Shit. Maybe I should have brought someone. Val eyed his coach, who carried a water bottle and an ice pack.

“No coach?” the ref yelled over the cacophony.

Val shook her head, feeling stupid.

“First time?” the ref shouted.

Val grimaced. “Is it obvious?”

“Fight safe. That’s all.” The ref stepped back as the announcer left the ring.

Val met Manny Evans’ dark eyes. He grinned at her, displaying a mouth guard.

Crap. Should I be wearing one? Val slipped into a fighting crouch, feet bare on the soft mat. Like Manny, she wore stretchy shorts, but she’d added a tank top that displayed the straps of her hot pink sports bra.

The crowd bellowed when the announcer yelled her name.

The ref stepped back and dropped his arm. Val hesitated, and Manny charged.

She gasped as he slammed into her waist and locked her in a guard of surprising strength. Feet wide, she struggled against him as he tried to bring her to the mat. Smart move since she had the height advantage, but she would use it. She planted her elbow in his back, making his arms falter enough that she could wrest herself out of his grasp.

Manny straightened and went for her face: jab, hook, jab, hook. The pattern was fierce but predictable. Val blocked it three times, then ducked under his hook and delivered a sharp blow to his ribs with a gloved hand. Manny stumbled to one knee, and the crowd thundered.

Val stepped back. Her amulet was cool, and there was no sign of the scarlet fog.

This is a game.

She grinned at Manny and raised her fists to her face, beckoning.

Manny sprang to his feet, a grimace of fury on his sweaty face. He lunged. Val blocked a punch, but he surprised her with a sharp kick that landed on her thigh with a brief burst of pain. She stepped back, and he pressed his advantage, pummeling her belly with both fists.

Val snarled but reined in her left hook’s power in the nick of time so it didn’t break the human’s puny skull when it landed. It just snapped his head back and sent him reeling. He landed flat on his back, limbs akimbo, and the crowd roared.

The ref dove forward, but Val backed away from the unconscious human.

“KO!” the announcer screamed to the wild crowd. “Newcomer Valerie Stonehold knocked Manny Evans out cold in the first thirty seconds of their match!”

The ref grabbed Val’s arm and hoisted it above her head. She grinned at the crowd, who lost their collective shit.

Several brief fights followed, with short breaks between. Val’s opponents were solid fighters, many affiliated with well-known gyms. She held back the scarlet fog and took a few kicks and punches, but every fight ended with her opponent curled up on the floor and the referee holding her fist high.

Val sat in the locker room after the penultimate fight, responding to Liam’s wildly excited texts.

YOU KNOCKED HIM OUT! YOU DID IT AGAIN!

A string of fire, explosion, flexy bicep, and fist bump emojis followed.

Val grinned.

Ready for the final?

I can’t wait to watch. I’m making money on you, by the way. Are you enjoying it?

Val pulled up her shirt to survey the black-and-yellow bruise on her ribs and grinned again.

You bet!

The official called her out, and she walked to the cage again as the crowd went ballistic.

“Last fight of the night, folks!” the announcer called from the center of the octagonal arena. “You all know Donovan Houser. You’ve seen him win title after title in this cage.”

Val blinked as the bald, tattooed guy from the locker room bounded into the arena. His kind manner was gone. Now he pounded on his chest and roared at the crowd, sweat and saliva flying.

“Can he stand up to the new challenger who’s become a crowd favorite tonight?” the announcer yelled. The crowd cheered so loudly that they almost drowned out his drawn-out cry, “Vaaaalerie Stonehold!”

Val didn’t skip or bounce into the cage. She didn’t need to amp her adrenaline for this fight. She marched inside, arms wide apart. Donovan nodded at her with a brief grin.

“Told you I’d see you in the final,” he called.

Val chuckled.

The referee stepped between them. “Keep it clean, both of you.”

He raised his arm. Val tensed.

The ref dropped his arm, and Val rushed Donovan, head down, ready to grapple him to the floor. He darted aside and slammed a knee into her gut, knocking her sprawling. Before he could come at her, she deftly rolled to her feet, but her belly throbbed where his blow had landed.

Scarlet fog threatened her vision. She blinked it away, but the movement took a second too long, and Donovan launched a series of complex strikes at her face. She blocked, fists high, and failed to defend her legs. He swept her ankle hard with one foot, and she went down on one knee.

Donovan raised a foot for another kick, and Val grabbed it. She flung herself to the mat, bringing Donovan with her, and grappled. Her arms locked around his leg. She raised her hips and pulled his foot over her shoulder, trying to submit him. The crowd roared.

Donovan twisted. Val’s gloves slipped on his sweaty limb, and he wrenched it out of her grasp. She flipped to her feet, quick as a cat, and was ready for him when he rose and threw a jab-hook at her. Val blocked his hands with one arm and his kick with her free hand. She landed a couple of hooks on his ribs.

“The challenger is rising to the occasion!” the announcer bellowed. “She’s pushing Donovan Houser to the cage wall!”

Donovan stumbled back. Val kept up her attack, sending blows at his head. He blocked them with his arms and kept skittering back, looking for a gap, until his back hit the padded metal of the cage. Val swung a haymaker at his face, but Donovan dodged, and her fist connected painfully with the wall as he ducked under her arm and danced out of her reach.

Val crouched, arms raised, catching her breath. Donovan hesitated for a moment, bouncing from side to side on the balls of his feet. Sweat glistened on his smooth forehead. A trickle of blood made its way from a tiny cut on his ribs where her gloves had struck.

The crowd’s chants rose and fell like ocean waves. Donovan tensed, and Val braced herself.

The human charged her, but instead of dodging, Val ducked and spread her feet wide at the last second. Donovan slammed into her, and Val grabbed his arm and helped him over her back. She hurled him to the floor⁠—

Except that she was too close to the cage for that. Donovan collided with the cage wall with all the force of Val’s throw and his considerable body weight. Val gasped as he hit. Her amulet hummed, and time slowed as she watched his flesh collide with the padded metal. That force would be bone-breaking if the cage walls held.

Val made her decision. She reached for the iron particles thrumming in the steel bars and tore them apart.

The cage burst open with a series of metallic pings. Donovan landed in the laps of the adoring audience.