Mercy
I crawled away from Kite's body, horrified and baffled that she'd given her life for me. I'd never done anything to deserve that kind of sacrifice. And it sparked in me something I'd never felt before: hope.
Pounding footsteps sounded the approach of my father. I couldn't defeat him. I wasn't even trained. So I used the only advantage I had and moved like a cat beneath the poker tables, darting between them at speed.
“Get up and face me, Mercy!” Father bellowed, throwing tables aside as he searched for me. My heart thumped against my chest, drumming in my ears.
He'd tried to kill me. My own father.
I'd returned to him in the hopes I could keep him safe. He may have been cruel, even to me of late, but I loved him with all my heart. And now this.
Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I moved on hands and knees, the carpet burning my skin. I just had to get to the door. Find the others. Find help.
I darted out from beneath a table, springing to my feet.
“Stop!” my father bellowed, but I didn't slow, not even for a second as I fled out onto the street.
A Vampire collided with me and I screamed as his dirty fingers raked at my dress. I kicked and fought with all my might. Miraculously, I got free and in seconds I was back upright, running into a battle unarmed.
I spotted a Hunter I knew, bloodied from head to toe, her silvery hair billowing out behind her. “Clarice! I need a weapon!” She dispatched a V with a heavy blow, burying a machete in its chest.
She turned to me, her pale features speckled with blood. She nodded in recognition, passing me a blade from a belt around her waist. I took it, muttering my thanks before running on, my eyes trained on the burning Troposphere ahead.
I may have been on the side of Selena Grey now, but I didn't have it in me to kill people I'd known my whole life. Even if they had done terrible things...
“Mercy!” my father roared from behind me.
I darted further into the crowd, fear juddering through my bones. Glancing over my shoulder, I caught sight of him hot on my heels, his eyes full of murder. Did he really want me dead?
I fled into the hotel, finding the roof crumbling above me, fire flaring through the doors around the foyer. I'd run right into a death trap.
Spinning around, I darted back to the exit, but my father was blocking the way forward.
“Face me or the fire, Mercy,” he snarled, his face practically unrecognisable to me. “You could still be a great Hunter. Ask for my forgiveness and we'll leave this place together.”
“No.” I backed up, the heat of the flames caressing my spine. “Never!”
A ripping, crunching, crashing sounded as a chunk of the ceiling tumbled toward me. I threw myself across the floor, skidding on the tiles, my knees grazing against sharp pieces of debris. Part of the first floor came crashing down, barricading the door. As my father was parted from me by the destruction, I felt an unraveling sensation in my chest, as if some invisible cord between us had been severed. I lay for a moment, panting, gazing in the direction he'd been standing.
Goodbye Daddy.
I dragged in laboured breaths, searching desperately for a way out. I was trapped. Doomed to die in a fiery blaze.
I coughed against the fumes, the smoke winding its way down into my lungs. I covered my mouth, forcing my legs to move.
Get up.
I pressed my hands to the floor, pushing myself to my knees.
Do something useful for once.
I forced myself upright, shielding my eyes from the fire blazing across the remainder of the reception desks, devouring everything in its path.
I moved, staggering at first, then running at speed through the only remaining door. I practically fell through it, gasping down the clean air in the corridor. A stairwell beckoned me, disappearing down into pitch darkness. I had no choice but to keep going. It could be the only way out.
I took a steadying breath, bracing my hand against the wall before descending. In moments, my vision was stolen. I made my way by instinct alone, running my hand along the wall beside me.
“Keep going,” I urged myself. I had to be strong. Had to be everything I didn't feel at that moment.
My other hand was still wrapped around the blade I'd taken from Clarice, but it was trembling like mad.
I'd never liked the dark. Probably because I'd been raised in the arctic circle, spending six months of every year in the endless night. I longed for sunshine and bright mornings. I let the image fill me up, guiding me forward, promising myself I'd see those things again.
My foot hit the floor and I continued forward into the darkness, my blade raised. The air was cool and damp, surrounding me like a mist.
A dripping noise sounded somewhere close by, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. I took shallow breaths, shifting forward with painfully slow steps. How was I ever going to find my way out? Would I be stuck down here when the whole hotel collapsed? Lost beneath a mountain of rubble, my body never found?
I squeezed my eyes shut, pausing a moment as I forced the image away. A crunching sound caught my ear, followed by a sickening slurp.
A murmur of fear passed my lips and I remained stock still.
A rush of air ruffled my hair and I swung my blade blindly forward. “Stay back!” I shouted, swinging it again, slashing madly through the air.
Silence fell and a low, hissing breath rolled over my neck. I lurched forward, but it was too late. Arms locked around me, claws slashed my arms, my chest. I screamed, slammed the blade backwards. It sunk into flesh, digging in deep. The Vampire who had hold of me screamed, releasing me in a second.
I swung around, instinct taking charge of my movements. I slashed, left, right, then jabbed hard. Just as I'd seen my father do a hundred times. The blade hit bone and the resistance jarred my elbow. I cried out in fury and fear, forcing the knife deeper.
Lights blinded me. Two spotlights to my left. I squinted as the bloody V was revealed before me. A male, stumbling back, clutching the silver blade buried between his ribs.
The lights grew brighter and a revving engine roared. I leapt backwards as the vehicle flew toward us, colliding with the Vampire. He slammed into the back wall, crumpling into a bloody, broken heap.
I gazed at the SUV as the window rolled down with a mechanical whirring. In the driver's seat was a face I recognised; his beard overgrown, his eyes sunken, but with the same cloud-grey irises that had once been trained on my brother.
“Ulvic?” I gasped.
“Get in!” he commanded, throwing the passenger door open.
I didn't hesitate, darting inside. He was already driving forward, wheeling the car around and speeding past row after row of armoured vehicles.
“What is this place?” I breathed.
“Evacuation route. Doesn't look like anyone's made it this far yet.”
“The hotel's falling down – they can't get in here,” I said, wiping the blood from my hands onto my filthy dress. God only knew what I looked like at that moment. Layer upon layer of blood, ash, dust and grime. In a way, I was glad. Because I didn't want to look like the Mercy I used to be. I was altered, morphing into someone new I didn't recognise, but longed to get acquainted with.
“How did you get down here?” I asked, glancing up at him. He looked in good shape. No cuts or bruises to speak of, his fine clothes concealed beneath his trench coat. I glanced into the back of the car, spotting his packed trunk.
His Adam's apple bobbed as he held off answering me. Eventually he mumbled, “I hid down here when everything- ah – happened.”
I couldn't exactly blame him. I hadn't been the most courageous of people in my lifetime.
I rested a hand on his arm briefly, muttering, “Thank you for saving me.”
“I didn't recognise you at first,” he said quietly. “Thought I was saving some innocent girl.”
The tires screeched on the tarmac as he took a sharp turn down a ramp that descended deeper under the hotel.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” I replied, pulling my seat belt on as an afterthought. I didn't know how many people had my back anymore. So I had to have my own.
He grunted in response and silence stretched between us as we sped down a low-lit tunnel.
“Where does this lead?” I asked.
“My guess? The helipad. Quickest route off the island.”
I glanced at him, a dry lump rising in my throat. “I can't leave. Not yet. Not without...” I bit my tongue, thinking of Varick. I shut my eyes a moment, cursing myself for the thought. “We have to go back for them.”
“Who?” he demanded, his voice gruff.
“Selena, Varick, Jameson-”
“Jameson?!” Ulvic barked, the car weaving wildly for a second. “He's here? This is their doing?”
“Of course, who else?” I remarked dryly.
He tsked his disapproval, increasing his speed. “I thought he'd have the sense to stay away from the Helsings after-” He halted mid-sentence, clearing his throat.
My heart twisted. “They're not here, you know?” I said quietly.
“Who?” he demanded.
“Your wolves. The ones my brother sent away.”
Ulvic spun toward me, his eyes flaring with desperation. “You know where Mekiah and Reason are?”
I nodded, my throat constricting. “He sent them to your father.”
The little colour that remained in his face drained away. He turned back to face the road, his arms stiff as he gripped the wheel.
“I'm sorry-”
“Don't,” he cut me off sharply. He sucked in a breath, his shoulders relaxing marginally. “I have a plane,” he revealed and my heart lifted with hope. “We'll head there. Get the others...” His eyes glazed over in thought.
The tunnel started to ascend and moonlight glowed up ahead. Ulvic accelerated up the ramp, the wheels leaving the ground as we flew up onto the road, just fifty metres from the helipad.
I spotted something that made my heart sink like a stone.
A line of guards with machine guns surrounded the airfield. Beyond them, two armed guards were guiding Rockley Jones into a helicopter.
“Shit,” Ulvic cursed, reaching behind him to the back seat. He produced an automatic pistol from somewhere and jammed his finger on the button for the window.
“Hold on tight,” he ordered, before ripping up the handbrake. The car spun on its axis. I was thrown sideways and caught hold of the dashboard to steady myself. Ulvic's window slid down just as the SUV wheeled around, parallel to the guards.
“Hold the wheel,” he commanded me and I noticed his left hand was heavily bandaged.
I did as he said and he jammed the stick into gear, accelerating along the line of guards. At the last second he hung his right arm out the window, gun primed.
BANG. BANG. BANG. BANG.
One by one they fell, barely having time to register what was happening. A few took aim, even rattled off a few bullets that sprayed harmlessly across the reinforced metal of the SUV.
I grabbed hold of my seat to steady myself, watching in awe as Ulvic made head-shot after head-shot. Clean, efficient, and so impossibly quick. The first guard hit the floor barely a second after the last one crumpled. Eight in total.
“Ulvic! Stop Rockley!” I screamed, pointing to the helicopter as it rose a foot off the ground. Ulvic steered the SUV onto the helipad, speeding toward the rising helicopter, engine blaring.
I unclipped my belt, snatching his gun and jamming my finger on a button to open the sunroof. In a flash, I was on my feet, the wind whipping around me as my upper half raised above the car. The noise was deafening as the helicopter rose above me, its dark green base a shiny target.
I raised the gun, pulling the trigger again and again, shouting out my fury. The helicopter veered sideways, still flying, raising higher and higher. The damage wasn't enough. Rockley was gone. The helicopter too far away, disappearing into the night like a bat.
I sunk back down into the car, dropping onto my seat.
“Good try,” Uvic muttered, raising a brow.
I huffed, disappointed with my efforts. “Not good enough.” I'd never warmed to Rockley. Even I had drawn lines when it came to the games. Ignus had told me about Rockley's resort and the kinds of things that went on here. At least the girls in the V Games had had a fighting chance...
Ulvic pulled up next to his light aircraft, yanking the handbrake up.
“One of us should stay here,” he said. “Protect the plane.”
“And I'm guessing that'll be you,” I snipped.
“Actually...” He leant over me, opening the passenger door and gesturing for me to get out.
I hesitated, staring at him, confused. “You'll go back for them?”
“Yes.” He reloaded his gun, slipping it into a harness under his clothes.
“How did you get guns into the hotel?”
“I didn't.” He smiled a grim smile. “I took it off a dead guard.”
“Was he dead because you killed him?” I raised a brow.
Ulvic released a dry laugh. “I've been hiding this whole time. Do you really think I'm brave enough to fight an armed guard with my bare hands?”
“Hm...” I dropped out of the SUV, grabbing the blade I'd left on the floor. I hesitated before shutting the door. “I'm not sure, Ulvic. Because a coward wouldn't go back for Varick and the others.”
He gave me a dark look. “I guess I have my moments.”