Out of Time 01 - Out of Time

take the runt of the litter when you can have the best? They wanted to make me one of them, add to their cadre. Fools.”
    He stopped pacing and turned to face her. “The Egyptians were right. Death isn’t the end, it’s merely a bridge. That very day, I performed the ritual for preserving the soul. When they tried to turn me, I retained my soul. The typical victim is no more than a shell, a husk that provides the demon with access to this world. But my soul was bonded to my body, and it made me more powerful than they could imagine. A demon and a soul yoked together.”
    Elizabeth shuddered. That explained the dual personality she’d sensed. “And your brother?”
    King’s eyes sparked. “He was the last to die, and the most pleasurable to kill.”
    Her knees threatened to buckle. She was standing in a room with a mass murderer. A demon. How often did he kill? How did he choose his victims? Was she next? Why hadn’t he killed her when he had the chance? She tried the door handle again, and to her surprise, felt it turn. It wasn’t locked. In her panic, she must have turned it the wrong way.
    “You were always free to leave,” he said. His confidence slipped, and she saw the ghost of insecurity flit across his face.
    Despite the voice in her head screaming for her to run, to run and never look back, there was a chorus of other voices asking questions, questions she and Simon had spent years trying to answer. Simon! How was she going to tell him? Oh, by the way, that proof you’ve spent your life looking for, well, I had dinner with it.
    She looked at King and said the only thing she could. “I’m sorry.”
    His back straightened. “I didn’t tell you this for pity.”
    “Why did you tell me?”
    He regarded her calmly. “Because it’s what I am.”
    “But why me?”
    He walked over to her, and she somehow managed to stand her ground. He stroked her cheek with his gloved hand. “How does any man answer that question? You are an amazing woman.”
    She tried not to shrink back from his touch. “I don’t understand.”
    He smiled enigmatically and stepped back. “I don’t suppose you do. Yet.”
    Her head was throbbing and his cryptic answers weren’t helping any. She ran a hand over her forehead and massaged her temple. She had the beginnings of one hell of a headache.
    He pulled a watch chain from his pocket. “It’s late, and you’re obviously tired,” he said, once again the well-mannered host. “We can continue this another time.”
    “You’re letting me go?”
    “I told you that you were always free to go.”
    There had to be a catch. There was always a catch. “And you won’t hurt anyone. Simon or Charlie?”
    “That’s up to you. Every action has a consequence.”
    She could leave, but he’d know every move she made, and Simon would pay the price. “So, I’m not really free at all, am I?”
    “We’re all bound by the choices we make,” he said and reached into his breast pocket. “I don’t think you’d want to leave town without this.” He held out his hand, and resting in his palm was Simon’s scarab ring.
    She felt her stomach drop. “Where did you get that?”
“I could ask you the same question,” he said and held it up to the light. “Very unusual. One of a kind?”
    “That doesn’t belong to you.”
    “Oh, I think it does. But I am curious. How did you come by it?”
    “A family heirloom, and I’d appreciate it if you’d give it back to me,” she said and held out her hand.
    “Perhaps,” he said and slipped it back into his pocket. “In time. As I said, I’m a patient man.”
    And one who had, literally, all the time in the world. Her head throbbed even harder. “I’d like to go home now.”
    “Of course,” he said and opened the door. “My man will take you.”
    She choked back the bitter taste the evening left in her throat and managed a tight, “Thank you.”
    King watched her disappear into the foyer before closing the door. He reached back into his pocket and took out the scarab ring and set it on the table. Slowly, he took off his right glove and there, on his finger was the exact same ring, with the exact same crack down the stone. He slid it from his hand and put it down on the table with its twin.
    “A sign indeed.”
    * * *
    Simon leaned on the far end of the bar and stared down at his clenched fists. It had taken all of Charlie’s strength to keep him from forcing his way out into the night and blindly banging on doors until