Page 120 of Hide And Seek

“I knew it,” I said, voice shaking. “Iknewit was you.”

He didn’t answer.

The ax came up, and he swung it right at me.

I scrunched my eyes shut, bracing for the blow. It didn’t come. Instead, a sharp crack split the air as the rope above me snapped, and I dropped. Hard.

Pain jolted through me as I hit the ground, air escaping my lungs in a broken gasp.

“What…”

That was all I could manage to get out.

Rhys stood over me, watching. “I thought you might’ve figured it out,” he said. “You were acting so strange today.”

My gaze locked onto the ax as my hands scrabbled uselessly against the leaves beneath me. “Please…” I managed to whisper. “Please don’t kill me.”

“I was never going to kill you, Alissa,” he said softly. “But you know for sure that it’s me now. And that’s a problem, isn’t it?”

I didn’t answer. I just kept staring up at him, eyes wide and jaw slack.

“So…” He crouched down in front of me, bringing himself level with my line of sight. “What am I supposed to do with you, baby?”

24

Rhys reached for me.I flinched before I could stop myself, a small, broken whimper slipping out of my throat as I jerked back.

“D-don’t,” I whispered, the word catching and splintering as it left me. “Please… don’t kill me.”

Something shifted in Rhys’s expression then, like he was forcing himself to rein something in. He slowly lowered the ax still hanging loosely from one hand and let it fall into the leaves beside him with a dull thud.

The sudden movement made me recoil.

“Easy,” he murmured.

His hand disappeared into the pocket of his hoodie, and my stomach dropped all over again as he pulled out a knife. I instinctively tried to pull away, panic surging hot and fast through my chest, but Rhys immediately crouched in front of me instead of moving closer.

“I’m cutting the rope,” he said. “That’s it.”

Only then did I realize there was still part of the snare loop cinched tightly around my ankle.

My pulse hammered violently as he slid the blade beneath the rope. With one quick movement, the remaining cord snapped apart.

Rhys flicked the cut rope aside before finally looking back up at me. Then he stuck his free hand out, making me flinch yet again.

“I meant what I said before,” he said, his voice low and steady in a way that didn’t match the blood streaked across his skin. “I’m not going to kill you. I’m just trying to get you off the ground.”

I stared at his outstretched hand for a second too long, my thoughts tripping over themselves. Every instinct I had was screaming at me not to trust him, not to touch him, not to do anything except run. But I couldn’t run, and I couldn’t stay where I was either, so eventually, I let my fingers curl into his.

He pulled me up like I weighed nothing at all. The second I was standing, my knees threatened to give out again, my whole body trembling so badly I had to lock them just to stay upright.

My eyes landed on his blood-soaked shirt, and my throat tightened.

“Are they…” My voice came out thin and unsteady. “Are they all dead?”

His head tipped slightly. “You mean the four who were chasing you?”

I nodded.