Chapter 23
Caden
The days pass and blur together. With Hector’s warning circling in my head, I train harder than ever, pushing myself until even Master Trainer orders me to take a break.
The other fighters used to look at me with contempt, but now they look at me with fear and suspicion.
They can tell there’s something deeply strange about me, but they don’t know what.
My strength, my commitment, my relationship with Hector…
I’m an enigma, a Defender who is quickly rising in status against all odds, and if Hector gets his way, I’m likely to lead these men into battle.
The world is mad, and I’m beginning to think that if it hadn't been for Finn’s life on the line, I would have ended it all on my own terms. Hector’s hold on me can’t be strong enough to prevent that, at least not yet.
But Finn is here, and every few days, I’m taken to see him, reminded that this is no longer just about me.
By risking his life to find me, he has granted Hector even more leverage over me.
As frustrating as it is, I would have done the same for him.
Elijah calls for me when I’m done taking a shower after training. I’m starving, but there’s better food in his house. The guards let me in, watching me warily.
Elijah sits by the fireplace, reading an old book. I’m glad to see food waiting on the table. I sit on the couch to eat as he watches me in silence. I don’t mind since I’ve grown comfortable with his presence.
I finish eating and lean back on the couch, but Elijah points at the armchair in front of him, so I move to sit close to the dancing flames.
“What are you reading?” I ask.
“History. The things humans can achieve with enough time and commitment. It’s both fascinating and frustrating, but maybe we’ll achieve greatness again someday.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath.” Not with fuckers like Father and Hector who insist on tearing down what little we were able to rebuild.
“I’m not. Give me your foot.”
“Why?”
“So I can massage it.”
I’m not about to pass on such an offer. I take off my shoes and place my right foot in his lap.
The second he begins to press his fingers into my muscles, I melt in the chair, letting out a satisfied moan.
We don’t talk for a long time, and I allow myself to doze off as the warmth of the flames strokes my face.
I wake up when he asks for my other foot. “Is there something you wanted to talk about?” I ask.
“Yes. Hector’s troops are attacking settlements to the south and to the east. They used to focus on the north, but that’s changing.”
I pull back my foot and sit straighter. “Are they killing everyone?”
“Officially, yes, but my sources share a different story. They are bringing captives through a secret entrance to Denver, then they disappear. My guess is that they’re taking them to the sewers.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, but there is something happening down there. Other than that, there are more drones in the sky and more armed guards patrolling the streets and the outer borders. The city is preparing for an attack, and people are growing nervous.”
If you don’t think that Dino is moving things at the speed of light with both you and me captives, then you don’t know him at all.
Before I can ask to hear more, I feel the need to say, “You’re playing with fire. If he finds out how much you’ve been snooping, he’ll come after you.”
“It’s quite a compliment to have the next champion of Denver worried about me.”
I narrow my eyes. I never mentioned Hector’s plan to him.
He snorts. “Oh, didn’t you know? Everyone’s talking about your upcoming fight with the giant. No single human has ever fought him directly, and here you are, about to fight him this weekend.”
It’s a good thing I’m sitting. “This weekend?”
“It was announced yesterday. There are billboards all over the city. The fight between the giant and the ex-Defender for Denver’s championship. Hector has been preparing you to be his champion from the moment he captured you, hasn’t he?”
I rub my face, still processing. “Yes.”
“To lead his troops?”
“Yes.”
“To conquer?”
I sigh. “Yes.”
“And why the fuck are you playing along, you horrible man?”
I’m stunned by his anger, but I remember what his father fought for until the day he died. “I’m playing along because I have to, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give him what he wants. There are things out of my control at the moment.”
“Out of your control?” He reaches for his pocket and pulls out an old pocketknife.
He releases the blade and grabs my hand, turning it upward.
I hold my breath as he presses the sharp blade to my wrist. “Hector won’t find another one like you so quickly, and clearly there’s a reason he prefers you over the giant.
You can choose to disobey him whenever you want and not be responsible for so many unnecessary deaths. ”
I feel the sharp nick of the blade. A drop of blood drips onto the floor, yet I don’t pull my hand back. “He has someone I have to save, Elijah.”
“Who?”
“Someone worth saving.”
“The price—”
“You let me worry about the price. I won’t betray my people, and the more we discuss this, the more I’ll be putting you in danger.”
“I don’t matter.”
“You matter enough for me to want to keep you alive. Keep trying to slice my wrists, and it’s going to change.”
He sighs and withdraws the blade, looking tired and older. “Hector will be the end of us, but maybe it’s for the best. I’ve spent too many years hoping for things to change, but they’re only getting worse. It’s painful to wish for the downfall of your own people.”
I respect him for holding onto his morals despite the darkness around him. “There are better people out there who deserve your support.”
“I suppose you’re right.” He lowers his gaze, then scowls.
“What is it?”
He doesn’t answer, just keeps looking. I lean forward to follow his gaze, scowling as well since I’m not sure what it is I’m seeing. Then I realize it’s my blood on the floor, but how the hell can that be? It’s not red; it’s yellow.
*
I manage to keep my shit together the following day, and when I bleed in training, I’m relieved to see it’s normal red.
It makes me wonder if I might have imagined what I saw, but Elijah saw the same thing.
I stare at my reflection in the cracked mirror in the shower room, searching for anything different in my appearance.
I’m still me, except for the heaviness in my eyes that wasn’t there before.
Word of my battle with Isaac spreads like wildfire. The other fighters ask how the hell I am expected to take down an unbeatable giant, and I tell them the truth—I don’t know.
I press Elijah to ask Hector to meet with me, and he claims he’s getting no response. I use my growing frustration to train even harder, but I’m desperate for a bigger challenge, something that will begin to feel remotely like fighting a giant. With nothing that can come close, my fury only grows.
Finally, on the day before the championship, a car comes to pick me up in the early hours of the morning. Once we reach downtown, I can’t escape the billboards with my picture on them. It was taken while I was raising my fist in triumph. I feel nauseous seeing the words Denver’s Defender.
For years, I’ve been dreaming of being Denver’s destroyer, but fate and I rarely see eye to eye.
Inside Hector’s building, they lead me to the elevator and leave once I’m facing the apartment’s door. I knock and wait, trying to keep myself composed, but I’m losing that fight, the same way I’m going to lose against Isaac tomorrow—the one Hector didn’t even tell me about in person.
The door opens, and Hector greets me with a smile. All the rage I’ve been holding rises to the surface, and something inside me snaps. I grab his shirt and shove him back, pinning him against the wall.
“Caden!” Finn calls from the living room, but it’s not about him.
“What the fuck are you doing to me?” I growl at Hector’s face.
“What happened?”
“I bled yellow blood the other day. Explain that.”
“That’s to be expected.”
“I didn’t expect that! What the fuck does that mean?”
He places his hands on mine while I’m still gripping his shirt. “This is the point where you calm down and let go of me. I’d hate to break your bones before tomorrow’s big game.”
“You didn’t tell me it was happening so fast!”
By the time I notice the shift in his expression, it’s too late. He pushes me so hard that I fly across the room, crashing onto the floor and sliding until I hit the glass wall. I grimace in pain, my shoulder throbbing. Every bone in my body shakes.
Finn takes a step toward me, then stops and looks away. At least one of us is smart enough to control himself. Hector crouches next to me, looking more amused than angry. I hope it means he’s not about to smash my face.
“I apologize for not being in touch. I didn’t want you to fight Isaac so soon, but our enemies are moving faster than expected, so I need my champion to be ready.”
“Then use the giant. I’m never going to fight for you, Hector.” I stop myself from looking at Finn and saying, Not even for him. He would never forgive me if I fought against our own people.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Hector strokes my cheek. “I brought you here today because it’s high time for honesty.” He helps me up, and my pain quickly fades as if I hadn’t just been thrown across the room.
“Follow me,” he says, walking toward the door. “Both of you.”
*
The future is apparently down in the sewers in a remote part of the city.
We need to pass through a heavily guarded entrance before we reach a metal door that leads down to a flight of stairs. It doesn’t smell as bad as I thought it would, but the air is damp and unpleasant.
“Is this the only sewer system you have?” Finn asks as the three of us walk through a wide tunnel. Dim lights on both sides illuminate our way, stretching our shadows across the walls.