Lucky and the Killer ✔

It's the Wicked Lord

Zee sat atop a grayish-white horse. It's quiet, brown eyes blinked as its mane flowed in the breeze. Zee stroked its neck the way he always had, but his mind was elsewhere still.

He shut his eyes and pinged his energy out past the trees and hills. He mixed it into the wind so that he could see farther. He focused on how his sister looked. He pictured her hair and emerald eyes—just like their mother's. He would be able to get a general direction, but he wouldn't be able to find her right away. That was why he had the guard with him—many eyes.

Lucky was to the east. He couldn't let Lilly die like that. He couldn't let Lucky die, either, though. He knew where he had to go, but he sat on top of the horse staring out over the gray mountains and deeply-teal sky. He didn't want to go.

"Alright," he said as the breath bled out of him, "this way, men."

The wind blew against them as the horses raced out over broken twigs, dead leaves, and barricaded trees. Between the energy in the air, and the men's eyes, it didn't take them long to find the little house where King stayed. As it came into sight, Zee commanded his men to fall back. He didn't need to show up with an army. He didn't come to kill—or steal.

King and Lucky heard the horses as they snarled outside of the door. Lucky started to shriek, but King slapped his hand over her mouth again. She was so torn up about her memories, that just the sound of the outsiders sent her into a sort of disarray.

"No!" Sarah's voice screamed out. "It's the wicked lord! Be gone, vile one!"

Bella pushed past King and Lucky until she'd run out of the door and onto the small, flat cement slab that was their porch. Zee stood in the tall grass alone, save for two of his guards, and he gave Bella an apologetic smile that she wasn't sure what to make of.

"Sarah, c'mere, baby," she gasped as Sarah ran into her arms. Felix walked up beside them, and King slid his hands down Lucky's arms. He grabbed her hand in his, and they walked out of the door, too. If he'd already found them, hiding in denial wouldn't do any good.

"Zee," Lucky whispered as he slid off of the top of his horse.

"We need to talk," Zee said and waved the two remaining guards, Zachary included, away. They turned their horses and trotted off in the tall grass. All it would take to summon them back was a whistle.

King's hand fell from Lucky's. He pushed her behind him, twisted his neck into the air, and took in a deep breath.

"Talk?" King asked. "You came here to talk?"

"Yes," he said and held his hands up. "I swear. Help me. I'm begging you, please. She's dying."

"Go away," King said as he stepped out in front of the group of people he was meant to protect. "Now."

"Wait," Lucky said. She stepped behind King, put her arm delicately on his shoulder, and walked out in front of everyone. When she got to her brother, she hugged him.

Everyone stared as she pulled the tall prince into her arms and pressed her head against him. The tears she was still crying ran down her neck.

"Zee," she whispered. "I remember you. I missed you."

"I'm sorry, Lucky. I shouldn't have been so rough. I was just so scared. I was so scared for you," Zee said. "King, I don't want to ask. You know I don't, but personal things aside, I need your help. Or, I wouldn't be here."

King's fists shook. Seeing Lucky wrapped around him filled him with an anxiety he didn't understand. Zee may have been her brother, and she may have said he didn't kill anyone that day like he thought. But, it didn't matter. He hit her. It was because of him that she'd gotten hurt at the jail. He made her bleed. It was Zee who was going to try and kill Lucky just so he could have the throne in two weeks, and there she was pressed up against him—just hugging the snake.

"I'm not going to help you. Go beg somewhere else," King said.

"Then I will," Lucky said. "Who's dying, Zee?"

"Lilly," Zee whispered as Lucky let go of him. "She...she followed me back from Earth. She's just a girl she doesn't deserve to die because of my mess. A man...he showed up at the portal and poisoned her. I shouldn't have gone without the guards, but I did. For five minutes, I just wanted to get away. I just wanted to be alone, and it cost her. I couldn't do anything. He poisoned her and said he would only give us the antidote...if I brought Lucky to him by tonight. So, you see, I need your help, King."

King walked towards them. He plucked Lucky away from her brother, and once again put her behind him. His eyes turned an icier blue than before, and at the same time, they were much darker.

"Oh, so now you care? I'm not letting you take Lucky," he said. "I'll be damned if I even let you try."

"Of course I'm not going to take Lucky," Zee said as he met King's ferocious eyes with his own. "I don't need sass coming from the man who killed people in my court and who tried to kill my sister, too. Or, have you forgotten that?"

"Go to hell," King said. "I may have taken Lucky, but I would never have killed her like you're planning to do for the crown."

"I'm not going to kill her either," Zee whispered. "I don't care about the throne. I don't want it. Believe me, all I want is to get away from it. I want Lilly to live, so please, help me. Don't you think you owe me after all you've taken?"

"Why should I believe you?" King spat.

"Because," Lucky sighed. "Zee's always hated father. He would never want to be like him."

Zee looked down at the ground, almost out of embarrassment. King studied his face and Lucky's. If he blatantly turned him away, Lucky would try to leave again. If he decided to help him, he had to keep Lucky guarded. Things were always complicated around her.

"What help do you want from me?" King asked at last.

"The man...," Zee said. "I couldn't remember him, but he looked so...familiar. He looked tired, and his eyes...I swear I've seen them before. He just...held that gun and Lilly...like a god, and I just stood there like an idiot asking him who he was. But, he wouldn't tell me. He just told me...to ask you."

King got quiet again. He felt Lucky place her hands gently on his arm, but everything else felt blurred and numb. It couldn't be, but it was. Lucky's nails dug into his arms and brought him back to reality.

"It's him," she whispered.

She'd slid down to the ground—wrapping her smaller hands around King's wrist. Tears slid down her face as King's mind put puzzles pieces against puzzle pieces together. They could both see the man in their minds, though they saw different pictures. King remembered how he sat at the graveyard—looking out across the empty land as he whispered his sister's name. Lucky remembered the blood, his eyes, his gun, and the fear she felt as her memories vanished. King and Lucky whispered the name together.

"Gray."