King Tomb (Forever Evermore) Page 9

  “If she talks, I’ll kill her and anyone she tells.” King Zeller shrugged. Truth. His gaze flicked to everyone in the room. “Same goes for everyone here.” His eyes landed on his dad. “Including you.”

  “That’s the point, genius. They can’t tell,” I muttered quietly, listening to the phone ring. Ignoring his Vampire growling again, I heard Bindi answer, and I sighed, placing six wine glasses on the bar. “Bindi, I need you to come over. ASAP.” She agreed, keeping the conversation short as I poured the wine into the glasses, making sure mine was filled to practically the rim.

  She arrived before I had even distributed the glasses to everyone. And like clockwork, as soon as she saw King Zeller holding Isa, she went completely still, her face going to that emotional void they were all wearing.

  King Zeller cursed quietly. “Fucking hell, we must have been damn reckless if a Mage physician knows.” He shook his head, rubbing Isa’s back, and stared at Bindi. “You were stationed mainly in the fighting arena at King Cave, weren’t you?”

  She sighed heavily and nodded, her attention moving to me. “What did you need, Queen Ruckler?”

  “Paternity test.” I flicked a finger at King Zeller around my wine glass…then downed half of it. “On him compared to Isa.” She stood motionless, not showing a damn thing, then hastily went to their sides and opened the medical kit she had brought with her. I finished the rest of my drink and grabbed the bottle before sitting on the couch. “I want the results tonight.”

  She snapped on latex gloves. “You’ll have the results in less than an hour. I’ll put a special rush on it.” Her hands glowed as she smirked.

  “Perfect,” I murmured, staring between my empty glass and the bottle, debating drinking straight from the source instead of doing this civilly…but Antonio took that decision away from me, yanking the bottle out of my hand to pour me a half glass before moving across the room, carting the bottle with him. “I hate you.”

  His lips twisted in an evil daddy smile before he took a sip straight from the bottle himself. “And I love you.” He stared pointedly at me. “Like Merrick said, you’re getting off track.”

  Sighing, I leaned back on the couch, lifting my legs onto it and bending one of them to dangle my arm and glass over my knee as I watched Bindi use a swab on the inside of Isa’s mouth. Isa made a choking noise, and I tensed, but Bindi was quick with the work, and as soon as the swab left Isa’s mouth, King Zeller’s eyes instantly flashed, and Isa’s chin stopped trembling and she cooed quietly, snuggling back under King Zeller’s sharp jaw. The asshole King had just used his power to soothe her, which wasn’t such an asshole thing to do, but still… “Bindi, make sure you jab his extra deep.” Oh! “Or maybe I could do it?”

  Bindi paused in lifting a new swab to his mouth while King Zeller scowled at me.

  “Not helping, Lil,” Antonio muttered.

  Unrepentant, I sighed in defeat, shrugging a shoulder. “It was only a thought.” I flicked my free hand at Bindi. “Go ahead. I’ll just have to make do with my imagination.”

  In the quiet, King Zeller’s lips curled deliberately. “And that’s all you’ll ever have. Your imagination.” His eyes flicked down my body. “While I, on the other hand, have actual memories of making you bleed.”

  “Nor are you helping, Ezra,” Elder Zeller rumbled quietly.

  Swirling the wine in my glass, I stared at it, barely hearing Elder Zeller. “There’s no fucking way you’re her father.” I shook my head, watching the maroon liquid swirl in my glass. My eyebrows puckered as I became lost in thought. “No way in hell.” My eyes lifted to him, watching as he opened his mouth wide for the swab, showing his pearly whites. His gaze didn’t stray from mine through the quick process. I shook my head again, downing my drink. “God, if I did have sex with you, I was stupid as fuck.” I pointed at Bindi as I stood, making my way to the bar. “No more than an hour.”

  She nodded, quickly exiting the tent to perform her tests while I uncorked another bottle of red. Rubbing my left temple, I poured another glass of wine to the rim, growling at Antonio when he started to intercept me. “Back the fuck off, Antonio…unless you want to actually speak on this matter.” When his face went blank, I chuckled cruelly. “Yeah, the silent type is only charming to those not needing information, haven’t I told you that before?”

  I lifted my glass of wine, aiming it at each of the Elders. “Come on, gentlemen.” I covered my mouth with my free hand in fake apology, my voice mocking. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Come on, Elders. The fiercest four ever. Please enlighten me and King Zeller,” asshole, “on how it could be possible for us to meet again if we’d been lovers.” I downed half the wine in my glass, instantly refilling it when they stayed mute, faces blank. I shook my head, laughing harshly. “Or better yet, tell me if King Zeller,” asshole, “is my baby’s daddy?”

  I spoke in a pseudo whisper to King Zeller when they stayed quiet. “It sounds awfully ghetto, doesn’t it? Who’s your baby’s daddy?” Another harsh chuckle as I gulped the entire contents of my glass, slamming it into sink when I was done, the glass shattering loudly. Hard pants racking my body, I turned my back to them, rubbing my face and muttering, “Fucking pathetic, is what it is.”

  After a few moments, King Zeller asked calmly, “Do you feel better now?”

  “No, I don’t,” I stated simply, honestly, keeping my back to them and staring at the tent’s sparkling protection. “Not a single one of you would understand. And at the risk of sounding sexist, I’ll say it anyway.” My head dropped as I rubbed my temples. “You’re all men. You’ll never know what it’s like to be pregnant. And to top it off, I was pregnant and I didn’t know how I got that way, only having assumptions, analytical guesses at best. I had no clue who the man was I’d had sex with. No recollection of his face, his name, his touch. Nothing to make sense of the fact that I had a child growing inside me.” My hands dropped as I stared at the floor. “So, no, I’m not all right. I’m not all right with any of this. Not to mention, I still may not have my answers, because this doesn’t make any damn sense.”

  King Zeller hummed quietly.

  That was all.

  But…that sound was enough for me to turn swiftly to stare.

  His eyes captured mine. “Come here.” A pause. “Please.”

  My eyebrows puckered, but I found myself moving toward him at his soft demand. “What do you know?” I sought an explanation in the depths of his eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?” I stopped, waiting for an answer.

  Again, he hummed quietly. Watching me just as intently as I was him. “Closer.” Again, he asked nicely. “Please.” I hesitated. I was already close enough in my opinion. But when I opened my mouth to argue, he shook his head gently, saying softly, “Trust me.”

  My jaw set, but I glanced at Isa. I already trusted him with my one light, my heart. Slowly, I took the remaining steps toward him, and I couldn’t help how I stood on the balls of my feet when I stopped directly next to his chair. And when he hummed in quiet reprimand, I sluggishly lifted my eyes from his hands — where the pain would come from — to meet his gaze.

  One side of his mouth curved, and he murmured quietly, “You’re smart to be wary of me, especially because I don’t trust you, either.” Ever so slowly, his hand rose and hovered an inch away from my right hand. “But, I believe I have the answer to the million-dollar question.” His heated palm touched mine, and I barely managed to hold still as he turned my hand until I felt the slide of his palm against mine, holding it gently as if I were made of glass. Eyebrows puckered, I peered down as something caught at my ring on my thumb.

  It was…a black ring, which appeared just as unobtrusive as mine, on his thumb, his skin dark against my peaches-and-cream complexion.

  My breath caught as I lifted my other hand, touching his ring gently. “Does it have an inscription?” I turned it gently, wishing to take it from his finger to inspect it myself.

  “Yes.” He cleared his throat, glancing at the other
occupants of the room. He took his hand back slowly. “And I’d rather not say what it is right now, but,” his gaze returned to mine and held, “what I believe our rings mean, the only option I found while skimming the Law book after dinner,” his nostrils flared, his face tomblike and severe, “is that we’re married.”

  I forgot how to breathe, and honestly, I couldn’t feel my body for as long as the silence reigned over us. I could only stare at him, as Law One hit me like a whirlwind. I gripped my own ring hard, needing to feel something, as I choked, “Married couples can’t be kept apart longer than two years, a minimum of one, no matter their punishment.” I watched King Zeller nod, his spiked hair shimmering in the sparkling Mage light, and I tripped backward, falling hard onto the couch to stare at him. “What the fuck were we thinking?”

  King Zeller’s smile was scornful as his eyes lowered to stare at his own ring. “You know the answer to that as well as I do.”

  I shook my head, denial coursing through my veins, and covered my mouth with my hand as I turned my attention to Antonio. “Tell me this isn’t right, Antonio.” I shook my head again. “Tell me we weren’t ignorant enough to not only have sex, but also have a child together and get fucking married.” My eyes were wide. “Seriously, please say something. Gurgle. Do whatever you do to tell me no.” I shook my head harshly, dropping my hand to swing it between King Zeller and myself when Antonio stayed mute. “Please tell me the King of fucking Vampires and the Queen of the damn Shifters did not do this!” My eyes flittered to all four Elders, pleading with them with my eyes. “Tell me we weren’t this senseless!”

  Not a sound…not a blink…not even a gurgle.

  The air shuddered out of me as with wide eyes I turned my attention to King Zeller, unable to hide my emotions, freaked the fuck out. “There would have to be a record of a marriage.”

  He shook his head. “Not if we did it by old tradition.”

  I shook my own head. “I don’t even know what that means.” Fidgeting, I tightened my ponytail. “If you knew me at all back then, you would have married me the old-fashioned way, not with some old tradition.” I nodded, knowing this was right. “There would have to be a record of this.”

  King Zeller’s arched brows furrowed. He was quiet for the span of a minute, but he didn’t dispute or question my certainty on this. “If there was a marriage certificate, it more than likely would have been mailed to us, as is the normal custom after it’s processed.” He shook his head. “I don’t have any documentation like that.” His eyes caught mine. “Unless you do?”

  I stared at him, realizing I was hugging my legs to my chest, and quickly dropped them, understanding how weak I had to appear. Scanning my memory gave me no new leads on legal paperwork, but it didn’t take long for me to realize where I would have sent documentation like that. I shook my head and chuckled softly. “I have a place where I send paperwork.” I held up an instant finger when his lips parted. “And don’t even ask where it’s at. It’s heavily spelled for a reason, and I sure as fuck don’t trust you to know about it.” My gaze went to Antonio. “Wanna take me on a quick trip?”

  Chapter Seven

  Riding in the golden emptiness that was Antonio’s fastest means of transportation, I worried that I had made the wrong decision leaving Isa with King Zeller to go to the PO Box in New York that Antonio had spelled for me years ago for all official paperwork I wanted hidden. King Zeller had argued to go along, believing I would hide information from him, but his argument hadn’t rung complete truth. I had pretty much gotten the gist that he wanted to snoop through my spelled PO Box, and I had firmly put my foot down, telling him to go to hell. And, although it had been somewhat amusing to see him sit back down to silently scowl — sulk — taking Isa’s sleeping form back from where he had passed her off when he had tried to intimidate me with his height, I still worried I hadn’t made the right choice leaving her with him. But damn if his Vampire growling at me when I had tried to take her hadn’t freaked me out enough to back down. Well, that, and he had given me his word — gruffly — that he, and she, would be there when I got back…as long as I came back with everything that might pertain to our mysterious relationship.

  So I had grabbed everything I didn’t recognize from the spelled, voice-protected PO Box, dumped it in the pillowcase I had grabbed to haul anything I found, and now I was in the middle of the golden abyss, waiting to reappear in the front room of my tent.

  And, like normal, I first noticed the scents as we started to appear. Everything smelled normal, making me feel better; the scents of those that were supposed to be there were. Sounds of their breathing — no one was speaking — hit me next. Then I blinked from the brightness of the Mage sparks as we appeared inside the room. I rubbed my eyes with my free hand, then my gaze darted around the room until I saw King Zeller sitting where he had been before, holding Isa’s sleeping form, his pinkie finger held tightly inside Isa’s gripping fist.

  He scowled. “It took you almost a half-hour.” Yep, his cheeks were flushed to match all of his pissed off aggression; he wasn’t bothering to hide his emotions.

  I shrugged, enjoying — actually enjoying — his discomfort. “Quit your whining.” I lifted the bag, still holding onto Antonio’s hand. “Or I won’t show you what I found.”

  His gaze darted to our joined hands, his Vampire growling grumpily, but his mouth stayed beautifully shut.

  My lips lifted, muttering, “There’s a good Vampire King. At least you know when you’re beat.”

  Angered by my taunting, his Vampire hissed.

  Antonio pulled his hand from mine, shaking his head at me and sighing. “Try to be nice, Lil.” He waved a hand at King Zeller. “I know I raised you to have better manners than this.”

  I snorted. “When?”

  Antonio blinked. Stayed mute. Blinked again. “Well, I should have.” His head cocked at King Zeller. “So work with me and pretend as if I did.”

  Elder Merrick chuckled quietly, staring at Antonio. “The similarities between you two are limitless.”

  Antonio’s head teetered back and forth. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “You’ve been mute this entire time,” King Zeller rumbled at them, glaring. “Please, don’t stop now.”

  Sighing, I moved to the couch, but stopped abruptly when Bindi brushed past the tent flap, rushing so much that she stumbled as she stopped. She waved a piece of paper at me…and started gurgling. Again I sighed, and I moved back to her, grabbing the sheet of paper from her.

  Read the printout.

  Stared.

  Read it again, then nodded to her. “Thank you, Bindi. That’ll be all.”

  After she left, I walked to the couch. Sat down steadily. And handed over the piece of paper to King Zeller as I dumped the items of the pillowcase onto the coffee table.

  He read it, then he calmly murmured, “Well, now we know for certain.”

  Yes.

  We now did.

  King Zeller was, indeed, Isa’s father.

  And I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, knowing for certain I’d had sex with him…and I couldn’t remember a damn thing about it. “At least you don’t remember anything about it, either.” I fumbled with an envelope, my hands shaking a bit. “I mean, how awkward would it be if one of us did and the other didn’t, right?”

  “Right,” he stated softly, laying the piece of paper down on the table — which his dad covertly pulled away to review — and rested a gentle hand on top of mine while I rummaged to get the package open. I jerked at the contact, blinking rapidly, not about to look at him. Fuck me if tears weren’t threatening to spill over, relief and anger mixing together at finally knowing for certain who was Isa’s father — even if I did not like the guy. He gently squeezed my hand before lifting the package from my grip and easily opening it, hardly hindered by Isa lying in his arms. Staying silent, he handed me the open package.

  I coughed, hiding my sniffle, which I had to do or risk having snot runn
ing down my face, and peered into the package past the tears in my eyes. I blinked blurrily and pulled out a VHS tape. There was nothing else inside, the label on the tape reading: Lil’s King Hall Graduation. I peered at Antonio because it was his handwriting.

  “You taped my graduation?” Hell, I couldn’t remember large chunks of it.

  “Yes.” A short answer.

  My lips thinned, and I quickly wiped away an errant tear that verged on falling, and grabbed the next package. And opened it a bit easier. It was another VHS tape. Nothing else, except for the label that stated: Lil’s first Awakening with Pearl, Jack, and Ezra.

  I stilled, staring at the names, and flipped the wording toward King Zeller so he could read it, even as I turned my attention back to Antonio since again the handwriting was his. I gauged him, blinking away the tears that didn’t seem to want to stop stinging my eyes. “You knew.” My hand trembled as I set the tape down, hearing King Zeller grunt after reading it. “You knew in advance this was going to happen. Knew you wouldn’t be able to speak.” I cleared my throat hard when he still didn’t express anything, my voice gruff and full of emotion. “You’re not such a bastard.”

  After a silent moment, King Zeller stated briskly, “There’s still one package left.”

  “Right,” I murmured, turning my attention to the thinnest package of all three. Lifting it slowly, I carefully pulled the tab off and peered inside. There was more here, even if the package was smaller. I pulled out the piece of paper first and placed it on the table. And damn if everyone in the room didn’t hover to read what it said. Breath escaped me as I scanned its contents, choking, “Jesus Christ, we actually got married.”

  King Zeller just stared, jaw clenched tight, eyes flittering over our marriage certificate.

  Elder Merrick pointed at the paper. “Queen Ruckler…what does it say your middle name—”