Page 29 of Wicked Games

“We don’t know that for sure,” Brooke replied in an acid tone. “I’d say the first person to arrive is the most suspicious.”

“Exactly,” April said. “That’s why I asked.”

Hudson finally spoke up. “Look, I had nothing to do with this shit, okay?” he said. “I have no fucking clue what’s going on in this place. All I want to do is get the fuck out of here, but every single door, hallway, and window is blocked off. We’re sealed in.”

“Speaking of this place…” Courteney tentatively piped up from her spot between Zach and Brooke. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but it seems really familiar.”

Rhys snorted. “No shit. We were all here last night, genius.”

A pink blush rapidly bloomed on Courteney’s cheeks. “That’s not what I meant,” she said softly, lowering her eyes to the empty plate in front of her. “Something about it feels familiar, and it’s not because of last night. I feel like I’ve been here before, even though I know I haven’t.”

“I get it,” Zach said in a sympathetic tone. His hand was close to hers, and he gave her a brief, reassuring pat. “I was actually thinking the same thing. Déjà vu.”

Courteney looked up at him with a small, grateful smile. If we weren’t all trapped in such a petrifying situation, I’d think it was a cute moment between the two of them.

“So you guys have looked around?” Evan asked, raising his brows. “Everything is definitely blocked off?”

“Yup.” Maverick nodded. “It’s obvious that this is a big place, but almost every doorway is sealed, so we can’t explore most of it.”

“This is so fucking weird.” Tate started pacing around the room. “What the fuck is going on? Whyus?”

“No idea. That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Maverick said, signaling for him to sit down again. “Did we all see the same person when we got here?”

“Good question,” April said. “I assumed it was the same person for all of us, but who knows? For me, it was a tall person with a black cloak and mask with magenta lights on it.”

“Me too,” I said. “I got the impression it was a man, but I can’t be sure because of that weird voice-changer thing they were using.”

“Why did you think it was a man?” Jasmine asked, looking over at me with an expression that suggested she’d just witnessed me crawling out of a dumpster.

“Because they were really tall.”

“I’m six-two in my favorite heels,” she said, rolling her eyes. “It could totally have been a woman.”

My lips tightened. “I don’t think so. It really seemed more like a guy.”

“Smells like internalized misogyny to me,” Kiara said. “I guess all women are meant to be small and weak and totally—”

“Shut up, Kiara,” Maverick cut in. “Carey wasn’t saying that. She was just saying that the person was very tall, and on average, men are taller, so it’s statistically likely that this person was male. Right?”

“Yeah, exactly,” I said, eyes widening with surprise. This was the second time Maverick had jumped to my defense even though he absolutely despised me. “They looked around six feet three or four to me, so I assumed it was a guy. But I guess it could’ve been a woman. I don’t know for sure. I was just saying what I thought at the time, that’s all.”

Maverick dropped his gaze from me. “Did we all see the same person? Very tall with the black cloak and mask that April described a minute ago?” he asked. Everyone nodded, and he went on. “Great. That means we probably all saw the same person.”

“Which means we might only be dealing with one person here,” Evan said, scratching his chin. “But who? And why?”

“Did anyone notice anything about the guy at all?” Maverick asked. “Anything that could be used to identify him?”

Everyone shook their heads except Brooke. “When he was pouring my drink, one of his gloves moved a little. I saw a flash of his wrist. There wasn’t much to see. Like, no tattoos or hair that I noticed. But the person is white. I saw that much.”

Maverick steepled his hands on the table. “Is everyone willing to concede that this person is probably a man?” he asked, giving Kiara a pointed look. She rolled her eyes, but she still nodded along with everyone else. “Okay. Now we also know he’s white. So can anyone think of a tall white guy who might want to pull some crazy shit like this with the twelve of us?”

“Who would everwant to do this withanyof us?” Courteney asked, eyes wide.

“I have no idea.” Rhys shook his head. “Someone who hates rich people, maybe? We could’ve been taken for ransom.”

“Not all of us have rich parents. Carey, for example,” Hudson said, staring at me. His superior tone shot disgust through my veins like poison, and I lifted my chin and glared right back at him, unable to mask my hatred.

“I don’t think it’s a ransom scheme,” April said. “This is too elaborate for something like that. Right?”

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