by Angela White
1
“She has to be eliminated,” Yuri stated regretfully. “She knows too much.”
“Dirce will make that choice if she survives tonight. Did you tell her it is to the death?”
“No.”
“Good. The crowd will get a lot drunker and shop more after watching an electrocution followed by hand-to-hand combat. That type of death is not so fast.”
“Why?” Yuri wanted to know, wondering if he could use it to his advantage somehow.
“Because it reminds them they too must die someday, maybe as horribly. The need to celebrate after that has ruined many a poor man.”
Yuri shrugged, not completely understanding.
“Why are you betraying her?” Xavier asked suddenly. “If she kills Renda, you have your revenge.”
Yuri nodded, eyes glinting in the dim morning sunlight coming through the window where they were viewing the courtyard around the building. “True. But she is an American, like you. I am Russian. We will never be friends.”
Yuri left Xavier to his arrogant assumptions that he was beyond harm from the other masters here. Xavier didn’t know the big boss the way the rest of them did. Xavier had only met him once and been intimidated. The rest of them had served with Dirce for a decade. When the big man arrived, everything they’d built would end. Yuri knew which side to be on when that happened.
2
“This is the fourth of six matches that the Black Widow must win to regain her men and gear!” the radio blared. “Betting booths are closing soon. Come enjoy the blood and gore!”
Nearby, Kendle rolled her eyes. “No blood with a taser, you idiot,” she stated loudly.
Kazan flushed.
Kendle moved away from him to keep from interfering again. He had obviously been ordered to emulate her and that would have to be good enough. She had other things to worry about.
Kendle swept the basement, glad to find the games and kiosks all filled with eager players and shoppers. At the same time, she was horrified that so many had come to witness a death. The human condition would never change until people didn’t respond this way anymore. She had no idea how that would ever be possible.
“The betting booths are now closed! The fight will start in one minute!”
Kendle climbed into the ring, picking up the taser that was lying in her corner. She checked it for a safety button and flipped the power on. The light came, a vivid green that flashed her to the island, to her paradise that had been ruined. “What am I doing here?”
“Dying,” a voice responded from the other side of the ring. “The same thing we’re all doing.”
Kendle recognized the bossy guard who had been following her around and caring for her men. “Well, this sucks.”
“Yeah,” Bossy grunted. “I thought so, too.”
Kendle waited for him to get his weapon and for the bell to ring, but she didn’t hesitate to shoot.
She missed.
The electric darts flew by the ducking fighter and slammed into the cheek and chest of a spectator. Screams and cheers sounded.
Kendle braced for the impact as Bossy fired, dropping her empty taser, but she wasn’t prepared for the pain. It took all of her will power to remain standing and not piss herself. Ethan’s evil leer flashed in front of her mind… Kendle felt the demon within burst forward to rip the darts from her stomach.
Growling, she advanced, demon in the lead.
Bossy lifted an arm for protection and Kendle slammed her wrist into his, injecting him with the syringe from her sleeve. As he tried to jerk away, Kendle used the nose breaker that she’d been taught by Marc.
Blood sprayed as the man’s nose shattered under her descendant strength, but he was already debilitated by the poison and there was no scream.
Guess Kazan was right about the blood, she reflected. We’ll get to the gore next time.
Kendle shifted around to scan the masters and found a second sentry, April, climbing into the ring with her.
“I’ll kill you!” April charged at Kendle with her knife.
Bang!
The woman fell heavily into Kendle, glaring up in shock as she died.
Kendle looked over with the rest of the crowd to find Xavier holding a gun.
He lowered it slowly, flashing a thin smile. “The Black Widow wins again! Booths are open.”
The crowd cheered at getting two for their money. Kendle just tried not to puke. Her stomach had already been hurting. Now, it was on fire.
Kendle staggered from the ring amid congratulations that stopped short of touching her. She left the basement without revealing more of her misery, but the instant the barrier to her cubby shut, she slid to her knees in agony. Only her nightmare with Ethan had been worse than this.
3
“It’s time to show me.”
Rice paled, looking around.
Kendle waited for him to confirm that they were alone in the small greenhouse where he was tending his namesake.
“Now?”
“Today. I need to have time to make a plan for it.”
“If you survive,” he pointed out resentfully.
Kendle crossed her arms over her chest, chipped red nails tapping on her arm.
Rice’s shoulders drooped. “I’ll go to the collateral area after my shift ends at three. Be there.”
Kendle left him to his work, noting the bakery nearby where his brother and family were laboring. From outward appearances, the people in this town were happy, but it only took a little time among them to be coated in their misery and desperation.
Kendle winced at a strong cramp. She had two huge bruises on her stomach, along with puncture marks, and there were still two fights to go.
Kendle forced herself into a run, not changing her training pattern. It would make her look weak, but she also needed to pass the time until Rice could leave work.
Curious as to the rest of the town that she hadn’t observed yet, Kendle veered away from incoming trucks that presumably held more stolen gear or people. She wasn’t allowed to run around the rear of the market during unloading anyway.
She jogged through the gate with the normal nod to the troops, picking the opposite rocky road from the one she’d chosen last time. It had taken her a full hour to reach the end of town when she’d chosen to explore this prison. As far as she knew, there was one street left that she hadn’t explored. She had skipped the dark alley yesterday when she’d discovered it, not wanting to be gone too long and raise suspicion. Kendle jogged there now without stopping, hoping it would give her a few extra minutes for investigation. The empty alley had drawn her for some reason that she hoped to identify. She didn’t believe there was anything to find, but there were hours to kill before her meeting and match.
The alley, blocked at one end by part of the wall around the town, was as empty as she’d assumed, but Kendle felt the menace as she stood in the dark corridor. It didn’t surprise her to observe three market sentries waiting for her with cruel expressions as she emerged.
Kendle didn’t wait to find out if there were more of them. She let the demon loose as she ran forward, protected by her bubble and her rage. They’d come alone. Mistake.
Renda watched in shock from a short distance. She’d sent the men out to kill Kendle so she didn’t have to fight. She hadn’t expected to find a magic user.
Renda ignored their screams for help as she walked back to the market to tell the other masters. “This changes everything. I’ve got you now.”
4
Kendle reveled in the blood. By the time she finished, she was coated in it. The locals who’d been there the entire time gaped in shock and fear. Those who came upon the scene paused with the same emotions.
Kendle slowly became aware of what she’d done. She wanted to be concerned, but the satisfaction from spilling blood was too great. She staggered to her feet, leaving the body she’d been chewing on to sweep the horrified witnesses with glowing red orbs.
The locals didn’t run or
call for help. They stunned Kendle by revealing their own descendant statuses and sending sympathetic support to her silently. Kendle shuddered at the urges and longings they tossed, unwilling but unable to fight the bonds they were forcing upon her. “I will free you.”
Her speaking seemed to be the cue for them to disappear. All except for Baker, who handed her his coat to hide the clothes that were coated in blood. “There’s a pond. You saw it on the way here?”
Kendle nodded, running an arm across her mouth.
He grimaced. “It makes a good place to go swimming. Drains out into the river.”
Kendle understood the blood would be washed away. “Thank you.” Her eyes faded to normal.
Baker breathed a sigh of urgent need. “Don’t lose or we’ll kill your men before she can sell them.”
Kendle ignored the threat. “Take me to the pond.”
5
“Here they come.”
Kendle didn’t glance around at Baker’s warning. “I wasn’t there. You heard screaming but didn’t witness anything.”
“You don’t tell me.” Baker glowered at her in scorn. “I’ll tell you.”
Kendle laughed happily. “Don’t push your luck, coward.”
Baker kicked water at her and stormed off in embarrassment.
Kendle smothered further mirthless amusement to stand up and meet the squad of guards that had been sent to collect her. The pond, surprisingly clear, was only a short distance from the gate, where the more sympathetic sentries watched in concern.
Behind them, Renda lurked.
“Come with us. Do it now.”
Kendle came from the water with a confused tone. “What’s wrong?”
The guard closest, who had been tight with two of the dead men, slammed his rifle into her ribs.
Kendle fell to the ground, groaning.
The sentries dragged her to the market under Renda’s blissful supervision. As they took her by the gate troops and crowds of patrons who had come to view her match, boos and shouts of rigging the fight echoed through the air. The mood quickly became ugly.
Renda ducked from a hurled stone, unable to distinguish who had thrown it. “Get her inside!”
Kendle was aware of the demon gathering energy to fight, but the pain in her ribs and gut prevented her from holding it in. The men roughly grasping her arms let go of her as an electric current ran through her skin, shocking them.
“More proof!” Renda screaming, shoving her men back into their jobs. “Knock her out!”
Kendle tried to bring up an arm, but she couldn’t avoid the gun that smacked into her neck or the concrete that caught her temple. The lights went out all at once.
6
“She is waking. Bring in the witnesses.”
Kendle groaned at the pain in her body, blinking against the glare of afternoon light. She couldn’t find a place that didn’t hurt.
“You are accused of magic use,” Xavier informed her ominously, coming to stand in front of the barber chair they’d brought in to use for this. “Do you have anything to say?”
“I’m Kendle Roberts, from TV. It may seem like magic–”
“Ugh!” Kendle grunted in fresh pain as Xavier punched her in the leg over her bandage. The material was still wet, so she hadn’t been unconscious that long. Kendle tried to count the people in the room and breathe as she scanned her surroundings. The meeting room held a long desk with two benches behind it and a single chair across from it. There was a window, with bars, and only a single door. Not much to work with, she thought hazily.
“You will answer to these charges!” Xavier shouted, profile morphing into that of an obsessed fanatic. “Your kind is not welcome here!”
“I’m not a magic user!” she gasped out.
“We shall see,” he replied, waving the locals over as Renda herded them in.
The sight of Kendle, bound and beaten, brought fear and more tension into the room.
“Did you witness this woman using magic?”
No one spoke.
Renda slammed the door. “Answer him!”
“We saw her visit Mr. Rice at the greenhouse,” one of them stated with a shaking arm around his wife.
“She was at the bathing pool for a while, swimming,” Baker offered, stepping forward. “Is this about the dead guards?”
“Yes,” Xavier drawled, approaching Baker on menacing feet. “What do you know of it?”
“I reported it,” Baker explained. “I couldn’t get the dogs off of them.”
“Dogs?” Xavier repeated. “Dogs got to the bodies?”
“Dogs killed them,” Baker corrected. “Pack came from that old alley that leads through the wall–the one your riders use when they leave.”
“You lie!” Renda flew forward, but Yuri grabbed her arm.
“Keep going,” Xavier encouraged as Yuri shoved Renda toward the exit.
“The guards were walking by, maybe following that woman, and the dogs came from the alley and attacked.”
“Why only them?” Xavier asked dangerously.
“Got me too, sir,” Baker offered, raising his sleeve to show a taped bandage. He revealed the gory wound underneath the gauze. “After I reported it, I went home to get cleaned up and back to work.”
“You did well,” Xavier praised. He turned to Kendle. “Did you observe any of this?”
“I heard the screams,” she answered groggily, in a lot of pain from the injuries and the position. “I would have helped them if I’d seen it.”
“You are all lying!” Renda screamed. “Why do you lie for her?!”
Xavier motioned for Yuri to open the door. “Remove the witnesses.”
Kendle’s stomach fell further at that tone. She knew it well.
Do not come out of your cell, Kendle ordered mentally as Xavier came toward her with his knife in hand. Unless you want me dead, do not come out of your cell.
Kendle’s hoarse screams echoed down the hall to her team and beyond, but nothing could stop it. Thanks to the support of the UN troops, the masters had full control.
7
“Nothing! You have wasted our time!” Xavier flung the knife toward Renda’s boots. “Get her down from there and take care of her–on your tab.”
Renda had seen Kendle attack the guards with so much strength that they couldn’t escape or fight back, only try to defend themselves. She marched forward to do more damage than Xavier had.
The leader grabbed her wrist in an iron grip. “I think you are afraid.”
Renda couldn’t stand to be called a coward. With her free hand, she slapped Xavier hard enough to rock his chin.
Yuri and Iram both gasped.
Kendle tried to stay conscious.
Xavier let go of her, profile darkening.
Renda stumbled back in fear. “I got carried away.”
“Yes,” he agreed, “you did.” Xavier gestured toward Kendle. “Do what you were told.”
Now without an option, Renda hurried toward the chair.
“You will ask if she can fight tonight. If she says no, you will take her place in the ring.”
Xavier left, ignoring the crowd that booed and pushed against him to view into the meeting room. The locals had been won over, many of them now decorating their bodies with odd makeup that resembled her scars. Kendle wasn’t flattered by the emulation. It repulsed her.
Renda unsnapped the cuff on Kendle’s wrist. “I saw you. It happened.”
Kendle lifted her head with the last of her energy, shoving into Renda’s mind. I’m going to kill you. Make your peace with God.
Renda flinched in terror and anger, pointing. “She threatened me! I heard her in my mind!”
Iram, the last to leave, lifted his nose in disdain. “That is desperate and pathetic, even for you.”
Renda screamed in frustration.
Kendle passed out with a smirk on her bloody lips.
8
Tommy and everyone else in the holding area jumped as the door swung o
pen to slam against the wall.
The sentries hurried forward to help Renda as she struggled to get Kendle’s weight inside.
“Take that!”
The troops hefted the unconscious fighter up and took her to an empty cot.
Renda leaned against the frame, getting her breath back. “If she can’t fight tonight, you all die!”
The door slammed and locked behind her.
The Eagles shoved by the sentries to surround Kendle with their protection.
“We need medical items,” Ryan ordered, looking at the nearest guard.
“Not my problem,” the Iranian man responded.
“Are you certain?” Scott asked. “She didn’t say only we would die.”
Realizing Scott was right; the sentry reluctantly went out to get instructions.
The Eagles knelt and stood around Kendle as Josh used his shirt to wipe away some of the blood from her face and arms.
“Thanks,” Kendle croaked. She’d woken when the guards in here touched her with their harsh grips. Those men weren’t like the others who had bonded with her. The guards in here were pure evil, like their mistress.
“What happened?” Ryan questioned, helping her lift her chin for a drink from the cup that another guard brought over.
“I pissed her off.”
The team tried to laugh, but the way she cramped up and groaned made that impossible.
“Who’s the medic on this team?” she asked.
“Me,” Josh offered. “You want me to check you out?”
“I want you to bandage my broken rib and give me something for the pain if they’ll allow it,” she told them. “I’ve got shit to do.”
Tommy snickered.
“You can’t fight like this,” Josh denied. “Not without recovery time.”
“You heard our host,” Ben insisted. “Do what you can for her.”
Tommy knelt down, whispering, “We know what to do.” He held Kendle’s hand. Take what you need.
Kendle gave him a grateful, pain-filled smile. And then drew so hard that Tommy felt his guts churn.
