Chapter 13
“Ithink it is.” Celine slammed her fist on the roof.
“That traitorous bitch. And that’s Morrow, er, Beast holding onto her arm.
I could spot him from a mile away with that arrogant swagger.
” Vander’s warning to stay away from Beast echoed through my mind.
But I couldn’t just run to the woods and hide.
Had the others surrendered? I crawled across the roof and poked my head back through the opening.
“They’re coming and they have Foxglove.”
“What do you mean they have her?” someone asked.
I glanced back at Team Assassin, already boasting about winning and having a day off. “We shouldn’t have split up,” I said through my teeth.
“Did she join them?” another asked. “That’s not part of the game.”
“No, I think they’re holding her hostage.” My stomach started to sour. “They must have defeated the other half of our team.”
“But if they surrendered, aren’t they supposed to be out of the game?” Taewyn asked.
I thought so, but it didn’t matter, she was with them, and she’d led them to us.
I couldn’t imagine what Vander would do if I’d surrendered and given up my team.
Her trainer was probably losing their mind.
“The trainers must have allowed Team Assassin to take her hostage.” I looked among the grove of trees again for signs of Vander, Falcon, or any of the trainers and didn’t find any.
Celine stamped her foot. “She broke pretty damn easily if they’re already here. It hasn’t been that long.”
“We don’t know for sure what happened,” I said as I moved into a crouch.
“Oh, yes we do,” Celine snapped. “She’s a coward. I’d let them beat me unconscious before I’d lead them to my group.”
“How many of them are there?” a male voice called from inside. I leaned back over the opening. An apprentice with the name FANG on his collar stepped away from the door and toward me.
“It’s their whole team.”
“Then we’re outnumbered two to one. How are we supposed to fight them off?” Fang started pacing.
“Um, push them out of the window?” Taewyn said it like he was questioning himself.
“They can only come in a few at a time,” I said, gesturing toward the two windows and then the door. “We’ll have to fend them off, then get them to surrender a few at a time before we’re overrun.”
“They can also come in through that hole,” Fang said, pointing at where I was peeking in. “That’s what I would do.”
Celine stood and put her hands on her hips. “That’s exactly what they’ll do. Shit.”
I stood next to her. There was no point in hiding now. My stomach was in knots, and every muscle was taut and charged.
“Oh, look who it is, the loth and my old flame.” Beast stood at the base of the granary and shoved Foxglove to her knees. I knew he’d ripped off her hood and mask just to be an ass. “There’s no need for anyone to get hurt. Surrender and hand over the hostages.”
“You’ll have to take them,” Celine shouted.
“Because we’re not surrendering, unlike that coward.
” She pointed at Foxglove. Her head was hung low in shame and tears glistened on her cheeks.
One of her eyes was swollen shut. I didn’t know exactly what happened, but I doubted she gave up the information easily. Calling her a coward was harsh.
“Fine then, sweetheart. We’ll do that.” Beast nodded and Team Assassin moved forward.
The granary was held up ten feet off the ground by four stone pillars.
Climbing this would be as easy as anything in the city.
They immediately went for the windows and the door that had a small wooden balcony in front of it.
The first Team Assassin apprentice made it to the window and was promptly shoved back by one of ours and fell. He hit the ground with a thud and rolled onto his side, groaning in pain.
“Forget the windows.” Beast waved off his team. “We take the roof.”
I shouted in through the hole. “We’re going to need some backup.” My breaths came faster. This was stupid. We should have hidden in the trees and scattered ourselves and the hostages. In the cover of the woods, I would at least have had room to evade Beast. Here, I was stuck in a small space.
Taewyn stepped onto the roof with us. “Bonecarver and I can defend the right side. Fang and Celine, you take the left.”
I stomped on the fingers of the first to make it to the roof.
With a grunt, he fell but landed on his feet.
Taewyn shoved down someone else and stamped on the hand of another.
I shuffled over to the next person with their fingers curled over the edge of the roof.
My boot crunched on his fingers, but he latched onto my ankle with his other hand and jerked.
With a squeak, I fell onto my ass. He dragged me toward the edge.
I flipped over and clawed at the aging roof, trying to get hold, but was pulled over the lip and hung off beside him.
He narrowed his eyes at me then kicked my hip.
It knocked me sideways and I almost lost my grasp.
He kicked at me again and I swung back. Forget this.
Rather than play footsy, I pulled myself up.
Just as I got myself over the edge, a pair of thick boots stepped into view.
I slowly lifted my chin. Beast loomed over me. “Hello, weird eyes. Fancy meeting you here.”
My stomach dropped, and I scurried to my feet, backing away from him, toward the hole in the roof.
Celine and the others were engaged in fights, and I was on my own.
Should I run? I could quickly drop off the edge and climb down and wait to fight from the ground.
Instincts told me I should. Pride wanted me to stay and defend my team.
I glanced around for Taewyn or Celine.
“Viper isn’t here. You can just surrender now and save that pretty face.”
I felt for the hole with my foot then dropped inside. My team immediately grabbed me and threw me to the ground. My cheek was smashed into the smelly old floor with a boot on my back. “It’s me, Bonecarver.”
“Oh, sorry about that,” said a boy. Taking my arms, they hoisted me up just as Beast and a couple others dropped in.
My team rushed forward and fists flew. Grunts and curses came next, then bone cracking flesh.
More Team Assassin dropped in and climbed through the windows.
I backed toward the hostages, shielding them with my body.
Beast quickly took down a girl on my team, sending her crashing to the floor. She curled up on a ball and held her side. The wood boards cracked and gave way. With a scream, she fell through landing onto the grass ten feet below.
He marched toward me, mask down so I could see his smirk. “Get out of the way.”
To my right, one of my team had her face pressed into the floor by one of Team Assassin, their elbow hooked around her throat. “I surrender.”
A few more surrenders echoed through the room.
We were about to lose. I gritted my teeth and put up my fists.
Vander was going to be pissed, but what else was I supposed to do?
Celine called Foxglove a coward and she hadn’t run.
She’d taken a beating before she led them to us.
Imagine what she’d call me if I ran or surrendered without a fight.
Our hostages didn’t move but the man on my left looked nervous. He turned his face away, averting his gaze, I knew then I was in trouble. He didn’t want to see me get beaten to a pulp.
Beast grabbed for me, and I shoved his hands down. He laughed but it was wicked. “You’re not seriously going to fight me.”
I swung for his throat and hit. His eyes blew wide and he choked, stumbling back several steps. The ragged gurgling noises coming from him made me smile.
“Oh, now you’re dead.”
I steeled myself, thinking of my training.
I’d learned evasive moves. Beast swung and I ducked.
He kicked and I jumped back. I’d been sparring with Vander for weeks and his strikes made Beast’s slow to my eyes.
Beast was no Viper, he was a grizzly—powerful, but he relied on his brute strength and intimidation.
If he landed a hit, I was in trouble. I blocked his blows, shoving aside his fists, shifting away a fraction before each hit.
Every time he missed me, the fury burned hotter in his face.
Then he went for the hostage. His fingertips were inches from touching the woman.
I slapped his arm down and kicked him in the back of the legs.
One knee buckled but he turned and hit me hard in the ribs.
Pain ripped through me. I coughed out my breath.
Shit, not my ribs again. I stumbled back into the wall, gasping.
Celine, Taewyn, and Fang dropped into the room. Maybe they’d taken back the roof, and we still had a chance.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I wheezed, distracting Beast from tapping the hostages and leading them out. I ignored the pain in my ribs and forced myself to stand taller.
The slow turn of his head sent a chill down my spine. “You must have been dropped on the head too many times as a baby.”
Pyro pushed her way through the skirmish and stood beside Beast. Me against two. Tonight, she and I were on different teams. Beast tapped the hostages, and they started to follow him.
No, he wasn’t going to get away with our prize that easily. Despite Vander’s warning, I shoved Pyro aside, jumped onto Beast’s back and went for the chokehold. Don’t directly engage with him.
But after he beat me without even trying my first day, I wanted revenge. I wanted him and everyone here to respect me.
The muscles in his body tensed, and he tucked his chin before I could hook my elbow.
I might be quicker than him, but when he flipped me over his shoulder, I got a taste of his true strength.
I wanted to be stronger. I wanted to be able to toss him through the wall as if he were nothing but a pebble.
My back crashed to the floorboards. I rolled before his boot came down on my face.