Page 61 of The Syphon King

“Wonder how Zodak is doing,” Beth remembered. “And Zen.”

“Oh, that’s the Syphon King,” Cherie said. “I’ve met him and his little girl.” She added, “I call her little girl because he’s so big next to her.”

“Tellus about him,” Tully whispered while they all tuned in.

“He’s as scary as he looks but you’d never know when he’s with Sammie. And to Raphael, he’s like some kind of marvel character. He calls him Zebra Shark because he’s so white with all the black swirly tattoos on his skin and has sharp teeth.”

“Was he born with pointy teeth?” Phelony dared quietly.

“No,” Maggie said. “I touched him and he’s very good. “He did it to protect people. It makes them scared of him and that keeps them away from him.”

“Sammie said it also helps him sense what’s up with people without having to use his eyes.”

“That’s where his gift is,” Maggie said.

“What can he do?” Phelony marveled.

“He cansuckyour soul from you,” Cherie muttered, getting gasps and a mix of cautious laughs. “I’m not sure how it works but if he stares into your eyes, he sees emotions I think and can draw them out.”

“What’s he doing with the girl?” Tully wondered.

“She was in one of Sammie’s visions. She’s supposed to help the Syphon King somehow.”

“He’s having some trouble with it,” Beth said, wishing she knew more about all of it. “Seems she has a lot of darkness, and he siphons it without realizing and it makes him...dangerous I guess.”

“Sammie said he uses lightning to neutralize whatever he siphons. They have a whole forest area just for him to do that in the... something that starts with a V. Voltatron or something.”

“Wow,” Felix whispered. “I thought I had a freak.”

“I’m curious where this poor girl got all this darkness from,” Tegan said. “And how come he ain’t done siphoning yet.”

“Sammie thinks it’s because of Zodak.”

“What about him?” Beth wondered.

She waved a hand as her brows became burdened. “I’m ashamed to say I can’t focus well when I watch words come out of my husband’s mouth. I’m mostly waiting for them to stop so I can talk about other things.”

“You just wanna kiss ‘em,” Tegan said, getting a fresh round of laughs as Cherie nodded with zero shame.

“Is he here?” Phelony looked out at the sea of faces.

“You wouldn’t miss him if he was. He wears this long black skirt and no top,” Maggie muttered with a funny light in her eyes. “Spook’s still mad I touched him.” Her eyes got bigger along with her smile. “He gets so mad when I touch any of them!”

Hilarious how much she loved that.

“Oh my God, look but don’t look,” Beth squealed. “I see his little girl, Zen in a black dress over by the big house.” She sucked in a breath. “Oh. My. God, I see him,” Beth muttered, her eyes going huge. “He’s dressed in normal clothes!”

They all searched and one after another their gasps came as they found him.

“Mercy, is that tattoos all over his head?” Tegan wondered.

“Yep. And he’s wearing his gates,” Cherie said. “That’s what he calls them.”

“Mercy, why?” Phelony marveled, still looking for him.

“Because beyond them is a place you don’t wanna go and those gates prevent you from accidentally going there. Unless he removes them.”

“Lordy,” Tegan said. “Don’t he just fit right in with all the rest of these swamp studs.”

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