Chapter 37
The 8th District at midnight was a different world.
Elijah drove through streets he hadn't seen since he was a child, the buildings taller here, the lights brighter, the people moving with purpose even at this hour. The underground fight he had been to before was in the 9th district.
Kai directed him through a series of turns, down a street that opened into a wide lot. Cars were parked in neat rows, some of them expensive, most of them not. A building stood at the far end, two stories, the windows dark, the doors wide. Men in black jackets stood at the entrance, their eyes scanning everyone who approached.
Kai pulled out a roll of bills as Elijah killed the engine. He counted out five thousand and split it into three piles.
"Two on you," he said, sliding bills toward Elijah. "One on Henry, Two on me."
Henry, sitting in the back seat, leaned forward. "A thousand? That's it?"
"That's all you're worth tonight." Kai didn't look back.
Henry's face was unreadable for a moment. Then he laughed. "You're going to regret that."
"We'll see."
Elijah took his money and got out. The air was cold, the lot humming with the low murmur of people moving toward the doors. He could feel something in the air not just the cold, but Ki Lots of it.
They walked toward the entrance. The men in black jackets watched them approach, their eyes moving over Elijah's face, Kai's, Henry's. One of them nodded, and they passed through.
Inside was nothing like the warehouse.
The space was open, the ceilings high, the floors clean. Rows of seats rose up from a central ring a real ring, with ropes and padded corners, the kind of thing Elijah had seen in old fight videos.
Lights hung above it, bright and focused, leaving the seats in shadow. The crowd was already thick, maybe two hundred people, maybe more.
Some of them were dressed like they belonged in the 9th, jackets worn, shoes cracked. Others wore clothes that cost more than Elijah's car.
And scattered throughout, in clusters, in corners, standing at the edges gang members. Elijah could see them without needing Ki sense.
The way they stood, the way they watched, the way their hands stayed close to their sides.
Some of them had patches on their jackets, symbols he didn't recognize. Others wore colors red, black, gray. The 8th District's gangs and the 9th's too, by the look of them.
"This way," Kai said, moving toward the betting windows.
They placed their bets—Kai handling the money, the man behind the counter writing numbers in a ledger, handing back slips. Elijah took his and folded it into his pocket.
The first match was already starting when they found seats near the middle. Two men in the ring, both lean, both moving fast. Their Ki was visible to Elijah now, the way it pulsed with each punch, each dodge. Beginner Knight Stage Low level.
"They're not bad," Henry said, his eyes on the ring. "Footwork's sloppy, but they've got power."
"You could take them?" Elijah asked.
Henry smiled. "Easily."
The match ended in three rounds. The taller man won, his fist catching the other in the jaw, sending him to the mat. The crowd roared.
Another match started. Then another. Elijah watched, letting his Ki sense spread, feeling the room. Most of the fighters were Beginner Knight Stage—Low, some Mid. A few were High. He could feel them now, the difference in their Ki, the way it moved denser, faster.
Kai sat beside him, calmly watching. Henry was leaning forward, his eyes tracking every movement in the ring.
"I'm only worth a thousand," Henry muttered.
Kai smiled. "Still complaining?"
"You put two on yourself and two on him." Henry jerked his head toward Elijah. "You think he's worth more than me?"
"I think he's going to surprise people."
Henry snorted, but he didn't argue.
Elijah let his sense spread further, reaching past the ring, past the crowd, into the corners where the gang members stood.
Then he found someone else.
In the far corner, near the back of the room, a cluster of Ki that was denser than anything else in the building. Not Beginner Knight Stage High but Beginner Knight Stage Peak and Elijah turned his head.
A man stood there. Tall, wide through the shoulders, his arms thick, his stance easy. He was young—younger than his size suggested, his face still carrying something boyish in the jaw, the cheeks. Blond hair, cut short, and eyes that caught the light even from across the room, Red. The same red as Elijah's.
He was watching the ring, but not like he was watching a fight. Like he was waiting for something. His hands were loose at his sides. His body was relaxed. But the Ki moving through him was anything but relaxed. It was dense, controlled, coiled.
Kai followed Elijah's gaze and let out a low chuckle. "That's Jack."
Elijah didn't take his eyes off him. "Jack?"
"Jack Reyes, Twenty-one years old and is the Strongest fighter in the lower underground. Been here for two years, hasn't lost once." Kai leaned back in his seat. "Doesn't belong to any gang but has his own group, people who fight with him, train with him. Some people say he's building a gang of his own, maybe. But just guess really."
Elijah watched Jack's face as another fight ended in the ring. The man didn't react. His eyes moved over the crowd, slow, measuring.
"He's good," Elijah said.
"He's better than good." Henry's voice was quieter now, the joking gone. "I fought him once, Six months ago. He put me down in thirty seconds."
Elijah looked at Henry, his face was still, and his eyes on Jack.
"Thirty seconds?" Kai said.
"I was faster than him. Stronger than him. Or I thought I was." Henry's jaw tightened. "Then he moved, I didn't even see what happened as i saw myself on the floor."
Elijah looked back at Jack. The man's eyes were moving across the crowd, and for a moment, they stopped on Elijah.
Their eyes met, his red eyes on Elijah's red eyes.
Jack's face didn't change. He just looked at Elijah, steady, measuring. Then something shifted in his expression—not a smile, not quite, but something close. A flicker of recognition, maybe. Or curiosity.
Elijah didn't look away but he smiled.
Jack's smile back and then his eyes moved on, scanning the crowd again, and the moment was gone.
Kai was watching him. "You wanna fight him?"
"No."
"You just smiled at him like you did want too."
Elijah turned back to the ring. "He smiled first."
Kai laughed, Henry shook his head, but he was smiling too.
Another match was announced, and names called out. The crowd shifted, money moving, voices rising. Elijah sat back in his seat, his hands in his pockets.