Raya collected the cards, mixed them up and then held out the first and carefully flipped it:CADEN.
Ana recognized her own writing. She looked down, avoiding eye contact.
The next card:CADEN. Caden stopped giggling.
The next:ALEX. It must be Caden’s vote. But the letters were neatly printed; how could someone as off his face as Caden write that neatly? Ana felt nauseous, a dark knot of fear was growing inside her. She turned to Alex, but he was oddly calm, just standing, hands in his pockets, watching.How could he just stand there?
The next card read:CADEN.
“Hey, that’s me!” Caden slurred, confused. He had no idea what was happening.
Three votes for Caden. No surprises there. They just needed one more.
Raya flipped the next card:ALEX. The letters were written in round cursive. This shouldn’t be happening. Who else had voted for Alex?Why?
Ana looked around at the circle of faces desperately, and that was when she saw it. It was the smallest of things. Jade looked up, her eyes, flicked to Alex, then back down. It lasted a second, but that one sad, little look, her guilty expression, gave her away. Jade had voted for Alex. Which meant Jax and Ellis had too. Three votes for Alex.Three.
Which meant with Caden’s…it would be four.
A wall of sheer, blind panic hit Ana.How had she let it come to this?Of course, she should have thought.She should have thought!Ellis was two steps ahead of her. If they voted out Alex, then next time, Ellis would have the majority.
She had fucked up.
Two cards left. Raya looked at Ana, her face wrought with worry. Carefully she picked up one of the cards, holding it like it was poisoned. She flipped it.
ALEX. Printed in large, neat letters.
Ana’s knees felt weak. The familiar buzzing noise was building in her head. She reached her hand out to Alex. He took it. Their fingers roughly entwined.
There was one card left. Three votes each. One card remaining. Alex was going to lose.
Oh, god. Ana wanted to turn away. It was like watching a crash in slow motion, her heart thudded painfully in her chest. She couldn’t help herself. She looked at Ellis.
Slowly, lazily, his eyes drifted upward, maybe sensing that he wasbeing watched. He found Ana and met her intense gaze. All the power was in his court now. She still had everything to lose. He cocked his head almost imperceptibly, his dark expression locked in. He’d won and he knew it.
Raya picked up the final card.
She would go. Ana knew it with one hundred percent certainty. She would take Alex’s place. He’d try to stop her, so she’d have to act fast. She’d just run for the line. No stopping, no thinking. It was better that way. Much better.
Ana willed herself not to close her eyes. Raya held out the card, her hand shaking. She counted:
“Three…two…”
Ana heard Alex take a sharp breath in, his hand tightened on hers. She focused on the feeling of his fingers, the warmth of his skin. It had to be okay. It had to.
“One.”
Raya flipped the card.
22
Ellis
04:07
The final coaster lay in the dirt where Raya had dropped it.
Ellis looked at it dispassionately. There it was, just a small square of cardboard—a piece of trash that for one brief moment, held the power to take a life.
