“No,” I say, with a fierceness that surprises even me. “The balete creatures aren’t haunting you because you’re next. They’re haunting you because of me.”

He looks at me, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

After a pause, I make my decision and share. “They’re curious about you.”

“Curious?”

“I’m the only human this island has a longstanding connection with. When you arrived, it wanted to know more about you. Because of me.”

“Are you saying that the island is jealous of me?”

I gape at him, then surprise myself by laughing. “No. Maybe. I don’t think it’s capable of those kinds of emotions, but it can mimic them. It doesn’t understand personal boundaries the way you and I do.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Have you seen hallucinations of your ex on the island?”

He shakes his head.

“If He thought you were guilty, He would have used your conscience against you. What we’ve been seeing—they are manifestations of the god. I see them all the time. They can feel invasive if you’re not used to it.” I set my jaw. “I won’t let Him do that to you.”

“You’re a good person, ya know?” Chase says quietly.

I look away, not sure how to answer that. “I don’t know if I can claim that.”

“We’re here trashing your island, and you still want to keep us safe. I’m not used to that, you know? In California everyone just gets…caught up. We don’t think much beyond how we want people to see us, like us. I guess that’s what got me into posting videos. I just wanna be validated, you know? But being on this island’s got me thinking about a lot. My friends tell me Riley’s always been shallow—but maybe we got together because I’m also shallow.”

The boy’s starting to get a little weepy. I’m not sure what to do.

“You’re—you’re gonna laugh at me. But after saying this? My immediate thought is Hey, that would make an awesome caption for my next photo. I’m living my life to make goddamn posts on social media so I can get engagements for advertisers to pay me more. If I die, is that all people will remember of me? Some dude who got ‘hot boy summer’ trending that one time? Is that my biggest achievement?”

Askal, far better at offering comfort, pushes his nose into Chase’s arm. The boy lets out a choked, teary laugh, and then reaches down to pat him.

“It’s all right. S’alright. Saying it out loud kinda helps me feel better, you know? You’ve been helping from the very first day. You could have gone back to your dad and left us all here to die.” He hugs Askal with one arm. His other hand reaches out to pull me into a hug. “Thanks. I really, really appreciate it.”

I pat him on the back. He chuckles. “You’re not used to this, either, huh?”

“I don’t have many friends.”

“Can we be friends? Like, if everything here is done, I still wanna hang out with you. I can come here easier than you can fly to America, plus we’ve got the internet to connect. Do you have any social media yourself? I don’t mind emails or telephone calls. You can charge them to me.”