They were freaking jealous. Dear God, how crazy was all this?
King grabbed my wrists and closed his eyes, telling me to focus on healing them and helping them to rest. So I imagined that ball of white light somewhere beyond my body, existing in a place beyond this one, and then began pulling from it. Slowly, I felt the draw. The light moving through me like a warm, comforting stream of bathwater.
I realized that like that chalice, my body was merely a conduit, a door with a combination lock that when opened could connect two energies together. When the light hit my fingers and flowed into King, I actually felt it continuing on through him and out another door. It was the spirit world that King lived in for thousands of years.
And then…I felt them.
Ohmygod! My eyes snapped open and met King’s.
“You were doing well, do not stop,” he commanded.
“Mack never crossed over. He never left,” I said in a panic. “They wouldn’t let him.”
“What?” King looked pissed. And surprised.
“And they don’t want to be healed,” I added. “They just want a sacrifice.”
King frowned. Now he looked really pissed.
“Nothing comes without a price,” I elaborated. “It’s that cosmic balance thing! Shit—I don’t know what you call it.” And I don’t know how I knew all that, but I did.
King dropped his hands and looked down at the ground. Meanwhile, my mind had a go at the puzzle pieces. They wanted a sacrifice. Meaning…someone had to take his—
Oh fuck. I stepped back, but King caught my arm, and I suddenly couldn’t move. Nor could I speak or breathe or do anything other than realize I would become the sacrificial lamb.
Please, King. There has to be another way, I pleaded in my head. If you kill me, you’ll have brought your brother back just to let him suffer. He won’t forgive himself unless I heal him.
King continued staring at me with those piercing orbs of endless blue.
Blue. So much blue. And then darker and darker.
“You’re right; there is another way, Miss Valentine.” He dropped his firm grip and slid off a silver ring from his right index finger. The ring was chunky with a clear stone in the middle. I’d never even noticed him wearing it.
“Take this and put it on,” he said.
It was far too large for my hand, but who the hell cared? “What are you doing?” I frowned.
“It will make me feel better knowing that you’ll always be around to watch over my brother.” He grabbed my left hand and shoved the thing into my palm, practically crushing my poor little fingers as he forced me to make a fist around it.
“What the—” I was about to jerk my hand away, but as King held my hand in his, I could see him. Really see him. All the way down to his soul. And it was literally breaking apart, as if dissolving.
I covered my mouth with my free hand. Unable to bear the sight of what I was witnessing: a man breaking. Truly and utterly breaking, realizing he would never find real peace or happiness or be able to save the people he needed most in this world. But that was what my Seer gift showed me. King’s heart ripping apart, disintegrating into dark ash. And as I realized what he meant to do, my heart broke right along with his.
You can’t do that, King. Please don’t. Think of Mia and your baby. Think of how lost Mack will be without you. We’ll find another way, I promise. The tears fell from my eyes in steady streams, dribbling down my cheeks.
“It’s been a pleasure, Dr. Valentine.” King dipped his head of silky black hair, and then I watched the dark shadows, in the shape of arms, spring from the ground and reach for his legs. He collapsed to the ground.
“No!” I jumped on top of him and rolled him flat on his back, frantically checking for a pulse.
Nothing.
“Fuckingshit, King! Don’t do this!” I puffed several breaths into his mouth and then began pumping his chest. “You evil stubborn bastard! Mack won’t want this!”
Minutes or hours went by—I didn’t know—but the dust devils died down, and the sky turned to a pristine blue. There was a sudden warmth in the air and sweet smell in the wind blowing through my hair. It was the scent of peace. That was all I knew.
And then I felt lighter. Not physically, but…well, mentally. Like there had been a weight—guilt, despair, fear—pressing down on me that was suddenly gone.
My own curse—that vow I’d made so many years ago—was gone.
“It’s useless, you know,” said a deep familiar voice. “That fucking prick just had to be the hero.”
I gasped and turned my head, finding a tall, naked man, ripped from head to toe with glossy black, shoulder-length hair. He looked just like King with those stunning sky-colored eyes, thick dark lashes, sensual mouth, black stubble and…
A sadness in his eyes.
“Mack?” My voice came out all shaky.