A Sinister Game (9 page)

“I don’t like the stakes,” she said.

He smiled again,
showing teeth
. “I do.” 

The silence between them stretched as Victoria tried to think of something to say. There seemed to b
e no way to win this argument, n
o way to get out of the corner that Black had backed her into.

At last, Victor seemed to come to some sort of decision. His expression hardened with a firm resolve. He stepped back
. A
t once
,
Victoria felt as though she could breathe normally again.

“I’ll give you twenty-four hours, Victoria. Come to me in that time and I will allo
w you to set half
the rules.”

“I thought you said that time was a commodity you just happened to possess,” Victoria hissed at him. Now that he’d put space between them, the fury she’d felt hours ago was building up once more.

“Oh, it is
.”

She watched as he turned to face the clock on the wall, raised one arm, and with a release of power that felt ice cold
,
he telekinetically moved the long hand forward ten spaces.

“Patience, however, is a virtue of which
,
”
h
e pinned her to the spot with a blatantly hungry expression
,
“I am in short supply.”

He finished with the clock and strode to the room’s exit. He spoke to her as he walked. “One day, Victoria. You have
one
day – and then the Game will begin, whether you’re ready or not.”

What the hell kind of choice is that?
Victoria thought frantically as she stared after him.

He laughed and turned to face her one last time, his tall, dark form outlined by the light of the exit door. “At the moment, it’s yours
,
”
h
e said. Then he opened the door, stepped through it, and was gone.

* * * *

“Boss!”

Victoria didn’t
really
hear the female voice calling her. Her thoughts were turned inward to some murky, muddy place where the present world drowned itself in the mucky mire of indecision and fear.

“Hey, boss!”

This time, the voice cut through the fog of her consciousness and Victoria frowned. She turned in the aisle of the library where she’d
been going through the leather
b
ound
tomes on everything from battle strat
egy to hunting and tracking
to psychic empowerment
. She’d been at it
for close to seven hours.

April Rose and Ty Murrey, two of Red team’s
four members, not including its
leader, were at the end of the a
isle coming toward her
.

Ty was a bit shorter than Max, had dark brown skin, and short curly black hair. His brown eyes were quick and keen. He was a skilled fighter on the Field.

April’s red hair
fell to just above her shoulders and had always delighted Victoria. It was so very red – like something she could almost remember. A few freckles graced April’s nose and cheeks, and dark blue eyes gave her fair features an appealing contrast.

Both players were currently dressed in downtime uniforms.

Victoria placed her latest book on the table in the middle of the aisle and forced a smile to her face. Normally, smiling at her team members came easily. They made her happy; they’d become her friends.

But today, they represented everything th
at Victoria feared losing.

S
he also didn’t want them to get in the way. 

“What are you reading?” April asked, glancing curio
usly at the book behind her
. “Did Simon talk you into checking out one of his ancient epics?”

“No,” Vict
oria laughed. It sounded hollow
even to her own ears. “Just studying up for the next battle.”

“We’re still starting up in three days, right?” Ty asked
. He was always on top of the Game schedule. Nothing officially
change
d
without him knowing it.

“If we weren’t, you would know before I would, Ty
,
” Victoria said
. “Four day break, as promised. We’ll meet at the tower and then hea
d out to the Field as scheduled
in three days’ time.” She may as well reassure them. No need to tell them tha
t
somewhere inside of
those three days
,
she may lose a personal Game to Victor Black and then die trying to overthrow the government.

No. No need to tell them all that just now.

Ty nodded and smiled a mischievous smile. “Then we’re off
to make the most of it
,” he said, taking his girlfriend’s hand and pulling her back down the aisle. April’s smile was both shy and excited as they waved a little goodbye. Victoria smiled back and then
sat down to turn
her attention once more to her book.

She’d read two paragraphs into the first page when a shadow fell over the tome.

She looked up into bright blue eyes framed by a handsome face and wavy brown hair. “Max.”

He smiled
,
and this time Victoria’s return smile was indeed natural.

“Since when do you hole yourself up in the library like Simon?”
h
e asked gent
ly, his voice lightly teasing
.

“
We go up against Black again
in three days.
Every little bit helps.
” She held up the book so he could see the title.

“The Paranormal Edge:
A Guide to Psychic Combat,” Max read. Then he chuckled. “I’d say you have that
part
pretty much down. Do you really
think there’s anything in there you can’t already do
?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea. But it’s bette
r to know it than not know it,
just in case.”

“Fair enough
.
”
H
e pulled out one of the chairs at the table and
sat across from her.
“You’ve bee
n
in here for seven hours, boss.”

Victoria blinked. How had he known that?

He went on. “You’ve been under a lot of pressure. Your controls aren’t working and things have been going haywire
,
and the most important Game in your career as
t
eam leader so far is in just a few days. I can tell you didn’t get any sleep last night,” he said, his tone lowering
,
“
Again
.” He gave her a reproachful look and she
briefly looked away
.

“Medicine
not helping?”

She shrugged, not wanting to get into how the night had
really
gone.

“So, I was just wondering
,
” Max went on
,
“Is there an
ything you’d like to get off
your chest?”

“No
,
”
s
he replied,
looking back at him with wide eyes
,
an
innocent look completely feigned.

He smiled
,
and
for a moment
there was something strangely familiar about it. Victoria blinked, feeling inexplicably apprehensive.

“Nothing at all?” Max asked.

She shook her head, but didn’t answer. He slowly placed his hands palm-down on the tabletop and stood, leaning over the table to bring his face in close to hers. “
Nothing
you wish to share
?
”

She frowned, backing up a few inches in her chair.

“Such as the fact that Victor Black has challenged you to a
personal
Game and that if you lose you will find yourself in his bed for one night
?
” He came closer and lowered his voice to a whisper, but she could still hear the accent that suddenly laced his words. “One
precious
, long night that you will
never
forget,
sweet
Victoria?”

Her eyes widened and she wanted to stand – to run – but once more, she felt frozen to the spot, he
r legs numb, her muscles turned to
jelly.

“You have no honor, Black
,
”
s
he whispered. She wanted to scream it, but the whisper was all she could manage at that moment.

Maxwell Blood began to mor
ph before Victoria’s eyes. I
n a few seconds, he no longer stood before her.
Victor Black stood there instead
.

“You smile very easily at your
t
eam captain, Vi
ctoria. Do you really find him so charming?
”

“
Nothing is beneath you, is it?”
In anger, she found the strength
to put some force behind her words this time. “You leave Max out of this.”

His gaze darkened.

She went on. “It comes to this.” That same fury was chasing away the numbness in her limbs. “I could never go up against you in a Game.” She pushed her chair back, putting more space between them. “Your powers are too great. You’ve more than demonstrated that in the last day and a
half.” She could feel the fury
within her leaking into her gaze
,
and she hoped
that
he could feel it too.

Black had no immediate reply to her accusation. He watched her for another moment and then straigh
tened, coming off
the table. There was an ice-cold determination to his expression. “Fair is fair, Red. Accept my challenge and I promise not to use any power
against you
that you can not at least equal.”

“I don’t believe you.”

His smile was back. “Yes you do, Victoria.”

Shit
. He was right. She did
believe him
. She believed him b
ecause he had never lied to her. Not even in the midst of all of
this
.

Victoria stood and met his gaze head on. For what seemed like a short eternity, they stared at one another across the aisle in that library – Red and Black, the two most powerful Game leaders in history, head to head in one tiny, neutral space within the Playing Field wall.

Finally, Victoria took a deep, steadying breath and steeled her nerves.

There was nothing for it. She had no choice. Victor Blac
k would not back down on this, a
nd things would only get worse.

“Very well,” she said.

There was a wealth of promise in the victorious look that flashed across Black’s handsome features. There was anticipation, too.

A tremor
raced through Victoria’s body as she recalled the feel of him above her, pinning her to her bed, his lips on her throat
,
her breast, h
is teeth around her
nipple
.
Warmth
spread
through her
,
and she was helpless to suppress the blush that rushed up her neck and into her cheeks.

Victor took it all in with steady, dominant grace. And then he pulled
his glove off and held his right hand out
, palm up.

Victoria
swallowed hard
. Finally, she nodded and slowly placed her own right hand a
top
his
, palm-down
. His fingers
at once
curled around her
, locking her in the embrace
.

S
he felt the cold power o
f his hold rush up into her flesh
. Sh
e countered it with her own power,
and heat met cold; fire met ice.

He held their embrace as he laid down the law
. “You have until night
fall, Victoria
. Do whatever you can to get as far away
from me
as possible
, b
ecause when that sun goes
down
love
, I’m coming for
you.” He lowered his voice to a whisper, his grip tightening on her hand. “Run like the devil is on
your heels, beautiful
. T
onight, he will be.”