Page 5 of High Stakes

“Shut. Up,” Abram fired back, spittle flying from his mouth.

Abram backed into a corner and then took off so fast, he became nothing but a blur. I dodged him, or I thought I did, but he caught hold of the end of my braid and yanked me backward. I fell hard, just barely rolling out from under his foot as he stomped at my face.

Victor and Kael stepped toward the ring.

I grabbed Abram’s foot and pushed up as I twisted, vaulting him into the air. His body spiraled but he landed on his feet. His fist tightened in his glove, his dark eyes promising he would be the one to end this.

He glanced at Victor, and while his attention was on our leader, I disappeared.

While the guys were upgraded for speed, agility, strength, and stamina, I had those and many more “tricks,” as Maru called them.

Abram raged, turning a circle as I crept close, sneaking up behind him.

“Oh, man,” Titus chortled gleefully, rubbing his hands together. “I hate it when she does this.”

I hooked my elbow around Abram’s throat and held tight as he bucked and tried to throw me off. When that didn’t work, and as his skin mottled from a lack of oxygen, he stumbled backward into the corner and began ramming me into it, back first.

There was no way I was letting go, not until he was drooling on the mat and sleeping like a baby.

“Fight fair,” he grunted.

“I am fighting fair. You wanted enhancements,” I gritted. “You got ‘em.”

He huffed and puffed as he rammed me into the corner of the ring until every inch of the middle of my back was bruised. Then he sank to his knees, his hands trying to pry my arms from around his neck. Abram dug his fingernails into my skin, but his grip weakened quickly.

“Give up,” I growled.

He swayed. His cheeks puffed out one last time before he went limp and fell over, his face hitting the mat with a thud. I stood over Abram, my back throbbing, blood dripping down my arms, and panting from exertion.

But I won.

Victor, Kael, Maru, and Titus clapped and cheered while Abram’s trainer attended him.

I climbed out of the ring and jumped down to the floor where Victor was waiting to shake my hand. “Asset Eve,” he chirped. “Between Kael’s calculations and your added enhancements, Enoch won’t even see you coming.” He chuckled, clapping Kael on the back.

“Thank you, sir,” I answered dutifully.

“Don’t thank me with words; thank me with actions,” he replied, watching shrewdly as Abram sat up woozily.

The haze quickly passed. Hatred boiled in Abram’s eyes as he looked at the huddle of us, me still clutching Victor’s hand in a victory handshake.

“Tomorrow, the three of you will fight vampires in the arena where the entire compound, everyone who isn’t on duty, is invited to watch. Our military men and women are tired, and the civilians are losing faith in my ability to deliver on the promises I’ve made. They believe they’re on the losing end of a battle with no end in sight. They know you are our top three Assets, but think the Assets are just being trained to fight alongside them, so the sight of you slaying a few vampires will energize the masses. They’ll leave knowing help is on the way—and it is.”

I wasn’t sure about that. It wasn’t like the people had never seen a vampire staked before.

Maru’s mouth formed a straight line as he glanced my way. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. Training with live vamps was one thing, but fighting vamps in front of an audience was different.

“Also,” Victor continued, “we’ve decided to move up the travel date. Kael assures me that you and all our systems are ready. There’s no point in waiting. More lives will be lost in the time it would take you to complete your missions and return to us.”

He paused a moment, looking each of us in the eye with steely resolve. “I’m sure you’ve heard the alarms sounding recently. The vampires are testing our security system for weaknesses, and we have evidence that they’ve hacked into our communication system. They commandeered a few broadcasts, hijacking the feed and spewing their propaganda to our militia. They plan to breach the compound and take out all the Assets. We can’t let them do that.”

When we were brought into the Asset program, we trained with the other members of the Asset program. But when we rose above them in skill, Victor pulled the three of us and separated us from them. He gave us our own training room, equipment, and assigned the special trainers. Our meager belongings were moved to a secure floor, where we were sequestered.

Victor had spent so much effort keeping us separate from everyone, which is why I wondered why he would suddenly want to reveal his weapons when we were so close to traveling. Especially if the vamps were hacking our broadcasts. If there was a single camera in the room tomorrow, it would put the entire program, and us, at risk.

“Is there a problem, Eve?” Victor asked, waiting for a response.

I straightened my back. “No, sir.”

---