Page 93
Whenever Ezra steals glances at me, he smiles—a calculated display meant to taunt Micah, who is watching closely. The four of us are seemingly engaged in a treacherous game of heartbreak and betrayal.
“Now that we’re all together, we need to talk,” James says, looking over at Jade.
Together… is that what we are?
Jade casts her gaze between Micah and Ezra, sensing the tension among us. “And we mean talk, not fight it out like dogs.”
“Quit fucking looking at her,” Micah grits to Ezra.
“Ollie is missing,” Jade snaps. “Can we please focus on him rather than London, who is safe right now?”
That shuts everyone up, and I lower my eyes, focusing on the fire, hating that the attention is once again focused on me. Micah sits behind me, laying a blanket over me and pulling me between his legs. I fall into him, too tired to fight it, and he wraps his arms around me tight.
This behavior… It’s very Maison-like.
The public displays of affection, the claiming… He’s never done this before; he was always so distant and cold. Then again, we haven’t really been together in front of everyone. I don’t know how to act, and deep down… really deep down, this still seems like a betrayal to Maison. This group saw me on his lap in this same position for weeks.
“I didn’t see Nigel when I went out, and unfortunately, I found no signs of Ollie,” James says, looking directly at Ezra. “I found Ezra near the airplane heading north. I offered to bring him back if he could tell me where to find Nigel, but he claims to only know approximately where Nigel is hiding and swears he doesn’t know the exact spot.”
“Bullshit,” Micah mutters.
“It’s not bullshit, it’s the truth,” Naomi says, still leaning against Serena. “Ezra and I didn’t know where Nigel was. It was part of our arrangement, and I was relieved and slept better at night because of it.”
“He got worse as winter went on,” Ezra says darkly, his gaze fixated on the fire. “He started saying some weird fucking shit, and I didn’t like the way he looked at Naomi, so I kept Naomi away from him.”
The mention of Nigel sends a chill up my spine, and goosebumps rise on my arms. As if noticing my tension, Micah’s hands run over my shoulders, instantly warming and relaxing me. But he squeezes them in warning, harder than usual, which reminds me he’s not Maison. And in this dark moment, he brings me comfort. His hand twists around my waist and settles on my stomach.
Everyone’s still watching.
Ezra stays quiet and distant.
Naomi continues, her face solemn, “I think he has a cave similar to ours somewhere, and Ezra would meet him every few days to cook, hunt, and share food. But it’s not like we left our cave much.” She looks over at him. “Ezra and I were trapped in our cave for months during that big deep freeze.”
I remember the deep freeze well. I spent it mainly cuddled up and warm.
Micah scoffs. “It seems like Ezra took real good care of you.”
Ezra stiffens. “Well, we are fucking alive, aren’t we? And that wasn’t thanks to you… that was all me.”
“You’re barely alive,” Micah says, running his hand over me, probably because my entire body tenses. “Naomi was hanging on by a thread when I found her. Do you even have a freshwater source?”
Naomi folds her arms. “No, we don’t, which is part of why I left.”
Ezra merely scoffs at that. “We all know she left for other reasons…”
“Why don’t we just let him rot?” Thomas says. “He’ll die there eventually. The snowpack’s melting and drying. He won’t have any access to water.”
“I’d sleep better at night if we knew where he was,” Jade says, her eyes set firmly on the flames. “If we find him, we’ll find Ollie.”
Ollie has been missing for several days now, and everyone seems reluctant to acknowledge the harsh reality that maybe Ollie has become one of the countless souls who now reside in the afterlife on this island.
“I’m going back tomorrow to look for him,” James says. He exchanges glances with Serena, who frowns at him. “If he’s still alive, I’ll find him eventually.”
Or his body.
I hope for Ollie’s sake that he ended up somewhere the animals can’t get to him. The bottom of the lake, perhaps, would be a good place where his soul could rest in peace. At least now, everyone understands the true threat that haunts us here. It’s not the icy winds, rocks, animals, hidden shelters, or lack of food.
It’s Nigel.
