On This Island, I Make the Rules

Chapter 006

Ethan stood over Brooke, trembling.

His anger had carried him this far. Now, staring at the fear she was trying to hide, he could see the edge of what he was about to become.

“My dad treated you like his own son,” she said. “From the moment you moved in.”

Tears slipped down her face.

“And I had to share him with you. You took him from me. Now you want to hurt me? After everything he did for you?”

The mention of David hit Ethan harder than her slap.

He stopped.

He remembered his father's death. David taking him home. All the years the man had worked to make sure Ethan had somewhere to belong.

Then he remembered his own father's words: Be someone people can depend on. Stand up for yourself, but don't lose sight of who you are.

Ethan released her and stepped back.

His father hadn't raised him to answer cruelty with a different kind of cruelty.

That didn't make the anger disappear. It left him with nowhere to put it.

“I've put up with you for years,” he said. “Why couldn't you let me have even a little dignity?”

His voice broke.

“You took money out of the allowance your dad gave me. Every time. Do you have any idea what it was like living that way?”

Brooke said nothing.

“Sometimes I think you wanted me dead. How can you hate someone that much?”

“I wanted you out of my house!”

She said it as though that explained everything.

She straightened her clothes and watched him, her expression unreadable.

Ethan's anger drained away, leaving him hollow.

“If we get back,” he said, “I'll leave.”

He remembered the grubs they had left behind. Without another word, he turned and headed toward the trees.

“You still owe us!” Brooke called after him. “Don't think you can talk to me however you want.”

Then, less certainly, she added, “Maybe I'll be nicer. If you stop acting like this.”

Ethan didn't turn around.

Ten minutes later, he returned with the roasted grubs. He had moved as quickly as he could. Knowing what was out there made every rustle in the undergrowth sound like a warning.

One wrong move could kill him.

He handed Brooke three grubs.

“I'm not eating those.”

She stared at their golden-brown skins, her stomach turning.

“Then don't. That's what we have.” His voice was flat. “But if you get too weak to walk, don't expect me to carry you through a forest full of those things.”

He wasn't going to coax her anymore. He wasn't going to apologize for failing to produce food that didn't exist.

“Ethan... are you going to leave me?”

For once, she used his name.

Her eyes filled again, and he could see that this time she was truly frightened. Not angry. Frightened of being left alone.

He almost wished he had stood up to her years ago.

“No,” he said. “I'm not leaving you.”

“Then I'll eat.”

She picked up a grub, closed her eyes, and held it near her mouth.

Nothing happened.

“Eat it, Brooke.”

She still couldn't bring herself to do it.

Frustration flared in him. They didn't have time for this. Whatever he said, he knew he couldn't abandon David's daughter. If she made herself too weak to move, they would both pay for it.

He caught her chin and pushed the grub into her mouth.

She cried out and tried to spit it away.

“You—”

He cut her off.

“Don't waste it.”

His tone made her stop. Tears stood in her eyes, but she forced herself to chew.

The first bite took all her nerve.

At the second, her expression changed.

She chewed again, swallowed, and looked down at the other two grubs. A moment later, she ate them as well.

“They're actually... not bad. Kind of like chicken.” She looked up. “If we can find these, we won't starve.”

For the first time, something like trust entered the way she looked at him.

Ethan wasn't impressed.

“You think there's an endless supply?”

The little spark of hope in her face faded.

“Then what do we do?”

Three grubs had barely taken the edge off her hunger. What happened when they couldn't even find those? Were they supposed to eat bark?

“One thing at a time.”

He got up and headed toward the rocks.

They could manage on the beach during daylight, but he wasn't spending another night exposed on the sand. If those creatures came out of the forest, the rocks might give them a few seconds to escape into the water.

It wasn't much of a plan. It was all he had.

He only hoped the tide wouldn't reach them.

By nightfall, they had settled into a shallow hollow among the rocks. It offered barely enough protection from the wind. Brooke lay beside him in silence.

Then a howl rose above the surf.

Ethan lifted his head.

Points of reflected light flickered along the tree line. Eyes. More than one pair.

“Ethan?” Brooke's fingers tightened around his arm. “What do we do?”

“Stay quiet. I'll look after you.”

There was nothing else to say. As long as the animals stayed off the beach, they might be safe.

He lowered himself back into the hollow. Brooke pressed close, shaking, and he put an arm around her shoulders.

They lay there listening, waiting for the howls to stop.