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“You want me to calm down? Like it’s that fucking easy, Jade. You are the one who moved on when Maison died, like you didn’t give a shit about him. He was slaughtered before your eyes, and you let his killer just walk away. You even gave him food. And you’re telling me to calm down?”

It takes all of two seconds before Thomas is suddenly behind Jade. I watch him carefully as my world starts to turn gray—that dark place I get where I don’t know what the fuck I am capable of.

“Step back, Micah. We’re not your enemy,” Thomas says, then places himself in front of Jade as I begin to shake and pace.

Weak…. I’m fucking weak for breaking down like this. For allowing them to witness my raw vulnerability. I need to get the fuck out of here.

Jade blows out a breath and shakes her head. “Micah, please understand. We had to focus on our own survival. I’m sorry about Maison, I really am, but we’ve been grieving Nathan, too, and everyone else that’s lost their lives here.”

My teeth grind together, a fiery heat rolling through me. “It’s not the same. Nathan wasn’t murdered.”

Thomas tilts his head, stepping between Jade and me. “No, but the outcome was still the same, man. He’s still gone.”

I look her up and down. Then I look over to Thomas, to Serena and Naomi, who are eavesdropping only a couple of feet away, and finally to the shelter.

No sign of life. Nothing. London must be in a pretty shitty state if she hasn’t come out yet. If I lose London, I might as well kill myself right now. She is all I have left; she is all I want and will ever want.

I look directly at Jade. “For your sake and everyone else’s here, make sure she doesn’t fucking die.” I pull my pack over my shoulder, then pick up the knife and grip it to make sure everyone can see it. “Don’t eat the food all at once. I’ll be back soon.”

I arrive back at the site just before dusk, as promised. I caught a fish and a rabbit, which I’m hoping will be well received by the others. I single-handedly doubled their food supply. I did as Jade suggested and took a breath and focused on what I do best: hunting, stalking, getting control of my surroundings.

Killing things.

I spent the better part of the day circling the perimeter of the camp to make sure there weren’t any more messages sent by Nigel. I saw no sign of him anywhere. In fact, I’m confident he’s nowhere near us, at least for now. My anxiety can ease, although I still don’t think I will sleep knowing he and Ezra are out there.

Jade was right to send me away. A day in the woods helped clear my head and gave London a chance to sleep. My rage, however, is still simmering within me, ready to be unleashed at any moment. London can help with that once she’s better and I can finally get her alone.

As I enter the meadow, Naomi and Serena are cuddled together by the fire. Thomas is working on skinning something while Jade, I notice, shoots daggers at Naomi. Naomi, in return, shoots them at me. Obviously, Naomi updated them on the reunion we had on the airplane last night. Their faces say it all as they behold me.

I approach silently, and Thomas shoots me a warning glance as he looks at the shelter. I hold up my kills in a gesture of neutrality and walk up next to him. He moves over, grunts, and tends to his skinning as I take out the knife and begin to prepare my kills.

Jade lifts her head as I approach, giving me a tight look. “She’s asleep, but don’t worry, she’s still breathing.” I can sense her maintaining a healthy distance from me ever since my emotional outburst earlier. I give a small nod, signifying my agreement, and then redirect my attention to my kills.

I want to go check on her, at least lay my eyes on her, but I’ll give London space if that’s what they think she truly needs. Or worse, if that’s what she asked for.

Everyone is anxious around me, staring at my knife and the casual way I wield it. I’m not sure when I became the enemy on this island or when everyone became complete strangers to me, but here we are. The only person who seems unbothered by my presence is Thomas.

Together, we skin my kills, and I try not to stare at his wrist because I know it will set him off. But I marvel at how skilled he is with one hand, and I’m secretly proud of him for how he’s been adapting to it since the last time I saw him. It has healed well from what I can tell, and that’s because of the clean cut I gave him when I severed it with the same knife I’m holding now.

Like fuck I’m telling him that, though, because he’s acting like a fucking baby.

We finish cooking our meat, and I find myself a stick to carve out a new spear. It’s second nature to me now because I’ve known for a long time that my hands can’t be idle.

I don’t make eye contact with anyone, but I keep a careful eye on the shelter. After about an hour of sitting in silence, I blow the dust off the new spear just as a figure emerges from the darkness.

The moment James lays eyes on me, his body goes rigid, and a mix of fear and anxiety churns inside me when I notice he’s not alone. Ezra steps out from the shadows and stares at me with a fucking cocky grin. I jump to my feet, and I’m not the only one. Thomas is right beside me, looking just as pissed.

James lifts his eyebrows and centers his attention on Thomas. “What’s Micah doing here?” He also takes in the additional presence of Naomi, and his fingers curl into a fist.

Well, this just got fucking interesting…

Jade slowly rises, and Naomi’s mouth gapes open. I guess Ezra’s presence is a surprise to all of us.

It’s Naomi who speaks first. “Ezra, what the hell happened to your hair?”

He chuckles, running his hand over his head. “My new girlfriend cut it for me.” His words are cold and brutal, and he looks at me as he says it.

This has me jumping out of my skin, and I get to him before anyone can stop me. All the rage coiled in my stomach erupts out of me.