Surviving Demon Island Part 2

'That's what I do.'

He nodded. 'I heard that you like to do your own stunts. Impressive. Me, I like guns and knives. Did some desert survival contests, too.'

'Fascinating.' Fortunately, the guys weren't in the mood to chitchat, so Gina motioned Shay and Olivia along and they headed toward the bow of the s.h.i.+p. 'Okay, so that seems normal.'

'Nothing like Jake and his lasers,' Olivia said.

'No. And Trace and Ryder are clearly in prime shape for an outdoor adventure like this.'

'I'll say,' Shay said with a wink. 'One with dark hair, one with light hair, both s.e.xy as h.e.l.l. What woman wouldn't want to be a sandwich between those two?'

Gina laughed. There were several other compet.i.tors so they split up to do some investigating. When they met up again, they compared notes. All the others were engaged in extreme sports or had experience in what Gina would consider normal weaponry. Nothing unusual.

Gina straddled her lounge chair and took a sip of her tea, puzzled by Jake's invitation to the reality show. 'If we're going to be competing in a physical challenge, what the h.e.l.l is someone like Jake doing here? He's a heavy smoker, thin as a rail, and totally out of shape, and he uses laser weaponry.'

'Maybe he's in better form than we think,' Shay suggested.

Gina rolled her eyes. 'I find that hard to believe. I'd smoke him in a hundred-yard dash.'

'I could, too,' Olivia added. 'Everyone else seems to fit just fine. Maybe he's a fluke, misrepresented himself or something. Or he's fooling all of us.'

Gina shrugged. 'Could be.'

'I'm just going to look on him as one less compet.i.tor to worry about,' Olivia said.

Or maybe Jake was the one to really watch.

[image]

After a nap, a shower, and a change of clothes, Gina went up on deck in search of Shay and Olivia. Something just didn't feel right about this whole reality show. While there were a handful of them like herself who seemed like fish out of water, anxious and excited and completely clueless about what was to come, the others seemed to keep to themselves and within a group on their own, almost as if they had banded together in secret. And those were the people who seemed to be spending a lot of time talking to Derek. Did they have some kind of 'in' with him?

She didn't like alliances. The last thing she wanted was to start this game at a disadvantage. Maybe she'd hunt down Shay, Olivia, Trace, Jake, and Ryder and see if they noticed the same thing she had about the others.

But when she went upstairs, no one was topside. The sun was sinking fast into the water, and she took a moment to enjoy the few minutes alone and watch the glowing sunset.

The quiet was unnerving. Despite the gentle hum of the s.h.i.+p's motor and the waves cras.h.i.+ng against the hull, she still felt alone with her thoughts.

And time to reflect was never a good thing.

Another adventure, another chance to escape. One movie after another, never a moment to go home and face herself in the mirror.

Who would she face if she did? Who was Gina Bliss? Wasn't even her real name. And where was home, anyway? It certainly wasn't the gla.s.s house on the beach in Malibu. The last real home she had was the one she and her mother had shared. The one she'd been wrenched from when she was eight years old. The ten years she'd spent in foster care after her mother disappeared had never been home.

She didn't have a home.

'Why are you all alone?'

Startled, she whirled around to find Derek standing behind her. Placing her hand over her heart to calm the skittering beat, she said, 'You scared me.'

'You need to develop nerves of steel and better sensing capabilities if you're going to survive this game. You never know who'll be sneaking up behind you.'

Smart-a.s.s. Was this some kind of test? 'I'll keep that in mind, thanks.'

'Everyone's downstairs and gathered for dinner.'

'You aren't.'

'Not hungry right now.' He lifted his hands and lit one of the fat stogies, the smell of cherry and smoke filling the air.

'I see.' She turned away and resumed watching the last quarter of the sun sink below the horizon. Derek stepped beside her.

'With all those starving men, you'd better hurry or you'll miss dinner.'

'I'm not too worried about it.' If he insisted on staying out here with her, this would be a good time to quiz him about Jake, about the compet.i.tion.

'You need your strength for the compet.i.tion.'

She grinned. 'I'll eat. You worried about me?'

He shrugged. 'Just a friendly warning.'

'So what do I have to look forward to?'

'You trying for some advance recon, Bliss?' He leaned his forearms against the railing and turned his head to look at her. The wind blew locks of dark hair against his forehead. Thick, dark hair. The kind a woman wanted to slide her fingers in. She curled her nails into her palms and bent forward against the railing, focusing her attention on the waves.

'I would never try to get you to divulge secrets, Derek. Besides, I already have an idea what's going to happen.'

'Oh yeah? And what's that?'

She really had no clue, but he'd given her an opening and this was her chance to see if he'd reveal anything. 'We're going to arrive on the island, then we're going to race around with paint-ball guns and chase after guys in demon makeup and shoot them and score points that way. Or maybe it'll be like flag football. First one to grab the flag from the demon wins.'

He arched a brow. 'Think so?'

Casting him a sideways glance, she asked, 'Am I wrong?'

He took a long, slow puff of his cigar and blew it out, then grinned. 'I think you'd better go eat your dinner. You're gonna need it.' He slipped a hand in his pocket and strolled away.

Dammit! She'd gotten nothing from him. Nothing! Not even a hint. So much for charm and persuasion.

She might as well eat dinner, then huddle up with the others for a talk. Though she didn't have what she'd exactly call a psychic kind of sixth sense, Gina had keen powers of observation and the ability to read people. One wasn't successful in Hollywood for as long as she'd been without being able to cut through the bulls.h.i.+t.

And there was some definite bulls.h.i.+t going on with this compet.i.tion.

She meant to find out what it was.

'Gina's suspicious,' Derek said to Lou.

Lou raised a brow. 'How do you know?'

'She was fis.h.i.+ng for clues about the game earlier tonight. And some of our people said she and Shay and Olivia were asking about their specialties.'

'Could be just sizing up the compet.i.tion. Doesn't sound suspicious to me.'

Derek stood at the wide window in Lou's office, watching the waves undulate under the cut of the s.h.i.+p's bow. 'It was more than just trying to figure out what the game was about. Call it a gut feeling.'

'You always have gut feelings.'

'I'm usually right.'

'Give it a rest, Derek, and quit worrying about these people. Even if Gina is suspicious about something, it won't do her any good. There's nothing to discover right now. All she'll find is the game and other compet.i.tors.'

Derek paced the length of the all-too-small room. Tight places!he hated them. He couldn't wait to get off this s.h.i.+p and onto the island, stretch his muscles and get into some action.

Training. Who had time for this s.h.i.+t? Bringing on new people was going to take up valuable time they didn't have.

Necessary? Maybe. Time-consuming? Definitely. And every day they spent playing this moronic game meant days he wasn't out there doing what he really should be doing.

'I know you hate this,' Lou said, 'but you know the reason for it. We need these people. And if we're lucky, they'll all pa.s.s the test and we can bring them onboard. We'll arrive at the island tomorrow and get started right away.'

Couldn't happen soon enough for him. He felt like a caged animal lately. Something didn't feel right. Some thing inside him. He couldn't pinpoint what the difference was, but he felt a change!a churning, unsettling feeling.

Lou was the one with visions and premonitions, not him. He blew it off as cabin fever, of having to halt his normal routine for this test Lou had arranged for the new comers.

What else could it be? He was just a normal guy, not special like Lou.

He just needed to get off this freakin' s.h.i.+p.

Disgruntled, Gina had gotten nowhere with the others last night. Neither Ryder nor Trace was suspicious about the compet.i.tion, though they were more interested in playing cards than paying attention. But even Shay and Olivia felt they had been barking up the wrong tree, and maybe they'd been worried for nothing. They felt Jake was just an anomaly and nothing more.

Well, fine. But Gina still thought something was off.

At least they'd arrived at the island this morning. Maybe she was just annoyed at being cooped up!the reason she never took cruises. s.h.i.+ps were too limiting. There was a reason they called it cabin fever. And she was burning up with it right now.

Excited, she packed up her things and stood at the railing, watching the s.h.i.+p's approach. The sun was up and it was steamy warm already, hardly a breeze blowing. She wished she had a spare second to drink in the tropical feel to this place, to absorb the sounds and scents, but there was no time. They anch.o.r.ed off a tiny strip of island and took powerboats ash.o.r.e. The island looked like nothing more than a sandbar with aqua waves lapping each side. How could they hide anything on this tiny patch of land, let alone big hulking demons?

Gina followed one of the silent crewmen to her cabana. She'd expected something barely more than a tent, but was surprised at the amenities inside the little log building. Of course, she reminded herself, this was reality TV. She seriously doubted the viewing public would ever catch a glimpse of where they slept at night. The focus would be on beating the compet.i.tion. There was little she needed to do other than change clothes to be ready.

Adrenaline pumping, Gina donned green camo pants, boots, and a tank top. She was ready to rock and roll.

She arrived on the beach and met up with the others, all dressed in similar fas.h.i.+on. Some of these people looked tough, worldly, and experienced. Like they'd been through h.e.l.l and back and had the scars to show for it. Mean-looking group, the ones who had a tendency to hang in their own little clique, unlike Gina and the others.

Derek was there, too, once again wearing all black. Her body reacted in that weird awareness way again when he glanced in her direction. Great time for her libido to spark up and take notice of a man. She so was not going to allow that to happen. Paying attention to him meant losing her focus on the game.

'So what do you think we're going to do first?' Olivia asked, rolling her shoulders and stretching her arms over her head.

'Your guess is as good as mine,' Gina replied, deciding to ignore Derek and begin stretching, too. She bent from the waist and felt the sweet pull in her hamstrings.

'I've seen your movies.' Olivia stared straight ahead. 'You do all your own stunts.'

'Yeah.'

'I'd love to go one-on-one with you if we get a chance for some practice.'

Gina stood and extended, glancing over at Olivia. 'That sounds fun.'

Olivia smiled, casting Gina a look of demure innocence as she bowed her head. Gina returned the bow, not fooled for a second. Olivia would be a formidable opponent. She looked forward to sparring with her. It would be a great exercise routine and keep her in shape during the compet.i.tion.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' Louis said, stepping onto the beach as if he'd just appeared out of nowhere. 'Gather around please.'

They a.s.sembled in front of him, the sun already beating down on the hot sandy beach. The humidity clung to her body, any breeze felt on the s.h.i.+p long gone. Sweat pooled between Gina's b.r.e.a.s.t.s and she blew out a breath, wis.h.i.+ng for a cold bottled water to quench her thirst.

'Before the game begins, we're going to place you into teams for pre-event training, a bit of physical conditioning to determine your level of fitness.'

'What pre-event training? When do the games begin?' Trace asked.

'Soon. Just a little conditioning first.'

'I didn't sign on for freakin' boot camp,' Jake mumbled.

Gina turned to the quiet man, feeling sympathetic when she saw him pale. Not that he could really whiten any more than he already was.

'No, you didn't, Jake, but there's much more to this compet.i.tion than just knowledge in your specialty,' Louis explained. 'You will have to hide out, you might have to engage in hand-to-hand combat.'

'The contract states we would compete against each other in battling demons,' Jake said, nervously biting his thumbnail. 'Nothing about any preconditioning.'

'Your contract also states that if you are not able to handle the physical aspects of the game you'll be dismissed.'

Once again, Gina wondered about Jake. It was hot out here. Grueling hot. And Gina would bet they'd be hiking, running, putting up with punis.h.i.+ng elements. If you weren't in shape you weren't going to make it. If the humidity didn't kill you, then hand-to-hand would. This was reality, not a video game.

'If you have any reservations, Jake, now is the time,' Louis stated, making stern eye contact with the thin young man. Louis waited a few moments, but Jake finally shook his head.

'All right, then. Let's get started. Derek will be in charge of the exercises. He will see to it that you know how to adequately defend yourself.'

'Defend ourselves from what?' Shay asked.

'We can't tell you that,' Louis stated with a slight up ward curve to his lips. 'That would be violating the rules of the game and we're not ready to reveal those just yet.'

'Bet you're disappointed, aren't you, darlin'?' Derek whispered behind her.

She felt the warmth of his breath against the nape of her neck, his deep voice like a caress to her skin. Despite the heat, she s.h.i.+vered, but she refused to turn around, forcing herself to shake off his hypnotic effect on her. 'I can wait a little longer,' she replied, but he was right. She was getting d.a.m.ned curious.

'Okay,' Louis said, 'I'm going to turn this over to Derek, who will a.s.semble you into teams and get the ball rolling on a few simple skirmishes. Derek, try not to kill them on the first day?'

Oh, this should be fun.