Chapter 9
I screw the new circuit board into place. My fingers and wrists protest the movement.
I’m exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep even after a couple hours of working on the project for my mind-numbing day job. The disastrous fight kept replaying in my head as I tossed and turned on the plush hotel mattress before I gave up on sleeping and decided to work ahead for tomorrow.
The Builder Bay is quiet this time of night. The only other person besides me in the cavernous space is the bored night guard reading a battered paperback.
And Jacob.
I pointedly do not look down the row of stations towards him.
He’s got a team of eight builders, not including him, and all the extra parts one might need.
Not to mention all the specifications and funds to have new ones created between battles.
The fact that he’s here right now annoys me.
Yes, he’s fighting two days in a row, but he doesn’t need to be here at one in the morning.
He barely took any damage in our fight. I’m the one with a flea market bot that’s ripped open.
I barely got moving before we were defeated.
I slip my ring splints back on as I boot up Zeta. The laptop hooked up to it confirms the power levels are holding steady, and I sigh in relief. One thing can be checked off the list.
“Your numbers are steady, but they’re too low,” a smooth, deep voice says from behind me. I whip my head around so fast my ponytail smacks me in the face, purple and pink hair sticking in my lip balm. It’s hard to glare menacingly when you have hair stuck to your face, but I persevere.
“I know how to do my job,” I growl at Jacob, trying to brush away the strands of hair.
He is, unfortunately, correct. However, there is no other option.
With our first set of batteries melted, we’re running on our only backups, with no ability to recharge them.
We can’t afford to pull more power. Not that I’ll be explaining that to him.
“That robot is a waste of time. You shouldn’t be here.” His voice is cool and even, like he’s not insulting me, just stating a fact.
“I deserve to be here. Go back to your station.”
He reaches out to examine a body panel laid out next to the one with a deep, flame-blackened gouge in it.
I swat his hand away like an angry cat, but he catches my wrist. His long fingers wrap around me securely but with no actual pressure.
My skin buzzes with the contact, his gentle hand a charged current against my skin.
It’s different from the handshake; there’s nothing business-like about this.
His eyes pin me in place. “Not on this team.”
“What team do I belong on, Jacob?” I try not to squirm under his intense stare. The absolutely treasonous things my body is doing in response to his hold are not helping. “Still not yours, I imagine.” His eyes narrow as the anger washes over me with the memories.
“Mari.” His voice is low and soft, dangerously disarming. His perfect mouth still looks good bent the wrong way. It angers me even further. “Don’t make this loss something it’s not,” he warns.
I tear my arm away, the electric heat gone in an instant. Jacob’s frowning face falters for a second. Something nearly regretful graces his features, but I don’t think that’s an emotion he’s capable of. It’s just a trick of the light. “Excuse me?”
He lifts his chiseled chin slightly. “There was nothing personal about it.” Each word is a blade sinking into my flesh.
“Great, wonderful. Glad this time it wasn’t about me,” I say, crossing my arms.
He looks away in what I assume is an attempt to not roll his eyes at me. “That’s not what I mean.”
“What do you mean, then, Jacob?”
He grumbles something under his breath before that intense stare slices back to me. The gaze I once welcomed is now twisting every knife. “There’s nothing you could have done to win that fight.”
Not that I should have expected anything else, but the words sting. “Wow.”
“Mari, come on,” he says flatly. “With that bot?” He gestures to the pile of parts on the table. “You never stood a chance. I beat you fairly.”
He’s not wrong, but I wish he was. There was a small chance, one I desperately hung on to. But when it comes down to it, the chance was negligible. I think that might be what hurts the most. It was doomed from the start. I’m starting to think my entire run at Circuit Smack will be.
“Thanks for that reminder,” I say. I click my rings together. “Congratulations, Jacob. You won. At least it was an honest win this time. Can you leave me alone now?”
His head tilts as his eyes narrow. “You’re still mad about that?”
Jacob isn’t in front of me anymore. All I can see is a wall of red.
“Am I still mad about it?” I repeat. “Am I still mad about you almost ruining my career?” Mad about it getting brought up in front of the whole world?
About being mocked for it by my own team?
About the reason I’m here with this shitty robot instead of a better team?
Through the red, I can see his face falter again. This time, his regretful expression sticks. “Mari,” he starts.
“Get out of my station before I tell security.” He opens his mouth to say something else, but I cut him off again.
“I’m about to leave, and you’ll be violating rules if you’re in my station.
I know you love to do that, but this time there are cameras.
” I point to a security camera mounted on the ceiling, aimed in our direction.
Every emotion is wiped away. His jaw twitches, the only tell left. He stares at me for a second before turning and walking out of the Builder Bay, leaving me with my racing thoughts and my losing bot.