I can’t fucking believeit.
This is not fucking happening to me.
My insides turn into a knot at the sight of her.
Callie Mays.
It’s deja vu. And I can’t work out the feelings that turn inside me like a ball of snakes.
It’s pouring outside. Three of us were on a night watch when we heard the shouts and saw the shadows in the water.
Three girls.
Two life rings.
Life vests.
We haven’t seen any new faces besides the town Savages and Divide patrol on this side of the island in months.
I picked up the one who couldn’t walk.
And it’sher…
If nightmares could come to life, this was it.
The last time Callie Mays was in my life, I lost my scholarship, wrestling career, and my best friend. The chain of events that followed turned me into a monster—a guy with tattoos that start at the neck and cover a large part of his body down to his ankles. They cover skin so scorched with second-degree burns that, four years later, I still shiver at the memories every time I take a shower and run my hands down the etched skin. Half-smooth with transplanted skin. Half-ridged with the ugly twisted scars.
Ink covers it all but not the memories.
Monsters are real. Especially when you see one in the mirror.
I stare at the girl, who I still hold in my arms, and am paralyzed with the memories. They flicker in my mind like fire sparks. The Block Party and a chain of events that brought me to this fucking island.
Blood pounds in my ears.
Bo stomps into the Common Lounge and halts, studying the three girls. “F-f-f-fuck…”
I hear his voice and I don’t. Because I can’t stop staring at her and she at me.
The low words coming from the others don’t quite reach my mind.
“Fuck, man. Like we need this.”
“The boat crashed. There were ten of us.”
“Only three are here.”
“We should take them to the Divide. Right now.”
“They are Archer’s property.”
“It’s dark. Not tonight.”
And I am still frozen to the ground.
I can’t process this mess.
This wet blond hair plastered to the face that I dreamed of and had nightmares about.