Arkdone spread his arms wide and spun slowly for Meg’s inspection. “I’m completely unarmed, but if you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to come pat me down yourself,” he added suggestively.
Meg grimaced at the thought. Instead, she began quickly removing her weapons. Michelle Andrews sauntered up to her and held out her arms. “Allow me to hold these for you.”
Meg hesitated before surrendering her weapons belt across to the hated metamonarch.
“It’s the least I could do. For old time’s sake.” Michelle pinched her face in a disgusted version of a smile.
Meg felt herself close to reaching out with her mind and tearing the wretched woman’s psyche to pieces for the part she played in this violent game, but she resisted. She knew she had to save her strength.
Once she’d completely disarmed herself, Michelle huffed haughtily and walked away with Meg’s things—a disgusted look clearly in her expression. “I’ll be sure to send your things back to your mother when you’re dead,” she added over her shoulder.
“Stay out of this, Michelle,” Williams warned.
Arkdone had been circling Meg, as though inspecting for himself that she was truly unarmed. “Wait. Do you hear that?” He stopped in his tracks and tipped his head, as if listening to the night sky. “Yes, I do believe the birds of carrion have come to roost. It’s a good night to be a kettle of vultures waiting to wake.”
Meg fought the urge to shudder.
And lost.
69 First Blood
“Are you sure you want to play gladiator?” Williams had donned his fatherly mask again. His voice dripped with tenderness. “Truly, I wished for so much more from you, daughter. It’s not too late. Just say the word and I’ll stop the hands of time for you,” Williams walked toward the wide-eyed girl until he was a mere inches away from her. Meg held perfectly still, refusing to play into his delusional world. He reached out to touch the face that looked so much like his beloved June’s.
“I have seen a lot of needless death in my seventeen years, too much death.” Meg’s strong voice belied her terror.
“I’m a toy to you—to smash against the wall, to drag in the dirt by the hair or even milk for blood at your whim. I was bred for spare parts.” Meg shook her head in disgust and stepped back from both men.
“And you dare to try to lay hands on the one person on this earth who risked everything to show me love? A woman who taught me right from wrong, modeled devotion and faith?” Meg squared her shoulders and leveled her gaze at the monsters standing before her.
“I’ll stop the hands of time. I’ll rip them off and use them to skewer you until your last sick breath escapes.” Her fingers twitched hungrily. “I have seen a lot of needless death, but today is different. No one else needs to be a part of this bloodbath. Your people, my people—we leave them out of this.” Meg spread her arms wide at the shocked faces of the metamonarchs and metahumans who formed a wide ring around the three.
Her voice carried to every soldier at the makeshift base.
“This day all the innocent souls of those who have suffered and died by your hands will be avenged. Today I take back the lives you’ve stolen.”
Meg pushed her chest out as she pressed toward the two monsters. “I’ll start with you, Senator and end with you,” she up-nodded at Williams.
Arkdone, who had been leisurely rolling his sleeves up, sneered as he started clapping, loudly. “Well said, Meg,” he called over the noise of his own applause.
Williams smiled a toothless, grin at Meg with an inappropriate look of fatherly pride in his dead, shark eyes.
“My Meg’s got spunk, Donovan. She got that from me, you know.” He chuckled and shook his head.
“Shut up!” Meg barked. “You know nothing about me or what I believe,” Meg clenched her fists, widened her stance and leaned as if pushing against a gale storm. “But before this is over, you will have learned.” She hissed the last promise just loud enough for the evil twins to have heard.
Meg felt a surge of psychic power tingling throughout her body, threatening to burst.
“Oh, are you done grandstanding?” Arkdone feigned boredom and allowed his head to loll toward Williams. “She got that from me.” He shrugged innocently.
When he turned around, he led with the back of his hand.
Smack!
Meg’s face exploded in pain, the skin over her right cheekbone sliced by his thick diamond ring.
“You’ve become so dependent on your psychic gifts, you’ve grown soft,” Arkdone taunted as he picked slivers of torn flesh from his ring. “You’re going to have to step it up, Meg. You’re supposed to be your ‘family’s’ champion!”
Caught off guard, Meg reeled clutching her burning cheek.
“Now, now, Senator,” Williams chastised, “the match doesn’t officially start until the Retributioners are told to begin.”
Meg blinked hard against the stars overlaying her vision in her right eye.
“Hadn’t we done that?”
“No.”