“Weren’t you and Jiamin common knowledge to everyone but me?” I asked.
“I’ve never commented about our engagement on camera though. That’s beenmynonnegotiable and my only leverage for a rainy day. I needed a Trojan horse, pun partially intended, to pitch you two battling your nemeses. Still, I figured we’d get a little warning.”
Melange shook her head in awe. “You really are one twisted sister.”
“You aren’t mad, are you?” he asked me.
I hesitated, recalling the countless times Barnes had manipulated me without my even realizing it. “I just wish you’d explained afterward what you were planning.”
“If it went nowhere, I figured no harm done. If it happened, I knew you’d take the shot.”
“But if you weresureit was happening?”
“Obviously I’d have told you.” His head cocked, looking almost hurt I’d think otherwise.
For now, I chose to believe him; I had more immediate concerns. The sacks we’d collected earlier had been arranged in four equal piles, and we’d soon learn why they’d been so heavy. As the cameras rolled, Ecklund gave the mission. “Inside the bags are metal puzzle pieces you’ll assemble at the bottom of this tank. Don’t worry, they’re magnetized so they’ll lock in. All players have assigned quadrants, which combined make one whole image. For example, Hartt has the top left corner, and Luke has the bottom right.To keep it interesting, you each have twenty-five pieces… but they might not be the twenty-five you need,” he teased. “So if somebody has your pieces, you know what to do.”
And we had a headbanger after all.
Zara chimed in off camera. “You can’t steal pieces once someone’s correctly claimed them, and you can’t touch anybody on their ladder. I don’t want broken ankles.”
A thought occurred, and I raised my hand. “Are other parts of the Arena out of bounds?”
She paused, undeniably curious. “Anywhere else is fair game.”
We stood on each side of the tank, bags in hand. I inhaled, summoning the little stamina I had left. Fleeting currents of numbness flickered in my aching feet while I watched Hartt stretch, biceps bursting as he dragged each arm across his broad, forested chest. For all his bigotry and ego, I couldn’t deny Hartt’s athleticism. But if I couldn’t beat that arrogant ogre, I didn’t deserve to stay anyway.
When the horn sounded, I poured my metal pieces onto the dirt floor only to learn Erika was a prophet.The Garden of Earthly Delights.
The others hurried toward the tank, puzzle pieces in hand. Big mistake.
“Melange!” I waved her over. “Let’s figure this out on dry land first…”
I laid out our two sections, discerning which pieces belonged to whom. Combined, we had the painting’s bottom half. Melange stared over my shoulder. “Is it medieval porn?”
There had to be a trick to solving this. Zara kept things fair, so it couldn’t be random. Then I realized we each had one piece from the other three sections, thus missing three of our own. I handed Chrissy’s and Hartt’s pieces to Melange. “These are theirs. Hide them in the Arena as far away as possible so they have to leave the tank to get them. Insurance policy.”
“Using what’s in bounds. You’re brilliant.”
As I arranged our puzzles for transfer to the tank in sections, Melangetook off with the spares, but her uneven gait betrayed her exhaustion. She’d clearly struggle to install her puzzle at the bottom of the tank, but therewasone task for which she’d always summon her reserves…
“Go steal our pieces from Chrissy,” I said when she returned. “Erika will tell you what to grab. In the meantime, I’ll install both our puzzles and then get our other pieces from Hartt.”
She shook her head, almost dazed. “Luke, you can’t do all that for me.”
I faced Melange, dust on her cheeks and her platinum locks drenched in sweat. “You took a chance on me before anyone else here, and I’m not losing you. Now go!”
She reluctantly nodded, drawing herself up. As I started shuttling pieces up my ladder, Melange scaled hers and dove in, a missile aimed at Chrissy. After ferrying roughly a hundred pounds of puzzle to the tank between mine and Melange’s combined pieces, I gasped when pinpricks of rain suddenly cascaded across the surface, the incessant heat finally breaking.
I jumped in to assemble Melange’s puzzle first, my fatigued lungs feeling more and more blistered with each dive to the bottom. Thankfully, Hartt remained baffled by the puzzle, the precipitation not doing him any favors.
The rain was pounding by the time I began installing my own portion, and I soon heard a cry of victory from the neighboring quadrant with its caterwauling cousins. Melange triumphantly tossed a piece to me. “It’s mine!” I confirmed.
She nodded and rebaptized Chrissy, who sputtered breathless vulgarities.
“Holy shit!” Hartt suddenly cried, successfully linking three pieces. Our buffer was dwindling, and the insurance policy would be our last line of defense.
Across the tank, Melange wrestled the other piece from Chrissy, who made a fleeting grasp for Melange’s foot, but Melange kicked her away. “Back off, Big Bitch!”
