“How dumb do you think I am?” he says to me. “You’re just as treacherous as your parents.”
He grabs my throat and lifts me into the air. I claw at his hands, but his grip only tightens. I try to reach for my Kopis, but I can’t find it. Troy punches Garrett hard in the face, breaking his nose. Blood pours from the wound as Garrett collapses to the sandy floor and Troy begins kicking him in the ribs. I can hear them crack.
“Enough!” someone shouts from behind me. “Jack, put her down.”
He doesn’t do it right away, so the man behind me has to tell him again. Jack drops me and I fall to the ground, suffering through a violent coughing fit as I try to get air into my lungs. As I scan the room looking for another exit, I realize that none of us have our weapons. Not even Jack and Troy.
The older man who told Jack to let me go comes over to me, extends his hand, and helps me to my feet. “Weapons are not permitted in this building,” he says, noticing my glance. At the sound of his voice, flashes of memory come back to me, but only for an instant.
“Who are you?” I ask, brushing myself off.
“Guy Larsen. I haven’t seen you, Mera, since you were three. My how you’ve grown.” He walks around me, sizing me up. His lustful eyes are just like Jack’s and it sickens me. Another sex-crazed jerk.
“You’re just as beautiful as your mother was. Oh, how the sun would turn her raven-black hair a dark purple. Tell me, does it have the same effect on you?”
“Get away from me,” I say, swatting his hand down from my shoulder.
“She goes by Max now, Father,” Jack says.
“So I’ve heard. A new name for a new identity.”
“It’s my only identity,” I state, anger seeping heavy into my voice.
“We’ll see about that,” Guy responds, his lips curling up into a distorted grin.
He turns around and behind him is a small display sitting on a thin, white pedestal. There isn’t anything else in the room, which disturbs me. He grabs my hand and pulls me towards it. I try and fight him off, but he’s surprisingly strong. Garrett starts to get to his feet, but Troy is quick to shove him back down. Guy forces my hand over to the display, which lights upon my approach. He takes out a small piece of broken glass, cuts my finger with it, and squeezes several drops of blood onto the display.
“Thomas, Mera,” a female voice chimes around us. “Authentication confirmed.”
The panels that make up the walls of the structure change from clear to milky white. The room is filled with light, but not blindingly.
“What is this place?” I ask, pinching my finger to stop the bleeding.
“It’s the Icarian Depository. It has all the records of Dracken history dating back to when this world began. We’ve never been able to access it until now because we needed a direct descendent of the original society’s leadership in order to gain entry to the information,” Guy says, gesturing to the walls. “It took the Patrician years to realize who that was.”
“That’s the reason I was selected to be in The Litarian Battles,” I say, more to myself than to the others. “Not because of the mutilation, but because if I won the game I would be sent here. Another location the Patrician have not been able to get into, just like Pentras Tower.”
“Jack was right about you, Mera. You are smart,” Guy says.
I try to back up, but my path is blocked by Jack. “Don’t call me that,” I say, angrily.
“In order to guarantee your victory, Leader Fallon had you removed from the orphanage and modified. It was the only way we could be sure you survived since the Keepers had started changing the rules of The Litarian Battles almost daily.”
“I thought you supported the Dracken?” I ask.
“We go with whomever has the best offer. At this moment, since it’s almost the end, the Patrician have made our loyalty to them very much worth our while. As soon as you transmit the information from this Depository to Patrician Nine, and you get the technology we seek, this will all be over.”
“And what happens to me?” I ask, crossing my arms across my chest.
“You live,” Jack replies, pressing his body against mine.
I have a feeling my life will include being made Jack’s sex slave, along with anything else the Larsen family desires.
“What if I refuse? Killing me isn’t an option for you,” I say with an attitude.
“No, it’s not. But, killing Garrett is,” Troy says. He removes a blade similar to the one Lok has.
“I thought weapons weren’t allowed in here,” Garrett says through fits of pain.
“There’s ways to conceal them,” Jack says.
They think threatening me with Garrett’s death will work? I start to laugh, almost hysterically. “Go ahead, he means nothing to me. But there’s something you should know. He’s an offspring of a Patrician leader, so I’m not sure how they will feel about you murdering one of their own.” I step around Jack and Guy, trying to put them between me and the pedestal. “So, I see no way of you winning this little showdown.”
“She’s bluffing,” Guy says.
Troy advances towards Garrett as I feel my Kopis returning to my hand. I thrust the blade through Jack, a satisfying experience, and one I’ve been thinking a lot about. I’m removing the weapon when I notice that Garrett’s bow and
