Chosen Thief

by Scarlett Dawn

  There was a very long beat of silence as my stomach dropped, then Sin murmured, “Well, I don’t believe I’ll be dropping this anytime soon.” Another pause. “Caro, please tell me with all that, you mentioned his terrible penchant for comb-overs.”

  “That was the part about the hairdresser,” I mumbled, wanting to hide under a rock for a very long time.

  “This is not humorous!” King Collins bellowed, his eyes beginning to glow.

  King Zeller’s lips were twitching, and his shoulders were shaking hard, but he stepped forward and placed a hand on King Collins’s shoulder. Instantly King Collins’s eyes stopped glowing and his whole body relaxed. King Collins muttered something to King Zeller, who eventually nodded. King Zeller glanced at us, stating in a controlled voice, “We’re going to be inside…for a bit…while we work through the best way to fix this.” Spring green eyes fixed on me. “But whatever we decide, you will do it.”

  “Jesus, I really didn’t know it was him. He sounded all nasally and sloshed. I thought it was a prank — the person was trying too hard to sound like him.”

  King Zeller’s nostrils flared, and it appeared like he was trying to control himself. “I understand, but in the future it would probably be best to assume it really is the most powerful man in the world than to not when you’re answering King Collins’s phone then insulting him on the air…in what will surely be worldwide news in a matter of minutes.” A pause. “Even if all of what you said is correct.” His lips twitched, but he quickly turned his head and hid his expression as he guided King Collins inside the Manor, a hand on the King’s shoulder, the Queens following behind.

  Once they were indoors, Sin dropped the protective dome and I banged my forehead on his back, moaning quietly. “I really messed up this time.”

  “Sounds like it.” He paused, then he stated loudly, “Anyone got a radio close by? I’d love to hear that phone conversation.”

  I growled as London murmured, “Yeah, here somewhere in my bag.”

  Shoving away from Sin, I straightened my skirt and shirt purchased by the credit card — which came with a limit — I had been given two days after arriving here. All of the Prodigies received one for their time and service to the crown. I marched to the door the Rulers had gone through, not even glancing at anyone else. I knew I was going to meet my maker as I waited outside the conference room the Kings and Queens were in, because I had really messed up. King Collins hadn’t even heard half of the degrading things I had said, and I was sure he shortly would.

  “Want some company, Felon?” Brann’s deep rumble startled me from behind where I sat on a small blue couch. I was holed up in the Elemental section in one of the back living rooms — one of the tiny ones made for privacy — later that evening, watching one of those old, black-and-white, gooey joyful movies.

  Quickly glancing over my shoulder, I saw Brann was leaning against the white doorframe wearing a pair of black flannel pajama bottoms and a grey t-shirt, both of which stretched over his muscles to perfection, and no shoes, his feet bare. I blinked, my gaze swinging back up to his eyes. I had never seen him dress casually, not even getting a good look at him in his swim trunks today. “Slumming tonight, Wolf Man? No hot date?” Because, yeah, he did have a lot of females going in and out of here like his sister had said.

  He shrugged one shoulder. “I needed a break.” His amber eyes stared me straight on, and he asked gruffly, “Do you want company or not?”

  “I’m worn the hell out after today, so I won’t be good company,” I muttered, turning around to the television. I had told the truth, all the conference calls I had made to rectify my blunder making me exhausted. “But you’re more than welcome to stay if you’re quiet.” I waved a hand behind me. “And shut the door. I don’t want anyone else coming in here wanting to talk to me.” Because just about everyone and their damn brother had tried to give me advice today, or tell me of their life experiences on their first mess-up, trying to make me feel better. “I fucked up and I know it, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  “Message received,” Brann stated after a moment, and I heard the door shut before his surprisingly — for such a large man — light footfalls on the green carpeting brought him closer. He came around the side of the couch and sat down tiredly, taking up the rest of the room and practically squashing me against the armrest. He kicked his feet up on the table, and I saw they appeared to have been pedicured, not at all unattractive. He tugged at the blanket I had around me. “Give me some of that.”

  I blinked, then I glared at him. “Get your own, Wolf Man.”

  He tilted his head on the couch sleepily. “It’s the only one in here, Felon.” A pause, and his lips curled. “Or is hoarding items a trait you learned in the slammer?”

  I snorted, but after glancing around I saw he was right, so I started unfurrowing myself from the blanket. “No, I was kept in solitary confinement for almost the entire time I was in there, so I didn’t have to share anything.” I tossed some of the blanket on him.

  He stared at me, not taking what I offered. “Fuck, you’re serious.” A slow blink. “That’s a long time to be alone. How the hell did you keep from going insane?”

  I bared my teeth at him. “I didn’t.” A sweet smile. “Now please shut up so I can watch the movie.”

  Another slow blink, amber disappearing only to reappear to the world. “I’m sorry. That had to be awful.”

  I stared for a long moment, seeing he was being honest, so I stated truthfully, “Sometimes it was, and sometimes it wasn’t. The quiet was a blessing but also a curse.”

  He nodded once. “I can see both sides to that. There are days I wish for nothing but peace and quiet, but on the other hand, there are days I just need interaction with others to keep sane.” He paused. “I know what it’s like to go insane after a traumatic event. It happened to me after Dakota died.”

  I scratched my forehead, evaluating him. “Kill anyone?”

  He gazed at me for a full minute, his amber eyes immeasurable, before turning his attention to the television. “Yeah. Six guys in a bar. Their only misfortune was to be sitting at the table next to me while I got drunk. Queen Ruckler covered it up and paid off their families with a small fortune for their silence, but I got lucky because all six guys were loser drunks and apparently dragging their families down, so they didn’t care too much they were gone with all that cash in their grubby hands.”

  I waited a long moment as I let that register, unsure of how he felt about it because he stated it all so factually. “Wanna talk about it?”

  “No.” He got more comfortable on the couch, lifting the blanket I had placed on him then stealing more of it as he covered his legs and chest. “I don’t condone what I did because they were innocent, and I’ve already dealt with those demons, but killing people who deserve it…oddly, I have absolutely no issue with. It might be the Shifter in me, but killing,” a shrug with a yawn, “is just part of life. The weak versus the strong, and all that.”

  My eyebrows rose as I snorted, and I stole a bit of the blanket back, trying to resituate myself to a comfortable position since he was hogging everything. “A hardcore, snobbish wolf man. You just might do all right as King.” I yawned as his wolf growled quietly in irritation. “Do be quiet now. I want to watch this sweet-as-sugar, happy-happy movie.”

  “Whatever, Felon,” he rumbled, his head falling on top of mine where I had ended up resting it on his shoulder. “Quit asking questions, and I will.”

  So I did. And he did. Then, somewhere between singing numbers in the film, I heard him start to snore very softly, which made me smile because it sounded like a content wolf. And just a bit later, sleep’s fog dragged me under, too.

  King Collins’s voice entered my previously peaceful dream, shouting, “Wake the fuck up!”

  I mumbled grumpily, “I don’t want to dream about you. Go away.”

  The hot, hard body under me jerked, and I groaned, slipping back into my cozy but now
slightly violent dream, and Brann’s voice, sounding gravelly and sleepy, rumbled into it like a voiceover, stating, “This isn’t what it looks like.”

  I sighed, enjoying that tone. “Now you. You can stay.” And he did, his face appearing hazily in the warm fog that was trying to pull me under as something tugged at the back of my mind, trying to lift me away.

  A feminine snort echoed inside the fog, turning into Queen Ruckler’s voice as she stated, “Not what it looks like, huh?”

  There was a pause, then Brann’s voice stated, “She’s dreaming. Just talking in her sleep.”

  I froze, the fog parting abruptly as I realized that in reality I was lying half on an enormous, hard body that was much larger than Sin’s, with my face stuffed flush against the heated flesh of a male neck. I sniffed and found that it smelled faintly like the forest, so faintly I probably wouldn’t have noticed if my nose wasn’t smashed against it. Heart rate beginning to gallop, I slowly unthreaded my left hand from where it was buried in the curls on the guy’s head, then I patted the hard pec I wasn’t lying on, which was massive. “Shit.” I sucked in a large breath. “Brann?”

  There was a beat of silence, then his chest vibrated against me as he rumbled, “Correct in one.”

  I lifted my head from his neck, pushing up on his chest to stare down wide-eyed as he tilted his head toward me, amber eyes half-lidded from sleep but still alert as they stared back at me. “I think we fell asleep.” I peered down at our positioning on the couch, the blanket twisted all to hell around us. Both of us had moved at some point and the cushions on the back of the couch were now gone, shoved over the top. Brann was lying on his back, legs over the end of the couch, while I was curled up over him, half-pressed against the now hard backing of the couch. “How the fuck?”

  “No clue,” he muttered as he stared up at me. His head jerked to the right. “We’re not alone.”

  I blinked, then I peered in that direction. Instant. “This is not what it looks like.” It hadn’t been a damn dream. King Collins and Queen Ruckler were standing in front of the television. The Queen had her arms crossed while the King had one arm over his stomach with his other arm crooked so his hand was over his mouth, elbow resting on his other hand. “Seriously. Not at all. I don’t even know how we ended up like this. One second we were watching a movie—” I stopped babbling when Queen Ruckler held up a quick hand.

  “Save it. I can hear words coming out of both of your mouths, and they might be truth now,” she growled, her eyes flashing, “but fuck! This is not a conversation I want to be having.” She growled again but let her head drop forward as she rubbed her forehead, muttering to the ground and to herself, “This is payback. I know it is.” After a moment, she glanced up at King Collins and stated, “You’re not leaving the damn room for this, so don’t even think about weaseling out.”

  King Collins closed his eyes for a few beats then nodded as he opened them and dropped his hand from his mouth. “Let me shut the door first.”

  I glanced down quickly at Brann, then back to Queen Ruckler, really not wanting whatever conversation she was acting so irate about. “Look, there’s no reason to talk—”

  “I said save it!” she commanded, stopping me, and I felt a pulse of her power fly through the air. It was none to gentle as it surrounded me before disappearing. “Believe me, this is the last conversation I wanted to be having this morning, but when you both missed breakfast…and even though Sin and Brenna both gave fairly believable excuses…well, neither I nor the other Rulers are blind or ignorant. Luckily we were the ones to find you like this. Add in the way you both,” she waved a hand, “react to each other, which you both are utterly terrible at hiding, this conversation needs to be had sooner rather than later.”

  I blinked, not liking where this was leading. “We missed breakfast?”

  King Collins came around the side of the couch, done shutting the door. “Now’s not the time for jokes, Caro.” He jerked his hand at us. “Both of you sit up so we can get this over with.”

  “All right,” I murmured softly, glancing down and trying to untangle the blanket that was damn near twisted and tied around us. I had to practically sit on Brann at one point, straddling him, and yes, my cheeks instantly flushed in embarrassment at the provocative positioning. “Sorry, just a sec.”

  “Dear God,” Queen Ruckler muttered, turning her back to us, head on her hand. “She’s blushing like a damn virgin, and I’m about to have this talk with her?”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but Brann stated softly, amber eyes peering up at me sensibly, “Caro, just finish getting the blanket undone.” He paused, then he wiggled his left leg. “I think it’s wrapped around my leg first, then your waist, because it keeps pulling every time you move.” He grabbed my hips and literally lifted me straight above him, holding me in the air effortlessly. “Reach down and pull it out.” Suspended in the air, my jaw dropped, my face flaming further, and he blinked, his eyes running over my face. “The blanket, Caro. Grab the blanket.”

  “Oh, for the love of God,” King Collins growled, swiftly striding forward and moving between the couch and coffee table, shoving his hand between us — straight between Brann’s legs, making Brann freeze, his eyes widening a bit. King Collins wrenched the blanket loose somehow, ordering, “Lower her back down.” Brann did, my position again leaving much to be desired, but King Collins had us untangled in about thirty seconds, muttering a few curses along the way. “There. Now sit the hell up.”

  We did, and though tripping a bit over each other, we managed to get the cushions on the couch in the correct positions and sit halfway comfortably on the couch, Brann with his legs stretched out on the coffee table and me sitting cross-legged. Both of us acted decently relaxed now, my face, at least, no longer burning with a blush.

  “Okay,” Queen Ruckler murmured, clapping her hands as she rested back against the wall, King Collins just standing stationary with his arms crossed. “This first part you’ll both find shocking and interesting. Then, honestly, you’re going to hate the last part of what I have to say, just as much as I hate having to say it.” She inhaled heavily then stated bluntly, “As you both know, sex between factions is illegal.”

  Oh, Jesus have mercy.

  “I have to tell you that if you were ever caught by someone, and they charged you, you both would be put under a spelled trial. The ramifications of a guilty verdict are spelled separation and spelled memory wipe. You may not fully understand the pain and suffering this can cause, but I can honestly say I’ve known individuals who have gone through this, and you would rather die than have it happen to you.” She paused, her gaze intense as she stared back and forth between us. “With that being said, I will tell you that if King Collins or I ever caught you having sexual relations…well, we would never say we caught you having them because, although it is illegal, it isn’t something we disagree with.”

  I blinked, utterly and completely dumbfounded.

  She nodded a couple of times at whatever we were expressing. “That’s correct. You heard me right.” She exhaled heavily, appearing weary, her young features taking on years of knowledge that I hoped I would never see in my lifetime. “When the end of the war negotiations were occurring, it was the one Law we couldn’t retract once it had been put in place. We were able to stop the killings happening to hybrids, since we were able to prove they could, indeed, do an Awakening and with reasoning they could be sterilized, and no one wants to slaughter our people since our main goal is longevity. But, with the Coms’ fears of the beasts, we had to give them something to keep hybrids from being born. And that was the Law that stood, since it didn’t kill anyone.”

  Oh, my. I hadn’t known a damn bit of that.

  From Brann’s stiff form, I could tell he hadn’t either.

  When Queen Ruckler glanced pointedly at King Collins, he sighed, but he took over their little talk, stating, “Now, even though we don’t agree with the Law, there are many who do. Actually, almost a
ll Mysticals and Coms do, especially after the war. In fact, many still oppose us for changing the Law of killing hybrids since, if one slips through the spell when they’re born and they don’t have their tubes tied or a vasectomy done, they could create the beasts again if they were criminal enough to do so.” He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders. “And I’ll tell you right now, with the way you both,” he paused, “react to each other, as Queen Ruckler put it, I have to say the chances of you two ending up in bed together is inevitable.”

  Nope, I wasn’t breathing and neither was Brann, the mortification hanging so heavily in the air even I could smell the damn emotion.

  King Collins sighed after watching us, pinching his nose, a clear sign of stress. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, but Jesus…” He paused for a long moment, then dropped his hand, shaking his head at us. “You both need to learn some serious,” he waved a hand, forehead crinkling, “camouflage for the way you feel about each other, otherwise you will get caught when it does happen, and more than likely it will be by someone who will press charges against you both, not just because they agree one hundred percent with the Law, but because of whom you are going to be. There are probably only a few handfuls of Mysticals on this entire planet who wouldn’t give a shit if the King Shifter and Queen Elemental were having sex together; the rest would put you through hell with a spelled memory wipe and spelled separation in a heartbeat. Not to mention if that did happen, it would hurt our people for you to be apart and not working together for the rest of your very long lives.”

  Both Rulers stared at us blatantly for a full minute, apparently letting all of this sink in, even though as soon as it had come out of their mouths I had understood it.