Chapter 1

"Did you bring one back?" My mom, Siobhan, urged.

I pushed my half-empty mug to the center of the cafe table. The campus buzzed around me, students stressing over minor things like finals.

"I’m still at school, Mom."

"The Summer Solstice is in exactly one month, Maeve." The line crackled.

"If you cross that water empty-handed, Finn is going to the pens. Are you going to let your own brother be taken?"

——

I was born in Moray Island, a ruthless matriarchy isolated in the ocean, where men rarely lived past twenty.

My brother Finn was sixteen. Born with a severe genetic defect, he spent most days coughing in bed.

Every three years, the fifty-five households drew lots. The loser provided the sacrificial male to ensure the island's bloodline continued.

A grueling, endless cycle of reproduction until his body gave out.

If Finn was chosen, his weak heart wouldn't last a week.

"Any household that could offer an outsider instead of its own son was spared," Siobhan reminded.

"I know the rules," I said.

"Then do what you need to do." Siobhan hung up.

A one-way countdown to death. That was what awaited any outsider I brought back.

I went to a modern university. I understood the laws of the mainland. I couldn't just drag an innocent man into an inescapable slaughterhouse.

"Stop zoning out. Put this on."

A black slip dress landed on my face.

My roommate, Tamsin, stood over me, already strapped into heels.

Tonight was the ice hockey team’s graduation blowout. I had zero interest in sweaty undergrads, but surviving college meant maintaining a social facade.

The frat house smelled of cheap alcohol and poor decisions.

Then, Kaelen walked in.

He was the captain of the hockey team. Broad shoulders, sharp jawline, and a commanding presence that naturally parted the crowd.

Watching him charge across the ice always gave me a strange rush.

It was the exact kind of life force my island drained.

He spotted me leaning against the wall and immediately shoved past two girls vying for his attention.

He slid onto the armrest of the sofa next to me.

"You look like you'd rather be anywhere else." He bumped his knee against my leg, handing me a blue plastic cup. "Just soda. Swear."

A drunk guy stumbled into our space, tracking spilled beer over my shoes, hand reaching toward my waist.

Kaelen put his broad shoulder between the guy and me. The drunk took one look at Kaelen’s imposing frame, muttered something, and backed off entirely.

"It's too loud down here." Kaelen grabbed my wrist.

He pulled me up the stairs and pushed open the glass door to the second-floor balcony.

The night air was freezing, but his body heat radiated against me.

He backed me against the railing, crowding my space.

"Maeve." He dropped his voice, stripping away his usual arrogant athlete persona. "Be with me. I mean it."

My chest tightened. Every instinct screamed at me to say yes, but a heavier, darker reality crushed it. Moray Island demanded a toll.

If I took him back, he would die in that stone room.

He belonged here. He had a future.

I forced my features into a blank mask, locking away any trace of emotion.

"Sorry," I said.

His brow furrowed. "Why?"

"I don't like you." I pushed my hands against his chest, breaking the contact. I didn't look at his eyes as I grabbed the door handle and walked back into the noise.

By Tuesday, I was a campus pariah.

Tamsin had dragged her desk to the absolute corner of our room. The whispers hit me everywhere.

'She's doing escort work downtown.'

'Some old billionaire pays her tuition.'

'She’s just a gold digger holding out for a better offer.'

Tamsin and her clique made sure the rumors spread like a virus. They couldn't stand that Kaelen chose me, and they weaponized my rejection against me.

I sat in the library, ignoring the stares from the adjacent table.

Let them talk. On Moray Island, a woman’s worth wasn't shackled to mainland purity codes.

My mom hadn't taught me to care about gossip.

As long as Kaelen stayed away and stayed alive, I could wear the label of a slut.

My phone vibrated on the desk. A text from Kaelen.

[Meet me at the corner cafe today. Please.]

I stared at the screen, my thumb hovering over the delete button.

'One last conversation,' I told myself. 'He deserves a clean break before I disappear.'

When I arrived, he was sitting by the window in a T-shirt that hugged his muscles.

"I'm sorry," he said the second I pulled out the chair. "They started those rumors because you rejected me. It's messed up because of me."

"It's fine."

And it was. Mainland morality was a joke compared to my reality.

In the end, the island would force countless men through my life anyway

"Let me make it up to you," he insisted. "Dinner. A show. Let's just have one normal night. No pressure."

After a quiet meal, we ended up in the theater.

The theater was pitch black. Some action movie blared through the speakers, shaking the floor.

I reached for my drink in the shared cupholder, and my fingers collided with his.

I froze.

He didn't pull away. Instead, he turned his hand and laced his fingers through mine.

His palm was rough from his hockey stick, his pulse steady against my skin.

A massive wave of exhaustion hit me.

The pressure of the deadline, Finn’s failing lungs, Siobhan’s cold voice.

I was so tired of playing the saint.

Just this once.

My face flushed in the darkness. I didn't pull my hand back. I squeezed his.