Read King of Darkness for Free Online

about that factoid, it’s gonna put a crack in the ice. My experience and training up to this point have been completely theoretical. I’m running out of time to officially announce my ascension, and our race needs to have faith in its leader.
    “We are down to tens of thousands, Isabel. Thousands. On a planet of billions of humans. We work damn hard to keep the communities protected from wizard attacks, but if the folks get scared, they might scatter. And if they scatter…” He closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. Jammed his fingers into his hair. The cement mixer in his stomach started up again.
    “If they scatter, the wizards are gonna be able to pick them off easier than a shotgun-toting psycho at the top of a clock tower. We won’t be able to protect them.” By the time he came up for air, his face was burning hot and his head threatened to split wide open.
    Isabel remained silent, her expression unchanged. Had none of that gotten through to her? Thad pressed his lips together for a moment, then pulled his chair closer and got right in her face so that she would have no choice but to hear him. Really hear him.
    “I’m not asking you to believe, Isabel. I’m just asking you not to dismiss me yet. Just give me a shot. Are you willing to do that much, Isabel?”
    ***
     
    “Selena! What were you doing out of the room?”
    Tyra gave her most reassuring smile to the petite Hispanic woman who had spoken. The woman now stood before Tyra, hand over her heart and sleep-mussed hair shooting in all directions like a mad scientist, in the doorway of the tiny room that was her temporary residence at the Ash Falls Interfaith Shelter.
    Tyra released the small hand of the woman’s daughter, whom she’d found wandering the halls. Again. The girl stepped forward reluctantly with the guilty smile of a second grader who knew she had been caught doing wrong but had no appreciation of how dangerous her actions had been.
    Selena was suddenly very interested in the worn, rust-colored carpet that lined the otherwise bare hallway of the women’s wing. “Felt funny. Couldn’t sleep.”
    “You have to stay with me, Selena. I was freaking out when I found you were gone!” Mom’s eyes swung over to Tyra. Relief shone brightly in them, despite the weak lighting. “Thank you so much for bringing her back.”
    “No problem, Lisa. I was just heading out when I found her.” Tyra squatted down to meet the eight-year-old’s gaze head-on. “Listen to your mother, Selena. It’s very dangerous to be out by yourself. You never know who you might run into.”
    Or what. She’d been a bit terrified herself to discover the child loitering outside her office. For weeks now, Tyra had felt an uneasy prickle at the base of her skull. Someone or something was watching the shelter. She wasn’t feeling the distinct sock-you-in-the-gut terror and nausea usually caused by wizard vibes, but still the feeling was concerning. Anything from a wizard to an angry ex or a dealer looking to get paid could be out there, and Selena had been just wandering around, barefoot, unguarded, and completely oblivious.
    “You were up all by yourself too, Miss Tyra.”
    Tyra stood and smiled. “But I have magic powers to protect me from bad things that go bump in the night, Selena.” She winked at the girl.
    The girl grinned. “Will I have magic powers someday, Miss Tyra?”
    Tyra lifted her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “Maybe someday. Who knows?” The girl’s mother laughed and herded her nightgown-clad daughter inside their room.
    “Thank you, Miss Tyra. You should get some sleep yourself, huh? It’s almost morning already.”
    Tyra gave a tiny good-bye wave and headed back to her office, doing a quick check to ensure that the grimy hallway was otherwise empty. They ran on a skeleton staff at night, but the relative safety didn’t slow her heart rate. It was always good to be sure. She stretched her senses, feeling around for bad mojo, but