King Hall (13 page)

Jack grinned. “I’m game. Any other activities I can take care of beforehand.” His grin increased. “It’ll give me an excuse, so they don’t stay around afterward.”

I laughed, shaking my head. Those poor Elementals.

Ezra pointed at Jack. “That’s good.” He nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll find a tent big enough for the four of us.” A slow chuckle. “It’ll be the first time I’ve slept with two beautiful women without the worry of sneaking out later.” Those poor Vampires.

“Try that pole.” I pointed with my mittened finger to the pile of poles. “That one looks like what this,” a shake of the instructions, “stupid thing says.”

“I’ve already tried that one,” Jack grumbled. His eyes narrowed and he pulled his knit cap down further on his head. “Is it possible that we’ve got the thing backward?”

Ezra jerked his head to the front of what should have been our constructed tent by now. “There’s the zipper for the entrance. It’s right.”

Pearl threw down her section of the tent she had been trying to figure out. “This is hopeless.” She pointed a gloved, accusatory finger at Ezra. “You had to buy the most complicated one, didn’t you?”

Glancing at all of our subjects, who were easily putting their tents together, I couldn’t disagree. Some of them were even through, now working on building a fire in the pit. We had been at this an hour already, and all we had to show for it was one pole in place. That pole had been obvious, since it was the longest one. All the others just appeared the same.

“The guy at the sporting goods store said it wasn’t difficult,” Ezra muttered, staring at his section, which he gripped like he wanted to rip it apart. He turned that glare on Pearl. “Can’t you use your power to,” his nose crinkled and he shook the section he held, “put it together? Just wave your hands, and
ta-da
, it’s done?”

“No,” she huffed, bending in her huge, down jacket to grab her section again, “I have to know what I want to make it happen.” As if that explained a whole lot.

A thought. “Oh!” I exclaimed, “I have an idea!”

“What?” Jack eyed me warily.

“The last time she had an idea we ended up locked in a utility room,” Pearl muttered.

“Hey,” I complained, “we got out of there quick enough.” At least, once the janitor had found us. Unknowingly to us, the door had been magically warded against thieves. Lure and capture. None of our powers had worked on the stupid thing. “Besides, that’s where the supplies were to accomplish his,” a mittened finger-point at Ezra, “grand plan.”

One of many recent plans, and not wholly instigated by Ezra. All four of us had been drowning in mischief after that first defying day two weeks ago at the Mexican restaurant. That little incident had earned us, well, a grounding, for lack of a better word, courtesy of the Kings. Even with the small punishment, the initial defiant act had tasted of freedom, which we rarely experienced anymore. So now, when one of us designed a new scheme for rebellious entertainment, the rest of us seized upon it with vigor.

A crestfallen expression crossed Ezra’s features. “It would have been so perfect. Mrs. Jonas would have flipped if all the ceilings were painted with porn.”

“We can still do it.” Jack shrugged, eyes beginning to gleam. “We only need to make sure the door doesn’t shut on us again.”

I sighed, waving my arms, the instructions crinkling. “Hello! Idea, remember?”

They glanced to me. Turned their heads to glare at the tent in their hands. Finally, back to me. Cautious.

I snickered. “Oh, ye of little faith.” I crossed my arms. “Just wait. It’ll be up in fifteen minutes.” Again, they gave suspicious looks, but I smiled sweetly, and pivoted on the snow pile I was standing on, hollering, “Brock! Felix! Can you come here for a second?”

They were part of the group getting the fire started and, from the looks of it, their tents were perfectly constructed. When in need of assistance, ask the professionals. Or, just have them do it for you. Brock (falcon Shifter) and Felix (panther Shifter) dropped the wood they had been carrying and hustled over. The Prodigy Shifter calls, you come.

“Yes?” Brock asked, brushing snow off his pants.

“We need help. With our tent.” A look from under my eyelashes with an added pout. “Think you two can help us?” I could have ordered them, but that just seemed mean. Best to ask sweetly and innocently when we were screwed.

“Sure.” Brock nodded, instantly lifting the pole I had been pointing to earlier.

Speechless, the other three Prodigies and I watched as Brock stuck the pole in the right hole on his first attempt.

“What’s our reward if we help?” Felix purred softly behind me. His face went to my neck, against my skin, whispering, “Will you share a tent with me tonight instead of them?”

“Sorry,” I apologized, turning to face him. “You guys know we’ve got business to discuss later.” That was the story we were giving all of our subjects. Really, I was pretty sure our
business
was drinking games, since Jack had brought enough alcohol to inebriate all campers here.

Felix stepped forward, once more invading my space, and tilted my chin up with his gloved finger to stare me in the eyes. His gaze held mine, which was pretty impressive; everyone normally looked away from my gaze quickly. He was new, arriving at King Hall only a week ago. A transfer. I hadn’t really had a chance to talk with him fully, only having a few chats passing in the hallways.

His hair was black, eyes golden, and his skin tan. He was delectable. And, he was still staring me in the eyes, which meant he was alpha strong, powerful. Finger still lightly under my chin, he said bluntly, “I get that.” He bent, those golden eyes coming closer. “What about the hours before?” Shy, he wasn’t.
Friendly
, he was. No build up, just straight to what he wanted. Not a bad thing.

I debated, even as I heard Brock picking up more poles behind me. Again, looking him over, I stated just as bluntly, “Felix, I’m not looking for anything serious, and you seem like the serious type.”
And, the oh-my-God tasty type.

His lips twitched. “Not that serious. Only in the work I do.” His mouth curved. “Be it professional or pleasurable. Anything outside of that, I’m not looking for permanence.” His eyes held the truth, not just his words. Honesty and sorrow.

I believed him. “Alright.” I took a small step back. “I’ll see you later.” Oh yes, I would.

He held my gaze, his golden eyes glowing the tiniest bit in assumed anticipation, before nodding and moving to help Brock.

The four of us stood next to each other, watching as they expertly assembled our tent.

Jack elbowed me, asking, “Have a play date set with the panther?” He was smirking.

Shrugging, watching as Felix bent over, I elbowed Jack back. “I couldn’t let you guys have all the fun.” My head cocking, I ogled Felix’s ass. “Do you guys know anything about him? He’s strong. Held my gaze longer than any Shifter at King Hall.”

Pearl was texting Gideon, but said, “King Nelson said Antonio asked him to transfer. He’s from California.”

I stilled. “Antonio asked him to come here?” Odd didn’t even begin to describe that.

Ezra nodded, also watching him. Just not the part of his anatomy I was eyeing. “That’s what I heard. King Venclaire said he was the power at his old school.” Spring green eyes met mine, and his eyebrows rose. “Any clue why Antonio would ask him here?”

I shook my head, turning my attention back to Felix.

“I heard Antonio’s been transversing,” Jack meant
disappearing out of thin air
, “everywhere. King Fergus said there may be a few more transfers to King Hall.” Jack hesitated. “The King’s actually a little worried,” he confided, rubbing his chin with the back of his glove. “He said if Antonio’s permanently come out of hiding, it’s probably a bad sign.”

King Kincaid hadn’t discussed any of those thoughts with me, keeping our dialogues strictly to teaching since I was far behind on what it took to be a Queen.

The four of us glanced to where Antonio was speaking with a lone bodyguard, though there were many more guards here. Barely seen through the trees, the other guards were posted throughout the forested area, the students being in the middle of their protective circle. Mrs. Jonas, along with a few other teachers, was here with us, too, but we had even more guards than normally present watching over everyone. We had dropped to a threat Level 4, but the guards had only increased. It hadn’t slipped our notice.

I murmured, “He never says until he chooses. In time, he’ll tell us what this is all about.”

Slipping inside our tent many hours later, I was sated and relaxed, which was somewhat surprising. Each Prodigy had taken our own subjects to four different points, speaking with them, getting to know them better. That, in itself, had been stressful and nerve-racking, but then, when all four groups came back to camp, we’d had to persuade them to mingle.

Peacefully.

It was required. We had pulled a few Mys individuals from our own groups into the other Mys factions that we had thought they would get along with. It had been a trial and error sort of event. United, yes, in the Mys community, but on a dark winter’s night in the middle of a forest, they had become more than a little distrustful of one another.

That hadn’t been so much fun. The enjoyments had come afterward, once they had loosened up and food was cooked over the fire. At that point, I had taken the opportunity to slip away — so had Jack and Ezra, who had snuck off like the many others I saw in my trek — and met up with Felix in his tent. And my, my…I was definitely relaxed now.

“Took you long enough,” Pearl griped, her irritability showing. I didn’t hold it against her. The longer you went without your mate — while they were living — the crabbier you became. After that stage came depression. Gideon wouldn’t be gone long enough for that to hit Pearl, but she was still becoming prickly. She tossed her phone down, crossing her arms. “You were supposed to be here a half-hour ago.” Yeah, we had decided to be there by midnight.

“You know she’s always late,” Jack grumbled, stretching like a contented kitten, his eyes roving over me. I wasn’t going to argue with his statement, but I did have it in mind to work on my tardiness. He murmured, “Besides, she’s got a nice, healthy, flushed face.” His smile was lazy. “Enjoy your time, Lily?”

Said flush burned brighter, but I realized something. “Why is it warm in here?” It was like a freezer outside, but in the tent it was almost balmy. Ezra and Jack were only wearing pajama bottoms and Pearl just wore an oversized t-shirt, which I thought was Jack’s.

“You didn’t answer my question. Don’t think you’re getting away from it,” Jack grinned, “but I had a fire Elemental do a little magic on the tent.” Lying on his back, he spread his hands wide. “And then, there was heat.”

I snorted, maneuvering through the three Prodigies. The tent was just big enough for the four of us to lie down with our bags around the edges. “The same fire Elemental I saw you sneaking off with?” My brows rose as I took my jacket off. I was starting to sweat.

“Ah, Selene…” Jack murmured, sighing in content and confirming my assumption.

Glaring down at my snowsuit, I sighed, unsnapping the bulky thing. I mean, I had just put it back on. “How was your time, Ezra?”

Ezra nodded, lying on top of his sleeping bag and resting back on his elbows. “Enjoyable.” His head cocked, watching me. “Although, from the look of it, not as enjoyable as yours.”

Sitting, I pulled the snowsuit over my feet, ignoring the comment.

Pearl grumbled, “All I did was sit in this damn tent, waiting for you guys.”

Jack tugged on her golden hair lightly. “Now you know how it is when we have to wait for you and Gideon to pull away from each other.” Wasn’t that the truth?

She huffed, but a small smile lifted her lips as I dug through my bag, trying to find light pajamas to wear, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t packed anything like that for going into the glacial wilderness. Pearl scanned the tent and, from the corner of my eye, I saw her eyes glow golden, and I felt for a second a rush of her power, spells and time. I stilled, glancing at the tent. There was a golden glow shimmering on our tent’s fabric. Her hand fluttered as she said mildly, “We can talk without being overheard now.”

Instant privacy. “That’s handy.” I stared at the golden sparkles against the blue fabric.

“We’ll have to remember you can do that in the future,” Ezra muttered, eyeing it.

Jack nodded, eyes scrutinizing the magic. “We could definitely use this.” A glance to Ezra, then back to the tent. “You know Vamps and their hearing. This could be really useful.”

Pearl shrugged, but I could tell she was pleased.

“Can I borrow a t-shirt from someone?” I asked, zipping up my bag. There was nothing in there for this heat. “I didn’t bring anything thin.”

“You’re a Shifter.” Jack blinked, his blue brows puckered. “Just take your clothes off.”

Ah.
They didn’t know I wasn’t all about getting naked in front of everyone. Only some of the Shifters knew. Those Shifters seemed embarrassed by it, so they kept quiet about my modesty.

“I wouldn’t give you the satisfaction,” I retorted sweetly. I wasn’t baring all in front of them unless I had to. They were my closest friends, not bed partners. Even if I would, essentially, be sharing a sleeping space with them. “Really, does anyone have a spare shirt?”

All three blinked when they realized I was serious.

I merely waited.

As they eyeballed me peculiarly — I didn’t blame them, knowing how often Shifters stripped — Ezra cleared his throat, rumbling, “I think I’ve got an extra shirt.” Twisting to dig in his bag, he tossed one to me.

“Thanks.” I caught it, and turned my back to them before pulling my sweater over my head. I had a bra on underneath, so it wasn’t a big deal since they had seen me in my training attire. I hesitated with my jeans, and decided to put on Ezra’s shirt before removing them, instead of standing there in my bra and panties.

Behind me, Jack whistled low as I started putting my arms through the armholes of Ezra’s shirt. “Get a little rough tonight?”