My toe still hurt. Odd.
Maybe that had to do with why Dane didn’t like it.
94
R.C. ll E WI S
His bad mood lingered as we returned to our room. I waited until we were alone before saying anything.
“What’s your problem? You want to use me to get your people back. Why not use me to get on with it faster?”
“It’s different.”
“Using is using, from where I stand.”
“I didn’t like you fi ghting Moray, either, remember?”
“Aye, but that was different. We were friends then.” Dane fll inched. Once I said it, I realized it was true. He’d felt as much like a friend as any I’d ever had, up until he knocked me out. My anger morphed to a wrenching pang.
You should’ve known better than to trust him, Essie.
His face hardened as he stuck to his original track. “Why are you doing it? You’re the one who acts like you don’t want to go home.”
I couldn’t tell him I had every intention of using my winnings to leave Garam without him and head in the opposite direction of Windsong. To my real home, the one he’d stolen me from. There were plenty of reasons to be in a hurry, though.
“You’ve seen how Tobias looks at me. And you said yourself that when Garamites want something, they make it hard to say no.”
“I would not let that happen!” All I’d meant was how Tobias viewed me as a commodity, something that could bring more credits his way. Dane was talking about something else . . . something more personal. His dark eyes fll ickered, punctuating his sincerity. A twisted knot formed somewhere behind my ribs.
I turned away. “Well, much as I don’t want to go to Windsong, I don’t want to stay here , either. I can fi nd new ways to 95
S T I T C H I N G S N O W
botch your plans once we’re off this fi reball.” I curled up in my blanket, intending to think through possible plans, but the urge to speak up refused to fade. I needed confi rmation before I could even think about what I’d do after the fi ght. “What Brand said . . . Your father is one of the prisoners you want to trade me for, isn’t he?”
“Good night, Essie.”
That was a yes.
I turned away from him, but I felt off, and it wasn’t just the lingering twinge in my toe. The knot in my chest wouldn’t loosen. I was annoyed with Dane and still wouldn’t mind breaking his nose along with a few other things before I left, but the fi re of rage I held toward him went so weak I could barely fi nd it.
Kidnapping me to trade for political prisoners made him a despicable smear of buzzard dung. Trading a girl he’d just met for the father he’d lost eight years ago . . . that made him something else.
As fi ght-time drew nearer, Dane couldn’t shut it with the advice.
“Remember what I said before. Don’t let your body show what you’re going to do until you do it. Each action lives in its own moment.”
“Aye, I heard you.”
Liza fi nished connecting me to the VT unit. “Here’s the current data on the wagers,” she said, pointing to a monitor. “And your percentages for either a win or loss, depending on the length of the fi ght.”
I took in the data. If I won, I’d be set. Enough to get to the 96
R.C. ll E WI S
spaceport, maybe even enough to get passage to Thanda. I could work out the other logistics. If I lost, it would take a few more fi ghts to earn enough, depending on how long I lasted each time.
Or I could pay off the repairs and slip away. In either case, I’d be gone.
Tobias moved as though to clap a hand on my shoulder, but my glare stopped him. “Make it a good one, Essie.”
“Always do. Let’s get it going.”
The tech initiated, redirecting my brain’s physical and sen-sory signals away from my body and into the virtual world.
Nothing as serene as the cliff-lined shore greeted me this time.
I stood on the fll oor of a large arena, the stands fi lling quickly.
So quickly, I had to blink twice to assure myself I wasn’t imagining it. People weren’t walking in and
Maybe that had to do with why Dane didn’t like it.
94
R.C. ll E WI S
His bad mood lingered as we returned to our room. I waited until we were alone before saying anything.
“What’s your problem? You want to use me to get your people back. Why not use me to get on with it faster?”
“It’s different.”
“Using is using, from where I stand.”
“I didn’t like you fi ghting Moray, either, remember?”
“Aye, but that was different. We were friends then.” Dane fll inched. Once I said it, I realized it was true. He’d felt as much like a friend as any I’d ever had, up until he knocked me out. My anger morphed to a wrenching pang.
You should’ve known better than to trust him, Essie.
His face hardened as he stuck to his original track. “Why are you doing it? You’re the one who acts like you don’t want to go home.”
I couldn’t tell him I had every intention of using my winnings to leave Garam without him and head in the opposite direction of Windsong. To my real home, the one he’d stolen me from. There were plenty of reasons to be in a hurry, though.
“You’ve seen how Tobias looks at me. And you said yourself that when Garamites want something, they make it hard to say no.”
“I would not let that happen!” All I’d meant was how Tobias viewed me as a commodity, something that could bring more credits his way. Dane was talking about something else . . . something more personal. His dark eyes fll ickered, punctuating his sincerity. A twisted knot formed somewhere behind my ribs.
I turned away. “Well, much as I don’t want to go to Windsong, I don’t want to stay here , either. I can fi nd new ways to 95
S T I T C H I N G S N O W
botch your plans once we’re off this fi reball.” I curled up in my blanket, intending to think through possible plans, but the urge to speak up refused to fade. I needed confi rmation before I could even think about what I’d do after the fi ght. “What Brand said . . . Your father is one of the prisoners you want to trade me for, isn’t he?”
“Good night, Essie.”
That was a yes.
I turned away from him, but I felt off, and it wasn’t just the lingering twinge in my toe. The knot in my chest wouldn’t loosen. I was annoyed with Dane and still wouldn’t mind breaking his nose along with a few other things before I left, but the fi re of rage I held toward him went so weak I could barely fi nd it.
Kidnapping me to trade for political prisoners made him a despicable smear of buzzard dung. Trading a girl he’d just met for the father he’d lost eight years ago . . . that made him something else.
As fi ght-time drew nearer, Dane couldn’t shut it with the advice.
“Remember what I said before. Don’t let your body show what you’re going to do until you do it. Each action lives in its own moment.”
“Aye, I heard you.”
Liza fi nished connecting me to the VT unit. “Here’s the current data on the wagers,” she said, pointing to a monitor. “And your percentages for either a win or loss, depending on the length of the fi ght.”
I took in the data. If I won, I’d be set. Enough to get to the 96
R.C. ll E WI S
spaceport, maybe even enough to get passage to Thanda. I could work out the other logistics. If I lost, it would take a few more fi ghts to earn enough, depending on how long I lasted each time.
Or I could pay off the repairs and slip away. In either case, I’d be gone.
Tobias moved as though to clap a hand on my shoulder, but my glare stopped him. “Make it a good one, Essie.”
“Always do. Let’s get it going.”
The tech initiated, redirecting my brain’s physical and sen-sory signals away from my body and into the virtual world.
Nothing as serene as the cliff-lined shore greeted me this time.
I stood on the fll oor of a large arena, the stands fi lling quickly.
So quickly, I had to blink twice to assure myself I wasn’t imagining it. People weren’t walking in and
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