Page 148 of The Hunt

Me:Yup. You two ready for your side of things?

Nikki sent through a photo a few seconds later. Ev was staring at the camera with raised brows, barely recognizable with her auburn wig, black-rimmed glasses, and makeup.

Me:Holy shit. You made her look like a different person.

Nikki:Yup. I don’t think a single soul on this island will recognize her.

Me:Nice work. Seriously.

Nikki:No prob. Anyway, good luck out there. Next few hours might be rough for you, considering what you have to do…

Me:I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about Ev getting caught. Be careful, okay?

Nikki:You too.

I put my phone away, strode out of the manor, and headed toward the nearest tunnel entrance, my boots hitting the gravel with a sharp crunch. The cold air bit at my skin, keeping my head clear despite the simmering rage inside. My mind was locked on a single goal: eliminate the competition.

There were originally thirty hunters altogether, but JJ was gone, and I didn’t have to count myself in that number anymore. I’d also spotted seven hunters in the common room twenty minutes ago, which brought the total number of active hunters on the grounds to twenty-one.

I didn’t need to kill them—not unless I had to—but I’d be damned if I was going to let them keep hunting and killing the players. A few well-placed shots, and they’d be out of the game for good, unable to move or fight.

When I finally reached the edge of the hunting grounds, I paused for a breath and scanned the area ahead. Somewhere within that haze of dark trees, my first target was waiting. Hunter 17. I’d noticed he always stuck to this part of the island, so he was the easiest one for me to go after first.

I kept moving, trudging through the underbrush. Finally, I had 17 in my sights, walking around sector B2 with his eyes trained on the canopy above, like he was expecting to find a player hiding up on a branch somewhere.

I moved silently, my boots barely making a sound against the dirt as I crept closer, keeping to the shadows. Then I took a slow, steady breath and crouched behind a bush, my rifle coming to my shoulder. The steady click of the safety falling away was the only noise in the crisp air.

I exhaled and squeezed the trigger. The sharp crack of the gunshot rang out, and the hunter dropped, his leg buckling beneath him as the wound in his ankle started pissing out blood. “Fuck!” he shouted, voice ragged with pain. “What the fuck was that?”

I smiled thinly and ignored his cries, slipping back into the trees.

One down... twenty to go.

34

Everly

“Are you sure I look okay?”I murmured, smoothing down my fake hair for what felt like the hundredth time.

Nikki sighed. “You look fine. Stop messing with the wig, or else it’ll fly off, and then itwon’tbe fine.”

“I’m just worried we’ll run into Peter. He might recognize me.”

“Your own parents wouldn’t recognize you right now,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Did you even see what I did with your makeup?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I muttered, fidgeting with the edge of my borrowed sweatshirt. “I’m just paranoid.”

“I don’t blame you. But you need to stay calm and try to act normal, or else our cover will be blown.” Nikki’s brows suddenly shot up. “Shit, I sound like a spy. That’s cool as hell.”

I forced myself to lift my chin and look straight ahead, wondering how Nikki was managing to be so calm. We were in the most precarious situation of our lives, where one wrong move could spell a death sentence, but she was acting like we were just walking around the set of a thriller movie.

I knew she was probably faking it to make herself feel better, but her casual air only highlighted the worry and tension tightening around my chest like a vise.

As for Rhett… god, I was even more worried about him. The last time I’d seen him today, his voice had been calm, but his eyes betrayed something deeper. He was worried too, and he was right to feel that way. Whatever he was doing on the hunting grounds to protect me and the other players, it didn’t change the gnawing fear at the edges of all our minds: what if he couldn’t protect himself from the full wrath of the society while he was out there?

The north wing loomed ahead, the carved double doors larger than I’d imagined. As Nikki reached for the handle, I exhaled slowly and whispered to myself,Just one step at a time.

“Okay, we need to find my friend Dane,” Nikki said, glancing at me. “He works in the north wing kitchen, and he’s cool. We smoke together sometimes.”

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