chapter 14

Valen This is not what I expected. Everly is on the attack the entire time, yet the longer I watch, the more I realize John isn't even fighting. He could have landed multiple blows on her, and she even left herself open a couple of times when he could have taken her out, but he didn’t. Ava stands beside me chewing her nails nervously, her eyes glued to the match. Macey and Zoe are rigid beside her with the same frightened expressions on their faces. Something is going on. It’s almost like John is deliberately throwing the challenge. I’ve put up more of a fight when training with her, yet John almost seems scared of hurting her, and Everly is also holding back. He hit her once, but it was only in the thigh—he’s had ample opportunity for body and headshots, but never took one of them. But Everly is becoming tired, and she only has two minutes left before they have to shift. "Why isn’t he fighting back?” Marcus whispers and I shrug. Nixon is screaming at John to take her out—screaming lik