by Rachel Angel
She kissed Kaz by the lips and said, “And now, because all of you loved Tempest so so much…you can all go to hell with her, too!”
She was about to light the bomb, when the room began shaking.
Earthquake?
Veronica screamed as Kaz quickly snatched the bomb from her hands. He handed it to Hunter, who handed it to Ori, who handed it to Ricky, who handed it to Jordan, who ran to the opening of the room.
Jordan’s face widened in shock and fear as he realized the bomb was lit and about to explode at any second.
Kaz grabbed the bomb out of Jordan’s hands and ran as fast as he could out the door and into the corridor.
I ran after him, knowing he didn’t have any seconds left.
Someone or something pushed pass me knocking me to the cave wall.
“Throw it now, Kaz!” I cried. “Please throw it now!”
Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I heard the bomb go off.
Everyone ran out of the weapons room. Hunter, Ori, Jordan, and Ricky were by my side.
“Kaz!” I cried out. “Oh no, Kaz!”
Hunter, Ori, and Jordan were running out the cave while I ran after them, my legs unable to move as fast as I wanted them to. I felt paralyzed.
Ricky reached out his hand to hold mine and to pull me along with him out of the cave.
Outside the cave was a sight to behold.
Half the trees which were covering the cave were blown away.
The ground had a big round dent in it.
But where was Kaz?
“Kaz!” Hunter cried out. “Where are you, Man?”
“Kaz!” Ori cried out.
“Hey royal dude!” Ricky shouted into the forest. “Where are you? Are you injured? Can you hear us?”
Jordan went to his men and said, “Search every inch of this forest and even the ocean down below the cliffs. He could have fallen into the ocean.”
“Okay,” I nodded. I felt so numb. Like the time I first heard about my parents’ accident. Kaz couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be.
I went out with some of the men, looking through trees, moss, barks, anything and anywhere for Kaz until I couldn’t see anymore. My throat was parched, and I was weak with hunger, having expended so much energy fighting Veronica’s ninjas and busting balls.
Finally, at the edge of the forest, Ricky came to me and said, “Come on, Tempest, let’s get something to eat.”
“You’re hungry at this time?” Hunter looked bitterly at Ricky. His face was covered in dirt, and he had a cut along his full lips. He looked exhausted.
“Yeah, I am,” Ricky said defensively. “We’ve been searching for hours. We all need food and rest to get our strength back.”
“I’m going to pick up some food for your men, Jordan,” I said. “Ricky and I will gather more people to come look for Kaz. We need fresh eyes.”
“Good idea,” Jordan said.
We walked back to the campus and into the cafeteria. It was dinner time but for some reason, it seemed less than half the students were there.
Ricky grabbed a cooler, filling it with cold drinks and ice. Then some sandwiches and bags of chips.
I grabbed the microphone and turned it on. “Hey guys,” I said. “For those you don’t know me, I’m Tempest.”
“Hi Tempest!” the students said.
I smiled. Whoever these students were, they were a nicer bunch than the ones I first came across when I started at Kingsbury Prep.
“I have to ask you guys for a favor,” I said. “One of our classmates went missing. Prince Kaz. You must know him. He was the Head of Student Body, the star football player at Kingsbury, and former Trustee. I finally got to see that video of him making his speech this afternoon. Well, he’s missing now in the forest. We need your help to help us search for him right now.”
One student stood up and then a few more until all of them were standing.
“Thank you!” I said. “Thank you for helping. If you have a sweater or something warm, put it on now. It’s cold out there. Grab a flashlight, and stick together. This is Kingsbury, but the forest is the forest, and there might be some wild animals in it.”
Ricky came back to stand next to me. “The forest of Kingsbury,” he said. “If you see a bit of light floating in the forest, they could be the fae folks.”
I looked at Ricky. “Really? You have to make a joke of this?”
“I’m just saying, don’t be alarm,” he said. “Everyone in Arcadia knows about the fae folk of the forests.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s lead the way.” I handed Ricky a sandwich and wolfed down my own, before taking a sip of soda. I needed as much fuel as possible. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 13
Tempest
I was taking at quick nap in the California room at Kaz’s place when I was nudged awake by Ricky. It was close to midnight, and I should have gotten up half an hour ago to go back to search for Kaz.
“I’ll be ready,” I said to Ricky, opening my eyes. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”
“You need to sleep,” Ricky said, kissing my brow. “But get up. There’s someone here to see you.”
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Lily was standing in the doorway, wearing a sparkling sequin pink baseball jacket, blue jeans, and Converse sneakers. “Tempest!”
“Lily, you made it!”
“Thanks to Dr. Dana Lee,” she said waving to the pretty Asian pharmacist from town, who was really a Grand Master martial artist I had been secretly training with on developing my inner Qi Gong. She had also helped me organized a food truck event in town the night Kingsbury Prep was attacked by the townspeople who injured Kaz, Ori, and Hunter.
Now she had helped escort Lily safely to Arcadia where Lily can live with me instead of being alone at the offices of 3 Kings Technology.
I went over to hug Dr. Lee and to thank her for all her help. She was becoming someone I could rely on and depended on like a true mentor. And her family was tied in with Kingsbury from the very beginning.
“My pleasure,” she said. “I hear you are finally coming into your gifts.”
“Why does everyone seem to think I am the Kingmaker?” I asked.
“Because you are, dear,” a familiar voice said in the doorway.
I almost looked away in horror.
What was Helen doing here?
“Before you get your panties bunched up in knots,” Helen said, sit down and get comfortable. Heck, I brought my lemon drop cookies and some other goodies from my soup stand off the pier.” She took a large shopping bag and placed it next to her on the sectional in the room.
Helen looked to Ricky to Dana to Lily and then to me.
“I have a confession,” she said.
I held my breath. Helen was like family to Lily and I. It would be heartbreaking knowing she was not who she seemed to be but some kind of diabolical schemer.
“I purposely got you through the doors of Kingsbury Prep because, girl, you need to be here. It was your destiny to be at Kingsbury,” she said to me.
“And meeting Kaz and Jordan?” I asked.
“They were meant to meet you, too, Tempest. You were the key to get them to thaw out and become brothers again. You see…in the end, were they like brothers?”
“But Kaz…” a tear ran down my cheek. “He’s still missing. I don’t know if he’s even alive.”
“Have faith,” Helen said. “He’s stronger than anyone gives him credit for. Even himself. He just needs to have a reason to be stronger. And now, he has.”
She reached out her hand to pat mine. “I know you love him a lot. What you’ve been through tested that love, didn’t it, Tempest?”
I nodded.
“If you were to choose who would be King of Islandia right now, would it be Kaz or Jordan?” she asked suddenly.
“I’m not ready to make that choice,” I said.
“Good,” Helen said. “Nor should you. You still have a b
it of time.”
There was a knock on the door, and Rosie, Kaz’s new chef came in with a tray of tea.
She set it down next to the treats Helen brought.
“Come on everyone,” Helen said, “Let enjoy tea and treats!” She looked over at the door to the room, and as if on cue, Jordan walked in, followed by Ori and Hunter.
They sat close to me, while Lily’s face brimmed with excitement. She was finally able to see the guys she had heard so much about. My guys. The K3s, except without Kaz.
“So here’s the latest on our search,” Jordan said. “We found his blazer…in a tree, but unfortunately not him. One of the students you recruited from school found it so it was a good thing they helped.”
“But no Kaz?” I asked, worried about him. What if a wolf or some wild animal got to him while he was unconscious and injured?
“We have night cameras everywhere,” Jordan said.
Hunter said, “We even have drones flying around through the forests to capture any movements.”
“Smart,” I said.
“I’ve set motion sensors in key areas,” Ori said.
“If he’s not injured or unconscious, and lost, we could pinpoint where he is,” Jordan said.
“You’ve got it down, Team,” I said.
Jordan rubbed my arm, “Don’t worry. We’ll find him. We all care about him, too. Yeah, he can be annoying sometimes, but we love him that way. And yes, I admit to loving my little brother. He had really matured in the last few months. And I have no grudge against him. He risked his life to save all of us, you know. He saved not just Kingsbury Prep, but everyone… the entire world… because if Veronica’s bomb went off in that room full of nukes, missiles, and whatever worst; the world would lose most of its population.”
I shook my head. My parents created them…these weapons. They would have gained a lot of enemies just from that act alone.
“My mother was from Arcadia,” I said. “She never told Lily and I we were from here. We’re the same nationality as you Helen and you Jordan…Kaz, Ricky.”
Dana said, “I knew your mother. She came into the pharmacy often. To take care of her parents. She was such a lovely, fun, and kind person. Not the kind of person who would build weapons to blow up the world. She must’ve created them for some reason.”
Helen said, “Artemis, your mother was like no other. As you would know…she had the gift at one point but lost it. The way a female Kingmaker could.”
My ears perked up. “She was a Kingmaker?”
“Yes,” Helen said. “But as I said, she lost her gift and when she did, it was believed she would be the very last Kingmaker for good.”
“How did she lose her gifts?” I asked.
Helen said, “She married a man she wasn’t supposed to…”
“Oh,” I said, nodding.
I could feel Ori’s eyes on me. Ricky and Hunter’s were burning holes through me. Then there was Jordan, who actually proposed to me and was awaiting my answer.
Did my mother have the kind of choices that I have? Did she choose the wrong man that cost her the Kingmakers’ legacy?
What if I choose the wrong man? Worse yet, the wrong King?
Chapter 14
Tempest
It had been a few days, and Kaz was still missing.
Every day, a search party would go out to look in the forest for him. Or there would be some movement that sets off the cameras or the sensors, but it was never Kaz.
After a few more days, I was beginning to fear the worst.
Hunter, Ori, and Jordan were trying to stay upbeat and positive around me, but I knew they too were losing hope in finding Kaz alive.
I went about my daily routine just trying to finish school. But with Lily living with me after getting a place in town where Lily could attend public school in Arcadia, life became a bit like it was before I started at Kingsbury. I was living with Lily again, and Helen was in Arcadia. Actually at Kingsbury where she was staying at Kaz’s place.
I couldn’t be happier in that we were all together again like it was in San Francisco, and I was able to open a satellite office of 3 Kings Technology in Arcadia making it possible for me to be at Kingsbury to finish up my senior year and continue developing more of my kingmaker gifts. My visions were stronger now as I was seeing more of Violet’s visions. I was suddenly able to have more clarity and focus in my everyday life, especially when making decisions as the CEO of 3 Kings Technology.
Everything was going smoothly until one day the news all over the internet hit all of our phones and computers in Arcadia.
The KING OF ISLANDIA is in a COMA!
THERE MUST BE A NEW KING OF ISLANDIA! WHO WILL BECOME KING?
Jordan knocked at my door at the house I shared with Lily in town and said, “Tempest, can I talk with you in private?”
Lily got up and put on her headphones before walking into her room, giving us some privacy.
What a sweet kid. Everyone seemed to loved her like their own little kid sister.
“What is it?” I asked Jordan.
“I don’t want to push you, Tempest, but have you thought about my question to you? Would you make me the happiest man alive? Would you marry me and be my wife, whether as Queen or Princess?”
He looked so nervous and vulnerable all of a sudden.
I drew in a deep breath. Finally I spoke, “I have thought long and hard about this, Jordan. I care for you deeply, but I also love them all…my guys. I’m not ready to settle down with anyone right now, get married, and have children right away. I want to continue my education in university and then grad school. I want to run and grow 3 Kings Technology. I want to be more than the wife of a remarkable man. I want to be the one who’s remarkable, too. I want to…”
Jordan stopped me from going on by kissing me, “I know,” he said. “You can have all those things still…but be with me. Like I said, if I have to be with you by being one of your guys, and that was the only way I can still have you in my life…I’ll accept it.”
“But what about being your Queen and all that?” I asked.
“I want you so much to be exclusive to me, to be my Queen, but I love you too much to push you into marrying me and giving up your gift as the kingmaker. I know the prophecy. I also knew that your mother gave up her gift to marry your father, who was a prince.”
“What?” my mouth dropped open.
“A prince of a small country that was barely on the map, but a prince nonetheless, and she married him, which kingmakers could not do…marry a prince or a king.”
“But don’t you need a Queen?” I asked.
“Who said I still want to be King?” Jordan asked. “If I remain a prince, I could still operate my companies, which I worked so hard building up from scratch. I could still be with you, love you, and have a life with you, the way we could arrange it. Being King is something I’ve been groomed to be, more so than Kaz, actually, but it wasn’t my profession by choice so to speak. Not especially when it came with so many stipulations…like having to compete against my own brother…”
“Don’t you want to be King, Jordan?” I asked again. I wanted to make sure the person I chose as King really wanted to be King.
“Someday. I’m happy running the Underground Fight Network, being incognito as a Prince and an underground fighter…”
He held me close to him. “I want you, Tempest. Even if I can’t marry you. I want you in my life. If I have to give up being King for you, I will.”
We kissed a long kiss then. “I’m happy to accept your proposal for being with you as we are now,” I said. “You’re my man, my lover, and provider. Maybe someday when I don’t need to be the kingmaker, I can marry you and have children with you. Along with Ori, Hunter, and Ricky.”
“Then that’s how it will be,” Jordan said.
He kissed me and my hands before leaving, “I love you so much,” he said.
After he left, Lily jumped into the room, waving her hands. “So you turned him
down, Sis. That hot Jordan who might be King one day…you turned him down.”
“No,” I said, “I’m keeping him in my harem. It’s not a traditional relationship, but I love him too. I’ve come to love him as I do Kaz, Ori, Hunter, and even Ricky.”
Lily raised her eyebrows then and said, “Definitely not traditional. But then again, being a kingmaker makes you anything but traditional. You make your own rules, Sis. Wow. So empowering! Go girl!”