The Phantom King (The Kings) by Heather Killough-Walden Page B

movement brought out the predator in him, cueing up the thrill of the chase.
    “I know he’s here somewhere,” he continued. He pulled his gaze from hers and glanced around the old house. Show yourself Lazarus , he thought. The house was quiet around them, no hint of Steven’s ghost making itself known.
    Thane took a chance and turned his back on the warlock as he continued to search the mansion’s corners for any sign of the Anime. “I can feel him.”
    “Who are you?” Siobhan repeated herself. Thane turned back around to face her, and as he did the beauty of her visage once more entranced him. He was losing himself to her.
    “My name is Thane,” he told her. His tone had gone considerably softer since the last time he’d spoken. He couldn’t help it when faced with her. “I’m….” He held off. He’d been about to tell her he was the Phantom King. But that innocence th at he saw in her eyes spoke of more than an absence of knowledge about killing. It reflected an absence of knowledge about the supernatural world in general.
    She doesn’t know , he realized.
    She didn’ t know who the Phantom King was or probably who any of the 13 Kings were. She most likely barely realized who and what she was. Which might be part of the reason she had yet to do anyone any real harm. It was easier to give in to black magic when you had a support group for doing so. It was gang mentality. Another opiate of the masses. If she’d thought she was alone, she would have been forced to make her own decisions, to consider the right and wrong of her actions on their own merit .
    He considered his options. “How much do you know, warlock?”
    “About what?” she asked. The tremor was still there in the lovely huskiness of her voice. She was scared, but hopefully she was realizing by now that he meant her no harm.
    “About what you are , ” he told her. Her gaze flicked to the side, and his own gaze narrowed. He eyed her warily, noticing that she inched ever so slowly to her right.
    Maybe not , he thought with a mental sigh. She was thinking escape thoughts. Probably planning to run up the stairs , he told himself. There might have been a weapon of some kind on the second floor.
    Keep calm , Thane . “A bout what Steven Lazarus now is,” he added, choosing to ignore the fact that she took another tiny step to the right.
    “Thane,” she repeated, blatantly ignoring his question . “Is that it ?” she asked incredulously. She hedged a little closer to the edge of the wall, clearly preparing to break into a run. “No last name?”
    “It’s short for Thanatos,” he told her as his jaw clenched and his hands curled into fists at his sides . He was not of this world, not merely man, not nearly mortal, and the canines that were always slightly longer than the norm for a human now lengthened in his mouth, becoming full-fledged fangs. “No last name, and believe me , you won’t get two steps in before I catch you.”
    Siobhan froze, her eyes moving to his mouth, where his fangs were no doubt clearly showing.
    “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she so horribly lied.
    He knew that s he knew damn well what he was talking about. But she was protective of Lazarus . Which did not help Thane’s mood. “And I didn’t invite you into my home,” she continued. “ You’re trespassing. Leave or I swear I’ll call the cops.”
    She pulled a small cell from her back pocket and hastily dialed two of the three numbers it would take to connect her.
    Thane couldn’t help it . He laughed. It was a real laugh, pulled from the depths of his belly. He was just under too much fucking stress for this.
    “Okay,” he said, “ you go ahead and do that. Call the cops. Tell them that a stranger who is immune to warlock magic just broke into your house because he’s looking for the ghost of your dead boyfriend.” He took another step.
    Siobhan bumped into the wall behind her.
    “In fact,” he added , knowing that this