These Deadly Games(58)

“But you did. We all did. You can’t hold that against me now … We were eleven.”

“And now we’re sixteen, and you still haven’t confessed.”

“None of us have.”

“Well, I will if you tell anyone about this.”

My God. When I realized she was cheating, my heart had started to crack. But this? Blackmailing me with the most traumatic thing I’d ever—we’d ever—experienced? This made the fissures break wide open. And right then, I knew.

Our friendship was done.



* * *



I told Dylan everything except what Zoey did to keep my mouth shut. I couldn’t tell him that part. Then I’d have to tell him what we did to Brady.

“So that’s why she’s on my list,” I told him. “She wants to win that prize money and get away from her parents badly enough to cheat. Maybe she’s gunning for the solo prize.” Anyone could play in the solo tourney, even if they weren’t on a team. “It’s a hell of a lot more than the team prize split five ways…” I trailed off, parched. Had I really been talking that long? I downed the rest of my hot chocolate and set the mug on the dresser behind me. What I really wanted was water.

But then I caught Dylan’s expression. Now he was really looking at me like I’d lost my marbles, plus a few bouncy balls. “What?”

“Well…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Zoey warned me you’d say something like this.”

My heart dropped. “What?”

“Yeah.” Dylan shifted uncomfortably. “It was after you snapped at her in chemistry class the other week. She was all upset, and I asked her what was going on.” The thought of her confiding in him made jealousy slice through me. “She said lately you blamed her for everything that went wrong, even if she had nothing to do with it. That you were mentally unwell—paranoid.”

My mouth dropped open, and my cheeks flamed. How dare she! I’d never told her about my panic attacks, thinking she wouldn’t understand; not like Akira would. But maybe she knew. And now I knew exactly what she was doing. She was gaslighting me—trying to discredit me if I ever told anyone she cheated. But to lie or exaggerate about someone’s mental health, to imply it made them untrustworthy, to use it as a shield for their own misdeeds—that was utterly repugnant.

“I … I’m not…” The fury in my gut seemed to scorch any words I tried forming. I remembered when Dylan caught me glaring after Zoey this morning as she raced back to her house instead of climbing into Matty’s car. “Is that why you called me paranoid earlier?”

He let out a sigh. “I mean, maybe. But now I know it’s not true.”

I bit my lip. “You believe me?”

“Obviously.”

“Is it obvious?” I asked, incredulous.

He smiled slightly. “I don’t think you’d admit you broke into Zoey’s bedroom if you didn’t actually find proof.” Relief simmered down my anger a bit. “But why didn’t you tell us Zoey was cheating?”

I cringed. As much as Zoey had lied to our friends, I’d lied by omission. But I couldn’t tell him about her blackmail, or Brady. “She promised she wouldn’t do it again. If I told, she would’ve been banned from MortalDusk.”

“Rightfully so!”

I avoided his gaze, staring out the window at Zoey’s.

“You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

I picked at a strand of white thread dangling from my sweater. “No.” Yes.

“You are.” He rubbed his chin, thinking. “There was that thing at the hospital earlier … You were all beating around the bush about something. Does it have to do with that?”

I tensed, and my eyes flicked up to his. How much did we reveal?

When I said nothing, Dylan snapped his fingers. “Yep, that’s it, isn’t it? Akira said something about someone waiting five years.” Dammit, Kiki. “What was that all about?”

I hugged my knees to my chest, truly light-headed now. “Nothing.”

“Didn’t seem like nothing.” Dylan’s eyes searched mine, like if he looked hard enough, he could see the truth play out like a movie in my retinas. But if he knew what we did, he’d never look at me the same way again.

“I … I can’t…” The words caught in my throat, and I let out a small cough. I was so thirsty—I’d barely had a chance to be a functioning human today—but the thought of going down to the kitchen for water seemed a gargantuan task. I swallowed hard. “Listen, I’m pretty sure whoever framed you with that test is behind all this, and you weren’t here for that. So it … it doesn’t matter…”

Ugh, it was so late, and I was utterly drained and dehydrated. I wished I could just go to sleep, to wake up and have everything be right again, like some sort of reset button. I covered my eyes, apparently making Dylan think I was crying.

“Aw, Crys, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you … C’mere.” He pulled me close, and suddenly we were snuggling, my head resting against his chest. “I still don’t think Zoey would do this. Cheating’s one thing, but this? Nah. I think it’s Jeremy. We’ve destroyed his standings, humiliated him … and not just on his livestreams but that date of his, too. It’s gotta be him. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”