Chance and Wyatt approach the two women, Chance putting his arm around Briar’s shoulders. I will myself to return to sharpening my blade, but I can’t drag my eyes away from them. Chance’s hand is on her back as he says something in her ear that makes her laugh, his hold on her lingering.
I narrow my eyes, daring him to move his fucking hand even an inch lower. I’ll cut that hand off and choke him with it. I lost Briar, but that doesn’t mean he can have her.
All four of them—Briar, Amira, Chance, and Wyatt--turn to look at me at the same time. I glance to the side and find everyone else is staring at me, too.
Fuck. The ground is rumbling. I didn’t even realize it. Wyatt bats Chance’s hand away from Briar’s waist and Chance takes two steps back.
Taking a deep breath, I look at my blade and return to my work. I don’t give a fuck if everyone in this camp knows I’m the swirling, dark-slate sky over rough, choppy waters. I could unload a deadly torrent without a moment’s notice. In fact, I want them to see it. Any man who touches Briar needs to know that might be his last move.
I may not have any right to feel this way, but I do. It’s all I can do to keep my distance from her, because anything I think of saying rings hollow.
When she first came to our camp, I was suspicious of everything she said and did. Concerned she was a spy sent by Virginia. But she was honest, and I’m the one who deserved the suspicion.
Very few people have been on this island long enough to know I was once a commander at Rising Tide. Just me, Ellison, McClain, Pax, and a small handful of other Tiders. I was already at the secure area that became the Dust Walkers’ camp before everyone else came on prison transports.
Briar is getting closer. I know it without even looking in her direction. When I eventually do glance up, my eyes lock onto hers. I want to go pick her up like I did earlier. Carry her back to our room and explain everything.
If she told me it’s not enough, though, the dark, emotional spiral it sent me into could cause me to destroy this entire island without meaning to. That’s why I haven’t pleaded my case to her. I know hearing her say she can’t forgive me would be my undoing.
There’s aromium in my blood now, and I can’t risk my connection to endoliths causing the volcano to explode or the earth to open up and swallow people. I have to keep my distance from her in every way I can.
“Everyone, I have an announcement.” Amira steps onto a log, which only makes her less of a shorty. “Attention, please!”
The murmurs stop, and she smiles.
“I just wanted to say that Savage Spa and Wellness will be open tomorrow, starting at ten a.m. I’ll be doing facials, deep conditioning, and tweezing. Remember, ladies, just because we’re feral island bitches, that doesn’t mean we can’t have two distinct, well-shaped brows.”
The women applaud as she steps down. That damn shampoo she blends is the reason Briar always smells so good. I should cancel everyone’s days off while we regroup from today’s events and tighten security, but I’m not going to.
Without any fun and relaxation, things would deteriorate fast. It’s going to be hard work building our farm and gardens back to the levels they were at; things like Amira’s spa are more important than ever.
Jun ends the song he’s playing and people clap. I take that as my cue to leave, because being this close to Briar won’t lead anywhere good.
After sheathing my knife and stowing it in the canvas bag resting against my hip, I get up and leave for my room, careful not to look back.
Darkness still shrouds camp when the guards let me into the Sub the next morning. I slept a few hours, which was enough. After a shower, I’m ready to get going.
Ellison was moved from a treatment room to a recovery room, and when I crack the door to peek inside, I can barely make out the outline of her sleeping form in the darkness. Nova is hunched over in a chair beside the bed, sleeping, and McClain is asleep on a cot pushed up against the wall.
Satisfied she’s doing okay, I go back out to the Sub entrance. I’m planning to find whoever’s in charge of security for the night shift, but then I see Olin jogging by.
“Hey, man, everything okay?” I ask.
His grin is sheepish. “Yeah. That run back here yesterday humbled me. I thought I’d get in some extra conditioning.”
“Good. Can you give Nova and Stella a message for me when they’re up?”
“Sure.”
“Tell them I’m going to look for the Tiders who left their camp. I won’t be gone more than a few days, and I’ve got my radio.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell them.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you, uh ... want any help?”
I’m realizing Briar was right about Olin. He’s a nice kid, and I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s in love with her. I can’t blame him there.
