The Hunters of Artemis

Chapter 33: The Reveal

I woke up to a bang on the door. I sleepily looked up but saw no one in the room. Then I looked at the door and saw Olivia's face through the window, along with the Hunters, the Campers and... and Rhea. "Olivia!" I grinned. She pointed down at the doorknob and shook her head. Then I saw Rhea at the door. She smiled at me. "No! Don't let her open the door!" I screamed.

Olivia shook her head; she couldn't hear me. Then she moved out of the way so Rhea could open the door. 

I don't know how she did it, because in order to hide her evil side, she couldn't have had a key. But she did, and the door swung open. All eight of our friends poured in. Robyn ran over to Lyra and hugged her, even though Lyra was tied to a chair. 

I completely expected Rhea to come untie me, but instead, as everyone was examining the room, she crept over to the door and closed it. 

"Kitty!" I rolled my eyes and smiled slightly. There was only one person I knew who called me that.

And there he was. "Hi. Can you untie me, please?"

"Well, only since you said please." Liam smiled at me as he undid my foot bonds then he moved behind me to do my hands. Once the bonds broke, I sighed in relief and rubbed my wrists. These knots were far better tied than the ones those stupid thugs did. And these ones were cut-off-your-circulation tight. 

I stood up and grinned at Liam before giving him a huge hug. "Thanks," I said once I pulled away. 

He looked stunned, but smiled back. "No problem."

Then Hannah gasped. "Um, Rhea, what are you doing?" I turned around and saw Rhea grab Olivia and whip out a knife. She held it to the girl's throat.

Crap. I had forgotten to warn them about her as I was getting out of my bonds. Now it was too late for us to do anything. 

"All of you, to the far wall. If you don't want Olivia to die right in front of you, you will do exactly as I say when I say it. Got it?"

I glared at her but moved backwards to the wall along with everyone else. Olivia squeaked as Rhea pressed the blade to her throat harder. 

"All of you," demanded Rhea. I looked and saw Robyn was standing in front of us.

Robyn shook her head. "What happened to you, sis?"

Rhea's eyes narrowed. "I suppose this is the moment for the villain to monologue, isn't it? Well, here goes nothing. As a young Hunter, I was one of Artemis's most trusted Hunters. Then you came along," she said, pointing to me. "I fell behind. Everyone just loved you. I liked you too. We were friends. But then I realized that you were always in the spotlight. Everyone always saw your achievements like they never had for me. I envied you. You were smart, and likeable, and I was just Kat's friend.

"Then Artemis told us to go on this quest. I realized that this was my chance to get rid of you once and for all and blame it on the quest. When Liam started falling for you, I knew that if I could pair you two up, you would leave the Hunters and be a regular Camper with your male. Then I would be one of Artemis's favourites again."

She glared at me with a burning passion I couldn't describe. It was like all the hatred in the world was poured into that one stare, and that stare was pointed towards me.

"But why are you doing this?" asked Hannah. 

Rhea laughed. "Because my plan went awry. After Emma kissed Liam, Kat stopped liking him, which was the whole plan in the first place."

Emma's mouth dropped open. "How do you know about us?"

"There is no us, Emma," Liam said.