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Finally glaring at me, she shakes her head. “After everything that’s happened, how could you and London abandon us like that? How could you do that to Thomas?”

I cock an eyebrow and step back. It’s actually quite endearing that she missed us so much.

“We had our reasons,” is all I say back to her. “What do you want to tell me? Or were you just twitching your eyes at me so you could give me shit?”

Jade’s nose crinkles when she’s mad, a quirk I hadn’t noticed before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her this lit up. I always just remember her being a blubbering mess, but I like this new and improved version of Jade.

Survival suits her.

Her face hardens, her eyes casting off to that distant enemy again. “We barely survived the winter. It was brutal and changed everyone here. You have no idea what we went through or how hard it was. Or how worried I was that he…”

I cock a brow. “He?” The one no one wants to talk about.

Her eyes glaze over. “How worried we were about you,” she whispers, catching herself. I let it slide, although Nigel is more of a taboo topic for me than Maison.

I scoff. “I’m standing here, too, Jade. London and I survived exactly what you did.”

She bites her lip as if reliving those specific memories, and because I do have a shred of humanity left in me, I feel a twinge of guilt for the intense emotions that overtake her.

“Sure, if that’s what you want me to believe, Micah. You can’t blame James and Thomas for being pissed at you. You took the fucking first aid kit and half the food.”

“A third of the food,” I correct her.

She rolls her eyes, and a hint of a forced smile hits her lips. Then she shakes her head as if just remembering how exacerbating I can be. She pauses for a moment, branches shifting in the wind and the babble of the creek hitting what’s left of the ice, and finally, as if it pains her, she asks, “Is London okay?”

“She’s okay.”

She quirks her head. “Just okay? Was it your idea to take her away? Did she want to leave with you?”

I cock a brow at her. “Yes, she did. Sorry she didn’t want to stay with people who helped her boyfriend’s killer. You chose a side as soon as you gave them a third of our food.”

She blows out a breath and shakes her head in my direction, giving me the look I hate the most. I despise being pitied. “That’s not fair, Micah. And I don’t think I ever told you how truly sorry I am for what happened to Maison. He didn’t deserve that ending.”

My insides stir at the mention of Maison, and I quickly suppress any fucking emotion that bubbles up.

I shrug. “Then or now, it doesn’t fucking matter. Every one of us is going to die soon, Jade.”

Her eyes flash, and she pauses for a brief second before speaking. “I have information you might find useful.”

“Really? And what would that be?”

She arches a brow but stays silent. I draw in a long breath and try to contain my anger. If Jade had planned to tell me anything useful about the whereabouts of the others, without wanting something in return, she would have already. I have to pretend I don’t give a shit, even though their whereabouts are exactly what I want to know.

“So, out with it, then. Where the fuck are they?”

She shakes her head. “I’m not telling you unless you make me a promise.”

“I already told you; I’m not telling you where London is.”

She scoffs, and the tone of her voice is like nothing I’ve ever heard from her before. “You two are so into yourselves; it’s sickening. You think this entire island revolves around you.”

I frown. “You mean, it doesn’t?”

Her mouth gapes. “I don’t want another mouth to feed. I said I wanted to know if she was okay, not that I wanted her back with us. She made her choice when she left. What I want is the medical kit, or at least part of it. There was a possibility we could have saved Nathan if we had had it.”

An amused smile forms on my lips at how bossy Jade has become. She really has toughened up; she never would have spoken to me this way before surviving an Alaskan winter.

I cock a brow. “You think a band-aid would have saved Nathan? Because I’ve got news for you, it wouldn’t have mattered. We are all going to die eventually. This island will pick us off one by one if we don’t kill each other over food first. Does Thomas know you’re talking to me?”