King Tomb (Forever Evermore) Read online

  The Vampire nodded once, the action appearing to have tracers, confirming my thoughts further, and he stated evenly, “I’m Ezra Zeller, King of the Vampires.”

  I blinked. “I want you to know you are officially at the front of the line of people I despise…and that includes Coms.” And the curses that flew were whispered since that was all I could manage. “God hates me. Fucking hell, God seriously hates me.” I inhaled heavily, still unable to scent him with the silver containing my powers. “Why couldn’t I smell you before?” I blinked, sniffing again, realizing there was still a lingering scent dusting both of us that I didn’t need a Shifter’s nose to smell.

  Marijuana, that was why. “Drugs are bad, drugs are bad, drugs are bad.”

  I yanked at my cuffs, the action more of a feeble wiggle, but I was furious. “Isa is never doing drugs. I will kick her ass if she does this shit.” I rattled the chains again, still rambling to myself while glaring at him and his blank expression.

  “Goddammit!” I muttered breathlessly, slitted eyes on the fucking…Vampire King…someone who was as untouchable as I normally was. “Sure, Lily, smoke some fucking weed, and whatever else was in it, and try to relax past the nothingness. Have a little fun with the Shifter you thought was probably a damn cat. But, wait, nope, he’s the goddamn Vampire King.” Another wiggle of the chain. “Fucking masking. Masked myself right into fucking torture when I can’t do shit back even once the damn cavalry finally arrives.”

  Hell, he was still masking, which was impressive since it had taken me a while to learn to do in long stretches. Chest heaving, I turned my attention to his hair. “And purple? Who the hell spells their hair purple, anyway? At least mine halfway resembles a Com.” I heaved in a breath, pissed the fucking hell off, and glared through the haziness.

  His head tilted. “You thought I was a cat?” He paused, and I didn’t answer. “Huh…that means you’re most likely a Shifter.” His eyes lifted toward his hair, then back to my gaze. “And I like the purple.” He went silent, waiting for the one answer he wanted, the knife digging a bit deeper near my jugular.

  Voice a mere croak, I rasped, “King Zeller,” asshole, “if you would care to take off my left glove, you’ll have your answer.”

  He stared for a beat, then his green eyes traveled up to my left hand, and ever so slowly, his eyes high on my numb hand, he asked, “Why exactly will I have my answer that way?” His eyes lowered to mine. “Do you have your name tattooed there for moments of forgetfulness?”

  If I wasn’t mistaken, he was actually showing a sense of humor, the torture apparently putting him in fine spirits. Too bad it was a bit late for comedy in my book. “King Zeller,” asshole, “I may appear like a Com,” I wheezed, blinking hard, all his features beginning to mesh into a large mocha and green blob, “and I may be the size of one, but I’m anything but. Check my fucking hand and get me down.” I paused. “Or check my hand and continue torturing me, so I can Lawfully kill you afterwards, which I would actually prefer.” My eyes shut even as I felt him begin to stiffen behind me; he was definitely not a slow Mystical, rapidly beginning to understand. “Fun time’s over, King Zeller,” asshole, “because my name’s Lily Ruckler, Queen of the Shifters.”

  He went completely still against me. Then I felt a tingle on my left hand, and suddenly my glove was gone via his Vampire speed while my cold, numb ring finger was lifted by his warm blood-covered fingers — my much needed blood. My eyes didn’t have to be open — which was a good thing because I was tired as hell — to hear the litany of curses that rumbled deeply, attacking my ears. I heard the knife fall to the floor, and suddenly his bare, muscled arm was around my waist, lifting me against him. I groaned softly, my body’s weight lifted off my wrists, my head tilting back over his shoulder as he worked to free my wrists from the cuffs.

  “You should have told me your damn name,” he growled, apparently having trouble with the cuffs, hissing every time he accidently touched the silver. “Why the fuck didn’t you?”

  “Waiting…for…Antonio,” I whispered slowly, lethargy overtaking me. “Was going…to kill…you…when he arrived.” I shouted a groan when my arms dropped down against his arm around my waist, no longer cuffed. “Shit, that…hurts.”

  “I’ll give you peace once I get the other cuffs off,” he stated bluntly, lifting me like a babe.

  I felt the brush of wind against the side of my body not warmed by his, the sound loud in my ears…and suddenly I was being laid on a soft mattress. I made myself blink, and the quick flash told me we were in his bedroom. “Under your damn…bedroom. No wonder…Antonio couldn’t…find me.”

  “Shit,” he muttered harshly.

  My feet fell against the mattress again as he worked to remove the cuffs.

  “Blood…makes your…fingers slippery. Little key…no good,” I sucked in a breath, “Dry your hands.”

  I didn’t hear anything for a moment, then I felt a tug on the comforter, as he probably did as told. Ten seconds later, the cuffs were off, and tranquility transfused me as he lifted me in his arms, again holding me like a child. I shuddered, groaning in contentment as he used his power to take away my pain. Honestly, it was the very least he could do.

  He jiggled me a bit, muttering, “Don’t fall asleep or I’ll take it away.”

  “Screw…and…you.” Sleep was sounding fucking awesome right about now.

  He grunted, the sound one of irritation, but instead of making another threat, he moved, and I felt the brush of cold wind again as he did so. Sounds of disjointed music. Mysticals laughing. Then my ears heard the most beautiful sound, as close as I was to passing out right now.

  Gold shone behind my closed lids as we slowed, and I heard Antonio shouting a distance away, “She is here somewhere!” The glowing behind my eyes increased. “So fucking help me, Cahal, if my daughter is fucking hurt in your damn camp!”

  I felt King Zeller stiffen, especially, at the ‘daughter’ comment, but he didn’t stop moving toward the glow, the brightness only increasing.

  “Antonio, calm down,” another deep voice stated calmly, soothingly, so quietly I barely heard it. “I’ve got people searching everywhere. If she’s here, we’ll find her.”

  “I will not calm down! I can’t fucking track her!” A pause, then he continued shouting, “Goddamn it, I heard her fucking scream over the cell!”

  I felt King Zeller’s chest expand, then the brush of wind once more as he used his speed. He stopped abruptly next to what could only be Antonio, the golden light was so bright. But just as suddenly, the light was gone. Not sure if I could, but needing to try, I pried my eyes open a bit at a time. All I could manage was halfway, but I still saw we were inside another tent, the decor black and mauve.

  The jaws of Antonio and the man who had to be Elder Zeller, since Antonio had called him Cahal, were slightly gaping as they stared at us less than two feet away.

  Antonio blinked grandly, then his eyes instantly flittered down my body, which wasn’t pretty at the present time, assessing every injury that wasn’t healing from blood loss and the use of the silver knife. And he started glowing — oddly this gold was a bit different, actually furious in its dimness — his expression instantly turning fierce, fists clenching. I wasn’t sure he was even able to speak, his jaw was clenched so hard, eyes toward the opened tent flap.

  Elder Zeller, who was just as big as his damn asshole son, asked, “Ezra, who did this to her?”

  I snorted, the sound more of a wheeze. “King Zeller,” asshole, “did.” I lifted my fingers in Antonio’s direction, unable to lift my arms even if I felt peaceful. “Please…take me.”

  Both Elder Zeller and Antonio stared above my head at King Zeller, unspeaking and unmoving, their faces utterly blank, for at least a good minute.

  “Get…me out…of his…arms,” I rasped harshly. “Now…Antonio.” My lips lifted cruelly. “Hey, there’s…someone I hate…more than you…now.”

  Antonio jolted out of his silence, his eyes
still on King Zeller. “You did this to Queen Ruckler?”

  “Yes,” he stated simply.

  “Why?” Antonio’s expression was turning fierce again, beginning to glow that dim color.

  “I didn’t know her name.” He shrugged, making me move up and down in his arms. “I thought she was a traitor sneaking into camp.” No apology, no remorse.

  “See,” I whispered. “Definitely…more hateable.” My lids started to drop further. “If you…aren’t going…to take me from…him, then…at least…heal me.”

  Antonio lurched forward, eyes flying to me. “Right. Sorry, Lil.” His glowing hands went to two different wounds, even as he glared up at King Zeller. “You are very lucky you didn’t kill her.” His tone was laced with all types of silent threats, golden eyes staring unflinchingly into King Zeller’s green ones. “Very fucking lucky.”

  King Zeller did not comment, continuing to hold me as Antonio worked, and gifting me with tranquility.

  Elder Zeller moved forward, standing next to my legs, in a sense between his son and Antonio, as he ran a hand over his face. “Antonio, why the hell was she at King Shadow tonight?” Unannounced and sneaking around, he didn’t say, but it was very much implied by his stare.

  “Because of Isa,” Antonio said quietly, studying a particularly vicious wound as he healed it.

  Elder Zeller asked, “Who’s Isa?”

  King Zeller broke his silence. “Queen Ruckler rambled something about her earlier.”

  “My adopted…daughter,” I blinked slowly, “She’s…Vampire.”

  I felt, and saw, both King Zeller and Elder Zeller stiffen.

  Antonio bent, ignoring their reaction, to work on another wound on my lower back. “My granddaughter, Isadora Marie Ruckler, is three months old. And a Vampire.” His healing hands glowed brighter. “At our old camp, everyone knew and respected Lily, so no one hassled her about Isa.” He blinked. “Well, there was this one asshole who did, but Lily broke damn near every bone in his body after a few of his comments, and he shut up then.”

  “I was…casing King Shadow…for escape…routes,” I muttered. “And got…trapped in a…not-so-empty bedroom…with him.” My tone let them know what I thought of him.

  Elder Zeller ran another hand over his face, then he surprised me by patting my knee comfortingly and staring over our heads at nothing while stating absently, “I know this is hard to believe after what you so obviously experienced tonight, but my son is capable of kindness.” His eyes met mine, though they weren’t really with me. “I would like to ask you not to judge him from this one experience.” He patted my knee again, eyes flicking away. “Try to put this meeting behind you.”

  King Zeller snapped out of his shock from the news of my Vampire daughter to stare at his dad with a marginally wide gaze; apparently that was his surprised expression.

  I snorted, the sound a bit more normal. “Even he doesn’t…believe that, Elder Zeller.” And I could breathe easier when Antonio placed his hands over my rib cage. “And besides, I know a cunning, heartless asshole when I finally see past the marijuana smoke.”

  I ignored both Antonio’s and Elder Zeller’s glances and tilted my head — I was now able to thanks to Antonio’s healing — to place my nose against King Zeller’s heated skin. I inhaled heavily, scenting him on many different levels, memorizing his body’s distinct perfume. My wolf growled quietly even through the tranquility he was giving me.

  Spice. He smelled like heady, potent spice. Powerful.

  My eyes lifted as I inhaled heavily again.

  He had gone predatory still when I had turned my head against his chest. Dead green eyes met my equally dead blue gaze, and I whispered, “I really wish you would have kept torturing me…just a bit longer.” My wolf growled again, my eyes flashing. “I was so looking forward to killing you.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly, and he slowly bent his head, bringing his face closer to mine. “I easily beat you once. I could do it again, Queen Ruckler.” His head tilted toward his dad. “And you’re right not to believe Elder Zeller. I have no redeeming qualities. I am the cunning, heartless asshole you named me. And I wouldn’t have given a shit if I had killed you, so don’t ever try to threaten me, or even raise the subject, or I will kill you no matter your station.”

  Suddenly, there was nothing under me. No large, warm arms holding me up. No Vampire power giving me peace.

  I sucked in harshly as pain arced through my body, not even caring I was falling to the ground. I hit hard and grunted, my vision blurry again even as I glared at King Zeller from the ground…but I still managed to bare my teeth at him as Antonio and Elder Zeller both started cursing, dropping to their knees to help me. I whispered in King Zeller’s direction where he stared down at me with his arms crossed, “I know my reason for being damned…but what’s yours?” I loved that I saw him flinch. Even if I couldn’t really move, I could still hurt him. “Your pain must be soul-deep for all the drugs you have.” My lips puckered in fake sympathy. “Ah, poor King Zeller. He has all the beauty, power, and prestige he could ever need to charm anyone, but instead, he sits alone in his room, getting stoned to block out the agony in his mind.” His nostrils flared and his jaw clenched, and I didn’t need to be a Vampire to know I had broken through his shell and he was pissed. “Whatever did poor King Zeller do…what ghosts of the past haunt him?”

  I paused, gauging him. “Sin?”

  No reaction, though I hadn’t expected one.

  “Stealing?”

  Nothing.

  “Love?”

  The barest flinch…and my grin was purely malicious because I was about to be a huge bitch. “If you’re still upset about losing your mate, it may be time to get over it.” His file stated his mate had died years ago, and compared to his age…wait…there was no reaction on his part. “Oh…not your mate.” When every muscle in his body appeared to go taut, the corner of my lips tilted up at the edges. “Interesting.” My chuckle was pure menace, with no humor to really be found in it. “The supposed badass King Zeller mopes in his bedroom, drowning his sorrows in drugs, all over…pathetic, useless love.” My icy glare met his. “Now, King Zeller,” asshole, “did you really beat me?” My public words were a hundred times worse than what he had done.

  Antonio and Elder Zeller had gone mute some time ago, even if Antonio was still working on me while Elder Zeller gripped one of my ankles, sending me serenity to take away my pain. But I wasn’t paying them a bit of interest, my attention wholly focused on the furious Vampire standing over me like the devil’s own.

  Silently, rigidly, he deliberately lowered until he was squatting, staring down directly into my face, his eyes glowing a smidge, he was so angry. “Nicely played, even if you’re incorrect.”

  “Easy target.” My lips lifted when he stared daggers.

  His head cocked, and he lifted his hand slowly, still glowering, and ran a single finger gently across my cheek. “I believe having you here at camp will be,” he hummed quietly, pulling his finger back, “interesting.”

  My lips were pinched; I was hating that I hadn’t been strong enough right now to jerk away from his touch, and it was slowly dawning on me that I was still half-naked lying on this floor. “I want my clothes.” An afterthought. “And my phone and weapons.”

  A single eyebrow raised as he placed his elbows on bent knees. If I wasn’t feeling the peace his dad was giving me, I would have been pissed when his eyes flittered down my body, pausing at all of my private bits. “You’re a Shifter,” he murmured quietly, talking to himself as he continued his perusal. “Why would this bother you?”

  My eyes snapped to Antonio. “Give me your shirt.”

  “Just a sec, Lil. I’m almost done.” Antonio didn’t even glance at me.

  And fucking King Zeller was still staring at my body, doing it on purpose, obviously trying to figure out my reasoning.

  “There,” Antonio muttered, taking his hands away.

  So did Elder Zeller.

>   I wasn’t quick enough, the lingering pain disturbing my effectiveness to work the ice back into my veins. Embarrassment at being viewed as I was flooded my system in a heady tide. “Shirt,” I stated harshly, feeling my cheeks flood with color. “Now, Antonio.”

  King Zeller’s nostrils were flared, and he had an elbow crooked on his knee, his hand over his mouth as he stared down at me. Bizarrely, even though he was definitely scenting, and seeing, my emotions, he made not one comment as Antonio stripped his shirt off and gently pulled it over my head, dressing me, the material covering me to mid-thigh. Instead, King Zeller stood, stating, “I’ll get Queen Ruckler’s things.”

  Elder Zeller stared at his son. “After that, you and I are going to talk.”

  King Zeller snorted, turning his back to his dad, moving toward the opened tent flap. “Are we? Somehow, Elder Zeller, I doubt that.” I knew that tone well. He didn’t like his dad much.

  Damned, meet damned.

  Chapter Five

  “We’re late,” Antonio growled, his narrowed, irritated eyes flicking to me, then back to the tents of King Shadow. “Do you know how rude it is—”

  I held up a stopping hand. “Antonio, I’ve had enough. I know we’re late. And I don’t give a flying fuck.” I met his glare with one of my own. “Besides, having this ‘meet and greet’ dinner is absurd after what happened last week.” My gaze went to the red tent. “I think I know everything I need to about King Zeller.” Asshole.

  He growled again. “This was scheduled for our first night, so we are going to attend as if the events of last week never happened.” He jerked my arm, tugging me forward. “Think of this as a fresh start.”

  My eyes widened on him as I let him pull me forward. “That’s it. You’ve officially lost your damn marbles.” I messed with my outfit, which consisted of hip-hugging black leather pants and a blue — like my eyes — tight cashmere sweater with a wide neck, hanging off one shoulder, and a long, hooded, black fur coat that almost swept the ground. “That comment was just about as crazy as you wanting me to wear a dress for this ridiculous dinner.” Of course, when he had actually suggested that earlier at the hotel, I had flicked him the middle finger and worn what I wanted.