Page 40 of King’s Kismet

“At the airport?” I asked.

“No. At CB—” He stopped short at my grin.

“At CBP?” I finished. “Why would you be there?”

“I went for a job interview,” he lied easily.

I tsked at the boy. “I do the hiring, and I don’t remember having you in my office.”

“Bad memory,” he accused.

I chuckled, volleying, “Bad liar.”

“Whatever,” he snapped. “Stop following me.”

He stomped away, but I trailed behind him, riffling through his thoughts, though I wasn’t finding much of anything useful…

“You seem like a smart young man,” I pointed out. “Why do Ronald’s biddings?”

“How do you—Fucking vampires,” he growled. “What did you hear?”

“Enough to know you’re in over your head,” I admitted.

“Enough to get you killed,” he replied.

I smirked at him, feeling the darkness bubble within my veins. “I’ve lived a thousand lifetimes. There’s only one being in this world who can kill me, but she adores me.”

He stopped suddenly, glaring past me as he clenched his jaw. “Don’t get in my way, old man. I have to do this.”

“You don’t. And even if you try, you won’t succeed,” I confessed. “Not on your own, and not with an army.”

I took a step away from him, then paused to call over my shoulder. “Some people aren’t killable. There is a difference between immortal and eternal, so don’t mix the two. And watch the hounds. They’ll eat you alive.”

I made my way back to the park to wait for him. His mind was clouded, worried, and despite his hesitance, he knew he needed guidance. Ronald was holding something over his head, and I was betting it had to do with his—

“He has my mother,” the young man murmured, sitting beside me on the bench. “I don’t know how he captured her, but he did. She’s all I’ve ever had, and he’ll kill her if I don’t do what he asks.”

“You’ll die if you do what he asks,” I corrected. “How would your mother feel about that?”

Cian sighed, defeated. “I can’t just let her rot in his basement.”

“She’s in his basement?” I asked. “That’s appalling.”

“She’s at his house.” The young hybrid rolled his eyes. “That’s all I know, other than the guy is fucking scum, but apparently he’s my father.”

“Ah, yes.” I tapped my nose and pointed at him. “I knew that. Let’s go.”

“What?” he stammered as I stood. “You want me to go with you?”

I glanced at him, already walking away. “You want your mother, yes?”

“Yes,” he reluctantly answered.

“And I want you to leave my great granddaughter alone.”

“That’s it?” he inquired.

I stopped and sighed before moving closer to him. “I could kill you. Even thought about it while feeding the pigeons, but there’s no honor in slaughtering a child. Even I have morals I won’t cross. Sloane wouldn’t be happy to know you were so young and no one tried to steer you onto the right path, either.”