Stuck in an Island with Twelve Beautiful Women

"I know," he said. "But this... this isn’t affection. It’s something darker. It’s territorial. As if it’s competing."

Lucy’s eyes narrowed. "With what? You?"

Jude nodded.

Scarlett spoke up. "But if it’s choosing us one by one, what happens if it gets through all of us?"

They all fell quiet again.

"I don’t know," Jude admitted. "But I think we’re being tested."

Grace, now fully recovered and sitting near the water’s edge, tilted her head slightly. "Tested how?"

Jude looked at her, then at all of them. "It’s watching how we react. How much control it has. How much we’ll let it in. Every time one of you blacks out, it learns something new."

"What do we do?" Serena asked.

"We hold on to each other," he said. "Tighter than ever."

And for a few hours, it felt like maybe they could. The rest of the day passed without event. There were no strange dreams. No whispers in the trees. No smoke. The women laughed again, cautiously at first, then louder. Zoey and Scarlett teased each other while carrying back armfuls of fruit. Amelia told a story from the first year on the island, and it made even Emma chuckle. Jude listened, participated, but his mind remained split, half-present, half alert for signs of danger.