Page 109 of The Love Bandits

What now?

I exchange a look with Lainey, who’s got to be thinking what I am—did we leave something in the basement closet? But I shake it off and continue, “We’re going to play a little game called Never Have I Ever. When it’s your turn, you’ll tell us something you’ve never done, and the people who have done it will need to drink tea.”

Lainey snorts beside me, giving me a sidelong look that tells me I wouldn’t make it far as a therapist. Fair enough.

“I’ll go first,” I say, deciding it would be best to break them in with something easy but potentially still informative. A soft ball of a question. “Never have I ever met Anthony’s sister, Emma.”

Mrs. Rosings, Nina, and Anthony all take a long sip of tea.

Lainey’s sitting next to me, so it’s her turn to go next. She clears her throat, then says, “Never have I ever tried on the Heart of the Mountain.”

Mrs. Rosings immediately lifts the teacup to her lips. Nina glances at her, then drinks, which suggests she tried on the necklace with her mother-in-law’s permission. Disappointing but not particularly surprising since Mrs. Rosings set it out as bait. It would be better bait if Nina knew she wanted it—if she’d felt its cool weight at her neck.

A beat passes, and then Anthony laughs a little and drinks as well.

Nina’s eyes flick to him. “You didn’t.”

“I did. I was seven. I wanted to know how much it would weigh.”

They both laugh, and it’s almost a nice moment—or it would have been if I didn’t feel the strange undercurrents between them.

We make it through a few rounds of the game without anything particularly interesting coming to light other than that Anthony hates tuna fish and has never met Nina’s parents, Nina dislikes dogs, and Mrs. Rosings never plans on leaving Smith House. But there’s a weird vibe developing in the room that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Nina has commented on the pattern of the carpet three times, and Mrs. Rosings keeps calling Anthony by his father’s name. Lainey has been staring at her hands as if they contain all the mysteries of the universe.

“It’s your turn, Nina,” I say, but she points at the carpet.

“Did you bring that snake with you?” she asks, accusatory. “I don’t like snakes.No onelikes snakes.”

“What on earth are you talking about, you insipid girl?” Mrs. Rosings snaps. “There are no snakes here. This carpet isbeautiful. One of a kind. It was handwoven by—”

“Children, probably,” Anthony says bitterly, running a hand over his jaw before glancing over his shoulder again. “Father bought it, after all. Why do you keep calling me Adrien, mother?”

Something passes over Mrs. Rosings’s face. “Because you look…in this light, why, you look exactly like him.”

Anthony looks sickened by the thought. “You hated him.”

“So did you.”

I shift my gaze to Lainey, giving her awhat the fuck is happeninglook, but her gaze is still fixed on her hands. She’s moving her fingers slowly, her gaze riveted on the lines on her palm. I take her hand in mine, and she gasps and looks up at me, her pupils so dilated the brown is nearly swallowed by black.

My eyes fly wide, and I glance around at the others. They all have dilated pupils. This time, I dart a glance at Joy, who gives me a thumbs up from the periphery of the room. Rosie is standing next to her with a worried look on her face as she glances around at everyone.

Alarm pumps through my veins, and I look at my full teacup, sitting on the table, and all of the other cups, nearly empty. The conclusion is obvious: Joy dosed their tea with something, and they’re all high as kites.

“Joy,” I say, my voice unsteady. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

“Of course, dear,” she says, looking mildly alarmed.

I get up, handing Lainey back her hand, palm up, and tug Joy into the hallway leading to the bathroom and then the bedroom. “You said this tea is a special blend. What’s in it?” I ask through my teeth, trying not to lose my temper. IlikeJoy, and if she just dosed everyone at the party, I’m guessing she thought she was being helpful.

“You told me you wanted everyone to be honest with each other, sweetheart,” she says, sending a worried look back to the living room.

I hear the word “snakes” and “palm” from down the hall.

“I didn’t want to resort to drugging them,” I say flatly.

“There’s nothing inorganic in there,” she hedges, “just a bit of dried mushrooms from my garden, but I take small doses all the time. It helps me connect with Mortimer. I thought it would be exactly the thing to help everyone here connect with their greater truth.”

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