Selena
Waiters poured out shots of blood from the fountain for everyone in the room. My eyes were continually drawn to Decon, his body pale despite his olive skin tone, his arms slack against his restraints.
“Can Vs die from blood loss?” I whispered to Varick.
“No...he will be ravenous though. Soon enough, as his strength returns,” he answered.
Grinding my teeth, I vowed to give him back the blood he'd lost. I just had to find a way to free him.
A waiter placed a shot down in front of me and I prayed this plan would work. That the arsenic had been in Decon's system long enough to filter into his bloodstream.
Anxiety knotted my belly and made my palms sweat. We were so close. This was going to happen. Now. And I didn't feel ready at all.
I went over the plan in my head. Get back to the room. Get weapons. Kill the Hunters. Get to the helipad and find someone Varick could Charm to fly us out of here.
Killing the Hunters. That was the most difficult part. The most risky. I shut my eyes, counting the seconds as Rockley ascended to the stage.
“A toast, to the Helsings, to the games, to our future as rulers of the Vampires.” He raised his glass into the air and everyone followed suit, standing from their chairs.
I reached for Varick, his eyes meeting mine.
“I love you,” he mouthed and I mouthed it back, gripping his fingers like they were the only thing grounding me.
I looked to Cass then Ned. They were ready, their expressions cold, fierce, prepared. I didn't think I looked that way. I drew courage from their strength, pressing my shoulders back.
Whatever happens, we'll leave our impact here today.
Everyone but us drank the V blood. The second it took for them to do so lasted an age. My eyes skipped from one spectator to the next, waiting, hoping.
Please work.
They dropped like flies, some gasping, screaming, others dead in seconds. We all followed suit, dropping to the ground, pretending to be effected.
Rockley started shouting, but I couldn't focus on anything but Varick a foot away, his eyes locked on mine.
An earthquake seemed to grow in the room as panicked voices broke out from the Hunters.
The din grew louder, rumbling in my ears, trembling through my body. I wasn't imagining it. It was drawing closer, closer-
Death descended on the room like a tidal wave. Starved, hungry Vs poured through a security door, ripping it from its hinges. Guards screamed, shots were fired. An alarm went off that burrowed into my eardrums.
Varick dragged me to my feet and I only had a second to absorb the chaos surrounding us as thirty or more Vs sped through the room. The Hunters acted quickly, some ascending to the stage. A rat-tat-tat of a machine gun filled the air and Vampires were cut down in waves.
We started running, my hand still in Varick's as we fled from the room. Through the lobby. To the elevator. Kite caught up with us in a flash, joining Ned's side.
I bashed my hand on the button, turning as screams filled the foyer. The reception staff were being eaten alive by Vampires.
“Who freed them?” I asked in awe, but no one had any time to answer as three Vs fled toward us. Cass swiped her hand through the air, cutting down the first, his head ripped clean off.
Varick forced me back, grabbing the female V who flew toward me, arms outstretched, eyes wild and bloodshot. He snapped her neck, throwing her aside. Kite caught the last, just as the V sunk his teeth into Ned's arm. He yelped, throwing a useless punch into its gut before Kite tore the Vampire away from him, twisting its neck sharply. I didn't see the rest as Varick threw me into the elevator.
I stumbled, hitting the back wall, gasping for breath.
The others swarmed into the elevator and three staff members screamed for us to hold the doors. Kite pressed her finger down on the 'shut' button, wiggling her fingers at them.
The doors closed and thumps sounded as the staff collided with them.
My breathing became erratic as we rose in silence, a light jingle of music in the air.
Kite suddenly laughed. “You shoulda seen Katherine's face when she tried to detonate the silver capsule in my head.”
I relaxed a little at her tone, grinning. “I wish I had.”
“We need to find Jameson,” Varick said as the doors slid open on the fifth floor.
I nodded, silence falling between us as we headed out of the lift, running down the corridor. Kite and Ned split away into his room and we slipped into the peace of Cass and Jameson's.
Cass ran to her bed, dragging out the bag of weapons from beneath it. Spilling the contents onto the mattress, she grabbed a silver machete and slung a rifle over her shoulder. I picked up a handgun and a stake, the only two weapons I felt comfortable enough using. Varick took a large hunting knife and strung a rifle over his shoulder, stuffing a handgun into the back of his trousers.
“How are we going to carry the ammo?” I gazed down at the elegant grey gown I was wearing with a frown.
Cass hurried over to a drawer, plucking out a roll of duct tape. She waved it proudly before ripping off a large strip. “Help me tape some to my leg.”
She tugged up her dress and Varick immediately looked away. I rushed to help her.
When we were laden with all the ammo we could carry – and a couple of grenades for good measure - we slipped back into the corridor, finding Kite and Ned armed to the teeth and looking terrifying. I took the mask from my face.
“I want them to know who did this,” I said in a low tone and everyone but Ned followed suit, dropping their masks to the ground.
“Ready?” I asked and everyone assented.
“We should split up,” Cass said as we hurried back to the lift. “Two of us look for Jameson, the rest of us can get to the Hunters before they've dealt with those Vampires. We don't have long before they get this under control.”
“I'll look for Jameson,” Varick said.
“Me too,” Cass added before I could.
“But-” I started, but Varick cut me off.
“The Vs came from the direction Jameson was taken. There could be hundreds more that way.”
I despised the idea of splitting up from Varick and the look on his face said he felt the same.
I nodded, giving in. “When you find him, head to the street, we can all meet up there.”
We'd see each other again. I'd make sure of it.
The doors panned aside on the ground floor and only the ringing of the alarm met my ears. Bodies were strewn about the place, Vampires and staff alike. Not one Hunter as far as I could tell.
“Where is everyone?” Ned whispered as Kite shouldered past him into the foyer.
“Let's not wait to find out!” she called, running off in the direction of the ballroom.
Varick dragged me into a kiss before we followed and courage spilled through my veins. We hurried after the others, moving as a tight-knit group into the ballroom.
“Get down!” Cass hissed, letting out a burst of gunfire.
I dropped to the floor, darting behind a table for cover. Shots rang out, deafeningly loud.
Ned was at my side in seconds, panting, his eyes wide. Varick, Cass and Kite stood behind us, shooting over our heads into the ballroom.
“What's happening?” I shouted over the noise.
“Hunters,” he gasped, his eyes full of fear.
I chanced a look around the edge of the table. Many of the escaped Vampires were dead, blood dripping across white table cloths and oozing across the floor where they lay. A couple of men in white suits laid dead amongst them. Hunters!
But the battle wasn't anywhere near over. Five Hunters were still standing their ground up on the stage beside Rockley Jones, but Abraham and Katherine weren't amongst them. Any Vampire who got close was cut down in a rain of bullets.
Rockley was narrow-eyed and furious, his teeth clenched as he fired shot after shot at us. A Hunter beside him flew backwards as a silver bullet took him down.
I nodded to Cass and Varick before kneeling up and starting to shoot, covering them as they headed for the security door.
Kite flew through the room at speed, a blur as she darted left and right, dodging bullets like the wind. In a heartbeat, she was up on the stage, falling atop a woman in a white dress, smashing her head down on the floor.
The other Hunters shifted their attention to her.
“Keep shooting,” I ordered Ned, darting toward a table closer to the stage.
Ned swapped his pistol for the machine gun on his back and the rattling of quick-fire shots punctured the air. The Hunters were forced to take cover, diving from the stage. Rockley grabbed Kite's hair as he fell, dragging her with him.
No!
I ran at a crouch, my vision trembling from the bullets roaring over my head.
Just keep moving. One foot in front of the other.
I spotted a woman in a white jumpsuit crawling away from the carnage, heading for the closest exit. I dove on top of her, slamming her into the ground. I gripped her hair in my fist, my knee digging into her spine. I had the upper hand. I could take a shot right at the back of her skull.
But I hesitated a second too long as she reared backwards, throwing me off with phenomenal strength.
I crawled backwards, bringing up my handgun. She turned at speed, lunging at me with a knife.
I cried out in fear, pulling the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times. Blood exploded from her chest as she fell to the ground, dead.
I steadied my breathing, gasping down air as I righted myself.
I couldn't hesitate again. I had to fight without mercy. But I wasn't used to killing without being forced to do so. This was a choice. These were murders by my hand.
At the sound of Kite screaming, I wheeled around.
Ned's machine gun rang empty and I dived forward, the silence loud in its absence. I spotted three Hunters dart through a staff-only door. I cursed under my breath as I searched for Rockley.
My stomach lurched as I found him next to the stage, straddling Kite, burying a knife in her belly. “How dare you- you bitch!” He drove another blade into her side and she screamed like a dying animal. I stood, levelling my gun on him.
Kite's eyes met mine and she nodded, blood bubbling from her lips.
I pulled the trigger and Rockley roared in pain, falling forward from the wound I'd inflicted on his shoulder.
With him on top of Kite, I couldn't risk pulling the trigger again in case the silver bullet went through him and hit her.
Kite threw him off of her, rolling over and sinking her teeth into his throat. A groan caught my attention close by. Decon was snarling, his eyes hollow, his fangs bared, still tied in place on the wooden cross. I grimaced at the bullet holes ripped into his chest as I clambered onto the stage, fleeing toward him, leaving Kite to finish Rockley.
Decon snapped at me as I reached him. Carefully, I tugged the clamp free from his gaping throat, yanking my hand back before he could bite me. His neck healed over, but he was still in trouble. Recalling how I'd had to dig out the silver bullet from Varick's side in the past, I shifted closer.
Steeling myself, I dug my fingers into the first wound, squeezing the bullet out. One at a time, I extracted them all, muttering my apologies as Decon roared in agony.
The wounds healed over as I reached for his restraints, pausing before releasing him.
“Kite!” I called, spying her on the floor, butchering Rockley like he'd done to her. He was a mess of blood, his body deathly still beneath her.
I fought the writhing of my stomach as she paused, glancing over her shoulder in my direction.
“Decon needs blood,” I said in a dark tone and Kite nodded, dragging Rockley up by the neck. He was barely alive, woozy as she moved him in my direction like a puppet.
I steadied my gun on the lock behind Decon's back, keeping the silver chains in place. I aimed carefully, pulling the trigger and the lock exploded. Decon fell forward, smashing the fountain below him into a thousand shards. Kite shoved Rockley toward him and Decon sprang forward to meet him.
Rockley swayed, his eyes finding mine. “This is my resort!” he cried, practically sobbing as he opened his arms wide. Decon was wild as he reached him, sinking his teeth into Rockley's arm.
I watched, a dark cloud falling over me as I absorbed the sight. Rockley swayed sideways suddenly and slammed Decon's head into the stage. I gasped, raising my gun-
“Selena!” Ned called and I spun in his direction.
Hunters poured into the room and gunfire blazed in my vision. I threw myself from the stage, crawling under the nearest table for shelter. Beneath it, I spotted Rockley staggering away and cursed under my breath.
Kite flew after him, bringing him to the ground, but his knife came up, slicing across her throat.
“No!” I screamed, watching in terror as he drank from the gaping wound on her neck, healing himself and draining her of life in the same moment. The second he was healed, he threw her like a ragdoll and she slid across the floor, trailing blood. Rockley fled toward the security door, disappearing through it in a flash.
I blinked, my world slowing for a moment as I tried to calm myself down enough to make a decision. I reached for Kite, trying to pull her under the cover of the table, but she was too far away. Not moving. Was she dead?
Please don't be dead.
I trembled as I tucked my head down, the gunfire resounding through my bones, riddling the stage with holes.
Until it stopped, I was trapped.