The Mercenary Queen Strikes Back (Lily Hastings) novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Quite The Show

Chapter 9 Quite The Show

Besides Maxwell and Hannah, there were a few other teens at the scene.

The boys were handsome, and the girls were stunning.

They all looked to be around Nova’s age, but she didn’t know any of them.

But Hannah’s close friend, Claire Woods, wasn’t among them.

Nova hadn’t expected to bump into this crowd here. ‘Well, talk about luck, she thought, arching an eyebrow. Maxwell jumped in first, slipping right into big brother mode the kind that’s half scolding, half genuinely worried.

He demanded, “Hey, answer me. What’s going on? Weren’t you supposed to head home? You came to a place like this alone? Do you even know how dangerous it gets around here?”

Maxwell’s brows pulled tight as he spoke, the concern practically written all over his handsome face.

Nova wasn’t exactly his favorite sibling, but that didn’t mean he wanted anything bad to happen to her.

But Nova couldn’t care less about Maxwell’s concern.

She was always the type to do things her way, never letting anyone change her mind.

So she crossed her arms, her posture lazy, voice dripping with sarcasm as she shot back, “What? You can come here, but I’m not allowed?”

Hannah’s heart nearly skipped a beat when she caught sight of Nova here.

But then she remembered what was about to go down tonight. A flicker of anxiety flashed across her usually lively face.

Hannah had never liked Nova, and seeing her here–knowing she might screw up their plans–just made her even more pissed.

“Ugh, you’re annoying,” Hannah muttered, shooting Nova dirty looks and rolling her eyes at her over and over. Maybe it was because something big was about to happen that kept Hannah in check.

Even though she was pissed, she didn’t start yelling at Nova like she usually did at home.

Nova, sharp as ever, picked up on it right away. However, she didn’t say a word but just shot Hannah a knowing smirk.

“Max, is this your sister who just got back home?” While Maxwell and Hannah were talking to Nova, one of the guys with them spoke up.

He looked like he’d walked straight out of an old–school scholar painting–tall enough, slim build, with sleek black–rimmed glasses that screamed brainy.

His name was Julian Hunt. Like Maxwell and Hannah, Julian was a student at Saint Laurel Royal Academy and a member of the kickboxing club.

After he tossed out the question, he didn’t bother waiting for an answer–his tone suddenly darkened and grew heavy.

Trying to spook Nova, he even bent down and pulled a mock–scary face at her. “Hey, you are such a cutie, so fresh–faced and dazzling.

“But you know, things are about to get ugly here. Someone’s gonna get hurt. There’ll be blood, maybe even some cracked heads.

“We don’t wanna freak you out, so listen to them and scoot before things get wild.”

He totally saw Nova as just some ordinary girl who’d lose her cool at the sight of a little blood.

Julian was pulling that classic high school guy stunt–hyping up some scary stuff, hoping she’d get scared. He really thought he could spook Nova ir

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Chapter 9 Quite The Show

But little did they know, the girl standing right in front of them wasn’t just some run–of–the–mill schoolgirl who! d start shaking at the mere mention of blood.

She was a true queen on the battlefield–someone whose hands had spilled more blood than could tell.

Julian’s little attempt at intimidation didn’t even make Nova flinch.

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horror story

With all the guys watching, Nova just hooked up a sly smile and spoke up, “Oh? Blood? That’s exactly the kind of action I’d stick around to watch.”

Maxwell, Hannah, and Julian were all left completely stunned by Nova’s words.

None of them expected a girl like her to be so chill about it.

Word had already spread around school about her taking down Logan, the campus bully.

Even though Hannah had seen it for herself at lunchtime, she still had her doubts.

She figured Nova must’ve pulled some wild trick when Logan wasn’t paying any attention and managed to beat him. It was not like Nova actually had any serious skills.

But compared to that, what really shocked them was how she didn’t even blink at the thought of blood–most girls would freak out, but Nova just seemed unfazed.

“Max, your sister’s something else. She’s not scared of fighting and blood at all,” Julian chuckled.

“She didn’t grow up throwing punches with us, but honestly, her attitude’s a lot like yours. She’s got some serious guts. Bet if you taught her kickboxing, she’d pick it up crazy fast,” Julian grinned as he said this. Just like the rest of the group, he figured Nova was just messing around and didn’t really mean it. None of them took her seriously.

In their heads, they were all thinking, ‘Seriously, no girl is gonna be chill the first time she sees blood, right? “She’s just putting on a brave face, too embarrassed to admit she’s actually freaking out.‘

Julian finally wound down his laughter. “Anyway…” He was about to call it quits.

But before he could say another word, Maxwell cut him off. “They’re here.”

At the entrance of Frostwave Bar, a pack of street punks in their early twenties–about Nova’s age–swaggered in, hands shoved deep in their pockets, legs bouncing cockily like they owned the whole place.

The ringleader was the cockiest of the bunch, his leg bouncing so hard that it looked like he was itching for trouble.

He gave Maxwell and the crew a crooked smirk, then, without so much as a word, snatched up his weapon and charged straight at them, ready to start a fight.

This whole scene looked totally nuts–like something out of a wild school drama. But for those in the know, it actually made perfect sense.

A while back, before Nova was even back home, Hannah and Maxwell had entered a free combat tournament over in Ravenport.

Maxwell walked away as the city champ, but Hannah didn’t get a spot. Still, the guy who took second place got seriously hung up on her.

That guy just wouldn’t take no for an answer, and after Hannah shut him down hard, he started holding a grudge. From then on, he kept popping up, looking for trouble every chance he got.

Everyone in Maxwell and Hannah’s crew had grown up brawling. They were no strangers to letting their fists do the talking when it came to settling a score.

After plenty of posturing and trash talk, both sides agreed tonight would be the final showdown at Frostwave

Bar.

“Damn it! That bastard’s playing dirty. He didn’t even bother showing up. He just sent a bunch of street thugs to handle us,” Julian snapped, seething with rage.

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hapter 9 Quite The Show

The moment Julian clocked the group barging in through the bar doors, he cursed under his breath.

“I heard that guy got some heavy hitters backing him–better watch yourselves and try not to get wrecked; said the man beside Julian.

It was obvious the guy who chased after Hannah didn’t have the guts to show up today

Instead, he sent a crew of street toughs–all hard–hitters from the underground scene who weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.

But now that they had shown up, backing down wasn’t an option–even if their opponents were just street punks.

Maxwell called out, “Everyone, watch yourselves.”

As soon as Maxwell finished, Hannah and Julian were already leading the charge–diving straight into the chaos and throwing punches.

Maxwell held back for a beat, turning to Nova with a rare flash of concern. “Nova, just find a safe spot and stay put.”

Then, without another word, he dashed off to join the brawl, leaving Nova behind.

Frostwave Bar was massive–a real Ravenport legend. Everyone knew this was prime turf for the city’s rowdiest thugs and wannabe hardcases.

Throwdowns here weren’t some novelty. Fights popped off all the time.

You’d catch a minor scuffle every three days or so, and at least once a week, the place would erupt in one giant, messy free–for–all.

Sure, the crowd inside jumped at the sudden brawl, but nobody freaked out or made a mad dash for the door. Most folks just learned to sidestep the chaos, keep their drinks close, and let the madness play out.

Fists hammered down, and bodies smashed into chairs and tables.

“Shit! I’ll fuck you up! I’ll fuck you up,” someone screamed, wild with rage.

“Stop yanking my damn pants. If you’re so tough, let me pull them up and then fight like a man,” another shouted.

Within minutes, the whole bar was drowning in chaos–fists flying, curses echoing, both crews yelling and throwing down all over the place. The chaos was indescribable.

By the end, aside from Hannah and Maxwell, everyone came away with at least a few bruises or cuts–no one walked out unscathed.

Even so, their faces were twisted with rage, jaws clenched like they were about ready to bite chunks out of each other.

Even with blood pouring down from shattered bottles, they refused to let go–clinging to their opponents like rabid dogs. The whole scene was utter chaos.

Just as things hit peak chaos, a distinctly unfazed female voice cut through the noise–totally out of place. Tsk, this whole brawl’s honestly pretty entertaining. Still, it’s not quite hitting the spot.

“Yo, you on the right–yeah, you. You’re swinging that chair all wrong. If you go thirty degrees left and crank up the speed–like, three times faster–you’ll knock him out for sure.

“And you on the left, your chokehold’s sloppy. Tilt it up and right by about two inches, and you’ll leave your guy gasping for breath.”

While fists were flying, and the whole bar was a madhouse, then suddenly, in the midst of the uproar, a girl spoke up, cool as ice, like the chaos didn’t even faze her.

Every single fighter just froze, muscles locking up on the spot as if someone had hit pause on the whole scene One by one, they all swiveled stiffly toward the source of that voice, like someone had yanked their strings. There she was–Nova, sprawled out on a barstool up front, looking like she couldn’t care less about the

Chapter 9 Quite The Show

madness swirling around her.

She sat with one leg draped over the other, languidly swirling a glass of cocktail in her hand, as if she were just killing time.

Her whole attitude was pure nonchalance, as if she was not watching a fight, but more like enjoying a bunch of monkeys going wild for her entertainment.

The moment that sunk in, everyone just froze in place, totally blanked out in disbelief. Especially Maxwell, Hannah, and Julian–they looked like they’d just been slapped.

They’d honestly thought Nova was bluffing earlier, just joking about not being scared and sticking around to watch the carnage.

After all, she wasn’t some trained fighter. She was just a normal girl. How could she possibly not be freaked out by all this?

The place was a bloodbath–guys staggering around with busted heads, faces drenched so thick in red you could barely tell who was who.

But as for Nova? She wasn’t the least bit scared. If anything, she looked bored, mouthing off about how the brawl wasn’t thrilling enough for her tastes.

And the real kicker? She even started giving on–the–spot pointers on how they could turn things up a notch and really make it a bloodbath.

‘Oh my… What is even happening right now? Is she really just some regular girl who’s never seen a crazy scene before? No freaking way, everyone thought, absolutely stunned.

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