Page 105 of Queen of Volts

“But there’s no way to win the game,” Poppy said, brandishing a pink notebook. “Not with all of us surviving.”

Grace’s eyes lit up at the appearance of a chart. “Can I see that?” Grace asked eagerly, and Poppy handed it to her. Grace reached into her pocket and pulled out a pencil. The room waited as she scribbled in more names, the ones Poppy didn’t know. “We can finish this chart. Most of it, at least. You,” she barked at Delaney. “What’s your name and card?”

“Delaney Dawson. The Moon,” she answered. Enne recognized her from tabloids—she was Poppy’s rival and ex-girlfriend. Or, judging from Delaney’s arm wrapped around Poppy’s waist, maybe not as ex as she’d thought.

“You’re my target,” Grace told Delaney matter-of-factly, and Delaney stiffened, nervously regarding Grace’s smudged rings of eyeliner and black clothing. “Enne, you’re Poppy’s target.”

Enne didn’t know if she should cry or let out a sigh of relief. Poppy wouldn’t hurt her, she didn’t think. But could Enne really surrender her card to Poppy? Put her life in Poppy’s hands? Poppy was the least North Side here.

“Harvey, what about you?” Grace asked.

His face reddened. “I was Bryce’s target,” he said. Enne noted his past tense. Harvey had already given Bryce his card. “Narinder is mine.”

“Mine is the Chancellor,” Narinder said darkly. Beside her, Levi stiffened.

Grace squinted at the chart. “Delaney, your target is Scythe, who has to be the Tower. And Bryce is Hector’s target. And that means...Roy, you’re Scythe’s next target.” Her voice wobbled a bit, and the room went silent. Thus far, Scythe was the only person playing to win. Playing for blood.

Roy stared at the table, seemingly determined not to acknowledge what she’d spoken. Not even when Grace reached across and squeezed his hand tightly. Then he leaned forward and poured himself a glass of the cheap beer. He passed servings around the table, not bothering to see whether or not each recipient declined. Enne stared grimly at their circle of untouched glasses.

Grace cleared her throat and continued. “That leaves Lola, Rebecca, the Bargainer—”

Enne struggled to envision all of the game’s schematics—it was too complicated. “Why are we doing this?” she asked, so sharply Tock choked on the sip of beer she’d finally drank.

Grace tapped her pencil against the chart impatiently, the same way she might a statement of accounts at the bank. “If the game ends and we don’t have our target’s card, then we—”

“The game can’t end without some of us dying, anyway,” Enne snapped. “It’s impossible. And even if we give each other our respective cards—to give too many is a risk. If one of us dies, we could all drop like dominoes.”

Harrison looked around the room thoughtfully, his finger swirling around the rim of his glass. “So who here has already given up their card?”

Levi, Harvey, and Grace raised their hands. The most vulnerable.

“And who here has their target’s card?”

This time, Enne, Harrison, and Levi raised their hands.

“So we’re the only three who will survive if the game ended tonight,” Harrison said, sighing. Downstairs, the music seemed to grow louder, along with voices singing along to the lyrics. Enne wondered how Narinder could stand it, living his entire life serving a grand party. She’d be happier if she never attended a party again.

“This is why we can’t win the game. It’s impossible,” Enne declared, clutching Levi’s hand under the table. The group had finally reached the same impasse as Enne and Levi last night, which meant the reason the two of them had summoned everyone had arrived. “The only way for us all to survive is to break it.”

“Break it?” Tock repeated, confused.

“You’d have to destroy the object the shade is cast on,” Delaney explained, furrowing her eyebrows. “Bryce could’ve cast it on a coin and tossed it in the Brint, for all we know. We’ll never manage it.”

“That doesn’t sound like Bryce,” Harvey muttered, and the room’s attention turned to him. He crossed his arms, as though trying to make himself small. “Bryce doesn’t care aboutthings. That’s not him.”

“That’s how shades work,” Delaney snapped.

“Well, wait,” Levi cut in, looking at Harvey. “What doyouthink the game is bound to?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Harvey said darkly. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall, almost like he was praying. “Who is the one person Bryce would want to keep alive during all of this? What does Bryce care about right now more than anyone?”

“Rebecca?” Poppy asked.

“What? No.” Harvey shook his head. “She already corrupted a shade by binding it to herself, and she’s dying from it. It can’t be her.”

“So you mean the Bargainer,” Enne said, her eyes widening.

“You mean if we kill the Bargainer, we break the game?” Grace asked. She cracked her knuckles. “Then what are we waiting for?”