A snuffling, grunting sounded behind me and my heart raced into top gear.
“Go,” I begged and Cass sped up. I shuffled after her as fast as I could, panic setting in. My knees tore against the rocks and my palms were rubbed raw. I tried not to think about the fact I was leaving patches of blood behind me, probably alerting more Vs to our whereabouts.
Cass suddenly stopped and I was crawling so fast I nearly ran into her.
“What are you doing? Move!” I begged, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
“I'm stuck!” Sakura cried and Cass grunted with effort as she tried to move her.
“Oh god,” I breathed, the rasping sound of a Vampire's breath rattling its way behind me. I tried to turn my head to look, but the space was too narrow. I tucked in my knees, squashing up as close to Cass as I could.
“Push her!” I practically shrieked.
“I am – she won't budge!” Cass cried.
Claws sank into my ankle.
I screamed as I was dragged backwards, rolling onto my spine as I did so. The position gave me enough room to kick out and I felt my heel connect with bone.
The V made a horrible, screeching noise and I wriggled backwards as fast I could, my head knocking against Cass's boots.
“If we die because of you, Sakura, I'm going to kill you,” Cass said in a strained voice, evidently still shoving her.
The V launched at me again and I scrambled for the stake tucked into my dress. I drew it out, but there was no way I could get near the V to defend myself.
I kicked my legs wildly, trying to evade its hold, but its fingernails dug into me again, dragging me toward it.
I screamed as its jagged teeth sunk into my leg, and with a forceful stomp, my boot connected with its face.
“Selena – move!” Cass's voice reached to me.
In the brief second I had whilst the V recovered from the blow, I moved. Using my elbows, I scrambled backwards as fast as I could, dripping blood in a trail. There was hardly any light for me to see by now, but the dark shadow of the V was moving toward me. Closer and Closer.
Being smaller than the other two gave me some advantage, and I managed to squeeze through the tiny gap that Sakura had evidently been stuck in without stopping.
Hands grabbed my shoulders and I was wrenched out into a wide cave, the V snapping at my heels.
As it darted out of the hole on all fours, Sakura took action, kicking it onto its back and slamming her stake into its heart.
I lay, panting and quivering, my hand clamped so tightly around my stake, it hurt.
I had only a moment to recover as another snarl sounded from the tiny passage.
Cass dragged me to my feet and I hobbled on after them. The cave we'd emerged in was wide and light was filtering into it from up ahead.
“There! It's a way out!” Sakura announced, rushing toward the moonlight.
We sprinted across the loose stones, rising and rising, the promising smell of pine trees washing over me. I could almost taste the fresh air as we clambered upwards, forced to climb on our hands and knees toward the waning moon.
As we emerged from the cave, we crashed down a steep ridge, bursting into the foliage as damp, prickly under-brush tore at my dress. I skidded to a halt in the mud with Cass and Sakura in a heap on either side of me. A laugh of relief escaped me, but it was swiftly silenced by our surroundings. A thick forest surrounded us and a blanket of fog filtered through the boughs.
But it wasn't that that frightened me. It was the dark shapes approaching through the grey mist, emerging, one by one. There had to a thirty of them, or perhaps it only seemed that way because of the tree trunks that swayed and moved too, tricking my mind.
The first of the Vs loomed from the mist, my blood soaked knees and ankles giving us away to them.
It occurred to me that the Vs were here on purpose; they probably knew every cave exit across the entire mountain. And why waste energy hunting us beneath ground? When we'd all eventually end up here, walking straight into their waiting jaws.
Heading the mass was a face that had haunted my dreams last night. I should have known I'd meet with him eventually. And Ravenos looked delighted by our reunion.
Varick
The next three days would be hell. I returned to the castle, striding to the auditorium to watch the game. My presence wasn't ignored as I'd hoped and Abraham soon cornered me, asking me about last night.
“How's morale in the group?” he asked as some of the spectators drew closer, wanting a tip-off as to who was a weak link.
“Low, as can be expected,” I drawled, trying to move past him.
Abraham swung out an arm, halting me. “Are you making sure they're well rested before each round?”
I tried not to grimace at his words. He didn't care about the girls, this was about his reputation. He wanted to put on a good show, and if the girls dropped in numbers too quickly, the last round may not be so entertaining.
“Of course,” I insisted. My gaze trailed to the men hovering around him who backed off as I eyed them.
“Good. This round should harden up the surviving group for the finale.” Abraham seemed satisfied, running a hand over his slicked-back, white hair. “My bets are on the redhead. I like her spark.”
Some of the men muttered their delight and my stomach churned as they grabbed Abraham's attention, offering him more money to place on Cassandra.
The betting didn't end until the final day, due to the fact the highest bidder on the winning contestant would be awarded a prize. One that made me physically ill. Perhaps it wouldn't have done in the past, but knowing Selena was in the running changed things.
“The Grey girl is clearly the most desirable to the Vs,” a lean man was saying to Abraham, sipping on a crystal glass of brandy.
“Yes, it's rather brought her ranking down. The Vs choose her over the others,” Abraham remarked and my blood began to boil.
Selena wasn't the first girl to have desirable blood in the games. But she was the first that made even me lose my focus. She wasn't just desirable, she was a god damn rarity. And the more blood the Vs drank, the more aware they became, able to focus their attention on her.
I moved away from the men, their attention having passed on from me. I continually glanced at the screens as I made my way to the seating area. Plenty of spectators were sat there today, the game now drawing all of the attention in the room. I moved to the back rows as men shifted out of my way, taking a seat alone, away from their sneering faces.
The only others sat in the back row were Mercy and a man whose lap she was perched in.
His head snapped up as he spotted me sitting a few seats down from them.
“Oh don't mind him,” Mercy purred, turning the man's face so his eyes returned to hers. “He's just moping because he can't run around on that island himself.”
I ignored her, watching the screen, quickly locating Selena who was squeezing her way through a tight space in the mountain caves. My breathing grew shallow as I spotted the V crawling through the passage after her.
“If you want a drink, baby, be my guest.” Mercy thrust her arm at me and the man she was straddling looked on in horror.
“You don't let it drink from you, do you?” he asked her, hugging her tighter to him.
“Na. He's under orders. You can't touch me, can you Varick?”
I continued to ignore her, sitting forward in my seat as Selena battled with the emaciated V beneath ground. It'd be weak for sure. He didn't look as though he'd fed for almost a year. The Helsings were clever like that. Feeding different groups varying amounts of blood to make sure there was a mix on the island. From the strongest to the weakest. It gave the girls more of a chance, and I supposed made for a more riveting show.
Mercy snapped her fingers beneath my nose and it was like a thunder crack in my ear.
“Don't, you'll anger it,” the man breathed.
I turned to them as Selena escaped the V and the purple-haired
girl Sakura dispatched it. “Mercy doesn't bother me. But being referred to as 'it' is about to get on my last nerve.” I stared down the man and he hid behind Mercy's golden locks.
She threw her head back, giggling wildly. “Oh Varick you're such a tease. Leave him be.”
“Tell him to keep his opinions to himself, or I'll gladly rip out his tongue so he never shares another thought with me again.”
The man stood, hastily dropping Mercy into her seat – not so gracefully – and scurried away like the vermin he was.
“Oh now look what you've done.” She pouted, rising to her feet, brushing down the non-existent, wisp of a dress she was wearing and moving into the seat beside mine. “You're so angry today.” She ran a finger up my arm and I determinedly ignored her. She wore no garlic on her skin and instead of the lavender soap that so often made me ill, she was splashed with a light, sweet perfume. My throat constricted as the scent of her Hunter blood reached to me. Painfully tempting.
“Go be a harlot somewhere else, will you?” I demanded.
She huffed. “I'm not a harlot.”
“In my day, whores wore more clothes than you are now. Unless you genuinely forgot to put on trousers today?”
She glanced down at her legs, dropping a hand onto her thigh. “You like it really.”
“I'm a V, Mercy. Or have you forgotten? All I give a damn about is blood. So if you really want me to take notice of you, I suggest you slit your wrists.”
Her mouth fell open and I hid my satisfied smile. Winding Mercy up wasn't the worst thing in the world, I supposed.
Mercy followed my line of sight to the screen where Selena was clambering her way out of the cave mouth. My heart nearly stopped – and that was saying something considering it barely beat more than once a minute anyway – and I sprang to my feet.
Fifteen, no twenty Vs, moving through the forest, heading toward Selena and her friends. “No, dammit. Don't you dare.” I spotted Ravenos leading the line, marching through the fog with a smug expression slapped across his face. My eyes darted from screen to screen, my mind racing. If only there was some way to communicate to Selena. But there was nothing I could do but watch as she tumbled down a hill directly into their hands.
“Uh oh,” Mercy sang. “Looks like Grey's out of the running.”
The fact that she didn't mention the other two drew my attention to her. Mercy was smiling, but there was no kindness in it.
“Think I haven't noticed you gawping at her?” She laughed cruelly. “It's pathetic really. And here I am flaunting Hunter blood at you when you've got a taste for that pale bitch in the game.” She leant in close, her heated breath on my ear. “And I know your little secret, Varick.”
My spine straightened as I turned to her.
“What secret?” I feigned ignorance.
“Grey shouldn't have made it in the last round. Funny how she got up and walked the ten steps to the checkpoint, when she couldn't even crawl that far before the redhead came to help her.”
“So?” I snapped. “What's your point?”
“My point is...only V blood could have cured an injury like that. Strong blood, too. And Redtop didn't have a splash on her when she reached the checkpoint.”
I ground my jaw, trying to keep my flaming anger under control.
She leant in close again. “Don't worry, Varick. Your secret is safe with me. So long as you do as I say from now on.”
“Not much of a threat, considering I have to do anything you say anyway.”
She smiled a twisted smile. “Not everything.”
I shifted away from her, trying not to think of all the screwed up things she'd asked me to do in the past. She was right, I often refused her. But I never thought her little games were anything more than that. Surely she didn't actually want me to bite her? If Abraham found out, he'd have my head on a spike, or mounted on the wall in his trophy room.
But if Mercy told him I was helping a girl in the game, he'd do the same thing. He'd believe his daughter over me any day of the week.
“What do you want me to do?” I growled, knowing I had no choice.
She leant in close again and the urge to bite her nearly overwhelmed me. I could practically taste the blood on my tongue.
“If Grey survives this round, I want you to kill her.”
I lurched away, gazing at Mercy in horror. “That's impossible. Abraham will have my head for it.”
“Not if you make it look like one of the girls did it. Drive a knife into her heart, be subtle. I know you can do it.”
My stomach lurched at the very idea. “No,” I said firmly.
“You'll do it, or I'll tell Daddy what you did and he'll have both of your heads for it.”
I shrank from the girl, feeling trapped. She stood, glancing down at me with a satisfied smile. “Oh, and come to my room tonight. Midnight should be late enough for no one to notice.”
She left me sitting there, trembling with rage. But in moments, my thoughts were forgotten as an ear-splitting scream rang out from the game.
Selena
Sakura made a dash for it. A V had her pinned to the ground before she'd made it ten feet. The V's reddy-brown locks fell around Sakura's face as she grinned viciously down at her screaming prey.
“Hold it, Melinda,” Ravenos ordered and she stilled, turning to him.
“You said you only wanted the raven haired girl.”
“I know what I said!” he roared and the wood fell deathly silent.
Cass crawled to my side as we lay in the damp grass, awaiting our fate. My stake was clutched in my hand as I ran over and over in my mind what Varick had taught me about Ravenos, but what use did it do me now? If he didn't kill me, there was nearly twenty other Vs that would.
“I'm glad we met, Selena,” Cass whispered. “Made it pretty far, didn't we?”
“Don't talk like we're dead,” I hissed back, though I couldn't see any possible way out of this. I simply couldn't give up. Not yet.
The Vs stood as still as statues, some veiled in the mist, others as pale as ghosts, gazing at us with hungry expressions.
“We take them to the Blood Caves. Remind the Helsings what we're capable of.” Ravenos smiled, marching toward me and snatching a hold of my hair. He dragged me to my feet, tugging me close as he breathed in my scent. I used the moment to my advantage, angling my stake upwards and ramming it toward his chest. He caught my wrist with ease, laughing in a low chuckle before plucking the weapon from my grip.
“Take the other one, Iskender,” he ordered a nearby V with wet black hair that hung in a mop over his shoulders. He was broad and thickset, approaching Cass at a terrifying speed. Taking her weapon, he chucked her over one shoulder and she screamed bloody murder.
“Quiet, woman,” he ordered in a thick, Turkish accent.
Ravenos snatched my waist and threw me over his shoulder, mimicking Iskender. I kicked out, but if my impacting boots affected him at all, he didn't show it. We moved through the forest at speed until the world was a blur of green and grey. My gut writhed with nausea and I shut my eyes to try and save myself from vomiting up the berries I'd eaten earlier.
We stopped abruptly and I was strung upside down, my ankles aching as rope was tethered around them. My pack and cloak were ripped from my shoulders and someone stuffed my skirt between my legs so it didn't fall over my face. I groaned as my vision swum before me and the dim red glow of a cave became visible. The light was emitting from fiery torches, planted upright in the muddy ground. From the growth of moss across the walls, I guessed we were still somewhere in the forest. The earthy scent of it remained in the air.
The cave stretched away into the darkness and Vs gathered hungrily from the shadows. I could tell from their expressions that they'd been here before. And probably done this very thing to previous contestants. Ravenos stood before me, my neck swaying at mouth height, painfully vulnerable to him. I swung up a hand, slashing at him with a shriek of defiance. He caught it, raising my wrist to his m
outh and breathing in. “Two more entire days, until those capsules in your heads detonate. We're going to have quite some time together, you and I.” He opened his mouth and sank his fangs into my wrist.
I whimpered, but didn't scream, not giving him the satisfaction of my pain. The more he drank, the more woozy I became, and the more the other Vs grew restless.
Ravenos released me, wiping his mouth before gesturing to the other Vs to approach Cass and Sakura who were strung up either side of me.
“One at a time,” Ravenos ordered and the Vs took turns drinking from them. No one touched me, but the Vampires sniffed the air near my swinging body, evidently tempted to take a bite. When a female with a bald head got too close, I spat at her, making her strike out at me with her nails. They slit my cheek open and, in an instant, Ravenos was upon her, wrenching her head off with two hands.
I watched on in horror, twisting my ankles in a desperate attempt to escape.
The other Vs backed up, eyeing Ravenos with caution.
“I said, she's mine!” he bellowed at them and a murmur of assent ran through the cave.
I caught Sakura's eye as Melinda fed on her arm. She was quivering, but a steely determination flared in her expression. She hadn't given up yet, and that gave me hope.
Blood was rushing to my head, making an ache grow behind my eyes. My arms swung uselessly below me as my hands grew heavy.
Ravenos fed from my wrist again and I closed my eyes, shutting out the feel of his cool mouth on my skin. With a jerk, he pulled away from me, clawing at his head. His eyes met mine, filled with horror, disgust. He remained silent as Vs filed past him, taking their turns feeding on Sakura and Cass.
Ravenos gazed at them like he was seeing them for the first time. He touched his mouth, his hands shaking.
“What have you done to me?” he snarled and I gazed on numbly, my body weak from blood loss.
“GET OUT!” he roared at the other Vs and begrudgingly, they obeyed, melting away into the darkness, heading deeper into the caves.
Ravenos launched at me, snatching hold of my neck. “What have you done, witch?” he spat at me.
V Games (The Vampire Games Trilogy Book 1) Page 17