Page 49 of Drop His Mask

Carefully,slowly, I stood to my feet, but I tripped. Stumbling forward, my hands found the podium; I needed it to stay steady. My legs were numb from disuse, and my muscles hadn’t recovered from my activities with Maverick or the game before. And even more notable was my throbbing side. The stitches pulsating to my heartbeat.

In my distraction, I didn’t realize there was a button on the podium. Didn’t realize that I had pressed it until a large siren came from my platform.

“We have our first contestant chosen on their designated team! Now for the rest of you. One person on your team will need to press the button. The first to do so will be the only one to compete in this game.”

All around me, similar sirens sounded as the rest of the players chose.

What have I done? How am I supposed to win this when I can barely stand?

Stabilizing, I turned around and leaned against the podium. I found Jayce staring into me.

It’s okayhe mouthed, inclining his head and offering a small smile.

My eyes turned glassy, but I blinked it away.

What if my mistake costs us our lives?

I was going to be playing for our team. I would be going for our round.

Me. Who could barely even stand.

“All the players have now been chosen to represent their teams. We will be doing this match a bit differently.”

That was the only warning I got as my platform shook, and I was lowered along with most of the other players.

Only two platforms remained in the circle above.

Confusion swirled in my gut. I thought touching the button first would make me the first to play, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Down and down anddown and downI went. Until finally, I stopped just a foot above the ground.

The spiked ground.

Sharp metal teeth covered the floor. There wasn’t space for anything else. Even stepping off I wouldn’t be able to escape them.

But what about falling from above?

Bile rose up my throat as I understood what this would be, I swallowed it down as best I could.

Get them off.

Make them fall to their deaths below.

To where we waited.

The nearest players were at least five feet away. All of us spread out across the space in a circle, our platforms held up by a single metal bar below us. Maybe we would get lucky and no one would fall on us.

But what happens if they do?

Where is Levi?

Searching anxiously for him, my eyes bobbed over the players down here, but he wasn’t one of them. Which meant he was one of the two players above. He would be in the first round. To distract myself from that conclusion, I found Maverick and then, shortly thereafter, Enzo. Maverick paid me no mind, his attention snapping from one player to the next.I could practically hear his brain clicking as he computed all the data provided.

Enzo on the other hand wasn’t looking around at all. Instead he sat down, stretching his limbs, paying no mind to his surroundings.

“What is this?” a woman’s familiar voice shouted, coming directly from my right. “How are us girls supposed to win this?”

My attention jumped to her. She stood on the next space over in our circle. It was 32. Our ally. Her team held the only other two remaining women.

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