King for a Day (The King Trilogy #2)(50)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

My jaw dropped. “But…but…” I threw up my hands. “Obviously he didn’t anticipate being captured by that sick psycho.”

“I am afraid we can do nothing,” Stefanos said.

“You’ve got to be joking! He needs our help.”

Stefanos shook his head. “I am sorry, but we will do whatever we can to help you find your brother.”

I sighed with relief. Well, at least there was that. But I wasn’t about to leave King in some horrible basement to rot. He didn’t deserve that. Not after all of the suffering he’d already endured. “Can anyone at least tell me if they know where this Vaughn guy lives?” It couldn’t be that far. After all, I’d washed up on a beach here in Crete.

They exchanged glances. “We do not know, but our king has prohibited all but Arno from engaging with members of this club he runs. It is too dangerous.”

He “runs”?

“I wished King ran it,” I said. “Then he could shut that damned thing down.”

The woman with the long, wavy hair said something sharp to Stefanos.

“Oh. Did I say he ran it? I misspoke. My English isn’t always so perfect. I meant that he belongs to the Club.”

I held up my hands. “No worries. Can I call my parents now?”

Stefanos cleared his throat. “No. I’m sorry, but you cannot.”

“But you said—”

“I said we would help you. Which means, we will.”

“I’m lost.”

“Though the formal ceremony has not been conducted yet, you are still our queen. We will need to keep you here until it is safe.”

“What the hell is the matter with you people?” I screamed.

“I’m sorry, my quee—”

“Mia! My goddamned name is Mia! I am not your queen, but so help me God, if you try to stop me from helping my brother, I will—”

Stefanos cut me off again. “I would be very careful. Words once spoken cannot be taken back, especially when one makes a promise—even a cruel one. We would lose all respect for you if you didn’t follow through.”

Huh? “You are all completely mad.” I wasn’t about to stay there with this strange King cult. Not on my life. And if they didn’t want to help me, then I’d go it alone. I was sure I could find a way to get access to my cash—tourists got robbed of their belongings all the time. As for the passport, there had to be an embassy in Athens. I could find a way off this island and get there.

“I’m leaving.” I turned for the doorway, but two large men who reminded me of Arno blocked my way.

“Ah. There, you see,” said Stefanos. “That is how we do things around here. We speak only words we are prepared to follow through with.”

“You can’t be serious,” I seethed, glancing at the faces around the table.

Stefano glanced at the two large Greek guys behind me. “Please make sure that our,” he hesitated, “that Mia does not leave the grounds or contact anyone.”

Furious was too tame a word to describe my feelings. “How dare you people? You have no right to subject me to the stupidity of your little congregation. My brother is in serious shit, and he needs my help. So does King.”

“We will begin searching for your brother and do what we can to assist him.”

“How? How do you even know where to start looking? The answer is you don’t, and I’m the only person here with a rat’s ass of a chance in finding him.”

“Then you will share what you know and let us do the work—we cannot risk something happening to you.”

“I can handle myself,” I argued. Hell, I’d just come back from the dead! And survived Vaughn’s basement! What else could possibly be tougher than that?

How about being declared queen by a bunch of fanatical King groupies?

“You are but one person,” said the woman with the long hair. “We are Spiros. We are thousands.”

I lifted my brows in confusion.

Stefanos must’ve understood my expression because he offered, “We are the king’s council, but there are many more Spiros.”

Another secret society? Or were they more like some crazy religious cult?

Does it matter? They are going to keep you here.

Ohmygod. I shook my head. How did I keep getting mixed up in all this crap? And why did everyone want to keep me against my will?

“What about King?” I asked. “You’re not going to leave him in that man’s basement forever, are you?”

“We will obey King’s wishes, even if we do not agree with them,” Stefanos said coldly.

Sheep. They’re mindless, stubborn sheep. I could see there was absolutely no use arguing with them; therefore I would need to wait for the right moment and then run for it. In the meantime, I hoped one of them was able to find and warn Justin; Vaughn was coming for him.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The two burly men wearing khaki shorts and white Polos escorted me back upstairs toward the room with the pool. On the way, I once again glanced at the miniature coves displaying what had to be some of King’s coveted treasures.

“What are these?” I asked the shorter one.

“They are Minoan artifacts,” he said proudly.

I didn’t want to admit my ignorance about who the Minoans were, so I simply nodded. I made a mental note to read up on them later. “Am I going to be held prisoner indefinitely?”

We stopped just outside the double doors leading to the room.

“You are not our prisoner,” answered the taller man. “This is your home, and we are protecting you in it.”

I stared blankly. They were all delusional. Fucking delusional. I was ready to pull out my frigging blonde hair by the roots and make them choke on it.

“My home is…” Okay. It was my parents’ guest room. “San Francisco.”

The tall guy stepped around me and opened the door. “Your meal has been set out on the balcony. If you need anything, simply let us know. We’ll be right out here.”

I stepped inside, and he closed the door, leaving me all alone with nothing but my terrified thoughts.

I walked through the room and outside to the balcony. The maid—couldn’t remember her name (so typical of me)—had set out a plate of flatbread, cheeses, grapes, olives, and some other goodies on a small table facing the magnificent view. A white tablecloth and bottle of wine made the meal look more like an event rather than simple food.