Mrs. Laughlin sends Avery through a door that leads first to a small purple bedroom and then to a bathroom. Still shaken from being shot at in the Black Wood, Avery checks the bathroom for danger and tries to reassure herself that she is safe. She calls Max seven times because Avery needs not to be alone, but Max does not answer, leaving Avery feeling abandoned.

Avery sees her blood-streaked, dirt-smeared face in the mirror and freezes, unable to make herself wash. Jameson enters quietly, turns on the water, and gently cleans Avery's face, hands, neck, and chest with a washcloth. His tenderness calms Avery, and Avery lets herself lean into the comfort of his touch despite knowing that getting close to Jameson is risky.

Moved by shock, need, and attraction, Avery pushes Jameson against the wall and asks for consent. Jameson says yes, and they kiss intensely. Avery thinks of Jameson's daring, the clues they have followed, and the way Jameson protected Avery in the woods; for a moment, Avery believes the connection might be real and not just another part of the game.

The moment turns when Jameson tells Avery that he always knew Avery was special, then immediately shifts back to the mystery. Jameson says they are close to solving something and argues that someone shot at them because of the tree where Toby's name was carved. Jameson connects the carving to the infinity symbol and suggests that the puzzle may mean his uncle is not dead.

Avery is hurt and angry because Jameson's focus on the puzzle makes Avery feel like an object in his game rather than a person who was nearly killed. Avery points out that Oren pulled wood from Avery's chest and that a bullet could have killed her. Avery challenges Jameson to consider the fortune, the Hawthorne family's motives, and what might happen if Avery dies or leaves before the required year is over.

Jameson briefly seems affected, but he does not abandon his worldview. Instead, Jameson tells Avery that Emily taught him everything is a game, including and especially what is happening between them. The chapter ends with Avery confronting the painful possibility that Jameson's attraction and care are inseparable from his obsession with the puzzle.