Underland(18)

He liked that. He liked her bravado at the slave market, and even their encounter in the stairwell. When Creeper had taken off after her, he really thought that would be the end of her. He’d almost stood and challenged him for her right then. But it would mess up his plan if he got in an altercation too early.

It pained him to let her go, and he was surprised when he met her in the stairwell. Den had said she survived and killed Creeper, but he hadn’t expected her to be out wandering around. It made him respect and like her even more.

She intrigued him, and almost nothing intrigued him anymore—but she couldn’t distract him. Right now, he had to lay low.

The girl moved in front of him and he caught a whiff of her scent. He closed his eyes and inhaled the tantalizing aroma of her skin. He really had to stop thinking of her. She was making a beeline for the table of food. He didn’t know what possessed him to follow her, because he wasn’t at all hungry for that kind of food. Still, it had been a while since he’d eaten something warm. Don’t focus on the girl. Ignore her. Don’t get involved.

But then, behind him, he heard the witch start to shout. He turned.

Kira stared at the table of food.

All activity came to a standstill. Heads swerved to look at her, and a few laughed cruelly. Kira swallowed, but kept walking toward the long tables of food. A slave scuttled out of the way as Kira glared angrily in her direction. She was decent at not showing fear. But she had to be afraid. He sat down to watch.

***

Seriously, this girl—whoever she was—better not get in the way with her food. Kira was hungry.

“Is that the one?” a feminine voice asked. Kira glanced sideways. The voice belonged to a young girl with tight black braids wound up on the sides of her head. She wore a black jacket and a short skirt and leggings, and she sat on a pool table next to a large feline man. Others lounged around the table as well, but no one was actually playing.

The girl’s furry cheetah-colored companion nodded in answer and glanced towards Kira. He stood on two legs and had human-looking facial features and arms, but that’s where the likeness ended. His powerfully built legs were long and lean, and a black-tipped tail swished silently behind him.

“I don’t believe you, Chaz.” The girl jumped down from the pool table and pointed at Kira. “Tell me you are joking! There is no way in Underland that piece of dog food had the strength and cunning to kill our best fighter.”

Kira reached the food and picked out the least spoiled fruit from a bowl. And a heel of bread. There was also a large kettle of soup, and platters of meat—cooked no less—but since she couldn’t guarantee the animal was one she knew, it was probably best to go vegetarian.

She glanced over at a nearby bench and spotted the zeke boy, joining the other monsters with his food. A few even slid over to give him room. Kira stayed at the table to eat. The food was stale and the fruit bitter, but she swallowed every bite, keeping an eye on the upset girl and an ear on the mob.

“That tramp couldn’t have been the one that killed Creeper!” The girl’s voice rose with every word, and her hands started to become more animated. A few others joined her group. Whatever they said seemed to make her angrier.

Kira turned away and hoped that by ignoring them, pretending to be oblivious to their complaints, she could avoid a confrontation.

“Hey, you!”

So she was wrong.

Kira kept her back straight and pretended to not hear the girl. When quick hands knocked the food out of her grip, making it fall on the ground, Kira turned, seeing red—and the irritating girl.

Her smile was smug. “Slaves don’t eat with the fighters. You eat after we’re done.”

Kira bit her tongue and picked up another a slice of bread to begin the process of replacing the food she had dropped. This time she was anticipating Mouthy to try and knock her food away again. The girl shot out an arm, and Kira deftly blocked it with her forearm. Then she turned, grabbed the girl’s wrist, and shoved her away.

The girl blinked in surprise but quickly regained her bad-girl composure. “Don’t you touch me, slave. Don’t you know you shouldn’t touch your betters?”

Kira raised one eyebrow in disbelief. She let her voice drip with sarcasm. “If I see someone better than me, I’ll remember that.”

“Why you little piece of trash!” the girl spat out.

Chaz’s ears went back against his head and he snarled at Kira, tensing to pounce.

The girl held up her hand to him. “I’ll kill her myself!” Fast as lightning, the girl pulled a set of nunchucks from her belt and swung it at Kira’s skull.

This time, Kira dropped her own food to defend herself. The nunchucks cracked loudly against her arm, and pain raced up her arm. She couldn’t help wincing, but better her arm than her head. She needed to move.

Kira leapt onto the table with food and ran between the serving dishes piled high as she tried to put distance between herself and her attacker. A few monsters grumbled and complained when Kira’s boot smashed their dinner, but not enough to make them stop eating.

The girl was right behind her, swinging her chucks like some sort of video game character.

Except that the pattern she swung them in didn’t make sense. It looked like she was using the chucks to draw a symbol in the air.

Oh. She was—the symbol glowed bright green. When the girl screamed, a blast of air came hurtling toward Kira and knocked her off her feet. She flew across the room, breaking another table. Man that hurt. Whatever that girl did, Kira couldn’t let her do it again.