One down.
Another member of K-Rig jumped for my ledge. I gripped my sword again and spun like a whipping blade. The tip sliced through his face, chest, and abdomen in three quick passes. Stunned, he stumbled back and fell into the darkness below.
I knelt, braced myself against the ledge, and breathed deep.
That’s two.
I surveyed the side of the building. Another set of icy eyes was down one level, twenty feet over.
I counted, waiting for him to get close, and jumped.
I missed.
I got the timing wrong, missed the ledge he was standing on, and started sliding down the side of the building. Damn it. The rough surface burned against my clothing and skin as I slid. I glanced down. The lava was coming up fast. Gritting my teeth, I drew the dagger from my boot and ground it into the wall. My descent slowed and started to curve. Instead of plunging straight down, I was skating diagonally across the building’s exterior. I pushed harder, grinding the dagger deeper into the wall, aiming for a slow-moving ledge. The tip of the dagger broke off in the wall and I started free-falling.
Oh shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
I pinwheeled my legs, trying to guide my body toward the ledge. It came up fast, as if it was racing up to meet me. My upper half smacked into it and slid off. My fingers caught the edge, and I dangled from it.
I did it.
I was down a weapon, clinging to a ledge for dear life, and three-on-one against the best team in the world.
But I was still in the game.
I hoisted my lower half up onto the ledge and lay against it for a minute, panting, hugging myself to it. The wind whipped around me as the ledge continued to whisk around the building. I braced my hands against the ledge and slowly pushed myself up to a crouching position.
Two down.
Three to go.
I steadied myself on the ledge and prepared to jump when one of them came flying at me. I was knocked to the side as a body hit mine. Fists gripped my jacket and I swayed from side to side. All I saw was a pair of ice-blue eyes, and they were angry.
I didn’t resist the throws of his weight and instead went with them. I leaned to the right with him, slid my foot against his ankle, and swept it out. His feet slipped off the edge. As he fell, his hands kept their grip on my jacket and pulled me forward. I toppled over the edge and started racing toward the bottom.
No, no, no.
Ledges whizzed past me as I picked up speed. I had no way to slow my fall. Even if I caught a ledge now, the impact would probably kill me.
My shot at the championship was over. I was out of the game.
I clamped my jaw shut and braced for death.
Three stories from the bottom, a hand wrapped around my wrist in midair. I arced in a curve, swinging like a pendulum, and my descent suddenly ended. My shoulder jolted. Pain like I’d never felt before shot through my body, and I cried out. I looked up, blinking through tears and black spots from the pain. A set of fingers were still wrapped around my wrist. I followed them up to find Jessica hovering over me, leaning over a ledge.
“How many times am I going to save your ass?” she asked.
She hoisted me up. I screamed again as she lifted me. On the ledge, I stumbled to my feet, trembling violently. Pain enveloped my entire shoulder, and it was so intense, I nearly blacked out right there.
“I think my shoulder’s out,” I told her.
Jessica folded up my left arm against my chest. “Hold it there.”
I gripped my wrist with my other hand.
“What now?”
“Now we just—”
She slammed me sideways into the wall. I screamed as pure agony convulsed through my body. Then I felt a jolt, and after that, nothing at all. I blinked and opened my eyes.
“How about now?” she asked.
I rotated my shoulder a little and flexed my fingers. A dull thudding radiated through the joint, but most of the pain was gone.
“Better,” I said with a nod.
“Good. Now, get your ass in gear.”
She turned and leapt to the next ledge. I followed.
Jessica moved like an acrobat as she jumped and flipped between the ledges, racing up the side of the building. I struggled to keep up.
Two levels from the top, Jessica reached the lowest K-Rig member on the building. I scurried up the ledges, trying to keep an eye on her as I passed the fight. She grappled with him on the ledge. She spun. In a blur, she drew her dagger from what seemed like nowhere and slammed it into his gut. He crumpled to his knees and tumbled off the side of the building.
Damn.
She had moves.
I looked above me. One left.
Kim Jae.
He was on the top ledge and reaching for the roof. I was one ledge below. He was within my grasp.
I leapt.
I slammed into him, my front to his back. I wrapped my arms around him and dropped my weight. His grip slid off the roof.
We grappled.
It became a wrestling match as I stayed at his back, throwing my weight in either direction, trying to knock him off the narrow platform. He elbowed me hard in the gut. I gasped, lost my balance, and slipped off the ledge. I smacked into the ledge two levels down and landed hard on my back. My head cracked against the concrete. My vision went a bit hazy, and I blinked several times, trying to focus on the events above me.
Kim Jae and Jessica Salt fought for the ledge. He shoved her sideways, into the wall. Jessica lost her balance, slipped down the side, and caught the edge of the platform with her fingers.
She needed my help.
I pushed myself up. My head reeled, and I slid back down. Damn it.
Jae stomped on her fingers. Jessica cried out, losing her grip with one hand. With her dangling arm, she pulled a dagger from her waist and stabbed Jae repeatedly through his foot. He screamed, scrambled backwards off the ledge, and plummeted to the bottom.
I released a breath.
Was K-Rig out now? I couldn’t remember if they had lives left at this point. Since the bases were gone, I wasn’t sure where they’d respawn, if they would at all. Even if they did, they’d have to get to the center of the game and mount the building again.
We were almost there.
The haziness in my head cleared, and I pushed myself up, to the next level, one below Jessica. She held out a hand as we spun around the building. I held my better arm up and as my ledge passed under hers, she scooped me up. Then she pushed me toward the wall and stuck her knee out, so I could use it to boost myself up. I gripped the top edge, used her body to push mine up, and heaved myself over the edge.
I nearly face-planted against the roof as heavy breaths heaved through my entire body. I could have given in right then. My head was so heavy; my limbs were filled with pain. I could have curled up and stopped right there.
Instead, I lifted my head. In the center of the roof, the flag shone like a golden star in the darkness. A wire cage protected it from all sides except the top. It was set up higher than everything else, five steps up from the rooftop. I’d have to climb the steps, mount the cage, and drop down inside to claim the flag. But there it was. Twenty feet from my grasp. Everything the team had suffered through over these past months. All the gossip and bullshit. It had all been to get us here, to this moment.
Can’t stop now, I thought. Just a little bit farther.
I pushed myself to standing. I swayed, but managed to stay on my feet. As much as my head was still spinning from the climb, the rooftop was stationary. Only the levels below it were still moving. There was no edge or barrier to this roof. Just the end, and a twenty-story drop. One wrong step, and you were toast.
Jessica had mounted the roof’s edge a short distance away, panting just like me, slowly pushing up to her feet.
Jessica placed her hands on her hips and glanced down the roof’s edge. “They’ve got one more respawn, by my count.” She glanced at the center of the roof, where the flag sat within its cage. “I hope you realize I’m not going to hold back anymore.”
Despite the breaths gasping through my mouth, my lips spread into a smile.
“Good.”
We locked eyes. We’d made it. Together. Now it all came down to a fight between me and her.
She bolted. I bolted.
In the middle, we clashed.
CHAPTER 29
Halfway to the flag, we slammed together and tumbled to the ground, rolling over each other several times. I landed on my back and she pinned me down. She swung for my jaw. I dodged her blow and slammed my forehead against her nose. She tumbled to the side, gripping her face. As she pushed herself back up, she grimaced and wiped blood.
Round One: Kali Ling.
I pulled myself up, unsheathing my sword. Jessica drew her own. We circled each other, each reeling back. Swords smashed together in rapid succession, sparking and fizzling with each hit. Gray and red ribbons swirled around us, trailing from the weapons as we swerved and dodged each other. For a Special Ops gamer, she was good with a blade.
She came at me, again and again, smashing with more fury and strength with each hit, as if she was gaining combo points from the attack. She swung, backhanded. I slid back, narrowly avoiding the blow. She came back again.
I blocked her swing, knocked her arms open, and lunged forward, smashing my shoulder into her chest. She gasped and stumbled back several steps.
Her foot slipped off the edge of the roof.
Her balance teetered as her foot desperately swiped at the edge for purchase. Her sword tumbled from her hand and into the darkness below.
No, no. You don’t get off that easy.
I ran for her, just as she slipped and started falling backwards. I reached the edge, grabbed her arm, and heaved. She tumbled forward and fell to her knees on the rooftop, panting hard. She looked up, eyes wide and glazing with bewilderment.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m not done kicking your ass. If I’m going to beat you, it’ll be because I actually beat you. Not because you slipped off the edge. Now get up.”
They call me the warrior for a reason, and I prefer to earn the name.
Every. Damn. Match.
I took a stance across from her, sword raised over my shoulder. Jessica pushed up to her feet and brought up her hands in defense. I swiped through the air. Jessica ducked and dodged my blows. We twirled around the roof as I sliced and she dodged, a close-cut game of cat and mouse. I halted my attacks and glanced down at my sword. This wasn’t really fair, was it? I could toss my weapons aside and fight her hand-to-hand. The audience would love the show. But for me, it would mean something so much more: facing my idol on even ground. If she wanted to pass me her torch, here was my chance to prove I deserved it.
I smiled and tossed my sword over the roof edge. It toppled through the air until the shadows below swallowed it. My dagger followed shortly after.
Jessica watched my blades tumble over the side, looked back at me, and grinned. We had no weapons. The only thing that stood between us and the championship was each other. Bare-handed. The best wins.
I brought my hands up.
Let’s dance.
We circled each other again, step for step. She lashed out first, throwing a right hook. I blocked and snapped my foot against her ribs. She grunted.
She attacked again, faking twice, throwing me off, and landed a clean swipe across my jaw. My head rocked to the side, and I stumbled back.
Damn, that girl can pack a punch.
My vision reeled. I spat gore. Blood, teeth, whatever had collected in my mouth. The rooftop became a blood-spattered battlefield. Footsteps pounded away from me as my vision cleared. Jessica was on the stairs and climbing.
The flag shimmered from behind the cage, inches from her reach.
I scrambled after her and latched onto her ankle. With her free foot, she stomped down on my hand. Hard. Holy Mother. I bit down on my scream as my hand jerked back, instinctively. I instantly shot my arm back up, wrapping my fingers around her ankle again, and pulled with my weight. She crumpled, tumbling down the steps.
On hands and knees at the bottom of the stairs, we grappled. Our arms wrapped around each other’s, heads pressed together, both grimacing and grunting. We were matched again. Dead even. I focused on her weight. Instead of fighting against her movements, I went with them, violently rocking her back and forth with her own momentum until she lost her balance, and I tossed her to the side. She rolled several times before catching herself. She slapped the roof, spewing and swearing, and started pushing up to her feet. Her breaths heaved. Her hands shook.
She was getting tired. Experience versus youth.
Youth was winning.
I scrambled up the stairs, listening for her following footsteps. When the metal clunked behind me, I whirled around, gripped the railings, pushed off with both feet, and slammed a double kick into her chest. She went careening back and crashed into the roof with a sickening smack. She landed on her back, arms out. Soft grunts escaped her lips, but she made no move to stand.
I knew right then I’d played one too many fighting games because the words echoed in my mind.
Finish her.
I bolted up the last of the steps, turned, and leapt, propelling myself into an arcing jump above her. Time slowed again as I sailed through the air. I straightened out so my back faced the roof and my front, the ceiling. As I descended, I lifted both arms into the air, cupping one fist around the other, and brought it down, driving my elbow into her sternum as I landed.
The rooftop rumbled with the impact.
Jessica seized, as if she’d been cut in two, her head and feet lifting a few inches off the ground. Blood spewed from her mouth, and she gasped like it was her last, heaving breath. Then she went limp.
I kept a hand on her chest. Shallow breaths expanded her lungs, pushing up against my hand. Her heartbeat throbbed under my palm until I could practically hear it. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and out her nose. Her eyes glazed over for a few seconds until she blinked and looked at me, a hint of fire still dancing within them. She wasn’t done. Not quite yet.
I backed away, giving her a chance to get up. I wasn’t going to end the fight with her on her back, like an animal. She deserved a dignified death, to go down fighting.
Jessica pulled herself up in slow motion, grimacing, gripping her stomach. Her face was tight with pain. More blood trickled out of her mouth, and her knees trembled violently. Still, she took up a fighting stance across from me. But even then, she couldn’t hide that her whole body was shaking.
I was shaking, too, but for a different reason.
I was winning.
I was about to defeat my idol.
I was about to take the all-star tournament.
Number one in the world. One hundred million dollars. My team would be set for life.
I positioned myself between Jessica and the stairs, and glanced behind me. The flag shimmered just feet away. I’m coming for you next.
A grin twitched in the corners of Jessica’s lips. She knew, and she was proud.
She raised her fists. I raised mine. This was it. The finale. I was one solid hit away from victory.
And then, with Jessica in front of me, me standing tall, ready to take the match and the game, and the entire world watching, K-Rig mounted the rooftop and charged for us.
CHAPTER 30
K-Rig was coming. All five of them.
I looked at Jessica. We were two on five, against the best team in the world. We had no we
apons. Jessica could barely stand. K-Rig would destroy her.
Time stopped. It often does in the moments that define your life.
I glanced back at the flag. I could make it before K-Rig caught me, take the steps two at a time, climb the cage walls, and claim the flag. I could take the entire championship right now.
My gaze flicked back to Jessica. She wobbled, barely standing, blood oozing out the side of her mouth. Still, she smiled at me. She could see what was happening. She knew I’d leave her to K-Rig and take the flag for myself. But I wouldn’t have made it this far if it hadn’t been for her. How many times had she saved my ass, and not just in the game? I didn’t deserve the championship.
She did.
This was her final year. Her last tournament. Her last game. And I could either take that from her or turn it into the single greatest moment of her life and thank her for everything she’d done for me.
Besides, I preferred a good fight.
I grabbed Jessica’s arm, pulled her past me, and shoved her toward the platform.
“Get the flag. I’ll give you time.”
She stumbled up two steps. As she gripped the railing to steady herself, her head snapped back around, eyes glazing with bewilderment.
“GO!” I shouted, shoving her again.
She did, using the railing to haul herself up the stairs. Stumbling up the steps, fighting against her fatigued, battered body, she’d need time to reach the flag, and I’d give it to her. I turned around to face K-Rig alone.
I charged.
They charged.
Jessica climbed.
My footsteps smacked against the rooftop as I streamed right for K-Rig. They mirrored me, weapons poised for attack as they closed in. Five feet. Three feet. I brought up my fists and we collided. I slipped under an arm and slammed my full weight into someone’s chest. As he stumbled back, I twisted my hand around his, and his sword became my own. I rammed a shoulder into him, and he lost his step and tumbled off the roof. He screamed as he descended into the darkness.
Gauntlet Page 37
