Fourth a Lie (GODDESS ISLES Book 4)

by Pepper Winters

  Jealousy didn’t move as I carried her farther down the pathway. I kept a strict eye on Eleanor as she parried and swerved, stopping occasionally to rest against a palm tree.

  My baser instincts to protect her cursed my lack of power. I wanted to carry her too. I wanted her to give into the sleep clawing at her mind. But I gritted my teeth and kept an unforgiving pace, allowing her to trail behind, even though it killed me.

  Pika kept flight with us, swooping ahead to perch on flowers before circling with chirps and urging us to keep going.

  Every step whispered with warning that I was creeping closer and closer to the burnout I’d feared was coming for me. The mental and physical brick wall that didn’t take kindly to me running face-first into it.

  I felt it.

  Its presence was unlike typical exhaustion.

  It reached into my bones and bled my marrow dry.

  Just a little longer...

  One step.

  Now the other.

  My eyelids drooped, and my biceps threatened to drop Jess. I stopped for Eleanor to catch up.

  Pika squeaked as she pulled up beside me, her face sweaty and hair a riot of knots. I’d loved her when she’d worn a gown of gemstones. I’d loved her when she’d been in a cave cuffed to the wall. I’d loved her even when I shouldn’t. And I loved her the most as she staggered in stubborn, stunning perfection.

  Her skin held so many of my crimes. Her figure hinting of our many couplings and carnality. She’d been sold to me poised and pissed off, the only girl with the ability to tumble me from my throne into dirt.

  She’d been the catalyst for my undoing

  Why I’d reached rock bottom.

  Why I had no choice but to change.

  She was so young.

  So fierce.

  So wanted.

  If I survived this war, I would marry her and give her everything I had.

  I would trade a life of empty loneliness for one filled with laughter and love.

  If I survive, Jinx...

  I’m yours.

  And you...I’m keeping forever.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “CAMPBELL, WHERE THE FUCK are you?”

  Sully’s voice ripped through the medical rooms where I’d woken on my second day here after fainting at Sully’s feet. I’d rested on the bed by the wall. I’d glowered at Sully as he leaned nonchalantly against the drug cabinet, hating him with a thousand suns, and sucked up a smoothie full of delicious berries and banana and—

  My stomach growled with starvation just as Dr Campbell appeared through the door separating this room with whatever surgeries and recovery rooms existed behind.

  “Sinclair?” His white eyebrows shot up as his glasses slid down his nose. “What the hell are you doing here?” His gaze flew over me, swaying and clinging to the wall, Sully weaving and clinging to Jess, and Jealousy passed out and unresponsive in his arms.

  We made a sad trio.

  We dragged the stench of destruction and deceased hope behind us.

  The doctor’s shock spoke loudly: Wow, you don’t look so good. Holy shit, how are you still breathing? But he wisely kept his lips clamped together and leaped into a medical professional who hopefully knew how to reverse the process of death.

  Rushing toward Sully, he gathered Jealousy into his arms. The two men glared at each other. The awkward manoeuvre of transferring a girl from one embrace to the other made Sully clench his jaw and murder glow in his eyes.

  The doctor swallowed hard and looked away, his body tensing as he took Jealousy’s weight. The second Campbell held her securely, he rushed toward the door and pushed through it. Looking over his shoulder, he commanded, “Follow me.”

  Sully turned his head, catching my gaze. He shrugged wearily and held out his hand. “Can you walk a little farther?” The pride echoing in his tone made my heart kick with a healthy kind of joy.

  Tripping to him, I slid my fingers through his. We used each other as crutches, our bodies kissing and skin singeing where we touched. “I can manage.”

  He shook his head as we slowly made our way to the door and pushed through it. “You’ve surprised me once again.”

  I shook away the cobwebs in my mind. “How so?”

  He pulled me into a room reeking of potent antiseptic just as Dr Campbell placed Jealousy on a bed by a cabinet full of vials and concoctions. “You’re still awake. After everything you went through. After your heart almost gave out—”

  “Don’t look at me as if I’m a miracle for staying awake. Not when you’ve endured days of torture and God knows what else. You’re the one who’s the miracle, Sully. Not me.”

  He scowled, guiding me to a second bed pushed on the opposite wall. “Tritec helped. You didn’t have anything to boost you.”

  “Tritec better not hurt you any more than you already are,” I muttered, sitting down gratefully, dangling my heavy legs off the edge of the bed.

  Sully grunted and stayed standing, leaning against the bed, staying in touching distance while our attention fell on the doctor and his rapid work on Jealousy. “It should still be helping me. The drug is supposed to have a stacking effect. Energy is supposed to compound until the injected adrenaline overpowers the natural biochemistry.” He shrugged. “It feels as if it’s faded. Perhaps the dose Campbell gave me wasn’t strong enough.”

  Campbell whipped his head to us as he cocooned Jealousy in blankets. “I gave you a full syringe, Sinclair. Any more and it would’ve been an overdose almost certain to kill you.”

  Sully crossed his arms. “If I’m to clean up the mess you made, I need another hit.”

  “You’ll get nothing of the sort from me.” The doctor pierced Jess’s hand with an IV, grabbed a bottle of who knew what from the cupboard, and injected her with a few needles and their contents. “Where’s your brother?” He gently removed Jess’s earbuds and eye lenses.

  Sully yawned, clamping a hand over his mouth before answering sluggishly. “Out cold in Euphoria. He has three guards watching over him.”

  “Only three?”

  Sully grinned cruelly. “Four are dead and three have been sent away.”

  “Are there any more?” Campbell continued to fuss as he treated Jealousy.

  “Not that I should give you any information, you traitor, but according to one of their team, there was ten of them. Whether or not that can be trusted is another matter.” Sully stroked my thigh, his touch bringing comfort and affection. “Whether or not I trust you is also a topic to be discussed.”

  “You need my help currently, so trust doesn’t matter.” The doctor peered into Jealousy’s eyes, shining a torch over her pupils.

  “When you cease to be useful, I will make a decision about your ability to breathe.” Sully’s tone was deadly as a shark. “Don’t think this truce of ours will remain once I’m back in power.”

  Campbell flinched but nodded. “I’m aware I betrayed you but remember my aid when you make your final decision. If you come back into power.”

  “Drake is as good as dead.” Sully’s fingers latched around my knee with sudden violence. “His three guards are nothing.”

  “You are a force to be reckoned with, I will not deny that.” The doctor continued working on Jealousy. “But even the strongest of us have failures.”

  Leaning forward a little, I caressed my fingers over the back of Sully’s hand, reminding him that it was okay to rest...just for a little while. That here, in this surgery, we could try to regroup and heal.

  Campbell wasn’t our enemy...for now.

  Drake would remain passed out for hours and, seeing as Jess had given him elixir too, his system would not only be exhausted but severely depleted.

  Sully could easily overthrow him...if he regained a little strength.

  “Sully...” I smiled tiredly, wishing I could snuggle into him and sleep. “Come here.”

  He came nearer, cupping my cheek with tender fingers. “Sleep, Jinx. Go to sleep. I’ll stand guard.”
/>   My eyelids closed.

  I wrenched them awake.

  How dare he have the magic to send me under when I needed to stay coherent for him. “Sit with me.”

  He ran his thumb over my bottom lip, making me tingle. “I will. Soon.”

  My eyelids closed again.

  I gritted my teeth and hoisted them up.

  If I had to glue them open, I would. I refused to sleep until I knew Jealousy was okay and Sully wasn’t about to die on me.

  “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry again, Sinclair,” Campbell muttered, adding a different solution to Jess’s IV.

  Sully grumbled, “Help Jealousy and Eleanor, and maybe I’ll think about accepting your apology.”

  Campbell wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, the muggy island refusing to abate even with the air conditioner cooling the space. “At least that was the last of elixir.” Measuring out yet another injection, he tapped the syringe for air bubbles. “Drake came asking if I had any spare. I’m glad you only had a few left.”

  Sully stretched out his back, sighing heavily. “I have four hundred vials ready to go.”

  The doctor spun to face him, fury pinking his wrinkled face. “What? Where? Get rid of it.” He waved his hand at me and Jealousy. “I’m guessing you saw the effects first-hand after last night. I heard the guards saying that Jealousy had a seizure while serving in the hallucination, yet Drake just kept right on fucking her.”

  “Shit.” Sully hung his head, raking a hand through his tangled hair. “Will she be okay?”

  “She’ll die if she has another dose.”

  My heart flurried. “Is the damage reversible?”

  The doctor made eye contact with me, his anger subsiding a little. “I don’t know yet. Only time will tell. Time and detox from that heinous drug.” His gaze narrowed, locking back on Sully. “What do you plan on doing with the four hundred vials you have? Tell me you’re going to use them on those poor goddesses, and I’ll march out of here and get a gun to shoot you myself.”

  Sully stiffened, sucking up the shadows of the room, wearing a cape of authority and dominion. “Not that it’s any of your fucking business, but I’m destroying them.”

  Campbell glared, suspicion glinting off his glasses. “Why should I believe you?”

  Sully tore his attention from him to me, saying, “Because my lab creation almost killed the purpose of my creation. I watched it try to steal my future, and I’m done. No more elixir. Ever.”

  Goosebumps spread over me.

  I wanted to kiss him.

  Hug him.

  Tell him just how much I loved him.

  Dr Campbell sighed with relief. “I’m glad you’re finally seeing sense. That you learned to love people and not just beasts.”

  Sully shook his head, lowering his voice to a murmur, “Not people, Campbell. Just one.” He gripped my hand with possession, fire sparking and love tying us together with almost visible strings.

  The doctor grunted and continued to treat Jealousy.

  Sully swayed, bumping against the bed as his face contorted, and he rubbed his chest where his heart resided.

  Fear sprang.

  I was relieved Jealousy received help, but the longer the doctor fussed over her, the more my impatience grew for him to tend to Sully.

  His knees suddenly buckled beside me, his own fatigue making it impossible for him to stay awake.

  “Sully...are you okay?” I grabbed at him, trying to hold him up.

  He groaned, pushing me away gently. “I’m fine, woman. I need to return and deal with Drake.”

  “Sit down, Sinclair, before you fall,” Campbell muttered. “I’ll tend to you shortly.”

  “But—”

  “Sit just for a moment, Sully. Please.” I tugged him with annoyance. If he went to deal with Drake now, the guards would kill him easily.

  “Fine. Ten minutes, and then I’m leaving. I’m not dragging this out any more than it already has.” Sully permitted me to pull him onto the bed. The frame creaked under his weight, and another heavy sigh spilled from his lips.

  After everything he’d been through and everything I’d been the cause of...he couldn’t escape sleep any more than I could.

  Please let it just be tiredness and nothing more.

  Needing him close, I tugged him until he scooted closer. We leaned against the wall, every inch of our bodies—from our shoulders, hips, and knees touched—as if we couldn’t bear to be separate.

  My head fell into the comforting crook of his neck and shoulder.

  His rested on the top of my hair.

  Our hands linked.

  Our breathing slowed.

  And the world went dark as we lost the battle to stay awake.

  * * * * *

  “Here, drink this.”

  I hoisted up the heaviest eyes in existence, blinking back fuzz and cotton wool.

  Pika was the only splash of colour in the otherwise white sterile room, his emerald feathers perched in the corner on a packet of gauze.

  Dr Campbell leaned over me, his wizened face imploring. In his hand, he held the most delicious-looking smoothie I’d ever seen.

  My mouth watered, my stomach snarled, and I sat up with a groan, allowing him to help me. Once I slumped in a sitting position, he passed me the smoothie.

  A muddy colour, unlike the vibrant rainbow colours of Sully’s other concoctions.

  “Sorry if it doesn’t taste all that appetising. I raided the kitchens and put in every vitamin and mineral I could find. Lots of tropical fruit along with kale and spinach and a bunch of other vegetables from the fridge.”

  I sucked on the paper straw, wincing as the icy, earthy liquid hit my tongue. I wouldn’t have cared if it tasted like the bottom of a dumpster. I would drink every drop.

  Slurping as fast as I could, tensing against the chill spreading through my stomach, I took in the rest of my surroundings. Sully lay beside me. We no longer sat like discarded toys against the wall but had been spread out on the bed, sleeping side by side, cramped and cosy, entwined in each other.

  He remained asleep while Dr Campbell checked his vitals and added another bag of fresh liquid to the IV in the back of his hand.

  A sharp bite in the back of mine made me look down, eyeing up the needle puncturing my vein.

  The doctor saw me looking. “While you two were out, I took the liberty of taking care of you.” He glanced at Sully. “I sewed a few of his stitches that’d pulled apart again, rebandaged, injected more antibiotics, applied new eye drops, and tended to his other maladies the best I could. He’s running on empty, but I hope I’ve given him enough strength to keep fighting.” He smiled sadly. “I know this is all my fault, but...I couldn’t keep letting him hurt those girls. I hope you understand.”

  I swallowed hard at the utmost sincerity and apology in his gaze. “You don’t have to explain to me.”

  “I do. If only I’d waited a little longer. You would’ve stopped his use of elixir and Euphoria.” He shook his head. “I’m not the reason he’ll destroy four hundred vials of his drug. You are. He fell in love and earned a conscience along the way.”

  “I’m also the reason he strangled Calico, Neptune, and Jupiter.”

  He nodded. “You are but only because you finally woke him up that everyone deserves protecting. His violence came from affection for his own kind...something he never had before. So...thank you. And I truly am sorry for not waiting longer for you to succeed.”

  I blushed. “It wasn’t my intention to make him change, Dr Campbell.”

  “And that’s precisely why he has.” He patted my shoulder. “You loved him as he is, not for what he could be. There’s a difference in unconditional acceptance and being unable to see past the barriers we all erect. You forced him to look into a mirror and see what he’d become. He was the one who wanted change because he wanted to deserve you.”

  Goosebumps slid down my arms. I didn’t expect nor want gratitude or worship. I didn’t want th
is man to think Sully’s evolvement had anything to do with me. I was just a simple girl who happened to lock horns with a god. I hadn’t done anything special. I’d just been special. Just as he was special to me. “We were meant to find each other...that’s all.”

  “You were. And I’m glad, because now that you’ve given him his freedom, perhaps he’ll grant all those in his imprisonment the same luxury.”

  Smiling gently at me, he rocked Sully’s shoulder and raised his voice. “Sinclair, time to wake up.”

  Sully groaned.

  “Sinclair!” Dr Campbell shook harder.

  Sully’s eyes flicked wide, blank to start with, then filling with comprehension. He sat up stiffly, another groan rumbling in his chest. “Shit! I need to go.”

  “Drink this.” The doctor shoved an identical glass into Sully’s hand, eyeing us up. His tone switched from the soft conversation we’d shared to pragmatic surgeon. “You’ve both received anti-inflammatories and intravenous glucose and saline. Your systems are heavily depleted, but with some proper food and the six-hour sleep you just had, you’ll rally round quick enough.”

  “Fucking hell. Six hours? Jesus Christ!” He tried to climb off the bed but Dr Campbell pushed him back.

  “Don’t worry. Drake is still comatose. His mercenaries left him on the tile in Euphoria so his wake-up call won’t be nearly as beneficial as yours. You have time.”

  “Time is relative,” Sully snapped. “I need every second I have to kill him.”

  “No, you need to be wise and heal. Drink your smoothie.” Campbell padded across the room to check on Jealousy. He tapped her cheek lightly, his voice much kinder than he’d been with Sully. “Jess...time to wake up, sweetheart.”

  Nothing.

  No twitch.

  No try.

  Just a girl with blonde hair spread over her pillow and her skin mimicking the snowy white sheets covering her.

  My heart hurt. “Is she okay?”

  Dr Campbell shrugged, leaving her be. “I honestly don’t know. The scans show normal brain activity, so her seizure didn’t disrupt her mental capacity. Her heart is still suffering arrhythmias, regardless of the beta blockers I administered.” He sighed. “Only time will tell.”