“I’m not doing that. If she chooses to, she can challenge the new guy, Hector.”
“Him? That’s ridiculous, you can’t be serious.”
“It’s her choice,” I say, my voice hard. “She fights to be a Digger, or she stays a no-man. That’s the way it goes, Princess. We don’t have any more slots.”
“That’s barbaric, you fucking coward.” I wince at Aurora’s words as her grip on my arm tightens. I know it’s shit, but I have to think about the whole block, not just one girl.
“Please, Taliesin, do something. You’re the Boss. Take her under your wing.” Her voice rises in a frantic plea.
“No,” I snap, shaking her off. “I already risked my neck for one fragile female. I’m not running an orphanage. And we don’t have the room for her.”
The look she gives me isn’t just anger; it’s one filled with disappointment and disdain. “Gang politics over human life?Got it. Thanks for showing me who you really are.” Her eyes burn right through me, but I stay silent.
“Fine,” she spits, standing up suddenly. “If you won’t do it, I will.”
Before I can grab her, she’s moving. She runs down the bleachers, and skids out onto the concrete expanse, her chest heaving, and eyes burning with a fire.
“I CALL A CHALLENGE!” she screams.
10. AURORA
Iskid on the gravel then come to a stop in front of the girl.
The yard goes dead silent. Even the wind seems to stop—and every eye is fixed on me. But I don’t care.
I’m so fucking furious right now.
Fucking Taliesin.
For a moment there, I’d started kidding myself that he was decent.
Up close, the new girl looks even younger, and worse off, than she’d seemed from the bleachers. Her skin is sickly pale, and her eyes are sunken so deep they look like hollow sockets. She doesn’t even flinch when I stop in front of her. She just stands there, swaying slightly in the wind.
“Listen to me,” I hiss, grabbing her by the shoulders. “You have to fight me. Do you understand? You have to win.” I use my body to shield our conversation from the leering crowd.
The girl’s eyes move in my direction, finally focusing, then she shakes her head.
“Yes! If you stay a No-man, it will be…awful. Youhaveto get into the Digger block.”
She whispers something under her breath and a single tear tracks through the grime on her cheek. Gods, I see a world of agony behind her eyes.
“What happened to you?” I whisper.
She just shakes her head again.
“Come on, babe, you’ve got to talk to me. You have to fight me. Come on, dig deep for just a little more strength. Look, if you take me down, you can get in the Diggers. It’s the safest place in this hellhole.”
A few hardly audible words come out of her mouth. “Nowhere is safe. All men are animals, I just want to die.”
Shit.
“The Diggers are different.” I shake her, trying to force life back into her eyes. “Their Boss has a ‘no raping’ rule. The girls in his block are safe. If you take my spot, you’ll be under his protection.” I can’t resist looking up at the bleachers. Taliesin stands watching us, arms rigid and knuckles clenched.
Around us, jeers and whistles are getting louder. A chant of “fight, fight,” has started up. I don’t know what will happen if the gangs get too restless.
“Hit me. It doesn’t have to be hard. Just make it look real.”
She looks through her curtain of hair at me. Her expression is one devoid of any hope, so I’m going to have to take control.
