Syn

I smelled the blood floors down before the elevator doors opened to the floor Queen and I were occupying. I stepped through and a gust of wind met me. The barren lobby was littered with papers, the furniture broken or flipped, and the lights that weren't flickering were shattered. I could smell everything and everyone, except her. That's the only reason I wasn't running full speed to the room she was in. She was safe— she...I could feel her. Everywhere, somehow.

I turned to the hall where the room was and I could see black lines painting the corridor, starting thick from the floor, getting smaller, and dividing the closer to the ceiling. I placed my hand along the marks, feeling the dark magic emanating from it. It was foreign, and a bit concerning to say the least...but there was an odd comfort to it. The comfort of a home I knew long ago before I met Queen— one I'd abandoned so I could become someone worthy of her. One that could only come from energy so dark.

And unconfined.

The scent of blood grew as I neared the door. When I pushed it open, I saw the first body lying a couple of feet from the door. I recognized her from earlier. One of the nurses from the floor of doctors I had forced to come up here to check on Queen. Damn. I looked just beyond her body to see a man trembling in the corner. His pants were soiled with piss as he looked ahead and I followed his eyes to the object of his fear.

Queen.

She sat on the bed, legs crossed, a bored expression on her face. Blood stained her lips, trailing down her jaw to her clothes. I heard a muffled scream from up above and I looked up at the ceiling. Dr. Spockin, the old man I had left in charge of her care hung, his body writhing as he screamed out in pain.

I pressed my lips together in thought before closing the door behind me and walking in. "Help us!" The young man who'd peed himself yelled at me and I held a finger up to silence him. Just a moment. I needed to completely assess the situation.

I took measured steps toward the bed, stepping over the two other bodies littering the floor. "Queen," I finally spoke up when I was a few feet away from her. I glanced up at the doctor whose eyes were begging me for help and I furrowed my brows. How desperate did they have to be to ask me of all people....she must've been scary. "Princess," I spoke again when she still hadn't responded.

Her eyes fluttered to mine, the doctor's body falling to the floor with a thud as I took her focus. "I can explain."

I placed the bag of medication on the bed before smiling at her. "If you'd like."

She tilted her head, considering it before looking at me again. "I should."

I took a deep breath in, looking around on my exhale before crossing my arms. "By all means..."

"So..." she started and stopped. Her beautiful face twisted into a thought-filled one before pure confusion took over her features. After a few quiet moments, she let out a sad laugh and glanced at me, her eyes teary. "I swear I had a reason," she assured me. "I wouldn't just—" Her eyes landed on the body just past me and she let out a shaky breath. "Do this."

"Okay." I nodded slowly, looking around.

"Okay?" She asked me and I looked back at her. "Okay, what?"

"Okay....what would you like me to do?" I said carefully. "They're dead. Would a reason truly make you feel better?"

"It would."

Fine. Was this a part of the insanity my father was talking about? Would she be killing at random and then expecting a reason to justify it? I didn't care if it was, but I needed to know. I could make up a reason if I truly needed to— anything to preserve her happiness just a little longer.

I could do a little longer every day for the rest of our lives if she needed it.

I glanced down at the doctor on the floor who was groaning and crouched beside him. "What happened?" I asked him, taking a quick look at Queen who seemed to be mostly uninterested in the conversation for someone who so badly wanted to prove her innocence moments ago.

"Sh-she just snapped, my king," he said in a low voice, his bloody face looking up at mine. "She was having hallucinations and became delirious. She tried to leave and when we tried to stop her...she began attacking us." He sobbed.

Hmm. Something was off.

"Is that what happened?" I looked back up at her.

She contemplated for maybe a second before nodding slowly. There was a sadness in her eyes, but not one any sadder than when she dropped a piece of popcorn on the floor. It was fleeting.

"If he says that's what happened, it must be true."

I stood up and sighed. "Why do I have more faith in you than you do yourself?" I turned back to the gentleman who was crying and approached him. His knuckles were white as he gripped his lab coat and I studied him. Half human-half werewolf. He couldn't be any older than thirty. He was by far the youngest doctor in here. But Queen, delirious or not, had spared his life.

There was a reason.

"What's your name?"

"T-thomas," he cried, his head bowed. "Please let me go. I swear I won't say anything about what happened in here."

"I could change that promise into a guarantee if I killed you right here, couldn't I?" He looked up at me, pure terror circling in his eyes and I laughed. Watching me, a scared and breathless laugh left his own and I laid a hand on his shoulder. "What are you scared of? We're just talking. You're safe."

He smiled, sniffling as relief passed through him.

"That is if you tell me the truth, and I am satisfied with it." His smile disappeared at that and I gave him one of my own, adding a bit of pressure to his shoulder. "What happened in here?"

"I-I don't know." He shook his head quickly.

Lie.

"Tsk, wrong answer," I told him. "You should've said what your colleague said if you wanted to keep it a secret. I might've believed it. But you saying I don't know...why the fuck wouldn't you know, Thomas. Hm?" He cried again, shaking his head. "If what he said happened was the truth...why wouldn't you know?"

"I didn't see—"

"You didn't see a woman kill all of your co-workers yet leave you alive?" I asked. "You told her something you're not telling me, and my patience is running thin. I'm not as nice as my girl. I will kill you and ask questions later."

"Please don't—"

"Last time," I snapped.

He let out a shaky breath, his eyes falling behind me before looking at me again. "I have a complicated past. Some things I'd rather keep buried," he said and I tilted my head, not seeing the correlation. "When I started working here a few months ago, I found out the doctors on my floor would let patients die. T-to take their hearts or blood or whatever...and s-sell them to warlocks or people looking to buy."

"Ahh." I looked over my shoulder at the old man on the floor. "A little extra profit under the table, hm?" He shook his head, pushing against the floor to get up but he was too weak. I looked back at the boy. "Go on."

"He..." he swallowed a breath. "He made a joke," he said. "She was going in and out of consciousness and he asked us how much we thought she'd sell for. She must've heard it because when she woke up..."

There it is.

I nodded slowly. "And how much did you decide?"

"W-what?"

"What was your answer to his question? I'm curious."

"I-I didn't answer."

"Why not?"

"Because it's wrong," he said. "I would've told someone if I wasn't being blackmailed...I need this job."

I let go of him. "And everyone else answered, I gather." He nodded.

Good enough.

My girl still had her moral compass.

I looked over at her and held my arms out. "Would you like to continue?"

She looked down at the doctor on the floor and then back at me. "Turn around."

"Me?" She nodded and a smile tugged at my lips. "Am I making you shy?"

I saw the smallest glimmer of a smile reach her face before she doused it away and snapped her fingers. The doctor screamed out, the bones on his fingers crunching as Queen bent down to him. "Every time you think about taking advantage of someone weaker than you, think back to this and be thankful that I didn't kill you." With that, she grabbed the duffel bag from beside the bed and slung it over her shoulder. She looked at the young man behind me. "And you, your silence makes you just as compliant in what was happening. I'll let you go this once."

"Thank you." He bowed quickly before racing for the door. He stumbled over the body closest to the door before picking himself up. Queen suddenly froze beside me as she looked at him. The moment his hand reached the door, she waved hers. His neck twisted and his body slumped to the floor...those same black lines that painted the walls faint on his neck.

"I thought you were going to let him live?" I looked down at her.

"I had a bad feeling," she muttered, walking to the door.

"Like a vision?" I threw out, just wanting to hear her speak more.

"More like a gut feeling."

When her hand touched the door, I cleared my throat. "You're going to go out like that?"

"Like what?" She looked down at her arms and touched her neck.

"I'm talking about the blood," I said. "We're in the Underworld, but seeing someone covered in blood might still be a red flag."

The old man groaned behind me and I rolled my eyes. Admirable as it was of her to let him live, he wasn't going to make it out of here. He had lied to me.

"I'll make a portal for you."

"It's fine." She waved her fingers again and a cloud of darkness engulfed her. I watched as black smoke seeped in from underneath the door and from their bodies. It floated to her, collecting for a brief moment before she disappeared completely. It was fascinating, I had to admit that, but I hated the way it felt like she couldn't get away from me fast enough.

I walked over to the door and swung it open. Besides the paper and destroyed lights, everything was back to normal. The lines that marked the white walls were now gone. I could only assume she took them with her.

Without the urgency to get back to the palace, I made a few calls. It wasn't like we couldn't get away with a few bodies here and there, but I didn't need people asking questions. As far as the public would be concerned, this floor wasn't even made private.

I dialed Paris's cell and within a few rings, he picked up. "What?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, taken aback. "That is not an appropriate greeting for your boss."

"My bad," he mumbled. "What do you want...boss?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose before sighing. "I need you to watch over Queen."

There was silence from the other line before he screamed, "No fucking way!" I cringed. "I've been holding this back, but I thought you were tripping out man..."

"Paris," I started again.

"I got it," he said. "Don't worry."

"She should be back in the palace," I told him. "Let her know I'll be back tonight."

"Why tonight?" he asked.

"Do I need to report to you as well?" I asked him, eyeing the doctor.

"What if she asks me what you're doing out so late on the day she's woken up..." he said slowly and I paused. That was true. It didn't look good, but I genuinely had nothing to hide.

"Then tell her that my father and the faction leaders have demanded that I attend a dinner with them tonight," I said.

"Will he be letting you back on the throne?"

"Letting," I scoffed. "I am the King. That choice isn't up to him."

He babysat the Underworld for a week and was already on a power trip. His demand had already sent me reeling and if I wasn't so focused on Queen I would've shown up where he was and shown him mental competency.

"Then why a dinner with the faction leaders?"

"He says he wants to assess my health in front of the panel, " I said. "Are you done with this interrogation?"

"Isn't this something Queen should go to with you?"

"I can handle it myself," I said. "She needs to rest."

He blew out a long breath. "I can handle it myself," he mocked me. "Is that your love language or something? You seem to use it a lot, and it never works out the way you want it to."

I hesitated for a second and sunk into the chair. "What do you mean?"

"I am the last person to take advice from," he started. "But doing something over and over and expecting a different result is insanity. Why do it again if it's failed you time and time again?"

"You're right." I scoffed. "You are the last person I should be taking advice from."

"I'm just saying. If something didn't work once for me, I'm onto something else. I can handle it myself...has it ever worked for you or anyone you know? It's chivalrous, sure. But how do you think it will make your soon-to-be wife feel? You're supposed to be partners."

Partners.

Hmm. I thought about it for a moment, he wasn't exactly wrong. Trying to handle things myself in the past didn't exactly pan out how I wanted...but this was just a dinner. Would it matter that much?

"She probably wouldn't even want to go. She's been through a lot."

"Maybe let that option be hers this time."

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