Extracted Read Online Free Page B

ask as we begin to exchange blows.
    “Please. That chick had zero skills. She just got lucky.”
    “I wish I could get that lucky with you sometimes,” I grumble.
    That pulls Stein to a stop, and I’m able to kick her in the stomach and send her tumbling backward. For a split second, I’m afraid I might have really hurt her. But when she looks up at me, she’s all smiles. “Is that so?”
    Now I stop. “That’s not quite what I meant.”
    “Oh, I know what you meant.” She lunges again and kicks the axe out of my hands. It lands with a clang and skids across the floor. “You know, you’re lucky Nobel shoved that spare Contra down your throat, or you never would have made it back to the Tower.”
    “Your point is…?”
    “My point is, be more careful, or next time I’ll kill you myself.”
    I look around at my friends. They’re all cheering, and all eyes are on us. I love this moment.
    “Aww, shucks. You really do care.”
    Stein turns her back to me, wraps her arm around the long, golden rope attached to the drapes, and uses it to climb her way up the window covering until she is balancing on a thick ledge of crown molding above the main window.
    “What are you planning to do from way up there?” I call, unable to keep the amusement out of my voice. “You getting tired already?”
    “You wish. I’m just giving you a breather. I’m not even breaking a sweat here.”
    “You don’t sweat.”
    She laughs, and the sound is smooth and deep, like honey. “True. I glisten. You on the other hand, you look a bit peaked. You sure you aren’t going to pass out again?”
    I sigh. “I’m never living that down, am I?”
    She makes a face like she’s thinking about it, then brushes her dark hair out of her eyes and winks at me.
    I reach over to retrieve the axe and pitch it toward the plaster ceiling above her. A light dusting of white powder rains down on her, making her cough and release one hand from the rod to cover her mouth. I yank the curtain and she falls, landing right in my arms. I’ve almost forgotten the crowd is there until they start cheering and clapping again.
    “Nice catch,” she whispers, her face so close to mine I’m sure no one else can hear. I relish in the moment even though we have an audience. She gently touches the scarred sides of my face and neck.
    Her fingers take me back to the first time I lay in Stein’s lap and let her give me my first rifting tattoo. We all get chevrons for each mission. Most of us put them down our spine, but Stein convinced me to tattoo my scar—to change it—so that it looks like a hand made out of smoke. Its inky fingers crawl up along my jawline, as if cradling the side of my face. It’s a piece of her that’s always holding on to a piece of me.
    I lower my face to hers, and we touch noses. But when I tilt my head to steal a kiss, she wriggles free and runs into the crowd. Soon enough, she emerges from our cheering fans, wielding a blunt-edged broadsword.
    “No fair,” I grumble. Something hits me in the foot. I look down to see that someone has slid me a flail. Standing with one hand on her hip, the other holding the sword like a cane, Stein grins. Behind her, the crowd thrusts fistfuls of money into the air as Nobel scrambles to collect the bets.
    “Five to one on Stein,” he shouts, winking at me over his shoulder.
    Stein lunges, slicing wildly at me. She’s not used to fighting with such a heavy weapon, and the weight of it is throwing her off-balance. I take advantage and press forward. She holds the sword like a baseball player, and I manage to wrap the ball and chain around the blade. Both flail and sword fall to the floor.
    “No cheating!” she yells, backing up slowly.
    “If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying,” I say.
    Stein backs away, and another weapon slides from the crowd of Hollows in her direction. She picks up the sickle. In her head to toe black, I can’t help but think, if that’s what death looks like, he