“It’s her life. If she doesn’t fight for it, she’ll always be a victim. If she doesn’t start now, then when?” Jezebel returned without the slightest drawl.
“She needs to feel safe before she can take control of her life.”
“She’ll feel safe once she is in control; she just needs to commit. Dirk’s beside the point. If she can use their love to give her strength, fine, but if he’s just one more reason to fear, to stealher power, then what good is he? She needs to trust herself and stop letting fear control her.”
I grabbed her arm, and she jumped. “I’m right here.”
“Good,” she said, flashing a bright smile at me. “Let me know when you decide that you’re interested in fighting. Trix here is one of the best trainers there are.”
Trix snorted and climbed to the door of the ambulance. “We’ve got to stand for our second-place prizes. Bulldog’s the winner. Aren’t we proud of him? Every other team got hit, but not him.”
“The night is young,” Jezebel said with a wave at her friend. When Trix had left, closing the door behind her, Jezebel turned to me and gave me a serious frown. “It’s after the Three-Hundred. You can break him if you want. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He might hate your family, but you’ve gotten under his skin with your music and your impulsive violence. He wants to save you, because that’s the stuff he’s made out of: hero fibers, although I have no idea where he gets it from. Certainly not his mother, who’s a villain if ever there was one. I don’t think you’ll ever be happy wrecking lives, but it’s not about your happiness, is it? It’s never been about your happiness, just survival.” She sighed heavily and leaned over to straighten up a fibrillator. “I’ve been where you are, choosing which horse to ride, and whatever the consequences may be, that’s your choice to make.” She crawled towards the door. “I can’t believe Bulldog will be above me on the podium. I should put something scary in my bra so when he looks down it, he screams from fright and tumbles off, into Horse’s arms. They placed third. Nix is going to be seriously… I don’t really know, because he’s never not won the Three-Hundred since he invented it. Come on, Daniela. You’re part of the team, and that means that you get to suffer with us.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the ambulance with her.
My legs were wobbly, and didn’t feel entirely connected to my body, but Jezebel kept me on my feet as we walked. My mind was still spinning, my body shaky, numb, not exactly in the best shape to take a silver trophy, but I wouldn’t have to hold it.
The entire ceremony passed in a blur of loud and insulting speeches while Horse glowered, blue eyes practically glowing with his rage as he stared down Bulldog, and Trix leaned her head on Jezebel while she closed her eyes, maybe passing out. We needed to wrap this up.
Dirk wasn’t on the podium with us, and I didn’t see him anywhere.
When a car blew up in the middle of Bulldog’s insulting speech, the crowd screeched and Nix moved, whispering something to Trix before he headed into the crowd.
“Nice effects, dontcha think?” Jezebel said, linking arms with me and Trix and guiding us out of there, like a nurse between two old shuffling patients. “Dirk’s always had a good touch with explosives. What do you think, pass out at my place, or get tacos?”
“Cowgirl, you’re going to kill us,” Trixie growled.
We walked through the crowd until a large limo parted it, coming towards us at a snail’s pace, but not much slower than we were going.
“Ah, the ride is here.” Jezebel opened the door and got her two charges inside.
“I’m fine,” I said, as I flopped face-first onto the seat.
“At that angle, not even I’d be fine,” Jezebel said, helping Trixie on the seat across from me. “You’re both going to be on my special IV after this.”
“How did you not get hurt if your camel got shot out from under you?” Trix asked, then grabbed Jezebel in a hug. “I’m sorry about Mike. I’ve never met a more ornery animal, but he was part of the family.”
Jezebel sniffed and patted Trix back before pushing her back onto the seat. “Who said I wasn’t hurt? I’m just a lot tougher than you ladies. One of my hips is bruised to the bone and has a few nice barbs in it from the cactus I hit. This is going to be the quietest weekend I’ve ever had.”
34
HERO
“You’re telling me that the House of Beasts sent the second wave of men, even though they’re allied with Haversham?” I asked Horse over my laptop. We were in the kitchen of my hideously ugly house, although the kitchen itself wasn’t too bad since it was mostly wood, steel and glass, without any of the avocado or hot pink that filled the other rooms.
He had his laptop out and looked more irritable than usual. It had been roughly twenty-four hours since the Three-Hundred ended, and there was no news of how any of the women were doing behind the thick walls of Jezebel’s fortress. He wasn’t the only one who was irritable.
“Nix has always been decidedly neutral. He’s the heir to the House of Beasts. You must know that.”
I stared at him. As a matter-of-fact, I hadn’t. “The House of Beasts is a vile organization, as horrifying as Haverscorp.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “He hasn’t accepted a cent from the family since he turned eighteen. He’s gone back once for Thanksgiving. He wants to be normal.”
“And that’s why he hangs out with Jezebel and Trix, because they make him look normal in comparison.”
He scowled at me. “Trix is extraordinary, not abnormal.”
“Still not normal. So, that’s your big scheme- seduce Nix to the light side so that he takes his house and uses it for good not evil?”
Horse winced and rubbed his jaw. “He can’t be seduced, manipulated, coerced, or controlled in any way. You saw them, though, the way they treated him, like he was their prince, leading them to battle. If he chooses to take control of his heritage, no one will stop him. But that’s a long shot. Still, as long as he is here, creating these games, there are those who play. He is chaotic neutral, I’m chaotic good, and Bulldog is chaotic evil.”
