Tracey Ward - Backs Against the Wall

“David won,” Trent says, seemingly oblivious to the rage written all over Marlow’s face. To the wrath dripping from his tone.

I try not to flinch, but I fail.

Blood in the water.

“I tried,” I say, trying to sound strong. To make up for my small mistake. “That’s all I told them I’d do. I understand why you won’t do it, but you have to understand why I had to try. We’ll find the help we need somewhere else.”

“Where do you think you’ll find it? With the Hyperions?” Marlow asks bitingly. “They don’t even know these two traitors are here. They don’t know he’s been fighting. I can have him kicked out tomorrow with what’s happened here tonight. Where will you find help then?”

My heart aches in my chest. I hadn’t thought of that. How had I not considered that? Ryan has betrayed his gang, Trent too. They’ll be banished if they’re found out. The gangs are insane about loyalty and the things they’ve been doing, the lying and fighting and the sneaking around, it’s all been for nothing. For me. And it will cost them everything.

I want to turn to them, to apologize, but I can’t. I can’t leak more blood in this shark tank. I might not make it out alive as it is.

“The Vashons,” I say, grasping at straws. “We’re going to the island.”

Marlow doesn’t blink. He doesn’t breathe. He only stares at me with his burning eyes and a frown etched on his face. It’s been there since I brought up Vin and I recognize that symptom. Marlow has the same disease I do. He cares. He cares about Vin, about where he is and if he’s alive. That’s why he’s so angry at me. He had written him off, buried his body in the Sound, then I walked in and resurrected him before his eyes.

I’ll pay for that. For the hope. For that dirtiest of dirty words.

“The island, huh? That’s… something. What is that, Rex?” Marlow asks over his shoulder. “What would you call that?”

“Stupid.”

“Suicidal,” someone else agrees.

“I think it’s perfect,” Marlow says happily. His happy is freakier than his pissed off. I fight another flinch when he smiles at me. “I’ll tell you what. If you get the Vashons to come up here and help you with your war, we’ll back your play.”

This feels dangerous. Everything in this place feels dangerous. Especially that smile.

“And if they won’t help?”

He shrugs carelessly. “Then nothing. Then you’re on your own. You don’t bring this to me again.”

“What’s the catch?”

He chuckles. “Why do you assume there’s a catch?”

I don’t answer.

He grins knowingly. Appreciatively. “Let’s just say I’ll be impressed if you get the elitists off their island. So impressed that I’ll be willing to help you in any way I can.”

“Deal.”

“Joss,” Ryan murmurs. I can feel him move close beside me.

“We need a boat to reach the island,” Trent tells Marlow.

I hear Ryan sigh. We’ve run away from him, sprinting down a hill full steam with no chance of stopping. Not until we’re forced to. Or until we fall.

“You’re full of needs and wants, aren’t you?” Marlow asks. He nods as he rises, as he makes his way off the platform to stand in front of us. “You can borrow a boat. For a price.”

I actually feel better talking cost with him. It’s solid. It’s real. It’s not smoke and mirrors, smiles and scowls that pretend to mean one thing but really mean another entirely.

“What will it cost?” I ask.

“Dammit,” Ryan mutters.

I glance at him, unsure. He’s frowning at me.

“We should have had more Market 101 discussions. That’s not a great way to negotiate.”

“We can negotiate with him?” I whisper.

“Everything is negotiable, kid,” Marlow tells me. “You just gotta make sure you know the worth of what you want. How much is getting this boat worth to you?”

I shake my head, completely at a loss. I don’t have anything, definitely not anything they don’t already have.

“Not flush at the moment, huh? That’s alright. We can still do business. Tell me, what did Vin value you at?”

“What?” I ask, stunned and angry at where this conversation is going.

“The man’s a professional. He can’t help himself. No way he spent any amount of time with you and didn’t slap a price tag on you. So, what was it?”

I open my mouth to answer, to lie and say he never told me, but Ryan cuts me off.

“I’ll fight.”

“No!” I snap at him.

He ignores me. He locks eyes with Marlow with a cold indifference.

“I’ll do it. That should be worth a boat.”

Marlow considers him for a long, painful moment.

“You’ll fight for me?”

“No, just one fight. Tonight. That’s it.”

“How does that benefit me? Everyone bets on you. I’d make pennies off it.”

“Not if I fight in the Blind.”

Marlow grins. “Really?”

“Once. I’ll do it one time.”

“That’s as often as anyone ever does it.”

“What’s the Blind?” I ask.

Again, I’m ignored. I’m reminded of Crenshaw and Ryan in the hut and I worry this is becoming a thing.

“You’d be the only one to know,” Ryan tells him. “The only person betting high on the Blind.”

“Won’t that create some suspicion?”

Ryan shrugs, scowling at Marlow. “It’s your club isn’t it? What do you care what they think? Bet under a different name. Send a lackey down to do it.”

“Hmmm.” Marlow turns, his head hanging forward as he thinks. Finally he turns to face us again, his hand stretched out to Ryan. “You have yourself a deal.”

Ryan shakes firmly with him, his face going blank. The guilt I carry like a stone in my stomach grows until it feels like it will break me in two. I hate all of this, myself included.

“You’ll have a boat on loan. As soon as the fight is done I’ll have the boys bring it around.”

“Bring it around now,” Ryan says, his voice low. Quiet.

Marlow raises a surprised eyebrow at him. “And why would I do that?”

“We agreed you’d lend us a boat if I fight. I’ll fight, I gave my word. But win or lose, these two get the boat. So I’ll go to the Arena from here and you’ll have the boat brought around.”

“Win or lose, as in live or die?” I ask him. Sick of being ignored, I get into his space, forcing him to look at me.

He glances down at me. His normally warm eyes are hard. Empty.

“Yes.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Marlow agrees. I can feel his eyes on me. I can feel him thinking. “Just as a point of curiosity, what did Vin price you as?”

I shouldn’t tell him. I should shut up. I should lock it down. I should lie and tell him I’m a dime. Nothing better than blank-faced Breanne. But I’m pissed. I’m mad that Ryan is going into a fight for my sake. I’m mad that I’ve been put into this position, that I’ve been forced out of hiding and thrust into this world of killers and douchebags. That I’m ruining Ryan and I’m passively watching it happen. So I do something stupid. Something emotional.

“He called me a Benjamin,” I tell him fiercely, looking him hard in the eyes.

He grins, his face openly surprised. “Really? Wow.” He looks me up and down, appraising me in new light. I can feel Ryan’s eyes on me too. I don’t know what they hold. I can only handle the weight of Marlow’s stare at the moment. “Well, he is the professional. I never would have seen it but… he would know, I suppose. Interesting.”

No one asks him why it’s interesting. I have a feeling everyone else already knows.

“Rex,” Marlow calls out, still looking at me with a luminous grin. “Get the maps. They’ll need to take a look at them before they go. We wouldn’t want them getting lost. Not with my boat.”