Games Untold

On December 1, Libby wakes Avery up wearing a Santa hat. Avery became “the world’s youngest billionaire” a month prior (375), and she, Libby, and the Hawthornes are celebrating Christmas at Hawthorne House together. Libby announces that the brothers decorated the house the night before, and they’re going to play a special Hawthorne edition of Secret Santa starting today. Seeing Jameson smirking in the doorway, Avery asks how the game works.

Xander, Jameson, Nash, and Grayson explain the rules of their Secret Santa tradition. The game is a competition based on Assassin and will last all month. Each person gets a squirt gun filled with colorful water, and the person whose name they draw becomes their target. They assume one another’s targets as they take each other out with the water guns and their tinsel bombs. The other way to take people out is to give them a perfect gift. Nash explains that the best gifts are those the receiver doesn’t know they want.

Everyone draws a name, and Grayson immediately shoots Libby, guessing that she drew his name. In three days, she’s allowed to return to the game. After everyone finishes drawing names, they build bases for themselves around the estate.