Page 115 of The Hunt

Ev nodded. “I agree.”

“Does that mean you’re going to let me go?” JJ asked, staring up at her with wide, beseeching eyes.

She crouched to his level, plump lips curving in a sweet smile. “Yes, I’m letting you go,” she said in a saccharine tone. “In a manner of speaking.”

Relief flooded his face, and his shoulders sagged. “I knew you’d do the right thing, Evvy,” he murmured.

“I’m going to show you the exact same sympathy and kindness you showed me when you signed me up for this game,” Ev went on. In her right hand, she lifted the knife, waving itmockingly in his face. “The same sympathy and kindness you showed to Julia.”

JJ’s eyes filled with terror all over again. “Wait… I thought you said you were letting me go!”

“I saidin a manner of speaking,” Ev replied, nostrils flaring. “Let me make it clearer, seeing as you’re such a fucking idiot. I’m letting you go from my life. Letting you go from your own life, too. Got it now?”

“Good girl,” I murmured, lips spreading in a smirk.

“Ev, no!” JJ shrieked, thrashing in his spot. “You can’t do this!”

“Why?” she replied, brows rising. “You were going to kill me if you got me alone out here, weren’t you? Or at least let someone else kill me.”

“No, baby. I’d never hurt you. I just wanted to scare some sense into you, that’s all,” JJ said in a wheedling tone. His eyes never left the knife in Ev’s hand. “Why do you think you’ve survived out here for so long? I’ve been helping you!”

I snorted, and Ev laughed drily.

“It was Rhett. He’s been tracking me and keeping me safe this whole time,” she said. “I know that now. And I also know what a monster you are.”

“Please!” JJ’s voice cracked as she lifted the knife. “Don’t do this! I can’t die like this!”

Ev arched a brow. “Don’t you have anything else to say to me right now?”

“I’m sorry, okay! I’m fucking sorry!” Snot ran from JJ’s nose as he blubbered, mixing with the blood on his face. “I swear, I never wanted this to happen!”

“And yet you made damn sure it happened,” she replied, voice dripping with fury. “But hey, thanks for finally apologizing.”

“I really mean it. Please, baby…”

Ev’s jaw clenched. “I don’t accept your apology, Jake. Goodbye.”

With that, she drove the knife into his abdomen.

Her lack of experience was clear, the blade catching on bone with a faint scraping sound. JJ’s agonized scream was cut short as the air rushed out of his lungs, and a look of utter shock replaced his terror. Clearly, he’d never believed that Ev was capable of such violence, even at the very last second. Not until the knife pierced his flesh.

“Please,” he choked out. “S-stop. I’m… s-sorry.”

Ev’s hand shook, the knife wobbling in his flesh as she tried to force it deeper. It didn’t give, so she pulled it out with a grunt, face contorting in a mask of frustration.

“For fuck’s sake,” she muttered. Her chest was rising and falling in heaving breaths, eyes locked on the spot where the blade trembled over his stomach. I could see it in her expression—the hesitation overtaking her determination, creeping into her fury.

“Ev,” I said, stepping closer. “Don’t let him throw you off with his bullshit apologies. He wasn’t sorry until he got caught.”

Her wide eyes darted to me, flickering with something between panic and resolve. “I—I can’t…”

“You can,” I said firmly, crouching down beside her. “Remember what he did to you. What he wasgoingto do to you if he got you alone.”

“No, I just meant… I physicallycan’t,” she said, grimacing. “I want to, but it’s harder than I thought. My hands are so shaky, and I think I hit a rib or something. It just… it wouldn’t go in properly.”

“I’ll help you.” My hands covered hers on the hilt, steadying the tremors. “Do you want it to be quick? Or do you want him to suffer?”

She swallowed thickly. “I…”

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