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ERIN

Rhett folded his arms over his chest, glowering into the jungle like it had personally harmed him.

I didn’t ask why.

He was obviously hoping to get voted out ASAP.

I plopped down on my ass on the sand, slicking my damp, red hair out of my eyes. “Do you have access to the weather forecast here?” I asked Jordan.

He snorted. “No.”

I sighed. “Any idea how long the rain’s going to keep going?”

A loud bout of thunder rolled through.

The clouds around us were getting darker by the minute.

The rain was getting heavier, too.

“Am I allowed to snuggle with you in the shelter?” I asked Jordan. “All of my stuff is going to be too wet to keep me warm.”

Since he wasn’t playing, he seemed like the best option.

“Nope.”

My grimace deepened. “Why not?”

“I don’t have a death wish. The bastards here are possessive.” He lifted a shoulder. “And I’m supposed to be neutral.”

“Of course you are. The only person on my side in this, is me,” I drawled.

He shrugged. “Your mate will be on your side when you’ve picked him.”

As if that was what I wanted.

“Human women should be required to agree to playing this game. Most of us don’t want to be a game show’s prize,” I said flatly.

Jordan shrugged again. “I don’t have the connections to make that happen, so don’t look at me.”

I glared at him anyway.

All three of us waited in silence for the next few minutes, until the first guy burst through the trees. His wings were spread behind his back, the stained-glass-like surface glittering despite the lack of sunshine.

It was Reid.

I was just as uninterested in him as I was in the other guys.

He landed and smiled at me, offering a hand.

I didn’t take it, or get up from my seat on the sand.

His smile started to fade.

I felt slightly bad, but ignored it.

I didn’t want a mate at all. But a mate who was excited about the game, and wanted to have a cheerful conversation about our pasts or hobbies or whatever?

Not a chance.

Reid sat down a few feet from me.

Two more men were close behind him. Ian, the new guy, and Colt.

Both grinned and greeted me as they took seats beside Reid.

I answered their questions as shortly as possible.

Ian tried to keep the conversation going anyway, until Reid elbowed him in the side, silently telling him to shut up.

Friendliness had been their go-to strategy with Molly, but they were probably realizing that wasn’t going to work with me.

And I hoped they’d already realized it hadn’t actually worked on Molly. Considering she and Cameron had been playing everyone, and they had won, it was safe to assume no one had picked up on their plan soon enough to do something about it.

A handful more guys joined us. Some of them were bruised and bleeding, which made me think they’d tried to fight someone else for the weapons and tools.

When Kyle came jogging out of the jungle, whooping, I bit back a sigh.

The guy closest to me scooted over, as if blocking the seat from Kyle.

Kyle tossed the bag in the air, ignoring the blood dripping off his hands, arms, and chest thanks to the rain. He was a wreck, though it had obviously worked out for him.

He pointed at me, flashing a grin that could’ve made someone else’s heart flutter.

Not mine, though even I could admit he was gorgeous.

“Get ready for the first of many dates, Erin,” he declared.

I grimaced.

Yay .

Twenty minutes later, I climbed onto a boat with Kyle and Reid. I liked Reid more than most of the other guys, though I didn’t know a whole lot about any of them. Him included.

I expected both of them to try to talk to me.

Instead, after I folded myself onto the far side of the bench I was sharing with them, neither of them bothered.

They launched right into a strategy discussion.

“You’re a threat now,” Reid told Kyle.

Kyle snorted. “I made it to the end and didn’t win .”

“But you made it to the end,” Reid pointed out. “Now, everyone knows you’ll make it there again if they don’t get rid of you the first chance they get. No one will expect us to team up. If we do, we can work together to change your outcome this time.”

“If we work together, we’re going to get to the end, and she’ll pick you. The same way Molly picked Cameron.”

“Not necessarily,” Reid countered.

“Do you guys realize I’m sitting right here?” I interrupted.

Reid flashed me a look of apology. “We need to talk strategy before chaos breaks out on the island.”

Chaos, huh?

For the first time since we landed, something made me kind of excited.

And yeah, it was the possibility of chaos.

“Sorry, Er.” Kyle pronounced the attempted nickname like “ air ”. “Is it okay if I call you that?”

It was better than the nickname he’d given Molly.

And he had actually asked if he could use it, which was far preferable than just going for it. But yeah, that wasn’t happening.

“No,” I said. “My name is Erin.”

Kyle nodded. “No nicknames. Got it.” He looked back at Reid. “The look Erin gave Jim told me she doesn’t like him, and we all know Rhett will refuse if she chooses him in the end. What would be the point of working with you when I can stick with them, and increase the odds of winning?”

My eyebrows lifted.

Kyle had noticed that I didn’t like Jim?

How?

When?

He hadn’t seemed perceptive on the last season. Not in the episodes I’d seen, at least.

And would Rhett actually refuse if I chose him?

I thought about him sitting on the sand, letting go of his vote without a second thought.

Yeah, he probably would turn me down.

“I have Ev, Julian, and Colt” Reid said. “That’s seven between our two alliances. Six tonight, without Rhett’s vote, which is still a majority. We can get rid of everyone else until we’re the final seven, then battle it out for the final three. Since no one expects you and your people to win, everyone will want to take you with them.”

Kyle nodded slowly. “Sounds pretty simple.”

“Exactly,” Reid agreed.

The boat continued driving around, weaving between and around small islands while rain fell on us. It wasn’t pouring, but it definitely wasn’t sprinkling anymore.

Kyle and Reid continued talking strategy while I stared out at the horizon, willing the rain to stop.

It didn’t.

I felt like a popsicle when the boat finally docked at the island we would call home. It was the same island they’d used the last season, but everything they had built seemed to have been destroyed.

The men kept working on a shelter as we walked up the beach, though a few of them greeted me.

Though I’d expected Rhett to be brooding on the beach, I found him cutting bamboo with murder in his eyes.

He was obviously still unhappy about where he’d ended up.

So was I.

After a waved greeting, I told the cluster of men that I needed some air. After dropping my soaked bag, socks, and shoes at the base of a large tree, I headed down the beach.

All my things were soaked.

I was already cold, and it was still the middle of the day. That would get much worse if the rain didn’t stop when the sun went down.

Considering the sky was dark as far as I could see, I didn’t think it was going to let up.

Which meant I was going to have to sleep next to at least one fae, just to stay warm.

I walked down the beach until I couldn’t see or hear any of the guys. The sand was soft beneath my toes, and I figured it would feel nice if it hadn’t felt like I was walking on a frozen, gas station slushie.

But it did.

So, it didn’t feel nice.

When I found a rock big enough to hold me, I stopped and folded myself on top of it. The rain was starting to fall harder, but I tried not to care.

I didn’t succeed, but I tried.

The rock felt icy beneath me, but started warming up after a few minutes.

Shivering lightly, I stared at the ocean as the rain fell.

The only way I’d warm up was if I cuddled up with a guy.

In the middle of the day.

I’d pass.

The waves were crashing harder than they had been when our plane first landed, which told me that the wind was getting worse.

Great.

I knew some parts of the world had stormy seasons, and could only hope that what we were seeing was just a thunderstorm. Not the start of a whole month of them.

The hellish game would get much worse if it was raining constantly.

Still watching the waves, I let out a long, slow breath.

The rain falling on my skin was driving me mad, but I couldn’t let myself focus on that.

I had bigger problems.

Bigger problems, like Survival .

My mind went back to the way Kyle and Reid hadn’t included me in their conversation.

That was probably my fault. They assumed I wasn’t playing, because I didn’t want to be there. They might not have even realized what role Molly had played in clearing out the island with Cameron, considering they were back on the next season just a few days after the first was over. Many of the episodes likely hadn’t even been edited yet.

So they didn’t think I was a part of the game.

But… I was.

Wasn’t I?

Why couldn’t I be?

I couldn’t be voted out any more than I could choose to walk away.

So, why wouldn’t I play?

I bit my lip, still watching the waves crash.

As much as I’d tried to avoid the truth, there was no way out. I was on the island, and the game would end with me choosing a partner to share my life with. I didn’t like knowing that, but my dislike didn’t make it any less true.

And if I had to choose a partner, I needed to play the game.

But… which of the men did I want?

My forehead creased, my brows furrowing as I tried to think about all of them once again. I didn’t know enough about any of them after the two episodes I’d seen to choose one. Molly had Cameron, and trusted him enough to just go with him—but I didn’t have that.

Which meant I needed to get to know the bastards trying to win me over.

I sighed, loudly.

The crease between my brows smoothed.

I set my hands down on the cold, rough stone on either side of my ass and leaned back a little as I considered it.

Getting to know the guys wasn’t enough to really understand whether or not I wanted to mate with them.

Anyone could pretend to be someone they weren’t for a few weeks for the sake of fooling me into keeping them alive with a mate bond. I couldn’t trust the answers they gave or the conversations we had.

My mind flicked back to my childhood.

My mother’s asshole of a boyfriend.

The way he’d hurt both of us.

The excuses she’d given.

How normal and nice he could seem, up until he snapped.

The way she’d loved him, no matter what he did to us.

My cheeks puffed with air before I let out a shaky breath.

I couldn’t put myself in that situation, game be damned. It was far too easy to be manipulated when you fell in love with someone manipulative.

But to avoid it, I needed to see the men stressed.

Angry.

Hurt.

The island’s starvation would help with that, but they were big dudes, and they had magic. Their bodies could probably sustain themselves better than mine could.

So, I would have to get them to the point of stress and anger myself.

My mind went back to what Kyle and Reid had discussed.

Chaos.

They were worried about the chaos.

What if I could make that chaos happen?

Or make the existing chaos worse?

I didn’t know how to push a fae guy. I really only knew what little I’d been able to talk out of my guards, when it came to them and their magic.

But I might be able to spread rumors myself if I could manage to make some of the men think I was actually befriending them. My lack of introduction at the beginning of the game made that more difficult, but I could get there.

Probably.

Maybe.

Okay, fine, making friends wasn’t one of my fortes. Not even a little.

But for the sake of not ending up married to an abusive asshole, I could learn.

Hopefully.

Until then… well, I didn’t like Reid much. At least Kyle had been polite and friendly when he tried to give me a nickname. Reid had basically ignored me.

So, why not try to get him out the way I’d seen Molly get rid of Julian? I could stick with him. Focus on him. Pay attention to him.

Or I could try, at least.

I nodded at the ocean, my mind made up.

I was going to cause chaos.

Somehow.