Siena

"You know I love you, right?" Cam asked, following close behind Siena as they crept back toward the cabin.

Siena scanned beneath the boughs for any peculiar shadows, her attention locked on the forest. But Cam's statement distracted her. She tore her eyes from the trees to Cam, who looked much thinner than the last time Siena saw her, but seemed at peace. This scared Siena as much as the reminder of love.

"I love you, too," Siena said. "Why are you talking like this?"

Cam ran her fingers through her hair and tugged. "A lot has happened, and I just wanted to let you know in case—"

Siena cut her off with a hug. "Don't." She'd worried about Cam for days and days and never wanted the thought of losing her to cross her mind again.

Cam squeezed Siena tighter. "If something happens, promise me you won't dick around and will find a way out of here. You can't wait for me if we get separated."

Siena pulled away, blinking back tears.

Before their universe shifted, Cam either spoke to Siena with a lilt of humor or a guarded distance. Now, her tone carried a rare serious clarity, as if Cam knew this was the most important thing she'd ever ask.

"Isaac may not be right about everything," Siena said. "About you holding me back..."

Cam twisted her finger around Siena's. "Please."

It wasn't a request.

"Hey!"

Siena whipped her head toward the incline. Emmett stood at the top, shotgun in hand.

For the first time in what felt like forever, Siena smiled.

"Don't look," Emmett ordered, guiding Siena around the carnage engulfing the patio. But Siena couldn't tear her eyes from the clumps of viscera decorating the front of the cabin, a result of the shotgun explosion.

"God," Cam groaned. "We'll need to bury him as soon as we can. It's what he deserves. Plus, none of us know the wildlife in these parts."

These parts.

Everything hit Siena at once. Isaac. The dark evil that had burst from his body and chased her through the woods. That she was no longer on the same plane of existence as home.

The sickly sweet stench of death accosted her. In the cabin's doorway, she tried pushing past Emmett to get back outside. "I'm gonna be sick."

"We don't know if that thing will come back." Emmett guided Siena into the living room. "We'll open a window or something."

Opening a window wouldn't be enough.

Siena broke from Emmett and ran to the lab. At the window, she yanked on the lever and shoved it open with a groan, leaned over the sill, and puked into the ferns.

Locks of her hair dangled in front of her face, vomit dripping from the ends. She puked again.

Hearing commotion in the main room, Siena tried lifting herself up to investigate, her stomach rolling in protest.

Get it together,she begged herself. Time will not stop just because your constitution sucks.

The pep talk didn't work. Siena gagged, spitting bile onto the ground and slumping against the windowsill.

Maybe she could just hang here forever, feeling sorry for Isaac, for herself, her team. Dr. Feyrer, a man she'd trusted, had lied to her. Nothing made sense.

How was she supposed to survive this place long enough to figure things out and escape?

Find out what Feyrer knew of this place. Find out what he wanted from me.

But that would take weeks. Isaac had told her she needed to leave now.

Siena didn't know how long she'd been hanging out the window, but gathered herself, tying back her vomit-laced hair with the elastic on her wrist. When she emerged into the main room, Cam was nowhere to be found. Emmett stood at the kitchen table, hastily packing a small bag with supplies.

The stench of the body permeated the cabin. A bead of sweat dripped down Siena's forehead as she swallowed and tried not to gag again.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Emmett tugged the zipper shut. "Cam took off."

"Took off?"

"Just threw stuff in a bag and left. Something about finding Avery Mathis."

If something happens, promise me you won't dick around and will find a way out of here.

Cam hadn't told Siena she loved her in case something happened and she died. Cam had been saying goodbye.

Siena's eyes fluttered shut. "Goddammit, Cameron."

Cam had tried warning Siena, and yet the betrayal still sliced through her heart like a hot blade. She'd left Siena for a woman likely dead, just because Isaac had said Cam would hold Siena back.

Siena was the one alive. She was the one who needed Cam, the only person she could really trust.

Now she had no one. The thought sucked the air from her lungs, the grief as crushing as any other loss.

Siena opened her eyes as Emmett threw the bag over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?"

He tightened the straps of his backpack. "After her."

"What? Why?" It made little sense... He hadn't gone after Cam when she'd ventured up to the glacier. Why would he risk his life for her now? "You can't leave me alone here! What if something happens to you? To both of you?"

Emmett skirted the table and stepped toward Siena, his eyes teeming with determination. He reached out and touched her shoulders. "This may be my last chance to make things—to make everything—up to you. And I know how much you care about her."

"Then let me come with you!"

Emmett shook his head. "No, Sen. I... I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you out there. I'll bury Isaac when I come back with Cam. And I will come back. I promise."

Emmett leaned in and kissed Siena on the mouth, making a strange face when he pulled back.

"I puked," she admitted.

Emmett smiled sadly. "Still worth it. Stay here. I'll find her and be right back."

As Emmett left, Siena glimpsed Isaac's body on the porch.

Emmett promising his return meant nothing in this place.