Not really wanting to, but making myself, I lowered my hands and peered up into King Zeller’s eyes. A furious and confused green gaze stared back at me as he continued to console Isa. Somehow he had known he had been mind raped over the love of a woman. Possibly he had clues, as I had my ring and a man’s t-shirt, but now he knew who the woman was.
Me.
And now, he knew he had a daughter.
Isa.
He exhaled grandly, his mien flipping like a switch to show nothing. “You were mind raped?”
Swiftly I altered my expression as he had, resting back against my chair. I even lifted my coffee and sipped from it with a steady hand, not about to let a damn thing show. “Yes.”
His gaze danced to our table’s mute occupants, his arms tightening on Isa. “You should have waited to have this conversation.” A blatant reprimand.
Cool rebuttal. “From their non-reactions, they already know.” My gaze flicked to Elder Zeller. “And your dad’s reaction to Isa makes more sense.” She was his granddaughter, and he had instantly fallen in love with her, like any good granddad.
“Possibly,” he murmured, eyes sticking on Elder Merrick and Elder Jacobs. “If they all knew, then we were sloppy as hell.”
I snorted, setting my coffee down as if this was the most normal conversation in the world. “Clearly, we were.” I lifted my knife and fork. “We obviously need to finish this discussion elsewhere, so do you mind holding her a bit longer while I try to eat something?”
He grunted. “Feel free.”
Polite words. “Thank you.”
Well…that was the most civilized conversation I’d had with the man.
It was one hell of a show on both our parts.
Chapter Six
“What type of Elemental are you?” I asked bluntly, reclined on one of my burgundy plush chairs in the front room of my tent only a few minutes after dinner. This needed to be a quick meeting because King Zeller and I had asked the four Elders at our table to meet here, at my tent, in an hour. Isa lay content on a blanket on the floor, playing with some of her toys, while I had this exchange with John Smith. He leaned against the bar, eyeing Isa curiously as he drank from the glass of wine I had poured for him. “I was unfamiliar with your blood’s taste, but I know it’s one of the Elemental powers.”
“Bitten many Elementals, have you?” he asked, his eyes, still as guarded as before, finally meeting mine.
I shrugged a shoulder, honestly unsure how I knew what an Elemental’s blood tasted like — it was just something I knew between the voids in my mind. I set my coffee on the table, kicking my boots up next to it. “Answer the question, please.” I wasn’t putting any command in my tone, trying a different tactic with the man whose power was almost as strong as mine, and his secrets just as deep.
He took another sip of wine. “Whatever possessed you to adopt a Vampire child?” His lips lifted into a cynical smile. “Are you to be the Queen of mercy?”
“No, being the Queen of the Shifters is queen enough for me.” I cocked my head and decided to answer his question in hopes he would return the favor. “And I fell in love with her the first moment I saw her. She needed me, so she’s mine.”
He watched me. “You are not at all what I expected.” His nostrils flared, and he motioned to his hair with his wine glass. “The Element’s in the hair.”
My gaze flew to said hair. “So it’s not spelled.” I had thought it was. And now I was in complete awe as I stared at his deep black hair that had tiny streaks of white. “Spirit.” The rarest of the rare Mysticals, even compared to a hybrid, which meant he was…double rare, I guessed. “Incredible.”
He snorted. “Cursed, is what I am.”
“I’ve often thought that about many parts of my life,” I murmured, then licked my lips, making myself look away from his hair to meet his dark gaze. “Life is cursed, most of the time.”
His gaze roamed over my face. “You really have changed since the last time we met.”
I shrugged and got to the crux of why I had asked him here. “John, I understand why you hide in the middle of the normal, but you’re not normal, and I’m not talking of your hybrid nature, either.” I nodded at his chest. “Your power rivals Rulers. You should be helping in the war from a Commander position rather than the infantry.” When he opened his mouth, ready to argue as I knew he would, I held up a hand, stating, “And you won’t. If I ordered you to be a Commander, you would run. I know this. But you’re also a fighter. You fight for what you believe in, which you showed by challenging me.” I watched his reaction. “Having said that, what I have in mind for you is more of a…singular position…working directly under me, by my command only. Your position would be completely undisclosed, this decision, and any future missions, between only you and me.”
He blinked. “A spy? Is that what you’re talking about? You want me to be a spy?”
My head teetered back and forth. “Think of it as being a black ops soldier.” I rubbed my chin, seeing I had sparked an interest by the way his eyes sparkled. “You could pass for a Com easily enough. And I have a feeling you have contacts worldwide I would probably prefer not to know about.” Hell, I had my own contacts like that since I had secretive houses all over the world, paranoid as I was. “The less you tell me the better. But I currently have a mission in mind you may be able to use those contacts for, and the skills I’m sure you’ve acquired through your years of occasionally running.” I would do it myself, but I was needed on a larger scale as Queen Shifter — being precise where I delegated my time for this war. So he was what I needed right now, someone just like me to do this job. “Interested, John?”
It didn’t take long. “You could say I’m intrigued.” His head cocked. “How do you know you can trust me to do as you ask?”
I shrugged. “I don’t trust you a hundred percent, but if you fuck me over, I’ll kill you.” And yes, that was truth spoken. No fanfare, only brutal honesty. This job needed to be done, and it was a long time coming. “You don’t know me, John. You thought you did at one time, and you were wrong. And I can tell you honestly, if you ever think you have me figured out now, you’d be wrong all over again.” And that was truth, too, since I couldn’t figure myself out half the time. “So, if you want this job, it’s yours, but know that I expect complete loyalty on your part with any mission I ask of you.”
He was quiet for a long moment. “Most women are softer when they become mothers.”
My lips twitched because that was fucking hilarious. “The answer to that is given.”
He chuckled quietly then finished off the rest of his wine. “I guess it is.” He placed the glass on the bar. “I’ll give you an answer by dawn.”
I nodded, even though I already knew what his verdict would be — as did he. “I’ll be waiting.” He was only playing hard to get, his ego not allowing him to do anything else. “Goodnight, John.”
He smirked, walking toward the tent’s flap. “Goodnight, my Queen.”
I snorted as soon as the flap closed behind him. Condescending bastard. And yeah, I really liked the guy for it. Rubbing a hand over my face, I let my head fall back on the chair, closing my eyes for a moment as I tried to switch gears, readying myself for what was about to come. Antonio hadn’t said anything to disprove what I had deducted. And neither had the other three Elders, each of them quiet as they had eaten their dinner as quickly as King Zeller and I had. Which was all the more confirmatory, but still, it didn’t make sense.
Standing, I lifted Isa and, wanting to test a notion, I walked us into our bedroom, murmuring, “Let’s get changed into something more comfortable, Isa.”
Only ten minutes later, Antonio popped his head past my bedroom’s protective flap, stating, “Everyone’s here, Lil.”
I was in the process of buttoning the jeans I had changed into. “We’ll be out in a moment.” Steadying my nerves was a biggie before I went out there where he was.
Antonio nodded and closed the tent’s
flap. Sighing, I tightened my ponytail and lifted Isa from the bed, now in her beetle-decorated pajamas. And as soon as I walked past the tent flap into the front room, I stopped, my attention zoning in on King Zeller where he sat on the chair I had vacated earlier.
His gaze honed in on the grey t-shirt I was wearing, and he blinked. Stared. A soft, rough chuckle escaped him as he muttered, “I wondered where the hell that disappeared to.” He rested an elbow on the arm of the chair, chin in hand, fingers covering his mouth as his gaze lifted to mine. “That was my favorite shirt.” His head tilted on his chin, eyes steady. “Was that a test?”
“Yes.” My head slanted to the Elders who stood frozen around the room. “Since they can’t say shit, I needed confirmation.”
His eyebrows rose, and he stared at Isa. “I would think both of us being mind raped at the same time, and your daughter’s looks, was confirmation enough.” He paused, hard gaze lifting to mine. “Correction: our daughter.”
I snorted. “I could have fucked any Vampire to have broken that Law. Yes, she looks damn near identical to you and not many Mysticals have your skin tone and green eyes—”
“My mother was Caucasian,” he interrupted me. “I got the green eyes from her, and I suppose somewhere down the road,” he spoke the name brusquely, “Elder Zeller had to have the gene also.”
“Anyway…” I gritted my teeth. “It could have been someone else…since under Law Six Zero Zero Two we never should have met again.”
He lifted his index finger from his mouth, pointing it at me. “And that is the question of the hour.” He rested back against the chair, eyes flittering down to my hands. He stared, then peered back up to my eyes. And completely surprised me by asking, “May I hold my daughter while we have this discussion?”
I blinked, an odd feeling of protectiveness and possessiveness churning inside my belly. This man, a man more powerful than me, since his Vizoac had been gifted to us, possessed a definite threat to my relationship with Isa. If he wanted, he could rightfully and fairly rip her from me and have her grow up with him instead. Without realizing, I had maneuvered my body so I was between the two of them, my eyebrows puckered furiously in frantic worry.
Instantly, he held his hands up in the air in supplication. “I only want to hold her.” His voice was soft, like he was talking to someone who was ready to run. And yeah, that fit pretty damn well with how I was feeling. “I would never,” he paused, then amended, “as long as she is being loved and well cared for by you, I would never try to take her away from you permanently.”
My mind froze. “Permanently?” I was pretty sure I took a few steps toward the front flap of my tent…and instantly masked my power.
King Zeller’s voice, if possible, became even more gentle, murmuring, “Would you keep her from me?” He held my gaze, eyes assessing. “That was all I was saying. I will want time with her.” His gaze flicked toward the tent flap, steel entering his tone. “You need to stop and think before you make a mistake, because I won’t be kind if you try to steal her from me.”
I froze and blurted the first thing that came to mind. “How the hell did I have sex with you?” I shook my head hard, my gaze roaming up and down his frame. “I hate you on a level I can’t even begin to explain.”
He hummed quietly, eyes taking their own journey up and down my body. “If it makes you feel better, I’m in the same predicament, because I very much despise you. Although, I imagine your hatred for me has a bit to do with the fact that I had you in silver cuffs a week ago.” He gestured up and down my body. “That, and I tortured you with a silver knife over and over again.”
We both ignored how Elder Merrick’s and Elder Jacobs’s attentions swung to Antonio and Elder Zeller.
Green eyes met my blue gaze, and he continued saying, “Besides, some would say there’s a very fine line between love and hate, and that the two sometimes blur together.” He paused a moment. “And I know for a fact that you not only had sex with me, Queen Ruckler, but you also trusted me completely, and loved me wholly, unconditionally, and without bounds.”
My eyes narrowed. He had spoken the truth like it was fact. “How do you know this?” When he stayed mute, my wolf growled quietly, but I tried to barter. “If I let you hold Isa, will you tell me?”
A black eyebrow lifted. “You’ll let me hold her anyway because she’s my daughter.” His eyes flicked to her, and I saw them soften. “Speaking of which, I would like to now.”
Antonio muttered, “Just let him, Lil.” His mouth opened, and he made that odd gurgling noise that happened so often when he tried to say something but couldn’t because of the spell.
I scowled, but after a few moments of contemplation, I figured there was no use trying to keep her from him. I was cruel, I was heartless...I was a bitch. But not where my daughter was concerned. She deserved to know him if he proved to be her father, which I had another way to test. Moving slowly, hating to do it but doing it nonetheless because it was right, I made my way to King Zeller.
His eyes were on me, but when I lowered Isa into his arms, his gaze snapped to her. Again, he instantly held her close, his large, muscled arms wrapping protectively around her and stretching the material of his dark silver robe. She stared at him, pressing away from his chest a bit to get a better view. Then she grinned as he stared at her, remembering him as she ducked her head, getting close to his warmth, patting at his chest.
My heart about melted at her sweet contentment, so I instantly backed away, feeling — actually, feeling — way too fucking much, and I firmly wrapped the protective shell of ice around my heart once again. “Would anyone care for a drink while we figure this out?” Hurriedly, I picked up the cold coffee from the coffee table and the empty wine glass from the bar, then maneuvered behind the bar. “I’ve got a bottle of red open.”
“Already entertaining?” King Zeller drawled.
Content with the frigid chill I had coating me, I peered up to him. And blinked, seeing Elder Zeller leaning over the back of the burgundy chair King Zeller sat on, crooning quietly to Isa and earning a few giggles of joy in response. I blinked again, then glanced back down to the cups I was cleaning out. “I wouldn’t call it entertaining exactly, more of a private meeting.”
King Zeller asked idly, “With one Mr John Smith, an alpha wolf Shifter, infantry under Commander Biel?” I glanced up at him, and his lips twitched. “I’m a Vampire, Queen Ruckler. I easily overheard your conversation in the dining hall.” He shrugged. “I was curious, so I inquired about him.” When I only continued staring, evaluating his actions, his lips lazily lifted — a direct contrast to John Smith — a bit of fang revealed, just a smidge. “This is my camp. I know everything that happens here. Significant or not.”
I breathed once, slowly, then stated, “I do realize this is King Shadow camp, and you and Elder Zeller founded it, but I was under the impression we were to be working together.” I placed my hands on the bar, my head cocking. “Or am I to understand, as you have just stated, this is your camp?” And all that implies. If it was, we were going to have even more issues than we already had, ones I had hoped wouldn’t occur but that I was prepared for nonetheless.
He stared with his intense green eyes, never once glancing away. Complete alpha. Utterly ruthless in his regard as he held my gaze. Everyone in the room had quieted, letting us have our little battle of wills without interruption, which was much appreciated because I seriously needed to know his answer to my question.
Again, he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “We’ll be working together, as was ordered, but know that nothing happens here without my knowledge.” A pause. “So, if you want to have more private meetings with Mr John Smith,” he snorted at the name, “which last exactly twenty-three minutes and forty-four seconds, or with anyone else, inside your privacy-spelled tent, I will be informed.”
My nostrils flared, and I barely kept my eyes from glowing, the ice in my veins cracking the barest smidge. This was fucking bullshit. It wasn’t
hard to see where this was coming from now that I listened more closely to his tone. “Just because we might have had a child together that gives you no damn rights over me.” I flicked a finger between the two of us. “We don’t even like each other now, we have no relationship other than business together, and quite frankly, I’m beginning to wish I had never stepped foot into this damn camp and was still blind to the truth.”
“Might have had a child?” he asked instantly, sounding incredulous. “Are you fucking blind, as well as sloppy?” He paused, head cocked. “Oh, that’s right,” again with that rough chuckle, his lips curving cruelly, “you thought I was a cat Shifter when we met, so I guess you are blind.”
“Sloppy?” I growled. “I’m not sloppy.” I pointed a sharp finger at him. “I’ll have you know that was the first night I had ever done drugs,” my finger slashed through the air, even though my defense sucked, “unlike you, and it’s just fucking perfect that Isa has a damn druggie dad.” My voice was rising. “And I’m certainly not blind.” My finger waggled up and down his body. “You’re big enough to be a Shifter and you move like a damn cat. It was a decent assessment, since you were masking.”
Elder Merrick’s jaw was beginning to gape, his head twisting back and forth between us. His hands lifted, and he stepped between our lines of vision to one another. Much like Antonio, he made a few gurgling sounds in his throat. Stopped. His wolf growled furiously as he stared off at nothing. Then he pointed a finger straight at me, ordering, “You’re getting off topic!”
My lips thinned, and I took a calming breath, not looking anywhere near the asshole King. “You’re right.” I pulled my cell phone out. “I’m going to have a DNA test done on him and Isa.”
“What?” King Zeller asked quietly.
“DNA…science,” I muttered, glaring at my phone as I hit Bindi’s number. “You’re intelligent enough to have heard of it, right?” My lips lifted when I heard his Vampire growl in irritation. I put the cell to my ear. “And don’t worry. Bindi, my nurse, is in the know as much as these four since she goes into those gurgling spells like they do.”
King Tomb (Forever Evermore) Page 8
