The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (110 page)

With these thoughts in mind I turned without thinking towards the one who held my heart so close to his own
,
it made one. Draven was sat back all ease and power radia
ting from him like glowing e
mbers. It made me inhale more air than needed and the slight noise I made was enough for him to hear and turn his head. His reaction cause
d
mine to bite my lip. He grinned at me and then motioned for me to come to him. His hand extended and his fingers pulled as though he had me hooked. I was embarrassed at such a command being made in front of everyone so freely and I lowered my head letting the shorter parts of my hair fall forward covering my shame. I did manage, without looking at him, to shake my head indicating a
no
before turning away from him. I could hear him laughing from here. This caused my cheeks to turn a deeper shade which I hid with my hair.
When I did finally glance back I saw him lean into his sister to whisper to her, all the while a super confident smile lay upon his lips like it would never go away.

“He wants me to tell you that you have finished for the night
.
” Karmun said bringing me back to the fact I wasn’t alone.

“Umm...no I’m not, I work till ten and it’s only...” I was interrupted before finding out the time.

“He’s the Mast...boss Keira not me and you finish whenever he wishes it
.
” He tried to say this without emotion but I could detect the bitterness in the way he was about to say “Master” instead he choose the word boss. I was now caught between stubbornness and curiousness. I didn’t want to give in so easily but then again
,
I didn’t know what tainted stories my cousin was telling everyone on Draven’s council. I bet Aurora was loving it! That thought made me shudder. It was also the reason my stubbornness won.

“I don’t care what Draven says” I said a little louder than what was necessary for only Karmun to hear. He looked shocked at my lack of co-operation and a little impressed
,
I think.

“I am here to work and so far I have done little of that, so please give me a job I can do that makes me think I am worthy of being paid.” He smiled at me now making me do the same, but his smile soon became directed behind me. At first I expected to see Draven as I turned but then
I had to smile when I saw he had
sent
his
reinforcement.
So this is what he had being whispering...sneaky!

“
Hell
o Keira, are you ready to come and play with us?” Sophia asked
me sweetly rocking back and to
on her heels. She looked like a little ballerina from a trinket box and the image of that I quickly wiped from my memory and started to rub my gloved arms unselfconsciously.

Sophia noticed my reaction, of course she did. She was like her brothers, always watching and analysing everything I did. It was an annoying family trait. Like everyone was waiting for the first signs of a meltdown I knew wasn’t going to happen. At least this is what I suspected anyway.

“I was just telling Karmun how my time isn’t up yet so he should give me another job to do...maybe stocking up or something
.
” They both laughed at the idea of this.

“What?” I asked them both frowning.

“I doubt Dom would like you heavy lifting Keira
.
” She said in composed amusement.

“Draven doesn’t want me doing anything! Working
,
full stop
.
” I ranted out but she took little seriousness in my words.

“Oh Keira
,
come now, what exactly do you see wrong in that sentence. My brother is now getting persecuted for what.... being too thoughtful?” She was trying not to smile at knowing guilt was my biggest weakness.

“I...I...that’s not what I meant, I just...” I was close to chewing my
bottom lip off at a statement that sounded reasonable enough
,
that it was hard to argue against. Not that I still didn’t want to and with the added look of victory i
n her face made it all that
harder not too. Of course instead of thinking of a good response I just let out a defeated breath and rolled my eyes.

“Fine but I’m not happy about it
!
” My shoulders slumped as light came to her features.

“Really Keira, anyone would think we were trying to get you to walk over hot coals
, dance naked whist killing bunnies
!”

“You do realise my cousin is sat over there right?” I said sarcastically making her laugh.

“Which reminds me, why on earth would you do this to me?” I asked her
,
pleading a cause that was far too late...unless they were willing to kick her out.

“Look
,
I know you are angry at me about having her
here but despite being little ‘
M
iss Naughty Demon’
this one was not me. This one was an order and one you will have to take up with someone else
.
” Sophia tried not to laugh as my mouth drop
ped
open and I could only imagine what a simpleton I looked.

“What! Draven?” She only nodded at my outburst and I felt my gut twist into a hard ball of rage. Why! Why, why and more whys? I now knew the reasons behind his evil grin earlier. It wasn’t at his sister’s request at all...it was at his. Well this changes things. My night’s frustration was quickly turning to a lethal weapon I was about to let loose in Draven’s direction.

Oh yes,
my shift
had now finished but my work for the night was definitely not over!
 

Not by a long shot.

Chapter 48 

Keira Stories.

I turned to Karmun before leaving with Sophia and said one word.

“Drink” The word came out ruder that I had meant it too but instead of being offended Karmun found amusement in my order. I guess Draven was rubbing off on me. I had a shot of tequila in front of me before I could blink. Everyone that knew me here
,
knew my drinking preference and it wasn’t hard to realise which one of the two I needed the most right now.
Hell
Karmun even knew I didn’t need the salt or lime. No
,
I already had a sour taste in
my
mouth that didn’t needed adding too.

“Come on, let’s get this shit over with
,
” I said to Sophia in passing. I knew without looking at her the shock that I would have found considering I didn’t usually curse like that. I’m not even sure she had ever heard it from me before now. I could feel her giggling beside me and had no doubt she was loving every minute of this, being a Demon and all.

For once I couldn’t get to Draven’s table quick enough and he watched me with curious eyes. I could see he wasn’t taking my evil glare seriously, if anything he looked more excited by this than worried. By the time I got to my usual chair I was starting to think one shot wasn’t near
ly
enough. Draven stood and the rest followed, all except Hilary...no surprises there.

“
Hell
o beautiful
.
” He said with voice deep and full of meaning. He leaned down to brush his lips to mine and skimmed a finger down my cheek lightly. Of course all my built up rage disbursed at his gentle touch and was being replaced by rose coloured cheeks at now being the focus of everyone’s stares. Two of which looked like they were sharing the same feelings.

No guessing which two.

I sat down, looking the exact
opposite
of
my cousin
,
which was like having ice and fire
in the same room and putting be
ts on which one will win. I liked to think I was the fire, considering I had Draven’s direct heat next to me. Also Hilary wasn’t trying to conceal her icy gl
are that was burrowing its
way into my forehead. It almost caused me physical pain to try and understand why...why so much hate, why so much energy to go on hating someone for so long. It must have been exhausting for her. For years I had never found my answers but it wasn’t through lack of trying. 

And then it hit me! This was why Draven had Sophia invite her. This was the reason behind one evening of discomfort. He wanted to know as much as I did, he just would never admit it. He could read her mind and know, given the right questions, he would discover the truth behind the hate. It was genius really and why I didn’t think about it before, was answered by that genius. It was him not me but still I had come close by figuring it out. Maybe we weren’t so very different at all. Humph. Ok, so now I wasn’t so angry at Draven but I still wasn’t looking forward to this.

I gave myself a mental shake before joining in with whatever conversation was occurring before my arrival. Of course it didn’t go un-noticed that the sound of my cousin’s voice was already grating on me. I could feel his hand squeeze mine in reassurance to the fact.

“I have to say Kizzy
Cat,
I’m surprised you can even c
all this a job...you must have to
o much fun
.
” I could hear the inner meaning to this comment like a wolf howling. I knew her tactics and her mind games better than most so it didn’t surprise me that although her tone sounded friendly it was laced with vindictiveness.

“Well
,
this was a quiet night for me but I wouldn’t usually have a family member here and I really didn’t want to miss out
.
” I felt like I was going against my screaming head saying this but considering my lying was that bad, I doubted anyone believed the words. She smirked at me and turned to answer a question I couldn’t hear asked from Takeshi.

“You’re going to have to do better at lying than that my love
.
” Draven purred in my ear making my lids close at the scent that floated its way down the side of my face. I heard him laugh quietly to
himself and thought it down to
being able to hear my heart rate kick up a notch.

“Thanks
!
” I whispered sarcastically making him laugh out louder this time. Of course this caused everyone to stop and look at us.

“So
,
what have I missed?” I asked
,
hoping for an insight into
the evenings ‘interesting night’
as Draven put it on the balcony. Of course as soon as Hilary opened her mouth I found myself regretting it.

“Oh Draven’s been learning all your dirty little secrets but don’t worry
,
I saved the best ones till you were here
.
” This time everyone laughed but me.

“I bet that made for a boring conversation as there’s not much to tell in that department
.
” I commented but from the looks of Hilary she didn’t agree.

“Really? You don’t think so? I guess I must have a better memory than you
.
” She challenged and Draven felt me tense next to him.

“I’m not afraid of you
,
” I snarled not caring for the serious turn this was taking. Everyone else looked like they were watchin
g a game of tennis, back and to,
trying to keep score. Well
,
I knew who Aurora was rooting for.

“Maybe that’s your mistake, after all I have known you a long time cousin and know full well what you
’
r
e
capable of
.
” She answered like I would have and it made me think she had heard these exact words from me once upon a time.

“Likewise
!
” I replied sealing the tension you could have sliced with a blade. I don’t know why but being here, like this with Draven at my side and my enemy sat across, taunting me, a new me came out...the fighter in me.

She started laughing and waving her hand around like an embarrassing memory had just hit her. It hadn’t, it was just her next move in this chess game of real life.

“Well I had just finished telling them how you used to come home from school and wet yourse
lf because you thought there were
monsters in the toilet
.
” She said like this was enough to knock a couple of pawns off the board. I laughed myself showing her up.

“Yes
,
I was good at hiding the truth as a child. It was in fact because being bullied at the age of seven and avoiding a head dunking was something no parent wants to hear
.
” At this I had turned her story back on herself making her the bad guy she was. I noted Draven growl under his breath, everyone but Hilary heard it and all flinched at the sound. I felt his hand on my leg reassuringly. Of course this reason had been true but so had the other one.