King Hall (32 page)

Yeah.

I stepped over a purse on the floor. “On the last day of school, you should set up a lost and found table so these women can get their crap back.”

Ezra’s expression turned thoughtful. “That’s not a bad idea, but I’ve been debating giving it all to charity. I think the disadvantaged could use it more than the women who left it.” He pointed to the black wooden door. His closet. “I’ve got three full boxes in there. It’s absurd.”

I snickered because he was serious, and wandered to his collection of photographs on his black and grey marble desk. Bending, I peered at them. It was obvious who they were of. His mom and dad. I could tell one was definitely of his late mate by the goofy way he was smiling at her. She was predictably gorgeous. “She was very beautiful.”

He nodded, draining the rest of his beer.

I cast my gaze away from him, seeing a familiar grief in his eyes I knew all too well, and went back to studying the pictures. There were photos of him that must have been taken during his travels. In most of them he looked drunk or stoned with other Vampires hanging on him in much the same state. My attention snagged on the framed photo at the end.

I picked it up slowly, and stared. It was of the four of us. Pearl, Jack, Ezra, and I at the New Year’s party we had attended. I remembered now that Ezra had found a disposable camera lying on the floor during one of our boogie sessions, and asked someone to take a picture with it for us. Pearl and I wore those stupid pointy hats, and when we had leaned in together, well, the picture captured Pearl and I with our cheeks smashed together with big, silly grins on our faces, Jack holding his eye after Pearl almost put it out with her hat, but he still had a huge grin on his face, and Ezra had his fangs out, standing behind me, dipped to my height, with his mouth spread wide against my throat — not actually biting, but still managing to smile, eyes up at the camera.

My voice was soft. “Can I get a copy of this?”

His eyes tracked over my face. “Sure. I’ll scan it and make a print for you.”

“Thanks.” I ran a finger over my captured smile, it caught forever in this picture. I had been really happy then. I was really happy now. Glancing at each of my friends, I was misty-eyed, and quickly sniffed any tears back, putting the picture down. Once upon a time, at the beginning of the year, I had lost my heart. With these completely different Mysticals, I had found it again in them.

“Come here,” Ezra said quietly, watching me.

I took one last glance at the photo, and made my way to him. He pulled me down onto his lap and I curled up there, watching Jack and Pearl go at it over music choice while Gideon and Nikki tried to referee. I asked loudly, “Where is everyone going after graduation?” This had been eating away at me for the past month. My friends leaving. Going home, or wherever they wanted to set up their home base. All of us had been avoiding this topic with one another. After seeing proof like that picture…well, I wanted to know where they would be.

Jack and Pearl shut up, turning their attention our way.

Ezra wove his arms around my hips, holding me.

I was trembling a little, and I knew my voice had shaken just the same.

Into the silence, Ezra kissed my forehead, resting his chin on top of my head. “I haven’t decided yet.” He paused. “Pearl? Jack?”

Jack cleared his throat. “Nikki, can you give us a minute?”

She nodded, and, as if by cue, Gideon kissed Pearl’s cheek, both mates leaving Ezra’s room and closing the door behind them. I could hear them walking down the hallway and back out the secret door to the “company”, formal living room.

Jack took a step forward. “I actually don’t know. King Fergus has been listing location after location trying to get me to decide, but I haven’t given him a solid answer.”

Pearl flopped on Ezra’s bed with a CD clutched in her hand, which she had grabbed behind Jack’s back while he had been talking. “I haven’t decided, either. Gideon’s been hounding me about it, but,” her eyes darted to all of us, “I can’t decide.” Those golden eyes landed on me. “What about you?”

“Assuming I can do an Awakening?” Her eyes rolled at my question, although, her forehead crinkled in worry as she nodded. Sighing heavily and pushing away any of those fears, I answered, “I haven’t picked a place.” I nuzzled my forehead deeper against the crook of Ezra’s warm neck, feeling his pulse beat against my forehead. “King Kincaid keeps going on about staying here in New York, but I haven’t told him yes or no.”

Biting my lips, I hesitated, and then blurted, “I just can’t imagine living away from you guys. Having all those simpering subjects surrounding me. They’re good people, but I can’t even have a simple conversation with them. They just agree with everything I say because of who I am.” I shook my head under Ezra’s chin. “That doesn’t sound at all pleasant. At least you and Jack have Gideon and Nikki. Ezra and I have no one. We’ll be stuck with a bunch of brown nosers.”

Unfortunately, it was a dangerous game to ask anything else from our subjects. We were the Law. So, brown nosers they had to be. Not my fault, nor theirs. It just was the way it was. The way it had to be.

Jack sat on the bed, his hand inching toward the CD in Pearl’s hand. “You’re forgetting that Nikki — after she graduates — and Gideon will be traveling quite a bit for a while, being our eyes and ears and making contacts we can’t.” Again, that came from us being who we were. Their mates had their roles, too. “We’ll be in the same situation as you two, in the beginning.” His fingers landed on the edge of the CD, Pearl not noticing.

We sat in silence, all of us detesting our fate. There was no stopping it. We were going to be ripped away from each other a few weeks after graduation when we had to choose.

I whispered, “Maybe, we can choose locations close to one another.”

Ezra half cleared his throat/half grunted, the sound odd enough that Jack stopped trying to steal the CD to glance at him as I lifted away a smidge to see his face. Hesitantly, Ezra stated, “I might have an idea for what we’re all dreading, but it’s a bit…radical…for the Mys community. It would also depend on how we each plan to rule our subjects.”

“
Ooh
,” Pearl did a fake shiver, “I love radical.” All kidding aside, she was watching him just as intently as Jack and me.

“We aren’t leaving immediately after graduation, and we still need to see if,” Ezra patted my hip, “Lily can do an Awakening, so I propose we wait until graduation night to have this discussion. Once we’re through with King Hall completely and have more freedom to do as we want, we’ll sit down and I’ll tell you my thoughts.”

Jack rubbed his chin. “We wait until after graduation to tell the Kings where we’re setting up shop?”

“That would probably be wise if you’re interested in hearing me out.”

I gawked. “You’re thinking about all of us living under one roof, aren’t you?”

His lips pursed, and he tilted his head back against the top of his circular chair, staring at his dark ceiling. “That would be part of it, but it would have to be a massive roof and be in more than one location worldwide. It could benefit our subjects in ways the previous Rulers never even contemplated because of their lack of connection, a connection which the four of us have.” His face slanted back to our shocked ones. “Like I said, it would be radical. There are a lot of different factors we would have to think about, but,” another pat on my hip, “we need to make sure we aren’t dealing with other issues before we really consider this.”

Silence.

What he was proposing was a first. It could either cause a rebellion or cause unity. It was a formidable line to cross if we chose to be as progressive as that. Like he had said, it was an idea no other four Rulers had ever contemplated, because they had kept themselves separate from one another, which seemed ludicrous to me now. How they hadn’t jumped at the chance to have a bond like ours was beyond me.

In the extended quiet, Pearl whispered, “That’s ballsy.”

“Yes.” Ezra cracked his neck. The action had my gaze landing there. His pulse. “It is. Just think about it until graduation, and then, if we want to discuss it more, we can.” He paused before adding quietly, “If you don’t want to, I won’t think poorly of you. Of any of you. It makes me anxious and I was the one to come up with it.” His face turned in my direction, although, that wasn’t what I was eyeballing. “On that note, we’ll put this subject on hold, which is perfect timing because I do believe Lily’s got a craving.”

His pulse thumped so deliciously under his skin, I licked my lips. “Yeah.”

“Well,” Jack stood, “I’m thirsty and hungry, but not for,” he gagged, “what she wants. I’m going to see if Nikki wants to eat.”

“Same here,” Pearl said, standing. “It’s your day, anyway.” Always careful with words in a Vampire’s home.

Ezra nodded. “I know.” As they started moving across the room, he advised, “Don’t eat a lot. The King loves a sit-down political dinner when guests are here. The cook probably has something special planned.”

They agreed not to eat the entire pantry — right now — and left us alone.

“Here or my bed?” Ezra whispered softly.

I debated, my eyes never leaving his pulse. “The bed would be better for you.”

He easily lifted me in his arms as he stood. Sitting on the bed, he lay back completely.

Moving like clockwork, I straddled him as he tilted his chin back and to the side. His arms rested around me as I lowered, and I gently placed my tongue against his throat, feeling his pulse throb. Breathing in deeply, I sighed — he was my favorite flavor of my three donors.

He chuckled, barely breathing, “Drink up.”

My fangs already descended, I bit into his flesh, his blood pouring into my mouth. Groaning softly as the spice of his blood slid over my tongue, I pulled, instantly sending him serenity, and his arms started to go slack, but his fingers hooked into the belt loops on my pants, so they didn’t completely fall as I drank from him softly, but greedily.

“You’ve seriously got issues, Venclaire. This place is a crypt.” It was King Kincaid’s voice coming from the hallway, making me jolt. “Is this the room?” Hastily, I licked over Ezra’s wound. It healed instantly, but I froze as, not even a second later, Ezra’s bedroom door opened behind me with a stalling pause, then King Kincaid whispered hoarsely, “Jesus Christ.”

Shit.

Luckily, I had pulled enough blood to have my fangs retract, but Ezra blinked open lazy eyes, coming out of the strong mind hold I’d had him in, and he turned his face toward me, his lips against my temple, and asked softly, “Why’d you stop, sweetheart?” He was still dazed as his hands traveled from my belt loops to the small of my back.

Shit and fuck.

“What’s the matter, Kincaid?” King Venclaire asked, also behind me, which had Ezra freezing. “Oh, good grief.” A heavy, irritated sigh, then he whispered harshly, “Lock the damn door, you two. Secrecy. Not stupidity.” The door slammed closed, and he shouted from the hallway, “Dinner’s in a half-hour. Don’t be late!”

Ezra and I blinked at one another.

I mumbled softly, “At least, my boobs weren’t showing this time.”

Dinner.

Hmm
.

Ezra and I had quickly finished — after locking the door — and then hurried to the sit-down dinner in the Victorian-styled dining room painted in stripes of black and white. All the Kings were in attendance, our friends mingling with them. Jack and Pearl were making excuses for our absence, vaguely remarking on how Ezra was
possibly
showing me a new fighting technique, when we walked in.

King Kincaid and King Venclaire were mute while Pearl and Jack made this pronouncement. When they noticed us, both pairs of eyes scanned our persons, probably making sure we had remembered to “put all our clothes back on”. Finished with his perusal first, King Kincaid strode to the side of the room, pouring himself a very tall glass of whiskey at the bar while King Venclaire merely brushed imaginary lint from his suit jacket.

Pearl said loudly, “There you two are.” She hurried to our side. “Learn anything new in,” she winked at me as if I hadn’t heard their excuses, “training?” God, she was a bad liar.

Note to self: never allow her to speak at future meetings with politicians.

I nodded, but stated quietly, “Our fighting techniques aren’t for dinner conversation.” I knew King Nelson and King Fergus were more refined, so they didn’t talk about issues of combat at a fancy-schmancy dinner like this. It worked. They turned away.

King Venclaire, on the other hand, regarded me with delight until his eyes journeyed to Ezra, scrutinizing him like a disappointed papa for not locking the door.

Ezra muttered a curse under his breath, and strolled to the bar to fix his own drink.

Didn’t blame him. I could use one, too. Once again, King Venclaire and King Kincaid had caught us in a compromising position. This time, on Ezra’s damn bed. There wasn’t a valid reason to give them for it, so they still thought we were screwing.

Jack raised questioning brows over Nikki’s head.

I rolled my eyes in answer.

This situation just sucked. Mainly because King Kincaid had just started treating me normal again. After the first incident, he had been sullen and quiet, hardly speaking with me. Gradually, he had gotten over it, probably because of the “no touching” policy my besties and I had created, thinking Ezra and I had ended our distasteful “love affair”. Now, by the looks of it, he was going to drown his sorrows in liquor, already having drained his first glass and was pouring another while his wolf ever so softly growled at Ezra, who — intelligently — grabbed the closest beer and relocated, putting space between them.

Everyone began taking their seats at the table.

King Kincaid made sure I sat directly next to him at the end of the table. Away from Ezra where he sat at the other end. As food was served, King Kincaid stated loudly, “Lily, I have a good Shifter friend in New York City. He has a son that’s a few years older than you. A wolf Shifter.” He eyed me. “His name’s Broderick. He’s powerful, definitely an alpha, and he lost his mate a few years ago.” He took a sip of his whiskey. “I’d like you two to meet.”