The Unseelie King (The Kings Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page B

from slaughterhouses to hunting. The Shifter King, whose kind had been hunted to veritable extinction, could testify to that.
    Cal could imagine that before very long at all, Minerva would have shied heavily away from anything that exposed her to the pain around her. The news would never play on her television. She would never read the paper. She would have to find some way to hide from the gossip, from the headlines – from everything.
    The very soul of empathy. This was Minerva Trystaine.
    To be able to empathize with your fellow man made it possible to know how to reach them, to argue both sides, to become an effective case-maker, comforter, and friend. Empathy brought good deeds, to be sure. But no good deed goes unpunished. And kindness was a gift and a curse.
    “Let me see your wounds,” Drummar said suddenly, slicing through Caliban’s thoughts. He looked up at his advisor’s request and met a steadfast, demanding gaze.
    It took a moment for the request to sink in before Caliban realized what Drummar was talking about. There was little point in voicing his next question, but Caliban had always been the stubborn kind. “How did you know?” he asked as he self-consciously touched his fingers to his chest, where Minerva’s attack had left him dearly wounded.
    “I know women,” the advisor replied easily with a slight shrug of his hunched shoulders.
    Cal took a deep breath. Fine , he thought. So what if the old man knows. Hell, he may know of some way to help me heal. He grasped the hem of his long-sleeved black shirt and lifted it to expose the red, angry markings where iron had made contact with his body.
    Drummar’s bushy white brows raised in keen interest. “I’m impressed,” he said, coming closer to get a better look. “And you’re sure you were fully clothed when this happened?”
    Caliban knew he was joking, but the jab did little to ease his unspoken, very real fears. Minerva had managed to sear his flesh by hurling objects at him so hard, they’d ripped right through his clothing. Telekinesis was a rare power for anyone, and for a Wisher, it came only after centuries of practice using unspoken wishes to manipulate the world around you. Minerva had done it in the blink of an eye, in a single heartbeat upon learning who and what she was.
    This was only a reminder of what Caliban was up against. It reinforced how powerful his fated queen was, as well as how much she clearly despised him.
    He dropped his shirt and turned away from Drummar to pace to the same window the advisor had been at a moment before. He looked out over his realm as he had a thousand-thousand times.
    “You’ll need to feed your magic if you want those to scar over,” said Drummar softly. But he was only telling Caliban something the king already knew. A seelie fae’s magic was replenished with innocent pleasures. Food. Drink. Candy. Sweets. Even wine. Chocolate was a favorite among them. Caliban’s brother, Avery, preferred beer.
    But for an unseelie fae, it was pleasures of the non-innocent kind that did the replenishing. It was passion that did it. And the more powerful the subject of that passion, the more magic was restored.
    Caliban could not help but imagine such passion with Minerva, and the power that would become his in such an act. She was like the Fountain of Youth to a 99 year-old man. She was the promised land.
    “I’m aware,” he replied simply and with finality.
    But Drummar wasn’t finished with the subject. “You don’t have to have Miss Trystaine. Not yet. There are countless others who would sacrifice themselves to your needs, Caliban.”
    That was an understatement.
    “And I dare say they would not consider it a sacrifice,” Drummar added with a wink.
    “I’m aware,” Caliban replied again testily.
    Many mortal kings had possessed harems over the years. What Caliban possessed was unimaginable by comparison. Any female in his realm would lie down for him if he indicated with a glance that it was