massive jaws. Nigel held me in front of him like a protective shield. I knew one-on-one most elite could take a slagpaw or two.
I was too drained to fight, which meant if Trevor went after Nigel, he could die. I glanced at April, who was still on the ground, and gestured to her frantically. It took her a minute to catch on, but then she threw me the vial. I caught it in one hand and stabbed Nigel in a fluid sweep, plunging the sparkly pink contents into his neck. He gasped, swatting at his throat with bulging eyes. He knocked the empty syringe on the ground, where it shattered into twinkling bits of glass.
I used the distraction to duck out of his grip and roll away from him.
“That cure is going to kick in any minute now,” I said smoothly. “If I were you, I’d use what speed you have left to outrun my fanged friend here. You might just make it back behind the citadel walls before you’re fully human. I wonder, if they’ll let you stay, or if they’ll ship you to one of the compounds, so some elite lord can get his weekly taste of you.”
Nigel’s jaw twitched. The others had stopped fighting to watch us. Thomas lifted his sword to cut Jazmine down, but before he could, Penelope flew like a blur and severed his outstretched arm. Before he could react, she spun around, twisting the spear behind her back, before stabbing it up through his heart.
Then she kicked his body forward towards Trevor, who pounced on it, chewing through the elite’s shoulder and ripping open his torso with a spray of blood.
“This isn’t over,” Nigel growled, grinding his teeth.
Then he took off in a blur through the ruined city, with Bryce close behind him.
15
I took a hard breath, sinking down to the concrete, my limbs shaking. The ringing in my ears and dizziness muted the shouting around me. After a few moments, my heart stopped racing, but I still jumped when I felt the bristly hairs of the slagpaw rub against me. I patted its head absently, and it whined as I scratched behind its ears.
“Shit, shit.” Luke said, kicking at the remains of Thomas. Glistening intestines wrapped around the elite’s exposed ribcage. “I can’t believe we just did that.”
“Yeah,” Jazmine said, rubbing her neck. “Thanks for all your help. Really. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“You’re welcome. I mean, I did shoot him first, that probably weakened him.”
“You shot Bryce,” I muttered, stumbling to my feet. “He’s the one that got away. He’ll heal. And now he knows your face.”
Luke’s expression paled considerably.
I took a step closer, eyeing the remains of Jessica’s fiancé warily. I remembered the day he’d selected her from the stage in Algrave, and the radiant joy on her face at getting chosen by an elite. His blank eyes stared up at the dark sky. A burning piece of ash fell on his pale cheek, sizzling a dark hole in his skin.
“I used to play chess with that creep,” Penelope said behind me, wrapping her arms around her frail body. “I don’t know how many parties we attended together. He was always a bit of a jerk.”
I took another deep breath, held it in, and exhaled slowly. Penelope was still breathing hard, blood dripping from the long sharp stick she’d plunged into Thomas. Jazmine and Camina looked warily at her from the other side of the gas station.
She was still wearing what was left of the tattered yellow dress she’d had on during her trial and execution, though it was hard to tell under the layers of blood and filth. Her hair was a ratted mess, her eyes glowing bright in the darkness. But the way she’d moved… she was so much stronger than she had been. And now she was free.
April leaned over and vomited into the pavement, then wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist. I offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet.
“Thanks,” I said. “That was brave of you.”
“Quick thinking on your part,” she mumbled.
“Hold up,” Jazmine said. “I thought the cure didn’t work?”
“It doesn’t,” April said. “As far as we know.”
“So you were bluffing?”
“Mostly,” I said.
“Brilliant,” Jazmine said. “Only problem is, he’s going to go back and tell the king we have a cure. I think, before, branding you as a rebel was bad enough. But if you really have a cure, he’s not going to stop until he catches us.