“Gabe, of course,” Cera says, “and … nope, can’t tell you. Isaac’s going to announce it at the party. He wants it to be a surprise.”

“It’s not Raj, is it?” Sally asks. She cups her hand to her mouth, but it’s too late. Her question hangs over her like a flashing neon sign.

“Would it matter if it were?” Cera leaves my side and takes a step towards her.

“Of course not.”

“Are you quite sure about that? The two of you spend a lot of time together. People are talking.”

“Oh, come on.” Sally shakes her head airily. “We’re all starving. Who could blame me for hanging around the chef? The only thing I’m attached to is his dahl bhat.”

Isis and Cera laugh as though she’s just told the funniest joke in the world. Sally laughs too, but the knuckles on the hand that’s clutching the rock whiten as she tightens her grip.

“Is it me?” A wave of hope courses through me, and I touch Isis lightly on the arm. “Am I going to Pokhara with Gabe tomorrow?”

She stops laughing and places her hand over mine. “I don’t think Isaac’s going to let you go anywhere. Do you?”

We are walking back to the house when I see a tall, hulking figure crossing the patio. I clutch hold of Cera, too terrified to speak.

“Emma.” Cera pulls at my hand. “Let go, you’re hurting me.”

“Emma!” Isis pulls at my fingers, peeling them off Cera’s arm. “Stop it. What’s the matter with you?”

“Johan.” My arm shakes as I point towards the patio, where he’s dragging a felled tree towards the woodpile at the front of the house.

Johan interrupted me when I was reading Leanne’s emails in Isaac’s study. I threw them onto the floor when I jumped out of the window. Oh, my God. A cold shiver courses through me as the memory of my first night in detox comes flooding back. It was him. He was the one who came into the hut.

“What about Johan?” Cera snaps.

“He asked Isaac if he could sleep with me.”

“So?” Cera shrugs. “It’s no big secret. It was all round the dining room last night.”

Isis laughs. “Kane was really pissed off. He didn’t even know you’d gone into detox.”

“Kane?”

“He wanted to sleep with you after Isaac, but Johan asked first.”

I stare after Johan as he drags the tree around the side of the house and disappears. The front gates have been locked since Gabe came back from the mountain with Ruth’s body. The key is in Isaac’s room somewhere. I need to get it. I need to escape, but Cera and Isis are watching my every move. Even now they’re studying my face intently. I have to pretend that everything’s fine, that the detox was a good thing.