Blakeshire (Insight #9)(69)

“Donalt, is it?” I said as I reached my hand out for his.

His stone cold gray eyes appraised me as he nodded once and reached to shake my hand. I was sure I was about to have one of the most intriguing conversations of my life. My only goal was to survive it.





Chapter Fourteen

Madison




I had heard so much about this demon, seen conversations in the minds of those around me, that I felt like I knew him. I don’t know what I was expecting to feel or sense from him, but the degree of fear I felt surely took me by surprise.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he breathed. “I rule the emotion of fear, consume it. Therefore, that is all you will feel from me.”

The other thing I had learned about the dead was that their vibration is higher because a vessel is not constricting their energy; at that level, they can readily perceive your thoughts, your emotions. It’s not as clear as I am sure they would like, but it does give them all the insight they need to toy with you. I was going to have to keep everything on lockdown around this ghost. If I didn’t, all the precautions Drake may have taken to protect me would be fruitless; Donalt would have his own little copy of the playbook.

No matter how hard I focused, I could not see into Donalt; not one single flash into his mind. He was by far the most regal ghost I’d ever faced. I was going into this blind, so I was going to have to play my words just right.

“That must blow.”

My response made him smirk.

“Being a king does not, as you say, blow.”

“It would be hell for me,” I said with a careless shrug of my shoulders as I swayed my feet in the water.

“Then why are you seeking to be a queen?” he asked as he raised the one eyebrow he did have.

“Who said I was?”

“You are courting a future king, are you not?”

I had to ponder this. Part of me wanted to be real with this ghost—stop the charades that were meant for a court that was trying to overthrow Drake. I assumed if Drake was in fact overthrown, that would not bode well for Donalt; what is the purpose of taking over a body that has no life? Donalt had a stake in all of this. I was sure of it.

My memory flashed an image before me. Again, it was of the diamond eyes that belonged to a strong regal figure, one that for some reason continued to make me think of peppermints. I remembered the words Drake had said I murmured in my dream and decided to fake hate.

“I was brought here against my will,” I fumed.

“Now, I know that is a lie. I destroyed the island this vessel was born on myself.”

I gave him a once over. “You may want to look into a trade. Your current vessel looks a wee bit worn.”

He chuckled as I pointed out the obvious.

“And just because you destroyed something doesn’t meant that it no longer exists, and even if it didn’t exist, that does not mean that I wasn’t brought here against my will.”

“Interesting,” he mused as his one eye appraised me.

“So what is your deal anyway?”

“My deal?” he breathed.

“Yeah, your deal? You said you were the King of Fear. I get that. I know you’re dead. I know you don’t want to be. Have you ever heard of reincarnation? Seems like that would have saved you some trouble. Wouldn’t you rather be some cute little baby than what you are?”

“You speak your mind.”

“Who doesn’t?”

“Not many. No wonder the King of Obsession is fascinated with you.”

“Oh, so you share your rule?” You would have thought we were sitting on a park bench, as casual as I was being.

“I share fear with no one!” he bellowed into the echo of the stone room. I had found a weak spot in him. Go me. “I was not the fool who decided to divide his reign.” The growl in his voice emphasized his rage. He had already admitted that there were two kings—maybe that was my seven—maybe I could get him to admit that there were that many; at least then I would know what that number meant.

“The King of Obsession did that, I assume.”

“No, he is no fool.” He glanced over me. “He obviously has good taste in women.”

I playfully glared at him. “All right, then. Well, you can’t blame the king of whatever for sharing. I’m sure it’s hard to be a king. Maybe he wanted a break.”

“Then he should have asked us, not brought a woman into the sacred circle.”

“Ah, now tell me you’re not sexist. If you are, I might join the hunt for your head.”

“I am not,” he said as that one eye glared at me. “She toyed with his thoughts. Now he sees us as evil. He is the fool.”

“Us, the other—” I play counted on my fingers, “two kings.”

“Five,” he said as he tilted his head back. “You knew that.”

So I was right about the seven kings. Donalt was one—five others were on his side, and one stood against him—obviously, one that divided his reign with a woman. That is what I love about obsession: it always leads you to the answers you are seeking.

“Did I?”

“You act as if you knew that,” he mused as he gazed forward at the water.

“I know nothing beyond the fact that all of this is ridiculous.”