“I didn’t say it was!”
She snapped her mouth shut, her cheeks pinking as she grew flustered.
My brow furrowed.
“It’s just a guess, Vivian.” I turned back to the others. “You’re spitballing, right? Throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks?”
Vivian interjected again. “What’s that mean? Is that a clue?”
I spun back around slowly. “It’s just an expression, Vivian. Something only thehave-notssay.”
She frowned, clearly disappointed I hadn’t proven myself useful, and turned away. Sitting alone, with her arms crossed over her chest, her jaw clenched as she stewed silently.
I didn’t want to know what was on her mind.
Rolling my eyes, I faced the girls. “You could be onto something, Angela.” I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t think I can take another reference to his wood, but I did want to talk to you about Merle. He’s creepy, right?”
“Yes,” they said in unison, and I didn’t miss the affirmative grunt that came from Vivian.
Angela pursed her lips. “I don’t trust him.”
Morgan nodded. “Same. He was in my mother’s year of The Quest. She never expanded on what happened, but she warned me to come to her if I needed help. Not him.”
“He did give me what I needed for the Maiden Appeal, but I got the impression he was saving his own skin.”
When Vivian scoffed behind me, I side-eyed where she sat. “On that note, I’m beat.”
The girls understood my underlying message thattwo-seconds-of-Vivian-interaction-had-put-me-at-my-limitand smiled at me as I stood back up.
Angela smirked, glancing from Vivian to me. “Go rest up. Merle is shady, and trusting anyone here has its risks. It’s just the way it goes.”
Izzy frowned as I returned Angela’s smirk with a nod and said goodbye to Morgan, so I nudged her shoulder before I left. “See you in a bit, roomie.”
She forced a smile. “I’m right behind you.”
Inside our bedroom, I sat on the bed, pressing the lockbox between my palms and reviewing the information I had. If Landon, my Knight in the first challenge, had started the Scavenger Hunt, Max Dread could be my next stop.
Tomorrow, we had our second session together.
Maybe I’d get an answer out of him.
Or at least a clue.
Chapter Fifteen
On day two of training, I spent most of my sessions asking the Knights questions about the lockbox, hoping to find a solution that didn’t depend on Max being forthcoming with answers.
By the time I met Tristan out on the back lawn forEscapetraining, I’d gotten nowhere.
He repeated the broad overview he’d given the day before, explaining his sessions covered four responses to a threat:Fight, Flight, Freeze, andFawn.
“Today, we’ll coverFight. How some stand their ground and fight, or verbally attack a threat.” He posed a question as we explored the woods. “If you were stuck in the forest, would you rather be alone with a bear or a man you didn’t know?”
“Bear,” I said automatically. “No question.”
He smiled. “You’re not the first, and won’t be the last, who chooses that so quickly.”
I tilted my head to study him. “Which would you pick?”
