He was with Mia, though. Her child? I balled my hands into fists at the thought.
The Ferris wheel loomed up ahead, a colorful contrast against the inky-black sky and the darkness taking root inside me. Although it had gondola-like cars big enough to hold all of us, Mia pushed Travis on ahead of her and shut the door.
“Sorry, girls,” she whispered to us through the grate. “With the camera crew, there’s not enough room for all of us.” When the car started moving, Mia called out disingenuously for it to stop, that two of us hadn’t made it on yet. To Travis’s credit, he spun around and asked the ride operator for help but was toldthe Ferris wheel couldn’t go backward. So, we were stuck riding in the next car.
Despite all of our obvious differences, Sarah and I turned out to have a lot in common. We talked about books, our pets and our collective anxiety. Unlike my family, which wasn’t involved much in my life, hers was all up in her business, having put some serious pressure on her to conform to their expectations. Surely, there had to be a happy medium when it came to one’s relatives. She was supposed to get married and start having babies, but she wanted to adventure travel and wasn’t sure she even wanted kids.
“If I can “land” Travis,” she said with air-quotes, “I’ll be redeemed in their eyes. So far, I’ve been a disappointment.”
Fuck that, I wanted to tell her. But she’d been homeschooled and probably wouldn’t appreciate any vulgarity. “What kind of adventure traveling do you want to do?”
“Anything to do with rocks,” she said dreamily, a far-off look in her eye. “Rock-hounding, rock-climbing, spelunking.”
“Spelunking? Did you know there are sea caves on the north end of the island?”
Sarah’s head snapped up. “Are you shitting me? Here? On Darkaway?”
Guess she didn’t mind a little vulgarity after all. “I read an article about it in Paranormal Paradise. You’ve got to time it just right with the high and low tides, but it looks amazing. They mine moonstones up there too. And there’s good herb foraging. Maybe when we have some downtime, we can head up there and spend the day.” Assuming I’d have dealt with the book by then.
Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and we fist-bumped. “Deal.”
The group date didn’t improve much after the Ferris wheel. When Travis won a stuffed animal at a target shooting game,Mia plucked it from the attendant’s hands, assuming Travis had won it for her. And when we stopped to listen to some Scottish street musicians, one of whom was the guy from Midnight Garage and Nails, Travis’s gaze met mine expectantly. It seemed he was about to ask me to dance, but then Mia suddenly pulled him away. With the cameras rolling, the crowd clapped in time with the beat as they twirled around on the cobblestones.
It was really cute, really romantic. If you were into that sort of thing.
I don’t think Sarah or I said more than a few words to Travis all night, although we both got charms at the ceremony. Because we were closet bitches, she and I secretly hoped he was sending Mia home—we were so over her—but alas, he bid adieu to Shannon and Cora instead.
“These reality dating shows need to have a villain,” Sarah muttered to me as we stood on the vine-draped veranda when Mia’s name was called. “I’ve heard it makes for better ratings.”
Afterwards, Jada announced Travis had some business on the set ofSecret Shadowsand would be flying up to Vancouver. That meant all official Date-A-Wolf activities would be suspended the next day. She didn’t seem at all happy about it.
Sarah turned to me, a hopeful look in her eyes. “Tomorrow?”
Although I didn’t want to let my new friend down, that creepy book was really weighing on me. I needed to figure out what the heck was going on. Who knew when I’d get another chance like this? “Unfortunately, I’ve got some important errands I need to run.”
From the way she slumped her shoulders, I could tell she’d been let down a lot and that she expected it. Which, to be honest, made me feel pretty shitty. I vowed to make it up to her.
“Another time then,” she said, her gaze not meeting mine.
“On our next free day, I’m totally down for it.” I’d never been spelunking and was truly excited to go.
She smiled, but I could tell she didn’t quite believe me.
As I made my way back to my villa, I should’ve been relieved to have an unexpected day off from the contest, but I wasn’t. Not exactly. I couldn’t help thinking how it would’ve been fun to spend a little more time with Travis.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Daphne
In the morning, I headed to Unholy Grounds for an iced latte and a peanut butter cookie. I found a spot at a corner table and lazily worked on the Daily Epitaph’s crossword puzzle as various supernatural creatures came in for their caffeine fixes. I could really get used to this chillaxing island life, considering what awaited me back home. But then, doesn’t everyone on vacation wonder what it would be like to live in paradise? I sure hoped Scully and Mulder were making headway on the case because it’s not like I could stay here forever.
I’d toyed with asking Sarah about spelunking—her hurt expression still weighed on me—but the caves were several hours away and I needed to go to Wickedville at nightfall. I didn’t want a set time when I needed to get back since I couldn’t exactly tell her why.
I ate the last bite of my cookie and tried not to think about Mia’s one-on-one with Travis tomorrow when he returned to the island. She’d been beyond excited when she’d opened upthat date card this morning. He was taking her flying in his private plane and then having a romantic picnic lunch somewhere. The nice part of me hoped they had a great time, but the mean part wished the plane was grounded, their bread was stale, the cheese was moldy, and their wine was corked.
I was definitely getting in touch with my dark side on Darkaway Island. Twirling my pen, I didn’t want to admit, even to myself, that I might be developing feelings for Travis. Sure, the man was extraordinarily beautiful. And thoughtful. And so fucking funny, as I thought about him chasing me in the hospital elevator.
It’d be downright foolish to fall for him. I’d been a fool for love before, and I wasn’t about to do it again. And that was with someone who lived in my world andwasn’ta monster. At least, not in the literal sense.
