Page 61 of The Only Way Out Is Up

Then his eyes go glassy, and the breath wheezes out of his lungs.

“They shouldn’t have been able to find him,” Ky says, still gripping his limp fingers. “He was always so careful. Cutouts, bribes to the Arbiters. The Cavcante are a bunch of half-bit street thugs. It doesn’t make sense.”

“We need to go,” I tell her. “They had plenty of time to send a message. More of them could be on the way.”

“Yeah.” She blinks, her eyes still a little vague and faraway. “Yeah. Where?”

I have no idea.

Well. I have one idea. But it’s terrible.

“Down to the undercity,” I tell her. “No Yesod crooks are going to follow us there.” Uncle Claw has always been very particular about organizations from the tiers messing with his turf.

“Good. That’s good.” She lets go of Weslai and takes a wobbly step, then shakes her head. “Fuck. No. We need the money.”

“What money?”

“The money. The pot, at Venci’s. The entry fee is in the bank, but without that cash we don’t have a chance of getting Star ready to fight in the Ascent.”

“Shit.” The Mark 4 is at Venci’s, too. “You think the Cavcante will be there?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” She shakes her head and winces. “Fight’s soon. It’ll be packed. Be hard for them to grab us in public.”

“Okay. Venci’s first, then the stairs.” I look between us, then at Star, all covered in crimson. “After we get cleaned up a little.”

TWENTY-ONE

Venci’s pit is indeed packed. In fact there’s a long queue of people waiting outside, relaying shouted descriptions of the preliminary fights down the line. Star’s fame has apparently spread farther than I thought.

Ky and I, dressed in some shabby longcoats we found at Weslai’s, slip around to the back. The guards now recognize us and step respectfully aside, and we hurry to the waiting room to find Venci pacing back and forth.

“Finally!” She shakes her head and crunches down on a seed, clearly nervous. Her sparkling coat trails behind her. “You fuckers know how to cut it close. They’re going mad in there.”

The Mark 4 sits by the pit-side door, limp and inert. I have no idea how we’re going to get it past the checkpoint and down, but one thing at a time. I pull Star out of my pack and start working on transferring his foundation sigil.

“We’re not fighting,” Ky says. Her voice is steadier, but she still wobbles on her feet.

“What? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Venci says.

“We’re not fighting. We’re done. We’re taking the pot and getting out of here.”

“Why in the Heap would you do that?” Venci shouts.

“None of your fucking business!” Ky shouts back. “Just bring us our money.”

There’s a long pause. Venci’s neck bulges, the muscles going red. She pulls another seed from her pocket, pops it in her mouth, and crushes it very deliberately between her molars.

“That is not,” she says, deadly calm, “how it works.”

“Just—” Ky begins.

“First of all,” Venci interrupts, “the rules clearly state you have the option to withdraw the pot after a match. Not right before one.”

“You’re really going to get technical with—”

“And second of all,” the pit boss continues implacably, “can you hear them out there? If you don’t go out and fight they are going to tear this place apart, and us with it. Understand?”

Another pause. I’m used to the roar of the crowd by now, but tonight it does seem to have a certain vicious edge to it.