Mercy
It had taken me several seconds to register what was happening when the Vs had broken free of the pit. But my father had sprung into action like the Hunter in him was waiting, ready.
My mother was graceful in her attacks, cutting down Vampires with the slash of a silver stake. My parents often carried weapons, I'd assumed it was out of habit. They'd been there in the days that Vampires had still roamed the earth. Killing innocent people throughout the world.
The games were created to commemorate that. To remind people what the world could be like. What the Hunters had done for the human population. Wasn't it?
I'd stared numbly at the spectators as they were torn down one by one.
My eyes had found Varick, carrying Selena out of the pit and my heart had cleaved in two.
My mother had taken my arm. “There's a safe room, back there.” She'd pointed toward a door behind us.
I'd been holed up in the square room made of silver ever since. It was packed with supplies, designed for the sole purpose of protecting our family if we were in danger. I was shaking, on the floor, my knees hugged to my chest. I never even considered what it would be like if the Vampires got free. And Varick was amongst them now. Had he made it off of the island? A small part of me hoped he had. Despite my envy and my hate of Selena, I wouldn't see Varick dead. Not now, not ever.
The door swung open at last and I rushed into the arms of my mother. She shooed me away, looking over my shoulder. “Where's your brother?”
I shook my head, searching for comfort in her eyes. Blood speckled her cheeks and her sequinned dress was torn at the hem. I'd never seen her like this, but I'd known she was capable of such power. Everything about her spoke of it. I wished now that I'd trained and developed my Hunter skills. I was useless in this fight.
“Come with me.” She turned on her high heels, marching down the corridor.
I followed, listening intently for the sound of the Vs out in the amphitheater but all was quiet.
“Your father has everything under control,” she said and I nodded, my heel slipping in a puddle of blood.
Mother led me out of the amphitheater where a truck was waiting for us. The front door was ripped off and a man was hanging out of it with blood dripping where his head lay. My mother huffed, dragging him out of the driver's seat and climbing into his place.
I hurried to the other side, my cheeks frozen from the cold. This was bad.
“Will the games close down?” I asked in alarm as my mother slammed her heel to the accelerator.
“Don't be ridiculous,” she bit at me. “There have been breakouts in other games. We'll get this under wraps by morning.”
“But the spectators...they won't come back.” If there were even any left.
A sick satisfaction rolled through my stomach. Without the men here, I was free. For how long, I didn't yet know. But the games would surely be postponed for weeks to rebuild the island? Amongst all the chaos, I found hope.
We arrived at the hotel. Bodies littered the ground. As my heels crunched across the gravel and we headed inside, I spied the man who had tried to force himself on me the other night, his body torn apart on the ground. My heart lifted and I hid my smile as I followed Mother inside.
The lobby was swamped with blood and a group of survivors were gathered on the stairs. Nearly thirty men were there, wiping sweaty brows and drinking from bottles of water. Kite had been tied up near to the spectators, her chain attached to the muzzle over her face.
My father appeared from the casino, dragging a weak V by its hair. He was frightening to behold with his shirt torn, his sleeves rolled up and his teeth gritted. He lifted the V up, slit its throat with a clean swipe of his blade and swiftly replaced the knife with a bottle. “Anyone injured, report to me!” he bellowed.
The spectators looked nervous as some of them approached him, clutching onto injured limbs.
“Where's Ignus?” Mother demanded, moving to Abraham's side.
“He was interrogating our betrayer,” Abraham snarled.
My mother suddenly let out a scream of horror that cut into my chest. I looked around for the source of her reaction, my eyes falling on one of our workmen, carrying a body in his arms. My brother was pale as stone, blood drenched his shirt and a gaping hole was all that was left of his heart.
My legs nearly gave way beneath me as I stumbled back, hitting a pillar of marble and clinging onto it. In my devastation I found Kite's eyes, brimming with delight. I hated her in that moment. I hated them all. The Vampires.
“Who did this!?” Abraham roared, his voice reverberating through my head.
But I knew who. There was only one person who would have sought out revenge on him.
And I decided at once, that if Varick was so willing to inflict pain on my family, then I was done holding back. I was going to take from Varick the only thing he cared about and make him feel as I did now.
Selena Grey was a dead girl.