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She leans over and grabs the flat, flaky square. She’s sweaty as the sun is glaring down on us and we’ve been working hard all day, even though she already stripped down to her tank top and is wearing a pair of tight-fitting jeans. Her curves are gorgeous, and I don’t think she realizes how natural and pretty she is. He pauses and watches her, as if noticing her for the first time. She smiles at him shyly, and a brightness hits her eyes that I’ve not seen in her since we landed. It’s the way she looks at Nigel—or rather, it’s the way she used to look at Nigel.

Thomas and Jade know each other. They grew up together like everyone here, but they lived in completely different worlds. I wonder how many times they’ve actually interacted.

Since I’m not wanted, I move over to Nigel, who is still struggling. He’s building his shelter next to a small hill, or attempting to, anyway.

I pick up a piece of wood and help him. “What’s going on, Nigel?” I ask him casually.

He spares me barely more than a grimace before he asks, “Why is Jade over there helping him instead of me?”

I stare at him and blink a few times, noticing he’s still wearing his argyle. “Relax, we’re all helping each other. Let’s make yours like Thomas and Jade’s.”

His eyes darken, and he wipes his greasy hair off his face. “Jade is sleeping with me tonight, London,” he says in a dark voice.

I press my lips together. “I know…” I say carefully. “How about we follow what they are doing so you can both sleep comfortably tonight?”

While the sun is shining now, we all know the cold evening bite will come, and I realize I have no idea where I am going to sleep. We won’t have enough shelters for everyone before nightfall. We follow Thomas’ example and prop up logs together, making decent progress.

The wind picks up over the lake, a welcome breeze to an otherwise hot Arctic summer day. Nigel pauses and looks at me. “How is it going with the twins?” he asks, and the way he says it makes my spine tingle.

I dare to look at him as dread hits my stomach. “What do you mean?”

He cocks a brow, his face smug. “Did you hit your head in that crash, or are you just pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about?”

I blow out a breath and drop the stick on the ground. Somewhere nearby a crow caws in my ear, prickling my skin. “I hardly see how that matters anymore, Nigel.”

He picks up a branch. “Oh, it still matters very much, London. And I see you’re making good progress from the way you were pawing at Maison earlier. Tell me, did you fuck him already?”

My eyes widen. “What is your problem?”

He tilts his head. “I want to know how you are progressing with them. It probably won’t take long for you to fuck the other one, too, now that you’re sinking your claws into one. Micah will get his fill, eventually.”

“What the hell, Nigel?” I say roughly, with a bite in my voice—that bark my mom says I have lingering so close to the surface. I wave my arms and gnaw the inside of my cheek. “Look where we are. Why do you care about that anymore? Didn’t you hear the wolves the first night? That is more concerning at the moment than an irrelevant story.”

He slams the branch down with such venom, it has me stunned. “It has relevance,” he spits out. “I want to know what they did to her, and why they’re walking around freely while she’s buried. We will get rescued, London. We will not stay on this island forever, and life will go on, and I still plan on getting that story written. You better hold up your side, or I will tell everyone why you really came on this trip. I will humiliate you.”

My blood thins at the thought of him telling Maison what I was planning to do. Maison won’t look at me the same, he won’t trust me—and I love the way he looks at me. The hatred that runs through me in this moment is deeper than I expect. Or maybe it’s just the hunger thinning out my veins. Regardless, twisted rage pulses through me at Nigel’s idle threats.

I go utterly still. “Why are you doing this?” My voice comes out weak, while he gives me that dark stare that tells me he’s not bluffing.

“I have my reasons, but please, tell me when it happens… I’d love to find out how Micah worms his way into your pants.”

A snap of a twig has me turning to find Jade walking toward us. She pauses when she looks at him, sensing the tension between us. I turn to Nigel and smile sweetly. “I think your shelter’s almost done, Nigel. Do you need help with anything else?

He simply sneers and shakes his head, and I turn and walk toward the direction Maison went. I need to find him.

I swear under my breath. This isn’t adding up. I have my reasons, but Nigel’s intense interest is unclear to me. Why does he care so much? I’m not buying his obligation to bring justice or expose the truth or whatever flimsy excuse he originally provided me to get me to agree to do this. This is emotional for him—he’s connected to this somehow.

“London, wait.” Jade comes running over to me. “What was that about?”

I shake my head. “Nothing. Nigel is just a piece of work.”

Jade doesn’t know what Nigel and I were scheming, and I’m not ready for her to look at me differently, either.

She presses her lips together, clearly conflicted with her feelings for him. “I don’t think he’s holding up too well here. I’m kind of worried about him.”

I sit on a log facing the glistening water and setting sun on the horizon. The vast emptiness, the beautiful mountainous landscape speckled with red and yellow hints of fall, and the thick layer of fir trees lining the rolling hills above. I imagine this lake in winter, frozen, bone-chilling cold. The earth frozen halfway to hell.

My words come out shaky. “Nobody appears to be doing well here.”