Fourth a Lie

They moved in unison, two raising guns while one snickered and looked me up and down. “Look what the parrot dragged in.” Their eyes followed Pika as he zipped around Euphoria, swooping to Drake to bite his nose.

I tensed, but Drake didn’t wake up.

Pika squeaked with pride and soared into the rafters, picking a perch to watch yet more drama unfold.

Eleanor grew heavy in my arms as the three men came forward. A blond with a bulbous nose snapped, “Where the fuck have you been?”

I shrugged, marching as firmly as I could toward them. “Dealing with business.”

I’d been able to buy off three of these bastards. If I had more liquid cash, I could attempt to do the same. Unfortunately, five million was all I carried, and I was shit out of luck for such an easy overthrow.

Regardless, I tried anyway. “I’ll give you a million each if you leave. I’ll wire you the money the moment I kill that cocksucker over there.”

The bald one muttered, “I’ll give you a bullet if you try to low-ball us again.”

“Fine.” My arms ached under Eleanor’s weight. “What’s your number?”

“We want what he’s promised.” The blond smirked. “This place.”

“It’s no longer operational.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

The short one of the bunch chuckled. “We’ll see about that when he wakes up.”

I looked over at Drake, loathing him all over again for ever touching Jealousy. I had no ownership over her apart from her paid servitude, but I liked her as a friend, and I’d seen things between her and Cal these past few weeks that hadn’t been there before.

She didn’t deserve to be Drake’s goddess last night.

She didn’t deserve anything that I’d done to her.

Guilt swamped me, and my temper rattled.

Fuck it.

I was done bartering.

I’d just do what I’d come here to do and be done with it.

Ignoring the mercenaries, I marched toward Drake and Jealousy.

“Oi, where the fuck do you think you’re going?” The blond followed me with his gun trained on my head.

“Providing aftercare.” I bared my teeth. “Not that you’d understand what that is.”

“Like hell you are. You’re going back in your cage. Her too.” He pointed the gun at Eleanor, coming close enough to nudge her cheek with the muzzle.

I lost it.

Finding strength hidden in broken muscles, I held her tight against me with one arm and lashed out to fist around his throat with the other. I squeezed, fighting through failure until his eyes flared with worry, and he held up the gun to my temple. “Let...me...go.” He coughed, trying to get free. “I’ll shoot.”

“No, you won’t ’cause you need me alive.” I squeezed harder as his two friends rushed to save him. “This is what’s going to happen so listen closely.” I pressed against his larynx with fingers unforgiving in their message even with a gun in my face. “I am going to take care of my girls. I’m taking them to Campbell—the doctor who is the only reason you’re here. He’s going to treat them. Alone. While I’m doing that, you can decide if you want to accept my offer of cash and leave with your life or if you’re staying and serving Drake until the end. Either way, I’m done with this shit.”

I pushed him away, shaking out the pressure in my hand. “Drake has been a pain in my ass for three decades. I won’t lie and say I wouldn’t happily kill him right now if you accepted my deal, but if you don’t, I don’t fucking care. I’ve waited a long time for our feud to be over...I can wait a little longer.”

The guy scowled. “Why do you think we’re gonna let you wander around as if you own the joint?”

“I do own the fucking joint!” I snarled. “And you mean nothing to me. You can’t kill me because Drake needs what I know, and you can’t kill my goddesses because if you do, I will tear you motherfucking apart. Your only choice is to stand there like good little puppets and wait until your master wakes up. Or...allow me to kill him, and you can walk away with a payday. Either way, I’m providing aftercare.”

Glowering at the three of them, I continued my path until I stood over Jealousy.

She looked even worse up close.

Shit.

How the fuck was I supposed to take two girls to the infirmary when I could barely walk under my own weight?

Eleanor squirmed as I bent over and gently placed her next to Jealousy. With my hands free, I checked Jealousy’s pulse.

It was weak and erratic, her lips tinged blue and her skin clammy.

Ripping off my shirt, I slipped it around her frail form. “It’s okay, Jess. I’ve got you.”

Her lips twitched as I stroked her cheek.

The men surrounded me, their guns by their sides and eyes wide with disbelief that they permitted me to do my own thing instead of shooing me back into a cage.

That was the thing with authority. Display it correctly, own it completely, and weaker men slipped into line.

Electricity shot over my body as Eleanor opened her eyes, activating our bond as she blinked away her fatigue. She winced and tried to sit up, shaking her head. “Sully...”

No matter where we were or what we were doing, our chemistry and connection would never fail to reach into my chest and electrocute my heart.

Her lips formed the sweetest, caring smile, then vanished as her gaze locked on Jealousy. “Oh, no.” Swallowing hard, flinching in pain from her own run-in with elixir, she crawled to Jess and ran her hand over her head. She ripped her touch away, her gaze connecting with mine in panic. “She’s ice cold.”

I nodded. “I need to get her to Campbell.”

“Let’s go.” With gritted teeth, Eleanor forced her body to obey. Digging fingers into the tile, she clambered to her feet, only to fall back down again.

“Don’t.” I reached for her.

“We need to...go.” Her eyes snapped closed, her head hanging with a tiredness she couldn’t shed.

Fuck.

Tucking her close, I held her while she tumbled into exhaustion and clawed her way back in the same heartbeat. She pushed feebly against my arms. “Let me go...we need—” She yawned, making my heart fist.

Forcing her eyes open, her attention skipped over the men guarding us and fell to Drake still snoring on the floor. Pika swooped from the ceiling and landed on her shoulder, his feathers bristling.

“I’m okay, Sully. I can...I can do this.” She sucked in a huge breath and raked both hands over her face, scrubbing away sleep, clinging to comprehension. “I have to do this.”

Once again, she stunned me fucking stupid.

How strong was she to be able to stay awake after the dance with death she’d had? How fucking brave was she to immediately shove aside her own maladies and put Jess first?

Her grey gaze met mine. “Help me stand?”

I cursed the men watching us. I’d had my fill of goddamn audiences. But I also couldn’t stop worshipping this woman, in awe of this girl, in love with every inch of her. “I’ll carry you to Campbell and come back for Jess.”

“No, you’re fading too.”

“I can manage.”