To Best the Boys(53)

“I’ve seen him,” I say quietly. Because I’m now quite sure Kellen and Holm are the same. “At a party once, at a friend’s house.”

I don’t have to look at the group walking behind me to feel their shock and instant questions. Seleni swerves to peer at me and her eyes are enormous. “You did?” they seem to say. But all she hisses is, “You never told me that!”

Beryll’s tone lifts an octave. “Whose? What was he like? Did he speak to you?”

I shrug as if I don’t know, because the truth is, I really don’t know much. “He was exactly like he is now. Eccentric. But also kind.”

Germaine breaks into a laugh. “Kind? What sort of description is that? You sound like a girl talking about your mum.”

Seleni tenses. I don’t change my stride, but I flash her a grimace.

“Ah look, you made him blush.” Rubin laughs, but the sound dies off the moment we come upon the mountaintop’s indent, where a small fire pit and white tent are laid out.

On the side of the tent, four words are written in giant black lettering. Crafted just like the others in the sections we’ve been through thus far. This time they ask:

WHAT DO YOU WANT?


“A pint of ale and sleep.” Rubin groans.

“To relieve my bladder,” Seleni says in as male-like a voice as possible, then promptly heads off for one of the numerous rows of low bushes.

Germaine and Rubin aim for a different outcropping of what look like bloodberry bushes entwined with linden vines. I narrow my gaze and consider calling after them not to touch the berries, but they’re probably just relieving themselves too.

Vincent’s already in the tent moving around. The side rustles and his head pops out the opening long enough for him to toss a clump of bedding rolls at our feet. “Found these, if anyone wants them.”

Sam lunges for one and has it spread out before the rest of us have even reached the fire pit. A water bag falls out from the foot of the roll. He picks it up, unscrews the lid, then plops down and glances up to scan the hill again, in the direction of the stone edifice we just came from. His jaw clenches as he moves his gaze toward the bushes that Rubin and Germaine are still behind.

I grab a bed for me and another for Seleni and unroll them so our heads will face each other. Once finished, I nab the water bag that had been tucked in my bedding and wander up in the direction she went. “How are you doing?” I whisper when I get near enough to both relieve myself and not intrude on her privacy.

“Honestly? I think we’re insane, Rhen.” She gives a shaky laugh, and it suddenly morphs into a sob that suggests she’s far more terrified than she’s been letting on.

I finish, retie my pants, and scoot over to hand her the water bag. “What’s going on? We’ve been doing so well. Look how far we’ve made it!”

She shakes her head. “That’s not it. Yes, it’s been awful, and I couldn’t have made it anywhere close to this far without you, but . . .” She tips her frightened face up. “It just occurred to me that no matter what, we’re going to get caught. Oh, Rhen—what was I thinking? I was so focused on getting in, I didn’t think about getting out! When I lose, I’m going to get exposed, and what will Mum and Father do? What will Beryll and his family think?”

Oh.

Well, it’s a little late for that now. “Look,” I growl to make her snap out of it. “An attack of nerves isn’t going to fix anything right now. And you don’t even know Mr. Holm will expose us. So far he’s kicked plenty of people out, but we’re still in. For all we know, he’s aware of exactly who we are and is still allowing it. So he may keep your identity private even when you exit. But either way, the fact we’ve made it this far when half the contestants haven’t? Says something. Which means you need to pull your brain together and act like yourself, for hull’s sake.”

She gulps. Then takes a deep breath, juts out her chin, and nods. “Okay. Right.” She unscrews the water bag and takes a long draught before she passes it back.

“Good.” I stand. “Now—you going to be all right?”

“Yes. Other than I hate the way those boys treat Beryll. And that thing they did to Will? My parents would be shocked. Those boys’ parents should be too.” She waves a hand their direction as we start back down to the tent. “And you do realize that if this were a bunch of women competing, they would’ve set up camp, cooked dinner, and scouted out the boats by now, right?”

I giggle, then tilt my head in second thought. “Depends on what they were competing for.”

Her tone falls serious. “I know I’m hardly holding my own in here, Rhen. But I’ve been watching Germaine and Rubin—and they’re not finished. They’re planning something more.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing we’re together.”

She eyes me with a funny expression. “I’ve also been watching Vincent. And . . . I think he might be in on it with them.”

I pause. Oh. I bite my lip and don’t reply, mainly because I’m not sure what to think of that. Except that she’s rarely wrong. I nod. “Understood.” And then we’ve reached the camp where Lute and Beryll have splayed out their mats beside Sam’s and ours around the fire pit, which now holds a roaring flame.