“Get down!” she hisses.
My head snaps up, looking for the threat. There shouldn’t be anyone out here this late at night, and my mind conjures up everything else it could be.
I hear it before I see it, a voice coming toward us in the darkness.
No, not just one voice. Two voices.
I strain to hear, confused and wondering if there is another Castaway shift out tonight when I realize what is happening.
Both voices are familiar, but one stands out to me. It’s the one I’ve been longing to hear, the one that sends shivers down my spine. The one that brought me here and asked me to stay.
A voice I’d recognize anywhere.
Dane is walking toward us.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
My heart pounds in my ears as I stand, completely frozen, staring in the direction of his voice. Dane is coming this way, and this could be my chance to escape.
But is this therighttime?
Different scenarios race through my mind, and I have a split second to decide. I could make a run for it, trudging my way through the marsh as fast as the mud will let me, and hope the girls don’t follow. I could call out to him, which would draw him straight to me and, in turn, straight to them.
Or, I could do nothing.
Something doesn’t sit well in my stomach at the thought of leading Dane straight to Sig, Stassia, and Auralie. If I got away from them right now, I doubt Dane would believe that I was alone. If I was, then I would have gone straight back to camp, not wandered around in the mud. He and Storm or Mara would likely search the area, and it would be a slim chance if they weren’t spotted.
If I call out to him, they definitely would be found, and I don’t know what manner of questioning Dane is willing to do back atcamp. I feared for what Weston would do to me as his prisoner, but would Dane be the same to them?
The choice is paralyzing, but I’m running out of time. The girls have been kind to me, and without ever having genuine friends to compare them to, I can’t discern if they are part of Weston’s trickery. My problem is with him, and I don’t necessarily want to condemn them to the same fate I just had to endure, or worse.
I could play this game a little longer. Doing nothing would help solidify their trust, and make it easier to leave when the time is right, when I can bring Fin. If I don’t use the first chance I have to go back to Dane, it could help prove that I am on their side. They would never expect when the moment comes that I’m not anymore.
I’m still frozen, weighing the decision in my mind when the chance gets taken from me, as Sig clamps her hand over my mouth and drags me into the mud.
Her body covers mine, pushing me down into the muck. She stays silent, holding me firmly, so we stay as still as possible.
I decide then to go with the third choice.
I do nothing.
Weeks ago I would have fought, struggled, tried to roll her off me. I’d done it enough with Brynne that I knew I could hold my own with Sig, especially now after feeling stronger again and more like myself. But I don’t fight her. Instead, I wait, peering through the reeds and leaves hiding us, watching to see if we will be discovered.
I hope this is the right decision.
Dane comes into view, and he isn’t alone. I place the second voice as soon as I see Storm walking beside him. They carry no torch to light their way, only illuminated by the glare of the moon off of them. Their voices carry as they get closer, and Istrain to hear what they are saying over Sig’s breathing in my ear.
“We have to get her back. We can’t have him turn her against us!” Dane roars.
“Do you really think he can? She’s pretty taken with you. I don’t think she will listen,” Storm says.
“I can’t risk it. We have to find her.”
They take a few steps in silence, and I can see the tension in Dane’s shoulders from where we lay in the reeds.
“Maybe he’ll use her as a bargaining chip,” Storm says, and my breath catches in my throat.
A bargaining chip.
