Page 29

Again Jaylie hears the plucking of strings to her left.

The frantic and stressed tempo of the music is at odds with the cheery melody.

Little darts of sparkling yellow light shoot toward Kain and set to knitting up some of the worst wounds left in the wake of the beholder’s spell.

Jaylie would raise her brows in surprise if she could move them.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, Jay, but—stay awake, okay? We’ll get you out of this. I’ve heard songs about how to treat this petrification curse. It’ll be all right. We’ll figure it out.” The warm assurance in Loren’s voice has Jaylie’s eyes swelling with the memory of tears again.

But the howl of the beholder distracts her from his soothing tone.

She focuses her gaze on Morgana’s prone form as Kain takes a defensive stance over her.

With a last thrust, Kain sinks his axe deep into the right side of the beholder’s mouth, and with one wet tug, he tears the lower half of the monster’s jaw clean off.

The tiefling steps back, inhales, and releases a bloodcurdling yell as he twists his axe in a gorgeous arc behind his head and swings it around to sink the blade deep into the beholder’s skull.

The beam from the monster’s great central eye flickers as its body tumbles through the air, shifting dizzily from side to side.

But before death claims it entirely, before its light goes out, it twists in slow motion and narrows its eye, weeping blood, directly at Jaylie.

She imagines she can feel the hate rolling off of it in waves.

With one last cry, the monster throws itself forward, and its body grows horrifically large in her vision as it barrels toward her.

Halfway there, it collapses entirely, the teeth on its unhinged lower jaw raking through the ink-dark sand below.

It comes to a stop right at her shins, spraying blood and green gore along the white marble of her skirts.

Her vision wobbles as the force of the blow sends her body swaying.

She sees rather than feels the brush of Loren’s fingers against the stone palm of her hand as her vision pans dizzyingly upward. I’m falling, she realizes. As Loren yells out her name, his hazel-green eyes are the last thing she sees before the back of her head collides with the wall behind her.

It doesn’t hurt at all when her body shatters.

“What do you mean when her body shatters ?” My hands are clutched around my dice so hard that I can feel the points of the d4 digging into my skin.

Liam sits very still, his hands steepled before him. For a few moments, he just silently taps his pointer fingers against his lower lip where it peeks out from his beard. Suddenly, he stands and leans over the game board laid out on the table before us.

Honestly, I’ve never seen our chaotic group so quiet and still.

The map turned out beautifully. Liam decorated it with chunks of LED-glowing crystal lamps, scattered rocks, dozens of spiders with bendable legs, a terrifyingly realistic beholder model, and each of our characters’ miniatures.

But I can’t appreciate any of that right now.

All I can do is watch in horror as Liam reaches forward to where Jaylie stands resplendent in a pink dress with tiny gold coin details—and knocks her prone.

He raises his head and meets my gaze evenly.

“Her body was destroyed.” He takes in a deep breath, and when he exhales, he says exactly what I dread hearing most.

“She’s dead.”

I almost expect him to whip out a hammer and smash the little figurine to pieces just to drive the point home.

“Just like that?” An unexpected wave of grief has my voice sticking in my throat.

Finally, the other players stir, shaking themselves out of a fugue state of shock.

Morgan suggests, “I’ve got healing potions, though—is it too late for that?”

“And I have a healing spell or two left, or a restoration spell, though I’ve never used it before…” Noah says. He stands, his body shot with energy. He braces one palm on the table and the other on my forearm.

Jules sits back in her chair and winds one brown curl around her finger thoughtfully. She looks calm. Strategic. “Could we take her back to one of Marlana’s churches, maybe? Could the other clerics revive her?”

Fuck Liam and his excellent poker face. His eyes don’t so much as twitch as everyone chimes in with new ideas on how to save my girl. I glance down to where I’d doodled a drawing of her mid-battle with her hands outstretched, sunbeams burning in her open palms.

I have to ask. “Do I need to make a new character?”

Liam slides his gaze around the room, meeting all of our eyes in turn. “There may be several paths forward, and we can consider them all.” He looks at me last. “But for now, Sadie…” He gestures toward the door. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave the table.”

Liam’s features are unreadable, but his eyes are bright. This is for dramatics, I tell myself. It’s all part of the theater of the game—right? I know Liam loves a bit of theater. He wouldn’t do this, surely. Especially not after the week I’ve had. Would he?

Stress has me gnawing a hole in the inside of my cheek.

Noah makes a noise of protest. “That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”

“It’s what I always do in these situations—” Liam starts.

“ These situations? ” Morgan looks stricken. “You’ve had characters die before in your games?”

For a heartbeat, Liam’s face goes dark—and a little smug—as the lives of all the characters he’s killed flash before his eyes.

Then his expression softens, and his voice is soothingly gentle.

“A few times,” he says easily, “and every time, I ask the deceased character’s player to leave the table.

Since Jaylie is not present, Sadie should not be, either.

It will give the remaining characters a chance to choose what the next course of action may be.

Afterwards, we’ll of course invite Sadie back in and continue from there. ”

No one looks convinced, but I hold out a placating hand. The old folding chair creaks as I stand. “It’s okay. That makes sense to me.”

Noah catches my fingers as I turn to go. “We’ll get her back, Sadie.” His blue eyes are so wide and earnest that I let myself believe him.

I give Noah’s hand a quick squeeze before letting go and gathering up my things.

“See you all soon,” I say. “I hope.”