Fourth a Lie (GODDESS ISLES Book 4)

by Pepper Winters

  “I’ll kill you, you—”

  “What am I holding up, Eleanor?” Drake projected his voice a bit louder, cutting me off and waiting for a reply.

  Eleanor took her time, either refusing to obey or debating other choices. Finally, she clipped, “You’re holding up a vial of elixir.”

  Ah, fuck.

  He’d raided my office then.

  He’d found the last three vials on this island.

  “Know what that means, baby brother of mine?” Drake snickered. “It means I hope you two had a good sleep because tonight, I get to sample what you’ve been having. I get to fuck a goddess. And you’re going to watch...everything.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  WE MADE A SAD procession.

  Two goddesses, one god, one devil, and four hobgoblins.

  Drake led the way, his boots kicking up sand while Jealousy padded in front of me, barefoot in just a black bikini. Swimming here hadn’t exactly equipped her with a wardrobe fit to hide her curves from evil men.

  My palms clasped together, my wrists once again bound; faint bruises from the last imprisonment ached beneath the new. At least this time, my hands were in front of me, instead of behind. Jealousy’s too and Sully’s.

  All trussed up like cattle with guns aimed at our heads, marched from our cages and down sandy laneways to our demise. Stars peeked between stencils of palm leaves. A flash of emerald hinted Pika chased us from afar, and the chorus of cicadas, frogs, and bats did its best to still masquerade as a paradise but failed.

  Thanks to Drake, he’d infected this Eden with his monstrosity. He was Lucifer himself, undoing all the good in the world.

  Sully’s harsh breath tickled my nape. His rage was a thick vapour, seething with condemnation, sharp as a scalpel and searching for the tiniest opportunity to murder his brother.

  Glancing over my shoulder, I flinched as I looked into his red-rimmed eyes. I wished he hadn’t taken the cotton off yet, but I understood why. He’d wanted to see.

  But...he can’t.

  My heart bled when Sully kept his fractured stare directly ahead, not noticing I studied him. His back remained rigid, his hands clasped with white knuckles and rope chewing into newly knitted skin. Clad only in black boxer-briefs, the damage done to him remained on display like a dreadful tapestry. However, even with the bandage around his thigh and the terrifying blankness of his defective stare, he was still a thousand times the man the guards and his brother were.

  He moved with an untouchable fortitude, a brooding vigour that guaranteed vicious violence the moment my life wasn’t in the crosshairs.

  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.”

  Grabbing a handful of Sully’s roguish hair and yanking his head back, Drake spat directly into his face. “I’m tired of your bullshit, Sullivan. I’m tired of being nice to you. You just ensured I’m not just gonna fuck your girl tonight, but I’m also gonna kill her all while she rides my dick. And the best part? She’ll be so fucking high on whatever you’ve created in your special little labs that she won’t even care. She won’t remember you. She won’t miss you. She’ll th
ank me for giving her the best fuck of her miserable little life.”

  Sully punched Drake square in his guts.

  Two guards punched him in return.

  “Stop!” I dashed forward, earning a gun to my temple. “Stop it. Just...leave him be and I’ll—”

  “Hear that, Sullivan? Your whore is begging for your life. She’s fighting your battles for you because you’re a worthless piece of shit and always have been.”

  Turning his back on Sully, Drake commanded, “Bring her here. Now!”

  The guard dragged me away from Jealousy and across the sandstone tiles, dumping me in front of Drake as the three men ringing Sully kept their guns digging into his nape, making him bow forward, his bound hands between his spread legs, blood oozing through his bandage, and his eyes sparking red and blue fire.

  He’d never been so inhuman, so consumed with nefarious wrath.

  I trembled as Drake grabbed the rope around my wrists and untied me. “Do you like watching him be hurt, pretty Jinx?”

  Gritting my teeth, I swallowed back the temptation to return the favour of spitting in his face. “What do you think?”

  “I think you’re a temptress and a fighter. I think you’re not above using your body to get what you want. I think you’ll do whatever it takes to save him...even if it means sacrificing yourself.”

  I balled my hands, glad they were no longer tied. “You know nothing about me.”

  “Oh, no?” Arching his chin at the guards ringing Sully, he barked, “Shoot him in the foot.”

  Spinning around, I ran as fast as I could. I leaped through the sky and landed on Sully’s lap. He grunted as I hurt his stitched leg. He shuddered as I shouted with every passion and pain in my lungs. “Don’t!” I glowered at the men with guns. I straddled Sully and stared them down. “Don’t you dare!”

  Drake’s applause filled my ears, his laughter sent sickness washing through me. “Thanks for proving my point, Jinx.” Snapping his fingers again, he barked, “Bring her back here. Don’t shoot my brother.”

  It was the worst pain imaginable being torn from Sully’s body. Removed from his heat, his power, his love. Our eyes locked, even as I was dragged away and shoved back into my position in front of Drake.

  Sully hadn’t spoken a word, almost as if he couldn’t remember how to articulate, too consumed with the feral savagery of ripping out his brother’s throat. His nostrils flared with every breath. He never surrendered even as the three guards once again dug their guns into the back of his head, making him fold over his knees.

  Jealousy padded toward me and Drake, the only one of us with some margin of freedom. She stopped beside me, staring at Drake with a coldness I’d never seen on her. A familiar hate that said she’d known men like Drake before. That she’d endured her own torment and come out the other side intact.

  Her voice snipped with disgust. “I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’m not feeling very well, and I’m sure I speak on behalf of both my master and my friend that no one wants any more bloodshed.”

  “Jealousy...” Sully growled. “Shut up.”

  She didn’t look at him, keeping her stare pinned on Drake. “Sullivan won’t be cooperative, no matter how many guns you point at him. He only cares about Eleanor, so unless you’ve figured out how to work Euphoria on your own, you need someone else to help you.”

  “Jess!” Sully bellowed.

  Oh, God, what is she doing?

  Drake smirked. “And I suppose you know how his virtual reality works?”

  Jealousy flicked me a look, hiding her loyalty or her deception, I didn’t know. “I do. Sullivan regularly trusted me to load a guest’s program and insert a goddess into his VR.”

  My heart hammered as I whispered, “Jealousy, please...”

  “I’ll show you. I’ll load you safely into any program already cyphered by Sullivan...if you promise to leave Jinx alive once you’ve had her.”

  Sully stayed silent, his anger pulsing behind me.

  Drake snickered. “And why would you do that? You’re in love with her too?”

  “She’s my friend. I don’t want her to die just because you have a feud with your brother.”

  “Jealousy...Jess.” I reached with my unbound hands, touching hers. “He’ll kill all of us, or make us wish he had. Don’t bargain with him—”

  “Done,” Drake snapped. Reaching for Jealousy’s rope, he released her and smirked. “Show me.”

  Jealousy swallowed hard and padded toward the cupboards hiding the trolleys stocked with sensors and reality distorters. Sully groaned under his breath as she wheeled one toward me and flicked me an unreadable look.

  What the hell is she doing?

  “Jinx...” Her voice cracked, but she arched her chin and cleared her throat. “Can you remove your dress...please?”

  Sully snarled, “For fuck’s sake—”

  “Quiet, unless you want another hole in your leg,” Drake yelled. He waved his hand at Jealousy. “Continue. I like where this is going.”

  I shuddered as Jealousy moved toward me, resting her hands on my shoulders and plucking at the straps of my dress. Her lips touched my ear; her whisper slipped into my being. “Please...just trust me.”

  Whipping back, I narrowed my eyes. I needed to know what she had planned. What was her end goal? What did she think this would achieve other than Sully’s last life force on the floor?

  Her hazel gaze held no secrets or sins as she stared at me with imploring need, risking herself so I would risk accepting her help.

  Slowly, I nodded and gathered the hem of my dress. Without a word, I pulled it over my head. I had nothing on underneath. I’d left Sully’s shores in this dress. And I’d returned within it. Now, I stood naked in front of too many men and a woman I didn’t entirely have faith in.

  Drake sucked in a breath. All the men did.

  Sully growled, and my nipples pebbled with nervousness.

  Jealousy didn’t pause. Grabbing the earbud box, she quickly adorned me with the hearing deceptors. Her hands quick and feminine compared to Sully’s possessive paws.

  I bit my lip as she ran the scent stick under my nose, stuck fingerprint pads into place and struggled to be as gentle as she could placing lenses into my eyes.

  Sully made a noise as I bent my head back, permitting her to obscure my vision and prepare my sight to see a different world than this one. At least these lenses weren’t tampered with. At least I still saw, if through an unwanted film.

  Drake crossed his arms as he studied everything Jealousy did. A student learning a topic he wanted to excel at so he could steal every original idea and copyrighted magic from his brother.

  I stiffened as Jealousy tipped oil into her palms and caught my gaze. With our eyes locked, she rubbed the silky liquid into my chest, over my breasts, along the planes of my stomach and then ducked to rub over my hips, thighs, and legs.

  I couldn’t help it.

  I glanced over at Sully, jolting on the spot as I caught his hungry stare.

  Even with disaster surrounding us and monsters threatening to ruin us, he still cherished me. He still thirsted for me, wanted me, and couldn’t prevent his body’s obsession with mine. He bit his bottom lip, his stare touching me in intimate places, his presence preparing me for sex even though it wouldn’t be with him.

  I hate this!

  I hated that I had no way to stop this. I hated that a woman stroked my skin and not him. I hated that, unlike the other times I’d been inserted into a fantasy...this time, it wouldn’t be Sully. It wouldn’t be the man I loved hiding behind a mask and lies.

  I couldn’t look anymore.

  Dropping my stare, I balled my hands as Jealousy finished coating my back in oil, then dropped the empty bottle on the trolley and wiped her hands with a cloth. “She’s ready.”

  “Not quite.” Drake smiled a wolfish, rabies-infected grin. “My turn.”

  Jealousy huffed but obediently opened fresh boxes of supplies.

  “Not you,” Dr
ake sniffed. “Her.” Taking my hands, he placed my palms against this chest.

  I shivered with revulsion.

  “Undress me, Goddess Jinx.”

  “Christ, stop!” Sully fought the three guards blocking him in a blast of power and fury.

  For a second, he won. He stood and shoved two men to the ground.

  But his victory was short-lived, paying for his outburst with heavy punches to his head and kicks to his already injured body. Falling back to his knees, he groaned as Drake pinned his nasty stare on me. “Undress me, or I shoot him.”

  Jealousy murmured, “I’ll do it—”

  “No, she will.” Drake let my hands go, cocking his head to see what I’d do.

  Jealousy’s hiss mimicked the one snaking around my chest—sick frustration that men could dictate our existence. Inhaling hard, I kept my chin high even though my heart was one giant mess of gristle and grief.

  “Don’t be a martyr, Eleanor,” Drake murmured. “Don’t think you can cause mischief and stop this. Do as I say, and everyone stays alive tonight.” Planting his hands on my naked waist, he smiled. “You’ll prefer me, I guarantee it.”

  “Doubt it. I find you repulsive.”

  His eye twitched beneath the perfectionism of Botox. “You’ll change your mind. Now, undress me. Otherwise, Sully can have a few fingers removed. For every delay you cause, he’ll lose an appendage. I need him alive...not intact.”

  Everything he said aimed to break me. Every part of him thought he could crush me into his control.

  No.

  Just no.

  I didn’t just find him repulsive, I found him lacking in every way.

  He’s nothing.

  Just like those traffickers.

  Just like Scott.

  Nothing.

  And he’s standing in the way of everything.

  I didn’t beg.

  I didn’t cry.

  I didn’t run.

  Sully...

  I ripped off Drake’s t-shirt like he was a naughty toddler and I was his mother about to spank him.