Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
CHAMPION
Ihad a slight spring to my steps as I set up for the Three Hundred, going over lists with the backup crew, and Daniel who was part of the team. Flowers was the one working with the beasts and his own men to watch the perimeter.
Sunshine was feeling better. Maybe it was just a break in treatments, but having her really see me, talk to me, make really bad jokes was so incredibly sweet. It lit up my world and made anything seem possible.
Before the first race, Jezebel came over to announce that Kitten was watching me, so I had to make it look good.
Shaping my hands into a heart wasn’t really my brand, but if Kitten saw it, she might get a kick out of it.
I should be with her while she was feeling good, but no, I had to stay out here to keep my team safe.
Jezebel would do a fine job, but it was still my team.
For some reason, Jez was against taking official responsibility for others.
“Everything set?” I asked Dirk on my walkie-talky as I climbed into my truck.
“Set.”
“I’ve got the guards for the cello performance. You can get rid of anyone in post-production. Stay on schedule.”
“Yes, Daddy Nix,” he said drily, like I thought he didn’t know his own business.
I smiled slightly. “That’s Papa Beast. Let’s make this look good. Every step. Every mile. Keep it tight. To the very end.”
“We didn’t come out here to lose.”
“It’s not about winning, it’s about looking good.”
He chuckled. “Ah, vanity is a much worthier cause. I’ll make a point of it, Papa Beast.” He hung up.
I checked with Jezebel. “All set? How’s Pinkie?”
“Set. Any special preferences?”
“Have fun. Not too much fun. We’re making it look good for Kitten, and we’re staying safe.”
“Yes, we are. We’ll run it like clockwork, just like we’ve practiced. Pinkie says hi.” She hung up. And then I was left to call Trixie.
“Nix. You good? You seem suspiciously cheerful this morning,” she began.
I smiled slightly. “Kitten’s feeling better. She’s watching the show. Stay safe, all right? I don’t want her to worry overmuch.”
She snorted. “You mean I shouldn’t get shot by a rocket this time around? I’ll do my best. Why is Horse in the lineup behind me? He should be positioned near you, as head of his team. A team he can’t seem to keep longer than one season.” She tsked.
“He must be a fickle master. What do you think of his truck? I can’t decide if it’s more ridiculous or sexy.”
“His truck is all engine, but then he did up that chassis like one of those mobster cars. It’s ridiculously sexy.”
I grinned. “Pity Horse isn’t a little less ridiculous.”
“It’s his brand. Unlike the church thing. I get you needing some religion during this whole thing with Kitten, but Horse?”
“He’s giving me moral support.”
She snorted. “Moral? We must be talking about different horses.”
“For someone who doesn’t have consistent team members, you have to admit he does well.”
“I don’t have to admit anything. And why are you saying nice things about Horse? Did you lose a bet? Get a concussion?”
“It must be the church, making me see people through different eyes. The eyes of charity.”
“Mm hm. Don’t know why you’re talking about Horse so much before the race.”
“You brought him up.”
“That’s because…” She sighed heavily. “I’ll try not to let him get to me.”
“I’d appreciate it. Make it clean. Stay focused. Precision.”
“Got it. See you at the checkpoint.” She hung up, leaving me with nothing to do but run through the track ahead of me in my mind.
An image of Kitten came unbidden, her bright smile slightly crooked, her blue eyes shining and glorious.
She was feeling better. Maybe it was only today, but I’d take it. One day at a time.
The race started, and I was in the thick of it, staying steady, setting a good pace while other teams veered around more carelessly. I influenced them subtly, easing the tension, cultivating more focus while I stayed relaxed, enjoying the drive. Kitten was watching. She was everything.
The races progressed, the teams breaking off, switching up as we ran the passes.
Jezebel took the side detour for the horse race that she would doubtless win while Dirk set up with Pinkie.
I’d fully expected Dirk and his wife to quit after last season, but she liked hanging out with the ladies, who made her feel more normal.
Would they do another season after this?
Would I? I’d built the games from nothing, and people relied on me, but if Kitten wanted to do something else…
The rest of the day passed as scheduled, so I was relatively happy when I pulled up at the check point after dusk, ready to go over things with Dirk and his vantage point.
The second day was always riskiest, but the first day had been downright rational.
The only thing that would make it better was if I was heading home to see Kitten.
Flowers was with Daniel. It would be better if they were watching over Kitten, but where she was should be unfindable, and it’s not as if he’d pull all of his people from the place.
It was extremely defensible, and he’d know if there had been an attack.
I pulled my phone out to call, but we still had the campfire scene to film before we could really break for the night, which in most of our cases meant more work to prep for day two, when everything that could go wrong, would.
We were filming the scene, everyone ready with musical instruments, and Trixie actually managing to strum a few chords, which showed how much effort Pinkie had put into it, when a helicopter buzzed in the background.
A helicopter wasn’t scheduled. I got up and turned, searching the darkness with more than my eyes.
A blur of white fell from the sky. I couldn’t grasp their mind.
I crouched, flexing as the beast spread across my skin, and then she was there, riding this jet board in a white armored suit, with a smiley face painted on the chest plate.
I stood frozen by the impossible vision of my wife on a floating skateboard, coming towards me. Was this a vision of my angel after death? Was my Kitten gone to heaven? Or on her way? Did she…
She hit me, full body, sending every pound of my bulk to the ground, knocking the breath out of me and pinning me to the ground, two feet from the cheerful fire. She stared at me as she yelled in a voice that had more strength than she’d had in months, “Get down! There’s an attack planned!”
An attack? I rolled her, having to use a lot of effort to become the human shield. I pinned her, staring down at her beautiful face, radiant and alive in the flickering fire. I touched her cheek as the first shots rang out. So soft.
One bullet grazed my calf, another my shoulder, but the burn couldn’t distract me from the most beautiful angel that had ever come to save me.
She struggled beneath me, pushing on my shoulders. “Nix! Get off me! I’m here to protect you, because I’m the one in an armored suit. You’re going to get shot again, and who’s going to give you stitches, hm?” She shoved against me and I smiled down at my heart. She was so strong. Fierce. Alive.
The world was reborn along with her. “If you had a helmet, maybe I’d let you take bullets for me, but as it is…
” I covered her mouth with mine, needing to taste her breath, make sure this wasn’t just a hallucination, vision, or dream.
She tasted like goulash and Sunshine. So sweet.
So real. My wife. She was here, here to rescue me, like she’d rescued me from the meaninglessness of my existence the first moment we’d met.
She’d saved my heart and soul. She’d given me my life with every beat of her precious heart.
She bit my tongue hard enough that I pulled away. I didn’t want her choking on my blood.
She was scowling at me. “I’m here to rescue you.”
I nodded soberly as more shots rang out. That was from Jezebel’s gun. She was already in the dark, a shadow among the shadows. Sunshine and I were the only ones still in the light of the fire, a target to whoever had decided to challenge me.
I rolled us away from the fire and in the shadow of a tent, but somehow when we stopped, she was on top.
Her smile was fierce, determined to save me no matter what the personal cost. And she’d suffered more than anyone should ever suffer.
My throat choked up and my eyes got watery.
She’d hurt so much to save me. She must think I was worth saving.
I cupped her head, palming her silky strands, also blocking anyone who might be shooting at her.
“Thank you for coming to my rescue. I would be lost without you,” I murmured, tracing the lines of her face, needing to know that she was really and truly with me.
She blinked at me, her eyes falling to my mouth while her own lips pursed. “Now is not the time for seduction, Nix. We’re under attack.”
I smiled and caressed her cheek. “This is not the time for seduction, but…” I didn’t want to ask, but I needed to hear her say it. “Is there time? For seduction and all the other things? Are you…”
“Cured? That’s what the psycho told me. So…” She stared down at me, her eyes so huge, emotions so vulnerable and raw. “Yeah. I think we have a lot of time,” she whispered, like she was afraid to say it too loud in case it turned out a lie.
I kissed her, too hard, desperate, needing so much of her.
I wanted to shatter her into a million pieces and devour every single one of them.
Cured. Time. Saved. And all I had to do was endure her suffering and give the psycho that favor he’d make sure I didn’t like.
I’d happily fetch his pen out of a volcano for this.