Chapter 18 #2
“Right.” There was a beat of silence as Rhys glanced between us, his jaw tightening slightly. “Look, we really need you not to tell anyone. At least not yet. This plan only works if the killer still thinks I’m dead.”
Knox nodded quickly. “Yeah, if word gets out, the whole thing falls apart.”
My grip shifted slightly on my ax as my mind turned over everything they’d just said, trying to find the cracks in it.
“How do we know you’re not making all of this up?” I finally asked. “You could just be feeding us some bullshit story to keep us quiet.”
Knox let out a quiet breath, like he’d expected that. “I guess you can’t know. Not for sure. You just have to trust us.”
“That’s the problem,” I said stiffly. “You haven’t really done much to inspire our trust. In fact, I’d say you’ve done the exact opposite.”
There was another beat of silence then, thick with uncertainty.
Beside me, Jasmine shifted her weight, her gaze still fixed on the two guys. Then she shuffled closer to me, angling her head toward mine. “I never thought I’d trust a Legacy, but… I actually think they’re telling the truth,” she muttered under her breath.
“Really?” I whispered. “How come?”
“I’ll fill you in later,” she murmured back. “But I’m pretty damn certain.”
I studied her for a second, searching her face, then dipped my chin in a curt nod. “You know them better than me.”
Jasmine straightened slightly and looked at the guys again, her grip firm on the ax. “We won’t say anything,” she said. “For now.”
Relief flickered across Knox’s face, but she lifted the blade a fraction, making him flinch again.
“But if anything happens to either one of us,” she went on, her voice turning sharp again, “anything at all, the other one tells everyone immediately. No hesitation. No second chances.”
Rhys nodded. “That’s fair.”
Knox followed a second later. “Yeah. Totally fair.”
Jasmine held their gazes for another beat, like she was weighing them up one last time.
Then she lowered the ax slightly and looked back at me.
“We should probably go. The others might come to check on us soon, and if they don’t find us in the bathroom or in our cabin, they’ll get worried and come looking for us. ”
Knox nodded. “I should head out too,” he said, glancing over at Rhys. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning for breakfast, man.”
“Yeah. No worries.” Rhys rubbed the back of his neck, offering his friend a faint smile. Then he looked back at me. “Alissa, can I talk to you for a second before you go?”
Jasmine’s brows rose, and she shot me an uncertain look.
“It’s fine,” I murmured.
She nodded briskly. “Okay. I’ll wait for you,” she said, turning on her heel.
With that, she stepped away and lingered by the door instead of leaving, one hand braced against the frame.
Rhys closed the distance between us. Then he exhaled quietly, dragging a hand through his hair. “I wanted to tell you about the plan,” he said, keeping his voice low. “After we talked this morning. I just wasn’t sure it was a good idea.”
“I get it,” I replied flatly. “You couldn’t trust me. We’ve only known each other for a week.”
His brows furrowed slightly. “That’s not what I’m saying. I just figured the fewer people who knew, the better. For everyone. It keeps things contained. Safer.”
I met his gaze then, holding it. “It’s fine. Seriously,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice steady. “Just because we hooked up… it doesn’t mean you owe me anything. I get that.”
Something flickered across his face at that, quick but unmistakable. Then he nodded curtly. “Right.”
For a second, neither of us spoke, and the silence stretched, stiff and uncomfortable. I finally stepped back, breaking it. “I should go.”
Rhys hesitated, then nodded again. “Yeah. Okay.”
I didn’t wait for anything else. I turned and headed for the door, forcing my expression into something neutral as I reached Jasmine.
“What did he want?” she asked, glancing at Rhys over her shoulder before stepping outside with me.
“He just wanted to check in with me about my arm,” I said, patting my right bicep. “He was worried I might’ve done something to it, because I told him it was starting to hurt near the end of our lesson. But it’s fine now. I think it was just a bit of muscle strain.”
“Ah.”
I felt bad about lying to Jasmine, especially after what a great friend she’d been to me, but I just… didn’t want to explain. Because explaining meant admitting what had happened in that shed yesterday, and I still hadn’t figured out how to do that without sounding like a total idiot.
I’d ignored every warning from her and the others about Rhys’s apparent fuckboy reputation and hooked up with him anyway, even though I’d only known him for about five seconds. Then I’d gone and convinced myself he was a psychotic killer, which turned out to be completely wrong.
The whole thing had left me utterly mortified.
Also, if I didn’t talk about it out loud, I didn’t have to deal with why it still bothered me that Rhys hadn’t told me about his fake death plan.
So… yeah. My supposedly sore arm was a much easier story to stick to.
I hurriedly changed the subject before she could pry any further. “So what were you going to tell me?” I asked. “About why you trust the guys?”