Addie rushed over, hugging me to give Boaz cover to do the same, and we stood in a tight clump.
Arms around us both, he leaned in and whispered, “I’m so proud of you.”
The praise warmed me but not enough to fight off the chill of what awaited me.
There were so many ways what I was about to do could go wrong.
“Thanks,” I said thickly. “I wouldn’t be here without you.”
“I’m proud of you, little sis.” Addie squished me until I squeaked. “You got this.”
A hole opened in my chest where all their well-wishes tumbled into the darkness of the unknown.
This was not the night I had trained for, but the past two years had primed me to deal with this threat.
“Thanks.” I seemed to be stuck on repeat tonight. “I couldn’t have done this without you either.”
The two of them had given me Hadley, gifted me the foundation upon which to build my second chance.
Then Linus showed up with a hammer and a boxful of nails.
This new life expanded from there, every friendship a plank under my feet, a wall at my back, a roof over my head. I was blessed, so blessed, and I wanted to hug every single person. But there was no time.
The story of my life.
“I apologize for stealing her away before you each get a chance to visit with her.” Linus cast his voice through the lobby as he extracted me. “Hadley must take her place. She will visit with you all after.”
After.
After was, quite frankly, terrifying me at this point.
Only the knowledge I was gambling with my future, and with people’s lives, kept me from being swept away with the others on the high of the moment. Remembering that, none of the rest felt real anymore.
Only Midas, his warm hand in mine, kept me anchored to reality.
On the edge of the crowd, Bishop tipped his chin to let me know he was leaving. “What?”
“What do you mean what?” I cleared a path to him, hooked my arm through his, and leashed him to my side. “Bish, you’re my best friend. My number one. I want you here with me.”
Emotion twisting his expression, he swallowed hard. “Okay, kid.”
“Move aside,” Remys yelled in tandem. “You were leaving without us?”
Five of them worked the gathering, shoving people out of their way to reach me, then shrank into one.
Throat tight, I had trouble playing it cool. “No?”
“Liar.” Remy bumped Midas out of her way then looped her arm through my other one. “I saw you being all buddy-buddy with Grier.” She made gagging noises, which didn’t endear her to Linus, who stood close enough to overhear. “I’m willing to let you delude yourself into believing Bishop is your bestie. He’s a loser loner boy who needs all the friends he can get. But I’m seven friends in one, and your business partner, and I’m all-around awesome. I demand the respect I’ve earned.”
“I thought you might have been too busy.” I wasn’t the only one spread thin across the city. “I’m sorry.”
“I am too busy, because of the aforementioned awesomeness, but I’m always here for you.”
Tugging her closer, I leaned into her side. “Thanks.”
Tisdale stepped up to Midas’s side and wrapped her arm around his waist.
I’m not going to lie. I was jealous. I hoped I had time for a hug before the gunshot or flag or whatever.
Our mass exodus onto the sidewalk left me heading up a procession that reminded me of the march with my allies after we took down the witchborn fae coven. Together. As a city.
Here we were again, multiple factions, united in their support of…me.
And here I was, about to risk their futures for my friend.
“It’s okay to cry.” Bishop kept his voice low. “It’s good to let them see what they mean to you.”
The tears seeping down my cheeks were three parts love and one part regret.
“Or they’ll think you’re a huge sap.” Remy snickered, busy pretending everything was okay for the sharp ears around us. “That could play in your favor in the trial. Let the crowd see your big girly eyes full of girly feelings and girly tears rolling down your cheeks. Sympathy ploy, all the way. Then gut the losers in the gauntlet. Seriously. You have swords. Use them.”
The only weapons allowed in the gauntlet were the ones I had used nightly for the past two years. That gave me Ambrose, aka my wraith, my modified pen, and my swords. That was it. I had planned to wear my usual getup for this part—jeans, sneakers, and a tee—but now I was fancy. It would be much harder to punch holes in me while I was wearing Kevlar-lined everything.
A sneaking suspicion made me question why my team hadn’t suggested such an outfit, but I figured they were in on it. Linus no doubt used fabrics laced with the strongest legal protections allowed. I just might walk out of the gauntlet in my new duds without a scratch on me.
Hahaha.
Yeah.
I didn’t believe me either.
Forget the dangers within the gauntlet. Sue was going to fight me tooth and nail when I caught up to her. I wasn’t sure I could reason with her. I would likely have to restrain her. And hope I didn’t get us both killed waiting for the clock to run out.
The Team Hadley march filled the streets as we paraded the three blocks to the gauntlet’s starting point, and the boisterous crowd rivaled Dragon Con in terms of spectators from this vantage.
My friends peeled off to take up their posts, and I watched them go as if I would never see them again.
“Any last words of encouragement?”
“Be smart, be careful, and don’t be afraid to be ruthless.”
Expecting an epic Midas pep talk, I started at hearing Tisdale over my right shoulder.
There was no time to brace before she was on me, squeezing until my ribs groaned a symphony.
The scent of growing things and sprinkle cookies I associated with her filled my head and my heart.
“You’re the best mom anyone could ask for.” I withdrew from her warmth. “I hope you know that.”
“I do my best.” She stepped back to make room for Midas. “That’s all any of us can do.”
The familiar advice grounded me as I planted one last kiss on Midas’s lips before facing the music.
Or, in this case, the Grande Dame.
Aka Clarice Lawson, aka Dame Lawson, aka Linus’s mom, aka my worst nightmare.
I had ignored her involvement whenever I envisioned tonight. I had ignored her during the whole march. I had ignored her until her gaze bored twin holes to either side of my spine. I couldn’t ignore her any longer.
The Grande Dame of the Society for Post-Life Management, the woman who had stripped me of the name Pritchard and would have tossed me in a hole to rot for my crimes, stood before me in a crimson silk pantsuit and a pair of spiked black heels I wouldn’t have tried on my best day. She was tall and slim, and her stark white hair, worn down and in waves, glittered under the bright lights of the small stage where she waited before a microphone.
Between Linus and me, we had done all we could to insulate me from discovery, but the Grande Dame would be Hadley’s biggest test yet. All I could do was pray I passed her inspection.
“There she is,” she said, voice rich and full, “Hadley Whitaker, Atlanta’s apprentice potentate.”
A cheer rose that lifted my spirits, but Sue’s appearance sank me back down to earth.
“You all know why we’re here,” she continued. “The faction heads chose the gauntlet as a means of showcasing the skills Hadley has mastered over the past two years. Most have already made up their minds as to her worthiness, but this is a final chance to sway the opinions of those who might yet be tempted by the competition.”
Here we go.
“You’re in for a treat.” Her throaty laughter rang through the night. “We have not one but two participants in tonight’s gauntlet. Sue Billiard, the former Potentate of Phoenix, has challenged Hadley for the vote.”
A rustle of angry voices swept through the crowd, but those soothed my battered heart.
For many, this would be the first time they laid eyes on Sue. This was her one shot to wow them and win the majority from me, and she knew it. She would leave nothing on the field. Not when she would pay so dearly for the final outcome.
“The rules are simple,” the Grande Dame boomed over the murmurs. “Make it to the end alive.” She let the others soak that in. “Since we have two competitors, I suppose that means first one to the end alive wins.”
From the shadows, Linus stepped up beside her and took possession of the microphone.
As the reigning Potentate of Atlanta, Linus had the floor. She couldn’t do more than huff at him as he took over proceedings.
“The gauntlet is an individual test of merit.” He cut his mother a sharp glance. “Your only competitors are yourselves.”
The speech went downhill from there, as he outlined the rules.
Once in the gauntlet, there were none.
Terrifying, yet easy to remember.
And, as unorthodox as my battle plan was, I was ready. Luckily, there was no rule that forbade one participant from sitting on another until the crowd got bored and the powers that be called the whole thing off.
Peeking over at Sue, I couldn’t get a read on her and returned my attention to Linus.
Ambrose uncoiled, slithered up my body, then tapped his finger on my nose.
Focus, he seemed to be saying. Focus.
The gauntlet wouldn’t stop just because I did, even if I took Sue out of the running with me.
It would keep on coming, hunting us, attacking us, until it forced us out or the trial ended in default.
Each voting faction was permitted six representatives of their species to act as the muscle, the Minotaurs in my maze. Our maze, I corrected myself, with Sue here. The volunteers abided by street rules. Anything goes. Their entire focus was to take us down so hard we couldn’t get back up again.
To ensure a fair fight, the factions brought in teams from outside Atlanta to avoid friendships or alliances getting in the way of the end game.
“Take your positions,” Linus ordered. “Once you hear the gunshot, you must enter the gauntlet.”
As if either of us would back down with the stakes so high.
A fat white starting line that gave me flashbacks to PE classes in high school was the mark.
Tamping down the noise, the fear, the worry, the expectations, I homed in on Ambrose.
“I hope you’re hungry,” I murmured to him as I pulled on my balaclava and gloves. “It’s dinnertime.”
Unfurling across the pavement, my shadow assumed a wraithlike form for the sake of those with the magic to see him. He rubbed his hands together then snapped back into his mostly Hadley shape.
The pistol fired, a short pop of sound, and Sue sprinted into the gauntlet’s maw, me on her heels.
The starting line proved to be more than symbolic. It was magical too. Big magic. Really big magic.
This must be how they were keeping humans out of harm’s way for the duration.
A giant mute button had been pushed inside the warded—spelled?—area to enable us to hear and see our opponents. The crowd was blotted out above and beside us by walls of pulsating murk that allowed us to see straight forward but obscured areas where spectators cheered and placed their bets.
And there were always bets cast in this kind of thing. Always. How many broken bones, severed limbs, gouged eyes, etc.
Dressed in black tactical pants, a tee, and boots, Sue was proving she had trained hard for this moment. I had to close the gap quick and take her down fast, before she pulled too far ahead for me to catch her.
Unless the whirling blackness was the spell equivalent of a two-way mirror, the spectators couldn’t see us either. Given the number of kids at the event, maybe it was an attempt at lowering the ratings.
A sharp prickle along my nape warned me vampires were to be the first obstacle.
Finally, something was going right. This was the best of all possible outcomes.
This buffet would top off Ambrose’s tank and fuel us through what was to come.
A slender woman dressed in a black cat suit emerged from behind a parked car with a knife in one hand.
Sue danced around her, avoiding the slice of her blade, but spun right into a fight with a grim-faced man.
“Take a little off the top,” I murmured to Ambrose. “Let me do the rest.”
Honing himself into a spear, he shot through the woman’s chest once, startling her.
Strength flowed through him into me as I gripped her wrist and twisted until she dropped her weapon. A quick downward stroke from the pommel of my sword knocked her to her knees, and I brought my knee up under her chin. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she hit the pavement.
A quick sideways glance confirmed Sue had moved on to her second opponent, leaving three to go.
Since these were out of towners, I wasn’t worried about factions working together in this environment. We just had to survive each group as we came across them until I could subdue and stash Sue.
Two men stepped out onto the street, each with a length of chunky metal chain.
The first man wrapped it around his fist. The second keep it loose, probably for swinging at my head.
“You know the drill.” I flicked my fingers at Ambrose. “Cut them down to size.”
While my shadow got down to the serious business of snacking, I rode his feeding high, using him to give me the speed I needed to rush the guy with the greater reach. Mr. Loose Chain. The thing might as well have been rubber for how easily he twirled it over his head like a frakking helicopter preparing for flight.
The sword gave me greater reach too, but his arms were longer than mine to start with, and his weapon had a good three feet on mine. This was going to hurt like a mother if his aim was any good.
Ambrose struck him first then took a second hit to ensure Mr. Loose Chain was having trouble focusing.
But his helicopter act didn’t slow, and yep. It hurt like blazes when the end of the chain struck my side and wrapped around my middle. A firm yank spun me right to him, but he was too dazed to notice he hadn’t locked down my arms. Quickly, I used the fastest method to escape before he crushed me.
My sword.
With one downward slice, I became the reason amputation earned a whole page of warnings.
A howl rent the night as I carved through his wrist. Without him tugging on me, I shimmied free of the chains then kicked them away from him. His hand went tumbling with it.
Oops.
“Put him out of his misery,” I told Ambrose. “No.” I yanked hard on his leash. “I didn’t say kill him.”
The shadow, grumpy about how fast I caught on to the loophole, pouted that he could only knock him out.
“Who are you talking to?” The vampire shrieked, flailing his stub. “You’re crazy.”
Tired of waiting on Ambrose to get the job done, I drew back my arm and punched the vampire hard enough the blood loss helped send him toppling backward onto the pavement. His skull hit with a crack that earned my sympathies.
Had I been a smidgen less sympathetic, I might have avoided the chain-wrapped fist to the side of my head.
I went down hard, head bouncing off the pavement, blood filling my mouth, vision going black.
Without Ambrose pumping me full of healing magic, I wouldn’t have gotten up again.
“’Brose,” I slurred, wedging my legs under me. “Lil’ hep?”
He fell on the final vampire, sucking him dry to the edge of death, then force fed that energy to me.
Sweeping out my leg, I knocked the spasming vampire off his feet onto his back. I raised my leg to stomp his face in, but I lost my balance and almost fell on top of him.
Awkward.
In a swirl of shadow, Ambrose whirled around me, catching my attention.
Sue was nowhere in sight.
She had beaten her attackers and run, leaving me to the vampires’ tender mercies.
The volume in my head was surreal. Boom. Boom. Boom. The eye on the injured side of my head refused to open. I had to squint through the other to chart my path forward, aware I was ripe for the picking from whatever faction came next. Even with Ambrose’s help, I was a hot mess.
“Hadley,” a thready voice wheezed from up ahead. “Over here.”
Sue.
Here we go, I thought to Ambrose. This could get messy.
Stalking toward her, blades in hand, I found a mangled pile of meat. “Goddess.”
Hunkered down behind a dumpster, just outside the pool of light cast by the nearest lamppost, sat Sue. I winced at the hand she pressed to her stomach, which prevented her insides from leaking through her fingers. The building behind her was the only thing propping her upright.
She had fought the vampires, all right, but she hadn’t won.
“Keep an eye out,” I ordered Ambrose. “I can’t afford any surprises.”
Seven or eight feet closer to her, I encountered a pocket of viscous air that pushed back against me. It reminded me of a ward but not quite. The resistance alerted me to the barrier, but it let me through with minimal effort on my part, almost as if it had been keyed to open for me.
On the heels of that realization, I stopped an arm’s-length away in case this was an elaborate trap.
“Can the officials see us?” I glanced back the way I had come. “We’re in a warded space, aren’t we?”
“They can’t see or hear us.” A sharp wince accompanied each inhale. “There’s only you and me.”
That was handy, and exactly what I needed in order to run down the clock.
“We know Jefferies is responsible for the kidnappings.”
“He knows you know too.” She wet her busted lip. “Those weren’t volunteers out there.”
“They were Clan Jefferies?” I felt better about the amputation already. “They put a hit out on you.”
“Yeah.” She laughed, a rasping noise. “They figured out I was…dropping hints and…punished me.”
Had her fate been meant for me? Had Jefferies planned to gut me until Sue double-crossed him?
That scenario made sense of their insistence on my entering the gauntlet.
The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6) Page 12