Page 7 of Death God

He ignored me but trained his devoted gaze on his boss. “If you want to win over the girl, my king, you’ll need to court her properly and provide her with the finest things. Taking her to fancy restaurants might be the first step to impress her. You’ll need to outshine the old vampire king, and you can do better, Your Majesty.”

He really thought I was a simpleton.

I let out a low, amused chuckle. Then, I realized the unbearable tension in the car had lessened a great deal. Was that Going-gray’s intention? From what I knew about him, I’d underestimated him a few times, as he hid his cunningness behind his straightforward soldier’s exterior.

While every fiber of me still wanted to snuff out the Alpha King and take out the worst threat, I could breathe a little easier now, even facing my enemies.

“I know I screwed up.” The Alpha King sighed. “I deserve your anger, Pip. But you have to know this, and my cousin, Commander Jay, can tell you all about my remorse. I broke my engagement to Princess Viviane for you before the Vampire King took you from me. I was just about to get you out of the cell. After my cousin informed me that you were being starved, I punished all the guards. Some of them were executed. And to protect you, I’m holding Princess Viviane hostage, so the king of the European shifters will think twice about moving against us and placing a bounty on your head. The French princess is old and fragile now, but she isn’t dead. I was going to make her answer for her crimes, but you doled out your punishment beautifully. I’m proud of you, Pip.”

I wanted to slap the fucker hard until his face became so swollen that no one could recognize him.

“You need to recognize the Vampire King for what he is, Pip girl,” Going-gray said sternly. “He posed himself as a hero, knowing a girl like you would buy his act. But he’s a total phony.”

I arched an eyebrow. “When did you get to know King Nyström so well? And how is he a phony? Enlighten me, please. This curious mind wants to know.”

“You just can’t trust a vampire,” Going-gray barked, red in the face, “least of all the Vampire God! You can be naïve sometimes, Pip girl.”

I’d regained most of my memories, and I was nearly a century older than him. If Going-gray knew exactly what I was, he might have shat his pants. However, the entity inside the Alpha King knew exactly who I was, but he was playing coy and letting Jared, his puppet, run the show for now.

“Jay, I got this.” The Alpha King turned to me as he put on a patient expression. “Vampires are cunning creatures. It’s your blood the vampire king craves the most. He might have drunk from you and you didn’t even realize it. That’s probably the stench I smelled on you earlier. But don’t worry. After I mark you and make you mine again, you’ll carry only my scent. We’ll re-forge our mating bond. I promise you, everything will be all right.”

Repulsion washed over me. “Quit talking like a creep,” I said coldly and sharply. “You don’t get to decide how to use my body. You aren’t going to mark me or whatever.”

Anger flashed in the Alpha King’s deep blue eyes.

“Give her time, Jared,” Going-gray said. “We’ve just gotten her back, and she’s still traumatized. Think about it. She’s been enthralled by the Vampire God, the most formidable monster, for a month. Who knows what else he did to her. It’s up to us to help her put the past behind her and move on. It’s the future that matters.”

The Alpha King had such tunnel-vision that he couldn’t imagine any woman turning him down. His inability to accept my rejection was going to be his undoing. Yet Going-gray was helping him try another angle.

We left Walla Walla behind, and I was further away from my mate. I watched the road the enemy’s fleet took carefully. Instead of heading south, they sped west toward Portland along the border of Oregon.

I let them talk. I had to suffer the Alpha King’s words and his voice, though they made my skin crawl. But I knew the more he talked, the more likely he’d reveal something that I could use against him.

“Things will be different, Pip,” the Alpha King said. “You’ll be treated with utter respect as my future queen.”

The asshole’s sheer arrogance made me sick. He still had no understanding or remorse for what he’d done to my mate and me. He’d tried to break me and expected me to move on like nothing had ever happened. If he’d just left me alone, I wouldn’t have marked him for death. I’d just had lived my life peacefully with Marlowe.

The two leading army jeeps suddenly screeched to a halt, then spun out of control. The next array of jeeps, running at high speed, rammed into the vehicles ahead. Our war mage driver hit the brakes and tried to veer the car to the side, but our van still bumped into the side of a jeep. The car behind us hit the rear of our van.

The chain reaction felt like a small earthquake. The piercing screech of metal scratching metal made me wince, even though I was the one who had caused this highway episode with my prank magic.

“What the hell?” Going-gray yelled.

The guards in the van pulled out guns, their eyes darting around wildly to look for threats, ready to charge outside the van for a gunfight.

The Alpha King regarded me. “Are you all right, Pip?”

I shrugged.

Five men—one in a white robe, which told me that he was a mage, and four shifters in army fatigues—had filed out of the first jeep. Two soldiers stood guard on either side of the jeep, their guns thrust out in front of their chests. Two other soldiers went down on their knees to check the tires along with the dark mage in a robe. The mage chanted something. I watched with interest, as I doubted that his spells would fix the tire issue. No one could counter my prank magic.

Going-gray pressed the radio. “Report, soldier!”

“The tires exploded out of the blue, sir.” A soldier’s voice came through the radio. “We’re still investigating, but we don’t see roadblocks or any spikes. It’s strange, sir.”

More shifter soldiers from the other vehicles got out to investigate as well.

Going-gray, the mage driver, and a stocky shifter guard from our van also got out.

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