Page 74 of Reckless Girls

She can feel the circle closing. Amma is on the outside now.

NOW

TWENTY-FIVE

I wake up on the beach the next morning and for a second, I think I must be dying.

I can barely remember the night before—a haze of smoke and fire—and though I’d only smoked hash once before in my life, I didn’t remember it making me feel this wretched. I’d sell my soul right now for a bottle of water, and I slowly stand, brushing stray sand from the backs of my legs before turning toward the lagoon.

The sun has just come up, painting the sky a rosy pink, and the water is still, glassy.

It’s so beautiful that it takes me a moment to realize there’s something wrong with what I’m seeing.

To my left, theAzure Skyfloats contentedly in her usual spot.

But she’s the only ship in the lagoon.

TheSusannahis missing.

BRITTANY IS CURLED UP INa mound of blankets behind me, and when I shake her awake, her eyes are a little swollen, her lips dry and flaky.

“What?” she mutters, and I point wordlessly toward the water. She stares blankly before realizing what has sent my stomach plummeting.

“Where is theSusannah?” She sits up, wide awake now. “And where’s Amma?”

It all comes back to me. The party last night. Nico had been kissing Amma. My drug-addled brain had initially thought it was Brittany, but given who Nico’s been fucking, it was definitely Amma.

And now the boat is gone, and Brittany and I are alone on the beach.

The other day, I’d thought the island was starting to feel claustrophobic. Now, looking out at that wide expanse of water, I feel impossibly small. If Nico has left us behind…

No.

No, he wouldn’t do that. Nico is a lot of things, and I’ve only recently realized how shitty some of those things are, but he’s notthatkind of asshole. He wouldn’t just abandon me, leave me alone with these strangers, and take off with some new girl on some new adventure.

Would he?

“We need to tell Jake and Eliza,” I say, and head for the shoreline.

I’m still in my shorts and T-shirt from last night, but I don’t care, throwing myself into the ocean and swimming for their boat. It’s just a few yards away, and the water is so warm and still that it makes for a quick swim.

Hoisting myself up on the deck, I push wet hair out of my eyes and look back toward where theSusannahusually is, still struck by its absence.

“Lux?”

I turn.

Amma is on the deck, half-sprawled on one of the benches along the bow. She looks a little worse for wear, her hair a tangled mess, her eyes red as she blinks at me.

Relief floods through me.

Nico didn’t take Amma with him.

The door separating the cabin from the deck slides open, and Jake and Eliza emerge, sleepy and rumpled, yet somehow still golden and beautiful.

“What’s going on?” Eliza asks.

I gesture out to the lagoon. “Nico’s gone. Or at least, the boat’s gone.”