King Tomb (Forever Evermore) (32 page)

I silently prayed that by the time Philip showed up the scent of warfare would be too heavy in the air to smell us. There had been three explosions before the fourth had taken down the administration building. Hopefully that was enough chaos and blood to hide our scents.

Ezra twitched when the Rulers and parents began pouring into Mrs Jonas’s office.

His mother.

We could see Vivian plain as day from our hiding spot. She was smiling like the proud mother she was…with the Ezra of the past by her side, his arm over her shoulders and teasing her. Cahal walked behind them, smiling privately as he watched them…until his brows puckered and his head cocked. He glanced down the hallway in our direction.

Ezra and I froze.

Tipkin cleared his throat and asked gruffly, loudly, “Can’t you two get anything right? The ceremony is starting soon. You need to have your staff finish cleaning up the buffet tables.”

Cahal blinked, staring.

A small blessing occurred when Vivian called his name from inside the office.

He rubbed his chin and glanced in our direction.

But a moment later he disappeared inside Mrs Jonas’s office.

I swallowed heavily then whispered on the barest breath, “Maybe we should jump out the window for a few minutes until Elder Kincaid — King Kincaid, whatever — goes inside. He’ll scent us and wonder what the hell is going on. Tipkin can stay here. No one knows his scent.”

Ezra nodded slowly, barely taking his eyes away where his mother had entered the room.

We hopped out a window and stayed there, waiting for Tipkin to give us the all clear.

There were ten grueling minutes where Ezra and I had to pretend to be our past selves to any circling guards, and then we climbed back to our hiding spots inside the building. It was directly before we heard a gunshot from Mrs Jonas’s office — when I had shot my uncle. The timing could not have been better.

I would like to say that I waited patiently for the fucker Philip to arrive. But I did not.

I seriously hoped today would be the day he died.

My foot wanted to tap in anticipation so badly, but I pressed my body to hold still, working on sheer willpower alone. But the smile that etched my lips was danger peeking, and I glanced at the men sitting on either side of me. I whispered, “Philip’s always had a king complex, and this
is
King Hall. If he dies here today, it would be the perfect tomb for a wannabe king. One of his own making.” My grin widened. “King Tomb.”

Ezra chuckled softly. “That’s perfect.”

I shrugged a shoulder. “I thought so.”

Ezra’s lips twitched.

My brows puckered. “What?”

He
actually
patted the top of my head.

Like I was a cute five-year-old instead of a fully grown woman holding a gun.

I bared my teeth, but I remained mute of any further comment.

In the silence, we waited.

Just when I became antsy again, two explosions shook the building.

And we saw
him
creep around the corner of the long hallway.

The three of us lifted to our feet.

I had a gun aimed, as did Ezra.

Tipkin’s hands were free so he could transverse us out of here before the rubble took us.

Ever so slowly, we stalked to the cracked door.

Philip was removing a backpack he wore. He silently unzipped it.

Ezra had been right. There was a bomb inside that he was activating.

The third explosion shook the building beneath our feet.

Still, we waited as he was. He wasn’t advancing on the room yet, just tapping his foot.

I knew there hadn’t been any gunshots inside the building before it had gone down.

Time ticked ever so gradually while I breathed steadily. My veins were as cold as ice as I watched Philip, his shirt still streaked in his blood from Tipkin’s arrow. That bit of blood made my wolf extremely happy, while the woman in me wanted there to be much more by the time we were through.

His foot stopped tapping, and he turned, running straight for the room, his eyes glowing.

All three of us raced from the room.

Ezra and I were right next to each other, with Tipkin directly on our heels; his hands were already on our shoulders, linking us to him.

Seeing us, Philip stumbled in his sprint, coming to an abrupt halt.

From inside the office, Antonio shouted, “
Wait! One more! Get down!
”

Just as the last explosion hit, we fired.

My shot went wide, my balance off from the blast that hit the building.

But Ezra’s aim was true. His bullet pierced Philip right through the chest.

Tipkin glowed a brilliant gold.

As his sphere began to engulf us, we watched as Philip flew back.

The ceiling was already crashing down. It was beautiful.

Still grinning like a fiend, even with dust covering me, I didn’t care that I was knocked over by Elder Jacobs’s power of wind when we transversed back to the present. Staring at the shimmering night sky, I shouted a whooping holler and wiggled on the grass where I lay on my back. Tipkin had brought us to the time directly after we had left. Cahal and Elder Merrick’s predators were even still growling, only abruptly cutting off as they stared at the three of us on the ground.

Tipkin’s head rested on my stomach. He chuckled quietly. “Bye-bye.” He disappeared.

Ezra grunted, then he tilted his head toward me. “He’s dead.”

“Mm-hmm,” I hummed happily. “You took that bastard down!”

His lips slowly curved in a wicked smile. “Yes, I did.”

I lifted a finger. “Don’t forget. I did help.” Ezra would not have gone with Tipkin if I had not given my word to go. I made a fist. “King Tomb, baby!”

His gaze twinkled as he fist-bumped me. “King Tomb.”

Antonio cleared his throat. “What just happened? Who’s dead?”

I wiggled again, then I shouted in glee, “
Philip Masterson is dead!
”

Ezra and I sat across from our best friends.

When we had initially seen them, we had hardly recognized them.

It had been so damn hard not to react at first sight, but I was now different.

As was Ezra.

He and I were ruthless. And cold. In public.

In private…not so much.
Mmm
.

We had assembled in a meeting at King Mile with Antonio, Cahal, Elder Merrick, Elder Jacobs, the four Elders who had created the peace treaty after the first war…and Jack and Pearl.

Ezra and I had explained what had happened in our blast to the past.

The decision had been unanimous.

With the last Beast farm taken out, and our new intel, we knew how to end this war.

The spelled letters were already sent worldwide to the other Elders of our game plan.

Elder fucking Harcourt’s own personal letter to us had arrived just after we had decided as a group. His correspondence had stated that he agreed with our decision. I had torn up his letter in the hope that he would arrive to vindicate the action, but not surprisingly, the old Mage had not shown so that I could strangle him.

And slice him.

And burn him.

And let my wolf feast on his charred bones.

Jackass.

Now, we still sat in the conference room, having asked Jack and Pearl to stay afterward.

They had politely agreed, utterly no recognition of our lives ‘before’ in their actions.

Their personal physiques did not appear any different; this war had not physically harmed them. But their eyes were those of a cold-blooded killer. For most of the meeting they had been silently eyeballing us, and each other, evaluating with indifference. My heart wanted to break seeing them like this…but I had the cure to fix it fisted in my hand under the table.

Ezra sat next to me, watching them just as coolly as I was. He did not waste time inside this privacy-spelled room. He got straight to the point, watching them where they sat across from us. His words were blunt. “Queen Ruckler and I know that you both had a memory wipe.”

Instantly, they both went still. If it were possible, their eyes turned even more chilling.

My lips pinched. “We know this because the same happened to us.” My gaze flicked back and forth between them. “The four of us…we know each other. The two of you just can’t remember it right now.” I lifted my hand up from under the table, showing them the vials. “Elder Harcourt did this to us, and he’s also gifted us the cure for it. King Zeller and I have already drunk ours. We now have our memories back. Once the two of you drink yours, the spell that Elder Harcourt originally enacted will be broken.”

Jack stared. His words were curt. “Why should I believe anything you’re saying?”

I rubbed my lips together, then I pointed the vials at Pearl. “Queen Cooper, will you please place a truth spell on King Zeller and me while we’re inside this room?”

Instantly, her eyes flashed in fury and she snapped her fingers. “Done. Now say everything that you both just said all over again.”

Patiently, Ezra and I did as she had ordered, our vocals pulling the
truth
from us.

Silently, I placed each vial on the conference table, then I gently pushed them toward our best friends. I watched as they rolled silently to their hesitant hands. “Trust me, you want to drink it.”

Jack’s eyes flared. “Do you know why the memory wipe happened to me?”

Ezra nodded. “We do.” He paused, then he stated evenly, “I had a letter that I found inside my closet at King Shadow. All of my effects were already there when I arrived. When I had a Mage inspect the closet, he told me it was a Mage space. I believe it was Elder Farrar’s work. Nothing inside the space could be affected by Elder Harcourt’s spell. It was exactly as I left it the night my memory wipe occurred at King Cave. The letter was from Queen Ruckler, but she hadn’t left a name on it. I tried accessing some of the safe homes she had listed on there, and even tried a,” he glanced at me, then back to them, “post office box, but each location was protected by the same Mage space — the magic exact. Elder Farrar’s.”

I blinked. “The letter I wrote you when we were finding the Prodigies?”

He nodded, his lips quirking. “It was an interesting read.”

That was how my husband had known that I loved him completely. The letter was personal and extremely intimate, along with all the information I had written down. “Oh.”

He chuckled quietly. “Yes…oh.” Gradually, his attention altered back to our silent, watching best friends. “Did you have nothing like that in your closets?”

Eventually, they shook their heads, still studying us.

“Maybe that was for the best,” I whispered. “All I had was the shirt I was wearing,” I smiled gently, “and a pregnant belly.”

Pearl’s eyes instantly narrowed. “You were pregnant?”

The mother in me shined out in my grin. “Yes, I have daughter.” I paused, then my vocals urged me to state, “King Zeller and I have a daughter together. Her name is Isa.”

Their blinks were ever so gradual. No shock. No questions. Just the
chill
.

“Queen Ruckler and I are married.” Ezra lifted a cool black brow, unfazed by their silence. He pointed to the vials. “As are you two. You should probably drink those to remember how that happened.”

The first crack in stony countenance occurred.

Both jerked on their chairs, their gazes snapping toward each other.

Pearl’s jaw bobbed.

Jack’s blue brows rose…as his gaze lowered, and he eyed her cleavage. “Huh.”

I snorted softly. “Drink the damn vials.”

Instantly, Pearl uncorked her vial with shaking hands. She drank.

Jack watched her closely as she placed her head on the table as memories slammed her.

Her skin shimmered in a stunning gold. Quietly, she sniffled, not lifting her head. “Drink the bloody vial, Jack.” Though she did reach across the table, blindly holding her hand out to me.

I instantly grabbed it with both of mine, holding it tightly. “I missed you.”

Another sniffle. “Understatement.”

Jack’s gaze still had not left her, but he did lift his vial. Uncorked it. Drank it down.

His head tipped back, and he closed his eyes as his vial fell from the tips of his fingers to the conference room tabletop. The
clink
was loud in the silence as it landed, then it rolled off the table to the floor. Jack’s neck bobbed as he swallowed heavily. “
My God
.” When he lowered his head, there was an emotion flittering behind his eyes that I could not catch. Quickly, he hooded his gaze, peering at the back of Pearl’s head. “We’re married.”

Her face still stuffed against the crook of her arm, she nodded. “Yes.”

Ever so slowly, he lifted one of his hands and placed it on the back of her head.

Pearl shuddered at his touch…and started bawling.

My eyes widened, and I glanced at my husband. “Maybe, we should—”

“Yep.” He was already standing from his chair. “We’ll leave you two alone to catch up.”

I squeezed Pearl’s hand one more time, then I released it.

She damn near tackled Jack, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

He swiftly dipped his head and held her tight. “Shh. It’s all right. I’m here.”

I pushed from my own chair and hurried to follow my husband out of the spelled room.

We made sure the door was locked.

Two days later, I was driving in my Hummer — having almost arrived at our intended destination — and my cell phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket while Ezra took the wheel, steering for me. Jack and Pearl were cuddled in the back seat, sleeping quietly. Our private lives had finally returned to normal, even though our professional lives would never be. The perfect indication of this was our current assignment of the President. Our intel had showed us his whereabouts, and he was our purpose for this road trip. It was time to end this war.

“Hello,” I answered, allowing Ezra to continue steering.

“
I found her
.” That was all he said. It was John Smith.

“Bring her to me,” I ordered.

“
You won’t garner any information from her. She was dead when I found her
.”