“The arrangement,” I said. “You mean the one that’s not supposed to happen until I fail?”
His lips pressed together. “You had two weeks to train with Samson and you messed it up. Don’t blame me for your shortcomings.” Seeing my horror, his expression softened. He walked over and placed a steady hand on my shoulder. “I know sleeping for three days must feel frightening. We had Corvus House come and check you over, so you were always safe. We knew you’d come out of it, eventually.”
Lincoln’s spoon slipped from his fingers and clattered to the table. “Sorry.”
Bruce cleared his throat. “But I promise, after your trials, we’ll investigate the incident further.”
I didn’t know what to think. Did he force The Others to the surface, or was he experimenting on me like the rest of the names on his list. Either way it was not good.
“And Cash? Did he come around?”
“Your mentor was nowhere to be found.”
My gaze shot to Lincoln for confirmation. He shrugged and took another spoonful of food. As far as I could tell he told the truth. All of my instincts rebelled against that. Cash would never leave me for days, not after our planned date.
“The cook is still here, do you want me to order you something?” My father asked, taking his seat again and lifting the paper.
“No, thank you,” I mumbled. “I’ll just eat cereal.”
I poured myself a bowl and ate with my head resting on my hand, trying not to feel the heat of Lincoln’s stare on my face.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WE WENT TO the second basement sub-level. The first trial was being held in a small auditorium similar to what I’d expect at a university. At the entrance to the door, a scanning device searched bodies as they passed through.
A small crowd made up of Players… sorry, contenders—they weren’t officially Players, yet—crowded around the entrance. Their mentors were there, to see them off and give them well wishes. It all had a rather bourgeois vibe to it. Bored, rich parents seeing their children off at summer camp.
We shuffled forward in our place in the line. My breakfast hadn’t gone down well and rolled in my stomach. What had happened to Cash? Three days had gone past since I was supposed to meet him. Our date. He was going to cook for me. I closed my eyes briefly and remembered the way he looked at me in that hallway after training. Unfettered desire burned in his eyes. His warm touch on my cheek. Our bodies pressed together. My hand reached into my pocket for the Ducati keyring. I had to make it up to him.
A kerfuffle sounded from the back of the line. I craned my neck to look back. Despite myself, my heart flipped. Cash.
With Jed. They were elbowing their way through the line to get to us. I felt my father stiffen beside me. A space opened before us and we were almost at the entrance to the auditorium.
“Roo,” Cash said, face hard. “We need to talk before you go in.”
“You don’t have time,” Bruce said.
“You. Don’t talk to me.” Cash pointed at my father’s face, then he turned to me. “You don’t have a choice. Come with me.”
“I’ll be back in five minutes,” I said to Bruce.
He was about to protest, but something in Jed’s eyes stopped him. Being an ex-police office must give you a vibe not to be messed with because Bruce backed down. “Fine. Five minutes. That’s all you have.”
I caught sight of a group of people coming up behind Cash. It was House Cetus: Mathieson, Cygnus and Wren. I waved briefly at them as they walked by to take their place in the line. Wren gave me a small smile, but Cygnus, he completely shrunk away from me with a frightened feral look in his eyes. Alarm jolted through me. What was that about?
I didn’t have time to think on it because Cash promptly led me away from the bustling crowd to a quiet spot out of hearing distance where Jed waited.
“Hi Jed.”
“Hi Roo.”
“Jed, give us a minute.”
Cash watched Jed step away and when his gaze locked back on mine, his penetrating stare drilled down to my bones. Then he moved us further down the hall.
“Are you okay?” Cash asked.
I frowned. Everyone acted weird. On edge.
“Roo, are you okay?” he asked again. “Are you hurt? We’ve been trying to get access to you for days, but—why is your shirt inside out?”
I glanced down. I’d had no time to change.
“Look, it doesn’t matter,” he continued. “Just tell me you’re okay.”
“I think so. But, three days? Why didn’t you—” I cut myself off, bit my lip and kept my eyes on the floor. Now wasn’t the time to make a scene.
“We couldn’t get to you, and short of starting a war by breaking down the doors, we were stuck. What happened?”
That’s what I’d like to know. It could have been a number of things. “I’m still piecing it together. I blacked out.”
“For three days?”
If I told him about the voices in my head, he might think differently.
He punched the wall next to my head, jarring me awake. Plaster crumbled to the floor, and my ears echoed the blast. But I wouldn’t shrink away. I wouldn’t be intimidated by his violence.
“Damn it, Roo. What aren’t you telling me? Tell me the truth.”
“I’m sorry, I blacked out.” I shook my head, but he cupped my jaw and forced me to meet his eyes. When I did, I saw such raw emotion that I almost lost my footing. “You weren’t there, Cash.”
He exhaled and dipped his forehead to mine. “I know.”
We didn’t move for a while.
“Something happened, and it scares me,” I whispered. “In a way, I can’t begin to comprehend, and I need to discuss it with you, but we can’t talk about it now.”
Cash pulled away from me and studied my face. “You’re right. Too many people around. We’ll continue this after the trial. But, don’t do that again.”
“What?”
“Fall asleep for three days and then avoid me. I could see it in your eyes when I approached you in the line. You thought about going with your father.”
“For a second, I believed him when he said you hadn’t come around to check on me.”
“Bastard. I stood vigil outside your door for twenty-four hours. I only left when Jacine told me there was a better way. If you didn’t turn up this morning, we had a plan. Thank the gods you woke up. When this is over, you’re coming with me.” He tugged me into his embrace.
I sighed and softened myself to his body. How could I ignore this ocean of emotion between us? He buried his face in my neck.
“Say you’ll come.”
“I—”
“I won’t wait next time,” he said into my hair. “I don’t care what they say. I’ll break down the door. Urser is not to be trusted.”
I thought back to my father’s poor excuse for what happened and Lincoln’s reaction to his words. The spoon dropping. Bruce had lied.
I wasn’t safe there. Not anymore. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Of course you’re right. Forget the evidence.”
“Hallelujah. We have Jacine’s and Felix’s vote. That’s two votes already in the Tribunal. If Urser wants to fight you coming to mine, he’ll have to overcome that. Concentrate on passing the trial, I’ll work on the housing arrangement.”
“Easier said than done,” I mumbled.
“You only need fifty-one percent to pass. And if you don’t, there’s two more trials you can do. You just need an overall pass. We went through the major points during training. As long as you’re with me, you’ll be fine.”
We started to walk back to the auditorium when Cash frowned and stopped me. He cocked his head as though listening to something.
“What is it?” I whispered.
He placed his finger on his lips. “Your father. I can hear him talking.”
I cast my senses out and felt the unique signature of my father’s aura a few feet in front of us, hidden in the alcove of another corridor. With him
was another signature I recognized. Mathieson Cetus. The expression on Cash’s face darkened as he listened. He glanced at me and frowned.
“What is it?” I whispered again.
“Shh.”
I strained my ears to listen, but my hearing was nothing like Cash’s.
Cash murmured, “They’re arguing about proof. It wasn’t what Cetus expected.”
“That’s what they spoke about at dinner the other night. Bruce wanted more of something, and Cetus gave him seventy-three.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll sort it out. Focus on your test and I’ll see you later.” Cash took my hand and continued to guide me towards the entrance to the auditorium. The line had thinned, and there were only a few stragglers being scanned.
Bruce appeared. “That was longer than five minutes.”
“Well, I’m here now,” I said.
He noted my hand linked with Cash’s and smirked. “Lover’s quarrel over I presume?”
Cash’s hand tightened around mine. He leaned in to kiss my cheek. I felt something press into my other hand. When I looked down, I found my phone. Earphones wrapped around the handset.
My heart swelled. My music. My center of gravity. I hit the home button, and the screen reanimated. Fully charged. I could’ve wept.
“Thank you,” I said.
“It took a while, but we found your luggage. When Jed handed it over for inspection, it got mysteriously rerouted. Very suspicious considering Jed’s and mine weren’t.” He darted a glance at my father. “I have a charger at my place. You can grab it when I see you later.”
I nodded.
“Good luck,” he said and left to meet Jed who was waiting down the corridor.
I stepped through the scanner. Similar to something you’d see at the airport, I expected it to be searching for metal, or other dangerous objects. But it beeped when I walked through.
The half asleep attendant jumped to action.
“Please walk through again, miss,” said the man who looked familiar. I thought I’d seen him at the registrar’s surgery. He hit a few keys on his laptop computer.
I stepped back and tried again.
Angry red lights flashed.
What the hell?
For a minute, I panicked. The Cauldron used to have a ridiculous little scanner at the front to check for witches. It never worked on me before, despite what I held inside. Why would it freak out now? Unless this scanned for something else.
“This happened at her registration,” my father said from his spot outside the door. “The nano-trackers went haywire. I would’ve thought you’d have it fixed by now. Just let her through.”
The attendant narrowed his eyes, but nodded.
Suddenly I had the urge to pull the machine apart and help him locate the issue. It was such an odd urge. I’d never pulled anything electrical apart before. But Cygnus had… and I had a metallic taste in my mouth when I woke up. Could this mean that Urser made me drink Cygnus’s blood to capture part of his soul? I stumbled away, barely registering Bruce’s words: “Don’t forget, Roo. When you fail these trials, you’re mine.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BY THE TIME I entered at the small auditorium, most of the seats were taken. I felt on display as I stood at the lower level, hand to my eyes, squinting up the steps for a vacancy.
There’s something. Right up the back.
I took two steps and then face-planted the staircase. Pain sliced my forehead when it hit the edge of the hard carpet covered concrete. I raised my hand to inspect the damage. A sliver of blood wet my finger, but the wound closed over before much seeped out. I wiped my hand on my pants.
A snicker to my right confirmed the source of my pain.
Ava.
You’ve got to be kidding me. She tripped me. How childish can you get?
I levered myself off the floor and stood, taking time to dust off. I considered giving her the evil eye, but thought I’d be the bigger person.
Then she leaned into the aisle and said, “I hope you fail, cheater.”
Cheater. The word rolled in my gut. I knew she referred to the fact that she had been scheduled to download into this body, not me, but I refused to feel guilt over it any longer.
I kept walking and found a seat a few more steps up, next to Cygnus. I gave a weak smile as I landed next to him. The horror that stole over his face was the only warning I received before he jumped up, moved his lanky legs over the desk and into the row in front of me. Then he excused himself and bumped his way along the row until he exited at the opposite aisle-end and found a seat somewhere else.
Jeez. What was that about? I surreptitiously smelled my armpits, hoping his reaction was from my three-day-old sweat. But, no, I didn’t smell that bad. My shame became real. His actions cemented my earlier suspicion—I had somehow stolen a piece of his soul.
My stomach cramped and twisted into knots as I dipped in my seat. I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone so counted the corners of objects in the room. It may have made me look like an idiot savant, but I didn’t care. It kept me busy until the official attendant handed out the tests.
When the go was given to start, I didn’t read first, just launched into the questions.
First half—not so bad.
In fact, I was a little gobsmacked, to be honest. Why everyone thought it was so difficult was beyond me. I spent the first twenty minutes, coasting through the test, laughing under my breath and checking to see if anyone else was having the same reaction as me.
Nope. They all had their heads down, immersed.
As the test went on, I discovered a few harder questions, like, what to do upon death if your soul got stuck and didn’t return to purgatory. I left that one blank. The last questions on the test were the worst. As I struggled to find answers, I doodled in the margins of the paper. A lot had to do with the rules of engagement in the field, and I had absolutely zero experience in that. Vaguely, I remembered the first time I met Cash. He went on about how I had to mention being a Player first because I noticed his tatts. I smiled remembering how he stood at the bar at The Cauldron, all broody and gorgeous.
“You noticed mine first, so you have to say it first,” he’d said. Or something like that.
At the time, I thought they were just tattoos peeking out from underneath the rolled up sleeves of his shirt. I had no idea they were a secret star-map to his point of origin and only other Players could see it. My smile stretched, and I closed my eyes, daydreaming. His manly forearms. Little white scars down one arm from the accident he’d had when his first two soul parts had rejoined. I frowned. He’d had a hell of a life too. And now, he still fought for me, even though his own body failed him.
And I was the idiot who kept using up all his time on my problems.
My heart swelled for him.
That’s it. Tonight, it was the Cash show. I’d help him figure out how to make his body work again. No more Roo-show.
I bit my bottom lip and looked down at the page for take two.
My lungs heaved in a sharp breath. What the hell?
In the margins, I’d written The Others, over and over again.
Sweet mother of Prince.
I tried to scribble the words out, but found new ones hidden between lines. I flicked the pages back and found more. Every time I finished blacking out a word, there was another. What the hell was wrong with me?
Relax, Roo. Relax. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, forcing the tightness in my shoulders to disperse. When I opened my eyes, I said a silent prayer to myself.
I get it, okay brain? I get that I have to figure out how to get these souls out before they make me do something I regret. What if next time, I take Cygnus’s entire soul, leaving him with nothing?
Using the pen, I wrote a list of priorities on my forearm.
Others.
Cash’s body.
Bruce’s evil plan.
Then I added, Survive. After a few seconds staring at that last word, I crossed it out a
nd wrote Live.
Time to get out of here.
Skimming the final questions, I realized I had no clue to the answers, so made educated guesses. I picked whatever felt right, hoping my wayward instincts would serve me right. When I finished, I straightened my stack of scribbled test papers and walked down to the front of the room. Dozens of eyes burned holes into my back, but I ignored them because Cygnus finished at exactly the same time as me. He dropped his test on the desk of the instructor and rushed out.
When I got out into the corridor, it was empty.
“Roo.” Came a voice behind me. “Wait up.”
I turned to find Wren jogging after me.
“Hi,” I said as she met me. “I didn’t think you’d want to speak to me after the reaction your brother just had.”
She fell into step next to me. “Can you blame him?”
“I don’t know. Can I?”
She gave me a sideways glance. “Are you kidding? I can’t tell.”
“No, I’m serious. I don’t remember what happened.”
“He said you did things to him.”
I stopped. “What?”
She checked behind her, and then in front of us to make sure no one was around. “He said you drank blood from his neck.”
I didn’t respond.
“He said our father asked for a demonstration. Then you latched onto his neck. He felt different afterwards. He felt… less.”
“I’m so sorry.” I hugged myself.
All my fears were warranted. I mulled over her words some more. To completely swallow someone’s soul, I had to drink their blood at the same time as siphoning their energy until there was no energy left. Cygnus said he felt “less” after I drank his blood, but if I drank and siphoned at the same time, the odds were I actually did take some of it. Especially when you added my urge to pull apart that machine, and my ability to finish the test at the same time… It was stealing. I’d taken a part of him.
No. Not me. Bruce. Before I’d blacked out, Bruce had turned to me and said something. The Others were taking over. And my father had something to do with it. In fact, he’d discovered a way to trigger it.
Playing God (Game of Gods Book 3) Page 12