Rat Race (Devil’s Playground #2)

19. Cam

Cam

Second place isn’t so bad, Cammy.

A ubrey’s panicked voice was ringing in my ears, but not louder than Pa’s voice.

No! Leave the girl! Take the win! Take what’s yours! Take it! Take it! Take it!

I wouldn’t let Elijah take this from me. All those who were part of the Ranch lived there, received an education there; we talked, played together when we were children. We were closer than just random players in the maze. Back at the Ranch, he was like a brother to me. But the moment he stepped foot into the arena at the same time as me—once he’d made his offering—that didn’t mean a hill of beans. He was just another fuckin’ obstacle.

And it would be the same for anyone else who entered the maze, whether they were Ranch or not. He isn’t special.

I repeated that in my head.

Elijah isn’t special.

He’s nobody.

The lick of flames made sweat dew along my skin, the oppressive heat bitin’ into me even from the safety that Aubrey had created in her sacrifice.

There wasn’t any time to hesitate. I had a choice to make.

Win or lose. The end was so close. The cool air from outside hit my front, the flames licked my back. I just had to choose which one I wanted more .

Which one I was willing to give more for.

So why did both options feel like losing?

I could leave her. Run for the exit, maybe even kill Elijah while I had the chance. The flames would consume her, burning her smooth skin and gorgeous blonde hair. Her screams would be forever replayed on the soundtrack of my win as I walked out of the maze. I’d spend the rest of my life watching the footage of me turning my back on the first thing in my life I’d ever chosen for myself.

If I left her there, if she died because I’d chased after Elijah… I’d never forgive myself. Of that I was entire certain… But was it enough to turn my back on everything I’d ever known?

It’d only been a couple hours since we first met. Since I finally got my fill of her delicious sweetness. Since I first saw just how open and willin’ she was to accept the parts of me I hid deep inside.

The length of time might’ve been short, but the connection was undeniable.

Written in blood and ashes.

Especially when we were separated, or I saw her in danger. It was like my body and heart had a mind of their own. They’d ignored everythin’ I should do in favor of savin’ her.

And yet… I hesitated.

I’d entered the Games for a reason.

And if I helped her and that treacherous cunt won instead of me? I’d never be able to face it. I’d have to go back to the Ranch, my entire family and the Church watchin’ as the last of the Weston line lost to one of their own brothers in faith.

A disappointment.

An embarrassment.

How would anyone still believe in the Ranch’s effectiveness if their own child couldn’t win the maze? If they chose failure in favour of mercy. Turned their back on the very tenets we espoused?

I'd never live it down.

My body was movin’ before I’d fully made my decision, the knife that Ella’d used to threaten me finding my hand and clicking open the moment it was free of my back pocket.

Save her, or win. Are these really my only two options?

I looked back at Aubrey, barely able to make out her shape behind the flames. Her screams were loud in my ears, panic seepin’ through the air to lick at me as surely as the heat.

The fear.

It hit me hard, but the sweet, cool air from the opening of the maze was beckonin’ like I was a lost child and it was a house made a’ candy.

I turned back to Elijah as Aubrey let out a pained moan. She’d stopped yelling at me. Stopped cursing me. Her coughs even beginning to quiet in my hesitation.

Screams and cheers were still pouring in from the opening, the sound of thousands of clapping hands roaring in my eyes. Behind me, the flames were rumbling. My own breath echoing in my ears as I faced Elijah, everything else slowly fading into the background.

“Are you comin’, or what?” Elijah asked with a cheeky grin that showed off his crooked teeth. “Second place ain’t so bad, Cammy.”

He looked worse for wear. His face covered in blood—I wasn’t sure whose—and dirt. The side of his cheek’d been split, showin’ just how close he’d been to dyin’ when Aubrey’s trap went off.

Just like we’d been taught, he was still goin’, no matter that exhaustion was pulling his shoulders down. Just like I was. We were too close to the end of the maze to stop now.

But he’d made a mistake. He’d underestimated me. How far I was willin’ to go.

“Sorry, Eli,” I called, throwin’ the knife with the kind of precision that came from years of target practice. “Only one of us is crossin’ that finish line.”

The knife embedded itself into his eye socket, the man, hardly much older than a boy, crumplin’ to the ground with a thud drowned by the roar of flames. I heard a buzz, but it didn’t register either. It seemed too far away.

The weight of my decision threatened to pull me into madness, my mind heavy with the reality that I’d just betrayed my entire family.

All for a woman.

Naw, not a woman, an angel .

I turned, hardly able to see her through the blaze.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Peaches. I’m comin’, sweetheart!”

The wall was entirely smooth, save for the gaps where the flames were comin’ from, the metal glowing red with heat. But I knew there had to be… somethin’. A valve. A puzzle. A way to turn it off.

Aubrey coughed out of my sight, the smoke and heat long since overwhelmed her. The noise made my brain rattle in my skull, panic makin’ my movements jerky as I felt over the walls and floor desperately for somethin’, anythin’.

Like a fuckin’ raccoon digging for garbage.

And then I heard it. My watch came to life, and I knew now the last buzz I’d heard was my PK... But now? It’d gotta be somethin’ else.

Ping!

Vic_Official : look up!

My eyes traveled upwards, spotting the metal hook hangin’ from the ceiling above the center of the blaze.

I’d only have one shot at this. If I missed, my rope would fall into the flames, and Aubrey would be burned to a crisp.

I unhooked the lasso from my side, rotating the rope a few times before aimin’ it straight for the hook.

Seconds slowed into hours as I watched my throw fly, the fibers catchin’ around the metal. I pulled hard, and water exploded from the ceiling, rainin’ down and extinguishin’ the flames.

Lord be DAMNED, I am sick of being wet!

Butit didn’t mean shit the moment Aubrey came into view, singed and curled into a ball in the middle of the floor, deep black marks on the hot, cracked stones. The soles of my boots stuck slightly to the floor where they’d begun to melt as I lifted her into my arms in a sort of bridal carry, careful not to jostle her too hard.

“Peaches? You hang in there for me angel. Cam’s got you now.”

She groaned, and I thanked my lucky stars for the noise as she begun to stir, the thick drops of water clearing the soot from her face in streaks.

“Cam?” she whispered softly, her hand fistin’ in the fabric of my soggy tank top.

“Right here,” I murmured, heading for the exit, the cool air and noise floodin’ back with every step.

Camera flashes were damn near blinding as I turned sideways, ensuring that Aubrey and I stepped through into the winners circle at the same time to a roar of cheers and applause. The people were ravenous. Hands reached out to try and touch us. Paparazzi were screaming our names evey which direction.

A fucking madhouse. I had been on the other side, watching my siblings make it through, but never had I imagined it be that jarring.

After the relative quiet of the arena it was overwhelming. The sights and sounds a dizzyin’ array of sensations that left me feelin’ off-kilter. I squeezed my eyes shut briefly, taking a deep breath and focusin’ on the fragile body in my arms.

“Cam?” My head turned at Pa’s familiar southern drawl, his thick moustache practically quivering with rage as our eyes locked. Luckily there was a small fence and about a thousand cameras or he might just teach me a lesson right then and there. “What in Heaven have you done?”

My lip curled, the anger that’d been bubblin’ since the moment I’d seen Elijah boiling over the blackened kettle of my emotions. Pa choosing to send him in gave a message, and I read it loud and fucking clear.

He never trusted me. He never thought I’d live up to the family name.

I hadn’t realized until that moment. Where Pa stood behind that fence, eyes enraged, jaw tight, fists clenched, that he had instilled so much hatred in me.

I used to look up to him. To the family. But that changed ever since enterin’ the maze. Ever since he sent Elijah in with me.

There was no going back. I chose my side.

And I’m damn fucking proud of it.

“Made a show of it,” I snarled triumphantly, spitting at his feet. “Now if you’ll fuckin’ excuse me, traitor, I have a podium to get to.”