Rat Race (Devil’s Playground #2)

13. Cam

Cam

If ya bite the hand that fuckin’ feeds ya, expect them to take yours clean off.

T urned out that no matter how many vitamins you took or perfectly balanced meals designed for performance you ate, a twenty-five-foot free fall into a foot and a half of water still hurt like a fuckin’ bitch.

Goddamn, I’m fucking sick of being wet , I thought again.

I didn't remember so much water in previous years. Though, maybe I was just unlucky, you know?

Or maybe I was just making the wrong choices, and this was my punishment. A warning that I was close to losing the Games. And my life. A little tidbit that became abundantly clear as I sat up, rubbing my side irritably.

My body throbbed, my lungs aching with each inhale.

And I fucking reek. There was too much blood. Too much water that’d dried on me.

Like a horse taken out for a hard ride and put back wet.

I’m so fucking done with this.

None of my siblings' Games seemed to be such a disgrace. Such an embarrassment. It was like the Architects went out of their way to degrade the Runners in every way possible.

Maybe they were low on funding.

They’re just better than you, Pa’s voice whispered in my mind. You’re a disappointment. Can’t even get to the end of the Games, let alone make a solid offering.

“Enough,” I whispered, anger making it hard to think straight. “ Fucking enough .”

My mind was spinning, trying to come to terms with the fall, almost dying, and the nagging thought that because I wasn’t doing good enough, I was a failure to my family. To my God .

No offering. No winning. No vengeance. No offering. No winning. No vengeance.

My head was pounding with each word echoing through my mind.

Failure. No offering. Failure. No winning. Disappointment. No vengeance.

Again. Again. And again.

No winning. Disappointment. No vengeance. Fail ? —

A loud moan of pain sounded throughout the room, echoing off the wall.

Relief hit me like a tractor.

Right. I wasn’t alone. I had my very own crazy guardian angel coming to my ruin.

And thank God for that.

"Aubrey?" I called, listening to the blonde wheeze a few feet away while watching as Ella sat up, coughing water.

"I am so fucking sick of you idiots," she groaned, crawling on hand and knee for the lip of the shallow pool, hauling herself out.

A bit rude, but I guessed I could see how it seemed like her misfortune was our mistake.

The Architects are trying to kill us.

Not only did they set off a fucking tsunami in a closed maze, but they had us free falling to a concrete floor below with only very little water to soften our fall.

I’d prepared for damn near anything, but somehow, after years of Games, they managed to surprise me.

At least there weren’t no spikes waitin’.

Didn’t much care for becoming a kebab.

“It’s your fault, you cunt,” Aubrey said with a groan.

I followed after Ella, the sound of water sloshing behind me warning that Aubrey was starting to fight her way to the lip herself.

“At least I’m trying !” Ella said, sending a venomous glare toward Aubrey. “You’re just a fucking leech, not even contributing anything to getting us the fuck out of here. All you do is mess things up, whine about not getting that fucked-up cowboy’s attention, and whore yourself out for the entire world to see! Don’t think I didn’t hear your disgusting begging for Cam to fuck you!”

Fuck that. Aubrey was rash and had a questionable moral code, but I wouldn’t stand by and watch as Ella talked to her like that.

"Watch it," I warned the brunette. "Don’t you be gettin’ ugly on her. We could’ve just left you back there with the rats."

"Told you she’s a cunt," Aubrey said, rocketing blood out of her nose. "Leave. I told your dumb ass we don't need you."

Ella got strangely quiet after that. I should have taken it as the red flag that it was.

I hauled myself out of the shallow pool, turning to offer Aubrey a hand up when the unmistakable cool press of metal against my back made me freeze.

No way. No fucking way.

Aubrey’d been right. The entire fucking time.

I’m a goddamn fool.

I wanted to believe that Ella was good. Didn’t wanna be like my siblings, so I actively ignored the voice in the back of my mind that told me to ditch her—to kill her.

And look where that fuckin’ got me.

On the business end of a knife I’d stolen. I thought I was able to nick it undetected from Elijah’s goon but someone saw it. Ella. She’d seen everything and had been slowly planning her move.

Mother. Fucker.

Ella shifted behind me, pushing the sharp end of the knife into my back hard enough to send a burst of pain through me.

It was high up, between one of my ribs… and right where my lungs were.

It would kill me. She’s trying to kill me.

Anger. Betrayal. Anxiety. All of it exploded inside me. My skin itched with it. My hands shook. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Couldn’t believe?—

How fuckin’ stupid you are. It was Pa’s voice again. This time I didn’t tell him to shut up. He was just whispering my own thoughts back to me.

I watched in slow motion as Aubrey moved closer to us, oblivious to the shift in power. The annoyingness on her features hadn’t yet changed to rage. Those sharp eyes of hers had yet to home in on Ella.

I had but mere seconds until she came to the same conclusion I did.

It was one thing for her to stab me in the back, but…

I didn’t know what I was more worried about. Ella hurting Aubrey, or what Aubrey would try to do to the girl once she found out she had a knife to my back.

"Peaches, stay right there," I called, putting my hand up to stop Aubrey from advancing.

Maybe this is the test. Maybe it’s not Aubrey at all.

It’s Ella.

I hadn’t once suspected her. Not even when Aubrey had so unabashedly called her out on it. Because, in my mind, the temptation of Aubrey should have been the sin. That was the easiest to pinpoint.

But that was the whole point of a test. And I had almost failed it.

Almost.

The whole time in the maze, God had been showing me flashes. Reminding me of what I needed to do. And I ignored it. But now His message was clear.

Make a show of it.

And fuck me, I was ready to spit venom. Making a show was the least I’d do.

I still had a chance. And I wasn’t going to let it slip through my fingers.

Aubrey rolled her eyes, continuing her path toward us, my heart beating a thousand miles an hour in my chest with every waterlogged step.

Now it was a game of who could move the fastest.

If Ella did, and punctured a vital organ, I wasn't entirely sure I'd manage to survive long enough to crack her skull open.

A sort of wave washed over me, pushing away all my fears and worries about Aubrey.

She was never the test.

I almost felt… giddy.

Like the knowledge of that alone would be enough to push me to do what I needed to.

Now, I was a good old-fashioned southerner, and when I needed to apologize to my girl, it was customary to bring a gift. Usually, I would’ve opted for flowers, maybe something sparkly to take the edge off. Aubrey was just going to have to make do with what I had on hand—the severed hand of her enemy.

If ya bite the hand that fuckin’ feeds ya, expect them to take yours clean off.

God gave me a hell of a reminder of who I was, and I was keen to make good on it. Now that I knew I could have her, my little bloodied angel, I sure as shit wasn't going to let no traitorous little witch take her from me.

"One more step," Ella called. "And I'll run them through with this knife. You think taking out a Weston will give me a nice final score boost? Only one way to find out, right?"

My watch buzzed on my wrist, not that I had an opportunity to look at the messages... Or that I could deal to see what Hope had to say about the damned predicament that I’d gotten myself into.

Fuckin’ embarassin’.

“Slowly take a step and turn to your left,” Ella commanded. When I didn’t move right away, she pushed the sharp tip of the knife deeper into my skin.

With a sigh, I did as ordered. Didn’t much like being walked around like a dog, but there was nothing to be done about it for the moment.

“You see those chains?” she asked. My eyes caught two shiny chains on either side of a grate that separated us from the rest of the maze. “You’re coming with me.”

"Don’t," Aubrey said, her eyes moving between me and Ella, rounded with worry.

My perfect little angel coming to the rescue.

I didn’t know it was possible to fall so madly in love with someone so quickly, but a little temptation had turned into a full-blown craving for her.

A craving to take her. A craving to destroy her. A craving to ruin her in ways that would make the good Lord shy away in fear. And knowin’ Aubrey, she’d gladly take anything I was fixin’ to give her.

I reckon it won’t be without no fight, but that’s the fun of it.

Aubrey’s lips parted, hand twitching at her side for a baseball bat that I was sure she was sorely missing now that I was in a world of trouble.

"Ella, c'mon, let’s talk about this," I said smoothly, turning my head to look at her out of the corner of my eye with one of those charming, lopsided smiles.

The girl I'd called an ally was all but gone, her face twisted and cruel as her darkened eyes bore up into mine.

The plan was already forming before she replied.

“Oh, fuck off, Weston. That shit isn’t going to work on me now.”

Make a show of it, Pa’s voice said, back and stronger than ever. It was ringing in my head, sounding strangely like the church bells back home that rang whenever a good little worshiper did God’s deeds.

They will ring for me too. I’ll make sure of it.

“I will,” I whispered back.

“What did you say?” Ella asked, twisting the knife. I let out a pained hiss.

“Nothin’,” I replied through gritted teeth.

She paused before speaking again, her distrust hanging heavy in the air. "Walk, Cam. You're going to help me open the door."

I nodded, not like I had much choice, and walked on leaden feet toward the metal gate on the far side of the room.

Water sloshed behind us, and the knife pressed further into my back, making me wheeze.

"Aubrey!" I barked. "Stay."

Not a request. An order to an unruly puppy too eager to follow its master.

I pulled one side of the chain, and Ella did the same, the metal grating sliding down into the floor, opening up the corridor beyond.

"Go on," Ella sneered. "In you go."

Idiot . The last thing you want to do is make it so that I don't have to worry about Aubrey's safety if things go south from my trying to attack you.

It’s too good. Too perfect.

God was guidin’ me.

I stepped through, Ella turning to look at Aubrey through the grate.

"Don't worry, Peaches ," she sneered back at Aubrey. "I'll take good care of your little cowboy."

Aubrey’s furious glare shoulda peeled paint. I could practically see the bloodthirsty thoughts swirling around her head.

I hope she loves what I’m gonna do. It’s a present for both God and my bloodied angel.

Ella didn’t stay long after the grate closed, shoving us along the corridor quickly.

It wouldn't be long until Aubrey caught up with us.

Ella looked at her watch, a filthy smirk crossing her features as she stopped, shoving her hand into a hole in the wall and pulling hard on a lever I hadn’t noticed hidden inside.

The floor rumbled, the stone walls around us beginning to rise and lower, the once long hall in front of us shortening into a dead end as the wall to our left opened wide. Dust and debris showered down on us, the ground unsteady at our feet as the maze rotated.

The fucking bitch was resetting the game.