The Naturals, #1
The Naturals
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Contents
Chapter 16
Overview
A game of Truth or Dare turns into an emotional interrogation that exposes hidden wounds among the Naturals. Cassie kisses Dean, Dean reveals he was Briggs’s first secret Natural at twelve, and Cassie tells the group about her mother’s presumed murder.
The chapter sharpens the tension between Cassie, Dean, Michael, and Lia, especially after Michael deliberately provokes Dean into leaving. Meanwhile, the killer escalates by abducting Madame Selene, signaling that the murders are continuing and that the killer is preparing a larger message.
Summary
Lia gathers Cassie, Sloane, Michael, and Dean in the living room for Truth or Dare. Dean clearly wants no part of it, but Cassie agrees to play because she hopes the game will let her ask questions about the Naturals program and the active cases they are normally kept away from.
The game quickly becomes personal. Lia asks Sloane whether Sloane knows who her father is, and Sloane answers yes. Sloane then asks Cassie how many people Cassie loves; after thinking of her mother and family, Cassie realizes she can only truthfully answer “one,” revealing how deeply her mother’s loss has damaged her ability to connect.
Cassie dares Michael to dance ballet, briefly turning the game playful, but Michael retaliates by asking Lia for her real name. Lia admits that she was once called Sadie, exposing a vulnerable part of herself. Lia then dares Cassie to kiss Dean, forcing Cassie and Dean into an awkward, charged moment that unsettles Cassie, Dean, and Michael.
When Dean chooses truth, Cassie asks what Dean meant when he said the program was no longer what it had once been. Dean reveals he was the first Natural: before there was an official program, Briggs secretly brought Dean questions about killers when Dean was only twelve. Dean then asks Cassie why she joined, and Cassie tells the group that her mother was murdered five years earlier, likely stabbed repeatedly, and that the police never found the body.
The game continues with Cassie sparing Lia by asking whether Lia is messy or neat, but Lia immediately targets Michael and asks if Michael was jealous when Cassie kissed Dean. Michael says he does not get jealous, he gets even. Michael then asks Dean whether Dean has seen The Bad Seed; the question strikes a nerve, and Dean leaves the house while Michael looks satisfied.
In a shift to the killer’s point of view, the killer thinks obsessively about “The Girl” but decides the final act is not yet time. Instead, the killer abducts Madame Selene, a palm reader from Dupont Circle, brings her to a warehouse, prepares red hair dye and a knife, and savors the moment when she wakes bound and realizes who has taken her.
Who Appears
- Cassie HobbesPlays Truth or Dare, kisses Dean, and reveals her mother was murdered.
- LiaInstigates the game, exposes others’ vulnerabilities, and admits she was once named Sadie.
- DeanReluctant participant who reveals he was Briggs’s first secret Natural at twelve.
- MichaelDeflects Cassie’s question, performs a dare, and later provokes Dean into leaving.
- SloaneAsks Cassie a deeply personal question and reveals she knows her father’s identity.
- Unknown killerObsesses over a final target and abducts Madame Selene for a staged attack.
- Madame SelenePalm reader abducted by the killer and taken bound to a warehouse.