Read King of Darkness for Free Online Page B

someone well bred. Not that he was pretentious; he just hadn’t counted on a potential mate who looked at him as if he had sprouted horns when he suggested the idea of them being together.
    “Do you mind if I put some music on?” She headed toward the desk.
    He shook his head. “Not at all.”
    As she leaned forward to pull up an MP3 player on her computer, Thad got a really good look at how well the yoga pants hugged her rear view. Her ass was practically begging for his attention while she bent at the waist to scroll through her playlist. After a few clicks, something he assumed to be techno started to come out of the computer speakers, but it was altogether different from what had been playing at the club. He cleared his throat and did his best to act casual as she straightened up and sat herself in a desk chair with one leg tucked beneath her.
    “So what are we listening to?”
    “It’s a set by Anthony Pappa. He’s, uh, he’s one of my favorite techno DJs. This is an old recording of a live show that he played in Mexico, I want to say…” Her eyes locked on Thad’s. He had no clue what she was talking about, and that must have showed. “I get the feeling this isn’t really your thing. I could put on something else—”
    “No, no. It sounds good. I’ve just never really listened to this stuff. I’m more of a jazz man.”
    “Ah.” She bit her lip and looked at her lap, picking invisible lint from her pant leg. An uncomfortable silence lingered, because yeah… it was a damn awkward situation. Thad didn’t figure it was the right time to blurt out how sexy he thought she was, or how he was terrified he’d be a shitty king if she didn’t save his ass.
    “You know, I feel like I owe you an apology,” Isabel blurted out.
    Thad frowned. If anything, he owed her one. “I’m not sure I understand.”
    “Earlier, I was kind of rude to you. I just wanted to apologize for that. I was still kind of feeling the wine I drank, and I was in a weird place. And frankly, you freaked me out with that whole…” She leaned back on an exhale.
    Yeah. “I get it. And you don’t have to apologize. I mean, I’m still sufficiently baffled over this whole thing myself, and I’ve known about it for a long time. If someone had approached me the way I did you, I’d have thought they were crazy too.”
    Isabel smiled and leaned her head to the side. “The thing is, I don’t see how I can be who you think I’m supposed to be. I… I don’t even know how to imagine that.” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I mean, you’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not exactly royalty material. Not by a long shot.”
    He tapped his thumb against his chin. “I’ll be honest with you. I’m not sure what I expected, but you weren’t it. You know, when my parents first told about the prophecy, I just kind of nodded and smiled. And then I blew it off.” He rubbed again at his arm, where the scar continued to pulse insistently. “Wasn’t till after my parents died that I finally decided maybe I needed to figure out what was going on.”
    He was quiet for a second, but Isabel still said nothing. No questions, no comments. She continued to stare. Her green eyes were wide and fixed on him, but she made no move to reply. It was like at the taco stand all over again.
    Drawing in a deep breath, Thad continued. “See, about a year ago, I started feeling things where this scar is here. Throbbing, tingly, buzzy sensations. They’ve started to get stronger, more intense. Right now, it’s really sore. Pulsing. Feels like my arm has a headache. Nothing like that’s happened to you?”
    Her answering shrug was fairly noncommittal, but her hand went to her lower back, almost unconsciously. He took that as an affirmative.
    “See, all I’ve got to go on is what’s right in front of both of us. The fact that I found you where we were tonight. Then there’s the matching scar on your back. I don’t know any better than you