And then it’ll be every person for themselves.
chapter
fourteen
Haven
Spider said that Black Star members have their own private training area and that Ender had it booked at five in the morning. It’s our day off, and I want to spend it with my sister. I’m done letting Ender decide when I’m allowed to fight him for the right.
I want my rematch.
Ender stands under the dim lights, binding his cracked fists with gauze. He is shirtless. Tattoos coil down his back and forearms, the inked lines shifting with every movement. At the top of his back are the wings of a bird. I think it might be an osprey.
His corded muscle flexes as his fists slam into a sandbag. By the third hit, it breaks free and flies off the hook.
“What did I say about disturbing me?” he bellows, spinning around.
His expression darkens when he realizes it is me.
“Get out,” he says.
“I want to fight,” I say. “If I win, I see my sister.”
“Idecide when you see your sister.”
“You said if I beat you?—”
“That was weeks ago.” A cruel smile curves his mouth. “It doesn’t apply anymore. You lost your chance.”
My jaw tightens.
“I want to fight now.”
“Too bad, Warrick,” he says, mock sympathy dripping from his words. “I’ve changed my mind.”
I’m still raw from yesterday. A part of me blames Ender Vale for all of it. We could be tested without killing each other, but he made the rules to turn us into him. Ruthless. Cruel. Evil.
He re-hooks a fresh sandbag. I draw my gun and fire. Four clean shots. The bag deflates in a rush of sand.
Ender spins. His blue eyes go glacial. His body coils, fury rippling through him.
“Fight me,” I demand.
He crosses to the weapons rack and draws a long, thin sword.
“Remember,” he says slowly, pointing the tip of his blade at me, “you asked for this.”
I slide my twin blades free.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“The last person who said that I fed them their intestines.”
Ender lunges. His long legs devour the distance between us. For a moment, my heart stutters. I snap my blade up as he attempts to slash my throat.
He doesn’t slow. His strikes come faster. The impact of his blows rattles my teeth, driving me back until my spine hits the wall. I jerk my head aside as his blade punches into the plaster where my face was a second earlier.
I pushed him too far. Whatever restraint he had is gone, and something feral has taken its place.
