Page 21 of The Grandest Game

Rohan.

Gigi.

Six players besides me, Lyra thought.Six suspects.As far as Lyra was concerned, neither Rohan nor Savannah was in the clear on the mind games front. Either one of them could have planted those notes then circled back. But at the end of the day, Lyra hadn’t come to Hawthorne Island to solve a mystery—not about notes on a tree and not about a man with more than his share of names who hadn’t even known how to pronounce hers.

Instead, she focused on the object sitting on the tray marked with her name.A key.It was large and bronze. Elaborate swirls of metal met to form a complicated shape at the head of the key. In the center of that shape, there was a symbol.

An infinity sign.That felt significant to Lyra—but significant how?

She looked back to the silver trays. All the others, except for one, were empty. The lone remaining key—on the tray labeledGigi—appeared nearly identical to Lyra’s, the only visible difference the pattern in the keys’ teeth.

They unlock different doors, Lyra thought.And I’m the second-to-last player in.She looked down at her key once more and noticed words engraved along its stem.

EVERY STORY HAS ITS BEGINNING… Lyra rotated the key in her hand, reading the words on the reverse side.TAKE ONLY YOUR OWN KEY.

Lyra thought about Jameson’s welcome to the island.In some senses, the game starts tonight. But in another very real sense… it starts right now.

The front door flew inward. A petite, brown-haired blur barreled in. Not two seconds later, the heavy silver door swung shut of its own accord, followed by a sound like a gunshot.The deadbolt.

The front door had just slammed and locked itself.

“Sunset,” wheezed the new arrival, bending over, her hands on her knees.

Lyra studied her for a moment. “I’m guessing you’re Gigi?”

Hers was the only key left on the table.

“I am indeed!” Gigi replied, and then she straightened. “Question,” she huffed. “Human wolverine, eyebrows likethis.” Gigi placed her index fingers on her forehead at opposite angles, so that they met in a V just over her nose. “Conceited vest, darkened soul. Seen him?”

It was the mention of the vest that told Lyra exactly who Gigi was looking for. “Knox Landry?”Conceited vest, darkened soul.Lyra had to hand it to Gigi: That was descriptive. “I haven’t seen him recently, but his key was already gone when I got here.”

Gigi followed Lyra’s gaze to the trays on the table. Within seconds, the other girl had claimed her own key.“Every story has its beginning…”Gigi zeroed in on the tiny script faster than Lyra had. After reading the reverse side, Gigi looked up, thought for a moment, then reached for her name card and flipped it over.

A poem stared back at them from the reverse side. Lyra turned her own card over and found the exact same thing. Instructions.

FIND YOUR ROOM. USE THE KEY.

LEAVE THIS CARD FOR ALL TO SEE.

DON YOUR COSTUME AND YOUR MASK.

THE BALL BEGINS AT QUARTER PAST.

Chapter 17

LYRA

On the fourth floor of the grand house, Lyra found seven doors, each bearing an ornate bronze lock. On the wall, there was an enormous clock, roman numerals marking the time.

Five o’clock, almost exactly.

Lyra stepped up to the first door and tried her key. It slid into the lock but wouldn’t turn. Moving on to the next, Lyra heard Gigi behind her, trying out her luck with one of the other doors. Lyra’s second attempt was unsuccessful, but on her third, the key turned in the lock.

The door opened.

The room beyond was startlingly simple, a king-sized bed the only piece of furniture in the room. Laying across the pristine white bedspread was a ball gown.

Lyra walked forward, the door closing behind her as she forgot everything but the gown on the bed. Its bodice was a dark navy blue, almost black, like the ocean at midnight. The skirt was long and made of layers of tulle.