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I had heard nothing from Layla. I would’ve been worried about where she was staying if I weren’t aware of her hanging out with Sarah Myers.

Regardless of how rocky our friendship had become, I didn’t want her trapped in the hell that was her home.

It had been dead silent from Brittany, too.

I’d tried calling and texting her without getting a response.

I debated answering, but Ashton let it ring for a whole four seconds before hanging up. Minutes later, a text buzzed in:

ASH

Hey, tried to call and didn’t get an answer. I tried earlier too. Will try again in a few. Miss you, Angel.

What the hell?

Was he seriously trying to make it look like he’d put in effort without actually doing it?

I stared at the message, irritation prickling hotter than it should’ve.

Something was going on with him, and this wasn’t me overthinking.

He was behaving so out of character, I didn’t know where to begin making sense of it.

I could pinpoint exactly when this started, though.

The morning that he admitted to speaking with Sarah.

The screen changed with an incoming FaceTime call.

I hit accept, and the screen split into squares.

The guys were all together on the sectional at their place, half-distracted, voices overlapping.

Rook was stretched across the far end, a hoodie pulled over his head, while Nick and Xander sat perched near the middle, tablet tilted just enough to catch everyone else in the frame.

Cade and Ryder had a separate square to themselves, both reclining in the private suite at the country club our families belonged to.

Roxxi was in the room at her grandmother’s again, a fuzzy blanket slung over her legs. Cloe and Ari were together now, side-by-side on Ari’s bed, surrounded by notebooks and pillows.

“Did I miss the summons for a cult meeting?”

Xander didn’t blink. “I told everyone we needed to talk Hunt.”

I rubbed my brow, already over whatever was coming. “What about it?”

“I want to preface this by saying I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

“That’s what Ari said earlier.”

Rook’s voice cut in, low and skeptical. “You don’t agree?”

“No.” I was the one who didn’t elaborate for once.

Cloe leaned forward in frame, her expression sharp. “She was targeted by that loser in a giant bird costume in a locker room. I think that gives cause for us to worry.”

“Not if we do what I said and group up,” Xander countered calmly.

“I wasn’t exactly alone,” I pointed out. “I had Brittany with me. Who lied about the whole thing, apparently.”

Nick’s eyes narrowed a little. “Yeah. Heard about that.”

“She’s not answering any of my calls or texts,” Roxxi chimed in, voice edged with heat. “Trust me, I had plenty to say. And while I’m glad Dennis is gone, and Ryder made him get on his knees for his queen and apologize, hot, by the way, I think he got off too light.”

His queen?

I wasn’t touching that one.

“Geez, Rox,” I said instead, trying not to smile. “He’s already getting expelled.”

“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?”

Nick nodded. “You and Ryder?”

I breathed in, then out. “Point’s been made, I think.”

Xander didn’t drop it. “You can’t keep running.”

“I’m not.”

“Then why deflect every time we bring it up?”

“I ‘ve been sitting here wondering why, after last night and this morning, you’re pretending I don’t exist, Sass.”

Every square on the call went still.

Nick grinned and sat up straighter. “Wait, last night and this morning? You two finally—?”

“It’s not like that,” I snapped, heat crawling up my neck.

“Oh, it’s definitely like that,” Ryder stated.

I glanced at his frame and instantly hated myself for it. He looked insufferably relaxed.

Cade gave a lazy grin. “She’s being shy.”

Cloe did a double-take. “You were there?”

“I was,” Cade replied matter-of-factly. “I hard things. I’m choosing to mentally repress all of it now.”

Ari looked far too intrigued. “Oh, wow.”

Cade shot me a sympathetic glance. “Sorry, Sass. I really did try to drown it out with ESPN.”

“Drown what out?” Roxxi let out a sharp little noise that was somewhere between a gasp and a devil’s giggle. “Sanjana Marino. What did you do ?”

“It’s not what any of you think,” I insisted, already regretting everything about this conversation.

Cloe grinned. “Girl, it never is.”

How would she know? Cloe hadn’t been near a guy since junior year of high school. I was almost positive she was as close to being a virgin as Ari was, but that wasn’t important right then.

It was time for me to get off this call. “Okay, well, as informative as this chat has been, I have a paper to finish before I go help set up for tonight.”

Roxxi sniffed dramatically. “Fine, leave me hanging. I need to get ready to head to the Stables anyway.”

Nick perked right up. “Can I come?”

I bit back a laugh. He sounded like a little kid asking to tag along to the park.

“Can you meet me there in an hour?”

“I’ll be there.”

“Sanj, after I get home and finish Nick, I want our girl chat.”

Xander laughed. “Finish Nick?”

Roxxi rolled her eyes. “You know what I meant.”

Nick leaned into the frame, voice smooth. “Here I was getting even more excited, Vixen.”

Cloe made a sound of disgust. “Okay, if our group seriously devolves into a full-blown friendcest, I’m out. Somebody better double up.”

“Poor Arianna,” Roxxi sighed, not missing a beat.

Ari scowled. “What do you mean, poor me? They have Zoe now.”

The guys reacted like she’d tossed a grenade into their lap.

Nick groaned and sank deeper into the couch. “Oh, come on. She’s cool and everything, but we don’t have her. She isn’t you.”

Ari made a face so appalled it sent Roxxi into a fit of laughter. I cracked right along with her.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck. “That didn’t come out right.”

Rook leaned into frame, deadpan. “He meant she’s not family.”

Cade added helpfully, “You four are different. You’re, like… special.”

“Aww, stop,” Roxxi drawled. “But we are, aren’t we?”

Ryder laughed, watching them all, bemused.

“Basically, we’d fuck you—.” Xander paused and reconsidered his words. “I mean, not you, obviously. Never mind.”

Ari stared. “Yeah, so… I’m gonna go now.”

“Me too. Bye, psychos.”

Roxxi waved a finger. “We need to have a girl chat when you get home, Sanj. No boys allowed.”

Cade sighed heavily. “Sexism. Alive and well.”

“Cry about it,” Cloe said sweetly, reaching to end the call.

I hit the button just as Nick muttered something about needing protection.

For a few seconds, the silence after the call ended actually felt kind of peaceful.

Until my phone buzzed again.

.