48
The first team to arrive is no surprise to me.
I’d watched them fast-track through the torture trial easily since there were only two of them, having abandoned their third member, Valérie, early in the competition.
They’d spent an inordinate amount of time reaching the surface, though, since they only had the one clue.
Nevertheless, both intelligent women, they’d eventually made it ahead of everyone else despite that handicap.
I move to congratulate the German and Scottish competitors when I’m interrupted by the director.
“Ah, Viscount. Ah, two things. One, they still have a third team member somewhere in the tunnels, so technically, they can’t win until she crosses the line. And, ah, two, we’d like to draw out the congratulations until our host is recovered from your, ah, attempt on his life.”
“There was no ‘attempt’ about it, Gerry,” I snort. “I snapped his neck.”
“Yes, ah, you did,” he stammers, stepping a little further back than usual.
“He’ll recover,” I snigger, “give it an hour or so and the sick little fuck will be right as rain, more’s the pity.”
“Yes, an hour,” Gerry nods, none too confidently. “We can draw out the congratulations until then, surely?”
“We obviously won’t need to if there’s still no winner,” I sigh heavily.
“Yes, yes, exactly,” he smiles nervously and turns to talk to the camera crew as I inform the two contestants of his ruling.
“Och, how can that be?” The Scottish girl, Claire, gasps to her teammate, astonished that Valérie’s still alive. “She doesn’t have gills now, does she?”
“I thought she’d drowned,” her German teammate, Silke, shrugs, missing the joke entirely. “What should we do? She could be anywhere down there. We barely found our way out last time. We might get lost again.”
“No choice. We’ll have to go find the daft cow,” Claire sighs.
Silke nods, giving me a long, wistful look.
“Until we return, Viscount,” she says as she turns to run.
“Keep our spot warm,” Claire adds, blowing me a kiss as she spins away.
I turn to leave for a break, but mere seconds after they reach the entrance to the tunnels there’s a gunshot and a scream.
The cameras zoom in, but apparently there’s a blind spot at the entrance tunnel because the crew had figured people would just be running straight through.
Gerry starts frantically ordering camera men to run closer to the entrance to film, while simultaneously abusing those responsible for the fuck-up.
As they rush to get closer, Catriona’s team runs out — without their Italian teammate.
‘Surely they didn’t shoot her? No, I’d smell her blood from a mile away. That shot was for someone else.’
“Ladies,” I give them a brief nod. “You’re aware you cannot cross the line without all your team members?”
‘Where is she?’
“We’re aware,” Evelyn mutters.
“Hi,” Thorun beams at me.
“Hello, Thorun. I was impressed when you saved two competitors. A bold move to gain their clues.”
“Oh, ah.”
I shake my head and return her smile. It’s clear she’d thought only of saving their lives.
“Where’s Catriona?”
Thorun opens her mouth to answer, but stops as three more shots ring out and Catriona’s voice reaches us clear as day through the microphones now recording the tunnels.
“Vafancullo, bitch!”
All eyes turn to the tunnels as the director urges the cameras to keep rolling while at the same time welcoming Starlen back to the set and pointing to where he should stand.
‘Christ, he healed faster than I’d hoped. The bastard is like a cockroach.’
Starlen glares at me before nodding to the director.
“And...Action!”
“And here we have it, Bachelor Universe,” He pastes on his trademark grin as Catriona lurches bleeding towards the finish line, dragging a catsuit laden with guns. “I promised you suspense, I promised you danger, I promised you excitement. And this team has delivered in spades.”
When Catriona reaches the mat she drops her makeshift bag and turns back to point her weapon at the tunnels, ignoring everyone and everything around her as Starlen goes on.
I step back behind the cameras and surreptitiously place a hand over my nose and mouth.
‘Her blood, Christ, her blood!’
“We have our winners!” Starlen shouts. “But wait, what drama unfolds? They don’t look happy.
They don’t look like they’re prepared to celebrate as we all are.
Why ever not? All will be revealed, I promise.
But hang on, who do we have next? I know we’re all on the edge of our seats, hoping, praying our favourites don’t come last. And it seems we won’t have long to wait to find out! ”
One by one the other teams begin to surface as Catriona stands, spent but still unbending, levelling her weapon at the tunnels.
It seems that, wounded as she is, the teams are coming out in the order she’d dictated.
‘And why wouldn’t they? She’d disarmed, shot, negotiated with and bullied them all into doing exactly as she wanted.
Whatever had been agreed upon before the filming in that tunnel, I don’t know, but her own team seem satisfied, and not all those I can see emerging now look disappointed with their placing. Most look relieved.
‘She’s a born strategist.’
Valérie’s team comes in second, the German sporting a leg wound and leaning heavily on her Scottish teammate; Valérie having run on ahead to stand with Thorun.
Cherry, the Indian contestant Aditi, and their Cuban teammate Alondra come next, followed by the twins from Zurich with their Romanian roommate, Dana.
I’m surprised both twins have lived to exit, given that one tried to drown Catriona. Italians are not known for letting go of a grudge, and Catriona, with her ‘vengeful heart,’ was assuredly one for whom a vendetta was as natural as sunshine. I can only surmise she had bigger fish to fry.
The teams are coming in so thick and fast now that Starlen hasn’t time to interject any ridiculous commentary.
Running to the finish mat next are the Australian, Miranda, clutching a bleeding arm and looking decidedly pissed off, and her Greek counterpart, Vasiliki.
And beyond, the last team begins to step out.
Starlen arches a brow at me, licking his lips.
“I will fucking wreck you,” I murmur, low enough for only him to hear.
He shudders and turns back to watch as the Portuguese contestant, Daniela, and the Kenyan, Luo, drag the bodies of the lovely Natia from Georgia and the Mongolian, Khutulun. The latter is wearing nothing but her swimsuit and sports a perfect round gunshot wound to her forehead.
Natia has been shot through the heart.
Turning my attention back to Catriona, I’m just in time to see her turn to face me as her knees buckle.
It’s only then that I see just how much blood is covering her suit, and the scent hits me like a physical blow.
But I’m not the only one. Starlen’s fingers curl, and his fangs descend instantaneously.
Lurching forward, I zip in and catch her before she can hit the ground. Her breath is coming in short, sharp gasps. My own, I’m holding. Reaching into her suit as I head towards the waiting ambulances, I remove two more guns, noting as my hand accidentally brushes her breasts that she’s burning up.
As I get to the nearest ambulance I jump into the vehicle and deposit her upon the trolley and into the care of the waiting medic. But although turning to leave immediately, I find the doors have already been slammed behind me, and the vehicle is starting to move off.
“Get me the fuck out of here,” I growl to the medic standing beside me. “Before I smash my way out.”
He nods and takes out a walkie-talkie, presumably contacting the driver.
Covering my nose and mouth to block her scent, I look down and realise she’s still conscious, but barely.
I know I probably just undid all the hard work she’d done to ensure she won without making all the other contestants her enemy, but I can’t worry about that now.
All I can think is that if I didn’t get her into this ambulance, either Starlen or I would have drained her there and then.
‘I may still. God, I want her so badly.’
The ambulance comes to a halt, and as the doors open I take a deep breath of clean, unadulterated air before turning to give her one last look.
“You have to live,” I murmur. “I have to know what this is.”
Her moan reaches my ears as I jump to the ground.
“Don’t let him take me.”
“Who?” I frown as the doors close.
But even with that between us, I hear her sigh.
“Valentino.”