Read Online Beyond Promise by Karice Bolton - Free Book Online

before you know it,” he
whispered.
    “It will and you’ll be the victor.” I nodded
my head as if for reassurance, feeling the tears well in my
eyes.
    He gave me a soft kiss on my neck and let
out a deep breath. “It’s time.”
    “I know.” My eyes were focused on the crowd
below. “Do you feel that?”
    He rubbed my stomach and shook his head.
    “Not that.” The building was vibrating.
    Within seconds more of the crowd began
stomping their feet in unison as if they were demanding their
fighters enter the ring. As the building shook, the feeling that
spread over me felt visceral and daunting. This wasn’t like any
other fight. The steady beat got louder, and hands went into the
air, stirring the restless air between the spectators. Chanting
that had begun slowly became louder with each passing second.
    A knock on the door, followed by Derek
sticking in his head, told me it really was time. I turned to face
Ayden, and he rested his forehead on mine.
    “Get to him first,” I whispered, and Ayden
shook his head, swiping a kiss along my cheek before leaving the
room.
    I wanted to give him time to get down the
stairs before I left. I needed to regroup. Seeing the unconcerned
expressions on the men below made my worst nightmares seem like
child’s play. I heard the door click shut down the stairs and took
in a deep breath.
    Everything was going to be fine.
    “Aaron’s got our area reserved downstairs,”
Brandy said softly from behind. “Jason will walk us through the
crowd.”
    I gave a slight nod and turned to see the
same look of fear running through her gaze.
    “We’ll get through this, and then we’ll both
beat him up for putting us through this,” Brandy vowed.
    I half-laughed as Brandy clutched my hand
and led me out of the room to where Jason and Gabby were waiting.
There was nothing about this fight that was similar to any of the
others we’d been to. Gabby wasn’t chatty. Jason wasn’t offering
anecdotal humor. We were all silent as if we were about to head
into the lion’s den of things you wished you could change.
    We walked down the stairs and pushed open
the door to find the chanting almost deafening, and the thunderous
stomps even louder than moments before as the spectators waited for
the main attraction. We weren’t even in the room where the
tournament was being held and the noise was earsplitting. Jason
opened the metal doors and a blast of warm air hit me. The room was
so packed, it didn’t matter that the building had no heat.
    I scanned the crowd, seeing nothing but
heads bobbing, hands waving, and rowdy patrons yelling for the
match to begin. Jason began clearing the way through the aisle that
had been closed in by gawkers. My heart hammered in my chest as
Jason pushed a couple raucous individuals out of the way and led us
to where Aaron was waiting. We were right next to the ring. I
skimmed the room, hoping to get a glimpse of where Ayden or his
opponent would be coming from, but the crowd was so dense it was
impossible to tell.
    It wasn’t until a man climbed into the ring
with a microphone that the audience fell silent. I scouted the room
for the ring girls that were at every fight and saw none.
    “Two undisputed champions going head to
head, knuckle to knuckle. No gloves in this match, only taped
hands. We’ve got Ayden Rhodes…”
    The crowd burst into a round of boos and
jeers, interrupting the announcer, and my heart fell to the ground.
This had never happened. Ever. I glanced at Brandy whose eyes were
locked on Aaron, hoping for some hint he couldn’t give.
    Aaron and Jason stared straight ahead, not
making eye contact with any of us, which told me that something was
definitely wrong.
    The heckling stopped, and the announcer
continued by introducing Viktor, Ayden’s opponent, and the crowd
immediately erupted into cheers. I glanced around us and saw the
ravenous eyes of individuals waiting for nothing more than to claim
their winnings.
    Music exploded from the