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PART 3

Chapter One

Vero

My paper-cut princess has been gone too long; I know because I’m starving and my sugar levels are crashing.

Clay and Ares are still fighting over what is wrong with the fucking carousel, and I’m almost tempted to cut the belt just so it’s actually broken. I sit on the edge of the wooden deck and listen to them bicker, swinging my legs while picking cobwebs out of what little hair has grown back since I cut it off.

I stare at the gate Kayla left through, still unable to see her.

She is fine, I repeat in my head. I bet she got distracted. We probably left dishes in the sink, and she’s cleaning them up—she does that a lot. But as more minutes tick by, I decide maybe she isn’t fine, so I jump down off the platform.

Brawley looks over at me. “Where are you going?”

“To find Kayla. I need sustenance to deal with those idiots fighting over an issue neither knows how to fix.”

“She went to get us food and will be back soon.”

“She’s been gone too long. Kayla should have been back by now,” I insist.

Brawley pulls out his phone, and his brow furrows.

“I’m hungry anyway. You keep those two alive until I get back,” I yell over my shoulder as I push through the gate.

“Vero . . .” he warns.

“I’ll be back.”

“No fucking, just bring back the food.”

I snort. “No promises.”

I take the path she would have gone, unlike me, who would have wandered cross-country. The island is too quiet today, and I don’t like it.

“Kayla,” I call, hoping she hadn’t taken a shortcut through the cornfield. I keep walking while muttering aloud, “She wouldn’t cut through. Everyone knows not to disturb Cave unless you really have to. Maybe she came across Gerald and his bunnies. I would stop for the bunnies—they are so cute. That must be it, but I am starving, and she knows that. Honestly, it’s a little rude—I could fade away to nothing.”

When I reach the house and go inside, I find the kitchen empty. I do a sweep upstairs to make sure she isn’t here and come up empty, so I head back outside. My hands start to shake. “Stop it,” I tell them with a scowl. “She must have taken a different path back. Kayla will have something with sugar for you, and she will tell Brawley to deal with it. She isn’t afraid of him.”

I walk faster, taking the shortcut near the cornfield, making sure I’m quiet. If Cave hears me, that straw-brained idiot will chase me with his new corn sword. I make a note to steal it and eat it, then he won’t have a weapon to use against me.

I freeze mid-step when I see the bag of food scattered on the path, our food spilled out everywhere.

Shit, where the fuck is she?

Everything goes very loud inside my head, increasing all at once, as I race over to the bag and spin around in a circle.

I crouch down. “No, no, no. She just put the bag down. Cave must have chased her. She must be here somewhere.”

My legs move before I can think, and I’m running back to the guys. By the time I get there, I’m out of breath, and my thoughts are bouncing against the side of my skull. I know what this looks like, and I don’t care.

“Vero?” Brawley says as I race through the gate.

I rush straight into his arms. “There is lettuce, Brawley, on the ground. And the apples rolled off the path. But she’s not there.”

“We need to look for Kayla,” Brawley says, taking my hand. I don’t know if Clay and Ares follow us, but I drag Brawley to where I left the bag.

“Kayla,” Clay yells out.