Beneath the moonlight, we shall dine.
“Yum,” he muttered to himself. Then to the others, “Looks like we’re hosting a dinner party for the Dracula family, and they’re expecting a wide selection of blood types.”
“What are you alldoing?” shouted Sierra. She had lowered the phone and put her hand over the speaker. “The police are on the way and I’m trying to tell the operator everything that’s happened, and you’re talking about having a dinner party and servingblood?”
“Not me,” said Beck defensively, gesturing at the paper. “It’s a clue.”
“Why are you wasting time with—” Sierra cut off suddenly, her eyes focusing on the heavy wooden door. Only then did Beck realize what she was hearing, or . . . not hearing.
Fitzy had gone silent.
“They’re trapped in there,” said Adi. “If they can’t force one of the doors open, then they’ll have to solve the holy water puzzle.”
“The map,” said Carter. “Do we—”
“I dropped it.” A shadow fell over Adi’s face. “Trying to get everyone out. They have everything they need to unlock the keypad.”
“How long before the police get here?” asked Beck, who could hear the muffled voice of the operator on the phone.
“Ten minutes,” said Sierra faintly, her gaze darting around the room as if seeing the elaborate set for the first time. “Okay. Okay, we can do this. You’re right. We have to stay ahead of them for ten minutes.” She lifted the phone to her ear again, and her voice took on new conviction. “We’re going to try to solve this room and get back to the studio. Ranielle Russell will know where the entrances to the room are.”
She didn’t wait to hear the operator’s response, just set the phone face up on the table. “What’s our status?”
Beck went down the list of what they’d found so far, and what they were looking for. A four-letter word for the curio cabinet, a way to open the box on the table, a key to raise the gate. The code in Adi’s book.
But then Adi groaned and straightened from what he was reading. “No good. It’s the last clue.” He read:
By the coffin I did find
A relic that was left behind.
If you recognize this tooth,
Then surely you will know the truth.
Seek justice for Alicia’s ghost
And condemn our once-beloved host.
“Familiar tooth?” asked Beck.
Adi held up a small white fang. “It was in the pouch with the holy water. Vera’s evidence. She must’ve seen him wearing it during the livestream, then found it that morning before everyone had come into the studio. It was her proof that Fitzy had been here to plant Alicia’s body.”
“Vera risked a lot to expose him,” Beck said. “Let’s make sure we get that evidence to the cops.”
Adi nodded grimly and pocketed the shark tooth.
