Page 74 of The Hunt

A voice crackled through my earbud just as we began to move, and we both instantly crouched again, just in case.

“Player 1, eliminated by Hunter 13,” it said. “A reminder to all players. The safe zones are now open. Coordinates are 12.5, 89.3 and 10.4, 85.9.”

I frowned, racking my brains to recall Player 1, but their identity eluded me. That made a twinge of guilt flicker within me.

Nikki glanced over at me, reading my expression. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “I mean, apart from the glaringly obvious.”

“I just feel bad,” I whispered. “I don’t even remember who Player 1 was, and now they’re just… gone.”

“Don’t feel bad,” she said, keeping her voice low. “I know who he was.”

“Who?”

She swallowed thickly before speaking up again. “His name was Eric Kane. I met him last night, at the beginning of the yacht party, and he told me he was in prison before the game recruiters found him. I was curious, so I looked him up before my phone service dropped, and… well, he did bad stuff. Really bad stuff.”

“Murderer?”

“No, but just as bad.” She hesitated. “Maybe even worse. It involved… kids.”

My stomach dropped. “Oh. Shit.”

“Yeah. Like I said, he was a bad guy,” she said, forehead creasing. “I’m not saying that I’m in any way glad that we’re all stuck in this fucked-up murder game, but ifsomeonehad to get killed here, I’d much rather it was him than you. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah. I get it,” I said. “It doesn’t seem fair. There are people like him here, but then there are others like us. We didn’t do anything wrong. At least not enough to deservethis.”

“No shit,” she muttered. “I still can’t believe I ended up here.”

“How did the recruiters actually approach you?” I asked. “Was it at Hollingsworth?”

“Yeah. But I have absolutely no idea how they knew about all my debt,” she said. She sighed and went on. “I’m still trying to figure out how it’s possible thatyou’rehere. I mean, you weren’t even recruited.”

I pursed my lips. “I have a feeling my ex is behind it all, but I have no way of knowing for sure.”

“Is that the guy you told me about when we first met? You said I should avoid him or something?”

“Yup. That’s him.” I gritted my teeth. “He’s in The Wild Hunt. So he must’ve decided to sign me up without me knowing.”

“That doesn’t seem possible. I mean, I had to signsomuch stuff to get in.”

I shrugged. “I’m sure he found a way somehow. Rich assholes like him always do.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she muttered. She let out another heavy sigh, sinking lower into the shrub. “God, I’m already so tired.”

“Me too.” I sank down next to her, lying flat on my belly. “I feel like we walked for hours earlier, even though I know we didn’t.”

As we lay together behind the shrubs, I closed my eyes, trying to pretend for a few seconds that I was simply trapped in a nightmare that I could wake up from at any minute. My heart was still racing, and my body was trembling as I tried to control my breathing. The silence of the forest felt suffocating, and the way the underbrush closed in on us, the way the cold air felt so oppressive—

Wait.

My eyes flew open as something in my chest twisted, and an old memory came crashing back with a force that left me breathless.

"Oh my god," I whispered.

Nikki glanced over at me, brows furrowed. "What?"

“This island.” I blinked and took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "I think I might know where it is.”

“Really?”

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