Chapter 23

C HAPTER 23

"Where'd you find that?"

Brooke motions to the small whisky bottle in my hand as I sit on the bank and dip my feet into the steaming pool.

I spin the bottle between my fingers. "In the backpack Theo was carrying."

"I didn't know it was there," he says, slipping into the water and swimming to the other side of the circle.

"Never have I ever lied about hiding booze from my fellow castaways." I arch a brow.

"Neither have I," Theo says.

"Over here." Henry motions for me to throw him the bottle. "I nicked it and didn't tell anyone. A lie of omission." He grins, flashing his dimple in the dusky light.

I toss him the bottle and he looks very pleased with himself as he untwists the cap and takes a small sip.

"What were you and Brooke debating?" I ask.

"Whether the monarchy has a place in modern society, but I won. She can't argue with the fact that countries with mon archies are more politically stable and have more money than countries without."

"To be fair, I'm not sure that's justification enough in the twenty-first century," Victoria says.

"Traitors, both of you." Henry motions between Victoria and Theo.

Victoria rolls her eyes. "Everyone our age hates the monarchy, and we need to change to keep up with the times."

"You haven't heard my strongest argument," Henry says.

Victoria quirks an eyebrow and motions for him to continue.

Henry holds up his hands and waits for silence. "It's really fucking wicked to live in a palace! Debate that, Brooke!" He takes another drink.

Brooke rolls her eyes. "I don't debate eighteen-year-olds."

"Told you I won." Henry smirks proudly. "What about you, darling?" He turns his attention to me. "Ever given it any thought?"

"Given what any thought?"

"Living in a palace."

I do not let myself look at Theo as my face turns scarlet. "Not really."

"Too bad. We could have fun togeth—"

"Cut the shit," Theo snaps.

"What?" Henry shrugs innocently. "I'm not stepping in the middle of something, am I?" He throws Theo a loaded glance that makes my insides squirm.

"Never have I ever been jealous of my brother and pretended I wasn't," I say pointedly.

"Nice try," Henry says. "I've never pretended I don't want what Theo has."

I feel like the ground has shifted under me, and I need to get this conversation back on track. "It must be easy to defend the monarchy when you get all of the privilege but none of the drawbacks."

Henry chuckles and tips the bottle toward me. "Never have I ever wished I was born into a different family." Without looking at Theo, he hands the bottle off to his brother. Theo tosses back a small sip. Henry's face clouds, the mask on his vulnerability slipping for a fraction of a second. I can't help but think how much of his constant cockiness and flirting is just to cover how much he wants Theo's life.

Theo holds the bottle up to his sister. "You should probably drink too, but that seems like a bad idea. How are you feeling?"

Victoria wipes sweat off her brow. "I'm all right. I'm—"

A tremor travels across the surface of the water, scattering ripples across the hot spring. "What was that? Who did that?" My gaze travels over to Comet, but he's still sleeping undisturbed under a tree.

"You didn't feel it?" Victoria asks.

"Feel what?" Brooke says.

"The ground has been shaking on and off since we landed. I've felt it at least a dozen times."

"What, like bloody earthquakes?" Theo asks. Our eyes meet, the way they always seem to. He raises an eyebrow like, Can you believe this shit?

We're cursed, I mouth back.

Victoria shrugs. "I don't know what else it would be. It only ever lasts a couple of seconds, and no one else has noticed but me. I thought I was going a bit mental."

"A dozen of them?" Henry is skeptical.

"Earthquake swarms are common in volcanic regions," Brooke says.

"Is that dangerous?" I ask.

We fall quiet as we scan our surroundings. We're on a beautiful tropical island, but we're also climbing the side of a freaking volcano. Everything about the island that once felt peaceful takes on a menacing air, from the shadows in the trees to the inky-black depths of the hot spring.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Brooke decides, but a telltale crease forms between her brows. "Pass me the bottle?" She holds her hand out to Theo.

"Uh-uh. You've got to play the game," Henry says.

"I need the bottle to play the game."

"One drink left," Theo says as he passes the booze to my sister.

"Sorry, Wren, this is going to be a short game and you're not legal yet." She takes a deep breath. "Never have I ever dropped out of law school and secretly regretted it every day since." She downs the rest of the whisky and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I knew it!" I cry. "How long have you known?"

"Since about three days after I had my quarter-life crisis and made a huge point of telling everyone that I was taking time off to ‘find myself'?"

"And you're positive this time?" I lean forward, wondering how she can be so certain.

She nods.

"All the jobs in the world and you want to be a bloody barrister? Interesting," Henry muses.

"What did you decide about law school, Wheeler?" Theo asks. His tone is cool, but he looks at me like my answer is the only thing he cares about.

"I agree with Henry."

"Do you now?" Henry throws his brother a cocky grin.

I sigh and scrub my hands through my tangled hair, regretting bringing this up in front of everyone. "It's a lot of pressure to choose the right path, that's all." I feel a burn at the back of my throat and look down at my lap. "I almost died— twice —and when we're rescued, I don't want to screw up my second chance at life."

" If we're rescued," Victoria says ominously, and an awkward silence settles over all of us.

"New game!" Henry claps his hands together. "Truth or dare?"

"No."

"Are you kidding?"

"Pass."

"Absolutely not."

I sigh. "Let's play something less likely to get us in trouble." Truth or dare always results in the wrong people kissing, or someone getting naked, or someone doing something irredeemably stupid. Plus, there's a couple of truths I'm currently planning to take to my grave. "Have you ever played two truths and a lie?"

Henry's face brightens. "What's the reward for guessing right? Or the punishment for guessing wrong?"

"The punishment is being stuck on this godforsaken island," Victoria mutters.

"I have a better idea," Brooke says. "Would You Rather. It's simple and we don't need rewards or punishments." When no one protests, she continues. "Victoria can start, and we'll go in a circle."

Victoria closes her eyes and grimaces. "My question is for Wren. Would you rather move to London where you can see Comet all the time, or stay in Chicago and never hang out with him?"

"I don't understand the question."

"Which part?" Her face is impassive.

"The part that assumes that Comet is going to live anywhere other than with me. He's my dog."

"It's hypothetical," she says evenly, but I recognize the trap. She's trying to get me to admit that I don't need Comet because she wants to keep him.

"I—I don't—that's not—"

"You have to pick one," Brooke says.

"While I reject the premise of the question, Chicago is literally where I live and where I'm going to school and it's where all my family and friends are, so I guess I'd rather stay in my own country."

"Without your dog?" she prompts.

"If that's the question," I say through gritted teeth.

She frowns like she's disappointed by my answer, which I don't understand at all. I thought she wanted me as far away from her family as possible.

"Your turn," she says. She moves to the bank of the hot spring and leans against it.

I sigh, wishing I could slip fully into the water and float away. "Henry. Would you rather be able to fly or see the future?" I'm already regretting letting Brooke overrule my idea to play two truths and a lie. At least in that game I would have had control of the information I shared with this group.

"That's an easy one, innit? Considering our circumstances, I'd fly," Henry answers. "My turn?"

"That question is boring!" Victoria whines. "The game's not fun if you don't ask something hard."

"Too late. She only gets one," Henry says. "My question is for my brother."

"Of course," Theo drawls.

"Would you rather give up the throne—"

"That one," Theo says.

Henry smiles. "I'm not finished."

"I don't need more information."

"You might." Henry's grin turns wicked, and dread prickles the skin at the back of my neck. "Would you rather give up the throne, or give up your marriage?"

Theo's expression is hard to read in the dying light. "What?"

"It's just a hypothetical. Wren, or the throne?"

Theo's eyes dart to me, and I feel like I'm sinking, like I might never breathe again.

I wrench my eyes away. "What if he doesn't want either?" I quip. My attempt to relieve the awkward tension only makes things worse. Brooke's expression fills with a sympathy that makes me want to catapult myself off the island.

"You're a prick. I'm not answering that," Theo says.

Henry smirks in delight. "Are you pulling rank, Your Majesty?"

"Yes." Theo looks at me. "My question's for Wheeler. Would you rather—"

"Get rescued right now or stop playing this game? It's a toss-up."

"Game over." Brooke lifts her hands.

"No, it's okay. I'm not too scared to answer," I say. The truth is, I'm dying to know what question he'll ask.

"Would you rather go back in time three months, or jump three months into the future?"

"That's too easy!" Henry protests. "In three months, we'll be rescued—"

"Or dead," Victoria adds helpfully. She tucks a piece of her hair behind her ear with trembling fingers.

"But if she goes back in time, she can get on her plane in London and avoid meeting me completely, which means she never would have been on the plane that crashed in the first place," Theo says, never taking his eyes off mine.

The stakes are spelled out for everyone. He's calling my bluff. He wants to know if I really regret meeting him, and everything that came after. The wedding. The heartbreak. The three months of feeling like I've been caught in a current, unable to do anything but gasp for breath and wait for the ocean to spit me onto shore, tired and bruised and too scared to try again.

My chest burns as I meet his unflinching gaze. I'm tempted to fall back into old habits: to avoid my feelings and bury them under ten layers of sarcasm. It never worked on him before, but there's so much strange, distant tension between us that it might this time. We're under the same sky, but I'm starting to wonder if we're the same people we used to be.

Steam curls over the water, and maybe it's the heat going to my head, or the way the starlight glints off Theo's bare shoulders, but if the comet taught me anything, it's that I can't pretend away my feelings. Hiding them never got me anywhere I wanted to go.

"I'd go back in time."

He doesn't flinch.

"I don't feel good," Victoria says suddenly. She vomits on the shore and then slumps against the side of the hot spring.

"Get out of the water," Theo commands, already swimming toward her.

I reach her first and help her boost herself out on trembling arms.

"My head… I'm dizzy." She sounds like she's out of breath. She shakes me off and stands on her own, but then she stumbles forward.

"Wait. Let me help you." Theo scrambles out of the water, his feet and hands slipping against the muddy ground. He lunges for his sister, but he's too late.

We all watch in horror as Victoria's knees buckle.