Lord King (The King)

“Yes.”

“What choice did you make?” I asked.

“I’ll let you know when I make it.”

That was the moment I understood there was more to Ansin’s story—things he hadn’t told me about resurrecting his bloodline.

“If Ariadna grows up and agrees to help you save your people, what will change for you? What will you lose?” I asked.

He said nothing.

“Well, if it means anything coming from me, I hope it all works out for you.”

“It won’t.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“Because the Seers are right. Everything comes with a price, Jeni. Everything. Mine will be great.”

Did he believe this path would lead to his death? Sure the hell sounded like it.

I contemplated using my gift to see his future but quickly changed my mind. Did I really want to watch him die? No. I didn’t. And clearly, he knew the price of his decision. If it was his fate, there wasn’t much I could do.

I looked out the car window, thinking about that story Circe told of the girl in the ravine. If all I wanted was for this baby to be free, what would be the price? Or was her fate sealed, and I simply had to accept it?

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Ansin

Over eight long months, Jeni still hadn’t agreed to live with me in the house I purchased, but ironically, I discovered I required distance anyway. I’d had to move into an RV outside in the driveway.

It was impossible to keep a clear head around her after the baby began to grow. The Seer she carried was unlike anything I’d ever come across. Powerful was an understatement. My people, the Seers, and King paled in comparison to the energy it gave off.

I knew King had been sensing the same, keeping his distance, and not because we’d made a deal—he’d back off and let me be Jeni’s guardian in exchange for his execution. “When I am not needed by this baby, it will be my time to go,” he said. A win-win for all, in my mind. Of course, King remained in town since Jeni carried his daughter incarnate.

As long as I didn’t see the fucker.

This world wasn’t big enough for the two of us. Not in the long run. Hell, maybe it was only big enough for that child and Jeni, whom I’d been observing from a distance. My little treasure was determined, each day practicing her skills. I knew she was preparing to fight. The question was, who?

When King was around, I watched her fight her feelings for him. She believed it was love, but I knew better. The Seers had a hand in it, and the sooner Jeni was free of King, the sooner she’d be free to become what she was born to be. Mine.

But truthfully, I didn’t want to own her. I didn’t want to manipulate her. I’d grown to respect her in ways I never imagined. Jeni was a fighter, and I sensed she’d be a force to be reckoned with after the baby came. I’d grown excited by what we could be together.

I’d even begun to wonder if saving my people was the correct choice. Someday, if Ariadna went back and stopped their slaughter, it meant I would never have been cursed by Mother. I would die thousands of years ago as nature intended.

Now, for the first time, I was thinking about what I wanted, and the price to have it.

“Ansin! Ansin!” Jeni called out from her bedroom. I was in the backyard, doing one of the many lowly chores her father demanded of me since he was rarely home.

I rushed inside and found her sitting on the edge of her bed.

“What is it?” I panted my words, reaching for my knife.

“I heard screaming.” King appeared behind me.

“What are you doing here?” I seethed.

“I happened to be in the neighborhood,” King said.

“Stop. Please. I need to get to the hospital. My water broke.” Jeni pressed on her stomach. “It hurts. Something’s wrong.”

The baby wasn’t due for another few weeks. “I’ll drive.”

“Like hell.” King scooped up Jeni and marched toward the front door.

Fucking King. I couldn’t wait for the day I’d get to remove his head.

I rushed outside and opened the back passenger door of King’s fucking ridiculous luxury sedan. I hated everything about him—his obsession with material things and wealth. I was equally as wealthy, but all I owned was a house. Yes, it was a twelve-million-dollar house on the beach near Miami, but I’d bought it for Jeni.

She still hadn’t seen it. She said she wasn’t ready to think that far ahead.

I got in the back seat with Jeni, more excited than I should be. Here I was, over two thousand years old. I’d seen people come and go—some by my own hand. To me, life was transitory and meaningless except for the lives of my people. But here I was, looking forward to a Seer being born. She wasn’t even mine.