King Cave (51 page)

Ezra’s lips curved in a tiny, vicious private smile. “West.” One eyebrow rose in question, but I knew my direction didn’t really matter either way.

I bit my lip to keep from grinning. “South-west.”

Five minutes later, Ezra and I gave heartfelt goodbyes to Pearl, who was taking Elder Harcourt, and Jack, who was taking a newly arrived Elder fire Elemental I didn’t know, and gave them pointed looks. We couldn’t all go together because they wanted us back as soon as possible, which was completely understandable, but that didn’t mean Jack and Pearl couldn’t travel together.

Afterward, as I sat on the beach, I wasn’t sure Pearl had understood, but Jack had definitely gotten the hint, tugging her away before they left. Now, I was waiting for Antonio to gather a few belongings and listening to Ezra’s voice in my ear — enjoying his use of the old form of Vamp communication — who stood down the beach with a few other Elder Vampires, who were all gossiping about the fact that the Prodigy Vampire was a female. Staring at the waves rolling in, I couldn’t help but smile as he continued to purr very naughty comments in my ear, even after he was done explaining a modest, but effective plan.

“I’m hungry,” I grumbled forty minutes later, driving my Hummer through the fourth town on the beachside road. “Let’s get some grub.”

Antonio stared. “That’s the first thing you’ve said since we left.” His fingers ticked on the passenger side door. “You aren’t going to pry for information about what I said earlier?”

“Nope.” My concentration was elsewhere, making sure I didn’t mess up Ezra’s instructions. “You wouldn’t tell me, anyway.” That had been obvious from his own silence.

He stared a moment longer. “Alright.” He began glancing around the town, which sucked for our plan. Ezra and I didn’t know this area, so his directives had been vague. Go figure, the fourth damn town had tons of fast-food joints. “Where would you like to eat?”

“Um…,” I glanced about, “not sure yet.”

Ezra had planned to steal a car, since he didn’t have one of his own to use. The downside of that was I had no clue what the car looked like.

“Chinese?” Antonio pointed.

I shook my head. “No.” That didn’t sound right.

His finger flicked the other way. “Pizza?”

“Doesn’t sound good.” Nor particularly correct.

“Oh,” Antonio sat forward, waving his finger, “there’s a Mexican place.”

I sat straighter, glancing where he was aiming his finger. Now that sounded about right amongst all the normal fast-food joints. The first time we had taken a private stand against the Coms and Kings had been at a Mexican restaurant. I felt my lips curl. “Yeah. Good pick.”

Antonio smiled smugly, rubbing his flat belly. “I haven’t had good Mexican food in a while.”

Turning into the parking lot, my lips twitched. Hopefully, he didn’t get indigestion after he figured out what we had planned. Oh, well. He should know better by now than to not expect Ezra and me to ignore the rules.

The place was small and intimately lit, so when we entered I had to pause to let my eyes adjust to the darker lighting. The hostess, a Com woman who appeared beaten from the lunch rush, still managed to smile brightly at Antonio as she grabbed menus, asking, “Just the two of you?”

Furtively, I squinted through the lighting, focusing to make sure my eyes didn’t start glowing. There were only a few people sitting at the maroon booths, but I instantly glanced into the back corners. Bit my lip when I didn’t see anyone. This had to be the place.

“Just two,” Antonio told her, his eyes also dancing around the interior. “And we’d like to sit at one of those tables,” he tilted his head, “in the corner.” Safety first.

When we were seated in a round booth, the Com done trying to flirt with a non-receptive Antonio, I pretended to look at the menu while Antonio really did, asking me, “What are you going to get?”

I sucked in a large breath, staring at the door. “Ezra.”

Antonio paused, and then chuckled quietly. “I don’t believe he’s on the menu, kiddo.”

I squirmed on the seat, trying to keep from jumping out of it. No, Ezra wasn’t on the menu, but he was now standing inside the door of the restaurant with Cahal. I watched as he scanned the area, and saw his teeth flash when he noticed us…and when Cahal smacked him upside his head when he saw us, too. The hostess handed them menus, then waved them on back when Ezra pointed to us as he rubbed his head, still grinning. Turning my attention to Antonio, I said quietly, “You love me, right?”

He blinked, his golden gaze meeting mine over his menu. “Yes.” That was a wary affirmative.

“Trust me?”

A pause. “With my life? Yes. With your own life? No.”

“Thank you, I think…and don’t be mad at me.” My smile was hopeful. “I know what I’m doing.”

“That, I’m definitely not agreeing with,” he stated, lowering his menu. “What’s going on?”

I bit my lip, tilting my head toward Cahal and Ezra, who were almost on us.

His gaze altered. Widened. “Jesus, Lil.”

I waved my hands at him. “Don’t get upset.” I scooted closer to Antonio, giving Ezra room to sit next to me. “The spell still works.”

Ezra practically squashed me, he sat so close, throwing an arm on top of the curved booth behind my head. “Dad said it didn’t work when other Mys were near, but all four of us were able to tell which direction we need to go.”

Cahal was still standing while Antonio was sitting, but both of them stared with the same expressions. Total and complete exasperation. Cahal shook his head first, finally taking a seat, which was a little snug since we hadn’t asked for the biggest booth, but doable after Antonio adjusted to be closer to me, squashing my other side. As Antonio began rubbing his temples, his elbows on the table, Cahal stated bluntly, “The spell won’t work when you’re closer to the Prodigies. It will give you the general location, but it will falter once you’re close. So again, the spell doesn’t work when another Mystical is close by.”

Ezra shrugged his massive shoulders. “That works for us. Once we get to that point, we’ll hang back, but still be close enough to help if it’s needed, and let each other go alone. But, up until that point,” another shrug even though his eyes were dead serious, “we’re going together.” And then he smiled. It wasn’t pretty. “If you two have an issue with that, you can go back to the cave. This is how we’re doing it, with or without your consent.”

I rested my head against Ezra’s chest, enjoying how he instantly rested his chin on top of my head. “And the beauty is that we’re not breaking any Laws because it’s only tradition.” In other words, they couldn’t haul us back with them to King Cave and threaten us to do as they wished.

There was a beat of silence, and then Cahal glared at Antonio. “Did you know about this?” He waved a hand at us. “They’re skating a fine line between jail and insubordination.”

Antonio sighed, his shoulders lowering with the action, and dropped his hands from his temples onto the table, turning his own glare on Cahal. “No, I didn’t know they were going to do this.”
Truth
. “They’re also right, unless you can think of a Law I’ve somehow,” he threw his hands in the air and thumped back on the booth, further smashing me and knocking into Cahal at the same time, “forgotten.” He thrust a thumb in my direction. “She may be God-awful at history, but her memory of the Law is indisputable.”

Cahal stared at me, his dark eyes unreadable, for what seemed like forever, and then he muttered, “No, I can’t think of a damn thing we could do to them Lawfully.” He smiled, letting me know he wasn’t opposed to going outside the Law.

I managed to hold his gaze, gripping Ezra’s thigh tight when I felt him start to lean forward. “You’d have to catch us first.” My grin was just as sweet. “I can mask better than anyone you know, and I’m betting Ezra could do it if he tried hard enough.” I shrugged. “Add in everything Antonio’s taught me,” my grin grew, “and you wouldn’t have a chance.”

Antonio flicked my forehead. “I also taught you not to provoke those stronger than you.”

I rubbed my forehead, but didn’t look away from Cahal’s unwavering gaze.

Finally, his dark eyes lifted to where Ezra was still resting his chin on top of my head. “Is she as good as she thinks she is?”

Instant. “If she wanted to disappear, none of us would be able to find her.”

Dark eyes landed back on me, then he grunted. “Makes sense for who raised you.”

I couldn’t really argue that point since it was true.

“So,” Ezra’s arm lowered from the top of the booth and hooked over my shoulder to intertwine his fingers with mine, “we’re good?”

Neither answered, but instead picked up their menus and started perusing the choices, which was answer enough. They weren’t leaving, and they weren’t hauling us out of the place.

Tilting my head to the side, I grinned up at Ezra. “What took you so long?” They had left before us.

Ezra lifted his own menu, his lips twitching as a waitress arrived. “Just a sec.” The waitress, who also tried to flirt with Antonio, took our orders then sauntered away, her hips sashaying. Snickering quietly at the woman’s antics, I glanced back up at Ezra for his reason. He smirked, damn near pulling me onto his lap as he re-positioned himself. “Dad had issues with me
borrowing
,” his dad sniffed, “a car…then, after listening to him lecture, when I did finally find one to
borrow
, he had issues with the vehicle itself.”

His dad’s nose rose. “He picked a…,” he blinked, “what did you call that atrocity?”

“A POS.”

His dad nodded. “Well, he tried to get me to ride in a,” he said it like it was a type, “POS.”

Antonio snorted, coughing quickly.

Cahal’s eyebrows slammed together even as Ezra and I kept stoically blank expressions while he glared at Antonio. “What?”

Antonio drummed his fingers on the table, drawling, “Do you even know what a POS is?”

Cahal’s expression didn’t change, but it was like I could see the wheels turning rapidly in his intelligent mind. His gaze narrowed slightly. A few beats later, he stated, “A piece of shit.”

“Good guess,” Antonio muttered, and then took his drink, which the waitress held out. Only his drink, and no one else’s, just so she could sashay those hips again as she left. Casually, Antonio asked, “So…what did you end up with?”

Cahal sniffed. “A Jaguar.”

This time, I chuckled and couldn’t stop it. “You guys are riding with us.”

“Why?” Cahal asked. “You have a utility vehicle.” It wasn’t a compliment.

Ezra sighed. “Dad, there’s a reason why I dropped the car off blocks away and made us walk here.” His thumb lazily brushed back and forth over mine where we were holding hands. “New and expensive cars normally have GPS systems to track them if they’re stolen.”

Cahal stared. “How is it that you know which car is best to steal? Or even how to steal one in the first place?”

Ezra’s lips twitched. “I learned a few things when I left California.”

“When you went on your unscheduled tour of the world?” Cahal’s jaw was clenched.

“Yes,” Ezra cleared his throat, pointing vaguely, “You’d better contact Mom now.”

Cahal’s expression instantly changed to caution.

I blinked, understanding the genius of Ezra’s evasive tactic.

Antonio laughed outright. “You didn’t tell her?”

Cahal mumbled, “You haven’t got a damn clue,” he rubbed his forehead, “The woman has a pair of lungs on her I normally enjoy…unless she’s upset.” Then his eyes went distant, and I realized he and Vivian had telepathy as their mate gift. The rest of our drinks arrived while he was communicating with her, but the waitress didn’t seem to notice his pained expression, staring at Antonio as she was. A minute later, he blinked, then nodded to Ezra. “She’s going to be,” Ezra’s cell rang in his pocket, “calling you.”

Ezra sighed and had to stand to get his cell, we were so crammed. “Yes, Mom?” He sat back down. And I literally pulled my head away from him when I heard the screeching over the line made by one Vivian Zeller. Antonio even rubbed at his ear as Ezra murmured, “Mom…I’m fine…Mom…I…no, of course not…wait…uh…yes, I will…it’s not…that…,” he sighed heavily, “I will. I love you, too.”

My chin was trembling in an effort not to laugh at them. Both Ezra and Cahal had the same pained expressions on their faces now. It didn’t help when Antonio pointed his beer at Cahal, stating, “I almost feel sorry for you.” He chuckled, the sound evil. “Almost.”

Cahal rubbed at his temple. “Fuck off.”

An hour and fifteen minutes later, all our bellies were full on a meal, free courtesy of Ezra’s power, and we were back on the road. Clyde had been in Ezra’s duffle the whole time during the meal, so he was thrilled to be out of its confines, both he and Bonnie lying in the back on all of our duffles. Ezra had growled a little at Antonio and Cahal when they both wanted to ride shotgun, so he was sitting next to me while they sat on the back seat griping about our music choices.

Ezra leaned over, nibbling at my neck while I drove, murmuring, “Dumping them somewhere is sounding excellent.” His lips lifted against my neck, purring, “Then we could have the whole back seat to ourselves.”