Persey could practically feel their percussive force rippling through the empty space between them.
“Right about what?”
“That singer.” Mackenzie scowled. “Arlo’s death doesn’t mean that you were right about him. This was an accident. That was part of the game.”
There was zero point in arguing (talking) with her. “Whatever you say.”
Persey hadn’t exactly meant to piss Mackenzie off, but her response was like striking a match near a fuse. Mackenzie’s anger ignited.
“Don’t you ‘whatever’ me.” She stomped across the uneven floor, which bounced unnervingly with every step. “I’m right and you know it.”
“Why does it matter who’s right?” Persey said. She’d only known this girl for a couple of hours and she was already exhausted by her. “Arlo is still going to be dead either way.”
Mackenzie threw up her hands. “It matters because I’m tired of you looking down on me.”
“What?”
“On all of us. You think you’re so special because you solved the Hidden Library. Well, you know what? I don’t believe you really did, and I haven’t seen anything so far from you that would make me believe it’s true.”
Persey laughed out loud. Actual hysterical laughter. She couldn’t help it. Of all the contestants in the Escape-Capades All-Star Competition, Persey was the least likely to believe that she was better than anyone else. She’d spent almost her entire life being told she was less than worthless, and here was this high-achieving, internationally educated chick who was smart and beautiful and not at all awkward with people, and who had probably spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted, and yet somehow she was jealous of Persey. It was utterly ridiculous.
“The. Fuck?”
“Sorry,” Persey said, trying to contain herself. And she meant it. “I’ve just never had anyone jealous of me before.”
“Okay, okay.” Kevin stepped between them. “No one’s jealous of anyone. Except me. I’m the one who isn’t supposed to be here, right? So I’m jealous of all of you.”
But Mackenzie wouldn’t be placated that easily. “You’re trying to make me think that I’m the jealous one, when really you’re the one who’s envious.”
“Um, why?” Persey could think of several reasons that she might be jealous of the accomplished singer, but she doubted that Mackenzie was thinking of any of them.
Mackenzie leaned on Kevin’s arm possessively. “Because of the way Kev feels about me.”
To steal a phrase from Mackenzie: The. Fuck.
“Holy cow balls, you guys!” Neela cried. She tossed Persey’s bloodstained T-shirt aside in disgust. “Are you seriously arguing over a guy? Right now?”
Wes snorted. “I’m with the lesbian. This is ridiculous.”
“I don’t see how my sexuality has anything to do with it.” Righteous indignation had calmed Neela down. “But I have to agree. Arlo is dead. Dead dead. Like really completely dead with her gore dripping down between the cracks of this wholly nonsensical floor and in no way can that be explained by special effects. It has been approximately three minutes since her headless body crash-landed and we’re still here. No one’s come to get us. No authorities. No EMTs. Has anyone else wondered why?”
“Ambulance response time from the nearest medical facility would be approximately twelve minutes,” Shaun-bot said. How he knew, off the top of his head, where the nearest medical facility was located boggled the mind. “Though an Escape-Capades representative should have been in contact by now.”
“Maybe no one’s coming,” Persey said. “Maybe we’re on our own?” No “maybe” about it.
“Leah did say that once the competition began, she’d be unable to stop it,” Wes said.
“Yeah, but I thought that meant, like, if we got stuck or something. Not…” Kevin winced as if in pain. “Not because somebody freaking died.”
Persey remembered Leah’s words only too well. They’d felt ominous at the time, but Persey had no idea how prescient that feeling would be. She didn’t believe for a second that any of this was an accident. B.J. had been murdered, and Arlo’s death conveniently came after she freaked out at Leah. Persey was sure that both deaths had been intentional, and she didn’t want to wait around to be proven right by a third. “We need to get out of here. Now.”
“Agreed,” Riot said. “If no one’s coming to get us, we need to find our own way out.”
Shaun arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t that the point of an escape room competition?”
“Screw the competition!” Riot threw his head back, exasperated. “I don’t give a shit who wins this thing anymore. Do you?”