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“No offence, but I had no idea that this would happen… although, of course I am happy to give you back your scepter… oh, wait, where is it… oh shit, did I lose it?!” At this he boomed with laughter, and it was shocking enough to have me stop looking around the place for it.
“Upon my word, what fun. I can see now why my son is besotted with you, for you are a delight, my dear,” he said, making me blush.
“But regardless of what fun I would have with you, I do believe my son would have my head for such thoughts, as well as if I keep you from him much longer… so do not fear for the scepter is where it is meant to be.” Of course, if I thought I was blushing before, now I was turning the color of the sand. Jesus, Ryker’s dad was flirting with me! But then his other words fully penetrated and I was quickly asking,
“You mean, you can send me back?” At this he grinned down at me, and ran the back of his gauntlet glove down my cheek before telling me,
“Yes, Little One, I can.” Then he motioned with two fingers for someone to come forward, making me gasp when a woman wearing very little seemingly appeared from nowhere. She wore a long, hooded robe style jacket, one with slits up the sides and showing her legs, one of which appeared to be made of copper. Her pale skin showed at her belly, and everything below, including the straps of material barely covering her hairless sex. I also tried not to look at the burn marks on one leg, wondering if that was how she got the artificial leg.
As for her face, this was completely covered by the long hood, making me wonder how she saw anything, let alone didn’t end up bumping into things all the time.
“Annika, if you would be so kind,” he said, making the hooded woman bow, before telling me,
“I will place you back to where you need to be, for there are wounds still left to be healed, and as for mine, I must thank you for returning a piece of my heart.” At this she pulled aside her cloak and showed me a healing scar there in between her breasts, letting me know that the heart stone had been named such for that reason. Someone had stolen a piece of her actual heart and cut it right out of her!
“Er… you’re welcome,” I said, making the King smirk at my obvious nervousness.
“Then I will bid you farewell, Evelyn Leucosia, for if you are ever in need of someone to catch you in Hell, then I will surely be there.” Then he winked at me before he turned to walk away, leaving me nearly breathless at the sight of such a powerful man. But none left me quite as breathless as his son…
A man I couldn’t wait to get back to!
“Wait, what will happen to Hector? Will he get captured?” I asked the woman the king had called Annika.
She looked back to where the King was walking into the battle, one that looked close to being finished. But then the second his men parted for him, I saw that there, surrounded by Mammon’s soldiers, was Hector, tied and beaten on the floor.
“He already has been, and now comes time for his punishment,” she said, at the same time Mammon flicked his hand out to the side and produced a long golden blade as he walked closer to Hector. Which gave me first-hand knowledge of just what the King of Greed was capable of. He may have played the handsome flirt toward me, but right now, he was about to play a far more deadly game.
That of this world’s…
Executioner.
A short time later and I found myself outside the last place I ever thought I would be walking into.
A bar.
This was after Annika had told me what I needed to do, for it was like she said, fresh wounds needed to be healed. Something I hadn’t fully understood, not until she nodded from the other side of the portal she created and ushered me to walk inside. Clearly, it was a sight that was being masked in front of other mortals because, let’s just say, no one started screaming the second they saw it.
So, I mouthed a ‘thank you’ back at her, making her bow her head respectfully before she spun an arm around making the portal disappear. After that, I faced the bar and walked inside, gasping when I saw a figure I knew sitting at the bar about to drink what looked like a shot of whiskey. Which made me utter his name on a whisper, one he heard as he swung his head my way…
“Vander.”
“Evelyn?” he asked, the shock on his face transforming his handsome features from sullen to astonishment. So, I went running to him, just as he turned in time to catch me.
“How… how is this possible?!” he asked, making me step back and reach out to grab his drink. Then I tipped it back and drank it down, because holy hell I needed it,
Then told him with a wink,
“Girl Scout, remember?”
35
THE HEART OF A THIEF
RYKER
Pain.
Overwhelming, all consuming, crippling pain.
