How long has he been on this island?
How long has he been watchingmepretend I’msomething shiny and sharp, when deep down I’m still a girl who used to hold her breath to survive?
It’s a game. A power play. And I know the rules because he taught them to me.
He wants to rattle me. Make me feel cornered.
But he forgot something.
I was raised in the dark.
Ibecamesharp because of him.
If he wants to come at me again, he better come armed.
Because this time, I’m not a child.
And I don’t flinch anymore.
I push myself to my feet. I need to think. I need to move. Sitting still is just a slower way of falling apart.
I head out the door and into the hallway, letting the distant noise of preparations ground me. Voices drift up from the kitchen—laughter, music, the clink of glasses. They’re setting up for the parties like everything’s normal.
Like there’s not a ghost crawling the grounds.
I take the back staircase down, avoiding the main walkways. Instinct, mostly. I’ve always been good at reading spaces, sensing when I’m being watched. And right now, I feel eyes on me like fingers on the back of my neck.
I round a corner and nearly collide with June.
She stops short, one hand on her hip, eyes narrowing like she’s about to say something catty. But then she really looks at me. Sees something in my face.
“What the hell happened to you?” she asks, less snide than usual.
“Nothing,” I lie.
She raises an eyebrow. “Your version of ‘nothing’ looks like someone just walked across your grave.”
I start to brush past her, but she reaches out and grabs my arm.
“Misty.”
I look down at her hand and then back at her face. It’s rare for June to show concern that isn’t wrapped in sarcasm.
“Let go,” I say, but my voice is softer than I intend.
She does. “Jeez. Sorry. But guess what?”
“What?”
“I just ran into Evangeline, and she okayed my idea for tonight.”
Crap. In Evangeline’s current state, she’s liable to okay a freaking orgy.
“What idea?”
“A full moon ceremony. Seductive and exciting.”
“It’s not a full moon tonight,” I say. I actually don’t know, but I’m playing the odds.
