Page 70 of Hide And Seek

“I’m not accusing anyone,” Sutton replied coolly. “I’m pointing out a pattern.”

Jasmine let out a short, incredulous laugh. “Oh my god. Are you serious right now?”

“Everything was fine until you three arrived,” Sutton continued, ignoring her. “Also, Alissa, you were actually the very first person to suggest that the killer might be one of us.” Her head tilted slightly. “Almost like you were trying to steer suspicion away from yourself before anyone even thought to look in your direction.”

“That’s fucking bullshit,” Jasmine snapped. “The last thing we need right now is you turning this into some kind of witch hunt.”

“I’m not starting a witch hunt. I’m just—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re just pointing out facts. We all heard you,” Wren said, voice dripping with disgust. “I really wish we didn’t, though.”

“We can’t ignore this!” Sutton fired back, her voice rising now. “Do you really think it’s a coincidence that people started dying as soon as the new counselors showed up?”

“I never even met Alissa or Simon before I applied here!” Grayson cut in, pushing to his feet. “So how the hell would we be working together to kill people? Andwhy?”

Sutton lifted a hand, like she was trying to rein the conversation back in. “Let me finish.”

Grayson didn’t sit down.

“Simon and Grayson, you’re both local,” she went on. “So it makes sense that you know about Camp Blackpine and ended up applying here. So I’m actually willing to give you both the benefit of the doubt. For now.”

“Wow, thanks,” Simon spat out.

Sutton’s gaze slid back to me, narrowing slightly.

“But Alissa… you’re a real outlier, aren’t you?” she said. “You’re not local to the area. You’re not an ex-camper, either. You just showed up out of nowhere from Montana.” Her lips pressed together. “So how exactly did you end up here? And why?”

Heat flooded my face and neck, and I could feel every pair of eyes on me. I knew I hadn’t killed anyone, but I felt guilty anyway. Like this humiliating kangaroo court Sutton had created was some sort of karmic retribution for my false accusation against Rhys.

“I’ve answered that question already. Multiple times,” I said stiffly. “I haven’t lived in Montana for three years, because I go to NYU now. So I didn’t just show up in New York out of nowhere. And one of my professors overheard me asking about summer jobs. He knows the camp owner and offered to put in a good word for me. So that’s how I ended up here.”

Sutton’s brows lifted slightly. “Convenient.”

Jasmine swore under her breath. “Are you actually hearing yourself right now?”

“I’m just saying,” Sutton went on, her voice sharpening, “if someone wanted access to a group like this, somewhere isolated, somewhere people already trusted each other enough not to question things too closely… this would be a pretty perfect setup.”

Something hot and volatile flared in my chest.

“You sound completely unhinged,” Tamsin said, glaring at Sutton. “Also, Alissa was with us for the last three hours, so—”

“Let’s not forget what I said earlier,” Sutton cut in, raising her voice just enough to talk over her. Her gaze never left me. “You wereveryquick to suggest that the killer might be one of us. Like you needed a distraction.”

That did it. The pressure that had been building inside me snapped, and before I could stop myself, I was on my feet.

“You know what?” I said, my voice shaking despite the heat burning through me. “If we’re going to start throwing around accusations like this, then maybe it’s time you told us what the hell happened here last year! Because I’m starting to think that’s what all of this is about!”

Sutton recoiled slightly. “What?”

“I saw the way some of you reacted to that so-called prank on the first night,” I said, my gaze sweeping around the circle before locking onto her again. “And I heard you and Delia arguing about it. She didn’t think it was a prank, and it sounded like she had a very good reason to think something was wrong.”

A flicker of unease passed through a few of the Legacies.

“And then there was the way you acted when you talked to me about Carly Martin. You were cagey as hell,” I went on, my voice hardening. “So don’t stand there and act likeI’mthe suspicious one. If there’s something going on here, it didn’t start with me.”

Sutton stared at me, her mouth slightly open.

“This can’t be about Carly,” Grace suddenly blurted out. “Rhys wasn’t even there that night. He was sick, remember? So why would the killer go after him and—”