Page 162 of Death Game: Supernatural Battle

What’s happening?

He settled back. “Kyros will struggle with his powers always, Miss Le Spyre. Like humans, his mind is most flexible until a certain age. For humans, that’s twenty-five. For Vissimo, around two hundred and twenty. The biggest battle my son will face in his immortality will be a constant one, a siege. His power is unlike anything I have seen. His strength rivals the stories of the greatest of our kind—mere myths to us now. Since his birth—game aside—that has been a constant concern for his mother and me. Due to that concern, I have pushed him relentlessly from birth—knowing my ability to contain his loss of control had an expiry date. I humiliate him. I hurt him. I dangle the things he wants most just out of his reach. I demand more than perfection from my heir because the world could be left in ruins if he ever loses control.”

My jaw dropped open as I thought back over the interactions with King Julius.

Refusing his permission for the exchanges.

Choking me in front of Kyros.

Flaring his eyes to push my body to the limits,in front of Kyros.

Forcing his son to watch the video of the fight with Theodore over and over again.

He did it out of love and devotion.

Absolute love. He feared having to kill Kyros.

Iunderstood.

“What about when you found out about Sandra Hoyt?” I asked him.

He tipped his head back. “No. Then, I was going to kill you. I’m an alpha, too, so it was good practice. It’s not often my control gets tested anymore.”

Phew.

“Six hundred years and even I am not infallible. But two things stopped me.” His endless blue eyes settled upon me as he straightened. “My son would have lost control if I killed you.”

There was something else? Because that was the only thing I’d considered.

“Secondly, I had an inkling you would still prove worthy.”

I didn’t say anything, unsure how to respond, but my curiosity couldn’t be denied. Who knew when King Julius would want a deep and meaningful again? This was probably a once every decade occurrence. “Why?”

“Your blood and Kyros’s sings, Miss Le Spyre,” the king replied. “I do not know you well. I doubt you know yourself well. Idoknow my son. A partner worthy of him must be extraordinary indeed.”

I tried not to fidget.

“Kyros could have told you this if you’d asked him, by the way,” Julius said, his lips twitching. “As much as he enjoyed your feistiness each time I humiliated him.”

He did?

I’d felt terrible for him, and he’dlikedmy response. My eyes narrowed.

“As much as he enjoyed being purchased by you, I’d wager,” the king added. “This is what happens to strong men when a strong woman knows her worth.”

Kyros and I would be having words about the owning thing. I’d freed over two thousand vampires in direct opposition of that concept. “So you’ll need to continue being mean to him,” I said, wrinkling my nose.

“No,” the ancient vampire said, lips quirking again. “I don’t believe so.”

He stood, towering over me.

I clutched the pizza box to hide the sudden shaking of my hands.

“In one-hundred-and-fifty years, I managed to make my son lose control four times in his first three decades of living. Most of those in his very first years. Since knowing you, he has lost control at least three times by my count. I have high hopes that trend will continue,especially,” he tapped my temple, “as you can calm him down also.”

I stared.What?I wasn’t taking over that role! Not happening.

“I couldn’t have planned your trip to Gingers to see Gina better myself,” the king said. “Well done.”

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