Page 41 of Blue Arrow Island
Pax lifts his shoulders in a half shrug, steel in his voice. “Anyone who thinks they can do better than me and Commander Marsden can meet me right here when I’m done with Anders. That’s it.”
Anders sneers and spits at the ground, advancing on Pax. “You arrogant prick.”
He draws his arm back in a swing aimed at Pax’s jaw. Pax deftly dodges it and lands a hard hook to Anders’s stomach. Anders grunts and doubles over.
Pax is trying to look casual and Anders takes him by surprise, staying bent as he rams his shoulder into Pax’s midsection, knocking Pax to his back.
Anders is straddling his stomach, raining blows on his face. Pax seems too stunned to do anything. A murmur runs through the crowd as everyone watches, transfixed.
Pax shoves his attacker off, springing up. Blood pours from his nose. His upper lip is also bleeding and swollen. He crouches in a defensive stance, taking Anders more seriously now.
“You’d be a fucking two if Virginia wasn’t in love with you!” Anders yells, eliciting a shocked gasp from the crowd.
I don’t dare turn to look at Virginia.
Pax lets out a deep, feral yell and he charges, landing a jab to Anders’s left eye. Anders is fast on his feet, though. He dances around like a boxer, dodging blows and trying to land a few of his own.
Anders spits out a mouthful of blood and I see a flash of white in there. One of his teeth.
Pax uses his longer arms to his advantage, staying just far enough to be out of Anders’s reach as he lands a mighty blow to his nose. Anders stumbles back, dazed.
“Come on, take him out,” Luke mutters.
Pax charges. He sweeps his leg behind Anders’s, knocking him to the ground. Then he kicks Anders in the side, his opponent howling and trying to curl up.
Unrelenting, Pax kicks him again and again. Anders cries out as he flips onto his stomach, trying to use his knees to get up.
Pax backs up and runs at him, jumping about seven feet in the air before he lands on Anders, his elbow aimed at Anders’s back. It lands so hard that I hear the crunch of his back breaking.
It’s over. Pax rolls Anders onto his stomach, Anders coughing up blood that pours from either side of his mouth.
He needs to quickly snap his neck and end the suffering. My heart hammers as seconds pass, Pax just standing there. I look around at the faces of the spectators, not seeing a hint of sympathy for the man dying in front of us.
Some people have a feral glint of satisfaction in their eyes. Others look almost impassive. I force myself not to let my horror show.
Where’s the humanity? Whether they’re afraid to admit it or not, Anders was right—we are all starving. And still, we train for eight hours a day. And to what end?
For Whitman. A maniacal tyrant who doesn’t care if any of us live or die.
Tears pool in my eyes as Anders starts to choke on his own blood.
Pax dives on him, and just when I think he’s finally going to end this quickly, he instead buries his face in Anders’s neck.
People in the crowd cheer and throw fists in the air. I furrow my brow, confused. Then my disgust is magnified as I realize what he’s doing. Pax is biting Anders. Fucking biting him, like a vampire in a horror movie.
I want nothing more than to look away as blood spurts from Anders’s carotid artery. Pax bounces to his feet and throws both fists in the air, spitting a hunk of Anders’s bloody flesh to the ground.
My stomach twists with sickness. That mouth was on mine earlier. It makes me want to walk into the ocean and let the waves overtake me.
Pax’s predatory gaze lands on me, the blood around his mouth making him look like a wild animal feasting on his prey. Which isn’t actually that far off.
An invisible magnet pulls me toward him. I fight it. The slick heat between my legs is begging me to give in and go to him.
Fuck him, fuck him, fuck him. You want it more than anything. You want him deep inside you and nothing else matters.
He looks down at Anders, still dying a slow, painful death. Bending down, Pax grabs his ankle and quickly drags him over to the fire, rolling him into the flames.
Instinctively, I back up, averting my eyes from the inside of the circle. I have to get out of here. As soon as the first person leaves, I’m going to. I make it to the back of the crowd, where I stand right behind a couple of men. They should hide me from him.
