Fourth a Lie

The helicopter suddenly vanished, and the radio came alive in my palm. “Done. We’re out of range, sir. We’ve gone stealth.”

My stomach clenched, fear blending with my fury. “Is she okay? Did you get hit?”

“A few pockmarks. Nothing serious. Cargo is intact.”

Cargo?

Fucking hell, it was my world up there.

A woman who’d turned me into a useless, stupid idiot.

“Get out of here. Fly directly to Java.”

“Copy.”

The radio went dead just as a crack of violence aimed not at the sky but my shores.

A few of my men grunted, tumbling forward as blood spurted from wounds.

For fucking shit.

My temper broke through the veneer I wielded. I bulldozed through my decorum and failed attempts at being civilised.

My eyes locked on the boat ahead. A boat that should never have been able to come so close to my shores, manned by a cocksucker who I should’ve killed decades ago.

Cal yelled at the guards, giving instruction to return fire.

I wasn’t needed.

He had his job...and I have mine.

Stepping into the fugue of fury, I ripped off my shirt and welcomed the insidious pull of demonic instincts. I embraced the part of me that I’d always run from—the part of me that tainted me as a man and kept me firmly ruled as a beast.

Unbuckling my belt, I strode toward the sea.

Drake would not be allowed onto my shores.

No fucking way.

As warm ocean lapped around my ankles and seeped into my shoes, I shed the final part of myself. My teeth felt sharper. My senses acute. My mouth watered for gore. I was wrong when I thought I’d harness the wolf I’d named Serigala for.

Tonight, I’d become a shark.

The monster I’d swam with so many times before.

A crack of bullets returned fire on Drake, shooting out to sea. I kicked off my shoes and buried my feet into wet sand. I ripped off my trousers and trembled with the primordial urge to shed off my human skin and hunt.

To dive into the ocean.

To swim to him.

To drag him into the deep.

My gun fell, splashing into the salt, useless for where I was going. The sea lapped around my calves, welcoming me back into my domain.

My hand curled around the radio, still tight in my grip. I went to throw it away...but...

I pressed the call button, wading deeper into warm water dressed in just black boxer-briefs. Once I dived into the sea, any remaining humanity inside me would vanish. I wanted it. I hungered for the freedom of no longer obeying rules and civility.

But I honestly didn’t know if I’d find myself on the other side.

I might cross an irrevocable line I could never return from.

I’d said goodbye to Eleanor.

I’d given her no way to find me again and no promises to go after her.

After tonight, there would be nothing left of the Sully she knew.

Bringing the radio to my mouth, I murmured, “Jinx...”

If Eleanor wore the headset in the cabin, she’d hear me. She’d know, even with her above me and out of reach, I was still hers, for the next few heartbeats at least. “Eleanor...I’m sorry.”

Sorry for betraying you.

Sorry for loving you.

Sorry for saying goodbye.

My thumb stayed on the call button, not wanting to hear a reply. I braced to dive into the ocean, only for a spray of hot fire to ricochet over the horizon, thudding into my men, wounding more, knocking them to the sand.

“Shit!” I turned, violence crashing through me.

I stormed forward, inhaling a final breath to vanish into the brine, but a creature rose from the ocean before me.

No, not a creature...a man in full scuba gear with a harpoon aimed at my chest.

I saw red. I threw the radio at his masked face.

Calm water around me danced with a volley of bullets as Drake shot toward his own men, seeking me. “Fuck!” Ducking to the side, I dove into the wet darkness, only for a harpoon to hiss with release.

A spear sliced into my thigh.

A rope jerked me back.

And a foot planted squarely on my back, shoving me underwater.

Chapter Twelve

“HERE.”

I looked up, my eyes unable to focus on what the pilot held.

“Jinx...”

“Eleanor...I’m sorry.”

For the past sixty minutes, Sully’s voice echoed like a terrible melody in my head.

His apology set fire to all my fears that he’d agreed to a temporary separation, but really...it’d been a terrible lie.

He’d sent me away knowing he’d never see me again.

His voice gave the truth.

His violent curse following his despair hinted that the gunfire that’d been aimed at me had been aimed at him instead.

Dammit, Sully!

While I’d been flown against my will, he’d been shot at, attacked, and possibly died on the very beach where I’d been delivered to him.

Oh, God.

I curled up, hugging my hollow stomach, my heart long ago reduced to ash.

“Take it.” The captain who’d ripped me from war and left Sully to battle alone entered the cabin and grabbed my lifeless hand. “You’ll need this. Read it carefully. Obey completely. And your life will continue without further harassment from Mr. Sinclair.”

I blinked, forcing numb fingers around the envelope. “What...what do you mean?”

“I mean your time as his goddess has ended. You’re free.”

“I don’t want to be free. I need to go back. He’s in trouble—”

“Stop.” He rolled his eyes as if he’d heard it all before. “He is not in trouble. And regardless of what you want, it doesn’t matter. Come on.” Leaping from the cabin, he brushed down his pilot’s uniform and held out his hand. “I’ll pass you over to the ground staff.”

I sat straighter, refusing to move. “Take me back to Sully.”

His body stiffened, illuminated by the lights from the private hangar outside. “I only take orders from Mr. Sinclair.”

We’d landed on the outskirts of a busy airport. Jets and commercial planes all went about their business in the distance, unaware that the man I’d fallen for might not breathe air anymore.

“He might be hurt.”

“He has guards. They’ll defend—”

“The last radio call...it sounded as if he’d been ambushed.”

“The sooner you remove yourself from my aircraft, the sooner I can return and offer assistance.”

“Take me with you.”

He crossed his arms, his nostrils flaring. “You will not be returning to Mr. Sinclair by my services, Miss.”

I flinched, lost and alone, doing my best to figure out how to stop this runaway train separating me from Sully. “I’ll pay.”

“You have been evicted. You can bribe me all you want, but you will not find Goddess Isles again. By me or other means of transportation.”

A flush of panic tried to resurrect my heart. “Just because you won’t take me doesn’t mean I won’t—”

“You can’t find his islands, ma’am.” He clenched his jaw and launched into the cabin again. His fingers unlocked my harness; his hand wrapped around my arm and jerked me unceremoniously from the helicopter. “No one can find Mr. Sinclair if they don’t have an invitation. And you, Miss, no longer have an invitation.”