She always had something up her sleeve and for Jookie to smile like that — she had something good up there.

Unless — was she Layla's manipulator? No, she couldn't be. If they wanted to keep Layla's true killer a secret, for now, Gmie being outright suspicious like that would be too much of a giveaway.

Even though I hated that bitch, I knew she wasn't that stupid.

"Bet-betinia." Sebastian moaned on the floor, thick blood still seeping through his fingers from his arm wound. It dripped onto the ground, creating a drippy-dot pattern.

"Oh shit." I dropped to my knees, staring at the wound up close. "You okay?" The gash damaged his upper bicep to his lower forearm, very jagged but slightly shallow.

Letting out slow, harsh breaths, salty droplets beaded his forehead, one slowly sliding down his cheek as his eyes squinted. "Y-yeah, I'm okay. Just hurts like a fucking bitch."

I swerved around to Khan. "Can you—"

Khan didn't even let me finish. "Of course. We need to get him to my room, and I'll patch him up," he said, nodding.

I popped to my feet but paused when Fee started to talk. It was a rare occurrence, so everyone listened when it happened.

"Is that it?" Fee asked, wiping his dirty hands on his pants. "It's over?"

Khan wiped his hair out of his eye. "I suppose so. Layla killed herself and we figured that out at least and won. Now we just wait for the next challenge."

"But who manipulated her?" I asked, helping Sebastian to his feet. He groaned and leaned against the wall for support, still holding his bleeding arm.

Rucker gestured his thumb at me. "If yang here couldn't figure it out, then it's impossible."

"It's whatever," Chi said, throwing a curl back. "The point of this game is killing. Fuck who did it. We won and we got to keep our pinkies."

"Me and Khan are the reason you kept your pinkie." Rucker crossed his arms and flicked his head at Sebastian. "Ice cube over there actually helped a little too. Guess you're not totally useless, hunnybun."

"Fuck you," Sebastian said, eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

"Well, thank you." Chi began walking out of the room. "I gotta go check on Aries."

"She's right," Yaz said with a shrug. "There's no reason to keep looking for the killer. Whoever it is, is smart as shit and just playing the game."

"Still." Khan tapped his chin. "I'm curious to know who manipulated her. Whoever did it manipulated us as well and that's a strong feat."

I was still curious too! It fucking pulled at my brain like puppeteer strings. How did I not figure it out? How could I fuck up so badly? I stared at my team. Was it one of them? Were they manipulating me right now?

Did it even matter? Layla was gone, and no one cared. Her death meant nothing to them, and they wanted to move on. I cared though, and I'd find out who did it. Eventually, we'd cross paths again. I know it.

A part of me felt like Layla was watching me, wanting me to know, screaming at me to know because whoever killed her was slick enough to get away with it, meaning they might try to come for me next.

"Come on, Sebastian." I let him lean into my body as we began to scuffle over to Khan's room down the hall.

Duke was wide awake when we came bustling in, jumping at everyone's feet. Sebastian flopped onto the bed, biting his lower lip.

Khan marched over with his medkit, placing it onto the bed. "You can take your hand off now." Once Sebastian did, Khan put on some gloves and touched the wound. "Not too deep that you need staples but enough to need stitches."

Rucker cackled as he petted Duke on the air mattress. "Guess you won't be back talking Jookie no more, huh, milkshake?"

Sebastian glared. "He deserved it. He's an exaggerating dick." He bit his lip when Khan began cleaning the wound. "I hate him."

"I don't take it personally," Khan said, tossing some gauze in the trash before grabbing more. "It's his job."

"H-he doesn't have to get that enjoyment out of it though," Sebastian said, grimacing. "R-real human beings are dying here."

"Murderous human beings," Yaz said, sitting on the edge of the recliner. "Society didn't care about me before coming here and it don't care about me now. No one's looking for me."

"My gang's looking for me," Rucker said. "Probably think I got kidnapped or killed by one of our rivals. They'd laugh their asses off if I told them what was really going on. They'd think I was high on angel dust or some shit."

"No one would believe this shit." Yaz snorted. "I still don't. I go to sleep thinking this shit is a dream sometimes."

Khan finished cleaning the wound and took out a threaded needle. "I'm going to start stitching. You want to hold onto anything?"

Sebastian gritted his teeth, sighing. "I'm f-fine. Just do it."

My teeth sank into my lip, watching the sharp metal penetrate soft skin. In and out. A slow, curling shiver drenched my entire body like dumping an ice cube into boiling plasma.

Sebastian panted, fingers digging into his knees every nanosecond. Lips twitching, he was trying to hold back his groans, but one escaped.

Khan didn't even look fazed. Just kept working his fingers like a grade A crotchet master, never missing a beat.

"So, are we staying a team?" Yaz asked. "Now that everything's over?"

A brilliant smile lit up Rucker's face. "If we do, we'd be the biggest team here. We'd run shit."

Sebastian let out a soft ahhh before baring his teeth and shutting his eyes. "B-but one of us won't m-make it. On-only four can win. And L-layla's killer is still out there."

"You mean we can't trust her killer because they might kill us?" Khan asked, sticking the needle deep.

Sebastian bit his lip. "Ex-xactly. Can we t-trust someone who g-got away with i-it? How do w-we know they're n-not planning to off us one b-by one?"

Silence blanketed the room, hovering over us like black clouds on a stormy day. Everyone stared at each other.

Layla's killer was still out there, and I had no idea who it could be. That rubbed me the wrong way. I hated not knowing.

My eyes whirled around, watching everyone while thinking about my life before I had a team. I was at my lowest point before, inches away from dying. Yeah, I wanted to know who manipulated Layla, but I wanted to go home and see my family more. Having a big team would make that happen. Even if one of them was Layla's killer and they did try to kill me, I had three other people to back me up. I would never be alone. Being a part of a team was my best escape plan.

"We should stay a team," I said, breaking the thick silence. Everyone turned to me. "We'd be the biggest team here and have the best chance of winning it all. Yes, Layla's killer is still out there, and it could be one of us. Or none of us. We'll never know until they want us to know, but we all want to go home, right? If we stick together, it's our best chance of winning. One of us won't make it, but we have to take that chance."

"She's right." Rucker shrugged. "If one of you did kill Layla, I don't care. She deserved it. I'm just upset that you beat me to it."

I was upset that they tricked me, and that Jookie knew something about me that I didn't. He basically told me that I was a murderer, and I wasn't. I couldn't be. Wouldn't I remember killing someone?

He had to be fucking with me. Yeah, he was fucking with me. He had to be. Yes.

"Is everyone down with staying a team?" I asked, burying my racing thoughts.

"I am," Khan said, putting in his last stitch before pulling off his gloves.

"You know I am," Rucker said, scratching Duke behind the ears.

"Me too," Yaz said, settling back into the recliner.

My eyes traveled over to Sebastian. He looked hesitant but murmured, "Sure."

"Don't do us any favors, whip cream," Rucker said, seeing Sebastian's hesitation. "We don't need you. You contribute nothing to this team but horniness and surfer hair."

Sebastian wrinkled his forehead. "Horniness?"

"Every viewer in a million-mile radius knows your trying to get into Betinia's panties," Rucker said, hands on his hips. "I don't understand why she even gives you the time of day. I'd rather see her with Jookie than your shady ass."

Oh god. A hand went to my hair, scratching at my scalp. Our permanent team was not getting off to a good start.

Before I could open my lips and try to calm the situation, intense rage materialized onto Sebastian's pale face before his body charged at Rucker full-on, eyes wild and dark.

Oh shit.

♟♙♟