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They crowded around as I opened the message.

“It’s the same thread as before,” Roxxi commented, eyes scanning the texts. “You’re sure you blocked them?”

“I wouldn’t mistake doing something like that.”

“And the window, you’re positive it was locked?”

“Yes. The last time I had it open, I was working on a lit assignment, and it started to rain. I haven’t touched it since.”

Roxxi crossed her arms. “So, either someone got really fucking lucky with a guess, you’ve had a stalker since before the Hunt, or—”

“Someone was in our house,” Ari finished quietly.

I stepped back, my stomach twisting. “How about none of the above, because what the fuck, you guys?”

Roxxi frowned. “How would they even get in?”

“You never lock the doors.”

“That’s only when we’re home,” she retorted sheepishly.

“Aren’t we overlooking something?” Cloe asked calmly.

“What?”

“Layla,” she replied.

“Even if it was her, how would someone knowmywindow specifically wasn’t locked, unless she told whoever is texting me?”

“I wasn’t referring to the window.” She spun on her heel and gestured for us to follow. Roxxi shot me a look, then trailed after her. Ari slipped her fingers through mine, her hand small but steady, and we followed Cloe down the stairs.

She marched straight past our sectional and yanked open the sliding glass door that led to the patio. “See?”

I turned to Roxxi.

“Don’t look at me. We made sure that the door was locked last night, remember?”

Cloe slid the door shut again. “It was locked. I’m the one who opened it this morning to deal with the dead bird. I relocked it when I was done. There’s only one person who would have left this open.”

“Layla uses this door?”

Roxxi gave me a look of confusion. “She has no house key. How do you think she’s been coming and going?”

“If she isn’t here with you guys, then she’s always had access to my key. There’s no reason for her to ever use this door. If I had known about this, I would’ve brought it up ages ago. I’m always nagging you guys to keep the doors locked. She doesn’t get an exception.”

Cloe looked visibly annoyed, and for her, that said a lot. “I’m sorry, Sanj, but I can’t give the girl the benefit of the doubt anymore. She was there when we found out we were Marked. I would think she’d have enough sense to go out a door she could lock.”

“She has weaponized incompetence.” Roxxi’s brown eyes met mine. “Inflated balloon, remember?”

Cloe folded her arms. “Huntsmen are watching us, right? We have no idea how long it has been going on or if they sawLayla open the window herself and not lock it back. Nothing is missing from the house, but that doesn’t mean no one came inside. At this point, all we can do is speculate.”

I blew out a breath in frustration. I looked at the door, skin crawling. “That text made it sound like the window’s been unlocked this whole time.”

“They’re messing with you, Sanj,” Cloe replied, her tone softer now. “With all of us.”

“Have any of you gotten texts like that?”

Roxxi shook her head. “Not yet. That doesn’t mean we won’t. I have a feeling that when we do, they’ll be just as personalized as yours. They’re playing the long game.”

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