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I flex the fingers of my fucked-up arm. Each muscle feels like a saw blade under my skin.
Janet sits back next to me.
“Silly question,” they say. Then, “Please don’t be so mad at me. You weren’t even supposed to be there to get hurt. It was all a game.”
“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at me. I should have just killed the damn tiger.”
Janet’s eyes widen.
“Oh god no. They’re endangered.”
“So was I.”
They let out a long breath.
“It was exciting seeing you do magic. I always knew you could do something, but when you did . . . wow.”
“A lot of other people saw it too. That wasn’t supposed to happen either.”
They gently squeeze my good arm.
“What else can you do?”
I wave a finger in the air.
“Nope. I’m still interrogating you. Tell me about the stunts you’ve been pulling. If I saw two, I assume there are more.”
They sit on the edge of the sofa.
“There have been lots. Usually they’re just once a month or so but we’ve had some birthdays this month, so there’ve been more excursions.”
“Excursions. Is that what you call them? Running blind through traffic?”
“That’s what Juliette and Dan call them.”
“They’re the ones in charge?”
Janet looks uncomfortable, like they’re thinking. Or getting ready to tell another lie. But when they answer the question I watch their eyes and see they’re telling the truth.
Janet blurts, “It’s called the Zero Lodge. Because there’s zero chance you’ll get out of it alive.”
“Cute. I guess it was true for the guy the tiger ate.”
They stare up at the ceiling.
“Poor Charlie. Charlie Karden. He was nice. Funny. A champion marksman too, you know.”
“Maybe he should have told the tiger. How did you even find out about the Idiot’s Lodge?”
“Please don’t call it that. And you have to be sponsored.”
“Who sponsored you?”
“My old roommate, Cassandra.”
“Was she the woman you were with at the zoo?”
Janet’s brow furrows.
