Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 55328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55328 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 277(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
I felt my mind itching and spinning. Suddenly, I was inside King’s head:
I stood in a big living room with white furniture and hardwood floors. Women in black cocktail dresses started falling to the floor like leaves scattered in the wind. People in tuxes and sequined gowns were scrambling for the doors, yelling or cussing. So much confusion.
Then, as if my heart had been ripped right from my chest, I doubled over, clutching the fabric of my white dress shirt. I could not breathe. The pain was too much. And then suddenly it stopped. They’re dead. No. No. No.
I rushed outside and found my driver. “Hurry. Get to Mia’s parents’ house.” It wasn’t far, but the drive felt like a never-ending downward spiral into hell. Everything inside me already knew the truth.
The car pulled up to the grand home on Nob Hill, and I ran up the steps. When I reached the top, the front door had been left open. I could hear the screams from Mia’s mother.
King cleared his throat, pushing me out of his head. I was back in my dad’s house. Staring into King’s pale gray eyes.
“You do not need to see the rest,” he said.
I looked down at my feet. I got the gist. “I’m so sorry they did that to your family.” Despite his mistakes, my heart broke for him. I could feel the gaping hole inside him, like his soul was dead.
“As am I.”
“So what happened to the Seers after that?”
“I am a cautious man. I made sure that when I raised them from the dead, I had a way to send them back should they cross me.”
So he killed them.
“Seers never truly die. Their souls are bound to the earth.”
“But your wife. You said she was a Seer.”
“She was forced to sever ties with them at one point. It is why I cannot get her back. She moved on with our children.”
Moved on to where? I wondered if a man like him knew what was on the other side.
“That is a complicated question. I can merely tell you that once a person crosses over, they are gone forever.”
“And the other Seers, where are they now?”
“The ones who moved against me are forever trapped in that house.”
Oh god. That was why it was so cold, so dark. He killed them and left their souls to rot there.
“After I buried my pregnant wife and child,” he said, “I warded our home, along with my warehouse, to keep people away, and I decided I no longer wished to live.”
But why the safe? Why the bottom of the ocean in Florida?
He gave me a pained look. “I have been resurrected more times than I can count, and I wanted to die for good this time. I asked the fishermen to take me somewhere no one would ever find me.”
“Are you really thousands of years old?”
“I am sorry,” he said, “but that is all we have time for. And now that I have answered all your questions, removed all doubt from your mind as to why we must move forward, do you believe you are up for the challenge? Because it must be you, Jeni. They will not know who or what is attacking. They will be unable to defend themselves against a power they have never seen. Meanwhile, I will ward the property to prevent them from leaving once they’ve entered.”
I let the pieces spin around inside my head. He wanted to finish what he started by calling all the members for another meeting. He would use the opportunity to make a trade with Serina to get my dad back. I guessed he then expected me to do my thing and kill everyone there. After everything King told me about how conniving these Ten Club people were, I worried that this wouldn’t go smoothly.
“If you would like to confront Serina, be my guest. But she is quite old and has acquired many tricks since I have been away.”
“She as old as you?” I asked.
“No one is as old as me. Which is why it is time to make things right and put an end to this unholy life of mine along with my legacy.”
The thought of killing him was too much. I couldn’t even pretend to visualize it. “Okay, but death could still reject you.”
“Ending Ten Club will make things right.” He took my hand and kissed the top. “This is why you must help me.”
I stared at his beautiful face, feeling my heart swell. I had never used my “gift” before. Not like this. The only two times I had, I’d been fighting for my life. “I could fail.”
“You will not. Especially after you shake hands with the man who murdered your mother, and then meet his wife, the current leader of Ten Club: Serina. She will be very pleased to tell you all about the fun she’s been having torturing your father.”