Daniel Abraham - Inside Straight

Secretly, Ana thought Wild Fox was right. They had to win, after all that. She was still wrung out after rearranging the entire arena, and even that was a new feeling. She couldn’t tell if the fatigue was physical—or simple mental shock at what she had done. You can move the world , Roberto had said. What if he was right?

They were the first to arrive. The other three parking spaces were empty. That could only be a good thing.

John Fortune met the group at the stage entrance, swinging the door out and holding it open for them. “Hey! Welcome back,” he said.

“Hi, John,” Kate said.

“I just watched the playback. You guys were awesome. Really awesome.”

“Really?” Kate said, smiling, blushing a little. She turned almost shy.

“Thanks.”

DB hissed at Kate, “That guy’s just kissing your ass.” Everybody heard the mock whisper.

John ignored him. “I know I’m not supposed to tell you how you did beforehand, but I have to say, the look on Digger’s face when he saw what Ana did? Unbelievable.”

Ana felt herself blush.

The door pushed open wider and Berman shoved himself into the group. He spared the slightest of glances for John. “Hey kid, why don’t you find me a donut and coffee or something.”

“Actually, I’m supposed—”

“It’ll only take a minute. Go,” Berman said, smiling over gritted teeth.

“I’ll see you guys later,” John said, squeezing past Berman to reenter the soundstage.

DB laughed. “Captain Cruller’s on a mission.”

“Michael, shut up!” Kate glared at him.

“You don’t have to stick up for him like that,” he said.

“I’m not—”

Berman butted in. “Curveball, my God! That was fantastic! This all comes so easy to you, you know that? You’re a natural.”

Ana found herself looking around for an escape route, but the executive was only interested in Kate. Came right at her, hand outstretched. Somehow, Kate overcame the reflex to offer her own hand to shake, and Berman turned the move into an open-armed gesture of welcome.

“Thanks,” Kate said, frowning. “But we all did it. No one can fault our teamwork this time.”

“Of course, of course,” he said, but his look turned just a bit sour when he regarded the others.

DB crossed all six arms.

“And that’s a great point. That was a really important element when we were putting this together, and you know—I’d love to get your opinion on it sometime, maybe—”

This time, Ana butted in. Really, this had to stop. Kate looked like she was getting ready to throw something.

She angled Kate toward the door. “Hey, are there really donuts in there? ’Cause I’m starving. We missed lunch.” She threw Berman a smile and a glare as they pushed past him. The team followed, like she hoped they would.

Berman’s voice echoed after them. “I need to speak with Peregrine. You kids take it easy.”

“ That bastard’s kissing your ass,” Hardhat said, after they’d left the sun and entered the darkness of the building.

“Thanks for the save,” Kate said.

Ana grinned. “Teamwork, chica .”

They waited in catering, some on chairs, some pacing, all of them growing more nervous. Ana and Kate sat side-by-side, looking out over the back end of the set; struts and lights and cables hung everywhere, people in headsets and clipboards wandering back and forth. The dark underbelly of Hollywood magic.

“We have to win this one,” Kate said. She leaned forward, elbows on knees, glaring at nothing in particular. She smiled when John looked their way and waved at them.

Ana’s own nervous twitch found her tracing the outline of her Santa Barbara medallion under her shirt. It was almost a form of prayer. But she wasn’t praying to win the task.

Please, God, get me through this. Get me through the next hour without going insane .

“We did the best we could,” she said to Kate. “Whatever happens, happens. I’m still happy.”

“Whatever happens will be exactly how they rig it to happen,” DB said. He was pacing back and forth along the wall, glaring like a caged animal. He nodded to where the three judges had arrived—Berman was already talking to them.

Ana hated to think that DB might be right.

Team Spades arrived, and they looked smug. Crap. They’d succeeded at their treasure hunt, too. The six Spades teammates ranged out and regarded them, from the two bombshells Pop Tart and Rosa Loteria, the iron-skinned Rustbelt, Simoon and the Candle, on down to the show’s youngest contestant, eleven-year-old Dragon Girl. “Hey, it’s the big losers,” Rosa said. “You guys didn’t actually get anything done this time, did you? You gave up early, right?” Her grin was gloating.

Ana glared at her. People had expected the two of them—both Latinas—to bond, but Ana didn’t much like Rosa. She’d never met anyone so brazen.

Before anyone could respond, Pop Tart vanished, reappeared next to DB, and gave him a smile and wink. “Hey, honey, will I see you around after the show’s done?”

DB had the gall to glance at Kate before saying, “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Hmm, we’ll have to see about that.” Pop Tart ran a finger down the uppermost of DB’s arms before turning to follow the rest of her team to the stage.

Kate pointedly, fiercely, ignored the exchange.

Dragon Girl—Rachel—smiled cheerfully and waved. “See you guys later.”

Ana waved back halfheartedly.

“We’re so screwed,” Hardhat said.

Ana and the others were only slightly encouraged when the Clubs and Diamonds arrived, looking glum.

Kate leaned over to Ana. “How could Clubs have gone bust? They’ve got Diver, this should have been a piece of cake.”

“Maybe they’ll show it on the replay.”

The evening only grew more agonizingly tense. Finally, they were called to the stage. It’d all be over soon.

This time, Peregrine’s gown was a magnificent royal purple, sleek and tailored in all the right places. She knew just how to stand to make sure the slit up the side showed off her legs to best advantage. Her hair shone and her smile glittered.

Once again, she welcomed them onstage for their reckoning. Three more of them would be eliminated—discarded—tonight. This was serious. This was war.

First came the replay segments, and Peregrine showed the failures. The other teams had fliers who had made short work of the maze. The obstacle course hadn’t slowed the teams much either. But the water had proven formidable.

Team Diamonds hadn’t been able to retrieve the safe. Matryoshka split, then split again, until eight little versions of the ace—stupid little versions, since they divided the original’s intelligence between them—attempted to swim to the safe. They only ended up floundering like wind-up tub toys, until Tiffani herded them together and coaxed them into reforming. The Maharajah sent his telekinetic servants in the form of shirts, but they hadn’t been strong enough to carry the safe back. Finally, the Amazing Bubbles had tried blasting water out of the pond. She grew thinner and thinner as she released more energy, and managed to empty about half the pond when the air horn sounded, calling an end to the task. The sun was setting by then. Of the performance, Topper observed wryly, “At least you’re persistent.”

All the contestants watched Clubs’ attempt with interest, because the team’s dejected demeanor could only mean that they’d failed. But how? When they found the lake, their expressions were triumphant—water! Diver’s element. They acted like they’d already won. Diver leapt into the water to confirm the prize’s location, and with her help Toad Man made easy work of pulling it to the surface.