Losing Nuka (Litmus Book 1) (13 page)

Turning to Brett, my eyes go wide. “You expect me to fight an invisible dude?”

He puts his hands on my shoulders. “You’ll be fine. The only thing he has is his invisibility. A lot of defensive moves are done by touch anyway. You’ll be able to feel him, where his stance is. Just make sure those hands of yours are warmed up and ready to go.”

Brett indicates for the others to leave. When they walk out the door, he remains with me. “You’ll be fine.”

I nod. “They all seem nice.”

“They are. They’re all pretty great guys, actually. You’ve probably just adopted four big brothers. Ryker can be moody, but it’s only because people are constantly underestimating him for his size.”

“I guess I’ll have to get used to that, too, being the only girl. Didn’t Sasha say there was another girl? Chi … or something?”

“She’s on Taser’s team—Holt team. There’s actually a couple of girls. We were the only team without one, until you.”

“Oh. So that’s the real reason Cade and Jonas wanted me? For their image?”

“Pretty much. But isn’t that also the reason they agreed to give you more money than the rest of us?”

Fair point.

“Get ready,” he orders before leaving.

I’m already in my full-length tights, so all I have to do to get ready is tie my hair back and strip off my shirt. The black sports bra Cade gave me to fight in is insanely tight but supportive.
Yup. I’m wearing a bra in public again.

I was relieved when they decided my “costume” should be simple, not gimmicky. There’d be nothing worse than wearing lame angel wings or fake flames or something.

Cade said once I get sponsorship, I’ll have to change my uniform; it’ll need the sponsor company’s name on it, but she’s also hoping to pull something with a logo instead of words so I still look professional ... and hot. Having your mother encourage you to dress so provocatively in public to pull in more money seems wrong somehow.
Welcome to Deakin.

Taking a few deep breaths, I try to prepare myself for what’s about to happen.

If I’m this nervous over a practice fight, what am I going to be like when I face someone for real?

Brett is waiting for me just outside the locker room when I exit.

“Ready?”

“Uh-huh,” I say, wiping my sweaty palms on my thighs. “I think so.”

He lets out a small laugh. “You really are cu …”

“What?”

“I can just tell you’re really nervous. You look like you did the night you met your mother.”

When he called me cute
, I realise. He was about to do it again, but he stopped himself.

We lock eyes and I can’t bring myself to look away until I hear footsteps coming towards us.

“Ready, Nuka?” Colton asks.

Taking some deep breaths, I attempt to pull myself together. My hands already feel tingly from the tension between Brett and me, the nerves building in my stomach, and the adrenaline that’s running through me.

Walking out to the floor feels like the longest thirty seconds of my life.

There are two girls fighting on the stage when we reach the others who are standing around watching. Other groups are watching too, and I can only assume we’re all separated into our teams.

“Slider versus Ice?” Brett says, and Ryker nods. “This should be interesting.”

“They’ve been at it for a few minutes now. Neither of them has used their ability yet.”

“Are they on the same team, too?” I ask.

“They are—Fadden team,” Colton says, standing on the other side of me to Brett. “Uh-oh, better step out of the way,” he says, grabbing my arm and pulling me back and to his side.

“Why—” I ask before something solid and white flies by my head, smashing on the ground behind us. “Ice? She can throw
ice
?”

“Yeah. With your ability, you may want to try and avoid fighting her in the future,” Brett says. “Not to mention she’s batshit crazy.”

“How do people in the audience not get killed?” I ask.

“One of the emcees’ ability is to create large force fields. He puts an invisible enclosure over the ring during a fight for those who have the really active abilities like Inferno and Ice,” Colton explains.

“Who wins when those two fight?”

Colton laughs. “Ice usually has the upper hand, but Palmer’s won a few times against her. It just depends on the night. We’re all on a pretty level playing field, apart from Ryker. But even he knows to put on a good show before kicking butt.”

Watching the girls go at it on the stage, it’s obvious they’re both incredibly strong. I can almost feel each punch as if it were happening to me. Ice is brutal. I’m definitely going to have to up my weights routine before I can face either of them. I’m suddenly not so confident about this fight today.

“What does Slider do?” Just as I ask, she disappears, reappearing on the other side of the arena, trying to catch her breath. “She’s invisible like Steve?”

“Not quite,” Brett says. “She blinks … it’s kind of like teleporting, but on a much smaller scale. I don’t think she could blink out of this building, her ability isn’t that strong. But it works well for the arena—she can’t go outside of the square without being disqualified, so she doesn’t need to go big.”

I’ve been distracted by my convo with Brett and Colton, I don’t realise when the girls stop fighting. Only when I hear, “Who’s the newbie?” being yelled from the stage do I turn myself back to look at them.

“Get off the stage and find out,” Brett yells.

They start making their way off the platform, sweaty and wiping themselves down with a towel.

“Looks like we’re up,” Steve says as he passes me, making his way onto the raised platform.

I think my heart just stopped.

He takes his shirt off and stands with his arms folded across his chest, making him look intimidating as hell. He too, just like Brett and Colton, has massive biceps. He’s smaller than Brett and Colton, but not by much.

Every set of eyes on the floor stares at me as Brett leads me up to the stage.

Silently, I tell my hands to stop shaking, but they just quiver more.

Steve approaches, his face soft and suddenly not looking so fierce anymore. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll just have a play. Don’t worry about the others watching, just treat this as another training session, okay? Brett’s told us how good you are, so I’m excited to see for myself.”

“I’m just nervous, I guess.”

“Fair enough,” he says, punching my shoulder lightly. “Look at that. Punch number one’s already been thrown,” he says with a smile on his face. It makes the nerves dissipate some.

“You’ve got this,” Brett says, gripping my shoulders and turning me to him.

I nod and look into his eyes.

“How are your hands?” he asks, taking them in his. “They’re freezing. What are you doing?”

“I … I think I’m too nervous.” All the tension fuelling me from the locker room has left me and only terrified doubt remains.

“What’ll make you get fired up again?”

I shrug. “It doesn’t really help that Steve seems nice. It’d be a lot easier if he was a sleazebag like Taser.”

“Well, I seem to piss you off pretty good, and you need to get angry. You always beat me when that happens. So how can I help?”

I laugh. “I don’t think it works if you’re purposefully trying.”

“How about if I do this,” he says, cupping my face with both hands and slamming his lips on mine. The kiss is quick, not even long enough for me to react properly, but it’s intense. Laughter and hooting surround us, and when he pulls away, he walks off, leaving me stunned.

“Well, that worked,” I mutter, turning to face Steve whose eyebrows have shot up so high they’re almost disappearing into his hairline.

“How can I beat you up now I know you’re his girl?” Steve says.

I roll my eyes, anger growing inside me. I focus on sending it to my hands. “Is that what he was trying to accomplish? Getting you to go easy on me? Because I can assure you, I’m no one’s girl, and he clearly underestimates my ability if he thinks he needs to do
that
to give me the upper hand.”

Steve laughs. “Okay then. Good to know. I’ll be with you in a moment,” he says, disappearing.

Confusion and fear don’t even have time to set in completely when I’m grabbed from behind and being held in a chokehold. It’s tight, making any possible manoeuvre restricted.

Using a simple self-defence move, I jab my elbow backwards and into his side. His grip falters a little, but he doesn’t let me go. Then I stomp on the instep of his foot, but being invisible, I miss him and get his ankle instead. It works though, and he releases me.

“Pretty impressive.” His voice startles me. I don’t know where it came from.

I must look like the biggest idiot, fighting someone who’s invisible. I twist around, but he’s not giving any indication of where he is.

He reappears right in front of me before landing a punch to my face. My head suddenly snaps back from the momentum, but I’ve been hit in the face so often these last few weeks, it didn’t hurt much. Either that, or he didn’t hit me very hard.

My hands are itching to be released of heat.

I take my chance to go on the offensive while he’s still visible.

Stepping forward, I throw a jab, but he’s quick like Brett, catching it in his palm. It only connects with his hand for a second before he’s flinching in pain from the burn.

“Oh, shit,” he says, backing up when he realises what my ability is.

Smirking, I take advantage of his disorientation, getting in a few more heated punches and an open-palmed slap to the face, burning his skin. Landing a punch to his stomach and one to the side of his rib cage, I then take an upper cut to his chin. He barely composes himself enough to disappear, but then he’s gone again.

Hoping he hasn’t moved from his hunched position, I advance on him, throwing in another punch to what I hope is his face and a knee to the gut for good measure.

An “oomph” leaves him, and I think I’ve winded him.

I back up a couple of steps to give him a breather when I hear his strained laughter.

“Don’t back off now. You could’ve had me,” he grunts.

Stepping forward, I punch again, connecting with something, but I have no idea what. He lets out a tiny groan. I punch again but hit air, and then I’m suddenly knocked off my feet, tackled to the ground in a frontal assault.

Falling backwards, I land on my back with a loud thud, hitting my head on the ground as I fall.

He reappears above me, on his knees in between my legs. He raises a fist to hit me, but I roll my head to the side, and he punches the floor beside me.

Lifting one of my legs, I kick him hard in the chest. He wavers slightly, but he’s anchored his feet on the ground under his legs, making him like one of those dolls I had as a kid where I’d knock it down, only to have it spring back up again.

My other foot comes up and over in a roundhouse kick to the side of his head. He falls sideways onto the ground and disappears again.

Flipping myself up onto my feet in a single move—something Will and I used to practice so we could look “cool”—I’m on my feet in less than a second, poised for another attack.

I have no idea where he is, and I have no idea what angle he’s going to come at me from. I can’t really do anything but wait for him to attack.

It’s eerily quiet. My head moves from left to right, my ears straining to hear something—
anything
to indicate where he is. Brett’s ability would come in handy right now, as I try to listen for Steve’s breathing.

My hands are scorching hot and ready.

He teases me, appearing on my left and then blinking invisible again. I lunge to the left and twist, hoping to catch him before he’s moved, but he’s too quick. He pushes me from behind, and I stumble onto one knee. Assuming he’s still behind me, I lean back and elbow him. Where, I don’t know, but I turn and attack with my scalding hot hands.

I swear I can almost hear the hissing noise as my sizzling hands burn away layers of skin.

The pressure under my hands moves away as Steve manages to get out of my grasp.

Moving into a standing position, I’m swiftly punched with brutal force on the right side of my face. I’m repeatedly hit from what feels like a million different angles, making it impossible to determine exactly where he is.

Steve must’ve been holding back until now.

Pain shoots down my left side as he punches me in my ribs. I try to guard it, but then he just punches me in the head.

His moves are fast and deliberate, and I don’t have time to right myself before I’m being hit again. I’ve got a split lip and spit some blood, only to take another punch to the face.

Becoming dizzy, I’m wobbly on my feet. I must be hunching over, as the blows seem to be coming from above me now.

I’m only saved by a voice calling out from the side of the arena. “Time’s up.”

Stopping immediately, Steve reappears right in front of me. He’s breathless and puffing. I join him in taking large, panting breaths as I try to stand up straight.