Poisoned Love, Calculated Death

the sounds of the night. My feigned sleep was a thin shield, and ev

wing embers. I pushed myself up, the pain in my leg a blinding, white-ho

was a powder I had made from a plant I recognized from my research: a powerful, fast-act

oft sand. My hands were shaking so violently I could barely untie the packet. I poured the entire contents in

from the jungle. He looked satisfied, believing he had made his n

awake?" he asked

e in a drugged haze. "My

ing with fake pity. "The tea shoul

rea, took a long drink from t

ust had

wind was picking up, whipping the palm fronds into a frenzy. It seemed the

t upright. He looked co

d, shaking his head

I asked, my voice ful

h him. He fell to his knees, his movements slo

urred, looking at his hands as

aid, my voice cold and h

, and for the first time, a flicker of genuine

shing myself up with my cru

I had planned. I had packed a small waterproof bag with the last of the edib

tried to get up again, scrambling i

was fighting the drug with sheer willpower. He started

" he shouted, his wo

on device and paddle out into the shipping lanes. The falsified hurricane data would have put any s

Behind me, I heard Jason' s frantic movements. He had made it

or help. He was

filled with a panic I had never heard before. "The weather... something's w

imagine Brittany on the oth

ied realization in his voice. "She did this! She fals

igured it out. Bu

ck on the horizon, growing larger. A

ning toward me, his movements still clumsy but fueled

ued. He would drag me back into th

n, nature' s fury aligning with my own. The waves wer

ce whatever fate he and Brittany had pl

away, his face a mask

screamed over the

ing sea, then back at the man who had

was better th

tal embrace that stole my breath. A massive wave crashed over me, pulling me under, dragging me into the dark, chao