Chapter 133 - The Scales of the Past

​The echo of Zinov Kuznetsov's words hung suspended in the dense air of the Canadian locker room, but the effect was not one of surrender; it was that of a spark landing directly onto a powder keg. Jake Jayden Brown took a step forward, squaring his imposing stature with a focus that completely ignored the dull ache in his hip. Aibek's letter remained crumpled in his right fist; the texture of the paper, blurred by the brunette's rushed calligraphy and broken ink, granted him both the right and the obligation to defend what the blonde attempted to snatch away with such brazen ease. The familiar noises of the Capital Indoor Stadium—the distant murmur of the crowd leaving the stands, the hiss of skates on the alternate rinks, and the typing of the press in the mixed zone—faded away, leaving both athletes in a pocket of pure hostility.