“Do you really think it’s all connected to the game?” The small amount of breakfast I managed to get down threatens to come up again. “That someone—some people—could be tricking women into meeting them? And then what? Taking them?Killingthem?”
I feel sick at the thought of it.Tenebris Veil, my safe haven for years, the one place I could escape to when the memories were too much; tainted. Ruined.
And Amy. What happened to her? I didn’t know her well, but I liked her. She was nice. Funny. And even though I didn’t think meeting a strange man she met through the game was the best idea, I wanted it to work out for her.
“What do we do?” I blurt. “If these people are targeting women in the game…”
“We don’t know that,” Alec says. He turns hischair to face me and takes both my hands in his. “We have a lead. Which may bring us to the truth, or it could be a dead end. We’ll keep investigating. Matt and Swede will help. We’ll figure it out.”
Knox sighs. “Hazel has a point. If more women are in danger, we should do something.”
“We can talk to the owners of the game,” Enzo replies. “Give them the heads-up. Maybe they can warn the players.”
“What about Amy?” My voice pitches up. “What about the other women? Are they still missing? Are they hurt?Dead?”
“Haze.” Alec’s thumb smooths across the back of my hand. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not!” Tears fill my eyes. “We need to help them. Or if nothing else, find out what happened to them. And we need to stop this. Before someone else I care about gets—” My voice cracks. “Before…”
The tears break free. “Alec. I have to dosomething.”
Alec’s face is a picture of misery. “Hazel. Sweetheart.” He pulls me into his arms. “Don’t cry. It’s okay. Don’t cry.”
The conversation continues around me while I work to contain my tears. Alec doesn’t take part in it; instead, he just holds me and rubs my back and tells me over and over again that everything will be okay.
But it’s not okay.
Lark, Rory, and Winter have to change their lives around because of me.
Jess is in hiding.
Wendy was hurt.
Angel was terrified she’d be taken from her daughter.
And those women. What of them?
One of the messages from last night comes back to me.
Stop hiding.
I know doing what they asked would be foolish. Dangerous, even. On my own, I’m no match for whoever’s behind this.
But I’m not on my own, am I?
I have Alec and his team. And with them…
Pulling out of Alec’s embrace, I wipe my cheeks before turning towards the rest of the group. “I have an idea.”
Enzo lifts his chin at me. “What is it?”
My heart speeds up. “What if we set a trap? I could go home, like the message said. But you guys would be hiding there, too. And if—when—someone shows up for me, you could stop them.”
“No way.” Alec shakes his head vehemently. “That’s not happening.”
“Why not?” I ask. “It could work.”
“It could,” Ronan muses. “We could do it safely.”
