AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Sleep’s good,” Hondo muttered.
Brooks spoke softly, and I could tell she didn’t want to say any of this. “It’s not exactly sleep….You’ll have nightmares, and it might feel like someone’s peeling off your skin. But you’ve got this, Hondo. You’re a tank. And we’ll be with you the whole time.”
Hondo’s tough-guy veneer was starting to crack. “Yeah. I’ve been through worse.” His mouth twitched… or was that a tremble?
I didn’t care how many beatings he’d taken. This one would be the worst, and something about that split my heart into a million pieces. This was all my fault. I never should have let him come.
“How long will he be… asleep?” I hated the panic in my voice.
“Everyone’s different.”
“But the enchantment…” I was grasping. “You said…”
“Which is why he won’t die. But this stuff is powerful, Zane. Even the enchantment can’t stop it.”
Hondo cursed under his breath. “That lousy little… He did this to me!”
“Knowing them,” Brooks said, “it’s their way of taking you out of the game. I’m… I’m sorry. I should’ve been paying attention!”
“Not your fault,” Hondo said through gritted teeth. I could tell he was already fighting whatever was inside of him.
“Forget it!” I hollered. “We have to get him out of here.”
“You made the deal,” Brooks said. “You can’t leave until you play.”
“We didn’t shake on it,” I argued.
“You didn’t have to. The second you agreed to it, it was binding.”
Like my deal with Ah-Puch.
Brooks looked at Hond
o and said, “Try to sweat as much as you can. It’ll help.”
We made our way to the “court” a couple of levels above the main terrace, weaving among a crowd that was eager to watch us get killed. We decided not to wear the jerseys and shorts the twins had given us. Even though our enchanted clothes wouldn’t be as comfortable, their enhancements more than made up for it.
On the way up the ramp, Brooks filled us in about the game. It was like basketball, but with trampolines under each fifteen-foot-high net and basically zero rules. Which pretty much meant that fists and teeth were allowed.
“I… I don’t want you to get hurt,” I said to Hondo. “I mean, more than you already are.”
He grunted. “Don’t worry about me, guapo. Just take care of yourself.”
I rolled up my sleeves, trying not to think about what was at stake, but it was impossible. If we lost the jade, my ability to talk to Hurakan would be gone. I was already leaving without my plan B for defeating Puke, and now I might leave without even a plan A. That meant I was headed to hell’s basic-training camp. And worse, the whole world could be destroyed.
For a half of a second, I actually considered traveling back to the Empty, asking good old Dad what to do. But there wasn’t time, and I for sure wasn’t in a place where I could safely leave my body behind.
“How much longer until the you-know-what wears off?” I hated even having to ask, because that meant acknowledging the fact that my leg was going to go back to gimp status soon.
“Thirty minutes,” Brooks said glumly.
A vicious horn blared, followed by that same booming voice. “Players Zero, Less than Zero, and Double Zero, report to the court for your beheading.” Laughter. “Slam is a blood sport—don’t hide out now.” More laughter.
“I’m going to feed that dude’s head to the crowd if he doesn’t shut it,” Hondo said.
“Hold on to that anger,” Brooks said. “Maybe we can use it to our advantage.”
A hot fury stirred inside of me. And with each step, I felt all the gods’ lies and secrets trailing us like heavy shadows.
