I can open my mouth to reply, Miles steps in front of me.
“No,” he says.
Rocco laughs. His laugh is more breath than sound, eerily repetitive.
“We’re going to beat you until you barely blink, Miles. Then I’m going to take what was promised me. I’m going to fuck Zoe right in front of you. Maybe I’ll let Wade and Dax and Jasper take a turn. You’ll lay there watching, choking on your own blood. When I’m finished, you’ll both finally understand the truth. She belongs to me. She always has, and she always will.”
He jerks his head toward Chay and Ozzy. “You two can go.”
Chay scoffs right in his face. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to? You’re not touching our friends.”
I’ve never loved Chay more than in this moment. But unlike Miles, her voice isn’t calm and confident. It’s tight with fear, coming out an octave higher than normal.
Ozzy backs her up, addressing Wade, Dax, and Jasper, because he knows there’s no point reasoning with Rocco. “Don’t be stupid,” he says. “This won’t end well for any of you.”
Wade smirks, his handsome face not looking handsome at all when it’s twisted up in disdain.
“Please tell me this wasn’t a double-date, Chay,” he scoffs. “Fucking this grubby little degenerate is one thing, but actually going out with him . . . say it isn’t so.”
Chay meets Wade’s scorn with a cold stare.
“He’s ten times the man you’ll ever be,” she says.
Wade stops smiling. “He’ll be ten times the man when I rip him into pieces,” he seethes. He strides forward.
I scream, “No!” trying to step out from behind Miles, but he won’t let me, he blocks me with his arm.
“Leave them alone!” I shout over Miles’ shoulder.
“Come with me now and I will,” Rocco hisses, his eyes dark and gleaming in his white face.
“No fucking way,” Miles barks, before I can answer.
“So be it,” Rocco says, flicking out the blade of his knife.
Wade, Dax, Jasper, and Rocco all charge us at once.
Wade and Dax run at Ozzy, Jasper at me, and Rocco at Miles.
It’s a blur of motion and confusion in the weak light.
Half of what I perceive is through grunts and yells, rather than what I can actually see.
Rocco slashes his knife wildly at Miles, the blade winking in and out of sight as it reflects the moonlight. Miles twists and dodges, the tip catching him at least twice, slicing through his shirt and slashing his arm.
Jasper comes at me just like he attacked Dean in the ring—with breathless speed and absolute silence. I try to slip his grasp, but he’s much faster than me. His arms lock around me, harder than iron.
Trying to remember everything I ever learned in Combat Class, I stomp down hard on his right foot, and whip my head backward, hitting him in the mouth with the back of my skull. I hear Jasper’s grunt of pain. Warm blood spatters my arm.
Jasper’s python arms barely relax for a moment. When I try to twist away from him, he locks his forearm around my throat instead, pinning me against his chest.
Head swimming, I see Wade and Dax pummeling Ozzy, a maelstrom of punching fists where Ozzy gives as good as he gets because he’s stocky and powerful. His tight punches rocket out from his body, slamming into the other two boys with echoing thuds. Still, Wade and Dax are bigger and just as used to fighting. They’d overwhelm Ozzy in minutes, if they hadn’t forgotten Chay.
She jumps on Dax’s back, locking both arms around his throat and choking him hard. Dax stumbles backward, trying to shake her off. Meanwhile, Ozzy tackles Wade. They roll around in the trampled grass, hitting and throttling each other.
I’m still squirming and flailing my elbows, trying to hit Jasper in the body. The more I struggle, the more he tightens his arm on my throat. I’m so dizzy I can barely stand.
Rocco takes another slash at Miles’ face. This time, Miles manages to catch Rocco’s wrist and hold it. Rocco punches Miles with his free hand, three times over in the side of the face, but Miles maintains his death grip on Rocco’s knife with both hands, twisting Rocco’s wrist until the knife flies through the air and lands in the grass next to Ozzy’s boot.
Now Rocco and Miles are brawling in earnest, and I realize that I’ve underestimated Miles yet again. I’ve never seen him fight before. In this moment, Miles is no dancer or deal-maker. He’s a fucking killer. He looks crazed as he hits Rocco over and over, savage blows with no caution behind them, no hint of restraint.
Rocco is a snake, but Miles is a lion. No matter how Rocco gouges and bites and claws at him, Miles responds with twice the fury.
I take heart from Miles, redoubling my efforts to get free of Jasper. I twist and flail until I manage to reach back and smash him in the balls with the side of my fist. That’s what finally forces him to let go. I break free right as Wade Dyer hits Ozzy with a punishing blow that knocks him back to the ground.
Dax is staggering as Chay cuts off his air. Wade charges at Chay and punches her in the side of the face, hard enough that she loses her grip and tumbles to the ground.
Both Miles and Ozzy roar with outrage. Miles flings Rocco off while Ozzy stumbles up and charges at Wade. Miles hits Dax twice in the face, which is enough to finish him, still dizzy and gasping from Chay’s headlock. Meanwhile, Ozzy pummels Wade with hitherto unseen fury. Wade elbows Ozzy in the face, with a crack of bone-on-bone that breaks his nose.
Miles is so enraged that he leaps on Wade, hitting him again and again.
Wade’s face is a mask of blood, and still Miles hits him.
Miles looks insane, completely out of his mind.
“STOP!” I scream, grabbing him by the shoulder and dragging him back.
Miles tries to break free, his bloody fists still raised, but I seize his shirt and pull so hard that he falls over backward on top of me.
Wade looks demonic, his eyes bright chips in his blood-soaked face.
Howling like an animal, he charges at Ozzy, who gropes in the grass beside him and snatches up Rocco’s knife.
Wade jumps on Ozzy and Ozzy swings the knife.
“NO!” I scream.
The knife disappears into the side of Wade’s neck.
My shout still echoes while absolute silence falls over the group.
Rocco stands up, his eyes fixed on Wade and his face utterly expressionless.
Jasper has taken several steps back. He stands alone, one skeletal hand pressed to his bleeding lip.
Dax is half-conscious, unaware of what’s going on.
Chay is wide-eyed, both hands clapped over her mouth.
Ozzy freezes in place, horror-stricken at what he’s done.
And Miles looks like he’s about to throw up.
“Don’t move,” Miles says to Wade. “Don’t touch it . . .”
Wade frowns, confused, as his hand fumbles against the side of his neck, his fingers brushing the handle of the knife.
He takes one staggering step forward. He opens his mouth to say something. All that comes out is a strangled, gurgling sound, and a large quantity of blood.
Then he sinks to his knees and topples forward, face-down in the grass.
“We have to get help,” Ozzy cries.
We all know it’s too late.