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Ezra doesn’t take his eyes off Micah, the knife right at Micah’s throat. “Yeah, come on, London.” He follows Nigel’s lead like the sheep he is. “Come out and save your boyfriend.” Ezra’s straggly hair now falls nearly to his chin. The athlete I saw in the lunchroom is unrecognizable now. He chuckles. “Although, you seem confused who your boyfriend is these days.”

“Shut the fuck up, Ezra.” Maison takes a step forward and Ezra stiffens. “This has nothing to do with her. Your issue is with me. I caused everything you’re mad at him about. Let Micah go.” The three of them double down, pressing their weapons into Micah. Ollie looks miserable, but following along with them because, right now, he has no other choice. And he picked his side when he didn’t go with James. Micah’s head is down and he’s still unaffected by the blades sticking into him.

He says nothing.

Nigel snickers. “I don’t think so. He’s the only one who knows where you hid the first aid kit. That’s all we want, that’s all this is about, Maison. We just want to stay alive.”

The lies and deceit… Sure, he’s hungry, but he’d like to see these twins die and use this island as an excuse for committing murder. If we ever get saved, no one would suspect Nigel if they died of starvation.

Ezra turns to look at Maison, but only for a moment. He’s not stupid enough to turn his back on Micah for longer than a second. Sweat pours off his forehead from the stress of it. “Your bitch girlfriend hurt Naomi; she stabbed her. That’s not okay… So this is what you’re going to do. You’re going to go back to wherever your douche bag brother hid it, and you’re going to get it for us. And if you don’t do it, I’m going to have fun slicing Micah up. And it might have been you who killed that silly girlfriend of yours, but it was Micah who put his fucking elbow in my throat. I don’t fucking trust him.”

Vengeance, hunger, and pride… the worst combination.

Ezra twists the blade dangerously close to Micah’s throat one inch, and he’s close to slicing his esophagus, causing me to lurch out of my hiding spot.

This is not Micah’s day of retribution.

“Stop it,” I scream, pulling on any threads of strength I have left as I lift myself out of the tree well. My scream is so loud, it bounces off the snow and echoes back to us three times.

Everyone turns to stare at me, and Micah jumps up, twisting the spear out of Ollie’s hand as if he were a toddler. He pushes him down to the ground, while Ezra and everyone else is distracted by my sudden presence. I never noticed when Maison jumped to his brother’s side, but during the few seconds of confusion, he stands next to his brother. Both have defaulted to their natural athletic stances.

Ready to pounce.

The brothers exchange a look, pain equally etched in their beautiful chestnut eyes. Anger seeps out of them both, sliding over every tense nerve. Both look god-like… and about to take back their control.

“Back the fuck off, Ezra,” one of them says with a dangerous edge in his voice, and I realize I have no idea who said it. Ezra stands in an equally dangerous position with a much, much sharper spear than the wooden ones in the twins’ hands. It must be Micah, since he grabbed the spear out of Ollie’s hand.

“For fuck’s sake,” Nigel sneers. He moves with a swiftness and strength I didn’t think possible from him, and he grabs the wrist of my shattered hand. I keel over from the pain as it shoots into my shoulder blade, slicing every vein and blood cell within me. He then sticks a knife right into my cut where they sliced me earlier, keeping a grip on me. His vile breath teases my nostrils as he pulls me in close. “Everything is so violent with you people,” Nigel says casually, as if he wasn’t the cause of it all. “Can’t we just have a discussion? It’s really too bad Thomas couldn’t join us today for this little reunion, although I hear he’s not handling things very well right now.” My body is broken now, utterly broken. A bone juts out of my hand. Nigel grips onto me, knowing I’m his best leverage.

Micah doesn’t move from his tense position. Micah and Maison both jerk their head to me, their motions similar, their expressions identical, but it’s the retracting fingers of Maison that gives me pause.

That’s a Micah tell…

They’ve turned the twin thing on, I realize, and I’m suddenly not so sure Micah’s the one holding the spear anymore. Micah hasn’t spoken, just gives a lethal look without blinking. I wonder if Nigel or Ezra realize what they’re doing, if that is indeed what they’re doing.

“Go get the kit, Micah,” Nigel says again. “If you do, I will spare you some food and give you your girlfriend back.”

“He’s lying,” I shout. “He won’t give you anything.”

Ezra lunges forward with the knife, and neither twin even so much as flinches. “Let’s play a game to see if that changes your mind,” Ezra says darkly, and spits right into Micah’s face. “Which boyfriend do you like better, London?”

Dead—truly, Ezra has a death wish. Nigel’s hold on me is the only reason he’s still breathing.

Ezra chuckles as both twins remain still, careful as my life hangs in the balance.

“Come on, London, just choose. Which brother do you love more?”

I press my lips together, refusing to engage. I focus on the intensity of both twins as they watch me. One of them subtly shakes his head. Micah… I think, I hope. Because if it is him, he’s finally communicating with me.

Ezra waves the knife like he’s holding a wand and orchestrating a play.

“Go to hell, Ezra,” I spit out, trying to distract him, trying to do anything to give the twins an edge.

He chuckles. “I guess you don’t want to play. That’s okay. I guess since you came back with Maison, we all know your choice.”

He jerks his head to Micah. “See? You’re fucking worthless, Micah. Even your girlfriend doesn’t want you.”

Micah’s jaw flexes, but he remains silent, though I can see all the thoughts swirling in his head right now. I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of whatever he’s thinking.