King Hall Read online

  The four of us had stopped breathing, eavesdropping, but we froze when King Nelson offered, “Maybe, we should separate them until graduation. After that, they’ll be going wherever they choose to set up their home base. It’ll give them the time and experience they need to make these decisions on their own before they graduate.”

  “They came up with some pretty ingenious ideas together,” Antonio detailed into the conversation, his voice mild, not irritated like the Kings’, “That’s progress.”

  King Nelson grunted.

  King Fergus murmured, “Since you’ve been here, you’ve been preaching their need to get to know one another. Spend time together. You almost seem pleased with these results, their familiarity with one another.” He paused. “Why is that, Elder Farrar? What aren’t you telling us? Because we all know you’re keeping something back. Why are you even doing this?”

  The four of us unfroze, leaning closer to the open crack of the door.

  Antonio’s response was soft. “Because I must.” Well, didn’t that explain a lot? He loved using that phrase whenever he deemed it useful.

  King Fergus muttered, “Kincaid. Venclaire. Both of you are awfully quiet. What’s your opinion on their bond? Should we separate them before it becomes a real problem?”

  There was a stretched silence.

  Finally, King Kincaid murmured, “I do agree with you two, but I also agree with Elder Farrar. Jack needs to be able to lead his subjects alone, just the same as Lily needs to be able to lead hers, and so on and so forth, but their ideas together today…it just goes to show what their time together has done. Those ideas were genius, and I could tell by the look on Lily’s face she has one too, but she was too worried about marrying that weasel to voice it. If they can do that together, think of what they could accomplish once they’re Kings and Queens.” A quiet pause. “Yes, I agree with Elder Farrar. Let them make their strong bond. I believe each Prodigy is intelligent enough to make decisions for their people when the time comes.”

  King Nelson huffed, and then queried, “What about you, Venclaire?”

  A long silence, then King Venclaire stated steadily, “I believe we should let them stick together. There’s nothing wrong with their bond. I’m actually a little jealous. If we’d been half as in sync as they are, we may have been better Rulers for it.”

  King Nelson sighed, muttering, “I should have known you’d say that. You’ve always been the most liberal of us.” It didn’t sound like a compliment.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” King Venclaire retorted.

  King Nelson snorted. “You’ve always been the most open with your views. Don’t even think we don’t know about that Shifter you fell in love with.” My heart stopped, and then started again with a crazy-frantic rhythm, my friends around me gaping. I ignored them, and tried to calm down, especially when, even though stunned, Ezra glanced to me with raised brows, but King Nelson wasn’t through, saying harshly, “You still loved her after she was gone, when you became the fucking King, Venclaire! You may have tried to hide it, but we all knew. So, yes, you’re most definitely the liberal of our group. And, I think it all started with her, because ever since then you’ve been too free with your decisions and your people.”

  “I have always been a great King to my people. Ask any of them if they are dissatisfied. No one will tell you they are, I can guarantee you that,” King Venclaire growled, sounding infuriated. “And don’t you ever bring up Angela. You have no right to say anything about her.”

  My friends were dumbfounded, their eyes wide, but my heart broke hearing his tone.

  King Nelson laughed. “God, you’re still in love with her! A Shifter! And it’s been how long since she ran away from you?”

  I jumped, hearing flesh hit flesh, then a deep curse from King Nelson.

  The four of us stood in stunned silence.

  My biological dad had just pummeled King Nelson.

  “You went too far,” King Fergus said softly. “Apologize to him.”

  “To hell with that,” King Nelson thundered. “I fucking bled!”

  “You will apologize,” King Kincaid murmured quietly, but with steel in his tone. “Not only because she was someone he loved, but because you’ve just disrespected my Prodigy’s mother. I will not have you belittling her name in my house. By all accounts, she was a wonderful woman and mother.”

  I stood frozen, not glancing at my friends, whose heads had snapped my way. I hadn’t told them that little tidbit, nor had I wanted them finding out. And now, they had. Quickly, I pursed my lips to keep from babbling and put my hands in my pockets, no fidgeting.

  “I didn’t know Angela Springs was Lily’s mother,” King Fergus muttered incredulously. “I only knew Elder Farrar helped raise her.” He paused. “Oh Jesus, Venclaire. How the hell can you stand to be in the same room as the man if you loved her so much?”

  “He wasn’t with her that way,” King Venclaire muttered harshly. “Right?” He sounded like he wanted clarification…and didn’t want it at the same time.

  I closed my eyes, praying Antonio didn’t say he had been more than friends with my mom. I didn’t think so, but still, it wasn’t something I really wanted to know if they had been.

  Antonio cleared his throat and asked softly, “Would it really matter if we had been together? She had already left you.”

  My head fell. Not really the answer I wanted to hear. It wasn’t a yes or a no.

  “I helped a good friend raise her daughter. That’s all that matters in the end. She’s passed on, and now, her daughter’s here, alive and strong,” Antonio stated into the silence.

  “Christ, I had no clue this was so fucking complicated,” King Nelson muttered. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Venclaire. But, if you ever touch me again, I’ll blast you to the middle of the damn ocean.”

  My friends were still staring at me.

  I kept my focus on the slightly ajar door.

  “Back to the matter at hand,” King Fergus murmured quickly. “Do we separate them?”

  “I’ll be the deciding vote since I’m an Elder, and you know what I’ll say,” Antonio’s voice was underlined with coolness. “This means you don’t need to vote, since both King Kincaid and King Venclaire have said they want them to stay together.”

  King Fergus and King Nelson grumbled a bit, but the decision was clear.

  We weren’t going to be pulled apart.

  With the way my best friends were looking at me right now, I wished we were.

  Pearl grabbed my hand out of my pocket and yanked me down the hallway, then up the stairs, Jack and Ezra following directly on our heels, where she continued hauling me — silently — all the way to my bedroom, where she unceremoniously pushed me on my bed.

  Jack slammed the door, rubbing at his palm, antsy again with his shuffling feet, but his expression told me he wasn’t going anywhere.

  I didn’t even bother glancing at Ezra, knowing he would be scowling.

  They stood directly in front of me, arms crossed, a solid wall of ticked off besties.

  Pearl broke the silence, asking, “You knew, didn’t you?”

  My lips thinned, but there was no point in lying about this part. “Yes. The first day of school, he thought I looked familiar.” I smiled weakly. “Only a few hours later, it must have clicked. He said I looked just like her. Said they were,” I used finger quotes, “friends.”

  “Did you know that he loved her?” Jack asked. “Still does from the sound of it.”

  I nodded. “Antonio knew them when they were together. He happened to mention it.”

  Ezra exploded, “And you didn’t bother to tell us? A King falling in love with someone from a different Mys faction is huge!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s just not done.”

  Pearl added, “Don’t forget, it sounded like Elder Farrar was with her mother for a time.”

  I cringed, and gave the only excuse I could. “She was my mom.” I shrugged. That should be enough said. Nobody likes t
o gossip about their mom. “And Antonio didn’t actually say they were together.” I shook my head. “I never thought they were, anyway.”

  Still rubbing his hand, Jack squatted to look me in the eyes, since I wasn’t meeting any of theirs. “You should have told us, even if she was your mom.”

  Ezra bent next to him, directly in front of me, glaring. “If anyone had made a crack at my King on this subject, I would have been left high and dry, feeling like a fool for not knowing the truth.”

  Pearl dipped next. “We have to know these sorts of situations in advance. Be prepared for any snide remarks that would, and probably still will, come out once he’s no longer King. That’s when they really hit. When you’re no longer their Ruler.”

  My lips pinched even more, and I reiterated, “She was my mom.”

  “We’re not saying anything bad about her, Lily. It wasn’t illegal, it’s just not done, so if others know about it, there could be talk,” Jack stated slowly and softly. “We need to have the correct information to know how to deal with situations like this in the future. You could have put Ezra in a really bad situation when he became King.”

  Their love affair may not have been illegal, just a horrendous taboo, but I sure was. The old fear came back to me, even as I nodded, saying, “Fine. I understand.”

  Jack nodded and stood, rubbing his palm.

  Pearl patted my leg, kissing my forehead as she straightened.

  Ezra’s nostrils flared. He held the breath in. His arched brows slammed together right in front of my eyes. Jack and Pearl were already heading toward my bedroom door when Ezra asked, “You smell of fear. What else aren’t you telling us?”

  My heart rate broke into a wild gallop.

  Ezra growled under his breath.

  Jack and Pearl turned and stopped, watching. Waiting.

  I focused on my own personal brand of fear training, thinking of a warm and safe place, a tree with beautiful, fat green leaves on a cool, summer’s day, and said what would only make sense, since he knew I was scared, “Nothing you need to know.”

  His glare intensified, and I pictured that peaceful tree as he said harshly, “We know everything about each other, and only a threat scares someone this bad.”

  Jack took a step toward us, his eyebrows lowering. “What is it, Lily? We’ll help you, no matter what it is.”

  Pearl snorted. “You know we’ll kill for you.”

  I almost laughed at that, my lips even twitching, which was a mistake on my part, since they noticed, so I stated honestly, “This is nothing that any of you can help with.” You’re the ones who will kill me if you know.

  “Lily…” Pearl murmured, taking a large step forward, now even with Jack.

  I held up my hands to stop their barrage. “Trust me when I tell you it’s nothing you should know, and it’s nothing you can help me with.” I paused, and added, “Please. Just let me keep this one to myself.”

  Jack sucked in a harsh breath, glancing to Ezra and Pearl, and then back to me before he asked, “Are you being threatened?”

  “No.” Truth. Not right now, anyway.

  “Have you been threatened in the past?” Pearl asked.

  “No.” Truth. I hadn’t directly been.

  “Are you afraid of being threatened by someone?” Ezra asked.

  “No.” Lie. Damn if my heart didn’t race, my safe-place not holding.

  His Vampire actually hissed. “Who the hell are you afraid of?”

  Jack’s eyes started to glow.

  I sputtered, “Look, I love you all so much, and I know you’re worried about me,” obviously, “but just let me handle this. If you know…” I scanned my bedroom for an escape, but found none. “I won’t let you know. It’s mine to bear. Not yours. Please, just stop.”

  Pearl stared to the side at nothing, her gaze now glowing, spells and time flittering the air before she gasped in a dreamlike voice, “She’s afraid of us.”

  They stilled.

  My control snapped with her power usage, which had untangled the answer they wanted. Unable to breathe, I jerked back from Ezra, and started scrambling over my bed, because if Pearl pulled the truth out of me with a damn spell, I was a goner. I lunged off the bed, flying at the window, prepared to take a header out my second-storey window and just praying that my Shifter abilities let me land on my feet.

  Instead of the glass I expected, my head slammed against Ezra’s chest. He had moved so fast I hadn’t even seen him. Nothing new, but it still hurt like hell. I hit the floor, rolling and holding my head. I went for the gun I had under my bed, and got a hand on it, but Ezra grabbed my legs, jerking me back across the carpet. I grunted, and dropped the damn gun as he lifted and tossed me onto my bed. I bounced once, then dove for my weapon on the floor, but it suddenly glowed golden and hurled through the air, straight to Pearl’s hand.

  I froze from my perch, half off my bed, staring at the gun.

  There were silver bullets in the clip. I hadn’t planned on killing them with it. I did love them, so I wouldn’t do anything too drastic, but I had been prepared to stop anyone from following me. Now, they had my weapon.

  Flabbergasted, Jack shouted, “What the hell was that?” His brown eyes swung to Pearl. “Is she under a spell?”

  Pearl’s eyes were still glowing but, instantly, her skin glowed and her flared gaze began traveling up and down my body, her power pushing against me. She shook her head as I slowly started creeping up onto the bed, and she muttered, “No. No spell. I have no clue what’s wrong with her.” She lifted the gun and I froze again, but all she did was check the clip. “They’re fucking silver!” She glared. “You were going to shoot us with silver bullets?”

  Voice croaking in fear, I said, “Not to kill. I wouldn’t do that to you guys.” That was true, I wouldn’t do that even to save my own life, which seemed a little foolish now as I stared at the person holding my means of escape. And death.

  A whoosh of air was all that alerted me Ezra was coming and, regrettably, it wasn’t enough to help. I was abruptly flipped and shoved onto my mattress with a heavy brute of a Vampire on top of me. Grunting, I tried every possible way to get out of the hold, and almost managed once with a knee to his groin, but he succeeded in keeping me contained. He was too fast, remarkably powerful, and damn muscled for a Vamp. I hadn’t been able to beat him in hand-to-hand once yet.

  I closed my eyes in defeat, pinned under him.

  There was no way I could get away with these three in the room. One of them, possibly, if I had been smart and kept distance between us. I had almost got my gun back, until Pearl had snatched it away, but there was definitely no way of escape with all three of them here.

  Blinking my eyes open, I stared up into Ezra’s narrowed, spring green gaze.

  He hissed softly, “What the fuck’s going on, sweetheart? What have you done that you’re so scared of us?” His head cocked, his words quiet. “I’ve done many things that could get me in trouble. Especially after my mate died, but never once did I fear what you guys would do to me if you found out.” He paused, grinning, and then drawled, “You’ve been naughty. Fess up, and I promise it won’t be as bad as you’re imagining.”

  A little hysterical, I laughed. “Oh. It’s bad. You’ll kill me. Instantly. Same as Jack or Pearl. Or any other King or Elder.”

  Ezra snorted. “I should have been killed eleven times by our Laws.” He winked. “I’m still here.” Truth.

  “I’m not even going to ask what you’ve done, Ezra,” Pearl muttered. “I can only imagine.” She sat on my bed beside my head, gun still in hand. “Plus, you’re smart enough not to be afraid of us.” Golden eyes dipped to me. “But you, Lily, what have you done that has your common sense taking a leave of absence?”

  “God, this has got to be good,” Jack mumbled, sounding almost excited. He sat down on the other side of my head. “Ezra’s right. Just tell us. As long as you haven’t killed any of the munchkins, I can pretty much guarantee this isn’t as bad as you’re
thinking. We probably wouldn’t be able to hide a dead imp, since the parents would be squawking about their missing brat too much.” He smiled. “You never know, though.”

  Oh, dear Lord. I choked on tears. “God, I love you guys,” I shook my head, “but this one’s even worse.”

  “Tell us,” Ezra purred soothingly, but his grip had in no way loosed on my wrists. “You know you aren’t getting away until you do.”

  Fat tears trickled across my temples as I looked back and forth between them. Eventually, I stared at the gun. “I’ll tell you if you promise to make it as painless as possible.” Maybe, a bullet to the brain, like how Dominic had died, would be the way to go.

  Jack muttered, “We’re not going to kill you, Lily. Calm down.”

  Pearl placed the gun far away, on my nightstand, her implication clear.

  “Sweetheart,” Ezra coaxed gently. “Just open your mouth and tell us.”

  I gurgled, and then laughed deliriously under him. “Funny thing you should mention mouths.” Clearing my throat, my chuckling died a short death as I peered into those spring green eyes that were hooded just so I wouldn’t be scared, but he wasn’t fooling me. “Jack. Pearl. Come in real close. You won’t want to miss this.” Might as well add some humor to my impending death.

  Jack and Pearl bent closer, placing their heads next to Ezra’s, all their foreheads touching.

  I sighed, staring at them only inches away. “Now, pay attention to my mouth.”

  Three pairs of eyes lowered to my mouth as I opened it slowly.

  My bitty fangs descended.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Brown, gold, and green eyes gradually widened, then opened wider, just like their mouths were, uncannily, in time with my fangs descending.

  Staring at them, I tried to gauge how they were going to kill me. I had lied to them terribly, but I hoped that because they loved me they wouldn’t be too brutal. As the minutes ticked by and my friends remained silent, their jaws slowly closing — even though their eyes stayed as big as saucers — I decided they would be swift about it. I didn’t believe they would be deliberately cruel.