Page 41 of Rat Race

Kill him. Prove that you’re better than him. That he can’t talk to you that way. Then take the Architect for yourself.

Killing Hiram as an offering could fix every single one of my problems. Winning would pale in comparison.

No PK. No PK. No PK. Focus on somethin’ else. Anythin’.

I had to chant it in my head to stop myself from acting on the impulse to kill him. My eyes didn't move for the weapons that were serving now as more than a warning; they were an obvious threat.

"Oh my God," Ella whispered beside me excitedly. "I'm in eighth."

I did the mental math. That meant I was either in sixth or seventh, depending on how things had shaken out between Aubrey and me for who got more points.

Fuck.

Still podium-worthy, but now I was relatively unarmed and faced with five hostiles with only two untrained civilians as support.

I’m a fuckin’ embarrassment.

It felt like I was being punished. Hiram could fix that.

“Shut up,” I whispered to myself. No one looked twice at me, thankfully not hearing me.

I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth.I will make it work.It wasn’t the worst odds I could've had, but fuck me, they weren't brilliant either.

"As if," Aubrey huffed. "Step aside so we can pass, losers."

"The only loser I see here is you," Fuck Ass Bob said, sneering. "So pathetic walking around like a fucking billboard. What, was Times Square already booked?"

Aubrey, to my surprise, laughed, rolling her sapphire eyes. "Ooooooooh, I'm soooo bad. I see another woman getting a bag and I can't help but be jealous. God, you're so pathetic. Bet you wouldn't have half the balls to pipe up to me if you weren't kicking it with half the cast of the Power Rangers."

She was up faster than I'd pegged her for, crossing the short distance on the gravel to get up in Aubrey's face, her own round cheeks flamin’. "Say that again, Polly Pocket."

Elijah shifted, his eyes on the two at my side. I wanted to watch Aubrey. Maybe even help. But he was more dangerous than anyone else in the room.

"Feeling awful safe, aren't you?" Aubrey said, her lip curling in disgust at the closeness. "Can you please back up? You seriously need a mint."

Was love for continual insults a thing?

Like a fucked-up love at first sight but instead born out of watchin’ someone repetitively dress somebody down. I shouldn’thave been so turned on by it, but her darkness was speaking to mine.

It reached out slowly, showin’ itself in the littlest of ways.

In her speech.

In the way she whined about not killin’ her long-time nemesis.

In the way she had looked like she was going to kill Hiram when she had the chance.

There was so much more to her.

Fuck me, Aubrey is… somethin’ else.

"You want to talk about being brave?" the girl said, spitting at Aubrey's feet. "Attaching yourself to a Legacy with more tattoos than they have brain cells—oh, sorry, Cam, brain cells are the gooey pink stuff that makes it so that you can have enough awareness to Hulk-smash your fist into things in the hopes that?—"

Smack.

Well, actually, it was more likecrunchas Aubrey's fist connected with the girl's face, positively shattering her nose in an explosion of blood that splattered all three of us as well as the ground.

My mouth popped open in surprise, but I barely had time to think about reactin’ before the two with large bats were moving toward us.

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