Page 79 of Wicked Games

“Maybe, yeah.” April blew out a deep breath and picked the top cup. “Well, here goes nothing.”

She lifted the cup in a sarcastic toast. Then she knocked the beer back in a few gulps and wiped her lips with her sleeve. I watched with wide eyes, silently begging for her to be okay.

“How do you feel?” Brooke asked.

“Fine.” April smiled faintly. “I think it was normal beer.”

Courteney lost to Hudson a moment later, and we all watched as she selected a cup and drank the contents. Thankfully, she was fine too.

“We’re down to the last game, and everyone’s still alive,” Brooke said. “Maybe we’re all going to be okay.”

“Don’t jinx it, you idiot,” Kiara called out. “If I die, it’s totally your fault.”

“You aren’t going to die, babe,” Jasmine said before tossing a ball toward her cups.

She sank it, and Kiara groaned. “How are you so much better than me?”

“It’s only 3-2. I’m notthatgood,” Jasmine replied.

Kiara missed the rest of her shots, and we all crowded around the table as her eyes darted between the cups in front of her. Shetwisted her lips for a few seconds. Then she snatched up a cup from the middle of the line, lifted her chin, and tossed it back.

“She sure picked that fast,” Brooke muttered. “Almost as if she knew exactly which cups were safe.”

April nodded slowly. “Yeah, it was a bit—”

Her voice was cut off by a series of choking sounds from Kiara’s mouth. “Oh my god,” she rasped, clutching at her throat. “It… it’s burning. I…”

She fell to her knees, unable to get any more words out. Jasmine screamed and dashed over to her. “Throw it up!” she shrieked, smacking her on the back. “Get it out!”

It was too late. The poison was fast-acting, and within a minute or two, Kiara’s lips had turned blue. She lurched several times, gasping for breath, and then she collapsed all the way to the floor, white foam spilling from her open mouth.

“No!” Jasmine screamed, crouching to shake Kiara’s shoulders. “Wake up!”

She repeated this process for several minutes, shrieking and violently shaking her friend. Nothing happened. Kiara’s body remained limp, her eyes glassy and unseeing.

“Jasmine…” Maverick gently pulled her away. “I think she’s gone. I’m sorry.”

Jasmine struggled against him for a moment, screeching and shouting, but then her eyes fell on Kiara’s lifeless body, and she sank to the ground and burst into tears. “It’s my fault,” she choked out between sobs. “I should’ve let her win.”

Courteney joined Maverick in trying to comfort her. I turned to my friends, lips compressed in a thin line. Their expressions told me they were thinking the exact same thing as me.

“We were wrong about Kiara,” I muttered.

“Yup,” Brooke said, nodding grimly. “Dead wrong.”

“Wait.” Zach lifted a trembling hand. “What if she faked it?”

“Faked it?” April said, brows shooting up. “How the hell could she do that?”

“Maybe all her cups contained sedatives so she could feign death. That way she could trick us into thinking she isn’t the mastermind behind all this shit.”

“Zach…” Brooke shook her head. “Look at her. She’s not just unconscious from a sedative. She’sdead.”

Zach glanced over at Kiara’s limp form and winced. Then he turned back to face us, head shaking. “I just… I really thought it was her behind all this shit,” he muttered. “Now I have no fucking clue what to think. I feel like I’m going crazy.”

“Me too,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “This is exactly what the Game Master wants. For us to lose our minds before we die.”

Before anyone could reply, the speaker on the wall crackled back to life. “The fifth game is now over. This room will be closing in five minutes for cleaning and maintenance,” the voice said. “Please proceed to Gaming Room 6 down the hall. The next game begins in ten minutes.”

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