Page 141 of The Hunt

When she described JJ’s cruelty, his expression darkened, and his grip on the gun tightened again like he was imagining pulling the trigger. At one point, I thought he might interrupt, bark out an accusation, or tell her to stop talking. But he didn’t.

By the time Nikki got to the part about Matt and Jordan, I could see a flicker of something else in Rhett’s eyes. It wasn’t just pity, but anger, like flames licking at the edges of his control.

When Nikki’s voice finally trailed off, a heavy silence fell over the room. Rhett didn’t move, didn’t even blink, and I held my breath, waiting to see what he’d do.

Finally, he put his gun away, free hand raking through his hair as he let out a heavy sigh. “I had no idea that you didn’t choose to work for the society,” he finally said. “And I had no idea these things were happening to you. I’d say I want to kill JJ for what he did, but—”

“You and Ev already took care of that,” Nikki said with a wry smile. “I heard.”

“Yeah. It’s not just him, though. Matt and Jordan… those fucking pricks,” he said, shaking his head. “I always knew they were douchebags, but I had no idea they werethatbad.”

“She showed me the bite marks and bruises they left on her,” I said in a low voice. “She couldn’t possibly have faked that. Also, why would she have any reason to fake it in the first place? She had no idea we were in here, waiting to ambush her.”

“It’s okay. I believe her,” Rhett said, looking at me. He turned to face Nikki again. “I’m really sorry this shit happened to you. I mean it.”

“Does that mean you trust me now?” she asked, forehead wrinkling. “You’ll let me help you out?”

Rhett lifted a hand, signaling for her to wait. Then he took a step closer to me, voice lowering to a mutter only I could hear. “What do you want to happen here?” he asked. “I’ll do anything you want, as long as I can keep you safe.”

“I think we should let her help us,” I whispered back. “But we need to keep her close, just in case. I mean, I believe her, but brainwashing and fear tactics can run deep. So we have to be careful.”

He dipped his chin in a curt nod. Then he turned and raised his voice to address Nikki again. “You’re in for now,” he said. “But you understand why we can’t fully trust you, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”

“What I mean is: we can’t let you out of our sight, on the off chance you run straight back to Peter like a loyal, brainwashed lapdog.”

“It’s fine. I totally get it. And to be honest…” She paused, brows raising as she glanced at me. “Everly, if I were you, I wouldn’t trust either one of us, given how we’re both so deeply connected with The Wild Hunt.”

“Well, I don’t th—”

She cut me off. “I’m not saying you’re naïve or gullible. I’m just saying you’re brave,” she said. “Actually, you’re kind of a badass.”

Rhett’s lips curved into the first smile I’d seen him crack since his return to the room. “I keep trying to tell her that.”

I felt my cheeks flush, and I raised both my palms. “Okay, enough about me. Do either of you have any ideas about what our next move could be?”

Rhett frowned. “I’ve been thinking about some things, but nothing really sticks. There’s always a problem.”

“Yeah, I get that,” I said, shoulders slumping. “There’s just so much stuff we need to consider.”

“Maybe it would help if we clarified exactly what our goals are?” Nikki said, brows rising.

I steeled my jaw. “I want to take down The Wild Hunt once and for all. Expose them to the world,” I said. “I also want to rescue all the players who are still alive and make sure they get home safely. It’s not fair if I’m the only survivor.”

“So… not a big ask, then,” she replied, lips curving with a hint of sarcastic amusement. “Just a regular old Sunday.”

“I know it’s a lot. But we have to do something. We can’t just let this stuff keep happening.”

“No shit.” She sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “You know, every day for the last year, I’ve thought about sitting down and writing out some massive exposé to post online. But there’s just no point. Even if my post went viral by some miracle, there's no guarantee that anyone would believe what I say. I don't really have any proof, other than my word.”

“You’re right. People would probably just think you’re crazy,” Rhett said. “And like you said, going viral online is almost impossible anyway.”

“Yup. I could post every day for five years, and it could never happen,” she said bitterly. “Some people get lucky on their first try and get fifty million views on a stupid lip-sync video. But the chances of that actually happening? Probably one in a billion. Or less.”

I nodded slowly. “There’s only one real way to guarantee it—make sure your post lands in the exact right hands,” I said. “But even if we managed to do that with everything we know about The Wild Hunt… it doesn’t solve our other problem.”

“Getting everyone off this hellhole island, you mean?”

---