32. Everly
32
Everly
The silence that followed the knock seemed to press down on me, thick and heavy, like the air before a storm. With my heart hammering, I stared at Nikki and put my finger to my lips, hoping like hell she’d obey my silent command. Thankfully, she complied, clamping a hand over her mouth.
Another three knocks came, heavy and measured, and I almost jumped right out of my skin. Oh god, oh god, oh god…
Rhett’s deep voice finally carried through the door a few seconds later. “It’s just me, baby,” he said. “You’re safe. Can you open up?”
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, I stepped over and unlocked the door, keeping an eye on Nikki the whole time. Rhett strode in, and his eyes instantly widened when he caught sight of her.
“What the fuck?” he said, stepping in front of me with one arm extended, as if to protect me from her. With his free hand, he reached into his jacket, whipped out a black pistol, and aimed it right at her face. “What the hell are you doing in here?”
“Rhett, it’s okay,” I said. “At least… sort of.”
“No, it’s not okay.” He looked over at me, eyes flashing with a mix of shock and anger. “I know you thought she was your friend out here, but she’s a society plant. She wasn’t really—”
Nikki cut him off. “She knows, okay? I told her everything.”
“It’s true,” I said, gently touching Rhett’s free arm. “She told me all about her job.”
“So?” He didn’t lower the gun. “That doesn’t mean she’s on your side.”
Nikki sighed defeatedly and threw her hands up. “Whatever. Go ahead and shoot me, then. It’s better than getting stabbed,” she muttered, looking at my knife.
“Wait.” I reached for Rhett’s arm again. “Don’t kill her. Please.”
His jaw clenched. “I’ll be fucking damned if I let anyone stand in the way of me getting you off this island,” he bit out. “So, give me one good reason why we shouldn’t get rid of her right now.”
“Because I think—”
“Maybe I could help you,” Nikki blurted out before I could finish my sentence. “I mean, you obviously want to get Everly out of here in one piece, but she told me you don’t have a plan yet. And three heads are better than one, right?”
“She has a point, Rhett,” I said. “We want to take the whole society down, and having someone like her on our side could really help.”
He snorted, still staring right at Nikki. “Why should we believe that you suddenly want to help us?” he asked her. “You’re one of them .”
“So are you, in case you forgot,” she said coolly. “And no offense, but you’ve actually killed people, so I think that makes you worse than me. I’ve never killed anyone.”
“That’s fair,” Rhett said stiffly. “But you didn’t answer my question. Why should we believe you want to help us take the society down?”
“Because I fucking hate them, clearly.”
“See, there’s the issue. It’s not clear at all.” Rhett’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve worked for The Wild Hunt for… how long?”
“About a year.”
“Right. A whole year, where you’ve said and done jack-shit. But now, when it’s suddenly convenient to you, you claim you want to take it all down?”
“I’ve thought about doing it every single day,” Nikki said, voice rising an octave. “But I’m a nobody. What the fuck could I possibly do that would actually work? Nothing. So of course I’ve never said or done anything against the society. It’s too risky. But it’s different if I have you on my side.”
“Why?”
Nikki threw up her hands. “Um, duh? You don’t just work for the Wilders like me. You are a Wilder. And you’re also one of the best hunters they have. Plus, your father is one of the Patriarchs. So, not to blow too much smoke up your ass, but a guy like you is probably the best hope I have at ending the absolute hell my life has turned into over the last year.”
I brushed Rhett’s arm again. “You should really hear her whole story before you make any decisions,” I said. I glanced at Nikki. “If you’re okay sharing it, that is.”
“Sure, as long as he stops waving that gun in my face.”
“Fine.” Rhett’s upper lip curled with derision, but he lowered the gun. “I’m listening.”
Slowly and haltingly, Nikki filled him on everything she’d told me—how she was forced to work for The Wild Hunt, what JJ had done to her, and what some of the other Wilders had done too.
Rhett’s hand stayed tense on his gun, even though he’d lowered it. His eyes stayed locked on Nikki as she spoke, cold and calculating, but as her story unraveled, I noticed the smallest crack in his armor—a slight quickening of his breath, along with a subtle tick of his jaw.
When she described JJ’s cruelty, his expression darkened, and his grip on the gun tightened again like he was imagining pulling the trigger. At one point, I thought he might interrupt, bark out an accusation, or tell her to stop talking. But he didn’t.
By the time Nikki got to the part about Matt and Jordan, I could see a flicker of something else in Rhett’s eyes. It wasn’t just pity, but anger, like flames licking at the edges of his control.
When Nikki’s voice finally trailed off, a heavy silence fell over the room. Rhett didn’t move, didn’t even blink, and I held my breath, waiting to see what he’d do.
Finally, he put his gun away, free hand raking through his hair as he let out a heavy sigh. “I had no idea that you didn’t choose to work for the society,” he finally said. “And I had no idea these things were happening to you. I’d say I want to kill JJ for what he did, but—”
“You and Ev already took care of that,” Nikki said with a wry smile. “I heard.”
“Yeah. It’s not just him, though. Matt and Jordan… those fucking pricks,” he said, shaking his head. “I always knew they were douchebags, but I had no idea they were that bad.”
“She showed me the bite marks and bruises they left on her,” I said in a low voice. “She couldn’t possibly have faked that. Also, why would she have any reason to fake it in the first place? She had no idea we were in here, waiting to ambush her.”
“It’s okay. I believe her,” Rhett said, looking at me. He turned to face Nikki again. “I’m really sorry this shit happened to you. I mean it.”
“Does that mean you trust me now?” she asked, forehead wrinkling. “You’ll let me help you out?”
Rhett lifted a hand, signaling for her to wait. Then he took a step closer to me, voice lowering to a mutter only I could hear. “What do you want to happen here?” he asked. “I’ll do anything you want, as long as I can keep you safe.”
“I think we should let her help us,” I whispered back. “But we need to keep her close, just in case. I mean, I believe her, but brainwashing and fear tactics can run deep. So we have to be careful.”
He dipped his chin in a curt nod. Then he turned and raised his voice to address Nikki again. “You’re in for now,” he said. “But you understand why we can’t fully trust you, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”
“What I mean is: we can’t let you out of our sight, on the off chance you run straight back to Peter like a loyal, brainwashed lapdog.”
“It’s fine. I totally get it. And to be honest…” She paused, brows raising as she glanced at me. “Everly, if I were you, I wouldn’t trust either one of us, given how we’re both so deeply connected with The Wild Hunt.”
“Well, I don’t th—”
She cut me off. “I’m not saying you’re na?ve or gullible. I’m just saying you’re brave,” she said. “Actually, you’re kind of a badass.”
Rhett’s lips curved into the first smile I’d seen him crack since his return to the room. “I keep trying to tell her that.”
I felt my cheeks flush, and I raised both my palms. “Okay, enough about me. Do either of you have any ideas about what our next move could be?”
Rhett frowned. “I’ve been thinking about some things, but nothing really sticks. There’s always a problem.”
“Yeah, I get that,” I said, shoulders slumping. “There’s just so much stuff we need to consider.”
“Maybe it would help if we clarified exactly what our goals are?” Nikki said, brows rising.
I steeled my jaw. “I want to take down The Wild Hunt once and for all. Expose them to the world,” I said. “I also want to rescue all the players who are still alive and make sure they get home safely. It’s not fair if I’m the only survivor.”
“So… not a big ask, then,” she replied, lips curving with a hint of sarcastic amusement. “Just a regular old Sunday.”
“I know it’s a lot. But we have to do something. We can’t just let this stuff keep happening.”
“No shit.” She sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “You know, every day for the last year, I’ve thought about sitting down and writing out some massive exposé to post online. But there’s just no point. Even if my post went viral by some miracle, there's no guarantee that anyone would believe what I say. I don't really have any proof, other than my word.”
“You’re right. People would probably just think you’re crazy,” Rhett said. “And like you said, going viral online is almost impossible anyway.”
“Yup. I could post every day for five years, and it could never happen,” she said bitterly. “Some people get lucky on their first try and get fifty million views on a stupid lip-sync video. But the chances of that actually happening? Probably one in a billion. Or less.”
I nodded slowly. “There’s only one real way to guarantee it—make sure your post lands in the exact right hands,” I said. “But even if we managed to do that with everything we know about The Wild Hunt… it doesn’t solve our other problem.”
“Getting everyone off this hellhole island, you mean?”
“Yes.” I paused, letting out a short sigh. “Earlier, I thought about potentially ending the travel lockdown from the island by setting a fire. But I don’t think that would work in the end.”
Nikki frowned. “Yeah, Wildercliff Manor is way too big for that. Almost 200,000 square feet with multiple wings branching off in different directions. So the chances of setting a fire big enough to cause problems is low at best,” she said. She paused for a beat and sat up straighter. “But I think you’re on the right track with that idea. If we could cause some sort of mass panic situation, the Patriarchs would have to allow travel to open up, because everyone would be scrambling to get off the island.”
“Good point,” Rhett murmured, nodding slowly.
“How many people are here altogether?” I asked.
Nikki’s lips twisted with contemplation. “I was told seventy-three Wilders are staying here while the Hunt is on, including the eight Patriarchs. But that’s not counting the thirty hunters. So there’s over a hundred of them altogether. There’s also about fifty staff members—cleaners, cooks, maintenance, tech support, and… me.”
“And the players?”
“Last I heard, there were nineteen still alive. That’s counting you. So eighteen are still out on the hunting grounds.”
“And no kills registered today,” Rhett muttered, rubbing his jaw. “That’s good.”
Nikki nodded. “Yeah, after the first two or three days, the players that are still left tend to be the more experienced or resourceful ones. They can hide better. Hold out longer. So it could take days for the hunters to get all of them. Maybe even weeks.”
Suddenly my mind was whirling. “How do things work with the staff members?” I asked, cocking my head slightly to the side. “You all sleep in separate quarters, right?”
“Yeah, in the south wing. North and east are for the Wilders. Can’t let them mix with the riff-raff too much, can we?” she said, rolling her eyes.
“So… you eat separately, right?”
“Yeah. There’s two cooks assigned to our wing, and six for the Wilders.” She snorted, eyes rolling upward again. “It has to be done that way, because all the rich guys just have to have their filet mignons and truffle risottos. But of course, the staff aren’t good enough for that sort of food.”
“What are you thinking, Ev?” Rhett asked, staring at me through slightly-narrowed eyes. “Some sort of food poisoning incident to induce mass panic?”
“Yeah, maybe,” I muttered. My mind was still scrambling, working overtime. “I have a question for you. Remember what you told me at the bonfire party? About how you gain access to the society secrets as soon as you become a full member.”
“Yup.” Rhett let out a low, bitter laugh. “What bullshit that turned out to be. We only know what the Patriarchs want us to know.”
“Yes, but how exactly does it work?” I asked. “Is there some sort of physical place where all the society information is stored? Like a vault somewhere?”
“Yeah, there is, in the back of the Wilder headquarters. But these days, the files are also digitized to make things easier for us,” he replied. “The way that works is: we all have an encrypted app on our phone. It can only be opened if you know the five-digit code, and that code changes twice a day. Whenever it changes, the new one is sent to us via secondary devices that we’re all given after the final trial. Smart watches. So even if someone stole a Wilder’s phone, they still wouldn’t be able to open the app. Not without the code from the watch.”
“So, your app only has the information the Patriarchs want you to know. But their apps probably have it all, right?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Your dad is a Patriarch. Could you get his phone and get on his app? Send all the info to yourself?”
Rhett rubbed his jaw, frowning slightly. “I could try,” he said. “If the code is the same for the Patriarch version of the app, then I can definitely open it on his phone, as long as I can get it from him in the first place. But if the codes are different… there’s probably no way, short of kidnapping him and holding a gun to his head.”
“Sounds like it’s worth a try, though,” Nikki replied. “If you get that information, it’ll go a long way to proving our case against the society once we try this whole takedown thing.”
“For sure.” Rhett nodded. “I’ll give it my best shot.”
Nikki looked back at me. “I’m getting the impression you have a serious plan percolating,” she said. “Am I right?”
“Yes. But whether it works or not depends on a ton of different things,” I said, mind still racing through possibilities and contingencies. I sat up straight again. “Earlier, you said you’ve been wearing a wig and glasses to disguise yourself in recruitment meetings, so the players wouldn’t recognize you during the game. Do you happen to have those here?”
Nikki nodded, one thumb jerking toward the duffel bag she’d brought in earlier. “I’ve had to travel all over the place for those meetings, so they’re always in my bag,” she said. “Why?”
I didn’t answer just yet. “Do you happen to have eye drops too?”
“Yup. I packed some because sea breezes always give me major dry-eye.”
“I have some too,” Rhett added. “In my first aid kit.”
“Good. The more we have, the better.”
Nikki stood up, raising her palms. “Okay, Everly, you have to stop keeping us in suspense,” she said. “You’ve obviously got a big idea. So please share it with the class.”
“All right.” I smiled thinly. “Here it is…”