Page 46 of Souls of Steel
“Wow,”I said.“That’s awfully convenient. I didn’t think they’d make it so easy for me.”
“It didn’t occur to anyone that you’d have a chance. Besides, you’re not out of the woods yet. Don’t get cocky. Focus and keep going.”
That sounded like an excellent idea. This number might seem high, but I didn’t know where I stood in the rankings. Hopefully, if I could stick to my plan and escape the labyrinth, I’d be able to solidify my position.
Calling onto my talent once again, I started to make my way forward. I was making progress, since I was getting closer to the overwhelming number of presences—the spectators. That also meant I couldn’t keep using my skill for much longer and had to rely on blind luck once again.
The ‘keep going and hope for the best’ method failed me. I was out of time and out of luck. I took a few more steps and entered another part of the labyrinth, only to run into Jared Glass.
The moment I saw him, every horrible thing he’d told me came rushing back. I lashed out at him with my sword, tachyons wildly sweeping through the labyrinth in a dazzling, lethal whirlwind. Jared cursed and ducked, but my blast was too powerful for him to completely avoid.
I took a step back, reminding myself I didn’t want to kill him. He was an asshole, but I didn’t want his blood on my hands. This was a competition, not a war, and as much as I wanted to pass these qualifiers, I couldn’t take it too far.
The moment of hesitation cost me. Jared snuck underneath my guard and tackled me to the ground. It was the second time I’d fallen since the beginning of the tournament and even with the protection of the uniform, my body was starting to protest the abuse. The physical impact wasn’t the worst of it. His power trickled into me, forcing my restless gift back. I lost my grip on my sword and on every other weapon I’d been using.
Normally, I might have tried to retaliate, but I was exhausted after my past battles. The Sphinx’s mental gift had been tough to use. I hadn’t felt that much strain while I’d been chasing my previous opponents through the labyrinth, but now that I’d stopped, a strange mellowness had started to settle over my limbs. My thoughts felt fuzzy and jumbled, and the pain Jared was causing reached me through a distant veil.
“Let me go,” I said. The words came out weak and shaky, and I hated myself for it.
If Jared noticed my condition, he didn’t mention it, nor did he find it strange. “Sorry. Can’t do that. Listen to me very closely. We don’t have a lot of time. I’m sorry about everything I said at the school, but it was necessary.”
I shouldn’t have believed him, but his tone gave me pause. Now that he was touching me, I could feel an undercurrent of panic and an urgency I hadn’t noticed before. It gave me enough clarity to push back the strange fog that had settled over my mind. “Necessary for what?” I asked slowly.
“I need you to remember a message, or rather, a code. You’ll know when you have to activate it.”
I couldn’t have been more confused if I tried. “What? But…”
Before I could ask what he meant, Jared trailed off a string of letters and numbers. The moment he finished saying the code, something in my mind seemed to click into place. A pressure settled on my brain and tears sprang out in my eyes as the onslaught of unexpected power exploded over me. It was different than the side-effect of my earlier use of my gift, and for a few seconds, I thought I’d black out.
Jared’s hold on me faltered and he let out a low hiss. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry. But this is the only way now. The mission isn’t safe with me anymore.”
Mission? What mission? What was he talking about? And why the hell would he think I could protect his code? I could barely protect myself and I was hanging onto my position at the academy by the skin of my teeth.
I didn’t understand what was happening. Until ten minutes ago, I could’ve sworn Jared Glass hated me, as evidenced by that whole thing with the bet. And now, here we were, in this weird situation, with him forcing a strange burden onto me and me unable to process what he wanted.
“Now, I’ll go ahead and let you go,” he continued after a few moments of pause. “Knock me out. No one will think it’s weird, since plenty of people have probably reveled in taunting you.”
Yes, they had, and it occurred to me Jared might have had something to do with that. The drones were transmitting everything that was happening in the stadium, but they couldn’t register conversations. After my earlier exchanges with the others, no one would deem the outcome of my battle with Jared strange, even if he’d surrendered to me.
I still couldn’t fathom what he was thinking, but I’d have to worry about it later. For the moment, I decided to go along with what he’d said. I didn’t have much time at my disposal anyway and if the qualifiers ended while I was still under Jared, I’d lose.
Without another word, I headbutted him in the face. He let out a shocked grunt, having obviously not expected that move. Maybe he’d believed I’d use tachyon manipulation. I took advantage of it to struggle to my feet and pick up my fallen weapon.
I was about to knock him unconscious, like he had asked, when the metallic walls started to vibrate. “The qualifiers are over,” a robotic voice announced. “All competitors, make your way back to your platform.”
The walls of the labyrinth withdrew into the ground. Befuddled, I sheathed my sword and offered Jared a hand. He didn’t take it. Instead, he sneered at me, once more the asshole who had made that horrible bet with me. “Are you so eager to touch me, Terran whore? Don’t worry. You’ll get to, in a bit. You might have gotten lucky a few times, but I bet you don’t have enough points to qualify.”
I didn’t know why, but I got the feeling that thought filled him with dread. More confused than ever, I left Jared where he was and headed back to the rest of my companions. Things had just become far more complicated and I hated it.
* * *
August
The qualifiers sucked. When I watched Selene disappear into the labyrinth, I tasted ash in my mouth and felt like I was about to explode. My mind was all over the place and I couldn’t focus on the battle. Three times, I almost got knocked out and it was only my connection with Charybdis that kept me anchored. I still came close to losing control of my power. That hadn’t happened since I’d been a child, before I’d met Pollux.
Something was horribly wrong and it made my skin crawl, as if strange vermin were trying to wriggle their way under my skin.
“What a charming imagery,”Charybdis commented.“You know I’d never allow that to happen. I’m the only parasite allowed inside you.”
