Darling Wildfire (Red Rabbit #2)

36

NYX

Well, that had been quite the pep talk. The brand hurt like a bitch but I tried to ignore it as we were led out the door and back up the stairs. We remained cuffed but instead of going back to our cells, we were directed to a different door that led out to a waiting cargo van. We got into the back and the door shut behind us, throwing us into blackness.

We drove for several hours. I tried to follow the twists and turns but it became too much after the first hour. By the third hour, the road turned into a relatively well kept dirt road. We slowed down, going at a moderate albeit bumpy speed. No one spoke. There wasn’t anything to say. We were cuffed. We had those damn trackers in us and we had no clue where we were or where we were going. Trying to plan anything would have been suicide and I think we all realized it.

When the van finally stopped, the doors opened and cold air blew through the back sending a shiver through my body. I was one of the last to hop down and what I saw took my breath away as efficiently as the cold air against my bare chest. We were somewhere in heavily forested mountains.

Off in the distance sat a tall, modern mansion. Most of it consisted of floor to ceiling windows across all three stories. Where it wasn’t windows, it was dark metal and black concrete. Modern and sinister, it sat on its perch overlooking a vast forest as far as the eye could see. Isolation at its finest.

Turning to my left, I saw another building, and this was where we went. Equally modern and aesthetically pleasing, it was a one story structure built of stone, metal and glass. We passed through the front doors and through two additional checkpoints until the doors opened up to a large room with seven cots along the far wall. The floor was gray concrete with several rugs and there was even a sitting area in one corner. The vaulted ceilings rose above us and one entire wall was glass that looked out over a covered gym area and a sloping lawn beyond that.

The far edge of the yard held a dirt trail that ran in a circle around a pond. The entire yard was once more surrounded by high barbed wire fencing. Looking at the other side of the room, there was an open doorway where I glimpsed a full bathroom with a massive double head shower, toilet and two sinks set into a wide vanity.

I whistled low as I took it all in.

“Fancy,”

I muttered.

It was almost…cozy. That is of course if I ignored the surveillance cameras dotting the corners of the room and the fact the door had bars on it. The cuffs were removed, and the guards locked us in. One of them stood at the grate in the door and addressed us.

“You are now one of Vetticus’ personal Atrox teams and if you survive the games, you will return here after each one. The door to the yard will automatically unlock from noon to five every day. Meals will be delivered at 8am, noon and 5pm. Change into the new clothes and put the discarded ones in the bin there.”

He gestured to a flap in the wall near the door.

Once he was gone, we chose beds. North chose one on the far side, closest to the glass doors, I went next to him with Atlas next to me. Each bed had two sets of clothes folded neatly. I picked up the sweatpants and sweatshirt which were now a dark shade of forest green instead of gray.

“Another white t-shirt. Fashion at its finest,” I said.

I pulled it over my head, followed by the sweatshirt then went and stood at the glass doors. The sun had long since set, but the yard was lit up with high-powered floodlights, revealing every corner and blade of grass in stark contrast.

“I hope we don’t have to sleep with those on.”

“Are you done complaining?”

Atlas asked. “Jesus—this isn’t a five star resort.”

“Are we sure? Maybe we’re being Punk’d. Ashton!”

I turned and called into the room, peering up at the closest camera. “Mm, doesn’t look like it.”

I flipped off the camera instead.

“So how are we going to play this?”

I turned to see who had spoken.

Vyper. He was the definition of a jarhead. Close shaved head, nearly bald, with eyes that had seen some shit. His only tattoo was of a snake wrapped around his arm and ended with the snake’s head open and striking on his chest. He had several vicious looking scars running across his abs.

“How about some introductions first?”

North said.

I couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he studied Vyper and the others, but that was nothing new.

“I go by Vyper in the field. I’m a Marine.”

I already didn’t like him.

The man beside him spoke up next. He was blond and didn’t look a day over eighteen—a child—with a pouty set to his mouth. He was unassuming. A face I’d forget in a crowd.

“Names Colt. I’m a Marine too.”

“Now that looks like a complainer,”

I murmured to Atlas under my breath. His lips twitched as he tried to hold back his amusement.

“Dutch. Marine—I’m a sniper.”

Short brown hair, kind brown eyes—he reminded me of a puppy that had been kicked too many times and now resorted to biting the hand that tried to show affection. Quiet, calculating—but lost.

Aren’t we all?

“Preacher. SWAT—law enforcement for ten years.”

Intelligent blue eyes swept the group and landed on North, giving him a once over. He knew who was really in charge. I could tell he was used to leading—giving orders, not taking them. There was a no nonsense way about him. He didn’t have any visible ink on his bare chest, but an ugly scar ran across his neck in a way that made it very apparent someone had tried to slit his throat. He oozed cop energy.

North nodded to him and then all eyes were on me.

“Reaper. SEAL,”

I said. “All around—I’ll do whatever.”

“Phantom. SEAL,”

Atlas said. “I’m also a sniper.”

Everyone looked at North. “Kraven. SEAL.”

“Alright then,”

Vyper said. “Anyone object to me taking point?”

No one objected but one look at Vyper and I already knew what kind of person he was and it wasn’t someone I wanted leading me into a war zone. I exchanged discrete looks with Atlas and North and saw we were on the same page. North sat down on his bed and I sat on mine facing him. Atlas joined me at the foot and I leaned in.

“Him as team lead? Really?”

North’s jaw ticked but otherwise he remained emotionless.

“Let’s feel out the first game and see what we’re really getting ourselves into. Then we can formulate a better plan.”

“Maybe the arena is where we can find a way to escape,”

Atlas said. “They’re handing us live weapons.”

Before North could answer, Vyper spoke up again. “Alright, let’s talk strategy and then try to get a few hours of sleep. We don’t really know what we’re getting into but we should all be on the same page when we get out there.”

I sighed. It was going to be a long night.