Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110757 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 554(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I stand there for several minutes, unmoving. I only hear the chorus of bugs, the caws of birds, and the chatter of monkeys. I don’t detect any footsteps on the ground nearby.
It’s safe. I get on my knees and bend down to the water, splashing my face. I pull my canteen strap over my head, filling it and drinking nearly the entire thing, then filling it again.
Once I’m back on my feet, I screw the cap back on the canteen and put the strap back over my shoulder. I’m about to go back toward the cave when a hand claps over my mouth and an arm bands around my waist from behind. I try to resist, but the arm is like steel—I can’t get it to move even a fraction of an inch.
I’m dragged backward into the cover of trees. I’m frantically inhaling through my nose, my adrenaline spiking.
“Don’t scream,” a deep voice rumbles into my ear. “It’s me. I call you B and you make me so insane I crack the ground open.”
My eyes widen, my heart thrashing against my rib cage. The hold of the arm around my waist loosens. When I turn, the hand slides away from my mouth, but I immediately replace it with my own to keep from crying out.
It’s Marcus. My Marcus. I know not just from what he said, but from the dark, knowing gleam in his eyes.
I burst into tears, my heart singing with joy and relief. He’s himself again. He broke free and found me.
I reach up to his stubbled face, cupping it as I whisper, “How did you get away?”
His gaze darkens. “That wasn’t me back at our camp. It’s a clone.”
I struggle to draw air into my lungs as his words set in. “A clone?”
“Yeah. They cloned some of the original twenty-six on Island Three.”
I pinch my brows together, confused. “But he’s ... your age. How?”
“They’re fucking around with accelerated and decelerated aging.”
I close my eyes, thinking of my mom. Have they violated her the same way they violated Marcus?
“They found out about the ILF guy who helped me on Island Three. They knew I wasn’t coming back here when I left.”
It’s so much to process all at once.
“Island three intercepted Olin’s radio message to someone on their island,” I say softly. “They knew you were against them. I thought they wiped out your memories somehow and reprogrammed you.”
His eyes soften. “No.”
“Where did you go? If you didn’t come back here after Island Three, where were you?”
“It’s a long story. Can we get into the cave? I did some surveillance on our camp, and when I saw you weren’t there, I figured you were here.”
I smile, still not believing he’s here, and he’s okay. “Kiss me.”
He puts his hands on my waist and bends, lowering his lips to mine. It’s a slow, soft kiss, his mouth reacquainting itself with mine. The heat of his body and the brush of his stubble over my lips make me want so much more than this.
After a few seconds, I reluctantly pull away. We can’t risk getting so lost in each other that we forget the danger we’re in.
“I have so much to tell you,” I say.
“Same. But let’s do it in the cave.”
I cringe inwardly. “Okay, but before we go in ... I’m not alone in there.”
“I figured Nova and Amira were with you since I didn’t see them at camp.”
“Right. And also Ellison, Olin, and ...” I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue, afraid to finish.
He arches his brows. “And?”
39
“Word on the street is the ILF is recruiting pilots. I can fly, and I’m tired of playing as a street peddler. Use me or lose me.” - Decoded message from ILF undercover operative Nightingale to ILF handler Hiro Tanaka
Marcus
“You better be fucking with me, Briar,” I whisper-hiss. “I know you’re smarter than that.”
She lowers her brows a notch. “Don’t do that. You have no idea what’s happened since you left.”
“The volcano blew. The Tiders came into our camp.”
“It’s not as simple as you think. He saved us. Me, Amira, Nova, Ellison, and Olin. We’d be dead if he hadn’t saved us from Ingrid’s men.”
“He’s a fucking opportunist. Pax is a hooker working every corner, loyal to whoever benefits him most and subject to turn on them at any time.”
She puts a palm on my chest, holding my gaze. “Either you trust me or you don’t. Which one is it?”
I scowl. That fucker wasted no time trying to win Briar over. “It’s him I don’t trust.”
“I’m asking you to trust me by tolerating him. Will you do that?”
I look away, taking a deep breath.
She’s okay. I was a wreck the entire trip back here, worried she wouldn’t be. But she’s safe and we’re together again.
Reluctantly, I nod. “But if he tries to hurt one of us, he’s dead.”