Chapter 27 · Iron Arena - Chapter 27: Recall Protocol

They took Mara off the arena floor on a stretcher. Her mech stood there, neural grid still smoking, and nobody would go near it. I could smell the burn from where I stood, forty feet up in the coach booth. Scorched carbon and something sharper. Something organic.

Lila was still strapped into her own cockpit. She hadn't moved since the match ended. Her mech's stance was too still, one hand braced on the arena wall, the other hanging loose. I knew that posture. She was trying not to shake.

"Get her out," I said into the booth mic.

Victor's voice crackled back through my earpiece. "Medical's clearing Mara first. They'll get to your girl in a minute."

"Now."

"Cole—"

"I said now."

Silence. Then the crew started moving. I watched them roll the lift platform toward Lila's mech. She didn't open the cockpit until they were right up against her. When the hatch finally slid back, I saw her face. Pale. Eyes too wide. She climbed out on her own, waved off the medic who tried to touch her arm, and walked straight toward the exit ramp.

I met her halfway.

"You good?" I asked.

She looked at me.