Sully...you have to be okay.

I won’t stay sane if you aren’t.

His fall repeated again, my scream vibrating in my skull.

Over and over.

You’re coming after me.

I know you are.

You’re alive.

I have to believe that’s true.

“Answer me, Eleanor.” Drake shook me, his watery blue stare malicious and cold.

I pressed my lips together and arched my chin.

Fuck.

You.

“Cat got your tongue again, huh?” Drake rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Your dramatics are tiresome.” Dragging me up the three steps to the door, he tucked his gun into his waistband and knocked on the sparse white entrance as a sickly grin spread over his face.

I shivered, doing my best to sense if Sully was alive or not.

I wanted the taste of conviction like I’d felt when I’d raced crazily around Jakarta. Then, I’d known that he wasn’t safe. I’d felt it in my bones...but at least I’d known he was alive.

Now all I felt was a blockage.

Almost as if the man I’d fallen in love with had vanished.

Please...Sully.

An intercom crackled above us, pouring a male’s voice over our shoulders. “Who the hell are you? Get off this island. It’s private property.”

Drake lost his grin. His pompous businessman façade crumpled as quickly as he’d conjured it. “Open the fucking door.”

“You expect me to open for you when I heard a gunshot moments ago? Hell no. Leave. Get back in your helicopter and—”

“Open the fucking door,” Drake snarled. “I’m a Sinclair. Your boss is my brother.” He cocked his head, doing his best to rein in his temper. “You have four hundred vials of elixir, and I’m here to collect.”

A long pause before the intercom crackled again. “If you’re Sullivan Sinclair’s brother, why didn’t he come with you?”

“Because Drake’s a psychopath!” I yelled. Call the police—”

“Shut the fuck up.” Drake growled beneath his breath and lost any hint of executing this burglary with calmness. “Just remember, you made me do this.” Ripping out his gun, he drove the muzzle against my temple, forcing my head sideways.

My neck blazed with discomfort, the cold bite of the weapon sending my heartbeats wild.

“Open the door, please,” Drake clipped. “Otherwise, you’ll hear another gunshot...and see the consequences of a bullet.”

“Don’t hurt her!”

The intercom screeched.

A click of a lock.

The swish of a door being opened.

Drake grinned, his lips spreading with gloating triumph as a man with a widening waistline and white lab coat appeared. “Wise choice.”

Giving up his attempt at being a chameleon and playing nice, Drake looked the man up and down.

With his dumpy frame and stained lab coat, the scientist looked like a peace-loving, petri dish enthusiast who played with Bunsen burners and beakers because he didn’t like the messy mayhem of the outside world.

His gaze fell on me, panic blazing through a pair of yellow-lensed glasses perched on his nose. “Look, I don’t want anyone to get hurt, and I don’t want any trouble. Let her go.”

Drake drove the gun deeper into my temple, making my entire body twist. “I’ll let her go when you give me what I want.”

“I can’t.” The man licked his lips, nervousness making him jumpy. “You’re not on the list of approved visitors. I can’t just give you—”

“Give him the vials, nerd.” The mercenary swung his weapon upward, pointing it directly at the scientist’s face.

Oh, shit.

The scientist blanched, his hands diving into his lab pockets. “If you are who you say you are, let me call Mr. Sinclair, and he can authorise—”

“Sullivan is dead.” Drake grinned. “He died in an unfortunate helicopter accident. Just like this girl, who happens to be the love of his pathetic life, will die, and then you will die. Every fucking geek in that stinking lab will die unless you give me four hundred vials of elixir. Right. Now.”

“We have other drugs. I can give you those—”

Drake let his head fall, sighing dramatically as if the man tested his already frayed patience. “I don’t want any other drugs. I want that drug. Elixir. Lust in a tiny bottle. Liquid fucking orgasms.” He smiled a crocodilian grin. “My brother is dead. I am now in charge of this lab, and you work for me. That means whatever you’ve cooked is my property. Just like this girl is my property. Just like I can shoot anyone I fucking want because you all belong to me.”

The scientist gulped. “I’ll trade you.”

“Trade me?” Drake laughed coldly. “For what?”

“Elixir for the girl.”

His temper flashed, driving the gun deeper into my skull. “Now, why did you have to try to be a hero, huh?” He twisted the muzzle, catching my delicate flesh with the coldness of metal. “No trades. No bargains. You have one last chance to get me what I want, or not only will I shoot you, but I’ll also return with an army and blow up everything on this island.”

Drake smiled icily. “You might have heard the explosion a few days ago? That was my handiwork. Serigala is no more. So many animals...it’d be sad to add scientists to that count. Especially seeing as you still have employment working for me now that my brother is gone.”

“I refuse to work for men like you—”

“Men like me?” Drake yanked my hair back, exposing my throat and running his gun down toward my breasts. “Men who aren’t afraid of power? Tell you what, I’ll let you choose. My version of a trade. Thanks to your refusal, Jinx here is gonna die. Do you want me to shoot her in the heart or the head? I’m more of a skull shot kinda guy, but I can—”

“Stop!” The scientist’s shoulders sagged. “Please stop.”

My heart couldn’t figure out a healthy beat.

I expected to drown with fear. Instead, everything shut down. Everything apart from my livid hate for this madman.

“Told you Sullivan hired pussies,” Drake muttered to his mercenary.

The pilots stood well back, their willingness to be a part of murder waning.

There had to be other men and women in the lab. Were there enough to stop Drake? I might be a lost cause, but they didn’t need to be. Where were Sully’s guards? Surely, he’d protect this place with a trained militia?

“Run!” I blurted. “Get help—”

Pain.

Instant walloping pain on the back of my head as Drake cracked his weapon into me.

I groaned, tumbling forward in his embrace.

“Hush.” Drake stabbed the gun into my head again. “You just keep pushing my limits, don’t you, Jinx?” With me prone in his control, he snarled at the guard. “Right, I’m done negotiating.” With disgusting aggression, he trailed his gun from my head, down my front and kept going. Lower and lower until he dipped under the hem of the man’s shirt I wore and nudged the bare lips of my sex with the muzzle.

I jerked.

Snow settled on my skin.

Shock and stupor.

Hate and horror.

I wanted to attack him, but I daren’t move.