Total pages in book: 186
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
“He’s definitely getting fined too,” Cloe added, tapping at her phone screen. “It’s in the fine print of violation consequences.”
“See?” I said, shrugging. “His whole life was essentially ruined because of his insecurities.”
Roxxi arched a brow. “I’m sorry, are we moping for that fucking idiot?”
A few of the guys laughed.
“What else do you want, Rox?” Ari asked. “Them to break his kneecaps?”
“I wouldn’t have been upset about that,” Cloe said casually, bringing an iced coffee into the frame.
Roxxi was quick to agree. “I’ll do it myself. I know Cade has a bat I can borrow.”
Xander let out a low laugh. “Roxxi, you own my heart.”
Nick cut in, smirking. “Have we ever let you girls down when it came to handling problems?”
Roxxi tilted her head, the gleam in her eye already spelling trouble. “I think you and I need to have a chat, Nicholas.”
I sighed. “That’s not even his name.”
Nick grinned. “Time and place, Vixen.”
“Okay, you psychopaths,” I interjected, sitting up straighter. “In case anyone missed part of the memo, Dennis wasn’t acting alone.”
The laughter died instantly.
It got so quiet, so fast, that my stomach knotted. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but this wasn’t it. I had a sick feeling I wasn’t going to like whatever came next.
“Whoever this other person was,” Nick started, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, “they weren’t doing it for Dennis. I started poking around after Cade and Ryder filled me in last night. If they were one of the people sending us these individualized texts, they’re an actual Huntsman. Dennis wasn’t.”
Rook shifted closer to the screen, expression unreadable. “Word around Crowsfell is the little birdie was baited. Made a move they weren’t supposed to.”
My brow furrowed. “That’s… worse.”
“That’s not a common occurrence,” Xander reassured.
“In my opinion?” Ari chimed in, her voice calm, “All the Huntsmen this year are just one big melting pot. Everyone uses each other to win big.”
“Fantastic,” I muttered. “And no one’s heard from Brittany still? What about Ethan?”
Nick shook his head. “He’s still on campus. He said she’s reading his texts. Won’t reply.”
“Maybe she has the shits so bad she’s out of commission,” Cade offered.
“Cade, that’s gross.”
“She deserves worse. I hope she expels all her insides.”
All of us girls expressed our disgust.
Ryder cracked a grin beside him. I caught it out of the corner of my eye. Not that I was looking too hard. In fact, I was doing everything in my power not to look at him, for about a dozen reasons.
All of which had me overthinking, exactly like he told me not to. Stress had a way of worsening things.
“Okay, so…” I waved a hand vaguely at the screen. “Just to summarize where we’re at:
The Hunt starts in literal hours.
Everyone in this call has some dark secret that the Huntsmen apparently know.
We’ve all got multiple people, if not the same person, targeting us. One of them backhanded Brittany hard enough to drop her, so clearly, we’re dealing with actual psychopaths cosplaying as college kids.”
I paused, letting that settle before ticking off the rest.
“Brittany’s gone M-I-A.
Layla is slinking around with Ryder’s ex from hell.
And Ashton is trying to be mysterious and manipulative, but he’s so bad at it, I’m stuck somewhere between irritated and secondhand embarrassed.”
Nick nodded slowly. “That about sums it up. You still don’t have anything to worry about, Sanj.”
I rubbed my brow. “Stop saying that. It’s not helping.”
“Starting Monday, we’ll all be together,” Roxxi reminded me, a rare softness in her voice.
Cloe followed her up. “The new window and cameras go up at two today. My dad’s having a full system installed, so at least home will be safe.”
I nodded faintly, half listening, eyes drifting across the squares.
“I should’ve drowned that bitch in the toilet,” Roxxi muttered.
That actually pulled a laugh out of me, the sound slipping past my guard before I could help it.
Rook’s voice came low and unbothered: “Still can be arranged. Ferret, too. D-W is already halfway ghost.”
I frowned at that. “Halfway ghost?”
Cade nodded. “We’re not letting anything happen to any of you.”
Roxxi raised a brow. “Speak for yourself. I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you boys.”
Every guy gave her the same amused look.
I rolled my eyes at them. “She’s right. You’re not invincible.”
Rook leaned into the screen. “Aren’t we, though?”
“That attitude is how you get stalked in locker rooms.”
“You guys are going to need to not fly off the handle and make smart choices,” Ari lectured.
Nick smirked. “I make very smart choices.”
“Sure, you do,” Cloe remarked sarcastically.
“To be honest, I’m worried about all of you. These secrets you all seem to have, who knows what they’ll do with them?”
Nick went still. “Everyone has secrets.”
Xander’s gaze sharpened. “Are you excluding yourself?”
Rook spoke quietly. “Hers doesn’t count.”
“Exactly,” I affirmed. “I think everyone already knows. You guys do.”
Cade straightened. “You mean what we’ve all known since forever?”