Page 40

“It’s a long story,” Cloe replied, already brushing it aside. “I’ll tell you at home. That’s where we’re going, right?”

“Yeah. I want to drop these off, and I didn’t grab my cheer bag.”

“I can whip up something light before practice,” Roxxi offered. “I’m starving. Lunch did nothing for me.”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll meet you guys at the house,” I said, shifting the vase carefully in my arms. “Do one of you wanna ride with me?”

“I will,” Aril answered.

“Wait, before you guys go,” Roxxi reached into her designer tote like it was a portal. “Take one of these, Sanj. I know The Hunt doesn’t officially start for a few days, but just in case.”

Out came a blindingly pink fuzzy keychain, equal parts adorable and unhinged. Hanging from it: metallic pastel brass knuckles, what looked like lip balm but probably wasn’t, and—

“Is that a Swiss knife?” I asked, eyebrows raised.

Cloe grinned. “Sure is. Roxxi meant to give it to you this morning, but forgot.”

“How do you just have these on standby?”

Roxxi flipped her hair. “Like I said last night. We’re wealthy, beautiful, and living on our own.

We need every form of protection available when we’re not able to unleash our rabid harem on whoever’s fucking with us.

It’s already bad enough that we didn’t have cameras set up.

You know I do better with a rifle, but even my dad couldn’t get me cleared to carry one on campus.

Admin thought I’d go full Sylvia Plath.”

I stared at her. “I don’t think that metaphor works here.”

“Metaphor? Sanj, I was being literal.” She pressed the fuzzy keychain into my free hand. “Now take it. No arguing. Text the second you two are in the car with the doors locked. You know the drill. Pretend you’re seconds away from being a broadcast special.”

I looked down at the ridiculous but oddly comforting mix of things in my hands. Ryder’s elegant, perfect bouquet in one, and Roxxi’s weaponized Lisa Frank starter pack in the other.

“I don’t think me or Ari will be kidnapped on our way, but thank you for this.” I actually did appreciate the weapon.

“Come on,” Ari prompted softly. “I have one too. We can tag team anyone who tries anything.”

We split up outside since Cloe’s designated spot was a billion times closer to the building than mine.

Ari walked beside me as we cut across the parking lot.

The air had warmed enough to take the edge off the morning chill.

I adjusted my grip on the vase, still cradled in one arm, my other hand curling into the sleeve of my sweater where Roxxi’s special keychain was.

A few students lingered nearby, meandering toward their own cars in lazy clusters, but something didn’t feel right.

Ari slowed, her eyes scanning the lot like she was listening for something only she could hear.

“I don’t like this,” she murmured, pulling her pea jacket tighter. “I feel like we’re being watched. You don’t?”

“I thought I was being paranoid.”

She shook her head. “You’re not.”

We kept walking, a little faster now. “Shit, before I forget. Get in my bag and grab my cell,” I instructed.

She slipped her hand into the side pocket of my satchel, already knowing which zipper to tug.

“You remember the password?” I asked, eyes still watching our surroundings.

“Course I do. It’s a combo of your birthday and Ryder’s. Some things are sacred.”

My lips twitched. “Go to my inbox. There’s a text from a random number, four or five digits. It should be under Ashton’s.”

She scrolled silently beside me, then slowed. “Got it.”

Her expression told me everything, brows pulling together as we neared my car. “They asked why you didn’t wave back? You saw someone?”

I reached the driver’s side of my car and dug around in my bag for my fob. “Yes. Get in.”

She circled to the passenger door, gently taking the vase of flowers from my arms as I slipped behind the wheel.

I hit the lock button the second my door shut, just like Roxxi told me to.

Then I started to explain. Ari sat quietly, not saying a word while I recounted everything, the figure near the tree, the mask, the wave, and then getting the texts and the fact that they wouldn’t forward.

When I finished, silence hung thick in the car, the heater barely cut through it.

“I have a theory,” Ari started to say after a moment, her voice calm and soft as always. “I’ll tell you at the house. Roxxi and Cloe should hear it too.”

“Okay.”

“It really upsets me that Layla left you today,” she added as I pulled out of my spot.

I sighed, lips pressing together. “I’m not sure what her being there would've changed.”

“You wouldn’t have been alone, Sanjana,” she said firmly.

“We didn’t want to leave you in the first place, and then she suggested she’d stay behind with you.

Look what happened. No, you weren’t hurt, but I’m sure you would have felt much better had one of us been there, too.

When we realized she had shown up without you, Sanj, none of us could react because the guys don’t know what’s happened. ”

I didn’t respond right away. I couldn’t say anything to make Layla look better, and I didn’t know how to explain her situation without giving everything away.

I kept my eyes on the road, slowing as we approached the nearest parking lot exit.

Up ahead, near the bike racks, a guy and a girl stood huddled together, reading something off a faded piece of parchment.

I wouldn’t have thought anything of it if I hadn’t seen at least four floating around already.

“Marked,” Ari said simply. “Those seem to be the main methods of notification.”

“I figured. People have been shoving them away like they didn’t want to be seen holding them.”

“As far as I know, they all say something different,” she divulged.

I turned onto the main road, the street quieter now as students either went home or prepared for night classes.

The drive was short and quiet. I pulled into the driveway seconds before Cloe did.

I knew something was wrong right away. She should have beaten me back.

All four of us stepped out at nearly the same time.

“What happened?”

Roxxi glanced around our street before answering. “Let’s get inside first.”

We filed in, and the moment the door clicked shut behind us, she pulled a folded piece of thick paper from her jacket pocket, identical to the ones going around campus. “This was tucked under Cloe’s windshield wiper.”

“I went out to grab a textbook between classes after lunch, and it wasn’t there then,” Cloe explained, taking her shoes off and placing them neatly beside ours.

I took my flowers from Ari and set the vase on our table before reaching for the note, unfolding it slowly. Blood-red ink. Sharp, slanted handwriting. The message was short, but personal.

You’re smart.

But not smart enough to see who’s coming for you.

I read it out loud.

Cloe crossed her arms and gave a small shake of her head.

“That doesn’t bother me. I was low-key expecting a pig’s head on my bed or something more dramatic.

The boundary crossing is what I’m not feeling.

Someone was in what I consider my personal space.

” Her voice stayed cool and collected. “Some college guy or girl left that note overly excited to play dress-up and scare us, people we’d probably never speak to in real life if not for The Hunt. I still plan on ignoring them.”

Roxxi’s laugh was short and sharp. “I think it’s safe to assume whoever is hunting us this year is going to go all out to fuck with us for that exact reason.

They know we wouldn’t look twice at them outside of this twisted ass tradition, and since we don’t know them from Adam, it makes things that much easier on their end.

” She paused for a second. “Layla might’ve been onto something after all. Speaking of, have you seen her today?”

“No, actually. I think she’s avoiding me,” I admitted, shifting slightly. “She’s going through something right now.”

I now knew Roxxi had a vague idea about Layla’s issues somehow.

She had all but confirmed that this morning during our call, but I wasn’t about to spill her darkest secrets because things between us were strained.

This silent treatment and avoidance tactic wasn’t unusual for her to do, but it got to a point where it was exhausting.

Cloe’s tone sharpened. “We’re busting our asses to get through the semester, and now we’ve got strangers preparing to hunt us like dogs in the street.

Let’s not forget the stalking. jump scares, and psychological workout that’s about to go down until they can attempt to snatch us up like a prize. ” She laughed dryly.

“We’re all going through stuff, Sanj. We still wouldn’t have woken up and left you.”

Roxxi made a sound of agreement. “Couldn’t have worded it better myself. Now, before I say something I can’t take back, what were you trying to send us earlier, Sanj?”

I sat at the table and pulled out my phone. “This is what I got this morning.” I showed them the messages and then went into detail about the guy who had been waiting under the tree.

“What the fuck?” Roxxi snapped, pacing a step back once I finished. “We already knew we were Marked after the rock and the bird. So why are they still screwing with us before this thing even starts? It doesn’t count toward the actual Hunt.”

Ari shifted where she’d sat beside me, playing with the ends of her hair. “I think… all of this? It’s a lead-up for them. Conditioning, in a sense. A way to get under our skin, make us paranoid before the actual Hunt.”

“Stretch out the fear,” I murmured.

“That’s right. Draw it out slowly. The more they chip away, the harder we’ll crack and be easier to catch when it comes time to finish things up.”