Chapter 11 · Under the Blood Floor

"She's still breathing." Vex leaned over the rail, squinting into the blood trench below the arena floor. "Barely."

I could see Mara from here. Face down in three inches of filth, one arm bent wrong. The crowd had cleared out twenty minutes ago. The guards would drain the trench in ten.

"Kira." Vex grabbed my wrist. "The maintenance door. It's open right now. Right now."

I yanked free. "I heard you the first time."

"Then move." He stepped between me and the rail. "You've been hunting this for seven loops. The machine's down there. You said it yourself."

"I know what I said."

"So go." He pointed across the arena. "Halrik's in the north hall. His guards just switched. You've got maybe four minutes before they lock it down."

Mara coughed. Blood came up. I could hear it from here.

"She's dead anyway," Vex said. "You can't fix that arm. You can't carry her out. And if the guards find you in the trench—"

"Then they find me."

"Kira—"

"Shut up." I swung my leg over the rail. "I'm going."

"Which way?"

I looked at him. He knew. He could see it on my face.

"You're kidding.