Page 120 of Our Deceptive Heat

“When will he be coming in?”

Gael looks at the waves and shrugs. “Depends.”

I nod.

I’ll wait.

I’ll wait forever.

Kelly comes out ofthe water an hour later. They all wander up the cliff path, chatting and laughing. I sit and wait, listening to their conversations and learning as much as I can about them.

My stomach churns. I don’t know how this meeting will go, but I’m sending every thought into the universe right now.

Kelly spots me, and his face hardens.

Not a good sign.

“What are you doing here, Fate?”

Gael looks at me with a frown that transforms into dawning realisation. “You’re Envy!”

I frown at Kelly but give a short nod. “Kelly, I need to speak to her.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening. Ever.”

“You don’t understand.”

“What’s to understand? You screwed her-”

“We never screwed her. We tried to save her,” I snap back. “If you could just listen.”

He shrugs. “Don’t really care.”

I snarl and follow him as he walks into the jungle, disappearing from view.

“Two minutes!”

“Nope.”

“Raider listened to us. Locke listened. Lia and Bailey listened. Bethany listened. They helped us.”

Kelly pauses. He turns slowly. “My brother, sister, and cousins helped you?”

“Yes. You should try answering a phone once in a while,” I snap at him, losing my temper.

He shrugs. “Why?”

“Because someone might want to reach you.”

Kelly is about to say something flippant when he obviously remembers his cousins, brother, and sister, and the words go unsaid. He keeps walking, and I know I’m losing him.

“Stop!” I shout.

He ignores me.

“Please, Kelly! I love her.”

He snorts, whirling around to glare at me with pure icy wrath. “You love her? If you’d have loved her, you would have helped her escape. You wouldn’t have fed her to the wolves.”

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