had no idea why the entire floor structure felt bouncy. Was it intended to absorb the shock from rocketing down that long fire pole? Or was the floor meant to give for some other purpose?
“What is this room supposed to be?” Persey asked, more to herself than to the others.
“It’s like a cave and a cathedral,” Riot said, circling around to the backside of the altar. He was antsy, fingers drumming against his thigh.
“A Cavethedral?” Persey suggested, reciting the name from the whiteboard in Office Drones.
Riot chuckled. “Right! I guess I didn’t think that would be literal.”
Mackenzie wrinkled her upper lip. “I think it’s creepy.”
“It poses an interesting challenge,” Shaun-bot said, without elaborating on how it seemed any more or less interesting than the last four.
“This altar is fascinating,” Riot said, hauling himself onto the large tabletop. “These engravings. Intricate and yet they don’t seem to be connected in any way.”
“Clear a path!” Kevin called from above just before sliding into the Cavethedral. “Whoa, this place is badass.”
“Right?” Mackenzie said. “The design. The attention to detail.” A complete 180 from ten seconds ago. She’ll say or do anything to get what she wants.
“Son of a Shatner!” Neela cried, en route down the pole. She collapsed into a puddle of limbs and hair on the faux stones, unable to slow her momentum. The floor of the entire room rebounded from the impact. “That was the single scariest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life and I’ve been to a Taylor Swift concert, and can someone tell me why the floor is shaking and also, is that the seal of the Inquisition?” She pointed at the cross behind the altar.
“The what what?” Mackenzie asked.
Kevin wagged an index finger at her. “And don’t you badmouth Tay Tay.”
“The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition,” Shaun said, his voice a flat drone as he answered Mackenzie’s question, “established in 1478 by Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain to maintain Catholic orthodoxy, believed to be a response to the multi-religious nature of Spanish society at the time, and the spread of both anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim sentiments across Europe.”
“Thank you, Siri,” Mackenzie said. “You can stop now.”
“Where?” Riot asked, still focused on the altar. “I don’t see anything.”
Neela hurried across the uneven floor toward him, stumbling every few steps. “On the cross. Look at the center.”
“First point to Neela,” Persey joked, impressed by her sharp eyes.
“I might have noticed it earlier,” Mackenzie said, folding her hands across her chest, peeved. “If I hadn’t had to go first down the pole. I was slightly more worried about not dying. Or worse.”
“If you’re scared,” Mackenzie said, “you can always give up. Just tell Leah you’re out and they’ll extract you, I’m sure.”
“Right,” Persey said. “Because help was so quick to arrive when someone murdered B.J.”
“Just one more sign that your ‘dead body’”—Mackenzie used air quotes to emphasize what she thought of Persey’s theory—“was all part of the game.”
“I’m going to check out the back wall,” Neela said, scurrying from the altar and picking her way carefully across the uneven floor. “Maybe there are some other engravings.”
“I’m coming down!” Arlo cried. “Wes will be right behind me.”
Persey looked up at the roof of the Cavethedral, rather surprised that Wes would agree to be the last one out of the room. She could just see Arlo leaning onto the pole, her body blocking out the bright blue-white glare of the halogen bulbs from the Collectibles room.
“All clear!” Riot called back.
Persey had just shifted her gaze back to the darkened interior of the Cavethedral, when she heard a loud snap and the dim glow from the roof was extinguished.
She knew the sound immediately—the trapdoor that surrounded the fire pole clamping shut—and her first thought was that Wes had somehow been cut off from the rest of them, perhaps ending his participation in the competition. Which wouldn’t be such a bad thing at all. She was officially over his shit.
There was a squishy thud, something heavy and wet crashed onto the floor, and then Persey heard a scream. When she turned toward the fire pole, she saw Neela holding her hands out in front of her face. Both them and the rest of her were splattered with blood.
In reality, it only took a split second for Persey to realize what she was looking at, but it felt like forever. Like she lived an entire lifetime in