“But why would he come to the hospital to warn me then?”

“How the hell do I know?” Riel snaps. And I can feel Jasper silently shouting: exactly! But he doesn’t say a word. Then something else occurs to her. “Or maybe you were actually better off in there. Did you ever consider that?”

No. I won’t. I can’t. I still need to believe that Kendall sent us to Gullbright Lane for what he believed was a good reason. And that reason has to be saving the other girls.

“You don’t have to help us,” I say.

“Um, yeah, correct. I do not,” Riel says.

“But we do need help. Those girls do. Because I just—”

“Let me guess, you have a bad feeling,” Riel says, and she’s aiming for snide. But she doesn’t get all the way there. “You have fully drunk your dad’s Kool-Aid, haven’t you?”

And now, I’m pissed. “You know what? Fuck you,” I say. “My best friend died at that camp. She died helping us try to get away from Quentin. And you helped him do that. You are responsible.”

“Bullshit.” Riel glares at me, but her guilt blooms like a rash. I feel her try to knock it away. “What that asshole did to you and your friend has nothing to do with me. Your dad was the one who was hiding shit. If he hadn’t—”

“How can you possibly try to blame Wylie’s dad?” Jasper asks. And not even angrily. Like he legitimately can’t believe Riel believes that. “Quentin did all of that. And whatever, I get it, you thought you were doing the right thing, but you did help him.”

And I can feel that Jasper finally believes this—maybe for the first time: that Quentin killed Cassie; that he is not to blame. If we get out of this basement in one piece, at least he will take that with him.

“No, no, no.” Riel waves a finger. “That asshole Quentin lied to us, same as he lied to you.” She is bothered that he was able to, though, more ashamed than she is letting on. “It happens. Nobody’s perfect.”

“Nobody’s perfect?” I ask. And I hope I sound as disgusted as I feel. “Cassie is dead. And all those other people—”

“You’re going to try to blame that shit on us, too?!” the blond guy shouts. He recoils when Riel shoots him a look.

I stare at Riel until she finally looks back at me. Contempt once again—flawless and complete. And hard like molded plastic. I am not going to be able to force her to do anything she does not want to do. I’ll have to hope she changes her mind.