Blake shoved his way right in between Devon and Felix, knocking them both aside. Devon glared at Blake’s back, his hands clenching into tight fists, but Felix stared at Deah the whole time. She dropped her head, skirted past him, and hurried to catch up with her obnoxious brother. Felix held his hand out, as if he was going to grab her shoulder, but he dropped it to his side at the last second.
Deah didn’t see the motion, but Katia did. The other girl looked back and forth between Felix and Deah. She frowned, realizing that something was going on between them, even if she didn’t know exactly what it was.
“Forget about them,” Devon said. “We should go over to the fence and scope out the obstacle course. They’ll announce the competitors for the first heat soon.”
“I’ll go with you guys,” Felix volunteered. He forced himself to smile at Katia. “We’ll catch up later, okay?”
“Sure,” she said, still frowning and looking at Deah’s back. “That will be great.”
“Great,” Felix replied in a too-bright voice.
He nodded at her, then whirled around and started walking toward the chain-link fence. Not quite running, but close enough to it. Katia’s frown deepened, but she nodded at Devon and me and headed back toward the Volkov tent.
“Let the games begin,” I muttered.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Devon and I caught up with Felix at the fence, where he was looking out over the obstacle course, along with most of the competitors.
The workers had completely transformed the stadium floor. Gone was the flat, empty, grassy field, and in its place stood hurdles, balance beams, a zip line, and a fifty-foot-tall rope ladder.
But the centerpiece of the stadium was a large, natural cold spring filled with fresh, clear water that constantly bubbled. Legend had it that the spring had the same healing properties as the water that flowed down the falls on Cloudburst Mountain, and tourists used to come and bathe in the spring, before the Families decided to build the stadium around it.
Natural rock formations shot through with veins of bloodiron ore rose up out of the ground around the spring, making it look like a miniature Stonehenge. Oh, sure, the rocks and grass and water made the spring seem pretty and inviting, like an oasis in the middle of the stadium, but really, the rocks, grass, and water were just more obstacles to get through.
Because this event was also for the tourists, all the obstacles, from the hurdles to the balance beams to the zip line, were decorated in cheesy ren-faire style, with flags, banners, and feathers, or adorned with snarling monster faces, just like all the Midway shops and restaurants. Fake tree trolls hung from portions of the rope ladder, while black plastic lochness tentacles stuck up out of the spring. The bubbling water made it look like there was a real lochness lurking in the cold depths there.
“Tough course,” I said.
“Yeah,” Devon agreed. “But how fast you finish it determines where you’ll be seeded in the tournament. So you want to get through as quickly as you can.”
The tournament had one hundred twenty-eight competitors, all members of the Families. After we finished the obstacle course, the one-on-one matches would begin, continuing over the next couple of days until there were two folks left standing, who would duke it out to see who won.
When I finished sizing up the obstacle course, I turned my attention to the competition. I recognized almost all the guards milling around the fence, since they were the same guards that I’d spent the last four years ducking when I was picking pockets, stealing cameras, and swiping phones on the Midway. But there were a few people I didn’t recognize.
Lucky for me, Felix was already chattering a hundred words a minute, telling me all about the Family members, including their strengths and weaknesses.
“See that Volkov guard? He has a major strength Talent. Don’t let him hit you, or he’ll knock you out with one blow. And that Salazar dude? He can form fireballs with his bare hands. Don’t let him touch you, or he’ll burn you so badly you won’t even be able to hold your own sword. And that Ito woman over there, well, she’s been known to. . . . ”
After a while, all the names, faces, and Talents ran together, and I couldn’t remember who did what. And still, Felix kept right on talking. Sometimes, I thought that he must have speed magic to talk as much and as fast as he did.
“Hey, guys,” a voice called out, interrupting Felix. “What’s up?”
We turned to find a slim, petite girl standing behind us. She was wearing a purple T-shirt patterned with a cluster of purple wisteria flowers and matching shorts, along with a silver cuff stamped with the same design. The number twenty-one was pinned to her shirt, and her black hair was pulled back into a pretty braid.
“Poppy!” I said, reaching out and hugging the other girl. “It’s so good to see you.”
Poppy Ito laughed and returned my hug. “You too, Lila.”
She hugged Felix and Devon as well, then drew back, grinning at us. “You guys ready to rock ’n’ roll?”
Felix jerked his thumb at Devon and me. “They are. I’m just a spectator, as usual.”
“Well, I’ll be hanging out with you soon enough,” Poppy said. “Probably by round three or four.”