Iron Heart (The Gauntlet #2)

Chapter 32 - Wrong Place, Wrong Time

The young Battlecast fighter, however, didn't get up. She lay face down, clutching her right knee with both hands, her face twisted up with pain, tears streaming from closed eyelids. The final klaxon blared and to signal Keefer Darkwood's latest demolition and Codi felt the fury begin to boil up inside her like a storm. It hadn't been enough for him to just win.

No. He had to cripple a rookie just because she came from Battlecast. She watched for a few seconds as the medical staff hurtled out to attend her team mate, and then spun from the screen, blood pounding as she stormed off in the direction of the medical centre.

The route from the fighters' lobby took them close to the arena entrance, and Codi heard the buzz of reporters before she saw them. When they rounded the bend a bolt of disgust shot through her when she saw the throng of braying media flunkies. For once none of them were looking in her direction – their attention focused on another hallway.

And striding through from the connecting passage to the Arena came Keefer Darkwood.

He was still wearing his exoskeleton and towered over those around him, but that didn't matter. All she wanted to do was get her hands on him. She took a step in his direction.

"Codi, don't," Gareth hissed, grabbing her by the arm. "I know how you feel, but think about what you're doing." She could hear the anger in his low voice as he glared at Keefer. Trembling with rage she pulled against his grip for a moment, but she knew he was right. Doing anything now would only cause them more problems. So she had to stand and watch the black-clad colossus stomp of into the crowd of reporters as though nothing had happened.

Once Keefer had reached a safe distance Gareth gently unfurled his fingers from her arm. Stepping forward alongside her, he exhaled a long breath through his nose. He looked at her.

"You okay?"

"I will be, once I get that sick scud in the Arena." She gritted her teeth as the reporters descended on her newfound nemesis. Then she shook her head. "Forget it. I'm going to the medical centre. You coming?"

He looked at her strangely. "Of course I am." Codi held his gaze for a moment, trying to reconcile his actions today with his utter dismissal of Leela's chances the night before. Eventually she shunted that conundrum to the back of her mind and turned, not trusting herself to stay in the same room with Keefer Darkwood much longer.

When they reached the medical centre Leela was already there, accompanied by Bronagh Llewellyn. Stripped of her exoskeleton, she looked very small indeed. She lay on one of the beds, surrounded by a dozen other recovering fighters, her face stained by the two thin lines where her tears had flowed. Under other circumstances Codi might have been contemptuous of someone crying after a normal Gauntlet match, but the encounter with Black Horizon's leader had been anything but normal.

The result of his brutality was clearly in evidence. Leela's right leg now bore a glittering cylindrical brace around the knee joint that hummed gently as its mechanisms worked to heal her injuries. A member of the medical staff stood nearby, intently watching a screen. On that screen Codi could see the blue lines depicting Leela's knee, and the spiderwebs of red that clustered around one area. She didn't know much about medicine, but the display didn't look good.

She painted a mask of calm onto her face before she approached the bed with Gareth close behind. When Leela saw them coming she forced a smile, but Codi could see the pain and embarrassment was still raw.

Stopping by the bedside, she leaned in, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Hey, hey. How're you doing?"

"Not...great," Leela said, her voice hoarse. "Were you watching?"