The Change: Episode one (8 page)

Day 5

1

“
Welcome to the final round
of the Bachelor Battles! As I’m sure you know, we’re down to just
three contestants and the blood has been flying.”

Clips of the week’s matches flowed along the
giant screens as the massive crowd screamed and pushed against the
lines of guards and barriers in front of The Block.

“
For the start of this
round, the Network will pick tonight’s evening elimination match
that will take place after today’s exhibition by the remaining
contestants.”

The Network liked to mix games for this
part, and the crowd quieted as they waited to see what brutal
testing tool the Network had chosen.

“
Our challengers will have
to… run the Tunnel of Time!”

“
Please report to The
Block.”
the speaker in my room instructed
and I flipped off the wall screen. Then I switched it off. The
Tunnel of Time wasn’t life threatening from what I’d found out, but
it was painful, designed to put the remaining contestants on even
footing. Aware of what was coming, I winced at that thought and
headed for The Block.

2

“
Are you worried about your
cousin?”

This was my first interview since Angelica’s
kidnapping, and I played it like I needed to. I dangled bait.

“
No. She wasn’t really
taken. It was a misunderstanding.”

The bald reporter I’d recently humiliated
gaped at me and I chose not to push, just this one time. I needed
this interview heard. “She headed home and forgot to tell us. We
just found out.”

I saw her beady eyes narrow and knew
instantly what had happened, who had targeted me. I had assumed it
was one of the contestants.

I flashed my Games grin. “So, I’m all set
for tonight. Are you?”

There was a double meaning
she took to heart, and I nodded, not caring that we were on open
air with the world and more importantly, the Network, listening.
“I’ll wipe out your whole family, and I’ll do it quicker
than
they
will.”

I stood up, eyes flickering pink, and she
flinched back out of her chair. When she turned to run, I let my
Changeling out.

I snatched her around the throat, spinning
her around, and I jerked her up close to my face as the guards
began to flood the studio. “I’ll come for you. The Network couldn’t
care less about your life… but I do!”

I shoved her to the floor, took a step back
as they drew their guns. “If she’s not returned, unharmed, before
the match, there won’t be anywhere you can hide. I’ll track you
into the Borderlands and beyond.”

I left with those words, hoping it had been
enough. I hadn’t realized the reporters could be paid for their
involvement, too, but I suspected this was personal. I’d been
heartless to them, and they’d retaliated by taking something they
thought I held dear. If they’d been smarter, it might have worked,
but they’d sent out one of those I’d already conquered. Reading her
was easy.

I stopped at the door, still ignoring the
guards, and looked toward the cameras. “Are ya ready yet?”

The roar in response was deafening.

3

The contestants entered through a separate
area, but I could hear the crowd waiting on the other side of the
door. The Tunnels of Time were three caves set side by side. Lined
with sharp stones and shards of glass, it was a race to see who
could endure the pain to come out of the other end first. I stepped
through the door thinking again how grateful I was for the training
I’d done with Baker.

The cameras swung to show
my entrance, and I saw the other contestants were already at their
starting gates.
Good
. Waiting for me might hurt them, make them reckless. These
tunnels weren’t the fast dash the announcer had implied. They were
half a mile long, pitch black, and littered with surprises that the
former contestants weren’t allowed to talk about. Some always did
though, and I was as ready for the bolts of fire and winged
blood-suckers as I could be.

“
Please remove your
weapons and shoes before entering.”

The run was also done barehanded and
barefooted. I grinned for the cameras as I pushed mine off and
heard the crowd roar in response.

“
The first contestant to
emerge from the Tunnels of Time will have a guaranteed slot in
tonight’s match. The other contender will be chosen by Network
decision. Everyone ready?”

The mob of people watching
must be huge,
I thought, stepping into the
center square where a small bar held me back from the dark, cave
entrance. The cheering and jeering was echoing back through the
arena and even rolling up through the tunnels.

I’d never watched an episode of this game,
but I’d trained for it just the same. Walking on hot coals had made
me almost numb to the touch and burnt the bottoms of my feet until
I had a layer of scar tissue to pad me. I’d had a lot of years to
torture myself before I was allowed to be here.

“
Ready… Go!”

I shot into the tunnel ahead and disappeared
into the darkness.

At first, I could hear the others in the
tunnels on either side as they made the same sounds I did… grunts
at a particularly painful step, a wild stumble and swipe at a
flying shape that dodged it and took a layer of skin in return.

The noises echoed loudly through the pitch
black, telling me we were running about even, and I smothered my
automatic need to slow down and feel my way through. I wanted this
to be over… I wanted blood, and I took off, sprinting through the
darkness.

The glass cut into my ankle as I stumbled
over the rocks, and the pain brought my pink vision to the front. I
wondered if the Network knew it gave us a slight version of
infrared?

“
Uug!”

I ducked a second swipe of
angry talons, feeling blood gush down my back from the
gouge.
Damn them!

My stride lengthened again as the anger made
my muscles bulge. Silence had fallen, other than my own…

Wwwiiii…

I rolled over the pointed ground, protecting
my neck with my hands. The flare behind me said I’d had a narrow
miss, and I grinned in the darkness. Fire didn’t scare me anymore.
I had spent too much of my life feeling the heat to fear it.

I ducked a second flash, but ran straight
into the third one and felt my cloak flame up. I quickly pulled it
over my head.

The fire blasts were random, constant
blinding sparks to ruin my pink vision, and I understood that yes,
the Network knew, and they’d compensated for it.

I wondered how the others were doing and
pushed myself harder, breath coming in short, even falls. It went
still and dark suddenly, and I tried to be prepared for
anything.

“
Zzzzz….”

The blade flashed up on my right, and I
scooped a handful of glass and rocks to throw ahead of me as I
ran.

The rocky floor sharpened, shredding the
side of my foot as I slid. The motion saved me from losing my head
and put me under a hip-level grinder that spun out of the wall.

I stayed lower, still tossing a path that
bounced off the stone walls.

Another blade whirled over the top of me,
slicing through part of my hair, and I felt the betrayal then. The
Network didn’t really want us to come out of this one. It was an
ugly feeling that had my eyes flashing red and my feet carrying me
on legs that jumped, leapt, and ducked me under death.

When I saw the tiny prick of light ahead, I
began to force the heat back. I wanted them to think I’d made it
without flipping.

Not sure where the others were, I rolled
under a final blade and darted into the center to break the
ribbon.

“
And that’s our winner,
folks! The bounty-hunting teenager will be one of our contestants
in tonight’s feature match!”

The Network would choose my opponent… if
they lived, I thought, but realized at least two of the other
tunnels would have been clear of death-causing dangers simply to
have at least two survivors for the final match. Likely only mine
had been rigged. Had my being directed to that gate been random or
intended?

I didn’t stay around to see who placed
second. Winning was all I cared about now. They could torture me,
but I’d never quit, never break. What I needed was here, and I
would have it at any cost… even Angelica’s life.

I realized that and
accepted it with a snarl of pain that had people scurrying back as
I strode the halls on my shredded feet. I left puddles and heavy
swirls of blood as I went, and it was intentional. I wanted them…
the
Network
, to
know it would take more than pain or surprises in the dark to get
rid of me.

4

“
The note just came.” My
Mother’s voice held my relief. “They want 200 million UDs and
amnesty from being hunted.”

When situations like this came up, we
handled it our way. Together, the Pruetts were hard to beat, and I
was smart enough to know I needed their help. My Mother was
sparkless most of the time, but on bounty runs, when my Father was
in danger, she was merciless. I much preferred that version of her,
but either way, I could now concentrate on my opponent, my
goal.

I gave a short nod, looking back at her with
hard eyes. “Take care of it the way we always do.”

Angelica, along with her captor, would be
there somewhere in the throng of drunken, bitter women who had
bought passage to tonight’s match. My Mother would make sure the
trade-off was set there, and we would risk the Network’s wrath for
not telling them.

My parents didn’t argue,
and I was glad of it. The reporters had given me a way out, a way
to have Angelica’s life and still leave with what I’d come for. My
parents would handle it from that side of the cage, and I would be
free to do what I did best.
Kill
.

5

“
Feature Cage
Match!”

The scarlet-clad blonde
waited in patient stillness, and I could see no softening in her
golden gaze.
Good
.
Her actions hadn't earned it from me either, and I played on any
possible fears she might have. I grinned.

Maybe she paled, but we were too far away to
be sure. We stood at the gated entrances to the cage, waiting to be
let in to spill each other’s blood.

Outside the cage area, the crowd was roaring
in anticipation. Women were screaming, red-faced and drunken, some
being beaten on by guards for being too unruly, and I turned my
attention away from it. There were no bachelors again for this
match, and I shoved that image away as well.

The blue lights flashed as the gate slid
down, and I strode confidently toward my life or death. I was as
ready as I could be, and I dropped my cloak to the floor as I
neared the cage, studying my opponent.

The Bombshell had delicate cheek bones set
on a thin, hard face that had clearly seen a rough life. Platinum
hair hung to her hips in wild strands that I doubted drew any
reaction when pulled. I felt my need to see blood rise to another
level. I would draw a reaction from her.

I moved forward. Before I could step into
the cage, the bars between us rose, stopping the match.

“
Halt!”

A piercing shout echoed,
and I looked up to see my parents in the center of the front row of
benches. The crowd parted to show them facing off with my Korean
opponent, who had Angelica wrapped up with a knife to her
throat.
The foreigner had underestimated
us as well
, I thought, a bit surprised to
find out how many people were in on the attempt to hurt me. There
was already a body on the floor that I identified as the bald
reporter.

I watched my Mother deliver a death blow to
the Korean’s throat with her claws, as my Father jerked Angelica’s
unconscious body from her arms. The Korean wouldn’t get the chance
to make that mistake twice.

"Halt there!"

The guard's cry froze them this time, then
the gate was sliding back down and the Bombshell moved my way with
a snarl of hatred that surprised me.

“
And that makes this the
final match, folks! Are ya ready?”

I had time to realize I'd been wrong, that
she had been behind the abduction, in league with the others, and
then the rage was blasting through me. I met her attack with a
scream that was primal. No one double-crossed us. No one.

I swung a hard fist to her jaw and was
immediately rocked back as she retaliated with a nasty kick that I
took in the gut, but managed to catch.

Using the opportunity, I jerked her in a
wide arc and twisted her ankle like a lid. Around us, the crowd
roared again.

Before it would break, she raked her nails
down my evading back, and I spun her against the cage, unwilling to
let go.

She slammed her claws through my clothes and
into the skin of my shoulder, and I growled, slinging her into the
side of the cage.

The Bombshell struck out, raking my neck,
and I delivered a vicious hit to her temple that sent her eyes into
full red as the Change swept through her. That red jumper ripped as
her muscles swelled, and her platinum hair shot out in wild growth.
Her claws became talons as she flipped, and I felt my own body
start to mirror hers.

The hormones surged, sending teeth into
fangs and new strength into my hands, and this time, I met her
attack with enough force to drive her back.