Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore #5) (38 page)

An eye-catching earth Elemental hostess came up behind them, grabbing menus. She ran her fingers across Elder Fergus’s stomach, her pink nails bright against his black shirt. She held her hand firmly against his flat stomach. “Your usual table, babe?”

Elder Fergus glanced down at her face while removing her hand without trouble. “We’ll actually need a table for five tonight, Donna.”

“Five,” she stated slowly, her gaze darting to me. Her attractive brown eyes ran over my form from head to toe, her brows puckered. “Five?”

I lifted both my hands in an easy truce. “I’m not interested in him.”
Truth
. “But if he’s not interested in you anymore, I can’t help that.” When Elder Fergus cocked a green brow, I shrugged a shoulder. “Sorry.”

His lips twitched. “Friends?”

I nodded, a smile lifting my lips. “I’d like that.”

He held up his own hands. “I’ll really keep my paws off you then.”

I believed him. “Good. I’d hate to break ’em.”

His head tilted back, and his laughter filled the diner.

I smiled, then I turned my attention to the staring waitress. “The table?”

Her composure flared to life, and her spine straightened. She grabbed one more menu from the stand and glanced around the intimate room. “I can put you all in a round booth. That’s all we’ve got to fit your group.”

“Thank you,” Elder Fergus stated gently.

Silent, she nodded and showed us to our booth. “Ryan will be with you guys in a moment.”

“Well…” Elder Venclaire drawled, breaking the silence as she walked away. He had his eyes on the booth. All of them did, as if they were hesitant to sit directly next to one another. “Who’s sitting where?”

“Technically…” Elder Fergus rubbed his mouth, his amused eyes dancing.

My lips twitched, finishing his sentence for him, “There’s only one seat.”

“All right, smart-asses.” Elder Venclaire pointed at the booth. “Everyone pile in.”

Still they didn’t move.

“Okay, where do you guys normally sit?” I asked.

As one, they pointed to the far corner at an empty, large table with four separate seats. “Okay.” I was understanding their difficulty in adjusting to the more crammed booth, but still… “Just imagine it’s the cab.”

Elder Fergus’s nose crinkled. “That wasn’t so bad.”

The rest nodded.

Elder Fergus allowed me to sit first, only to push me as he sat. I had to scoot quickly or risk getting squashed. But I slammed into Elder Kincaid, who had snuck in the other way. Elder Nelson sat next to him, with Elder Venclaire sitting down last, on Elder Fergus’s other side. A bit breathless, and squashed again, I murmured, “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Apparently not,” Elder Venclaire muttered dryly, sliding menus over the table to everyone, his blue eyes meeting mine. “I’m seriously riding next time.”

“The cabbie was fucking hilarious,” Elder Fergus stated, a small chuckle bubbling past his lips before he cut it off. He rumbled a decent impression, “
Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am.”

Elder Nelson snorted. “I still think her best work tonight was getting all of those prostitutes’ real names.” He shook his head. “It was like watching dog shit turned into pure, rose-smelling gold.”

I laughed outright. “Thank you.”

“No, the best of the evening was that she managed to pass his test with flying colors.” Elder Kincaid lifted dark eyebrows. “She even managed to get him, a Mage, to hit on her in front of us.”

My lips twitched. “You heard that, huh?”

He nodded, his smile cunning.

I added to the conversation, “What I found amazing was four Royals who flew completely under the radar as they used the owner’s game against him.”

“He’s an ass,” Elder Fergus grunted, peering at his menu. “The first night we went there, he tried that shit on us, and we let it fly.” A shrug. “Just so we could come back and work him over a few times.” Amber eyes flicked to me. “Would you like to share what you’re up to with him? He’s obviously your main target.”

My head teetered back and forth. “No, it’s probably not a good idea.”

He hummed quietly, not pressing any further, and turned his eyes back to his menu.

“Actually, I’ll tell you what the most fascinating feat of the night is.” Elder Venclaire drummed his fingers on the table, staring directly at me, his eyebrows slowly rising. “It would be the Mystical who could pass for a Com—if her hair wasn’t neon red. Because we can’t feel your power, Ms Farrow.” His eyes flicked down to my right wrist. “And that bruise has been on your arm since you exited the cab.” Slow words. “You’re not healing like a Mystical, even a weak one.”

I tilted my arm. There was a nasty bruise on the side of my wrist peeking out from under the edge of my sleeve, the colors garish. I must have hit my arm on the steering wheel. I silently cursed his damn Vampire sight. Even though the action was useless, I tucked my arm under the table quickly as my gaze darted to each of the Elders staring at me with carefully blank expressions. “I’m not a Com. I’m a Mystical, an Elemental.” I let my eyes glow, glancing at each of them before I shut off my power. “And let’s skip past the topic of what you just saw.” There wasn’t really anything I could say as an excuse. “I am protected magically from others feeling my power, and I’ll warn you up front that if you try testing me, it feels like sandpaper running over my skin, so please don’t.”

When I stopped speaking, Elder Nelson’s eyes flew to Elder Kincaid.

The Elder Shifter nodded once, stating, “
Truth to all.”

“All right, Ms Farrow,” Elder Fergus stated with a serious tone. “As the Prodigies, we’ll trust you. For now.”

Well, that answered that question.
Prodigies.

I grinned. “I wouldn’t expect any less. And call me Sadie.”

“Okay, Sadie.” His head teetered in thought. “You can call me Fergus.”

I snorted and held my stomach as I laughed.

He shrugged a shoulder, a corner of his lips lifting. “We’re not sleeping together.”

I held up a pointed finger. “Very true.” I stared at the men in this booth. “I think I’m going to like being friends with you guys.” I paused, quirking a brow. “If you can keep up.”

Their wicked smiles informed me that they most certainly could.

The next morning, Saturday, I woke to a soft knock at my door. Although I had only been asleep for a few hours, I still felt refreshed, smiling from my previous evening and rolling out of bed with pep. All four Prodigies had insisted—politely—after a covert glance at my car, that their limo follow me home to make sure I arrived safely. It had been unnerving having the limo follow me. It was like a cop was tailing me and almost as if I needed to follow each driving rule. My trusty car made it fine. The Prodigies had been in superb spirits from their ride, half lit after raiding the limo’s minibar, so I had asked them if they wanted to come inside and watch television. They had stayed and sobered up before being dropped at each of the Kings’ homes. They were much more intriguing and complex than they had let on in 2035.

And with them, I didn’t feel so lonely.

As I peered through the peephole, my grin only grew. I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to fix my bed hair. I unlocked and opened the door. “Don’t you four sleep?”

All four Prodigies grinned then stormed inside, practically running me over. They were dressed casually in athletic pants and t-shirts and held brown grocery sacks.

Venclaire mumbled, “Good morning to you, too.”

Kincaid stated, “We know we’re risking overdoing a good thing too soon, but the Kings and Elders make us spend the weekends together.”

Nelson smiled, a little nervous. “And…it was better with you around, so…”

Fergus bounced the bag in his arms. “We brought breakfast to bribe you to spend the day with us.”

I eyed the bags. “Do I have to cook it?” We might all be ill if I did.

Fergus smirked. “We didn’t bring food over for you to cook it for us.
I’m
going to cook.”

“Oh, by all means.” I gestured grandly to my small kitchen, shutting the apartment door and locking it. “Consider me bribed for a day of fun. But I need to brush my teeth first.” I waggled a finger at the kitchen again. “You can start unloading in there.”

“Will do,” Venclaire murmured, his and Fergus’s backs to me, both already walking into kitchen. “You might want to put some pants on, too.”

I blinked, jerking my head down to my attire. “Shit.” I hadn’t even seen him check me out, but he sure as hell noticed more than I had. I was wearing only a tank top and a pair of panties. I was thrilled I had taken off the Prodigy Elemental ring from my toe last night while putting lotion on my feet. “Pants coming right up.” I hurried into the bathroom, taking care of business there before finding a pair of cotton shorts and a bra. I walked into the kitchen, eyeing the goods they had spread out on the short countertop. “You got a lot.”

Fergus nodded once, also eyeing the choices. “We didn’t know what you liked, so we got a bit of everything.” A point at a tub. “Including oatmeal.”

I stared at the eggs, ham, and cheese. “At the risk of sounding greedy…do you know how to make an omelet?”

“I can do that.”

I clasped my hands in front of me, trying to keep from waving them everywhere in giddy delight. “I also want you to show me how to do it, so I can do it on my own.”

“I can do that, too.” He rummaged through the pots and pans I had bought not too long ago in my attempt to learn to cook better. “You’ve got a decent selection here.”

“Thanks.” I carefully watched which skillet he pulled out. “The salesperson was very helpful.”

My phone rang, startling me. I had forgotten I had the dang thing since I never used the bulky contraption. No one ever called me. I instantly grabbed it, continuing to watch what bowl Fergus was pulling down from a cupboard. “Hello?”

All I heard was static.

“Hello?”

More static.

I hung up. “Someone’s connection sucks.” Then I snapped my fingers and pointed at Fergus when he glanced at me. He was cracking an egg. “Give me a second. I want to get a pad of paper and pen to write what you’re doing.”

His lips quirked. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, quickly turning and racing back to my bedroom. Digging through my dresser, I heard the phone ring again. I called loudly, “Can you get that?”

The phone quit ringing, and I heard Fergus’s soft tone as he answered, the sound muffled. I grabbed a pad of paper and dug through another drawer for a pen, finding one relatively quickly. I made my way back to the kitchen. Fergus was resting with his back against the wall, giving me wide, crazy eyes, pointing at the phone. But he continued speaking calmly. “No, sir, I did not spend the night.” A pause, his eyes glancing toward me. He appeared put out, even if his words were exceptionally collected. “Yes, sir, I just came over a few minutes ago to make breakfast for her.” He fumbled over his words. “Yes, I was out with her last night. We went out to eat with the other Prodigies.”

Snapping my mouth shut from its gaping state, I asked incredulously, “Who is that?”

Fergus put his hand over the receiver, lifting his brows and staring. “Elder Farrar.”

Yep, that look told me I had some explaining to do. Wonderful.

I moved forward and held my free hand out.

Fergus diplomatically said his goodbye, then he handed me the phone.

I grumbled, “Hello?”

He was chuckling over the line. “God, you should have heard his voice when I told him who I was.” A pause. “I probably had the same reaction when he told me who he was.”

I ignored that. “Did you try to call a few minutes ago, too?”

“Yep.” I could practically see him grinning through the phone. “I was actually trying to call you on my new,” throat clearing, “cell phone.”

I blinked. “Well, your reception’s terrible. You should think about switching carriers.”

There was a long pause. “I don’t think you heard me correctly, because you’re not reacting appropriately…and I didn’t understand half of what you just said. A cell phone, Sadie. As in, a small device that’s portable.”

“Oh.” I nodded my head, then I stated with false cheer, “That’s unbelievable! You got a cell phone. Congratulations.”

Instant reaction from Fergus. “He did?” He pointed a whisk at me. “Ask him where he got it. They’re sold out everywhere I’ve looked.”

I asked into the receiver, “Did you get that?”

“Now that was the proper response.” A cocky snort. “I got the last one.”

“Sorry,” I told Fergus. “He picked up the last one.”

He blinked. “Ask him how much he wants for it.”

An instant reply came over the line. “It’s not for sale.”

I blinked, motioning between the phone and Fergus. “Would you two prefer to talk again, instead of using me as a go-between?” I paused, then I told Fergus, “It’s not for sale.”

He cursed quietly, scowling at the phone, but he kept his mouth shut.

“Hello, Sadie? Are you there?”

“Yep, I’m here.”

“On to my second reason for calling. I wanted to know how you’re doing, but from the sounds of it, it’s not going too bad.”

“I’m going to skip over the part where a cell phone took precedence over my wellbeing and tell you that, yes, things aren’t going too bad right now. In fact, I’d kind of like to get back to it, but…” I nibbled at my bottom lip, turning my back on Fergus. “You know, keep in touch.”

“I will,” he stated calmly. “Take care.”

“You too,” I murmured quietly. “I’ll talk to you later.”

We hung up.

There was silence all around.

I turned, holding the pad of paper and pen poised to write. I smiled sweetly. Innocently. I motioned at the goods on the counter. “I think we’re probably free of any more phone calls, so we can start.”

Fergus didn’t move except to cross his arms. “Elder Farrar.”

The three other Prodigies standing in my living room watched. Quiet.

The whisk tapped on Fergus’s bicep. “He’s been MIA for, like, twenty years. He’s one of the big guys of the war. He’s an utterly merciless, punishing individual.” His head tilted, staring at me thoroughly. “When you said you had experience with the Royals, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but he sure as hell wasn’t it.”