Wolf Games: Severed Fates (The Vampire Games Book 6)

by Caroline Peckham

  Rockley clicked his fingers. “Round dem up – now!” he bellowed.

  Arms ensnared me and I was hauled to my feet after Silas. We were escorted onto the jet and forced into the cabin where white leather seats awaited us. Everything sparkled, from the floor to the roof.

  “What do you think?” Rockley asked from behind us.

  “Tacky. Just like you,” I muttered.

  A guard forced me down into a seat and I was turned to face Rockley as I was strapped in and someone tightened a zip-cord over my wrists, tethering me to the arm rests.

  Rockley's gaze was hollow as he stared at me.

  Silas was planted in the seat beside mine, next to the window. He tried to catch my eye at last. I avoided it, turning away. He was as bad as Rockley. I couldn't care less if he was thrown out of the jet when it was in the sky.

  Only five of the guards remained onboard, some taking seats in the back row, whilst others headed into the front cabin.

  Rockley sat opposite us on a wide sofa, buckling himself in place. He clasped his hands together, gazing between us with a satisfied smile. His eyes lingered on the mark on my cheek and a hunger lit in his eyes. Fear rippled through me. This man would happily see me dead. But it was torture he took pleasure in. I wasn't ready for that. For any of this. And it took all of my resolve to not let myself break.

  The jet taxied out onto the runway and we were soon hurtling down it, preparing for take-off.

  I shut my eyes, trying to slow my breathing, but I could feel the panic setting in. The reality of what awaited me at the end of this trip hit me like a tidal wave.

  Try as I might, I couldn't see a way out. Not a single sliver of hope.

  I shut my eyes to save myself from Rockley's taunting expression just as the jet lifted into the air. I barely felt the rising sensation. Nothing compared to the sickness growing inside me.

  “Open your eyes,” Rockley commanded and I reluctantly peeled my eyelids back.

  His smile broadened. “You will not be resting during dis journey.”

  The seatbelt light went off with a ding and Rockley unbuckled his belt in response, standing. He approached and I tried my best not to shrink away. He took hold of my chin, dropping down so his mouth was an inch from mine. “Let de games begin.”

  Rockley gagged Silas with a silk cloth. I shuddered, sinking back into the seat, fearing what was coming.

  “You will keep your orders to yourself for now.” Rockley tapped Silas on the nose and he winced, glaring at him with venom in his eyes.

  Rockley took a small switch knife from his pocket and my throat grew dry.

  He took hold of my arm and slid the knife under my long sleeve, yanking sideways and ripping it. I tried my best not to flinch, but I couldn't help it.

  “Please,” I breathed. “Don't hurt my baby.”

  He looked me in the eye, considering that. “Unlike Mr Madigan, I'm good to my word. De baby is his concern, not mine.”

  I nodded, relaxing a fraction, praying he meant it.

  “Why do you look so calm, my dear?” Rockley taunted. “Dat means de rest of you is mine.” He dug the blade into my exposed arm and I stifled a cry as he knelt down, holding it in place as he scraped it back and forth across my skin. I shut my eyes, thinking of Jameson. Of the two of us somewhere far away, our baby bouncing on his knee. The image calmed me, and I let it fill up every space of my mind as Rockley continued carving into my body.

  He dug deeper and a scream tore from my throat. It seemed an age before he was done. But when he was, he stepped back, admiring his work. I refused to look at what he'd done, sure he'd marked something of meaning onto my skin.

  He took hold of my chin, his hand wet with my blood as he turned me to face the single letter blazing in red on my forearm. A huge V encompassed most of the pale skin. Blood leaked from the point, dribbling into my lap.

  “V for victory,” Rockley announced, bending down and snatching my arm again. He dug the knife in and I could feel him cutting small Vs, big ones, covering every inch of my right arm. V. V. V. V. V.

  I bit down against the pain, but sometimes he cut so hard, I had to scream. I knew it was what he wanted, and trying to stop myself only made him dig the blade in harder. None of them were deep enough to slice an artery, so it was obvious he wanted me alive. This was just the beginning of his torture. And I knew it could be weeks before he'd let the pain end. Perhaps he'd keep me alive long enough for me to birth this baby and hand it to Silas. Then kill me anyway. My mind was alive with possibilities, and I despised my overactive imagination, conjuring up the most terrifying thoughts, making the whole experience worse.

  Rockley soon ran out of space on my right arm, finishing off his masterpiece with a large V across my palm. It hurt more than anywhere else he'd cut, the flesh soft and tender. But I didn't even try to fight him. I let him make the marks. Because so long as he was focused on my arms, he was well away from my stomach.

  He started on my left arm, ripping the sleeve open like he had the other. Silas shouted abuse against his gag, but Rockley ignored him and so did I for the most part. What was the point? We were thirty thousand feet above ground. No one but Rockley's men could hear us.

  When my left arm was as bloody as my right, Rockley sat back in his seat, panting a little with his delight. He wiped his bloody palms down his jeans and tilted his head to one side, surveying me. “Dis is only child's play. Something to entertain me until we land.” He gestured for a guard to un-gag Silas.

  “Don't you dare touch her again,” Silas growled.

  I glanced at him, frowning. I supposed he cared for me in his own twisted way.

  “Save her de chivalry, friend.” Rockley sat back in his seat. “We all know you're full of shit.”

  Tense silence stretched between them.

  I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to drag my attention from the blinding pain in my arms.

  “Where are we going?” I didn't really expect an answer, but anything was better than the persistent silence. I needed a distraction from the pain. Even if my two companions weren't exactly my first choice for conversation.

  “My new resort,” Rockley said simply.

  My brows lifted in horror and Rockley's face split into another dark smile.

  “I've been developing it for years. In fact, you could say you did me a favour in demolishing my other playground. It only encouraged me to speed up the new build. Now it's almost ready. And you're going to be my very first contestant, my dear.” He turned to face Silas. “And you will be my very first guest.”

  “Do you tie up all of your guests at gunpoint?” Silas mused. “Because that seems like a pretty dumb business move.”

  Rockley smiled in vague amusement. “Like I said, Silas. I have no qualms with you. You can exit dis plane as an ally if you are willing to cooperate.”

  I eyed Silas out the corner of my eye, wondering how he was going to react.

  Silas sat forward in his seat. “You expect me to sit idly by whilst you torture Cass?”

  I was pretty sure it was the first time he'd used my real name. It was a weird time to start respecting my boundaries, but I guessed I'd take it.

  “Cass, hm?”

  “Cassandra to you,” I growled.

  Rockley stood, flicking out his switch knife once more.

  “Don't,” Silas snarled, leaning toward me, but unable to get close.

  “Cassandra doesn't suit you,” Rockley said, ignoring him. He stepped closer, pressing the blade into one of the earliest V's he'd drawn, the blood starting to dry against my skin. I hissed through my teeth, battling the pain. He jabbed at several Vs as he spoke. “You look like a vile, vicious little vixen. De vixen who tried to ruin me.”

  He snapped his fingers at two guards. “Not the stomach,” he ordered then they grabbed me, unclipping my belt and hauling me towards the back of the plane. I screamed, twisting in their hold, my legs kicking wildly.

  Panic seized my heart.

  “Let
her go!” Silas shouted. “Please, don't do this.”

  “Enjoy de rest of de trip, my vixen,” Rockley called to me.

  I was hauled into a bedroom at the back of the jet and one of the guards slammed the door shut. The other threw me onto the bed at the heart of the room. Gold oozed from every corner of it, even the satin sheets on the bed were metallic and shimmering.

  I lifted my hands as I scrambled upright on the mattress. “Please, you don't have to do this.”

  They both drew knives and my gut spiralled.

  “Please,” I whispered again, but I knew it was useless.

  “Cass!” Silas's voice carried to me from beyond the door, his shouts growing more and more frantic. It was no good. And before I knew it, my clothes were being torn from my body and a hundred more Vs were being sliced into my skin. Everywhere but my belly. And for that, I guess I had to be thankful.

  *★*

  At some point, I passed out. I wasn't sure whether it was from the pain, or perhaps it was just my body's way of protecting me. Either way, I was grateful. I'd stolen a small piece of respite. The guards had left the room so I had a moment to put myself back together. My clothes were torn, but my underwear was intact. Thankfully Rockley hadn't ordered his men to go that far. Or perhaps they just didn't have it in them. Maybe even hired thugs had some morals.

  The sheets were sticky with my blood, but none of the wounds were too deep. Most of them would scab over, but the worst would leave a scar. If I didn't get given Larkspar anyway.

  I pushed myself upright, tugging the sheet away where it stuck to my back. I winced from the movement, dropping down to sit on the edge of the bed.

  “Get her together. We land in thirty minutes,” Rockley's voice sounded from the main cabin.

  The door opened and I flinched, but I was grateful to find Silas walking into the room, not one of Rockley's men. Although he was only a marginal improvement on them. And mainly because I knew he wasn't about to hurt me.

  He shut the door, his face paling at the sight of my marred skin.

  “Cass,” he breathed, looking desperate.

  “I'm fine,” I said firmly. There were worse things than this, much worse.

  Silas moved across the room to a wardrobe, taking out the only item inside it. A green dress, the exact shade and style I'd worn in the V Games. Not a single one of the cuts had broken me, but the sight of it made a small sob escape my throat. I could feel my heart cracking and splintering.

  No. I can't go back to the games.

  “You don't have to wear it,” Silas growled, chucking it aside.

  “I do,” I whispered. “This is how it works, Silas. And there are some things that aren't worth avoiding in the games. It'll only be worse if I don't.” I reached for the dress on the bed, pulling it into my lap. I was half naked, but I didn't care that Silas was present. What did it matter?

  I tried to ease into the dress but every cut it touched stung like hell.

  Silas edged closer. “Let me help you.”

  I hesitated a moment before nodding. He guided me to my feet, gently tugging the dress over my head. The small frills of the sleeves hung over my arms, brushing the bloody Vs scrawled there.

  I realised I was trembling and Silas took both of my hands in his, his gold-flecked eyes boring into mine. “I'll get us out of here. I swear. Listen to me, I-”

  “Stop,” I hissed sharply, wincing. One of the worst cuts lay on my back. I couldn't see it but I knew it was huge, the biggest of them all, carved up either side of my spine. “There's no point.”

  Silas cupped my cheek. “I'm so sorry,” he whispered. “For everything.”

  “Hurry up!” Rockley bellowed and someone pounded on the door.

  A lump rose in my throat and I glanced up at Silas, glaring. “I'm here because of you. Other people, too. But I was your prisoner first. Remember that the next time he hurts me.”

  Something broke in Silas's gaze, his brows pinching sharply together. He gazed hopelessly at me as I brushed past him, holding my head high as I walked toward the door. I steeled myself, taking a breath before pushing through it and heading back to my seat.

  Rockley keenly eyed my bloody arms and chest, but I didn't meet his gaze, dropping smoothly into my seat and clipping my belt in place.

  Rockley let out a small laugh. “I'm going to enjoy breaking you, I think.”

  I turned to face the window, gazing out at the line of white clouds below us, forming great twists and mounds in the sky. We were dropping lower by the second, my ears popping as we did so and Silas soon returned to his seat.

  “Get her some water,” Silas demanded.

  “I'm fine,” I snipped and Rockley gazed between us.

  “She really does hate you doesn't she, friend?”

  Silas didn't answer, shifting in his seat.

  The jet descended through the clouds and I tried to see out, but Rockley leant forward and slammed down the window shutter. “Let's not spoil de surprise, eh?”

  I feared where we were going with all my heart. But I had to be strong. If there was one thing I'd learned from my time in the V Games, it was that freedom could be won even when it seemed impossible. I was just sad I didn't have a happy-go-lucky Werewolf to get me through it this time.

  Jameson

  I slept most of the flight, nursing my hangover. Rockley Jones lived somewhere in Wales so we hired a black Volvo at London Heathrow Airport and Ulvic started driving us west.

  My head lolled against the passenger seat window. I thumbed my new iPod, controlling the music. I'd settled on some blues and the rest of my pack soon fell asleep in the back of the car.

  “When are we going home?” I asked Ulvic as he took a slip road onto the M40.

  “After we visit Rockley,” Ulvic said evasively.

  “And how long will we be staying with him?”

  Ulvic shrugged. “Depends. I have some business I need to discuss with him.”

  “Like?” I pressed.

  Ulvic sighed. “There's a man called Silas Madigan who runs a company called IDAHO. He was the one who fixed my hand. He's developing drugs to be put on sale to the human population. Immortal drugs. Like V blood.”

  “Can he do that?” I asked. “Wouldn't that change like – everything?”

  “Yes. So we must be prepared. Rockley is working with Silas to introduce Immortals to the world. It won't be an easy process. So we're going to help him.”

  “How?” I demanded. That all sounded like a terrible idea. And I didn't fancy getting wrapped up in the drama of it. Immortals hadn't been part of the human world for centuries. How was the modern world gonna cope with that news?

  Oh yeah, by the way guys, there's Vampires that would all like to drink from you. So if you could hand over a few cups of blood to keep them happy, that'd be swell.

  “We're going to help with the transition. You and the rest of the pack are going to be needed to keep the peace between the humans. We're already in negotiations with some high-up officials who know about the Immortals. They're not all happy about the idea, but most of them got onboard when Rockley offered them a payout for their cooperation. Plus, they'll be amongst the first to receive Silas Madigan's drugs.”

  “So this is all about money?” I guessed, the heat rising in my veins. I did not want to get involved in this. When did Ulvic make this decision?

  “No, not for me anyway,” Ulvic muttered.

  “So what's in it for you?” I asked.

  “Protection. Security. Scientists will be lining up to get a hold of Immortal beings. I'm trying to keep you all safe.”

  I frowned, wondering if he was telling the truth. That couldn't be all he was after. We were perfectly capable of protecting ourselves. Our island was secure. No one would find us there.

  “I don't get it. Why don't we just keep our heads down?” I asked. “Or try and stop this from even happening?”

  “It's already underway,” Ulvic insisted. “We need to join forces with the right peop
le. To prepare for the coming storm.”

  “It's gonna be more than a storm, Ulvic. The world will descend into chaos if they know there's Immortals out there capable of killing them.”

  “That's what Rockley's working on. We have to keep Immortals under our control. And prove to the human population that they're no danger.”

  I didn't like the sound of that. It sounded like Hunters getting their kicks out of their power again. The V Games was an obvious example of that.

  “Keep us under control in what way? You're talking about me and my pack here, Ulvic. I don't want to be collared like a dog.” My voice was rising and I could tell by the shifting sounds behind me that I was on the verge of waking everybody up.

  “You will be safe with me, as always,” Ulvic promised. “I won't let anyone hurt you.” He glanced over, giving me a hard look. Turning back to the road, he muttered, “Not again.”

  “Something happened to me, didn't it? You're not telling me something,” I insisted.

  “The V Games were brutal, Jameson. You almost died a hundred times. It killed me to watch-”

  “Wait, you were there?” The fact hit me like a bullet to the chest.

  He nodded stiffly. “For the second round anyway...”

  “I went through two games? I thought I was only signed up for one.”

  “You were, until the Helsings decided to hold onto you.” Ulvic sighed. “A few of the contestants grouped together, rose up, fought their way out. I was there when the breakout happened. And I...well I suppose you could say I rescued you.”

  My brows raised at that. Ulvic wasn't much of a hero. I mean, sure he was a pretty sound guy. But he wasn't a rebel. I couldn't imagine him swooping in to save my neck.

  “And I did what? Stood idly by whilst this breakout happened?” I narrowed my gaze. That didn't sound like me.

  “Well no actually. You were a part of it.”

  My chest swelled at his words. “Oh. So what happened to the rest of the breakout gang?”

  “I don't know,” Ulvic said vaguely. “A lot of them died. I got you on my boat and we got the hell out of there. Not before I lost most of my hand...” He cleared his throat. “To a Vampire.”