Chapter 107

Slonsky
He shifted his car into park as he waited for the guards at Lotus’ gate to determine if he was going to be allowed in to speak to the king or not. This was the last clan he had to hit before he could return home for a few days to be with his daughter. He tapped his fingers, nervously. If they wanted to, they could devour him and there would be nothing he could do to fight back without his powers. He eyed the man as he walked back to the car. He tapped the top of the car, pointing to the road ahead of him.
“Follow this road for three miles and then turn right at the fork. That will lead you to the clan’s castle where King Luis will be waiting for you. Remember to keep your head down. Looking into his eyes will be taken as a challenge and he will kill you,” the guard said.
Slonsky nodded. “Understood.”
He steered his car down the road the guard had pointed and turned right at the fork. As soon as he turned, a magnificent castle came into view. He slowed as he took in the dark colored building set back against a rolling oceanside view behind it. His heart squeezed painfully as his thoughts turned back to both Odanya and Anastasia. If only one of them could have loved him, things would have been so different. He could picture both of them laid out in the sun sunbathing with smiles on their faces as little versions of them ran around building sand castles and splashing in the ocean.
He could see tiny pieces of shimmering sand coming off of them as they laughed, toweling off. Goddess, how he wanted to die. He had tried several times since he left the Deegan Clan to go to the other clans, but everytime he thought he had succeeded the Goddess had appeared to heal him. She had then reminded him that unless it was the trio that killed him, it wouldn’t work. He was doomed to outlive everyone and everything. Maybe if he begged to die, they would put him out of his misery.
He had messed up so many people’s lives when all he had wanted was what the Goddess had promised to him. His mate. His one true love that would be everything to him and to who he would be everything. He came to a stop in front of the man he assumed was the king and who stood waiting impatiently, tapping his foot. Slonsky sighed and stepped out of the car. He rolled his shoulders and made his way to kneel in front of the king.
“Your Majesty, King Luis. I do humbly ask for a small audience with you.”
He waved his hand. “What do you want? Make it fast.”
“Queens Sasha and Kalani and King Lukas, have asked me to go to all of their clans and inform them that there is to be no more human females to be used as breeders. The Mother of Dragons is now home and there will no longer be a need to reproduce with humans as dragons are now able to reproduce by themselves.”
King Luis rolled his eyes. “Where is my daughter and when is she coming home?”
“Your daughter, Sire?”
“Lilianna Washington. The king’s mate,” he growled.
Lily was his daughter? Why didn’t they tell him? He lowered his head more as he thought about how to answer.
“I do not know, Your Majesty. I am, but a messenger.”
“SHE’S MY DAUGHTER! I WANT HER HOME, NOW!”
“When I get back, I will let them know of your request,” Slonsky responded.
King Luis bared his teeth. “Message received. Get off my land.”
Slonsky didn’t move. He sent up an apology into the air and prayed that his daughter would forgive him. He didn’t want to be alive and he knew this was a coward’s way out, but he also knew that she would be safe with her siblings. A growl made him shiver.
“GET OFF OF MY LAND!”
Slonsky took a deep breath and looked up into the king’s eyes. The king let out an angry roar and charged down the stairs to grab him up by his throat. His hand tightened around his throat and Slonsky laughed coldly.
“I thought you would be stronger.”
King Luis growled and ripped his throat out. Slonsky’s body went limp as he struggled to breath in. The king threw him on the ground as his heart slowed. Slonsky stared at the sky as he began to grow cold.
‘I’m coming to you, baby,’ he thought to himself.
A surge of power made him open his eyes. The Goddess stood over him, shaking her head and clucking her tongue. She wiggled her fingers at him and his blood was sucked back into his body and the gaping wound in his throat healed immediately. Slonsky groaned and sat up.
“Why won’t you let me die? I want to so badly. There can’t possibly be anything that you need me to do here.”
“You still haven’t learned your lesson. Your selfishness is why you have this punishment,” she told him again.
He got on his knees and crawled over to her. “Please, let me die. I swear I’m sorry.”
She took a step back. “No.”
She dissipated into the air and he climbed to his feet. He ignored the king glaring at him to climb into his car again. He drove rapidly away from the castle, hitting his hand on the steering wheel, yelling in frustration. He stopped at the gate where the guards glared at him in disdain before opening the gate for him to leave. He drove about fifteen miles before a large dragon landed about a quarter mile in front of him.
He slammed on his brakes and his car fishtailed, flying quickly towards the ditch on the side of the road. He tensed, closing his eyes and did nothing to brace for the impact that he hoped would kill him, even though he knew the Goddess would be there within seconds to deny him his death again. The car got dark as it hit a barrier. He opened his eyes to see the dragon had stopped the car seconds before he flew into the ditch. He sighed in defeat.
“Fuck!”
The dragon shifted down and he punched the dashboard as Sasha walked around to the passenger side to wait patiently until he unlocked the door for her to get in. She reached out to touch his shoulder. He stiffened and shrugged her hand off.
“Slonsky,” she murmured softly.
He lowered his head, too ashamed of himself to meet her eyes or even look in her direction. She got on her knees, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She buried her face in his neck and her tears rolled down his skin. His shoulders slumped and he pushed his seat back. She crawled over the center console to bury her face in his shirt. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her as his own tears crept down his face. She pulled back a little to grip his face and make him look at her.
“I know you hate yourself for everything that has happened, because of what you did, but I forgive you. Kalani forgives you. Even Lukas forgives you. You have to forgive yourself. For as much as you blame yourself for the things you did, you have worked just as hard to make up for your actions. You protected Kalani and I. You snuck us food and I know all those nights we were forced to sleep outside, you called Ethan’s mother away so we could sleep at his house.” She leaned her forehead against his. “For as much as my father wanted to be there for us, you were the only father figure we had growing up.
I was angry. I wanted to hate you, but I came to realize that my anger was borne out of hurt. It hurt that I thought this was all a big manipulation and Kalani and I were pawns. It hurt to think that everything we thought you felt for us was just a child’s fantasy.” She sniffled. “We don’t want to go through this whole thing without our father. Both of them. Please, please, fight for us. Fight for Casey. She needs you more than the rest of us.”
“I hurt so much, Sasha. All of you have had horrible lives and it’s all my fault. I am so sorry.”
She kissed his cheek. “I know you do. How about you take a couple of days to think about what you want and if you still want to die, I will end your life. It will just be between us, but I will do it.”
“Will you do it slowly and make me suffer?”