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The locker room was roped off after the squad had been allowed to grab their things.

More faculty had shown up since, already arguing over how to handle this.

For all the higher-ups' obsession with The Hunt, the people who helped enforce it clung just as tightly to their rules and red tape. In two days, this kind of assault would’ve been sanctioned.

Well, not Brittany getting backhanded and dragged by the hair.

The Hunt wasn’t supposed to draw blood .

Now that it had, who was to say it wouldn’t happen again when things really kicked off?

Layla caught my eye and smiled.

I couldn’t bring myself to smile back.

I didn’t even know how to face her yet. Losing that friendship would hurt, not in the way losing Roxxi or Cloe or Ari would.

They were family. But Layla still meant something to me.

She’d seen sides of me that not everyone had, and I’d made space for her in ways I rarely did for others outside my friend group.

I couldn’t unknow what I knew, though. She’d gone behind my back at least twice, and with everything happening, trust wasn’t just fragile, it was sacred. She’d fractured mine.

“Oh, shit,” Ari mumbled.

I followed her gaze instinctively.

A cluster of guys was crossing the parking lot.

Hockey players, football guys, and a few others were trailing behind like they were watching a parade.

The real show was dead center. Ryder and Cade, flanking Dennis, who walked stiffly, his mascot suit ruffled and half-stripped, the crow head gone.

Nick had joined them at some point and was at their backs with Xander.

Coaches followed, too, but they stopped and hovered nearby, watching on like this was all perfectly routine.

Cade shoved Dennis forward the second they reached us.

“Apologize,” he ordered, voice flat.

“I’m sorry,” he croaked, hollow and pitiful.

Nick scoffed. “That was the weakest apology I’ve ever heard.”

Ryder grabbed a fistful of Dennis’s sweat-matted hair and pushed him down to his hands and knees. “Start over, and sound like you fucking mean it.”

Dennis hissed through his teeth, face twisting in pain.

Everyone went silent. Glances were exchanged, but no one stepped in.

I took a step forward, instinct more than intention.

I didn’t want him to go too far—not in front of an audience.

Brooke beat me there, sliding right into the space she belonged.

I stepped back, and Cloe was there silently offering comfort without making it obvious. Ryder’s eyes found mine and held. I knew he wanted me to remember all that was said between us, but that didn’t make this any easier or sting any less.

“I don’t hear anything,” Roxxi prompted.

Pulling my gaze from Ryder, I looked down at our mascot. Dennis was a wreck. He was red-faced, lip split, his cheek swelling like a rotted peach.

The padded suit sagged around him, feathers bent at broken angles like even the costume didn’t want to be associated with him anymore.

I didn’t know what I was feeling anymore.

I was just over it. Over the week I’d been having.

Over the whiplash of the Hunt ramping up and the whiplash of Ryder Voss.

I didn’t want to be standing under cold campus lights with a crumpled coward and a crowd that felt more like a jury than a student body.

I wanted to go home.

I needed some normal before Monday hit and dragged us all further into this twisted game.

My last few hours of semi-sanity were being wasted on this asshole who meant nothing to me.

I stepped forward, focusing on Dennis. My girls shifted behind me, ready to move without hesitation if he so much as flinched my way.

I didn’t think he’d be that stupid when there was a group of guys right behind him looking for another excuse to start swinging.

“I don’t think I need to accept your apology, but I’m not going to lose any more sleep over you either.”

He blinked, and his jaw clenched. For a second, I thought he’d stay silent.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, hoarse and weaker than before. “I really… I am.”

It was more pitiful the second time around. Xander stepped forward, turning slightly.

“Coach,” he called, bored and impassive.

Coach Crane and Wiseman both jogged over like a pair of well-trained retrievers, each grabbing one of Dennis’s arms. They hauled him to his feet and made assurances in front of everyone lingering that this would be dealt with accordingly.

“You’re with us now, Matheson,” Crane barked as they dragged Dennis off.

I watched them silently.

Where the hell was the other one? Dennis hadn’t acted alone.

There were two of them in that locker room.

Two masks. Two sets of hands. Only one distorted voice that spoke like one of the people behind all our texts.

Once they disappeared, the crowd started to break apart, voices lowering, movements slower now that the adrenaline had worn off.

Mrs. Gale appeared beside me, handing over my cheer bag.

Her face had softened from coach to something closer to human.

“Cade brought this out to me before heading this way,” she said gently. “Figured you wouldn’t want to go back in there.”

I took it with a quiet, “Thanks.” Roxxi had brought my satchel out when she went in to grab her things earlier.

Mrs. Gale didn’t give me a speech or ask questions. Just touched my arm, gave it a firm squeeze, and said, “If anything feels off again, come to me. Don’t wait.”

I wasn’t sure what she could do, but I nodded anyway.

A few football and hockey players lingered with Ryder, Cade, Nick, Rook, and Xander, offering quiet nods of approval or comments about handling business. Brooke slid right up to Ryder’s side again, her hand curling around his bicep. I turned away and faced the girls.

“Do you want me to head back across town with you?” Roxxi asked.

“I can come too,” Ari added quickly.

“And—” Cloe started, but I shook my head, laughing softly under my breath before she could finish.

“No,” I said firmly, glancing at all three of them. “I’m fine, I promise. I’m more pissed than anything, and I know I’m going to be sore as hell tomorrow.”

I would’ve loved nothing more than to sink into a night with them—movies, junk food, and another few glasses of Moscato.

But I wasn’t going to let one incident derail our lives more than they were already about to be.

If I needed normal, then so did they. Roxxi needed her weekend with Gigi at the Port—her grandmother had been planning it for weeks.

Ari had a presentation she’d been stressing over since midterms. As for Cloe, I knew she wanted to finish work on her project, the one Lindsey had completely dropped the ball on.

Roxxi swooped in and hugged me tightly.

“We’ll keep in touch the whole time.”

“Group chat’s going to be blowing up,” Cloe followed up with a small smile.

“Call me at any time,” Ari said softly.

They turned toward Cloe’s car, and I turned to Noah, who was being followed by Layla and Sydney.

Noah folded me into a warm, grounding hug like he thought he could absorb the worst of how I was feeling.

With his unruly copper curls still and boyish, freckled charm he never quite outgrew, Noah always looked like summer held on a little longer for him.

“I expect a phone call this weekend to spill tea,” he murmured into my hair.

Sydney was next, arms already open. With her delicate features and soft curls, she looked like she belonged in candlelight, pretty in an old-soul kind of way, but her hug was solid, and for a second, I let myself lean into it.

“Glad you’re okay,” she said quietly against my shoulder.

Then came Layla.

I couldn’t bring myself to hug her. I could fake it like a Grammy winner, but I wasn’t up to the task tonight.

I gave her a tight smile and said something along the lines of catching up later.

She blinked, confused, her hand twitching halfway up before falling to her side since I was already walking past her.

Kellan reached me, eyes scanning my face in that quiet, observant way he never quite shook.

He ruffled my hair like I was still the girl who dared him to eat six Warheads without water back in middle school.

“You better text me later.” His tone was light but laced with real concern.

“I will,” I half-laughed, shoving his hand away.

I turned and circled to the other side of Ryder’s truck.

He’d unlocked it at some point, and it was already running, so I climbed into the back instead of my usual spot in the front.

He was still standing off to the side, talking to a few other players.

I placed my bags on the floor and settled in, leaning my head lightly against the window.

I fished out my cell phone and typed a quick text to my parents:

Just leaving campus now. Be home soon. Love you!

I checked over my notifications and saw two new texts from my Huntsman.

1031

So close tonight.

Didn’t even get to show you our new knife trick.

There’s always next time.

1031

That pretty golden boy can’t protect you forever, but I’m going to enjoy every second he tries.

The cold I’d thought was just from the fall chill sank deeper, rooting itself under my skin. Who the hell was this? I glanced outside, beyond where Ryder was standing, searching for any sign of someone lurking in the shadows. It was clear that whoever this was, they were still watching.

Maybe closer than I could even guess.