King Hall (25 page)

She whimpered, and nodded as much as she could with the grip I had on her hair.

I dropped her head in disgust, standing and wiping my hands off. She really was a sniveling, materialistic idiot who would probably only cause more problems. Maybe I should just put her behind bars for the Shifters’ sake. I cocked my head, rolling my shoulders, but after a few seconds of thought, I realized even if I wanted to, I couldn’t, since I had already given my ruling.

“Shit,” I muttered. Live and learn, I guess. I seriously hoped I didn’t regret letting her walk out of here free and clear. “I’m done.”

Everyone was left blinking, except for King Kincaid. He had seen me use my powers before, since he felt I needed to learn to control them, making me practice on any boarders who volunteered to help with my training. None of my friends had seen me use it, much less felt it, like they had today.

They probably didn’t even expect me to know what the hell I was doing, since they never saw the meetings in the study that King Kincaid would drag me into when I wasn’t studying. I knew the Law; it was a reading I actually didn’t mind. Hell, King Kincaid had even tasked me with deciding a few of the Shifters’ fates before. This wasn’t new to me, but it was new to them, seeing this side of me.

King Kincaid said, “I agree with the punishment.” He wasn’t going to rebuke me in front of everyone. Or even later. I could tell by his eyes he did agree, even if I hadn’t scented his
truth
.

King Venclaire recovered the fastest from his only slightly stunned expression, turning to face Mrs. Jonas. “Get the cuffs off him now.”

Mrs. Jonas nodded, but she still stood motionless, her eyes darting from me to the bleeding Shifter who was still sniveling at my feet.

I figured she would get moving faster if I moved, so I stepped over the bloody mess on the floor, and went to stand by Jack and Pearl, both of them not glancing in my direction, but were fairly bouncing where they stood.

We watched Mrs. Jonas release Ezra, and he sucked in a sharp breath as the cuffs came off. I had never been silvered before, but I had heard the horror stories. It was like the cuffs sapped your strength and burned you all at once. He flexed and rotated his wrists and squatted once, working out his ankles, then stalked over to Viper, completely ignoring Mrs. Jonas who had been in the process of apologizing.

He bent over her where she sat, his hands on the arms of the plush chair, and his eyes flashed so deeply they were like lasers aimed straight into hers. She stilled instantly, and he asked, “Were you incoherent after the drinking or did you lie to Mrs. Jonas?”

“I lied,” she murmured, her voice monotone, sounding like a robot.

“Why?”

“You’ve ignored me since our last time together, and when you wanted to drink from me again, you brought a Shifter in with us,” she replied, tone the same. “It pissed me off.”

“Hmm,” Ezra hummed low as his eyes stopped glowing. “I believe you need an introduction to just how pissed off I am you lied, an illegal action.” He paused, watching her come back to herself, her expression instantly of fright. “I can make it pleasant, as you know, but I can also make it,” a quiet, deadly purr, “not so pleasant.”

He struck, his sentence on a Vampire charged with lying. Their rules were the same with sending her to prison if he wanted, but he chose an old form of Vampire justice.

Her feet didn’t touch the ground as she was held in Ezra’s arms, his fangs in her throat,
screaming
.

God, I had never heard anyone screech quite like that before. Not even the Com men who died on the beach shrieked in such terror. He wasn’t pulling hard, more like gently suckling to make it last longer, not trying to drain her, and honestly, I didn’t know how he did it with her mouth so close to his ear.

Temptation called, inviting me to cover my ears, but I didn’t. I held out, like Jack and Pearl did. Christ, did we hold out. This went on for at least ten minutes.

When he finally released her, dumping her on top of the shivering and crying Shifter, he grabbed the handcuffs from Mrs. Jonas and bent over her, slapping them on her wrists and ankles.

Oh yes, he was most definitely pissed.

She started shaking as soon as they were on, and her eyes flew open, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Ezra jerked her chin toward him, stating harshly, “I’ll drain you next time you’re so senseless.” He stood, and faced the visibly shaken Mrs. Jonas. “Keep her in those for as long as you had me in them.”

She looked at King Venclaire, her question silent.

He murmured calmly, “Agreed.”

She nodded, staring down at the two liars, then back to Ezra, apologizing again.

Ezra muttered, “I’m out of here.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder, stepping over the guilty, and headed our way.

“You won’t leave school property, Ezra,” King Venclaire stated steadily.

Ezra nodded, waving a hand above his head, but to us, he muttered, “How fast can we make it to the Hummer from here?”

After going through the drive-thru of Ezra’s favorite pick, we sat in the park in Choep at a picnic table under the shade of trees while monsters — AKA toddlers — played on the playground watched over by a parent, our guards all around us, but far enough away to give us privacy and not scare the Coms too bad.

Jack bit into his chicken sandwich, saying around the mouthful, “Lily, that was freaking impressive power.”

I shrugged, fiddling with the lid of my milkshake. “We’ve all got our Ruler’s power. You just hadn’t seen me use mine yet.” I was still mad as hell, and had barely refrained so far from throwing my shake in Ezra’s face. Instead, I finally settled on picking up a fry and leaning over the table, pointing it at Ezra, hissing, “Why?” I didn’t say anything else. He had hurt my feelings. I didn’t know why he hadn’t asked, and it offended me.

Pearl and Jack paused in their munching, glancing back and forth between us.

“Caught that, did you?” Ezra lowered his half-eaten burger, his eyes on mine.

“Caught what?” Pearl asked, quickly swallowing her mouthful of onion rings.

I jabbed my fry at Ezra. “He was drinking off them that way because he wants…” I pointed at myself with the fry, scowling into spring green eyes. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Unhurriedly, he wiped his mouth with his napkin, and then placed his arms on the table, leaning over to be nose-to-nose with me. “Because you taste good.”

“And?” I asked, exasperated, my hurt feelings overpowering my anger. “Why the hell didn’t you just ask me instead of drinking off idiots like Rebecca and Viper?”

He took a deep breath. Blinked for a few ticks. “I hurt your feelings?”

I pinched his nose. Stupid thing. Keeping a good grip on it, I said, “Well, yes. Why wouldn’t you ask your best friend if that’s what you wanted in the first place, instead of trying to find a replacement?”

He swatted my hand away, wiggling his straight nose in agitation. “Because you
are
one of my best friends. It would be counterproductive for what we’re doing with,” he mouthed, “
you
.”

I blinked, realizing he was, in a sense, putting me first. If I drank from one of the three of them, then he drank from me, it would be counterproductive, like I had figured out that first time. I’d had to resort to bagged blood that night because I had been so low after he drank from me. I muttered, “I don’t exactly like it, but I don’t mind going,” I mouthed, “
bagged
,” then, spoke normally, “if you wanted to every once in a while.”

We knew I needed to be strong, and going bagged every day wouldn’t cut it for me, or for them, since they also liked me strong — like any real friend would — so Ezra couldn’t drink from me every day, but if he wanted a treat every once in a while, I could deal with it.

His lips thinned. “That stuff’s disgusting. It wouldn’t be fair.”

It was disgusting, but I had lived off it the majority of my life since my first Awakening. “I really don’t mind. Life’s not always fair.” Again, I pointed with my fry at his nose, which was still close, whispering softly, “Seriously, if you’re going around picking donors like you did today to try to get the same taste, I would prefer it this way. You can’t be put in jail, Ezra. If it means that much to you, I’m willing.”

“Let her do it,” Jack said, beginning to eat his food again, now that he understood the tension. “Like she said, it won’t hurt her to have the other stuff every once in a while.”

“Yes, and I agree with her,” Pearl muttered, tossing an onion ring at Ezra’s face. “Those picks were stupid. You should have just gone for the real deal instead of imitation.”

Sitting back, I kept my gaze on Ezra. “It won’t hurt me. It’s not really selfish because I don’t mind it too much.” It wasn’t pleasant, but it was doable. If he had something I really wanted, I would ask if I thought he wouldn’t mind too much. There’s give-and-take in any friendship.

He grunted, his nostrils flaring, and, finally, he nodded. “Alright.” His gaze lingered on my throat. “Thank you.”

“Just quit looking at me like I’m a juicy steak,” I amended. His gaze flew up, and I chuckled. “When we leave here, I’ll give you what you want.”

“Nikki said that to me last night,” Jack murmured absently. He was always saying stuff like that now. The man had a serious case of Nikki-on-the-brain…or other parts.

“I’m sure she wasn’t talking about nutrition,” Pearl chuckled, going along with it.

He grinned cockily. “No. Not at all.” His smile softened, and he looked like the man in love he had become. It was sweet, but also an odd look for him. He worked it, though. “She thinks she has me wrapped around her little pinky. It’s adorable.”

I choked on my food.

Ezra muttered, “She does, man.” When Jack scowled, Ezra clarified, “She made you watch cycling competition reruns all Saturday night instead of coming over to Lily’s for movie night with us. And, she was even invited.”

Pearl snickered. “She had you babysit her two younger brat brothers when she went shopping with her mom.”

“Also,” I added, “she bought you that god-awful peach shirt you hate, which you wear. For her.” I glanced down. “That shirt, to be exact.” Damn, that thing was hideous.

Ezra lifted his little finger. “Oh yes, my friend. She’s got you wrapped and,” his finger bent sharply, “hooked.”

Pearl patted Jack’s hand when he sat blinking. “It’s alright. You’ll get used to it. She’s the same with you. I can’t believe some of the things she does…” She stopped talking when he shook his head.

“Sorry, I wasn’t freaking out about that. She wants,” he tapped his head, “us to bring her back something to eat at school. Lunch was barf worthy today, so she didn’t eat.”

I snickered as he quickly started cleaning his mess. He was interesting being in love.

Ezra expounded, “We can drop it off, but I’m not going back today.”

Jack nodded. “I didn’t think so. I told her we’d bring it, but I was leaving afterward.”

“Good,” Pearl murmured, but she was looking at me with eyebrows raised. “So, you think you might explain the situation that led to Felix lying on top of you today?”

Jack and Ezra, at the same time, asked harshly, “
What?
”

“Um, yeah…” I shot Pearl a dirty glance. Of course she would blab. Nothing ever stayed a secret between any of us for long. “He was my hand-to-hand partner today, since Ezra wasn’t available.” A quick scowl at him. “He wants to hook up again. He said he never slept with me because of his job.” I munched on a fry. “He spoke
truth
.”

“Bad idea,” Jack muttered, shaking his head. “Do not sleep with him again. These people are supposed to be our elite guard. Having a relationship — any relationship — with them could complicate things. They’re there for one reason, and one reason only. To guard us.”

“There are plenty of other guys for you to pick from,” Ezra murmured. “After today, I wouldn’t touch anyone if I only
thought
they were being honest.” He grimaced. “Those cuffs were atrocious.”

Sighing, I rested my elbows against the table, getting what they said, but argued, “It’s hard enough to find someone that will even look me straight in the eyes, much less half of what Felix does.” I grinned, biting into my last fry. “Very well, I might add.”

They sat back, quiet and thoughtful, knowing it was hard to find someone on equal footing. Not timid with us. Or who acted like we were perfect. Because we weren’t. No one likes to be cooed over or have someone jump to do your bidding all the time, even though you barely mentioned it. If you found someone with backbone, it was a rare find indeed. Add in the attraction between Felix and me, and yeah, it wasn’t an easy decision.

Ezra’s lips pursed. “When I left home after Felicia died, I did an extensive amount of traveling. I met tons of different Mysticals during that time, some of them more reputable than others.” He cracked his neck. “There was this one alpha Shifter I met—”

I held up a stopping hand. “I don’t do blind booty calls.”

He shrugged. “It was just an idea.”

“I know. I’ll figure it out with Felix.”

Pearl ended up buying lunch for Gideon, along with Jack’s buy for Nikki, so while they were waiting to hand off their bags-o-goodies, Ezra and I slipped into the back of the Hummer, it still running, music playing unobtrusively over the speakers. The guards were still sitting in their cars, which were parked toward the front of the building, halfway between where I had parked — not my normal spot in the back — and where Jack and Pearl were outside King Hall’s front doors. Classes were in session for another fifteen minutes, so I had told Ezra he could drink now if he wanted. His wandering eyes had said it all. He very much wanted, so we were sitting on the backseat.

“How do you want me?” I asked, pulling my hair back into a ponytail.

Ezra considered it, then said, “Lie down on the seat so no one sees us.” I nodded, and he moved to the edge so I could lie down flat. The leather was warm under me where Pearl and Jack had been sitting, and Ezra maneuvered over me, hovering there for a moment. “Tell me if I’m too heavy.”

I snorted. He was very heavy. A solid mass of muscle, not a scrap of fat on him that I had ever seen, and he had plowed into me countless times in our training, so I knew firsthand how it felt having him on top of me. But, this was different, and he was trying to be polite, so I nodded. “Will do.” I hesitated as he gently rested his enormous body on me, and then asked, “What do I taste like?”