Slayer(48)

I drop the sword and get on one knee, making my hands into a cradle. Cosmina doesn’t hesitate. She puts her foot in my hands and I throw upward with all my might. She sails through the air, landing just past the edge of the pit. And then she runs. Away from me.

What. The. Hell.

I’m alone.

No, I’m definitely not alone. I have nine new monsters surrounding me.





15


I PICK UP THE SWORD. My limbs shake. My vision tunnels. It’s like the worst asthma attack ever, only I’m still breathing. But for how much longer?

One-on-one, I might have had a chance. But fighting nine monsters at once? I can’t protect myself and the werewolves. I doubt I can even protect myself.

The first zompire lunges. I swing on pure instinct, taking off its head. A hellhound jumps at me and I slice into its stomach. The blood spurts, coating my hands in liquid so hot it burns. I want to puke. But that part of me is pushed aside by the kill-kill-kill running through my brain and body like an electric current.

I give myself over to it entirely.

The hellhound is dead. I swing up and take the arm off one of the other zompires. That doesn’t even slow it. I spin, kicking high and catching it on the head. It stumbles into the wire, its clothes catching there.

The other two hellhounds tear at their dead packmate. I lower my head and run at one of the remaining werewolves, throwing it into the wire. The second werewolf grabs me, tossing me through the air. I land hard on my back but roll away from its pounce. The werewolf pins me. Then it yelps and goes limp, a deadweight on me. I shove it off. There’s a dart in its shoulder.

With a whining yelp, the third active werewolf goes down, a dart in its chest. I pick up the sword as the hellhounds lose interest in their meal. They both leap at me at once. I slash one, spin, kick the other. It falls shy of the wires and scrambles to its feet. I lift the sword and jab. It goes in the hellhound’s mouth, straight through the back of its skull. I try to pull the blade free.

It’s stuck.

The other hellhound jumps. I yank the sword up, swinging the dead hellhound’s body as a weapon. The impact sends both hellhounds—alive and dead—into the wire.

I stand in the center of the pit, panting. There are bodies all around me. Most are dead. The six werewolves are still alive. I’m so busy counting I don’t notice movement until something falls to the ground behind me. A singed hellhound with a crossbow bolt in its back is dead inches from me.

Leo is standing on the edge of the pit, holding a crossbow. He looks determined. He also looks terrified. “Are you okay?” he shouts.

I lift a shaking, blood-covered hand to give him a thumbs-up. One of the barriers from the viewing area sails over the side and lands at the bottom, leaning against the barbed wire.

Artemis appears, leveraging another one so they form a ladder.

“Wait until I cut the power!” she shouts.

Leo fires the crossbow at someone I can’t see, then reloads. There’s a crashing noise and the electric hum is gone. I can’t stay in this pit a second longer, surrounded by the carnage. Soaked in the knowledge that I was pure Slayer and it still wouldn’t have been enough without Leo and Artemis to help me. I run at the barrier ladder, climbing up as fast as I can. My clothes catch on the barbs. I tear free without pausing.

I rush out of the pit and into Leo. He catches me, his arms tightening around me.

“Thank God,” he says. In that moment, I finally know I’m okay. I’m going to be okay. I saved Cosmina. None of the werewolves died. That was me.

Leo releases me and I stumble a bit, feeling drunk on adrenaline and I don’t know what else. Artemis joins us, and I grab her hands, my whole body still a live wire of sparks. “We did it!”

She raises one eyebrow. “Yeah.” Her tone is more bruising than any hits I took in the pit. She turns away from me, her stance solid and ready for anything. But everyone who was here is gone or running. The platform is empty, the organizers vanished. The table that held the bets has been overturned. Money and strips of paper litter the ground.

There are also several bodies. They all look like demons, but in the darkness, I can’t be sure. Who killed them? Artemis? Or . . .

“Where’s Cosmina?” I ask.

My question is answered as the vampire from upstairs skids across the floor, sliding straight over the edge into the pit. Cosmina stalks past us.

“Come on, love,” the vampire says, standing and dusting herself off. “We didn’t mean any harm. I put a lot of money on you winning!”

Cosmina holds out her hand. “Give me the crossbow,” she says.

Artemis looks like she’s gearing up for an attack. I put a hand on her shoulder. I didn’t save Cosmina just for Artemis to rip her limb from limb.

Leo’s face is hard. “You left Athena in there alone.”

Cosmina spins, hitting Leo across the jaw. Leo barely budges. Cosmina swears, cradling her hand. I flex my own fingers. I didn’t notice pain down in the pit. That’s as unnerving as anything else. Every part of my body accepted what it was doing. Embraced it, even.

“Fine,” Cosmina says. She picks up one of the remaining wooden barriers and snaps it. Then she throws it like a javelin. The vampire doesn’t have time to duck as the wood shears her head from her body.

Artemis sweeps an arm at the ruined venue. “What the hell was this?”