Untamed

Chapter 45

chapter

forty-five

Haven

Today is our last test.

It’s been three days since Idris died, and I can’t help but feel like something is wrong.

Ender has been looking at me like I killed his cat.

He hasn’t spoken to me, despite my efforts to make small talk.

Knox has been hanging out with me more, but it doesn’t feel light and fun anymore. It feels like he’s watching me.

“Is Ender mad at me?” I ask.

Knox is beside me. One boot planted against the wall.

I’m strapped to the teeth with weapons and am wearing my favorite black jacket reinforced with matte armor plating––at the shoulders and ribs––cut close to my body so nobody can grab me.

A holster is secured beneath my left arm, another at my thigh, with my blades strapped in.

“Why would you think that?” he asks.

“He won’t look at me,” I say.

“Why would he look at you?”

“He always looks at me,” I say.

I don’t realize until I’ve spoken the words that I miss his attention.

“Ender is loyal to you,” Knox says. His tone is slightly cutting. “He would do anything for you. But would you do the same?”

“Where is this coming from?” I ask, confused.

Ender may suspect that I am a rebel, but if he doesn’t plan to kill me for it, why is he being so hostile? I would rather he confront me than poison me with his stare.

A sinking feeling hits me. What if he thinks I’ll die in the test today, and he figures that there’s no point in handling me?

“Good luck, recruit,” Knox says, glancing away. “You’re going to need it.”

“So this is it?” Flint says. “We made it to the end.”

My stomach churns. Only one of us lives today.

“No, good-byes,” Rei says sternly. “I can’t stand dramatic displays of affection.”

Her brisk words would normally make me crack a smile, but I’m not in the mood to pretend. Bile crawls up my throat at the thought of watching my friends die.

“It was an honor to train alongside you, Mercy and Rei,” Flint says. “You both made this entire thing bearable.”

“Haven,” I correct. “My name is Haven.”

“What?” Rei asks.

Flint frowns.

They deserve the truth. I want them to know who I am.

“I switched places with Mercy. She was conscripted to the Forge, and I was engaged to Ender,” I explain. “But Mercy is not a fighter, and I am not a wife.”

“That explains Ender’s infatuation with you,” Flint says. “You are the one meant to be his.”

I shake my head. “Ender hates me.”

“No, he hates that he wants you,” Rei says. “His reaction on your birthday...” She shakes her head. “It all makes sense now.”

My stomach twists at her words. I’ve been trying to forget that night. Something shifted between us after, but I can’t tell if it was for better or for worse.

“You’re not mad that I didn’t tell you?” I ask.

I expected that Flint might not be bothered by my deception, but I figured Rei would lose it.

“No.” Rei sighs. “I understand why you did it. Truthfully, I would do the same.”

“I wouldn’t have survived this far without you.” I look at them. “Both of you.”

My heart is in my throat. Anxiety fills me at how this will all unfold.

“Likewise,” Flint echoes.

“How are we doing?” Spider asks, draping an arm over Flint, and I, Rei, would bite his wrist if he pulled her into a group hug.

His brows are tight, and for once, he isn’t smiling.

“We finished our farewells,” I say.

“Whatever happens today, I want you all to know that you’ve fought bravely and should be proud of yourselves,” Spider says.

Rei and Flint walk off to stretch. Now that they are gone, I can wallow privately. It sickens me that in a few hours, only one of us will be breathing. How will I survive the loss of them?

“You can’t get in your head,” Spider whispers. “It will get you killed.”

“The rules are stupid,” I say, frustrated. “I don’t want to lose them.”

“It is them or you,” Spider says. “And I want it to be you, Mercy.”

I can’t picture Flint and Rei dead. The thought makes me want to heave. Spider grabs my shoulder.

“Look, I’ll take you for ice cream after, how does that sound?”

I laugh, surprised by the sound.

“This sucks.”

“I know,” he says. “Come on, let’s do the shake.”

Spider and I have a complicated handshake. One that we perform carefully today. Our fists collide together to close it off.

“Kick ass, Warrick,” Spider says. He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

I walk to the arena and take my place to Aric’s left. Everyone is standing in a straight line.

“You are all going to die today,” Aric promises.

I flip him off and look ahead. I need to keep my wits about me and not fall for his goading.

Ender stands on the observatory deck. I wait for a reaction. Anything. But all he does is blink as if I am no better than the other contestants. He doesn’t even bother to wish me well. I can’t believe that I fell for his lies. I thought he cared about me.

My mouth tightens. Screw him. I don’t need Ender Vale. I made it this far without him.

“Free for all,” Ender announces. “Last person alive wins.”

A horn sounds, and chills slide down my arms. It vibrates through the floor and straight into my bones.

The floodlights snap on, illuminating the circular pit.

Aric smiles like he’s already won. He rolls his shoulders, gripping two electric batons. He cracks them together, and they hum faintly as their charge activates.

I slip my blades out from my holster. The silver-edge shines, reflecting my troubled face. My dark brows are drawn tight, lips tight with fury.

“You and I will take him.” Rei nods at Aric. “Flint will handle Tyson.”

She doesn’t say the words after. She doesn’t explain that once we get rid of them both. It’ll be down to us.

We spread instinctively, forcing Aric to turn his head back and forth, measuring the distance between us. He laughs manically.

“Oh, don’t tell me you two planned this,” Aric says, pointing his baton at us both. “That’s adorable.”

He uses the distraction of his speech to lunge. He comes at me in a blur, batons cracking together with a thunderous snap. Rei tries to throw him off his feet, but he vanishes before she can hit him.

A painful thud hits my spine, and my teeth lock in pain. The electric pulses make my bones tingle, and the impact sends me flat on my back. Aric raises his weapon to crack my skull open like an almond.

I roll over, landing on my feet. I raise my knife to cut his chest, but he pivots at the last second. One of his batons catches my wrist, the other slamming into my ribs. Pain flares, bright and searing.

And before I can retaliate, he vanishes. It’s unfair that powers are allowed for the final round. I expected Ender to even the playing field for me, but it doesn’t seem like he cares if I live or die anymore.

I think about you every hour of the day.

How could he lie to my face like that? If I make it through this alive, I will never forgive him for turning his back on me before the most important ordeal of my life.

And he can forget about me partaking in the wedding. I’m going to make sure it is delayed for at least six months! I don’t know how, but I’ll make it happen.

Aric strikes my ankle. A cry escapes me, and I nearly crumble. I grit my teeth against the pain.

Rei catches him off-guard, swiping his feet out from under him, and he lands flat on his back, but he doesn’t stay down for long. They begin to spar.

A knife whooshes past my ear, cutting my skin.

Tyson.

Flint lies on the ground. His neck twisted at a terrible angle. Everything narrows in on that horrible image. I feel faint.

“Flint!” I cry.

But he does not respond, and I don’t get the chance to check on him. Tyson attacks me with brute force. The stub of his arm was replaced with a bionic one, and he uses it to wrap around my throat, crushing my windpipe. My fingers claw at the metal, a screech tearing through the air.

“I don’t need to steal your air to kill you,” Tyson sneers.

My vision grows blurry. I’m going to die. My eyes dart around, flying up for a heartbeat.

Ender leans forward, gripping the rail so tightly it’s a wonder it doesn’t snap.

“Fight,” he mouths. “Fight back.”

I grapple for my second blade, fingers grasping hungrily along the floor. Finally, I capture the hilt and stick it into his side. Tyson howls, toppling over. I use the opportunity to stick the knife in his throat and twist hard. Blood pools down my hands, hot and viscous.

“No!” Aric calls.

He probably hates that he’s outnumbered and not the fact that his friend’s dead. He is incapable of caring.

Tyson took Flint from me. One of my closest friends. He deserves to die for the offense.

Aric charges at me, anger flashing across his face. Rei is after him; she tries to knock him over, but he vanishes. Aric appears behind me, aiming for my head. I duck, and the weapon cracks against my shoulder, making my arm go numb. I bite back a cry.

I drop and attempt to sweep his legs out from under him, but he vanishes before my aim strikes true.

Rei lands on his chest, punching his face with brutal blows.

Aric elbows Rei in the throat, making her choke and stagger back.

He tosses his baton and unsheathes two knives from his belt.

He flings them in opposite directions. One aimed for me, and the other for Rei, who is bent over, still recovering from his assault.

I step aside from mine, but Rei isn’t so fortunate. It flies towards her chest. The noise drops away, and I react without thinking about the consequences. I know the point of this test. I know that only one of us walks away from this arena alive, but I am not a monster. I won’t watch my friend die.

I slow down time. I don’t freeze it, but make it trickle like water down the sink.

It isn’t something that I’ve done before.

My eyes widen in surprise as I walk towards Rei, who stands to my left.

The blade is still moving, Aric’s arm is lowering back to his side, and Rei is unaware of the threat.

I grab Rei by the collar and drag her back.

I return to my spot as time lurches forward again.

Aric’s knife plunges into empty air.

Knox, Clover, Orion, and Spider are all watching us with rapt attention, and they straighten, surprised that Rei is alive and standing. They must have thought his blade would hit its mark.

Aric stares at Rei. Confusion shadows his expression.

“What—”

Rei doesn’t waste time. She drives her knee into Aric’s stomach, hard, then slams her shield into Aric’s face.

Aric stumbles back, dazed.

I brush past Rei and hold my knife to his throat.

I don’t want Rei to die. Maybe if I force Aric to surrender and she does the same to me, we may be spared.

Rei can win. I’ve already lost Flint, and I refuse to lose anyone else.

The grief would crush me. I am not strong enough to weather the storm.

Even if it costs me my spot on the unit.

It isn’t worth it if I lose my soul in the process.

“Yield,” I growl.

Aric laughs weakly, blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.

“You think they’ll let us all live?”

I open my mouth to respond when Aric takes advantage of my hesitation and slips out from under me. A blade whizzes through the air, crashing down towards me.

Rei shoves me out of the way, and the serrated end sinks into her side. A terrible, squelching sound fills the air.

“No!” I cry.

Rei looks down at the gushing wound, then up at me. She smiles at me with a sad look in her eyes.

My heart cracks as she falls to her knees.

“Finish it, Warrick,” she says firmly. “Win.”

Rage floods through me, dark and absolute. I disarm Aric in one clean motion and strike. I slow time so he can’t outrun me with his gifts. And I sink my blade into his heart with a hard shove, watching him collapse to his knees.

The horn sounds again, concluding the end of the test. Sound filters in through my roaring ears. But I ignore the announcement and rush to Rei. I hold her head on my lap, pressing my hand to the wound.

“Stay with me, Rei,” I whisper. “Please.”

A doctor rushes towards me.

“Ms. Warrick, I’m here to—”

“Fix her,” I order. “Now.”

He hesitates, staring at Rei. Her brilliant eyes are dull and empty. My heart shatters. She’s not moving.

He pulls her from my arms. A medic arrives with a stretcher. They begin to carry away the corpses. Something inside me withers like a dying flower when they fold a white cloth over Rei and Flint.

“No.” I take a step towards them. “You need to heal them. You need to use your powers.”

“Mercy,” Spider says softly.

He grabs my wrist, holding me in place.

“It’s over,” he says. “You won.”

“But Flint and Rei need help,” I rush. “You have to help them.”

“It’s over,” he repeats. “There are no survivors. Except you.”

They are not saving them because they're dead. My best friends are dead.

“No,” I wail.

Pain lances through me, threatening to drown me under its weight.

This is his fault. Ender’s. He is to blame for everything.

His gaze is already stuck on mine. Blue eyes frosted with malice. It seems he is just as angry with me as I am with him.

This might be the start of a new battle.