Heart Hunters

NINETEEN

S A N C H A

Rudy's kicks were too fast to follow. By the time I started shielding my face, my mask was cracked and my ribs were stinging.

I got ready to charge, tensing my legs.

One of his eyes caught the movement, spinning wildly in its socket. He pulled back, fists guarding his stern face.

"Ala!" I don't dare take my eyes off the Carrier. "Get him away from here! I'll meet you at The Place!"

She curled her arms around Mano's shoulders, dragging him away from the wall with a grunt. "I'm not the one with super strength here, you know!"

"Okay," I snapped. "I'll carry him off while you fight the undead superhuman with X-ray vision!"

"Fine, I'll carry him!"

Rudy gnashed his teeth. "Teddy, stop her!"

Teddy inserted a finger into his ear. "Nah."

"What?!"

Our Carrier shrugged. "Wasn't the deal. Sorry, man, you're on your own."

"Oh, for the love of—!"

I planted a fist into his stomach, throwing my weight and more into the blow. His feet skidded on the slick floor, a hand clenched over his gut. He bared his teeth at me, growling. "Oh, come on! No fair! I was distracted!"

"Suck it!"

He scowled at Teddy. "Can't you just—?"

"Nah."

I swung, and Rudy turned. My fist tasted air. The force of my own punch sent me staggering forward, and Rudy slapped me upside the head, smashing my face into the ground.

"That takes care of that," he muttered, turning around.

My fingers caught his ankle. I started to squeeze, lifting my face with a grimace.

Rudy frowned. "Hey. Stop. That's gonna bruise."

I placed my free hand over the other, adding pressure.

"Why are you so desperate to save that bastard?" he sighed. "Okay, I'm going to count to three so you know when I'm attacking. One. Two."

My jaw clenched. It was going to be a kick from his right leg. I had his left leg in my hands, and he was in no position to do anything with his arms. I knew what was coming. I just had to catch it.

"Three."

He swung his left leg into the air, and me with it. His foot was over his head, and I was airborne. I tightened my grip to keep myself from flying away.

He slammed me back into the ground. Something in my mouth cracked, but I couldn't feel it — pain resistance was part of my Side Effect. I prayed it was a tooth and not my jaw.

"Look. Now that you're not trying to kill me, I'm starting to feel bad about this. Can you stop?"

I squeezed and squeezed, willing the bone to snap. "Will you let us walk away with him?"

"No. He deserves to die."

"Then I can't."

He swung his leg back. My back hit the side of a pew, breaking the glossy wood into rough, splintered pieces. My grip loosened. The Carrier kicked my fingers away.

"Don't you understand?!" Rudy leaned forward, a growl rumbling in his throat. "He deserves to die."

"Let us walk away. Please." I grabbed the top of another pew, trying to pull myself up. "You'll never see him or us again. I promise."

"That's not enough. I need to kill him." Nothing lay behind his mechanical eyes. No trace of him. Just metal. Just machine. He pulled back his fist, leveling it at my face. "Just like how he killed my mother."

"I'll do it!"

The Carrier froze. He blinked. I could almost see his thoughts calibrating, loading, shorting out. "What?"

"I'll kill him," I gasped. I used my remaining strength to push myself to my feet. "I'll kill him for you. So you don't have to worry about that."

"But he... But you..." He lifted his hand, staring into his palm as if he'd written the perfect response on it. Then his eyes snapped to mine. "But I have to do it. This has nothing to do with you."

I lifted my hands, surrendering "You... You felt betrayed. Right? I can make him feel that. He already knows you want to kill him. But he won't expect it from me."

"Hmm." He tilted his head at me, squinting. His eyes zoomed in on my face, then zoomed back out. "You're not lying."

"I don't. Lie, I mean."

"I can see that." He pulled back, stepping away. "Fine. Go. But if I see him again..."

"Yeah." I shuffled past him, tenderly carrying my body over the debris. "I know."

I stopped in front of Teddy. I lifted my eyes to his. He looked down at me softly, his face gentle.

He stepped out of the way. I walked past him and didn't look back.