Body Games (A Games Novel) (21 page)

We sat in our designated spots, and Chip nodded slowly. “I’ll bring in our jury members. Rusty, and Jendan, come in please.”

The two men walked in and sat down. Immediately, Kissy began to sob. I heard Kip give a snort of disgust, but I ignored him. I had eyes only for Jendan.

God, he looked good. Clean and fresh-scrubbed, Jendan wore a gray vee-neck t-shirt and a pair of weather-beaten jeans. His hair was trimmed down to his scalp, nothing but a dark shadow covering his head. His eyes looked incredibly gray against his tan. He looked healthy, too, like he’d put on a few pounds. I remembered running my hands over his chest and feeling his ribs the last time.

Just seeing him sitting there made me feel a little weepy, too. I smiled in his direction but his face was carefully blank. My own smile faded. Okay, I guess I deserved that.

“Welcome to tonight’s Judgment,” Chip said once everyone was settled in. “Tonight, we are voting for the third member of the jury. And tonight, you can vote for anyone except Annabelle.”

My nose tickled; I sneezed. All eyes turned to look at me. “Sorry,” I said with a sniffle.

“Do you have a cold, Annabelle?” Chip asked.

“Bit of one. It’s no problem.” I sounded horribly stuffed up, though.

“You were out there on that perch for five hours,” Chip continued. “You outlasted everyone. You didn’t come down for food, for drink, for anything. How long do you think you could have stayed up there?”

I gave a tiny shrug. “As long as it took to win.”

“Why is that?”

Because I’m pretty sure I was going home if I didn’t
. But I didn’t want to remind my fragile alliance that I was playing without a partner here, when I expected them all to turn on theirs. “I guess I just wanted to prove to everyone that I’m here to play.”

“I think you did that last time with Pandora’s Box.”

I smiled tightly. “I guess so.”

Thankfully, Chip moved on to someone else and began grilling them. What did Alys think of the new camp? Was anyone not pulling their weight? What was it like to live with so many people on the beach? All the answers were totally cagy, and it was clear no one wanted to show their hand right away. I kept looking over at Jendan, but whenever I did, he was never looking at me, and my heart ached a little. He was probably mad and feeling used.

And I really couldn’t blame him. I’d planned on pushing out my partner as soon as I’d opened Pandora’s Box. I’d just never imagined that he’d be the partner.

After conversing with each of us, it came time to vote. One by one, contestants headed into the voting booth. When it was my turn, I picked up a slate and some chalk and sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes.
Please, please let everyone be on the same page as me
. In big, bold letters, I wrote down my vote.

KIP.

“Screw you,” I whispered to the cameras. “This was the entire reason I got back in the game - so I could vote your ass off.” Then, I pushed my slate into the vote box and turned around and sat back down. My legs were trembling, and my nose was running, but I couldn’t think about anything but the potential of Kip being voted off.

“I’ll tally up the votes,” Chip said. He returned with the slates a moment later and told us, “As a reminder, instead of voting for who you want to keep, now that we’re merged, you want to vote for who you want to leave the game. I’ll read the first vote.” He paused, examined the slate, and then slowly flipped it.

Kip.

It wasn’t my handwriting.

I did a miniature fist-pump. Someone was with me, at least. Now we just needed two more votes.

Another slate turned. “Leslie.”

Okay, I expected that. I looked over at Leslie, and she had a lemon-sucking expression on her face that told me that she wasn’t happy at all.

Another slate. “Kip.” That one was my handwriting. My heart started to hammer nervously. What if there were only two votes for Kip? What if Alys and Kissy had stuck with their original partners?

“Leslie.” Another slate. “Leslie.”

I began to bite my nails. It was either that, or puke everywhere.

The sixth slate turned. “Kip. We’re tied.”

I stifled the squeal of excitement in my throat, but not enough. Several people turned to look at me, including Kip, whose brow was furrowed with confusion. He didn’t understand what was happening.

Chip picked up the final slate and stared at it. “The third member of our jury…”

He turned it around and showed us.

There, surrounded by the Greek symbol for ‘female’, was Kip’s name.

Yes!

Yes yes yes!!

We’d done it! Ding dong, the witch was dead!

I couldn’t resist a small wiggle in my seat as Kip stood up and grabbed his canteen. He looked over at me, dancing in my seat, and a furious look crossed his face. “You dumbass,” he told me. “You just sealed your fate.”

I blew him a kiss. “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.”

“It’s time for you to go, Kip,” Chip said sternly. He gestured at the path that led out of the game.

Clearly pissed, Kip turned and stalked away, shooting me the bird.

I didn’t even care.

Chapter Nineteen

“Call me crazy, but I think Annabelle is running the show out there. Which kind of makes me laugh. She’s such a sweet girl, but…don’t ever get on her bad side.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Endurance Island: Power Players, Jury Interview

The ladies dominated the game after Kip’s expulsion.

It wasn’t bragging, either. Alys won the next immunity, and from there, we voted out Saul, who was super pissy and stomping around camp once he realized we’d outsmarted him. Emilio was next, and then all the men were gone.

Each Judgment was not a surprise in the slightest. The guys knew their days were numbered, and though they tried to flip things on us a few times, no one was budging.

I’d figured out my ladies. Alys went along with any vote as long as it wasn’t her. Leslie was still pissed that she was the target, and was on a vendetta to vote the men out. Once Kip was gone, Kissy seemed to relax and was in high spirits, just happy to be in the game. She fully embraced the whole ‘girl power’ alliance and spent most of the day weaving us grass skirts and straw hats, and we wore matching gear to each Judgment.

We looked like one big happy family, except we weren’t. I was already thinking ahead. If I was going to get to the end, I needed to pull someone along with me. Leslie and Kissy were close friends because of the nearness in their ages, and I often caught them with their heads together. That meant I needed to bring Alys in to an alliance with me.

That wasn’t too hard. I just dangled the thought of the final two in front of her and she was along for the ride. Which was perfect, really. Alys wasn’t ultra-competitive and she thought she was playing a good game where she offended no one (except maybe Saul). I was the bad guy, masterminding everything, and everyone knew it.

So if we could get to the end, Alys and I could sit across from each other and see who people would vote for - me, because I played hard, or her, because she was an angel.

In the meantime, I was looking for ways to split Kissy and Leslie. If I didn’t win the next immunity challenge, I knew they’d be gunning for me. So I watched, and waited.

The day before the next immunity, I found a clue for Pandora’s Box in our tribal mail.

I stared at it for a long moment, and carefully shut the lid, leaving it there. According to Chip, Pandora’s Box could either be good or bad, and I’d already had good (well, theoretically) so I didn’t want to touch it, lest it automatically vote me out of the game. My game was already under control.

It was a calculated risk, but I’d take it. So I hunkered down in the bushes, hiding and waiting to see who found it.

Alys wandered toward the water hole a short time later, and paused at the tribal mailbox, lifting the lid nonchalantly. She stilled at the sight of the note in there, so I had to emerge from the bushes and warn her away from it. It took some convincing, but Alys was easily sway-able and in the end, she walked away and I went back to my hiding spot.

Leslie found it.

I watched her read the clue with excitement, then race into the jungle. I followed a short distance behind and watched, just in time, as she found a particular tree and reached into a hollow, pulling out the tiny red lacquered box. She opened it, dug out a piece of paper, and began to read.

“Shit,” she hissed under her breath, then quickly glanced around and stuffed the clue back into the box and into the tree.

I slunk away into the bushes. Bad news. That was all I needed to know.

The next challenge, I won, beating the others in a swimming-and-retrieving challenge. Kissy and Leslie were slower competitors, and Alys was my only real competition. I won easily, and felt proud going into Judgment that night, wearing the necklace so the jury - now comprised entirely of men - could see that I was kicking ass and taking names.

As usual, every time the jury filed in, I cast a longing look at Jendan. He was bulking up now that he was eating regularly, and his muscles were filling out again. The man was ripped. And gorgeous. And he made my girl parts tingle every time I saw him.

He never sent me an encouraging look, though, and I wondered if he was mad at me or if this was simply part of him playing the game.

What I wouldn’t have given for just one small smile, though!

Earlier that day, I’d convinced a nervous Alys that we didn’t need Kissy on our side to win the vote. Whatever Leslie had found in Pandora’s Box wasn’t a good thing. Even if we were wrong and it came down to a tie, Alys could beat her in a Judgment challenge. Leslie had been silent all day, except for the occasional snipe at how little work Kissy was doing around camp, and I knew she was trying to encourage us to vote in that direction.

Didn’t matter. When it came time for the vote, I wrote down Leslie’s name. A short time later, the votes were read, and we had a tie - two for Alys, two for Leslie.

“It’s a tie,” Chip said ominously. “In the form of a tie, we would normally go to a Judgment challenge. However…” He paused, milking the moment for all it was worth. “I am told we had someone open Pandora’s Box. Does anyone want to confess?”

Immediately, I felt the eyes of the jury looking my way. I wanted to yell out,
wasn’t me
! But I kept silent, watching Leslie.

The Judgment area was silent. “As a reminder,” Chip said, “We can kick people from the game for not following the rules.”

Leslie looked for a long moment as if she wasn’t going to speak, then sighed and raised her hand. “Me. I did it.”

“And what did it say?” Chip pushed.

Another huge sigh. “It said I would automatically receive a vote at the next Judgment.”

I shot Alys a triumphant look. I knew it would be bad news. I glanced over at the jury and found Jendan watching me, a thoughtful look on his face. My heart fluttered. Daring greatly, I gave him a wink and turned back to the other women seated next to me.

“That means you have three votes, Leslie. That’s enough. I’m sorry to say that you are now out of the game, and have become our sixth member of the jury.”

With heavy feet, Leslie stomped out of the Judgment area.

Chip turned back to the three of us still seated. “You’ve made it to the penultimate round of the game, ladies. Tomorrow is your last immunity challenge. Whoever wins that challenge decides who sits next to them in the finale. Are you ready?”

I practically bounced in my seat. I was more than ready. I wanted to be done with this.

If I won the next challenge, I could take this entire thing home. With a million dollars in the bank, I wouldn’t be Annabelle the Island Slut. I’d be Annabelle, the winner of
Endurance Island.

No more waitressing. No more shame of being Annabelle the Island Ho.

And then…then maybe I could talk to Jendan and see if he hated me.

Chapter Twenty

“Annabelle has my vote. Always has. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and no one else has even come close to playing the same game she has. She’s out of their league – in every way possible.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Endurance Island: Power Players, Jury Interview

I didn’t win the final immunity. Naturally. Fate stepped in, and Alys beat me in a sand-castle building contest. No one ever said I was the most artistic person.

But honestly, sand castles? Come on.

Now, Alys got to decide who would go to the final two. It wouldn’t be my decision. Everything was out of my hands for the first time in two weeks and several votes.

I kept my cool, though. When we returned to camp, I let Kissy walk off into the jungle with Alys to make her plea. They were gone for well over an hour, and when Alys finally sat down in the shelter, and Kissy wandered off, I offered Alys a drink from my canteen.

“She working you?” I asked casually.

“Yeah,” Alys said, looking frustrated. “It’s a tough decision.”

“Not that tough,” I told her, and pretended to study my fingernails, totally casual. “You know you can’t take her to the end, right? It’s pretty obvious she’d win.”