Everything happened so fast.

One minute I was on my way into the woods, where I would probably get away unharmed. The next minute I screaming and jumping on Aaron’s back.

I threw my arms around his neck and pulled, hanging my body weight down, and heard him gasp for air. For a split second, I thought I was winning. But Aaron tossed me off of his back and then hit me across the face with the back of his hand. I flew sideways and hit the dirt. Grant called out to me, but I stumbled to regain focus.

Aaron must have seen the look on Grant’s face because when his face came into view, he was facing me with a wicked grin. He stomped toward me and I tried to stand up again. I yelped out in pain, exaggerating an injury in hope of fooling him into coming closer. If he’d step a little nearer to me, I would jam one of Gina’s injections into his neck. Grant was sneaking up quietly, so I kept pretending to be hurt.

I slid my hand into my pocket and took hold of the injection. I wrapped my fingers around it so it wouldn’t slip from my grip. Aaron towered over me, reached down, and went to pull me up as Grant went to attack him. Before Grant could make contact, Aaron had me up on my feet with one of his arms looped under mine. He ripped the injection from my palm and held it up.

"Back off!" Aaron shouted.

Grant froze in place. "Let her go! This is between you and me, not Ryleigh."

Aaron held me tightly across himself, taking jagged steps backward and dragging me along. "Were you going to stick me with this, Ryleigh? Knock me out with the last one of Gina’s famous injections? You know she needed to use two of them on me, don’t you? I’m surprised there’s still one left!"

I had forgotten about that. Gina had needed two injections for Aaron to get knocked unconscious. It only took one for the rest of us. I had only one left besides the one Aaron was now holding, but he didn’t know that. Grant had a look of panic across his face. Tears welled up in my eyes and I mouthed, “I’m sorry”.

"Didn’t you think that was strange?" Aaron asked and took a wide step back. "Two injections! Made me look like a badass, didn’t you think so? Stupid saline or whatever Gina put in there; it fooled you guys though! You know, when I get off this island, I might try my hand at acting. I have to say, I even impressed myself with that performance of taking two of them and then passing out! Don’t you think I could be an actor?"

"I didn’t know they were remaking the Addams Family movie! You’ll make a great Lurch!" Grant snickered.

Aaron twirled the injection around between his fingers before tossing it over the cliff.
"You’re hilarious, Grant. Let’s see if you think it’s funny when I toss your girlfriend off the cliff, huh?"

"Who’s on your team, Aaron? Why them and not us? Why’d you go against us?" I asked, trying to stall time.

My feet slid across the dirt as he shifted me in his arm and stepped backward again. We were nearing the edge.

"You mean to tell me you don’t know who else is on my team, Ryleigh?" Aaron sang out. "I’ll give you a hint. He’s staring right at you, right there!"

My eyes got wide. "Grant?"

"Ding! Ding! Ding!" Aaron shouted. "Tell her what she’s won today, Phil!"

Grant flinched and stared in disbelief.

"Well, Bob, " Aaron said in a creepy game show voice. "She’s won a trip! A trip and fall, that is! Right off this cliff!"

"No!" Grant shrieked.

Aaron nuzzled his face to my ear and I shuddered. Squirming in his grip, I tried to get loose as he spoke. "Your boy Grant has been on my team this whole time. I bet you never suspected your boyfriend, did you?"

"That’s a lie!" Grant shouted. "Ry, you know that’s not true!"

Aaron’s warm breath heated up my neck. "Don’t lie, Grant! Just tell her. I’m gonna throw her off this cliff anyway. Might as well let her die knowing the truth."

I struggled to twist or turn. Tears burned my eyes and dropped to my cheeks.

"You’re lying! Why are you doing this, Aaron? Let her go!" Grant was screaming himself hoarse.

"I’m not lying and you know it. Yes, I’m a mole! A spy! Call it whatever you want. But think about it, Ryleigh. Is there really any way I could’ve done all I did alone? Don’t be naive."

I didn’t want to believe it and shook my head in protest.

"Maybe you had Dean and Gina on your side!" I spat.

Aaron groaned. "You have to give me more credit than that! Those two amateurs don’t have a clue!"

"It’s enough, Aaron!" Grant shouted. "Stop this!"

"So Gina didn’t need to give you two injections? Why not?" I asked.

"Of course she didn’t! The one she gave you was the real deal. But the two she shot me up with? Fakes! I guess she made three fake ones though, just in case two weren’t convincing enough." Aaron laughed loudly. "I should’ve let you inject me with it. The look on your face when it didn’t affect me would’ve been priceless!"

He and I stood at the cliff’s edge. His arm tightened around my neck. Grant kept inching closer, but still kept a safe distance.

"Any last words, Ryleigh? Anything you want to say to your liar of a boyfriend? The other spy!" Aaron said.

I dug the last injection out of my pocket and gripped it in my hand. I stared across at Grant, seeing the desperation in his eyes.

"Yeah," I said sadly. "I have one final thing to say."

"You listening?" Aaron yelled at Grant. "Her final words! Let’s hear it! What do you have to say to Grant?"

"I believe you," I said as I met Grant’s eyes.

I brought my hand down with full force and jammed the needle into Aaron’s leg. He yelped out in shock, briefly loosening his hold on me. I ducked down and jumped forward, rolling onto the ground. Grant dodged forward, pulling me further away from Aaron.

As Grant bent over with both hands reaching down to me, I stayed crouched down low to the ground, and we stared as Aaron became disoriented. He looked confused and then shocked as he realized the injection I stuck him with wasn’t a fake one.

"But, how..." Aaron mumbled.

Grant stood up straight and ran at him. "This is for lying to Ryleigh about me, you psycho!"

He pushed Aaron hard on his chest and then watched him stumble backward, his eyes wide and fixated on Grant before falling over the edge. I screamed and covered my mouth with my hands, looking away. Grant rushed over to me.

"Ryleigh?" he said softly. "I’m sorry! Are you okay?"

I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head rapidly. He kneeled down by my side and I took a moment to catch my breath.

When I opened my eyes, I looked at him and said, "Get me out of here. Please."

He cupped my face in his hand, nodded, and scooped me up onto my feet. Grabbing my hand, he led me back down the hill a bit and into the woods. We walked for a while without saying a word. My mind was running a mile a minute, but every time I opened my mouth to speak, I couldn’t think of what to say.

Will had been right, Aaron had been a mole. He’d been spying on us since the day we met him and the rest of us didn’t have a clue. I thought of how I’d gone with Will and Grant to rescue him from Dean and Gina’s cabin, having climbed through a window. I remembered how scared I had been, but went ahead with it anyway because we were saving one of our own. Chills went up my spine when I thought of how close he’d just been to me. Aaron had been holding me so tightly, his warm breath against my skin. He would have thrown me off that cliff without a second thought. I’d risked my safety to save him and yet he wanted me dead.

My brain couldn’t comprehend it. Emotions were reeling through me. I went from anger to sadness, back to anger and then into deep depression. I had lost hope of ever leaving that island alive. Aaron had said his accomplice was Grant. As I walked behind him, my gut told me there was no way Grant would betray me like Aaron had. My heart agreed. He had been doing nothing but looking after me this whole time. It just didn’t make sense that he would be spying on us. Did it?

Next Chapter: Thirty Eight