Page 43 of Wicked Games

“Actually, forget that.” Rhys shook his head. “I have an idea.”

“What?”

“We have access to this tower thing now. As in, we can getoutside.So it doesn’t matter exactly where we are, because we can escape either way.”

Zach raised a brow. “How?”

“We can take the sheets off our beds and tie them together to make a sort of rope. Then we can tie it to something in the tower and use the rope to abseil down.”

April frowned. “That sounds really dangerous. You saw those rocks right at the base of the tower, right?”

“We can make it as safe as possible,” Rhys replied. “We can add knots all the way along the rope, like steps to put our feet on as we climb down. That way we can stagger the journey down instead of just sliding all the way to the bottom and burning the shit out of our hands from the friction.”

“What’s the point of climbing down?” Carey asked.

“Escaping this prison, obviously,” Rhys said, flashing her an incredulous look. “Is that not enough of a point for you?”

Her eyes narrowed. “There’s no point if we don’t have a plan for what to do once we’re down there,” she said frostily. “I also think you’re wrong about it not mattering where we are. Itdoesmatter, because we have no idea where the nearest land is. It could be a hundred miles away, for all we know. So what are we supposed to do? Swim away and just hope there’s something nearby?”

“No shit.” Kiara sniffed. “Even if we magically found a boat somewhere, we don’t know which direction the mainland is in. We could be rowing for days or weeks in the totally wrong direction, with no food or water.”

Rhys’s shoulders sagged. “Yeah. That’s true. I guess I got ahead of myself,” he muttered. He looked down and sighed deeply, rubbing at his temples. “Fuck. Sorry. I was just trying to think of a way out.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “This is exactly what we need to do. Keep thinking, talking, and trying. Like a team. We’ll figure something out eventually.”

“Drop the fucking act, Maverick,” Hudson said, rolling his eyes. “We all know the truth. There’s no way out of this place.”

“How do you know that for sure?” April said sharply. “Do you know something we don’t?”

Hudson scowled at her. “No. It’s just fucking obvious to anyone with half a brain. There’s no way out. Maverick’s only trying to keep us calm with his bullshit ‘let’s figure it out’ act so we don’t freak out and kill each other.” He paused and turned his sneering gaze back to me. “You know I’m right, deep down. We’re all fucked. Totallyfucked.”

“Wait.” Carey sat up straight. Her face had brightened considerably. “Maybe we’re not.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… I think I know where we are, and it’s not that far away.” Carey turned to Courteney. “This morning, you said this place looks familiar. That you have a déjà vu sort of feeling whenever you look around. I think I know why.”

“Hurry up and spit it out, dumbass,” Jasmine said, rolling her eyes. “We’re all waiting.”

Carey’s lips tightened. “I have to explain it first,” she said. “I think Courteney felt that way because this placeisfamiliar. Think about it. The layout of this hall. The size of the rooms. The shape of the windows. Even the layout of the bathrooms. What does it remind you of?”

“Babylon,” April said, brows knitting. “It’s the same as the dorms.”

“Exactly.” Carey nodded fervently. “I think we’re in Icarus Hall.”

Courteney’s eyes widened. “Oh my god,yes! That’s why it feels so familiar! It’s the exact same building design as the other Babylon buildings!”

“But they’ve been updated and modernized over the years, so it’s not obvious right away,” April said, looking around the room. “That’s why we didn’t notice until now.”

“Yup.”

I nodded, one hand slowly rubbing my jaw. “That would explain the island thing.”

“Exactly. And it also means we aren’t all that far from home,” Carey said. “I mean, how far away is the island from the mainland?”

April’s forehead wrinkled. “About three miles, I think. Maybe four?”

“Hold on.” Rhys lifted a hand. “If we’re at Icarus Hall, shouldn’t we be able to see the mainland from the top of the tower? Because I’m pretty sure the horizon distance is around three or four miles to the naked eye.”

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