"You wouldn't even be working on our holiday if you had the guts to stand up to your boss...or even your mother. You're just not going anywhere, Chris. You'll be fifty and still trying to please everyone. Still stuck at the paper, if you're lucky, still underachieving, still just...a puppet."

Puppet. Her father has called me that on more than one occasion. The word brings me out of my stupor and I find myself starting to hate her just a little bit. It feels good.

"That's your father talking," I shoot back.

She shakes her head and s.n.a.t.c.hes up her purse. I reach over and grip her wrist firmly, wanting her to stay, to not just fire her rounds and leave.

"I've been talking like this for a long time. You just haven't been listening!"

She rips her hand out of my grasp, turns on her heel and storms down the aisle. I could swear there's almost a smile on her face.

I can't believe what just happened. But I sure as h.e.l.l can't let her walk out of my life like this. We're on a b.l.o.o.d.y ferry! Where the h.e.l.l is she going to go?

I leap to my feet, quickly ram my dead laptop into its bag, and take off down the ferry, avoiding the looks from the fellow pa.s.sengers. I can feel my face burning a deep red, know that the flush is reaching up into the reaches of my sandy hair, that the sweat is starting to form again.

I begin my search for my girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. Whatever she is.

5.

JAMIE.

June 19th.

Dude. I'm on the ferry to Gibraltar and I just saw this poor sap get dumped by his girlfriend. In public. Even I'm not that cruel. Relationships; man, why bother?

Also by Karina Halle.

The Experiment in Terror Series.

Darkhouse (EIT #1).

Red Fox (EIT #2).

The Benson (EIT #2.5) Dead Sky Morning (EIT #3) Lying Season (EIT #4).

On Demon Wings (EIT #5).

Old Blood (EIT #5.5) Into the Hollow (EIT #6) Fall 2012.

Novels by Karina Halle.

Lost in Wanderl.u.s.t.