Page 121 of Alice Chen's Reality Check

“Save it for the cameras!” Dawn Taylor snaps. She speaks into her walkie-talkie. “Can we get some cameras in the war room? Yes, now!”

Within minutes the camera crew bursts in, but Chase doesn’t wait for them to set up the shot. Before I can stop him, he sweeps me up in his arms.

“I love you, Alice!”

I glance over at the cameras. Here we go again. “I love you, too,” I say back, forcing a smile.

Am I in over my head? Yes. Am I still going to power through and keep going? Of course. It’s all I know how to do.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Hell Is Reuniting with Your Ex to Go Rock Climbing

I’d hoped to find a chance to hand Anton’s key off to Lex, but we’re told by the producers that instead of filming some extra footage of the final two couples, we’re going to start shooting the finale immediately.

“There’s a break in the storm and this could be our last chance for hours,” Leah informs us.

She takes us through the jungle outside the villa and then down a side path.

Chase holds my hand as we walk together. The camera crew has gone ahead to set up for the big finale, and it’s just the two of us, trailing a distance behind Leah.

“Chase,” I say quietly, “can we take this slowly? I mean, I want to work together for this final challenge, but after this, I’m not sure.”

“Of course,” Chase says, squeezing my hand. “We’re doing this for your mom, right? So let’s get this bread!” He drops my hand to pump his fist in the air.

I laugh. Because even in these circumstances, Chase can make me feel like we’re in a comedy and not a horror movie. Maybe we are. Maybe everything is going to be just fine.

And then our final challenge comes into view.

Holy hell, it’s a volcano. A huge, four-story-tall volcano rises in front of us. There’s smoke and lava pouring out of the top.

I know it’s all fake, but it doesn’t lessen my sense of dread. There’s probably a million ways they can make someone die on this kind of set and have it look like an accident. At least Daniel isn’t here to say “I told you so” about this whole thing being dangerous.

Ava and Noah are already at the base of the volcano when Chase and I get there.

“Man, you’re like a cat with nine lives, aren’t you?” Noah says, high-fiving Chase. “You just keep coming back.”

“You know it!” Chase laughs. I don’t join in. I’m too busy staring up at this giant volcano, trying to figure out how I can possibly strategize a win for a challenge that involves an entire volcano.

One of the cameras pushes in on me and Chase. From the sidelines, I see Leah gesturing for us to kiss.

Chase takes the hint and sweeps me into a kiss. I kiss him back, aware of the cameras on us, but I feel nothing as I press my lips to his. Even though I’m furious with Daniel right now, all I can think about is the last time I kissed him, how good it felt to let go of all my worries and just sink into the feeling of his mouth on mine.

I break away from Chase just as a rumbling sound fills the air and the ground beneath us starts to shake.

Bright red and orange lava erupts from the volcano. Dawn Taylor emerges from the back of the volcano’s rim. Her hair and makeup are perfect, and her floor-length, skintight red gown is gorgeous.

“Welcome to the final circle of hell, babes. It’s the Treachery Challenge, and we’ve saved the best for last!” Dawn Taylor flashes a dazzling smile at the nearest camera.

If I hadn’t been watching Dawn Taylor so closely for the last week, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it, but her smile seems a little stiff. Is it just nerves over the finale? Or does she know something bad’s about to happen because she’s planning to kill us off in the finale?

“First, you’ll race to the top of this volcano. The first couple that makes it to the summit will get the chance to make one final choice to determine the winner. Whoever completes the challenge first winsonemillion dollars!”

Leah comes over to talk to us while we’re each fitted with a safety harness intended for rock climbing.

“If you end up falling into the volcano during the challenge, just hold your breath while you’re in the lava,” she instructs, tightening my harness. “There’s a chute in there that goes down and out of the volcano. So, yeah, it’ll be messy. When you reach the bottom of the chute, one of the PAs will be there to help you out and escort you through an underground tunnel and back to the beach for final filming.”

“Got it,” I say.

---