“No, you need to be wise and heal. Drink your smoothie.” Campbell padded across the room to check on Jealousy. He tapped her cheek lightly, his voice much kinder than he’d been with Sully. “Jess...time to wake up, sweetheart.”

Nothing.

No twitch.

No try.

Just a girl with blonde hair spread over her pillow and her skin mimicking the snowy white sheets covering her.

My heart hurt. “Is she okay?”

Dr Campbell shrugged, leaving her be. “I honestly don’t know. The scans show normal brain activity, so her seizure didn’t disrupt her mental capacity. Her heart is still suffering arrhythmias, regardless of the beta blockers I administered.” He sighed. “Only time will tell.”

Sully finished his smoothie, wincing as he placed the empty glass on the cabinet close by. His actions jerked with nervous energy, ready to finish the war. “Is Eleanor okay? Her heart...it wasn’t coping while in the midst of elixir last night.”

I rubbed my chest, listening internally for any signs that I’d suffered long-term issues. The rhythm seemed regular. I felt a little bruised and delicate, but nothing a day of rest wouldn’t fix.

Dr Campbell threw me a smile. “She’s fine. Her pulse is a little faster than normal, and her iron levels are low, but her system will bounce back.” He pointed a finger in Sully’s direction. “As long as that was the last time she’ll ever have elixir, you don’t have anything to worry about. But if you dare—”

“Never again, Campbell.” Sully cut in. “I give you my word. Not because of your ultimatums and betrayal, but because I fucking refuse to kill the only thing that matters.”

I blushed as Sully cupped my cheek and kissed me. His lips pressed softly, his dark five o’clock shadow that’d grown into a cropped beard whispering against my skin. That damn electricity that never ceased to spark hummed between us, heating me from the inside out, proving to me that our connection was utterly irreversible. My cells had adopted his. His body had claimed ownership over mine.

We belonged to each other now, come what may.

When he pulled away, his gorgeous blue eyes dove into mine, firing its message of togetherness and true love. My healing heart hopscotched, switching regular into erratic just from a look. From a kiss. From the vow lashing us together.

Till the end, Jinx. I’m keeping you ’til death do us part.

My ears rang as if he’d actually said such things.

I gasped as he kissed me again, accepting Dr Campbell’s insistence that we had a little more time before reality came crashing back.

Tearing his gaze away, Sully asked the doctor, “Is there anything you need for Jess? Trial drugs that you think will work? Any of our discarded mixtures?”

Campbell shook his head. “I’ve administered one trial that was said to stop the misfiring senses in Parkinson sufferers. However, it doesn’t seem to have worked.”

“Call Peter Beck. He might have something new brewing that could help.”

Dr Campbell nodded. “Fine, I’ll call him the moment I’ve checked on my other patients. It’s a full house lately. You’re lucky I’m not demanding another doctor to assist me.”

Pika suddenly swooped to Sully’s shoulder, squawking with an ear-piercing caw. Sully winced, rubbing his face with his hands. “Your other patients being Cal and Skittles, right?” He dropped his hands, peering at the doctor.

Pika continued to flutter and prance, his squeaks and chatters making my heart skip. Somehow, this tiny fluffy parrot knew exactly who the humans discussed and unnervingly knew he’d get to see his sister.

How?

How does he know?

What sort of instinct had animals tapped into that alerted them to happenings before they occurred?

“Hush, Pika.” Sully cupped the noisy bird in his hand, running his thumb over Pika’s head. “She’s fine. You’ll see her soon.”

“He can see her now. It’s time I checked her splint anyway.” Dr Campbell looked at his wristwatch. “I’m guessing you have another hour or so before Drake wakes. If you eat the mushroom wraps I made and allow your body to digest that smoothie and shed your exhaustion, you should be able to kick him from your island easily enough.”

“Kill him, not kick him,” Sully growled.

Pika nibbled Sully’s fingers until he released him, then took off in a flurry of green to wing around Dr Campbell’s head, squeaking, “Pika. Pika!”

Sully groaned, swinging his legs out of bed. “Fine, let’s have a feathered family reunion because after, I have my own family reunion to finish.” His voice turned black. “And a family burial to arrange.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

“I THOUGHT I HEARD your annoying ass.”

My head wrenched up as I crossed the threshold into the second recovery room. I had shit to do. No time to waste. Yet my exhaustion painted everything in a fugue. My urgency kept firing and then slipping.

I couldn’t afford to waste a second, yet I couldn’t seem to wake up fully.

Cal smirked as my gaze landed on him. His voice croaked and held a weak quality that hinted all his focus was on pain rather than the sarcasm he’d thrown my way.

A smile tugged my lips. “You’re alive then. Figured you were shark meat.” I tutted as I crossed the distance to his bedside. “Pity. They have the taste for humans now. They would’ve enjoyed your tasty hide.”

Standing had been hard work, the first few steps after lying cramped on a small hospital bed had been agonising, and the hole in my leg refused to be ignored anymore, ensuring I had a goddamn limp. No matter how much speed or power I added, I couldn’t get around the fact that most of my thigh muscle was out of service until it healed.

Cal noticed.

He’d always been razor-sharp at spotting vulnerability in the guests who came to my shore, using them to his advantage to keep men in line. It fucked me off that he assessed me with the same stare.

“Can’t kill me off that easily.” He grinned, his pallor pasty and body not its usual vital self.

“Ah, don’t worry.” I smirked. “I’ll come up with other ways.”

Dr Campbell rolled his eyes as Cal snickered and held up his arm. “Glad you’re still breathing, Sinclair.”

I clasped hands with him, squeezing with relief that my friend and second-in-command was still alive and his usual acerbic self. “Likewise, Moor.” I glanced down his body at the tubes disappearing under the sheet covering him, the wheeze as he breathed, the etching of agony around his eyes that hinted his quips wouldn’t last long until he either demanded stronger painkillers or succumbed to sleep to numb it.

“They might get to nibble on you after all, Cal.” I forced a chuckle. “Who knows if you’ll pull through. You look like shit.”

“He’ll pull through,” Campbell muttered. “He’s getting stronger every day. Only woke ten hours ago and has already improved rapidly...thanks to a few of your unapproved drugs, Sinclair.”

I threw him a nod. “Use whatever you need.”

Cal assessed me in the same way. “Know what? Those sharks of yours can have a chew on you. You’re not looking so good yourself.”