I’m stunned by his anger, but I remember what his father fought for until the day he died. “I’m playing along because I have to, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give him what he wants. There are things out of my control at the moment.”
“Out of your control?” He reaches for his pocket and pulls out an old pocketknife. He releases the blade and grabs my hand, turning it upward. I hold my breath as he presses the sharp blade to my wrist. “Hector won’t find another one like you so quickly, and clearly there’s a reason he prefers you over the giant. You canchooseto disobey him whenever you want and not be responsible for so many unnecessary deaths.”
I feel the sharp nick of the blade. A drop of blood drips onto the floor, yet I don’t pull my hand back. “He has someone I have to save, Elijah.”
“Who?”
“Someone worth saving.”
“The price—”
“You let me worry about the price. I won’t betray my people, and the more we discuss this, the more I’ll be putting you in danger.”
“I don’t matter.”
“You matter enough for me to want to keep you alive. Keep trying to slice my wrists, and it’s going to change.”
He sighs and withdraws the blade, looking tired and older. “Hector will be the end of us, but maybe it’s for the best. I’vespent too many years hoping for things to change, but they’re only getting worse. It’s painful to wish for the downfall of your own people.”
I respect him for holding onto his morals despite the darkness around him. “There are better people out there who deserve your support.”
“I suppose you’re right.” He lowers his gaze, then scowls.
“What is it?”
He doesn’t answer, just keeps looking. I lean forward to follow his gaze, scowling as well since I’m not sure what it is I’m seeing. Then I realize it’s my blood on the floor, but how the hell can that be? It’s not red; it’s yellow.
*
I manage to keep my shit together the following day, and when I bleed in training, I’m relieved to see it’s normal red. It makes me wonder if I might have imagined what I saw, but Elijah saw the same thing. I stare at my reflection in the cracked mirror in the shower room, searching for anything different in my appearance. I’m still me, except for the heaviness in my eyes that wasn’t there before.
Word of my battle with Isaac spreads like wildfire. The other fighters ask how the hell I am expected to take down an unbeatable giant, and I tell them the truth—I don’t know.
I press Elijah to ask Hector to meet with me, and he claims he’s getting no response. I use my growing frustration to train even harder, but I’m desperate for a bigger challenge, something that will begin to feel remotely like fighting a giant. With nothing that can come close, my fury only grows.
Finally, on the day before the championship, a car comes to pick me up in the early hours of the morning. Once we reach downtown, I can’t escape the billboards with my picture on them. It was taken while I was raising my fist in triumph. I feel nauseousseeing the wordsDenver’s Defender.
For years, I’ve been dreaming of being Denver’s destroyer, but fate and I rarely see eye to eye.
Inside Hector’s building, they lead me to the elevator and leave once I’m facing the apartment’s door. I knock and wait, trying to keep myself composed, but I’m losing that fight, the same way I’m going to lose against Isaac tomorrow—the one Hector didn’t even tell me about in person.
The door opens, and Hector greets me with a smile. All the rage I’ve been holding rises to the surface, and something inside me snaps. I grab his shirt and shove him back, pinning him against the wall.
“Caden!” Finn calls from the living room, but it’s not about him.
“What the fuck are you doing to me?” I growl at Hector’s face.
“What happened?”
“I bled yellow blood the other day. Explain that.”
“That’s to be expected.”
“I didn’t expect that! What the fuck does that mean?”
He places his hands on mine while I’m still gripping his shirt. “This is the point where you calm down and let go of me. I’d hate to break your bones before tomorrow’s big game.”
“You didn’t tell me it was happening so fast!”
