King Hall (43 page)

I rolled my eyes.

His lips twitched as he lifted a brownie in question.

My mouth watered, and I peered at the table. Last one. Damn. He needed it, since I had just taken his blood. I shook my head, and he placed it on his plate as he progressed down the line. Filling my own plate, I moved to each dish and couldn’t help but be envious, since he was going to sit with Pearl and Jack instead of…

“Ezra!” Cahal barked loudly. “Come sit with us!”

I didn’t have to glance back. I knew Ezra had been walking toward our friends’ table, and now, he wouldn’t be. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Both of us sitting at that table…on second thought, probably not so good. Finished loading my plate, I actually debated skipping orders and going to sit with my friends, but King Kincaid was watching, so I made my way through the tables and sat beside him.

Fi sat on his other side, and she leaned forward, peering around him, asking, “Are you sure you’re alright? Your face is still rosy.”

I waved a hand, trying for calm. “I’m really okay.” I stuffed my mouth full of pasta.

Antonio’s lips pursed and he jerked his head toward where Felix and Aros were standing. “What was that about?”

I had an answer for that one. The truth. “They lost me there for a minute in the crowd and were worried.”

“They’re your elite,” Antonio stated. “Don’t let them lose you.” A command.

My mouth full again, I nodded, and then found my plate fascinating in examination.

That was, until Ezra, who was sitting next to his dad across the table, reached to grab the salt from the middle of the table, and King Kincaid went quiet. Predatory quiet. More than likely, only a Shifter would notice his animal’s wildness silencing, so only Fi and I glanced at him. He was peering down at his plate with his nostrils flared.

Unexpectedly, he moved so brutally fast he scared the shit out of me. He stood, seizing my arm and jerking me to my feet. I dropped my fork and my chair knocked over, but I did manage to keep my yelp at bay. He proceeded to drag me away from the table at a fast clip, not saying a word, working his way through the tables to the woods behind.

No one tried to stop us, and after the initial movement, I tried to keep up the best I could, so we wouldn’t make a scene for whatever this was about. Honestly, only a few people noticed, thank goodness. When we were past the tree line, he continued stalking, taking us deeper into the woods, so far that no one would be able to hear us. Eventually, he halted, releasing me with a jerk.

Pacing back and forth between oaks, his wolf growled low and, still being cautious, quietly he hissed, “I thought King Venclaire told you to be private about your goddamn affair!” His nostrils flared. “And, today, of all days, you decide it’s a great idea to fuck a Vampire on school property?” His wolf snarling, he got right in my face, making my own wolf want to growl, but I knew better than that. “Tell him as soon as he’s done eating to dunk himself in the damn pond. He reeks of
you
. Any Shifter who comes within a few feet of him is going to recognize, at the very least, he’s sleeping with a wolf Shifter. And no-one can fucking know!”

His forehead banged against mine, staying there, so our eyes were an inch apart. “Both of you need to get your fucking acts together before you two start a goddamn revolt! You’re going to be the Queen Shifter. He’s going to be the King Vampire. The two don’t mix, unless it’s behind a locked, sealed, and barred damn door, and even then,
to almost every single Mys out there
, it’s fucking
wrong
. Do you understand me?”

I nodded. I had figured it out, but couldn’t explain the truth. It was because of Ezra’s arm. When he had held me…well, the sexual fluid of a Shifter gives the animal away to one of our kind. Even though we smelled of each other from dancing, this was a different scent entirely, and no amount of grooving on the dance floor could explain the situation away.

He started stalking away, and pointed at me. “I expect you to call some of those Shifters by tomorrow.” An order.
How lovely.
He continued marching through the trees, rubbing a hand over his face repeatedly, and then began strolling normally before he was out of my view through the vegetation.

I was thankful at the moment that Aros and Felix had stayed back. Whenever King Kincaid and I talked privately, they were instructed to guard at a distance for privacy. Good damn rule.

My wolf was more than a little ticked but I, myself, felt like crying in frustration. I walked it out, pacing back and forth, only sniffling a few times and blinking rapidly to keep any tears from falling. When I felt I had better control of myself, I made my way out of the woods, and back to my table. I could sense the individuals at my table eyeing me, but I moved casually and calmly, and sat on my chair, which had been righted.

I kept my eyes on my plate, and sighed, realizing I needed a fork to eat with since mine was under the table somewhere. After getting another one, I sat back down and made myself eat. I was not going to pass out today. Food was a must.

Once I had finished, not hearing a word of the conversation around me and really hoping no one had tried to converse with me, I lifted my glass and perused the table’s occupants. Cahal and King Venclaire were both casually watching me as they talked to one another. Ezra was too, but more covertly, as he spoke with his mom about her lessons. After listening for only half a minute, I decided that if I were her student, I would probably run. By the sound of it, under all of that pretty and sweet was a hard woman. Opportunity knocked when Cahal and King Venclaire turned to view something behind them.

Stealthily, I tapped my nose and then my arm, before they returned to coolly watching me while talking between themselves, and I placed my glass down, fiddling with my fork.

Ezra’s conversation stalled. “Mom, I’ll be back in a second.” Smart, he was.

“Okay,” she murmured, confused, as he stood from his chair and sped away in a blur.

King Venclaire and Cahal flat out eyed me, not even bothering to talk.

Well, then…I turned toward Antonio, who was staring at the woods as calm as could be. “See anything interesting out there in the woods of King Hall?”

His gaze slammed to mine. “What did you just say?”

“The woods.” I pointed to said woods, having picked him to talk with because I hadn’t thought he would be mean. “Anything—”

He shook his head, stopping me. “Exactly, Lil. Exactly, what did you say?”

“Um…” A slow blink. “See anything interesting out there in the woods of King Hall?”

He disappeared.

Dumbfounded, I asked no one in particular, “Did I say something wrong?”

Cahal grunted. “He’s always been that way.”

My gaze met his dead on. “Not around me.”

All of a sudden, Ezra was standing behind his chair wearing a different shirt. It was black, like the other, but it had silver skull buttons instead of plain black ones. He had remembered to roll up his sleeves on his forearms like before. Hopefully, no one would…

“You changed your shirt,” Vivian exclaimed.
Leave it to Mom to notice.
“Did you get something on the other while you were eating?”

I blinked, barely keeping a straight face.

Ezra didn’t do so well, though. He coughed hard. Really hard. In fact, he had to walk away, having a coughing fit. When he covered his mouth, I could see little beads of water on his hand. So he had washed, too.

People were beginning to stare, whispering to one another.

Vivian’s jaw clenched and she turned to the gossiping tables, stating loudly, “He does
not
have a germ. He’s just got something caught in his throat.” Vampire hearing in action. She turned her gaze on Ezra. “Right?”

King Venclaire snickered quietly, making me almost lose it in a bad chain reaction.

Ezra’s face was priceless.

Spring green eyes wide, he cleared his throat hard. “Right, Mom. No germ.”

She nodded curtly, and then glared at the other tables’ occupants.
Scary teacher.
She patted his seat, still daring the others to dispute her son’s claim as he sat down as expected.

Cahal was quietly watching me, but he asked his son, “Why did you change your shirt? And in such a rush?” He turned his head, looking him straight in the eye. “And where did you disappear to after you left the dance floor?” The man had a scary-ass dad face. His parents were a perfect mating.

Ezra held that frightening gaze. “I had to use the restroom, and then got soap on my shirt. I changed it.” He shrugged. “And, Lily and I escaped the masses for a little while after dancing.” He smiled. “I’m sure you remember how it was when everyone wanted a piece of your time.” His smile widened. “
Way
back in the day.”

His dad didn’t rise to the bait, only hummed softly, and then turned his attention back to me, staring silently.

“She can give you a picture if you like her face so much,” Ezra stated calmly.

“She reminds me of someone,” Cahal murmured thoughtfully.

Oh, dear Lord, not another one.
“When were you mated?”

His head cocked. “Around forty years ago.”

Relief flooded me…until he blinked…and peered right at King Venclaire.

How bad can a day get?

“Yes,” King Venclaire murmured. “She’s Angela Springs’s daughter.”

Oh, he just knew about their affair.
Again, relief flooded me.

“That must be it.” Cahal looked back at me. “You look just like her.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

He blinked, his gaze returning to King Venclaire. “Didn’t Antonio say he raised her?”

I was really beginning to dislike this man.

King Venclaire’s jaw clenched, and he nodded once.

Cahal’s roaming gaze again revisited me. He said nothing verbally, but his eyes spoke volumes. He did not — to put it politely —
approve
of interpersonal relationships between Mys groups, and therefore, my mom, which was a direct consideration of me.

“Well,” my voice was soft as I turned to King Kincaid, “I’d like to be,” I cleared my throat, determined not to cry in front of this asshole, “excused, if I may?” My gaze was behind King Kincaid as I let my hair cover the side of my face, just in case my eyes were glistening.

“Go,” King Kincaid stated, a little wolf’s growl in his tone.

“Thank you.” I stood, walking away.

Only to hear Ezra behind me, arguing with his dad. I heard a definite “fucking asshole” growled from him somewhere in his heated words before, without warning, he was at my side. He didn’t wrap an arm around me, still conscious of the people near us, but his arm was brushing mine as we walked through the tables.

I whispered, “Thank you for sticking up for me and my mom.” I gazed up at him. “She wasn’t a slut, even if she did sleep with a Vampire and, maybe, a Mage.”

“I know.” Ezra’s teeth were clenched. “He’s just trying to see what rattles you. It’s his way. Find the weakness, and use it when needed. I could tell he didn’t honestly think your mom was a slut. He just wanted to see your reaction.”

That stopped me dead in my tracks. “Really?”

Halting with me, he nodded.

“Huh.” We began moving again. “I can’t imagine growing up with a parent like that.”

Ezra shrugged, his arm rubbing up and down mine. “It wasn’t always fun.” He paused, and then grunted. “Everyone thinks his scariest card is that he was the King Vampire during the war, but what they don’t realize is his ace in the hole is his mind. The way he thinks. He’s a master strategist.” Another pause. “But better or worse, he is my dad and I did learn a lot from him.”

I thought about that. “Think you just played his game, reacting the way you did?”

“Probably.” A casual shrug. “Then again, I know it’s bugging the shit out of him that I’m touching you right now.” He grinned, his spring green eyes full of mischief. “Want to dance?”

“In for a penny?”

“Always.” He grinned evilly. “You in?”

“Always,” I echoed. “Let’s get Jack and Pearl. That’ll really bug the shit out of him.”

“Now, that’s why I love your ass.”

Changed into my black ceremonial robe, sans clothes underneath, I raced down the hallway…late again. I had smelled something lip-smacking after dancing for a half-hour, and had followed the scent to a smaller buffet table. There had been more brownies. I was there awhile, trying not to be too obvious as I went back for my fifth helping.
Mmm-mmm.

Again, the platform was different this year. There were close to four thousand Mysticals here, and with no way to fit everyone in the Ceremony Arena, the school had decided to hold the Awakenings outside. The graduation-turned-Awakening area behind King Hall was almost done being rearranged as the organizers finished altering the chairs so that there was a large, empty square space on the lawn for all four Mys groups going through their Awakenings, with the seats surrounding it.

There were even students who weren’t from New York who had come here for their Awakening. I was told it was an honor to be amongst the first groups Awakened by the named Prodigies. Whatever. It just meant more practice for us, but I really prayed we didn’t screw up too badly. Also, I was really hoping there weren’t any pregnant Shifters, because who even knew, since some were from out of town, if their boyfriend — or boyfriends — had come here. Fun all around.

I raced into Mrs. Jonas’s office, not even bothering to stop and catch my breath this time. The Kings, the Prodigies, Mrs. Jonas, and again, the parents were in here before the Awakenings began. I halted inside the office, scoping the individuals I wanted to avoid.

King Kincaid was talking with Mrs. Jonas. Check.

King Venclaire was talking with King Nelson. Check.

Cahal was talking with Pearl, who was looking frantically about for help. Well, check and damn. I couldn’t leave her with that man. She was the worst liar, besides Nikki, and she wasn’t in here for him to pick on.

Sighing, I trudged across the room to Pearl’s side, completely ignoring Ezra’s dad, my gaze locked to her golden eyes. “Can I talk to you for a second?”