PARADISE PARADOX (#1 PARADISE ISLAND duology)

-- sixteen --

"Kera?" Miles' voice was tentative; as if he knew she was okay, she was alive, but wasn't sure he should have been asking her about it.

Kera's eyes remained closed. And she didn't want to open them, because opening them meant showing she was indeed alive, and then she'd have to explain why she'd collapsed into the sand and got stuck in a fit of seizures.

She hadn't been able to speak while lulled into the ruler's fantasy land, but she knew that her body, in the real world, had been convulsing. She felt it now; the soreness from shaky, achy limbs, the last lingering remnants of goosebumps prickling along her arms. A faint taste of salt and acid in her mouth.

To re-open her eyes—she had opened them at first, to see the group huddled around her, invading her space—meant she'd have to tell everyone what she'd seen, and she wasn't clear on how to describe it. To describe them, the creatures the ruler had warned them about. The monsters she'd claimed they'd transform into if they didn't heed her orders.

The ruler hadn't warned anyone else that those monsters lurked about in the forest and could sniff out their intentions. Why Kera?

"Ugh, leave her be," said Jessa, her tone becoming distant as she walked away. "She'll talk if she wants to; I bet you she was possessed like I was, and that shit is tormenting. Give her a minute."

Kera never expected to thank Jessa for anything, but now, she appreciated the slight kindness. Jessa's voice was pinched, and she radiated anything but kindness, but Kera would take whatever she could get from such a sly, sultry siren like Jessa.

She sensed the faces hovering near hers leaving, as the shade they'd produced over her started to dissipate. Warmth infused her cheeks as the sun blared down on her, further convincing her to keep her eyes closed. To hold in a few moments of peace, to ignore the world around her, to forget about her dreadful fate for a few seconds.

But she couldn't lay there and sunbathe for the rest of the day, the rest of her life, could she? If she was planning to leave—and she had to, didn't she?—then she needed to alert the others before she took off.

Upon prying her eyelids apart, the sun scorched her pupils. She coughed, lurching up into a sitting position. Her forehead was dotted with sweat and there were dark splotches in her vision, and she swayed side to side. Looking down into her hand, that she'd used to cover her mouth, she detected blood—shit, had she hacked that up?

In seconds, Miles was at her side, rubbing her back, passing his hand over her hairline to wipe away her sweat—or examine her for a fever, who knew?

"What happened? You were lying there, quiet, kind of freaking me out, to be honest... and then you passed out and had seizures? Is Jessa right? Was it that thing, the ruler?" His frame wasn't as sturdy as usual; even he seemed to shiver as he sat beside Kera and took hold of her wrist, checking her pulse.

With an unpleasant taste of blood still in her mouth, Kera nodded. "She didn't quite possess me, but she put thoughts and images into my mind. She was... speaking to me, issuing more warnings."

"Warnings?" Vick snorted as he wandered over to them. "What the fuck else does she need to warn us about? She made it pretty clear how fucked we are, but are you telling us there's more?"

Kera had grown used to Vick's turbulence, by then, yet she still didn't appreciate the harshness of his timbre as he addressed her.

And Miles appeared to agree, as he shooed Vick off with a few frantic waves of his hand. "Back off, dude, give her some air." He tucked a strand of Kera's matted hair behind her ears, his touch soft, reassuring. "What did she show you?"