He rose, his silhouette dissolving into the trees, leaving only the rustle of leaves and the stench of blood.
I pushed myself up, raw, shaking.
I could hear it, my father’s voice, echoing in my skull:Run.
The trees blurred into streaks of black and forest green as I staggered forward, then ran.
Jackson’s words beat against my skull:Legacy Thirteen. Your father. Max. Game.
And beneath them, colder and calmer:
I’m not here for you. Not tonight. It’s not your game—yet. It’s his turn now.
33
MACKENZIE
Istumbled out of the woods, lungs burning, ribs aching, the cabins glowing in the distance like dying stars. My knees gave out, and I collapsed into the dirt, clutching the earth like it could anchor me to Max, to life, to anything except this fucking game.
“Mackenzie!”
The voice hit me like a jolt. Deep. Calm. Midwestern. Not at all what I expected.
I dragged my head up. The world tilted and slid, then snapped back into place around a single face.
He looked tired, shadows carved under his eyes, but it was him.
Jeremy. West’s son. FBI, like his dad. He was supposed to be in Chicago. I hadn’t seen him in five years, not since he went into the academy.
His dark skin and sharp Italian features contrasted with the black shirt clinging to his broader frame. New tattoos crawled up his neck. I saw black swirls and a spider, its legs stretching behind his ear like they were trying to burrow into his brain.
“Kenzie,” he breathed, relief flickering across his face as he closed the distance.
Before I understood what was happening, I was on him, crashing into his chest. My fingers knotted in his shirt, clawing like I could peel him open and find Max underneath. My body shook so hard my teeth rattled.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured, arms wrapping around me, strong and steady. “You’re okay. You’re out.”
“Jackson… my dad…. they’re?—”
“I know,” he cut in a low voice. “I’ve been… watching you. The cameras cut out and—” He stopped dead, jaw clenching, eyes skittering away for a second. “I need to get you out of here. Now.” His tone snapped tight. “Where the fuck is Max?”
Max.
The name tore straight through me like a live wire.
I jerked back just enough to see his face, fingers still fisted in his shirt. “You don’t know?” My voice came out shredded. “You said you were watching—tell me where he is. Jeremy, tell me. Is he in the woods? Is he still hurt? I have to get to him. I have to?—”
“Mackenzie…” His voice was low.
A warning.
“I’m not leaving him!” The words exploded out of me. Everything else vanished. There was only the space between me and the trees. “He’s still out there, isn’t he? He wouldn’t just disappear. He wouldn’t leave me. He needs me. I know he needs me. He’s hurt.”
I tried to twist out of Jeremy’s hold and turn back toward the woods, but Jeremy’s arms locked around me like iron.
“Let me go!” I thrashed, nails digging into his chest, his arms, whatever I could reach. “Jere, let me go, I’m serious. I have to go back. I have to find him. You don’t understand, he’s not like them, he’s not?—”
“Kenzie, stop.” His voice sharpened, grip tightening,dragging me closer when I tried to lunge past him. “You’re not going back in there.”
