Novel Palace
Chapter 0342
"He's fucking huge," Jesse whispers, and when I glance at my cousin I see that his brows are knit together as he addresses Rafe over my head.
"Is that bad?" I burst out.
"Of course it's bad, Ari," Rafe growls, though I can tell his anger isn't for me. He flicks his gaze at me before snapping it up to meet Jesse. "This must be some kind of mistake -"Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
"It's no fucking mistake," Jesse growls out, tossing a hand towards the man as he strides down the corridor towards the ring." Obviously, they've sent a ringer."
Almost as if everyone's realizing it just as Jesse does, the crowd starts to echo with boo's, enough of them to carry out over the pounding music as the Atalaxian champion reaches the ring. The announcer, standing again at the center of the ring, looks around the room anxiously.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of Moon Valley, please welcome your contender - Anton Spiriatos of Atalaxia!" He smiles widely, raising a hand up to try to elicit a cheer, but the boo's just get louder.
"What's a ringer?" I gasp, glancing between my brother, and my cousin, and Luca down in the corner of his ring. Luca leans casually back against the ropes in his corner, perfectly at ease, studying his opponent. I work very, very hard to keep all of my anxiety to myself, not wanting to pass it down our bond.
But god, it's hard. All I want to do is reach out to him - to ask how he feels to see if he's as freaked out as I am.
"A ringer," Rafe growls, soft, in my direction, "is a guaranteed win, a cheat."
"What?" I gasp, spinning my head to stare up at him. "But - but Luca's so good! We were all just saying that he can't possibly lose! You had such faith in him a moment ago!"
"Faith that's well placed," Jesse bites out, again gesturing towards the ring, "when Luca's fighting in his weight class! But this guy - god, Ari, you can see it, I know you can. He outweighs Luca by at least thirty pounds!"
I snap my head back to the ring and assess the boxer again. Jesse's right - the man is much taller than Luca - is potentially as tall as Rafe, and my dad, and Jackson. Maybe taller, even - it's hard to tell from up high in this box. And he's insanely well-muscled. Luca - he's built, certainly, for the fight - but his musculature is much leaner than this man's.
"We have to call this off," Rafe grits, turning towards my dad.
"What!?" I gasp, desperately worried now - because Rafe, he knows what a big deal that is. I move swiftly, peering around my brother to see my dad already there, moving towards us. Daphne and Ben scurry back, making room.
"We can't call anything off," dad says, shaking his head as he meets Rafe's eyes and then mine. "Everything, on paper, is legit." "What?" I ask, stepping forward. Mom peers around dad in the same way that I'm peering around Rafe, and I can tell that she - like me - is deeply concerned but not truly understanding what's going on.
"How is that possible!?" Rafe bursts out. I feel a presence at my back and glance over my shoulder to see Jesse standing right there, backing me up. "That guy is -"
"They did weigh-in yesterday," dad growls, holding Rafe's gaze. "I don't' know how they did it - some kind of trick - but that champion and Luca are somehow in the same class."
"And Luca would never back down," Jesse murmurs, angry.
I look frantically around at my family and friends, trying to put the pieces together, my breath coming quick. "Please," I say, throwing out my hands, stepping forward, begging, "please will someone tell me what is happening here!?"
"Some kind of dirty trick, Ariel," my Uncle Roger says, stepping forward and holding my gaze. "They found a way to lie about their boxer's weight and class, and then sent in that monster as a guaranteed way to take Luca - and Moon Valley - down."
"But..." I say, my eyes wide, glancing down towards Luca now - who still, to his credit, looks perfectly confident. "Isn't that... dangerous?"
"It's incredibly dangerous," Roger replies, his voice low.