Tsunami Blue (18 page)

Chapter Twenty-six

“No,” I whispered. Fear paralyzed me. “No.”

The thought of Gabriel Black, with those dark eyes and even darker lashes, scarred, burned, and blinded? I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t.

I thought of my pirate at the helm, his dark hair blowing in the sea breeze as he scanned the horizon. I thought of him not being able to take to the sea again, to navigate by the stars, to see me. I thought,
What if…?
And then,
No
. No, I wouldn’t think it. I’d saved him once; I’d do it again.

And again and again and again
, my heart said.

I ran back to the cage, jumped on the ledge, and grabbed the mesh with both hands. I could see Gabriel crumpled on the floor. No one was helping him. No one.

“Gabriel,” I called. “Gabriel.”

I saw him try to raise his head. He heard me.
Thank God.

“Gabriel. Oh, honey, sweetie, are you all right?”

A drunken woman next to me mimicked my concern, and then: “Gabriel, can you see me? What?” She grabbed her boobs and jiggled them in an obscene way. “You can’t? Too bad, baby. You don’t know what you’re missing.” She started to laugh a loud, obnoxious laugh and gave me a hard shove.

Oh, boy.
I so did not have time for this. So I decided to end it. Pronto.

“Oh,
I
see you.” I punched her so hard she flew off the ledge, back into a worked-up crowd that pretty much hated her large butt landing on them. I let the crowd below take over and turned back to Gabriel. I knew I had few precious minutes before the wrong people reached me, but I couldn’t seem to move. I had to see Gabriel. I had to.

Everyone had focused on Cobra, the snake of the hour. People crowded around him, including the Ring Girl. She rubbed against him and reached up to wipe a smudge of red powder from his lips. He uncoiled his tongue and licked her hand.
Yuck.

I struggled with what to do. I had to get in there. That much was clear. But how? I glanced back over the sea of people to check on the progress of the men who had been directed my way.

They were getting closer.

“Aw, screw it,” I said to myself. “Just go for it, Blue.” I tore at the pink duct tape with my teeth as I tested the mesh with my hands. I could climb better than a black bear, Seamus used to say. I had to, I’d tell him, to get away from his friends.

I opened the lethal-looking switchblade. It had a bone handle and a wicked blade. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that the bone wasn’t from something other than cow; with a Runner, you just never knew.

With a quick look over my shoulder, just to check how long I’d be a free woman—oh, good, not long—I started to scale the mesh. The wire was old, ripped, and I easily found toe- and handholds all the way up.

I held the knife between my teeth as I climbed; I wished I could say I hadn’t done this before. But I didn’t think anyone who had known me for long had ever seen me without a knife, in all different circumstances and in all different positions. It pretty much went with the territory. My territory. And the old knife-between-my-teeth trick? A guy named Rambo, who the older Runners idolize, may have been famous for it, but I did it better. So I was going over the top, razor wire and all.
I’m coming, Gabriel.
I willed him to hear my thoughts, to hang on.
I’m coming.

It took a few minutes for the people around me to notice that a crazy girl with a knife in her teeth was scaling the mesh. But when they did, news spread through the crowd fast.

By the time I was at the top, people at the bottom started to clap to a steady rhythm of, “Fall, bitch, fall, fall, bitch, fall…” It was just so nice to be encouraged.

When I reached the top, I ducked under the large loops of razor wire and hooked a leg over the side. I turned and faced the crowd, which I must say was really getting into their chant. They had even started the wave through the audience, which I thought was really appropriate, given, you know, the whole Tsunami Blue thing. Not that they would know it. Yet.

Still, seeing the wave running through the massive crowd was pretty impressive, I’ve got to say. I wanted to thank them, but it was hard to find the right words, since all they really wanted was for me to tangle up in razor wire, fall, and die a horrible death. I wanted to leave them with something, though.

So just before I hooked my leg over to the other side and started the climb down, I flipped them off with both fingers. The crowd went nuts. I was a star.

Unfortunately, I was becoming a star to the men inside the cage too. Right now, they didn’t seem concerned; I was sure I wasn’t the first delusional fan to scale the mesh surrounding the cage. But I was noticed. And I knew my time with Gabriel, when I reached him, would be limited. But I would reach him.

I took a lesson out of the Gabriel Black playbook and landed next to him on little cat feet.

 My knife popped out of my mouth and clattered noisily on the stainless-steel floor, pretty much announcing my arrival to the entire world. The blade spun and skidded away.
Well, great. Just great.

 Of course Gabriel heard me. I think it was not only the little cat feet landing, but the drop, crash, and roll that might have tipped him off. That or the, “Ouch, my butt.” And the, “Damn it, tough guy, why do I have to do all the saving?” might have clinched it.

I rolled over to him, well aware that our time together was short, maybe only a few seconds even, before someone pulled me away from him.

So I made the best use of my time I could. I put my arm around his back, stroked his hair, and said, “If we live through this, Gabriel Black, I’m next in line to kill you. You know that, right?”

“Nice to see you too, Blue,” he said. “Now”—and he turned his head to face me—“get the hell out of here.”

I tried not to gasp; really, I did. But his beautiful eyes were swollen shut; the skin around them was blistered and burned. I did what always comes naturally to me: I looked around for my knife. I needed to kill the man who had done this.

I pushed up from the cool steel and stripped off my new We Leave Bite Marks T-shirt. I needed something to soak up water. I glanced at my tattoo. Still smeared with mud, it was an unrecognizable mess. I could hardly believe that I hadn’t been knifed and thrown out of here yet. But then, that was never the plan. And yes, I had one. But only one. It would come down to showing my last hand, executing my last slow roll. I would play the Tsunami Blue card. But my first concern was for Gabriel. I looked for water and found it in the corner. Right next to Snake Man.

I looked for my knife. I wanted to multitask: Get water and kill the Snake Man. Why make two trips?

“Looking for this?” The nondescript man I’d seen earlier was holding up my bone-handled blade. He was average height, but his build was strong, powerful. His cropped hair, buzzed short like the old military style, was blond. His features were all hard angles and sharp planes. He had a mean mouth and dead, dark eyes. Everything about this man said,
Stay away, or you’ll be dead
. I was wrong. Up close and personal, there was nothing nondescript about this man who had to be Trace. The man was pure terror.

Gabriel pushed to sit up. He glared at the man. “Stay away from her, Trace.”

“So this is her, is it, Gabriel? Your Tsunami Blue?”

Trace reached out and grabbed my arm. Reaching over, he smeared the mud clear from my shoulder. A portion of my tat showed through. He pulled off my shades and tossed them on the unforgiving steel. The glasses shattered. He grabbed my chin and looked at my eyes. The girl in the ring, taking in my tattoo, gasped, and Snake Man blinked and blinked again, as if he couldn’t believe his own reptilian eyes.

I jerked away from Trace like he was nothing. I had been manhandled by Runners all my life. This was not new or unexpected. And right now I needed water. End of story. And I didn’t think he would kill me. Yet. He was one of two men who had been looking for me all this time. Kill me over a bucket of water? No. I was too valuable for that.  

But I was afraid for Gabriel. He had no clout, nothing to offer anyone without me. The thought felt bitter. Why should I save him? Why?

 As I headed over to the water, I looked back at Trace. Before I made a bargain with the devil, I knew I had to answer that question: Why save Gabriel Black?

Because I couldn’t live, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t exist without him somewhere in my world.

I picked up my tee and dipped it in the cool water of the bucket, glared at Snake Man, and headed back over to talk with Trace. But before I did, I pulled out what was left of my ponytail and let my hair down.

I wanted to cover my ears.

Chapter Twenty-seven

“Talk to me, Trace. I’m all ears.” I was standing on my tiptoes, trying to dab Gabriel’s eyes with the cool, wet T-shirt.

“Blue.” Gabriel pushed the shirt away and put a hand of warning on my wrist. He was trying to convey to me that Trace was a dangerous man. Certainly not one to be made fun of. All of which I knew. But it was that show-no-fear thing that Uncle Seamus had taught me so well. Unfortunately, with Trace it wasn’t working. The man didn’t give a shit. Which scared me. And I was trying like hell not to show it.

But what Gabriel conveyed with a touch here, a stroke there, was that he wanted me to be careful. Careful because he couldn’t protect me anymore.

And it tore up my heart.

He couldn’t protect me because Gabriel Black was blind. And maybe always would be.

I hadn’t been able to take my glare off John the Snake Man. He had blinded Gabriel. And he would die for that. I was working on visuals of tearing out the Snake Man’s heart. Just as he had most certainly torn out mine.

“Your girlfriend has some mouth,” Trace was saying.

Gabriel said nothing and just stared ahead.

“Look, Black, if it wasn’t for her, you’d be gutted like a tuna up here in the cage. Hell, this crowd still wants your blood.” He grinned. “You know how they feel about losers.”

Trace turned and gave the crowd the loser sign while shoving Gabriel hard against the mesh. The crowd went crazy. I quickly pulled Gabriel back to my side and attempted to put myself between the two men. Gabriel tried to grab my shoulders. I knew he wanted to tuck me behind him. He wanted to keep me safe. He missed me, reached air instead, and fell to his knees. Trace roared with laughter and the noise from the crowd exploded.

Trace was a nasty man and, just like any Runner scum, ambitious. I guess that was where I came in. He who controlled the waves, or at least knew approximately when and where they would hit, ruled the world.

Well, that was the short version.

Trace had just explained the nuances of owning a “pet” like me. Sounded like a lot of fun to go live with Uncle Trace. I did the work; he used the info about waves for evil personal gain.

With me at his side he would sit at the top of the food chain as he doled out information on where to run, where to hide. He alone could decide who would live and who would die. Not to mention, he could pull the old bait and switch routine. Send people off to run for their lives while his crew swept in, taking everything that was left behind. Yep, Trace would know how to win friends and influence people. Umm, I’d always thought that was a funny book title.

Funny because I didn’t have any friends to influence. But when I’d found the hardcover floating in the sea just after the great Seattle wave, I fished it out of the water and kept it. Just in case. Then Gabriel Black came along. Well, we all knew how that turned out.

The other turnoff for my becoming part of the Trace Runner Scum Show was the part that, if I was lucky, he wouldn’t kill me in a fit of anger. I guessed he was prone to it. Oh, and he couldn’t promise anything long-term on the ears. “Just one of those things,” he’d said.

I looked at Gabriel and chewed my lip. I hated to admit it, but Trace was right about the crowd. We had been talking only a few minutes; still, they were getting more and more out of control. Everything imaginable was being thrown at the mesh. Including a body.
Whatever happened to a little patience, people?
Bottom line? They hadn’t liked that Gabriel was still alive. They wanted blood: his and mine.

I had to work smarter. How could I get Gabriel out of this if I got killed in the process?

Trace and I struck that bargain. I talked fast, with the crowd being on the verge of a riot and all. Trace talked faster. I shut down the sarcasm and managed to get Gabriel a free pass, which just meant, in Runner terms, that Trace wouldn’t kill Gabriel in front of me. Still, I had bought us some time. And in return, Trace got to know when and where the next big wave was coming. Of course, I couldn’t leave his employment. Ever. Talk about job security.

I hadn’t mentioned anything more about the wave coming tonight. Trace seemed to think I’d made up the warning just to get Gabriel free. Fine with me. He seemed so sure of himself and his place at the top of our New World food chain. I couldn’t wait to see him wet and drowning.

Yep, no one believes me, Trace. Just keep thinking that way, ’cause
—I looked at my little moon band—
the wave is coming.
It was, just like me, always late. I hoped that wouldn’t be counted against me in my employee file.

Trace waved the crowd down and picked up a bullhorn. “People, I have a surprise. Be patient. I’m about to present a very special guest to you all.” With a snap of his fingers the heavy metal music roared to life.

He turned to me. “I’m gonna clean you up, Tsunami Blue. Owning a bitch like you makes me top dog. And if you don’t behave yourself, I’ll feed you to the audience, one limb at a time.” At that he walked across the ring toward the water bucket.

“Blue?”

I jumped at Gabriel’s voice. I had been concentrating on how to get us the hell out of here. I turned and reached out to gently touch his eyes. He pulled back in surprise. And pain.

“Does it hurt bad?”

“Only the part where I can’t see you.”

My heart flipped. Why was it so hard to hate this guy?                    “Blue.” His voice caught. “I wish…I just wish you weren’t here. I can’t keep you safe, and there is so much I want to tell you.”

“You mean about Ring Girl? Because I’ve got to tell you, your choice in gal pals sucks.”

He shook his head at that.

“About Trace.”

“What, my new employer? Do not tell me he doesn’t have full benefits.”

“Be serious. I’m trying to save your life.”

I studied him in the harsh torchlights of the arena, and my heart tugged. His beautiful golden skin was angry and red around his eyes. The blisters looked so painful, but he hadn’t complained, not once. Being blind in this New World was close to a death sentence. Most begged to get by.

“And I’m trying to save yours,” I whispered.

Suddenly, without warning, the crowd erupted. Gabriel and I both jumped, and Trace came running. I helped Gabriel turn and I looked to see if I could figure out what was going on. Gabriel stood with his hand gripping my shoulder.

Trace shielded his eyes as he scanned the crowd, looking for whatever it was that was igniting a near riot. “What is that bastard doing here?” he said.

“What bastard?” I asked, looking around. Shit, they all looked like bastards to me.

“Indigo.”

Trace said the name like he was spitting out something nasty and rotten. Gabriel tightened his grip on my shoulder.

“Indigo?” I asked. “As in, the guy who will stop at pretty much anything to get to me?
That
Indigo?”

Trace looked at me like I was a moron. “Like there could be more than one. You don’t have to be too bright to predict waves, do you?”

Now, that was just uncalled-for. “Hey. Does that mean that he’ll kill you to get to me?” I asked hopefully.

“That’s the fucker,” Trace said bitterly.

“Well, let’s get him on over here.”

Gabriel took the hit for me. How he had known it was coming was beyond me. I guess, like Gabriel had said, he knew the man. Gabriel pushed me hard and I fell on the steel floor. But that was better than taking the punch. It dropped Gabriel to his knees.

On me, it would have broken my jaw.
Stupid, Blue
, I chastised myself.
Stupid. Stupid.
Again, how could I get Gabriel out of here if got myself killed first?

A green-and-blue hand reached down to offer to pull me up. I didn’t take it, just pushed up myself. Cobra bent down and looked me in the eyes with those white slits of his.

“Be very careful of Trace,” he said. “If you continue on this way, you will be dead by morning. And he’ll leave nothing of you behind, not even—”

“Don’t tell me, Snake Man—a trace.”

“And do you know the reason for that, miss?”

Miss? A polite Snake Man? I raised a questioning eyebrow.

“He eats them.”

I felt the color drain from my face.

“He just doesn’t like the ears.”

I looked at the man, wondering if he might be lying, but no, there it was: the look of truth.

“Well.” I took a breath. “Good to know.”

 As I turned to find Gabriel, Snake Man said, “Tell Gabriel that I’m sorry. I have few choices in these dark days.”

As Trace stormed off for a better look at the approaching Indigo, I ran over to Gabriel, who had managed to stand on his own. A trickle of blood ran down a split lip. My guy sure was getting it tonight.
Wait. My guy?

Putting my arm around him, I whispered, “You okay? I’m so sorry for the punch. And for, well, my mouth.”

“Better me than you,” he said as he folded his arms around me.

“Well, yeah,” I said. “You do deserve it more. You know, Ring Girl and all.”

Once more the crowd exploded with noise. The music blasted louder than ever, and the flames in the oil drums, doused with kerosene, shot twenty feet into the air.

Trace appeared and yanked me from Gabriel’s arms, twisting my wrist until I cried out in pain. He drew a knife and ran it along Gabriel’s jaw. Gabriel couldn’t see the blade coming and flinched as the cold metal sliced his skin. “I would slit your throat now, Black, but you might come in handy as a trade with Indigo. Let’s see what your precious Indigo thinks of you losing Tsunami Blue to me.”

I looked past Gabriel’s shoulder and saw the approaching entourage of Indigo and company. It looked like a traveling circus. And I swear, maybe it was just my eyes playing tricks in this smoke-filled light, but Indigo looked blue. I thought of ears and body parts on crackers and cream-of-human soup. It was time to change employers.

I wrenched away from Trace, nearly dislocating my shoulder in the process, and ran over to the mesh and snagged a bullhorn.

“Hey, Indigo, there’s someone up here who wants to meet you.”

Trace moved toward me with death in his eyes. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been warned.

“Who?” came a reply.

I had just enough time to shout into the bullhorn, “Tsunami Blue.”