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dark-haired guy, sleeved with tattoos running up and down his exposed arms where he’d cut his coveralls away. Blood covered most of the ink. The tattooed guy held a long, curved blade and a smile that said he knew how to use it.
    Liam pulled the gun from his waistband and aimed it in a circle.
    The man with the pipe said, “I’d put that down if I were you.”

CHAPTER 16 — Liam Harrow
    L iam turned in a circle, gun drawn on the three players, all with their own weapons ready — a pipe, a sword, and a crossbow. The man with the pipe was a giant with teeth like broken rocks in his open maw. His throat birthed a thunderous roll as he stepped forward, pipe swinging in slow arcs, readying to dispatch Liam’s head from his body.
    Liam, instead of retreating, stepped forward, gun right in the big man’s face. The chamber was empty, but Goliath didn’t know that.
    “Back off!” Liam shouted, stepping into the giant’s space and forcing the man to take three tentative steps back.
    As the big man stumbled back off balance, Liam quickly darted past him, then spun around, putting all three of the players in front of himself. He took a few steps back, his gun still on the big man.
    The blonde, her crossbow still trained on Liam, said, “Think you’re gonna shoot all three of us?”
    Her snarl was so sexy Liam wanted to lick it. He tried to shake the image, surprised he could be turned on considering the danger.
    Blondie was short but seemed especially so standing a half-step to the side of Goliath. She could have been nineteen, or twenty-nine; it was tough to tell under the makeup, which she’d somehow maintained despite the conditions. She wasn’t just a knockout, the blonde was Medusa, turning him to stone.
    Liam couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a contestant appearing so confident or wearing her sexuality so obviously. In a game with criminals where rape was an ever-present threat — and practically a selling point for the premium-priced “uncensored version” of the show — women usually tried to fly under the radar, not call attention to themselves with makeup and shirts unbuttoned to show off cleavage.
    There was something admirable about such raw confidence.
    Blondie played to the three orbs hovering above her as if she were trying to woo the viewers back home. “You can try pulling your trigger,” she purred. “But the second you flinch, I’m squeezing mine. You might get a shot off before my bolt slams into your forehead, but I doubt it.”
    Her icy eyes were still on Liam’s, absorbing every detail. Liam knew the look well, and had his own polished version. Back in City 6, in a place like The Social, that first look would be followed by fast banter and teasing heat, followed by a long night of lust and thrust.
    But he wasn’t in The Social, or even behind The Wall. He was in The Barrens playing The Darwin Games, where thinking with your dick got you killed more often than not. While he hadn’t seen many overtly sexual players, he had seen many femme fatales eliminate far stronger players by slithering into their best intentions, then striking like a serpent once the players’ dropped their guard.
    Knowing the other players was how you stayed alive in The Games. Even the best of alliances were temporary and ever shifting. No way Liam would be dumb enough to let any player get the drop on him, but that didn’t mean Blondie had to know he was onto her game. No reason he couldn’t play the dumb guy to buy himself a few minutes.
    Liam grinned, ignoring Goliath and the tattooed skinny guy with the sword, while giving Blondie the same well-worn smile that had worked so well back home.
    “Nope,” he shook his head. “You’re right. There’s no way I can hit all three of you, and my daddy taught me to never be stupid when it’s easy to be smart.” His grin went wider. “But I sure as shit will shoot one of you, and since I’ve been practicing out in the hunting yards since I was six, I’m certain I’ll manage to get two shots off before I’m finished, and positive I won’t miss either one.”
    As Liam expected, the men shifted uncomfortably on their feet. Neither wanted dialogue, and both wanted him dead. But they were following Blondie’s lead, and she was clearly calling the shots, even if the men hadn’t realized it or were lying to themselves that they were in control.
    Liam laughed as Blondie held her stare and the two guys beside her blinked in confusion, wondering