King for a Day

by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

  No headaches. You don’t have a headache.

  It had to be real, then, didn’t it? Maybe I was seeing him because of my gift. Maybe our connection, our blood, allowed it. I didn’t know. I didn’t care about the “how.”

  I ran my hands through my hair. “Justin, where were you?”

  Panic filled his eyes, and then he glanced over his shoulder. “They’re coming, Mia.” He turned back to me. “They’re coming for me. And they are coming for you.”

  “Who, Justin?”

  “The 10 Club.”

  Justin continued looking over his shoulder into King’s bedroom, but there was nothing there except for the mess I’d left behind. Was he reliving some horrible memory?

  “Justin!” I barked. “You have to tell me where you were when Vaughn found you.”

  He looked at me again. “You can’t be here. They are coming. It’s not safe. Run, Mia. Run!”

  And just like that, Justin faded to nothing. “No! Justin, no!”

  “Mia!” I felt a sharp slap across my face.

  My consciousness sparked back to life, and I found myself pressed against the wall, just outside of King’s bedroom. Mack held me firmly with two hands by my shoulders.

  “Mack?” I whispered. Was he a ghost, too? Was I?

  Oh Lord, I’m losing my mind.

  “Are you real?” I asked.

  Mack nodded with a slightly horrified frown. “Yeah. I’m real,” he replied with a forced calm. “Who were you talking to? Was it King?”

  “No, my brother.” I moved my head vigorously from side to side. “At least, I think it was him.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He asked me to bring him back.”

  Mack sighed, but I didn’t know what his sigh meant.

  “Justin said that King is the only one who can get the Artifact to work. Do you know anything about it?”

  “No, Mia, I don’t.”

  “We have to get him back. We have to.”

  “But—”

  “No!” I dug my nails into Mack’s arm. “You will call Vaughn and tell him I know where the Artifact is. You will tell him that I want to make a trade.”

  “Mia, no—”

  “No. You listen to me,” I seethed. “I’m tired of everyone telling me what to do when it’s my ass, my life, and my family on the line. You will call him, Mack. And you will make the trade.”

  Mack’s tired eyes narrowed. “And if he asks how I know?”

  “Know what?”

  “Where the Artifact is?”

  “Who the hell cares?—tell him that!”

  “King will care. He doesn’t want to leave Vaughn’s yet; it’s not part of the plan,” Mack argued.

  Mack’s words stuck inside my ears as if my own brain resisted letting them in. “Wha-wha-what did you say?”

  Mack’s blue eyes lit up. “I—I—”

  “Did you say that King wants to be there?”

  Mack stilled and turned a ghostly shade of white. “Fuck. You weren’t supposed to know.”

  “Know what?” Mack didn’t have to answer. No, not really. Because the ugly, deformed, and evil pieces slid into place, penetrating my heart like a poison of the soul.

  No. No, please, Lord. Tell me it isn’t what I think.

  I could scarcely breathe. My insides twisted with rage and horror. “K-K-King isn’t really a prisoner there, is he?” I whispered. “That’s why he told the Spiros not to intervene.”

  Mack’s jaw flapped a bit and then, “He-he-he’ll kill me if I knows I told you.”

  Oh my God. King had been able to come and go the entire time. Had he been faking those blackouts, too?

  “But why?” I asked. “Why would King want to be there? Why would King allow himself to be held captive? Why would he allow me to be held captive?”

  Mack didn’t reply, but the look of shame on his face told me that the reason would be painful.

  The word “why” repeated over and over in my head. Only one answer kept coming up for air, and it was the one thing I knew King would do almost anything for. I just never realized he might want it so badly that he would hurt even me and my family to get it.

  “Does it have something to do with that goddamned Artifact?” I asked.

  Mack looked away.

  Motherfucker!

  My fists clenched into tight balls. “He thought he could just let the Artifact come to him. Didn’t he? He thought Vaughn had it.”

  Mack’s blue eyes lit up. “Mia, King would never have let anything—”

  “No. Don’t say another fucking word, Mack. You knew the entire time that this was some idiotic, bullcrap lie. You played me.”

  “No. I did what I needed to help King.”

  “Meaning, you helped King create an illusion.” Was there anything Mack wouldn’t do for King? Even allowing me to fall into Vaughn’s hands? Shit. He killed me. He killed me instead of just getting me the hell out of there. All to keep up the fucking charade!

  The horror of the situation grabbed hold, and my mind screamed toward Earth. It shattered into a million tiny particles of hate and anger.

  I tried to gasp, but no air could pass. Oh my Lord, it had all been some giant, orchestrated event.

  But then Justin died. Was that part of King’s plan, too? Did King think he could do this to me because he “owned” me like some pet?

  I turned my head and noticed the entire flock of Spiros gathered at the far end of the hallway, watching me with horrified expressions. Did they feel sorry for me? Or did they just think I was the world’s biggest fool?

  I hung my head and covered my teary eyes. Why, Mia? Why? You trust and you believe and fucking hope. But look what it’s gotten you, you stupid bitch! A dead brother. A ruined life. Humiliation…

  Yes, but you’re alive. And it’s not too late to change this, to change everything.

  “Change,” I mumbled.

  I don’t know why, but my gaze locked onto that balcony overlooking the sapphire-blue ocean, only now it was nighttime and the ocean was nothing but an endless stretch of blackness.

  I wandered over to it, hypnotized by the sound.

  “Mia? Where are you going?” I heard Mack say.

  I wasn’t going anywhere physically, but mentally I was gone. Or maybe changing was the right word. I felt it in my bones, in my soul, and in the scorched cells of my angry heart.

  I gazed out over the dark waves, allowing the change to happen. I relished it. Letting go was bliss. Letting go was freedom. I would no longer worry or care or hope. Not for anyone but myself and my parents. World be damned. 10 Club be damned. Vaughn be damned.

  King be damned.

  “You need to come back inside,” Mack said.

  “Why?” My head snapped in his direction. “You think I’m going to jump? You think I want to end my life?”

  He stepped back. “No.”

  “Good because there’s only one thing that I want.”

  “Which is?” Mack took another step back.

  “I want you to call that fucking piece of shit Vaughn and make the trade for King.”

  “But—”

  “Now, Mack!” I stepped toward him. “Or so help me, I’ll make sure that Artifact finds its way to the bottom of the ocean. And what will King say then?”

  It wasn’t much leverage, but at that moment, only I knew where that stupid rock was. And I wanted to make damned sure I got to see King’s face for what was to come next: my revenge.

  Mack held out his hands. “Okay. I’ll call Vaughn to make the trade, but there’s no guarantee he’ll go for it.”

  “I’m sure you’ll make it work. You can fuck him like you fucked Anna if you have to. Anything for King and his Artifact, right?”

  Anger flickered in Mack’s eyes, and I knew that I’d wounded him. But I didn’t care. Not after this. Not after Mack lied to me and tricked me. All because he was so damned loyal to King that he couldn’t see past right or wrong.

  “What? Did I hu
rt your feelings?” I said bitterly.

  Mack’s face went from hurt to a more neutral shade of disgust. “As you wish, my queen,” he spat.

  He turned away, and so did I.

  The ocean. That was the only thing I wanted to see. Just the ocean.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  I don’t know how much time passed—hours or days—but I refused to look away from those waves. Part of me felt like if I breathed too hard, I might disintegrate into nothing. Or if I looked away, I’d have to face the nightmare of a person I’d become. I couldn’t even bear to see my own hands, but I knew they were purple, the color of King.

  It killed me to no longer be a person I felt proud of. Was this how King felt?

  The worst part of all this was that when I began to replay the facts, the signs were right in front of my nose the entire time. King had said that he knew—knew—Vaughn planned to trap him and would be prepared. And for me to believe that anyone could capture him? Someone so powerful and determined? I was an idiot. Even before I learned he was a ghost, I knew that King was no ordinary man. He was hard and cold, indestructible and fierce; he was powerful and dangerous. With one look from those light gray eyes, he could kowtow me into submission. With the flick of his wrist, he could end a man’s life. Yet, I’d fallen, hook line and sinker, for his prisoner act.

  What I couldn’t understand was why he simply hadn’t told me the truth? Was he afraid I wouldn’t play along?

  I suppose I wouldn’t have.

  But why wouldn’t King have taken the Artifact? Especially if Justin had left it sitting in some empty apartment in London. Why the giant charade?

  It dawned on me then that perhaps Justin had lied to me. Perhaps he’d never left it in that apartment, but had kept it for himself. For Jamie.

  It would explain why King might have voluntarily allowed himself to be taken. If he believed Vaughn had the thing, it would only be a question of time before Vaughn disclosed its location.

  But I suppose in the end, however, the whys and hows didn’t matter. Because the end result wouldn’t change. Justin was dead. My baby brother. My best friend.

  And for what?

  “Miss Turner,” the deep, recognizable voice said from behind me.

  I swiveled on my heel. “King.”

  As usual, he looked elegant and masculine in his signature black suit.

  He dipped his head slowly, his light eyes sparkling with mistrust.

  “So Vaughn let you go?” I said.

  King nodded his perfectly combed head of black hair. “Apparently. Of course, I am wondering why.”

  Just then, Mack appeared in the room, glaring at me. He held a cell phone in his palm. “He wants to know where the Artifact is.”

  King’s gray eyes lit with fury. “What?”

  “I traded the Artifact.” I smiled wickedly. “For you.”

  “You have the stone?” King yelled. “You will hand it over to me!”

  “Oh no. A deal is a deal. And I promised it to Vaughn to save you, silly,” I said, dripping with sugary sweetness. “After all, you were in trouble, weren’t you?”

  I looked at Mack. “Tell him it’s inside my dead brother’s stomach.”

  King glanced at Mack. “Don’t you fucking dare, Mack.”

  Mack’s panicked-filled face bounced back and forth between us several times.

  “Do it, Mack,” I said. “You’re the one who made the deal.”

  “But I—”

  “Don’t listen to her, Mack,” King warned.

  I laughed because that’s what horrible people do in situations like these. “King doesn’t give a shit about you or me, Mack. So think what Vaughn will do if you don’t deliver. Think long and hard about what’s important to you in this world because he’ll take it away, Mack.”

  Mack’s conflicted gaze dropped to the floor, and I felt a sadistic satisfaction. I knew that Mack valued his loyalty to King. But I had to guess he cared about something else, too. Something more important. A mother, a sister, a child. Whatever it was, he now had to choose: his loyalty to King or…the alternative—welshing on a deal with Vaughn.

  King’s eyes wandered out toward the ocean, and he scratched his chin. “Do it, Mack. Tell Vaughn,” he said in a low, calculatedly calm voice.

  Mack’s head snapped up. “But I don’t care. I’ll—”

  “Do it, I said,” barked King. “At least I’ll know he has it, and it won’t take me long to get it from him.”

  Mack glared at me, and I could literally feel the rage. Slowly, he took the phone off of mute and held it to his face. “Justin swallowed it.” He hung up and left.

  I grinned at King. “There. Now everyone has sacrificed something they love.” King, his stupid fucking Artifact. Mack, his loyalty. And me, Justin.

  “Consider us even. Almost.” I turned and headed toward the door.

  “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” King seethed.

  “Home. I’m going home.”

  “We’re not done here, Mia.”

  “Oh, I’m done,” I said casually. “I’m done with you. I’m done with caring. And I’m done being afraid.”

  “If you go back to your old life, Vaughn will find out that you’re not dead. He’ll kill you,” he warned.

  I laughed and held up my finger with the ring. What could Vaughn do that he hadn’t done already? “Like I fucking care, King. What else do I have to lose?” Besides, Vaughn would wish he’d never been born. When I was done with him, he’d be wishing for death. I’d skin him alive. Because I was not the same Mia anymore. Oh no. This Mia wanted blood. This Mia would move heaven and earth to get it.

  “Mia,” King warned, “remember, I can hear your thoughts.”

  “So?”

  “So learn from my mistakes. Revenge won’t bring Justin back.”

  “You did this to me! You and your goddamned need for that fucking rock. So don’t you dare preach!” I screamed. “I only want one thing in this world, and that’s to hear that sick bastard Vaughn scream like he made Justin scream.”

  I was halfway down the hall when I heard King say, “Revenge won’t bring Justin back, but the Artifact will, and I’m the only one who knows how to use it.”

  I blinked and then looked at my feet. King wanted to make another deal. Now? After he’d betrayed me in the worst kind of way? I’d never trust that monster again. Never!

  “I warned you, Mia,” he said, reading my dark thoughts. “We gave you every chance to run. And I showed you who I truly was.”

  I took a deep breath. Yes, but you never gave Justin a chance, did you? How about that baby? Or Jamie?

  King was suddenly behind me, so close I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. “I know,” he said with regret. “But that was not the outcome I’d hoped for.”

  I looked at him once again, ignoring the beautiful vision of masculinity before me. “Does it matter?”

  “Not to you, no.”

  “Then your point?” I asked, turning to face him.

  “My point,” he scratched his beard, “is that I need redemption.”

  “What?” I laughed. “You’re joking, right?”

  “I never joke, Mia.”

  “Whatever. Asshole.” I turned and made several more steps toward the gaggle of Spiros at the top of the stairs.

  “Redemption is the key. With it, I can buy back a life.” King moved in front of me, blocking my exit. “The key to the Artifact, the key to breaking Hagne’s curse is there.” He placed his hand over my heart. “I felt it when I was digging around inside you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t—don’t understand.”

  “The Seers hold the key to the Artifact, and unlocking it will give me back what I lost: a life.”

  I frowned. Was he saying that I could bring him back?

  “Yes,” he said, answering my thoughts. “I learned long after her death that Hagne bound the curse to an ancient stone, a Seer relic she always carried with her.” He explained that
all curses had to be tied to a counterbalance of sorts. It was like the yin and yang concept. “And she bound the key to her bloodline. Initially, I thought it might be a word or a phrase safely hidden away inside your minds. But Hagne was determined never to let me find it, so she put it in the one place she thought I would never gain access.”

  Our hearts. I suppose it made sense given Hagne thought Draco to be incapable of winning anyone’s heart, but who the hell cared?

  “I care,” he replied, once again listening to my thoughts. “You saw me for who I truly am. Yet you did not stop caring for me, wanting me.”

  I laughed hysterically, doubling over at the waist.

  “What is so funny?” he asked.

  “Oh. Oh.” I could barely catch my breath. “You. You are funny, King. Not to mention this whole fucking situation.”

  “I do not follow.” He crossed his arms, still behaving like the calm, collected man that he wanted the outside world to see. But I knew better. He was a dangerous villain.

  “You need me to make the Artifact work.” I hit my stomach. “It’s a Greek tragedy at its finest.”

  “I think you’ve lost your mind.”

  I pointed at him. “Yep! That’s right! So have you. And I’ll tell you what else: there’s no way in hell I’ll ever trust you or lift a finger for you. You took everything from me, King.” He might as well just kill me right then and there and end his goddamned curse. In fact, why didn’t he? I was the last Seer. He could have his peace right now with one flick of his wrist.

  “Do not be ridiculous, Mia. I do not wish to kill you, and I meant it.” King looked up toward the ceiling, then back at me. “I will use the Artifact to bring back your brother.”

  Huh? “You’re not making any sense.”

  “The Artifact will give back one life. Just one.”

  “Any life?” Then I assumed he wanted to bring back Hagne so he could get his revenge and kill her all over again.

  “No. You are mistaken, Mia. I forgave Hagne a long time ago.”

  “You expect me to believe that you’ve given up the one thing you’ve been after all these years?” I asked, not buying a word of it.

  “She was mad from all her witchery. She made my brother mad, too. What I wanted was another chance. I wanted to take back what was stolen from me. However, if the curse is lifted, and I do not take the life the Artifact offers me, I will die. That’s good enough for me.”