Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 742(@200wpm)___ 594(@250wpm)___ 495(@300wpm)
“So…we swim.”
“Yeah, okay.” Peter scoffed. “Give me a moment, and I’ll summon the dolphins with my perfect whale song. They can tow us.”
“We can swim a kilometre,” Kirk argued, flicking Suri a look. His heart lived in his eyes every time he looked at her. “We have to try.”
“We are trying.” Peter nodded with a sickening sway. “Hide until dark. Wait until Master K goes to leave and his yacht docks. We’ll swarm him in sheer numbers and sail into the sunrise.” He nodded as if it were the perfect plan, either forgetting or ignoring the fact that Victor would be hunting all night, and guards would most likely patrol the pier for this very reason.
But…even as I saw nothing but holes in his plan, the others sucked up hope as if it were their last meal.
Their strides lengthened, our speed increased, and no one said another word as we ran.
Chapter Two
………………………….
Henri
I RAN WITH THE REST OF them.
Across the drawbridge, down the grassy runway, and into the forest beyond.
Masters spread out, stalking through the dense trees like true hunters.
I felt like a fraud.
I’d never hunted a damn thing in my life, and the gun felt obscenely heavy in my hands.
Didn’t matter that the bullets were rubber and detonated with paint, not lead. It still went against every bone in my body to hunt people.
Wrapping my fingers tighter around the weapon, I tried to figure out how I could win a game that had so many moving parts. I couldn’t exactly kill every man on this island like I’d tried to do with Daxton, Roger, and Larry.
Out of three men, I’d only killed one.
My jog faltered a little as the true weight of that sentence punched me square in the face.
I killed someone.
Someone not exactly fit to stay alive, but…I’d still taken a life.
Did that redeem me because I’d removed a piece of evil, or did it shove me further into hell?
Does it matter?
You earned a one-way ticket the day you were born.
Gritting my teeth, I ran faster.
Trees reached out to grab me, branches swatted me in the face, and bushes clawed at my jeans. My ears rang for any sign that a Master had found a jewel and shot them.
Then again, the gunfire wasn’t loud.
I’d been surprised at how quiet my shot had been when I’d fired at Ily. I couldn’t rely on explosive bangs to point me in the right direction.
You need to figure this out and quickly.
How the fuck was I supposed to protect Ily when Victor had unleashed every monster in this place? They were free to do whatever their rotten hearts wanted. Victor had to be an idiot not to see what he’d offered and completely moronic if he thought they’d play by his rules.
Why would they?
Why would they permit only one winner when the prize was that tantalising?
The minute a slave was caught, I had absolutely no doubt that slave was most likely fucking dead.
A gush of sourness coated my tongue.
Tonight at rollcall, when this game was done, I had a horrible feeling jewel numbers would be far less, and the only one to blame would be Victor himself.
Find Ily.
That was my only objective.
What I’d do when I found her was a future problem.
Sprinting through the trees, I caught sight of three Masters picking and choosing the best trail through the undergrowth. A couple of them wafted their guns through bushes and ducked around trees as if expecting to spot a jewel huddled for cover in the bracken.
They wouldn’t be in the forest.
Too risky. Too close.
Peter would’ve rounded them up…if he’s still standing.
If I’d learned anything in my time here, Peter wasn’t just a serving slave. Somewhere along the line, he’d become one of Victor’s trusted servants, and if anyone would know this island…it was him.
You’re making shit up, Ri.
As if he’d be allowed out of the gates.
He’d be as clueless as the rest.
In that case, he’d probably lead them to water.
That would be my plan.
I’d take the chance to swim, even if I couldn’t steal something that floated.
My mind ached with memories from this morning.
Victor said Daxton boated here.
He’d been one of only a few Masters permitted such freedom. Maybe another Master was staying right now with the same privileges. Another boat moored somewhere. The smallest chance that a crowd of jewels could clamber onboard and sail out of our reach.
I ran harder.
The crash of heavy surf beckoned me forward.
The forest sloped downward, guiding me toward watery boundaries.
It didn’t take long before the trees thinned and spat me out on a rugged beach. Dull sand glittered with blue and green sea glass, almost as if Victor tossed all his broken bottles into the ocean and let the sea turn them into wave-tumbled gemstones.
My loafers crunched over them, scattering a few as I jogged down the small embankment and leapt over a few larger rocks. Seaweed clung to an outcrop of boulders, the scent of salt and dead fish in the air.