Page 95 of King

“Shut up!” Daniel demanded without looking at Raven. “If I have to do this alone, I will, but?—”

“But what, Daniel?” Duncan asked, his brows lowered as he looked at Daniel in concern.

“I need you guys, and you fucking need me,” Daniel growled, running a hand through his hair. “Stop asking me how I know shit because I can’t answer you, and I’m tired of it. Just trust me. I need you to watch my back because I sure as fuck have yours.I could easily walk away from all of this, but I won’t, and do you know why? No, I seriously don’t think you do. It’s because of every single one of you and the innocents caught in this battle with no way out. I am the fucking way out.”

Daniel looked each of them in the eye before he continued.

“Amara isn’t the weapon. Her blood is. To take me out, they have to produce something stronger than me, and they are doing that right fucking now. It’s going to take more than me to take these fuckers out. The things you’ve seen me do in Realm will only slow the ones infused with Golden Blood down, and until I figure out a way to stop them, we have to stop Golden Blood from being used.” Daniel stopped as his eyes stared into nothing and then continued again. “You all just witnessed what Amara’s blood did with Joey’s leg and now King. Her blood saved him from a silver bullet, a certain death for a vampire. That is powerful. If you don’t think it can’t be used for evil, then you’re a fucking idiot. And yes, I said infused. They are going to use her blood to infuse every nightmare creature that you can dream up to come after me and take over. If you don’t believe that, then you are in the wrong fucking business.”

Daniel paused, taking a few deep breaths as he looked around again.

“So just stop with the arguing and fucking trust what I’m telling you because if you don’t, I die, and if I die, you will lose this war, the war you have been fighting all your fucking lives. Nothing about this situation is black and white. If you can’t wrap your narrow minds around that, then fucking leave now. The only people who have never questioned me are my dad, Jill, and King. I don’t know why I am like I am. I don’t know why I know the things that I know, and I sure as fuck don’t know how I do the things I do. So stop questioning me and trust what I say.”

The room was silent as everyone stared at Daniel.

“Maybe you can do the things you do, know the things you know, and you are the way you are because someone higher up wants you to win the war.” Joey, who was standing back but listening, broke the silence. “So, count me in with Duncan, Jill, and King. When you say Amara is okay right now, I believe you and think you’re pretty cool.”

King had a fucking proud moment as he watched Joey look away from Daniel to glare at everyone.

“The Weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds...Corinthians 10:4-5. Sunday school 101.” Joey said, then shrugged, looking at each of them. “In my world, that’s you guys. The VC Warriors and Dark Guardians. Now go demolish a stronghold and get my aunt before I fucking go myself.” With that, Joey turned and walked out with Butch and Kent looking fucking impressed.

“Fuck!” Steve said, looking at the empty space where Joey had been. “That hit me in the feels. I ain’t gonna lie.” A few throats cleared, and even Raven discretely wiped at a tear as Jill sniffed, rubbing her nose.

Sloan walked to Daniel and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I will be the first to apologize, Daniel.”

“Now that’s a realholy shitmoment,” Steve whispered, but everyone heard him.

“Shut the fuck up, Steve,” Sloan growled, still looking at Daniel. “I’ve done exactly what you’ve accused, and I will be the first to admit that.”

“I don’t need apologies,” Daniel said, looking from Sloan to everyone else. “I just need your trust.”

“Same here, man,” Sid said, with everyone agreeing. “I’m going to speak for all of us when I say we’re dicks. Even though you say you don’t need it, we apologize. I trust you, man. You just freak me the fuck out sometimes.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Daniel actually smirked, then gave Sid a nod of appreciation.

The room erupted with the same as the Warriors gave their complete trust to Daniel. Jill walked up with a smile. “Little Daniel is all grown up.” She stared up at him. “I’m so fucking proud of you. Finally, someone put these dickheads in their place. I’ve been trying for years to do that.”

“Watch your ass down there,” Daniel warned her as he pulled her into a hug. “You hear me.”

“Yeah, I hear you,” She pulled away. “I love you, Daniel, my brother.”

“Right back at ya, sis.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

King watched from a distance, seeing the look in Daniels’s swirling white eyes. Their gazes met, and King knew without a doubt Daniel was their only hope. As much as he wanted to storm into the Realm, he fully trusted Daniel. If he said Amara was safe for now, then he believed him. That didn’t help his anxiety of wanting her back in his arms, but he trusted Daniel and always had.

“How many can you take, Bonnie?” Daniel looked away from King.

“I can take four safely,” Bonnie said, then glanced at Ryker. “How many can you take?”

“Five.” He responded without hesitation.

“Once in the Realm, we stay together, especially Bonnie and Ryker. I know your magic down there is not always reliable, but you will be stronger together.” Daniel said, then looked around at everyone. “And for those of you that haven’t been to the Realm, well, all I can say is you’re in for a big awakening.”

“Another one of your cryptic messages.” King snorted, then grinned when Daniel smiled before throwing his head back, light shining from his eyes. Suddenly, King’s body felt light, as if he was floating. The last thing he saw before everything went sideways was Joey looking at him through the door with a hopeful look on his face.

CHAPTER 39

King felt like he’d been shoved into a fucking washing machine with the spin cycle on high. The world tilted, his stomach twisted, and for a second, he wasn’t sure which way was up. Finally, his body felt solid again, but his mind was still trying to catch up.

---