The King (Page 93)
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
The King (Black Dagger Brotherhood #12)(93)
Author: J.R. Ward
Great theory. Except Shadows were immune to that kind of shit.
“You weren’t supposed to be the one who serviced him,” iAm muttered as he put more sea salt into the mix.
“Watch your tone.”
iAm pivoted around and glared at the dumb-ass. “I have an idea. How about you—for once—make a good decision about a female. Then I won’t have to get pissy.”
The Chosen standing beside Trez kicked her chin up. “If you want to blame someone, do not address him. I chose to go unto him even though you asked for another.”
iAm turned back to his pot. “Great. Congratulations and welcome to the family.”
His brother materialized over to him, spun him around and grabbed him by the throat. “Apologize to her—”
iAm leaned into the iron grip, baring his fangs. “Fuck you, Trez.”
“You want a piece?” his brother growled. “You want a f**king—”
“Do it. I f**king dare you—”
“Don’t push me—”
“I’m trying to save your ass! You f**king—”
As the pair of them escalated toward an implosion to rival Wrath’s from the night before, the Chosen walked over and spoke evenly.
“He told me,” she cut in. “Everything. And it strikes me that the two of you are alone in this situation. So mayhap Last Meal instead of fisticuffs, shall we.”
iAm turned his head at the same time Trez did.
As the pair of them faced off at the totally calm and controlled Chosen, Trez did the unheard-of—and dropped his hand. Stepped off. Crossed his arms over his chest.
He was still furious to the core, but the call to heel was obeyed with such ease, you had to wonder if maybe the bonding bullshit might not be useful—to a point.
iAm glared at his brother. “I don’t know what to say to you.”
“Selena, will you give us a sec?”
The Chosen nodded. “Mayhap I’ll just return up north. And give you two plenty of space.”
Trez frowned. “You don’t have to go.”
Selena’s eyes went back and forth. “Actually, I think I do. You know where I’ll be—and please. Do not tear each other asunder. It will only make all of this worse.”
iAm braced himself for a gag-worthy display of good-byeing, but the female further impressed him by bowing slightly and taking off. No muss, no fuss.
Shit, he could almost like her. If he weren’t so angry at his idiot brother—
“I want to meet with s’Ex. Today.”
iAm crossed his own arms and leaned back against the stove. “Because you think you’re going to talk sense into him? I already got real with the bastard—and he’s more than ready to do his job.”
“Can you reach him?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell him to meet me at noon at our apartment.”
“That’s the deadline for you to show at the s’Hisbe.” When his brother didn’t reply, iAm lifted his brows. “You aren’t turning yourself in, are you?”
“Set up the meeting.”
iAm cursed long and low. Yeah, he wanted to kick his brother’s ass—but absolutely, positively didn’t want anyone else to. “Trez.”
“Do it.”
“Not unless you tell me where you’re at.”
“I thought you wanted me to go back.”
“So that’s what you’re doing? Tell me something, you planning on bringing your Chosen with you—make a happy little family or some shit?”
“She’s not mine.”
“Have you told your hormones that?”
Trez slashed his hand through the air. “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”
“And that’s your f**king problem.”
“Just call the executioner. That’s all I’ve got to say.”
As Trez turned on his heel, iAm spoke sharply. “I can’t let you go back there.”
Trez stopped. Looked over his shoulder.
“What,” iAm groused.
“I just … I don’t know. I guess I didn’t expect that.”
Time to go back to the sauce. Stew. What the f**k was he making again?
Popping the lid off, he remanned his spoon and stirred slowly. He’d handmade everything from the chicken stock to the spice satchels that were floating on the surface of the fragrant mélange.
“iAm?”
“I don’t care if they die.” He watched slices of carrots and squares of onions surface in the thick base. “I know I’m supposed to, because they’re my parents, but I’ve thought about it and I’m sorry—if they can be selfish, so can I. My family is you and me, and I will choose us over anyone.”
“God … I think I needed you to say that.”
He shot another glare over. “You doubted it? Like, ever?”
Trez went across and parked it on one of the stools at the counter. “There are limits.”
iAm had to laugh. “You don’t say.”
Going to the cabinets on the left, he took out two deep-bellied bowls, then sprang one of the drawers and got some soup spoons. Ladling the stew in, he served his brother first.
Trez tried some and moaned. “This is amazing.”
When iAm gave the shit a taste, he had to agree, but he kept that to himself. Pride was an unattractive trait, even if it was well-placed.
“What are you going to do about the Chosen?” iAm asked.
Trez’s shrug was just a liiiiiittle too nonchalant. “Nothing.”
“Not sure it’s going to work out like that for you.”
Trez stared into the stew. “She’s just one more reason to stay on the outside. Not that I needed it.”
“She says you told her everything. That right?”
It was a long while before Trez nodded slowly. “Yeah. Pretty much.”
“What exactly did you keep to yourself.”
Those black eyes lifted after a while. “Seconds?”
iAm snagged the now-empty bowl and brought it over for a redo.
“I didn’t tell her how bad it’s going to get,” Trez said softly as more stew was delivered.
“So you lied.”
There was another long silence. “Yeah. I did.”
Because after the queen was done eliminating their parents? The tribe was going to come after iAm. He was the next rung on the ladder of coercion because they couldn’t touch Trez, after all. He had to be in one piece.
iAm found himself nodding. “Probably a good move.”
- Page 1
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168