Evigheden

  S. King

  Evigheden

  Copyright © 2021 by S. King

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  S. King asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  S. King has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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  First edition

  Cover art by Hex Fox Designs

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  Contents

  Prologue One Year Earlier

  Chapter 1 Wedding Blitz and Gold Guard Idiots

  Chapter 2 Training Days and Black Courts

  Chapter 3 Okay, Not What I Expected to happen

  Chapter 4 Memory

  Chapter 5 No Really, I’m Good

  Chapter 6 Karma Two Times over

  Chapter 7 Mountains Moving, Duties Changing

  Chapter 8 A Plan So Ridiculous the Gods Would Laugh

  Chapter 9 Kings and Queens of the Night

  Chapter 10 Cupid’s Kiss, Devil’s Dance

  Chapter 11 Frustrated and Tormented

  Chapter 12 Mercy for the Damned

  Chapter 13 Regrets of the Past

  Chapter 14 Tides Turn, Enemies Become Allies

  Chapter 15 Judge’s Words, Executioner’s Promise

  Chapter 16 Fallen Woods

  Chapter 17 A Fight to Remember

  Chapter 18 Young Lovers

  Chapter 19 Realization and Dashed Hopes

  Chapter 20 A Fatal Promise

  Chapter 21 Eternity

  About the Author

  Also by S. King

  Prologue One Year Earlier

  I had made my bed a long time ago, but even through it all. I had wanted nothing but eternity with you after we escaped.

  My back slammed against a tree, forcing the air from my lungs. When my vision cleared and the stars subsided from my mind, I looked into his eyes and saw remorse for what was about to happen.

  “Luminous River, I’m…” his voice was like silk falling from the skin. Smooth and luxurious. However, it held a hint of danger and warning as if he didn’t want to do what I had blindly invited him to do.

  As if he were feeling sorry for me, his eyes searched mine for something he could hold onto. Like his remorse extended beyond the obvious. Regret for the position he had found himself in. For my position. For my vulnerability. For…everything. But why?

  Death was nothing to be an afraid of; I’ll admit I wished I could change a few things, forget a lot and had lived differently. But dying under his sword and by his hand? What more could I want when everything was said and done?

  I had come to grips with my reality in more ways than one within these last thirty minutes, knowing without a shadow of a doubt this night was coming sooner rather than later. It was obvious in the way Lovett had stared at me after his dogs took Demir off to the black courts. My time was coming shortly around the corner and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to get out of it.

  If there were a silver lining in this fucked up situation, I would see my sister again and my parents could stop their worrying every time I didn’t call them on time.

  Looking in Demir’s eyes, I smirked. In truth, the scene was almost laughable, especially when I said.

  “Tell me something I don’t want to know.” I wheezed as his sword came against my throat and sharp edge started to pierce my skin.

  He searched my eyes, the dull golden pools encased in black softening if only for a moment. What came from his mouth next was something even I wasn’t expecting.

  “I’ve waited for you since before you were born and now…” his eyes dropped to my lips for a moment before snapping up to my eyes again. “Now I have to let you go.”

  Before my mind could comprehend what was happening, he moved, and everything went black

  Chapter 1 Wedding Blitz and Gold Guard Idiots

  The glitz, pageantry, gentry, baseless glamour of a wedding always nauseated me. Granted, this was my cousin’s wedding and acting in accordance with my current mood would only result in the usual family drama and me without my teeth by the end of the fight.

  Rolling my eyes at the wedding march, I reluctantly followed suit and stood with the rest of the overdressed, stuffed shirt idiots, and thirsty looking females hungry for something only one of the former idiots were willing to give them.

  Beyond all of the shimmering lights, twinkling stars, sparkling champagne flutes and gossamer white tablecloths and chair covers filling the outdoor space, there was the bride.

  For whatever reason, my cousin, Thalia, decided to wear white for this wedding. Even though I thought the color was completely stupid given the circumstances surrounding the happy event. Thalia had gotten the bright idea to walk down the aisle for not the first, or second, or even third time. No, my cousin was walking down the aisle for the seventh fucking time.

  “Smile,” my sister, Karina, hissed in my ear as she caught sight of my sarcastic look to the passing bride.

  Karina Rizzo wasn’t my sister by blood—lord knows how either of our mothers wouldn’t have survived dealing with the two of us. However, our personalities were exactly the same except for Karina’s tendency to say whatever she wanted before thinking and then getting upset when someone black balled her or worse, wanted to fight. Nonetheless, our tempers were the same and so were our feelings when it came to my cousin and her countless marriages.

  “I would if I knew this were the last time.” I whispered back, sitting down as the reverend or whatever he was stepped up to his position between the happy couple.

  She snorted and crossed her arms, “how long do you think this one is going to last?”

  I raised a brow, considering the man that had proposed to my cousin after only a year of dating. “More than likely six-months.” I tilted my head toward her, “seven, if they’re lucky.”

  Karina coughed to cover her laugh and looked down, “you’re being generous tonight.”

  “I’m in a good mood.” I deadpanned.

  The statement was somewhat true. I was in a good mood because tonight, I was finally able to search for the one person who had driven me up the wall and back over these last ten plus years. Granted, the very person I was after wasn’t someone to be trifled with on a good day. Still, my hopes were high with possibility and excitement.

  Being a member of Silver Guard—the second most important guard actually—had its perks when it came to time off and getting what I wanted. While the other members were forced to carry out different orders from Onyx Elite, otherwise known as the black courts, here Karina and I were enjoying the wedding. But I wasn’t focusing solely on the wedding at hand, I was keeping a watchful eye on the gue
sts. Somewhere in the mass of faces, there would be one person who deserved a lashing from my whip.

  This night would allow me to find the very man I had a problem with since I became sect leader. Scanning the faces of the guests surrounding the room, I held my breath in hopes of finding one Demir Losett.

  The Gold Guard bastard was something of a phantom on the best of days and had been my target since day one. However, no matter how much I trained or tried to get my whip around his neck, he always seemed to get away from me. I didn’t know if my inability to kill Demir was due to the way he looked at me, or maybe it was because he always allowed me to strike first.

  Every good soldier and fighter knew to never take the first opportunity to strike. The move allowed your opponent to calculate your moves and analyze your footwork and movements before making their own move.

  “You are aware of the GG bitch sitting in the third row from the right three links back?” Karina sighed, crossing her arms in bored interest.

  “It’s no use,” I tilted my head and calculated the distance between us and the Gold Guard mutt who had found her way into the festivities. “There are too many people around and the carnage that would be unleashed should we do something stupid isn’t worth it.” I looked at her with a raised brow, “do you really want to deal with the backlash?”

  She made a face, obviously irritated by not being able to use her talents to create some excitement through the assembly. “You’re no fun and more so,” she leaned over to me. “I think this ceremony needs a little sparkle.”

  “We’re overloaded with sparkle now, Rina,” I nodded to the happy couple kissing.

  Standing with the rest of the crowd, we slowly turned to watch the newlyweds march down the aisle. However, my eyes weren’t on the wedding party or their smiling faces. Instead, I was staring at the woman in question. The Gold Guard buffoon was clapping along with the rest of the guests, but her eyes were on me.

  Svenia Lovanna had her black ombre hair pulled back away from her face—as most guard members did—in a tight bun. Her washed out gold eyes twinkled with a special type of interest only those in the horrible Honor Guard had.

  “One blast and it’ll be done,” Karina hissed in my ear.

  Keeping my face neutral, I counted the heads still standing in their rows debating whether or not to go to the reception or just leave altogether. Fifty out of the three hundred remained—not including myself and Karina. The odds weren’t the best, but it was better than what the night had started with.

  “Lum?” My best friend and right-hand guard member nudged my shoulder.

  “Let the number go down a few before you set it off.”

  Karina had an affection for anything involving C4, dynamite, gun powder and all things that went boom in the night. So, it was no surprise to me, when Karina told me she had embedded the tents with a little sparkling magic. Leave it to her to plant explosives around the wedding hall—just in case, she had said when she was planting the things after we had arrived.

  “Promise?” A little glint in her eye made the storm blue color look like an ocean after a storm.

  Smirking, I kept my eyes on the GG idiot, “yes Rina.”

  Did I want to be the one responsible for ruining my cousin’s wedding? No. I wasn’t as cruel as that. On the other hand, I knew why Svenia was here and knew the only way we were going to get out of this wedding hall would be to blow the thing to shit.

  When the hall cleared out a little more, I pulled my precious weapon from under my dress and let the thing uncurl.

  “Get ready,” I whispered to Karina as the whip’s tail fell to the floor with a soft clink.

  My whip was something from a different world. The grip and braids were made of genuine rattle snake leather, dyed in black. But it was the razor wire braided into the whip that made the whip especially different. Every time I executed a red order from the black court, another link of razor wire and leather were meticulously added to the end.

  With a sinister tone over taking her voice, Karina nodded and said, “with pleasure.”

  Thankfully, the remaining guests had left the wedding hall. Leaving me to turn to Svenia and tilt my head.

  “Care to explain why you’re here?”

  She smirked and narrowed her gaze on me, “I have my orders and so do you.”

  “I do,” I agreed, “but the funny thing is, I don’t remember being notified of the red order you’re currently trying to execute.”

  “Who said you were my target for the night?”

  Well, damn. She had a point there. The Onyx Elite—a democracy who prided itself on telling people about their planned executions while they were still alive had the notorious reputation of handing down surprise orders. Of course, the people signing off on such orders were like me, Karina and the other experiments. Genetically enhanced people who had been specifically created to protect normal society.

  For the people who lived normal lives without genetically enhanced abilities, there was a group of people roaming the streets at night. Handling the problematic individuals the normal courts couldn’t put in their rightful place.

  The Silver Guard was responsible for finding and bringing down the robbers, petty assaulters, drunken rage filled idiots and other simple criminals. In turn, the Gold Guard was specifically designed to handle the bloodier, more grotesque criminals. The child killers, serial killers, traffickers, and the works were all under the jurisdiction of Gold.

  Why the Gold Guard had the privilege of handling the more difficult cases, I never understood. However, thanks to my superior, the Silver Guard was able to partake in some of the fun when the case was in Silver territory.

  Like those during normal hours the guards had their rules, courts, lawyers, blah blah whatever to adhere to. The main court—like the US Supreme Court—was Onyx Elite, the black courts of the night. They were the ones to hand down their judgments on cases, decide whether or not to keep lower court decisions, hear special cases and hand down red and black orders. Death sentences, we all had called them.

  When the black courts demanded someone be executed by one of the guards for their crimes, either Gold or Silver members showed up and handled the task. Unfortunately, however, the black courts allowed the death sentence to be common knowledge—a fair warning that death was coming, my superior had said when I asked the why of the court’s decision.

  Now that I had thought about it, I didn’t have a red order on my name—which I was thankful for—but I also didn’t know anyone in the reception hall who did have the red order. So, why was she really here. Unless the order came after my time-off request was approved.

  I looked at Svenia and shook my head, “you’re lying. Just because you’re a GG doesn’t mean I’m not privy to the red orders that are handed to you. From what I know, there isn’t anyone here who has an order against them.”

  She chuckled softly and wagged a finger at me, “you shouldn’t have taken time off, Luminous.” My name coming from her lips sounded like nails against a chalkboard. “The order just came in tonight.”

  Gritting my teeth, I idly waited for Karina to send me the signal to hit the deck. If there was anything my best friend was amazing at, it was giving me fair warning when it came to getting the hell out of the way when shit was about to blow.

  Turning my attention back to Svenia, I said, “fill me in on who that person is.”

  “Why should I? It’s not like you don’t have access to the court’s database from your mobile.” She didn’t cross her arms, but she didn’t reveal what I knew was already there. Like a majority of members in her station, she loved her throwing stars. The damn things could hide in plain sight and the receiver wouldn’t see the attack coming until it was too late.

  “I do,” I agreed again and tightened my grip on the whip, “however, I’m asking you. Now. Who is the newest sap?”

  Revealing what was in either of her hands, a sinister smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “Fight me and we’ll see who get
s to execute the order.”

  That was a bet. The problem, however, was simple. I had never fought with Svenia and didn’t know how good she was with the retractable throwing stars in her hands. The damned things were tethered to the inside of her duster sleeves and I knew judging from the shine on the things, they were just as sharp—if not more so—than the razor wire in my whip. A few lucky slices and I would be bleeding out within a few seconds.

  “If I kill you,” I said, catching sight of Karina winking at me from twenty feet behind Svenia. “I’ll face the wrath of the Gold Guard. If you kill me, you’ll face the wrath of the Silver Guard. Do you really want to risk that?”

  “You sound as if you’re worried about the outcome of the fight.”

  “I’m not, it’s simply an observation of the facts hanging over us.”

  “Is that so?”

  “It is.”

  She nodded, looking around the wedding hall, “if you must know.” She slid her gaze over to me and smirked, “it’s your cousin’s husband.”

  I lost any confidence in myself that might’ve been settling its way over my body. My cousin had been married seven times and all of the previous husbands she had—excluding this one, for the time being—had mysteriously died. Granted, this was to be the last time she would marry according to the second highest court.

  The Royal Sapphire Courts made it blatantly clear about my cousin’s fate should the newest husband die after marrying her. However, on the flip side, if someone from the GG decided to be the one that ended the poor sap’s life, my cousin wouldn’t be held responsible for it.

  In our world, you could only marry once and until either you or the other person died, there would be no other marriages. My cousin, for whatever reason, had had the damndest of luck when it came to finding someone to live happily ever after with. She’d find someone, date a year or two, get married, then boom the bridegroom would be laid out on a morgue’s table faster than a murder victim. I had never understood why she continued to get married, even after all of her bad luck, she was still willing to walk down the aisle and put on a happy face for the duration of the charade.