Callum woke up on the training field.
His head throbbed. His ribs ached. His pride? Absolutely demolished.
It was nearing dusk, the golden light casting long shadows across the grass. A soft breeze stirred the air, carrying with it the scent of pine, sweat... and humiliation.
He blinked at the sky for a few moments before groaning and pulling himself into a sitting position.
"Fantastic," he muttered. "Knocked out cold by a girl with tear-streaked cheeks."
But she wasn't just a girl, was she?
He winced as he tried to stand. His body protested every movement. Somewhere between the failed wrist grab and the snap kick to the groin, he must've blacked out. All he remembered was her glare—those strange, unreadable blue eyes—and the way they completely undid him.
"Medusa has nothing on her," he grumbled.
Still half-dazed, he checked his pockets for his phone—gone. Figures. He tapped his smartwatch and called the one person who was guaranteed to pick up.
The screen blinked to life.
"About time," Theo said, voice full of mock concern. "Did you finally decide to return to the living, or were you mugged by a very short, very angry professor?"
"Just shut up and come get me."
Theo's laughter echoed through the speaker. "Ah, I see. So it *was* a girl. I'm on my way."
---
By the time Theo's black car rolled into the school lot, the sun had dipped below the horizon. The door swung open with dramatic flair as Theo jumped out wearing aviator shades—despite it being twilight.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Callum asked.
"Rescue hero chic. Get in, loser."
Callum groaned but slid into the passenger seat anyway.
"You look like you lost a fight with gravity."
"I lost a fight with a pair of legs and a scarily accurate aim."
Theo let out a loud snort. "So it was *her*."
"Don't start."
"You got curb-stomped by the girl everyone says might be a witch. That's a story for the ages."
Callum shut his eyes. "Remind me again why we're friends."
"Because I have better snacks and a higher pain tolerance for your personality."
When they reached Callum's condo, he limped his way to the elevator while Theo babbled about some new VR game. Once inside his unit, Callum collapsed onto his couch, groaning like an old man.
Theo threw a pillow at him. "Quit being dramatic. I brought painkillers and that weird lemon tea your sister swears by."
Callum gave him a sideways look. "Juliet's tea tastes like regret and boiled grass."
Theo shrugged. "Still works."
---
After a hot shower and a cup of the dreaded tea, Callum finally felt semi-human. Theo, of course, was still there, now lying upside down on the couch, feet hanging over the back, staring at the ceiling.
"I don't get it," Callum said finally.
Theo tilted his head. "What?"
"She was crying. Like really crying. And then—boom—Spartan assassin mode."
"Well," Theo said thoughtfully, "maybe you hit a nerve."
"I didn't even say anything."
"That's your problem. You think silence can't be loud."
Callum fell quiet.
He replayed the moment again—the way her body shifted, the way her hand trembled just before she struck, how precise her hits were.
She hadn't been scared. She'd been *trained*.
---
In the shadows of the room, Callum glanced at the empty spot where his phone should've been. It had been in his coat pocket. The same pocket she had hit during the fight.
His brows furrowed. "Theo."
"Hm?"
"My phone's missing."
Theo rolled upright. "You're just now realizing that?"
"I was unconscious, remember?"
"Want me to track it?"
Callum hesitated. "No... not yet."
He wasn't sure why he said that.
Maybe he wanted to see if she'd return it.
Or maybe—just maybe—he was starting to enjoy not knowing what she'd do next.
And that, more than anything else, made him feel a breath too long behind his own control.
A glitch.
A crack.
One he wasn't sure he wanted to fix.