Chapter Eighteen
Adrienne was usually quite immune to hangovers.
She always took an Advil with a glass of alkaline water before bed and woke up in the morning feeling perfectly crisp.
And if a headache ever did linger, she usually booked herself in for an IV drip and a lymphatic massage. By mid-morning she was right as rain.
Tonight, a whole day after the feast, her body still felt tender.
And it wasn’t just the wine. It was Valerie’s voice against her temple, speaking all those delicious, filthy things that had Adrienne so close to climaxing that when Isla had interrupted them, it was like turning off a bursting tap.
Adrienne had spent the rest of the night humming in pain from how badly she wanted Valerie. She still was.
Which was why she crossed her legs, pushed the thought of Valerie’s fingers, which were currently tracing the grain of the wooden bench a mere few inches from Adrienne’s leg, out of her mind and instead concentrated on the podium where only two cups rested on the pedestal.
God help her.
“Tonight, we have two pairs in the bottom. Niko and Amy and Sienna and Tamera,” Vivian said, looking as elegant as ever in a terracotta-colored pleated maxi dress with a plunging neckline. If she were worried about her wife possibly going home tonight, she didn’t show it.
The sky was a bleeding bruise of violent purple and burnt orange. This was the first time The Sending had taken place at sunset, and Adrienne appreciated the momentary distraction. Though it did feel a little too fitting for the bloodbath that was about to happen.
“Amy,” Vivian said, getting right into it. “How does it feel to be sitting there knowing that the numbers might be against you tonight?”
Amy, who had been anxiously bouncing her crossed leg, stopped. She sat up a little straighter. “It never feels good to be here,” she said. “But this game moves fast, and alliances can change right up until the votes are made. It’s all about offering a better deal.”
Better deal? Adrienne thought. Had Amy and Niko somehow convinced Isla and Safiya to go against Sienna and Tamera? But even if they had, the votes would be tied. They’d have to go to sticks—the dreaded last-resort tiebreaker, and the last time that had happened was Season Two.
“And what about you, Adrienne?” Vivian said, turning toward her. “Not that long ago you were sitting here in the hot seat. Do you feel a bit more stable in the game?”
“I don’t think anyone can ever feel stable in a game like this,” Adrienne replied, which was the absolute truth. “But that’s the nature of the game. When you’re playing to win the title of Ultimate Outlast Her, and there’s a million dollars at stake.”
Niko coughed the fakest, most theatrical cough in the entire history of coughs.
Vivian immediately turned toward her. “Do you not agree with Adrienne?”
“I agree with the sentiment,” Niko said, a bitter smile touching her lips. “But I don’t think Adrienne cares about the million dollars like the rest of us do.”
“What do you mean by that, Niko?” Vivian asked, taking the bait like a starving shark. But Adrienne didn’t need to wait for the teeth to sink in to know exactly what Niko had meant. Niko was about to expose her. Fuck.
“Last night I remembered something,” Niko said.
She wasn’t addressing Vivian anymore, but the whole group.
Adrienne’s stomach clenched so tight she felt sick.
“I remembered staying at a Vale Hotel in New York. It was a gift from one of my high-end clients after a successful brunette-to-blonde transformation. And honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced decadence like that.
They had a pamphlet on the table, and it showed where all their other hotels were. Tokyo, Berlin, London.”
“What are you getting at?” Sienna asked, leaning forward. Her eyes darted between Niko and Adrienne, and then, something clicked in her brain, the pieces snapping together. “Oh.”
“Adrienne Vale is the heiress to the Vale hotel empire,” Niko announced, crossing her arms triumphantly. “Which is something she politely forgot to tell us.”
Adrienne braced herself for the impact. But instead of an explosion, there were only a few mild gasps. The reaction was nothing as severe as Adrienne had expected. It was almost as if everyone already knew. As if Niko’s revelation wasn’t really a revelation at all.
Vivian clasped her hands together and frowned. Was Adrienne imagining it, or did Vivian look amused, like she’d found Niko’s outburst entirely funny? “So, if I understand you correctly, Niko, you think Adrienne is undeserving of the win because she’s wealthy? Is that what you’re saying?”
Niko swallowed hard. A rosy stain spread up her neck. It was the same shade as last night’s Veuve Clicquot Rosé. It appeared she hadn’t gotten the reaction she wanted. “No,” she said, looking more sheepish than ever. “I’m saying she doesn’t deserve to win because she wasn’t honest with us.”
“I think Niko forgot that she’s on the chopping block and not Adrienne,” Isla chimed in. She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and shook her head. “You’re shooting yourself in the foot, girl. And honestly, bitterness isn’t a good look on you.”
Niko laughed. Although it was obvious that she was trying to mask her mounting panic.
And Adrienne hadn’t heard a sound that grating ever in her life.
“Tonight is just one vote,” she said. “And if I go out tonight, then so be it. But I’d rather see anyone else here win this game except for Adrienne.
” She clapped her hands as if she were dusting breadcrumbs off her palms and added, “I’m sorry if that makes me sound like an ass.
” It most certainly does, thought Adrienne.
“But just remember that I’m transparent, and Adrienne was not.
She lied to us all from day one. Can you really trust someone who isn’t honest? ”
“Isn’t that what makes her a Sinner?” Valerie said. “Doesn’t that mean she’s playing this game perfectly?”
The entire bench turned to look at her, including Adrienne. Something in her chest bloomed so bright and warm that it was as if she’d swallowed the sun. She could kiss Valerie right now.
Ha! Take that, Niko. Adrienne turned slowly and looked at the hairdresser with the smuggest expression she could muster. Was it dignified? No. Was she proud of it? Not at all, but somehow it felt imperative to let Niko know that she’d lost. And badly.
“Well, I think that’s something everyone can think about,” Vivian said, looking thoroughly entertained. She clapped her hands together. “It’s time to vote.”
ADRIENNE WAS SAD TO see Amy go. The steamy romance writer had grown on her the same way Ted Lasso had stolen her heart and the hearts of millions of viewers.
But unfortunately, Amy was just collateral damage in a war against Niko.
Besides, now that the advantage had been flushed from the game, Adrienne could breathe easier.
She watched a stray spark rise from the fire and vanish into the inky black sky.
“Where’s Safiya?” she asked, glancing around the pit. The last time she’d seen the blonde-haired Saint was at The Sending, after Isla had stood up and played the advantage. The gasp that had escaped Safiya’s mouth had been so loud it was as if she’d swallowed a bee.
“Sulking by the beach,” Isla said, casually undoing the laces of her Hokas. “She’s still mad at me for the whole advantage thing and apparently, quite good at keeping a grudge.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell her about it,” Valerie said, packing a stack of wet kindling next to the fire to dry. “She’s your pair.”
Tamera snorted. “Sienna only told me because I forced the information out of her. I caught her with powdered sugar all over her lips. I’m still halfway to forgiving her.”
Sienna rolled her eyes but smiled.
Isla yanked the shoe off her right foot and frowned. “Just because we’re pairs doesn’t mean we aren’t competitors. In fact, we were each other’s biggest threats. I didn’t tell Safiya because if I get to the end, the Final Council will vote for whoever’s actually played the game.”
Adrienne hadn’t thought about it that way.
Not for a long while, at least. Her eyes drifted to Valerie, whose face was illuminated by the dancing firelight.
Valerie was her biggest competitor. She would be the absolute last obstacle between Adrienne and the title of Ultimate Outlast Her.
The thought lodged icily in her chest and then dragged itself down to the tips of her toes.
Valerie seemed to ponder the enormity of what Isla had said, too. She paused with a piece of dry kindling hovering over the flames. She looked a little green.
“This game is twisted,” Tamera murmured, drawing her knees up to her chest before she wrapped her arms tightly around them. “Has anyone read Lord of the Flies?”
Isla snorted. “None of us are losing our minds.”
“Yet,” Sienna said, then peeled herself off the ground to her feet. “Bedtime,” she added. “I have a feeling the next few days are going to get crazy.”
“Me too,” Isla said, letting out a massive yawn she didn’t bother to cover. “Probably best to get some sleep before Safiya puts a crab on my head.”
There were a few soft chuckles, then only Adrienne and Valerie were left around the fire pit.
There was no way Adrienne could sleep right now.
If she closed her eyes, her brain would conjure up a million scenarios of her and Valerie standing in front of the Final Council.
And then she wondered, who would stab the other in the back first?
“Do you want to go for a walk to the limestones?” Valerie asked after a minute. “I promise we won’t talk about anything serious.” She held up three fingers, palm facing out. “Scout’s honor.”
“Were you ever actually a scout?”
“Thunderbird Troop Forty-two from ages eight to ten,” Valerie said, grinning. “My vest was covered with badges. First Aid, Outdoor Adventure. You name it. For our big winter badge, the troop leaders took us out in the Tongass and made us build a quinzee.”
“Quinzee?”
“It’s a mix between a snow fort and an igloo.”
“Adorable,” Adrienne said. Then she waited for Valerie to walk past before she followed.
Together they walked along the shore, feet in the water until the dark sand gave way to the shelves of limestone.
Adrienne sat down, rested her feet on a makeshift ledge, and ran a palm across the rock.
Above, a cloud was drifting over the stars, snuffing half of them out.
She could hear the faint scuttling of a ghost crab darting across the rocks. Or at least she hoped it was a crab.
“You seriously want to build a house in Sitka?” Adrienne asked, only because the crab made her think of Valerie in Alaska where there were literal bears that could peel a car door open like a tin of sardines, but also because she was tallying the deal breakers and the list was already growing.
Reason number one why it would never work: Valerie wanted to live in Sitka.
“I do,” Valerie said. “For myself and my parents. I’ve spent so much time away from them, even while my mom’s been sick. I don’t want to do that anymore.”
Reason number two: Valerie wanted to live close to her parents.
Adrienne loved her parents, yes, but from a distance.
She went on bi-annual ski trips with Elisabet and Dixon, where they’d meet for après-ski drinks before retreating to separate wings of the chalet.
But if she had to stay within a five-mile radius of them, she would lose her mind.
“I understand,” Adrienne said.
Valerie picked up a stray pebble and clutched it tightly in her fist. “I wasn’t going to join this season,” she said after a while.
“Elise sent me an email ages ago asking if I wanted a second shot, and I didn’t.
I had a full year of charters lined up aboard The Valentine.
I planned to make enough money to get the construction started.
I didn’t want to come back on Outlast Her. ”
“What made you change your mind?”
“Would you believe it if I said you did?” Valerie asked, turning toward Adrienne. Her face was becoming harder to read now that the moon was hidden by a cloud. “That night after you told me you were going on Outlast Her, I wrote Elise back and asked if she still had a spot for me.”
For a second Adrienne thought Valerie was joking, and her first reaction was to throw one back at her. “You know you could’ve just asked for my number, right?”
But then Valerie sighed and glanced ahead again, and Adrienne knew it was more than that. “I didn’t want to speak to you,” she said. “It was more like the thought of you winning something I couldn’t was nauseating. I guess my pride couldn’t take it.”
Brutal honesty. Adrienne had to admit it hurt. But only in the same way a splash of high-percentage glycolic acid hurts for a minute. “Thank you for telling me.”
Valerie let out a self-deprecating huff. “I’m the worst.”
Adrienne scooted closer until her thigh touched the outside of Valerie’s knee. “You’re not the worst,” she said and meant it. “And honestly, I’m a little flattered.”
Valerie laughed so loudly that her voice bounced pleasantly off the rocks.
Then she turned to face Adrienne again. This time she reached out a hand and swiped a few strands of hair off Adrienne’s neck.
Her fingertips were so soft against Adrienne’s skin that she shuddered.
“You should be flattered,” she whispered.
“But not because of your Instagram following or your last name. But because you’re genuinely amazing, Adrienne. ”
Genuinely amazing.
“Thank you,” Adrienne whispered back, but only because her voice would crack, and she might actually cry if she spoke any louder, or if Valerie had said anything kinder.
Funny that Adrienne, who thrived on the shallow adoration of millions of strangers, was being entirely undone by a woman who didn’t care about her brand at all. “We should probably get back.”
Valerie smiled and stood up first. “Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”
Indeed, that it was.