Chapter 399
Chapter 399:
“Your mission,” Mark read from a card, “is to navigate the North Woods to the supply drop. You have until dawn. Survive the night together p>
They were given a map and a survival backpack.
Skye grabbed the backpack before Liam could reach for it. She slung it over her shoulder.
“Let’s go,” she said.
They marched into the treeline. The jungle was dense, the canopy blocking out the moonlight.
As the path grew steeper and narrower, the production crew fell back. The terrain was too rough for the heavy equipment. Instead, the distinct buzz of high-performance drones filled the air, their red tally lights blinking like eyes in the dark.
They were alone.
Liam tried to speak. “Skye, about the boyfriend p>
“Focus on your feet,” Skye snapped. “Or you’ll trip p>
“Is it real?” Liam persisted, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he navigated the roots with his cane. “Or did you just say that to hurt me p>
Skye stopped. She turned to face him.
“Not everything is about you, Liam. In fact, nothing is about you anymore p>
A rustle came from the bushes nearby.
Skye spun around. “Who’s there p>
No answer. Just the wind in the palms.
But Skye saw it—a shadow moving against the wind. It wasn’t a cameraman. It was too fast. Too quiet.
And it was holding something that looked remarkably like a rifle.
Inside the darkened command center of the Nemesis, the gentle sway of the ocean was the only reminder that they were at sea.
Alistair Thorne sat before a wall of monitors. He was watching the raw feed from the island, intercepted directly from production’s satellite uplink.
He saw Skye’s face when she announced she had a boyfriend. A rare, genuine smile touched Alistair’s lips. It softened the hard lines of his face. She had claimed him. Publicly. Without naming him, she had drawn a line in the sand.
Then he saw the team pairings. Liam.
𝖱𝖾a𝖽 w𝗶𝘁𝗵оu𝗍 і𝗇𝘁e𝗋𝗋𝘶𝘱𝗍𝗂оnѕ 𝘰n 𝖻e𝗹no𝘃𝗲𝘭ѕ.𝗰оm
His smile vanished.
He watched Liam stumbling after Skye, trying to help her over a log, trying to touch her arm.
Alistair gripped his whiskey glass. The crystal groaned under the pressure.
The door to the command room opened. Julian Vance wheeled himself in. He looked pale, his chest still bandaged under his shirt, but his eyes were alert.
“Status report,” Alistair barked, not looking away from the screen.
Julian tapped his tablet, his expression grim. “My team just cracked the encryption on a burst transmission from the island. It happened thirty seconds ago. It wasn’t the production crew p>
Alistair stood so fast his chair tipped over. “What p>
“Thermal imaging just picked up three heat signatures dropping via stealth parachutes,” Julian said, his voice accelerating. “They didn’t show up on radar because they came in low. They’re on the ground now. They’re actively hunting p>
Alistair looked back at the screen.
He noticed a glitch in the feed. A shadow in the background of Skye’s shot.
It wasn’t a glitch. It was camouflage.
“They breached production security,” Alistair realized. “They’re hunting her p>
He grabbed the radio handset from the console.
“Pilot,” he barked. “Ready the chopper. We lift off from the deck in two minutes p>
“Alistair,” Julian warned. “If you go in there, you blow your cover. The media storm p>