Page 75 of Lucky 14

After months of trying to track him down, my brother appears here? On my island?

For a second, all I can feel is panic. He’s here. After all these years, he’s here. Something deep down in me knows he’s here to finish the game he started all those years ago.

My hands shake. Clicking open my tracking app, I zero in on his location.

He’s all the way across the island. Of course.

Then my gaze snags on another number that isn’t far. In fact, it’s at the villa.

Fourteen. Holland.

For a minute, I just stare, unable to process this information. What is my brother doing with Holland and Oakley? Something. It’s not a coincidence they showed up together.

Slowly, anger starts to take over the fog.

My brother is here, and he’s messing with my game. My game. I make the rules here. Not him.

My blood boils. I’m not sure how Fourteen is related to my brother, but now I won’t let anything stop me from finding out. Any interest I felt for Holland is gone.

Interest is for the weak. And I’m not weak.

My brother will never win.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Day 5

This motherfucker.

I saw Kyan just a little bit ago. Caught a glimpse of him going down the hall past the cafeteria, and then he just…disappeared. How does someone that big just disappear?

There’s a clatter of dishes from the cafeteria, and I jump. Leaving Holli alone makes my skin crawl. I waited a few hours after all the hunters left for the morning, but still, I feel like someone is watching me.

Sneaking through the quiet hotel hallways makes me feel like I’m doing something wrong. But I need to find her clothes. And meds. Better meds. I snuck a hand on Holli’s forehead this morning after she finally passed out, and she’s still hot. She didn’t pull away from my touch, and that sent a thrill shooting up my arm and curling around the back of my head. A thrill followed closely by worry.

Instead of pulling away from my touch, Holli’s chapped lips parted, and she was breathing softly, the fear lines mostly gone around her eyes. Maybe I was making it up, but her eyes softened even a little more, and it was all I could do just to stare at her. That strip of white hair was so pale it framed her face like a halo, so much like the white-tipped fox.

My chest twists at the possessive heat that rolls through me.

My fox.

Last night, when I told her about my childhood, she didn’t mock me. Didn’t shrug me off or turn to face away from me. She just listened, drinking me in like I was the only person in the world.

Rolling through all my memories with her, I realize that Holli isn’t mean. She’s just afraid.

There’s an odd satisfaction that fills my chest. Holli doesn’t hate me. She’s just scared of me, and that makes me feel a desperate sort of energy to protect her.

I’m the only one who can keep Holli safe. And I’ll do it. I want to see what she looks like without the fear. When she isn’t constantly scanning my body to see if I’m going to hurt her. Maybe what she sounds like when she’s soft. What she was like in her childhood. Could she read minds then, too, like she does now with those accusing eyes?

Accusing eyes that never leave me.

An intrusive thought forces its way into my brain in startling clarity. In it, Holli is under me, panting as I grind into her, and I feel with conviction that Holli is the kind of person to keep eye contact when she comes.

I’m determined to keep both of us alive long enough to find out.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Day 5