Page 72 of Wicked Games

Carey’s eyes narrowed with concentration. “You know, this also means that there might be hidden access points in other parts of the house.”

“Ones we can try to find now that some of the halls have opened up,” I said, nodding. “They didn’t re-seal any of those entryways, so we could go down there and look right now.”

Carey’s shoulders sagged. “Maybe they didn’t seal them back up because there’s nothing there for us to find. Nothing but more locked doors.”

“It’s worth looking, though. Right?”

She nodded, face brightening a bit. “Yeah. Anything that gives us a snowball’s chance in hell of getting out of this crazy place.”

She was clearly trying to sound nonchalant, but I could tell from the slight hitch in her voice that she was secretly terrified of dying here.

“Carey.” My voice softened, and I rubbed her arm. “I meant it when I said I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“But what if something happens toyou?” Her eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. “I meant what I said earlier too. I only just found you. I can’t lose you now.”

I wrapped her in my arms and held her close to my chest, one hand rubbing her hair. “Not gonna happen. I promise.”

“How can you promise that when we have no idea what’s coming next?” she asked in a ragged murmur.

I didn’t know how to answer that question, so I stayed silent and stroked her hair until her breaths started to come slower and deeper.

She suddenly pulled back and wiped her face. “Sorry. I’m totally freaking out,” she muttered.

She was obviously embarrassed about the raw vulnerability she’d just shown me, but I didn’t think it was anything to be ashamed of. I liked it.Lovedit. I wanted her to keep opening up to me, tell me every feeling and thought on her mind.

“Don’t apologize.” I took her hand and softly stroked her palm with my thumb. “You can say anything you want to me. Anytime.”

“Thanks.” She sniffed and sat up straight. “Let’s go and explore. Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I smiled. “Let’s go.”

We headed downstairs and meticulously checked every inch of the first hallway that the Game Master had unsealed. Gaming rooms 1 and 2 were still unlocked, but every other door in the hall was locked. After unfruitfully examining the two rooms, I rapped on all the wooden panels lining the hallway to check for any echoes that could suggest a hollow spot. Unfortunately, I came up empty every time. Carey busied herself looking behind the paintings hanging on the walls above the paneling, but she didn’t find any hidden openings either.

“Should we try the old dining hall now?” she said, giving me a doleful look. “There’s nothing here.”

“Yeah. The dining hall is a good idea. We should’ve gone there first.”

“Yeah, we really should’ve,” Carey said. “I totally forgot about all those alcoves in the maze until now. Some of them were in the outer walls, so they could be connected to passages, right?”

Unfortunately, that theory didn’t pan out either. We were about to head down to the basement-level passage to check there instead when our phones vibrated in our pockets. With my heart pounding, I pulled mine out and scanned the screen. It was a message from the Game Master.

Maverick Reinhart, you are out of bounds during sleeping hours. Consequences will follow. Please return to your room promptly or face further consequences.

“Shit.” I jerked my head up to look at Carey and tilted my screen to face her. “You got this too?”

Her eyes were wide and fearful. “Yeah. I guess the curfewwasstill in effect.”

“It’s my fault. I assumed it wasn’t and I convin—”

“Maverick, it’s fine,” she said hurriedly. “We both made the decision to risk leaving our rooms. Let’s just head back now so we don’t make things even worse.”

We hurried up the stairs, and I walked Carey to her door and quickly kissed her goodnight. Just as I turned on my heel to leave, my phone vibrated again.

With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I opened the message, expecting another threat from the Game Master. Instead, it was a set of files including two photos and a video. I could see at the very top of the message that the same files had been sent to every other person in the player group as well.

Everyone except Carey.

“What is it?” she asked, eyes widening again.

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