Page 115 of Alice Chen's Reality Check

I snuggle closer to him. “I mean, I don’t think I used thatexactphrasing, so it’s probably more of an issue with semantics.”

“Those bastards,” he murmurs, dropping a kiss on my temple. Something in me thrills at how casual the gesture is. I suppose we’ve been getting in plenty of practice.

Daniel pulls me close so that I can wind my arms around him and put my head on his chest. I grip the top edge of the comforter and pull it over us. And together, with his hand on the small of my back, we fall asleep.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Hell Is the Morning After

I drift awake, still tangled in Daniel’s arms. I slide out to get a drink of water, yawning, but once I’m up and moving, I’m wide awake—and all the fears and worries I had before come flooding back. Without Daniel to distract me, I’m suddenly keenly aware of how little time we have left. We’re racing toward the finale of the show, and we’re still no closer to finding out who killed Anton.

I’m determined to stay on the show and see this through. A million dollars is on the line, after all, and I came here for a reason. But that doesn’t mean I fully buy whatever Leah was trying to sell us back on the bridge. Her assurances are little comfort considering how many accidents—not to mention an entire murder—have happened.

I pace the room, listening to the patter of rain outside accompanied by the rise and fall of Daniel’s breathing. It would be so easy to just crawl back into bed with him and forget about all this. But I’ve never been able to let a problem go unsolved—in the classroom and out of it. And with Anton’s killer still loose, we’re all sitting ducks.

I just wish I had more information. Leah filled in some of the blanks for us, but that brings us no closer to the truth. She said the generator broke down because of her, and the food poisoning was all Seth.

But wait. I remember what Seth said, that time I was hiding out in the war room. He’d made it seem like he’d been given orders to poison the cast, not that it was his own idea.

Leah had said that everyone who was screwing things up on set was either done or locked in the pantry. I’d thought Leah was just saying things off the cuff, but what if she was serious? What if Seth’s really been locked up somewhere in the villa?

I can’t shake the thought that Seth might know more about Anton’s death than he was letting on. And now that I’m thinking about all this, there’s no way I can go back to sleep. I grab my sweatshirt and pull on a pair of jeans before I quietly slip out the door.

It’s early enough that I don’t encounter anyone in the hallways or dining room as I pass through. It’s also dark, but thankfully the storm has cleared a bit, and I can see the full moon in the windows. It’s enough light to see my way by.

In the empty war room, I turn on the lights and go straight for the pantry.

When I get closer, I see it’s been locked from the outside with some knotted bungee cords, and my hopes soar. I go up to it and knock lightly.

“Seth? Seth!” I whisper into a small gap where the doors meet.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s Alice Chen.”

“Oh,great, Scooby-Doo’s here,” Seth mutters. “Fuck off.”

“Wait,” I call quietly. What can I say to get him to talk to me? I try, “I’m sorry they locked you in here. It’s so messed up. They could have at least given you a room in the villa.”

Silence.

I try a different tactic. “I talked to Leah today. About how you poisoned the peppers. She said it was all your idea.”

More silence.

I add, “Oh, and she called you a dumbass.”

“Well, she’s a chronically online megalomaniac who eats toast plain,” Seth snaps. Bingo.

“Is she lying?” Though it’s not strictly true, I say, “She also said that you were behind all the accidents on set. I mean, all the nonfatal ones.”

“God, she’s such a bitch,” Seth says. “I didn’t do any of that.”

“Are you sure?” I remember how sick Daniel and the rest of the cast were after the Gluttony Challenge, so I feel only a tiny bit guilty when I say, “Given your history, it’s pretty easy to believe that you were behind everything that went wrong on set. Sounds like you’ll be on the hook for any lawsuits that happen after this show wraps.”

“But—” I hear the scrape of a chair. “I can’t believe this shit. I was just following orders.”

“Whose orders?”

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