Page 30 of Beautiful Prey

He drops.

For a second there’s only her breathing.

The Adjudicator claps slowly. “Congratulations.”

Dragging herself through the mud, the woman crawls toward the rope as the man behind her groans.

The Adjudicator shoots him in the head.

I flinch.

“Enjoy your dinner,” he tells her, opening the rope.

She gets through without looking back.

Turning to me, he lets his gaze run over me before he flicks two fingers toward the forest. “Off you go.”

I stare at him. “But... I was here too.”

“Yes.” He makes the same little shooing motion. “And now the checkpoint is full.”

“Please.”

His mouth curls. “Unless you’d like me to find you somebody to fight?”

I look at the body beside the scanner.

The Adjudicator chuckles. “That’s what I thought. Forest, Candidate.”

Turning toward the forest, I know I have to survive the night somehow.

By the time the checkpoint fires are barely visible through the trees, I find a thick trunk, slide down it, pull out my ration, and force myself to eat.

And that’s where the Adjudicator finds me.

Stepping out of the dark, an arm’s length to my left, the one from registration lets the storm cloak swallow his height, the visor catching a thin line of the campfire.

My hand reaches for my knife before my brain catches up, my heart lurching into my throat.

Light, how I hate my heart right now.

“Not joining them?” His head tips toward the camp.

I glance through the ropes. “There’s no room.”

“No.” Taking another slow step toward me, he looks me over. “After watching you fight like an animal all afternoon, I’d rather you didn’t waste that much effort on them.”

My grip tightens on the ration. “You watched?”

“Every minute.”

I swallow. “Then you saw what happened.”

“I saw a man attack you.” Nothing in the rasp changes. “The sector stopped counting him when he died.”

That’s not what I asked, but I keep my mouth shut.

“One person decides what gets written down.”