Marisa fingered the knife uncertainly. She wasn’t a fighter, not like her brother. She wasn’t even a fast runner like her sister. She was just a girl that happened to be good at math.

“Come on, puta!” Ashlynn called, hopping down from the post and heading into the ring. Her cronies laughed, calling out lewd suggestions. On her way, the woman shucked off her ruffled blouse to the cheers of crowd. Standing there in only pants and a bra, knife in hand, Marisa thought she looked like a snake. The image died when Ashlynn screamed. “Dance with me or you’ll never see Eduardo again!”

More than one pair of hands shoved Marisa hard, sending her stumbling toward the woman in the center of the ring. Somehow she managed to hang on the knife and not stab herself with it. The jeers of Ashlynn’s friends were lost as the crowd roared enthusiastically.

Marisa swallowed hard. She reminded herself that this was just a test and she was good at taking tests. She just had to figure out the key.

Oh God, she was going to die.