I bit my lip as he stumbled, a slight limp from his leg as he followed in my footsteps, blindingly linked to me through our heart-knotted strings.
Jealousy grunted with anger as we travelled around the bend and Euphoria appeared.
My heart kicked up sick speed.
Drake had found Sully’s elixir.
He’d traded a doctor for my body and because I loved Sully with all my loyal soul, I’d entered into a covenant that would ruin me.
Sully growled as our feet connected with the decked steps, climbing the short distance to the large cathedral-inspired doors. His shoulders bunched, and his temper was no longer a vapour but a polluted nebula gnashing its jaws to get free.
God…think.
Hurry.
If we entered this place—if Sully was made to listen while his heinous brother raped me…he’d die. He wouldn’t permit it. He’d do whatever it took to protect me…even if it meant being shot.
I needed to talk to him.
To tell him in explicit terms that I didn’t return to watch him be killed. Whatever was about to happen would happen with him staying alive. He owed me that. He’d already gambled with his longevity by taking a drug that may or may not take his life in payment.
“Sully…don’t be stupid,” I whispered as we entered the foyer of the high swept, roof thatched church of Euphoria.
He grunted a savage response, sending goosebumps beneath my rain-crinkled dress.
Drake didn’t stop our little train until we entered the playroom where a harness hung from the ceiling, cupboards with fantasy props ringed the bare space, and a glass-frosted door led to a bathroom where Sully had kissed me for the first time.
My lips tingled in memory as Drake spread his legs and snapped his fingers. The guards with their guns came to a stop, forcing us to halt. Sully’s temper grew until it touched the vaulted ceilings and slithered across the tiles.
I trembled in worry.
Please, Sully…
If Drake gave me elixir, that was protection in itself. If there was no way out of this nightmare, at least elixir would shield my mind and leave my body a nymphomaniac shell. Sully, on the other hand…he’d suffer my every moan; my every beg would break his heart.
I flinched, brushing my shoulder with his.
He stiffened, his jaw clenching as a spark crackled from him to me. A promise that I was still his, and he was mine…throughout sickness, death, and Drake. His face turned to mine, his eyes narrowed and a painful red. However, amongst the sore seeking, he managed to catch my gaze and hold it.
My knees threatened to buckle. Tears sprang in relief.
You can see…
He nodded slightly as if he’d heard my question, as if our connection allowed telepathic communication.
“Right.” Drake clapped his hands, ripping our moment apart. “It’s playtime, ladies and gents, and this is how it’s gonna go.” Pointing at the guards all aiming guns at us, he muttered, “If the girls run, shoot them. If my brother does anything idiotic, shoot him but don’t kill him. I need what’s in that brain of his before he’s allowed to die.” He chuckled coldly. “He also has a show to watch. I’ll give him some pointers on how to fuck a woman.”
Sully bristled beside me, a vibrating snarl in his chest. “You planning on fucking in front of your men, Drake? Euphoria works on corrupting the mind. You won’t be here, but your body will. They’ll see every shudder of your flabby ass.”
Drake gritted his teeth in a tight grin. “We all like pornography, baby brother. They can watch to ensure you behave.” His puddle blue eyes met mine, and his lips twisted into a smirk. “Now, Eleanor Grace…come here.”
A guard grabbed my elbow, dragging me away from Sully.
And Sully let go of his leash.
Even with imperfect eyes and bound hands, he still moved like the immortal ruler of this island. One second, he stood stoic. The next, he charged past me and threw himself at Drake, knocking both of them to the tile.
With his hands tied, he used both in a single strike. A heavy club of knuckles crunching right into Drake’s cheekbone. “I’ll fucking kill you before you touch—”
“Get off him!” Three of the guards bolted to the grappling brothers, jerking Sully off Drake and kicking his legs out from beneath him to slam him to his knees. Sully howled as blood bloomed through his bandage on his thigh. Three guns wedged against his skull as he kneeled, panting and snarling, a true wolf hidden within a human skin.
The fourth guard continued trapping Jealousy and me, his attention on the chaos, but his weapon sweeping between us.
Drake cursed and shoved himself to his feet, touching his swollen cheek and smearing the streak of blood from his perforated skin. “That’s the last time you touch me, cocksucker.”
Sully seethed on the floor, his chest drenched in sweat from pain and adrenaline. “The last time I touch you is when I take your godforsaken life.”