Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)(71)

He shakes his head, as baffled as I am.

“Maggie,” Clive’s voice comes from behind us. I look back over my shoulder to where he’s still sitting by the doorway. He’s ashen under his freckles, lips white. “I didn’t say it before, but the final bout isn’t to first blood. It’s to the death.”





Chapter 30


“Whatever it is, it’s not worth dying for.”

Kai’s up and pacing, more agitated than I’ve ever seen him about anything. He’s twisting the rings on his fingers, one by one, working back and forth across his right hand. His kidskin boots are kicking up little puffs of dust each time he turns on his heels. His eyes are glowing silver again, like they have a life of their own.

I’m sitting on the ground watching him, faintly amused. We’re in a long narrow cell with two doorways. The far door leads out to a circular hallway that rings around the fighting pit. The other leads to a chain-link fence that swings open and goes directly into the pit itself. Mósí’s guards escorted us out of her evil kitty lair and led us here after I agreed to the fight. Kai insisted that he should come with me, and with a tilt of her feline head that did nothing to lessen my suspicions, Mósí agreed. But she kicked Clive out, back to his front-row seat and his fine view of the impending carnage.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say dryly as Kai worries the big turquoise number on his middle finger. He stops his nervous fidgeting long enough to give me the disgusted side-eye.

“That’s not what I mean. I just mean this is not worth someone dying.”

“You don’t know that.” I’m sitting cross-legged with my back against the wall, feeling incredibly calm. Noise filters in through the chain-link gate, and we can hear the raucous yelling of the crowd, making bets and generally calling for blood.

“Yes, I do,” Kai disagrees. Twists another ring. Walks a few feet before he whips around to come back toward me. “I mean, I know this might be our key to figuring out who the witch is, but there’s got to be another way.”

“Kai, let it go. It’s done. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

I cock an eyebrow. “Really? You don’t think I can win this? I think that hurts my feelings.”

“Be serious for a minute.”

“Clive said Law Dogs look the other way since everything’s voluntary, and they get a nice fat cut of the house winnings.”

“It’s not the cops I’m worried about.”

“So why are you worried?”

Kai stares at me, incredulous. “How can you be so calm about going into a fight to the death? Even if you do survive, you’re going to have to kill to do it.”

“It won’t be the first time.”

“It won’t be the—!” he sputters.

“Won’t even be the first time this week.”

“This is not a joke!”

I exhale loudly. “I thought you were okay with my ‘murderous nature.’ You told me that Living Arrow didn’t bother you. That you were glad to have a killer as a partner.”

He pulls up short, face stricken. “And it’s my fault, isn’t it? I made you shoot Longarm. God, I made you kill him. If I hadn’t been so reckless . . .” His whole body sags, the fight going out of him. He comes over to slide his back down the wall and sit cross-legged next to me. He shakes his head, the weight of the Law Dog’s death truly hitting him for the first time. Our shoulders are close enough to touch, but we don’t.

“Killing is my clan power the same way healing is yours.” I spread my hands, lift my shoulders in a small shrug. “It’s who I am. I thought you got that.”

“Yeah, monsters. Killing monsters. Hunting witches. Helping innocent people.”

“I used to think it was that black and white, but now . . . I don’t know. It feels different, you know? Since Neizghání left. It feels like I can’t tell the monsters from the good guys anymore, so it’s best I pull the trigger and let someone else sort it out.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I’m not one of the good guys.” I think of Black Mesa. “Maybe I haven’t been in a long time.”

“You’re one of the good guys. I saw what you did in Rock Springs. You saved people’s lives.”

“I almost got Rissa killed.”

“You saved her life.”

“No, I didn’t save anyone. That was you. I keep telling you that I’m no hero, Kai.”

“Being a hero’s not about being perfect. It’s about doing the right thing, doing your best to get the people you care about home safely. You were willing to sacrifice yourself to do that. I don’t care what you say to try to negate that—I was there. I saw it.”

He falls silent, gaze fixed on the far wall across from us. I lean toward him, let our shoulders finally touch. Try to tell him “thank you” for the faith he has in me. I don’t deserve it, am not sure what to do with it, but I appreciate it anyway. I expect him to pull away from me. But he doesn’t. Just glances over to where we’re connected.

We sit there for a while, the only sound the distant screams of the crowd above us, cheering two opponents who are even now trying to spill the other’s blood.