CHAPTER FIFTYJAX'S POVI felt gravel digging into my cheeks before I even opened my eyes.Everything hurts. Not one specific place, literally everywhere, my ribs, jaw, the back of my skull that was now throbbing in time with my pulse. I lay there for a long moment just breathing, testing whether breathing itself was something I could still reliably do without pain stabbing me through my chest.It barely could.I forced my eyes open. The sky above me was gray, early morning maybe, or late evening, I genuinely couldn't tell. There were no buildings or cars around. It was just gravel shoulder and dead grass stretching out toward an empty two-lane road in both directions.I had no idea where I was.Then pieces of my memory came back slowly. The warehouse. The coach's voice. Reyes, the fists, the boots, the concrete floor. Then nothing, until now.I pushed myself up onto one elbow, and pain lanced through my side so bad that I nearly went back down. I checked, gritting my teeth, and fo
Last Updated : 2026-09-15 Read more