My father kept his gaze on mine, a gentle kindness entering his gaze. “Yes, he did. He was a friend of mine and extremely gifted at his art.”
“Deceased?”
“Yes, about four hundred years ago, he took his Eternal Slumber.”
“That is a shame,” I responded softly.
“It is. I miss him.”
Lord Pippin cleared his throat gently, unobtrusively, and then he caught Lord Belshazzar and me up on their conversation before we arrived. “We were talking about the prophesy the Three gave.”
I nodded, repeating their words, “The war will not be stopped. Travel to S’Kir to find the Breaker. Only then will true peace be attainable.”
“We know the war is coming. And soon.” Lord Pippin nodded and turned his attention on the Overlord holding me against him. “Lord Belshazzar, you are the oldest amongst us. Do you know the way to S’Kir so we might find the Breaker—whoever or whatever that is?”
The other four lords waited, hope filling their eyes.
Lord Belshazzar disappointed them all with his words. “I have tried countless times and ways to find the entrance to S’Kir. I believe the only way to uncover the entrance is if we use both the Original vampire amulet and the Original druid amulet.”
Lord Xenon cocked his head in contemplation. “Why do you think that?”
“That’s a long story,” Lord Belshazzar sighed and rubbed his chin with his palm. “The short version is that our asshole king and his vampire friend stole the amulets from S’Kir and escaped with them to earth. The gate to S’Kir closed and disappeared shortly after he and his friend left with the amulets—and quite a few of his then followers. The timing is not a coincidence. The amulets should have never left S’Kir by his hand. They need to be returned there. I think the way to S’Kir will be shown if they are.”
I raised my eyes to him, asking cautiously, “If the amulets are brought back there, will it harm the vampires and druids on earth?”
This was the oddest conversation ever.
I was talking about…a different realm…
What the fuck. This was just peculiar on a different weirdness level. My reality and perception of truths were warping faster than a virgin coming with his first prostitute.
Lord Belshazzar shook his head. “No. I’ve taken them back and forth between S’Kir and earth with no harm ever coming to anyone.”
Lord Cato raised a single eyebrow, running his brown eyes over my lover’s face. His tone was suspicious, not entirely trusting. “You have, my lord?”
“Indeed, I have.” Lord Belshazzar didn’t elaborate.
My own brows snapped together. “Wait. You can touch both amulets?”
Now I understood why my father was suspicious. No vampire or druid could touch the opposite faction’s amulet. That was why our asshole king had stolen the “Original” vampire’s power—so that he could have both. But our “Original” vampire had added the caveat about being an Overlord to the laws…smart man, even if a thief. But he was killed, so I guess he wasn’t that smart. Nevertheless, Lord Belshazzar shouldn’t be able to hold both—no druid power ran in his veins.
“I can.” Lord Belshazzar simply stated.
All six of us stared at him silently.
Abruptly, Lord Otto laughed, loud and shocking—and started talking about theSecretgiven to me during my Challenges. “No wonder you weren’t worried about getting a druid once we stole the amulet and then killed the king. We won’t need one to hold the Original druid amulet.” He waved a hand up and down Lord Belshazzar’s frame. “Our solution to that problem…is you.”
My lover dipped his head in a slight bow. “Correct.”
Lord Cato was still staring hard. “What else don’t we know about you, my lord?”
“More than I care to explain right now.” Lord Belshazzar shrugged a shoulder. “Don’t worry. I won’t harm your precious daughter. But…I think you already know that, don’t you, Lord Cato?”
My father’s eyes narrowed even further.
I glanced back and forth between them. “What’s going on?”
Lord Cato swiped his hand through the air. “Just a pissing contest, sweetling.” His gaze calmed, and he looked to the other Overlords. “Back on point, we need to find that damn Original druid amulet. Are we any closer to it?”
