my face at the same time I rolled. His boot hit an empty spot as I drove the spike into the side of his knee.
He bellowed like a wounded animal, collapsing from the pain in his leg. Scuttling to my feet, I slammed a heel into his chest. Then I leaped down on him, yanking the spike from his leg. He gurgled in agony.
The mix of boos and cheers raked up my vertebrae as my spear hovered over his heart. Blood leaked from his wounds, wetting the dirt. His expression was defiant and angry, but his throat bobbed with fear, his eyes tracking me.
“What are you waiting for?” he sneered. “Grow a conscience suddenly? You are no better than us, human. You do what you need to do to survive too. To protect your own.”
Chants whirled around us, but nothing soaked in. I didn’t want to kill him, just as I hadn’t wanted to kill Mio. I’d been trained to kill or be killed, but I’d never fully gotten that lesson, even though I was taught fae had no empathy, no morals.
Don’t hesitate.
I was hesitating.
The bang of a gate jerked up my head, my defenses on alert. The guards weren’t supposed to intervene before the fight was done.
I saw Boyd shove a figure out of a nearby gate, the guy stumbling to stay on his feet, brown eyes meeting mine with terror.
No.
Please, no. This couldn’t be happening.
“Brex?” Aron’s head jerked around like a scared bunny, his feet moving toward me. He moved as if he were still sore, but he shouldn’t even be moving. He wore a new uniform, and the deep cuts showing on his arms were wrapped up.
He’d been patched together and probably given a numbing agent so he could fight.
“Don’t worry. I know the perfect place for him.”
Boyd had planned this.
Standing up, the spear tumbled from my grip, my eyes snapping to the figure behind the gate. Boyd smirked at me with triumph, lapping up my reaction like it was cream.
Fuck.
The receipt for my reprieve was up…and it was time to pay.
Chapter 21
“No!” I shouted, twisting around to Zander. “No, you can’t do this.”
Zander’s eyes dropped, his grip on the bars tightening.
“Zander?” I tried to keep my voice even.
“He can’t do anything, Kovacs.” Boyd strung out my name as if it were a dirty word, letting me know this was about much more than a hurt ego. My name inspired vengeance. Power. Control. Blood. “He has no authority once players are in the arena; we can’t intrude.” He shrugged with a malicious grin. “Rules are rules.”
“I’m not doing it.” I glared at Boyd, shaking my head.
“Only one walks out, or none do.” He winked at me. “Guess it’s up to each one of you to decide who wants to live bad enough.”
“No.” I stepped back farther away from both men. Rodriguez climbed slowly back to his feet, his hand gripping his side, his skin pale, blood leaking the color of life from his skin.
“Well, I guess that made it easy. She volunteers to die.” Boyd gestured to me through the bars, his eyes moving between Rodriguez and Aron. Panic and fear shook Aron, his eyes darting around, taking everything in before landing on me.
“Brex?” He whispered my name, pleading with me to explain what was going on.
“You can’t do this. I’ve already fought!” I screamed back at Boyd, exhaustion skewering fury through me, my body drained and trembling. “This isn’t fair.”
“Fair?” Boyd’s head fell back, howling with laughter. “Oh, poor little rich girl, used to being bubble-wrapped. Humans are so weak. Fragile…” He waggled his head. “Fair,” he scoffed. “Sweetheart, look around you. You’re in Halalhaz. It’s feared for a reason.” He pointed up to the crowd, which was booing and hissing. “Better decide soon. None of you have seen when a mob turns vicious.” He stepped back, dissolving into the darkness of the tunnel.
Facing the new triangle, my gaze shifted back and forth between Aron and Rodriguez. I wanted to sit and curl into a ball as my soul shredded into pieces. Rodriguez, I would have killed due to survival and all, but Aron was different. He was my colleague. Someone, even as cocky as he was, I cared about. I knew him. Had grown up with him. He didn’t deserve this. The only reason he was put in the Games was because of me.
The crowd rumbled their displeasure that no one was bleeding or dying as they were promised. Disgusting. The core of people, human