Taking a pencil and paper to a nearby desk, I pretend Kyran’s head start doesn’t bother me, either. Plopping into the chair, I read the message again, using the Kasiski method, searching for repeated letter sequences so I can figure out the key length—if it’s a five letter word like “crest” or and eight letter word like “mountain”—before deciding the text is too short for Kasiski to work. Biting my cheek in frustration, I give up and trust my gut. Using “crest” as my alphabet key, I write out C-R-E-S-T, followed by what is left of the alphabet: A-B-D-F-G… It’s slow going, but once I’ve rewritten the entire alphabet, shifting the letters as I go, I begin to decode, assuming “view” is my passcode.

I start with row V and quickly realize my transposition is gibberish. View must be the passcode, though… Taking a closer look at the riddle, I conclude it uses four Caesar ciphers, so the passcode must be a four-letter word. The chalk marks clearly referred to “view.” Racking my brain, I try to make sense of what I’m doing wrong. Is there another word for “crest”? Should I try “mountain”? My instincts are telling me “crest” is the key…

Squealing, Chloe leaps out of her chair. She pauses to kiss Garrett’s cheek, letting her lips linger, before she leaves, hips swaying, the answer to the riddle apparently in hand.

Dammit! Think. Think. Think.

Staring at my paper, I crumple it into a ball, picturing Imitation Lake. Imitation…reflection…the upside-down code for view…the umbrella with its nose in the sand…

Everything is reversed.

Frantically, I smooth out the paper, turn it over, and write my alphabet again, starting with “crest,” but this time reversing the alphabet.

The first letter on the paper cipher is W. Still believing the passcode is “view,” I trace line V until I find W. It corresponds with column A, so the first word is A. Taking the next letter in “view”—I—I find line I and run my finger across to the second letter in the code, H. Following the column up, I see it corresponds with letter R. The second word starts with R. I repeat the pattern: row E, letter T corresponds with column E…

A re…

I keep going. Row W letter X is in column A. Back to row V, where V becomes C… I bite my lip in intense focus, and time stands still until I’ve decoded the entire riddle:

A reaction that existed before this time where knowledge rules and skill declines. Truth uncovered, recharged, raved, then buried in greed to protect fame. Taken from the hedonistic night; it is a giver of light. Break the world, make it shine, and take your place among the divine.

Slamming down my pencil, I read the riddle again. And again.