Fifth a Fury
What did they think of me? Standing as Sully’s overseer instead of beside them? Did they hate me? Pity me? Not care in the slightest?
Cal arrived out of breath and fighting a body unwilling to walk through soft sand after being wounded by bullets. The girls stiffened as his green gaze swept over them. Only I heard the strain in his voice and the wheeze in his chest as he nodded at each and recited their names.
“Sailor, Trinity, Jewel, Diamond, and Blossom. Welcome back to Batari.”
Sully had said there were seven goddesses on his island, including me.
That left six to free but only five were ready to leave. Jess and I would stay, but none of us were possessions any longer.
The girls fidgeted in matching wardrobes of the gardener’s uniform on Lebah. Either they’d been put to work tending the produce while they’d stayed in staff quarters or they’d run out of clothes and had to borrow from the employees. Regardless, they all looked healthy and well-kept, if not bored and sullen.
Cal clasped his hands in front of him. “You’re to return to your villas. Rest, bathe, and pack whatever belongings you wish to take with you. Whatever trinkets guests have given you, you may keep. Whatever memories you have from this place, you may remember. However, from this day forward, you are no longer a goddess and you will no longer be trapped here.”
Five pairs of eyes swooped to his. Hope sprang, suspicion glowed, and a flurry of energy trickled through the girls.
“Tomorrow, you will be escorted to a main airport where you will advise where you wish to fly to. You will be provided with the necessary documentation to get home. You will be compensated for your service here. And...” Cal’s eyes turned lethal. “You will be threatened with the typical warnings to protect our anonymity. You speak of this to no one. You will be watched to ensure you do not break this final rule. You will slip back into the lives you left, and we shall all go our separate ways amicably.”
He stepped forward, glowering at each goddess. “If you stay silent, you are free. If you spill our secrets, you will be hunted, eradicated, and all those you told will suffer the same fate. Is that clear?”
Slowly, the girls nodded.
“Good.” Cal rubbed his chest and stepped to the side with his arm spread. “Go on then. Relax on your final day here. Swim, sunbathe, and order whatever you want from the kitchens. Be prepared to leave at noon tomorrow.”
* * * * *
11:52 a.m.
I stood on the beach, squinting in the bright noonday sun at the sleek silver helicopter, ready and waiting to escort Sully’s goddesses back home.
Yesterday, Cal had returned to his villa to rest. I’d returned to Sully to whisper in his ear and run my hands through his hair. We’d all spent the night doing whatever we desired and now...now five girls slowly appeared from the treeline. They no longer wore slinky, sexy bikinis or kimonos. Each wore an outfit appropriate for travel. Each carried a large duffel with whatever mementoes they wished to take with them. And each gave me a relieved smile as they headed toward their glossy transportation.
Cal appeared, keeping his distance and lurking in the trees for shade.
I stood in direct sunlight, dressed in a cream maxi that fluttered softly around my ankles. I wanted to wave goodbye to them. We might not know each other, but we’d share things that linked us forever.
The helicopter blades fired on, whining and thundering with building power as the girls climbed onboard.
Jewel was the last goddess to arrive. Her red hair bounced, and her freckles reminded me of Louise who stayed protectively by Sully’s side while he remained unreachable.
I expected her to run to the helicopter and leap inside with the other goddesses but she beelined for me and wrapped her arms tight around my waist. “Come with us.”
I squeezed her back. “I belong here.”
“You belong with your loved ones.”
Pulling away, I stared into her pixy face. “Exactly.”
She frowned and dropped her arms. “You were telling the truth that day...on the path with the guest. You truly don’t want to leave.”
“I truly don’t want to leave.”
“Love makes people do stupid things.” She hoisted her bag higher up her shoulder. “I hope you’re making the right decision.”
“Safe journey home, Jewel.”
She smiled, shielding her gaze from the bright sun. “My real name is Baylee.” Striding toward the bamboo jetty, she paused and added, “Goodbye, Eleanor Grace.”
I watched her join her fellow goddesses, and the helicopter took off.
I didn’t look away from the horizon until they’d vanished into the hazy humidity.
* * * * *
“He told me to burn it to the ground,” Cal muttered.
“We can’t.” I spun in place, opening my arms and incorporating the cathedral-size space of Euphoria’s entrance. “It would be a waste.”
“It’s not going to be used again.” He moved toward the playroom where a harness dangled from the ceiling and cupboards ringed the space with props. Last time I’d been in here, Jess had sacrificed herself, I’d broken beneath elixir, and Sully had killed Drake’s guards.
There were no bloodstains or corpses. No signs of rape or violence.
The mess had been cleaned and deleted.
It was just a room.
A villa that could be repurposed.
Cal kept moving, leaving me to follow him as he entered rooms I hadn’t been in before. More playrooms with more harnesses. More outdoor bathrooms and lush gardens. “I’ll get the gasoline.”
“No!” I darted in front of him. “I...I have a suggestion.”
The goddesses had left two days ago.
Pika and Skittles were with me today after staying by Sully’s side for the past few days, and Pika darted through the rafters, making Skittles grumble in frustration on my shoulder that she couldn’t join him.
Cal scowled.
Yesterday, I’d gone to see Jess in Dr Campbell’s surgery. I’d left Sully in his coma and joined Jess in hers, holding her hand and telling her how we were the last girls on this island—barring the invisible staff who made this place run.
Etti, the vet helping Dr Campbell, had found me. Sharing a quiet moment with me and Jess, discussing the animals who’d survived the bombing and all the others who’d been en-route to arrive for rehabilitation.
Serigala couldn’t be a sanctuary again until it was rebuilt, but Euphoria was no longer unwanted.
He’d put a seed into my head, and it’d grown into something I couldn’t uproot.
“What suggestion?” Cal crossed his arms, wincing at his healing chest.
“Euphoria can become Serigala.”
“Say what now?”
“Let it be home to creatures in need. Etti could be in charge of setting it up. The animals that survived need care and many more besides—”
“Sinclair won’t go for it. After what happened, he’ll swear off helping anything again. He blames himself for their deaths.”
“Their deaths were Drake’s fault.”
“He doesn’t see it that way.”
“Drake is dead. He can’t hurt Sully or anyone he loves ever again.”
Cal strolled around me, eyeing up the space as if planning where to drop explosives and do what Sully had requested.