"Why did you do that?" I snap. "That is not what we agreed on. I was supposed to talk to him, not knock him out."
"It’s faster and easier," Bram says, standing and brushing mud off himself. "We need to go back." He shows me his phone. "I just got a text from the ferry captain. He has to leave in an hour to bring Mr. Gomez to the island. We do not have time, definitely not for chatting."
Salt’s eyelids are already closed. Suddenly, he starts slipping from the branch, sliding down and hitting lower branches on the way. I rush under the tree and catch him in my arms at the last second.
The last word I hear from him is,
"Bastard."
SALT
I open my eyes slowly, surfacing from a fog of unconsciousness. For a long moment, I have no idea what was happening or where I even am. Then I register that I am lying in someone’s arms.
It’s Eliano.
We are both sitting on the bed. He is leaning back against the headboard, holding me the way you would cradle a child, rocking him to sleep.
Eliano bends over me. Even though my eyes are not fully open yet, I feel his face drawing close, the soft brush of his lips against my temple, then my forehead. Warmth and tenderness pour out of him and wash over me, and somehow that tenderness sparks a sudden, violent anger inside me.
I force my eyes open, fighting the heaviness of my body, feeling like my muscles are not ready to cooperate yet.
"Where am I?" I manage to mumble. My mouth is numb, my lips barely forming words.
"In our unit. You’re safe."
He smiles at me gently. In his eyes, I see it clearly, the affection, the relief, the happiness that I am awake again, that he has me back.
I know exactly what he is feeling. Suspiciously well.
"Why… why?" I blurt out weakly. With great effort, I try to sit up and slide off the bed. My legs wobble beneath me. I look down at them and freeze in horror at the sight of something new.
On my left ankle, there is an ankle monitor.
Fuck!
No. No, no!
I try to straighten up, but I sway and nearly fall. Eliano reaches out to steady me, but I deliberately dodge his hand and brace myself against the edge of the bed instead.
"Why, Eliano? Why!"
"Why what?" he asks quietly, sitting down on the edge of the bed, watching me closely.
"Why the hell did you do this, you fucker?! How could you? You ruined everything, don’t you understand?!"
"There was no road forward anymore. A swamp. You had to turn back."
"I would have turned back. I would have gone the other way. You destroyed my plan!"
Eliano stays silent.
I straighten up, cursing and swaying, and tear at my hair with both hands. Now everything starts coming back to me. My mind clears second by second, and the reality of what just happened sinks in.
The fucking weight on my leg.
Now I have an ankle monitor! A massive, prison-grade one. Taking it off would be close to impossible.
Yes. This bastard! He ruined everything!
