Page 49 of The Hunt

For them, the Hunt offered a twisted sort of opportunity. They knew they were dying either way, but now they had a chance to win $5 million before they went out; a prize that could change the lives of their families forever. And if theydidn’tmakeit to the end? Well, they were going to die soon anyway. Harsh but true.

Still, it’d never sat right with me. Unlike Group 1 and 3 members, Group 2 members hadn’t done anything that would make them deserving of a violent death at the hands of a Wilder.

Also, they might be active and mobile, but from what I’d heard, they weren’t much of a challenge. Some of themwantedto die in the Hunt, preferring a shot to the head over the weeks or months of suffering they’d endure once their illness finally started to ravage them. The $5 million they’d get if they actually survived to the end was just a consolation prize, really. Death was their real prize.

People like that—those who either wanted to die or were already on death’s door anyway—weren’t the sort of challenge I liked.

No, the challenge I preferred lay in Groups 1 and 3.

Group 3 members were both free and healthy. They were people who’d committed heinous, often-illegal acts in their past, and while their dark deeds weren’t known to the world, theywereknown by the society; discovered through careful surveillance and our network of informants.

They’d be approached with an offer they couldn’t refuse: a chance to atone for their sins by participating in the Hunt. If they won, all evidence of their wrongdoing was wiped from existence, and they could walk away with both the $5 million prize and their peace of mind. A twisted form of redemption.

However, if they refused the offer to participate, the alternative was very unpleasant. The evidence against them would be handed over to the authorities or any other relevant parties, and with the kind of power the Wilders wielded, that wasn’t a threat to be taken lightly.

I’d always found these people to be the most interesting prey, because for them, participation in the Hunt wasn’t just about freedom from prison or securing a future for their family.

Instead, it was about the struggle to keep their darkest secrets buried. That was what really intrigued me, and I liked to make a game of trying to figure out those secrets as I sifted through their profiles.

I scrolled to the next player profile, and my stomach lurched as my eyes landed on the new addition to Group 3.

It was Ev.

What the fuck?

I blinked slowly, certain I was seeing things, but the profile was still right in front of me.

Name:Everly Rose Marlowe

Age:20

Occupation:Student

Height:5’2

Weight:120lbs

I stared at her scanned signature and driver’s license photo with wide, disbelieving eyes. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. What the hell could Ev possibly have done to end up in the Hunt?

I had no fucking clue.

She was a bigot for sure; a painful fact I had to force myself to remember whenever I saw her pretty face and thought about kissing her or fucking her brains out. But just because someone was an asshole didn’t mean they deserved todie… and the people in Group 3 usually had secrets so terrible that they’d rather die than see them exposed to the world.

That meant that whatever it was Ev had done, it had to be something really fucking bad. So what had she done? What the hell was she hiding?

My mind raced, but no answers came. Only more questions.

I nudged Jake and tilted my screen to show him. “Look,” I muttered, wanting to gauge his reaction before I said too much. “It’s Ev.”

His eyes flickered with confusion. No recognition. “Uh… okay?”

“You know her, don’t you?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I mean, she looks kinda familiar, but I don’t think I’ve met her.”

I frowned. “You sure?”

“Oh, wait.” He leaned closer, eyes narrowing on the photo. “I think I saw her on Holler last week. But they retracted it and said it was a fake tip, right?”

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