Page 138 of The Hunt

“Why?”

“Because I had help,” I snapped. “And I’m not risking that person’s life.”

Nikki sniffed, eyeing the knife in my hand. “Everly… you’re obviously going to kill me, right here in this room,” she said. “I can’t get past you. Not when you’re holding that thing. So I can’t exactly run out of here and tell anyone else what you’re up to, can I?”

“So what?”

“So you might as well satisfy my curiosity before you cut my throat,” she said. “And for what it’s worth, I would never tell anyone you’re in here, even if I had the chance to escape.”

“Sure,” I scoffed.

She lifted her palms in the air again. “Please just tell me.”

I sighed. She had a point. I wasn’t going to let her out of this room, and if she tried, I wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her. On top of that, Rhett would be back soon, and hedefinitelywouldn’t let her get away.

“Fine,” I muttered. “One of the hunters helped me. Rhett.”

“Rhett Sinclair?” Nikki’s eyes widened. “As in the guy who’s currently at the top of the leaderboard?”

“Yup.”

“Holy shit,” she said breathlessly. “How the hell did you pull that off? That guy is unhinged!”

“He didn’t know the truth about the Hunt until yesterday, and he was furious when he found out,” I said. “Turns out most of the hunters don’t know the truth.Youactually know more than them.”

“Oh. Right. I forgot about that,” she said, tilting her head. “They think you’re all escaped prisoners, or something like that.”

“Yeah. Something like that,” I said bitterly. “But Jake told us the truth about everything. OrJJ, I guess I should say.” I paused for a couple of beats to slowly turn the knife in my hand, letting the blade catch the light. “After he told us… I killed him.”

Nikki’s eyes bulged. “YoukilledJJ?”

“Well, sort of. Rhett had to help me,” I said. “Movies always make it look like it’s really easy to stab someone, but I had some trouble with it.”

Nikki kept staring at me in shock. Then she blinked a couple of times, slowly shaking her head, before erupting into peals of laughter. “Oh my god! That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard!” shechoked out between giggles. “He’sdead.He’s actually fucking dead!”

“Yup.”

Her laughter dried up quickly, but the smile on her face lingered. “You want to know why I hate him so much? Orhated, I should say.”

“Because he was an asshole, I presume.”

She waved a casual hand. “Well, yeah. But there was one thing that really solidified my hatred toward him. Even before I heard about his plan for you.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, frowning.

“I know you probably won’t believe me about this. You’ll think I’m making up a sob story to make you feel sorry for me,” she said. “But one day, I was at the Jennings house, because I had to do some work for Peter. At some point, JJ offered me a drink. I can’t remember a single thing after that. I just woke up in my apartment the next day. But I know something happened to me at that house, and I know it was because of him.”

I swallowed hard. “I believe you.”

“You do?”

“Yes.” I nodded slowly. “He wanted to get rid of me because I found out he was doing stuff like that. I thought he only did it to one woman, because that’s what he told me, but I guess I should’ve known he was lying.”

“Shit.” Nikki exhaled deeply. “He told me you were just a crazy, annoying ex who wouldn’t stop hassling him for money. But hey, like you just said… I should’ve known he was lying.”

“I’m really sorry that happened to you, Nikki,” I said softly.

She shrugged, like it was nothing. “I guess it’s all part of the job description,” she said. “Like I said before, I’m basically a slave. If a Wilder wants me to do something… well, they don’t really need to ask. It’s not like I can ever say no. Like with Jordan and Matt yesterday.”

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