Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 100563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
He raised his hand as if to stop me, but it was too late.
Smiling at Intan, nodding at his stern sister, I ran to the side and vaulted.
I tumbled overboard.
I fell and fell.
I sliced through the sea and deep into the warm embrace of Sully’s empire.
* * * * *
Rain battered me as I snuck from the shallows and ran up the beach to the undergrowth.
Breathing hard from my swim, cursing the heavy material of my dress as it clung to my legs, I dug a shallow hole under a glossy leafed bush and shoved my cell phone into it.
Hopefully, the plastic bag would protect it from the rain and the drenching of my swim.
Hopefully, Sully had his own network that would report my location back to my father if the old captain didn’t heed my request. The phone had become an amulet of protection. A beacon of hope that I had to protect to ensure artillery could find us.
Pushing a handful of sand over the device, I shook with adrenaline. My ears strained for voices, hoping for victory but all too aware violence lurked instead. Creeping away from the openness of Sully’s beach, I turned my back on the helipad and purple orchids, and faded deeper into the manicured forest.
My heart found a new home in my throat, beating rapidly, quaveringly quick as if afraid its regular drum would wake up evil spirits lurking within Sully’s shores.
Stay low.
Stay hidden.
I travelled for a while, past Jealousy’s villa. Past mine. Doors hung open and furniture had been displaced, footprints masculine and mean in the pathway leading toward Divinity and the main guest hub.
I avoided areas of traffic, catching the scents of gunpowder and blood.
Where were Sully’s guards?
I’d heard him and Cal discussing evacuating the guests and goddesses...but where are the damn guards?
My hands curled to hit someone. My fear was drowned out by aggression.
Sully...God, Sully, please be okay.
I would take on an army for him.
I would slaughter his brother for him.
I might be a girl.
I might be biologically weaker in physical things.
But I wasn’t a coward.
And I wasn’t afraid.
A threat danced on the breeze.
A warning hissed through the trees.
My skin prickled and hair stood up as fresh power commanded my legs to run.
Balling my hands, I ignored the urge and ducked behind a bush instead.
Running would be idiocy. They might hear me crashing through the foliage. Keeping my breathing shallow, I did my best to be the perfect spy—the sneaky snake waiting to strike.
Thunder cymballed directly above, coating the morning in lightning and tossing a monsoon onto my head.
I shivered as I did my best to stay smart; even though I’d been ridiculously moronic to return.
I honestly didn’t know what to do.
Did I travel to Nirvana and see if Sully was trapped there? Did I head to his office and see if I could call for help? Should I try to swim to Lebah before I got caught?
Are you so sure Sully is still here?
Sitting in the downpour, rain blurring the world with blues and greens, I felt as if I was the only person alive.
My stomach tightened, worrying about Skittles and Pika, but with how heavy the rain fell, it made sense that no birds flew. They’d be at the mercy of water missiles.
Tropical peace tried to lull me into a false acceptance, but regardless of the emptiness of Sully’s island, I couldn’t shed the sensation of sinister.
Something isn’t right.
I need to find him...now.
Sighing hard, I pushed back my sopping hair and continued onward.
I’d kicked off my sandals during my swim and twigs dug into my soles as I did my best to stay silent. Travelling deeper into the island, I stopped at the main fork. The fork where Sully had driven inside me, high on elixir, and shoved me face-first into forever.
Dammit, Sully, where are you?
A twig snapped loudly beneath my bare foot.
I flinched and froze.
The air didn’t change.
A threat didn’t materialise.
I kept going.
I kept going until I stupidly began to relax in my hunter prowl.
I neared the undergrowth surrounding the god-awful villa where Sully’s lab cages were housed.
The whiff of cigarette smoke made my nostrils flare.
Signs of life.
The harsh cough of a man.
Turn around!
Now!
Backing up, I scurried deeper into the jungle, my heart chugging wildly.
Was he there?
Had they imprisoned him in the very same cage he’d locked me in after he’d dragged me back from Serigala?
My mind raced.
If he was locked up, how could I free him?
How many men were in there with him?
My thoughts were too focused on a jailbreak. My attention internal instead of external where danger lurked.
It was my fault.
My stupid, idiotic fault that I forgot men had a body that permitted them to piss wherever the hell they wanted.
I brushed aside a large banana leaf, my thoughts on returning to the beach and waving down the police that were hopefully on their damn way, and came face to face with a man holding his cock, spraying a stream all over a shrub.