King Cave (10 page)

Ezra snorted softly, turning his attention away from us.

And still, Finn didn’t look away.

“Now’s not a good time,” I stated, doing a wonderful job to keep the disappointment from my tone. “I have a meeting I have to attend.”

He cocked his head. “Raincheck?” Yeah, he wasn’t asking to have a meal together.

Our staring contest had definitely become a battle of wills now, so I couldn’t scan over his body, but he had felt plenty hard enough when I had run into him. “Possibly.”

He grinned, dimples creasing his cheeks. “Promising.”

“We’re going to be late,” Ezra drawled, glancing at his watch.

Finn straightened, taking the hint. Winking at me, he twisted between Ezra and me, and passed by. He only took his eyes off mine when he turned the corner.

“Alpha?” Ezra rumbled, giving me a tiny shove in the other direction.

“Oh, yes. Very powerful.” I rolled my shoulders as I moved along with him. My voice had dropped an octave from that little encounter. “It has been a very long time, Ezra.”

Ezra grunted, rubbing his nose and glancing down at our map.

I sighed, pointing at the conference room area. “I think we took a wrong turn there.”

Glancing from side-to-side, he agreed.

It took us ten more minutes to find the main Ruler conference room, having entered three other smaller ones first. Pathetically, we didn’t actually find it ourselves. In the end, we followed the sound of Antonio and Cahal — Ezra’s dad — arguing around another corner.

“You can cut the damn act, Antonio,” Cahal muttered, his voice traveling loudly, which meant he was probably shouting. “You’ve always been a bad liar.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Antonio retorted. “It’s not an act, as much as you think otherwise.”

I sniffed the air as Ezra and I tentatively turned the corner. I smelled deception. Whatever they were arguing about, Antonio had just lied to Cahal. Only a Shifter would scent it though. And his heart rate was normal for an argument. Not wanting to give the
lie
away, I hooded my eyes when their attention slammed to us.

Cahal’s nostrils were already flared, but he stalled. Inhaling even more deeply, he glanced at me. His dark gaze instantly swung to his son.

Ezra’s lips twitched, his gauging eyes darting between the arguing two. “She just met a Shifter she wants to jump in bed with.”

My cheeks flushed, and I realized Cahal was smelling my lingering arousal. “I wouldn’t say ‘jump’ exactly.” That made me sound like a slut. After a quick glare at Ezra, I turned my attention to Antonio. “If you’ll point us to the main Ruler conference room, we’ll get out of your hair.”

Antonio ran an agitated hand through said golden hair. “I’ll show you.” His eyes pierced Cahal’s, glowing in silent warning. “We’re through here.” He shoved the riled Vampire’s shoulder as he walked, herding Ezra and I into a conference room two doors down.

Cahal was still glaring at the back of Antonio’s head.

“What was that about?” I barely breathed.

Antonio yanked his hair back with a hair tie, his movements agitated. “Things aren’t always what they appear, Lil. You’d do well to remember that.” He left us, marching straight to an extensive bar at a corner of the vast square room, and poured himself a large drink. It wasn’t even noon yet.

Ezra raised an eyebrow in silent question.

I only shrugged, not giving away the fact that I knew Antonio had lied to his dad. Antonio and Cahal had acted distant at the graduation, but they had worked together well. They had trusted each other anyway, when the attacks had occurred. But then, they were used to that type of interaction, since they had been the Kings when the war had erupted the first time. It appeared they didn’t like each other any more than any other Mystical from different factions.

Turning my attention to the packed room, I saw all of the current Kings, healthy and well, standing in the corner and speaking with other men dressed as they were in suits. In fact, everyone was in a suit. Glancing down at my own attire of a t-shirt and a pair of jeans,
and then at Ezra in his jeans and t-shirt, plus his hooded blue jacket, I kind of wished Antonio had mentioned the dress requirement. We were sorely out of place.

Not to mention… “I’m the only female here.”

Ezra chuckled. “You’ll get the most attention, then.”

“As if I want it,” I muttered quickly under my breath. A Shifter with black hair was approaching, wearing a friendly smile with his stuffy duds. He appeared to be mid-thirties in Com years, so he was probably between one hundred and one hundred and fifty years old. Handsome and tall — like all Mysticals — his body was built with plenty of muscles, as all Shifter bodies were. He had a kind face compared to all the stoic individuals inside the room.

“Lily Ruckler. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He extended his hand, while I enjoyed listening to his lilting brogue. “I’m Elder Talus.”

Keeping my expression pleasant, I shook his hand, having no clue who he was except to guess he had been the King Shifter directly before Antonio and Cahal’s group were in power. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” Removing my hand from his, I gestured to Ezra. “This is Ezra Zeller, Prodigy Vampire.” I smiled sweetly at Ezra, pulling the attention off myself and also giving him a little payback for his comment outside.

Ezra’s lips twitched, but he greeted Elder Talus agreeably.

For me to only blink and see Cahal suddenly next to us.

Glancing once at Ezra’s dad, Elder Talus booked a hasty retreat.

Heh. Who would have thought having Ezra’s pops around would be advantageous?

“Did you get settled in alright?” Cahal asked Ezra, completely ignoring me.

I was perfectly fine with this, letting my gaze roam the room. My eyes landed on King Kincaid. Taking advantage of Cahal’s snuff a few beats later, I snuck away to where all four Kings were standing and chatting with a — I was assuming — set of four Elders.

King Kincaid tucked me under his arm, staring down at me like a proud papa. “You protected many. You did well yesterday.”

I smiled. It was gloomy. “There were a lot who we couldn’t save.”

King Fergus’s eyes darted round the room. “Have you seen Jack?”

“Or Pearl?” King Nelson murmured quietly, his eyes also scanning.

I cleared my throat and spoke quietly, since the four Elders they had been speaking with were now talking amongst themselves, but were also definitely eavesdropping with their not-so-covert glances my way. “Jack and Pearl won’t be attending today.” Realizing they didn’t know from their instant stunned expressions, which were quickly turning irritated, I stated, “Their mates died.”

Blank faces all around, including the eavesdroppers.

“Christ,” King Fergus muttered, glancing to the door. “That’s what happened when they fainted.” He cracked his neck. “I’ll be back after I check on Jack.”

Instantly shaking my head, I added, “He’s not exactly taking visitors right now.” A glance to King Nelson. “Or Pearl. They were both…” I let my words hang. They could make their own assumptions. But I did glance up at King Kincaid. “Fi’s alright?” Fi was his mate, who had treated me as a daughter for the past year.

Dark eyes so like Dominic’s met mine. “Yes. She’s fine.”

“Does anyone know about Pearl or Jack’s families?” Ezra asked, strolling to stand next to me, having apparently escaped his father. “I’d like to give them some good news if I can.”

King Venclaire nodded. “Both families are fine. They made the journey here with us and they’re staying. They don’t want to risk traveling.”

Ezra and I sighed in relief. At least there was something decent to tell them.

“If everyone will please take a seat, this meeting is being called to order,” an elderly Elemental stated just as I saw Richard, Elder Harcourt, slip inside the room.

I sat at the far end of the black and gray marble oval table. It was bulky enough to fit the roughly thirty men and me around its edges. I was fairly sure that all the men I didn’t know were Elders. Power exuded throughout the room, making it stifling since the door was now closed.

The older Elemental who had called the meeting to order remained standing. “By now, all of you know that the Commoners have attacked worldwide.” His wrinkled face was grim under his thick yellow hair, but not surprisingly, he was still handsome — the benefits of Mys genes. “The attacks coincided with the Awakenings. From what we can decipher, the original problem started with an email sent with a
video attachment
.” He had said the words oddly, as if he had just learned them. “It spread like a Com virus only a day before the Awakenings.” He gestured to Elder Harcourt. “We have a copy.”

Elder Harcourt flicked a hand — no glowing — and a golden cube appeared in the center of our group, hovering over the table. An image appeared on each of the cube’s sides. Standing in the center of the ‘screen’ was a man dressed in a red robe, his hood down over half his face, only his mouth visible. He was not the leader we had viewed yesterday. Elder Harcourt tilted his head and the image moved to life, its accompanying sound emanating from the cube.

“The Mystical race has lied. Deceived every Commoner of our precious world.”
The hooded man took a few steps forward, his robe swishing around his legs.
“Mysticals stated they cannot have children with Commoners. That is false. Mysticals have been raping and killing our women for generations to produce mindless monsters,”
he threw an arm to the right
, “like this.”

I watched in horror as a
thing
was dragged on screen by two other men in red hooded robes, who each held silver chains that wrapped around its neck like a collar, while silver shackles bound its wrists and ankles.

The Elders and Kings around me gasped.

Ezra did not.

I glanced at him, and he nodded once, indicating this was what he had been talking about during the attack at King Hall. The
things
he had killed. My gaze swept back to the screen.

“This, my fellow Commoners, is what happens when a
Mystical hybrid
mates with a Commoner,
” the spokesman stated.
“This particular breed is Mage and Shifter and Commoner.”
He yanked up the head of the golden-haired thing so the world could see a hawk’s face on a supposed Commoner’s body: talons for hands, wings spouting from the shoulder blades, and the lower half with skin the color of bronze.

“They have lied! They are creating these monsters to kill us. Believe me, my friends, this one may seem docile,”
he tossed the head down,
“but only after being injected constantly with silver did its attempts to kill stop.”
He paused.
“And there are more.”
The camera turned to show a cage full of creatures lying on each other, all wearing silver shackles, before turning back to the spokesman.
“This is only one of the Mystical strongholds we have captured, but there are others.”
He pointed directly at the camera, to his audience.
“They deceived us. They want to wipe us from this planet. Be prepared to fight.”

The cube disappeared as the screen went blank.

The room’s occupants launched into an uproar.

I didn’t hear anything except for the resounding word ‘hybrid’ as it echoed in my head, pounding through my mind. My fear was uncontrollable. The spokesman had said hybrids created those creatures by mating with Commoners. Breeding with Commoners wasn’t supposed to be an actuality. It was supposed to be safe to have sex with them, our two kinds not compatible for conception, but…if hybrids should be dead at birth, weren’t supposed to exist, then what the Elders had taught the Mys community would have been the truth.

No hybrids equaled no mindless monstrosities.

Though if parents managed to hide their hybrid children, as my mother had with me, then more hybrids could exist. My brain felt as if it were imploding; there were so many implications for myself and for the Mystical people swimming through my thoughts. As the room began to darken, feeling myself start to slip into a dead faint, Ezra’s leg brushed against mine and rested there.

Tranquillity instantly suffused my clenched muscles and inside my mind. Other voices entered my previously chaotic awareness. My attention snapped to Ezra and his eyes met mine for a brief moment, expressing he was using his power to aid me so I didn’t do anything stupid. For example: faint, when I should be spitting fire and trying to figure this out, like everyone else in the room.

Swinging my gaze back to the table’s occupants, I didn’t dare move my leg from his. Ezra’s emotional gift was the only thing keeping everyone from turning their attention on me. I most certainly didn’t need trouble on this level, since everyone was only now figuring out that hybrids did, in fact, exist. And what they were capable of.

Conceiving slaying beings with Commoners.

“Wait!” Elder Talus barked an abrupt order. When the room quieted, he turned his attention to Elder Harcourt. “How do we know the video isn’t doctored? That a Commoner extremist group isn’t lying to start a war?”

Everyone held their breath, staring at the older Mage.

Elder Harcourt reclined on his seat, relaxed and cool. “The video wasn’t doctored.” He tilted his head toward the Elemental who had begun the meeting. “Elder Camden will explain.”