King’s (The King Trilogy #1)(35)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“Move, King.” I pushed my way past him and shoved open the door. The muted light from the warehouse barely penetrated the dark, vacated room, but I saw a foot. A woman’s bare foot sitting in a pool of blood.

Oh my God. “What happened to her?”

“Do I really need to explain?” King said all too casually.

I didn’t respond to his snide comment because my thoughts instantly jumped to Justin.

I covered my mouth. “Is Justin okay? Where is he?”

“I do not know. But, Miss Turner, you must calm yourself and take a breath. I need you to look inside the room and tell me what you see.” His gaze was intense and exacting.

“Some poor woman was murdered; we need to call the police.”

King shook his head. “When are you going to learn, Miss Turner? The police cannot help her; she is dead. And if you’d like to help your brother, then you must step inside and tell me what you see.”

I pushed out my palms. “Okay. Okay. Just let me catch my breath.”

King closed his eyes, clearly holding back some sort of disapproval.

I sucked in a breath. “Okay. Ready.”

I stepped inside the dark room, just a few inches from the woman’s foot. At first, I could see only the blackness and that faint ray of light coming in through the door, but as I relaxed, the colors began to pop. I saw grays and greens, calm cool colors swirling about the walls.

“What do you see?” King asked impatiently.

“Nothing. Just…” My eyes wandered down to the woman. A thick ring of red encircled her body.

“Was the Artifact here?” he asked.

My eyes shifted away from the woman’s torso. Across her palm was that distinct pattern I’d seen at the excavation site in Palenque. It was red and black, crisscrossing together.

“I think the woman had it,” I said. “And…there are red blotches on the ground. They’re shaped like footprints.” I saw that they led out of the room. I followed them to where they faded into a giant red pool swirling on the ground just outside the door.

I gasped and held my hand over my face. “No. Please, no.”

Before I could say another word, King had my hand and was pulling me out of there.

“Wait! Where are we going?” I pulled back. I wanted to keep looking for some sign of who it belonged to. “What does it mean—the red? Does it always mean somebody died in that spot? Is it Justin?”

King continued to yank me along, toward the exit.

“No! Goddammit!” I slipped from King’s grip, and he looked about as surprised as I did. “Is that Justin’s…” Crap. What should I call a pool of red light?

I wrapped my hands around my waist and took a deep breath. “Just tell me the truth, King. Did Justin die here? Is that what I just saw?” I didn’t know if I could handle the truth or what it might do to me if Justin was dead, but I needed to know. “Please…tell me.”

King looked down at me, and I think it was the first time I’d seen any sign of compassion touch those distant, cool gray eyes.

His mouth hardened into a straight line. “It could have been someone else. Justin could’ve run with the Artifact, which is why we must keep looking.”

I tried to keep breathing, but wasn’t sure I wanted to. “That’s all you care about, isn’t it?”

“Come. We need to leave before anyone shows up.” King squeezed my shoulder.

“Why would they leave the woman but take the second body?”

“I don’t know,” he said quietly. “Whoever was here took the Artifact, and I need to track where it’s going.”

“The Artifact? The f**king Artifact, King? Are you kidding? My brother is probably dead. And they killed that poor woman in there! Yet, all you care about is some piece for your private collection?”

King was motionless, and I couldn’t tell if he was about to walk away or do something to shut me up.

He stroked the short whiskers on the tip of his chin as if struggling with something. “You don’t know that your brother is dead. And that ‘poor woman’ got what she deserved.”

I blinked at him in shock.

“That was the woman who was tracking the Artifact for me,” he explained.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“She double-crossed me. I told her that if she located your brother, to stay out of sight. She obviously found your brother and the Artifact. And she obviously tried to make a deal of her own, probably to get the Artifact for herself. I won’t waste my time feeling sorry for her.”

“You won’t feel sorry for her because she double-crossed you,” I fumed. “You’re serious? You think that’s a reason someone should be murdered? You’re a heartless, greedy son of a bitch.”

His sublimely masculine face turned a deep shade of blistering red, and he closed the gap between us. “And you, Miss Turner, are a naïve, little girl. That woman is dead because of you. And if your brother was also killed, then his blood is also on your hands.”

“How can you say that?”

“If you hadn’t disobeyed me, I wouldn’t have had to spend my time last night tracking you down and putting you somewhere safe instead of locating the Artifact. I would have gotten to your brother first.”

His words stung. Was it because there was some truth to them?

“Make no mistake, Mia, if he’s not dead already,” King seethed, “your weakness will be the death of him.”

I slapped his face, and his head whipped to the side.

King rubbed the spot on his cheek and smiled as if he’d almost enjoyed it. “You’re lucky I still need you, Miss Turner.”

“Do you, King? Do you really need me? Or is it want? I see the way you look at me. Is that what all this is about? Your little power trips and games to hurt me? Is it because I rejected you that first night?”

His nearly translucent eyes narrowed. “You would like to pretend that, now wouldn’t you? But I believe it is the other way around. You’re the one who regrets not getting f**ked over that desk. You were too afraid to admit that those dark, uncivilized feelings exist inside you.” His voice lowered to a menacing whisper. “But I know what’s inside your head, Mia. I’ve seen everything.”

“Then you know I hate you. That I’d rather be Vaughn’s sex slave for the rest of my life than be your desktop f**kbuddy for one night.”

His face turned into a cold, impenetrable fortress. He dipped his head. “I will try to remember that the next time the opportunity arises for a trade.” He turned toward the door. “In the meantime, I have an artifact to hunt down, and if you want to find out what has happened to your pathetic, thieving brother, I suggest you keep your commitment to assist me.”