Page 49

However, I can’t argue with the fact that I probably do stink.

The last time Ezra touched me, he had pulled me out of my shelter feet first and let Naomi beat the shit out of me. I’ll never forget that, or what any of them did to me for that matter. Especially how Ezra betrayed Micah and Maison. If I have the chance to kill them both, I won’t hesitate. I will finish what Micah was incapable of doing when he had the chance—when I foolishly stopped him.

The greatest regret of my life.

They caused the loss of my best friend and changed my relationship with Micah before it had even started. I could have had both of them, but they took that from me.

“Quit whining and keep moving. He could be following us.” The sound of Nigel’s voice is worse than his breath, which I can smell as he steps closer to me. It’s as if he has a lingering cavity that never got filled, now worse from being on this island with the lack of dental hygiene. Even back in New Ocean, his breath sickened me. That was in the beginning, when we used to be friends and I hadn’t realized what a vile creature he was. His obsession with Micah started long before I arrived and has since festered into something seemingly more sinister.

“How much longer?” Ezra continues, grunting and carrying me like a brute.

“The airplane is close. Please shut up, or you’ll wake her.” A fresh wave of nausea overwhelms me at Nigel’s voice and the thought of where he’s taking me.

However, the hint of panic in his voice makes me smile. It’s nothing like the mocking laughter that echoed around my head all winter. He’s human, just like me. He can die as easily as I can.

The airplane is an obvious place for Micah to search for me—if he comes for me at all. If he’s still alive, he would have seen the evidence of my fleeing by now. He will meticulously inspect every inch of the cabin, diligently searching for any clue of other people’s presence, but all he will find is my blood and sweat. He will believe I left him because he won’t have any proof otherwise.

Suddenly, Ezra heaves me to the ground, and I find myself face-first in the snow. I can’t help but moan as I land on my hand.

Fuck.

“I’m not taking one more step until you tell me where we’re going, man,” Ezra barks. “It’s getting dark, and I don’t want to be out here at night. And we need London alive. Otherwise, she is fucking useless to us.”

I whip my eyes open and glare at him for treating me like a rag doll. No point in pretending I’m asleep anymore.

Nigel’s already grinning at me like the serpent he is. “Good morning, sunshine. Did you have a good sleep?”

I quirk my lips upward, mimicking his smug smile. Nigel thinks Micah is the one he should worry about, but I’m actually the one he should fear. I’m stronger than he realizes. That’s how I survived this far, how I got out of Micah’s ties, and truly, how I survived Micah at all, as he has clearly begun his descent into insanity.

Just as I have.

“When he finds out you’ve taken me, Micah’s going to kill you, Nigel. Then you can join your sister in hell.”

To my surprise, Ezra laughs, and Nigel glares at him, only confirming my assumption that the two of them are far from chummy. I turn my eyes to Ezra. “He’s going to kill you, too, Ezra.”

Ezra merely snarls, and Nigel lets out that dark laugh of his. “Oh, London, I’ve missed you so, so much. How was your little honeymoon with Micah? I’m sure you constantly thought about Maison and really mourned him. I did you a favor by killing him, didn’t I? He isn’t in your way anymore. Now you can find true happiness.”

The sound that comes out of me is feral. Hearing Maison’s name from his mouth guts me.

He clicks his tongue. “And no, London. He’s not going to kill me, because he’s not going to find me or come looking for you at all. My guess is that he’s… distracted.”

Distracted? Not dead.

Ezra curls his lip but says nothing, and I get a punch to the gut when the realization of what he means hits me. Micah’s distraction, I bet, is in the form of a five-foot-seven blonde bitch, who is suspiciously missing from this expedition. I can see from the look on Ezra’s face that he’s none too happy about it, either. But he says nothing, and the fact that he’s allowing it means Nigel really is the one in charge.

I sit up on the snowbank and lean back on my good arm. I take a good look at them now. Haggard would be an understatement to describe their appearance. Stringy is more like it. Both have dirty, blond hair that looks more like straw.

Barely human.

Vile, hideous, and evil.

Winter obviously wasn’t as good to them as it was to Micah and me. Each has black patches on their face from obvious frostbite, and it puts a smile on my face. Even if they were to torture me, break all my fingers, or cut off any part of my body and kill me slowly, I would still die happy after seeing the amount of damage on their faces caused by winter. How cold they must have been while I spent my winter making love and falling deeper than I thought was possible in a warm, inviting home.

However, right now, I doubt I’m much better. I pull my hand to my mouth and laugh. But Nigel’s dead eyes make me pause, and the hairs prickle on my skin.

He looks at me, and his eyes reflect the shadows in his soul.

A tremor courses through me as I avert my gaze, unable to stomach him for one more moment.