Before Chad even understood what was happening, his world flipped.
Vivian's grip tightened on his shirt, her heel hooked under his legs, and then,
BAM!
His body slammed into the pit floor.
Air burst from his lungs as pain rushed up his spine. He lay there stunned, confused, unable to think for several seconds. His mind was a scrambled mess of fear and shock.
It all happened too fast.
One moment he was celebrating, lost in the euphoria of his winning streak, and the next, he was being hurled into the very arena he had spent the entire evening watching from a safe distance.
His heart hammered. The lights above the pit blurred as he blinked.
And then a memory stabbed through him.
A flashback. Being grabbed before. Being dragged. Being beaten. Moments he tried so hard to bury surged back like a tide crashing over him.
