Selena
I darted toward Kite when the Hunters had to reload. I heard Ned launch his attack, crying out as he unleashed a torrent of gunfire back on them. Decon had recovered from his injury, darting off in the direction Rockley had taken. I wished him all the luck in the world on that mission.
There was so much blood slipping beneath my hands, soaking into my skirt as I crawled to Kite's side. I pressed my wrist to her mouth, encouraging her to bite down, but she wasn't conscious.
“Dammit,” I growled, biting into my own wrist and repressing a squeal as it tore open. I pressed the wound to Kite's lips, willing her to move, to drink, to live.
“Come on. You don't go out like this,” I whispered. I clutched the gun in my free hand, fearing an attack at any moment.
“You're right. I'm much better than that,” Kite groaned, shifting upright as her wounds healed over. “Varick won't be pleased.” She wiped my blood from her lips, sucking it from her fingers. “But damn, you taste good.”
“Come on out!” Ned's voice reached me.
My ears were ringing so much, I'd barely noticed the gunfire had stopped. Ned was standing before two female hunters, their guns at their feet in surrender. They were raven-haired with golden skin, the two of them freakishly similar to one another. Ned's mask had been removed, clamped in his free hand, but I could only see the back of his head.
“What are you doing? Kill them!” Kite commanded, running forward.
I jogged after her, my legs a little unstable as I moved.
“It's them,” Ned whispered, barely audible.
“Who?” I closed in, lifting my gun, trying to get a better angle to take a shot.
“The Hunters who killed my daughter.” Ned lifted his machine gun, sweat pouring down the back of his neck. I didn't want to get too close in case I got a good look at his face and fell under the same charm.
Kite jarred to a halt and held up a hand to halt my progression. I lowered my gun. Revenge was what we were all here for. I couldn't take that right away from Ned.
The Hunters were smitten, gazing at his face, reaching out to him. Their hands never made contact with him as he opened fire, roaring his fury, his pain. They were dead long before he stopped shooting. Keeping my eyes downcast from his face, I hesitantly approached, reaching out to touch his blood-smeared arm. He was shaking like a leaf.
Before I could reach him, a blade whistled past my ear, hitting him squarely in the back. He staggered forward and shock juddered through me.
“No!” I screamed.
He collapsed to the floor, jerking once in death. I was able to look directly at his face, the ghost of a smile around his lips in his restitution.
Hunters burst through a security door by the stage and Kite flew at them, engaging in a ferocious battle of teeth against blades.
I wheeled around, trying to spot who had thrown the blade, my eyes falling on Katherine's lean form in the doorway. She was scowling, her eyes fixed on me as if she'd been waiting for me to notice her. Light from the foyer spilled into the room, surrounding her in an angelic glow.
I didn't stop to think, already running toward Katherine, firing shot after shot from my gun. She fled back into the foyer, evading every bullet I sent her way.
I gritted my teeth, working my muscles as hard as I could. The only thought running through my mind was, this is it, I'm going to kill her. I'm going to get my revenge for what she did to me. To Varick.
As I sped into the foyer, three tasers connected with my body, one in my thigh, one in my stomach, one in my back. I screamed as I hit the floor, bruising bones as I rolled. My jaw suddenly locked and I bit my tongue so hard, I feared I'd ripped a hole in it. Blood filled my senses as my back arched, my body trying uselessly to fight off the electricity crackling through my veins.
When the pain eventually stopped, a shadow fell across me, my vision clouded by darkness. Katherine's mellow voice dripped into my ears. “I expected more of a challenge.” She knelt before me, a sharp nail suddenly digging beneath my chin. “Selena Grey,” she said my name like she was taking a bite out of it. “I should have guessed this was your doing. Where are the rest of your friends?”
I pressed my lips together, glaring up at her.
“Fine. Have it your way.” She dragged me to my feet by my hair. I slapped her hands away, but my thoughts were fuzzy and my balance off. She laughed, pulling me after her as eight guards surrounded us.
They jabbed guns into my spine as Katherine marched in front of me, her head high with pride as she displayed me as her captive.
Outside, Hunters were on the streets, fighting with starving Vs in bloody battles. It was clear the Hunters were winning and my gut lurched in panic. Blood bathed the road, the hem of my dress trailing in it as we moved.
Some of the Hunters stopped to watch as Katherine led me past them.
“Selena Grey is responsible for this!” she called out to them. “I will see that she is punished brutally!”
A cheer resounded around me.
My heart beat out of tune.
I glanced over my shoulder, gazing back toward the hotel.
Varick appeared through the door, bloody and unkempt. My heart soared. But my elation only lasted a second as I was bundled into the back of an SUV. Hunters swarmed toward him and I lost sight of him as the car hurtled down the street at high speed, leaving my heart behind it.
Katherine was in the front beside the driver, the window down as she took shots at the surrounding Vampires. Every bullet met its target. She was lethal. A perfect killing machine.
I tried the door handle, but I was locked in.
I spun around, gazing out the back window to look for Varick, but the only thing behind us was another armoured SUV, full of guards.
With a surge of hope, I remembered the stake stuffed into my dress. I extracted it in a flash, but the driver caught my eye in the rear-view mirror as I lunged at Katherine, swerving the car violently. My stake hit flesh, sinking in. But I'd missed my target, finding Katherine's shoulder instead.
She screamed, flinging around and digging her nails hard into my hand which was still clamped around the stake.
I ripped it free, bringing the stake with me. Katherine spun around, aiming her gun at me until I was forced to stop fighting. “One wrong move and I decorate the rear window with your brain.”
My breathing grew shallow as I gazed at her, her upper lip curved back in abhorrence.
“You asked for this,” I snarled. “You torture girls. You force us to kill for your pleasure. What kind of woman are you!?” I screamed, my entire body thrumming with anger.
She didn't answer, her eyes suddenly widening as they slid over my head. I turned, following her gaze, finding the SUV behind us flying through the air, spinning over and over. It hurtled back toward the street, smashing into the tarmac with a force that made the back wheels of our vehicle bounce. Flames billowed as the entire SUV exploded, blasting a crater into the middle of the street.
Beyond the smoke and the devastation, I caught sight of silhouettes moving through the flames. One I knew as well as my own shadow.
I turned to Katherine, smiling my triumph at her, my palms sweaty, but my heart finding a slower rhythm at last. Varick was coming for me.
Katherine commanded the driver to accelerate and he slammed his foot to the pedal.
I was pressed back into my seat as we tore down the road, speeding out into the expansive snowy plane between the mountains. The moon cast the world in bluish tones; time seemed to have frozen out in the still landscape.
Ahead of us, dark shapes loomed on the horizon. Floodlights illuminated them as we approached and I took in the helicopter pad as we circled it. The wheels nearly left the road as the driver parked by an enormous green helicopter, big enough for ten people.
Hunters were already sitting inside, the propellers spinning atop it, ready to go.
“No,” I breathed in horror as Katherine leapt from the car.
I can't let them get away.
I tried to stop her from opening my door, but she was too strong, whipping it back and dragging me from the car. She kept her gun levelled at my head.
“Drop it.” She gestured to the stake clamped in my fist.
Reluctantly, I did so and the silver weapon clattered against the concrete.
She gripped the back of my neck, forcing me ahead of her as she led me to the helicopter.
I scanned through the Hunters inside, not finding Abraham amongst them as I'd expected.
Katherine forced me into a seat near the front of the helicopter, tying my hands, using the harness to keep me in place.
I glowered at her as she took the seat beside mine, straightening down her jumpsuit. She let out a relieved breath as the helicopter began to rise, dabbing at the wound I'd inflicted on her shoulder.
Panic flitted through me. I pressed my face to the window, gazing down at the ground as it dropped away beneath us.
“Varick,” I breathed, desperate.
We were too high now, even for a Vampire to reach us. The lake sparkled up ahead, fires reflecting in it from all over the strip. My chest swelled. We'd done it. Even if we hadn't taken down all of the Hunters. Even if we hadn't killed Abraham and Katherine, the game was destroyed. The spectators were dead. No one was ever coming back here.
And what awaited me beyond this, I'd endure, for the sake of all the girls who would never have to play the V Games.
“Where are you taking me?” I demanded, finding my courage growing.
Katherine turned to me with a glower that spoke of how much she despised me. “The castle of course.”
I couldn't fight a smile. “You don't know, do you?”
“Know what?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Jameson blew up your precious castle.”
Katherine absorbed my expression, the light in her fair eyes extinguishing. She recomposed herself before answering. “Well we can go elsewhere. You didn't think Raskdød was our only property, did you?” She assessed me, her eyes boring into mine. “I suppose those not born into privilege wouldn't have any idea about what wealth can offer.”
“Even death apparently,” I said in a low tone. “I get that you hate Vampires, but why the girls? Why hurt so many people?” I shifted as close to her as I could and I felt the ammo taped to my legs. A small, tiny flicker of hope passed through me as a crazy idea formed in my mind.
Katherine's eyes flickered over my face. She ran a cold finger down my cheek and it took everything I had not to flinch away. “Criminals,” she corrected. “The blight of humanity. The sort of people who should still be privy to the death penalty. But you...”
My blood heated with rage. What I'd give to kill this woman, for all the people she'd ever hurt. “What about me?” I snarled.
“You were never meant to be a part of the games.”
“What?” I hissed as Katherine sat back in her seat, at ease.
“Varick took no more than two women from any prison. And he picked them based on two things: their looks, and the severity of their crimes.”
My brows knitted together. “What are you saying?”
Katherine didn't look at me, her gaze sliding to the window as we closed in on the lake ahead. “Oh Selena, you may be a pretty thing, but your crime was hardly noteworthy. Murdering a man who abused you your whole life? You're not a natural killer. You should have died on day one in the games.”
“But I didn't,” I snapped, forcing her to acknowledge me.
She met my eye once more, her lips curving down at the corners. “No. You didn't. And now you're here all because Varick couldn't resist getting a taste of you. How do you not despise him?”
A lump rose in my throat. “I love him.”
She laughed wholeheartedly and I lurched forward, trying to fight my restraints, desperate to lay a hand on her. The belt gave way a fraction, but not quite enough.
“He's made you into a killer,” she said in a deadly tone.
“No,” I growled. “Your family did that.”
Katherine smiled coolly. “Do you really think he cares for you? Because I happen to know exactly why he protects you, Selena.”
My throat constricted as I gazed at her, fearing what she was about to reveal. That she knew the truth about me. My blood.
“You're the cure,” she said quietly, confirming my fears. “Why else would I keep you alive now? Your blood is very, very valuable.”
“What good is it to you?” I snarled.
She only smiled, ignoring my question as she unclipped her harness and rose from her seat. As she leant into the cockpit, I tugged against my restraints. I heard her giving the pilot new coordinates.
I wiggled my wrists and just managed to get one hand free. Adrenaline surged through me. I only had seconds to act.
Reaching under my dress, I grabbed the grenade on my left thigh, tearing it free, wincing as the tape tore across my skin. I shook off the harness, standing. One of the Hunters shouted out a warning to Katherine.
She swung around, but I was ready, throwing my full weight against her, slamming her head against the wall. She screeched, shoving me back, but I ducked under her arm, launching myself toward the door.
I could hear the Hunters surging toward me as I slid the door wide. The moon was reflected on the lake below, like a silvery target painted just for me. The helicopter tilted violently and I threw out an arm to catch hold of the doorway.
Screams rang out as everyone was thrown back into their seats. I clung on for dear life, the freezing air surrounding me, dragging my hair forward. As the helicopter levelled out, I turned, plucking the pin out of the grenade with my teeth. My heart thumped in my ears.
Katherine was gazing at me, clinging to her seat, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.
If this kills me, at least I'll take you with me.
At the exact moment I jumped, I threw the grenade.
“NO!” Katherine screamed, her hand outstretched toward me. But it was too late. I was gone.
My world spun. The sky consumed my vision, peppered with stars, the moonlight bathing me in its silver light. The helicopter seemed to fall toward the sky, but it was me who was plummeting.
Jumping into the lake had seemed simple just moments ago, but I was much higher than I'd realised. I could still die from the impact.
The helicopter exploded with a deafening screeching of metal, a colossal fireball expanding above me.
The wind ripped through my hair, my bones.
I hit the water with what felt like the impact of a meteor hitting earth. My scream was smothered. It was colder than anything I'd ever experienced. My senses were drowned. I turned over and over, rolling beneath the surface, sinking into the endless depths below.
My limbs wouldn't move. I weighed a tonne. I was never going to rise from this cold again. My bones would live at the bottom of this lake in eternal darkness.
Arms encased me. At first, I was sure I'd imagined them. My body was too numb to truly feel their presence. But then I started to rise, and the moonlight above me danced and skipped on the surface, calling to me.
My lungs burned for air as I finally found the strength to start swimming. I kicked as hard as I could.
As wind met my cheeks, I gulped down a lungful of air. Varick was holding onto me, his eyes wide, his skin as pale as the moon above us.
“I thought I'd lost you.” He shook his head, clutching me to him and I felt the frantic beat of his heart against my chest.
Our lips met and my bones thawed out a little from the heat sparking inside me.
Above us, a fiery display rained down what was left of the helicopter, little pieces leaving bright trails as they arced through the sky.
Jameson's laughter rang out and I spotted him on the shore as he gazed up at the carnage.
Light blazed in Varick's eyes. “Katherine was on that?”
I nodded, my teeth chattering as I held onto him. Oh my god I killed Katherine Helsing.
Varick let out a light laugh, squeezing me tighter. “You're incredible.”
The last of the burning wreckage fizzled out as it hit the water and the world sank into darkness.
The contrast made my retinas struggle to adjust, leaving me blind for a moment. Varick guided me toward the shore, his grip reassuring me.
Jameson was still laughing up ahead, occasionally cheering and shouting, “Did you see that? Selena you are seriously badass!”
Varick kept his attention on me as he moved, swimming fast toward shore. Jameson's laughter abruptly cut off and shrieking screeches filled its place.
A surge of movement on the beach made me panic. Varick increased his pace and we were soon scrambling up the icy beach.
Before us, Jameson was fighting feral Vs, snapping necks as fast as they came at him. His shirt was torn half off and a cut blazed red up his neck and torso.
“He's h-hurt!” I gasped through chattering teeth as Varick and I ran toward him.
Jameson dispatched the final V with an ear-splitting crack. He turned to us with a grin, but he winced, quickly clutching his side.
“You alright, brother?” Varick asked as we joined his side.
“Never better,” Jameson said, brushing off the comment, but blood was soaking through the remains of his shirt.
Varick nodded, but his eyes were dark. “Selena needs to get out of the cold.”
Jameson pointed to a tall orange building up ahead. “Didn't they hold the firebomb show there?”
“Let's find out.” Varick guided me forward and I was grateful for his support. The cold was gnawing so far into my bones that I felt I was losing control over my limbs.
Jameson flattened himself against the back wall of the building, whipping out a handgun and gesturing for us to move behind him. Varick didn't let go of me, keeping close as we shuffled around the side of the building and moved along a narrow alley.
A screeching cry sounded above us, making my blood curdle. Varick threw his arms over my head as a Vampire dropped from the roof. It landed behind us and Varick pushed me forward as the starved V dived onto his shoulders.
Its face was feral and snarling, digging its teeth into Varick's neck. Varick threw his weight backwards, crushing the V against the opposite wall again and again until it slumped to the floor.
Another cry followed and I looked up as Vs rained down on us, dropping one after another from the roof. Their hungry eyes were pinned on me and me alone.
I was unarmed, my fingers flexing uselessly for a weapon. But I had nothing.
Jameson aimed upwards, pulling the trigger, some of his shots hitting their targets. Vampires dropped dead and alive around me. Varick swept two aside just as they landed, but a third grabbed my throat, its tongue flicking out as it tasted the air around me.
I clenched my teeth, shoving it back as hard as I could with a grunt of effort. Varick battled four more as he tried to reach me whilst Jameson kept firing at those falling from the sky.
“James!” Varick roared, forcing his attention towards me.
Jameson fled my way, just as a V with matted hair thrust me back against the stone wall. Jameson planted a bullet in his skull, taking my hand as he dragged me away from it.
Varick broke three more necks in the time it took me to reach him. He snatched my hand from Jameson's and threw me over his shoulder, outpacing the starved Vs that remained in the alley.
Jameson led us to the front door, rounding onto the street, his arm clutched around his stomach. I caught sight of the SUV wreckage several feet away, the smoke giving us cover from the battle that was raging further down the road. Jameson heaved the metal door open and Varick dove inside, carrying me with him.
A loud clang sounded it shutting and Varick placed me down, checking me over. I glanced past him, looking to the door. Silver. Thank God.
We were in a dark space where firelight flickered and danced on the walls. Jameson went ahead and we followed him onto a round walkway that circled an enormous fire pit. The fire was burning low, but was bright enough to warm the place. Despite the heat, it gave me chills to think of the type of shows that had taken place here.
Varick soon located the control room and increased the fire to a roaring blaze, the tips of the flames just licking the edge of the walkway. The bottom was obscured by flames, but from the looks of it, it stretched several feet down into a metal shell. Scorched bones caught my eye, jammed in a grate halfway up the giant burner. An arm, I realised, the fingers eternally wedged into the grill as a sickening reminder of what had happened to someone here.
I fought the bile down in my throat, turning my back on the fire and sinking to my knees.
How long did we have until someone found us here?
Varick and Jameson stripped out of their shirts. Jameson threw the remnants of his into the fire and I took in the deep gouges across his abdomen. He groaned a little as he lowered himself to the floor.
“Are you sure you're okay?” I asked.
“I'm ace, Selena,” Jameson said lightly and I relaxed a little.
Varick laid his to shirt to dry on the railing, dropping down to sit beside me. He tugged my coat from my shoulders and I sat quietly as he checked me over for injuries. As soon as he discovered the taser marks that had burnt holes through my dress, he bit into his wrist and offered it to my lips.
I smiled gratefully, drinking from him without complaint. And when I was finished, I offered him my own wrist. We all needed as much strength as possible.
We sat in silence for an age, the sounds of the outside world muffled by the enormous, oven-like building. I thought of Cass and Kite. I knew they could handle themselves, but worry still niggled at me. What if they were hurt? Or worse, dead?
Jameson dabbed at the wound on his chest as he propped himself up against a wall, his expression contorting with pain.
I moved to his side and knelt down. “Let me see,” I said quietly, pulling his hand away.
I frowned, following the line of the cut with my finger from his neck to his sternum. He winced as I passed over his ribs and from the looks of the bruise blossoming beneath them, he'd fractured one, if not more.
I glanced at Varick over my shoulder, concerned. “V blood won't help him?”
Varick shook his head as Jameson took my wrist, extracting my hand from his sore ribs. “It's just a flesh wound,” he said in a choked voice.
“You need Larkspur,” Varick growled, standing. He pulled his shirt back on and I stood too, knowing what he was thinking. My clothes were close to dry and I was certainly warm enough now.
“I'll go with you,” I insisted.
He cupped my cheek and I took in his beautiful face, smeared with ash and blood. “You'll be safer here.”
“I'm safest with you,” I said and slowly, he nodded.
Jameson reloaded his handgun and passed it to me with a wink of encouragement.Varick held my coat up and I shrugged into it.
“Hurry back,” Jameson's voice followed us as we headed toward the exit. “I wanna get back in that fight!”
Varick listened for sounds of movement beyond the silver door. When he gave me a nod, I unlocked it, holding it open for him to pass through. He ducked under the frame and I jogged after him into the icy air. The flaming car had died down to an orange glow, casting the street in ominous tones. The smoke had thickened to a black smog that smelt of burning plastic. I covered my nose as I followed Varick along the road where the sounds of battle had moved further into the distance. The Troposphere loomed ahead of us, now an inferno above us, flames bursting through the hotel windows and reaching toward the sky.
“Cass led the others back here. Said she was planning to bring the Troposphere down,” Varick explained as we jogged side by side.
Before I could answer, an explosion sent me sprawling into the street. The glass walls of The Fortress cascaded down on us, but I was quickly spared the shards as Varick leapt on top of me. Heat blazed against my cheeks as I looked up, finding scantily clad girls screaming as they ran into the street. Another explosion made the whole building shudder on its foundations.
“Ah no! No!” a man sobbed close by.
I spotted Al emerging from his shooting range across the street, falling to the ground and shielding his eyes from the strippers as they sought shelter in his venue. “Get away!” he roared, rolling back and forth on the ground, covering his eyes.
What on earth?
Varick tugged me up, his torn skin healing over immediately. I thanked him, squeezing his hand before raising my gun at the blazing building. A shadowy figure loomed within it, moving gracefully through the wreckage, swaying her hips.
Cass appeared, flames licking her bare legs, her skin impervious to its tongue. She smiled as she spotted us, her eyes shining like jade.
She ran to me in a blur of movement, wrapping her arms around me. After a beat, she looked to Varick, her brows pulling together. “Where's Jameson?” she demanded.
“Injured,” I replied, pointing toward the orange building he was holed up in. “We're looking for Larkspur.”
Her eyes ignited as she nodded. “I know where to find it.” She fled away toward the Troposhere, but before I could follow, Varick tugged me in the direction of the shooting range.
“My rifle's out of ammo, and I'd prefer if you were better armed.”
I didn't argue, trusting Cass was Jameson's best hope at that moment.
Inside the range was a badly-made barricade built from bar stools. It had been recently barged aside, leaving a mass of wooden chairs beside the doors. Blood splattered the walls and a man in a cowboy hat was face-first down in a spilled bottle of whiskey, blood dripping from his neck.
We hurried into the range, finding the girls arming themselves with weapons, hanging rifles over their bare shoulders and jamming ammo into their bras.
I halted in surprise, their eyes swivelling toward us, but Varick didn't slow, grabbing one of the remaining boxes of rifle ammo from a shelf and loading his gun.
“We're on your side,” I said to the nearest girl who had a pink tu-tu on and practically nothing else.
She didn't seem convinced, taking a wary step away from me.
“Selena Grey!” one of them called out. “That's Selena Grey!”
“The one who brought down the Helsing game?” another replied.
“It is!” a girl in a leather corset gasped, pointing at me. She clapped her hands together. “We're saved!”
Before I knew it, I was in the middle of a group hug for the first time in my life. Varick soon extracted me from it, pulling me to his side and handing me a new stake.
I tucked it into my dress, grinning up at his calculating expression.
“So you're the Helsing Vampire?” the girl in the tu-tu asked, giving him an appraising look.
“How do you know all of this?” I asked.
“We talk to the men. We hear everything...” she replied.
I gazed around at them all. “Well...maybe you can help us?”
“Anything!” The girl in the corset jumped up and down.
I glanced at Varick with a dark grin before saying, “We're looking for Abraham Van Helsing.”