Page 1 of The King

PROLOGUE

THREE DAYS EARLIER

“Hello, Sam’s Diner. Maggie speakin’. How do you like your burgers?”

“Maggie?...squelch-squawk-squelch. “Maggie, it’s Ettie, I’m in…squeeeeeeeeeelch...."

"Ettie? Ettie, I can't hear you. What's wrong? Why are you using…?”

“No - No M-Magic. Max is l-lost. Can’t…squaaaawwwwkkkkk– click –beeeeeeeeeeep.”

Slamming the receiver back on its hook, Maggie spun towards her Mate and growled, “Something’s wrong. Ettie and Max need us.”

"Whatcha waitin' on?" Heath immediately responded. Getting to his feet and holding out his hand, he added with the strength she absolutely admired and adored, "If they need us, we're there."

“Yeah, but I’m not sure where there is.”

“Bet I know someone who does.”

Moving as fast as she could to keep up with her Mate’s long strides, Maggie swatted the switch to turn off the lights in the main dining room without missing a beat. The hot air of the Chihuahuan Desert smacked her in the face the second Heath opened the door.

Inhaling deeply, she ran right into the back of her Dragon as he stopped and yelled, “What the hell areyoudoing here?”

1

PRESENT DAY

Floating somewhere between total unconsciousness and almost awake, an incessant, shrill, staccato beep beat at her brain. Cutting through the dense, muddled, unfamiliar chaos, it was as if a jackhammer was drilling through sheet metal with unrelenting accuracy and determination, and the center of her brain was its target. Her body involuntarily shook as the rippling echoes compounded into what seemed to be infinity. Each insistent trill sent her mind in a different direction. Zig-zagging here and there and everywhere, she was forced to fight back to where she started with each annoying trill. Trying to focus, she reached for the only thing that had ever made sense in her life, the Magic she'd been blessed with on the day of her birth. Swatting in the dark, she came back empty-handed and furious.

“What the fuck?!"she mentally yelled.“Eden? Are you there? You have to be there. We're joined at the soul." Still no response. "So, you're ignoring me? Great. Just great.”Once again, she automatically reached for her Magic as she mentally called to the Empress Eagle with whom she shared her soul,“Alright, Eden, enough of the silent treatment. What did I do this time to piss you off?”

More silence grated on her nerves like nails on a chalkboard and her Aunt Berta's off-key contralto. Talk about frustrating. It was downright maddening, and she was not putting up with it one second longer.

"Okay, Eden, I give up. How about you inform me of the horrible transgression I thrust upon you? I'll listen until my ears bleed. We'll have it out, and in the end, I'll say I'm sorry. Then you can tell me what fresh hell we're in today, and we can rectify the situation. Deal?”

But there was no answer, only a weird echoing silence that made her feel empty and alone for the first time in her very long life. Inhaling deeply, her nose, throat, and the roof of her mouth were assaulted by a bitter chemical scent that burned and stung and forced her to swallow against some horrible obstruction abrading and wearing on her esophagus.

Unable to recover quickly enough to combat a barrage of artificial air freshener and the sour sting of fake citrus, she gagged and coughed against whatever was parked in her throat while fighting the need to throw up. Air was forced into her lungs by a demanding hiss and abrupt pop that refused to relent. Summoning a calm she most assuredly did not feel, Ettie had just slowed her racing heart to an adamant trot when a sharp, musty odor that reminded her of being near a nail salon arrived at the party. Unable to fight the barrage of smells and sounds, tears flowed from under her closed eyelids, streaked down her cheeks, and slid off her jaw.

“Sometimes enhanced senses aren’t all they’re cracked up to be,”she mentally grumbled."Sadly, there's not a switch to turn them off. So, I'm just stuck."

Trying to block out everything but the incessant beeping, she clung to the annoying noise like a ship to the welcoming beam of the lantern at the top of a lighthouse. Following the irritating sound, she slowly, doggedly inched closer toward consciousness. It was like swimming through quicksand without using her arms and legs. Met by the hum of a mechanical fan and aplop-plop-plopthat just almost sounded like a leaky faucet but without the splash of water hitting the basin, the thick miasma of her mind refused to relent.

The more she pushed, the harder it fought to maintain the status quo. No matter what she tried, every avenue to total consciousness was blocked. No sooner was one pathway cleared than it filled up with another, thicker deluge of confusion, darkness, and utter chaos.

“If only I had….”

“If only you had what?”The scratchy, groggy, yet still incredibly sarcastic voice of the Empress Eagle with whom she shared her soul breathed into her mind.

“Well, as much as I hate to admit this, I was just about to wish I could talk to you.”

“Aww, you love me,”Eden sarcastically sighed.“And it only took umpteen thousand years for you to admit it.”

“Yeah, well, drastic times call for drastic measures. Don’t let it go to your head.”

“Oh, Darlin’, you know how I love it when you get all mushy.”

“What the hell was I thinking? Why did I ever…?”

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