Page 82 of King Elijah (The Zemiran Chronicles 2)

Kieran smiled and pulled his hand back before he touched her skin.

“Well, the tension here is killing the celebratory moment,” Kieran said. “Have a drink or fuck something.”

Janelle stepped forward, ignoring his crude order. “Where’s Aiden? Did you hurt him?” Janelle asked before Kieran turned his back on them to walk away.

“Oh, Janelle, lighten up. He’s getting dressed, but he’ll join us soon.” Kieran ushered over another servant with a snap of his fingers. A short man rushed over, handing both Janelle and Elijah a glass of champagne. Elijah held it at the tips of his fingers, not taking that first sip that Kieran had waited for.

“I said I won’t kill you. Relax,” Kieran said. “I’ve thought a lot about ending this conflict, and I believe you’ll like what I have to say.”

“Then say it,” Elijah seethed, agitated by Kieran’s casual demeanor.

“Not right now. I’ve had way too much to drink, and a beautiful, naked woman is waiting for me in my room. If you’ll excuse me. I’m going to step out for the next hour.” He turned to Janelle. “Go visit the Oracle, Janelle. It is you she is most eager to see. She’s waited quite some time to read you.”

Kieran walked away sluggishly, catching himself from falling at one of the columns before slipping out of the ballroom.

“What the fuck was that?” Janelle said, turning to Elijah. “Like, honestly, he doesn’t seem the least bit angry. I thought for sure he’d have at least ordered for you to be locked up. As for me, he should’ve killed me for what I’ve done . . . or didn’t do.”

Elijah stayed silent, his eyes not leaving the door Kieran walked out of.

“Elijah?” she called, drawing his attention to finally look at her. He lifted the glass of champagne to his lips and gulped it down in one tilt.

“We’ll need more alcohol for this shit,” he said, walking past her and over to the bar.

Her feet shuffled over the runner behind him. Elijah helped himself to another glass when they reached the bar, then turned to Janelle.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. “We’re supposed to be having a discussion with Kieran on how to get my brother back and end this madness between you two. Not getting drunk while he fucks one of his doting followers.”

He reached out, placed his hand on her cheek, and watched the fear and panic fade from her eyes from his gentle touch. “Janelle,” he breathed. “Why has the Oracle not given you a reading after the last six years?”

Janelle’s brows knitted together. “That’s what you’re asking me? Why has an Oracle not read my future?” she asked. “What a weird thing to ask.”

Yes, it is a weird thingto ask, he said in his mind, especially given how our lives are in the hands of a drunk sorcerer bent on destroying them. But a question had been pressed on Elijah’s mind the last two weeks, and an Oracle could answer it.

Janelle placed her glass on the table and turned to Elijah. “What now?” she asked. “Do we just wait? We traveled all this way to stand around until Kieran decides if he’ll kill us?” She threw her hands up. “Aiden could be dead. Or maybe Kieran is screwing with us, and my brother never made it here after all.”

Elijah shook his head. “He’s not going to kill us,” he said, watching Janelle’s features change. After pouring himself another glass of champagne and downing that a lot quicker than he did the last, he sat his champagne glass on the table and turned to her. Her face fell, shaking her head as if she was stunned by his behavior.

“Stop drinking, Elijah. I need your head straight,” she said. “You’re acting as if you trust Kieran.”

He let out a hard laugh. “Trust him? No, Janelle, I don’t trust that man, but I believe you were never sent to kill me in the first place.” Janelle’s lips parted in confused shock. “And that Oracle is going to tell us why.”

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