Page 100 of Under a Wicked Moon
The flowers fell to the ground. It was as if there was nothing other than this, the depth of connection to this being. She opened and let him in. She needed to touch every inch of him, to have her hands on his bare skin. The need burned her from the inside out.
He pulled away.
“I need you,” she whispered.
“I know. It’s overwhelming, isn’t it? It’s not diminished in the slightest, even though you can’t remember what happened before.”
“A part of me never forgot. Deep in my mind, I hear your voice saying, ‘You’re safe’ over and over.” With a burst, she realized that was the key. “That’s it. That’s how we know they can’t control me anymore. You have to use those words like you did after they bombed the church. They’re deeper in my head thananything else. If someone tries to control me, it needs to be you who breaks the spell.”
“I’ll try, but those trigger words are still there. We need to keep searching for a more reliable and permanent way to erase them. We still have to be very careful. At least, until this is over.”
“Can you promise me one thing?”
“Only one?”
“I don’t want to ever forget again. I want to remember everything with you.”
“I promise. Everything.”
Epilogue
King Francis wore his shirt open at the collar and khakis with the knife crease fresh down the leg. It was the most disheveled Roman had ever seen the king as he paced back and forth in front of a sixty-inch TV. Some political disaster had exploded that embroiled a politician and the monarch’s wife. Sticky human business. Not his problem.
In his earpiece, Flynn said, “All security has been controlled and diverted. You have three to five minutes. Ky has eyes in the sky for your departure.” Meaning the sniper was at his post.
“Your Majesty, we need to talk.”
The king whipped around and backed up a few paces. “Wha…what the hell? Where did you come from?”
“Please, sit.” Roman waved at the sofa and clicked off the TV. “This is more important than that.”
“That’s my life—”
“It’s minutiae that’ll blow over and barely affect your life a week from now,” Roman interrupted. “Gerard is compromised. He’s on Slate’s payroll.” He leaned back and watched closely.
The king’s eyes flared for a moment.
“You didn’t know that he worked more for Slate than you? We, on the other hand, report only to you. We worked with Gerard so long as he spoke in good faith for you, but once he skidded off the rails and no longer did so—once he coordinated with Slate to have us exterminated via missile on a bogus mission—we stopped following his directives.”
“He hasn’t reported anything wrong with you. He tried to what? A missile?”
“He wouldn’t report anything wrong, not after what he’s been doing. Did you order to have us assassinated?” Roman’s cheek twitched from gritting his teeth.
The monarch shook his head. “Why would I do that?”
“Someone doesn’t want you to have us as an advantage anymore. I want you to listen closely, since our time is short. First, replace Gerard. Do it within the next hour.”
The monarch held up his hand and stood. “You don’t get to bark orders at me. You’re mine to order.”
Roman counted slowly to ten. He couldn’t wait to be free of this narcissist.Give me patience, God.“I understand your need to be in control, but this is about far more than some peon going rogue. He’s not loyal to you. You don’t want to give him full authority when he doesn’t speak for you. Plus, he tried to kill us. He’ll try again. Then you won’t have us anymore. He’s owned by Slate. With us, you get to be autonomous from the government. You have a power they don’t, and no other leader does. You want to keep that, right?”
He nibbled at the inside of his cheek. “Gerard’s out. Done. But I’m not… I can’t interact with you in a day-to-day capacity.”
“Find someone new. You need someone not associated with MI6 but who has some field work experience. Someone who will be so awed to be asked that he’ll be dying to have this job.”
“I’ll consider it.”
“There’s something bigger going on. Someone has been capturing lycans and other paranormal creatures for decades to both breed and brainwash them into becoming super-soldiers. To sell them to the highest bidder.” He paused to gauge if the monarch was surprised. Although a superb actor, his eyes didn’t change. He knew.
