Page 86 of King

He didn’t let her finish her sentence. “I can get Joey on my side, and well, you know the pull I have with that kid.” He teased with a serious face.

“You wouldn’t,” Amara growled, then chuckled at the look on his face. “You would. And then it would be two against one. It’s just...I obviously have a lot of baggage, King. Are you sure you want that here? I don’t know what my future holds, and neither do you. What if it gets too much, and you want out? I already rely on you for so much, and well, my heart...”

The conversation just turned very serious, and so did King. “You’re heart what?”

“Couldn’t take that.” Amara looked away from him, afraid to see any truth in his eyes, but he forced her to look at him.

“Look at me, Amara.” He demanded but didn’t use his strength to make her do that. Once her eyes met his, he opened himself up to her. “I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I come with baggage also. I have more enemies than you can imagine, so maybe you need to consider whether you want to live with me. But I want you to know that I would rather die than hurt you. I would take a bullet for you with a smile on my fucking face knowing that I saved you from hurt. So never again question if I would hurt you because that, Amara, will never happen.”

King’s body was tense as he waited for her response; her eyes searched him as a smile broke across her face. “When can I move in?” She whispered, squealing when he picked her up, just as his phone buzzed.

“Dammit,” King grabbed his phone, setting her down. Looking at his phone, he headed toward the stairs. “Slade is coming up the drive with Joey. I got to get dressed.”

“Bummer.” Amara sighed, looking at his butt as he walked away.

King growled, rushing back to her and kissing her hard before taking off again. “I saw you checking me out earlier.”

“I was not,” Amara called back.

King quickly climbed the steps with the biggest fucking grin on his face. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt, pulled them on, and then headed back downstairs as soon as there was a knock on the door. Opening it, he saw a smiling Joey with no cast and no crutches.

“I’m healed!” Joey did a little dance as he passed King.

“Seriously?” King frowned, watching Joey head for the kitchen, then met Slade’s concerned stare. “He’s completely healed?”

“No sign of ever having a break, and with the break Joey had, that is unheard of. Even years later, there would be evidence of callous, but there is nothing on the x-rays.” Slade said, then answered the question King hadn’t even asked yet. “It has to be her blood, King, and if this gets out, she will have more problems than we can even imagine.”

“Then it can’t fucking get out.” King’s protective instincts kicked in as he stepped aside and walked toward the kitchen, where Joey had helped himself to a hamburger.

She looked at him with concern, then glanced at Slade. “He’s really healed already?” She asked, putting her half-eaten hamburger down.

“Yes,” Slade replied with a nod. “With no restrictions.”

“Then that doctor was right.” Amara went pale. “My blood could possibly save people’s lives. Could heal them?”

“It could,” Slade replied, then frowned. “Or it could have a negative effect.”

“Huh?” Joey said with a mouth full of hamburger, his eyes wide. “You mean my leg could fall off or something?”

Slade actually grinned at that. “No, your leg isn’t going to fall off.” He chuckled, then turned serious again. “We already know that your blood can heal broken bones, even realign, which is mind-blowing for me, and I’ve seen a lot of crazy things. But we have no clue how someone with a certain disease like cancer would react to your blood. It could either help them or make it worse. Without further studies, there is no way to know.”

“Oh,” Amara poked at her hamburger, and King knew her mind was going in all directions.

"Amara, we may never fully understand what happened to your blood." Slade's voice was steady, but there was an edge of frustration beneath it. "For years, I’ve searched for the formula Jill was given—the one that turned her into a half-breed and nearly destroyed her. It almost killed her and so many others." He exhaled, shaking his head. "Even now, she still carries human traits. So do Adam, Steve, and the others."

King watched the emotions flickering across Amara’s face as she took in everything Slade was telling her, and it killed him that he felt helpless. He didn’t fucking like it.

Slade’s gaze locked onto Amara’s, filled with something that almost looked like regret. "I have no way of knowing what was done to you, why your half-breed status is unstable, or if tomorrow your blood will have the same effect on Joey as it did today. We’re dealing with too many unknowns."

Glancing at Joey, he saw that he was hanging on every word and looked worried for Amara. Fuck, if he ever got his fucking hand on the people that did this, there would be no saving them.

The words Slade spoke pressed down on everyone in the room. Then, with a sharp finality, he added, "What Idoknow is that this stays between us. The fewer people who know, the safer you’ll be."

King and Slade looked at Joey, who took another bite of hamburger. “What?” He said after he chewed and swallowed. “I’m not saying anything to anybody. Do you think I want Amara poked and prodded by a bunch of medical dudes in white lab coats? No offense, doc.”

“None taken,” Slade said with a smirk, then added. “Though I would like to continue to run even more tests.”

Joey snorted, raised his eyebrows, and said nothing, figuring everyone knew his assumptions about medical dudes wanting to probe her were correct.

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