Page 23 of Hunting Ground

And incredibly caught off guard.

“I think we can agree…” He leans forward and noses my jaw sweetly. I prepare myself for a backhanded compliment, a taunt, or maybe another kiss. Fuck, maybe he’ll bite me. His teeth on my shoulder would be–

“Your friend isn’t here.”

The words catch me off guard and I jerk back, feeling suddenly embarrassed at how easily I’d forgotten what we’re supposed to be doing here.

But judging by the way his lips twitch and his eyes narrow in amusement, that was exactly what he’d been going for.

Fuck me.

Reminding myself that the one to die first in a horror movie is always the one who fucks the hot, stupid guy, I make myself pull away from him. I will not let whatever this is distract me from my current crisis.

No matter how good of a kisser he is.

“Yeah. Yep.” I turn away and look around the lounge again, picking up the crowbar from where I’d dropped it on the table. “She left, I guess. Maybe she had to?”

“Maybe she was forced to,” Adrien agrees as he puts his mask back in place and tugs his hood up as well. “Come on. Hopefully we’ll find your friend on the way.” He doesn’t sound at all hopeful, though I appreciate the half-assed effort. “But we need to get to the Ferris wheel. I’m not really into the idea of taking a bullet or blade for you before you take me out to dinner.”

He pauses, then glances back towards the game room. “Didn’t you say you killed someone here? There’s no body on the floor. Just a lot of blood and like, three teeth. You sure she didn’t get up and walk away?”

9

I’m so distracted on the way back that it’s a miracle I don’t run right into a hunter and get gutted. I’d killed her. I remember killing her, and I know she didn’t just get up and walk away.

“Are you sure you didn’t knock her out?” There’s no judgment in Adrien’s tone, which is nice. But I still bristle a little at the question.

“I am very sure.”

“How sure?”

That makes me roll my eyes, and I glance back at my masked shadow as he stalks after me. “I am incredibly sure, because half of her face was bashed in. Eye included. She was not getting up from that, I promise you. And I would’ve known if she was just taking a nap.”

Adrien falls silent, but I know what he’s thinking. If she’s dead and Lily’s gone, then the chances are high that someone knows things aren’t going to plan. Even if they don’t know about Adrien, Ronan, and Ansel, there’s no way that there won’t be some kind of alert about her death.

My eyes wander across the tail end of the midway, and I gaze at the tilt-a-whirl as one of the cars spins lazily, even though there’s no one here. If I hadn’t worked here, then I probably would’ve been convinced that we aren’t alone.

Instead I just trust in the local urban legend about all tilt-a-whirl cars being haunted by spirits of children who’d hurled and hurled, creating dangerous splash zones for all involved.

“It would be pretty, you know,” I remark thoughtlessly as we pass the lit up carousel.

“Hmm?”

“This. Here. Wonderlight would be pretty if we weren’t in the current situation we’re in. I hated working here, but I didn’t hate the pier. Sometimes we would stay after and light up part of the park. Back before we had the manager from hell. It was like this, sort of.”

“Just without the band of rich murdering assholes?”

“Yeah. That part.” I throw him a look, but he’s not paying attention to me. His movements are slower, and I notice the gleam of the knife in his hand. When I follow the tilt of his mask, I can just see a hint of movement on the carousel. A cry breaks through the music, and as I watch, John is dragged onto the platform, under the carousel lights. My own steps slow, and I stop when Adrien does. “John,” I murmur, my gaze locked on his slumped, hunching form. His shoulders shake with sobs and Adrien moves towards me, reaching out to grab my hand.

“You can’t help him,” he murmurs in my ear.

“I know.”

“watching this doesn’t do anything for you.”

“I know.”

But some part of me twists with guilt. I know he’s right. I know that there’s nothing I can do for him right now. We don’t know if any of the others are around, and what if he kills us before we can stop him?