ISLAND ILLUSIONS (#2 PARADISE ISLAND duology)

--ten--

Somehow evading Jessa's insistent requests for Miles to join them for a nightly hunt in the woods, Miles locked himself in his cabin that night. Locked, because he didn't trust that Jessa wouldn't creep in and drag him out against his will, forcing him to participate in one of her bloody orgies. Or that Taryn wouldn't sneak in and slither into his bed and start undressing him.

Even hearing the click of the lock, he wasn't sure he was safe. For all he knew, Jessa and her special ruler powers might be able to unlock doors.

He tried not to overthink it as he settled on his mattress and extracted Ms. Moreno's notebook from beneath his sweater. He'd kept it clutched against his skin the whole evening, suffering through Lorenzo and Taryn's scrutiny at his lack of enthusiasm. Through Vick's veiled insults as he knifed through the food he'd caught—a deer, which stunned Miles. And through Jessa's eerie proximity as she whisked around him, sniffling him, eager to get her claws into him.

She wouldn't, not if he could help it.

On a whim, he got under the covers, using a flashlight to read through the book. The ruler wouldn't be watching him, too busy infiltrating into Jessa and taking her over completely. But who was to say the gods themselves weren't watching? Miles had no idea how they worked, if they were even real. What kind of powers they'd have—the word powers made him shudder. Or, on a more realistic yet sadistic level: what if there were cameras in the cabins? Clearly, whoever or whatever the overseers of this island were, they had power, money, and access to the most upgraded technology. He wouldn't take any risks.

He opened the book and was instantly submerged into it, as if it had transported him to another world. He read, his jaw dropping further with every page he turned, with every line of words Ms. Moreno had written. Conspiracies, scribbles of information, cut-outs of documentation; she'd been thorough in her research, and hadn't left out a single idea or piece of intelligence that she'd received.

The gods, the ones Miles kept doubting the existence of... were real. Ms. Moreno, a firm scientist and an atheist, according to what he'd overheard her talking about a few days prior, had found proof of these deities. She'd uncovered tales of them, legends detailing how they'd come to be, when they'd come to be, and where they came from.

They weren't from earth.

Miles massaged his jaw, as it had become sore from the constant dropping. "What the fuck?" Page after page, his eyes grew wide and dry from his astonishment. "They're not gods, then? They're aliens?"

He later received his answer—yes, aliens. God aliens. Ms. Moreno had discovered that they were part of a secret governmental project. The American government had formed a sort of alliance with an alien planet, through its gods. Gods who didn't believe that any of the religions on earth were real, and considered the American government as earth's true god.

Miles scoffed. "Wow, so they're deranged alien gods." Of all governments and political groups to consider gods, he'd never have chosen the United States of America. If anything, they were the opposite of gods. They were demons overreaching for power, corrupt men seeking more corruption, more money, and every ounce of authority they could get their grubby hands on.

Why would an alien planet reach out to them to form an alliance with earth?

They're evil, deranged, alien gods.

They'd negotiated, Ms. Moreno claimed, but she hadn't been able to find all the details of said negotiation. "All we know is that this has been going on for some time, likely more than I'd originally thought. This alliance was strong, secret, and no other country in the world was aware of it. The U.S. kept it hush-hush; of course, they'd never share anything this monumental with any other countries that might need it more."