The Devil's Liege (The Mathias Saga Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

to do was to scare the shit out of this kid. He patted the girl on the head, being careful not to catch her hair in his claws. He didn’t grow them long like Nossy did, but they were still longer than a human’s nails and wicked sharp. “Thank you. You may go now.”
    She curtsied and scurried off. So, someone had let him in on the joke. It wasn’t funny. Who in the hell thought it would be a good idea to make him king?
    * * * * *
    He hurried through the halls until he came to Vlad’s office and knocked on the door. It was as good a place as any to check. He’d been just about everywhere else.
    “Enter,” the voice said from within.
    Mathias grunted, opened the door, and closed it behind him softly. No sense in making any more noise than he was about to. He had to admit, he was doing a better job at controlling his anger. Then, he walked over and stood in front of Vlad’s desk— waiting.
    Vlad sighed. “I wanted to tell you before the message went out, but there just wasn’t time.”
    Really? There wasn’t time? Mathias threw his hands down and flapped his wings hard. Once. So that they made a smacking sound. “I swear, you keep doing this shit and expecting me to think it’s all okay?”
    And they wondered why he had anger issues.
    Vlad’s eyes clouded a little. Then, he sighed again. “Mathias,” he motioned with his hand toward the chair. “Please sit.”
    Mathias did only because it was easier than fighting over that too. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone?
    After he was settled, Vlad pushed an old piece of paper toward him on the desk. The parchment was so old, it was very yellow.
    “What’s this?”Mathias asked.
    “The family tree of sorts. The list of those who are eligible to rule.”
    Mathias glanced at it again. It consisted of a long list of names and lines indicating how they were related. His name was at the top of the list, but there was new ink drawn straight from his name at the top to his name at the bottom. “Okay. Where is the part that says I’m the only choice?”
    So, he was at the beginning and at the end. As far as he was concerned, that meant nothing.
    “There are rules about the number of years you have to set aside before you can rule again. Nossy, Stuart, and you all have eligible states,” Vlad said.
    Mathias tapped at the paper. “Well, sort of. Nossy was already ruling…”
    Vlad nodded. “So, that left the choice between you and Stuart. Who do you think the people are more apt to follow?”
    He did not want to think about that at all. His past had nothing to do with what was going on now. He wasn’t even the same person. Why couldn’t they see that? “I don’t understand why it had to be now. Nossy’s just missing isn’t he?”
    Vlad nodded again, calmly laced his fingers together, and rested his hands on the table.
    Mathias had a bad feeling that this was going to be yet another complicated situation.
    “We’d know if he’d been killed,” Vlad said. “We had to claim the throne before those that apparently want the rule had a chance to make their move.”
    Mathias grunted. “So, now Nossy is a liability and they want to kill me?” One of these days, he was going to show himself to be one crazy motherfucker. Then, all of this shit would stop. But, for now, he had to wait. He still didn’t know enough about all of these laws and shit to know what he was doing.
    “Unfortunately, yes.”
    He stared at Vlad. Sometimes, he really couldn’t believe the man. Jesus Christ. “And this was the best option?”
    Vlad nodded.
    “We are so screwed.”
    * * * * *
    If someone would have told him that a little over a year ago he’d be king, he’d have laughed in their faces. He still remembered what it was like to sleep on the streets on the remnants of a cardboard box just so he wouldn’t be sleeping on the cold concrete. It wasn’t pretty, but he’d survived.
    Mathias was sitting in his room, staring at the floor. It wasn’t every day that he had to