King Hall (31 page)

“
Shh
,” Pearl hissed. “Shut it and focus, Jack. What’s next?”

We stared at the stationary mass of water floating twenty yards into the air, the inside of it still fluid. The pond water was even browner, thanks to Jack’s eyes, but I could still see the little fish darting around like mad.

Jack sounded like he was smiling when he explained, “I want to flip it. Flat top on the bottom, pushing the part closest to us up and over, until it’s upside down. Then, imagine that pizza again, but now the water is a big pile of dough, the outside still stagnant. Like a rolling pin, I want to roll it flat starting from the side closest to us and moving away, making it long.” He paused, cracking his knuckles. “
Push
.”

My will was already at full power, so all I did was think about flipping it over.

It started to flip, then Jack rapidly stated, “Too fast. Too fast.” It instantly slowed as I altered my thoughts, and Jack sighed in relief. “You all thought the same thing. I felt it. It overrode mine, so I need to explain I want it all done slowly or it might collapse. Water tends to flow down wherever the sharpest outlet is, so go slow.”

We began willing it per Jack’s instructions. Watched it rotated upside down, then slowly thin out, leaving just enough room for the fish to swim. It was
long
. You could see through it to the sky by the time we were done.

Jack instructed, “The next part’s simple. Just imagine the outside still stagnant, but floating backward over our heads until it’s halfway over us. I’ll tell you when to stop. Then, just hold it there.”

We did just that.

My head tipped back and I watched all the ugly fish on full freak out mode swim crazily in their long, thin pond floating about twenty yards above our heads, in awe. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Pearl muttered, sounding just as impressed.

“Huh,” Ezra mumbled, his eyes wide.

“Don’t lose focus,” Jack grunted, the pond wavering.

We snapped our attention, our will, to keeping the thing above our heads.

The Kings hiked to us, clapping, but wore scowls.

King Fergus grumbled, “You four now hold the record for this.”

I didn’t jump for joy because that would have wrecked everything, but I still grinned, as did my friends, while the Kings began passing money to one another.

Antonio joined our group, sitting directly in front of the four of us. After peering up, scrutinizing our work, he stated coolly, “I want you to make a dome out of this. The biggest dome you can.” It was an order.

The Kings stopped counting their cash to stare.

We peered to them, since they were the ones that gave us our official orders.

One by one, their faces blank, they nodded, then moved to stand behind Antonio.

Jack gave us instructions.

We did it. It was a little funky-shaped, but we did it.

No one was cheering or applauding this time.

Instead, the Kings’ gazes were on Antonio.

He hopped to his feet and peered up and down the area we had enclosed ourselves in, rubbing his chin. “Make a,” his head teetered in thought, “spout, of sorts. In the middle. Shooting straight into the air, leaving a hole in the middle about half the size of that,” he pointed to the side, “large trunk over there.”

We did.

He gazed up the hole and instructed, “Taller. Make it taller.”

We did.

Standing in front of us now, the Kings watching him intently, he ordered, “I want you four to start moving. Walk together while staying connected. Reach the end of the dome, and then make the dome move with you, keeping it flush with the ground. All the way to the school, and then back. Repeat this. We’ll walk with you.” He started walking, not waiting.

“Go,” King Nelson ordered us quietly. “Do everything he says.”

So, again, we did.

Pushing our will and moving the massive dome wasn’t easy. Not at all. Especially with the Kings surrounding us, wearing those carefully neutral expressions. It was freaking me out a little. When we stopped after our second trek to the school and back — we had seen students and teachers staring out the school’s windows — we rested, but kept our focus because Antonio wasn’t done with us.

“The next part,” Antonio’s lips pursed, his eyebrows lowering, “you won’t like. What you are going to hear and see outside of the dome is disturbing. It won’t be real. It’s only my magic. I want you to walk toward the far end of the property this time while my magic is at work. Try to stay focused.” He came closer to us. “Do. Not. Lose. Focus. You will hate what you see around you, but do not lose focus.”

Gently, we nodded. Yeah, I was officially wigged out.

He took a few steps back. “You’re about to see a piece of my past, a memory. But do as you were told.” Instantly, his eyes flared, and he waved a sharp, glowing golden hand.

The four of us jerked as people appeared outside the water dome.

It took everything in me not to scream. The people looked and sounded so real, only their clothing telling me it was a different period. Blood flew through the air as Coms slit throats with their knives or Vampires ripped into Coms’ necks with their fangs. Mages threw spells at Coms, killing them instantly, and a second later those same Mages were gunned down by different Coms. Shifters were in their animal form or their natural one attacking Com men and women while other Shifters exploded from grenades different Coms threw. Elementals lit Coms on fire or made them sink in quicksand or fly through the air or freeze right where they stood, explosions tearing up the ground everywhere, even as other Coms attacked Elementals with their weapons.

The dome most definitely wavered.

Antonio shouted, “
Focus!
”

All that kept me focused was the fact my friends were as speechless as I was. We were in this together, standing rigid, our breaths coming in pants as blood spattered and people were gutted. Swallowing hard, I tried to keep from puking, the scene a hundred times more brutal than the attack on the beach we had endured.

Antonio repeated, “Remember, none of this is real. If you falter, you fail, and I will make you hold this dome for three days straight. You stop for anything, and you fail. Understand?”

The four of us quickly nodded, and I tried not to flinch, hearing a man scream for mercy before his shout sputtered to a gurgle. We began moving toward the back of the property as he had ordered with spelled chaos surrounding us. As we moved, the brutality only became worse.

It was appalling. My heart broke for Antonio, even though I now thought him even more sadistic than any of the Kings, because he had experienced this. The war. Been out there in it. I couldn’t even imagine the reality of his life’s existence.

I was physically shaking. My hand squeezed Jack’s shoulder, probably too hard, but he didn’t complain, continuing to move us forward and lead us through the trek. We finally made it to the back edge of the property where it veered off in several directions, and I prayed Antonio wouldn’t make us keep going. All four of us wore the same expression.

Wide-eyed and disturbed.

Antonio merely nodded approvingly. “Good.” His eyes quit glowing, and thank the heavens, the scene outside the dome disappeared. “Now, head back, and then walk here again. We’ll do this until school is out. Continue moving. Never stop. Never waver. Stay focused.”

School wasn’t out for another three hours.

I bit my lip, glancing back and forth between Ezra and Pearl. That was a long damn time. At least there were no bloody slaying and screeching cries outside the dome.

We didn’t argue. We did as told.

“You’re done for the day,” King Fergus said absently, wiping sweat off his forehead as we finished putting the pond back in its proper place. He waved a hand. “Go relax together.” Another absent wave as he started moving toward their lawn chairs.

We blinked after him, wiping our own brows and panting from exertion. We were exhausted and still a tad uneasy from that gruesome show, but King Fergus telling us to go off together? That was even more peculiar.

“What about the gremlins?” Pearl asked, referring to our babysitting duties.

I only just refrained from slapping her over the head.

King Nelson was staring up at the sky, eyes glowing, and he murmured softly, “No more babysitting duties. Just go rest.”

We stood there stunned for, oh, maybe, half a heartbeat before we turned and tore away from them. We most certainly weren’t going to give him a chance to take that back. Tired, or not, our feet were moving.

King Kincaid hollered, “Don’t you dare do anything stupid!”

We nodded, still hurrying away.

“And you’re all sleeping at my house tonight, so make sure you have a bag packed!” King Venclaire shouted. “In fact, just go to my house right now and stay there.” A pause. “And try to not break anything.”

We did stop at his pronouncement. That was news to us. Sanity quickly returned, and we were hurrying off again. Surprised, or not, none of us wanted them to go back on having no brat duty.

“So,” Gideon scanned the area around him, “where’s King Venclaire’s real lair?”

I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought that.

We were sitting in the formal living room of King Venclaire’s house and, again, it was just too wrong for him compared to what I knew Vampires enjoyed.

“I’d tell you,” Ezra took a swig of his beer, “but then King Venclaire would kill me.”

There were no guards inside the mansion right now, so we were free to be ourselves.

Ezra was sitting on the corner of the couch with his back to the arm, one leg on the floor, and the other against the back of the couch while I lay between his legs with my back against his chest. My legs were stretched straight in front of me, my feet on Pearl’s lap. She was painting my toenails black with gold sparkles while Gideon sat on the floor below her, massaging her sore feet, since she had been wearing new shoes during those hours of walking, breaking them in, and it had been a mini-torture of its own kind. She had not complained once until we were in the Hummer, driving away from King Hall. Jack sat on a recliner with Nikki curled on his lap, both taking a small nap, damn cute all snuggled together.

I tilted my head, looking up at Ezra. “Seriously. The first time I was in here, I knew this room wasn’t right. What gives?”

His lips twitched. “I really can’t tell you. He would be pissed.”

Absently, Pearl waved the brush in the air, indicating the room at large, and cocked her head as she examined my toenail she had just painted. “It doesn’t feel right in here.”

My eyes didn’t leave Ezra’s, watching him as he scanned the room with a cocky grin teasing his lips. “Oh, you’ve got to tell us.” I poked him in the ribs, which probably hurt my finger more than it hurt him. “Come on!” My brows snapped together when his eyes met mine again as I suddenly realized a key fact. “I’ve never seen your bedroom.”

A black, arched brow rose. “I’ve never offered.” He was deflecting, and was a master at it. A true Vampire down to his Core.

I shook my head. “Show me your room.” That was the real Vampire area.

“The only women who see my room end up on my bed.” His lips curved.

I blinked, and glanced at Pearl. “You want to see his room?”

“Hell, yes.” Carefully, she painted my pinkie toe. “I bet it’s all black and morbid.”

“Want to sleep in his bed with me tonight?” A finger flick at her mate. “It’s bound to be big enough for Gideon, too.”

She shrugged, even as Gideon choked. “Sure. Why not? It’ll be like the camping trip.” Her hand stalled, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing as she quickly jammed the brush back in the paint bottle. “Gideon will be there, at least.”

Ezra was, literally, vibrating under me.

I elbowed him covertly. Gideon didn’t know anything about that first morning. I felt compelled to say, “No freaky magical shit in the bed.”

Ezra laughed outright.

Pearl rolled her eyes, muttering, “As if I would let you see Gideon like that.”

As if I wanted to see Gideon like that.

Luckily, I didn’t voice that little thought. That would have been rude. But, Gideon, well, he was just too…proper, maybe? I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it didn’t make me all woohoo envisioning him naked. I more imagined him at a country club, sitting by a fire and sipping tea while Pearl snuck outside to steal a golf cart and raced it across the course, doing donuts and tearing up the green, as Ezra, Jack, and I cheered her on from the eighteenth hole. Not really erotic fantasy material for me.

Pearl waved a slightly glowing hand over my toenails, and I felt them go from damp-cool to dry-solid.

I thanked her and rolled over, staring Ezra right in his face. “Show us?”

Taking another drink, his nose crinkled. “King Venclaire will seriously be pissed. Only Vamps allowed.”

Shaking my head softly, I tried for innocence. “He said we were spending the night.” I smiled sweetly. “He didn’t specify where.”

Ezra’s eyes narrowed. “It’s definitely possible you were a swindler in another life.”

“Whoa,” Jack mumbled, staring at Ezra’s bedroom. “Just whoa.”

Ezra had taken us through a hidden door that, indeed, took us by another living room most definitely Vampire style, all in dark wine and black. The hallway we had walked down was painted a deep plum. Ezra’s room wasn’t any different. It reminded me of my old room at my uncle’s, where I’d lived before my Shifter power had been Awakened.

I asked, “Did you get to decorate it yourself? Or did King Venclaire do it?” I ran my hand against one of the walls, and realized they were papered in black velvet, not just painted.

“He let me do it,” Ezra replied, sitting on a massive, black leather chair that was circular with no armrests. “He gave me a pretty sizable amount to spend, so I went a little overboard.”

Nikki lifted a red bra by the strap with one finger, holding it out in front of her. “I didn’t know you did drag.”

We stopped and stared, until Jack murmured something against her ear, and she blushed prettily, dropping the bra and mumbling an apology to Ezra. God, she was so innocent. It was endearing but, really, could she honestly imagine Ezra in drag or, instead, imagine one of his girlies leaving that behind so she would have a valid reason to come back?