“Good shot.” Fred nodded to her with pride.
“Did you see me stab that bitch in the skull?”
“Sure did.”
I briefly wondered if Fiona was a serial killer or just a Gemini.
“I do apologise,” I said to them both. “But I cannot trust you. You could easily be herding me into a den of people so that each of you can take your turn doing…whatever it is Soulless people do.”
“Duckie and I eat chocolate chip ice-cream for her birthday, and she drinks cocoa before bed to chase away her nightmares. She also has a sexual fixation for sunglasses,” Fred recited as if it were Magnus in front of me.
“So, you have made yourselves my protectors?” I asked.
“Until the last of the ten days, or until he gets you out,” Fred said. “Don’t worry. We’ve survived three Execution Battles before. We’re pros.”
“Just stick by us,” Fiona said. “We’ll keep you safe.”
“Oh, no thank you.” I waved at them dismissively. “I do not want you mixed up with myself. I am target, you see. A psychopath is hunting me down and will have absolutely no regard for your lives. Also, everyone else in this Battle wants me dead and will most definitely harm you for your association with me. If you protect me, you will die. Thank you. Good night to you both.”
As I went to leave, Fred held me back with a knife. “Uh, nah. You’re staying with us.”
“I’m trying to save your life.”
“No, that’s our job.”
“Believe me.” I laughed. “Whatever resources in prison my brother is offering you are not worth your lives. Just let me do this alone. Once I get out of here, I promise I will ensure you are entitled to whatever he promised you. Hm?”
“You’re staying with us.” The severity in his gaze was unmissable.
I narrowed my eyes. “What is my brother paying you?”
“Money.” Fiona aimed her slingshot in the sky in case another drone approached. “And freedom. He promised us he’d get us out.”
The two of them shared a look. In that look there was a smile, a smile that spoke epochs of hope.
My shoulders pulled down, my heart drew heavy. “My brother is lying to you.”
Their smiles cracked.
But that hope. Oh, that sweet, stupid hope won them over.
“You’re coming with us.” Fred showed me the tip of his blade. “And you’re letting us save you. If you don’t? I’ll kill you.”
They had a charming abode.
An office building which Fred, with his background in hunting, had skilfully laid with traps. Over each Execution Battle the past three years he had armed the stairs with metal teeth and—I stopped listening. It was very boring.
They camped in two rooms on the fourth floor with a bird’s eye view around the building and a small stack of rations they had already secured. I did not want to eat their food, but they insisted, shoving stale crackers into my mouth.
“You need to stay alive,” Fred told me. “Please.”
I ate.
“Are you both Soulless?” I asked them.
They nodded.
“Hm.” I handed Fiona the rest of the crackers, refusing to eat it all. “What crimes have you committed?”
