Oh dear. Alex was seconds away from steam shooting out of his ears. Anger made people reckless, made them say things they probably wouldn’t under less stressful circumstances. He had a button named Luna, and Stella was about to lean on it as hard as she could. She said, “Oh, she’s definitely plotting. It’s like Harlow said: Luna wants to win. That ambition is naked as a newborn baby.”

Francis said, “Stop talking about the game.”

Stella continued, “Not to mention she’s ruthless as hell and very skilled at hiding it. Look at her”—she glanced at the ongoing croquet game—“look at the way she looks at Jewel. She’ll betray us all the second Jewel gives the word. Remember only two can win and there’s no way of knowing if Jewel will pull a Head Gamemaker, turning that two into a one. We’re all inconsequential and disposable to her. Every last one of us.”

Not quite the truth. Not quite a lie. The last line was a bit unfair—Harlow would probably also betray everyone when the time came.

Still, the bait worked. Around the table, everyone watched Luna, forming their own opinions about what Stella had said, drawing their own lines in the sand. Everyone except for Alex.

“You don’t know her,” he said to Stella, fuming with a quiet and impressive rage. “You don’t know her or about anything she’s been through. Don’t ever talk about her like that again.”

“Please relax,” Stella said with a laugh designed for damage control. “We’ve all got a story. No one is passing judgment. She’s short, cute, and calculating. Color me intrigued. She’s definitely my kind of girl.”

Nicole said, “I guess when you think about it like that, it’s not surprising that she looks up to Jewel so much.

“That’s a bad thing,” Francis said. “Jewel is low-key awful.”

Harlow bristled. “No, she isn’t.”

Francis sighed loudly, rolling his eyes. “There’s always one.”

“She isn’t!” Harlow said. “People always judge her because she’s young and rich, but that’s not fair. She works really hard, and she’s super kind. Did you know all the staff here are felons? It’s super hard for them to get a job when they get out of prison, so she decided to set up a program to get them employed through her company. They get health benefits and retirement and everything. There was this big story about it a few years ago.”

Stella thought she might just change her opinion about Francis after all. She hadn’t figured out his place in the game yet, but he could be useful. She asked him, “Is that true?”

“Yep.”