Page 110 of Resolve
Other voices draw our attention behind Elias. A group of Hype employees have stopped to stare at us and whisper. The bar must have closed recently if they’re still up and cleaning.
“...her.”
“Ruin...”
“...Raegan of Ruin...”
“...world breaker...”
“...of destruction better...”
A smack startles the group to look toward the bar. Ethan sets a box of liquor down. “The shift ended twenty minutes ago. Get a move on. Slowest one is on bathroom duty tonight.”
The threat is like lighting a torch under their asses, and they scatter to whatever they are supposed to be doing.
“What the fuck was that about?” Dane demands of Elias, taking a step in frontof me.
I touch his arm, and he immediately shifts back, but closer to my side as a show of support. “It’s fine, Dane.” I gave myself the Ruin moniker at the Pits fight, so I’m sure it’s now making its rounds here. I can’t say I’m thrilled about the other words I overheard, but it is what it is.
Elias gives me a look of sympathy. “If it bothers you, I’ll request they stop. The toppling building has been a buzzing topic here when someone recognized it as your gift, and the word spread.”
“No, it’s okay. I went by Ruin at the Pits, so if any fighters from that night were here, they’d recognize it and use that name.”
“It’s what else your staff may plan to do with that information that concerns me. And how they react around Raegan moving forward,” Aiden remarks.
Kellan crosses his arms and stares one of the staff down who’d been looking at me until they scurry out of sight. “Maybe we should host a Pits fight night here so they see Raegan’s not the only one with a dangerous gift. We’re all dangerous in our own way, and they should learn that if they haven’t yet.”
Elias appears unamused by that suggestion. Fighting for fun doesn’t seem like his thing. “As you can see, there are quite a few things to catch up on when you’re ready.”
Aiden sighs, swiping a tired hand over his face. “We were only gone for a day.”
“And your mission has resulted in a cascade of repercussions.” He runs his hand down his suit jacket. “Get some rest. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Elias smiles and offers me a polite nod before he retreats to the back hallway.
“Fucking hell,” Dane mutters.
“Come on.” I loop my arm through his. “Let’s find Cassandra.”
“You’re back!” Portia squeals and throws Cassandra’s door open, leaping at me as a blur of color. Dane and Kellan are at my back while Jackson and Aiden returned to our apartment with our hoodies and incognito gear. After Dane’s hand is healed, we’ll be joining them.
“Portia? What are you doing here?”
“I filled everyone in on our day and played some games,” she explains excitedly. “The others had a watch party for when the news would break on us taking down the GE building.”
Kell barks out a laugh. “A watch party?”
“That’s weird,” Dane states flatly.
Portia shrugs and drags me further inside. “Since they couldn’t be there with you, they wanted to at least cheer you on from here and make sure they didn’t see anythingweird”—she eyeballs Dane—“that you’d need to worry about.”
“And?” Kellan prompts.
“Nothing to worry about!”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Fabian interjects from the living room.
“Ah! Reggie!” Gabe cheers on the couch with his hands up. “You’re famous here now. They’ve come up with all sorts of nicknames for you downstairs. Raegan of ruin, ruin, world breaker, goddess”—he shakes his fists and opens them—“of destruction! Quite the list. Imayhave started the last one for the excuse to see you in a devastating dress and crown just to feed the fans.”
I’m not sure how to react to any of that, so I focus on what he said last. “Fans?” Maybe he chose the wrong word. If anything, Iexpected fear now that they know what I can do.
