King Hall (19 page)

As the limo began moving, Jack’s head thumped onto my lap and he yawned so big I thought his jaw would break, then Pearl’s head landed on Ezra’s lap next to me, her golden hair flying over Jack’s head, which he didn’t even bother to brush away.

I patted Jack’s shoulder, my own head falling against Ezra’s shoulder, his head falling on top of mine. I closed my eyes to the Kings’ chuckling and high-fiving. Whatever. One day, we wouldn’t be babysitting New York’s finest brats, and we would be wreaking havoc again.

“What do you really think of the precious children?” King Nelson asked, snickering.

I opened one eye, muttering, “Babysitting is the best birth control ever.”

Pearl and Jack nodded.

Ezra grunted.

The Kings thought that was just too funny.
He, he
.

I barely withheld a snarl.

Ezra readjusted himself, sinking lower on the seat and throwing an arm over my shoulder, allowing me to snuggle up while Pearl and Jack flat out put their feet up on the long bench seat and were snoring within thirty seconds. Ezra rested his head back on mine, and I wasn’t sure who fell asleep faster, me or him, as we listened to the Kings laugh it up.

It was a long drive to Washington, DC, and I was proud to say we slept the majority of the trip, only waking at lunch to eat enough food to feed a small army, which the Kings watched in wide-eyed amazement, then we promptly fell back asleep, sprawled all over one another.

“Wake up, you unruly Prodigies!” King Venclaire barked loudly.

We groaned, snuggling further against each other.

“Watch this,” one of the asshats whispered.

A funny feeling tickled the bottom of my feet, waking me more, but the power-driven shock that zapped each of my toes had me screaming right along with Jack, Ezra, and Pearl, and then we were falling onto the floor in a big pile of arms and legs.

Pearl lifted her head off my stomach, blinking tired eyes at the laughing Kings, and the pretty golden doll bared her teeth, growling, “
I will hurt you.”

“And, they’re up. In their finest form.” King Kincaid bumped fists with King Nelson. “That was a nice one.”

“Thank you.” King Nelson nodded regally, sporting a huge grin.

King Venclaire chuckled. “I remember you doing that to our history instructor when he fell asleep during his own lecture.” Snapping fingers. “What was his name?”

“Mr. Knetter.” King Fergus laughed. “That was priceless. His chair tipped over.”

“And you tell us we’re not following the rules?” I griped, waiting for everyone to get off me since I was at the bottom of the pile.

King Kincaid bent over, staring me in the face. “We might have caused a few issues here and there, like any adolescent, but the four of you together…” He lifted to recline on the seat, shaking his head. “You four are a whole other
breed
.”

“Thank you,” Ezra stated dryly, grabbing my hand and yanking me up. “We do try to excel at every challenge.” He smiled. There was a little fang in there.

King Venclaire waved an irritated hand, even though his eyes were crinkling in merriment. “Put those away, Ezra.”

Ezra sighed, and they disappeared. “I’m thirsty.”

Jack grabbed his neck, joking, “Don’t even think about it.”

Ezra rolled his eyes. “A water Elemental tastes,” he cracked his neck, “watered-down.” He missed Jack’s jaw dropping as he stared out a window, pointing at tourists walking by. “Think you can let me out here? I’ll catch up at the next light.”

“You’re serious?” King Venclaire asked, and Ezra nodded. “Just because you didn’t drink as you should, you want us to let you out, in Washington, DC, so you can have an illegal Com snack?” He shook his head. “Think again, Prodigy.”

“I didn’t have time with the babysitting,” Ezra ground out, his fangs descending again.

“I think we should let him drink,” Jack stated, now serious, staring at the fangs.

Ezra hardly ever showed them. It didn’t appear like he was in much control of them. A thirsty Vamp — not to mention, one as powerful as him — wasn’t a good example to bring to a meeting with United States officials, much less with the President.

I certainly wasn’t volunteering, not with my blood.

“Christ,” King Nelson muttered, glaring at King Venclaire. “You should’ve known this.”

“Do you keep track of everything Pearl consumes?” King Venclaire spewed.

No response, because that was just ludicrous.

Holding up her wrist, Pearl mumbled, “Here.
Bon appétit
.”

Silence.

Pearl rolled her eyes, shaking her wrist. “Seriously. You’re not going to be able to find a legal donor in the timeframe we have, and if you go in smiling at the President with fang showing that’s not good PR.” Another shake of her wrist. “Just don’t make it hurt.”

King Nelson’s lips thinned, but he didn’t stop his Prodigy from doing this, her offer within our Laws.

Ezra cleared his throat, saying softly, “I prefer the throat.”

Pearl grumbled, but lowered her wrist and pulled her hair away from her neck.

“Thank you,” Ezra whispered before he blurred, striking so fast I couldn’t track him.

Pearl made a soft sound of surprise, and a moment later her arms fell to her sides, body slack with the pleasant vibes Ezra sent her as he drank from her throat.

I cleared my own throat, turning away from them, and started a mindless conversation on the Washington, DC monuments we were passing with the Kings and Jack, giving Ezra and Pearl a little privacy.

King Nelson still kept an eagle eye on the proceeding.

Not thirty seconds later, I heard Pearl whisper, “That wasn’t so bad. Nice, actually.”

“Here.” Ezra pulled an orange juice out of the mini-fridge and handed it to her. “I didn’t take too much, but this’ll help with the dizziness.”

“Thanks,” she murmured, drinking it as recommended.

Ten minutes later, we pulled up to the White House.

Pearl had finished the orange juice, appearing perky fresh.

Ezra’s mocha skin was slightly flushed, a healthy glow.

Jack was half asleep again.

King Nelson kept glaring at King Venclaire.

King Venclaire only rolled his eyes.

King Kincaid and King Fergus prattled on non-stop, trying to keep the peace.

I, on the other hand, stared out the window in fascination. I had always thought the White House was so cool. I was, embarrassingly, in Com awe right now. It wasn’t just that the house was so impressive, but also what it meant to the Coms in America. It was where the most powerful Com in the world lived, and many before him. That was just extraordinary.

“Close your mouth, honey,” King Kincaid said quietly, and my mouth snapped shut. “Try not to look too impressed.” I nodded, still gaping out a window, and he mumbled softly to someone, “
Keep her in the back.”

The driver opened our door, and yes, the Kings ushered me toward the back when we got out, placing me between Ezra and Jack, hiding me, since I was still failing to hide my reaction to the “wow” factor. There were Mys and Coms alike outside the gate, protesting about what had happened to us. They stopped their chant and started cheering and hollering when they saw us.

Without warning, a powered fireball arced through the air, catching a tree on fire.

“Put that out,” King Fergus ordered Jack instantly.

Jack nodded, eyes glowing, and lifted a hand. Blue water streamed from the center of his palm, the water arcing through the air. Jack’s magic always impressed me, and I watched in fascination beside him. Only to catch him right before he hit the ground when he slumped into a dead faint as the water doused the flames. We were instantly swarmed.

Laying him safely on the ground, I screamed his name, breathing heavily, not understanding what was going on. I shook him hard — too hard — in full-fledged distress.

Ezra yanked my hands from him, lifting me to my feet, and held me close.

On his knees, worry stamped across his face, King Fergus tried waking him.

Pearl appeared like she was going to cry, or scream, so I quickly yanked her into Ezra’s and my embrace, and the three of us waited to see what the hell had just happened.

Too long, moments later, Jack groaned, and instant relief flooded me as his eyes opened. Blinking sluggishly, he stammered, “Find who…sent the fire.” Gasping a deep breath he, bizarrely, became frantic, struggling to stand up as he shouted, “
Find who sent the damn fire!”
His eyes were glowing, and his features were like when we had been about to fight the Commoners on the beach. Scary-fierce determination.

King Fergus watched Jack wobble as they both stood to their feet, and a quiet expression passed over his face. He snapped his fingers at the guards, ordering sternly, “Search the crowd for a fire Elemental in the same state as Jack.”

Jack stumbled, his direction right at us. Ezra and I each grabbed one of his hands, keeping him steadily tucked between the three of us. I didn’t understand the situation right then, but I knew it was deathly important to him, so I kept his hand in mine, holding it just as tightly as he did mine. His eyes were trained on the crowd, his lips thin as he watched the guards moving through the masses.

“What’s going on?” I whispered to Pearl behind him.

With her steadying hands on Jack’s back and her jaw clenched, Pearl didn’t respond, also watching the crowd intently over my head.

It was like a jolt went through Jack as the guards stormed back through the entrance, carrying a fire Elemental, who looked barely coherent. Jack’s harsh inhale was audible and he dropped our hands, racing to them.

Again, I asked, “What’s going on?” I was so damn confused.

“Watch,” Pearl murmured quietly, pointing to them.

Jack reached the woman, and lifted his hand. His palm was glowing blue. The woman jolted in the guard’s arms, and raised one of her own hands, which was glowing red. Like magnets, their palms slammed together. A shower of blue and red sparkles burst from their connected hands, covering them in a circle.

“Oh, shit,” I mumbled stupidly, realizing what this was. “He’s found his mate.”

Jack spoke to his mate softly where he had carried her to our limo.

She sat inside it now, her brown eyes as big as saucers, regarding him in shock and wonder as he knelt outside the limo. She was twenty-one years old, had deep ebony skin, neon red ringlet hair, was just under six feet tall, and was all kinds of curvy. Her name was Nikki Williams, from the Washington, DC area, here to kick some Com ass. I could smell alcohol on her, which probably explained the ignorant act of throwing a fireball at the President’s tree. That was all I had gotten from her since she talked so softly…but, a mile a minute.

“Well,” I whispered where the three of us had stood back to give them some privacy. “Guess the Elementals of the world are out of luck.”

Ezra nodded, then cocked his head. “I’ve never actually seen an Elemental find their mate before. That was pretty remarkable.”

I nodded. “First time here, too.”

Pearl offered, “I saw it once before. Same thing happened when their magic touched. They actually fainted for, like, ten minutes, and then there were the sparkles of yellow and green.” She glanced to the news crews outside the gates. “Jack’s story is probably already being aired.”

Nikki smiled shyly at Jack when he said something.

I almost choked. God, the girl had a lot to learn to keep up with him.

Timid, he wasn’t, which he proved by kissing her right in front of everyone, and I did chuckle when he moved back, since she swayed like she was going to faint all over again.

“Oh, poor girl,” Pearl muttered.

Ezra grunted in agreement.

I continued snickering.

Jack kept rubbing his palm and pattering his feet, antsy as he glanced back toward the doors where he had left Nikki.

Squeezing his shoulder, I whispered, “Pull yourself together. This won’t take that long.”

The man had gone from petrified of finding his mate to protective of his mate in the blink of a shower of blue and red sparkles. King Fergus had ended up damn near dragging him away from the limo. Jack had only gone peacefully when at least five guards had been left with her. While she was locked inside an armored limo.

“It’s weird,” he mumbled, rubbing his palm. He glanced at me. “She’s pretty, huh?”

“Very. You’re a lucky man,” I stated honestly.

Ezra finished speaking with King Venclaire, turning to face us as we waited in the receptionist’s area outside the Oval Office, and stated bluntly, “Let’s see it.”

Pearl bounced on the balls of her feet. “Yes. Show us.”

Jack’s lips inched into a huge grin, and he unclenched his fist, palm toward the ceiling.

We tilted our heads over his hand. There was what looked like a tattooed red flame. It was faint, so you had to look closely, but it was there.

I squeezed his shoulder once more, this time in congratulations, but a thought occurred. My gaze turned to Pearl. “I’ve never seen your mark.” Mages also got tattooed mate marks, not bite marks like Shifters and Vampires.

Lifting her head from staring at Jack’s palm, Pearl blinked. “Oh.” Her cheeks pinked, but she covertly unbuttoned a tiny portion of her shirt near her belly button. She parted the material. Around her belly-button was a pale spiraling circle of gold. It reminded me of the mazes from the newspapers that I used to solve as a kid.

We bent, staring.

Ezra grinned, peering up at her. “What exactly were you two doing when your magics touched?” Mages also had to be skin-to-skin for the mark to form.

Her flush deepened, quickly buttoning her shirt. “Uh…”

Straightening, the three of us began to chuckle. Well, well. We now knew Pearl and Gideon did, in fact, have their kinks in the bedroom.

We were sitting along the wall of the Oval Office, and I couldn’t even be properly awed because Jack’s leg kept bouncing and his body kept jerking next to me.

I glanced around him to Ezra, who sat on the other side of him, and our eyes met.

His widened, clearly meaning:
I have no flipping clue.

Sighing, and, even though it was rude as the President and a few Senators spoke with the Kings in the center of the room, I whispered against Jack’s ear, “You need to quit fidgeting.”