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It didn’t bring a smile to his face. “You have to let her beat you. ”
“I will. ”
“How?”
“I don’t know, Yas. I’ll figure it out. ”
“Well, you better figure it out now,” he snarled, “because the fight is tomorrow. ”
“It’s okay,” Emma said soothingly, taking his arm in hers.
He glared down at her. “It is not okay. You read the freaking poster. Two in, one out. Are you really going to kill her? Is she going to kill you?” He turned his glare on me. “I know how this’ll play out. Miss Selfish here will win the day, like she always does. ”
The comment felt like a Mack truck rear-ending me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Emma looked distraught now. “Please stop, Yasuo. You’re not helping. ”
“Well, somebody needs to do something. ”
I put my hands on my hips. “I will so totally do something. ” My mind raced, and a plan began to form. “Emma will take me down. We’ve been studying the vascular system in Combat Med. She can get me in a hold, pin me down, and make like she’s choking me. ” I spoke faster, the idea taking hold. “Listen, this could work. If she cuts off the blood flow to my carotid artery, I’ll pass out. I’ll look dead, but the moment she lets go, it’ll be all good. I’ll look pretty blacked out for a while, and by the time I come to, she’ll be out of that ring. Okay?”
“Wow, that is good,” Emma said. “So simple. ”
I hoped it was simple in an elegant way, and not simple in a stupid way. She’d need to time it just right—if she waited too long to let go, I’d be dead, and if she let go too soon, then we’d both be dead.
“What happens when Alcántara realizes you’re not dead?”
“I’ll take the heat for that,” I assured him, though I left the rest of my thoughts unspoken. Namely, if I got in trouble, Carden could always swoop in before my punishment and we could make a break for it, maybe find those mysterious friends of Tom’s. “Don’t worry. ”
Emma smiled up at Yas. “See? All good. ”
“It’s me Alcántara wants to punish,” I assured him. “Not Em. ”
He didn’t speak, though. His eyes were narrowed on me, and for an instant I saw something flicker there. Red. Like the rogue.
Goose bumps crept along my skin, and I fisted my hands to get the blood flowing again. This was Yasuo. My pal. He was just playing the part of protective boyfriend. Still, it took a mental effort not to take a step back from him.
I was still chilled from that exchange and headed back to my dorm when I ran into Alcántara.
“Greetings, Acari Drew. ” He bowed his head, looking the part of chivalric fourteenth-century courtier. “I see you are recovered from your ordeal. ”
“Recovered, yes,” I said, mustering a weak smile, then added with a little chuff of a laugh, “Though I’d feel a lot more recovered if I didn’t have to fight my friend. ” It was a stupid thing to say, but I felt like I was at the end of my rope. I was done lying down and taking it from these guys.
I’d watched Mei escape—I’d learned there were options. I’d learned hope.
“You do not wish to fight your friend?”
Was he being serious? Would he give me an option? “Not particularly, no. ”
“You have no friends. ” He gave me a chilling smile. “This is merely my way to prove it to you, once and for all. ”
He’d liked me once. With that in mind, I tried a different angle. “And what if I die instead?”
His lip curled. “You’re a trying girl. There was a time I enjoyed the challenge you pose. Now I tire of it. ” He began to walk off. “What will be shall be. ”
Carden. I needed Carden. He’d be my comfort.
Somehow he knew. “You’re sad,” he whispered to me later that night. Lights-out had come and gone hours ago, and it was dark, with just a blade of moonlight cutting in to light my room. His being able to sneak in after hours was the one consolation for losing Mei-Ling.
