"ONE DOLLAR?!""Mr. Boone!"The librarian's voice echoed across the room.Miles immediately covered his mouth.Too late.Several students turned.One removed his headphones.Another looked toward their table with obvious irritation.Miles slowly sat down."Sorry."The librarian narrowed her eyes."Last warning."Miles nodded vigorously.Then leaned toward Zevian."Brother."Zevian sighed."What?""One dollar.""I can read.""ONE.""Lower your voice.""DOLLAR."Zevian closed his eyes.Elara was laughing so hard she had to cover her face.Seraphina stared at the screen.Then at Zevian.Then back at the screen.Finally, she started laughing too.Zevian looked offended."What's funny?"Seraphina wiped the corner of her eye."You.""What did I do?""You spent seven trading days competing against Julian Hart..."She pointed toward the screen."...and won by the price of a cheap snack."Miles nodded solemnly."Brother, this is legendary."Zevian looked at the results.Julian Hart.$11,742.Z

Saturday afternoon.Willowbrook Children's Home."Brother Zev!"A small boy ran across the courtyard carrying a cardboard sword.Zevian looked up."What?""Fight me!"Zevian stared at the sword.Then at the boy."Why?""Because I'm the strongest warrior!""Congratulations.""Fight!"Zevian sighed.He'd spent most of the afternoon helping the children prepare for their upcoming school activities.Aunt Maria had asked him to come.Naturally, he'd agreed.Unfortunately, the children had interpreted his visit as permission to turn him into free entertainment.The boy raised his cardboard sword.Zevian looked around.No escape."Fine."The boy charged.Zevian stepped aside.The child stumbled past him."CHEATER!"Zevian raised an eyebrow."You missed.""You're supposed to fight!""I did.""You didn't attack!""Defensive strategy."The boy looked confused.Then charged again.Zevian gently caught the cardboard sword."Disarmed.""NO!"From the doorway, Aunt Maria laughed."Zevian, stop bull

"Now, about that demonstration..."Derek Vaughn smiled."Changed your mind?"Zevian looked toward the practice ring."Apparently."Miles immediately grabbed his arm."Brother!""What?""Are you serious?""No."Miles froze."What?""But I'm doing it anyway.""THAT'S EVEN BETTER!"Several students laughed.Kevin looked between them."Are you sure? You mentioned you haven't trained before.""Yeah.""Then we should keep this strictly introductory."Zevian nodded."Good."Derek crossed his arms."Don't worry. I'll go easy.""Appreciated."That answer irritated Derek slightly.He'd expected the newcomer to act confident.Perhaps boast.Maybe pretend his observations meant he could actually fight.Instead, Zevian seemed perfectly comfortable admitting he was inexperienced.Derek looked toward the instructor."Coach, one short round?"The instructor, a broad-shouldered man in his forties named Marcus Hale, studied Zevian."Any combat sports experience?""No.""Boxing?""No.""Self-defense tra

Monday afternoon.Auremont University.Miles Boone was suffering."Brother."Zevian didn't look up from his notes."What?""My legs.""What about them?""They hurt."Zevian glanced at him."You haven't started training.""Exactly."Miles leaned against the classroom desk."Anticipatory muscle soreness."Elara slowly looked up."That's not a thing.""It should be."Zevian closed his notebook."First class is at five."Miles checked the time.3:42 PM.He swallowed."Can we postpone?""You were shouting about becoming a martial artist two days ago.""That was before I understood the commitment.""One year?""Exactly!"Elara laughed."You actually enrolled for a year?"Zevian nodded."Both of us."Miles placed a hand against his chest."My brother invested in my future.""Your cardiovascular health," Zevian corrected."Same thing."Elara smiled."Where are you training?""Ironwood Martial Hall."Her expression became interested."I've heard of it.""Really?""One of my cousins took classe

"Good thing I brought a friend."Darren Kessler stepped aside.The athletic young man beside him looked toward Zevian.Short hair.Broad shoulders.Plain black shirt.He appeared to be around twenty-two.Unlike Darren, he didn't seem particularly interested in showing off."This him?" the young man asked.Darren smiled."Exactly."Zevian raised an eyebrow."Should I know you?""No.""Good."Zevian turned toward Miles."Let's go.""Hold on!" Darren snapped.Zevian sighed."What now?"Darren's smile tightened.Months.It had been months since that humiliating cafeteria incident.And somehow, seeing Zevian again made everything feel recent.He still remembered approaching Zevian with two companions.The confrontation.The fight.And the humiliation of being defeated in front of other students.But that wasn't even the worst part.There had been Felix Arden.The mathematics challenge.Darren had been so certain Felix would defeat Zevian that he'd confidently put his expensive motorcycle o