The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0495 Early the next morning, at first light, Jessica, Bridget, Veronica, and I were assigned four different boats. For a time, we could keep track of each other, four boats rushing toward the sunrise.

Then I saw the island. It was larger than I thought, circular, with a beach along the outside and dense jungle packed in the center.

The four boats veered off in widening directions, presumably to stop and drop off their candidates at different points on the beach. Soon, we lost sight of each other.

The boat carrying me pulled up toward the beach, and the servant indicated that I should hop out here. So I did, my

feet splashing in the shallow ocean water. As I sloshed my way toward the shore, the boat behind me drifted back and then disappeared the way it had come.

I felt exposed standing there in only a swimsuit. Fortunately, Nicholas with some measure of foresight had included a more conservative one- piece in my wardrobe. It was a navy in color with a modest neckline, and therefore covered most of my torso.

My bare feet, legs, and arms were bound to have some trouble in the thick brush, however.

I crossed my arms and frowned at the path ahead. Nathan had mentioned last night that the camera crews would be discreetly following us, yet no one had

exited the boat with me. Perhaps they thought me so unimportant that I wasn’t worth following.

I could only hope Veronica was considered the same or the next part of our plan would make everything obvious.

as ever, the cameras

were proved true when, as per our plan, I waited in spot while Veronica trudged around the

bikini with a white sham tied around her waist. Curiously, she was carrying a

I

me, she held out the spare pair of shoes for

I asked as

take my chances,” Veronica said, “Rather than step on some poisonous thing, or who knows what else.” That seemed like sound logic to me, so I accepted the shoes and kicked them on. I didn’t care about the sand in them. It was

but it was

her written instructions from inside of

glanced away as she did so, offering her some measure of privacy, though she didn’t seem bothered either way: The instructions were a series of landmarks, natural or otherwise. The first on the list said that we needed to enter the jungle at a mark where three rocks stacked together looked like a stone

didn’t have to

was only a few yards left of where I was initially dropped. We walked to it, and yes, just as the instructions described, it was three progressively smaller stones

“What's next?” I asked.

paces due west,”

the sun rising § behind