He’d become so proficient, I no longer worried about him swimming out of his depth or stabbing himself accidentally. The reef around our island protected us from crashing waves and the calm atoll was as safe as a chlorinated pool for a seasoned hunter.

For a few hours, I weaved another blanket with Pippa to replace my first attempts and restocked our firewood. I smoked some more coconut shards on a flat rock in the fire, set a cauldron of water to boil for a clam salad lunch, and even managed to find ten minutes to scribble a phrase or two in my notebook while no one was looking.

But then...

Calamity happened.

Turned out the reef wasn’t as safe as a pee-filled paddling pool. Not as secure as a pool with pretty mosaic tiles on the walls.

A pool didn’t house enemies.

Pippa saw him first.

Dropping the thin vine she’d been decorating with fish skeletons, she squealed and charged down the beach to her limping, gasping brother.

Oh, my God.

Galloway, who’d returned from the crash site to salvage an extra piece of fuselage, threw the axe into the sand and took off after her. Limping/jogging, he only wore his board-shorts, ignoring screams from his own body to focus on the boy who’d become our son.

Please...no...

“Conner!” I charged after them.

My feet flew in the soft sand, hurtling me to all fours just as Connor collapsed into Galloway’s arms.

“I’ve got you.” Galloway lowered him to the beach, cushioning Conner’s back on his chest.

My eyes zeroed in on Conner’s right leg as it splayed out. His normal brown skin was puckered and white with a wickedly red puncture on his instep.

“No! Conner. No!” Pippa tried to grab him, but Galloway pushed her back. “Pip, don’t. Let me deal with it.”

Conner moaned, smiling weakly at Pippa. “I’m okay, Pippi. Don’t—” Agony cut him off; he buried his face in Galloway’s chest. “Make it stop. God, make the pain stop.”

I shook as if a magnitude ten earthquake replaced my heart. Grabbing Pippa, I stopped her clutching Conner and wiped at her tears. “Shush, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay!” Her wails lifted until the sound echoed off the palm trees. “Conner...please.” She cracked in half, turning in my arms and sobbing on my shoulder.

I rubbed her back, doing my best to soothe her while terror tore at my soul.

“What happened, mate?” Galloway cuddled Conner close, wiping away his sand-filled hair. “What’s up? Tell me what hurts.”

Conner opened his mouth to speak, but he retched instead. Galloway repositioned him so he could vomit on the beach. He never stopped murmuring comforting things while Conner gave into the nausea and toxins coursing through his blood.

Pippa’s tears turned into rivers; she squirmed from my arms and grabbed Conner’s hand. “Don’t go to sleep, Co. Please don’t go to sleep.”

I wanted to calm her—she’d put herself into hiccupping shock soon—but my panic for Conner turned me ruthlessly focused.

I nudged her away. “Pippa...I need to look at him, okay? I’m going to make sure he doesn’t go to sleep.”

Don’t promise something you can’t deliver.

My teeth clacked together.

Pippa fought, but she didn’t match my strength. In the back of my mind, I hated myself for treating her so cruelly, but she was alive.

Conner was dying.

Shuffling closer, I met Galloway’s eyes. His cheekbones stood out starkly; his panic threading a dark blue through his turquoise eyes. He nodded as I cradled Conner’s foot, inspecting the wound.

Gritty sand stuck to the blood trickling from his injury, but nothing looked as if it’d lodged inside. The tiny hole already wanted to close, clogging with debris. “Do you remember what happened?” I palpated his foot, wincing at his hot, hot flesh.

I racked my brain for what could’ve done this.

“I didn’t...see it.” Conner wheezed, holding his chest as if suffering an asthma attack. “I thought it was...a rock.”

“Well, you’re okay now, Co. Take your time.” Galloway stared worriedly as Conner’s lips turned bluish. “Don’t try to talk too much, buddy. Just give us the basics.”

Tears lived in my fingers, my toes, my heart but none dared torment my eyes. I remained dry-gazed and focused.

Conner was ours. I wouldn’t let him die. I wouldn’t let anyone I loved die again.

My parents...my sister. They’d been taken from me. Fate wouldn’t take my second chance at a family.

We. Will. Not. Die. Here.

My childhood warnings exploded to mind. Living in Australia, we were drilled about poisonous creatures, snakes, spiders, and jellyfish. We knew before we could walk how to wrap something tight around a bite and who to call for antidotes.

After all, we lived in a country where ninety percent of the world’s deadliest animals resided.

“Estelle...” Galloway’s voice wrenched my head up. “What—what could it be?”

Conner went rigid in his arms, gasping for breath.

Shit!

He said a rock.

Something he’d stepped on.

Something spiny and poisonous and...

Think!

Numerous fish were venomous. Scorpionfish, dragonfish...but only one looked like a pebble.

“A stonefish.”

Galloway flinched. “Stonefish? Aren’t they...” He stopped himself, but the word hung in the air.