Page 35 of The Puppet Master
I wonder what she thinks of all this.
Aurelius raises his hands to the sky, eyes closing.
“I always enjoy these fights,” Zephyr murmurs. “I think you will too.”
Cryptic. Creepy. Just as creepy as the chants. I turn my head to her only to snap back to the arena at the sound of agrowl. Thorne’s growl. Aurelius’s hands drop to signal the fight, and Thorne’s linebacker body shoves forward with a lunge.
Wilcox is amped from the crowd’s encouragement. He shuffles with his fists raised, eyes wide and alert, hairy chest pumping with each grunt. He’s a big dude—a survivalist nut who’s spent half his life training for an apocalypse. Training forthismoment right here, surrounded by onlookers cheering his name, the millions in cash no doubt lost in his mind. This israw, primal, forglory. While Thorne is merely a sexually repressed rageful tool Aurelius pulls out when he needs a show.
I expect a good fight.
But that isn’t what I get.
Breath traps in the clutches of my gut as Thorne catches Wilcox in a scramble, skull crushing skull. Wilcox stumbles andfalls flat on his back—feet tipped to the side, open palms limp. Unmoving.
“Get up,” I say under my breath. My arm slips from the girl's shoulder as I lean forward.
Get the fuck up.
He lays completely still until Thorne’s boot connects with Wilcox’s jaw. His head whips as blood sprays, body cringing away. He tries to get up on his elbow but sinks back to the sand.
My hands lift to my ears as two little girls a few yards away screech—withglee, at the tops of their lungs, They jump up and down with shaking fists while the rest of the crowd goeswild, people whistling, clapping, cheering, shouts ringing out for Thorne. Thorne, who drops to the ground, jabs an elbow into Wilcox’s kidney once, twice, six times while Wilcox bellows.
No oneis disappointed.
Except for me. Possibly Luna. It’s a toss up which one of us is more horrified when Thorne calmly unlaces my partner’s boots. He pulls them off, then the socks, one hand cinched around Wilcox’s ankle as he tries to get away. Wilcox kicks at Thorne’s face—a mistake he promptly pays for as his ankle snaps, thecracksounding over the roars.
I cringe, pull back, glue my hands to my sides. He finds me in the crowd, wide eyes desperate. “Help me!” he screams. “Sawyer, hel?—”
A screech so shrill I feel it in every hair that raises on my arms. I break from Wilcox’s eyes to stare at his foot cinched in Thorne’s hand, pinky toe hanging at an odd angle.
The next toe joins the first when Thorne snaps it with a single, smooth motion. He moves on before Wilcox’s screams can so much as falter—high pitched,terrifying, a blade sawing a mouse in half.
The pain is so vivid, my toes curl inside my shoes, and my hand flinches toward my face. Like a ten-year-old watching a horror movie. When Thorne makes it to the big toe, Luna gasps.
“Oh my God,” she squeaks with a hand covering her mouth.
Thorne pulls so hard, bone juts through skin and blood squirts onto his tribal painted face. My stomach lurches. I hunch an inch, hand curling around my gut while I fight every bodily reaction appropriate. I tell myself it’s for Luna’s benefit—to be a calm within the chaos—but not a single person around is panicked. There is no chaos.
This was planned.
Aurelius wanders behind me. Warm, sour breath curls around my ear. “How are things, Sawyer Hansley?”
I breathe deeply,slowly, pulling my heartrate back to baseline like my life depends on it. Because itdoesdepend on it. Everything I do from this moment forward depends on it.
I get the message, loud and clear.
Pass their test… Or die.
Luna detaches from my hip. Her hands stick to her sides while she stares at the ground. Trembling. As horrified as I am.
I need to get her out of here.
“As well as can be,” I say to Aurelius. My voice is low, though I’m sure Luna could hear if she tried. “Is the room ready?”
Wilcox continues to screech while Aurelius takes his time to answer. “Zephyr has been busy with a birth, but she’ll be putting the final touches on it soon.”
I nod. Stare off at nothing. Pretend I don’t hear the gurgling sounds coming from Wilcox’s teeth being forced in. I retreat inside my head and visualize all the things I need to do—not just to complete my mission but to survive. And to ensureLunasurvives.
