“Do you need anything?” I ask.

But then I see Kate. She’s staring with wide eyes at something behind me.

I turn to look. “What’s wrong?”

“There.” Kate points at the corner of the room. I was distracted by all the angry words, but then I see it.

“The bear,” I stammer.

Lucas’s gift, the huge teddy bear that was as big as Kate herself, has disappeared.

In its place, there’s a note with a brief message.

One of you is the sacrifice.

You can decide for yourselves who comes to get the bear.

Come to the first balcony by the lobby at eight o’clock.

Come alone.

Fender

I stare at the words. The sounds in the bar fade into the background.

“So this is what he wants,” whispers Kate. I can see the panic in her eyes. “He wants us to sacrifice someone.”

“Of course he doesn’t,” I say.

“That’s what it says!”

“But we’re not going to do that,” I say quickly. “We’ll think of something.”

The dinner looks delicious, but we barely eat anything. Normally I’d really enjoy the meal, but I can’t swallow a bite.

“We could tell your dad, Kate,” I say. “He’s a lawyer. He could help us.”

“Don’t call in any help,” says Kate. “Have you forgotten the rules? Anyway, my dad will lose it if he hears about this.”

I fiddle with my napkin. “So what should we do?”

“We do what he says.” Linnea hasn’t said much so far, but now her words hit hard when she says: “I’ll sacrifice myself.”

“No!” Lucas and I both shout.

“It’d be suicide.” Lucas blushes a deep red. “Sorry, Fender, I mean…”

I ignore him. “It’s way too dangerous.”

“It’s the safest option,” says Linnea. “And he won’t do anything on the balcony, not with all those people there.”

Lucas and I are about to object again, but Kate speaks first.

“All those people. That’s it!”

“Not so loud!” I look around. What if Claus is listening in? We’d be better off discussing this upstairs.

“What exactly do you mean?”

Kate leans over the table. “We have to make Claus think that Linnea’s coming alone.”

“He’ll see through it,” says Lucas. “He outsmarts us every time.”

“Not if we distract him with a crowd of people. His attention will slip—and we’ll be one step ahead of him.”

“And how are you going to manage that?”

“With a performance.” Kate looks at me over her half-empty plate. “By you.”

Linnea

“No.” Lucas shakes his head. “No, we are not going to do that.”

“It’ll work.” Kate looks at me. “When Fender plays, lots of people are sure to come listen. Claus will be distracted and won’t realize that one of us has come with you.”