Page 44 of Lucky 14

I look the same way he’s staring. I can’t see much. Just trees and bushes. Enough to keep us hidden from anyone who might be on the beach, but close enough to give us a good warning if anyone approaches. Tiny slivers of beach appear between the bushes. But I doubt he sees any of that. He seems locked in his head.

“She was a good person. Is a good person. It’s all my fault.” Elijah’s breath hitches.

“Hey,” I say softly, watching his shoulders to make sure he isn’t going to lose it again. Anger fills my chest. “This is their fault. Not yours.”

“It is mine, though.” Elijah’s head drops, and he stares at his backpack. “I got her hooked on the stuff.” His voice tightens with emotion, and he swallows audibly.

There’s an uncomfortable feeling in my chest. His sister is clearly an upsetting topic, and I’m not sure if he should be reliving it while we’re trying to…survive. “You don’t have to⁠—”

“No, I do,” Elijah cuts me off. “You asked me why.” His voice softens almost so softly I can barely hear it. “And I don’t want…I don’t want her story to die with me.”

I close my mouth at that. The space between us fills with the sound of the ocean, and another cry from a seagull.

I want to argue that he won’t be dying. That we’re going to survive this stupid thing. We will survive. But the sentiment feels as flavorless as the vanilla protein bar.

“You, uh…in the basement, Dolly, uh…” Elijah trails off, and my heart rate picks up as he talks.

I feel sick. I don’t want to talk about it.

Elijah licks his lips, then keeps going. “She was never the same after. I couldn’t save her. Couldn’t stop it.” His swallow is audible. “I thought if she just did it once, it would help, you know? It helped me.” Elijah drops his head, pulling in ragged breaths. “It helped me. I wasn’t trying to get her hooked.”

I feel the pain radiating off of him in waves, and it makes me stiffen. I know what it’s like to feel deep pain. And I don’t like it. I swore to never allow myself to feel that deeply again. To never get close to anyone again.

“She ran up a debt. We both did. A huge one. Coming here pays it off.”

I stare at the rest of my uneaten bar, trying to ward off the tightness in my throat.

“We’re gonna win. I’m gonna win,” Elijah says, his mood swinging to a manic sort of confidence. “It’s just fourteen days.”

I focus. Right. Fourteen days. As in, there’s an end date to this.

“What happens on the fourteenth day?” I ask. A twisted feeling hits my stomach. Is there only one winner?

“You get your freedom,” Elijah says. “Allegedly.”

Allegedly. Have there been any winners?

“Years ago, someone survived. I think in the fifth game. Rumor has it that it made him a high-ranking member of the club.”

Him? My heart rate picks up. “Have any women won?”

Elijah winces just slightly. “Uh, not that I know of.”

Of course. My hope plummets.

“Can only one person win?” I ask.

“I don’t know…” Elijah trails off. “I heard in the eighth game all the prey teamed up against the hunters. They got the weapons drop on day five and killed a bunch of the fuckheads. They almost killed them all before the game master came in and wiped them all out.”

My stomach bottoms out. “The game master?”

“Wyatt.” Elijah stares out toward the ocean. Now that the sun has risen, I can see glimpses of it sparkling through the trees. “He wears the skull mask because he’s defeated death so many times, he says he’s become it.”

He’s become death. What a pompous asshole. Immediately, I decide that I hate him.

“On day three, they drop a bunch of supplies. Food, water, medical stuff. We should try to get it.”

I nod numbly, and we go quiet, each lost in our own thoughts.