King and I deplaned without speaking further, and the same older man who’d driven us a few days before greeted us at the airport. Niko, I thought his name was.
Either way, after we pulled up to the house from hell, Niko opened King’s door. King turned to him and whispered something.
The man smiled and bowed with appreciation. “Thank you. It has been an honor, sir.”
As the car pulled away, I asked, “What was that all about?”
“Tying up a few loose ends, Miss Arnold. That is all.” King headed for the front door. Man on a mission.
“Meaning?” I trailed behind.
“I fired him and his entire family. Can we move on now?”
“But he looked happy…” My voiced faded off. King said the Spiros were bound to him somehow. That was over now.
The realization hit hard. King’s long life was really coming to an end. The irony was that the moment he walked into my life felt like a beginning. A new path. A new world. But for him, it was the end of a long journey.
What was the saying? The end is just another beginning. But in my case, the beginning was just another end. His end.
We turned toward each other, locking eyes on the porch. I mentally reached for him, hoping with all my heart he’d let me in and I’d find a way out—some other solution he’d overlooked.
“No, Miss Arnold,” he said, “what you are hoping for is a way to convince me to stay here. With you.” He took my hand. The warmth of his skin made my heart ache. This was our last day together, and I wasn’t ready to let go.
“But you must.” He gently squeezed my hand. “Have faith, my little Seer. All dark roads eventually lead to light.”
I shook my head at him. Fuck you and your metaphors. I pulled my hand away. “All I’m asking for is a little more time. A month, a week, a day. Just…” I shook my head, “don’t go. Don’t make me kill you. I’m not ready to be alone with all this.” This being a new world I hadn’t come to understand yet.
He inhaled slowly, his broad chest rising beneath the white dress shirt. “I am truly sorry, Jeni, but our journey must end here.” He glanced up at the massive house. “Best you accept it.”
I didn’t know if I could.
“You are stronger than you think,” he said. “If you have doubts, simply remind yourself how an ancient, powerful Minoan king put his faith in you after everything else in this world failed him. Even himself.”
Minoan. I had a degree in history. I happened to love it. Off the top of my head, I knew they were one of the first established cultures of ancient Greece, but they mysteriously disappeared. No one really knew too much about them.
King. You were their king.
He nodded.
My soul ached. The things King knew. The things he’d probably seen. It was all the more reason for him to stay. A living piece of history, filled with three thousand years of knowledge. It explained so much about him—his arrogance and authority, the way he carried himself, like he knew everything. I’d always thought it had to do with his power, but it was so much more than that.
Every fiber of my being now resisted his plan, but if I wanted my dad back, I had to push forward.
I turned toward the two-story Victorian palace with its pristine front yard—neatly trimmed rosebushes and immaculately pruned trees.
“Is any of what I’m looking at real?” Maybe it was all a dream, and I’d wake up in my bed back at my dad’s house. He’d be in the kitchen safe and sound, making pancakes.
“The ward is meant to keep people away and protect the house.”
“So… ‘nothing to see here’ from the front and ‘don’t even think of coming inside’ in the back?”
“Something like that.” He stepped forward, and I grabbed his arm. I wasn’t ready.
“What about the ghosts?”
“You do not need to worry about them. They will do as they are told.”
“Why? Don’t they hate you?” I asked.
“Yes, but they want to be free of this place. And so they shall be if I get my way.” King opened the front door without a key and headed in.
I released a slow breath. The magnitude of what was coming hovered in the air like a toxic cloud. Thousands of paths and dark turns, taken by so many people, were about to conjoin right here in this house.
I followed King inside, noting the foreboding chill in the air. To my surprise, I wasn’t greeted by cobwebs and rodent droppings. The place was clean, untouched by dust.
King appeared and flipped the light switch on the wall. “I turned on the breaker.” The room came to life. Warm recessed lighting bathed the modernist white furniture with clean lines, and the glossy hardwood floors illuminated the space from the ground up.
This was the room from the memory he’d showed me of the day his family died. There were no bodies on the floor, but everything else looked the same.
“Follow me,” he said.
“What happened to the creepy vibe and ice-cold floor?”
“I removed the ward.”
I followed him down the hallway, taking note of the high ceilings and crown moldings. Beautiful. “How long have you owned this house?”
“I lost count.”
I followed him past the kitchen, which connected to the room right off the back patio. It was sparkling clean, and the windowpanes on the French doors were fully intact.
He should bottle that ward. Neat freaks would go nuts for it. And for being as old as it was, the interior didn’t look very dated, including the kitchen. Better than any place I’ve ever lived—stone counters, stainless steel appliances, and beautiful stained glass on the cupboard doors.
“Glad you approve,” he said.
We kept going past several other rooms. He stopped at a narrow door and reached inside, flipping a switch.
A bulb flickered on, dangling on a wire above a stairwell straight out of a horror film.
I leaned forward for a better look but couldn’t see much more than the staircase. The bricks on either side were covered in dry black drippy stuff. Maybe old paint. Fuck. At least I hope that’s old paint.
“You’ll see.” King descended the wooden staircase, his large frame making a thumping sound with each step. It reminded me of an ancient war drum warning of danger.
My shaking knees refused to follow. Something bad was down there. I could sense it.
“They cannot hurt you!” he called out from somewhere down in the basement. “They are long dead.”
“Lovely. Makes it so less horrifying!”
“Death follows you everywhere you go. This is nothing compared to that.”
He had a point, but I wasn’t so sure I agreed about death following me around. I’d lived my entire life and not once felt its presence. Something so powerful and dark wouldn’t go unnoticed.
“Wrong. Death is all around us, Miss Arnold!” His deep voice echoed up the stairwell. “Things die. Each day by the billions. Plants and animals. Now get the hell down here and stop your useless pontification!”
Asshole. “Fine. Coming,” I mumbled. “But it’s not useless. You’ve had thousands of years to process everything. I’ve only had a few minutes.” I slowly took the stairs, trying to ignore the biting chill in the air. I felt them watching, circling my body. Oh God. Go away. Go away.
“They cannot go anywhere.” King appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “They are trapped here. Now hurry up. We have much to do.”
“Can’t wait to find out what that is.”
He shook his head with frustration and disappeared around the corner.
I finished my descent into the big empty basement, sticking near the exit. The brick walls were also covered in something black, and it smelled like death. “Yuck.”
“Exactly. But I must prepare you, and this is the best I can do.”
Prepare me for hell? Because that was the only way to describe this horrible place. I felt pain and anger buzzing all around me.
He added, “The energy in this b
asement is similar to what you will encounter tomorrow night. Especially when Serina puts up a fight. You will want to run. You must not allow that to distract you.”
If he wanted to acclimate me to feeling terrified, he was doing a great job.
“Yes. And now, you must kill me,” he said calmly, like he was asking me to button his shirt or straighten his tie.
“What?”
“Do it, Jeni. You must practice, and now is the time.”
“But—but what if you don’t come back?”
“Then I will be happy, and you will still end Ten Club when they show up.”
“I’m not doing this without you.”
He shook his head. “It was a joke. Death is not done with me yet, Jeni. Not until I’ve made things right. And things are not right.”
I stared at his beautiful face, the image igniting the memory of him and me together. His lean hard naked body over me, pushing his cock deep. The feel of his warm demanding mouth on my lips. The indescribable feeling of him coming inside me. I didn’t want to hurt him. I wanted to have him.
I looked down at the dirt floor. “I can’t. I’m sorry.”
Suddenly, he was on me, his hands cupping my face. “You must,” he growled.
I stared up at him, unafraid. I didn’t have to speak because he could see into my head.
“Dammit, woman. I told you, Jack is dead. He is gone. The man you were with that night no longer exists.”
“He’s part of you. He’s just…he has more memories now.”
“No.” King shook his head and then kissed me hard, crushing my lips with his mouth.
Suddenly I was in his head, watching my arms slash away at a man tied to the wall here in the basement.
The man screamed in agony.
“Tell me where it fucking is,” I growled and cut him again with my knife.
The man cried for mercy, but I felt nothing for him. Nothing. I wanted the chalice. With it, I could bring back the most powerful Seers ever to live. With them in my debt, I would keep Ten Club under control. Mia would never know I broke my promise. “Let us see if you change your mind after I remove your cock.”
I began to cut.
“Stop, stop! Please,” the man yelled.
Unfortunately for this poor bastard, I kept my word. To everyone but Mia. But I would keep her safe. It was a promise I made to myself, not her.
I finished my work and showed him the results, dangling the bloody severed member in his face. “Not to worry, friend, you have but a few moments left to live. And now, you can either tell me where the chalice is, or your soul will remain here, reliving your death for all eternity.”
King released my face, breaking the connection.
I doubled over, retching up bile. How could he do that? How? The tears welled in my eyes.
“You know the answer,” King said.
Yes. He’d told me: He was not a good man. But what he’d just showed me went beyond that. It was sinister and evil.
“You still think I deserve to live?” he asked.
I didn’t know. I just wanted to throw up.
He grabbed me by the shoulders and started shaking. “Cease your idiotic, childish delusions. Fucking kill me, Jeni. Do it!”
“Let go.” I knew what he was doing. He wanted to rile me up so I’d summon whatever that thing was. But I couldn’t. I knew what King was, yet I still wanted him. It made no sense.
“That man is still here,” he snarled, letting go of me and pointing to the brick wall. “I can see him now, screaming for mercy while I shove his severed cock in his face. Ask him if I deserve your mercy. Ask your ancestors what they think. How about the hundreds of others I’ve put to death to keep control of Ten Club and feed my need for power?”
“But you said you ran Ten Club to protect your wife and children.”
“A lie, Jeni. One of many I have told you. I ran it because I enjoyed being king of the most powerful, cutthroat people on the planet. I used them to get what I wanted. I knew the risks and didn’t care. My wife and infant son died because of me. Ariadna was never born because of me. It is that simple. Now, kill me.”
I no longer knew if he was telling the truth or lying to get me to do what he wanted. But whatever was holding me back slid away. Not because he’d changed how I felt, but because I saw the desperation in his cold eyes. He wanted his life to end, and it didn’t matter how I felt. He would never stop until he achieved his goal. He wanted this more than he could ever want me.
I closed my eyes and tried to imagine being upstairs, standing in his living room, surrounded by people in cocktail dresses and tuxedos, all laughing and pretending to be upstanding citizens. I visualized them going home to their depraved hobbies. Violent, supernatural, evil hobbies. I thought of Serina hurting my dad, who I hoped still had his ring, though that wouldn’t preclude her from torturing him, just like I’d witnessed King do. I pushed on my rage and hate. I embraced it. Kill King. Kill him.
“Fuck,” King said, followed by a groan.
I opened my eyes. He was just standing there, looking pissed off, evil and gorgeous, as usual.
“What happened?” I asked.
“What the hell do you think? Nothing. We are fucked.” He shook his head and went up the stairs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I found King in his kitchen, grabbing two tumblers from the cupboard. He set them on the stone counter and produced an expensive-looking bottle from the shelf below.
He poured two tall glasses of amber liquid and slammed one down in front of me, causing it to spill. He took his glass, chugged it, and set his glass down again for a refill.
“You can have mine.” I wasn’t about to put anything in my stomach. Not after seeing that shit show.
“Would you like to know something?” He threw back my drink and set the empty glass next to his. “I have never been this kind to anyone.”
“And?” What was his point?
“This is my own fault. Even when I could not recall exactly who I was, I knew what I was. I knew I had an ax to grind.”
“So?”
“So I had no business being nice to you.” He refilled both glasses. “Or fucking you, for that matter.”
I looked away so he couldn’t see the hurt in my eyes. Of course, they could see. I hated being in this house, knowing we weren’t alone.
“No, you certainly aren’t,” said a female voice.
King and I turned our heads toward the doorway leading to the living room.
“Hello, Serina,” King said dryly, like he wasn’t at all surprised to see her. But I was.
I felt my hackles rise. Now I was ready to summon death!
Serina stuck out her lower lip. “King, King, King. Is that any way to greet an old friend?” She was wearing an obnoxious hot-pink pant suit with no blouse underneath. Her blonde hair was up in a ratty bun.
“Old, yes. But you are no friend.” He reached behind him into the cupboard for a clean glass and set it on the counter. “You’re just in time for dinner. Care to join us?”
“Aren’t you going to ask what I’m doing here?” she asked, sounding like a smug bitch.
He raised a dark brow in her general direction. I sensed he wanted to roll his eyes at her, too. “Let me guess. You came here to kill me. Be my guest. Won’t do any good.”
What the hell was up with this chitchat? “Where the fuck is my dad, Serina?”
Slowly, she turned in my direction. “He’s dead. In the trunk of my car. Only way to shut him up.” She looked at King. “Nice distraction, by the way. I really thought he was valuable.” She shrugged. “Nope. I tortured him for nothing. Well, except for my own enjoyment.”
My heart felt like it split in two. I wanted to claw her eyes out.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” she said to me. “He’s wearing King’s ring. He’ll come back, all shiny and new again.”
Fucking bitch! “I’ll kill you.” I lunged, but before I could manage to get my fingers around
her neck, something took hold and tossed me across the room. My back hit the wall, knocking the wind out of me.
Gasping for air, I slid down to the floor.
“Serina, behave,” King said calmly.
“She came at me!” Serina grabbed the bottle from the counter and filled her glass.
“And you reneged on your deal with her.” He cocked a disapproving brow.
Serina had promised to leave my dad and me alone if I got King to wear the cuff. I kept my side of the deal, but she’d decided to go looking for me and found my dad instead.
Serina chuckled. “Who gives a fuck? She’s not a club member—the rules don’t apply. Not that it would matter anyway, since I’m in charge now.”
The air entered my lungs again, and I drew in a long breath. My rage renewed instantly. I made tight fists and gnashed my teeth. You’re dead, bitch. I started getting up.
“I would not do that, Jeni,” King warned, not bothering to help me up. “You are no match for Serina.”
“Neither are you, King. Not anymore.” Serina snickered. “And Ten Club knows it.”
“Is that why you are here a day before the party? Because you are so much stronger than me?” A condescending smile crept over his lips.
“I’m here because I want to make a trade,” she said.
“I’m listening.” He sounded bored, like he’d done this before. Probably because he had.
I finally got to my feet and started coming up behind her. King gave me a warning with his eyes. I didn’t know what he was up to, but I supposed that was for the best. Serina shared his gift of mind picking.
In fact…
I tried shoving the thought away, but now that the question popped into my head, I couldn’t stop it. He knew she could read people’s thoughts. So why the hell would he let me in on his plans for tomorrow?
My wide eyes met his. I didn’t mean to tell her. I’m sorry.
Serina’s gaze toggled between us. I was fairly sure she couldn’t read his mind—he was too powerful not to have figured out how to protect himself by now—but she could read mine, and mine was busy thinking. King wasn’t a stupid man. No one got to be his age by being a fool or bad at strategy.
The Dead King Page 14