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Jewel nodded as if she accepted my oddness. Her brows tugged over her eyes as she leaped toward me, her body language switching from open to full of conspiracies. “Did you hear the helicopter take off before?”
I shook my head, fighting my skin’s reaction to shiver at her closeness. “No. Another guest leaving?”
“No…a goddess. Three of them, actually. Calico, Jupiter, and Neptune were all stuffed inside, and now they’re gone.” Her teeth sank into her bottom lip in worry. “Do you think…you don’t think Sinclair is getting rid of us, do you? I mean, Calico was almost up for going home, but not the other two. Why would he take them away? Is he selling us to other people now?”
Her façade fell completely as she confided. “I’ve only just accepted this is my life for the next little while. I do my best to fit in with others, even if I don’t want to seduce the monster who ruined my life. But…I’ll do it if it means he won’t sell me like he did them.”
She shuddered. “We have it easy, Jinx. If he sells us…who knows where we’ll end up. What will happen to us?” Tears welled in her green gaze. “At least we have an end date here, you know? Four years isn’t so bad. It feels long, but really…it goes fast.” Her tears overflowed. “Do you think we should hide? Should I go tell him I’ll work twice a week? I mean…I don’t know if my system could handle elixir twice a week, but I can fake it for a guest. I can make them believe I want them without needing to be drugged out of my mind.”
I stood locked in the sand, watching a seemingly brave girl come apart at the seams. Any hint of frivolity of before was in tatters as whatever needle and thread holding her together burst apart.
“I’m so afraid of what’s going to happen! I don’t want to fuck every man on this planet. I don’t want to belong to anyone. I want to go home!” She dropped her head into her hands, crying loudly.
I had no idea what to do.
Everything she’d said I’d already pep-talked myself over and over with. Yes, we had it lucky here. Yes, it was better the devil you knew than the devil you didn’t. And yes…four years was better than an undetermined length of time. And yes, I had seduced the monster who owned us, purely so he wouldn’t sell me.
But how was I supposed to comfort her when I was the reason her friends had been flown away, never to be seen again?
Could Sully have killed them?
Would he be that ruthless to open the helicopter door at full height and kick them to the ocean below? Would he tell me he’d released them, but really lie to my face and release them some other way?
No.
If I started suspecting him, who knew what that would mean for us. He had a fierce phobia about anyone betraying him. Therefore, it would make sense that he would go out of his way to remain loyal to those he made promises to.
And he promised.
With a sigh, I stepped into Jewel and wrapped my arms around her. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t cry.”
She only cried harder.
Her wails soaked my dress and her body shook mine as I tried to console her. I didn’t know if I should tell her what they’d done to me and why they’d left. Whether she’d find comfort in knowing the only reason they’d been sent away was because I’d asked for their freedom after they’d tried to murder me.
Would it make Jewel try to kill me too…somehow earning a pass home by murder?
Instead of messing things up, I kept silent, just offering her my hug to cry into.
Footsteps appeared behind Jewel. Flip-flops worn by a man, striding with purpose and prowess.
I looked up, expecting to come eye to eye with Sully. My heart even hopscotched in anticipation, but just as I’d expected Jealousy and ended up with Jewel, I ended up with a guest instead of the proprietor.
Shaggy brown hair and slim physique wearing denim shorts and white tee, he frowned and strode faster toward us. “She okay?”
I nodded, running my hand over Jewel’s curly red hair. “She’s fine. Just a long night.”
The guest clenched his jaw, his brown eyes darkening. “Yeah, I had my own long night a few evenings ago. I didn’t know the girls were drugged so badly. I feel responsible.”
Jewel froze; tears streaked her face as she looked up, studying the stranger. “How can you say that? You knew what you were doing when you bought a stay on some luxury island where sex is guaranteed to be the best you’ve ever had.”
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Yeah, I know. I mean…call me stupid, but I thought we’d sleep with high paid courtesans who loved their job. Women who dressed up and acted out the fantasy…not young girls who become any goddamn thing that computer program can conjure.”
