Page 13

Chapter twelve

Kingsley

“ D o you think Steve’s watching us now?” I ask quietly as we all take a quick dip in the pond to cool down.

When Bower showed us the rock with Steve etched into it, we were surprised. And the more I think about it, the more confused I become. He didn’t take anything that we left there, he just added a rock to it. He even gave Bower a coconut that he'd open for him to drink from.

Steve’s becoming more and more of a mystery.

West’s eyes continually move through the trees, always watching. He lets out a puff of air before responding, “I don’t think so. I haven’t felt eyes on us for a while.” I nod, knowing what he meant. At camp it was like I could feel eyes on me, but it disappeared when we left, and hasn’t returned.

“Maybe he got tired of us,” Bower says before dunking his head under the water and scrubbing at his brown hair. He must be extra hot with it being so long.

“Maybe,” I mumble, climbing out of the pond and drying off with a spare shirt.

As I get dressed, my eyes land on my Amiris, now caked in mud.

My favorite sneakers, ruined . I wipe at them half-heartedly, but the crisp white is long gone.

I sigh and slip them on. They cost me a thousand bucks, but it wasn’t about the money. Wrecking shoes this nice just… hurt.

Once the others have dried off and gotten dressed, we decide to head to the beach for any sign of a rescue and to check on our SOS and burn pile. Not that it would do us any good without a way to light it.

A loud rustling in the bush beside us has us all stopping and turning to face it. My stomach tightens a little in fear. We have no idea what’s on this island with us, there could be some major predators we haven’t run into… yet.

West puts his arms out to the side, preventing either of us from stepping forward as we all wait and watch.

Suddenly, a massive boar steps onto the trail beside us, the size of a wolf, but heavier.

His hide is scarred, his muscles rippling beneath bristled fur.

Two curved tusks, each at least ten inches long, jut from his upper jaw like blades, while another pair thrust straight up from his lower lip, glinting like bone knives.

We all freeze, then instinctively step back. His beady eyes lock onto me, burning with challenge. He snorts, a hot, sharp breath that cuts through the humid air, then stomps the ground hard enough to shake the dirt.

“Oh, shit!” Bower says, right before the boar charges at me. We all yell as West pushes me out of the way, the beast's tusks narrowly missing me. I hit the ground hard, rolling onto my side before flipping over to see where it went.

The boar pivots, its massive body turning, and West and Bower grab my arms, hauling me up.

Before I even have my feet under me, the boar is charging at us again and we all stumble. My feet get tangled with West’s and we both fall on our asses, forcing my arm to slip from Bower’s grip as he trips backwards against a tree.

“Shit!” I shout, raising my arms to protect myself as the boar barrels toward me again.

Out of nowhere, a woman comes swinging towards us on a vine like Jane of the fucking Jungle.

She lets go mid-swing, pulling out an eight-inch blade from her side as she lands on the boar's back, slamming the knife down through the center of its skull.

It instantly drops to the ground, dead, right in front of my feet, as she jumps off to the side.

I can hear West and myself breathing heavily as I stare with wide eyes at the boar that almost killed me. Then my eyes lift to hers. Still crouched down, as if ready to pounce, she stares right back at me and what I see makes me feel as if I’ve been hit by a bolt of lightning.

She’s stunning . Her disheveled blond hair is braided back, and it’s so long I can see part of it swaying behind her waist. She’s only wearing some sort of primitive tiny skirt and crop top that seem to be made out of the same animal hide the bedding in the hut is made from.

Her piercing green eyes speak of such turmoil, I can’t get a read on exactly what she’s thinking right now. Her fingers tighten on the knife she’s holding at her side as her eyes move to West and Bower.

We all just stare at her in wide-eyed silence, too shocked to speak. Of course, Bower’s the one to break the silence.

“Marry me.”

Her narrowed eyes turn to him in confusion .

Deciding I don’t want her to get the wrong idea about us, I try to change the subject. “Thank you.” Her eyes move back to mine as she watches me warily. “For saving me.”

“What’s your name?” West asks, and her eyes shoot to his. When she doesn’t answer, he speaks again. “I’m Weston, you can call me West, if you like. This is Kingsley,” he says with a hand on my shoulder.

“King,” I say with a nod.

“And that’s Bower.”

“Hey there, Tinkerbell,” Bower says with a smile. She swallows nervously and starts to take a few steps backwards. Suddenly, a lemur drops to her shoulder, startling the three of us, but she doesn't even flinch as her gaze bounces between us while she keeps backing up.

“Are y—” I’m cut off as she suddenly turns and runs. We quickly get to our feet and take off after her. “Wait!” I yell as she zips along the path. “We just want to talk to you!”

I’m slightly ahead of the other two guys and round the cover just in time to see her disappear down the path that leads back to camp.

As I run full speed into the clearing, I stop quickly, almost falling over with shock when I see her jump to a low-hanging branch, pull herself up, then leap to another branch.

West and Bower come up behind me and we all watch as she swings across part of the clearing on a vine, grabs another one, shimmies up, swings again, then lands softly on the skywalk.

She looks down at us, then darts into the main hut. I reach for the ladder, but as soon as I start climbing, she comes back out with something in her hand, then she runs around the back of the hut. By the time I get up there, I can’t see her anywhere .

“Holy shit, what did we just witness? Who was that?” Bower asks, racking his fingers through his hair before retying it in a bun on top of his head.

“I… have no idea,” I say, running my hand through my own hair as I scan the trees for any sign of her.

“Is she Steve?”

“What did she take?” West asks, pushing past us to look in the hut. I keep scanning the trees, hoping for another sight of the strange, beautiful woman. “What the fuck?” West calls a minute later. Bower and I go inside to see what he’s yelling about.

“What?” I ask in confusion, looking around. I can’t see anything out of place or missing.

“She took the rock.”

I frown, turning to the table where it had been left.

“Hey! That was mine!” Bower says with a pout. I give him an incredulous look and he frowns at me. “What?”

“How do you figure it’s yours?”

“She left it for me while I was sleeping.”

“Are you really upset she took the rock back?” West asks, moving back outside to watch the trees.

“Now I know she gave it to me, and not some guy named Steve, yeah, I do.”

“You’re ridiculous,” I say with a shake of my head. But one thought has me asking the question out loud. “I wonder who Steve is?”

“It’s the rock, obviously,” Bower says. Now he's the one to look at me like I’m insane. I open my mouth to say something but snap it shut quickly, deciding it’s not worth it .

“What do we do now?” I ask as we all look around for any sign of movement.

West turns to face us, a worried look on his face. His eyes move down to the ground, then his eyebrows lift in surprise. “I think she left us more fruit.” I glance down and sure enough, there is a pile of what looks like plums near the fire.

“I don’t get her,” I say, scratching the back of my head. “She doesn’t seem hostile.”

“She’s not,” West says, turning back around to face us. “She’s scared.”

I frown, thinking about the fear I saw in her eyes when she looked at us. What happened to her?

“Is she scared of people or something?” Bower asks.

“I think it’s more than that,” West says quietly. “Remember the grave?”

Bower nods as he recites, “Beloved father. Wait—Do you think she dug that grave? That she buried her own father?”

West nods as he answers. “That wasn’t a fresh grave. If she did…” His concerned eyes meet mine.

“If she did, it means that she might have been stuck here alone ever since.”