Page 1 of King

CHAPTER 1

After showering the dried blood off his body, King dressed in clean clothes and headed toward the kitchen. Having a room at the VC compound made his life much easier. He had a place of his own; however, after an all-nighter of chasing and fighting rogues that were running rampant, he didn’t want to ride half an hour out of the city. It seemed that every time King had a rough night of kicking ass, Sloan called a fucking meeting.

Hearing voices coming from the kitchen, King frowned. He had hoped for a pleasant, quiet moment to drink his coffee and grab something quick to eat before facing whatever Sloan wanted to discuss. He would bet his left nut that it wasn’t anything good. Things were becoming strange. Okay, that wasn’t true. Things had been strange for a long time. If he wanted to be honest, things had been spiraling out of control with no end in sight.

For centuries, he had faced rogue vampires, their bloodlust and savagery a constant threat. But now, the chaos was escalating beyond anything he’d ever encountered. The rogues were more organized, and their attacks calculated. It wasn’t random violence anymore but coordinated assaults. Bloodtrafficking had also reached an alarming new high. Entire underground networks were emerging, trading human and vampire blood like a lucrative black-market commodity. The blood wasn’t just being sold; it was being weaponized, laced with dangerous substances that could turn a regular vampire feral or incapacitate even the strongest of Warriors, himself included. Innocent lives were being destroyed, and families were torn apart for money and greed. Add demons into the mix, and it was a shitshow of epic proportions.

It was a storm with no clear end, a surge of danger and disorder that threatened a VC Warrior’s mission and King’s very purpose. Every night was a battle for survival. Deep down, King feared that no matter how many rogues he took down or how much blood he spilled, it might not be enough to stop the unraveling worldwide chaos. It was literally becoming Hell on Earth.

Clearing his thoughts, he rolled the tension from his shoulders and pushed open the door to the kitchen. Nodding toward Damon, who sat at the table with his chair tipped back, he continued toward the coffee. Sid stood at the stove where the sound of bacon sizzled. Jared, Slade, and Duncan were filling their plates behind Sid, talking among themselves.

“Help yourself,” Sid motioned behind him to where the food was.

“Need this first, then food,” King replied, pouring the steaming coffee.

“Rough night?” Sid cocked his eyebrow knowingly.

“I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have a rough night.” King took a long drink of his coffee and then turned to refill it. “I think the world is going into the shitter, and there isn’t a damnthing we can do about it. Maybe we need to hire some wanna-be human Warriors to take the load off a little.” King smirked, ready for the response to that little statement.

There was a round of snorts and grunts of disagreement from everyone. “We need more fucking Immortal Warriors. Not a bunch of idiots getting killed. Makes even more work for us having to save their asses. Where in the hell do you come up with these fucked up ideas?” Jared passed, heading for the table with a massive plate of food, some falling on the floor.

King grinned behind his coffee cup. He loved to get these assholes riled up. It didn’t take much, and he was pretty good at it.

“Dammit, Jared,” Sid growled, pointing at the food with tongs. “Stop dropping food on the fucking floor, or there’s going to be one less Warrior.”

“Dude, chill the fuck out and take a Midol,” Jared growled, setting his food down, then walked over, grabbing paper towels.

“What the fuck is a Midol?” Sid frowned, his eyes narrowing.

King’s grin spread as he watched the heated exchange. He could come in here in the worst fucking mood, but these fuckers could make him forget for just a minute how messed up the world had become. It was entertaining, to say the least.

“It’s what Tessa used to take when she had a period before she was turned.” Jared wiped up the spilled food and tossed it in the trash before returning to the table. “Since you’ve traded your dick for a pussy, I figured it might help your fucking mood.”

King’s snort was met with a glare from Sid, who growled as his eyes returned to Jared. “Fuck you, Jared.”

“Original comeback, Sidney.” Jared dug into his food.

“I told you to stop calling me that fucker.” Sid’s growl deepened as he slammed down his tongs, his eyes black with rage.

“And I told you when you stopped acting like a little bitch I would,” Jared growled back, glaring at Sid.

“Will you two shut the hell up?” Duncan slammed his hand down on the table. “For once, I would like to eat in fucking peace. Both of you are acting like little whiny ass bitches, and if it doesn’t stop, I’m going to kick both of your asses.”

Both King and Damon looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Duncan usually didn’t say a lot, but when he did, everyone took notice. King didn’t know much about Duncan, who kept to himself. However, he quickly learned that Duncan wasn’t the one he wanted on his bad side.

Sid didn’t respond, but he picked up his tongs, jabbing them toward Jared, who jabbed his fork back at Sid. Then, the feud ended with them flipping each other off.

Finishing off his third cup of coffee, King decided he wasn’t that hungry and headed to Sloan’s office early for the meeting. The mood in the kitchen had turned into a downer, or at least it had until Steve blasted through the door.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Steve marched toward him, waving his phone around.

“Right here,” King said cocking his eyebrow, another grin tipping his lips. Steve was a fucking moron, but he liked the damn kid. King always got along with the world's oddballs, and Steve definitely fit that description.

“Dude!” Steve stopped in front of him, his eyes wide. “We went viral!”

“Steve, what in the hell did you do now?” Sid sighed, shaking his head. “Is Sloan going to kill you for real this time?”

That question had Steve’s excitement dim as he seemed to think hard about what Sid just asked.

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