Page 90 of Hide And Seek

“At some point, a few of the girls made a big bowl of punch,” he went on. “Juice, a bit of vodka. They kept pushing Brad and Olivia to have one glass. Said it was about celebrating together. So eventually, they gave in. Figured a few sips wouldn’t hurt.”

“Right…”

Rhys’s jaw tightened. “Turns out someone spiked it.”

“With what?”

“Something called Neon Dust,” he said. “It’s basically a party mix. MDMA cut with synthetic THC.”

I winced. “Shit.”

“Yeah.” He dragged a hand over his jaw. “No one ever owned up to it. I had my suspicions about Logan and Jensen, but nothing concrete. Anyway, the MDMA cleared out pretty quickly, but the THC metabolites didn’t. So when they got tested a week later, it showed up.”

“What happened then?”

“Anti-Doping Agency handed them both one-month suspensions,” he said. “Which meant they were out of the trials.”

“Oh my god…”

“There was one relay on the final day that Brad might’ve been eligible for, because it was a day after the suspension period was up,” Rhys added. “But he wasn’t selected.”

“So basically, their Olympic dreams were shattered by one of their fellow Legacies. But they have no idea which one.”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

I let out a slow breath. “That’s brutal.”

“Yeah. All that work,” he said. “Years of it. Gone because someone thought it’d be funny to spike the punch.”

I shook my head. “I can’t even imagine how that would feel.”

“There’s still a chance they can qualify for the next trials. But still…”

I nodded slowly. “It must’ve felt like their lives were over.”

“They tried to put on brave faces,” he said. “Act like it wasn’t the end of the world. But…” He exhaled quietly. “I know it wrecked them.”

I leaned back, bracing my hands against the bed as my mind whirled. “That’s definitely a motive,” I said. “And it explains why it’s only Legacies dying.”

“Exactly.”

“But… hold on.” I frowned, straightening again. “What about that note we saw on the first night here? It specifically saidlastsummer. Not two summers ago.”

Rhys rubbed his jaw. “Yeah, that tripped me up too. But then I figured… maybe that note was actually just a stupid prank, like most of us originally thought. And then the person who did it never wanted to own up to it, because people actually started dying, and they thought it would make everyone suspect them.”

I considered that, then nodded slowly. “I guess that tracks.”

“Like I said before, it’s only a half-baked theory.”

“It could still be right,” I said. “I’ll tell Jasmine, and we’ll loop Knox in when he gets back.”

“Sounds good.”

I pushed to my feet, brushing my hands off on my jeans. “Well, uhh… I’ll see you later. Maybe.”

Rhys stood too, closing some of the space between us. “Thanks again for bringing the food,” he said. A faint hint of something lighter crept into his expression. “And thanks for the dessert.”

“Dessert?” I frowned slightly. “You mean the protein bars?”