The Balance

by C. L. Nelson

  I looked at the guard. “Go tell the servants to prepare for my queen’s return and to start preparations for a royal wedding!”

  He rose out of his deep bow on the floor, nodded, and then scampered out of the throne room.

  As soon as the guard left, I felt a presence to the right of me.

  Reflexively, I turned and grabbed the intruder that I felt astralocate in behind me by the throat. You don’t live as long as I have without learning to trust your instincts and react without thinking.

  Turned out the intruder was my first-born son, heir to the reaper throne, Prince Kian. I nearly break his neck when I smell her on him.

  “Why do you smell like my queen?” I asked through gritted teeth. “Please tell me her scent just transferred to you in some innocuous way.”

  Kian broke free of my hold and pushed me backward. “She doesn’t belong to you!” he growled. “She fucking hates you. You tried to rape her, ripped her soul out of her immortal body, and forced her to reincarnate multiple times, you sick evil bastard.”

  Kian launched himself at me. The movement was so fast that it wasn’t until my head was forcefully propelled backward by his fist that I even registered the movement.

  I deflected his next few punches while managing to land a couple of my own. “I love her, and I won’t give her up!” I grabbed his head and pulled his face down into my knee. “She will love me whether she fucking likes it or not.”

  Kian staggered back, his nose dripping blood. “I’m going to kill you. I should have killed you years ago when you murdered my mother and the mothers of my siblings.” He spat out blood before running at me.

  He tackled me to the ground. His hands were wrapped around my throat, choking me. Reapers may be hard to kill, but we do need to breathe. It won’t kill me, but it will render me unconscious if I don’t get some oxygen.

  I punched his ribs a few times until I hear cracking.

  Kian started to have difficulty breathing. I’m pretty sure one of his broken ribs punctured his lung. His grip on my throat loosens.

  I pry his hands off my throat and roll him off me. I stand up while he is trying to catch his breath and land several solid kicks to his center.

  He curls into a ball, trying to protect himself from my fury.

  I decided then that I am going to kill him. I don’t care if he is my heir. I have spares. He has touched my queen, most likely fucked her. The punishment for that is death.

  Kneeling beside my pathetic son, I roll him onto his back. I grab both sides of his head and with a quick twist, I snap his neck.

  I lean over him, so he can see me. “Kian, I know you can hear me. I can do one of two things. I can remove your heart and let your soul move on or I can rip your pitiful soul out. I am sure there is an infernal in the Pit that would love to sodomize you.” I spit in his face. “And after I am done with you, I will find my queen and fuck her until she doesn’t even remember your name.”

  I feel the air shift behind me. Right on the heels of that feeling is the smell of coconut. I stumble to my feet and turn around.

  I am astonished to see Carina standing there. She is more beautiful than I remember. Her immortal body had finished developing without her, losing the remainder of childlike features that remained over two thousand years ago. She is a one hundred percent fully grown female now.

  She looks truly regal in a black floor-length gown and she is glowing, literally her skin is radiating power. Her dark brown hair is shiny, falling in waves down to her waist. Her eyes are still pale blue, but they blaze with her immortality.

  “Did you miss me, Alaric?” she asked with her hands on her shapely hips and a smile on her perfect face.

  “Of course, I did, dearest one. I have been worried sick because I couldn’t find you, but I knew you would come back to me,” I said while my eyes roamed her body.

  “I always intended to come back for you, Alaric.” Every time she said my name, desire shot through my body.

  I caught a whiff of Kian as I stepped closer to her. I grimaced. “But you have been a naughty girl, haven’t you? You have been intimate with my son.” I glowered at her. “Tell me that he raped you and I will take you back after I rip his soul out and send it to the Pit.”

  “You don’t want to rip anyone’s soul out. You want to come to me, Alaric, and let me ease your aching body. I can feel how much you still want me, Alaric.”

  My body was suddenly aching, my cock throbbing. I forgot all about Kian as I went to my queen. I was very aware that I had no control over what I was doing, but I couldn’t fight it, I didn’t want to fight it. All I could think about was slacking my desire inside her glorious body.

  I was just about to reach her when she said, “Get on your knees, Alaric!”

  Instantly, I fall to my knees. I reach out to her, but she steps back. “I need you. Please let me touch you.”

  She backhanded me. “Shut up! You will speak only when I allow it, or I will leave you in pain for eternity.”

  I know I should probably be getting angry that a female is treating me this way, but I am only getting more aroused. I try to beg her to touch me, but I can’t seem to get any words out.

  My sadistic queen laughs. “Isn’t this what you threatened to do to me, Alaric? Force me to want you and then deny me until I begged you to fuck me.”

  I feel her power that is keeping me silent fade, allowing me to speak. “I’ll do anything for you, my dark queen. Please, touch me, please. It hurts to be this close to you and not be allowed to be inside of you,” I groaned. “Please, fuck me. Just breathe on my dick and I will cum so hard for you.”

  Her eyebrows lowered and her lips tightened before she kicked me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me. “You’re fucking pathetic. No more talking! You disgust me!”

  I fall over on to my side, clutching my stomach. I think I am bleeding internally from the force of her kick. However, I notice that I am no longer held down by her magic.

  The lust is still raging in me, consuming my every thought. In the back of my mind, my survival instincts are screaming for me to astralocate away from her, but the compulsion to get closer to her, to touch her is too strong. There is no alternative for me, I will have her, or I will die trying.

  Chapter 29

  Kian

  I sensed Charlie as soon as she crossed realms and entered the Waiting. At that point, I was already losing the fight to my father. I had underestimated his speed and his strength. The force of his strikes was all it took to turn the tide in his favor.

  He is also more ruthless than I will ever be. Even knowing what he would do to Charlie if he had the chance wasn’t enough to keep me from hesitating to kill him. I am just not a killer at heart, but I know now that there is no other way to stop him. Too bad, I might not get another chance.

  My neck is broken, my spine severed. I am unable to move. I can hear and see my father telling me that he is going to either rip my heart or my soul out. He spits in my face, adding insult to injury.

  I am furious at myself for coming here without help. I let my fear of losing Charlie override my good sense. Dashiel is going to be pissed that I went off on my own when every one of my siblings, except maybe Rhett, would have jumped at the opportunity to help kill our shared remaining parent. I should have asked them to come with me. They would have understood that I didn’t want Charlie involved.

  My father was about to finish me off when he froze. I smelled a blend of coconut and other tropical fruit right before I hear her voice. My blood runs cold. Charlie is here, within reach of my father.

  His voice softens when he speaks to her, but her voice has an underlying edge of disgust and hatred. My father doesn’t seem to notice.

  I can feel her power in the room, making the air thicker. Her infernal power of seduction nips at me, but I know it is directed at my father. I also feel something else filling the space around me. It is warm and comforting, very much unlike her infernal abilities. It must be coming from her
other half, her ethereal side.

  As I am wrapped in that warm comfort like a favorite blanket, with a jerk, my neck realigns itself and the break is healed, allowing me to feel the rest of my body. One by one, my injuries are healed. My ribs realign and fuse back together. My punctured and ruptured organs begin to heal, the internal bleeding stops. I can feel the swelling go down on my face, my vision clearing.

  While Charlie’s power healed me, she distracted my father. I kept wanting to get off the floor and help her, but she kept sending me waves of calmness and feelings of content, so I would let the healing process finish. I could hear the disgusting things my father said to her and it kept breaking through her ethereal ability to stimulate positive emotions.

  Kian? Can you hear me? Charlie’s voice drifts through my head. I can’t hear your thoughts, but I think I can send mine. Nod if you can hear me, she whispered in my mind.

  I am still laying on my back when I nod, confirming that I can hear her.

  Good, and also wicked cool. Her laughter tickles inside of my head. I can feel that you are almost completely healed. I am fading fast. The energy it is taking to control Alaric and heal you is more than I had planned.

  I can feel her exhaustion while she is connected to me through her telepathy. I can feel that she doesn’t have much time left before she loses her hold over my father.

  Charlie sends me flashes of images. They are her plan to end this here and now. I love her even more after receiving her battle plan.

  Nod if you understand the plan, she said

  I nod as the healing finishes and all over her powers retreat. As soon as I can move, I spring to my feet. I feel amazing, like I slept for eight hours, went to a day spa, and then had the best sex of my life.

  Suddenly, my father vanished, astralocating out of the room.

  “Fuck, my power must have weakened enough for him to fight the compulsion,” Charlie said.

  She was just about to walk over to me when my father reappeared, grabbing her from behind. He has a gun held to her head.

  I panic for a moment before Charlie’s voice drifts into my head. Kian, I am immortal, remember? This idiot must not be thinking clearly. Follow the plan.

  I nod subtly.

  “Don’t move or I will kill her,” my father said to me as he grinded himself against Charlie, unable to resist the pull of her seduction power. His attention faltered and his gun lowered as he kissed down the side of her neck.

  Dashiel, Jarrett, Emilia, and Rhett all appear within seconds of each other.

  With a telepathic signal from Charlie, Dashiel pulls our father away from Charlie and knocks the gun out of his hand. Dashiel being the strongest of us all, holds him still as the rest of us get into position.

  Like a choreographed dance, Jarrett grabs one arm and Emilia grabs the other. Dashiel’s hold moves to our father’s head while Rhett stands in front of him. I am standing next to Rhett, side by side.

  Charlie is standing off to the side as she begins to count down. “Three…”

  Alaric, soon to be the former King of the Reapers, looks scared. “What are you doing?”

  “Two…” Charlie continues

  “You can’t do this! I am your father!” He yells as if his words mean anything to us.

  We all scoff. He has never been a father to any of us. He has only ever been the cruel bastard who murdered our mothers.

  Charlie finishes the countdown. “One!”

  On her count, Jarrett and Emilia pull his arms, ripping them out of the socket, At the same time, Dashiel pulls and twists his head as bones snap, muscles tear and skin rips, the force completely beheading our father. Rhett and I punch our father’s chest at the same time as the others perform their gruesome tasks. Rhett, my sibling with the kindest heart, pulls away with our father’s shriveled heart in his hand, the symbolism not lost on any of us. And I come away with his soul.

  The now lifeless and soulless body of our mothers’ murderer falls to the floor in a pool of blood. His soul is trying to fight me and free itself of my grasp. It knows where it is going and what is going to happen to it when it gets there.

  Charlie puts her hand on my shoulder. “Go. Bring him to my father. He is waiting for you in the same spot you first met him. I will see you when you get back.” She planted a soft kiss on my lips before stepping away.

  ***

  Without delay, I leave them behind as I astralocate to the Pit. As soon as we are in the Pit, Alaric’s soul solidifies. His appearance mirrors his soul. He is rotting, his skin black and slimy in places. His hair is missing in clumps, revealing bald patches. Maggots fall out of his rotting body as he takes steps forward. The scar, courtesy of Charlie, is still prominent on his face.

  King Nox is waiting for us. Charlie must have woken up soon after I left her and immediately sprang into action, formulating a plan like I should have done. He chuckled when he saw us. “Well done, son. I will take him from here.” He patted me on the back.

  I pushed Alaric toward King Nox. “Thanks, but Charlie deserves the credit. I would probably be dead right now if she hadn’t intervened.”

  Alaric interrupted, “I demand to be released from the Pit! I was the King of the Reapers! I deserve better!”

  “SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU ARE IN MY REALM NOW, MOTHERFUCKER! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT DOG SHIT ON THE BOTTOM OF MY FUCKING BOOT!” King Nox yelled. “And I am going to enjoy the fuck out of torturing you myself. Nothing but the worst for you, your majesty,” he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

  Alaric turned toward me. “Kian, please, take me out of here. I am sorry. I am your father. Please help me.” He begged, reaching out toward me.

  I took a step back. “You are nothing to me.”

  Alaric tried to keep begging, but King Nox cut him off by calling out to a few nearby infernals. “I want you to take our new guest to his private room. Feel free to start the party without me.”

  One of the male infernals grabbed Alaric and started to drag him away. “With pleasure, Our King,” he said while rubbing his enormous exposed dick with one clawed hand.

  King Nox turned to me like none of that just happened. “Yeah, she told me you went off on your own to confront your father. I completely get why you did it, son. You just wanted to keep my daughter safe and I appreciate that. But you have to accept that she is very capable of taking care of shit on her own. She is my daughter after all. She is a badass, kickass, fiery, savage female.” He smiled proudly.

  I smiled too before my face fell. “You’re right, but I didn’t go after my father because I didn’t think she could handle it. I went alone because I was scared to lose her.” I looked down. “Absolutely terrified that he would take her from me like he did my mother,” I admitted before looking at him.

  King Nox looked at me, really looked at me. It looked like he was looking directly into my soul. His face was very intense and serious before breaking into a grin. “You have my blessing, son. Now get out of here and get back to my daughter. She is waiting for you.”

  My eyebrows drew together, and my forehead crinkled in confusion. Before I could say anything, he gave me a shove that kickstarted my astralocation back to the Waiting.

  ***

  The next forty-eight hours were a blur of activity. There was so much to do after the death of the King of the Reapers. There was a body to dispose of, announcements to make, a ceremony to coordinate, and planning to do for the future.

  My siblings with the help of Charlie cleaned up and disposed of Alaric’s body. Charlie used her infernal fire to quickly turn the body to ash. We flushed the remains.

  Not so surprisingly, the reapers were not upset by the news that ding-dong their wicked king was dead. Cheers broke out through the streets of Soul City, the capital of the Waiting, when I announced his death from the balcony of the mansion. “King Alaric is dead! Long live, King Kian,” they cheered.

  I was worried that some of Alaric’s guards might become a problem, but to my surprise, they were all rel
ieved. They assured me that after the last week or so of his insanity and cruelty, they were not loyal to him.

  I tried to give all the servants and guards some time off, but they refused my offer. The guards wanted to do their jobs and all the servants were excited about getting the coronation ceremony ready. I made sure to let them all know how much I appreciated them.

  My siblings with the help of some of the servants moved back into the mansion. They made sure every trace of the former king was removed. They put a great deal of energy into redecorating the mansion in a more reasonable style in such a short period of time. The over the top wasteful display of wealth was gone, and a more comfortable homey décor was introduced. In the near future, we plan on expanding and upgrading the servant and guard quarters.

  Like I said, the last forty-eight hours were very eventful and today is just as busy. Today is the day that I am officially crowned King of the Reapers. I am completely anxious about stepping up as the new king, but I am comforted by the fact that there is no way I can be worse than my predecessor.

  What does one wear to his coronation ceremony? Well, there hasn’t been a coronation ceremony since the creation of reapers since the previous king was the original king. I decided I can wear whatever I want. I chose to wear a black three-piece suit with a white, button-up shirt, and light blue tie.

  The color of the tie reminds me of Charlie’s eyes. I miss her. I haven’t seen her much since we killed Alaric. She has been spending a lot of time in the Pit and the Everlasting with her parents. She promised she wouldn’t miss the ceremony.

  The servants were excited about decorating and preparing the ceremony, so I let them take the lead. My only request was that the previous king’s throne be destroyed and a new one put in its place.

  I snuck a peek at the throne room earlier and was amazed at how much light filled the space. The windows had been cleaned, allowing natural light to shine through, and new fixtures had been added to make the space feel bright.

  The most effective change was the wall and ceiling color. It had previously been dark gray and now it is a pristine white that goes well with the gold ornate embellishments that adorn the walls and cathedral ceilings.