Thornhill Academy (By Sheridan Hartin) novel Chapter 163

Chapter 163

Allison

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The noise of the ring wraps around me like an old, familiar cloak. The crowd roars at a blow I can’t see, the crack of knuckles against bone echoing through the cavernous underground hall. Rafe sits exactly where he always does at a small table against the stone wall under a flickering lantern, legs kicked up. chair tipped back dangerously far. He looks up as soon as I approach and when I push my hood back so he can see my face, that slow, sharp smile spreads across his like smoke curling into shape.

“Well, well,” he drawls, teeth flashing. “Thought you were dead, Ally.”

“Close enough,” I mutter.

He barks out a laugh, the kind that makes three nearby men glance over as if ready to bolt. Hyena shifters carry that kind of energy-wild, unpredictable, gleeful in a way no one trusts. My two companions step up behind me, towering and tense. Kael looks like he wants to set something on fire. Evander looks like he wants to tear Rafe’s head off and ask questions never.

Rafe’s grin widens. “And who,” he asks slowly, “are they?”

“Help,” I say. “Or trouble. Depending on the minute.”

Kael snorts, but Evander doesn’t even blink.

“I need to do a trade,” I tell Rafe, getting straight to the point.

His boots fall off the table. Chair legs thud onto the ground. Now I have his full attention. I’ve done this routine too many times to count. Usually, the trade is small-food, cash, a place to sleep without watching the door all night. I fight one of his handpicked opponents, I siphon whatever magic they’re stupid enough to charge at me with, and I win by a margin thin enough to scare me every time. Rafe collects bets. I walk away with whatever scraps I negotiated

for. But tonight, I’m not trading for scraps.

“What’s the trade?” he asks, analysing my face.

I lower my voice. “I need a concealment potion.”

His eyebrows jump high enough they practically leave his forehead.

I hesitate, flicking my gaze back to Kael and Evander. “Actually… I need three,”

Evander stiffens like he wants to argue that he doesn’t need anything, that he’s perfectly fine being a walking magical lighthouse. Kael just mutters under

his breath.

Rafe sits back, arms crossing over his chest as that grin of his gets sharper, meaner, more calculated. “Well, damn,” he says, eyes drifting lazily between the three of us. “Someone’s gotten themselves into a mess.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” I say.

His gaze lands fully on Kael now, then slides to Evander. “I might be able to get my hands on a few potions. Hard to come by, though. Harder now than

ever.”

Translation: it’s going to cost me more blood than any trade I’ve made before.

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Chapter 163

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“Great,” I say, shrugging off my hoodie already. “Throw me in the ring and let’s get this over with-

“No.” Rafe stops me with one raised finger. “Not tonight.”

“What do you mean no?” I ask.

Rafe tilts his head toward the two of them. “I want fresh meat.”

Kael bristles instantly. “What the hell does that mean?”

Rafe laughs again, delighted. “Means you fight. You win. You get things. That’s how this place works.”

Kael looks at me like I’ve just dragged him into a cult. “Ally, what the fuck is going on?”

I turn to him, swallowing the shame that tries to crawl up my throat. “This is how I survived before Thornhill.”

“What-by fighting?” he demands.

“Yes,” I snap. “By fighting. By siphoning magic off people twice my size. By nearly dying more than once just to get food or a dry floor to sleep on. This is what the unregistered do out here. It’s what I did.” I jerk my chin at Rafe. “And this is how I got anything worth having.”

Kael stares at me, expression caught somewhere between disbelief and something softer that he tries very hard to hide.

Evander steps forward before Kael can say more. “I’ll do it,” he says simply.

Kael whips toward him.

Evander doesn’t take his eyes off Rafe. “You need three potions. If this is the only way, then it’s the only way. I can handle myself.”

Rafe gives an appreciative hum. “Bold. I like that.”

Kael points a finger between them. “Oh, bloody hell. We’re doing this then?”

I glance around at the ring, the crowd, the hungry faces, the gleam in their eyes. None of them wants a fair match. None of them has ever seen one. That’s not what this place is for.

Kael rakes a hand through his hair. “So we’re just going to fight random strangers underground, with no magic, no training, no warning?”

Rafe cackles. “Oh, you can use magic. As long as it’s yours.”

Kael opens his mouth, then closes it. “We don’t… have much right now.”

Rafe clicks his tongue sympathetically. “Then I’d recommend being very fast.”

Evander steps closer, shoulders rolling like he’s preparing for a storm. “If she needs those potions, I’m going in first.”

“No,” I say immediately, instinctive and sharp. “Evander, you’re still drained. Your magic’s coming back too slowly.”

“I said I’ll do it,” he replies, voice low. “You’re asking me to stand by while you bargain away your life? Not happening, Pet.”

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Chapter 163

Rafe watches us like entertainment incarnate.

Kael throws his hands up. “Okay, fantastic. Everyone here is insane. Awesome. Great. Love that for us.”

Rafe steeples his fingers. “So. Three potions. One fight each. That seems fair.”

Evander gives Rafe a long, steady look. “Pick my opponent.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Rafe purrs. “I already have.”

Evander doesn’t even flinch.

Kael mutters, “I hate everything about this,” but he doesn’t back away. If anything, he steps closer to me, eyes scanning the ring like he’s choosing which opponent he’d rather punch first.

Rafe gestures toward the tunnel leading behind the arena. “Get ready. Fights start in ten.”

Evander nods once and heads for the tunnel without hesitation, but Kael grabs my arm, pulling me slightly aside.

“Are you serious about this?” he whispers fiercely. “This is your big plan? Underground murder pit fights?”

“This isn’t murder,” I whisper back. “It’s survival.”

He shakes his head. “How the hell did you live like this?”

“By not dying,” I say simply.

Kael goes silent, staring at me like he’s seeing a version of me he never imagined existed.

I pull my arm gently from his grip. “We need those potions. Rafe’s the only one who can get them. So we fight.”

Kael’s throat works. He nods once. “Then I’m going second.”

“Kael-”

“I said I’m going second,” he repeats, eyes hard. “I’m not letting Evander go twice before I do.”

A slow, reluctant smile pulls at my mouth. “Fine.”

He exhales sharply. “Good. Great. Perfect. Let’s go commit crimes or whatever.”

And with that, my mates follow the hyena shifter’s instructions and head toward the ring. And for the second time since we landed in the wilderness…I’m terrified. Not of the fight. Not of the ring.

But of losing one of them before I even had the chance to keep them.

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Thornhill Academy.