Ody stared at him, terrified and silent.
“Get him,” Kash said, never taking his eyes off him.
The seven men advanced.
Ody raised his hands defensively. “Wait—I’m sorry!” he gasped, shaking. “I’m sorry.”
The men stopped at once, waiting.
“Aww, look at him,” Kash sneered. “Such a good kid. Why do we even have to beat him up?”
The group burst into rough laughter.
“But you know how this works, right?” Kash turned back toward Ody. “One apology doesn’t fix everything.” He grabbed Ody by the collar and drew back his fist.
“Hey, boys!” Steve’s voice echoed across the yard.
Everyone turned. Kash let go of Ody.
Twelve men stood behind him, baseball bats resting on their shoulders.
Mano stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. “You’re fucking dead now.”
Chapter 17
They didn’t hesitate. All twelve vaulted the fence and hit the ground running. The yard erupted. Bats clattered, fists flew. Half of Steve’s crew charged in swinging bats while the rest fought bare-knuckled.
Mano locked onto Kash and drove him to the ground with merciless blows.
Ody stood, staring at the chaos as the world tilted into something unreal.
What were all these people doing here? Steve, Chris, even the guys from basketball, and they had brought others too.
Mano’s punches kept landing, each one forcing Kash to flinch. “I told you you’d regret it one day,” he growled, then smashed a solid punch into his eye, drawing a sharp cry from him.
Around them, the others were locked in an all-out brawl, shouts and grunts filling the air. There were twelve of them against only eight.
“What was it you said? That I was alone?” Mano taunted. “Maybe I am. But you messed with the wrong guy.” He struck Kash again, this time with brutal force.
That was what Kash had counted on, that Mano had no crew. Mano might not, but Ody did.
Kash lay sprawled on the ground while Mano stood over him, raining blows down on his face.
Mano wiped his forehead and scanned the area until he spotted Ody, frozen a few steps away. He walked toward him, while Ody’s wide eyes never left him. “Are we late?” he asked.
Ody spoke slowly, barely audible. “You… you did all this?”
Still catching his breath, Mano sighed. “I had to do something.”
Ody blinked, unable to tear his gaze away, then pulled Mano into a tight hug.
Mano froze, his eyes wide.
“Thank you,” Ody whispered against his ear while chaos raged around them.
The tension eased from Mano’s shoulders. “Were you scared?”
Ody pulled back, their eyes meeting at close distance. “How did you know where they took me?” he asked, his voice still unsteady.
