Itear my eyes from Jace, shaking out the heated fog clouding my thoughts, when the words leave my mouth.
“I want to fight.”
Noah turns to me so fast it’s almost comical. “You what?”
“I want in,” I say, louder this time. “I want to fight.”
Luca blinks. “You mean like… metaphorically?”
Tex’s brow furrows. “Isobel?—”
“No.” I straighten my shoulders. “I don’t want to sit on the sidelines. Not tonight. Not after today. I want to bleed it out, same as you.”
A beat of silence.
Jace is the only one who doesn’t look shocked. He’s watching me like he already expected this.
Noah steps in front of me, expression soft but protective. “I’m not saying you can’t… I’m just saying maybe we think this through. The Cage doesn’t go easy.”
“I don’t want easy,” I snap.
Luca lifts both hands, palms out. “I mean, personally I think it’s kinda hot, but?—”
Jace cuts him off. “She’s in.”
Everyone turns.
“What?” Noah says.
Jace doesn’t blink. “She wants in. She’s in.”
“You’re serious?” Tex asks.
“Completely.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re not just saying yes to prove a point?”
He meets my gaze evenly. “I’m saying yes because I know what this night means. And because you won’t forgive yourself if you don’t take the shot.”
Something twists in my chest.
Jace glances toward the edge of the ring where the matchmaker, a heavily tattooed man in his thirties with an iPad and a headset, is scrolling through the night’s lineup.
“I’ll get you in.” He disappears into the crowd, moving with that same quiet command he carries everywhere. The other boys hover around me like an informal security detail, all three tense.
“You don’t have to prove anything,” Noah says.
“I’m not.”
“You’ve already made your point,” Tex mutters.
“Exactly. And now I’m going to make it with my fists.”
Luca whistles. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
Jace returns a minute later. “You’re up next.”
I take a slow breath.
