Midway through breakfast, a mean-looking bald cat had forcibly evicted the one with folded ears from Stella’s lap, and made itself comfortable. “Do y’all think it’d be okay to take him with me?” she asked as they were leaving the Cat Café.

“In the video Jewel made after she adopted them all, she said they’re not allowed outside this room,” Luna said. “This is their space. They’re really well taken care of.”

That café had to be at least twice the size of Nicole’s entire studio apartment with much better lighting. Those cats were probably waited on, paw and paw, too.

Stella picked up the cat, holding it close to her face. “I’m going to kidnap you. Don’t tell the others.” Surprisingly, the aggressive cat meowed and then licked Stella’s nose. “Did you see that? I’ve been chosen. This really is the best day of my life.”

Back in the hallway, they stood around waiting for their tablets to vibrate.

Nothing happened for several minutes. Nicole even opened and closed her app a few times to make sure it was working. Finally, Stella joked, “Well, we’ve certainly been trained.”

Alex asked, “I guess there’s no challenge, then?”

“I hope Jewel’s okay,” Luna said. “First she’s not at breakfast, and now there’s no challenge. Do you think something happened?”

“Like what?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know. It just seems weird. It doesn’t seem strange to you?”

Francis said, “I can check later. Ethan will tell me what’s up if y’all aren’t around.”

“Uh-huh,” Stella said. “I wonder what else he’ll tell you.”

“Do you guys want to go to the office?” Nicole asked a little too loudly. She didn’t know what happened, but Stella absolutely had Francis in her sights in a bad way. “We wanted to go back anyway to search for something else besides videos.”

Luna led at the front, eager to go. Alex stayed with her, asking, “And the videos said no one else played this game before? We’re the first.”

“It was like a highlight reel of each weekend,” Nicole said as she slowed down her stride to walk at the back of the group with Francis. Harlow and Stella ended up in the middle.

“It even had music. Someone took the time to make those edits,” Luna said. “The question is, Why? And why leave it for us to find? How does it fit into the game?”

“That seems to be the question of the weekend,” Stella said. “I can’t seem to get a straight answer from anyone about it. Why The Cruelest Jewel? Why now? What do you think, Francis?”

“I don’t. I make it a point to not make Jewel’s business, my business.”

Stella turned around in midstep and began walking backward. “I’m watching you. I want you to know that.”