Page 51 of Glorious Rivals

A yacht.No amount of objectively knowing that Avery Grambs was a billionaire could have prepared Lyra for the sheer size and opulence of it.The closer they got to the yacht, the more massive it appeared.Two-third the length of a football field?Four levels high.Each of the yacht’s four decks was illuminated with an eerie,golden glow.Blue LED lights ringed the bottom of the yacht, making the midnight ocean look somehow even blacker.

“Not bad,” Rohan opined.“As far as command centers go.”

Lyra supposed it made sense, given the location of the game, that the game makers had chosen a ship for their headquarters, but this wasn’t just aship.It was the yacht to end all yachts.

As the boat drew closer, Lyra saw Avery Grambs standing on the lowermost deck, clad in a golden gown and a matching mask.It wasn’t until they’d docked and Lyra stepped onto the back of the yacht that she realized: the design on Avery’s gown, the exquisite swirls of detail…

They all formed the same, familiar symbol.Infinity.

“Somewhere on this yacht,” the Hawthorne heiress announced, “you’ll find a hint or two to the puzzles you’re working on.”

“Puzzles, plural,” Rohan noted.“I take it someone has already solved the music box.”

Clearly, it wasn’t him—or Savannah.Lyra and Grayson hadn’t solved it yet, either.That left only one player, the one who’dgivenLyra one answer in this game already.Brady.

“You’re also welcome to eat, play, and rest up while you’re here,” a voice called down to them.“If you need it.”

Lyra looked up.A masked figure stood on top of a metal railing on the uppermost deck.Jameson Hawthorne.

“And just like that…” Rohan snapped his fingers.“The scholar disappears.”

Lyra looked around.Sure enough, Brady was already nowhere to be seen.

“After tonight,” Avery told the remaining players, “you won’t be seeing us again until the end of the game.No more ballgowns.No more masks.No more parties.Just puzzle to puzzle to puzzle until the end.”

“Until,” Jameson called down, “we have our winner.”There was a tone in Jameson’s voice that Lyra couldn’t quite read, and this time, when she looked up, Jameson Hawthorne was staring down at her—and only at her.Unlike the rest of them, he wasn’t masked.

And he wasn’t smiling.

Lyra looked away from Jameson, and Savannah Grayson caught her gaze.He’ll choose them every time, Lyra could practically hear her saying.He’ll chooseher.

Beside Lyra, Grayson was looking at Avery in that infinity gown.

I’m not asking him to choose me, Lyra thought fiercely, but she still couldn’t push down the feeling of dread churning in her stomach at the thought of what was to come.

Opposite Lyra, Savannah turned to Rohan and bared her teeth in a glittering, socialite’s smile.“Game on.”

Chapter 39

LYRA

Ihave to tell him, Lyra thought.Avery and the other players had taken their leave.It was just Lyra and Grayson left on the lowermost deck now.

“There,” Grayson said.“Two decks up.”

Tell him.Lyra’s internal monologue was stubborn as hell, but she ignored it—not forever.Just for now.She wanted, maybe evenneeded, one more moment, one more memory of thisbefore.

She looked up, following Grayson’s gaze.“What do you see?”

His lips curved.“Can you climb in that dress?”

Lyra pretended that there was no tightness in her stomach, no ball of anxiety in her throat.“I can do anything in this dress.”

There was nothing on the third-story deck, but just off it, in the interior of the yacht, there was a lounge.The room was large and round, lined with arched doors.The carpet was deep red and plush, and set up all around the room there were game tables.

Poker.

Craps.