• An iron box with a skeleton key code and two metal homing birds inside.
• A wyvern medallion map expansion.
• A moon codex with a list of doors.
• Three white animal keys: a fox, an owl, a cat.
• Six playing cards: King, Queen, Jack, Ten, Ace, Joker.
• Two bar bracelets that read MEMENTO MORI when put together.

They spent the next hour going back and forth debating possible different interpretations for each line of the nonsensical recipe. Stella was getting cranky, desperately trying to beat back spite and impatience. What came next? And why was it taking so long to show up? Even Luna appeared to be getting bored theorizing in circles.

Just as Stella was about to announce her cover story so she could go make her next livestream in relative peace and quiet, Harlow’s room door flew open.

“Stop talking,” Francis said. “Right now.” He was holding Nicole’s hand as they walked through the room, heading straight for the bathroom.

“Uhh, no one was saying anything,” Alex said, getting up.

Stella’s eyebrows spoke for her. Francis and his heart eyes for her new best girl annoyed her, but she decided to follow him. Just this once.

“We have a problem,” he said once they were all inside.

“Oh, I’d argue we have several,” Stella said.

Francis’s face never went blank because it stayed that way. He had an eerie stillness about him that could be hard to read. Hard, not impossible. This was the closest she’d ever seen him put out—almost like he was flustered.

“I’ve known Ethan my whole life. Either he doesn’t know what’s happening or he does and it’s really bad.” Whatever he’d learned had agitated him to the point of pacing. “I don’t know if it’s true, but they believe Jewel is really missing. They think she’s still on the property, but they don’t know where.”

Stella hazarded a guess that he was telling the truth. Nicole watched him, full of concern—she believed it too.

“I’m not doubting you,” Luna said carefully, “but Jewel’s an actress. Maybe Ethan can act better than you think he can.”

Francis shook his head. “It’s not just him. Olive can barely lie without stuttering, and she was crying so hard they were talking about sedating her.”

Uncomfortable with how that last revelation settled around the room, Stella said, “That’s certainly dramatic. Did you find out anything else?”

“There’s a ransom note,” Nicole said. “Whoever has Jewel instructed Ethan to tell us Jewel was missing. It was their idea to conduct fake interrogations using the security guards and fake cops.”

“Wait, they wanted us to know she was missing?” Luna asked. “Why?”

“Because in the note they demanded exactly one million dollars,” Francis said.

It was like a giant overpowered vacuum sucked all the air out of the room.