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I moved toward my locker, knowing I hadn’t been an exception in whatever this was.

Dead center was a picture of me and Ryder, taken the other night, when he hugged me in the driveway.

Thick black ink smeared across both our faces, erasing them completely.

I peeled it away, fingers trembling slightly.

The angle... something about it felt wrong.

Too close. Too high. It didn’t look like it was taken from the street or sidewalk.

It looked like it had been taken from inside my house.

“This is one way to have a photo op,” Roxxi quipped dryly beside me.

She stood in front of her own locker, holding up a similar photo.

Hers was with Cade, and they looked like they were caught mid-conversation.

The same thick black ink slashed across both their faces.

All around us, more girls began reacting.

Some gasped quietly, others whispered curses under their breath as they pulled their own snapshots.

The unease spread quickly, murmurs bouncing off the walls, the weight of it settling in the air like a storm cloud.

“If we got one of these, does that mean we’ve been Marked?” Victoria, a smaller cheerleader with vibrant, colorful hair, asked.

“Hey, even if it does, this is only The Hunt, girls,” Brooke’s voice cut through the rising tension, airy and dismissive. “They’re just trying to mess with us. It’s kind of the whole point.”

Nearly the entire squad turned toward her.

Brittany blinked, clearly thrown. “ Just ?” she repeated, voice sharper now. “My cousin Amber got targeted last year and ended up transferring out. You think that was just from fun?”

“If you let it get to you, that’s when they win. Fear is what they feed off of. You can’t be weak-minded.”

I’m sure she meant that as a reassuring, motivational comment, but with the way people were feeling at the moment, it didn’t land well.

“Wow, Brooke, and everyone thinks you’re this sweet angel,” Zara snapped.

The room went quiet.

Brooke’s lashes fluttered, her lips parting like she was about to defend herself, but in the end, she didn’t say a word.

Meanwhile, my mind had locked onto what Zara had just called her.

With her honey-blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a glowing, pageant-perfect smile, she practically embodied the term.

I wasn’t sure why my brain decided right then to serve up the memory of Ashton using that same endearment recently. Angel.

I shut down the thought immediately.

Brooke was too sweet, and seriously, who in their right mind would give up Ryder for a man who couldn’t find my clit if I put a neon sign above it and played the Indiana Jones theme song?

At least Ryder knew what he was doing. I’d never gone out of my way to hear the stories, but the few girls he messed with made sure I did.

Not once had Roxxi, Ari, or Cloe been dragged into that fire. Though plenty of girls didn’t like how close we all were with the guys, I was always the problem when it came to Ryder Voss, no matter what I did. It wasn’t until now that I was an actual one.

“I’m not worried,” Brooke said after a minute, smile still perfectly in place. “I’ve got a boyfriend who can handle anyone trying to Hunt me.”

Her eyes went to the photo in my hand. Was that proclamation meant for me? I couldn’t even be mad. Good for her, honestly. I’d use him as a shield too, if he were mine.

“It could be more than one person,” I reminded her. “They changed the rules.”

Brooke looked right into my eyes. “Same difference, Sanjana.”

“Alrighty then,” I replied flippantly. I could feel the edges of my irritation starting to fray. I forced a tight smile, trying to shake off the sudden, oddly satisfying image of slamming her head into the nearest locker.

“Listen,” Brittany interjected. “In this town, fear is like an inheritance passed down and tucked away like family secrets.”

Sydney turned toward her, not quite tracking. “What does that have to do with The Hunt?”

Brittany sighed. “Never mind.” She turned on her heel and stalked toward the showers, tossing over her shoulder, “Keep in mind, The Hunt isn’t only a game. It’s a tradition to weed out Crowsfell’s weak and make examples out of the rest to see if we’ve got what it takes to win.”

The silence that followed her parting statement wasn’t loud, but it was deafening. Roxxi finally looked down at the picture in my hand, and her eyes widened.

“Holy shit, Sanj,” she whispered.

If she was making the same observation I had, then I was right about where this picture was taken.

I’d never wanted to be more wrong. It was all coming together, though.

The door had been unlocked that night. I’d gone straight to the shower, left my room open, and unguarded.

Someone could have been there all along, and I wouldn’t have known.

It also explained why the rock came through that specific window and not another.

At some point, whoever did this had to of left, but before that, they would’ve been hiding somewhere.

How long were they in our house without us knowing?

My stomach lurched. I felt like I was going to be sick.

That was creepy on so many fucking levels.

“It’ll be okay, Sanj,” Layla murmured, her voice soft and cautious, a full 180 from her attitude moments ago.

She had no clue I was on the verge of a mini breakdown. I expelled a deep breath, slowly, trying to ground myself, but my hands were still shaking. My eyes dropped to the Polaroid again; the thick black ink slashed through my face now felt like a warning. Or a promise.

“How many days until the party?”

“Not enough,” Roxxi replied, her voice dry as sandpaper.

She shook her own photo. “But this? This is nothing, Sanj.” Her tone lowered, and she leaned closer, speaking solely to me.

“I know it’s hard. I would be losing my shit right about now, but you’re okay.

Whoever did this is long gone, and they won’t ever get inside our home again . ”

A locker slammed, and Sydney tossed a towel into her cheer bag. “This sucks.”

“The Hunt can’t last forever,” Roxxi stated softly to reassure the remaining girls. “It’s over after the party.”

The Soirée. A final night meant to bring the closure of the game with enough ceremony to pacify the faculty and whoever else played behind the curtains.

“Yeah, it can’t last forever,” I repeated for my own benefit. But as the words left my mouth, I didn’t fully believe them.