“Place your bets, gamblers,” the priest shouts. “Eleven contenders are about to face-off for the freedom ring!” The Otherworld rocks as a clap of thunder crashes, and the projected sky webs with lightning.
More guards move into the Cage, steering steam-powered carts of boiling mercury. The cogged wheels grind against the black dirt as the tubes pump the mineral into the trench surrounding the inner cage.
Above my head, a hiss spits out, and pneumatic pipes pump along the bars. Copper tubes drop from the center of the Cage and mercury rains down. Silver beads and pools together along the dark ground.
I’m still trying to fight off the unseen hold choking me as they fill the ditch to the brim. Mercury spills onto the earth, meeting and connecting with the silver bubbling over the hard dirt. Another boom of thunder sounds from above. I manage to look up, and the blood-red ring circling the moon bleeds across the black sky.
A sliver of darkness slides against the pale orb—the eclipse. Everything is aligning for Bale. The Reckoning. The ritual.
The dark priest raises his hand and spreads his fingers wide. Air rushes into my lungs and I fall to my knees. Mercury seeps into my pants, beading against the material. The doors to the chambers groan open, and the guards use their electric rods to force the contenders to the center of the Cage.
“Kal . . .” Caben leans over and grasps my arm. “Are you all right?” He runs his fingers over my neck. I give a stiff nod. “Okay. All right.” He presses his lips to my forehead before backing away. “You and Lena take Primal. Kadie and I have Carnage.”
“What—no,” I say. Caben can’t fight the contender that took down Crew. “We’ll fight Carnage if he won’t stand with us. The Nactue can help you—”
“Kal, Bax showed me the placement on his screen. There’s no way you and Lena can get to him before he—”
“Before he gets to you.” Carnage is in position to battle Caben. “Do anything you have to do to stop him. But don’t kill, Caben. Don’t light your cuff.” I quickly name off the weaknesses I discovered while fighting Carnage to him before he takes his spot.
Lena joins my side, and I massage my aching neck. Kaide never officially joined us, but by refusing to fight Lilly, he’s made his stand. “No one touches Kaide,” I say.
Lena steps up to me. “This better work, protector.” Her violet eyes slant, and she whips her hair around as she marches to the center of the mercury-sealed ring.
Lilly rushes over, wrapping her arms around me. “I’m sorry, Kal,” she says, her voice thick with regret. “I couldn’t fight him. I thought I could—”
“Shh,” I soothe, rubbing my hand over her back and tangled curls. “I’m sorry about Willa.” I pull back and stare into her glistening, amber eyes. “I’m sorry for so much, but know that I love you. You didn’t ruin anything.”
She nods quickly. “Whatever happens—I love you, too. I’ll see you again.”
I wrap her in another hug, and whisper in her ear, “Keep your league from killing and lighting their cuffs. It will end soon.” I pray.
“Metal Mouth,” she says, finding my eyes. “He’s being controlled.”
I remember Bax’s order to Tobias. “Pull out the wiring on his head gear.”
We’re wrenched apart as the guards begin to position us into our designated spots. They stack weapons in the center of the ring. Nine weapons. Each one chosen specifically for each contender. Except now that the dark priest has changed the number of final contenders, there’s eleven forming a circle around the inside perimeter of the Cage.
My eyes fly to the dark priest as he latches the barred gate to his privileged chamber.
The announcer waddles to the center of the Cage, his boots splashing the mercury, and raises his leather-clad arms to the Otherworlders in the stadium. “The final battle is upon us!” Stomping clamps down like the thunder rumbling through the realm. He quickly glances at the contenders, checks that we’re in place, and then shouts, “For the freedom ring!”
The gaunt announcer just escapes the Cage when the hunt
er’s horn sounds.
Kaide and Caben advance on Carnage. I spin and watch Lilly run toward Whip as Lena takes up my side. “Nothing happens to her.” I glare at Lena. “You touch Lilly, and I’ll end you.”
A crooked smile splits her face, but she nods. “Just make sure we leave, protector. Then I won’t have to.”
Lilly grabs Whip’s hand and leads her to where Metal Mouth is advancing on Kai. The crowd “boos” seeing an alliance refusing to fight already formed. Lena and I barrel toward Primal, and the fights happening with Primal and Carnage soon captures the audience’s bloodlust.
As Lena lands hard blows on the contender, I look back at Bax. He nods once, and slips his satchel under the table. Then he works the controls on the side of his chamber door. The doors to the ring leaders’ chambers open. I look to the risers. The shock is apparent on the dark priest’s smug face.
“No ring leaders in the Cage!” he shouts. He raises his hand to shut the doors, but Bax lifts his own hand to counter the powerful command. The doors stay open, and contenders take up their weapons and move in, forcing the ring leaders into the Cage.
I can see the red flickering in Bax’s irises as he fights his father’s control. My mind is suddenly back in my dank apartment, my father’s head between my palms—and I know the battle Bax is waging in his mind. But like me, he has to stop his father in order to save his family. For once, the guilt over what I did doesn’t consume me.
I’m back in the fight. I kick Primal’s legs out from under him after Lena nails his throat with a lethal chop. She goes for the kill shot but Primal sends his foot into her stomach. She drops to the ground as he bounds up. I jump onto his back.