"This is our cellmate," Tank said carefully. "Na’s Shuyin."
"I know her na," Mama Bear said. "I know everything about her. Rich family. Murder conviction. Supposed to be dead by now." Her smile was reptilian. "But you three are keeping her alive. I want to know why."
"We don’t want murder charges added to our sentences," Blade said. "She dies in our cell, we automatically take the fall. It’s simple math."
"Simple," Mama Bear repeated thoughtfully. "Except nothing in Blackwater is ever simple." She pulled out a chair and sat down uninvited. Her fighters remained standing behind her, creating an intimidating wall of muscle.
"Soone paid good money to put this little princess in the pit," Mama Bear continued, her voice conversational. "Paid extra to make sure she didn’t walk out alive. But my girl says she didn’t fight back at all. Just curled up and took the beating. Is that true?"
Shuyin t Mama Bear’s gaze with her one working eye.
Sothing in her grandmother’s voice echoed in her mory: Never show fear to predators. They can sll it, and it makes them hungry.
"Yes," Shuyin said, her voice stronger than she felt. "I don’t know how to fight. I never learned."
"Rich girl problems," Mama Bear said, but there was sothing speculative in her expression. "Soone really wants you dead. Soone with deep pockets and serious connections. They’re gonna be unhappy that you survived."
"Let guess," Tank said. "They’re gonna pay you more to finish the job."
"They already did." Mama Bear’s smile widened. "Doubled their original offer. Told to make it clean this ti. One fight, one kill, no complications."
The cafeteria had gone almost completely silent. Everyone was watching, waiting to see what would happen.
Shuyin felt her heart pounding against her broken ribs. This was it. This was how she died, not in the fighting pit, but right here in the cafeteria, surrounded by hundreds of witnesses who would say and do nothing.
But Tank stood up slowly, her considerable height making her nearly eye-level with Mama Bear even though the pit boss was sitting. "And if we have a problem with that?"
Mama Bear’s expression didn’t change. "Then you’ll have a problem with . And everyone who works for . And trust , Tank, you don’t want that problem."
"Maybe not," Tank agreed. "But here’s the thing. You kill her, whoever paid you is gonna keep needing people killed. And next ti, it might be one of us. Or one of yours. This ain’t business, Mama. This is personal for sobody. And personal grudges don’t stop at one body."
Mama Bear considered this carefully. The silence stretched out, taut as a wire.
Finally, she stood. "Interesting point. But money’s money, and I don’t work for free." She looked at Shuyin. "You got any idea who wants you dead, princess?"
Shuyin thought about her family. Her uncles, who’d always looked at her with cold calculation. Her cousins, who’d inherit more if she were gone.
"I suppose it’s my family," she said quietly. "Soone in my family."
"Rich people," Mama Bear said with disgust. "Always killing each other over money. At least when we kill, it’s honest." She turned to leave, then paused.
"I’ll give you one week. One week to figure out who’s paying and why. If you can give proof, real proof, that might change the equation. But if you can’t..." She looked at Tank. "Then we’re gonna have that problem you don’t want."
She walked away, her fighters falling in behind her.
The cafeteria slowly returned to its normal noise level, but Shuyin could still feel eyes on her. Watching... Waiting...
"One week," Razor said. "How the hell are we supposed to figure out who’s behind this in one week? We’re locked up. We got no outside access."
"We’ve got so options," Blade said thoughtfully, "Visitor’s day is in four days. Maybe soone will co see her. Maybe they’ll slip up, say sothing useful."
"And if they don’t?" Razor asked.
"Then we find another way," Tank said firmly. "Because I ant what I said, we don’t let bullies win. Not without a fight."
Shuyin looked at these three won, Tank with her scars and strength, Blade with her sharp mind and hidden kindness, Razor with her bitterness and surprising compassion.
They were all she had now. Her only allies in a place designed to break people.
"I’ll figure it out," Shuyin said quietly. "I’ll find proof. I won’t let you die because of ."
"Damn right you won’t," Tank said. "Now finish your food. You need strength. This is just the beginning, princess. It’s gonna get a lot worse before it gets better."
Shuyin looked at the gray paste on her tray and forced herself to eat.
Tank was right.
This was only the beginning.
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