Page 40 of Rat Race

My eyes fell to the group.Elijah.Not only had he beat me to the maze, but he had made an offering as well.

When I saw him in the lineup, I knew he would get far…but before me?

The darkness told me to turnhiminto an offering. To prove to both Pa and God that I was the true chosen that would bring honor to our practice.

We don’t PK.The words swirled around in my head. They reminded me that I didn’t want to be like them. That I had come in here just to win and have that be enough.

But He was testing me.

Elijah’s mask was off and placed on the side of his head, revealing his freckled nose and slightly crooked teeth. He gave me a sinister smile.

What I hadn't expected was Hiram to be hiding behind Elijah. He was keeping him around for a payout at the end.No doubt Hiram would end up as an offering.

Fuckin’ genius. Wish I’d thought of it.

The darkness slunk to the back when Aubrey came up to me. She had been saying something but stopped when she reached me.

Aubrey stiffened at the sight of the offering.

In that moment, I missed my mask. It would've been nice to have even a little anonymity when it came to meeting other players. The hazard of having a famous family was that there were more than enough people who were pissed at us for either accidentally or on purpose killing their loved ones. Or sometimes they just wanted to knock us down a peg. Somethin’ about being famous forever for killin’ one of us. That's what happened with Billy, Lord keep him.

Snuffed out for some dipshit’s ego. The headlines made me fuckin’ sick.

Though my tattoos and overall build would have given me away to most people who knew of me. The mask was a privilegeotherpeople had.

“What the actual fresh hell is that? Someone decided to decorate this fugly-ass place?”

Praying for Aubrey to keep her mouth shut would have been a waste, so instead I prayed that the angel sent to test me would find mercy on me. Which, all things considered, was probably a bit of a waste of time too.

“Well, well, well,” Elijah called, a dark eyebrow climbing toward his hairline. “I wondered if we'd get to run into you, Cam.”

“Elijah,” I said, acknowledged him as I offered my most award-winnin’ smile, pulling Aubrey into my side, my arm going possessively around her shoulders. I hoped she'd get the memo that we needed to tread lightly.

Elijah isn’t one to fuck with.No one from the farm was. Though I hope he saw her as an opportunity instead of the dangerous temptation she really was.

But that was hope that died instantly the minute the blonde opened her sinful mouth again.

“Way to sound like a two-bit backwoods super villain wannabe. Any other exciting anecdotes you'd like to provide?”

Damn it.

Her tongue was sharp. In any other situation, I would have loved to hear it, but this wasn’t the place. Not when we were face-to-face with a group that outnumbered us and a fresh offering to our left.

“You really should train your bitch not to talk back, Cam,” quipped another player, tossing her short hair back.

Bad move.I realized that when Aubrey shook my arm away and went right up to the player who insulted her. I could feelthe anger rolling off her in waves. One more wrong move, and I might get a glimpse of just how bloodthirsty she could be.

“Yeah, like I give a fuck what a cunt with a fuck ass bob has to say, but thanks. If you'll excuse us, we have a game to win.”

The group bristled. Ella, who had been slowly moving around the fountain, shifted closer to my side at the obvious change of demeanor.

Two of the players on either side brandishing large metal baseball bats started moving toward us.

Elijah was there, watchin’ it all go down. There was a superior feel to his aura. Like I was nothing but a cockroach under his shoe instead of the daughter of the family who took him in and trained him for that very moment.He should’ve been thankful I showed up.

If anything, he owes me!

“Now, now,” Elijah, thede factogroup leader, said, standing up with a languid stretch of his arms over his head. “No need for all of that, right? We're the first group to pass through the center zone. Look above you.”

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