“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 basement 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.”