A Shade of Doubt (A Shade of Vampire #12)(18)

I exhaled in frustration to hear branches creaking beneath us. A few seconds later, Annora hoisted herself up onto the platform. Caleb broke away from me, stepping back and eyeing her. To my horror, she was topless. She relied on her long thick hair for modesty. Around her waist was a narrow wreath of leaves.

She might as well have chalked the word slut onto her forehead while she was at it.

“You will sleep here, Annora,” Caleb said.

“Where will you sleep?”

Caleb nodded to the platform above us.

“And… Rose?”

“Still higher.”

She looked like she was about to object, but, apparently having second thoughts, closed her mouth.

I wanted to scream. Unable to remain in her presence a moment longer, I grabbed a branch next to me and swung myself up onto it. I climbed higher and higher, hoping to block out her voice and distract myself from the frustration of being unable to get even two minutes alone with Caleb before she interrupted. I climbed until I reached the very top of the tree, and poked my head out from the canopy.

The view was both breathtaking and disconcerting. We were surrounded by crystal-blue ocean for as far as the eye could see. And the island was larger than I’d imagined. I could make out the coast to our east, nearest to us, but when I looked in other directions all I could see was more dense treetops. I lowered myself, looking downward.

Caleb and Annora were still standing together on her platform. It looked like they were having an argument, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. At least she didn’t have her arms around him… or perhaps she’d just tried to fling herself at him and he’d rejected her, hence the argument.

Since I’d reached the top of the tree, I was about to begin making my way back down when I caught sight of a large bird’s nest. I leaned closer to it and peered inside. It was empty except for a heap of dark olive-green muck.

I looked back down at my own platform, gauging the distance. Grabbing two thick leaves, I tipped the sloppy substance onto them and wrapped them up tightly. Once I reached my own platform again, I fixed the package to a branch nearby.

Something told me that it might come in handy tonight.

* * *

We spent the rest of the day looking for food. For Annora and me, we’d harvested several dozen mangoes, oranges and coconuts. The coconuts were particularly nourishing with their meaty flesh. As for water, if the water from the coconuts wasn’t enough, we had to go down to the stream near our tree or the lake.

As for Caleb, he would just have to continue hunting animals each time he craved blood.

As evening approached, Annora and I still hadn’t solved the problem of mosquitoes—being so close to the lake and away from the breeze of the ocean, I feared this would be a big problem.

We stood on the ground beneath where we’d set up camp. Caleb looked at Annora.

“You know more about plants than I do. There must be some here that can act as a repellant.”

“Hm.” Annora concentrated on scanning the area for the next half hour. I followed her around, paying close attention to which plants she pulled up so I could replicate it for myself if I had to.

Seemingly satisfied with the leaves she’d found, she crouched down on the floor and, picking up two large rocks, began to mush the plants and flowers together. She squeezed some of the juice onto her skin and sniffed it.

“This will do, I believe,” she muttered.

She coated herself with the juice, then discarded the used plants. I picked them up after her and squeezed the rest onto myself, covering as much of my bare skin as I could. I ended up smelling bitter, but if it did the job, I didn’t care.

Now that this task was done, we all climbed back up the tree and settled into our respective beds.

Caleb still needed to finish his exploration of the island, but it was clear he didn’t want to leave me alone again, so for now he was putting it off. I hoped that he would ask me to accompany him the following day, without Annora.

As soon as I reached my bunk, I rolled onto my stomach and peeked over the edge. I had a clear view of both Annora’s and Caleb’s beds from this angle. Perfect.

I remained in this position for the next ten minutes or so, until what I’d been expecting happened. Annora slunk out of her bunk and began climbing up toward Caleb. Without wasting a second, I reached up and grabbed the green bundle I’d collected earlier.

I positioned myself back over the edge, waiting until just the right moment. The lighting wasn’t great, but there were just enough shafts of moonlight trickling through the canopy of leaves for me to see what I was doing. I heard Annora whisper to him seductively, though I couldn’t make out the words. Just her soft whisper followed by a moan. Brushing her hair away from her chest, she caught hold of Caleb’s arms, trying to pull herself up.

And… fire.

Holding my breath, I tipped the bundle. There was a split second when I doubted that it would meet its mark. But, oh, it did. The green muck landed right on her head, oozing down her face and dripping onto her chest.

I quickly pulled myself back in case she looked up, fighting to stifle a laugh as she cried out in disgust. The beauty of it was her not knowing exactly what the substance was. Imagination was usually more horrifying than reality.

It could have just been an exceptionally large, constipated bird. But I hoped that she’d guess I’d dropped it.

Brushing away a few leaves, I peered through the cracks of my bed. She staggered back, still gasping. I watched as she began to climb down the tree—a late-night bath in the lake was in order, I supposed.