Let's Hunt Her (Book #2)

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I climb into my makeshift bed of blankets and pillows on Rosé's living room floor. Lisa went to bed an hour ago and Rosé's in the bathroom brushing her teeth. We haven't yet agreed on a plan for tomorrow, and we spent most of the evening going in circles about how many guards there would be at the ball and the best way to use the ointment the apothecary gave us. As our conversations wound down, I began stressing over sneaking out to meet Sejeong and Jungkook.

Sehun pauses to look at the bathroom door and frowns.

"What?" I ask, although I'm pretty sure I know what he's going to say.

He sits down on an arrangement of pillows and blankets on the rug near mine. "I don't trust her," he says.

I glance at the bathroom door now, too. "She's eccentric and a real pain sometimes, but you have to admit . . . the fact that she's here sort of clears up the trust issue."

"Not even a little," Sehun says. "We have no idea why she's here besides wanting to participate in the destruction of Taecyeon, which I grant you is a reason, but not a good enough one for a mission with this much risk.

"I mean, yes, but-" I say.

"And the way she was encouraging you to steal that necklace ...," he says, shaking his head, but doesn't finish.

I chew on the inside of my cheek. I hate doubting her. It feels wrong after everything that's happened. And yet I get why Sehun is questioning Rosé. He should be.

"Also, Jimin isn't with them," Sehun says.

"For that, I'm actually grateful. I'm not sure I could pretend to be civil with him after he threw out of that tree," I say.

"Right," Sehun says like I'm agreeing with me, "and Rosé knows that."

I study him for a moment. "Are you saying she left him there on purpose in order to gain our trust?"

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting," Sehun says. "There is something they're not telling us, and I intend to figure out what it is."

I nod at him. And for a few seconds we sit there, staring at the fire, both lost in thought. In the quiet, my worries drift back to Sejeong and Jungkook.

"You're thinking about something," Sehun says, and I realize I'm staring far too intensely at the fire. "I'm exceedingly familiar with that look because Sejeong is perpetually in her head about something, and has been ever since she could talk. You wouldn't imagine that a two-year-old could think, but Sejeong made it an art form."

I smile, picturing a small and serious Sejeong. While I can't tell him what I'm thinking about in this moment, the overall list of things I'm anxious about it long. "I'm not clear about the plan."

Sehun  laughs. "No one is clear about the plan. We'll be lucky if we sort it all out by the time we get to the ball." 

"I mean the bigger plan," I say. "We find my appa, and let's say we actually manage to use his knowledge of the Tigers to disrupt the current leadership . . . then what?"

Sehun looks thoughtful. "You mean, do we go back to the Academy or do we stay in Gyeonggi?"

"Yes and no," I say. "I didn't grow up as a Strategia; it's like my whole identity has suddenly changed and I'm not sure what that means going forward or if I'm even okay with it."

"You were always Strategia," Sehun says.

"Yeah, but I didn't know that," I say.

"Yes you did." He sounds so confident that I look at him sideways. "You didn't have a word for what you were, but that doesn't mean you didn't know deep down. You've told me multiple times that you always loved knives and swords, that you loved strategy games, that your dad went out of his way to challenge you and teach your survival tactics. You weren't raised with stuffy history tutors like me and Sejeong and you weren't sent to spar with the estate guards while your parents critiqued you, but you learned what you needed to all the same. You haven't suddenly changed. You've just been given context and a word for you identity. And I get that it must be an adjudgment, but you're just as Strategia as you've always been."