Nerve

by Kirsten Krueger

  “Allies,” Nero corrected tightly, “but an interesting proposition, Dispus… If we’re making bets, what do we receive when you children lose?”

  “I’ll owe you a debt,” Seth offered, surprising Calder with his boldness. Did he really think they could win?

  “You’re practically a normie,” Nero scoffed. “I want a debt from someone of actual use. I have super strength, a mind reader, and fighters; I don’t want my pathetic brother, and no one needs plants, but…I don’t have anyone who could utterly incinerate my enemies. If we win this brawl, Adara Stromer owes us a debt when she’s released from prison.”

  There was no way the Stark kid would approve of this. Adara would burn down Periculand before she would agree to heed any of Nero’s commands, and Calder wouldn’t be able to douse a fire that size. Since the primies were guaranteed to lose, they had to say no.

  But then Seth nodded.

  “Deal.”

  Tray complained, obviously, but Seth didn’t really care. His brother’s freak-outs were common and typically an overreaction. This was their one shot to free Adara from jail; he hadn’t questioned his choice for a second.

  “You can’t make decisions on Stromer’s behalf,” his brother said immediately after Seth agreed. His objection wasn’t loud, but Nero and his posse still waited on the edge of the mats, as if to see what Tray might declare—as if Seth’s word had no authority.

  “Relax.” He ushered Ackerly, Eliana, and Hartman onto the mats with a wave. “We aren’t gonna lose. And if we do, you know Adara’ll burn Nero to ash before paying some meaningless debt.”

  “We accept,” Lavisa called to Nero as she tightened her hand wraps. “We have six on our team, so you can only have six on yours.”

  “No problem there.” The brute cracked each of his knuckles and joined the primaries on the mats, five of his group following without instruction.

  The Pixie Twins flanked him while the acid-spitter, Dave, prowled beside Calder and the boulder-boy stomped on Nixie’s other side. Seth remembered boulder-boy’s ability to conjure massive rocks and had to swallow his apprehension, reminding himself that he had super strength—probably.

  Behind them strolled a girl Seth had often seen with Nero’s group but who he had yet to personally encounter. Turquoise freckles speckled her dark skin, matching the bright hue of her hair and eyes, and a thick chain of metal links hung around her neck like a dog collar. She whispered something to Nixie as their group halted before the primaries, and when her malicious gaze fixed on Ackerly, he recoiled.

  “We aren’t gonna play with a ball, as if this is some sport,” Nero announced, voice booming through the hollow basement. “You’re eliminated when you step off the mats—or when you’re too weak to get up. The last group standing wins. You have one minute to prepare before Watkins starts the match.” He nodded toward a boy standing on the edge of the mats, pink eyes dull and mouth slightly ajar to reveal large teeth.

  “Nero’s mind reader,” Eliana mumbled, her eyes on the apparent referee as Seth pulled them all into a huddle. “Keep your minds guarded.”

  “We shouldn’t have to worry about that, or any of this. You’re dumber than Adara,” Tray sneered at Seth. “We’re about to battle with Nero—possibly to the death, since he doesn’t care if he ‘accidentally’ kills us…”

  “We’ve got a mind reader”—Seth nodded to Eliana, who looked paler than usual—“the best fighter in Periculand”—Lavisa’s lips pressed into a tight line—“a teleporter”—Hartman’s freckles quivered in response—“a kid who could probably strangle someone with his plants—”

  “Well, I don’t know about that,” Ackerly piped up uneasily.

  “And two people with super strength,” Seth concluded, ignoring everyone’s distress. There was no reason for them to be afraid; they all knew their Affinities. Though it should have been discouraging to know even Kiki had discovered her power by now and he still hadn’t, Seth believed his super strength was buried somewhere inside, waiting for the perfect moment to emerge. “We might be younger,” he went on, “but we’re tough, and we all love Adara.”

  “You love Adara,” Tray corrected. “I certainly don’t, and I can’t imagine any of these other level-headed individuals do, either.”

  Seth challenged each of them with arched eyebrows.

  “She’s, um…” was all Eliana came up with.

  Ackerly’s face scrunched in a half-smile, half-grimace.

  “She’s dangerous,” Lavisa put in, tightening her hand wraps again, “and she needs to be contained, but I admit your ploy was a clever one. If Nero breaks her out, they’ll probably throw her right back in and lock him up, as well.”

  Tray’s eyes protruded as her words sunk in. “I…hadn’t really considered that…”

  “Neither did I,” Seth admitted with a shrug. “But once Adara’s out, I’m gonna make sure she stays out. We can free her.”

  Ackerly adjusted his glasses and winced. “I just…don’t want to see how many buildings she burns down when she finds out she owes Nero a debt.”

  “Agreed,” Hartman said with a vigorous nod. “Let’s try to win.”

  “There’s no ‘try’ in winning,” Seth began, but he didn’t get to continue his inspirational speech before Watkins called for the match to start. Then Nero’s force was upon them.

  Dave hurled an attack first, aiming a wad of acid-spit at Hartman, who teleported just in time to miss the blow. Relief washed over his face as he popped up beside Lavisa, but his optimism died when boulder-boy launched a rock the size of a fist at them. Though Lavisa was swift enough to dodge it, Hartman’s teleportation had disoriented him, and the stone slammed his forehead, sinking him to his knees. Nero’s chuckles overpowered the thud of his stepbrother’s body hitting the mats—and fueled his minions to strengthen their assault.

  Boulder-boy pummeled Lavisa with a rapid slew of rocks, rendering a counterattack impossible. With Hartman groaning on the ground, Dave’s new target became Tray, who hopped around like a bunny to escape globs of acid. Nixie swirled water around Eliana’s head, threatening to drown her and killing any hope Seth had that their mind reader would warn them of oncoming attacks. Ackerly attempted to hold his ground as the turquoise-haired girl advanced, a malicious grin splattered on her lips. She uncoiled her metal chain from around her neck and whipped it at him, wielding the weapon with supernatural grace.

  On the opposite side of the mats, riding the edge, Calder stood motionless, watching Seth as he crouched in an offensive position, prepared to win this fight for Adara. Seth knew he could sack him with ease; this water-boy was smaller than most of the football players he’d gone up against in the past. So inexperienced with combat, Calder didn’t even flinch in defense when Seth plowed forward to tackle him. At the last second, the younger boy realized why he’d been so slow to react. With the flick of his hand, water slipped into Seth’s nose and mouth, obstructing his airways.

  Coughing and spitting, he halted and strained to remove the water. Calder closed the gap between them to grab his chin, forming an orb around his face. Seth had never been one to panic, but maybe he’d never had much to panic about. Super strength couldn’t rip the water from his lungs. He kept his lips sealed until the need for oxygen overrode his will. Water didn’t flood his throat when his mouth opened, though; it was air.

  None of the spectators, some standing only feet away, noticed what Calder had done, nor did they hear him when he quietly growled, “Pretend you’re scared.”

  “I-I think I am scared.” Seth’s words warbled beneath the orb, sending ripples through the water.

  “You need to pretend to struggle, and then you need to kick me off the mats.” Seth’s eyebrows shot up, but Calder continued his instructions, quick but clear. “Dave doesn’t secrete acid on his legs, so grab him there. Haldor”—he motioned toward boulder-boy, who still flung rocks at Lavisa—“is ticklish behind his kneecaps. Don’t ask me how I know. Demira”—he nodded toward the girl
chasing Ackerly with the chain—“can control metal. She’ll be tricky to beat, but if the plant kid can keep her distracted long enough, you can shove her out. Don’t be afraid to hurt her. But Nixie—if you hurt Nixie, I’ll slaughter you. She’ll fight you, but she’s enough of a twig that you can just pick her up and place her outside the perimeter. Do all of that, and the six of you might stand a chance against Nero. Five, I guess, since Little Corvis is pathetic.”

  As if hearing him, Hartman groaned on the mats, repeatedly struggling to sit up and then flailing back to the ground every time.

  “Why are you helping us?”

  “Because”—Calder clenched his hand into a fist at his side, discreetly thwarting Nixie’s efforts to taunt Eliana—“you might be as dumb as a pile of bricks, but your brother’s a genius, and if anyone’s gonna figure out what’s going on in this goddamn town, it’s him. And I want to know when he does.”

  Swallowing, Seth gave his best attempt to look like he was drowning—which probably wasn’t a very good attempt at all, but Calder went along with it. The secondary’s face twisted in concentration, and he feigned fury when Seth finally kicked him into the crowd.

  It was Nixie whose reaction mattered, though; at the sight of her brother being assaulted, all of her vicious attention honed on Seth. Before he could lunge toward Dave to grab his legs as Calder had instructed, Nixie rushed toward him, a torrent of waves swarming around her.

  Seth opened his mouth to swear, which was probably the most idiotic thing he could have done, considering it made Nixie’s job of snaking water into his lungs laughably simple. The panic this time was as real as the last, only there was no hope for mercy from this Mardurus twin. He stepped toward her, prepared to lob a punch, but she pushed him back with a strong burst of water. Every attack she would deflect, especially since he couldn’t breathe. He was certain he was going to die here without ever even unleashing his super strength—until Eliana picked up one of boulder-boy’s rocks and chucked it at Nixie’s back.

  Her scream had Calder shouting from the sidelines, but Seth ignored it as he hacked up water. Once air flowed freely into his body, he plunged through the melee and scooped Nixie into his arms. Though she punched and kicked and squirmed, Seth swiftly jogged toward the mat’s edge and deposited her beside her fuming brother.

  With only four opponents left, Seth whirled around and soaked in the details of the brawl. Eliana heaved Haldor’s rocks at Dave to stop him from attacking Tray, who caught on and joined her. The two drove the acid-spitter off the mats and then turned their attention to Demira, still hunting Ackerly with her chain.

  She took the stoning better than Dave. Abandoning her chase, she released her chain from her hand and guided it toward her two assailants. Neither Tray nor Eliana knew how to react when that metal, floating through the air as if by magic, wrapped around their wrists and forcefully jerked them toward the edge. Seth didn’t have the chance to attack the turquoise-haired girl before his two teammates were disqualified from the match—not that he would have been able to anyway, since Nero had finished cracking all of his joints and was ready to avenge his girlfriend.

  Seth had faced enormous opponents before, but none the size of Nero. Now that his only equal in strength, Tray, was out, and it was three against three, Seth had no choice but to fight the beast.

  He would do it—for Adara. She was his best friend, and she didn’t deserve to be in jail. Well, maybe she did deserve to be in jail, but not for what they’d placed her there for. If his super strength wasn’t developed enough to free her, he’d have to ensure Nero did.

  Although a face-off with only the brute had seemed daunting, the task became borderline impossible when Seth realized he’d also have to fight boulder-boy. While he’d assessed the best method, or if there even was a method, to defeat Nero, Haldor finally managed to pelt Lavisa with a rock weighty enough to knock her off the mats.

  Leaving Seth and Ackerly alone to fight off three aggressive Affinities—or die.

  Terror radiated from the two primaries stranded on the mats, and guilt radiated from Eliana and Tray for allowing the turquoise-haired girl to catch them off guard. Her wrist throbbed from the metal chain, but she knew the pain was trivial compared to what Seth and Ackerly were about to undergo.

  “The pathetic plant kid and the normie,” Nero mused, shaking out his meaty arms. His muscles undulated with the movement, and Ackerly slowly backed toward Seth at the sight. Eliana heard them both swallow as the three upperclassmen closed in. “This should be enjoyable.”

  Ackerly eyed Haldor’s endless rocks, Nero’s ruthless fist, and Demira’s deadly chain. Eliana knew there were a few seeds tucked in his pockets, but she also knew the frantic thoughts flowing through his head: That he’d never practiced growing a plant without dirt or water or sunlight, that he had no chance of protecting himself in this fight, and that he didn’t want to fight.

  “I surrender,” he said, holding up his hands. None of his friends reprimanded him when Nero nodded in acknowledgement and allowed him to scamper off the mats. Eliana would have done the same in his predicament, even if it meant abandoning Seth.

  “Say goodbye to your twin, Stark,” Nero sneered at Tray, who was nearly pulling out his hair at Eliana’s side.

  “Seth—”

  “I’ve got this,” the foolishly cocky Stark insisted, resuming his crouch.

  “Stand down,” Lavisa commanded as Haldor summoned a boulder bigger than his head. “It’s not worth it.”

  To Seth, however, it was—to unlock his Affinity, to become his brother’s equal, to become useful in this place where his existence didn’t seem to matter. Eliana read all of these thoughts seeping from his brain, but that wasn’t the reason she decided not to interfere on his behalf. She sensed another consciousness stirring and scheming, and she knew even before it happened that Hartman, still lying on the mats, would grasp Seth’s ankle and teleport them both into the safety of the crowd.

  She didn’t anticipate how much this would infuriate Nero—or Seth.

  “What the hell, dude?” he barked down at Hartman, who now lay on the concrete floor among the students. “I was gonna beat them all and save Adara!”

  “I’ll save her,” Hartman croaked, his mind hazy from the hit to the head. “Just be…patient…”

  Lavisa wove through the crowd to confront them. “We need to take him to the nurse. Tray, carry him.”

  “No, just leave him!” Seth snapped at his brother. “He ruined everything!”

  “Seth,” Tray started, the pity clear in his inflection. His twin didn’t hear his consolation, though; in a fit of despair, Seth shoved through the throng and stalked out of the basement.

  “Poor cry-baby Stark,” Nero cooed as the Mardurus twins and Dave rejoined him on the mats. “Which team wants to challenge us next?”

  None spoke up, nor did anyone dare to look directly at the primaries as Tray hauled Hartman into his arms and the five trekked toward the exit. Eliana looked back before they reached the doors and her eyes locked with Calder’s. Though his posture was lax, she saw the rage festering deep within him—the need for revenge.

  With a voice clear and practiced from his interactions with Nero’s mind reader, Calder sent his thoughts to her without any room for interpretation.

  Tell Tray Stark we need to talk—in private. And ask yourself, Mensen, the next time you attack my sister, if you’d enjoy death by drowning.

  8

  Information Breaker

  Since his near-death experience with Calder a few months ago, Tray had been careful to avoid him. This had proven difficult, considering their separate dorm rooms shared a bathroom, but he’d managed it—until the morning after the disastrous session of Nero’s Dominion.

  When Calder picked the lock to the bathroom and barged in, Tray almost tripped over the toilet in terror. To his fortune, he hadn’t been using the toilet, though he was wearing only his boxers. With barely enough space for a shower, sink, and toilet, th
e bathroom was tiny for one person’s use; for two boys, it was near claustrophobic. In this close proximity, the way Calder appraised his body with mild disgust made him squirm where he stood.

  “I thought you’d be more muscular. You aren’t the dumb twin, are you?”

  “No.” The word was muffled as Tray covered his mouth and nose with a hand, as if that could prevent Calder’s water invasion. “What do you want?”

  He leaned casually in the open doorway, his black hoodie and jeans giving him a much darker vibe than his school uniform. “The mind reader didn’t tell you I want to have a chat?”

  “She did,” Tray replied, gradually lowering his hand. During a brief, whispered conversation the previous night, Eliana had told him what Calder had thought to her—and what he’d unintentionally let her glimpse when he’d been too busy during the brawl to shield his mind. “I didn’t think this was the place you had in mind when you said private.”

  “Well, we can’t be seen conversing in public. I want to know what you know about Periculy, the Reggs, this town—all of it.”

  Crossing his arms over his bare chest, which, until Calder’s rude comment, he did think had gained a considerable amount of muscle, Tray nodded. “All right. And I want to know why you visited Adara in jail two days ago—and how.”

  At first, Calder cocked his head in confusion, but then his expression soured. “Mind readers. God, they’re a pain in my ass.” He rubbed his forehead and exhaled. “I can’t break Stromer out of jail for you, nor do I want to. Your brother was idiotic enough to strike a bargain with Nero, and if the debt he wants Adara to pay… She’s better off where she is.”

  Tray’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated the secondary’s words. “What is he gonna make her do?”

  “Her fire Affinity mixed with Nero’s bloodlust… Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll kill him instead of complying.”