Or maybe we were connected by our good buddy, Mr. Death. I wondered how long death had been hanging out around me.
Now sitting in King’s plane on our way back to San Francisco, an image of the grim reaper popped in my head. Grim was standing in a dark corner while I blew out the candles on my cake at my tenth birthday party.
King chuckled from the seat behind me.
I twisted my body and looked around the seat back. “Can’t I have a little privacy?”
“My apologies, but I cannot help hearing you. And that was amusing. The grim reaper at a child’s party with unicorn balloons and—”
“Why can’t you help hearing me?”
“I have developed a very powerful ability, and you have a powerful gift. Perhaps our frequencies are on similar wavelengths. Perhaps it is our connection with death, as I mentioned before. Honestly, I do not give a fuck.”
He went back to typing something on a laptop that had been waiting on board when we arrived. It was weird thinking that he had a quiet army of loyal servants, whom he never discussed, but it was even weirder seeing him do work on a computer like a regular guy.
He raised a brow, not meeting my gaze. “I am not a god, Jeni. I am merely a man who has lived an extraordinarily long life.”
He was much more than that, and he knew it. He was also unspeakably beautiful. I could stare at him for hours and never get tired of it.
“You flatter me.” He cracked a subtle smile.
“What if you stayed around a while?” I didn’t understand why he needed to die with the rest of Ten Club.
His smile melted away into a cold scowl. “No.” He returned to typing.
I stood up in the aisle and pushed his laptop closed to get his attention. “I’m serious. You could stay a little longer.”
“To do what, Miss Arnold?”
I liked when he used my last name. I think because he only said it when he was trying to push me away. I liked getting under his skin.
I folded my arms over my chest. “What did you do before?”
“You mean before in my first life, the second, third, fourth or—”
“When you met Mia. And I mean outside of running Ten Club.”
“I mostly collected things—objects I could use to maintain power. I spent several years hunting for the Incan Chalice of Life.”
I raised a brow. “You just…treasure hunted.”
“Do not mock me, Jeni.”
“I’m not mocking you. I’m surprised you didn’t run any companies or start a business.”
He looked away for a moment. “For a while, I found things for people.”
I smirked. “You mean you were a detective?”
“No.” He looked insulted. Tight lips. Narrowed eyes. “I gained a reputation for being able to find people or things. For a price. I found it useful, considering the individuals who generally came to me were often wealthy or powerful, and it helped to have them in my debt. I grew quite a network of loyal allies.”
“You mean like those men who drive for you, or the guy who flies your plane.”
“The Spiros family is from Crete—as am I, originally. They have served me for a very long time.”
I wondered if it was by choice. Wait. Crete? I had a great-grandmother from Crete.
“Yes,” he said, “that is where your bloodline originated. The Seer gene skips every few generations. Females only.”
“Was my great-grandmother—”
“A Seer? I do not know.”
“So you didn’t know her.”
“If you’re asking if she is one of the souls forever damned to that house, the answer is no. Those women are from my era, long before your great-grandmother’s time.”
“Interesting.” I have so many questions.
“Shocking,” he said sarcastically.
“Fuck off.” I chuckled. “I spent the vast majority of my life feeling like a garden snail, who didn’t want to be stepped on, only to discover that all along, I had the power to crush anyone who screwed with me. All because of some ancient bloodline. So yes. I have questions. You’d have them, too, if you were in my shoes.”
“You will have to forgive me.” He stifled a smile. “I find your excitement over such stale history refreshing.”
Only King could manage to be charming when subtly saying you were an ignorant child. “Nice attempt to distract me, by the way, but you haven’t answered my question. Give me one good reason why you can’t stay a little longer.”
“Give me one good reason that I should.”
“To make sure I’m safe, for one. You don’t know what the fallout’ll be after I kill these people. A few could get away. They could pick up Ten Club where you left off, or—”
“Jeni,” he snarled, “there always has been and there always will be evil in this world. Once Ten Club is done, this is no longer my problem.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Do you think me Superman out to save the world?”
“You look like an ancient king who is still alive—breathing and talking—long after he should’ve been dead. You’re an anomaly that comes once in a thousand lifetimes. Don’t you think that means something? I mean, look at me!” I threw my arms to my sides. “You changed my life. You woke me up.”
“I brought Ten Club to your doorstep, and now they have your father.”
My stomach clenched. My fear for him was never far. I kept telling myself to stay focused, to keep a clear head. It was the only way to help him. But make no mistake, just beneath the surface, I was a mess ready to burst into tears at any moment.
“Serina is going to pay for what she has done,” King said, hearing my thoughts. “I promise you that. Then, if I am lucky, death will allow me to pass after I have undone my sins.”
“And if not?”
“I am the man who can find anything or anyone. And I will find a way to die. Of that I have no doubt.”
But what will be the price? That’s what he always said; everything came with a price.
Reading my thoughts again, he asked, “Perhaps you should ask your friend death.”
“Sorry, he and I aren’t on speaking terms.”
“I would seek to change that. It behooves you to understand your gift so you may use it fully.”
Not so sure I agree.
“Yes, well, I am not so certain you will have a choice after I am gone,” he said. “You will need to know how to handle yourself because I plan to leave all of my possessions to you.”
“What the hell for?” It wasn’t like I had a use for a giant warehouse with crap that scared the hell out of me or a house filled with the angry souls of my witchy ancestors.
“How about a private island in Greece, several estates on Crete, homes in every major city, a few private jets, an army of loyal servants, and over a hundred billion in cash?”
Wow. Just wow… I raised a brow, trying to let that sink in.
He added, “You may need it to clean up the remnants of Ten Club—if there are any.”
“What? No. I don’t want anything to do with them. And I don’t want to be rich or powerful.” Really, I didn’t want to inherit all his stuff and have to think of him every day. It was bad enough I had feelings for him, a man whose heart was taken and always would be. I’d been inside his head. I felt his love for Mia. Something like that never died.