Lucky and the Killer ✔

Epilogue

"You all suck ASS," Sarah yelled. "You LEFT me there, and you, you're not any help, either. Worthless every one of you. I ought to have you expelled."

"Language!" Zee groaned.

"You know, you've gotta work on this whole bitterness thing, Sarah."

Lilly laughed and Bella pulled leaves off of herbs. She placed them down into little, glass jars for later and smiled at Felix—who still had a giant black eye.

King didn't laugh. He wiped his hands on a towel and left the room. Lucky let him go.

"He's getting worse," Lilly sighed.

"Of course he is," Zee said. "His entire family is dead."

Bella stopped plucking leaves. Sarah bit her lip, and the water running in the basin turned off. It was quiet. Lucky expected their reactions, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. They were trying so hard not to hurt them that it just made everything worse. Lucky wiped her own hands and headed for the door.

"Lucky, I'm sorry," Zee whispered.

Her apartment was too crowded. The dark kitchen was bright and packed with people. Earth just felt like the place to get away from everything. She didn't want to be in an empty palace. King didn't want to be in an icy wasteland. Lucky put her hand on the door frame and tried to smile.

"It's okay."

She left the kitchen and turned down the hall. She'd told King to forget. As she passed, she saw him sitting on the couch with his head back on the cushions. She left him and went to her bedroom. The room needed cleaning. There was still rope laying on the carpet from the last time she'd been there: with Gray. She picked it up and tossed it in the wastebasket. There, it was gone.

She pulled the cover so that it would straighten out on the bed. The wrinkles gave way, and after walking around the bed twice, she had it made up. Then, she fell on top of it. The cover still smelled like laundry detergent and strawberry shampoo. It'd never smelled like King. She'd cried herself out, really. It was better than it was. At least she wasn't waking up every time she closed her eyes screaming. She pushed herself off of her bed with a frown and shuffled back down the hallway to King.

"Hey," she tugged on his hand. "Come here."

He opened one eye up at her and then looked away. Still, he stood up. He followed her down the hallway past the noise that'd already resumed in the kitchen and into her bedroom. She shut the door behind them and dropped his hand.

"I'm...," Lucky whispered.

"Don't say that again," King said.

"But I am."

"It's not your fault."

"King, I want you to take your power back. I want to give it back to you. How do I do that?"

"But you can control it. It won't hurt you anymore. Besides, I feel better knowing you can protect yourself."

"But I don't want it," she said quickly.

"Neither did I."

They fell silent again. Lucky sat down on her bed, and the creak from the mattress was too much noise in the quiet room. Maybe living with a little bit of Creston inside of her was something she deserved. She couldn't take King's power from him. He was supposed to have it, because he was only half mortal. He could take hers, though, but he wouldn't.

"I know," Lucky sighed. "I just want to go back to who I used to be. I don't want to risk hurting anyone here anymore. I'm staying here, King. I'm not going back home."