V Games (The Vampire Games Trilogy Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  I reached for her in desperation as Vs poured out of the door, falling with twisting, writhing bodies as they plummeted toward their deaths.

  Kite clung to my side, blocking my path to Cass.

  “Help me!” I begged, trying to reach her scrabbling fingers.

  A buzz of a helicopter hummed in my ears and the huge machine swooped past us; the rush of wind that followed it nearly dragged us off the ledge. Kite screamed profanities at it that would have shocked me under any other circumstances.

  It circled around, hovering several feet from us, the side door open and waiting for us.

  As the last of the Vs fell the hundred feet to the ground, Kite slipped back into the doorway, ducking down and grabbing hold of Cass.

  I crashed to my knees, crawling back inside, my cloak whipping around me in the wind. Together, Kite and I managed to drag Cass inside. Her back was clawed with marks from the Vs that had fallen, trying to save themselves. Her cheeks were pink from the wind and her lips were trembling.

  “We have to jump,” Kite said, gesturing to the helicopter before us.

  Terror ripped through me. “Are you kidding?”

  “Go, you can do it,” Cass panted, catching her breath as she huddled in the wind-swept corridor.

  Kite stood, pulling me after her. I glanced at the helicopter with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.

  Kite turned to me, tonguing her cheek. “Always kind of admired you, Grey.” She grabbed my head and pressed her lips to my mouth. I was so stunned, I simply froze in her hold.

  Pulling away, she shot me a grin, then dove toward the helicopter.

  Time seemed to slow as I watched, my heart nearly failing as she sailed through the air. Her arms were outstretched, her fingers reaching, her dark hair sailing about her in the wind. She looked like a hero, diving through the sky. And though I knew she wasn't a good person, in a way I admired her too.

  Her fingers grazed the metal railing beneath the door. And with a horrible, gut-wrenching certainty, I knew she'd misjudged the jump.

  Her fingers brushed the metal, then she was falling, rushing toward the ground. A scream tore from her lungs and I called out her name, clinging to the edge of the doorway.

  She hit the ground, looking like a fallen angel amongst the broken Vampires around her.

  I gasped, unable to drag down enough air. I couldn't breathe. I was frozen by fear, gazing at the way ahead and knowing I wasn't strong enough to go on. I stumbled backwards, my legs hitting Cass. She gazed somberly up at me and I dropped to my knees, taking her hand.

  “We can do it together.”

  “Can't do it, Selena.” She knocked her head back against the wall and that's when I noticed how damaged her legs were. A V had surely hung from them, tearing her skin to shreds.

  I started shaking my head and tears pooled in my eyes. “You can do it. You just have to jump.” I lifted my stake in the hopes of finding V blood, but it had been washed clean in the water tank and I hadn't used it since.

  Cass tapped her cuff and two minutes illuminated on the timer. “No. You have to jump.”

  I started sobbing, hugging her to me, refusing to go on without her.

  “Selena, you have to go.” She pushed me back, acceptance in her eyes. “I don't deserve to win this thing,” she breathed. “All those people...” She grimaced, the guilt in her expression tearing at my insides.

  “You didn't mean to do it!” I cried, clutching her icy fingers and trying to pull her up.

  “I lit the match,” she whispered.

  “Please,” I begged. “All you have to do is jump.”

  She shook her head, a tear sailing down her cheek. “You've got to make it home.” She lifted the cuff higher.

  Thirty seconds.

  Our cuffs started flashing red, warning us that the capsules in our heads would go off if we ran out of time.

  “Selena,” she said firmly, clasping my neck, her emerald eyes blazing at me. “Make sure they pay.”

  I nodded, sucking in a breath as I found something to hold onto: revenge. For her, for Kite, all of them.

  I nodded and she pushed me up, squeezing my hands one last time.

  I turned, a breath rattling around my lungs as I faced the helicopter.

  “Go!” she commanded and I forced my legs to move, running flat out toward the edge. I screamed my defiance as my boots hit the edge and I launched myself into the air.

  The wind pulled tears from my eyes as I flew toward the helicopter. My muscles flexed as I reached with desperation, the image of Kite falling running through my mind over and over and over.

  The timer hit two seconds just as I collided with the metal floor of the helicopter. I skidded forward, crashing into a row of seats.

  The helicopter pulled up and I turned back to Cass, her body slumped in the dark, rectangular hole in the side of the tower.

  As the timer hit zero, her head dropped forward and my heart split in two.

  “Cass!” I screamed, my voice breaking. I huddled on the floor, shivering in my damp dress, wishing this helicopter would fly me all the way home. So I'd never have to face the monsters that did this to me. Part of me had hoped Varick would be here to greet me like all the other times. But I was alone. Entirely alone. A flame was snuffed out inside me as I considered the possibility that Varick had been executed by the Helsings for helping me.

  As the helicopter sailed over the island, a sound caught my ear: a wolf howling, the haunting note somehow comforting me in my moment of anguish.

  The castle came into view on the horizon, just a hulking shadow on the cliff edge. My hands curled into fists as the helicopter circled the enormous building, flying past its four immense towers, one on each corner. At the heart of it, a flat roof awaited us and the helicopter lowered, swaying left and right as it came in to land.

  With a soft jolt, we touched down. But I didn't move. I remained huddled on the floor, not wanting to face anyone. Unable to drag myself out of the dark place my mind was retreating to.

  “Selena?” a deep voice called to me, but I didn't move. Incredibly, Varick was here. Alive. But even he wasn't enough to take away this pain.

  “She's going into shock,” a woman said, then a needle was digging into my leg.

  I barely fought it, the sting hardly registering with me. Whatever I'd been injected with provided peace. And I slipped away into numbness, where nothing but darkness awaited me.

  Varick

  The moment Selena jumped, everything changed.

  The auditorium was a raucous of cheering and all the while I stood, silently watching, praying she'd make it. I'd hoped that Kite would make it too, that she would reach the finish line before Selena. Because what awaited her now as the winner of the game, didn't bear thinking about.

  Mercy had tried to corner me more than once, but if she was planning on giving me up to her father, she didn't yet show it. Which meant I had a little more time. And I was going to use it wisely.

  When Selena was brought inside, forced into a coma and taken for medical attention, I knew I had to face Mercy at last.

  Returning from the helipad, I found her in the auditorium, plucked her from a group of men and led her into the corridor.

  She delivered me a dark scowl.

  “You promised me you'd kill her,” she hissed.

  “Yeah, about that-” I slammed my hand against her throat, thrusting her back against the wall.

  She gasped, clawing at my arm to try and escape.

  “You tell your father that I helped her, and I'll tell him you have a thing for Vampires.” I released my grip on her throat so she could answer and she spluttered, “He'll never believe you.”

  I smashed her back against the wall. “Want a bet?” I snarled, willing to gamble my life on this. “I'll Charm every man I can, force them into thinking they saw us together. I'll plant my memories in their heads. Show them you had your hands all over me. Which isn't untrue, is it Mercy?”

  She gasped, shak
ing her head. “You wouldn't.”

  I released her throat and she sagged forward, coughing.

  I waited for her to recompose herself and she stood up straighter, her brow furrowing. “Fine, I won't tell,” she sighed.

  I nodded, turning from her but she caught my wrist. I glanced back and her expression became vulnerable. “So you never liked me?”

  I shook her off, grimacing. “You repulse me.” I marched away, hoping she'd keep her word. I didn't much care at that moment, forcing Mercy to the back of my mind as I headed in the direction of Selena.

  I descended to the dungeons which the Helsings had converted into a high-tech prison, capable of holding Vampires. A low blue light illuminated the long corridors, each filled with rows of cells. Silver bars kept the Vs in individual pens, above which were sunlamps, capable of roasting a V alive if they stepped a toe out of line. A memory crawled over me as I recalled being held here myself.

  Personnel were rushing around as Vs were rounded up from the island, ushered into their cages. I grimaced as I paced past them, keeping my attention on Selena.

  As I approached the final cells, I spotted Ignus there with Ulvic, prodding something in a cage. The black wolf from the island became visible behind the iron bars. Ulvic pressed a needle into its neck before two men heaved it into one of the V chambers. Exiting the cell, they released the hatch on its cage with a long pole.

  The wolf launched at the bars, the silver doing nothing to it as it snapped its jaws around it, saliva flying everywhere.

  “Why isn't it working?” Ignus demanded, rounding on Ulvic.

  “Give it a minute,” he insisted, folding his arms.

  I moved past them, going unnoticed as I slipped toward the science labs. Ignus conducted all manner of horrors in these laboratories. It wasn't a place I liked to spend time, but Selena had been taken here for medical attention. And nothing would stop me from seeing her now.

  I knocked on the door of the room she was being held in, hearing the comforting sound of her heartbeat in my ears. A nurse was with her and I backed up as the woman marched from the room.

  “She's not awake yet,” she told me, adjusting the collar on her white overcoat.

  “How much longer?” I demanded.

  “I'm just about to remove the capsule from her neck, then I'll wake her up.” She rounded on me, her eyes flicking up and down. No one in the dungeons feared me. They dealt with Vs on a daily basis; this woman had probably done unspeakable things to them.

  “As you're here, you might as well donate some blood for the healing process.”

  I ripped back my sleeve as she produced a vial. She moved toward me with a needle – silver tipped so it could penetrate my skin – but instead of letting the repellent woman touch me, I ripped open my wrist with my teeth. The blood dripped into the vial and she left me to it, returning to the room.

  My skin healed over before the vial was filled and I had to slit it open twice more to finish the job.

  The nurse – if you could call her that – returned for the blood and I tried to follow her into the room, but she slammed the door in my face.

  I snarled, my patience wearing thin. I started pacing outside the room, grinding my jaw, growing desperate to see her.

  I was filled with purpose for the first time in hundreds of years. My life had meaning again. And Selena was at the root of it all. Why the girl affected me so much, I had no clue. But I was fixated, in awe of her and all that she'd done. Did she have any idea how implausible it was that she was still here? Having passed more trials than any person should in their life.

  The fact that I'd kissed her continued to play on my mind. I hadn't felt desire for a girl since I'd been changed. I didn't know it was possible. But even if I were blind, I couldn't miss the light of her. She shone with the power of a thousand suns, brightening the shadowy corners of my black heart, perhaps even enough to return to me the ability to love.

  The door opened and my heart stopped.

  “You can go in now,” the nurse said, stepping aside.

  Suddenly I was rooted to the spot. Would Selena even want to see me? After everything that had happened to her, what if she blamed me now? And why wouldn't she? I'd had a hand in all of the pain she'd been through. I'd been there every step of the way, giving her directions, weapons, maps.

  My heart seemed to freeze over.

  “Varick?” the nurse prompted and I crept toward the doorway.

  I decided then, even if she despised me, I had to see her.

  One last time.

  Selena

  My eyes flickered open and all I saw were white walls and glaring lights. I jerked upwards, thinking of the tower, terrified that I was still there.

  In a wave, I realised I must be at the castle. My body was warm and every part of me felt healed. I gazed down at myself, finding I'd been dressed in a long gown of golden silk, the bodice made of cream lace that wound down my arms.

  I swung my legs around, dropping off of the hospital bed, my bare feet colliding with cold tiles.

  The door opened and I lunged for a syringe beside my bed, spinning around to face whoever entered. If it was a Helsing, I wouldn't hold back.

  I came face to face with Varick, looking out of place in a deep, ebony suit. A choked noise escaped my throat, overwhelmed by him being here. That he was still alive. That there was still someone I cared about on this island.

  His eyes caught mine and I dropped the syringe, grief flooding me.

  I flung myself at him, knowing he was the only person left who could possibly offer me any comfort. Who knew what I'd been through, what I'd seen.

  He crushed me into his chest and I let myself come undone, sobbing into his soft shirt.

  “I'm sorry,” he muttered into my hair.

  I gripped him tighter, never wanting to leave his firm embrace. Not wanting to face anyone but him.

  “Can I go home now?” I asked in a broken voice. I'd come apart, desperate for reassurance like a small child. The game had unravelled me.

  “Not yet, but soon. I promise.” His deep voice rumbled through his chest, the vibrations thrumming in my ears.

  I released him at last, dipping my head self-consciously. “Sorry I-”

  He cut me off. “You've been through hell and back, Selena. If you weren't upset, I'd be concerned.”

  I nodded, lifting my eyes to meet his. They blazed with admiration. I hated to be looked at that way. As if I'd achieved something great, when all I'd done was cling to life while others had lost theirs.

  “Cass...” I breathed and Varick cupped my cheek. His palm was cool, cooler than it had been last night when he'd kissed me. It seemed like a strange dream, a small pocket of calm in an endless storm.

  “She wanted you to live,” he said quietly and I felt my legs become weak. I wanted to curl up on the bed and hide beneath the sheets. But I had to get out of this place. This nightmare wasn't over yet.

  “Selena,” Varick sighed, stepping toward the door. “The Helsings are waiting for you. They'd like you to attend a ceremony tonight, held in your honour.” His upper lip curled into a sneer, and I knew he had no part in this.

  My insides seemed to shrink and I started shaking my head.

  Before I could object, Varick muttered, “It isn't optional.”

  I managed a dry laugh, nodding. “What happens now? After this ceremony?” I spat the word.

  “It will all be explained tonight.” He seemed conflicted, his brow growing taut as if he wanted to tell me more.

  “You'll stay with me?” I asked, hopeful.

  His expression softened. “Of course.”

  High heels were laid out for me by the door, six inches, encrusted with jewels. I turned my nose up at them, figuring I'd rather not lose the capability of running in this place and headed through the door.

  Varick followed me, taking my arm. His cool fingers halted me and I turned, raising a brow.

  “I won't let anything else happen to you,” he swor
e, his grip on me tightening. “I should have got you out sooner.”

  My heart ached at his words and I placed my hand on his. “Then we would already be dead.”

  “Selena-” he started, then sighed, unable to find the words he was searching for.

  We headed on, entering a wide corridor of cells. The Vampires inside them recognised me and many spat and cursed my name.

  Varick was practically snarling by the time we found our way out, heading upstairs into the grand hallways of the castle. He was acting like my bodyguard, shadowing my every move.

  Music reached to me from two large oak doors up ahead, some strange electronica that tapped and clunked in my ears.

  The flagstones were icy against my bare feet, but I wasn't sure I could ever feel the cold again in the same way. The biting, icy winds on the island would forever remind me what true cold felt like.

  Varick held the door handle – a black iron ring, one of a pair – and fixed me with a dark stare.

  “Whatever happens in there, remember I'm on your side.”

  I gave a small nod, my cheeks aflame for a moment. I suspected guilt was at the root of his kindness. A duty to set things right with me. Whatever it was, I was grateful.

  Varick opened the door, the massive panel creaking on its hinges, announcing our arrival to everyone in the grand hall.

  A sound like rain grew in my ears and it took half a second for me to realise it was applause. The room was heaving with suited men, bashing their hands together, leaning past one another to try and get a better look at me.

  If I had been nervous before, my feet had now taken root in the ground. My mouth parted in dismay at the waiting crowd. A soft touch to the base of my spine ignited life back into my bones and I moved at Varick's side. It was soon clear where he was escorting me as we circled the masses at the heart of the lavish space.

  A stage, raised above the crowd, upon which the four Helsing family members were stood. Though I hadn't set eyes on most of them before, I knew them from their resemblance to Ignus. Power that seemed to emanate from all of them.