Selena
The next hour was spent being preened to perfection by Nirena. Nails, waxed legs, hair washed and, in my case, dyed.
“I can't make it lighter in the amount of time we have, so I went for different,” Nirena said as she passed me a silver-rimmed mirror. My brows raised as I took in the new look. My hair was just past my shoulders now and the colour was a deep burgundy, like red wine. Cass's hair had been perfectly straightened and she had a fringe that gave her an air of innocence.
“Shouldn't you dye my hair?” Cass blew at the strands above her eyes.
“I don't see the need. Selena's the one people will recognise. Just wear it up during the ball,” Nirena instructed Cass, before giving us both a pointed look. “And remember not to take your masks off.”
“We're not idiots,” Cass said.
Nirena waved a hand, ignoring the comment. “Clothes will be provided for you at the venue. But Brendan has outfits that you can travel in.”
“And how will we get to wherever we're going?” I asked.
“By boat. Brendan has men who can take you there.” Nirena gave me a hard look, then moved forward and embraced me tightly.
I was so taken by surprise that I simply stood there in her hold, not moving. She released me with a small sigh. “Good luck, Selena.”
As we returned to Brendan's office, my mind was whirling in circles. I was jolted back to the present as I stepped into the room. Varick and Jameson looked like they'd taken a side-step into a completely different life as modern-day models.
“Holy crap,” Cass breathed, stopping beside me.
Varick grinned, his eyes sliding down me until I felt like I was the only person in the room.
“This is just plain sad.” Kite gazed between us. “Should I wait outside until you're all finished staring at each other?”
I blinked out of my stupor, turning to Cass to hide away, but she'd seemed to have frozen into an ice sculpture as she gazed at Jameson.
“Okay.” Ned stood from a chair in the corner. “Now for the finale.” He whipped his mask off and I was fairly sure I'd been punched directly in the heart.
It made no sense at all. He was short – not my type- stocky – not my type – and grinning at me like he wanted to eat me – maybe my type. But god help me, I was fairly sure I was in love with him.
Cass breezed forward, her solid form melting into limber limbs and drifting hair. “Hi,” she whispered, so quietly I reckoned I was the only one who heard it.
A wave of jealously reared up inside me that had no place in being there. This man -Ned? -was mine. I wanted him. Needed him to look at me and feel what I was feeling.
I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, my heart somersaulting as he looked at me. Me not Cass. Ha!
Mercy floated into view beside me, her cheeks bright pink. I fought the urge to shove her.
A dark shadow flashed through the room and in less than a second Ned was on the floor screaming. I was yanked back to my senses like a lightning bolt had struck me.
My hand went to my mouth in shock- disgust.
“What the hell?” I blurted.
Varick was leering over Ned, his knuckles bloody from the nose he'd just obliterated. “You do that again and it won't be your nose I crush.”
“What just happened?” I kept my hand over my mouth, feeling decidedly sick over what had just happened to my emotions.
Jameson was laughing. Loudly.
Brendan stood from behind his desk, whipping off a pair of reading glasses and glaring at the chaos. “Hell, Varick, did you have to break his goddamn nose?”
Varick practically flew back to my side, tugging me against his hip as if someone else was going to make me fall in love with them.
“What happened?” I demanded, looking up at him, but he was too busy grinding his teeth to dust to answer.
“Ned is a Siren, when he removes his mask, anyone inclined towards men will be infatuated with him,” Brendan explained, gesturing for Kite to help Ned. She hadn't seemed remotely affected by the guy's strange charm.
“You should have seen your faces!” Kite laughed, bending low and cutting her wrist so Ned could drink her blood to heal his nose. After a beat, he was back on his feet, his mask in place, his white shirt stained red and his ego obviously bruised.
“Right,” Brendan cleared his throat. “Enough time wasting. Kite and Mercy will head to the game tonight. The rest of you will leave early tomorrow morning. Some of you will arrive as couples, so Varick will pair with Selena-”
“Fairly self-explanatory even if we hadn't all just witnessed him pissing on his tree,” Jameson said casually.
“I'm not a tree,” I muttered.
Brendan spoke louder over our chattering, “And Jameson with Cass. Ned will travel alone. Vampires will feed from their partners, no complaints please. You will have the benefit of your Vampire's healing blood if things turn south.” Brendan rounded on Mercy. “That includes Kite if she gets into trouble.”
Mercy nodded, not seeming bothered.
“I can't feed from a wolf,” Cass balked, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear that was already in place.
“You can and you will,” Brendan insisted. “It is possible – not entirely pleasant – but completely nourishing.”
Jameson raised a hand like he was a kid in school and Cass looked anywhere but at him.
“Yes?” Brendan asked tiredly.
“Wolves can't be healed by V blood.”
Brendan headed to his desk, tugging out a drawer and producing a tube of acne cream. “This is Larkspur. You will carry it with you at all times.”
“Are you kidding me? Couldn't you have put it in a different tube?” Jameson demanded. Cass laughed.
“I could have,” Brendan said lightly. “But the chances are security will be tight when you arrive at the venue. They aren't going to let anything into the event that is already provided by them...shampoo...hand cream, it will all be there for you. After the Isle of Lidelse disaster, they will be strict. But you should be able to get away with this for medicinal purposes.”
Jameson sighed, snatching up the tube before stalking toward Cass and linking his arm through hers.
“What are you doing?” She shook him off.
“We're a couple now.” He grinned in her face and Cass looked to me for help. I fought back a smile but it won.
“He's right,” Brendan said. “The spectators remain anonymous anyway, but you will share rooms and I'll give each of you wedding rings. Your names will be a guise, something simple, something the other spectators would use.”
“Macho-Dragon Master?” Jameson offered. “Wasn't that what one of the men called himself in the last game?”
“I'm not calling you that,” Cass snipped.
“Well I already know yours.” Jameson slid an arm around her waist. “Firefly.”
To my surprise, she didn't argue and Brendan jotted it down. “Anyone else?” he offered. “Or I can assign you one.”
“Biggie,” Ned said, offering me a wink and Varick snarled a warning.
“Ew,” I breathed. How could I have felt so much emotion just from seeing his face? I hated the idea that he had that power over me. I whispered to Varick, “If he ever takes his mask off in front of me again, you have permission to either cover my eyes or gouge them out.”
“Noted,” Varick said quietly. His hand slinked into mine as he dropped his mouth to my ear. “What shall we be called?”
I looked up at him, sucking on my lower lip. “How about Night and Day?”
“Easily remembered.” He smiled, not needing to ask who was who. Brendan wrote it down and looked to Jameson and Cass who were still arguing about the name he wanted to pick.
“I'm not calling you BJ!” she hissed.
“You just have a filthy mind, it stands for Beetlejuice...my favourite film.” Jameson's expression suggested otherwise. “It's BJ or Macho-Dragon Master. Those are your options.”
Cass glared at him for five whole seconds before turning resolutely toward Brendan and demanding, “Call him Mutt.”
Brendan chuckled as he wrote it down.
“Hey!” Jameson barked, but Brendan gave him a look that said he was done waiting around. “Alpha,” he begged. “Come on, be fair.”
Brendan raised a brow at Cass, looking for approval and she nodded.
“Right.” Brendan picked up the piece of paper on his desk. “You will arrive at the game in your separate couples. You do not know each other. You may get acquainted on the first day and then spend time together in the company of the other spectators.” He moved around the desk, leaning against it, looking to Nirena who stepped forward, smiling at us. “You can't bring weapons to this event since the attack at the Isle of Lidelse...however-” She turned to Brendan who produced a black box from the desk and unlocked it, flipping it open to reveal the contents.
Two small bottles were sat inside it. “These will be stitched into your travel clothes – one per couple. Each bottle contains twenty millilitres of highly concentrated arsenic. Both will be needed to wipe out the spectators. There will be a toast on the evening of the third and final day. Everyone will be poured drinks from an elaborate fountain – something Rockley Jones brings out every year...or so I've heard. This is your shot at poisoning the spectators in one fell swoop.” Brendan gave us a wary look before continuing. “Unfortunately, Hunters cannot be killed this way.”
“How many are going to be there?” I asked in alarm, my heart rate accelerating.
“My best estimate? Twenty...perhaps as many as thirty,” Brendan supplied. “Hence why you must take out the spectators in one blow. The moment they fall, you will need to be ready to fight the Hunters.”
“So how are we supposed to take on twenty-perhaps-thirty Hunters?” Ned placed his hands on his narrow hips.
“There will be weapons at the event...” Nirena looked to Brendan.
Brendan nodded and I clutched Varick's hand tighter.
“So our only chance is breaking into their weaponry?” Cass confirmed.
“I can do it.” Jameson shrugged. “Easy.”
“Most likely not easy,” Brendan said grimly. “And we won't be able to help you once you're in there. So you'll have to figure it out for yourselves.”
“Comforting,” Kite scoffed.
“There's no point lying to you all,” Brendan said frankly. “This is more likely be a suicide mission than a victory.” His gaze burned into mine and I had to look away, guilt poking at me.
But the decision was made. I was going. And Brendan was letting me. We both knew what was at stake.
“So...” Brendan sighed. “If you can't find a way into the weaponry, I urge you-”
“We urge you.” Nirena looked intently at Varick.
“To abandon the mission,” Brendan said. “So long as you remain undetected, we will still be able to get you back here. Safe. And if any of you are detected...” Brendan gazed at me again. “Get out of there by any means necessary.”
It wasn't much in the way of hope. I felt like a red target had been painted on my forehead.
“You'll leave first thing tomorrow. If you have goodbyes to say, say them tonight.” Brendan bowed his head, dismissing us and a dark cloud encased my heart.
Tomorrow, we were going to be playing games again. But I was going to make sure this was the last time.