My heart squeezed in my chest watching them.
They broke apart, but Dimitri’s eyes sharpened. He stepped forward again and seized Slater’s jaw and forced eye contact. He simply said,“Stop.”
Slater froze mid-swing, claws half-raised. Even Snakey stiffened, fangs poised but unmoving.
I blinked at Dimitri in shock.“You can use compulsion?”
Dimitri’s shoulders tensed, but he nodded, voice tight. “It’s my special power. I can compel anyone I make eye contact with, but only as long as I maintain it.”
The room was silent.
“Dimitri wins,” Pops mused. “Interesting power.Veryuseful.”
Dimitri broke eye contact with a faint grimace.
Slater collapsed to his knees with a gasp, shaking his head.
Dimitri stalked off the mat, nervousness simmering in his aura.
Slater dropped his demon form as Snakey vanished into him. He blinked after Dimitri, then barked a laugh as he got up and slid into his chair. “Dude. That was fucking weird. Buy me dinner first next time.”
Dimitri rolled his eyes. “Buy your girlfriend dinner.”
“Oh, what a wonderful idea!” Slater’s gaze swung to me. “Isn’t it, venom baby?”
I pressed my lips into a line but nodded as Koa and Raze were called up to spar.
Raze fought as if he were going for the kill every time. His strikes were wild but brutal. Every swing of his fist cut the air with a whistle sharp enough to draw blood if Koa mis-stepped even once.
It unnerved me. IloathedKoa being on the opposing end of it.
Koa held his own, though. He moved with impressive dexterity. His phoenix flames trailed behind each step like liquid fire in his wake, and his phoenix wings flickered into existence before folding back into his form as he moved.
He shifted in and out of his phoenix form mid-strikes. A flash of his talons here, a sear of burning feathers there, but each motion was precise.
Raze snarled as his hits met only fire and feathers.
He lunged, his venom dripping on the mat, but Koa sidestepped, pivoting on one heel as he deflected the venom with a burst of heat.
“Stand still!” Raze growled, throwing another punch.
Koa tilted his head, eyes gleaming with glowing embers through the haze of his fire. “Why would I do that?” He cutthrough Raze’s defense with a sharp jab that sent him stumbling back a step.
Finally, Koa drove him backward with a sweeping blaze that singed the mat’s edges.
Raze backed into the corner of his mat, fangs bared, but Koa didn’t hesitate as Raze went to shift into his basilisk form.
A basilisk couldnotshift safely in here, but Pops didn’t intervene.
Koa closed the distance with a single fluid step and dropped him flat with a clean, brutal punch to the jaw.
“Fuck,” Raze sputtered, scales retreating. “You’re good.”
Koa only smiled faintly, his hand still glowing with residual flame.
“Koa wins. Lorian and Eleanor, you’re up,” Pops announced, typing on his tablet.
The tension was palpable before they even stepped on the mat, and it wasn’t regular tension. Eleanor stood tall while Lorian watched her with an unreadable calm. Though, I could see theinterestin his gaze as he stared at her.
