Page 4 of King's Claim
Chapter Two
Lena woke before dawn, her body aching from the long shift and the adrenaline crash that followed.Sleep wouldn’t come back, no matter how many times she shifted under the covers.Finally, with a groan, she pushed herself upright and padded into the kitchen.
The coffeemaker coughed and hissed as it came to life, filling the cramped space with the sharp scent of brewing coffee.She cracked two eggs into a pan and dropped bread into the toaster, moving on autopilot.The motions were familiar, comforting in their own small way.
Her thoughts weren’t on breakfast, however.They were on King Maddox.She saw him every time she closed her eyes.The way he’d filled the doorway, the way his presence alone had crushed the Iron Serpents’ swagger.He’d been merciless, violent, terrifying, and yet...
When his eyes had landed on her, it hadn’t been fear curling low in her stomach.It had been something else.Something hotter.
She hated herself for noticing.Men like him were fire and ruin, storms that left nothing standing in their path.Lena had enough storms in her life already.Still, his voice echoed in her head, the gravelly weight of it, the sharpness of his gaze that made her feel exposed.
Lena scraped the burnt edges off the toast and sat at the small kitchen table, eating mechanically.For one fleeting moment, she let herself imagine what it might feel like if someone else carried the weight for once.
If she didn’t have to keep everything together, all on her own.But that was a fantasy.King Maddox wasn’t salvation.He was the kind of man mothers warned their daughters about.
By the time she had dressed and drove towards the hospital, the sky outside had shifted to a soft, pale gray.The city yawned awake around her, but Lena’s thoughts stayed tangled, heavy.
Her mother’s hospital room smelled like bleach and sickness, the beeping machines marking out the steady, fragile rhythm of life.
Every time Lena stepped inside, she braced herself for how much worse her mom might look.This morning was no exception.
The woman who had once been sharp-eyed and unbreakable looked pale and worn, her frame thinner than ever beneath the thin blanket.Still, she smiled faintly when Lena entered.
“Morning, baby,” she whispered, her voice rasping.
Lena forced brightness into her own voice.“Morning.I brought you contraband.”She held up a travel mug of coffee.“Don’t tell the nurses.”
Her mother chuckled softly, a fragile sound that lodged in Lena’s chest like broken glass.“You’re terrible.”
“I get it from you,” Lena teased.
She helped her sit up enough to sip.Her mother’s hands trembled as she tried to hold the mug, and Lena had to guide it carefully.Watching her mother’s weakness hurt more than Lena could admit.
They talked for a while.Safe topics, easy ones.Old neighbors, TV shows, the kind of small chatter that didn’t demand too much energy.However, beneath every word hung the truth.Her mother was getting worse.The coughs lasted longer, her sentences trailed off more often, and her eyes closed faster.
When her mother finally drifted back to sleep, Lena stayed seated, watching her chest rise and fall, the machines’ steady beeps filling the silence.
Fear pressed heavy on her shoulders.Bills piled high at home, responsibilities she couldn’t outrun, and now this, watching the only family she had slip further away each day.
She kissed her mom’s forehead before leaving, whispering, “I’ll figure it out.I promise.”Whether she could or not.
Lena soon left the hospital and drove to work.Something was wrong the moment she turned onto the block where The Pit Stop sat.
From a distance, she could already see the spray paint.An ugly green snake scrawled across the front door, dripping down the wood.The closer she got, the worse it looked.Windows smashed, glass glittering across the sidewalk.
The front door hung crooked, one hinge barely holding on.Her stomach dropped.The Serpents.
Lena rushed out of her car, her heart hammering.Inside, the damage was worse.Tables overturned, chairs broken, bottles shattered across the sticky floor.The whole place smelled like stale beer and destruction.
