[The Tempest trilogy: Book 2] After the incident in Ostrava's Neoclash arena, Zoya faces dangerous challenges. Nightingale's uprising threatens to destroy the whole Europe, the racist Yeomen movement steps up their campaing against Castaways and Rya...
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"To be honest, I have expected you to come here," Julia says. She walks towards me, her straight hair flickering in the sunlight like flames. She's wearing a sleeveless, bright yellow top and tight black shorts. As always, her eyes are framed by a thick black eyeliner.
I also notice several thin scars running through the left side of her face.
"If that's so, you should have brought a bodyguard," I smirk. "Do you think I can't make a short work of a Healthy? Valentina will have to learn to live without you."
"Don't be so sure, Little White." Valentina taught her even this silly nickname she uses for me.
However, I can't think about it since Julia finally reveals her true colors. She raises her arms which start to shift and change. Her forearms open, making way to three metal claws on each arm which look like a rake. After the change, she's armed with full-blown combat proths skillfully disguised as healthy arms.
"How...?" I gasp. "You are a Healthy... aren't you?"
"As you can see, I'm not," she gives me a condescending smile, also copied from her mistress. "Long story short: some time ago, I used to be a Champion under the name Virago. However, this life of a trained monkey didn't satisfy me much. Then, Valentina asked me for help. So I feigned my death, had a plastic operation which changed my appearance and started a new life as a Healthy, sneaking my way into the Neoclash Committee so I could be Valentina's undercover agent."
"Makes sense. I shouldn't be surprised."
Julia walks around me in circles, flaunting her metal claws in front of her face. My reflexes are ready for combat, aware she can lash out at any second. "Watch out for that little white bitch, Valentina told me," Julia chants. "She's stronger than she seems. It seems it's true, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to get here. But I'm afraid this is where you end, Zoya."
I smirk. "However, it seems that your relationship with Valentina isn't all sugar and honey, right?"
The woman grimaces and instinctively reaches to touch the scars on her face, oblivious to the rake-style claws dangerously close to her skin. At that moment, I strike, executing a spin kick and hitting the hand she raised. She screams as the claws bury into her face, creating even deeper and more gruesome wounds.
She doesn't hesitate and fights back. I have to evade the flurry of her attacks; she's swinging the claws in all directions in rapid succession. Her face looks scary. Half of it is now covered by blood coming from three gashes - two on her forehead, third on her left cheek going down to her lip.
If I was just a bit more precise, I would score two destroyed eyes within one day.
The situation is tricky also because of the limited space in the cabin. I try to avoid the control panel since I have no idea what does each button do and I would hate to kill myself in an aircarrier crash just because I accidentally pressed a wrong button.
