‘This ends now,’ he snapped. He had a look of cold, hard fury on his damaged face that even Kyle found frightening. Lots of people had made the mistake of thinking that Ed was a nice, gentle guy who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Kyle knew him better. He knew that, if it came to it, Ed would drive that axe right through Josa’s skull. And Josa knew it too. You could see it in her face.

‘You shouldn’t even be in this fight,’ she said.

‘Show me the rule book.’ Ed hacked a mother aside as she came close and Kyle could see that Josa was scared that she’d be next.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘It’s over.’

Chapter 62

62

Brooke was desperate. Couldn’t work out what had happened. Trying to see what was going on. One moment Ed had been sitting beside her, looking for Kyle in the battle, and the next he’d sworn, leapt up and gone racing down to the arena, completely unarmed.

He was somewhere out there. She scanned the arena and then felt relief flood over her. There he was, helping Kyle to the side, holding his axe, and swiping it at any sickos who came close.

He got to the barrier and Brooke went down to meet him. Kyle was clutching his arm and grumbling that he was all right. Ed kept telling him to shut up. Brooke helped them to climb over and she could see that Kyle was having difficulty using his right arm.

They went back to their seats where Lewis and Ebenezer asked them what had happened.

Brooke looked back down at the arena. The last three sickos standing, the fastest and strongest, were moving round the edge, trying to get away. Guards behind the barrier pushed them back with their weapons. Some kids in the front seats kicked out at them, laughing. The gladiators attacked in a pack and down the sickos went, one, two, three, in a flurry of flashing blades and flying blood. The Sandhurst boy even managed to finish on a high note: he swung at the last mother and took her head clean off with one blow.

‘He’s just showing off,’ said Kyle through clenched teeth.

The cheering from the crowd was the loudest yet at the races. The Sandhurst boy paraded around, holding the mother’s head up by the hair, dripping blood everywhere. The guards moved in and started to drag the dead bodies clear.

Just another afternoon’s sport, thought Brooke. But she knew it wasn’t over yet.

Sophie had been standing at the barriers with some of her team, bows at the ready in case they needed to put down any sickos. She walked up to Ed’s group.

‘You ever seen anything like that?’ she asked. Brooke could see there were spots of blood on her face.

‘No,’ she said. ‘And I never want to again.’