Free Rise Against the Faultless by Melissa Hardaway

he did with me.
    When we were dismissed for
lunch, I got my first close look at Oren. I started to avert my eyes, but I
noticed something on his face. His right eye looked worse than mine. He also
had a gash below it. Had he been sparring as well? Thankfully he didn’t notice
me gawking at his wound and I escaped without incident.  Lunch was a welcome
reprieve. Every body part that I didn’t know I had was aching and all I really
wanted to do was go back to my dorm and fall asleep. Adrian was very sweet and
lightly massaged my shoulders after he ate. Lo rolled her eyes at us, but then
gave us a big smile. Jubal was still following her around like a puppy. “Lo, I
would be happy to give you a massage if you would like.” He gave her an
innocent grin.
    “Thanks, but I’m okay for now,
Jubal. Rai is having a worse time of it.” She grabbed my hand sympathetically.
    “Rain check then. No problem.
I’m here when you need me.” He winked at her and grabbed her hand as she had
mine. Lo shook her head and announced that it was time to get back to training.
    When I got back, I was welcomed
with a not-so-pleasant surprise. I was paired up with Dione for our next fight.
Wonderful. It was the first I had seen of him since arriving at the Compound. I
knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid him, but he was the last person I wanted to be
sparring right now. When he spotted me his look was one of sheer pleasure.
“Well, well, well, Raily Stone. I was hoping we would run into one another. You
still look pretty, even with that shiner.” I didn’t even acknowledge him. He
couldn’t bother me. I was better than he was, I could beat him. Although, I had
to admit that he looked as if he had fared much better than I so far. He didn’t
have a sadistic Master Chief out to get him either. He would have a bit of an
edge because of it, but I still think I could take him.
    We squared up and I immediately
took the offensive. I grazed his chin with my right fist, which he shook off. I
was hyper aware of my left side since I couldn’t see out of that eye. I overcompensated
by turning my body. Shane had reminded me of this all morning.  Dione threw a
couple of punches that I dodged. I started getting more confidence. I turned to
kick him in his thigh with my left foot and before I knew it, he maneuvered to
my left and had me in a choke hold with his right arm around my neck. He
whispered in my ear, just barely loud enough for me to hear, “This is the part
where your little brother would start tearing up. He’s such a little girl.
You’re much more fun to throw around, though.” He rubbed his left hand across
my stomach.
    I grabbed his arm with both
hands and pushed up to duck out of his hold. After I did, I threw my left elbow
into his chin. It didn’t hurt him too bad, but it did phase him enough to let
me get out. “Little Brother wouldn’t have gotten out of that one so fast. He
would have already wet his pants by now.” I stopped thinking and ran at him.
Mistake. My wild, erratic movements were quickly countered by Dione throwing me
to the ground in an unnecessarily rough fashion. It knocked the wind out of me
and involuntary tears sprang into my eyes. No, no, no. He can’t think that I
would cry over him. I rolled over quickly and wiped the wetness away, but I
couldn’t immediately get up, which is when I felt the sharp pain of Dione
kicking my side. That’s when Shane stepped in. He pushed Dione away from me and
told him to partner up with someone else.
    Shane helped me to my feet,
with Cyril on my other side.  She looked genuinely worried for me. She must
have heard what Dione said. Shane lifted up my shirt. “Wait, no!” I protested.
    “I’m just checking where he
kicked you. It’s okay.” The tone of his voice was smooth and calming. It made
me think for a second that he might be trustworthy. I let him look at my ribs.
He ran his hand over the place where Dione’s foot had landed not a minute ago
and gently