Oh, shit.
Shock hit me with an icy slap.
Our eyes locked. Surprise mirrored. His mouth opened.
And I ran.
I vaulted over vines and roots, bolting as far away from him as possible.
His shout behind me ignited tears and pure hate for myself.
God, Eleanor!
How could you be so fucking stupid!
I twisted and parried around palms and heliconias, missing the green flutter of a tiny parrot who’d adopted me. Missing the strict rules that’d kept goddesses in line but provided trustworthy protection.
“Karl! Get her.”
Rain fell harder.
I ran faster, harnessing the weightlessness of wind, bolting from the undergrowth and racing down the sandy pathway.
Run!
I raced and raced.
I galloped toward the horizon where rain blurred distance and time, almost reaching freedom.
So, so close.
Waves slapped on the shore with urgent welcome.
Faster!
Faster!
A man stepped out of the undergrowth, directly into my path. A gruesome, ghoulish enemy.
His eyes popped wide as my dress slapped around my legs and my hair glued to my skin. Widening his stance, he spread his arms, blocking me from bolting down the path to the awaiting beach. His crooked teeth gleamed, his dark eyes glowered, his hair plastered on his forehead as rain continued to pummel.
I skidded with speed, ready to slam to a stop and run the other way. The other man had gained on me, crunching through the undergrowth like a lumbering wildebeest.
I was trapped.
It was a split-second choice.
Reckless and crazy but my only hope.
I dug my toes into the sand and ran straight toward the bastard waiting to snatch me. I ducked past him and almost ran headfirst into a palm tree, crushing three orchid plants as I bowled through the neat border of the path, leaving him behind with an almost comical expression of surprise.
The sea.
Run!
I galloped down the beach.
The tide bounced and splashed with raindrops, freshwater blending with salt. Two worlds. Two deaths. One hope.
I ran and ran.
I tripped and kept running.
Launching myself into the water, I waded, leaped, and dived beneath the warm surface.
My lungs burned as I kicked with fury, swim, swim, swimming.
Popping up for air, I focused on the island in the distance.
Lebah wasn’t far.
I could swim it.
I can.
Something wrapped around my ankle and tugged me underwater.
I choked and kicked, thrashing like a shark on a line.
My foot connected with something solid.
A man grunted.
A pair of hands wrapped higher up my leg, pulling me back, reeling me in against my will.
I kicked again.
I screamed underwater as a second pair of hands wrapped around my waist, plucking me from the depths and back to a miserable world.
Clutching me to his chest, the man laughed as I continued to fight and kick.
With a grunt, he trapped my arms, pressing a rancid kiss against my ear. “Hey, gorgeous. Where did you appear from? My dreams?”
I tried to bite him.
I kicked and head-butted him.
Jackass.
Fisting my breast, he raised his voice. “Go tell Drake we have a visitor. I’ll entertain her while you do.”
The other man with a shaved head and cruel eyes glowered at his colleague. “I’m not leaving. You tell him. She’s mine.”
“Bullshit.” He pinched my nipple, making me jolt. “I caught her.”
I growled and squirmed.
I used up every shred of energy I had left after days of terrible sleep and stress.
“I saw her first. She practically ran onto my dick.”
“You can have seconds.”
“You’ll have seconds too. Drake wants firsts. He warned us.”
The guy froze behind me, deliberating. “Fine. I won’t touch her. Not until Drake’s had his fill.”
My muscles burned with lactic acid.
My heart pumped frantically.
And adrenaline quickly switched to powerlessness.
I continued to fight as the man lugged me from the sea and up onto the sand.
But I was pathetic in my attempts.
Exhaustion had caught up with me.
And I had to make a new choice.
As much as I wished otherwise, I’d lost.
For now…
I’d returned with this inevitability lurking in the back of my mind.
I’d been prepared to pay this cost if it meant I’d be taken to Sully.
I had to be smart.
I had to save my energy for when it truly mattered.
It went against everything fundamental inside me, but…I stopped fighting.
I didn’t say a goddamn word.
I reverted to the antifreeze that had kept my temper in check in Mexico.
I stood regal and untouchable as the second man took off up the beach, snarling, “Don’t move. I’ll go tell Drake his visitor has arrived.”
Chapter Nineteen
“SIR.”
I groaned.
Pain tried to shove me back under, but familiarity forced me awake.
Cal.
Cal was here, and his sarcastic ‘sirs’ had to be reprimanded. There were only so many passes I’d give him. Otherwise, he’d start thinking he could force his opinion on me all the damn time.
“Sir…she’s arrived.”
I battled past the agony that’d become a cloying blanket. I groaned again as I stupidly tried to move. The daggers in my shoulders from being handcuffed, the stabs in my legs from being tied, the thousand metallic bites along my back from the cage, and the feverish infection in my leg.