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“Hurry,” Wyatt said. “While it’s eating.”
The three of us paddled around the monster and eventually made it to the opposite side. The sound of the boat coming to shore had an almost dreamlike quality to it. Had we really made it?
Mika and I helped Wyatt out of the boat and walked twenty feet up the beach to cross the finish line. Dazedly, I realized we’d won. A glance behind showed that the other team, battered and soaking wet, was only now paddling toward the beach. They looked even more exhausted than I felt and were still almost a hundred yards away.
“I gotta say,” Mika said, collapsing on the ground next to Wyatt, “that was much worse than I thought it would be, and that’s saying a lot.”
My eyes were still on the other team, my anxiety for them growing by the second. Still, I managed to look at the other two men. “You know, we make a pretty good team,” I said.
Chapter10
Wyatt
My leg throbbed where the merbitch had stabbed me. It wasn’t healing right. I poked it gingerly, hissing as pain seared straight up my leg.
Kira turned away from watching the other team struggle. “What’s wrong?”
“I think a piece of that coral knife broke off inside my leg.”
Before I could talk myself out of it, I shoved my fingers deep into the wound. “Argh.” My eyes watered.
“Damn,” Mika said. “You want help?”
“No,” I grunted through gritted teeth.
My index finger and thumb pushed deep, pinching, trying to find the damned little thing inside. Finally, blessedly, I felt the rough nub of the foreign object. I tugged, and it slid out half an inch. A string of curses left my mouth as my fingers lost their grip on it. After catching hold of it again, I ripped the thing out of my leg. The one-inch tip of the spear sat, bloody, in my palm. The dark beige of the dead corral must have broken off when it hit the thigh bone. I tossed it toward the ocean in disgust. Now that the offending object was out, my healing abilities kicked in.
Kira knelt to check the cut, but I was more concerned about her. She had to swat my hands away after I tried pushing her sleeves up, looking for wounds.
“Stop it! I’m fine, Wyatt.”
“I need to make sure you aren’t hurt.”
“I said I’m fine. Only you and Mika were hurt.” The usual irritation wasn’t in her voice. For years, she’d always bristled when I tried to check on her. I’d gotten so used to it, I did a double take.
“Are you really okay? You didn’t call me a bossy asshole or tell me to mind my own fucking business.”
She checked the wound in my leg, tenderly probing the outer edges, her skin cool and refreshing on my inflamed skin. Kira glanced up at me from under her lashes before returning her gaze to my leg. “I’ve… well, I’ve decided to be a better person.”
The words came out haltingly, almost as if she really wanted to say something else, but I knew her well enough to leave it be. No reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Leaving her to tend my wound, I checked on Mika. He wasn’t concerned with our little exchange and had his neck craned around to scan the jungle. The look in his eyes wasn’t one of fear or terror but consideration. He’d made his plans known to me before. He intended to sneak off the show and try to fend for himself in the jungles of Bloodstone. This was not a good opportunity, but he didn’t appear to understand that.
I leaned over, putting my hand on the back of his neck to pull his head toward mine. Mika’s brow furrowed, confused by the brotherly gesture as I brought our foreheads together.
“Wyatt, what—”
“Now is not the time,” I whispered, keeping my voice as low as possible.
“Huh?”
“I saw you looking in the jungle.Nowis not the time.” I glanced sideways, and he followed my eyes to the camera floating ten feet away. “They’re watching. You can’t run off.”
Understanding my meaning, Mika patted a hand on my shoulder. His arm blocked our mouths from the view of the camera. Anyone watching the feed would think we were having a moment of camaraderie after surviving the terrors of the bay.
“I can’t stay here much longer,” he said.
“Kira and I are working on a plan. We’re going to fake the eliminations and get the contestants off the show. If you hang in there a little longer, we’ll get you someplace safe so you won’t have to go it alone out there.”
