Chapter Eleven #2
Vivian seemed to agree because she clapped her hands together once, like she always did, and said, “Well then, with that we vote.”
IT HAD TURNED OUT VALERIE didn’t have a protection bracelet. It also turned out that Barra had quite a bit of power in the game. With just a few words whispered to Hazel, then Tilly and Toph, Juniper had gone home, and Valerie had stayed.
Barra had secretly enjoyed the outrage on Sutton’s face when Vivian had said, “Valerie, tonight the game gave you a second chance. What you do with it is entirely up to you.”
Though Barra was fairly certain she’d be on the receiving end of Sutton’s wrath first thing in the morning. For now, she had to endure the silent treatment, which had started the second they’d left The Sending and carried all the way to bedtime.
Barra turned onto her side just as something creaked nearby. She held her breath.
Through the darkness, Barra could just spot the outline of a person slipping past the shelter entrance.
She squinted, then squinted harder until her eyes strained.
The moon wasn’t very bright this evening, but Barra was pretty sure Allie had just snuck out of the shelter.
Was she on her way to Moon Pit? Nope. Allie had taken a left. Moon Pit was to their right.
Barra didn’t hesitate. She was up and out of the shelter before she could talk herself out of it.
At first, Barra kept her distance, stepping where Allie stepped, careful not to snap any stray twigs.
But Allie was moving fast. She brushed a low-hanging palm frond away and then ducked beneath a broad cecropia branch.
Barra didn’t look back over her shoulder, but she was pretty certain camp was out of view.
She barely had time to wonder why a woman who was terrified of snakes and spiders would willingly walk through the jungle at night, but before she could process that thought, Allie had taken a left and was moving even deeper.
Barra had to follow quickly if she was going to keep up. She brushed leaves out of her face, ignored the wail of a howler monkey, and wondered why Allie wasn’t screaming at the sound. Then she stubbed her toe on a root and was just about to yelp when suddenly Allie was spinning around.
“Why are you following me?” Allie snapped.
Barra paused, not just because she’d been caught or because her toe was throbbing, or her heart was hammering, but because of Allie’s tone and that scowl on her face.
Barra asked the only question that popped into her head. “Are you angry at me?” But why on earth would Allie be angry? Well, apart from following her, which, in her opinion, was rather endearing. It had become their thing.
There was a pause, then Allie exhaled and folded her arms over her chest. She obviously didn’t agree. “Of course I’m angry at you,” she shot. “You could’ve told me you were voting for Juniper instead of Valerie. You could’ve let me in on the fricken plan.”
Oh. Of course.
“It had been a last-minute decision,” Barra admitted, feeling relieved enough to shake out the tension in her shoulders.
And it actually had been a last-minute decision.
On a whim, Barra had whispered to Tilly, sitting beside her, that the new plan was to vote off Juniper, and she crossed her fingers that they’d go for it.
Then she’d relayed the message to Elodie and Anna, mentioning it was Allie’s decision.
In hindsight, this was a villain move. In the end, the only ones who voted for Valerie to go home had been Allie and Sutton.
Margaret and Connie hadn’t been in on the plan, but even their vote had been to keep Valerie in the game.
So, yes, there had been some deceit, but Barra couldn’t stand the thought of Sutton thinking she was on top.
“I trusted you.”
“You can still trust me,” Barra said, stepping forward, closing the gap.
The sticky, humid air was the worst it had been since they got there.
It felt like a hot blanket on her shoulders, and all she could smell was wet salt from the Pacific, but for some reason, it was the gap between them that irked her the most.
Allie huffed out a breath and looked down at the ground.
A thin strip of moonlight cut through the trees and caught the faint sheen of sweat on her temples.
“But Sutton can’t,” she said, softer than before.
“And Sutton and I are in this game together. If she doesn’t want to vote with you, that means—”
“Why do you want to vote with me?” Barra interrupted, the question arriving so fast it felt like she’d been smacked over the head with something hard. “Is it because working with me is good for your game? Because you need numbers... or...”
“Or?” Allie asked, frowning. The moonlight caught in her eyes and turned them annoyingly, distractingly soft.
The kind of soft that made Barra step even closer because she didn’t actually care what the answer was.
Surely, she’d known all along what was going to happen when she’d followed Allie into the jungle.
“Or,” Barra repeated, stepping forward again. She reached out a hand until her fingertips touched Allie’s forearm. Allie’s arms fell to her sides as if Barra’s touch had burned her. But Barra wasn’t offended.
“You want to kiss me again,” Barra said, the words slipping out before she could stop them. She didn’t wait. Waiting was how things slipped through your fingers, and for some reason she knew that Allie wouldn’t push her away this time.
And then, without a second wasted, Barra was kissing Allie. Her mouth pressed and nudged. Allie’s inhale was quick and shaky and pulled Barra in deeper. Barra’s hand slid to Allie’s waist while her lips parted, and her tongue brushed against Allie’s mouth.
“This is a bad idea,” Allie whispered, pulling back a little. Her breath was so hot against Barra’s mouth that it almost felt like she’d swallowed fire. “We’ll just end up regretting it.”
“I know,” Barra whispered back. And she did know. She knew it deeper than her bones.
But then she pulled Allie closer and kissed her again.