Page 83 of Rejected Hollow

Up in the box, Vey stood and applauded slowly, looking delighted.

I shifted back into human form but could not get my feet under me, so I stayed on my hands and knees in the black sand with blood running from my mouth.

Every breath hurt badly enough to make my vision pulse.

For some reason, all I could think was, Tiger stripes. You're one of us.

I started laughing.

That hurt so much I nearly passed out, but by then I did not care.

I called Mateo from the harbor while Tomás fueled the boat.

I sat on an iron bollard in the dark with one arm wrapped tightly around my ribs. The harbor was the only place along that stretch of coast where I could reliably get a signal.

It was four in the morning, and Mateo answered on the second ring.

He never slept properly anymore, and he always knew what the first Friday of the month meant.

"You sound like shit," he said.

"Thanks, hermanito. Love you too."

"How bad?"

"Not bad. I won."

"You always win."

He started coughing before he could say anything else. It was deep and wet, and it lasted longer than I wanted it to. I closed my eyes and waited until he could breathe again.

"You always win," he repeated. "Then you come home looking like somebody ran you over. One day you're not going to win, Jax."

"Not today, though."

"No," he said after a moment. "Not today."

There was a pause.

Then he said, "You sound different."

"Different how?"

"I don't know. Happy, maybe." He sounded deeply suspicious. "It's weird. Stop it."

I laughed, immediately regretted it when my ribs protested, and then laughed again anyway.

"I met someone," I said.

The line went silent.

Then Mateo's entire tone changed.

"Oh, no," he said. "Oh, you're done. I can hear it. You're finished."

"Shut up."

"What's her name?"