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Gently, I place her down on her back, worshipping her body with my hands as I kiss her so deeply, I don’t think I’ll ever come up for air. I’d rather drown.
“Audience members, Advocates, and Players!” Carrick’s annoying voice slices through our moment. I continue to kiss Blue, but gentler, slower. I want her to feel what I feel. “We have a surprise event in store for you tonight.” He pauses, building the suspense.
I wrap my arms around Blue and hold her to me. Her body hums with heat and pleasure, and I say one last time, in her ear, “Where you go, I’ll find you.”
“The second Bidding!” Carrick calls.
And I say my farewell to Blue.
For now.
Chapter Twenty-Four: Eve
The Bulls With No Balls
The arrogant prick waltzes in front of the whole crowd and places himself at the center next to Laurence and me. He gives us each a look, a shit eating grin on his face, and I know what horrors I’m about to face. Carrick is finally going to get what he wants.
“Gentleman… and ladies.” He throws in the “ladies” as if we’re nothing but an afterthought, nothing but playthings to him, like acknowledging us is an inconvenience. “Advocates, you are in luck. The Gamemakers are looking to spice things up this year. As an honorary Gamemaker, I figured I’d bend the rules a little bit.”
The crowd is silent, waiting for Carrick to get to the point. But when any attention is on him, he’s not one to give it up easily. His performance isn’t over yet.
“We’ve had quite the games this year. Rule benders and memorable performances.” He looks at me again, hunger in his eyes, and I think I’m going to throw up. Laurence pulls me closer. “It’s no wonder we’re all losing money when we’ve got a Player like Blue on our hands.”
A round of low laughter fills the room. Carrick moves to place an arm around me, but the look Laurence shoots him is nothing short of deadly.
He drops his arm and continues his speech. “I think we can all agree we want a chance at the jackpot with a Player of our choosing. So, to do that… we’ll be holding another Bidding.”
Hands folded in front of him, looking out over the crowd as if he’s just offered these billionaires the greatest gift, his smile quickly falters when a murmur of, “Where’s Terrence?” rises up.
“So close to the end of the games?” someone else calls out. Sarah’s Advocate, from the looks of it, sitting in his lap on one of the many couches.
Turns out these billionaires, and the Advocates with their sealed Players, aren’t too fond of rule bending.
Speaking of rule bending, there doesn’t appear to be any Gamemakers in sight. No one to uphold the rules. Only Laurence.
“No,” he says next to me, the word dangling in the silence with finality. Laurence and I are already on such thin ice that I’m not sure what weight his statement will carry, but despite fearing there’s no way out of this, I trust that whatever he’s about to say next is calculated. “As an Advocate who wants to keep my Player, I say no to this rule bending. Our voices should have a say in this.”
Carrick gives him a look that’s almost pitying. “Good thing it’s not up to you, then, Vale. It’s up to the Gamemakers. You’re inourgame, remember?”
That sounds like a threat.
Vaughn reappears from wherever he disappeared to and approaches Carrick. For a moment, I hope—I plead—that he’s here to listen to the Advocates and spare me from this mess, but the look he gives me, the very one he gave me in the interrogation room, tells me all I need to know.
I’m fucked.
“We want to ensure the most satisfying of victories to you, the Advocates. With this impromptu event which Vaughn, our head Gamemaker, came up with himself, there will be an even bigger cash prize at the end.” Vaughn’s news is great for everyone but Laurence and me. Despite being top Player, I knowexactly where I’m headed after this. “Please, step down,” he says to Laurence and I with a gesture, “and take a seat as the second Bidding begins.”
Laurence guides us past the couches and center stage. All the while, I can feel Vaughns eyes on my back. We head for a corner, where no one could possibly hear Laurence as he spins me toward him, gripping my shoulders. “We’re running out of time, Blue. Listen very carefully to my instructions. Remember the reasoning behind me sending Aurelia to you? The connection between you and Carrick’s other past Players?”
“Yes, obviously.”
Laurence’s gaze flicks back to the stage and I notice that Vaughn is heading over to us with a determined look on his face as Carrick continues to vie for attention.
Leaning closer, Laurence says in my ear in a hushed whisper, “I have a plan. You just need to remember what we’re after. Remember whatyou’reafter, Eve.”
“Laurence,” I plead back in a whisper, grabbing onto his forearms, “how will I get it to you? We can’t plan together, we can’t work together… who will I talk to?” As Vaughn closes in, I panic.
Laurence took my face in his hands. “Do you trust me?”
