King for a Day (The King Trilogy #2)(54)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

Motherfucker!

My fists clenched into tight balls. “He thought he could just let the Artifact come to him. Didn’t he? He thought Vaughn had it.”

Mack’s blue eyes lit up. “Mia, King would never have let anything—”

“No. Don’t say another f**king word, Mack. You knew the entire time that this was some idiotic, bullcrap lie. You played me.”

“No. I did what I needed to help King.”

“Meaning, you helped King create an illusion.” Was there anything Mack wouldn’t do for King? Even allowing me to fall into Vaughn’s hands? Shit. He killed me. He killed me instead of just getting me the hell out of there. All to keep up the f**king charade!

The horror of the situation grabbed hold, and my mind screamed toward Earth. It shattered into a million tiny particles of hate and anger.

I tried to gasp, but no air could pass. Oh my Lord, it had all been some giant, orchestrated event.

But then Justin died. Was that part of King’s plan, too? Did King think he could do this to me because he “owned” me like some pet?

I turned my head and noticed the entire flock of Spiros gathered at the far end of the hallway, watching me with horrified expressions. Did they feel sorry for me? Or did they just think I was the world’s biggest fool?

I hung my head and covered my teary eyes. Why, Mia? Why? You trust and you believe and f**king hope. But look what it’s gotten you, you stupid bitch! A dead brother. A ruined life. Humiliation…

Yes, but you’re alive. And it’s not too late to change this, to change everything.

“Change,” I mumbled.

I don’t know why, but my gaze locked onto that balcony overlooking the sapphire-blue ocean, only now it was nighttime and the ocean was nothing but an endless stretch of blackness.

I wandered over to it, hypnotized by the sound.

“Mia? Where are you going?” I heard Mack say.

I wasn’t going anywhere physically, but mentally I was gone. Or maybe changing was the right word. I felt it in my bones, in my soul, and in the scorched cells of my angry heart.

I gazed out over the dark waves, allowing the change to happen. I relished it. Letting go was bliss. Letting go was freedom. I would no longer worry or care or hope. Not for anyone but myself and my parents. World be damned. 10 Club be damned. Vaughn be damned.

King be damned.

“You need to come back inside,” Mack said.

“Why?” My head snapped in his direction. “You think I’m going to jump? You think I want to end my life?”

He stepped back. “No.”

“Good because there’s only one thing that I want.”

“Which is?” Mack took another step back.

“I want you to call that f**king piece of shit Vaughn and make the trade for King.”

“But—”

“Now, Mack!” I stepped toward him. “Or so help me, I’ll make sure that Artifact finds its way to the bottom of the ocean. And what will King say then?”

It wasn’t much leverage, but at that moment, only I knew where that stupid rock was. And I wanted to make damned sure I got to see King’s face for what was to come next: my revenge.

Mack held out his hands. “Okay. I’ll call Vaughn to make the trade, but there’s no guarantee he’ll go for it.”

“I’m sure you’ll make it work. You can f**k him like you f**ked Anna if you have to. Anything for King and his Artifact, right?”

Anger flickered in Mack’s eyes, and I knew that I’d wounded him. But I didn’t care. Not after this. Not after Mack lied to me and tricked me. All because he was so damned loyal to King that he couldn’t see past right or wrong.

“What? Did I hurt your feelings?” I said bitterly.

Mack’s face went from hurt to a more neutral shade of disgust. “As you wish, my queen,” he spat.

He turned away, and so did I.

The ocean. That was the only thing I wanted to see. Just the ocean.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I don’t know how much time passed—hours or days—but I refused to look away from those waves. Part of me felt like if I breathed too hard, I might disintegrate into nothing. Or if I looked away, I’d have to face the nightmare of a person I’d become. I couldn’t even bear to see my own hands, but I knew they were purple, the color of King.

It killed me to no longer be a person I felt proud of. Was this how King felt?

The worst part of all this was that when I began to replay the facts, the signs were right in front of my nose the entire time. King had said that he knew—knew—Vaughn planned to trap him and would be prepared. And for me to believe that anyone could capture him? Someone so powerful and determined? I was an idiot. Even before I learned he was a ghost, I knew that King was no ordinary man. He was hard and cold, indestructible and fierce; he was powerful and dangerous. With one look from those light gray eyes, he could kowtow me into submission. With the flick of his wrist, he could end a man’s life. Yet, I’d fallen, hook line and sinker, for his prisoner act.

What I couldn’t understand was why he simply hadn’t told me the truth? Was he afraid I wouldn’t play along?

I suppose I wouldn’t have.

But why wouldn’t King have taken the Artifact? Especially if Justin had left it sitting in some empty apartment in London. Why the giant charade?

It dawned on me then that perhaps Justin had lied to me. Perhaps he’d never left it in that apartment, but had kept it for himself. For Jamie.

It would explain why King might have voluntarily allowed himself to be taken. If he believed Vaughn had the thing, it would only be a question of time before Vaughn disclosed its location.

But I suppose in the end, however, the whys and hows didn’t matter. Because the end result wouldn’t change. Justin was dead. My baby brother. My best friend.

And for what?

“Miss Turner,” the deep, recognizable voice said from behind me.

I swiveled on my heel. “King.”

As usual, he looked elegant and masculine in his signature black suit.

He dipped his head slowly, his light eyes sparkling with mistrust.

“So Vaughn let you go?” I said.

King nodded his perfectly combed head of black hair. “Apparently. Of course, I am wondering why.”

Just then, Mack appeared in the room, glaring at me. He held a cell phone in his palm. “He wants to know where the Artifact is.”

King’s gray eyes lit with fury. “What?”

“I traded the Artifact.” I smiled wickedly. “For you.”