King Cave

by Scarlett Dawn

  My dad wiggled his wrist. “Let go, Lily.”

  I whimpered unhappily, wanting more, and most definitely not wanting whatever pain was about to come from his pouring of power.

  Ezra’s gaze landed on mine. “I’ll give you more when he’s done with this next part.” Again, the short, clipped tone, and not at all in a whisper, his irritation barely masked. Gently, he placed his heated palm over my swallowing throat. “Enough.”

  My eyes narrowed at the command. Not a Vampire command, but an order nonetheless. I took another hard pull, making his jaw clench when I didn’t immediately obey. I let my fangs unlatch from Elder Venclaire’s wrist, quickly licking over the wounds. As he pulled his wrist back, I flicked my tongue over a bit of blood at the corner of my mouth and smiled at Ezra, full of fang. I didn’t take orders well from anyone, not even from my husband…well, unless they were in the bedroom and private, which this most definitely was not.

  Ezra’s gaze narrowed, but it swiftly shot to the side.

  I let my eyes travel with his and saw that Cahal had moved to the side of the bed. He was staring down at me, eyes glued to my showing fangs. He blinked slowly, his face utterly blank. But he actually leaned down a smidge, as if to get a better look.

  “Dad, not now,” Ezra muttered in exasperation.

  Cahal’s head cocked. “Is that as big as they get?”

  “Dad,” Ezra growled.

  “How does she bite properly if they’re that small?” The question was purely curious.

  Ezra chuckled. “Her bite’s just fine.”

  Instant. “Even at the neck?”

  “Yes.”

  “How long have you known about this?”

  “For quite some time.”

  His eyes hopped from my fangs to meet Ezra’s gaze. “Hmm.”

  Ezra stiffened under his dad’s regard, but he said evenly, “If you’re done ogling, I thought we might try to save her life now.”

  “Oh, please do so.” Cahal grinned, his teeth white and straight, and he gestured for my dad and Ezra to continue. “I’m here if you need the added muscle.”

  My fangs retracted instantly at the reminder of pain, and my heart faltered again. I still wasn’t a big fan, even if I had brass balls when they were needed. No matter how tough I got, I didn’t think knowing I was going to be hurt in advance would ever be a tranquil thought.

  Ezra eyed his dad, as did Elder Venclaire, but eventually, when my heart fluttered again, Elder Venclaire jerked his head at my feet. “You can hold her legs.”

  Cahal nodded and went to my feet. His large hands wrapped around my ankles. He blinked, and his gaze flew to his hands. And a reaction, his response to the difference in our size, just flew out of his mouth, and I was pretty sure it was without forethought. “I might break her.”

  Ezra chuckled, grabbing my wrists to cross them over my stomach and hold them there tightly, he muttered, “Dad, just try not to get your brains bashed in.”

  Cahal snorted and nodded to Elder Venclaire.

  On the mattress, Elder Venclaire rose on his knees, his power rising with him, and he glanced at me with glowing blue eyes. “I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.”

  I blinked. “Yeah.” Um, got that already.

  He placed his hand on the center of my chest, directly over my Core. A deep inhale. His power surged the air around us, making me marvel at the strength he had been hiding because I had never felt this from him. Ezra and Cahal didn’t seem surprised by it, but I saw everyone who wasn’t Vampire visibly jerk in astonishment. It was always the quiet, nice ones who surprised you the most with their hidden talents.

  I quickly dispelled the idea, though, when he closed his eyes and let his power release down his palm and straight into my Core. And even though I thought my body had no life left in it, I lurched hard, bucking with a scream so earth-shattering it was enough to make Bindi race from the room. Any and all Shifter strength I had came to the fore, and I fought against the surge that felt like a million bee stings jabbing into my Core then scattering throughout my body with twirling stingers the size of switchblades.

  Ezra, Elder Venclaire, and Cahal all grunted simultaneously, pressing to keep me contained.

  “Ezra!” I screamed, jerking inside his hold. “Please, let me,” I choked, then shrieked another piercing cry, more of the same agony slicing through me, “go! Let me go, let me go, let me go!”

  Wordlessly, he held me only tighter, even as he shuddered, curling his legs around my thighs.

  I pulled at my legs, feeling the hurled slices race down them, making Cahal brace even further. I shook my head, feeling hot tears trickle down my cheeks. Another shriek left me, and I choked on it. My head automatically turned to Ezra’s neck, and as I started to sob, great tremors racking my body, I scented him. For a moment, I stilled, my nostrils flaring.

  My first real scent of him since the silver had evaporated.

  I held it in and kept my face directly under his sharp jaw, against the heat of his smooth flesh, as the rest of my body instinctively began trying to again fight away from the pain, tears racing down my cheeks. But I sobbed quietly.

  No more screaming. No more pleas.

  I had done this.

  I was getting my due.

  And it was worth it, just for that pure, spicy scent of him. He was alive and strong. I would endure much worse than this to have him healthy, although, death seemed like a kind mercy right now.

  Elder Venclaire continued his power surge, his Core filling mine. And that was what sliced through my system. It wasn’t only energy or vitality. It was magic. A Mystical’s very existence.

  As a shiver racked me, every muscle in my frame straining, Elder Venclaire murmured, “I’m almost at what it will allow me. I can feel it shutting down.” His voice was quiet, soft, even as he pressed down on me with more strength than I knew he possessed in his refined frame. “Just a few more seconds.”

  My teeth chattered as I trembled, and I whimpered on a whisper as my body struggled for release from their prisoning arms.

  And then it was gone. Utterly gone. No power flooded the room. No bee stings from hell floating like demon’s playthings inside me. Just nothing.

  Ezra’s hands instantly released my wrists, one going to the back of my head and pressing my face more firmly against his neck, the other smoothing down one of my hands to intertwine his fingers with mine, our wedding rings touching. He cleared his throat hard, his chest heaving against my back as he stated quietly, “Elder Harcourt, you had better get the fuck out of here before I murder someone.”

  Elder Harcourt’s response was soft. “Duly noted.” I heard him hobbling across the room even as shivers still racked my body as aftershocks. Before he exited, he murmured, “But you are both alive when you might not have been.” A pause. “Remember that, King Zeller.” Another pause, more of a hesitation by the way he stuttered, but eventually he stated, “I also want to say to the both of you…I’m sorry for what…” He sighed. “Just, please, try for control…it won’t be my…” A soft chuckle, his words never finishing, the sound odd. “Never mind, you won’t recall.”

  I was confused as hell, my mind still swimming with the fact I wasn’t in horrendous pain, but I heard Antonio growl, “Get the fuck out.”

  “Yes, of course,” Elder Harcourt stated softly, and then the sound of his shuffling moved farther away until I couldn’t hear it anymore.

  I tried to move, but I realized I was still trapped. And not only that, my body was like a dead weight again, maybe even worse than before. My breathing hitched, and I whispered, “I can’t move.”

  Ezra’s fingers dug into my hair, holding my face tight to him. “Let her go.”

  I heard Elder Venclaire groan, his hand sliding off me, then the bed wobbled crazily.

  Cahal cursed by my feet as he released me, and I felt the bed move again, and he was shouting sharply, “Venclaire! Venclaire!”

  Elder Jacobs interjected, “He’s fine. That’s what ha
ppens. He has only passed out and should recover in a few hours. His Core will take longer, but he’ll be up and about in a few days.”

  Antonio’s voice was closer than before, virtually beside me, asking softly, “Lil? How are you?”

  “How do you think she is?” Ezra growled, his grip tightening. “You were in the fucking room.”

  I tried to fortify myself, but it came out a croak when I said, “I still can’t move.” It was driving me crazy. It was claustrophobia on a whole different level. “It’s worse than before.” Before, I knew I was dying. It made sense. Now, my Core was semi-filled and I felt somewhat better, and it felt like I should be able to move. But I couldn’t, and my wolf was snarling in boxed-in anxiety, no longer at peace to die.

  As the room went silent, Elder Jacobs stated quickly, “That’s what happened to the kid I saw before.” He paused. “She needs a Mage’s healing massage to revitalize her muscles.”

  “Makes sense,” Antonio murmured, even as I felt the bed dip. “Ezra, you’re going to have to let her go while I do this.” Ezra growled a little, the vibration in his throat tickling my nose. “It’s not up for discussion. I’ll do her back first, so place her on her stomach.”

  “Ezra, let me go,” I whispered, my wolf riding my voice hard. “I feel trapped like this.”

  I felt his chest heave against me, but he nodded, gently laying my limp body next to him and turning my face on the bed so I could see him, his face stoically blank, with the others in the room. “Your wolf’s going insane?” He knew enough to deduce the issue.

  “Yes,” I growled, my wolf literally pushing at my mind to break free, my eyes glowing fiercely and my heartbeat no longer lazy, instead skyrocketing. “And honestly, it’s freaking me the hell out.”

  “Alright, sweetheart.” Ezra brushed hair off my cheek, glancing over my head. “Do it, Antonio.”

  The bed moved again as Antonio readjusted himself, and I sighed as magically healing hands began massaging my shoulders, making my muscles twitch as his power jolted them.

  Ezra glanced at Elder Jacobs, demanding, “This will heal her?”

  Elder Jacobs nodded slowly as Antonio’s hands started moving down my arms. “She’ll be sore, but her Core and body will be back to normal within the week.” He nodded to Elder Venclaire, who was passed out on the bed. “As will he.”

  “Well, that’s better than fucking stasis, which would be the only other alternative to keep her animal from making her insane if she was paralyzed,” Elder Merrick muttered, glancing at Elder Jacobs. “Could you imagine us on the brink of war and having the Queen Shifter unconscious for six months?” He paused. Blinked. “Wait, what the hell am I saying? She can’t be our Queen!” His voice rose to a fever pitch. “She’s a damn hybrid, which Farrar here fucking knew all along!”

  “She is your Queen,” Ezra expounded, Antonio’s hands not faltering at Elder Merrick’s pronouncement, massaging into my shoulder blades. “What makes you think she’s not?”

  Elder Merrick sounded like he was restraining himself. “A hybrid should be Lawfully dead. A hybrid is what creates those fucking freaks of nature. But most importantly, a hybrid cannot do a fucking Awakening!” He cursed hard.

  Ezra took a deep, shuddering breath, and with as much restraint as what Elder Merrick had sounded like having, he said softly, “Your Queen has had her tubes tied magically so she can’t have children. Your Queen has done an Awakening. Successfully. And I, and your Queen, believe that fucking Law to be archaic, and brutal to the extreme of murder.”

  Silence.

  Sounding mystified, Elder Merrick muttered, “Truth. All of it.” A pause, then a half-frenzied, gravelly chuckle sounded from him, which he tried to contain as he muttered quietly, “The no condom thing makes sense now.”

  “The four Awakenings before graduation,” Cahal said softly, ignoring Elder Merrick. “That’s when she did it.”

  “Yes,” Antonio spoke calmly, kneading his fingers into my back muscles. “I have it all on videotape in a secure location so that no one can claim otherwise.”

  Elder Jacobs sputtered, “The Elders have been lying to us this whole time?”

  Massaging the small of my back, Antonio answered quietly, “I don’t know. They may truly believe it, a fabrication made long ago to keep hybrids from being born, when they saw the offspring of a hybrid and a Com. Or maybe hybrids couldn’t do it in our earlier days.” A pause. “I don’t know their reasoning, but I’ve done the research and plenty of it — not even including Lily’s proof with my own eyes — has declared itself in journals. Hybrids can indeed do Awakenings.”

  “So, I ask you again,” Ezra said softly. “What makes you believe she is not your Queen?”

  There were a few beats of silence, and then Elder Merrick growled, “Nothing. She is the Queen Shifter.” He sounded pissed the fuck off, but no longer hysterical. “Although, there are now some Elders I would like to dig up to rip their fucking heads from their corpses.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Antonio interrupted Elder Merrick’s rambling of shredding already dead Elders, mumbling quietly, “Lil, I have to touch your…behind. You have muscles there that are used for walking and fighting.”

  I snorted. “You changed my diapers, Antonio.”

  “Yes, but you were much smaller then.” He sighed. “It’s so hard when kids grow up.” He quickly zapped my ass, then went straight to my legs.

  “Ow!” That had hurt.

  “Sorry,” he rumbled, sounding embarrassed, which was funny in itself. He quickly changed the subject, speaking to the others while saying evenly, “This news is not to be leaked. In due course, the four current Rulers may present the change, but right now is not the time to advertise Lily’s hybrid nature.”

  Elder Jacobs snorted. “Agreed.”

  “No shit,” Elder Merrick muttered.

  “Of course not,” Elder Zeller murmured.

  “Good,” Antonio stated, then he muttered, “And I’ll see what I’ll have to do with Bindi. She is still in the apartment, isn’t she?”

  Ezra and Cahal actually chuckled, glancing at each other, and then Ezra flicked a finger over my head, whispering, “She’s eavesdropping right outside the door.”

  Softly, Antonio muttered, “Good, because if I have to wipe her memory I really don’t want to have to chase her down.”

  Ezra’s lips pinched, his gaze meeting mine before moving back up to Antonio’s. “She’s a good physician and I don’t believe she’ll say anything. She knew the twins were hybrids, and she didn’t rat us out.” His finger flicked again. “She’s only curious.” A memory wipe was horrible in both of our minds. It was like mind rape, taking away knowledge you had gained.

  Antonio grunted, patting my foot. “Roll over, Lil.” I rolled onto my back, biting my lip as my joints ached like an old piece of machinery that hadn’t been serviced recently. Antonio smiled, apparently pleased at seeing that I was able to move — as was I — even if like an old Com, but he glanced back at Ezra, stating loudly, “I’ll see just what secrets she can keep. A permanent memory wipe is only a last resort, but if it’s needed, I’ll do it.” He tilted his head at the door as he started working on the front of my legs, now going in reverse. “Just tell me if she runs.”

  “Will do,” Cahal murmured when his son didn’t reply, leaning back against a wall, arms crossed.

  Antonio’s gaze hit mine, and I could tell he was still upset with me, barely hiding it with his actions and words as his fingers dug into my stomach muscles, magic sizzling.

  I met his eyes evenly. “I would do it again.”

  “I know,” he stated gruffly. “That’s what scares me.”

  “If she’s going to be ill for a week,” Elder Merrick began to pace, interjecting our exchange, “The Elder Shifters will need to be told something when our Queen suddenly disappears for a week with a war knocking at our door.”

  Antonio shook his head. “No. No others can talk to her. How the hell does she
explain it?” He shrugged a shoulder. “Oh yes, Elder such-and-such, I willingly broke into a Mage’s restricted space reserved for one of the largest Mys criminals, then made a deal with the devil.” He glanced at me. “And yes, none of us here are senseless enough to believe you didn’t make a deal with her of some sort,” my lips thinned, though I managed to control my heart rate, but he still snorted at my expression, “and God help us when that happens.”

  His attention went back to Elder Merrick. “And then, Elder such-and-such, I had the King Elemental and Queen Mage perform an illegal act inside our only sanctuary, and then I broke into an Elder Vampire’s suite and willingly gave up my own damn life to the King Vampire, and the only way I could be brought back to life was to announce my hybrid nature and bring in my Vampire father to save the day.” Again, he shrugged. “Sounds about right to get everyone shot, hanged, and burned.”

  The only person in the room who didn’t stare at me with a narrowed gaze was Ezra.

  “It does sound kinda bad when you put it like that,” I muttered as Antonio massaged the front of my shoulders.

  “It is that bad,” Cahal said dryly, glancing to Elder Merrick. “Antonio’s right. We should allow only you to answer any questions to the Elder Shifters. Come up with a story that will fly on everyone’s truth radar.” His gaze met mine. “You’ll just have to suck it up and not recover in your room the whole time, and make believable performances, so no one suspects you’re hurting.”

  I gritted my teeth as Ezra helped me sit up, since Antonio was done with the massage. “I can handle that.” Hopefully.

  Elder Merrick sighed, giving me a glare, knowing I wasn’t being completely honest, but he still turned his attention to his group, asking, “Then what’s the damn believable story?”

  Everyone was silent, considering, until Antonio’s head teetered back and forth, murmuring, “If anyone notices she’s not up to par just tell them the arrow that pierced her thigh did more damage than expected, which caused a need for a blood transfusion, which she couldn’t have. Just don’t mention why she couldn’t have the transfusion. So, she’s drained of energy, which she actually is, and since she’s an anomaly to most anyway, they’ll believe this to be the cause.”