Page 36 of The Only Way Out Is Up

“Faster. Smarter. It doesn’t need to be given explicit instructions.” She shakes her head. “I haven’t seen you give it any instructions.”

“We have a system,” I improvise. “Gestures and such. And Star prefers he, not it.”

“Exactly!” she says eagerly. “You talk about it—about him—like he’s alive.”

[Query: am I alive?]

Fuck if I know, buddy. Philosophy isn’t my strong suit. You can talk, and that’s good enough for me.

Ky is still staring at me eagerly. I clear my throat.

“Okay. You think Star is great. But the little body he’s in wouldn’t stand up to a fighting runic back home, much less some Hod runic with indigo sigils.”

She snorts. “Nobody has indigo sigils, even on Hod. I’ve only ever seen a few blues.”

Nice to know that even their wealth has limits. “Still. He’s not in fighting shape. And the reason I came to you in the first place is because I needed cash.”

“You have another body for him, though. A fighting body. You must, since you hunt Twisted, right?”

I’d forgotten I’d told her that. Ky is annoyingly intelligent.

“I… do. But it got badly wrecked last time I tried something like this.”

“I know where we can borrow some money.” She gives a vicious grin and cracks her knuckles. “Not a hundred stripes, but enough to build a fighting runic. The Ascent isn’t for two months. We can work our way up. Invest Star’s winnings in better sigils. You could build him something better, right? If you had the parts?”

“Of course.” I feel the faintest thrill of anticipation. I’ve never had more than scraps to work with, and some part of my mind is already designing something great. The things I could do if I didn’t have to scrape for every RESIST and bit of threading wire… My heart is beating faster, but it’s as though I can feel Somi staring at me over my shoulder. “But what if we lose?”

“In the tournament?” Ky shrugs. “You get sent home.”

“That’s it?”

“It’s a runic tournament, not a fight to the death,” she says, then offhandedly adds, “Though I would probably be murdered before nightfall.”

“You—” I stare at her. She meets my gaze challengingly, and only in a slight quiver of her jaw do I detect any nerves.

“It’s my only chance,” she says quietly. “It’s always like this up there. Win or die.”

“It’s not that different down below,” I mutter.

“So.” Ky extends her right hand. “Are you in?”

I close my eyes and extend my mind to Star. What do you think?

[Hesitation: I do not fully understand the human aspects at play.]

I’m not sure I do, either.

[Observation: the idiot would not be sufficient. I would have to fight.]

Definitely. The thought makes my guts clench. I’ve spent so long hiding Star, terrified someone would take him from me…

[Tentative: I would like… to know what I can do.]

I smile inwardly. Me too.

I still feel Somi staring over my shoulder, telling me it’s too dangerous. But Rekas and Uncle Claw are on the other shoulder, pressing down. Spike, sobbing against me, asking why everyone gets to shit on us.

Because we’re at the bottom, that’s why. But maybe we don’t have to be.