Page 144 of Rattle the Cage

Nash’s porcelain mask hardly moved as she barked. “Run, Sweet Lamb!”

Turning on the heels of my sneakers, I took off away from Jungle Jolt.

This time, I knew exactly where I wanted to hide. And the faster I got there, the better my odds of staying hidden from the Feverpoint Freaks.

70

BLADE

Even as Tess ran into the green light, I could see the fear in her body. The way her legs pumped faster and harder to put distance between us.

She loved to talk a big game, to put on a show for us. But we all knew the truth, she was just as terrified of what we’d do to her tonight as she was the first night she stumbled into our little playground.

Nash reached into her back pocket, pulling out the cards.

Unable to tear my eyes away from Tess’s disappearing figure, Cyrus rammed an elbow into my ribs. “Draw a card, Blade.”

But I lifted my head and met the dark abyss of her eyes under the stitched mask. “You going to follow the rules?”

Cyrus nodded. “Yes. First six hours in our sections. Then we fight to find her until dawn.”

“Good.” Nash finished shuffling the deck, presenting it to us.

Reaching out, I split the deck and grabbed the top card. I flipped it over, taking in the drawing of a person on a small row boat. “Six of Swords. Off to Black Doubloon.”

Cyrus pulled the next card. Turning it to face us, she kept her voice steady. “The Magician.”

“Maybe you’ll get a reward in Prize Alley.” I laughed.

Shaking her head, Cyrus twirled the card in her fingers. Her intuition told her the spot wasn’t correct, I could tell from the way she held her shoulders.

Intuition hadn’t done her much good in the past.

Nash’s tattoo-blackened fingertip slid the last card off the deck, I could hear the sinister smirk taking the corners of her mouth as she showed it off. “The Tower.”

My eyes followed the bright yellow lightning bolt that jolted down from the dark sky to the top of the cobblestone tower.

For obvious reasons, it was Nash’s card — a sign from the deck that she’d have a good hunt. She’d start in Superhero Sanctuary.

“Game on, fuckers.” Nash nodded as she slipped the cards back into her pocket. Her mask covered her excitement, but just the thought of catching Tess was enough to send all of us into a tizzy.

As soon as the cards were away, the anticipation started to course through our bodies.

Shaking my head, I started to jump up and down to warm up my muscles.

The lights would go off any second now, the rides turning on and Fright Night truly beginning.

Something about Halloween had all of us on edge, amped up. There was something feral about it, the need to hunt our scared little toy as she ran away in that skimpy fucking costume.

I felt the spirits in the air. Like the ghouls and demons wanted to watch us hunt her.

I sucked in a deep breath as the green lights flicked off, the churning of the roller coasters turning on.

“Snooze, you lose.” I yelled over my shoulder as I took off toward Black Doubloon.

As I ran, I knew that I wanted to scare my Trinket, to see the fear in her eyes. Just like that first night, when she had no idea what we’d do when we caught her.

Because the truth was: she still had no idea what she was in for.