Gauntlet: Chapter 8

“What do you want to know?” he replied cautiously.

“Why are you helping me?” The answer to that question had never been made clear. “Black Jack said you’ve been helping me all along. What did he mean?”

The silence drew out longer than she expected. She cast a curious glance at him.

“He shouldn’t have told you that,” Chance murmured, sounding for all the world like a petulant child. It was so out of character that Clio almost laughed, except she really wanted to know what his deal was.

“Why not? Why can’t you just tell me what’s going on?”

Chance scowled and started walking faster. Clio had to trot to keep ahead; she wouldn’t let him weasel out of an explanation.

“Well?”

“August…wasn’t always like this. He’s changed over time.”

At Clio’s skeptical look, Chance grimaced. “Oh, he’s always been full of himself. But this place…exposed his character flaws. It allowed him to indulge them. There was always a temptation to go one step further, and this place practically encouraged him.

“He never questioned the mechanics of it. All the…toys, as he calls them, just waiting to be found. The research…the clues…all perfectly tailored to his interests. To his way of thinking, that was all his due. I’ve stayed with him because I guess I’ve been trying to keep him under some kind of control.” Chance snorted. “Clean up his messes when I can’t prevent them in the first place. He needs some sort of check, or even I don’t know how far he could go.”

Clio’s jaw tightened. She understood the temptations of this place all too well by now.

“So what does that have to do with you helping me?” she pressed.

“I’m sure you’ve realized by now that the Gauntlet isn’t some by-the-rules board game–where everything is neat and orderly and there’s a definite conclusion. Not everyone in here is even a player, like you. They have roles to play, and they do it for whatever reasons. Who knows how much free will factors into that?” Chance sighed. “I don’t know if this place was ever different, but it’s been this way for a long time, at least. And now there are…opposing interests.”

Clio gaped. “So there really isn’t anyone in control?” She gestured wildly. “Outside…back in the real world?!”

“That’s not it.” Chance shook his head brusquely. “There are ‘controllers,’ in a way, but think of it as…some people wound up this place and set it in motion, and then they walked away. Observing, but not interfering. Mostly, anyway–there are some things that they directly allow, and some things that are…enforced.”

“Like what?” Clio demanded.

Chance’s gaze dropped to her wrist. “It’s true that you can’t just take what someone’s been given as their…token. Not without consequences.”

Clio clasped her wrist, wrapping her fingers around the small charms. “But August said he was going to take mine.”

“No. He was going to persuade you to give them to him.”

Clio shuddered. “Is that what he did to Lilah before he turned her into one of those things?” She went pale thinking about the vacant, slack look of Lilah’s normally animated features.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there when August locked you up.”

Clio was surprised at the sudden apology. She saw self-recrimination in his expression.

“I wasn’t expecting it then. I thought maybe he’d…” Chance trailed off. When it seemed he wouldn’t finish the thought, Clio grabbed his arm angrily and faced off with him.

“But you knew it was coming? You knew he was just playing a sick game with me?!” She trembled with the force of her fury, blinking back an onslaught of hot tears that made her eyes sting.

Chance hesitated long enough that Clio had her answer. She pulled back and stiffly turned away, wiping her cheeks with jerky motions. “Everybody knew, didn’t they?”

She heard Chance take a step toward her, and she tensed; he stopped before touching her. “No. August doesn’t confide in the masses.” There was disgust in his tone, but Clio somehow knew it was for himself. “I…I knew, but not like you’re thinking. I knew he was planning something, but I thought there might actually be a chance that he was sincere…with you.”

Clio laughed bitterly. “Right.”

“August likes to play games,” Chance said thinly, as if he had more right to be distressed. “But he actually seemed interested in you. That’s why he didn’t just take you when you first entered the Gauntlet. He wouldn’t even give me a straight answer about what he intended to do, even though we argued about you a lot.”

“I heard you,” Clio whispered. “Right before the party. I thought you didn’t approve of me–that you wanted him to get rid of me.”

Chance looked surprised for a moment, and then a little grim, but he nodded.

“And you liked him.” Chance’s face was carefully neutral as he made the statement, but Clio couldn’t help but feel a flush of shame. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me if I told you he was playing you. And I had to be careful.”

Her cheeks heated with the truth of that as she looked away. “You’re probably right.”

“You’ve been a pawn since the beginning, Clio. More than you can even imagine.”

Clio clenched her fists. “Tell me.”

“Back in the beginning, when the prowlers took you, do you remember any of what happened?”

“Not much. I know they drugged me…and I remember voices.” Clio’s eyes widened. “Was that August?”

He gave a curt nod. “And me.”

Shock drained the blood from her face, and she reeled back from him. He quickly threw up a hand.

“He wasn’t intending to do much then–he just wanted to shake you up a little. Make you doubt your senses…your reality. And he planted a few triggers, but you were remarkably unsusceptible. I managed to undo most of his little tricks that stuck.”

Her lips worked, but no sound came out. Eventually she managed, “Why?”

“Why did he do it? Because he could. Because there hasn’t been a new player in a while, and because he knows there are outside forces who have set themselves up against him and the little corner of the Gauntlet he rules. August doesn’t like it when people challenge his authority; he suspected you were sent to cause problems for him.”

“Me? But I wasn’t!” Clio protested. “And I thought you said that the people outside just observe!”

“I said mostly. And Clio…” Chance waited until he had her full attention. “How do you know that wasn’t exactly what you were intended to do?”

Clio tried to digest that idea. She remembered the dossier she’d found before the theater–all the disturbing, intimate details of her life and personality. She’d definitely been handpicked for the Gauntlet, but…was it only to be a pawn in some internal struggle of forces? To be sacrificed to an egotistical king with a fetish for blondes?!

“But I’m…nobody!” she cried in frustration. “I’m not some brain scientist like you…or he is. I’m not even good at surviving, like Britt. I couldn’t help her! I could never help her!”

“Don’t sell yourself short. Britt doesn’t.”

Clio went rigid. “Britt? What do you mean?” She grabbed his sleeve. “You’ve talked to her?!”

“Who do you think arranged for our little diversion?”

“Oh my God!” Clio gasped. “Where is she? Is she coming here?!”

“She’s busy.” He smiled at her excitement. “But you’ll see her before the end.”

“The end?”

Chance lifted an eyebrow. “You still want to get out of here, don’t you?”

“Of course I do,” Clio said wearily.

“So that’s what we’ll do.” Chance spoke like it was a foregone conclusion, which only served to irritate her.

“Sure,” Clio snapped. “Because it’s that simple.”

“It will be once we get your heart back from August.” Chance surprised her by chuckling. “You should have seen August rant when he found out you’d given it away. I’ve never seen him so furious.”

“And how will we do that?”

“Leave it to me,” was Chance’s infuriating response.

“No! I don’t want to leave it to you or anybody else!” She shoved his arm back at him. “Screw this! I’m tired of being led around by the nose. If that bastard has what I need to get out, then I’ll go kick his ass and take it back myself!”

Chance paused. She wasn’t sure if she saw admiration or amusement in his eyes. “I think you’re forgetting a key point.”

“Wh…” Clio didn’t finish the question before she remembered. There was that little detail about not taking someone else’s token…and the threat of enforcement if someone did.

Clio deflated. “Is…the heart considered his now, since Lilah gave it to him?”

Her shoulders slumped when Chance nodded.

“I can get it from him.”

She threw up her hands at his calm assertion. “How?” she cried. “And…and…how can you even go back there? Does he know you’ve been helping me?”

Clio gasped. “He must know you warned me off. You were really warning me about him when you told me to stay away, weren’t you? Not the Gray Men. You didn’t want me going into August’s territory. But those guys you were with. Do you think they told him?!”

Chance’s features softened. “I told you–August’s always liked playing games. He knows I don’t approve of most of the things he does, and that…amuses him. The fact that I would warn you off just makes it more fun for him.” He looked away. “He calls me his ‘conscience.’ Which, trust me, he’s happy to ignore when it suits him.”

Clio grimaced. “Does that mean he trusts you or not?”

“He trusts me. We do go way back, and his narcissism makes it hard for him to believe someone he…favors would betray him. And…” Chance hesitated, his mouth curving into a frown. “I’ve changed from when I first met him. I wasn’t always so…scrupulous. I think he lets himself believe I’m just like him beneath the surface.”

“So…” Clio said slowly, trying to make sense of everything. “You’ve been doing all this…helping me…because you feel kind of responsible for keeping him in line?”

Chance opened his mouth, looking slightly self-conscious, and hesitated a moment. “I–”

“Chance.” A low-pitched, urgent voice called from behind them.

Chance turned as one of his men ran toward them, a bit out of breath. “Sunshine rounded up a troop of the Grays after the attack,” the man murmured. “They’ve split up and are making a sweep of the city. They’ll hit this quarter in a few hours; August is hell-bent on searching every building.”

“Head back,” Chance told him tersely. “I’ll join you soon.”

Chance remained calm, though he took Clio’s arm and propelled her much more quickly through the streets. “I’ll see you to the tower before I go back.”

“Do you have any idea what I’m supposed to do there?” Clio blurted. “I can’t hide out forever.”

“I’ll come back as soon as I can. Do you have food and water there?”

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty nice–”

“Good. Then I won’t worry if I can’t make it for a couple of days.”

“But–”

“Clio,” Chance said with a fierce urgency that took her aback. “Just stay there until I return. It won’t be long. Don’t leave–no matter what.”

Clio scowled. She deliberated on the instructions, once again weighing the pros and cons of listening to anyone ever again.

I’m the only one who can access the tower, she reminded herself. The entry was dependent on her spade charm. It probably was the safest place to protect her from everyone…including Chance. If it came to that.

“Fine,” she said through her teeth. “But if you’re not back in two days, then all bets are off.”

He shot her an exasperated look but didn’t argue; the tower was already looming up just ahead. “Come on!” she cried, almost excited to share something that even he hadn’t seen before.

She ran to the corner by the wall and pressed her charm to the small indention. She spun around to grin at Chance and was startled to see that he’d followed her so quickly. His curious gaze took in the stairwell that wound up within the tower, then settled back on her.

This close, he seemed even taller, looming over her as she stood in the doorway. Clio had a sudden, strange sense of déjà vu.

Feeling a little flustered, she gestured awkwardly. “Do you want to come up?”

Chance’s mouth twitched and he raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Are your parents home?”

Clio gaped at him a moment, then laughed. “Your sense of humor picks the weirdest times to come out.”

“So I’ve been told.” Chance’s smirk faded quickly; when he stepped back, Clio felt almost disappointed. “But I can’t stay now.”

Clio nodded. “Um…be careful, I guess.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Chance’s lips parted, as if he wanted to say something else. His eyes searched her face with that penetrating gaze she was becoming accustomed to, but in the end, he simply stepped back.

“Thank–” Clio tried to get out before the door closed. “–you,” she finished as the door silently slid shut. It cut off her view of his intense, dark eyes.

That strange sense of déjà vu still lingered. Clio stood in the silence for a moment, facing the unbroken stone wall.

She finally began to climb the staircase, her fingers trailing the cool metal railing. Another memory rose up–the frantic, claustrophobic climb up the rungs in the dark when Black Jack had given her a helpful shove into the shaft.

“Games are often won by luck. When all else fails, trust in yours.”

Suddenly, Clio felt her lips curl, not sure whether to be appalled or amused. Even that far back, the moves had been planned.

“Trust in luck.”

Right. Well, maybe she would, but maybe she’d also make some plans of her own.

It was her move now.

Continued in Chapter 9.

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