Chapter Twenty-Five

My heart stopped for several beats while my mind attempted to register what I had just witnessed. No, no, no!

I went to the railing and looked down. People were screaming and running away from a bloodied broken body on the sidewalk.

In horror, I stepped back. Had she really? Had she just fucking jumped?

I sank down in the chair. I felt my soul caving in on itself. It was not real. It couldn't be. "I-I do not understand." Why would Piper do that? Why would she end her life?

"You broke her," said King.

I stared at the floor. The pain in my chest and heart were a thousand times worse than when I'd lost Zarda. I had not wanted to admit how deeply Piper's soul was intertwined with mine. It was never the house that brought us together. It was her.

And I'd fucked her up. I'd hurt her. It did not matter that it had been unintentional. I'd done it all the same. And now she is dead. It felt like a terrible, terrible dream.

"I want you to kill me, King. I won't fight you. I deserve whatever's waiting in hell."

I had done an inexcusable thing by wanting and taking something that did not belong to me. I knew it then, and I knew it the moment I took her to my bed. It did not matter if Piper gave herself willingly or if her desire had matched my own. I knew, I fucking knew she was good, and I was not. I had no business wanting her.

It was my first truly evil act.

I pressed my palms against my eyes. "Get it over with, King."

A long moment passed. "You truly loved her, didn't you?"

What the fuck did King care? From what I had been told, he'd slept with my mother and then crushed her heart. Even when she had been pregnant with me, the only kindness he showed was in the interest of protecting his possession: me.

And then I had been born.

According to the Ten Club leader, Lori, the moment King saw me, he knew what I was. He probably would have killed me if Ansin hadn't had a vendetta against him. Ansin slit King's throat right there in the hospital. Afterwards, I'm told the other wheels of fate began turning, and King returned, standing at the front of the line to end my life.

He eventually chose to be reunited with his dead wife instead, who I now knew was named Mia. Apparently, he'd abandoned her again to finish the job of ending my existence.

"If killing me is more important than being with the woman you claim to love, then clearly you don't understand the meaning." There was no point in discussing anything with him other than, "Let's get this over with." I stood to face him.

King's form flickered. "When I was alive, I collected tens of thousands of rare objects. Some had material value while others had power. When I decided to find Mia and my family in the afterlife, I destroyed my arsenal. All but one item, which I kept as insurance. It is a chalice."

I frowned. "Why are you telling me this?"

"A few moments ago, you asked me to end your life because the woman you love has just died. Your pain cannot get any worse than it is right now. Yet you did not turn your rage on the world. You did not unleash death on everyone."

"No. I did not. So stop fucking talking, King, and kill me before I change my mind."

"Perhaps I was wrong about your fate, Draco. Maybe you deserve a chance to have a life. God knows you cannot make a bigger mess of things than I have. Just look around at what is happening in the world."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I hid the chalice under the staircase in Piper's house—or what used to be my and Mia's home. It is an Incan artifact that can bring a person back from the dead, but I would hurry. It works best on souls that have not crossed over yet, and I cannot imagine that Piper's soul is one to linger long. She is not tormented by unfinished business and her past as I am."

"Are you…fucking with me?"

"I am not. Unfortunately, I cannot be there to assist you in using the chalice, and getting inside the house will not be so easy. They will want something in exchange."

"Who will?"

"I may have entrapped the souls of some rather powerful and vicious Seers inside." He shrugged.

The sound of helicopter blades pulsed through the air, and I looked up. They'd sent a rescue for me.

"Your ride is here," said King.

"I'm not going to barter with the Seers. How do I get inside the house?" I asked.

"I would let you in, but I do not have much time left because someone took all my power." He shrugged. "I was done with it anyway. Good luck."

I stood there speechless.

"And, Draco, if you could do me a favor? End Ten Club and the Seers once and for all. I would very much appreciate it. This has gone on long enough."