Chapter Nineteen
Barra had seen it coming. By the end of that challenge, Elodie had looked like something the ocean had wrung out and left to dry.
Her pink hair had clung damply to her neck, her eyelids were droopy, and her skin had gone an unsettling grey.
Every time she’d tried to pull in a breath, there’d been this tight, uneven wheeze that made Barra think of those dog toys with a half-broken squeaker.
Maureen had checked her out immediately after the challenge. One minute she was crouching at Elodie’s side with her raspberry pink stethoscope pressed to Elodie’s chest, and the next, she was flicking her fingers, saying, “Let’s get her to the med tent. Now.”
Elodie’s game had been over before she’d had a chance to argue.
“I know it was hard to say goodbye to Elodie today,” Vivian said, her voice softening as if this were Elodie’s eulogy.
It wasn’t. Thank goodness. To everyone’s relief, the pink-haired winner of Season Six was very much alive.
She was currently in a hospital bed somewhere with a course of intravenous antibiotics to treat what Maureen suspected was pneumonia.
“But she’s being well taken care of by the medical team. ”
There was a pause.
“Unfortunately, it does not mean someone won’t be eliminated tonight,” Vivian said.
Shit.
Barra was left with a metallic taste in her mouth.
With Elodie medically removed, Anna stood alone against Barra and Allie.
She no longer had a partner or a second vote.
No one was left to absorb the damage if the beach turned on her.
Since they’d been the last pairs in the previous challenge, the three of them were the only ones at risk.
Two winners and one newbie. At this stage of the game, that distinction mattered.
Previous winners in this game were seen as underdogs. Why give someone who’d already won the title and a million dollars another shot at it? But then again, why not?
And then there was the subject of the protection bracelet.
Anna and Elodie knew about it. They could easily have mentioned it to Toph and Tilly or Valerie and Margaret.
If Barra were in their shoes, she’d either aim to flush the advantage or have Allie go home with it in her pocket.
There was no bigger regret in this game than going home with an unplayed advantage.
“So, Allie,” Vivian said, smiling softly.
Her lipstick, a deep burgundy, was the same color as her slip dress.
Even Barra, who didn’t care all too much about fashion, could see that the two complemented each other.
“You’ve just stepped back into this game with a new partner.
How does it feel knowing you are on the brink of going home again? Or ending up without a partner?”
Allie let out a small breath that did very little to mask her nerves.
She was chewing her bottom lip raw. Barra was nervous too, probably the most she’d been all game.
The stakes were raised. If Barra got sent home, or if Allie did, who knew when they’d see each other again.
And what if time and distance only solidified what Barra was terrified of?
Barra shook the thought out of her head like a wet golden retriever.
Literally. Vivian frowned at her. She looked like she was about to ask her a question, but then Allie answered.
“No one enjoys being at the bottom,” she said, flattening her palms across the front of her thighs.
“And even if you’re not on the chopping block tonight, it doesn’t mean you won’t be tomorrow.
No one is safe in this game. There’s always another Sending waiting. ”
“Do you agree with that, Anna?” Vivian asked.
Anna was staring up at the orange sky blazing through the canopy. She looked completely distracted. Not that Barra could blame her. It was a gorgeous evening. “I do,” she said, nodding. “I’ve never felt safe in this game and I definitely don’t tonight.”
Vivian looked satisfied. She stepped onto the platform and gestured to three cups waiting on the pedestal beside her. “Since we’re down to three people tonight, voting will happen a little differently,” she said.
Barra raised her eyebrows. How differently?
“You won’t be voting in pairs tonight,” Vivian continued. “You’ll be voting as individuals. Each of you—minus the three at the bottom—will take a stone and place it into the cup of the person you want to see leave the game tonight.”
A beat of silence followed.
Barra felt her stomach clench into a tight little ball.
“Tilly, you’re up first,” Vivian said, nodding to the marine biologist.
By the time Margaret had gone up to drop her stone and sat back down, Barra felt like she’d bitten into a week-old tuna mayo sandwich and was now suffering the consequences.
The votes came down to only four people.
Two of them she could trust—Tilly and Toph—and two she absolutely couldn’t.
But then again, what if Tilly and Toph turned on her?
What if it ended up in a draw? What if Allie played the protection bracelet wrong? What if she didn’t?
“Alright, let’s count the votes,” Vivian said before Barra could run through every possible scenario in her head.
Then she paused, like she always did. Drama was the crutch that kept this game alive.
Finally she added, “But before we do, is there anyone who would like to play an advantage?” The last time she’d asked the question, everyone had looked around at each other. This time it was no different.
Except...
Allie pressed her hands against her knees and stood.
She didn’t look at Barra, not even a quick blink in her direction.
She just reached into the back pocket of her jean shorts and pulled out a braided band of sun-faded leather threaded with green jade beads.
A single hammered gold charm shaped like a palm leaf caught the fading light.
It was beautiful. Barra couldn’t take her eyes off it. “I do,” Allie said.
At those two words, Barra snapped her attention back to Allie, who was already walking toward Vivian.
They’d spent a ridiculous amount of time at camp agonizing over whether or not to play it tonight.
They had gone in circles until Barra finally made Allie promise she would play it for herself.
That was the deal. That was fair. It was her advantage after all.
Allie handed the bracelet over.
“I can confirm this is the protection bracelet,” Vivian said, lifting it into the firelight. The gold charm gleamed bright orange. “Who are you playing it for?”
Allie glanced back over her shoulder, and Barra immediately felt a spike of panic that slid down her arms like ice-cold water. She didn’t know why, or maybe she did; maybe it was the blank stare on Allie’s face.
“I’d like to play the protection bracelet for Barra,” Allie said.
UGH! Had Allie seriously just broken her promise?
“Alright,” Vivian said. “Let’s count the votes.”
“THANK YOU,” BARRA WHISPERED in Allie’s ear.
It came out softer than she meant, but then Allie leaned into her.
Her hair brushed Barra’s cheek and set her skin alight with prickly goosebumps.
Then she said even softer, “I had a gut feeling I needed to play it for you,” and Barra’s insides felt all warm and toasty.
There had been two votes against Barra—which hadn’t counted because of the protection bracelet—and two against Anna.
Which meant Toph and Tilly could still be trusted, but also that Valerie and Margaret could not.
Had Barra expected anything different? Not really.
What she had expected was a few more shocked gasps when Allie had pulled out the protection bracelet.
Clearly, Elodie and Anna had run their mouths off to the other contestants.
But then again, Barra would’ve done the same thing.
Information like that was like currency in this game.
“Remind me to always trust your gut,” she said, pushing a branch away from her face and holding it out so it didn’t snap back and hit Allie.
When she let it go again, she caught sight of something flickering through the thinning trees.
A tiny stab of light. At first, she thought it was a camera flash.
But no, the closer it got, the stronger it became.
Wait. Was that their fire pit?
If it was, then surely the fire was taller and brighter than it had ever been.
Flames licked the night sky orange. For a brief second, Barra actually stopped walking and imagined the jungle opening its mouth and spewing flames.
But that image was smacked away by Tilly speeding right past her.
She clipped Barra’s shoulder and shouted, “CAMP’S BURNING DOWN! ”
She got halfway to the trees when Toph called, “IT’S A BONFIRE, TIL!”
And it was a bonfire. The moment they stepped onto the sand, Barra could see that the flames were perfectly contained in the makeshift stone pit. They rose high and wild, but controlled. And basking beside it was a long wooden table set for six.
Barra gasped. So did everyone else.
“Is this real?” Allie said, dropping her rucksack to the sand. “Or am I just dreaming?”
“Definitely dreaming,” Margaret said, already swinging one leg over the wooden bench.
“Does it matter?” Tilly asked, grinning so wide her lips were lost behind her teeth.
It didn’t matter.