King of Me (The King Trilogy #3)(19)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

What the hell?

“Touch me,” I shot him a look, “and you’ll never see your precious penis again.” I snapped my teeth at him, and he burst out laughing. It was that same laugh I knew—deep, silky, deliciously male, and arrogant.

“Glad I amuse you,” I grumbled. “To answer your question, I’m a Seer. From…” Oh hell, this was going to sound so corny, like some bad version of Terminator. “I’m from the future. I work for you.” And I’m running from you, you evil bastard-rapist-asshole.

Yes, I was running from him, but still somehow ended up here with him? Goddamned weird.

My eyes flashed to the cuff still on my wrist. If it was, in fact, the reason for my being here, I had to wonder what would happen if it were removed.

“Is this true, Hagne?” King asked.

Shocking. King actually entertained the idea that I was not from their time.

“Yes, my king.” Hagne kept her eyes to the ground like a submissive pet when she spoke. “I mean to say, she is a Seer; I sense it. However, I cannot say if the rest of her story has merit. I can only tell you that I have never seen a Seer with golden hair. Or anyone, for that matter.”

“But she is of your blood?” he asked.

Hagne nodded but did not lift her eyes. “Yes.”

“Then you will look after her and make her feel at home. Place her in the ocean-side guest quarters.”

“The one next to the orchard?” Hagne asked, appearing alarmed.

He pinned her with his fierce gaze. “Did you not hear me, woman?”

Hagne immediately dropped her eyes back to the floor and nodded. “Yes, my king.”

“Good. Have her presentable for dining this evening.” He turned to leave.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

As if I’d punched him in the back of the head, he swiveled on his heel and shot me a stern look. “I am king; you do not ask me such questions.” He strode off, shoulders square and proud.

Fucking King. Some things never change.

~~~

After King’s departure from the cramped windowless room, Hagne brought several servants to rehydrate me. They gave me water and fed me a sweet fig jam—not generally my favorite unless accompanied by a ripe brie—but I immediately felt better. That also meant my mind played a little game of, “Oh shit. Really?” As in, “Oh shit. I’m really here? Really? Oh shit. Did I really travel through time to escape King?” And, “Oh shit. Am I here for good, or will I be flung back at any second?”

Answer to question number one: yes.

Answer to number two: yes.

Answer to number three: I had no damned clue.

Sure, I was safe from evil King, but for how long? And being in Minoa didn’t mean I was completely out of danger. I knew nothing about the rules of this society, its etiquette, their enemies, and…well, everything was foreign. Not all bad, of course. For example, no one had tried to violate or whip me. That was nice. And these people seemed peaceful and fairly calm. At least what I’d seen of them during my countryside tour.

Everyone except King. He carried the authority and arrogance of a man with little patience and all the power. A dangerous combination.

“You will follow me,” said Hagne, appearing in the doorway, addressing me like a lowly piece of algae stuck to a rock in her favorite swimming hole.

“Not until we talk.” I stayed put, sitting on the little stone platform I’d been using as my bed.

She smiled, but her eyes filled with a serpent-like vibe. Whatever she had planned for me didn’t involve making me “feel at home.”

Game on, bitch. After all, she’d destroyed King. She’d taken a man who’d been devout, loving, and genuine, and reduced him to a vile sadistic demon of sorts. She’d mutilated him.

Maybe that’s why you’re really here, Mia. Revenge. Not likely, but my insides jumped up and down, cheering frantically. I hated Hagne. I hated the impact her choices had on my life three-thousand-something years later.

Oh. My. God. Could every shitty hand I’d been dealt be leading to this? A chance to change everyone’s fate?

Didn’t matter. I’d do it anyway. I simply had to act quickly before I found myself snapped back to where I came from. Not that I knew for sure it would happen, but seizing the moment was an absolute must.

I smiled sweetly. “Hagne, I really am from the future. But the gods brought me here, so that I may help you procure your true love, Callias.”

She blinked rapidly. “The gods?”

“Oh yes,” I lied, playing my cards for every dime they were worth, because she needed to believe I was powerful. “How else would I know about your dark little secret?”

“I know not of what you speak. Draco, our king, is my betrothed. He is my intended—”

“Cut the crap.” I rose to my feet and pointed my finger in her face. “I know everything. I know the evil bullshit you’re planning and how you hate Draco because you suffer from delusions that he is not as manly or deadly as his twin brother. I know that you’d rather die than marry him, but because of the oppressive time you live in, you feel like you have to do as you are told,” I snarled at her. “But we always have a choice. Always. And yours f**ks up endless multitudes of lives for thousands of years, including mine. All because you didn’t have the balls to call off the wedding.” I clenched my fist. “But make no mistake, the gods have granted my wish to come here and stop you.”

Her jaw hung open, and then she snapped it shut.

The fury and sense of purpose pulsing through my veins revived me. I stepped in closer, placing us nose to nose. “You understand me?”

She nodded cautiously.

“Good. Because if you cross me, I’ll kill you.” That was something that I learned from the Spiros: never make idle threats.

“Wha-what do you want?”

“You’ll call it off with King…Draco. Whateverthefuck. You’ll tell him that you love Callias.”

“He’d kill me before accepting that.”

“Then I’ll tell him.”

“He will kill you,” she argued. “He will kill us both. And he will never believe you.”

“No. He’ll thank us. And he’ll believe me, because you will tell the truth when he asks.”

She stared demurely at the floor for a moment, but I knew the timid act was a sham. A viper in a woman’s skin stood before me.

“How do I know what you say is true?” she asked.