Page 304 of Light Leech

She nodded. “Should we try it?”

He nodded, smiling too much. I saw a shift in his eyes. He looked at the woman, but it did not seem to land. Her smile grew with his capitulating ease.

“How do you feel about fish?” I asked.

“That was a joke.” His voice was firm and his chin raised high. “These are all jokes. Come on, do you want to help us?”

I walked away. I turned back and saw them already swarming another group of three. Urgency surged through me. Where was Ralia?

A man grabbed me. “Hey, no running in here. This is a sacred place, you know.”

I smacked his hand away.

“What was that for, friend?”

“Shove your–” I stopped myself. “I shouldn’t finish that.”

“Deciding to be civil now, are we? A sacred place–”

“No, it’s not about that. You see that guy over there?”

“Where?”

I pointed out, moving my finger until it landed on the first guy who locked eyes with me. “There, he’s looking at us right now. He’s the one who wanted you to shove something up somewhere. Really indecent, I know.”

“Why? I’ve never seen him in my life.”

“Oh, but he saw what you did in the race.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

Too good. “He hates you now. You know the actual way to winning this game, right?”

“But I really didn’t mean to–”

I patted him on the shoulder. “That’s beside the point. He hates you. The deal is done and there is only one way to fix that.”

“Ho–wait, I’m not falling for this.”

“Falling for what? Like I’m going to convince you that swines are wiser than humans?”

He let out an airy laugh and placed his arms akimbo. “That’s an awful one to draw.”

“You’re telling me.” I shoved him.

“What was that for?”

“Hate. It’s the only way to win this game. And you know what this game is, right?”

“A game to see who can convince whom.”

“Nah, that’s on the outside. They want to pit us against each other. Hate. They want competition, so give it to them. It’s the same as the world outside.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you do for work?”

“Marketing strategy for Safe Strive.”