I had the urge to rush over there and slap some sense into Kirk. Didn’t he know that chasing after Jason was pointless?

I ground my teeth as I watched Kirk move even closer to Trang. I was starting to have a bad feeling about her. There was just something wrong with the way she looked at Kirk, like she was a poisonous viper, about to charm him only so she could bite him.

“I will show you where he is,” she finally agreed, lowering her gaze. “But I have warned you that doing so would not be wise.”

“I don’t care. Just tell me where he is. It’s too dangerous for you to go. But if you managed to get out of there, then that means I can get in.”

I tiptoed forward, hiding behind an old brick wall. It wasn’t like me to eavesdrop, but I just couldn’t stop myself. Something in my gut was telling me that I had to get to the bottom of this.

Trang was lying. I was sure of it.

First she told me that she had spent a lot of time in the infirmary, then she told Kirk she had just escaped the Gorillas. How did that make any sense? She was trying to pull the wool over one of our eyes – or both.

“I cannot.”

“Tell me.” He began to shake her.

Her head bobbed on her neck so hard that I thought it would snap.

I was seconds away from stepping in when he stopped, seeming to realize what he had done. “I’m sorry…” He looked away, scrunching his nose slightly, the way he always did whenever he lost his temper and felt guilty for it. “But… please… tell me where he is.”

She sighed. “You will not heed my warnings?”

“I can’t. He’s my brother. He needs me.” Kirk’s eyes burned with a look of determination like I’d never seen before.

“When you enter the jungle, there is a main path that everyone uses to get to the next town. For the most part, it is protected – neutral territory – so you will not get hurt. Follow that up to the river. Once there, follow the river downstream. Eventually, you should see a large, moss-covered rock. From there, it is two miles due North.”

Kirk soaked up the information, nodding at her every word. “Thank you.”

Conveniently, Trang managed to give him all of those directions before she fainted, nearly collapsing to the ground. If it hadn’t been for his big, strong arms wrapping around her slender torso, she would have fallen.

Jealousy coursed through my veins. Wait, no, what was I thinking? I didn’t want Kirk. At least, no more than he wanted me. Irritated, I crossed my arms over my chest, thinking that I should just let him fall right into her trap, but deep down, I knew I couldn’t let anything happen to him.

So I waited.

After ten minutes, he emerged from the tent. What had he been doing in there for so long…?

Once again, my jealousy flared. Just the thought of him with another woman made me want to scream. But it shouldn’t have. We were no longer together. The flame that fueled our relationship had long since burned out.

When I turned my attention back to Kirk, he was already making a beeline for the jungle. Leave it to Kirk to go on an impulsive suicide mission.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked, emerging from my hiding spot.

He stopped in his tracks, looking at me like he didn’t recognize who I was. “Sidney? What are you doing here?”

“Saving your ass, apparently.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look, I overheard your conversation with Trang –”

“You were spying on me?”

“No. I just happened to be here,” I lied quickly, even though I knew I had never been a very convincing liar.

He stepped forward, an unimpressed frown on his face. “If you’re about to tell me that there’s no point going after Jason, then you’ll just be wasting your breath. I’m going to find him. No matter the cost.”

“Just listen to me.” I reached out and grabbed his arm. “Something about her story isn’t adding up. She told you that she just escaped the Gorillas, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, that’s how I found her in the jungle. She was running for her life.”

“Okay. Fine. But care to explain to me how all the nurses knew her name? Or why she told me that she’s in the infirmary every other week? Come on, you’ve got to admit that there’s something fishy about her story.”

Kirk shook his head, pushing past me. His heavy, steel-toed boots nearly crushed my foot as he stomped away. He never could listen to reason when his brother was involved. It was like talking to a brick wall.

“Kirk, listen to me.”

He whipped around.

Not expecting him to stop so suddenly, I barreled into his chest and would have fallen over if it hadn’t been for his arms wrapping around my waist, pulling me close. “Listen to you? Funny how you want me to listen to you. I’ve been asking for that same thing since I ran into you, but you’ve never given me the time of day. Now, because you think Jason is dead, you want to tell me how stupid I am. But you’re wrong. I know he’s alive out there, whether you want to believe it or not.”

He let go of me as if my skin was suddenly burning him.

I was dazed. Kirk had never spoken to me with such hatred before. I shuddered but eventually went after him. “I’m coming with you.”