Page 86 of The Hunt

Ava wildly shook her head. “No, I’m not going!” she said. “Just let me try! Give me one minute!”

“You’ll only get yourself killed,” Chris said. The edge on his voice told me that his pain was getting worse. “You need to go. All of you.Now.”

“Ava, come on,” I said. Tears were stinging my eyes, but I blinked them back, knowing Nikki’s rule existed for a reason. The longer we stayed in this situation, the closer we got to becoming targets ourselves. “We really have to go.”

“No!”

“Look, if it helps you feel a little less guilty… I lied earlier,” Chris said. “On the beach.”

Ava’s face contorted with confusion. “What?”

“Ididkill my parents,” he said. His voice had turned preternaturally calm and smooth. “They threatened to cut me off and change my inheritance, so I shot them before they could sign all the paperwork and burned it so no one would ever see it. I really thought I’d get away with it, too. But I was wrong.”

Ava recoiled, snatching her hand out of the pit like it had been burned. Then her face crumpled, and she turned away and stepped into the woods without another word. One by one, the rest of us muttered our goodbyes to Chris before turning to follow Ava.

As we walked, the air around us felt heavier, thick with the weight of the horrible decision we’d just made. I wanted to stop and look back, but I had to fight that urge, because I knew we couldn’t afford to waste a single second.

Less than a minute later, a shot rang out, and I knew a hunter had shown up to finish the job, just like Nikki predicted.

My earbud crackled a couple of minutes later, followed by a familiar smug voice. “Player 23, eliminated by Hunter 18.”

I swallowed hard and pressed on through the dense underbrush, trying to stay as quiet as a mouse. Even though I was doing my best to ignore the guilt and regret knotting in my stomach, I still couldn’t help but wonder—did Chris really kill his parents? Or was he just saying that to make Ava feel better about leaving him behind, thus saving her from the same fate as him? Was he a hero or a villain?

I would never know the answer to any of those questions. But I did know one thing for sure.

In a place like this… everyone would turn into a villain eventually.

20

Everly

We madeit to another safe zone just as exhaustion threatened to overtake us completely. The cabin was smaller and more rundown than the last one, but none of us cared. It had a roof, a lock on the door, and a stash of supplies tucked into one corner. That was all that mattered—safety for now. It was set to close at six, meaning we’d all get four hours of sleep if we nodded off right now. Not enough, but better than nothing.

The moment we stepped inside, the tension lifted slightly, though it didn’t fully dissipate. I knew it never would. Not as long as we were stuck on this godforsaken island.

Ava collapsed onto the floor, her head in her hands. Kanako and Nikki moved to the corner to sift through the supplies, and Jade curled up in the opposite corner. I sank onto the nearest surface beside Cheryl, my legs aching and my mind a swirling mess.

The more I thought about it, the more I felt as if Chris’s death was my fault. If I’d listened to Rhett’s warning and told the others we needed to turn back, Chris could still be alive right now.

I wasn’t sure how I could’ve brought it up, though, considering the gist of the story was:I slept with one of the hunters a week and a half ago, and now he’s delivering private warnings to me.

That would go down like a lead balloon.

I kept trying to justify it by thinking that even if Ididtell the others about Rhett’s warning, they would’ve seen it the same way that I did—a nasty piece of trickery from him, designed to lure us somewhere else so we could be killed there instead. In the end, they probably would’ve voted to keep moving northeast, and we would’ve wound up in the trap field anyway.

That didn’t stop the guilt, though. I should’ve said something. I should’vetried.

I leaned back against the wall, my eyes fluttering shut. The soft murmurs of the others faded into the background as my thoughts finally wandered away from Chris. Rhett’s warning was echoing in my head again, along with the endless questions it brought. Why did he try to help me? And was it really help, or just another step in whatever sick game he’d decided to play with me?

Suddenly he was right in front of me. I was back in the hotel room in Havenport, naked on the edge of the bed, and he was looming over me, eyes glimmering behind his skull mask.

“My pretty little prey has a pretty pussy to match,” he said, voice gravelly. “So sweet and so wet already.”

I was dreaming. Ihadto be dreaming.

A finger slipped between my legs, gliding up and down to gather my wetness before pressing inside.

“So tight for such a dirty whore,” Rhett growled. “That’s what you are, aren’t you? A dirty whore who doesn’t fucking listen to her master.” His other hand moved between my thighs, making me cry out as he slapped the top of my pussy. “You see what happens when you don’t obey me?”

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