Page 14 of Hunted (Desert Island Duet #2)

Chapter ten

Darla

W eston lifts me effortlessly and carries me back to the firepit, settling into his seat with me cradled in his arms. He shifts me sideways on his lap, my legs draped over one of his thick thighs.

One hand strokes gently up and down my leg, the other wraps around my back, holding me close as he begins to sway, slow and steady, grounding me with every movement.

Somehow, my gentle giant always knows how to make me feel safe and protected, although my heart still races in my chest. I can’t believe I told them all of that without completely falling apart.

Although I did tell them the full story, I didn’t tell them all the details. There are some things they will never have to hear. Like how completely broken my dad looked while it happened. Or how painful it was when they tore me open.

Having to move their bodies around while I was naked, since they’d ripped my clothes and my body to shreds, was one of the worst parts. But I couldn’t leave them there. I knew the smell and decay would get worse and I wanted it dealt with .

I also didn’t tell them how I spent weeks hiding in the original hut. Only coming out to grab a couple pieces of fruit and to relieve myself. Now that I think about it, it’s probably the reason I hated being cooped up inside when I sprained my ankle.

“How are you feeling?” Kingsley asks, bringing me out of my spiraling thoughts.

I blink a few times until he comes into focus, sitting beside us with a look of concern on his face.

I shrug, sitting up on Weston’s thigh and planting my feet on the ground as he passes me a waterskin. “Thanks,” I murmur, taking a few long gulps before passing it back.

“Thank you for sharing that with us. I know it couldn’t have been easy.” He reaches out and places his hand on mine, giving it a small squeeze.

I glance up at him, a flicker of nerves in my chest. “You’re not… grossed out by me now?”

“Darla, God no!” He looks genuinely surprised by my question, easing some of my tension. But I can’t help but wonder what they think now. Of course, they still don’t know why storms haunt me so much, nor will they ever find out.

“Tink, you ain’t getting rid of us that easy,” Bower says from behind me, his hand giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze of support.

“Get those thoughts out of your head. We’re not going anywhere. If anything, it makes me even more protective of you,” Weston says, hugging me harder.

“Protective or obsessive?” Bower asks with a hint of laughter in his voice .

“Both,” Weston and I answer at the same time. I pull back and look up at him, then we both chuckle and the tension breaks between us all.

After a minute, I get to my feet and stretch my arms over my head. “I guess we should gather some food—”

BANG!

Our heads turn towards the ocean. That sounded an awful lot like a gunshot. We freeze for a moment, our eyes flicking to one another in confusion before I yell, “Reece!”

Then I spin and start running.

“Zee, no!” Kingsley yells.

At the same time Weston calls, “Stop!”

But I don’t stop. I run as fast as my feet will take me towards the ocean and the first boy I ever loved.

I hear the others hollering behind me, begging me to wait, to come back, but I can’t.

My body and mind are on the same page; we need to get to Reece.

He didn’t have a gun. Which means there’s someone else here.

I don’t slow down when I reach the beach, running out onto the sand as my head swivels in search of him.

By the giant pile of wood that the guys rebuilt and is awaiting to be lit up as another signal fire, I notice Reece sitting on the ground, his back towards me as he peeks around it.

Staying quiet and alert, my eyes scan our surroundings as I run towards him, but don’t see the threat. He must hear the sound of my feet in the sand because he turns his head towards me in panic. “Darla! Get out of here! ”

That’s when the man steps out of the jungle and onto the sand to my right. He has one arm in a sling and the other is aiming a handgun at Reece.

The man is dressed in black, just like the two mercenaries were.

Is this a third one? I remember Bower mentioning seeing some blood by the waterfall and now I wonder if it wasn’t from an animal, as I had thought, but from this man's injured arm instead.

Has he been on this island stalking us this whole time?

Perhaps waiting until his arm was healed enough for him to make a move?

I don't stop to ask as I barrel towards Reece.

“Darla, get down!” he yells when I’m only a few steps away.

Seeing the mercenary cock his gun, I skip my last step and leap towards Reece, knocking him to his back as the sound of the gun goes off.

The impact of hitting Reece has me dazed and confused for a moment. Suddenly, a barrage of sound hits me all at once. I hear a grunt, someone yells my name while someone else swears.

Another gunshot goes off, and my eyes fly open in alarm. I hadn’t even realized they were closed.

“Darla!” Reece exclaims. I realize he’s sitting in the sand, cradling my upper body against him. “Darling, it’s going to be okay.”

I blink a few times, letting his face come into focus, wondering what he’s talking about. Then I remember the gunshot and try to sit up, but pain flares in my side and I hiss as Reece holds me to him. “No, don’t move, you need to stay still.”

“Who got shot? I heard the gun! West! King? Bower!” I try to yell their names, but the action causes my side to hurt more. I must have landed poorly against Reece for this to hurt so much. Maybe I landed on his knee or something.

“Darla, they’re fine. You’re the only one who got shot,” he says, sounding angry.

Wait— What?

“I got shot?” I ask in confusion, looking back up at him. His face softens for a moment as he presses his lips together in a thin line and gives me a curt nod.

“You’re going to be okay.” I feel like he’s trying to convince himself as much as me. I glance down and for the first time realize that he’s not just holding me to him, he’s holding his shirt against my side, and it’s covered in blood. My blood.

Only now do I realize he’s shirtless, but before I can take the time to admire his chest from such a close distance, Bower yells my name.

“Zee!” He drops to his knees in the sand beside me, his hands hovering over me as he stares at the blood. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, what are we gonna do?” His voice is panicked as he looks up at Reece.

Reece presses his lips even tighter together before looking back down at my side, not giving Bower or me an answer.

“It’s bad, isn’t it?” I ask him. “Tell me the truth, Reece.”

He looks at me, his eyes filled with fear and frustration. “If we were back home, your chances would be good. But out here…”

“Fuck!”

“Shit!”

I turn my head and see the other two standing behind Bower. Kingsley turns away, running his hands through his hair as Weston works his jaw back and forth, his eyes glued to mine. He wears the same expression as Reece, and that scares me more than anything .

But I always knew I’d die on this island. I take a deep, ragged breath as I let that thought consume me. I always knew it was inevitable. Of course, I thought it’d be from sepsis or injuring myself, then starving to death.

All things considered, this is a much more pleasant way to go, surrounded by the men I love. Hopefully, it doesn’t drag out too long. I’m not really a fan of pain, which is why I always feared the ways death would take me here, when I was alone.

I reach my hand up towards Weston, who takes it as he drops to his knees beside Bower, placing my palm against his heart.

“It’s going to be okay. You four will get rescued and you’ll go back to the real world and live your lives.”

“Zee—”

“No, it’s okay. Really. I always knew I’d die here. I’m glad I have you four with me in the end. I love you all so much.”

A tear rolls down his cheek and I reach up to swipe it away, only to feel one slide down my own face.

“Not happening,” he growls. Lifting his head to look at Reece he asks, “Is there an exit hole?”

“I’m not sure.”

“We need to check. She could be bleeding out of her back, and we need to know if the bullet’s still in her.”

I swallow with worry. Any movement there is extremely painful, if they have to dig around for a bullet, without any drugs to numb me… crap shells. That’s going to hurt.

My head starts to get dizzy, so I close my eyes as the four of them debate what to do. I feel my body being moved and something presses to my back, making me cry out in pain. Does that mean there’s an exit hole there? Do they not have to go digging inside me ?

The words that penetrate my foggy mind are not ones I want to hear. Stitches, infection, blood loss, needle. I try to zone them out and think about how Weston calmed me down when I had a panic attack the other day.

He told me to name things I could feel. Nope, the pain was too intense for me to feel anything else right now. Smell? I smell the ocean and… blood. Okay, sound… What do I hear? I hear the guys arguing, so I block that out and try to focus on something else.

I hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and the more I focus on it, the calmer I become. I could listen to the ocean forever. As far as deaths go, it could definitely be worse.

I try to calm my breathing as I listen to wave after wave until the sound starts to change. I frown, trying to figure out what’s different about it. It’s almost like it has a heartbeat, a quiet pounding in the distance.

I try to grasp onto that sound alone so I can figure it out and slowly it gets louder and louder.

I’ve heard that sound before.

“Shh! Darla, what did you say?” Kingsley asks. I must have said that aloud.

“I said, I’ve heard that sound before.”

They’re all silent for a moment before Bower asks, “What sound?”

Slowly, I open my eyes and look to the sky, my eyes scanning the horizon, wondering if it’s true. And there, far in the distance, I see it, a black shape, moving towards us.