King (The Protectors #28)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

A fter showering the dried blood off his body, King dressed in clean clothes and headed toward the kitchen. Having a room at the VC compound made his life much easier. He had a place of his own; however, after an all-nighter of chasing and fighting rogues that were running rampant, he didn’t want to ride half an hour out of the city. It seemed that every time King had a rough night of kicking ass, Sloan called a fucking meeting.

Hearing voices coming from the kitchen, King frowned. He had hoped for a pleasant, quiet moment to drink his coffee and grab something quick to eat before facing whatever Sloan wanted to discuss. He would bet his left nut that it wasn’t anything good. Things were becoming strange. Okay, that wasn’t true. Things had been strange for a long time. If he wanted to be honest, things had been spiraling out of control with no end in sight.

For centuries, he had faced rogue vampires, their bloodlust and savagery a constant threat. But now, the chaos was escalating beyond anything he’d ever encountered. The rogues were more organized, and their attacks calculated. It wasn’t random violence anymore but coordinated assaults. Blood trafficking had also reached an alarming new high. Entire underground networks were emerging, trading human and vampire blood like a lucrative black-market commodity. The blood wasn’t just being sold; it was being weaponized, laced with dangerous substances that could turn a regular vampire feral or incapacitate even the strongest of Warriors, himself included. Innocent lives were being destroyed, and families were torn apart for money and greed. Add demons into the mix, and it was a shitshow of epic proportions.

It was a storm with no clear end, a surge of danger and disorder that threatened a VC Warrior’s mission and King’s very purpose. Every night was a battle for survival. Deep down, King feared that no matter how many rogues he took down or how much blood he spilled, it might not be enough to stop the unraveling worldwide chaos. It was literally becoming Hell on Earth.

Clearing his thoughts, he rolled the tension from his shoulders and pushed open the door to the kitchen. Nodding toward Damon, who sat at the table with his chair tipped back, he continued toward the coffee. Sid stood at the stove where the sound of bacon sizzled. Jared, Slade, and Duncan were filling their plates behind Sid, talking among themselves.

“Help yourself,” Sid motioned behind him to where the food was.

“Need this first, then food,” King replied, pouring the steaming coffee.

“Rough night?” Sid cocked his eyebrow knowingly.

“I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have a rough night.” King took a long drink of his coffee and then turned to refill it. “I think the world is going into the shitter, and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it. Maybe we need to hire some wanna-be human Warriors to take the load off a little.” King smirked, ready for the response to that little statement.

There was a round of snorts and grunts of disagreement from everyone. “We need more fucking Immortal Warriors. Not a bunch of idiots getting killed. Makes even more work for us having to save their asses. Where in the hell do you come up with these fucked up ideas?” Jared passed, heading for the table with a massive plate of food, some falling on the floor.

King grinned behind his coffee cup. He loved to get these assholes riled up. It didn’t take much, and he was pretty good at it.

“Dammit, Jared,” Sid growled, pointing at the food with tongs. “Stop dropping food on the fucking floor, or there’s going to be one less Warrior.”

“Dude, chill the fuck out and take a Midol,” Jared growled, setting his food down, then walked over, grabbing paper towels.

“What the fuck is a Midol?” Sid frowned, his eyes narrowing.

King’s grin spread as he watched the heated exchange. He could come in here in the worst fucking mood, but these fuckers could make him forget for just a minute how messed up the world had become. It was entertaining, to say the least.

“It’s what Tessa used to take when she had a period before she was turned.” Jared wiped up the spilled food and tossed it in the trash before returning to the table. “Since you’ve traded your dick for a pussy, I figured it might help your fucking mood.”

King’s snort was met with a glare from Sid, who growled as his eyes returned to Jared. “Fuck you, Jared.”

“Original comeback, Sidney.” Jared dug into his food.

“I told you to stop calling me that fucker.” Sid’s growl deepened as he slammed down his tongs, his eyes black with rage.

“And I told you when you stopped acting like a little bitch I would,” Jared growled back, glaring at Sid.

“Will you two shut the hell up?” Duncan slammed his hand down on the table. “For once, I would like to eat in fucking peace. Both of you are acting like little whiny ass bitches, and if it doesn’t stop, I’m going to kick both of your asses.”

Both King and Damon looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Duncan usually didn’t say a lot, but when he did, everyone took notice. King didn’t know much about Duncan, who kept to himself. However, he quickly learned that Duncan wasn’t the one he wanted on his bad side.

Sid didn’t respond, but he picked up his tongs, jabbing them toward Jared, who jabbed his fork back at Sid. Then, the feud ended with them flipping each other off.

Finishing off his third cup of coffee, King decided he wasn’t that hungry and headed to Sloan’s office early for the meeting. The mood in the kitchen had turned into a downer, or at least it had until Steve blasted through the door.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Steve marched toward him, waving his phone around.

“Right here,” King said cocking his eyebrow, another grin tipping his lips. Steve was a fucking moron, but he liked the damn kid. King always got along with the world's oddballs, and Steve definitely fit that description.

“Dude!” Steve stopped in front of him, his eyes wide. “We went viral!”

“Steve, what in the hell did you do now?” Sid sighed, shaking his head. “Is Sloan going to kill you for real this time?”

That question had Steve’s excitement dim as he seemed to think hard about what Sid just asked.

“Dammit, Steve,” Jared said from the table. “There are only so many times we can save you from Sloan. Seriously. What in the hell did you do?”

“Shit,” Steve whispered, then shrugged after a few more minutes of deep thought. “Fuck it. Dude, we went viral, and if I can make money off this, I won’t need this Warrior gig anymore.”

“You won’t need it anymore if Sloan kills you.” Sid pointed out with a smirk.

“Will you guys stop shitting on my parade?” Steve glared first at Sid and then Jared. “Just once, I would like a pat on the fucking back and a ‘ well done, Steve .’” He deepened his voice for that last part, making King chuckle.

“What went viral, Steve?” King asked with a grin.

“I uploaded the recording of you to TikTok yesterday.” Steve grinned as if he was counting his fortune already. “It has over twelve million views and is still going with hundreds of thousands of likes.”

“What the fuck is a TikTok?” Duncan grumbled as he passed, taking his plate to the sink.

Steve’s eyes widened in shock. “Just the biggest social media platform, Grandpa.”

Duncan’s glare should have warned Steve to shut his mouth, but then again, it was Steve.

“People who go viral are becoming millionaires,” Steve said as if that explained everything. “This could be my ticket, boys.”

“Sounds like it could be King’s ticket since he’s the one on the video.” Jared snorted as he also passed with an empty plate.

“Ticket for what?” Jill strolled into the kitchen.

“Finally, someone who isn’t as old as dirt and can respect what the hell I’ve done,” Steve said proudly, scrolling on his phone.

“You mean...what King has done.” Jared reiterated, but Steve ignored him.

Steve stood tall, completely ignoring Jared, a grin stretching across his face as he handed his phone to Jill with a proud tilt to his head. He looked like a kid waiting for praise, practically bouncing with excitement. King leaned casually against the counter. He wasn’t entirely sure what Steve was so hyped about. From his perspective, all he’d done was grab a broken broom, used it as a makeshift fighting staff, and put some old techniques to use. Throwing fists in a fight could get boring, so he liked to mix it up now and then, using whatever he could get his hands on to take down the bad guys. Nothing extraordinary, just business as usual.

“Holy shit!” Jill exclaimed, her eyes widening as she watched the video.

“Told ya!” Steve grinned, rubbing his hands together. He glanced triumphantly at Sid, Jared, and Duncan. “These old fucks have no clue what this means.”

Jill snorted, barely glancing up. “I don’t think you do either.”

Steve smiled even wider but then faltered. “Huh?”

“This has over twelve million views.” Jill frowned, handing the phone back to Steve.

“I know.” Steve nodded, almost drooling at the thought. “It’s fucking awesome.”

“Steve, what possessed you to think Sloan would be okay with one of his Warriors showing off fighting moves on social media? And let’s not forget—shirtless, in gray sweatpants of all things. Have you ever heard of the gray sweatpants trend, Mr. TikTok? I’m honestly shocked we don’t have women lined up outside the door right now,” Jill said, frowning deeply at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Have you forgotten the whole secretary fiasco with Sloan?”

King glanced around the room, noting the knowing grimaces on everyone’s faces. It was clear they all remembered. He, however, had never heard of said...fiasco. “What fiasco?”

“Oh, that fiasco was Jill’s doing.” Jared was more than happy to fill him in. “She decided to put out an ad announcing that Sloan Murphy, aka Warrior Bossman, was hiring a secretary. Hundreds of women showed up but weren’t just after a desk job.”

“Hey!” Jill pointed at Jared. “The ad clearly stated what the position was for. I can’t be blamed for what they were thinking.”

“Which was?” King asked with a half grin, clearly amused. Damn, he wished he could have seen Sloan’s face when a hundred women showed up for the job of being his secretary.

“They wanted Warrior husbands, and as far as they were concerned, any Warrior would do.” Sid shivered at the thought. “Before Lana, I was a ladies’ man.”

Jared snorted with a roll of his eyes at that, but Sid ignored him.

“But to have over a hundred women all trying to get at you, well, that’s some scary ass shit,” Sid continued, shaking his head.

“My balls agree,” Steve added, looking pale, his eyes vacant, and he seemed deep in thought. “I seriously think that woman who chased me with her purse and then soccer kicked me in the nuts was psycho. My nuggets have never been the same.”

King chuckled at Steve’s ashen face, wishing to hell he could have seen Steve being chased around the parking lot. Damn, his day was turning out to be very entertaining.

“It was absolute chaos.” Sid continued the story after Steve reminisced about his balls. “We had to break up full-on catfights in the parking lot. Women were clawing at each other, trying to get inside, and then turned on us. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been a part of, including facing off against demons.”

The Warriors in the room agreed with frowns and nods.

“I think the scariest for me was when Sloan walked in with his shirt ripped.” Jill pinched the bridge of her nose as if trying to dislodge the memory from her brain. She dropped her hand and then looked at Steve. “So yeah, Steve. I don’t think Sloan is going to be happy about this viral video.”

“I...ah...well...” Steve couldn’t seem to find the words. “Fuck!”

“Sloan is going to kill you for real this time,” Jill said, then looked at King. “And you may go down with him.”

King barely reacted. He just raised an eyebrow, took another drink of coffee, and shrugged. “Well,” he said casually, setting the mug down. “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve had my ass chewed.” His tone was flat, almost bored, as if the idea of Sloan’s wrath barely registered on his radar.

“The only way he’s going to know is if someone tells him,” Steve said, worry edging his tone. “I don’t think Sloan has TikTok on his phone.”

“Whether or not he has it on his phone, Sloan knows all.” Jill snorted, giving Steve a pity glance. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” Steve spread his arms wide in exasperation. “Why in the hell should it matter to Sloan what I do on my off time? He needs to get the stick out of his ass and take a chill pill.”

“Damn, Steve.” Sid chuckled, shaking his head. “You know Sloan had cameras put in all the rooms here except the bedrooms and bathrooms.”

“What!?” Steve’s mouth gaped open, his eyes searching frantically.

“Yeah, I forgot about that.” Jared hissed through his teeth. “Doesn’t it go directly to his computer?”

“Holy fuck, I’m dead.” Steve's face twisted with panic. “Duncan! Where’s Duncan?”

“I’m right here, dumbass.” Duncan snorted, shaking his head. “And no, I can’t get into the system to erase anything. Wait, let me rephrase that. I will not get into the system to erase shit.”

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Steve said on repeat.

King laughed as he put his mug in the sink, then walked up to Steve, clapping him on the back. “They’re fucking with you, Steve,” King said as he headed out the door. “There are no cameras, and I’ll take the blame on the viral stuff. You will live another day.”

“You, my dude, are my hero.” Steve’s voice was full of wonder and awe.

“Damn, King,” Sid called out, but King continued walking. “Way to fuck up our fun.”

“Don’t mention it,” King smirked with a chuckle as he headed toward Sloan’s office.