Queen

The sound of a piano being played downstairs made me wake up from my sleep. I blinked at the brightly lit room, the white curtains doing nothing to mask the rays of sunlight peaking into the room. I looked to the side of the bed to see Syn reading a book and I smiled.

His usual menacing and gloomy look was completely gone in this light. His tan muscles and sculpted abs were full display as he leaned against the headboard. "How are you liking Paris, Princess?" He questioned, his eyes still glued to the novel in his hand.

"It's good," I whispered.

"Then why are you dreaming of me?"

"What..."

He set the book down and reached his hand out to my face. He slightly rugged the bonnet I was wearing forward as a smirk spread on his face. "Don't forget about me."

I nodded and he opened his arm for me to lay on his chest. I slowly crawled to him and moved to lay down, but was met with air and shooting pain through my head as I connected with the hard marble floor.

"Fuck," I cursed in pain as I opened my eyes slowly. My hand moved to my head and I slowly sat up. I looked around to see myself in the same room, but Syn wasn't there. I rolled my eyes again at the repetitive dreams I'd been having of him, and I raised myself from the floor.

I walked to the restroom and washed my face to fully wake up, and when I looked up at my reflection in the mirror, I cringed at the bags and my reddish eyes. I left the Underworld to escape from my worries, yet there was one thing that was torturing me here.

Syn.

No matter what I was doing or who I was with, he seemed to find his way into my mind. I pushed thoughts of him away again and focused on getting through my morning routine. When I was done, I quickly put on my black robe and headed downstairs where I could still faintly hear the sound of a piano.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I slowed my steps when I saw Abel engrossed in a song that he was playing. I wondered why he didn't have a piano in his place when he was this good. I wasn't even aware that he was a fan of them.

He stopped playing when his eye caught mine, and I smiled before approaching him. "You're good." I leaned against the piano and he rolled his eyes as he closed it.

"I thought no one was home," he said.

"Why would you think that?"

"Cain and Iris went somewhere with her grandfather for the day," he said. "I assumed you went with them."

"Nope, I've been sleeping," I admitted as I walked towards the refrigerator. "Why didn't you go with them?"

"I didn't feel like it," he shrugged.

"Hmm," I hummed. I grabbed a water bottle and opened it as I eyed him strangely. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"You seem off," I admitted. "For the past few days."

"I just feel...kind of empty," he replied. "I don't know why. I'm having a good time with you all, but something just feels off."

"Maybe you just miss Mia," I pointed out.

"I don't know," he sighed. "It's probably nothing. I'm not here to think about her. I'm here to have fun and move on."

"That's the spirit," I cheered. "I'm going to get you a girlfriend."

"Please don't," he groaned. "I'm not sure why, but you seem like you'd have bad taste in women."

"Hey, that's not fair," I frowned.

"I'm just being honest," he beamed. "Anyways, I'm going out. I'll be back later."

"Where are you going?"

"To a play," he said as he stood. "There's also an exhibit at an art museum that I'd like to see tonight. If you're not doing anything you can come with me."

"But that sounds so boring," I whined.

"Well if you'd like to stay here and mope about your ex all day, suit yourself," he said with a heavy sigh.

"Okay damn, I'll come with you." I gave in. "No need to beg me or anything."

"You'll have fun," he said as he held an arm over my shoulder. "WE are going to have an amazing time, and we're going to forget the reasons why we came here. What matters is that we are here, and we're going to live life to the fullest."

"I don't like that you're being so positive," I mumbled as I shrugged away his arm. "Usually we're both mopey together. What's going on with you?"

"I may not seem like it for whatever reason," he said. "But I'm happy. I've been on my own for a while, and it feels good to finally be with my family."

A smile reached my face even though I wasn't feeling the best, and I caught a glimpse of my future. A future where I was surrounded by people who stuck by my side no matter what. One where my brothers and I would be happy.

I didn't know if I would ever see Syn again, but I knew that I wasn't going to be miserable forever no matter what happened. I just hoped that Syn, regardless of his troubles, what he was doing, or who he was with...he would feel the same as well.

Unknown

Seven Months Later

I sat chained up in an empty office room with my hands chained behind my back. I didn't know how I got here or why I was even here. The last thing I remembered was taking photographs of some gang's territory for my magazine article.

We'd been investigating The Synners for months now and there was never any proof found against them for their crimes. After my extensive research and insider knowledge, I was able to locate their meeting grounds. I had it bugged and recorded and I was preparing to expose everything on my site. But instead of doing that, I was here.

"Hello!" I called out. "Help!" I tried to tug my arms against the metal, but nothing was helping me escape. I looked around the room frantically, and when my eyes landed on the golden nameplate on the table, my eyes widened.

Syn SinClaire

In big cursive letters, I saw my death in front of me. How did a man like myself manage to catch the eye of one of the most dangerous men in the universe? "No," I cried as I read it again, hoping for it to be a lie.

It was no secret to the realms that the Queen made him a better man. From what we saw of them, we knew they loved one another. We just didn't see HOW different he was without her until she left. We were almost brought back to the days and stories from before he met her, except worse.

His patience was thin and his affiliations were long. There were eyes on every part of the realms even though he only controlled the Underworld. His name alone was enough to quiet down any busy area, and news channels knew better to report on him.

That was why I wanted to be the first.

I wanted to be the first person to have the balls, the gall, to dare speak out. I wasn't afraid of him from a distance, but as I sat here, awaiting my doom, his name on a damn object was enough to make me almost piss myself.

The door to the office opened and a man carrying a small baby walked in. I had been studying Syn enough to know that the man was Xavier Young, but unlike Syn, he radiated more of a comforting aura. I knew he wasn't the one who was going to hurt me, at least not with his child in his arms.

"Umm," he said as he eyed me. "Wrong room, I guess..." he moved to close the door, but he was my only shot to get out of here. I couldn't just let that go. If I saw Syn, I'd be dead. I needed to be gone before that.

"Wait!" I spoke. He turned back to face me curiously and I plastered a smile on my face. "Is that your child?"

"Yes," he said with a small smile as he looked down at the baby. "He is." I knew parents loved talking about their children, so hopefully, this would get me on his good side.

"How old is he?"

"Three months."

"Is that Sayler or Embris?" I asked curiously. I wanted to keep the conversation light, but my reporter side was beginning to peek out. A small detail I had noticed in his wife's pregnancy was nagging at me.

"Excuse me?" He asked as his features turned grave. I must've been into something because he looked nervous now. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Your wife has two kids," I said. "But her hospital records have evidence of three children getting weekly checkups. Why is that?"

Instead of being angry as I thought he was, he smiled and laughed softly. "Since you are going to be dying," Xavier said. "This is Sayler. As for your other questions, no comment. All I will say is, don't fuck with black magic. Ever."

My brows pleated at his vague warning and I stayed silent as I tried to piece together a logical explanation. Nothing was making sense, but before I could question it, he left the room. My questions didn't accompany his abrupt departure so my mind was still racing with thoughts that came to a quick stop when the doors opened once again.

I hoped that it would be Xavier, but just my luck to find the legend himself stride into the room and walk past me as if I weren't there. I heard him pick up something from behind me, but I didn't dare turn around. I heard that those that made eye contact were found cursed and dead the next day.

Of course, rumors were rumors, but I was pretty sure a lot of them about him were true. I stared at the floor in front of me when a chair slamming onto the floor made me jump. I watched as he sat down in it, and my eyes dodged his. I was certain if I looked at them, they would be as cold and lifeless as everyone described them to be. I could almost feel the ice-cold and dark energy from him radiating onto me and goosebumps appeared on my skin.

"Who the fuck sent you?" He questioned in a grave tone.

"Nobody."

"Why are you following me?" He asked.

I-umm...I'm a fan?"

"Are you?" He pressed. I nodded and he nodded calmly in return before backhanding me across the face. My cheek stung as my mouth filled with blood and I coughed before turning back to him. His calmness and patience after doing something so cruel were even more terrifying than the things I had heard. Blood was flowing from my mouth, and he was focusing on adjusting the silver rings on his fingers.

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Jason?" How does he know my name?! As if hearing the questions in my mind, he smirked and shook his head. "Do you think you're the only person that can research someone?"

"Sir...your majesty, I can explain," I said quickly.

"I'm not here to let you explain," he said. "I'm a busy man, Jason. This is not a chance to save yourself and I'm not really feeling merciful these days."

"No one sent me!" I yelled quickly. "I was researching you on my own. I didn't tell anyone and I won't say anything! Just let me go, please!"

He sighed as he pulled a gun from his back pocket and he gently tapped it against his head. "Now why would you say that, Jason?" He asked. "That was your last opportunity to save yourself.

You should've told me you had associates working with you, or pull some movie shit and say that there was a countdown that would upload everything to your site if you weren't home in thirty minutes to stop it. You could've said ANYTHING except admitting what I believed to be true. That you were a cocky bastard that believed that they could take down a King on their own."

"Please don't kill me," I sobbed.

Instead of replying, a look of impatience mixed with irritation showed up in his eyes. He raised the gun in the direction of my head and tears streamed down my face. "Please!" His finger moved to the trigger and before I could formulate my next words, he—

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Author's Note

Wow I suck, lemme stop😭 may that man Rest In Peace but DAMN! Syn is kinda...evil💀.
But hey, we got to meet one of Xavier's babies. His vague explanation on why there were three kids was a bit vague👀 what do y'all think he meant?🤭
Lmk your thoughts ✨