Page 55 of Rattle the Cage

Designed for kids, the place looked more like a nightmare now with the tattered robots that were left behind. Bunnies with their fur falling off, bugged out eyes watching around every corner.

I took my steps slowly, gently setting each foot down on the concrete as I surveyed the dark edges of the ride.

Nash and Blade moved just as methodically, careful to check behind every animatronic and fake tree. As we turned down a corridor, entering into a fake Goldilocks set, the sniveling of a pathetic man put us on alert.

Standing up straight, I knew we were safe when I saw blood.

The rattling of the Z-trap chain made Blade laugh.

Cowering behind a bear robot, the man was grabbing at his foot.

Tess swallowed hard behind me.

I liked making her nervous, letting her see what we were capable of.

Nash smirked. “Look what The Oracle dragged in.”

“Get him on the ground.” Looking at Blade, I nodded.

In a swift leap, Blade used her shoulders to body the man to the ground — yanking his foot from the Z-trap staked into the concrete and ripping open his flesh.

His head smacked into the concrete. If he was going to survive, he would have had a concussion for at least a week.

But he’d never see another sunrise. Not surrounded by three Freaks.

“Oops. Sorry about your head. Not!” Blade laughed in his face, her mask distorting her voice as she stared down at him. She pinned him place, her knees pressing into each shoulder and the pain of the wound on his foot making his thrashing limited.

The man just snarled up at Blade, his face full of malice and fight.

He’s not begging. Not yet.

Most of the weasels that got dropped off here were all bravado. They took advantage of their position in the real world, let their money and power make people believe they were strong.

The second they stepped into Feverpoint, they became sniveling children. Begging us — and God — for forgiveness.

Not this one.

My eyes met Nash’s who was having the same thought.

It made the bloodlust seep deeper into my bones. If he wasn’t afraid now, we knew what kind of monster he was.

Blade grabbed his chin, pursing his lips in her grasp. “Poor thing, got caught in our little trap.”

Shaking his head, he tried to free himself from Blade’s humiliating grip.

Nash sauntered up to them, lifting Trixie to her hand. “Time for penance.”

Heaving the mallet over her head, Nash wound up for the kill.

“Stop.” I lunged across the space, grabbing Trixie’s wood handle.

Nash and Blade’s brows furrowed, Tess flinching before the hammer even fell.

Looking over my shoulder, I nodded toward Tess. “No. Her turn.”

Terror flashed in her blue eyes. Every decision that led her to Feverpoint’s gates, not once but twice, came rushing back to her mind.

I could see her wondering if I’d really make her do it.