FOURTEEN KIERAN

Kieran wakes to the sound of stressed voices out on the beach, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. A groggy glance at the clock on his nightstand tells him it"s far too early, but the voices are getting louder, so he rolls out of bed.

Tugging a pair of sweatpants up over his hips, he slips his shoes on and heads toward the door with a yawn.

There better be a damn good reason for this much noise so early, or Kieran is going to be very grumpy. As soon as he steps out of his bungalow and sees who is making all the racket, he decides he"s going to be grumpy regardless of the reason.

Ethan is sitting in the sand a few doors down, just outside of Miles" bungalow. Even in the moonlight, Kieran can tell he"s pale and shaking, and he quickens his steps. Miles, Isabella, and Dakota are all huddled around Ethan"s trembling form, Dakota crouched down beside him and rubbing his back soothingly.

"What happened?" Kieran asks quietly as he joins the group, directing the question toward Miles.

Ethan"s head pops up, and his face is so heavily streaked with tears that even Kieran is a bit worried about him.

"Someone was in my room," he says, his voice wobbling pitifully.

Dakota hushes him softly as he dissolves into tears again, petting over his hair. She looks up at them with a questioning look on her face. Kieran is just as lost as she is.

"Are you sure you weren"t dreaming?" Isabella asks gently. "Sleep paralysis can make you—"

"It wasn"t a fucking dream!" Ethan wails. "There was someone there."

"I was up, I needed a smoke," Dakota cuts in, still rubbing Ethan"s back. "I thought I saw someone walking around by the forest before Ethan started yelling."

Kieran glances over at Miles, his concern quickly skyrocketing. Who the hell would be lurking around and breaking into people"s bungalows? He hates the fact that it was Ethan"s, too, not because he particularly cares if Ethan is scared, but because it"s right next door to Miles" bungalow. Thinking about Miles saying he thought he saw someone watching them earlier makes his stomach twist unpleasantly.

Miles looks equally unsettled.

"I mean, maybe it was that ghost, right?" Dakota offers, but she sounds kind of halfhearted. "The whole crew has been talking about it. Maybe the island really is haunted."

Kieran bites his tongue from scoffing at that, and Miles catches his eye, glancing to the side meaningfully. He nods, following Miles a few steps away as the girls cajole Ethan back toward his bungalow, promising him tea and to keep a watchful eye on him. They pay no attention to either him or Miles when the two of them stop close to Kieran"s bungalow.

Miles doesn"t say anything, just looks at Kieran with raised brows.

"I know that look," Kieran sighs.

"Then you know what I"m going to say," Miles says, his voice low and insistent. "I saw someone on the beach earlier, and now this?"

Kieran glances off to the side, not wanting to be an asshole and brush it off, but not wanting to encourage Miles to run headfirst into danger, either.

"Maybe it"s someone from Blackwood"s staff."

"Who cares if it"s one of his weird little butlers?" Miles scoffs. "Why would they be in Ethan"s room, or watching us on the beach? We need to figure out what"s going on." Miles pauses and looks meaningfully at the woods. "We should try to follow them and see if we can find anything."

His voice is hard, and he looks determined. Kieran knows he won"t be able to talk Miles out of it, but he has to at least try.

"Miles, that"s insane," he huffs, raising his brows. "We"re in our pajamas, it"s the middle of the night. Blackwood said it was dangerous. Who knows what kind of animals he has wandering around?"

"The only thing we ran into last time were a few security guards," Miles shoots back.

Kieran rubs a hand down his face, wishing he didn"t like the way Miles sounds when he gets argumentative.

"You were scared last time we went out there," Kieran points out, switching tactics. "Aren"t you scared now? You don"t have to put on a brave face for me."

"I am scared," Miles says, shaking his head. "I have a hunch, though."

Kieran sighs, less than thrilled about the whole idea. Miles already has his mind made up, though, and Kieran isn"t about to let him go wandering through the forest alone.

"Fine. Let"s go," he says, resigned. "I swear, if one of us steps on a damn snake or something…"

Miles laughs, then, his eyes crinkling at the corners, and Kieran is helpless to do anything but follow him as he turns and starts toward the edge of the trees. He"d probably follow Miles damn near anywhere if he got to see that smile. God, this crush is really getting out of hand.

"I"m serious," Kieran says, unable to keep himself from chuckling. "I can"t protect you from everything."

Miles rolls his eyes, glancing over at Kieran with an unreadable look on his face as they enter the forest.

"It"s not your job to protect me," he says, sounding a bit guilty.

"No, it literally is," Kieran corrects him, pushing a branch up so they can both step under it easily. "According to the FBI, I"m here as your sidekick."

"Well, then, sidekick," Miles says with a laugh, "in that case, do as I say."

Kieran does his best to level a glare at Miles, but he can"t keep his lips from twitching into a grin. He kind of likes Miles" bossy side. Sassy is a good look on him.

They don"t talk much after that, the forest growing denser around them, the sky still dark save for a smattering of stars. Neither of them has flashlights, so they just peer into the darkness, trying to keep their footsteps as light as possible. Kieran doesn"t actually know how long they"ve been out there, but after a while, exhaustion starts to creep back in, and he yawns.

"We should head back," he says, fighting off another yawn. "I think we"ve explored enough for tonight."

Considering they haven"t found so much as a frog out of place, Kieran thinks their chances of stumbling across anything else are slim to none. But Miles looks back at him, brows furrowed in a frown, and Kieran knows he won"t say no to whatever Miles" counteroffer is.

"C"mon, just a little further," Miles insists. "Ten more minutes, ok? If we don"t find anything, I"ll give up."

Kieran sighs, but nods in agreement.

"Alright, ten minutes."

Miles smiles at him brilliantly, turning to start walking again, and his foot immediately slips on something. Kieran"s hand reaches out in a flash, catching him before he can tumble further. He sighs in relief as he pulls Miles back to stable ground, but when he glances behind the man, his eyes widen in shock.

"Thanks," Miles laughs, his voice shaky. "I"m probably more tired than I thought. Maybe we should head back."

"Miles," Kieran whispers, his eyes fixed on the overgrown stone stairs that Miles slipped on. "Look."

Miles turns to look behind him, and Kieran hears him gasp when he sees it, too. A series of steps lead down into what looks like a bunker, or maybe a tunnel, set into the ground, with foliage growing wildly around the entrance, obscuring it from sight almost as if by design. The two of them share a look, and Kieran shakes his head, opening his mouth to tell Miles this is an awful idea, but Miles is already starting down the stairs, picking his way over loose rock and damp moss carefully.

Kieran follows him hesitantly, glancing around to make sure they"re not being watched here, too. When they reach the bottom of the stairs, Kieran"s eyes adjust, and he sees that there"s a door, heavy metal with six separate latches.

It"s halfway open.

Miles doesn"t look at Kieran for approval this time, just pulls the door the rest of the way open. It"s surprisingly quiet, no loud screeching of hinges like Kieran half expected. With the door open, they can see clear through to the other end, where it opens out into a clearing. It looks like a storage container that had one end chopped off to turn into a tunnel. He follows Miles in, scanning the walls as best he can, but the tunnel itself is completely empty.

They exit into a circular clearing, unlit torches edging the perimeter, ten trails snaking off from various points around the clearing. There are massive wooden trunks at the mouth of each trail.

"Is this part of the safari zone?" Miles asks, his voice hardly more than a whisper as they both look around in confusion. "What would this even be for?"

Kieran sees a trunk just a few feet from them and hesitantly makes his way over to it, keeping in the shadows, scared that someone will pop out and chase them down if he stands out in the open. Miles follows him, stopping by his side when they reach the trunk. It"s latched shut, but there are no locks, so Kieran takes a deep breath and flips the latches open, slowly raising the lid of the trunk.

"What the hell?" he whispers.

It"s dark, and he can hardly make anything out, but it just looks like a big pile of fabric and chains.

Miles leans down, pulling one of the scraps of fabric out and turning it over in his hand. It looks like leather, now that Kieran can see it a bit better, soft, thin, well-worn. The stitching looks like it was done by hand, and there"s a band of elastic at the bottom.

"A…dinosaur mask?" Miles laughs, looking at Kieran in confusion as he twists the fabric in his hand.

Kieran"s blood freezes in his veins as he realizes what it is, and he immediately reaches out to yank it from Miles" hand and throw it back into the trunk.

"It"s not a dinosaur," he whispers, his skin prickling as fear quickens his breathing.

He looks around the clearing, the painting in the library flashing through his mind. A circular clearing, surrounded by a perimeter of torches, a group of men in the center.

"It"s a lizard," Kieran whispers, absolutely horrified.

He takes a single step back, eyes scanning the surrounding forest frantically.

"We need to go," he mumbles, grabbing Miles by the wrist and pulling him back toward the tunnel.

"Kieran, what"s going on?" Miles asks, confused, but not resisting.

He lets Kieran pull him into the tunnel and usher the both of them back toward the open door, not impeding Kieran"s obviously frenzied attempts to get the hell out of there.

"We need to get back to the bungalows, now," Kieran hisses insistently.

The tightness in his chest relaxes just barely when they clear the stairs and step back onto the trail, but he doesn"t let go of Miles" wrist, tugging him along as he rushes back in the direction of the bungalows. Kieran has no idea if anyone else is even out in the woods with them, but if someone is, they need to get back to where they"re surrounded by people, fucking immediately.

His heart doesn"t slow, continuing to hammer in his chest, and he jumps at every sound as they approach the edge of the forest.

He"s pretty sure Miles has been talking to him, but he can"t hear anything past the rushing of blood in his own ears. He doesn"t even try to listen until Miles yanks his wrist free, stopping feet from where the forest starts to thin and the beach begins. He looks terrified, and Kieran takes a step closer, eyes flicking from place to place, his own anxiety mounting.

"What the hell is going on, Kieran?" Miles asks frantically, breathing fast. "What are we running from?"

"Not now," Kieran insists, shaking his head and grasping Miles" wrist again. "We need to get back to the bungalows, come on." Miles opens his mouth to argue, but Kieran cuts him off. "Trust me, Miles. Please."

He hopes Miles trusting him is the right choice.