Page 50 of Insatiable

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” she asks softly.

I nod, too weary to question her. As I rummage for a pair of pajamas, she shuffles toward the bathroom, and I call out, “I fell asleep a couple of hours ago. Anything else happen?”

The bathroom door creaks open just enough for her voice to slip through. “David’s dead. One of the girls too. Anita something. He was murdered. I don’t know about her… they didn’t show it.”

I wince at her words, even though I already knew. Two more names etched into the growing list of the lost. A twinge of guiltflickers in my chest—relief, selfish and cold, that it wasn’t Quinn or Felix. They’re still safe. For now, at least.

I shuffle over to make space as Juliette slips into bed beside me. She sighs heavily, her voice low. “I just left Dade. I had to stay with him or I’d have come to bed earlier. He’s mad. I’ve never seen him so crazy. I thought he was going to do something stupid.”

I shrug, pulling the blanket higher around us. “What isn’t stupid here? He’s fought demons before and survived. Maybe you should have let him.”

Juliette gives a small, tired laugh, but it’s strained. “I know that. But I couldn’t bear the thought of Quinn going through all that while her boyfriend ends up being eaten by a demon or something.” She pauses, rubbing her eyes. “Besides, we all have enough going on without adding more stress. I waited until he looked too exhausted to do anything, then walked him to his room. Do you want these?”

I glance over and catch Juliette eyeing the leftover popcorn in the box.

“Go ahead, have it,” I offer. “If I eat it, I’ll just throw it all up tomorrow, anyway.”

Juliette doesn’t need to be told twice. She grabs the box and tips it, letting the popcorn spill straight into her mouth, sending stray kernels scattering all over the bed. Out of nowhere, she says, “I shouldn’t have left things with Tomas the way I did. In my mind, we had forever. How stupid is that?”

I brush the kernels off the bed and snuggle up beside her, trying to give her some comfort. “We’ve been manipulated since the second we entered Hell. Tomas wasn’t even supposed to be here, but he came anyway. Quinn got letters. I got letters…”

“And I got Tomas,” she sighs deeply.

“I think maybe you were the luckiest of us all,” I say softly. “The letters sent to Quinn and me were meant to break us.Maybe Tomas being here was meant to break you, but you found the closure in death that you never found in life.”

Juliette leans against me, her voice quieter now. “I’m so glad I found you here. I don’t think I would’ve made it through all this without you.”

I hold her a little tighter. “Get some sleep. We don’t want to miss whatever hellish thing they have planned for tomorrow.”

She’s silent for a while, and I think she’s fallen asleep, but then her voice breaks the stillness again.

“If Tomas was sent here to break me, why was Tate brought here? She shouldn’t have been able to enter the games either. As far as I know, she doesn’t know anyone here besides Tomas.”

I think for a moment, then say, “Maybe she did exactly what the leadership team wanted her to do.”

Juliette frowns. “What do you mean?”

“She made you jealous. And for a long time, it worked. It wasn’t Tomas who was your horrible letter. It was Tate, all along. And I bet she has no idea that she’s just a pawn.”

The twin beepingof Juliette’s and my Hell Cells fills the air, sending a spike of adrenaline through my veins. My heart races as I grab my Hell Cell from beneath my pillow.

A text message flashes across the screen, one sent to all of us.

IG LEADERS: DAY TWO: 8 CONTESTANTS LEFT.

I rub my eyes, stifling a yawn. I already knew that, of course, but I guess the ear-piercing shriek of the Hell Cells was the game’s way of ensuring no one missed the update—whether we wanted to hear it or not.

“God, I hope we get more popcorn today,” Juliette mutters, shaking the empty box as if it might miraculously refill itself.

“They’re awake,” I say, pointing the Hell Cell screen toward her. “How long do you think this will go on for?”

Juliette taps something into her own Hell Cell, her brows furrowing in concentration. Then suddenly, her eyes widen. “Holy shit!”

“What?”

“People can live up to three weeks without food.”

I close my eyes, feeling the weight of that statement settle over me like a suffocating blanket. Three weeks. I can’t go through this for three weeks.

---