Keeping my voice as civil as I could, I snapped, “What do you want, Drake? You want this to end between us? Fine. Talk frankly and let’s finish this.”
Hurry.
Drake looked behind me, narrowing his gaze at the mercenaries keeping their guns trained on a sobbing Eleanor and a seething Cal.
I refused to look.
I didn’t trust my restraint if I looked. I’d lose it, and do something that might get all of us killed.
Drake puffed up his chest, standing a little taller. “Talk frankly? That will be novel for us.”
“It might usher this bullshit along.” I flicked a glance at Jealousy, her skin growing whiter by the second even though she already resembled a ghost.
“Fine.” He cleared his throat again. “You want to negotiate? Let’s negotiate. Elixir. If you don’t have any more vials on this island, I’m guessing you have more.”
“I do.”
“Where?”
My voice revolted, unwilling to give up my secrets but I forced them out. “Monyet.”
“And what exactly is Monyet?”
“Another island. I have a lab there.”
A lab unbound by FDA rules and bureaucratic tape. If I had a breakthrough in the Java Sea, I didn’t need to worry that it would be stolen by greedy politicians or shut down by corrupt governments.
The lab out there was a country all on its own. Overseen by Peter Beck with regular live streaming and condemned to far less paperwork, breakthroughs on Monyet had far surpassed those of my lab in America.
“And how many vials are ready to go?”
“Sully, don’t!” Eleanor’s yell made me stiffen, but I ignored her.
“Four hundred.”
Drake whistled again. “Does anyone else have the recipe?”
I tapped my temple with a smirk. “Just me. I give it to my scientists piece meal. No one knows the full ingredients.”
He pursed his lips, thoughts racing in his gaze. He took a moment, deliberating for far too long. I grew angsty to help Jess. I grew furious to protect Eleanor. I honestly didn’t know how long I could restrain myself from wrapping my fingers around his throat and strangling the bastard.
Finally, Drake sniffed and held out his hand. “A truce then. Give me the four hundred vials, write down the recipe, give me access to the codes for Euphoria, and sign the deeds for Goddess Isles into my name, and—”
“That isn’t a truce. It’s the exact same request that I denied at the start of this fucking war.”
“Ah, ah, let me finish.” He clucked his tongue like an asshole. “Give me those things. Let’s face it…you don’t need the wealth, Sullivan. Be generous and spread it around. Give me what I ask and…I give you my word I will not kill Eleanor…or you.”
A laugh fell from my mouth. A bark of disbelief. “Yeah, right. You’d been better off telling me baboons can fly than promising not to hurt—”
“Calling me a liar?” His face darkened. “I give you my word, Sullivan.” He waved his hand that still speared between us. “Shake on it, and my men will lower their weapons. You, me, and Eleanor will take a little helicopter ride to wherever this lab island is. If you’re telling the truth about the four hundred vials and you sign over the titles to this sex-fest, I will personally drop you off in Jakarta where you two can go live happily ever after in some mansion elsewhere.”
“Sully…he’s lying.” Eleanor’s suspicion blended with my own.
Actually, it wasn’t suspicion. It was damn right knowledge.
Drake had never conceded or compromised in his entire life.
If we flew with him to Monyet—if I signed those documents—he would kill me.
One hundred motherfucking percent he would murder me before the ink was dry.
He would put a bullet in my skull and then either abuse Eleanor until she begged for death or kill her and leave her to rot beside me.
I narrowed my eyes, studying him.
He licked his lips, his blue gaze doing their best to hide behind sincerity but far too smug.
He thought he could hoodwink me.
He thought he could keep me a pliant prisoner, willingly walking to his guillotine.
And the shitty situation about this was…I didn’t have a fucking choice.
If I said no, he’d shoot Eleanor.
If I refused again, he’d shoot Cal.
If I continued to deny him, he’d rip off Pika’s wings and break apart Skittle’s body. He would revert to the psychotic child who got his kicks from mutilating animals who couldn’t fight back.
Jess is dying.
Hurry the fuck up.
If I accepted his terms, at least I had an opportunity to protect Jess and everyone else behind me.
Monyet was a fifteen-minute helicopter ride.
That would give me time to plot.
Stepping into him, I gritted my teeth from the rancid sensation of touching him and slipped my hand into his.
“Sully, don’t!”
“Be quiet, Jinx.”
Drake grinned like a heartless mongoose as his fingers latched tight, and we shook. “Good choice, Sullivan. Good choice.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” I yanked my hand away. “And we both know the outcome of what I’ve agreed to.”