The Broken Puppet (The Elite King's Club 2)

He nods, unbuttoning his jacket. “Yes. What do you want to talk about?”

I shuffle around in my seat. “Katsia, mainly, and the Lost Boys. And also, the next generation of Kings. Is that going to be okay for you?”

He nods again. “That’s fine. The next generation of Kings isn’t so easy to…” He pauses, looking for the word he wants to use. “…explain. They are…” He looks to me again. “…hidden. Unknown as to what the next move is or if they are starting.”

Well, that makes entirely no sense, but we continue driving until I come to the turn off to the forest we went through on Halloween. Pulling down the long stretch of road—the road that is so much less scary than it is at night—and follow it right to the end.

“I know this place,” Daemon announces, a little sketchy.

“You do?” I answer, turning into the little parking lot.

“Yes.” He looks at me, confused. “How do you know this place?”

“Well, long story short, a friend threw a party here.”

“A party?” he asks again.

I pause with my hand on the door handle. “Yes, you know….” I gesture up to my mouth as in drinking, and then boogie in my seat as in dancing.

He looks at me, bored, not catching any of my hints.

“Well this is going to be a long chat then,” I mutter, getting out of the car. He follows, shutting the door, and I lock it.

I’m just about to walk toward the clearing, when he grabs onto my arm, tugging me back. I look down at his grip and then back to his face. “What’s wrong?”

Shaking his head, he whispers, “You should not have been here, Madison. This isn’t your place.”

“My place?” I step toward him. “What do you mean? It’s beautiful here.”

“Something is wrong.” He searches the forest and then looks back to me. “Get back in the car and do it slowly.”

“What?” I look around the area but don’t move my head—making it less obvious. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t ask questions. Just do it.”

Searching his eyes, I can see him pleading with me. “Okay.” Slowly, I sidestep and walk toward the driver door, beeping the alarm system and sliding in. Daemon stays in the same spot, his shoulders square and his stance in fighting mode. It sends chills down my spine, and my fear kicks up to inhumane levels. Pulling the door open, I’m about to slide in when it hits. A sharp sting stabs me right in the head, and I’m falling.

Looking up, the tips of the trees are coming in and out in a distant view. Ringing starts piercing my ears, and I tilt my head as the sun blares right down on my face. Daemon is there, but his face is blurry, and he’s yelling at me. Why’s he yelling? Why am I on the ground? Am I on the ground? Daemon’s eyes are furious, almost black. There’s spit flying out of his mouth as he screams at me, but I can’t hear anything because I’m deafened by the ringing in my ear.

I laugh because this is the first time I’ve ever seen Daemon out of control. Why is he so intractable? He wouldn’t be like this unless something was extremely wrong. Metallic liquid floods my throat, and I start to panic. My heart launches in my throat as my airways start to slowly clench, making breathing damn near impossible.

Daemon is like this because something is wrong. So terribly wrong. I look back at him, bringing my hands to my throat, wanting to rip off my skin to give myself air to breathe, but it’s no use. Daemon looks down at me, his eyes pained and his face strained.

Why’s he got blood all over him?

Is that my blood?

That’s when it hits me.

I’m dying.

THE VOICES.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six…

Six…

Six….

“She belongs to us. To the dark. Don’t put her in the light. She’ll burn there, Demon. Don’t put her in the light. It’s bad for her. Bad, bad, bad. She needs to be where we are, in the dark. Hidden, where it’s quiet. Where no one can hurt her.”

“Kill her!”

“No, don’t kill her! She’s special… so special. Look at her. She’s beautiful.”

“Shut up!” I roar, banging my fists against my head. “They… they won’t stop!” I look down at Madison. Sweet Madison. My sister. My twin. The only person I’ve ever felt for. The only human I’ve ever felt a connection with.

“Connection?” The voice snickers. “The only connection is you know you’re supposed to kill her. You know it, so do it. Kill her. She’s already dying. Hell, she might even be dead.”

Sucking in a breath, I look down at Madison’s body. Her tiny frame unmoving and still. What have I done?

I did this.

She shouldn’t have been here.

Grabbing the mobile device Madison gave me, I dial 911. I’m not completely clueless, it’s a part of my job as a civilian to know emergency services number. I do not care about the Kings right now. She needs medical help, and I don’t know who they use. I trust no one. “Trust no one. Trust no one….”