Page 79 of Hide And Seek

“What the fuck?” he yelped, one of the earbuds flying out. “Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?”

“Sorry,” I said, quickly dropping the ax to my side. “I heard a noise, and no one answered when I called out, so I thought—”

I abruptly stopped, suddenly feeling extremely stupid.

“Thoughtwhat?” Knox was still staring at the ax.

“Honestly… I thought someone might be coming to kill me.”

Knox let out a long breath and tapped his left ear. “I didn’t hear you call out. AirPods. I’ve got some old football podcasts downloaded on my phone, so…”

He trailed off, not needing to finish the explanation.

“Sorry,” I repeated. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He sighed and waved a hand. “It’s fine. We’re all losing our minds a bit here.”

My eyes drifted over to the prep bench, and I noticed he’d already made two other sandwiches. Sitting beside them was an apple, a plum, a chia pudding cup, three protein bars, and an unzipped insulated lunch tote.

“What’s with all the food?” I asked, brows knitting.

“Oh, uhh…” Knox scratched the back of his neck. “I've got a really big appetite, so I always wake up in the middle of the night starving. Usually I just sneak in here or hit the Snack Shed, but obviously I'm not doing that alone in the dark anymore.” He gestured at the tote. “So I'm just stocking up. Taking it back to the cabin to save for later.”

“Right,” I said.

He nodded and turned back to the sandwich, and I headed out of the kitchen, mind whirling.

Big appetite or not, three sandwiches, three protein bars, two pieces of fruit, and a pudding cup was a lot of food for one person to get through before sunrise. Not completely impossible. Just… weird. The kind of weird that was sitting at the back of my throat, refusing to go down.

Back in the dining hall, Wren, Tamsin, and Jesse had found a pack of cards somewhere and were deep into a game at ourusual table, joined by Simon and Grayson. Jasmine was leaning back in her chair beside them, arms folded, looking like someone who’d run out of patience for the concept of existing.

“Hey, Jas,” I said, catching her eye and giving her a look. “Can you come help me with something for a sec?”

She read my expression instantly. “Sure.”

She pushed her chair back and followed me over to the stretch of wall near the kitchen entrance, far enough from the others that we wouldn't be overheard. Just as we got there, Knox emerged from the kitchen, the lunch tote swinging at his side as he headed for the dining hall doors.

“I need to follow Knox,” I said in a low voice. “Can you come with me?”

Jasmine blinked. “Why?”

“I don’t want to go alone, because—”

She cut me off with a small, impatient gesture. “No, I mean, why are we following Knox?”

“It’s just a hunch. I’ll explain later if it turns out to be nothing.” I lifted my gaze, tracking his movement across the room. “But we have to go now, before we lose him.”

“All right.” She didn't waste time questioning it further. She just turned and called back to the table. “Guys? We’re going to go shower before it gets dark. Don’t worry, we’ll stick together.”

“Okay,” Wren called back, laying down a card. “Be careful while you’re outside. And make sure you take your weapons.”

We slipped out of the dining hall just in time to see Knox walking across the gravel, the lunch tote swinging at his side. The evening light was still holding on, that long stretch of pale gold that refused to fully fade, turning the woods into a hazy blur of deep green and shadow.

“Where’s he going?” Jasmine muttered beside me.

Knox had just veered right, toward the far corner of the building. The main cabin block was to the left, which meant hewasn’t taking the bag of food back to his own quarters like he’d told me.

“No idea,” I murmured. “Let’s find out.”