Lucky and the Killer ✔

Give Everything to Me

"So, let me get this straight," Zee said as he stared at the quiet King, "You're telling me you can't find Helix without finishing this mark thing?"

"I can't find her, Zee," King sighed. "I can't get to her this time. I can't complete this mark on my neck—not even for her."

"What mark?" Lilly asked from over the wounded Bella. She was dabbing a hot cloth on Bella's head and on any other heads that were still breathing on the castle's floor. Zee'd given up on trying to get her to rest. She wouldn't listen. She wanted to be busy.

"My father's mark," King stumbled around for words, "he's not mortal like you all."

"Zee's not human," Lilly said.

"I didn't say not human. I said not mortal. His name is Creston, and he's, well, a god of sorts. He can make or break anything he wants. He ruled over the outer systems—kept the energy in check and all. He was with my mom before she found Sean."

"Creston, huh? Cool name," Lilly shrugged. It wasn't any kind of name she'd see on Earth, that was for sure, and she just wanted to lighten the mood some way. Even she had never seen King's eyes so dark. It didn't work.

"Horrible name," King spat. "Made my dad look like a saint."

"He was with her first? So what happened?" Lilly asked under Zee's sharpened gaze.

"She...got away from him. She found someone she actually loved, but then, he died," King said with an empty voice. "Sean died. My mother gave in, in her grief, and sought my father again. She finally agreed to married him and begged him to bestow her with power in return. With that power, she brought Sean back and gave him the power over death—so that she would never have to watch him die again."

"Wow," Lilly whispered.

"When Creston found out about Liz, he changed or so I was told. He'd always wanted a child of his own, but he never tried because he didn't know what it would do to her...with her being mortal. So, in his fury, he took her. When I was born, it killed her. Creston laid my mother in the ice—preserving her body for years. He would bring her roses of remorse and lay them on her hands. As I grew, I watched, too. I remember laying on her cold body as a child—not really understanding she was dead. I couldn't figure out why she wouldn't wake. I would talk to her..., but I only knew my mother in her death. He had the power to bring her back, but he didn't. It was the only way he could keep her there. My father carved this mark into my neck the night before I left. He said that half was for her and my youth and the other half would be finished when I was a willing man. Ironically enough, it was Sean who brought her back...with Creston's own power. Sean took me with them, and I had no intention of going back. The older I got..., the more my father's power taxed my body, though. I was, after all, half mortal. I died, too, and like my mother, Sean raised me into life again."

"What's the mark do?" Lilly carried on the conversation that no one else was brave enough to touch.

"It's...to take his power back from them," King groaned. "I refused, so naturally, my father is not very pleased about that. I had to be a willing man, and I am not willing. Sean and Liz's very existence is a slap in the face to Creston. It's a constant reminder that there's finally something he can't control. He couldn't control my mother's heart. He couldn't get her love, and so, he wants that power back. Finishing this mark will drain her of her power in every way. It will kill Sean and everyone he's resurrected. It will kill Liz, but not me, because I'll have all of my father's power then. It will take everything from them, even their lives, and give everything to me. As I said, I am not, nor will I ever be, willing."

"Then, why would Sean want you to finish the mark? Why would he want that for your mother if he was the one who brought her back from the dead?" Zee asked.

"Because they don't understand. They think I can just raise them back whenever I take on that power. Sean has the...incorrect...notion that it won't change me. He thinks that I will be in his corner and will rule the worlds under his wings—that I'll be enough to stop my father. But, I'm not. My father could have anything in the universe, but the only thing he wants is to see them all rot."

"What are you going to do?" Zee asked.

"What am I supposed to do?" King asked back. "Finishing that mark will kill him, Liz, and my mother all over again. I won't do it—not even for Lucky. I...can't."

"Creston must be awful...," Lilly whispered, "but you're really strong, King. So is Lucky."

"Lucky," King said her name with a flat voice. Lucky was changing more than he cared to admit. He'd seen those silver eyes before, and it was a memory he didn't want to live with.

"She's going to be okay," Lilly said.

King sat silently for a moment before he pushed himself off of the palace floor. It was more than he'd ever told anyone—even Lucky, but he was desperate for advice. Any power they had came from Creston, and he wanted nothing to do with him. He was a god—it was a miracle that King got away from him even in death. His father wasn't going to kill any of them. He was going to make him do it—to prove just how inhumane he was. King was trying so hard to get away from him, but he was already on his way to becoming just like him with that accursed mark—with all of the blood that already stained his hands. Was he really going to add Lucky's to it?

"So, where do we look for Lucky?" Zee asked as if on cue with his thoughts.

"I was hoping one of you might tell me," King sighed. "I'm out of options. Helix could be anywhere. He could be here or on Earth. He could be in Deraindium, but I can't step foot back there without my father finding out. I have to be a willing participant, so he can't hurt me, but that doesn't mean he won't target any of you. Helix is a jumper, and Sarah is gone. I don't know how to find him or even where to start."

"Would Bella know?" Lilly asked.

"Well, it's all we have to go on at the moment," King groaned. "See if you can wake her up."