Chapter 2 - The First Kick
Thorne did not circle.
He charged.
His boot came for Nora’s ribs before anyone had time to settle into the fight.
Dust burst off the gravel as the kick cut hard through the air, fast enough that the front row flinched.
Nora moved at the last possible second.
Not backward.
Not away.
Into the angle.
Her forearm knocked his kicking leg off line, compact and clean, and her short counterpunch snapped into his jaw before his foot found the dirt again.
Thorne stumbled half a step.
The crowd’s noise cracked.
For one tiny moment, every soldier saw it.
The laugh had been louder than the skill.
Thorne touched his jaw and stared at her.
His face changed from amusement to rage.
“You’re a fraud!” he barked.
Nora did not answer.
That made him angrier.
Men like Thorne wanted fear. Anger. Argument. Anything that proved they had reached the person across from them.
Nora gave him nothing.
The referee raised one hand.
“Control, Sergeant.”
Thorne ignored him.
He rolled his shoulders, spat dust from his mouth, and came forward again.
This time, he was not fighting to win.
May you like
He was fighting to punish her for making him look wrong.
And that was the second mistake.
