Page 60 of High Stakes

What did I have to lose? If it didn’t work, I was stuck here anyway. “Do it.”

“I’ll have to find a knife.”

I nodded and waited by the window as he snuck out of the room.

He returned with a much larger knife than I expected. “The ones in the kitchens are disgusting,” he explained. “This was on the wall downstairs. It’s razor sharp.” Titus settled on the bed beside me and looked into my eyes. “This is going to hurt.”

I looked down at the knife, noting the delicate floral pattern engraved on the wide blade. I put one of the white cloths we used as towels beneath my hand and took a deep breath. Turning my head, I grabbed my favorite stake, placed my hand flat on the table, and braced myself. “Just... work fast.”

Pressing the blade into my skin, he quickly made a flap of flesh, which he pulled back to get access to the cell itself. I bit down on a narrow area on my favorite stake, tears welling in my eyes. Sobs began in earnest as he used the knife tip to dig around and access the cell.

“I have to open it. I’m so sorry,” Titus winced.

I whimpered but nodded, unable to keep my foot from bouncing erratically. Cold sweat broke out on my brow as he pried the tiny cell open and tapped the disc with the knife.

“Plutonium disc is intact,” he muttered, closing the cell again. He set about tracing the circuits that spread up my arm. “This one... this one is damaged.”

Tears splashed onto my dress. My saliva thickened as I cried. My teeth bit further into the wood and I wanted to scream, but somehow managed to keep myself from it. Titus used the knife to bend the small wire beneath my skin, straightening it until it clicked back into place.

“It’s broken, but I think if I heat the blade, I can solder the metal.”

“Do it,” I mumbled around the stake.

He ran across the room to the flickering sconce on the wall and held the blade in the fire until the edge glowed bright orange. When he came back to me, his hand was trembling. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

I nodded, more tears falling, giving him a Please, do it look. He took a steadying breath as he pressed the hot metal onto the wire in my arm. The blade was wider than the circuit, which was good because it meant it would solder the entire piece in one try, but it was also sizzling my flesh, the sickening smell filling the room. I couldn’t hold in my scream anymore.

In a burst of blue light, the tech came alive. Titus looked up with an amazed look on his face. “It worked!”

Before he had time to seal the flap of skin, something invisible threw him across the room. His back hit the wall and he fell to the floor, landing in a heap, face-first. Enoch appeared beside me in a flash and grabbed my hand.

“What has he done?” His eyes turned cold as he glanced from my bloody hand and welted arm to Titus. “I will kill him,” he seethed.

“NO!” I shouted, using my upgraded speed to reach Titus just before Enoch did. “He was helping me. He helped me!”

Titus rolled onto his back, coughing and gripping his ribs. “That sucked.”

I crouched in front of him with my hand out. The flap on my skin began to heal, but not before a few droplets of blood escaped, falling onto the cold stone beneath us.

Splash.

Splash.

Splash....

Enoch’s irises darkened. He opened his mouth, inhaling deeply, tasting the scent of my blood in the air. I could see his elongated fangs. It was like a spell had come over him, a spell cast by my blood. He claimed it didn’t taste good, but to him, it must have smelled like manna.

Titus pushed himself up behind me, his stake already drawn. Mine was clutched in my non-dominant hand. I could use it with both. Maru made sure of that.

Seeing our defensive stance, Enoch calmed himself in an instant. His eyes flicked to mine, dismissing Titus. “You aren’t hurt?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine.” Holding out my hand so he could see for himself, I waited to see what he would do next. However nice and respected he was by his people, he wasn’t human. He was still dangerous. And he still enjoyed the taste of blood.

In a blink, the door flew open and Titus and I suddenly stood there alone. “How’d he do that?” Titus marveled, still clutching his ribs.

“I don’t know.”

“How’d you beat him over to me?”

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