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)
King dipped his head. “By all means.”
“You have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy this.”
With a tarp spread on the floor of my kitchen, King sat on the only chair in the house. I’d purchased the place several months ago, but never moved in. I wanted something close to Jeni’s father, knowing she would likely return here to grieve. Miami would never be her home, so I had to have a backup plan. Just like Obliza. I owed my people just as much as I owed Jeni. If things here went to hell, I had to try to restart my bloodline. We all needed backup plans.
“Here. Take this.” King handed me an empty glass that had contained a generous pour of bourbon.
I snatched it from his hand and set it on the kitchen counter.
“You could have at least bought a good scotch for the occasion, Ansin.”
“Next time I kill you, I’ll have a case ready,” I joked. There would be no next time.
King swiveled in his chair, his eyes burning with hatred. “If you do not kill me properly, I will spend the next hundred years filling Sage’s pickle jars with your cock.”
That sounded unpleasant. “I bet you’d enjoy touching my dick, wouldn’t you?”
King shook his head. “You are a child.”
I was almost as old as he was. “Yet I still have a bigger dick. Pathetic, King.” I tried not to laugh.
Funny. I was almost going to miss the cold bastard. In a way, Jeni had been right. It wasn’t going to be much fun without a powerful nemesis roaming around.
“Ah, so you will miss me.” King laughed.
“Stay the fuck out of my head.”
“If you weren’t such a weak pussy, I would not be able to scrape the juvenile thoughts from your primitive skull, Ansin.”
I drew my dagger. “Shut up, King. Let me enjoy the moment.”
“Do not let me stop you.” King turned and faced forward. “Oh, and one more thing. There is a book. I had meant to search it out, but never got around to it. I understand it was written by a Seer many centuries ago. Perhaps if you can locate it, it will assist Jeni in learning to master her gift so she does not drain the life from you.”
“Where do I find it?”
“If I knew that, it would be in my arsenal.”
King. Such a prick. “Thank you for the tip. Can I kill you now?”
“I do not know. Can you? Because all I hear is chitchat. I am beginning to doubt you have the balls.”
I laughed. My balls were plenty big enough. “Are you ready?” I placed the blade against his neck. “Give your hot wife, Mia, my regards. Tell her if she ever tires of you and wants a real man, I’ll be waiting with my man-sized dick. Not a baby cock, like yours.”
“You fucking—”
King
“You fucking assh…” I blinked and found myself in the foyer of the house in San Francisco I’d purchased for Mia, Arch, and the baby on the way—Ariadna.
I cannot believe it. Ansin had done what he promised and sent me to death’s warm embrace.
The familiar smell of the room and house washed over me like a treasured memory.
“Mia! Are you here?” I walked to the kitchen only to find it empty. I went upstairs and found nothing either.
“Mia, where are you?”
I searched every room, but no one was here. Had she run after seeing me that last time?
“No. Fuck no.” She knew there wasn’t a place in this universe she could hide from me. I would follow her to the ends of the earth and afterlife to be with her again.
Where had she gone?
I sat on the bed we’d shared dozens of times before her death. I could almost feel the loneliness in the soft sheets. Had she recently spent time here, hoping, waiting, dreaming of us being together again?
I smiled confidently, giving our last encounter some thought. I’d showed up and disappeared. Maybe she went looking for me.
I closed my eyes, thinking of the memories she and I shared.
I imagined the sound of crashing waves and the feel of soft white sand between my toes. It was the place where I met Mia for the first time. My island. She might look for me there.
I opened my eyes, finding her at the other end of the long beach. She wore a sky-blue gown, just like the women wore on my island. Hand dyed. Simple. Beautiful.
Her blonde hair blew with the ocean breeze, and her powder blue eyes shimmered in the sunlight.
“King?” she mouthed.
I nodded.
She ran toward me and threw herself in my arms. “Oh, God. I thought I was dreaming. Are you here? For real?”
I kissed her soft lips, knowing I was finally home. “I’m here. For good this time.”
“Don’t ever leave me again, King. Not ever.”
“If it is up to me, I won’t. I promise.”