Fourth a Lie (Goddess Isles, #4)

by Winters, Pepper

  “I’m not asking you to—”

  “Just as I didn’t ask you to throw your life away for mine!”

  I struggled to get my temper under control. This wasn’t how our reunion was supposed to go. We shouldn’t be fighting when he’d just woken up from being pushed to the brink, while he lay upon the stains of shed blood, while we honestly didn’t know how long our lives would last. “Sully...I had to come. I didn’t have a choice.”

  “You did. You did have a choice. You could’ve chosen to obey me. At least you were out of his reach.”

  “He would’ve found me if he wanted to. He knows my name. I would never have been safe.”

  “Goddammit, why do you have to be so smart?” He threw his head back, his throat working as he swallowed. “Why can’t I win with you? All I wanted was to keep you safe. You are my top priority. My only priority. Yes, he could have found you if I failed to kill him, but you would’ve been surrounded by society and other people. You would’ve been a hell of a lot safer than here!”

  “Hush.” I attempted to give each other sweetness and forget the sour. “It’s not worth arguing about. I’m here. We’re together. We can—”

  “Damn you, woman.” His voice filled with a painful huskiness. “You’ve betrayed me in the worst possible way.”

  “Betrayed you?” I sucked in another thin breath, my temper heating with injustice. I’d known he was stubborn. I knew we had similar fiery responses, but I didn’t think he’d be stupid enough to burn through whatever energy sleep had given him with accusations and slurs. “It’s not betrayal...it’s loyalty.”

  “It’s insanity.”

  “It’s necessity!” I twisted to face him as much as my binds would allow, glaring at the cotton over his eyes and the bruises shadowing his tanned skin. Just looking at him and imagining the torture he’d endured drowned my heart and made tears spring.

  He was angry with me because he was afraid for me.

  And I was angry with him because I hated that he was hurt.

  Our rage wasn’t meant for each other, but that bastard who’d done this to us.

  Damn you, too, Sully.

  I didn’t ask for this.

  I didn’t ask to fall so stupidly hard that I’ll literally do anything to keep you safe.

  I sniffed back my sadness, forcing myself to remain as silent as I could. He couldn’t know I was crying, couldn’t know I churned with compassion, pity, and a decent dose of regret.

  I should’ve come here with an armada.

  Instead, I’d come alone and failed spectacularly.

  Stop crying!

  But he heard me.

  Of course, he heard me.

  “God, please don’t cry,” Sully whispered brokenly. “I’ll lose it if you cry.”

  I laughed weakly as I rubbed tickling droplets from my jaw with my shoulder. “You can hear me?”

  He shrugged helplessly, his lungs exhaling our fight and making him soft, gentle...kind. “I’ve always been aware of you. Now that I can’t see...I’m hyper attuned to your every breath.”

  I wanted to say something.

  Something profound and promising. Something that would give him back his pride, his power, his hope.

  But...I had nothing.

  All I wanted to do was crawl into his arms and kiss him until we both either died or help arrived.

  Help.

  “Sully...” I glanced at the exit, my tears drying. Still no guards. Still alone. I lowered my voice for good measure. “I told the captain who dropped me off to call for help. His granddaughter works on Lebah. I think he accepted Drake’s bribe to bring me here but regrets it. He might call on our behalf...I hope anyway. I also installed a tracker app on a burner phone and told my dad to call the police, the consulate—anyone in a position to help us with the coordinates. I don’t know if I have reception out here...but I tried.”

  He froze.

  I added quickly, “I told him your name. I...I hope you don’t mind.”

  I was almost grateful he couldn’t see me just yet. I didn’t have to hide my worry or pretend to be stronger than I was. I’d done my best...but it might not be good enough.

  Silence fell for a second before he chuckled darkly. “You told your father about me?”

  “I told him you needed help.”

  “Did you also tell him I bought you? That I paid money for your body and ended up stealing your heart?”

  I shook my head, my hair catching on the bars behind me. “No...but he’ll hear in my voice that you’re special to me. That you’re...the one.”

  He groaned. His body stiffened and face twisted. He sniffed as if he couldn’t believe what I’d told him before clearing his throat and murmuring, “If we survive this, Eleanor Grace...I’m going to fucking marry you.”

  Goosebumps shot over every inch of me. I shivered. I smiled. “Is that a proposal?”

  “It’s a vow. You’ve somehow claimed my entire useless heart. I let you go, Jinx. I watched you fly away like so many of my rescues...but you came back. You came back despite impossible odds...therefore, I’m keeping you. You don’t get a choice anymore.”

  Overwhelming heat and need licked through my veins as he lugged himself into a better position and reached through the bars for me. The cotton on his eyes hid his penetrating stare. His lips were cracked from lack of hydration and abuse, and his five o’clock shadow bordered a beard. He looked as wild as the animals that would’ve inhabited the cage before him.

  His fingers moved hesitantly as if afraid to hurt me in his quest to find me.

  I moaned as he cupped my cheek.

  He let out a heavy sigh, caressing me with a shaking touch. “It’s killing me that I can’t see you.” His forehead pressed against the bars. “I’m sorry I’m the cause of so much misery.” Curling his fingers against my jaw, he pulled me toward him, kissing me through the metal, running away from our entrapment and the colossal unknown in our future.

  His tongue licked my bottom lip.

  I parted for him.

  He dipped inside my mouth, his breath hitching as I welcomed.

  We gave each other the sweetest kiss we’d ever shared. A kiss of hellos and goodbyes, apologies and arguments. We kissed like lovers, all while we were lab rats trapped at the mercy of a mad scientist.

  How long until the police arrived?

  Would they come by boat or helicopter?

  Will they get here before it’s too late?

  Pulling away, Sully’s touch dropped to the rope looping around the bars and tethering me tight. “Are we still alone?”

  I licked his taste from my lips, nodding. “Yes.”

  “Can you see anything we can use as a weapon?”

  I scanned the villa, empty apart from towers of cages and horrible history. “No.”

  His fingers worked the rope, tugging on different areas, attempting to free me. He was just as capable missing a sense as he was at full power. He’d endured so, so much, yet he wasn’t complaining or giving up. In fact, his skin flushed with a healthy colour beneath his bruises, the swelling in his leg looked less angry, and the rawness of his skin around his wrists, ankles, and chest were all—

  “Oh, my God.” I gawked closer. “Your injuries...they’re—”

  “Better?” His lips twitched. “Yeah, they’re not hurting nearly as much either.”

  “How...how is that possible?”

  His forehead furrowed as he continued to fumble with my rope. Up close, I noticed the skin around his wrists still oozed, but the flesh was a healthy pink. Tissue had already begun covering with new cells and blood supply.

  He cursed under his breath, tugging the twine harder. “A hazard of my line of work.” Bending in half, he attempted to gnaw at the cord around my hands. “We stumble upon miracles as well as disasters.”

  “And you happen to create a cream that heals in a few hours?”

  “A few days for full granulation, but yes, substantially faster than anything else on the market
.” He cursed again, his fingers brushing my hands as he continued to work the rope. “I’m assuming Jim gave me Tritec-87 while I was out. Did he inject me with something?”

  “Yeah, a few jabs in your leg and one giant syringe of golden liquid in your arm.”

  “The ones in my leg will help stitch my inner muscles together. The golden one we cooked completely by accident...well, not entirely by accident.” He sniffed with satisfaction as my left hand slipped free.

  “What does it do?”

  “We found a substitute for morphine from a rare plant in Borneo. We blended it with adrenaline and low-level opiates. The results are muted pain, improved stamina, and strength to survive if you’d say...fallen down a cliff or gotten hurt on a trail.”

  I stretched my arm, wincing against the tightness in my shoulders. “And you didn’t sell it? Sounds wonderful. A second lease on life when you’re so close to death.”

  He sucked in a breath, his voice switching from informative to cagey. “It never got approved...for legitimate reasons.”

  “What reasons?” My right hand fell from the rope as he freed me. I twisted to face him fully. My heart bucked as he bowed his head, his jaw working. “What reasons, Sully?”

  He swallowed. “The side effects were...complicated.”

  I grabbed the bars, wrapping my hands so tight my knuckles went white. “What side effects?” An awful forewarning clouded over me. I wanted to reverse time and snatch the injection right from the doctor’s hands.

  “Heart failure in some. Stroke in others. Coma for a few days in the majority.”

  “Holy God.” I leaped to my feet, stumbling as blood shot down my legs, granting pins and needles. “How long? How long until that might happen to you?”

  He spread his hands and his eyebrows tugged so low the tape over the cotton stuck outward. “A typical dose lasts about forty-eight to seventy-two hours before the host’s system overloads.”

  “So...you’re telling me he injected you with a super drug that allows you to ignore everything you’ve already gone through? That it tricks your mind into believing you’re not hurt and drives you closer to a grave with every passing moment?” I grabbed the locked padlock to his cage, yanking it with terror. “My God, Sully. What the hell were you thinking?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t care what happens to me at this point. I needed to be strong to protect you. With every hour that passes, I’ll increase in energy. It’s a stacking effect. By the time I’ve burned through everything I have left...Drake will be dead and—” His lips snapped shut, and his face shot to the side.

  He bared his teeth and snarled, “Run, Jinx. Someone is in here with us. Go!”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  MY HEARING HAD BECOME acute.

  A so-called side effect of not having sight.

  The barest of noises.

  The faintest of sounds.

  And I heard it.

  I wished to fucking God I wasn’t locked up, so I could place myself in front of Eleanor and keep her safe, but at least she was free. At least I’d given her a warning.

  “Go, Eleanor.”

  “I’m not leaving you!” she whisper-hissed.

  The noise came again.

  Was it Drake?

  No...too light of foot.

  Was it a mercenary?

  No...too swift.

  “Who’s there?” I balled my hands, primal instincts crawling through my blood. I already felt stronger than when I’d first woken up. My fever had broken, and I could ignore the steady throb in my stitched-together leg. The rest of my injuries had become inconsequential. Simple scratches that didn’t require attention.

  Despite the ending that awaited me—the possible fatal aftermath of my Tritec-87 concoction—I embraced the sensation of power. I welcomed back the use of limbs that’d become a hindrance rather than a help.

  “Who the fuck’s there?” I growled.

  “Shush!” The soft noise came again, the faint scrape of wood followed by a soft thud in the shadows. “It’s me.”

  “Jealousy?” Shock rippled through me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Fuck, Cal would be pissed if he knew she’d put herself in harm’s way. I’d seen him watching her. I knew things he hadn’t divulged.

  Eleanor’s inhale quickened my heart, making me insanely aware of her.

  “I saw the boat,” Jealousy said. “And I couldn’t stomach sitting around another day not knowing if you were okay. So...I swam here.”

  “You swam?” Eleanor asked. “On your own?”

  “I didn’t tell anyone I was going. Arbi wouldn’t have let me.” Her voice softened. “I had to try. I knew the moment the boat appeared that it was you, Jinx. You’re too pig-headed and besotted to leave for good.”

  Eleanor’s voice teased with a smile. “Well, thank you for putting yourself at risk.” The pad of bare feet paced in front of my cage. “We need to find a key. Even a piece of metal to work the padlock.”

  “Forget about me. Leave. Swim back to Lebah.” I searched for Jealousy in my current blackness, settling on speaking in her general direction. “How did you get in here? Take Eleanor and go.”

  “I came in through the window at the back, but two men are smoking outside now. It was only luck that kept me hidden.”

  “Well...luck will continue to aid you. Take Eleanor to the beach and swim away.”

  “We’ve discussed this,” Eleanor clipped. “I returned to get you. If I leave...you leave.”

  “I’d be happy to, but right now, it’s not fucking possible.”

  “Then I’m not going.” Her feet scurried faster, ducking to the corners of the villa and coming up empty. “No keys. No metal wire or tools to get you free.”

  “That’s why I’m telling you to run.”

  The tingling awareness of her heated me as she stopped outside my cage. “Did I run the last time you asked me? Did I run when you attacked me high on elixir? No. I didn’t. So stop asking me to because you’ll just get shitty at my reply.”

  “Christ, you’re—”

  “Annoying? Yes, I know.” The two goddesses drifted away, moving around the villa in a choreographed hunt. Five minutes later, Eleanor asked, “Anything?”

  “No. Nothing. Not even a hairpin or paperclip.” Jealousy’s sweet voice came from somewhere in the distance.

  “Shit.”

  Eleanor’s curse lodged like a rock in my belly. I balled my hands. “I keep telling you. Run! While you still can.”

  They flat out fucking ignored me. Eleanor asked, “Do you know where Drake is?”

  Jealousy answered with hesitation. “I saw him, eh...having a barbecue by the main restaurant hub. He...um, skewered a few squirrels and a couple of herons. A few men dressed in black ate with him.”

  “For fuck’s sake!” I ran both hands through my hair, digging nails into my scalp. How many more of my creatures would that motherfucker kill?

  “I told Arbi we should radio for help...but he’s too literal and obeying your rules, Sullivan.” Jealousy’s voice moved closer toward me. “You’re adamant no police. Ever. So...he’s refusing to call them.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose. “He’s loyal but not forward thinking.”

  “I tried to call them myself, but I couldn’t get access to the radio network, so I—”

  The door opened.

  Fresh air spilled into the space.

  Screw being blind. Fuck letting the drops heal my eyes.

  Tearing at the tape and ripping off the cotton, I blinked.

  Blackness.

  Just utter fucking blackness.

  “Well, well, seemed Henry was right...we have a second visitor.” Drake’s oily voice snaked toward us. “Look what the sea spat out.”

  I rubbed my eyes, begging them to work. Desperate for sight, shadow, shape. Anything.

  His shoes grated on the floor as he turned to Eleanor. “How did you get free?” His anger boiled. “Why is no one inside here as I fuckin
g requested?”

  A man I couldn’t see muttered, “They were out cold. It got too hot and stuffy. Figured they couldn’t go anywhere, so we—”

  “I hired imbeciles,” Drake muttered. “Shut up. I don’t care. Do your job, or I’ll end your purpose on this earth, got it?”

  I blinked again, my heart rate manic as the first threads of light broke through the dark.

  A soft feminine shout sounded in Jealousy’s vicinity. “Stop!”

  “Don’t fucking touch her!” I grabbed the bars, wishing I could pry them apart and leap from this goddamn cell.

  Drake laughed. “I love how you’re still giving orders, brother. Ah well, despite the lax security, it seems I have two goddesses to play with tonight.”

  More light spieled through my vision, crackling like old paint, ripping back moth-eaten curtains.

  Eleanor’s curse whipped my head toward her.

  Her short scream made my mind drip motherfucking red. “GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER, YOU FUCKING SONOVABITCH.”

  “It’s okay, Sully. I’m okay.”

  Goddammit, how dare she make me this privileged, this wretched, this powerless.

  My head ached as my eyes did their best to focus past the cloying haze. “Just let her go, Drake. You win, alright? Let both girls go and I’ll sign whatever deeds you want. I’ll give you the schematics for Euphoria, the codes, the programming, the sensors. I’ll give you the recipe for elixir. You can have all of it...just let them fucking go.”

  He didn’t reply, leaving me floundering in the light crackled dark.

  Eleanor gasped, her body rustling with fight. “Don’t!”

  My heart pounded with panic, amplifying the Tritec in my blood, granting me a surge of strength that would demand the worst kind of payment at the end. “Don’t touch her!”

  “You’re no longer in the position of command, Sully.” He kicked my cage, making me jolt. I hadn’t felt him come near. My instincts were scrambled by Eleanor. Every cell homed in on her. Every scrap of awareness and survival had locked firmly onto our electric connection. “I’ll take you up on that generous offer. However, I have to sample the merchandise, don’t I? Oh, and FYI, your resident squirrels are delicious. They taste like nutty chicken.”