“I’m sorry, Sailor. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m not going to let you kill me. Once you snap out of this trance or whatever the hell it is, you’ll thank me for this,” he says.
He twists my wrist and I scream as pain engulfs my arm. I kick out again, but Jinx ignores the blows I’m landing on his shins and keeps twisting. My wrist is on the point of breaking and I lose the grip in my fingers. My dagger drops to the ground and Jinx kicks it away. Fuck. Now I’m screwed.
Jinx keeps his hold on my wrist, although he stops twisting it. He reaches out to grab my other wrist and I go wild, clawing at him, punching at him. It’s no use. He gets my other wrist in his grip and then he spins me around and holds me in a tight bear hug, my arms trapped at my sides.
“Tell me how to help you, Sailor. Tell me how to bring you out of this.”
“Let me go,” I shout.
I twist and writhe, but it’s no use. Jinx is stronger than me and with the Horseman inside of him, I have no chance of overpowering him this way. I look around, frantically searching for a way out, but there’s nothing I can do, nothing I can grab even if I could get an arm free.
This is it. I failed. I’m sorry, I think to myself. I’m so sorry I let everyone down.
My eyes catch movement in the doorway and Sunday steps into the room. His eyes widen when he takes in the scene, and hope blossoms inside of me again. Between us, we can overpower Jinx and then I can use the spear.
“Sunday, help me,” I demand.
Sunday is still staring at the two of us, the shock on his face clear to see.
“What the fucking hell is going on?” he demands.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS
“SAILOR’S TRYING TO FUCKING KILL ME!”
“Sunday, help me. Jinx is War,” I shout. “He’s the Horseman.”
“See what I mean? She’s batshit crazy,” Jinx says.
Sunday isn’t making a move to help me. He’s just standing there watching us with a look on his face that took me a second to read, but now I see it. It’s amusement. He takes a step closer and nods his head.
“Indeed she is crazy. As if one so powerful as me would choose one so weak to inhabit,” Sunday says.
I see my mistake instantly. Jinx isn’t the Horseman. Sunday is. How could I have missed all the signs? I don’t know, but I can’t beat myself up about it now. Sunday is almost upon me.
“Jinx, it’s Sunday. He’s the Horseman. You have to let me go,” I shout.
Jinx does let me go, but instead of letting me loose on Sunday, he pushes me to one side and steps in front of me.
“You want her? You’ll have to go through me,” he snarls.
I feel a strange mixture of emotions. Panic that this whole thing is about to come to a head. Fear of what will happen if I get it wrong. But mostly, I feel a sad sort of warmth for Jinx. After everything I just accused him of, after trying to kill him, he’s still throwing himself in front of me now in the face of danger.
“As you wish,” War says.
I can no longer think of him as Sunday. He’s not Sunday. Now all of the pretense is gone, his face is twisted in an ugly sneer that I have never seen on Sunday’s face before, and his voice is deeper, menacing.
As he speaks, a silver knife materializes in his hand and he swipes at Jinx. Jinx ducks, but War is ready for it and he kicks out, sending Jinx sprawling across the room. War is stronger than any of us could hope to be, and Jinx’s body flies through the air. He slams into the wall and slides down it, landing in a heap on the ground.
War gives a manic-sounding laugh and shakes his head.
“I knew that one was a loose cannon, but I never expected him to attempt to be a hero. What a fool he is.”
“He’s not a fool. He’s more than you will ever be,” I snap.
War laughs again and steps closer to me. I find myself backed into a corner, weaponless, as War advances. This wasn’t meant to be how this went down. I was meant to be prepared. I was meant to have my dagger. The spear. Anything.
“Are you ready to face your fate, Paradox?” War says.
“Oh she’s ready,” Jinx says from behind him.
I risk a glance over War’s shoulder. Jinx is back on his feet. He ignores War, who turns to look at him.
“Catch, Sails,” Jinx says.
I see a flash of silver coming towards me over War’s shoulder. Jinx has thrown me his knife. I snatch it out of the air as War turns back to me. He stops advancing on me.
“You’re not so brave now it’s a fair fight.” I smile.
He laughs.
“I’m plenty brave, Paradox. I’m merely enjoying the moment,” he says.
His words are confident, but I think I can see a flash of nerves in his eye. He knows I killed Pestilence. He knows I’m no useless kid. The thought spurs me on and I push myself off the wall, closing the gap between us.
“Well, I hate to spoil your fun, but let’s get this thing over with,” I say, lunging forward with the knife.
War jumps backwards, narrowly avoiding my blade. I see another flash of doubt cross his face and I know in that moment I can do this. He’s afraid of me. That’s why he chose to infiltrate a team member—so he could get close to me without risking his own neck. That’s why he played
