Page 29

I fear it’s his last moment.

The mutation screeches and hisses at the man, who remains stoic, unfettered by its threats. I study his body, which doesn’t tremble in the least. And it’s then I notice that he didn’t bother to bring a weapon into the arena.

As if he plans to fight the thing with his bare hands.

What the hell?

The creature hops and skirts around him, like he’s the threat, and I frown down at the strange encounter.

The mutation barrels forward.

The man lashes out, grabbing the creature by the throat, and throws it across the field, where it skids over the dirt, kicking up dust.

I rise to my feet. My heart leaps into my throat.

Something is different this time. Something about this man sets him apart from the others. I scan his body, and while it appears to be as human as every other man who’s stepped in before him, he can’t be. No man could possibly do what he just did, tossing the enormous monster like it was nothing but a plaything for him.

The mutation charges again and swings out its claw, leaving a gaping slice over the man’s bicep.

The crowd gasps. A dark cloud of despair settles over me. This is when they start to fall apart. This is when the creature gets the best of them.

The mutation scrambles toward the wall on all fours, but not before the man snatches it by the foot and yanks it back. Coiling around, it thrashes another claw that slices across the warrior’s meaty thigh. Another swipe lashes at the hardened muscles of his stomach. Releasing the mutation’s foot, he throws his leg over its body and takes hold of the underside of its face. In one quick snap, he tears the mutation’s head from its body.

Done. Dead. Like snapping a dandelion from its stem.

A wheeze of a laugh rattles in my chest, the shock of his victory a tight clamp around my lungs.

The crowd is silent. Not a single hoot, or holler. As if they’d hoped for his death and, ultimately, my sacrifice.

It’s not until the man tosses the mutation’s head onto the ground that the spectators finally break into cheer, the sound of it like thunder throughout the stadium.

“God of Monsters! God of Monsters!”

Their chants reverberate off the glass dome ceiling, beating down my spine, while I breathe shallow in a poor effort to slow my racing pulse. Spread out over the cage barrier, men raise their drinks, spilling it onto the arena below, while women bare their breasts, screaming and whistling for the fighter’s attention.

I exhale a sigh of relief, watching him stride out of the arena, skin coated in a sheen of sweat.

And then I remember.

This man fought on another’s behalf.

The blond man with a serpentine smile and clawed hand.

Remus.

Chapter 10

“Congratulations. It seems you’ve been spared today.” Madame pecks at the wall beside the glass barrier, presumably punching in a code, while I wait, impatiently grinding my teeth. “You should know this is the first time we’ve not had a sacrifice to offer. I fear what this will mean for the future.”

The glass wall slides upward, and as I step forward, she steps back toward Henry behind her.

“I hope you starve to death in famine. That you become so violently infected with the Dredge, your own guard has to slit your throat.” I spit on her, smiling as the saliva drips down her cheek.

With an indignant expression, she wipes it away. “Gloat, if you will. But I can’t say the fate you’ve been handed is any better than the one you faced today.”

My gaze shifts toward Remus, who waits for me at the bottom of the stairs, that slick and slimy smile working its way beneath my skin. “At least this one is human,” I say, stepping past her, but I pause at a grip on my arm.

“I’m told his cruelty knows no limits. I’ll pray for you.”