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Fifty-One
BROOKE
“Come on!” I shouted, my voice finally going hoarse. “Don’t stop now, we’re beating them!”
I was frantic by now, but so were the rest of us. We were at the Temple of Hadrian, dragging formed concrete blocks from three avenues away and sliding them onto a pedestal. Devin and Reese had been doing most of the grunt-work. Hayden and I were busy putting the blocks together, trying to form an exact, smaller-scale copy of the beautiful Roman arch that dominated the ancient entrance.
But it was late now, almost dark. We’d been running all day. Any thoughts to rationing our energy had gone out the window two challenges ago, when the Banshees took off long before we did.
“HURRY! We need the keystone!”
Off to my left, Meghan and Ingie were setting their final few blocks into place, with Carmen and Melissa helping guide them. Our Shadow Team had gotten here well before we did. In fact, they’d been outperforming us for most of today.
But this was a more physical challenge, and it had taken them longer to retrieve the blocks. As a result, we’d almost caught up. We could pass them if only—
“NNNNGHHH!”
The cry was followed by a resounding crash and a plume of dust. Ingie had dropped one of the V-shaped blocks, nearly on her own feet. The look Melissa delivered her was venomous.
“Are you kidding!?”
It was our chance.
“No no no!” I pointed, scrambling in a half-circle. “That one’s backwards. See the design? It’s facing the wrong way.”
At the start of the day, Hayden would’ve rotated the block easily. Now, everything we did took monumental effort. We’d raced across Rome, darting through its cobbled streets with every last ounce of speed we could muster. It was brutal — beyond brutal — especially with all the hills.
“Here, let me help—”
We’d run from the Vatican to the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. Sprinted from the Spanish Steps all the way to the Colosseum. We’d ditched Need for Speed at the Arch of Titus, but the Banshees had beaten us to the next few checkpoints. It was maddening, having them in front of us. Knowing that every challenge we faced could be the last.
Resting the stone on Hayden’s shoulder, we somehow managed to orientate it correctly. But now we had to hold it there, waiting on the keystone. We’d reached the top of the arch, where it was impossible to merely set the blocks without holding them in place.
“Don’t move!” Devin yelled from half an avenue away. “We’re coming!”
I shifted back to my side of the archway, as Hayden held his. A crowd of onlookers had gathered, presumably to cheer us on. My legs weren’t just shaking, they were trembling violently. Dust, shedding downward from the concrete, was caked at the corners of my eyes.
“Not so easy, is it?”
From my peripheral vision, I could see the badass bitch standing with her arms crossed. She was at the very edge of our challenge zone, staring at me. Taunting me, while her team kept working behind her.
“You’re gonna drop it,” she teased happily. “Fifty bucks says you drop it before they get here.”
More cameras zoomed in on me, as my knees all but started knocking together. I was strained, stressed. Scared shitless.
But now I wasangry,too.
“So, which one are you after?” she asked casually. “Hayden and that goddamn smile? Reese, for always making you laugh?”
I remained perfectly still as she shifted closer — as close as she was allowed, anyway. Technically she had to stay within her zone. But taunting was not only permitted between contestants, it was actually encouraged.
“Ah, so it’s Devin then!” she purred, after my silence. “Can’t say I blame you. Any one of them would be fantastic, really.” Leaning closer, her voice went low and conspiratorial. “I should know, of course. And that’s because I’ve—”
“Slept with all three of them?”
I spat the words through clenched teeth, more out of strain than anger. Somehow though, I managed a grin. “Been there, honey. Done that.”
My whole body was shaking visibly now. Arms, legs, everything. But through my peripheral vision, I could see Melissa’s expression. She couldn’t hide even a little bit of the shock or surprise.
