Dying Days 5 Read Free Page B

taken from her, but now it resurfaced. She wished she was still in so much pain it would mask the thought of John dead and her baby stolen from her. And now she was a prisoner of this monster.
    “Your child grows further away from us each hour. But the child who stole your child won’t get out of Florida.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Because an enemy even worse than me is in their way. But no harm will come to your child. It will be revered and served in time.”
    Darlene shook her head. “Not a good answer. As soon as I feel better, I’m leaving to find my child. If you try to stop me, I will make sure you suffer.”
    The Lich Lord chuckled. “Why would I stand in your way? My goal is to help you improve and gather your strength. You need to be strong and have a strong team around you to make the journey.”
    “I don’t understand,” Darlene said. Was he messing with her? She heard her stomach growl and stabbed at the fish with her fork. She could eat and talk at the same time.
    “I don’t expect you to understand my superior thoughts and motivations. Suffice it to say you are so much better alive than dead. You can help me find your baby and rescue it from the clutches of my brethren. You can unite the humans and get them to fight for you. Darlene, you will rewrite history.”
    “History where you still live? I don’t want any part of it. I just want my baby and to find John and run away and hide,” she said. She knew it sounded ridiculous but she didn’t care. She finished everything on her plate and was tempted to suck the juice from the lemon wedges but refrained. She held up her empty plate. “I’m all done. What’s for dessert?”
    “How does warm apple pie sound?”
    “I’m a fan,” Darlene said. She smiled despite the situation. Shit, you’ve been in much worse , she thought. At least he’s being civil before he attacks or does something to hurt me.
    “I need you one hundred percent so we can get married,” he said.
    Darlene slid back onto the bed and held up the fork again. Holy shit , she thought. I knew it. He thinks we’re going to be married? He’s insane. Did he think I’d give him a child? It was starting to make sense.
    The Lich Lord laughed. “Sorry. Just a joke. Obviously a bad one. I couldn’t resist. Have you ever seen the movie Flash Gordon ? It’s a great 1980’s film. Queen did the soundtrack. Really cheesy and really good. Ming the Merciless tries to marry Dale, who is Flash Gordon’s beau. No real idea why other than to have a cool fighting sequence. Anyway, I have no intention of marrying you. I was making a joke. I promise. In time, you’ll see we’re on the same side in this apocalypse. We both intend to stay alive and get the world back to a manageable place. I’d like to do it together, as partners. But not husband and wife. Where is the father of the child?”
    Darlene stared at the two red eyes just out of the range of the lamplight. “Your bastard lackey left him for dead, back in the diner. He’d been shot. I begged him to go back and save him but he thought it was funny.”
    “I’m sure he did. He’s not what I would call refined. In fact, the term barbaric comes to mind. But Jeff has his uses. For now. I’m sure you can hold your own against him, right? Tell me more about your baby daddy.”
    “Did you just say baby daddy?”
    “You act like I’m an alien. I was human, you know. I still retain all of my memories and knowledge. And then some. It hasn’t been so long, since I was mortal, that I don’t remember what it was like to love someone else. I had a wife and a career. Now I have everything,” The Lich Lord said. “What’s his name?”
    “John Murphy. I need to find him,” Darlene said. “I will warn you again: you will not get in my way.”
    “I understand. I really do,” The Lich Lord said. “I will have the girl bring in two slices of apple pie for you. It’s the least I can do.”
     
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    Vee