Illusion (Swept Away 1)

“What do you care?” I struggled to push him away from me, but I couldn’t move him.

“Bianca, listen to me. I think we should stick together until we find out who brought us here and who left these letters for us.”

“Then stop being an asshole to me.”

“I’ll try,” he sighed. “I’m sorry if you think I’m being rude. I’m just on edge.”

“You don’t think I’m not on edge? Someone just threatened to kill me.”

“Bianca . . .” He let go of my arms and stepped back. “I’ll take care of you.”

“Thanks.” I looked around the shack again and froze. “Oh my God.” I made my way past him, ran to the corner of the shack, and pushed aside the trash on the ground. “There’s a bag.” I kicked the medium-sized black leather bag gingerly, and screamed when a small lizard ran out.

“You’re going to give yourself a stroke if you keep that up.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” I snapped back at him, and tried to control my breathing. “I didn’t expect a huge lizard to almost attack me.”

“Yeah, I wonder if he’s related to Godzilla?” he quipped, and I looked up to see him smiling.

“It’s not funny.” I smiled, unable to stop myself. “I know I overreact a bit, but I just hate insects and creatures that aren’t cats and dogs. I’m a bit of a frightened rabbit when it comes to bugs.”

“Whoever chose to kidnap you must not know you very well, then.” He laughed, and I froze at his words.

“Or they know me really well.” My mind started racing. “I guess it depends on why I’m here. If it’s for revenge, well this is perfect.” I bit my lower lip. “This is like hell on earth for me.”

“Who knows how much you hate wildlife?”

“Just my dad and Rosie.” I sighed. “And my dad’s dead.”

“Do you think Rosie could have something to do with this?”

“No.” I shook my head vehemently. “There’s no way that Rosie would do this to me.” My voice rose, and I watched as Jakob picked up the bag and placed it on the table. “It has to be someone else.”

“Or it’s just a coincidence.” He opened the bag slowly.

“Or it’s someone I spoke to online.” I rubbed my forehead. “In my online profile, I stated that my worst date would involve camping because I hated bugs.”

“I thought you never met anyone online?”

“I didn’t.” I sighed. “I spoke to a couple of guys, but they all turned out to be psychos.”

“Were you looking for anyone in particular?” He looked up at me then, and I saw his expression change.

“What do you mean? I wasn’t looking to get a husband. At least not right away.”

“You had a type though? A certain somebody you were hoping to meet?”

“Of course. Who doesn’t?” I shrugged, and he turned away.

He changed the subject. “It looks like there is a God after all.”

“Why do you say that?” I walked toward him and gasped as he pulled out a bottle of water. “Oh, please tell me there’s more than one bottle.”

“I never thought I’d see someone so happy to see a bottle of water.”

“Shut up and open it.”

I stopped in front of him and eagerly took the bottle from him, drinking the water sparingly. It tasted better than the most expensive champagne, and I immediately felt refreshed as I drank it. I made sure to take only about four gulps before handing it back to Jakob.

“What are you doing?” He frowned as he took the bottle from me.

“Aren’t you thirsty?”

“You’ve had only a few sips.” He tried to hand the bottle back to me.

“I’ll wait until you have some first.” I shrugged. “We don’t know how many bottles are in the bag.”

“Thank you.” He nodded and took a couple of swigs. “That was really thoughtful of you.”

“I’m not selfish, you know.”

“No, I don’t believe you are.” He handed me back the bottle. “Have some more. There are a few more bottles in the bag.” He reached into the bag again and pulled out five bottles.

“That’s it?” I pulled the bottle away from my mouth. I swallowed hard as I surveyed the bottles and mentally calculated how long they would last.

“It’s okay. There’s a lighter in the bag as well.” He pulled out a pack of BIC lighters and grinned.

“This helps us how?”

“We can cook and we can boil water.”

“What water? Not ocean water.” I made a face, recalling the water we’d drunk the day before.

“If we find a waterfall, we can probably drink that water as is, but if we want to be safe, we can boil it.”

“Safe from what?”

“Cholera and other parasites.”

“Cholera?” My eyes widened. “I thought that disease no longer existed.”

“It’s a waterborne disease and yes, it still exists. It’s quite prevalent in the West Indies and Southeast Asia.”

“So you think we’re in the West Indies or Asia?”

“I would guess.” He shrugged. “Seems about right, the weather and environment seem to fit. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say the West Indies more so than Asia.”