Lord King (The King)

“King, King, wake up,” I whispered. “It’s me, Jeni.”

He kept kissing my neck, grinding against me.

“King, you have to—” I noticed my back felt wet and warm all of a sudden. What the hell is that? What the hell! Sage had been repeatedly dissecting King in this bed and—

It was his blood! The bed was soaked with it.

“Ah! No! No!” I pushed King off me and hopped from the bed. He tumbled through the curtains on the other side, falling to the floor.

I pulled off my shirt and threw the thing to the floor. It had a big red splotch on the back. “This place is horrible!” I kicked it away. “Horrible!”

The sound of King’s moan filled the room.

I rushed around the bed to find him naked and on his side. He had blood on his back but no cuts or open wounds. He did, however, have some new body art. Around his collarbone was the same tattoo I’d seen on Sage. Black with an intricate woven pattern.

I kneeled next to him. “Are you okay? Can you hear me?”

“Why did you throw me on the floor?” His pale gray eyes fluttered open.

“I’m sorry. You were dreaming and…” I didn’t want to say the rest. It didn’t matter.

“What are you doing here, Seer?” he asked.

“My name is still Jeni. And I’m here because you’re here. I saw that crazy bitch cutting you open in one of my visions.”

King sat up slowly. “And you thought to rescue me. Are you mad, woman? Where is Sage now?”

I hated that he didn’t care I’d come to help him. Not a thank-you to be found. “Um. You’re welcome. And Sage and her head are both downstairs in the dining room. But don’t worry, Ansin made sure they’re not talking to each other anymore.”

“Who?” King rubbed his forehead, looking groggy.

I tried not to look at his naked body, still partially aroused, even if it was the one thing I couldn’t forget and longed for. He was all lean, hard muscles with beautiful olive skin. His cock was long and thick, and he knew how to use it.

“Ansin, the Ten Club member,” I said.

“He’s here?”

“Yes. I—”

“Where is Ansin now?” King got to his feet and walked over to an old vanity in the corner where a pile of clothes sat neatly folded on top. I assumed they were his clothes because he slid on the black pants. “Sonofabitch. Fucking Sage.” King caught a glimpse of his bare chest in the mirror and stroked the circular tattoo.

“Sage seemed very excited about harvesting your heart multiple times.” So gross. “She probably didn’t know you can’t die.”

“No. She didn’t,” he grumbled, pissed off as ever. “And now I have one more obstacle between me and death. These fucking things are impossible to remove.” King slid on his white shirt and began buttoning, starting at the top. He didn’t seem to care about the blood covering his back. I seriously wondered why Sage had played “dice up the king” in her own bed. Had she planned to sleep in it after? Nasty.

“So where is Ansin?” King asked.

“Asleep in Sage’s body part mart.”

“Passed out from one of her dream potions?” He pushed his feet into his black dress shoes, not bothering with his socks.

“Yes, but I need to talk to you.”

“After I kill him.” King turned and marched toward the door.

I rushed to block him. “No. I brought him here to save you.”

“What? You went to that evil fuck and made a deal? What did he want in exchange?”

“That’s not important.”

“You’re correct. It is not. Because I am going to kill him all the same.” King moved to sidestep me, but I blocked him again.

“The Seers have been playing us, King. They don’t plan to release your soul. They are not going to let you cross over to be with Mia. They are planning something completely different.”

“What are you talking about?” His thick brows knitted together.

I put my hand over my stomach. “I’m pregnant. It’s yours.”

He stared coldly. “You are…pregnant.”

I nodded.

“If this is some ploy to—”

“No. It’s not. I’m carrying Ariadna. I saw it in a vision. I was holding her as a baby. But it’s her. I recognized her eyes and mouth—just like yours.”

“How’s that possible, Jeni? Seers cannot come back that way. Reincarnation has never happened.”

“How the hell should I know?” And how could he be so sure? He wasn’t a Seer, and they weren’t the most open people. “Maybe it has something to do with you being the father, and well, I am a Seer, like her first mother. Maybe that somehow enabled it to happen?”

“Ask them.”

“They won’t tell me anything, King. They keep saying I’m supposed to play my part and earn my stripes by figuring everything out on my own. Now I have, and I don’t like it. I don’t trust them.”