Page 47

CONAN

S hoving my phone into my back pocket, I do one final walk through the woods.

It’s just a game of chase.

Nothing more.

I can’t stop thinking about my texts with Hallie last night. She will be waiting for me. That she needs me. It’s like an arrow through the heart.

“Conan, do you think we should put some more rope out?” Reggie calls out from my left.

“Yeah. Can do.”

Finn tuts behind me.

“I’ve never seen a Quinn brother more glum before his own Decadence Game. What’s up?”

I look up at the trees, rustling in the breeze.

“I want to chase. Just only with Hallie,” I sigh.

His hand claps down on my shoulder.

“I understand, brother. I do. But you gotta get that stick out of your ass and play the game. No one is asking you to fuck these women. They’re here to be hunted, remember?

Not fucked. That was just if they wanted it.

Those are the rules. That applies to you too. You don’t do it if you don’t want it.”

I scratch my head.

Okay. He’s making sense here.

“You’re the game master. It’s a game of survival. Treat it as such. What Hallie doesn’t know can’t hurt her right now. Just relax. You might have fun,”

Reggie, Rowan, and Drago join us.

“All set?” I ask.

“Yeah. So talk me through what you want us to do?” Drago asks, pulling out his cigarettes and handing one to each of us.

“Well, usually, every year only I chase and hunt the contestants. But this year, I want the three of you as hunters too to assist me. Drago, you’ll be on Intel with the drones. I have to be the one to capture the contestant, but Reggie and Rowan will be there to help; perhaps send them to me.”

Rowan rubs his hands together.

“You’ll also be involved in orchestrating the endings for the captured women.

We have to make it look real to the remaining contestants.

Get creative. We’ve got enough huts placed around that we can drag them to and then take a shot into the air.

When it’s safe, the losing participants can be taken to the holding cabin until the end. ”

Drago takes a long drag.

“So, they don’t die? It’s not a game of survival?” His Russian accent cuts through the air.

“No. We don’t hurt women here, Drago. We just have to make it believable. The competition is real. The kinks are real. And they will be dead to their original lives—they can never return.”

He nods.

“Nice. Saving them from the shits that entered them?”

“Exactly. Illusions of the villains.” That’s what Declan describes us as.

“So your kink is running?” Drago shoots me a look.

I shrug.

“Hunting. Primal.”

“And you’re not going to be doing that this year?”

“I’ll hunt. Just no fucking.”

Roman’s eyes go wide.

“What if the women start turning on each other? There could be another Charlotte again.”

I chuckle, she certainly threw a grenade into Declan’s games.

“I’m hoping Enzo won’t let in an assassin.” I look at Drago.

The problem is, Enzo sends in the contestants under alias names. No pictures. Nothing.

Especially with my game, the element of surprise is key.

“We will all be masked, and so will the women.”

“Nice,” Reggie chimes in.

“Finn, you’ll be waiting for the losing contestants? Correct?”

He nods.

“Yes. I need to find out everything about their families before I end them.”

I take a drag of my cigarette and tip my head back to exhale.

“We’ve got a team ready for collection?” I ask Drago.

He checks his watch, his blue eyes returning back to me.

“Yes. Scheduled to start in five hours. Good to go.”

That’s one less thing to worry about.

“Check over the contracts. I’ve left a copy in your cabin. Make sure you’re okay with the terms. I removed the submissive clause. Or it should have really been the prey clause.”

That earns a chuckle from Finn.

“Good. The keys have been planted. And each of the huts has been set with the challenges.”

Clapping my hands together, this could actually all work out.

“What’s your challenge this year?” Reggie asks.

“Survival of the kinkiest. They find a key, they track down the hut without getting caught, and then they have to complete a challenge. Each cabin has a different task for them that gives them a pass to The Chase. They fail the challenge, they’re eliminated.”

“Nice.”

“So how does someone win?”

“Whoever is still standing at the end after I enter the hunt in phase two will be the winner of The Chase.”

I can see Rowan’s brain ticking.

“Questions?” I ask him.

“If you don’t want to keep the winner… can I?”

I let out a laugh.

“We gotta talk to Declan about letting you have your own fucking games.”

The twins would do well as a replacement for me. Because I will be chasing Hallie to the ends of the earth once this is over.

“Shall we drink? To the final Decadence Chase?” Finn asks.

“I guess. Why not? We’ve got a few hours to kill before we begin.”

As we walk back to my cabin, I can’t help but check my phone.

Every time I get a text from Hallie, the guilt gnaws at me more.

“I didn’t particularly enjoy lying to her either,” Finn tells me under his breath.

He also had to make out he’s in New York with me. But knowing Ben is in a coma in Finn's house relaxes me.

She’s safe from the monsters in this world.

“Trust me, I’m never fucking doing it again to her.”