by Jamie Magee
“Having no fear is no reason to act foolish,” he said with a fair measure of scorn lacing the words.
I let that comment go simply because I knew his fear and anger were speaking at the moment. “Ghosts are disoriented when they manifest. I was safer when he was in that form, but that is not the point. The point is that in this conversation, I managed to get him to tell me that there are seven kings.”
“Kings of what?” he asked in a knowing tone, as if he already knew.
“Emotions, I think. He said he was the King of Fear, and he mentioned a king of shock and obsession. He even confirmed that there were six against one.”
“One?”
“Yeah, and I think it is the King of Anger…I think that is the line you came from.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It’s all in my head now. I can’t tell you how I came up with it, but I think that the reason you and Draven have been put through hell is that they are after your king; you are ploys in this massive war.”
“And how does Willow fit in? Charlie? You?”
Again, his tone led me to believe he had heard this before, that he already knew what our roles were.
“That, I don’t know. Donalt liked my audacity. He told me Xavier was the King of Shock, that none of the other kings trusted him completely, therefore, he was going to save my life. He told me I would be executed again by Xavier, and this time before they bound my hands I needed to dive in the water and swim north, that I would find what I was looking for there.”
“No one is touching you!” he swore.
I raised my hand to tell him to let me finish. “I acted like I didn’t care, and that was when he told me about the explosion. That warning came from Donalt. I don’t know why Marc didn’t tell you that.”
“Because I would not have heard a word past you diving into the pool and having a chat with the man that has destroyed my entire family.”
“I’m fine.”
“No. Apparently, your ex is in my palace and Xavier has his mind set on taking you away from me.”
“Not if I find what Donalt thinks I need before that. Whatever that dream is hiding will save me. I just have to get to it first.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
“You said that about that Horace dude. How did that work out?”
“He was asked to leave. I delegated that task so I could speak with Alamos.”
I took in a sharp breath as I glanced to my side. “Yeah, he said you wanted your normal dreams back.”
I felt him reach for my chin and turn it so I would be forced to look him in the eyes. “Three weeks ago, Zander performed a spell to relieve my dreams. Alamos had no idea that I had gone behind his back and asked for that reprieve. He never would have removed them himself simply because he was just as brainwashed as I was when it came to Willow…he has changed his tune over the last week. He thinks that tonight I will sleep in peace for the first time, but I had already found that control. I just needed a reason to be alone in that study.”
“You don’t trust him?” I pushed.
“Not completely, not when it comes to my heart. My kingdom, well that is usually a different story.”
“Usually,” I pointed out.
“He did protest the movement of that city tonight.”
I felt his grief mix with his anger. He felt betrayed, and that was an emotion he knew all too well.
“You know, sometimes the universe pushes people out of your life because they are holding you back, because their purpose and time have been served—greater things are waiting.”
“Greater things are found,” he said as he pulled my stool closer. “I don’t like being on stage. Today you had me convinced at one point that you wanted to go home.”
“If I want to go anywhere away from you, you will be the first person that will know,” I said as I winked at him and offered him a spoonful of the soup our ice cream now was.
“I can’t eat. I can’t get past the idea that you were alone with Donalt.”
“He was rather gross looking in that form. Not a bad personality if you can get past the point that he is a sexist and sees no harm in killing infants.”
“Do what?”
“I need to teach you to see,” I muttered, not caring to explain my night all over again. I was sure I would leave out something important. “Basically, he doesn’t see me as a threat. I led him to believe I wanted out of here. He doesn’t trust Xavier, said that he was the King of Shock and would turn on him—and probably the others, too—soon enough. He warned me about my death that is to come by telling me about my past death.”
I looked away, not really wanting to grasp the reality of what Donalt had said. “He, um, he said that I was in love with an Earthly prince, that I had a child with him and he allowed that because he thought I was Willow, but apparently the King of Obsession thought that his energy or something had created that child. He told others I was his, the baby was his—they decided to test us, or put a spell on us…I died, with that child apparently.” I hesitated as my emotions seized my words. “Donalt said he didn’t have anything to do with the baby dying, that if he did he would have ensured that the child was not damaged so he could have used him later.”
Drake stood and pulled his shoulders back in obvious rage; the table in the room, along with the chairs, slammed into the opposite wall.
“Calm down,” I said under my breath.
“You want me to be calm? What the hell did they do? What prince? How many people are standing between me and you?”
“He said it was you,” I said so quietly that I doubted he heard me, but the room grew less cold, leading me to believe that he did. “It was you. Our child,” I said as I dared to look into his eyes; there, I saw relief, felt love and grief pouring off him.
“Ours,” he repeated as he sat down in front of me.
“A blue-eyed boy, apparently.”
I saw him sway, the color leave his skin. “How did he say the child was damaged?” Drake asked as calmly as he could.
“He didn’t.”
He leaned forward and let his head rest in his hands as he stared at the floor.
“Drake, somewhere in this palace my first vessel is preserved…I’m sure of it. I have to find it. I think when I do, it will block anything that any of these kings wants to do to you.”
“I don’t want you hurt for the sake of protecting me. This is my hell. Not yours.”
“It’s my hell, too.”
He looked up, hearing the obvious devotion in my words.
“Listen, I can’t tell you what I know or how I know it; I just know. Whatever happened then has given them a loophole or something. I need to find my first vessel and put it to rest. I think when I do, I will be stronger. You will be stronger. And maybe, just maybe, that baby, where he is now, will be stronger.”
I let the silence hang for a moment or two. “These are not Earthly kings we are against; the passage of time we perceived cannot be the same for them. They plotted then to end us now. I’m sure of it. I have no idea what they wanted to gain then, how or why we are all twisted.”
His dark, brooding eyes fell into mine. “Are you doing this to me because you want proof that you and I are meant to be one?”
“I don’t need proof.” Thankful that I had no fear or anxiety, I spoke my next words boldly. “As far as I am concerned, we are one.”
Every ounce of tension left his body as his eyes grew wider and a disbelieving smile echoed on the corners of his lips.
The emotion I was calling love exploded in his soul as the scent of roses filled the room.
“Will you say it…just once?” he said under his breath.
I glanced away, feeling my breath catch and my heart seize.
His hands slowly slid up my legs until they reached my waist, and he pulled me against him. “You don’t have to,” he whispered against my ear.
I clenched my arms around his shoulders as I squeezed my eyes closed. “I
’ve never told anyone that before.”
I felt his arms tighten around me as guilt waved through him. She was here; Willow was right here between us again.
I hated myself at that moment. I really did. But seriously, dreams or not, I had only known him in the flesh for a week—and so what if today was amazing? How was I to know that I wasn’t just caught up in the aftermath of his attention? How was I to know that my emotions were real? Who in their right mind would tell a boy they loved him after a few days of meeting them - especially when the both of us still had our exes in our face?
For no reason at all, the scent of peppermints amplified the room. Questioning why, I opened my eyes and discovered that we were not alone.
Chapter Seventeen
~Madison~
Standing behind Drake was a tall, regal man with dark hair, diamond eyes, and a warrior’s build. I had seen him before. I knew I had.
He nodded his head once in my direction, and as he did a floodgate was opened in my mind—the dream I’d had with him rushed back to me. I knew he was the King of Anger, that Drake was, as he called him, his fated essence. Just as I went to pull away from Drake so he could see his king, Vade spoke. “Come.”
A rush of energy surrounded my body as I felt myself being flashed forward.
The next thing I knew, Drake was absent from my arms and I was standing in a room made of water, all alone with Vade.
“What the hell?” I all but yelled at him.
“You are stubborn.”
“Like I don’t know that!”
Vade stepped forward slowly as those eyes of his leered down at me over his insanely perfect image. “You are not a child. There are no rules of time that state how long you must know someone before you state your devotion.”
“Did you not say that you could not read into my mind because I was not one of you?”
“I can read your eyes. You may not be able to feel your fear, but I can still see it in your energy.”
“And what exactly am I fearing right now, beyond the fact that I have no freaking idea where I am or what you want from me?”
“You fear rejection.”
“I do not.” How in the hell did he know that?
“Yes, you do. The last few months and fragments of past lives have led you to believe that what he says is not in his heart.”
“Well, you know what? Maybe it’s hard figuring out what is real and what is not real. You are the one that said faking hate was the right thing to do.”
“In public! You are in his arms. In a protected room!” he said as anger engulfed his eyes.
“No. I’m standing with you in a room made of water,” I snapped back.
“You want time to prove that his devotion is real. You want assurance that you are not a replacement.”
“Who would not want that?”
“Someone who is not afraid.”
“I beg to differ. I have no fear.”
“You have fear—your soul is simply not letting your body feel it.”
“And you had something to do with that? Not that I’m complaining.”
“I agree with the decision that your fear had to be hindered, yes.”
“Who made it so?”
“It matters not.”
“I already know. Monroe. Who is she to you? Do you realize that Donalt is claiming her as his own?”
Rage radiated off his stoic image. “Donalt is a worthless addict that will pay for what he has done to me and my own.”
Monroe was his. I knew it. Whether he acknowledged it or not, this was Monroe’s real father. “Donalt is turning on Xavier.”
Vade smirked. “They are all turning on each other.”
“To what end? What the hell are you kings doing? Why in the hell am I in the middle of it?”
He exhaled noisily. “You want the long and short of it?”
I nodded once to confirm.
“Xavier wants Willow and Drake together, for Donalt to take over Drake’s vessel so that the energy that makes up the pair of them will be destroyed. Drake has refused to push forward forcefully with Willow—stating that she must come to him naturally; therefore, Xavier is playing the public against him, telling that Earthly court, and everyone who cares to listen, that Drake is not worthy to rule. His actions are pushing Drake. He knows that Drake adores his people far more than the soul that resides in Willow’s vessel—that if he pushes hard enough, Drake will strike. That was the plan before your graceful arrival on the scene.”
He let his words settle as those diamond eyes rushed over my unrevealing expression.
“You were supposed to be terrified of anything that had to do with leaving the dimension you were born in. When that failed, they assumed your devotion to a worthless addict would keep you there. That failed as well. I’m sure they assumed that your childhood fears, along with your jealousy, would hinder you after that point. They were outplayed when your fear was suppressed. So you see, this should be easy. You should fall into the arms you belong in, find what you need to complete your life plan so you can rise—but no, you have decided to let those worthless sovereigns win this war.”
“And how did I do that?’ I roared.
“You’re insecure.”
My rage sent a wall of energy at him, but he did not move.
“Did that feel good?” he said with a sly smile. “Hit me again. Get it out of your system. It’s time to get over this.”
“I’m over it! Call me crazy, but I should know a boy for longer than a week before I say words that will forever commit me to him. I want to know that it’s more than an infatuation when I say it.”
“Touch the water.”
“What? No.”
“NOW!” he bellowed.
So much for not having fear. I was terrified of what would happen if I didn’t comply.
Nervously, I stepped back and reached for the wall of water that was the closest to me as I held his stare.
A surge of energy connected with my hand as the entire room began to play out lives that I had only had fragments of dreams to back up.
With wide eyes, my gaze took in an eternity of lost moments. The energy that was coursing through my hand began to swarm through my soul, and as it did the emotions of these past lives came to me in a wild rush.
These walls of water, these emotions were not projecting my enemies, but the time Drake and I spent together. The passion I felt was so strong that I fell to my knees. The water refused to release me in that fall. My heart thundered as I felt love, unyielding devotion in those memories, as I saw us endure every emotion as one. I saw a perfectly balanced couple that knew exactly how to love one another faultlessly. Freedoms were given when they were needed, as well as security.
The walls kept reflecting Drake’s eyes, the devotion there, the way he would trace my bottom lip, the smile he gave me as I would speak the words that would race through my mind. They were all a reflection of what I had seen within him over the last few days, yet laced across a haunting past.
All at once, our love didn’t feel new. It felt unearthed, rebirthed into the regal status that more time than could be fathomed had created.
Vade lowered his powerful body so that he was looking in my eyes. “Now let go.”
I didn’t want to. I wanted to feel these emotions for an eternity. I wanted to take them with me so that any time I had any doubt, I could call on these images, these emotions, and tell those fears to go to hell.
“Now,” Vade said so firmly that I jerked my hand away, instantly feeling the cold absence of those emotions.
“Glory,” he stated softly.
Just as I went to question why he said that, a gorgeous woman manifested at his side. Her skin was ivory, her hair was long and the perfect shade of auburn that matched her eyes, which were nothing less than wholly engaging. Though I had no fear of her, I was sure that she was no one that should be crossed.
“Reveal Willow for our guest.”
Glory held my gaze as she stepped
forward and touched the wall behind me.
Vade held out his hand to help me up.
The walls made of water fluttered, and when they focused, war was surrounding me. In the midst of that darkness, that evil, I saw the man I loved holding another. The images of them alone were sparse, but as far as I was concerned any one of them was enough to give me doubt.
“I could play out your lives with Drake for days on end and not capture every moment,” Vade said evenly. He moved his stare to the beautiful woman next to me. “My dear Glory has now shown you everything, including the last few months.”
I glanced to the girl, then the walls. I didn’t understand who she was or why Vade needed her to show me Drake and Willow’s lives together. The images on the walls of water were looping. He was right: there weren’t enough even to fill this room.
Vade crossed his powerful arms as his stern gaze fell on me. “My fellow kings were only powerful enough to lace her sparingly through his life, and you are going to let the hell that both Drake and Willow lived through for the sake of peace take your divine right to be whole away.”
“No one is taking anything away from me,” I bit out, still feeling a coldness dwelling in my soul. I wanted those emotions back. I wanted him to turn this water back to my time with Drake. I wanted to feel that complete again.
“Then stop holding back words that will confirm that you and he are one. He needs to hear them.”
“Sure, no problem. Let me guess what is going to happen here. You are going to do some all-powerful nod or something and send me back to that moment. I won’t remember a damn thing about any of this, but I will feel it, and that may do me some good for a while—at least add to the obsession I have for him, but when I have to play out this little masquerade and hear others speak faults over the pair of us, those insecurities are going to come back with a vengeance, rearing their ugly little heads. Like it or not, every woman feels those, no matter how much she loves a man or believes that he loves her. You don’t want me to be insecure, yet you want me to be vulnerable to him. Call me crazy, but that is some twisted logic. What is your hurry? I just met him.”