I clapped my hands to gain their attention. “All right, everyone. Get-to-know-you time is over. What’s next?”
River put two fingers in his mouth and whistled; in the pit, doorways I hadn’t noticed opened up. Ten collared zombies spilled into the center, the crowd sneering and catcalling.
“Hey, baby. You wanna have me for dinner?”
“You’re a cute little maggot bag. Yes, you are. Oh, yes, you are.”
“You need a hand? Huh? Huh? How about I give you a finger?”
Noticing the humans above them, the zombies reached up. Black stained lips pulled back from even blacker teeth, saliva dripping down dislocated jaws.
Fighting this many zombies for the entertainment of others wouldn’t be the most awful thing in the world. I genuinely enjoyed making a Z-kill. But I wasn’t at my best right now. Since I’d realized we were safe, my strength had crashed and burned, taking the rest of my anticipation with it. All I had left was dread and fatigue.
Made sense. I’d been on the go for forty-eight hours plus. My only sleep had come courtesy of drugs. My last meal had been the pastry I’d freelance-valeted. I’d lost four friends, used enough adrenaline to kill a rhino (probably) and had just been chased through the streets.
Even still, I said, “I’ll do it. I’ll fight.” I didn’t see any way around it. Cole and I could battle our way through the slayers instead and leave, but we wouldn’t get the answers we wanted.
“Aw, how sweet.” Everything about River mocked me. “Thing is, sweetness, I don’t remember asking. You’re going in that cage whether you want to or not.”
Anger stiffened my spine. Oh, no, he didn’t.
“You’re right,” Cole said, the ease of his acceptance astonishing me. “But we’re not doing it because you ordered it. We’re doing it because I want you to watch and know the beast you’re provoking.”
Voices rose. Bets were placed.
River’s smile was slow and cool. “I like you more with every second that passes, Holland, I really do.” He nodded at two of his crew members, and the boys opened a section of the dome.
Pep-Talk Ali raced in with a vengeance. Buck up, girl. This one’s in the bag.
An-n-nd... Downer Ali arrived with a rebuttal. There’s so much at stake. You could ruin everything.
One day I was going to find a way to strangle Downer Ali with my bare hands.
I squared my shoulders and met Cole’s anticipatory gaze. Anticipatory. Good. He hadn’t lost his desire to fight. He could take care of this even if he had both hands tied behind his back. I could observe.
“Remember reason number seven?” he asked.
Good glory. Not reason seven! Not now. “Yes,” I said and tried not to whimper.
“That,” he said.
No way. Just no way he was going to stand back and let me do all the work—please!
He wound a lock of my hair around his finger. “This is going to be fun.”
Oh, crap. He was, wasn’t he? But...but...why? I knew it wasn’t because of his injury. As he’d proved, he could be dying and still want to act as my shield. So, that had to mean...what? That he didn’t want River to know what he was capable of, allowing him to launch a surprise attack later? Perhaps. Or maybe he was tired of the snide remarks directed my way and wanted me to show these people I was a force to be reckoned with.
Know the beast you’re provoking....
Yeah. That one.
And okay, he seriously rocked.
Can’t let him down. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him, uncaring of our audience. “I hope you’re ready to be impressed.”
“I live ready.” He gripped my nape, holding me steady, and kissed me harder.
When we pulled away and grinned at each other, the crowd was oddly silent. I wondered why—shock? disgust?—but honestly, I didn’t care. As Cole led me to the opening of the cage, I realized bets were still being placed.
“Ten on the Z with the bow tie.”
“Twenty says Ali Bell gets bitten within the first five seconds.”
Cole winked at me and waved a hand to indicate the zombies. “After you.”
“Why, thank you, kind sir.” I searched for a ladder, didn’t find one. Great. I’d have to jump.
Whatever.
I didn’t give myself time to think, or lament, but stepped off the ledge and tumbled down. Landing jarred me, but I managed to straighten without pause and turn one Ali into two. Zombies swarmed me. I punched one, then another, drew in a deep breath, held...held...gathering what strength I had into the center of my being, summoning the fire I needed to kill these things...and despite my ragged condition, it came. My faith had been exercised earlier and was still pumped up despite my condition, so the flames were bright and hot.
I heated...and heated...and heated, until I was nearly burning alive, every inch of me engulfed. All I had to do was stand there and let the creatures touch me. One ashed. Then another. Touch, touch, touch. Ash, ash, ash, until no creatures were left standing.
That. Easily.