Page 133 of The Hunt

“You’re right.” I smiled faintly at him. “It needs to be moved.”

“Yeah. That way it looks like you’re still roaming around, and no one will be suspicious.”

“I guess it’s also a good idea for you to be out there for a while, just so no one gets suspicious ofyou,” I said. “Because they’ll probably think it’s weird if the best hunter is suddenly nowhere to be seen on the hunting grounds.”

“Exactly.” Rhett’s eyes flashed, and he rubbed his jaw. “Also, if I run into any other hunters while I’m out there and see them getting close to a player, I can sabotage them. I don’t want any more innocent people to die.”

“Me neither,” I murmured, feeling a pang of guilt gnawing at my guts. Here I was, feasting on delicious food in a warm bedroom while the other remaining players were still out in the cold, terrified and starving. It wasn’t fair.

“Like I said, I think I can get the stuff done in three hours,” he said. “I move a lot faster when I’m on my own, and JJ’s body isn’tthatfar away.”

“While you’re out, you could also go to the northern wing of the manor and see if you can get into Peter’s office,” I suggested. “I’m sure it’s probably locked most of the time, but my dad made it sound like there’s a ton of evidence in there. Stuff that could possibly be used to take the society down. So it’s worth checking out, right?”

Rhett nodded. “Good idea. I’ll see if I can get in,” he said. He leaned down to kiss me again. Then he rose to his full height, eyes flashing with determination. “I’ll be back for you, princess. I promise.”

“I know,” I murmured, offering him another faint smile.

Once he was gone again, I finished eating and searched through the bedroom furniture, hoping to find some paper and a pen. If I could write down everything I knew about Wildercliff and The Wild Hunt, organizing my scattered thoughts, it might help me start forming ideas for an escape plan.

I finally found a notepad and pencil tucked away at the back of one of the drawers. With a small, triumphant smile, I sat down and started writing. It was hard to know how long it took, because there was no clock in the room, but I ended up with five pages of notes after what felt like an hour or so.

Finally, I was all tapped out. Every last piece of information I knew about the island, the society, and the Hunt was written down on the notepad. Unfortunately, I was no closer to coming up with a plan.

Frowning, I thought back to what my father told me last night, regarding the lockdown and the heart attack. It gave me the vaguest of ideas. Perhaps Rhett and I could cause some sort of emergency situation, forcing the Patriarchs to open up travel from the island. That was where the idea ended, though. I hadno idea what sort of situation we could manufacture that would cause enough chaos to end the lockdown.

A fire in the manor, perhaps?

My frown deepened as I tapped my pencil against the page, the sound too loud in the silence. A firecouldwork, but it would have to be big enough to threaten the entire estate, and that would be hard to start. Especially with the cold, rainy weather. There was also the matter of getting all the other players off the island safely. Not just myself. If only we could—

My thoughts skidded to a halt as the sound of footsteps echoed in the hall. Surely Rhett couldn’t be back just yet. He’d told me he’d take three hours, and he’d only been gone for one, maybe one and a half.

Perhaps it was the maid from last night, returning for more dusting.

Shit.

I crept over to the door, holding the knife, and carefully pressed my ear to it so I could hear everything out in the hall. The footsteps kept coming, slow and leisurely, and then I heard a voice. It was a woman, and she seemed to be talking on the phone, her words punctuated by pauses with no other voice filling the silence.

“Thanks for organizing this so quickly, sir,” she said. “Yes, that’s right. I turned the tap on, and it justexploded. The whole bathroom flooded in five minutes.”

There was a pause, and then she spoke up again, footsteps drawing closer with every word.

“I thought the same thing—that I could just go to another room. But the staff quarters are totally full right now, because of the game, so there was nothing else available,” she said. Another pause. “Uh-huh. Yes, that’s right. Someone told me that a few of the bathrooms in this wing were redone a few years ago, so I’m sure I’ll be fine here. It’s the teensiest bit creepy, becauseit’s so empty and quiet, but it’s stunning. The architecture is just so ornate. JJ told me it still has some original fixtures. Pre-Civil War, I think he said?”

There was another short pause.

“No, sir. I haven’t heard from him since yesterday morning. He must’ve decided to sleep out in the hunting grounds,” the woman went on. Her voice and footsteps were so loud now that I was sure she was only a few feet away from the door.

My heart pounded as I silently prayed for her to continue on her way, past the room, but her footsteps stopped right outside. Then the doorknob rattled.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat.No. Please, no!

“Hmm, that’s weird. The door’s locked,” the woman said. Now that she was so close, I realized her voice sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. “No, it’s okay. They gave me the key just in case.”

Shit, shit, shit…

I crept over to the bed as quietly as I could and crawled under it, hoping the dust ruffles would conceal me. As I settled on the floor, my grip tightened around the knife in my right hand, sweat slicking my palm.

I held my breath as I heard the key turn in the lock. The door creaked open, and then the woman entered the room. All I could see from my hiding spot was a pair of feet clad in pink and black sneakers, and the bottom of some black leggings hugging slim legs.

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