Underland(19)

Pushing her body off the split tabletop, her hand brushed the broken table leg. Kira instinctively gripped it. Just as another attack came—a blast of fire rushed at her—she rolled. A second later, it hit the exact spot she’d landed. The metal popped and sizzled from the intense heat.

Kira knew she couldn’t outrun the witch, so she changed directions and charged the girl, holding the table leg out in front of her like a spear.

The witch fumbled for a moment, surprised by the sudden change of tactic. Kira tested the weight of the table leg again—pretty well balanced—and decided to use it like a fighting stick. She swung at the girl’s head. The witch blocked it with her nunchucks. Kira rotated the staff and feinted toward her mid-section. She spun it high and feinted toward the head.

The witch kept backing up, trying to block her attack. All Kira wanted was to keep the onslaught steady so the witch couldn’t form another spell with her weapon.

***

Impossible. Remus stared out the window across the compound at the fight below. This smug human kept fighting, acting as if it had a right to live.

A gurgle drew Remus’s attention back to the screens in the hive. Here, on the bank of monitors, were the vitals of each of his runners. He watched the little blips of their heartbeats and rubbed his hand across the closest black screen. How little they knew, how little they controlled. They were like busy little bees, and he reaped all of their hard work. It was good to be king.

But he knew that there were those that conspired against him. Wanted what was rightfully his. He didn’t like it when people stole. He hated thieves, and more than that, he hated liars.

The gurgling came from the floor again. He wished the man would just shut up and die. Remus had almost lost this one. He’d been hiding his winnings and was about to earn his freedom.

No one left without his permission. No one. Earning freedom without his permission equaled an escape attempt. And he could freely punish any of his runners that try and escape.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

Den.

Den paused and stared at the man moaning on the floor, foam bubbling at his mouth. Remus watched for Den’s reaction. Den met Remus’s eyes and—there. He saw it. A flicker of disgust followed by hatred. That wouldn’t do. Den certainly tried to hide it quickly, but the fact that it had been there at all bothered him. He really hated it when his trainer acted better than everyone. He’d been a little too smug lately, too independent. He had forgotten his roots, where he came from.

“You called me?” Den asked, his face becoming blank.

“One moment, Den.” Remus turned to stare at the screen again and watched as the heartbeat he was monitoring sped up. The blips got faster and faster until they flat lined. Remus smiled when the struggling sounds stopped. He reached down to remove the bracer from the dead runner’s arm. It was still warm, but he didn’t care.

“This one tried to run away, so I terminated his career,” Remus explained.

Den’s eyes darkened but he didn’t respond, which meant dissension. Lack of respect for his way.

“We need to discuss your future here, Den.” Remus walked back to the window and looked out across the compound. He waited for Den to come and stand beside him. Remus knew the instant he spotted the human causing a ruckus down below because his posture stiffened.

“How can I trust you to train my runners if you can’t even control one human? If it messes up any more of my people, or dies before the challenge”—Remus held up the now vacant brace—“I’ll find a way to send you to the ring.”

Den rushed out the door, leaping over the dead body. Remus turned and watched as the human attacked his witch. This wouldn’t do at all.

He couldn’t wait to get rid of them—both.

***

After a few minutes, Kira figured out the witch girl was mostly show. She couldn’t hold her ground in a real physical altercation. Kira feinted for the head and then swung the table leg around to sweep her legs out from under her. The girl squealed and lost hold of the nunchucks.

Kira’s boot came down hard on her hand as she reached for the weapon. She jabbed the broken end of the pole within inches of the girl’s exposed throat. “Threaten me again and I will kill you!” Kira snarled out, baring her teeth in anger.

Kira felt different this time. She’d never gotten worried about this encounter. She actually liked the adrenaline rush, the whole sordid fight.

“I…w-we, n-need to get revenge for Creeper.” The girl’s vibrant green eyes were wet with unshed tears.

“What’s your name?” Kira asked.

“Holly.” She lay still, unmoving, the smart thing to do.

“Well, Holly, that confrontation will happen on a different day, with a level playing field. No, behind-the-back sneak attacks. Got it?” Kira couldn’t blame the girl for wanting revenge, and it wasn’t her place to deny it, but she could lay down some boundaries.

The girl’s head bobbed in affirmation.

Kira wasn’t stupid, she noticed the way Holly’s eyes kept flickering between her nunchucks and Chaz standing behind her.

Chaz gave Kira a nod of respect and backed away.

Kira took her boot off Holly’s neck and purposely turned her back on the girl. She kept a firm grip on the table leg. With an eye on the shadows and an ear toward the onlookers, she knew the instant Holly acted stupid. Kira swung the table leg in an arc, knocking the weapon from Holly’s hand as it was poised to come down on Kira’s head. She grabbed a surprised Holly by the front of her jacket and dropped the table leg to the ground.