Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53433 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 267(@200wpm)___ 214(@250wpm)___ 178(@300wpm)
When it finally happened, we were happier than I could have imagined. It was perfect. All of it. Her, Arch, and Ariadna on the way.
It remained so until Mia found out that I had been lying. I had repeated a history I’d sworn never to do. Despite her warnings before she’d left me three millennia earlier, I’d created Ten Club, knowing full well what it would become. A monster.
But I had done it out of love.
I saw the world growing ever more corrupt and violent. I watched as kings and rulers blackmailed, bribed, and killed to fuel their thirsts for power and depraved pleasures. I learned the hard way that the only thing capable of stopping such powerful people was becoming more powerful myself. What sort of world would my children live in if I did not step up?
Mia never understood the disgust and self-loathing I endured for the sake of my family, but I did not care. She and the children were all that mattered.
So now the question was this: Out of every moment Mia and I shared, were there any she would choose as her heaven?
I shook my head. If I were her, I would feel like every moment had been tainted by my lies and betrayal. Still, I had to try.
I imagined the home I bought for her. It was a renovated Victorian in San Francisco overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge and marina. I imagined the smell of warm French toast in the morning, of fresh coffee brewing, and the fireplace crackling in the evenings. The home was warded, and we were safe from the outside world.
I opened my eyes and was suddenly standing in the kitchen. Mia stood with her back to me, her golden hair cascading past her delicate shoulders. She held a glass of champagne while staring out the back door.
My breath stuck in my throat. My soul swelled with joy.
“Mia?” I whispered.
She swiveled on her heel, and her mouth fell open. “Is it really you?”
I nodded. “Yes. It’s me.”
She covered her mouth, and her eyes teared.
“You have no idea how hard I’ve been trying to get to you, Mia.” Should I go to her? Kiss her? Tell her everything that had happened and how sorry I was for not protecting them on that fateful night?
“I kept hoping…” Her eyes shifted to my chest and legs. “What’s happening to you?”
I looked down at my nearly translucent form. “What the hell?” And why did I feel so cold all of a sudden? I should not be feeling anything. I was dead. So cold…
I reached out for her hand as she reached for me, but I passed right through her. “I will find a way back, Mia. I promise.”
She faded away along with the room.
CHAPTER TEN
Jeni
Niko Spiros convulsed on the floor as Ansin recited the text from the very small tablet no bigger than a toaster waffle. Honestly, it looked more like a coaster than a holy relic.
“What’s happening to him?” I asked.
“He’s either dying, or an ancient, pissed-off king is commandeering his body.”
Niko’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.
“He doesn’t look good, Ansin.”
Ansin shrugged. “I am unsure how he is supposed to look. Never used such an artifact.”
Niko exhaled, and then, just like that, he stopped breathing.
“Ohmygod.” What if King was in him? The thought of seeing King one last time overrode my fear of what he might do to me.
I jumped on Niko’s chest, straddling him to initiate CPR. I blew into his swollen mouth, followed by chest compressions. The taste of his blood from the earlier beating filled my mouth. I had to spit between breaths.
Ansin didn’t lift a finger, looking one part intrigued, one part confused.
“Don’t just stand there,” I said. “Call an ambulance.”
He shook his head no. “Niko, you are in a weakened state of mind, so hopefully, this will work. You are to breathe. You are to restart your heart. Open your eyes.”
I paused the CPR and waited a few seconds.
Niko’s eyes flew open, and he gasped for air.
“King? Are you in there?” I got off him.
“No,” Niko muttered.
“What happened?” Ansin asked.
“Don’t know,” Niko mumbled.
“Why didn’t it work?” I glanced at Ansin.
“I do not know.” Ansin sounded like he couldn’t care less about finding the reason for this failure. So like him.
“Was something wrong with the vessel?” Maybe King didn’t want to be inside Niko Spiros.
“Doubtful. I suspect the tablet is not powerful enough to bind a soul like King’s to this world.”
“What do I do? I have to find Draco.” My eyes teared.
“I am sorry, Jeni. But I have exhausted all solutions.”
Ansin wanted to give up? “How can you say that? We’ve barely looked.”
“I put the word out with hundreds of individuals. I followed every possible lead, even though most were longshots. I have no more places to look or people to question. And since you cannot access your gift of sight, I am unsure what else to do.”