“The only thing that’s left,” the doctor continues, “is the blood work.”

The blood work Montes insisted on.

When it finally comes back in, she flips through it. “Not pregnant,” the physician says.

I give Montes a bored look. See?

“Hmmm,” he says in response, and I really don’t like the look in his eyes. Like he wants to rectify the situation immediately.

When the exam ends, the king leads me out.

Once we return to the main section of the palace, I halt. “Shit,” I say.

“What is it?”

I glance behind us. “I left my jacket behind.”

“Someone will return it to our rooms.” The king begins to steer me forward once more.

I dig my heels in. “I’m just going to grab it,” I say.

Montes gives me a peculiar look. He knows me far too well. To willingly suffer through more time in the medical wing is out of character.

“Alright,” he says carefully. “I’ll be in my office.” Giving me a final, poignant glance, we part ways.

I turn around and stride back towards the medical facilities.

Being sneaky is not a forte of mine. I tend to storm into situations guns a-blazing. Unfortunately for me, the king knows this. I just have to hope that other tasks keep him busy enough to ignore my inconsistent behavior.

When I run into the royal physician, she glances up from the paperwork she holds.

“Did you forget something?” she asks.

“My jacket,” I say.

“Let’s go get it for you,” she says, dropping the file on the desk near her. I head back to the room with her.

Something has niggled at my mind for some time, something that I might be able to make use of.

“How many Sleepers does the king have?” I ask as we walk.

“Here?” she says, tucking a wispy strand of white hair behind her ear. “Seven I believe—of course, that’s not including the one you were in. Globally, there are twenty-four, again, not including yours.”

“And how many of them are occupied?” I ask.

The doctor glances over at me sharply. She doesn’t appear all that enthusiastic to answer it.

“Three here, not including yours, and eight others worldwide. Many of the remaining Sleepers are periodically in use depending on the needs of the people.”

“How many of those contain long-term occupants? Like me.” I began the conversation casually enough, but now there’s no masking the fact that I’m probing with a purpose.

She licks her lips. “Two.”

“I want to see who’s in them.”

“Your Majesty, I don’t see how this is—”

“You don’t need to understand my motives,” I interrupt her to say. “All you need to do is follow through with my request.”

“You didn’t come back for your jacket, did you?” she asks.

“I didn’t,” I confirm.

The doctor doesn’t slow when we pass the room I had my checkup in.

“I’m only authorized to show you one,” she cautions.

That makes me all the more eager to find out who’s in the remaining Sleeper.

“Fine,” I say. “Show me the one.”

I stare down at the occupant of the king’s Sleeper.

I was right.

“How long has he been here?” I ask, glancing up at the physician. I’m sure she has a busy schedule, and this is the last place she wants to be, but she is patient, acting as though she has all the time in the world to spend answering my questions.

Then again, if I served the queen, I might make time for her as well.

“For as long as I can remember. And for as long as the doctor before me can remember.”

I have no doubt this man has been resting here for just as long as I had. Over a century.

The room he’s housed in is not nearly as grand as the temple made for me, but time and lots of money have clearly gone into the richly painted frescos that adorn the walls around us. This is as beautiful a crypt as I’ve ever seen.

I frown as I return my attention to the man, visible through the Sleeper’s porthole.

I’m not the only beloved person Montes kept alive. Marco rests inside the machine—the original one—his face expressionless.

I’d wondered for a while now how the king managed to clone Marco. Where he got the DNA. Now I know.

It just goes to show you how twisted my life has become that I pity the man trapped in this box, I pity him and his fate. Doomed to remain alive even though there is nothing sentient left in his body, not after the bullet he took to the brain all those years ago.

Death must come to all men. It is our due.

Marco hasn’t been able to claim it, though his soul has long since left this place.

I still hate the man with a vengeance, and I haven’t been kind to his doppelganger, but there are some dignities even my enemies deserve.

When the time is right, I will give this man the death he deserves.

Chapter 47

Serenity

The next day, when I walk into my office, an unassuming envelop sits on my keyboard along with a small packet of matches.

I pick up the envelope. Serenity is scrawled along the front of it.

I open it and pull out a sheaf of paper made from thick cardstock.

Rendezvous in your office at 02:00. Burn this message after reading.

Lowering the note, I look around. Someone slipped into my office to drop this off. My hackles rise at the violation of space.