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If Nigel has his way, I will end up like Ollie. It’s a miracle I’m still breathing.

James, Serena, Ezra, and Naomi are busy moving wood. No one spares us a glance; everyone is broken in their own way. We’ve all lost someone, and now, after everything we’ve had to endure, the real battle is just beginning.

“Where the fuck are Jade and Thomas?” Micah says as we walk up to them. Ezra merely glares from his spot on the ground, but he keeps his steady eyes on my neck, then grins and shakes his head.

I forgot about the bruises—the marking, the claiming. Micah spent a good twenty minutes licking and sucking me, as if those marks will somehow protect me.

Will Nigel care when he comes for me?

James rises at the urgency he picks up in Micah’s voice and narrows his eyes, also noticing the new bruises on my neck. I can barely keep my head up, let alone try to hide them.

“They went to collect wood for the signal fire,” James says as he carefully studies me while all the food in my belly slowly rises up my throat. “What did you do to her, Micah?” James can’t hide his dislike for Micah any more than Micah can hide his jealousy of him.

Micah snaps his jaw tight as I seem to lose the ability to use my legs. “Don’t concern yourself with London right now,” he says, setting me on the log near the fire and rubbing his fingers over my lips in the way he does when we are alone—looking at me as if I’m the only person in this world. “Are Thomas and Jade together?” I keep my gaze to the ground and sway back and forth, keeping my hand firmly gripped on my boyfriend’s arm.

My boyfriend.

I’m his, and he’s mine.

The words exchanged last night were far from meaningless. The way Micah’s holding me right now proves it. He’s my home, and I fully appreciate that now, even if it took a severed head for me to realize it.

All their voices are distant, as if they are speaking into a tunnel.

“Yeah. They’re together; that was our rule,” I hear James say. “But seriously, man, what’s wrong with London? She looks like she’s seen a ghost.”

Micah kneels next to me, rubbing the back of my neck. His fingers feel like paradise on my otherwise clammy skin. “She’ll be alright. Go get them… Now.”

Ignoring Micah’s demands, James walks over and crouches in front of me. I raise my head to meet his soft, concerned expression, and I give him a nod. “Go, James. Please get them.”

His eyes flash. “Alright, they’re not far. I’ll be right back.” He starts toward the creek.

“James!” Micah barks out, and James goes wholly still, keeping his back to us. “Bring your weapon with you.” Micah jerks his head to Ezra, who’s busy staring at Naomi’s ass as she bends down, picking up wood with Serena a few feet away. “Ezra, go with him.”

Ezra merely scoffs, keeping his eyes laser-focused on Naomi as she bends over in a rather compromising position. “I don’t fucking answer to you, man.” He licks his lips in a way that makes it seem like they had plenty of time to make up.

James freezes, his body tense as he turns slightly toward us. “Are you going to tell us what’s going on?”

Micah leans down and grabs the big knife he never keeps too far away from him. “London and I found Ollie. He’s dead, dude. We saw his head. Nigel’s here somewhere. He fucking slaughtered him.”

I flinch.

Jesus, Micah.

James slumps his shoulders, a visible reaction, but he doesn’t look back and picks up his pace, disappearing out of view. Micah crouches. “Stay. Right. Here. London. Don’t fucking move from this spot.” He yells over to James, “Hold on, man. I’ll come with you.”

The scream bursts out of me. “No. No. No!” Micah stops at my visceral reaction to not having his protective hands on me right now.

We have everyone’s attention. Naomi and Serena come jogging back. “What’s going on?” Serena asks.

Ezra, too, looks like he’s seen a ghost. His cocky grin only moments before is replaced with pure disgust and terror.

“London.” I can’t let him go alone. Micah looks at Ezra, his eyes raging. “Did you have anything to do with this?”

Ezra’s eyes widen, and he jumps to his feet. “What? Fuck no. I swear to god, dude. I didn’t have anything to do with this. I just want my girl back. I only wanted food, man. I only took London because I was hungry. I swear. I fucking swear.”

“What’s happening?” Naomi asks, darting her gaze between the two of them, then to me.

I’m shaking, chilled to the core. My teeth are chattering, even though the air is still and the wind has died down.