Page 155 of The Hunt

“Careful,” I muttered. “You shouldn’t try to move.”

She blinked slowly, looking more than a little disoriented, and then she looked up at me. “Everly…”

“She’s gone,” I said bluntly before repeating my earlier questions. “Do you know who took her? Or who shot you?”

“I… I thought it was a nightmare,” she said in a ragged whisper. “I was sleeping, and then I heard voices.”

“Whose voice was it?”

She grimaced, eyes darting downward to the blood-soaked bed. “I was only half-awake, so I didn’t know what was going on. I thought Everly was just talking to Tessa again,” she murmured. “But then I realized it was a man’s voice. It sounded like…Peter.”

My heart lurched. “Peter Jennings?”

“Yes. I’m sure of it.” Nikki had raised her voice slightly, and she sounded a little clearer now. “It was him. Before I could sit up or even open my eyes, I felt something hit me, and then… I don’t remember anything after that. Not until you came in.”

“Do you have any idea where he could’ve taken Everly?”

Nikki’s eyelids fluttered weakly, her gaze struggling to focus. “No. I’m sorry,” she said, each word fading into a faint murmur. “I… I shouldn’t have gone to sleep.”

I gritted my teeth and sucked in a deep breath. “It’s not your fault,” I muttered. “I shouldn’t have left.”

“You had to. We needed you to go out and—”

I cut her off. “Don’t try to talk anymore. You need to conserve your energy,” I said, snatching up my mask from the bed beside her. “I’m going to find Ev, and then I’m going to get us all out of here. Don’t youdaredie on me before that happens.”

“Everly’s gonna kill me.”

I frowned, wondering if the blood loss had made her delusional. “What?”

“She said… if I got myself killed, she’d never forgive me. She was so mad at me.”

I nodded slowly, realizing she was talking about a past moment. “You’re right. Ev will be seriously mad if anything happens to you. So you damn well better stay alive. Okay?”

“Okay,” she muttered, forcing her eyes open again. “I’ll try.”

I put my mask back on, grabbed my stuff, and left the room, boots pounding on the floorboards as I hurried down the hall. Once I was outside again, I sprinted across the estate grounds, this time making my way toward the north wing.

The closer I got, the more obvious it became that total chaos had broken out. The building’s grand windows were lit up like a beacon, giving it the appearance of a palace, but the sights and sounds surrounding it made it seem more like a prison plagued with riots.

Staff were darting frantically in all directions, their shouts and hurried footsteps filling the frigid air, and several men lay scattered on the lawn outside. Some were doubled over and heaving, while others groaned with pain as they clutched at theirstomachs. To the distant right, I could see a group of Wilders rushing toward the small marina, weapons pointlessly slung over their shoulders.

Clearly, Ev and Nikki’s food poisoning scheme had worked very effectively.

My eyes snapped back to the glowing north wing, its grand entrance thrown wide open as more staff poured out, their faces stricken.

My gut churned with fear for Everly. If Peter Jennings had her in there—

I didn’t let myself finish the thought. Instead, I surged forward, jaw clenched and focus razor-sharp. Whatever it took, I would find her, and if Peter had harmed a single hair on her head, he would live to regret it.

Actually, no… hewouldn’tfucking live to regret it. I would burn that motherfucker’s whole life to the ground and make sure his last moments were spent begging for mercy he’d never receive.

As I sprinted across the lawn, drawing closer to the entrance, I spotted my friend Ari racing toward the path that led to the marina. I stopped and waved to draw his gaze toward me. “Ari! What’s going on?”

He ran over to me. “Shit’s hit the fan. Literally. There’s some sort of salmonella outbreak, and most of the guys are sick,” he said hurriedly, eyes wide with a mix of shock and panic. “But it’s not just that. JJ’s fuckingdead,and there’s a hit out on Rhett.And have you seen all this shit about the Patriarchs?”

“No.”

He fished his phone out of his pocket, tapped on the screen a few times, and handed it to me. “See for yourself,” he said bitterly. He still didn’t seem to know who he was talking to, even though I’d made no attempt to disguise my voice. “I don’t knowabout you, but I’m getting on a boat and getting the fuck out of here.”

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