I twisted around to Richard and Cormack, pointing at the bell. “This! We can use this!”
Together with Richard and Cormack, I climbed down and levered the rocks to allow the full length of the rope to descend to the pit.
We got Kara out first, then Constance, Gray and Jennifer.
I wrapped myself around Gray. He was shivering. Cold, wet. Had he lost too much blood?
I lightly touched his wounds. “We need to bandage these.”
“I’m okay. I’ll be okay,” he answered.
He pressed his forehead down to mine. A flock of peacocks in flight made us both look up, their pink-tipped wings spread wide as they came in for smooth, elegant landings. I hadn’t even known peacocks could fly before this morning.
Poppy remained doubled over on the ground. She pushed her face up to me, a thin line of blood streaking from the side of her mouth. “The boyfriends I told you about? They didn’t die of accidental overdoses. I killed them. Because they looked at girls who weren’t me.” Her lips pulled to one side in a small, cold smile.
I stared back. I hadn’t known the first thing about her.
Turning my back on her, I walked away with Gray.
I didn’t know how far it was to the nearest island. Hours? Could any of us even find our way to another island through the ocean? We could be lost out there for days. We needed Sethi, but none of us knew whether he’d made it out or drowned.
I turned to face Jennifer, catching her eye. Her eyes were terrified above the bright smears of blood on her face, and I knew that terror was for Sethi. “Let’s go find him.”
The seven of us made our way off the cliff top, through the hills. We found Mei and Thomas on the way. Both dead. Both seemed to have fallen off the cliff edge. Whether they were pushed or had chosen to jump rather than allow themselves to be captured, I couldn’t tell. But I guessed they’d made the decision to jump. The Saviours would surely not allow any of their quarry to die so easily.
We closed Mei and Thomas’s eyes as a sign of respect and continued on down to the beach.
“Stay here,” Jennifer told us. “I’ll go find Sethi.”
Gray and Cormack stepped across to Jennifer.
“I’ll be back soon,” Gray said. “Sethi saved our lives. We need to find him.”
The three of them sprinted away.
Richard tried to hold my arm, but I shrugged him away. Gray had almost not returned to me once. I needed to be beside him.
As I rounded the bend, a figure emerged from behind an outcrop, her eyes large and filled with adrenaline. Ruth. Instinctively, I reached for my gun.
“What do you want?” I asked her, pointing my handgun at her.
“You don’t honestly think I’m going to hurt you, do you?” Her face was covered in cuts and bruises.
“Why did you take off on your own?” I demanded, choosing not to answer her question directly.
She raised her eyebrows. “I’ve been picking off any Saviour that I can find. I didn’t want to wait for them to come to us. I used to go hunting wild boar with my father. I’m a good shot.”
“I’m supposed to believe that’s what you’ve been doing?” I said, my voice catching. “So many good people died. But you’re still here.”
“I didn’t push you in Challenge Four in order to gain some kind of glory, Evie.”
“Why did you push me?”
“Hear me out. I didn’t trust Harrington. Not from the first day. So I kept him close. You know that saying about keeping your enemies close? I made him think I was just like him, just so I could try to figure out who the hell he was. I even told him I just pretended to lose my shit in the mirror challenge—because I was damned sure he was pretending.”
I exhaled tensely, waiting for her to finish.
“And in Challenge Four,” she said, “the moment I knew we were working with dangerous elements, I was watching him like a hawk. When you were bringing your puzzle piece up to me, Harrington was racing up behind you. He had his puzzle piece out in front of him. I caught the insane look in his eyes, and I knew exactly what he intended to do. He wanted to catch you in between the two magnets. There wasn’t any time. And there was a bird swinging your way. I did my best to save you. Sorry you got hurt.”
My knees weakened, and I replayed those moments in my mind. Harrington had been behind me. And I knew now what kind of man he was. I lowered my gun. “Thank you . . .”
“You don’t need to thank me.”
It was too late now to follow Gray. And I couldn’t go on my own. I barely even knew how to use this gun. I leaned against the outcrop. “What happened after you were told you’d been eliminated from the program?”