I scoffed and broke our grip. “Me? Nothing wrong with me.”

“Of course there isn’t.” He grinned. His attention flicked to Eleanor as she slipped to my side. “So...you found your way back, huh?”

This joviality was wrong.

This was delaying a justified murder of my brother.

“I did.” Eleanor nodded; her gaze direct but guarded. It hadn’t escaped my knowledge that there was no love lost between these two. A competition lurked beneath their interactions. I supposed I should be honoured that the two people closest to me felt some sort of possession over me, but I wouldn’t tolerate it.

Not now Eleanor is a permanent fixture in my life.

However long that might be.

“You told me to keep her if she ever came back.” I crossed my arms. “Might just take your advice.”

Cal’s green gaze shot to mine. “Got yourself a new pet, sir?” He laughed under his breath, wincing as he held the two bullet holes in his torso that Campbell had hopefully fixed.

“Worse.” I smiled. “If we get out of this mess intact, it seems I now have a wife.”

Eleanor sucked in a breath beside me, her cheeks pinking as Cal’s gaze popped wide. “Holy shit.”

Cal stared at Eleanor, his blasé welcome switching to sincerity. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for being a little, eh, cold to you. I was wrong. You’re not like the others, and it seems you can be trusted. I told Sinclair not to send you away, by the way. I knew the asshole was in love with you before he did.”

Eleanor rubbed the back of her hand where the IV line had been removed. “I don’t really know what to say to that—”

“Say we can be friends and let it be the end of—”

Pika’s screech shut Cal up as the chaotic caique ricocheted around the room. His feathers gleamed and his infectious joy dusted all of us as Campbell came through the door holding a silver tray, soft gauze, and a tiny patient in the middle.

“Skittles!” Eleanor headed straight toward the female parrot, the canary yellow shirt so big on her stunning frame. Skittles puffed up and screeched loud enough to hurt my ears.

Eleanor’s legs still wobbled a little, her body would be undoubtedly sore from how rough I’d fucked her, doing my damnedest to get her to come before she died in my arms.

I sighed as my chest ached.

She’d been so fucking close to dying.

I could still feel the tremor of her pulse. The unbearable contortion of her body as she drowned beneath pleasure that’d become insurmountable pain.

She’d scared me.

Scared me straight in so many ways.

It was a minutely battle not to hover over her, to listen to her breath and press my hand over her heart to ensure it pumped reliably. It terrified me that we were such a fragile species. Ruin one organ and death followed.

Have I shaved decades off her life because of what I’ve done?

“Fuck, you’ve got it bad.” Cal snickered under his breath.

I was tempted to punch him, but he hissed as the damage to his body dragged him under again. He had enough pain without me adding to it. Instead, I threw him a one finger salute and half-padded, half-limped across the surgery to where Campbell had placed Skittles on a bench beside the sink and antiseptic supplies.

Pika was beside himself, hopping, stomping, purring. He head-butted Skittles until she snapped at him, he pranced around with his wings spread like the savage dictator he was. “Hello. Hi. Lazy.” He rolled over onto his back, his scaly legs kicking air, his happiness unable to be contained.

Eleanor laughed.

Such an innocent sound that had no place in the world we’d found ourselves in. This small oasis of peace wasn’t real. We still had a fight to win, yet her laugh made me believe we had won.

That we could be happy...together.

That I could keep her and know she was safe.

Fuck, I wanted that.

I wanted her safe but I couldn’t shed the creeping, cloying coldness beneath the spare white shirt Campbell had given me. Premonition or preparation...either one warned not to get too entangled just in case this pause in happily ever after was all I’d get.

Campbell stayed at a respectable distance, allowing our hellos. “Her wing will mend. I expect she’ll be able to fly again in six weeks or so. Probably sooner but I’d like to err on the side of caution.”

“That’s good news.” Eleanor smiled, continuing to cuddle the parrot.

Impatience slithered through my veins as I wrapped my arm around Eleanor’s slight waist. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate this interlude...I just wasn’t one to trust in seemingly perfect moments because there was no perfect moment.

I need to go kill him.

Now!

Eleanor kissed my cheek as I leaned over her and tickled Skittles under her chin, careful not to knock the small splint keeping her wing splayed and straight.

My heart squeezed at her swift, sweet affection.

Gratefulness filled me that Campbell had rescued the parrot who was such a fundamental part of Eleanor’s enjoyment on my shores. I wasn’t an idiot. She’d fallen in love with me, yes. But she’d also fallen in love with the world I’d conjured, the birds I shared my life with, the palm trees and beaches that were my playground.

Would she still love me if I didn’t own an archipelago?

I couldn’t punch Cal, but I could punch myself.

Did she teach you nothing?

She would love you even if you were destitute and living in a cardboard castle.

“Sully, what’s wrong?” Eleanor whispered, her gaze tracking over my face. “You’re gripping me so tight.”

I relaxed my hold. “I’m fine.” I hadn’t meant to show my straying thoughts. That all this positivity and peace set my teeth on edge because I didn’t trust it. We hadn’t earned it. It was the calm before yet another storm.

I need to go.

No more delays.

Letting her go, I stepped back, removing myself from such a domestic scene. Jess had been tended to and was in the best possible hands. Cal was awake and inching farther from the Grim Reaper’s sickle with each passing hour. Skittles and Pika were reunited. Eleanor was healthy despite the hurts I’d given her.

I’d fulfilled my responsibilities to those who deserved the best of me.

I was free to become the worst of me.

Released from my obligations so I could finally give in to the fury that constantly blazed in my belly. A fury I wouldn’t be able to extinguish until my brother was dead and I’d delivered his demise personally.

Only then would I allow this sweetness to infect me.

Backing away, Cal caught my gaze.

He gritted his teeth but nodded, knowing exactly where I was going.

Campbell shook his head, and Eleanor spun with Pika on her finger, her face glowing with relief which quickly solidified into dread. “Sully...no.” She stepped toward me. “Don’t go back there. Not yet. You’re not strong enough.”

I held up my hand. “Stay here.”

“No. I won’t let you—”

“Stay here, Jinx.” I pointed at the floor. “You will give me that respect. You will stay out of harm’s way so you don’t distract me from what I need to do.”

“But what if—?”