Page 99 of Escaping Rejection

I shrugged, not wanting to show my cards, but J.D.’s words echoed in my head. If there was a way to get out of Haven to search for Leif or Abel, I wasn’t going to pass it up. “If you need help.”

Crew’s eyes narrowed. “You just got here. From what I hear, you barely made it here alive. Why would you want to go back out so soon?”

From what I’d learned from Zoe’s letters and Chelsey’s description, Crew came from a privileged background, similar to Wyatt and Mika. Being stuck on this island had obviously hardened him, turned him into some sort of survivalist warrior. I wasn’t scared of him, though. Everyone who lived here revered him as a savior. Anyone who could garner that type of devotion had to be an honorable person. Maybe he’d understand what I wanted to do.

“Question,” I said, ignoring his own for the moment. “Is there a way to find a specific feral on the island?”

He straightened up. “Not likely. There are dozens of ferals. Actually, more like hundreds. Tell me why you want a feral.” His voice was still cordial, but there was a hard edge when he added, “Don’t lie.”

“One of our friends, an alpha from the show, is out there. He vanished during a challenge, then showed up again less than two days later, completely feral. He had no symptoms before leaving. It doesn’t make sense. We think if we find him, there might be a way to save him.”

Instead of scoffing at the idea, Crew locked eyes with Eli. The two shared a look, and I could see an unspoken conversation was taking place.

“We have a theory about that,” Crew said.

“Wait, really?”

He gestured toward the fae sitting at the table. “We’ve noticed a lot of newly turned ferals, more than would happen naturally. Many of the magic users here in Haven think there could be a way to help them change back and regain their sanity, so to speak. At least for the recently turned, that is. Like your friend.”

“Hang on,” I said. “So this is a thing? Can ferals be brought back? I’ve never heard of this before.” I paused. “Sorry, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. Iwantto help Leif, but I thought it was a long shot. Nearly impossible.”

Crew tilted his head and grinned sadly. “Typically, it is, but we’ve been here long enough to see what Simon is doing on this island. Most of the time, only Eli or myself go out, but every now and then, others go foraging, too. We’ve had a few folks escape while he or one of his experiments tries to drag them back to the lab he has near the volcano. Those few times, our people saw enough to know this guy is really fucked up. We think he’s causing these rapid transitions to madness with one of his experiments. Once we had our suspicions, we tried to keep tabs on him when possible. Again, we think we can help them, but once they’re driven to become feral, it takes me weeks or months to find them. At that point, it’s been too long. Nothing can be done if we don’t get to them in the first week or so.”

Hope soared within my chest. “Well, Leif only changed a few days ago. There could still be time.”

Crew nodded slowly. “Possibly. If he is that recent of a case, we may very well be able to help him. I have to admit, it would be huge for morale in Haven if we actually succeed.” He eyed me closely with his one piercing blue eye. “Are you saying you want to go? If we agree to this?”

“I do,” I blurted.

“All right. If you’re really sure about it, you can leave Haven with me. It’ll be a short excursion. I need to harvest some things for us here, but while we’re out, we can check for your friend.”

“The hell you will!”

I closed my eyes. Wyatt came stomping out of the hall behind me. He’d heard everything. I didn’t even need to see his face to know how pissed he was.

“Kira isn’t going anywhere. There’s no way she’s leaving to go back out in that hell hole,” Wyatt said.

“Wyatt, this is to help Leif,” I said. “Don’t you want that?”

“What I want,” he said, glaring at me, “is for you to stop putting yourself in danger. I have to be here to keep you from doing something stupid like this.”

My own anger surged now. Did he not see what we had at stake? The life of our friend?

“Can you really say that Leif doesn’t deserve our help?” I asked, then waved to Crew and the others. “Especially if these people say they can help him?”

Wyatt held his hands up almost in surrender. “I feel bad for Leif, I really do, but he is not your responsibility.”

“Oh, well, then whose responsibility is he?’

Wyatt sputtered. “Well, I don’t know. I guess all I know is that he’s notyours. That’s all that matters.”

I jammed my fists into my sides and pressed my face close to his. “And if it was me out there? Feral and running around like a lunatic? Who would be the one to go and saveme?”

“I would,” Wyatt bellowed, jabbing himself in the chest with a thumb.

“Fine. Now you see how I feel. It’s final, I’m going. You can get on board, or you can go pout about it. Up to you, big guy.”

Wyatt gritted his teeth and ran his hands through his hair. “You drive me crazy. If that’s the way you feel, then do what you want, but I’m going, too.” He turned and glared at Crew. “I’m not happy with you, either,” he said, leveling a finger at the leader of Haven. “Why did you give her permission to do this, anyway?”