Varick
After sitting through Rockley's disgusting evening show, I was losing my mind with worry. Selena was off risking her life somewhere and I could do nothing but sit there and wait it out.
The second I smelled her re-entering the ballroom, I barged my way out of there to follow her. The others were hot on my heels as we headed upstairs.
By the time I reached our room, I was practically shaking with anxiety. I forced the key-card into the lock, nearly breaking it before I managed to get the thing to work. I shouldered into the room, relaxing at the sight of Selena and Cass standing by the bed. On the mattress were guns, blades, ammo, grenades all laid out.
Christ.
Selena was smiling so broadly that I couldn't fight a grin in return, rushing to her side and dipping her into a kiss that our friends would simply have to endure.
When I released her, her cheeks were crimson.
“Did you doubt me?” she mused.
“Never,” I growled. This girl was capable of miraculous things. And no matter how much I'd feared her safety, I'd known deep down if any of us could pull this off it was her.
I turned to Cass, readying to pull her into one of my rarely-offered hugs, but she raised her hands to halt me. “You don't have to kiss me, too, Varick,” she joked and everyone laughed but Jameson who gazed at Cass with puppy-dog eyes.
I noted her gaze didn't stray to him at all, keeping her attention firmly on the weapons.
“So...we may have caused a bit of a panic downstairs,” Cass explained. “But I'm pretty sure we got away with it.”
Ned anxiously rubbed the back of his head. “What if they caught you on CCTV?” He was starting to sweat, the salty scent filling my nostrils. I wrinkled my nose.
“Chill,” Jameson insisted. “We wouldn't all be standing here if they'd been seen, isn't that right Firefly?” He looked to Cass who shrugged, still not quite meeting his eye.
A knock at the door made every one of us stiffen. A surge of heat sped down my spine; my first instinct was to grab Selena and keep her safe.
“Relax,” Cass hissed, moving toward the door. “We'll just see who it is.”
I listened intently but whoever was standing out in the corridor was doing nothing more than breathing.
Cass pressed her eye to the peephole and her shoulders dropped. Before I could object, she'd unlocked the door and stepped aside to let the arrival in.
Mercy stepped into the room in a baby blue dress that matched her eyes. Small buttons ran up the middle of it, closing it all the way to her throat. Half a step behind her, was Kite. Her gaze fell to the stash of guns as Cass shut the door behind her.
“Holy shit,” Kite gasped, striding toward the guns.
“Oh my God,” Mercy breathed, halting in her tracks. She gazed between us all, her eyes pausing on me.
Figuring I knew her best out of everyone – even if our relationship hadn't been the healthiest – I moved toward her, taking the lead. “Why are you here?”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before answering. “Rockley told us there was a breakout from the Vampire cells. When I saw you all hurrying out of the ballroom...I thought, maybe you were involved.”
“So they don't know it was us?” Selena asked, hopeful.
Mercy shook her head. “Of course not. I wouldn't be here if they did.”
Kite started loading some of the weapons, her skill speaking of her familiarity with guns. “Her parents are too busy kissing the spectators' arses to notice we left.”
“How's Mercy behaving?” Cass asked, folding her arms.
Kite shrugged. “She hasn't pulled anything yet.”
“And I'm not going to,” Mercy snapped.
Kite glared at her. “So are you going to tell Jameson, or should I?”
“What?” he demanded, stepping toward Mercy.
“Ulvic arrived at the hotel tonight,” Mercy revealed and Jameson's eyes darkened. She hurried on, evidently sensing his reaction. “He thinks your pack members are here.”
“Mekiah and Reason?” Jameson stepped forward, looking slightly desperate.
“Yes. But they're not here, Jameson. I'm sorry.”
Jameson looked to Kite for confirmation.
She nodded. “Rockley's dragged us on tours all over this resort. There's no Werewolves here.”
“But you must know where they are,” Jameson growled, taking hold of Mercy's shoulders.
She nodded tentatively. “Mother told me...Ignus sent them to Ulvic's father.”
Jameson's jaw tightened as he processed the news.
“Brother?” I questioned, moving toward him.
He ignored me. “Where's Ulvic?” he growled.
“In the hotel.” Mercy shrugged.
“Which room?” he snarled, looking unlike himself.
“I don't know,” Mercy shook her head.
“Which. Room,” he repeated, gripping her harder.
“I don't know!” Mercy insisted.
“James,” Cass said softly, the nickname sounding intimate in her voice.
He glanced at her and the strength went out of his body as he released Mercy, walking away. Her gaze strayed to the guns again, then to me. “What are you planning?”
I pressed my lips together, folding my arms.
Mercy tutted, looking around at us all, clearly feeling unwelcome. Surprising me, Selena stepped toward her, giving her the briefest of smiles. “We're just taking precautions. If things don't go as planned, we need to be armed.” It was sort of true. But we all knew that these weapons were here to take out the Hunters. And I had every intention of driving a blade into Abraham's heart myself. But Mercy needed to believe that that wasn't going to happen.
“Right, well...” She floated toward me. “Tomorrow's the last day...”
“And?” I questioned softly.
“And Rockley's fountain will be set up in the ballroom.” She moved closer, sharing a look with Kite before holding out her hand. “Brendan told me what you brought here.” She placed a silver-tipped syringe in my palm. “I think you'll be needing this.”
I gazed at the needle in confusion as Mercy headed toward the door.
“Thank you,” I called before she stepped into the hall. I was actually starting to believe she wanted to help us. Hard as it was to accept. But I didn't like to imagine what the syringe implied.
She glanced over her shoulder, batting her long lashes at me. “You're welcome.” Kite followed her into the hall and the door shut between us.
Selena sighed, her shoulders dropping. “This will all be over tomorrow.”
The only one of us whose mood didn't visibly brighten was Jameson who headed to the minibar, taking out a bottle of rum and slumping into a chair with it.
I moved to join him as the others broke into excited chatter. “Do you want to talk?”
Jameson shook his head stiffly, sipping from the small bottle.
“You can't kill Ulvic,” I said quietly, certain that was what he was thinking. “He ordered you not to.”
He nodded, finishing off the rum and sitting forward so his elbows rested on his knees. “If he finds out I'm here... he can make me do whatever he wants so long as I'm in earshot.”
I clapped a hand onto his shoulder, my loyalty to him flaring inside me. “He can't order me to do shit.”
Jameson glanced up, looking like the young man who had once seen me as a captain. “That's true.”
“So what say I deal with Ulvic when the time comes?”
He nodded keenly, sliding his hand around the back of my head and grinning at me. “That sounds like an ace idea.”
I stood, turning to the room which was descending quickly into a celebration of sorts. Ned fiddled with a sound system until pop music blared into the room. Selena caught my eye as Ned handed her a glass of champagne. She smiled shyly, her eyes on me as Ned spoke animatedly to her about something I had no interest in listening to.
Jameson was soon back to his usual self, out-drinking Ned two-fold, challenging him to ridiculous drinking games we'd played back in our pirate days.
At least within the confines of our room, we had a piece of normalcy. I sat quietly by the window, watching Selena as she spoke with Cass. Admittedly, I'd crossed the borders of obsession with her. But to me, she was life itself. She'd gifted me what no other person in the entire world ever had. Or could come close to. And I knew that every day from now on, I would follow her as closely as her shadow.
Ned dropped into the seat beside mine, his hand over his eyes. “Your friend's a maniac.” He groaned from some alcohol-induced feeling.
I couldn't clearly remember what it felt like to be drunk. I didn't much like the idea nowadays, either. Alcohol dulled senses, reactions. And unless I stepped into a new life where death didn't lurk around every corner, I didn't think I'd ever miss it.
Selena stole away from the girls, dropping into my lap and pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Happy?” I mused.
“That's a stretch.” She smiled, seeming relaxed from the drinks she'd had. “Hopeful maybe.”
The music changed to a soft, lulling song I didn't recognise, the artist singing about being lost in the light. I knew that feeling well. Everything up until the moment I'd met Selena seemed dark, hollow. And the way she was looking at me now, her eyes smokey grey and full of warmth, reminded me of the feeling of sunlight on my skin.
“Damn. The minibar's out,” Jameson said, kicking the door to shut it. He headed toward the exit, not even swaying despite the fact he must have drunk over half the fridge.
“Where are you going?” I called.
“To get more booze.” He stepped into the hallway and I rolled my eyes.
I stood, planting Selena on her feet with a look of apology as I hurried after him into the corridor.
“I don't think we should spend more time out in the hotel than we have to.” I took his arm, but he shook me off.
“Relax, Varick. I'm in dis-gu-ise,” he enunciated the word, adjusting the mask over his face.
I followed him to the lift and he punched both the up and down buttons to call it.
The first lift arrived, heading up. As the doors slid open I came face to face with a terrified blonde girl. Human. She had a gag in her mouth and her arms were tied behind her back. Behind her were two men, young, both clearly eager to get on with whatever they were planning.
“Going up?” one of them asked me as Jameson peered into the lift.
“What the f-” I halted him by smacking the back of his head.
“Yeah, we're going up,” he growled a second later, shouldering me into the lift and smiling a predator's smile at the men.
“Up it is,” I conceded, glancing at Jameson suspiciously whose eyes were pinned on the girl.
She was slim, dressed in a crop top and a small pair of shorts. Her blonde hair was lank with sweat, clinging to her cheeks.
“Where did you get her?” I inquired.
“You can bid for chicks over at the Fortress,” the bigger of the two answered. He may have had muscles, but they'd do nothing against me.
“I see,” I said quietly.
“And how long do you get with her?” Jameson asked, swaying a bit beside me.
They just laughed in answer, making my hackles rise.
At the very top of the building, the doors slid open onto a wide roof. A group of hot tubs and a help-yourself bar greeted us. Glass screens around the edges kept the wind at bay. We were the only ones there, which I was glad of. I may have had my reservations about following the men up here, but it didn't feel right leaving the girl to their devices. Still, I didn't know how we were going to intervene without drawing attention to ourselves.
The men dragged the girl over to a gap in the glass panels that gave an impressive view over the strip.
The wind whipped her hair behind her as she thrashed against them. They pushed her closer to the edge, howling their laughter, clearly drunk.
“Let's see how pretty you are when your face is smeared all over the pavement,” one of them taunted her.
She screamed against her gag, digging her heels in to try and keep away from the sheer drop. My gut spiralled as I watched them, disgusted.
Jameson stumbled his way toward them, but I was faster, speeding past him as the two men leant the girl back, her toes right on the edge of the building. She screamed against her gag, clawing at their arms as they tried to push her over.
“Let go, whore. I wanna see you fall,” one of them snapped at her.
In a flash, I curled an arm around her waist and barged the two men aside, carrying her away from the ledge.
“What the hell?” the muscly one dabbed a split lip that my elbow had delivered him.
Jameson arrived, taking the girl from my arms as he barrelled into us. He stumbled, knocking into the meathead and sending him flying forward. The guy's arms flailed and with a yelp of horror, he plummeted over the edge.
His friend cried out, reaching uselessly into the empty sky. His scream tore through the air, all the way down until an abrupt thwack sounded his end.
I snarled my frustration, grabbing the other guy before he made a run for it and glared into his eyes. “We came up here together and your friend had an accident. Go to the foyer and start crying. Tell them he fell off the roof.”
“He fell...it was an accident,” he started to cry, hurrying away from me in the direction of the lift.
“Shit-did-you-see-that-guy-fall?” Jameson said in a drunken slur, gazing over the edge of the roof.
“Yes. And he didn't fall, you bloody pushed him!” I shoved Jameson back in the direction of the lift and he dragged the girl with him. He snapped the binds around her wrists with a sharp tug and she ripped the gag out of her mouth. With a choked sob, she threw her arms around Jameson, clinging to him like he'd saved her life. Even though I was pretty sure it had been me.
“Easy Gina,” Jameson cooed, circling an arm around her waist.
“You know this girl?” I demanded.
“She works here,” Jameson explained.
“I h-hate it here,” she sobbed into his shoulder. “They s-sent me back to the F-Fortress after I r-refused to screw some f-fat p-pig in the bathhouse.”
“Jesus,” Jameson muttered.
I gazed around the roof, hunting for cameras. Luckily for us, there weren't any. But there sure as hell were cameras in the lift. I just hoped the Charmed guy heading to reception was enough to explain our way out of why a spectator was currently splattered across the street.
“What are we going to do with her?” I hissed, unnerved by our predicament.
“Gina, honey, did anyone else see you with those men?” Jameson kept her close as he guided her to the lift.
“I d-don't think so,” she said through heavy sniffs.
“What did I say about leaving the bloody room?” I growled my frustration.
“Too late now,” Jameson said. “Better take her with us. Keep her hidden.” He planted Gina in front of him and asked, “That okay?”
“Of c-course.” She smiled through her tears. “But what then? They'll c-come looking for me. They'll p-punish me.”
“Not if they think you belong to him now,” I said thoughtfully, stepping closer. “Put the gag back in. Let them see Jameson take you downstairs.”
She gazed at me with wide eyes, then started nodding. “Alright.” She pulled herself together a little, tying the gag back in place.
“This is not going to go down well with the others,” Jameson mumbled as we stepped into the lift.
I sighed. “No, I don't suppose it is.”