Free The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin Page B

little—”
    “Suspicious,” Jamie said.
    “Exactly.”
    “Is there anything of Noah’s you can wear?” Stella asked.
    “I . . . haven’t looked yet.”
    Jamie and Stella were quiet. Then, “Here,” Jamie said, reaching into his bag. He handed me a black T-shirt with the word TROPE upside down in white, and a pair of baggy carpenter shorts.
    Stella frowned. “I don’t get it.”
    “Subverted trope,” Jamie said.
    “Wouldn’t that be in verted?”
    “You’re so literal. Jesus.” He marched off to let me change.
    The ocean air chilled my skin as I stripped off my clothes and dipped into the water, the sand slimy between my toes. It felt like a lake, not the ocean. You couldn’t see the bottom, even though the water was shallow. I rinsed my arms and legs, pulling goose bumps from my flesh. A memory of the warmth of Dr. Kells’s blood came to me unbidden, drawing a spike of pleasure in its wake. I felt sick and gleeful at once.
    “Oh no. No, no, no, no !”
    It was Stella. I stumbled into the shorts Jamie had given me and rushed over to see what had happened. She and Jamie were looking out at the water.
    No. Not at the water. At a massive column of smoke, rising from No Name Island into the sky.
    The three of us looked at one another, thinking the exact same thing.
    “All right. Let’s have a vote,” Jamie said. “Jude—misunderstood good guy, or bad guy with unknown motives? I vote bad guy.”
    “Bad guy,” Stella said.
    I paused before I spoke. “Undecided,” I finally said. “You think he did it?”
    “WTF, Mara? Of course he did it.”
    “He helped us get out of there.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    “He said Noah was alive.” But he also said Noah would be waiting for me and he wasn’t. I shook my head to clear it. I needed to believe he was telling the truth. I didn’t forgive him. Far from it. I looked down at my wrists, at the scars from where Jude had made me slit them, faded but not gone, after Noah had healed them. I would never forgive Jude for what he’d done to me, for what he’d done to Joseph, but right now I had to believe him, because I had to believe Noah was alive.
    “Hey,” Jamie said softly.
    Stella ignored him. “Right now it doesn’t matter what he is. How are we supposed to get out of here if we can’t go back to find out how Kells did it herself?”
    “Hey!” Jamie said again, snapping his fingers in Stella’s face to get her attention. He pointed at the ocean. “Is that a boat?”
    I followed his gaze, shading my eyes.
    “That’s convenient,” I said.
    “Too convenient,” Jamie said. “What if someone’s been sent to come get us? Like a Horizons person or something?”
    “Like one of the counselors?” Stella asked. “Doubt it. Maybe the police?”
    “Could they really take us anywhere worse than where we’ve just come from, though?” I asked.
    Jamie pretended to think for a moment. “Um, jail?”
    I shot him a glare. “Would that be worse?”
    He shrugged. “I’d rather not find out. I have plans.”
    Stella shaded her eyes and peered out at the water. “It’s a fishing boat, I think.” She bit her lip, thinking. “We could ask it to take us to No Name Key, or Marathon,” Stella said. “But from there?”
    “Hitch a ride?” I offered. Jamie looked at me like I was crazy. “I don’t know! I’m new to the fugitive thing.”
    Stella turned to us. “One of us is going to have to swim to it. Any volunteers?”
    Jamie shook his head. “Not it. Sharks, first of all, and second of all, sharks.”
    Stella was already unzipping her jeans and pulling them down off her hips. “I was on the swim team, once upon a time.”
    “You shouldn’t go by yourself,” I said.
    “Why? You think the fisherman could be a psychopath?”
    “Everyone’s a little crazy. Some people just hide it better than others.” I glanced at Jamie, who was smiling, before I offered to go with Stella. Honestly, I thought we should all go. I didn’t like the idea of