King of Me (The King Trilogy #3)(50)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“Simple. You choose which life comes back.”

“How?”

“You’re a Seer; you just make it happen with that awesome power of yours.” He winked.

That wasn’t what I meant—choosing between Justin and King was impossible—but I knew that wasn’t a question Mack could answer for me. That said, Mack had brought up a good point.

“You have to tell me how to do this—the mechanics,” I said.

“You robbed King of his chosen path in life the moment you made the curse. Breaking the curse gives you the chance to put a life back on course, to undo a wrong.”

Okay. Justin was wronged by Vaughn. King was wronged by me. I got those two points, but not how it would bring someone back.

I stared at him, completely confused.

“It’s a Seer, order-of-the-universe, balance thing. You displace one thing, something has to take its place. Don’t ask me.”

“Sir?” The pilot tapped his watch. “We’re burning fuel, and we’ve got quite a distance to cover tonight. Shall I shut off the engine?”

“No need.” Mack looked at me. “I really need to go now. I’ve got something important to do, and it can’t wait.”

I nodded slowly, avoiding looking at him. The guilt I felt was almost unbearable. He saved me and now…well, I would likely end his brother’s existence. “I’m so sorry, Mack.”

“I know. But you have to do what’s right. And my brother would tell you the same. He really loved you—when he wasn’t busy trying to kill you or torture you, of course.”

I made a little awkward laugh and moved to the door, then stopped and looked at Mack. “Can I ask you one last thing?”

“Sure.”

“Did you at least have a good life before you died—fall in love, have a family?”

Mack’s blue eyes looked a bit saddened by the question, but he still smiled. “I traveled for five years and saw the world, went to the most amazing places. But I ended up dying from some fever—probably malaria—in a small village near Palenque.”

“Mexico. Seriously?”

“Yeah. How do you think the Artifact got all the way there? It didn’t fly.”

“Wait. How did you get the Artifact?”

“I grabbed it by accident. Before I left the island that night, I returned to my brother’s room to take jewels for money and the dagger he owned. Later, I discovered the stone in the bottom of the basket I’d used to carry everything. I demanded the Spiros take me back to you, but they refused—or couldn’t, actually, because of your curse. And since I wouldn’t entrust it to anyone, I carried it with me everywhere for safekeeping, hoping someday I’d be able to return it to you. When I died, I asked a good friend, a local man I’d met, to see to it that my things, including the rock, were buried in a marked grave. Hell, I didn’t know what else to do, and the Spiros couldn’t be trusted to help me once my body was cold.”

I could understand why. Once Callias died, that freed them from their obligation to look after him. I bet they’d been on the first frigging canoe, or whatever, home. But that kind of sucked he didn’t find happiness. He deserved it. I really felt that.

“Believe it or not, though,” he said, “Kan, my friend, ordered the Spiros to have my body brought back to Greece to be buried with my family.”

“Kan?”

“The king,” he replied.

“King Kan?”

Mack frowned.

“Sorry.” I held up my hand, acknowledging that now was not the time to make giant gorilla jokes.

He jerked his head. “No one knows what happened after that; they never made it home—probably died at sea. But my things were buried in Palenque. That’s why it took King and me so long to find the Artifact. No one knew the temple existed, or thought to look for it in Mexico. We assumed it was on the bottom of the ocean. By the way, do you have any clue how many dives we’ve been on over the last five hundred years?”

I shook my head absentmindedly, thinking about how strange it was; the way everything connected. My brother would later be the person to unearth Callias’s things. Was it a coincidence?

In any case, I thanked Mack for answering my question and stepped toward the small stairs. “Goodbye, Mack. Thank you for everything.”

“Goodbye, Mia. And good luck.”

I flashed a meek little smile at him and stepped out. I wondered where he would go next or if I’d ever see him again.

“But, Mia,” Mack called out. “I did find a good woman. She just wasn’t destined to love me back.”

The pilot closed the door, and I stood there for a moment. Had he meant that he’d loved me? But we’d only spent that one evening talking and…

I shook my head. No. He must’ve meant someone else.

He betrayed his brother for you, Mia. Something you said he’d never do.

Callias, I’m so sorry. None of this seemed fair, like we were all destined to suffer. Fucking Greek tragedy from hell.

I stared at that helicopter as the blades sped up and whipped the air. Wherever Mack was going, I hoped he’d find happiness.

I turned and headed toward the gleaming white modern Greek palace, with its sharp angles and large tinted windows, perched on a cliff that housed the sleeping cursed king. My King.

~~~

Once inside, I was greeted by Ypirétria number…hell, we had to be up to five thousand or so by now. Stefanos was nowhere to be found, but I assumed he’d show. After all, this was it; the curse would finally be broken and his family would be free.

With a solemn face, she silently showed me to my private room. I wondered if she’d heard the news—what King had done to me.

She turned on the shower and laid out a slip and a simple white dress that reminded me of what I wore in Minoa. I thanked her and shut the door after she left.

I stepped into the shower and let the hot water wash over me. I scrubbed and scrubbed until my skin felt raw, but it was no use. No amount of soap and water would make me feel clean again. Everything felt so…so…poisoned.

I held back the tears, shut off the water, and dried myself. With a towel wrapped around my body, I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the phone on the nightstand. Slowly, I reached for it and dialed.

Within a few rings my mother’s voice came through from the other end. “Hello?”

“Hi, Mom. It’s me.”

“Dear Lord. Mia, where have you been?”