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“She could spit flames,” Emma said. “Like in the circus. ”
Yasuo stared at her, his eyes wide. “Girl, you amaze me. Were you raised in a barn? Oh. wait. You were, weren’t you?”
Emma shot him one of her rare smiles.
Were they flirting? “Guys, can we get back on topic?”
I could’ve sworn Emma blushed.
“Let’s talk weapons,” Yasuo said. “You’re not going to use that knife again, are you?”
“Do you have a better idea? A knife suited me just fine in the last fight. ” My tone was a little prickly. I considered myself pretty decent at blade work.
Yasuo put his arm around me, but he kept his eyes glued to Lilac. He leaned down, talking low. “Yeah, Drew, you’re good. But this fight . . . it’s going to go fast. You’re going to grapple. Von Slutling’s not exactly going to flash her exposed back like your Draug did. ”
“Why not use your stars?” Emma asked.
“Who says I don’t have them? A little duct tape, a couple makeshift pockets, and voilà. ” I hiked up my wide-legged sparring pants and waggled my ankle. “I stowed them on the side of my boots. ”
“Neat. ” A smile flickered on Emma’s face and was gone. “But isn’t that against the rules?”
“The rule is ‘Acari may carry one weapon into the ring. ’ Get it?
Carry. Like, in your hand. ” I smiled innocently. “I’m just following the letter of the law. That’s what they taught us to do, right?”
It was evening by the time our fight rolled around, the sky an eerie half-light, like the sun was shining in from another room. Master Alcántara stood between Lilac and me on the platform. His mischievous smile told me he was enjoying every minute of the spectacle.
Alcántara said something to her—I’d have done anything to hear—and then he came to me.
“Cuídate, cariño. ” His whisper was mellow and sultry with promises. Goose bumps shimmered over my skin, and I had to blink hard to clear my head. He chuckled, low and throaty. “That’s it. Keep your head. Sharp wits are deadlier than any blade. ”
The palm of the hand that held the knife began to sweat. Was this all some sort of cruel lesson that combat came down to wits?
I panicked. I’d picked the wrong weapon. A switchblade would be worthless. Especially against that long bamboo sword.
Watcher Priti sounded the first gong.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Lilac and I bounced on the balls of our feet. I was going to let her make the first move so I could get a sense of her strategy. I needed to understand as much as I could about her mind-set beyond the fact that I resembled some kid from her past whom she’d apparently hated, then murdered.
Lilac ran toward me, swinging that sword, long as a pole. The crowd was silent, and the scuff of her feet on stone echoed around her. Her attack was abrupt, erratic.
“Easy, Cowgirl. ” I skittered out of her way, careful not to topple off the stone in the first five seconds of the fight. I’d already seen three girls fall to the ground and knock themselves out. There was no way I was ready to get whisked away by a Tracer.
I concentrated on the hard rock under the soles of my boots. I am roots in the earth. I am water that flows. I whispered a new mantra, for good measure. “I am stone. ”
“Down,” she yelled, leaping for me.
I bounded forward and met her halfway. Our bodies slammed into each other, and she grabbed me close.
She whipped the backs of my legs with her shinai. The sharp sting of it stole my breath. She lashed me again, snarling, “You’re going down. ”
I couldn’t let her get momentum. Ignoring the sizzling on the backs of my thighs, I hugged her closer. Clutching tightly to her, I slashed my switchblade in a wild arc. “Taking you with me. ”
It caught her leg, grazing her. She didn’t flinch. I swung again, slamming my arm into hers.
Her sword slipped from her hand, and she screamed, “Bitch!”
