6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

PAVAL

I've failed her. She thinks I haven't, telling me it's not my job but she doesn't remember that day like I do. I remember telling her that she would have nothing to worry about. I haven't lived up to that promise. I don't care if it's been two decades but everything I've done hasn't been enough.

Tia will have to face her mother at some point because Ada is obsessive and the embodiment of chaos. My algorithms wouldn't work on her. I will never be able to predict her movements. Valentyn always reminds me that people don't work like that but Tia does. Most of the time. Not recently.

My thoughts are a jumbled mess as Tia kisses me goodbye and disappears down the sidewalk. She's not headed to her dorm so I catalog that information for later and head to my room. Loud music and shouts hit my ears, some of the brothers trying to pull me into what they call a party but I need silence. I need to breathe, to make a plan, to understand.

I rub at my chest, wincing as my breathing quickens again. A distraction in the form of a punching bag would do or a really long run or even target practice with my fathers but I wouldn't be able to make that drive again. My roommate slaps on the entrance to my bedroom, wiggling his brows several times before leaning against the arch.

The oddity of it brings me back to reality. "What was that for, Kelvin? That face, I don't understand. Why… do you need something from me?" I search through all of Kelvin's movements, realizing that he always disappears around eight or nine o'clock every couple of days, sometimes consecutively. I've never been interested enough to figure out why but he always returns around one or two in the morning.

"Paval Kolas, please tell me you fucking know what's going on. You know about all the goddamn dirty dealings on campus except for this one?" He pushes inside and closes the door a little bit before approaching me. I don't understand the secrecy of this conversation but I run through all of the underground operations running that would cause Kelvin to leave like this. Nothing comes to mind. "Dude, this is priceless. Come on. I'll show you."

My gaze narrows at the thought of going anywhere this late unless it's to check on Tia. I shouldn't have left her out there. Kelvin gently tugs me to my feet, guiding me back down the hall I just came.

"They're going to fucking bust when they find out the Kolas' kid is showing up."

I don't know what that means as I slap Kelvin's hand away and follow on his heels. My gaze sticks to the sidewalk, the off-white concrete much easier to determine where we're going than staring at the buildings. My hackles rise as we take a sharp turn to one of the least used buildings on campus, the lamps lining the courtyard suspiciously off the farther we go.

There's never been a reason for me to venture this far from the main buildings or the fraternities. Even Tia's dorm is nearly on the other side of the courtyard but Kelvin keeps going, holding a ratchet door that screams as it swings open. I stare at it, confused and weirded out by the darkness that seems to consume the space inside. My entire body is on alert as Kelvin gestures for me to continue alongside him, the silence which I usually find comforting starting to make my skin itch.

It isn't until we reach the end of the hallway, the echo of our shoes hitting my ears that I hear something very different. Chaos. Shouts and screams and clanking metal erupt into the darkness before I'm awarded with dim lights and a cluster of people shaking their fists toward the front. A small stage with rope wrapped around it stares back at me, two individuals going at each other bare-fisted. They're bloody and raw, but their eyes are wild with adrenaline, bodies dripping with sweat.

How did I not know this shit existed?

Kelvin jabs me in the side. "You keep trying to plan everything out which is why you miss stuff like this. In your perfect little world, this doesn't exist." He's only half correct. The reason I had no idea this existed was because it didn't concern Tia. She was never part of this. Or at least that's what my algorithm told me. Unfortunately, if I didn't even know this was here, there could be an outlier in my numbers that would include Tia in this dark little world.

"Fuck, the Kolas kid is here?" Someone shouts. "Put him up for the next fight!" Laughter rages around me as I take an aisle seat, content to stare at the grunts unloading from the ring. They don't want me on that stage, though. Not right now. Not when tensions are high and I can't understand what's going on in my own head.

The last time I was in a place like this, I nearly killed my sparring opponent. At least with the gloves, I remembered we were just practicing. Bare fists? I won't be able to stop myself. Kelvin is instantly engrossed, cheering on a man named Cairo. He reminds me more of a dancer than a fighter with the way his feet move. His swift movements defy his bulk which would explain why he has much less blood than his opponent.

I suppose I'll cheer for him as well.

The crowd roars with every punch, the other fighter stumbling back and crumbling to the ground before tapping out. I wanted to see more blood but I suppose that will have to wait for the next fight. Kelvin doesn't know what he's just introduced me to. I've been looking for something to fill that hole in my chest, something to satiate my violent and obsessive tendencies. This might just work.

A guy from our fraternity slips into the ring, holding up Cairo's wrist. "And we have a winner! Our all-time champion takes the stage again!" He walks Cairo around in a circle, as if this were truly some big event before releasing the man and speaking again. "I've also heard some whispers about a certain guest tonight. The Kolas kid himself! Does he want a chance in the ring?"

Everyone's eyes land on me and I curl into myself, wide-eyed and terrified of the attention. No one wants me in that ring. There will be blood to wipe off the floor, possibly along with a dead boy. Or I'll be carted to the hospital, unable to throw a punch as my mind freezes my movements. People are terrified of me because of my fathers but no one has ever seen me fight.

No one knows that the damage that comes with the Kolas name extends to me. Where my fathers have experience and control, I have none.

Kelvin jokingly pushes me to my feet, waving me toward the ring. He is condemning a man to death and doesn't even know it. I'm pulled onto the stage, their vile touch making my skin crawl as I try to calm my raging thoughts. Someone else steps into the ring, that macho man from earlier, a snarl on his ugly lips. The speaker starts explaining the rules but I'm not listening. All I know is that this man is going to try and kill me. When a punch connects with my temple and I stumble back, I curse myself for not listening to the rules.

Boos spread through the small arena as I blink a few times, trying to catch my balance. The man punches me a second time before I remember to duck and weave out of the way.