After two weeks of my three week stint of recovery in the hotel suite, even I was antsy and grumpy, but it didn’t explain Cain’s and Brann’s nervousness. It was late one evening after eating dinner in the room—our usual until I was healed, and watching a comedy my King had run to the market and bough—one of the many movies he had purchased to fill our time. I tried not to stare, but Brann continued to jump from his chair, going onto the balcony, standing there for long stretches before coming back inside calmly, and sitting for a half hour. Cain wasn’t as bad, but his foot continued to tap next to mine on the ground with an absent hand running through his curls every once in a while. I had been noticing subtle gestures like these for the past few days, but tonight was probably the worst it had been.
Lips pinched, I watched as Brann came back inside, sitting heavily on a chair, rolling his head on his shoulders before focusing on the television, even as Cain swiped his hand through his curls again, and in complete exasperation, and possibly, a smidge of worry, I blurted loudly into the darkened room, “What the hell is going on with you two?”
All eyes found mine.
I blinked slowly, and then flicked a finger between Brann and Cain. “What’s going on? Has there been news that I don’t know of?” A finger flick to the balcony. “Is there some type of incursion headed our way?”
Brann’s head fell back with a groan, staring at the ceiling. “I could only wish.”
Worried, and confused, my gaze bounced to Cain. “Explain, please.”
Navy blue eyes blinked slowly. “I thought we were handling it well.” A flicked glance to Brann, then back to me. “To a certain degree, anyway.”
Elder Bridges grunted, placing a fist in front of his mouth, quickly turning his gaze back to the projected movie when Cain instantly glared at him.
I moved along, wanting answers. “Whatever this is, you’re not as bad as Brann, but I still don’t understand.”
Brann startled me by jumping to his feet, shaking his hands, muscles bulging, damn near bellowing, “We’re fucking Shifters, Caro!” A jammed finger at Cain, even as he yelled at me, face abruptly red in rage, “And I don’t have his goddamn experience handling this fucking torture.”
Gaze wide; I didn’t make any fast moves, staying quiet because he had a wild—not controlled, animalistic look in his gaze.
Cain was instantly on his feet, the room silent at Brann’s outburst. Cain’s bare feet were deathly quiet as they ate up the white carpeting of the room, power pulsing off his body…what felt almost like soothing Shifter magic. He grabbed Brann’s face, holding it steadfast, a quiet growl reverberating in the air as he locked gazes with him. Brann trembled the barest bit, inhaling heavily, trying to shove away from Cain, gritting through his teeth, “I don’t need your help. I’m not going to lose it.”
Cain only shoved him against the wall when Brann did, in fact, lose it. He grabbed the fist that swung at his head, slamming it against the wall…making a nice hole there in the plaster, shoving one forearm against his throat, Cain’s wolf growling loudly, but his tone was steady when he murmured quietly, “You don’t want the fucking help, then I’m giving you a damn order.” He immediately shoved Brann again when he tried to escape the hold, more plaster and paint falling, while I stared with saucer eyes, jaw gaping, not breathing. In the blink of an eye, I felt Cain’s power fluctuate differently, more pressing soothing magic floating forcefully throughout the room, before it altered…and seemed to aim directly at Brann, making him jerk on a groan, and Cain ordered quietly, “Shift. Now.”
Jaw clenched, spewed words between his teeth. “Fuck. You.”
Cain shook his head ever so slightly, his voice half wolf. “Wrong answer, pup.” My eyes enlarged even more so when Cain stepped back from the enraged Brann, only to tap his forehead with one finger…
…And instant wolf Brann.
And while Brann might be smaller than Cain’s wolf—only by a bit, his fur straight black, eyes glowing amber, it was still a shock to see.
Brann growled furiously, snarling up at Cain, shaking off his shredded clothes.
Cain’s wolf only huffed quietly as he bent to place his face directly in front of Brann’s wolf’s snout, stating quietly, “Stop it.” Instantly, I felt that soothing magic floating through the air again, and Cain lifted his hands, ruffling Brann’s fur. “Go lie down outside on the balcony.”
Brann growled once more, shaking his head out of Cain’s hold, but when he moved, he rubbed his flank on Cain’s leg in a sign of affection…and I froze when he started to move by me, but instead altered, jumping so his paws were on the back of the couch on either side of my shoulders. My King even jerked on the other side of me, like I did…because Brann was fucking scary as hell…placing his hand instantly on Brann’s throat, his hand glowing like blue ice, even though Cain didn’t move to stop Brann, standing behind him. Brann only tilted his head to my King, huffing once before he turned his attention back to me…and I swear he smiled. It wasn’t a smile I could truly appreciate with all those sharp teeth, but I understood now, so I stated on a quiet, even voice, “You should have told me you were having issues.”
His nose wiggled.
“He’ll be fine now.” Cain grabbed the back of his neck, yanking on his ruff. “That’s enough apologies, Brann.”
Brann growled a little, and ducked his enormous head, bopping me under the chin with his snout before pushing off the couch—rocking the damn thing with his weight, letting Cain pull him back, and headed to the balcony…where he howled loudly once before lying down…peacefully.
I blinked slowly, and then jammed a finger at Cain. “I’m ordering you to shift before you fucking lose it, too.”
Red lips lifted subtly, a small cocky grin, as he crossed his arms in front of me. “My control is aged with experience. I can handle the longer stints much better than the pup can.”
“I’m not saying you can’t.” That much was obvious. I ran a hand through my hair, head tilted back, staring up at him evenly. “But you haven’t shifted since we’ve been here, much less went running. You’ve been cooped up in hotel suites and a hospital room for the last eight weeks, the only relief you’ve gotten was riding a damn horse. I understand why neither of you have left to do what you need, but for you to be as lethal and focused as I need you to be, you need to shift regularly. Way before you both get to this stage where you’re damn fidgety and off balance.” There, that was part of the reason. The other part I wouldn’t mention because I felt damn guilty. I should have realized this, and he only needed to hear the tough reasons, the reasons to make himself stronger, not my weak emotional ones. My jaw set, and I pointed my finger again, waggling it when he didn’t move. “My Lajaks need to be the best, and right now, you’re not at your best because I’ve been ignorant to your needs.” My finger flicked to the Vamps. “They know they need blood, so they’ve made due with what’s here.” Finger back to Cain. “You’re just going to have to do the same. It might just be a hotel room, but shifting will help. And if I’ve been sloppy enough to miss anyone else’s needs,” I glanced at the group, “please let me know.”
“Actually, you spirits are fairly tasty,” Elder Bridges supplied.
King Zeller grunted. “Definitely diverse.”
“Thank you.” I think. Not really worried if I needed to guard my veins while I slept, since they had never asked me to donate, my eyes flicked to Cain, and I waved a hand. “Just do it.”
One black brow cocked. “I’m fine.”
My lips pinched. “I’m not arguing with that point, I’m simply stating you will be even better, even more lethal,” lift his ego a little more, “that much more honed and deadly, better able to protect me, that much more intense…after shifting.” My head tilted to the Vamps while I held navy blue eyes, putting weakness on others. “How do you think they would be without blood?” Everyone knew the fighters of our Mystical world were the Vampires and the Shifters, but it didn’t come without some weakness, which I was sure they hated, whereas, Elementals and Mages were more well-balanced, but not as physically resilient. “It can’t hurt to be at the top of your game, right?”
Arms still crossed he stared for a long moment, and then ran a hand through his curls, muttering, “Fine, I am that much better after shifting.” He put his hands behind his head, grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it off right there in front of me, all types of strung tight muscles rippling, my eyes flying wide open, especially, when he started to unbutton his pants, seeming now to be in a damn hurry to get undressed and shift.
“Jesus,” Elder Samson muttered, waving a hand. “Just for once, can’t you people do that elsewhere?”
“Perhaps,” my King flicked a finger to the side, even as he placed his other hand over my eyes when Cain only continued undoing his zipper, “not right in front of us?”
Or, maybe they could all leave, and he could keep undressing in front of me?
Cain’s voice was half wolf. “Close your damn eyes if you don’t want to see.”
I heard the rustling of pants, my King muttering a quiet grumbled complaint, keeping his hand over my eyes, like I was a damn child, but it wasn’t like I could push his hand away to stare, so I sat perfectly still until his hand lowered. I flicked him a withering glare, but it didn’t have much gusto behind it because my attention quickly swung to the enormous wolf in front of me, and I froze completely. Black fur slightly wavy, it flew about as he shook himself, stretching languidly, hind quarters in the air, then his chest up, massive paws pattering on the ground. He rolled a couple of times, stretching on the ground, lying on his back, arching, rubbing the top of his head on the carpet, like he had a scratch he couldn’t reach, not acting as I had remembered while I watched with wide eyes, since the last time I had seen him in his wolf form…well, he had ended up hurting me…badly.
I jerked back against the couch when he rolled swiftly back onto his stomach, navy blue eyes lifting to Elder Samson’s foot by his nose. He sniffed, and lifted, huffing quietly. Moved on to King Zeller, sniffed him a bit, growling quietly when King Zeller nudged him with his knee. His next culprit was Elder Bridges, who showed a bit of fang when he sniffed heavily at his hand. Elder Farrar ruffled his fur on top of his head when Cain leaned heavily on him, smelling his shirt, producing a huffing growl from Cain, smacking his jaws at him. Sin held perfectly still as Cain made a slow stalk around his chair, sniffing him at every angle, but he eventually moved on, and in wolf form, managed a swagger, swinging his tail as he moved toward us…looked at King Collins’s pant leg, not smelling him, but his black nose wiggled a bit.
King Collins muttered a quiet curse. “Yes, I was the culprit who stole your coffee this morning.” The middle finger was raised. “It hurt like hell, too, when I spilled half of it.” The wolf huffed quietly a few times…like he was laughing, and King Collins muttered another curse, then decided ignoring him was best, staring over him at the movie.
The wolf huffed a few more times, apparently still laughing, but a moment later, he dropped low onto his stomach. I held perfectly still as navy blue eyes flicked toward me. I really wanted to pick my feet up off the floor as he started to inch toward me bit by bit, extremely careful, pausing every once in a while as I eyed him with caution and uneasiness and, possibly, with remnants of fear, from our previous meeting, knowing full well, yes, Cain was still running the show, but his wolf definitely had a strong foot hold in his shifted form.
He stopped inching closer once his nose touched the tip of my bare toe. No sniffing. No moving. Just lay perfectly still.
I eyed him closely, curling my toes into the carpet, ready to jump away if he pounced…but he only continued to lie there, navy blue eyes peering up at me quietly, his huffing breathing fanning over my feet.
I waited, watching him.
Waited even longer, knowing full well how cunning a wolf could be, my previous foster parent, Philip Masterson, having taught me well enough how brutal they were, not to mention, an enormous, frightening as fuck one like Cain.
Time stretched on into minutes.
Minutes lulled into a half hour.
King Collins even nudged Cain’s flank at one point when I didn’t move for the popcorn he tried to hand me, seeing where my guarded gaze was glued.
But, he still didn’t move.
So, I continued scrutinizing him.
A half hour turned into an hour…and that was when he twitched…sniffing me slowly, just the barest twitching of his nose against my toes, the action almost tickling, except for…there were all those teeth hiding. Instinctively, I jerked my feet back against the couch. He froze again. Watching. Silently…until his eyes closed…and he fell asleep, his wolf snoring softly.
Exhaling slowly, grandly, I closed my eyes, my body relaxing on the couch, head falling back on the cushion, and reached blindly for the bowl of popcorn on my King’s lap, grabbing it, and putting it on my own. Stuffing my mouth with a handful, the smell driving me crazy for the past half hour, practically ready for a nap now after that tense damn hour of a stare off between…I froze, trying not to scream, eyes flying wide open when I felt the brush of fur against my hand holding the bowl…and damn near choked on my popcorn, seeing Cain’s enormous body raised, standing fully in front of me…with his head in the bowl of popcorn on my lap, studying its contents, his tongue peeking out—no teeth showing—as he caught a few pieces, and ate them quietly, only for his tongue to peek back out, catch a few more with the flick, munching those just as silently.
I swallowed heavily, the popcorn going down cuttingly, but I still moved my hand from under his jaw very warily and gently. He stopped eating, and dunked his head…and started tipping the bowl toward me. Instinctively, I grabbed it, but froze again, when his body moved forward, pressing his furry, warm chest against my knees…and dipped his head to start eating from the bowl quietly, his face rubbing against my hands his head was so large.
King Collins did a double take from the movie, staring down at Cain, muttering, “Seriously?” He wiggled the bowl. “There’s going to be drool all over the popcorn!”
Navy blue flicked up for the first time, and I was pretty sure he glared at him, but he stayed silent, only flicking his tongue out to grab more…no drool showing whatsoever, and thank God, no teeth, either. In fact, when King Collins glanced away in irritation, Cain shifted his big head, using his snout to push my hand into the bowl….then rested his chin on the edge…his gaze darting up to mine for the first time since he had hijacked my bowl…and after pretending to sleep.
Cautiously, I took a few pieces—all dry, and raised them to my mouth, eating them slowly, only to have to grab the bowl again when he once more started tipping it. My eyes narrowed the barest bit, that action definitely not an accident. I waited…and watched as he nudged my hand into the bowl, watched me as I ate…only to start to tip it again when I didn’t reach for more. His head started to gradually move back from the glass rounded edge, to ever so slowly and gently lower to my legs…where, as long as I continued eating, he didn’t try to tip the bowl, sniffing me covertly, just a slight wiggling of his nose against my bare skin—my pajama shorts ending higher on my thighs, moving down over my knees, huffing every once and a while…only to lift and steal more popcorn.
Unbidden, my lips twitched.
He didn’t miss it, either. His rounded ears twitched. Even though he was staring into the bowl, trying to get more, he was using all of his senses right now…as he tried to make me not fear him. It had taken awhile for me to understand, but that was what he was doing. Possibly even why he hadn’t wanted to shift around me, knowing I would after our match at the manor. Why he had started sniffing the others first, saving me for last, pretended to sleep, then ate from my own bowl, not showing his scary teeth.
I reached down into the bowl around his snout, slowly lifting a few pieces of popcorn into my hand, cupping them, and holding them under his nose…a silent peace offering, me saying I was sorry for being such an idiot…because I knew his wolf didn’t hate me…well, no more than the man did, anyway. He instantly pressed on me more firmly, huffing softly, and I felt his tongue flick out, taking the popcorn from my hand, again eating them silently, his own brand of saying he wasn’t upset with me.
That night when we went to sleep, he and Brann were still in their shifted forms, but when he jumped onto his bed…his tail somehow managed to creep across to my bed, dig under my blanket and intertwine between my ankles.
Chaotic…twisting…delusional…pain, so much agony…heated steel…like a bolt, I jerked upright in bed. Breathing hard, my gaze flew about even as I wiped a shaking, dimly glowing hand across my forehead, then stared down into sleepy silver eyes. Instantly, my gaze flew to his other side, and thank God, Lissa wasn’t there. Voice a mere croak, I mumbled, “Sorry.”
Leric’s voice was quiet. “You can stay here if you want.” My attention slammed on him, and he rolled over, giving me his back, murmuring, “Just to sleep.”
I actually thought about that a moment, wondering if I would just end up here again if I didn’t, but I remembered Cain, and my previous stupidity, and I gently crawled from the bed, whispering, “I’d better get back.”
His tiger growled quietly, his bare back still to me, sheet hanging over his hip. “To him. You mean, you should get back to him.”
My lips pinched, glancing at his empty bed again. “Where’s Lissa?”
He was quiet for a long moment, and then murmured, “She ran out the door as soon as you came through.”
Ah. I ran a hand through my hair, trying not to feel possessive. “That was smart.” And it was, even if my voice was clipped. I turned toward his suite’s door, and began moving toward it. “Again…I’m sorry to interrupt your night.”
I heard the sheets rustling, then Leric’s voice was stronger, and I knew he was facing me. “What I said before, about sex not making you his…I wasn’t lying, Caro.” He paused when I did in the middle of the room, keeping my back to him, but listening…since he sounded reasonable, him and me never talking about that day when he had lost it. His words were slow, deliberately calm as he continued, but he spoke through our bond for any eavesdropping ears. “From what I saw, it may never work, and not because of you. Deep inside you are a tender-hearted individual, and you will eventually forgive him for what he did to you, but he…that’s a lot of fucking hate, kitten, and it’s not because of what you’ve done, or who you are, but because of what you are.”
I swallowed heavily, and also spoke with the same form of communication. “What you may have missed in all that sex you saw, was the fact that even though I don’t hate him because of what he is, I truly do hate him because of who he is, not just what he did. He’s an unscrupulous, calculating bastard that has grown up cold and hard, making him into who, the man on the inside, he is today, which would be the complete opposite of me. Arguing which is worse on what to hate, who someone is or what someone is, is moot in my opinion, because they’re both equally important when two people despise each other with equally long honed hatred for those pieces of a person.” I sighed heavily, running a hand through my somewhat damp hair from my night terrors. “And yet, having said all that, I’ve found myself caring for him, and he for me…both equally a little.” I stayed silent after that, not glancing back, giving him a moment to process that news.
His voice was chilling when he spoke in my mind. “I should probably tell you, just as you will hunt Lissa down if she ever hurts me, I’ll do the same with him if he ever hurts you. And it won’t even matter if I do believe you’re making a mistake by continuing this. If you’re hurt by his actions, if he is ever malicious and deceitful to you again, he’ll be dead.”
I chuckled quietly, my own tone chilling. “If he ever did that to me again, his blood would be on my hands, not yours.”
He was quiet for a long moment behind me before he stated quietly through our bond, “Just be careful, kitten. What you’re entering with him…the outcome is murky at best.”
“I know.” And I did. I started moving toward the door again. “Good night, Leric.”
“Good night, my Chosen.”
Walking down the hallway, I passed the Guardians securing his door, and moved down to mine, a few doors down, and stopped, listening closely…and didn’t hear anything. I sighed heavily, closing my eyes for a moment, then knocked on the door, since I didn’t exactly have a key stuck in my pajamas somewhere. It opened instantly, King Zeller standing in his pajama bottoms, hair mussed, lips pinched, staring at me with an extremely pointed expression.
My brows puckered as I walked past him into the dark room, everyone in bed, quiet…except for glowing eyes greeting me from all, Brann and Cain shifted back to their natural forms. I stopped in place, my own eyes glowing a bit when King Zeller shut the door behind me, the room only lit from the moon through the balcony, and he moved to place his hand on my back, pushing me forward a bit, stating quietly, “You disappeared before we could wake you.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured as we moved toward the beds. “I didn’t mean to wake everyone.” I blinked, then hurried to say, “Again.”
Elder Bridges pushed up on an elbow, stating casually, “Yes…well, maybe, you should have stayed in the One’s bed.” He held my gaze, yawning tiredly. “He did offer, did he not?”
Instantly, my heart rate crashed, plummeting as deeply as my stomach, only to shoot off like crazy, eternally grateful Leric had started speaking through our bond, knowing for certain now Elder Bridges would have heard our conversation, and I stuttered, “He did offer, b-but I wanted to come…back.” Instantly, peace transfused me, the gentlest of brushes from King Zeller’s guiding hand on my back, and I stated evenly, “Maybe I should get my own room, so I don’t wake you all in the future.”
Elder Farrar yawned loudly. “I believe everyone was just startled,” another yawn, and he rolled, fluffing his pillow, “when you screamed all of a sudden, shaking the room, then glowed bright enough to light the entire area, only to disappear a few moments later.”
I stopped dead, rubbing a hand over my face, and if I wasn’t still receiving the peace from King Zeller I knew I would have been mortified, feebleness unmistakably exposed.
Sin grumbled defensively, “Her nightmares aren’t usually that bad.” Emerald green eyes connected with mine. “You’re sleeping with me, love. Don’t even think about getting another room.”
Sounding exhausted, Elder Samson muttered, “You’re fine, Ms. Jules.” He waved a hand at the bed. “Just lie down so we can all go back to sleep.”
Cain grunted, watching me quietly with his head on his crooked arm, more than likely bare under the sheet tied around his waist. “Every single person in this room has a past that haunts them in some way. You’re no exception to this.” He flicked a finger to my bed. “Plus, now that I’ve seen it happen, I’m fairly sure I can wake you the next time before you disappear.”
Elder Bridges snorted, lying back down. “Speak for yourself, Elder Merrick. I sleep with a clear conscious every night.”
Cain chuckled quietly, not bothering to glance his way. “Do I even need to call bullshit, Elder Bridges?” When no response came, Cain flicked his finger again to the bed. “Get some sleep, Ms Jules.”
King Zeller gave me a light shove, his magical peace disappearing as his hand fell away, but I felt mildly calm as I walked on…only to stumble when suddenly King Zeller’s voice was directly in my ear, even though he was already tucking himself back into his bed, his words softly spoken. “Elder Merrick is not as calm as he appears. You frightened him when you disappeared, and then, it didn’t help when you didn’t show for another half hour, even though I tried to explain to everyone you were only sound asleep in the One’s bed.” A pause. “In other words, try to calm him before Elder Bridges picks up on it because everyone else’s emotion will wane as they fall asleep, and Elder Merrick’s are too heightened right now for Elder Bridges to miss.”
I kept my face as blank as I could during that spiel, and then made myself move again, crawling into bed, making sure I lay on the edge, Sin pulling in close to my back, wrapping his arms around me tight. I kissed his cheek lightly, affectionately, then turned my attention to the Shifter who was resituating himself on his trundle, unwrapping the blanket around his waist to let it lie normally over him, his gaze meeting mine finally…and even though my eyes had stopped glowing, his were still dimly shimmering between his hooded lids and thick lashes, both doing a stellar job of hiding whatever it was he was feeling right now, which I couldn’t even decipher, but I rested my hand out casually over the bed, keeping the sheet draped over it…and instantly felt his warm, long fingers threading through mine, gripping my hand tightly…and that was all the invitation I needed to keep him safe from Elder Bridges.
I opened my Core, the tiniest sliver, and floated into the cosmos, concentrating on the connection to my hand. I found his shimmery, beautiful black tether instantly, and pulled it gently to my lips, whispering, “Be at peace.”
It was only the slightest touch of continuous magic, but instantly, Cain inhaled sharply, his grip on my hand turning brutal, apparently having felt the influx of my power…but his eyes stopped glowing as he accepted it, not fighting me, his body relaxing visible where he lay on his side facing me…in fact, I instantly felt the gentlest, most sweetest, brushing of soothing Shifter magic run over me from my hand up, feeling like the silken brush of heated fur, just the barest morsel, a whisper, like mine for him, but I instantly held his hand more firmly, accepting his offer to soothe me.
And we both jolted a bit when, apparently, King Zeller was speaking to both of us, directly in our ears from the trundle behind Cain’s, muttering, “That’s sweet and shit, but you’ll both need to try to relax, cut it off, and go to sleep before anyone other than Sin figures it out.”
Sin chuckled quietly behind me…so apparently, he’d heard, too, only snuggling closer, whispering softly, “Agreed, love.” A pause. “We probably shouldn’t do anything too freaky with others in the room.”
Elder Bridges groaned loudly, sounding pained across the expanse of the trundles. “I had better not see any leaves or stars floating in the damn air!”
Sin laughed outright when a few others groaned their tired agreement. “Who said I do leaves? It could be prairie grass or sunflowers or,”
“It was just an assumption,” Elder Bridges cut him off, growling crossly. “And unless you want your neck slashed I wouldn’t start any freaky shit with her tonight.”
Elder Farrar deadpanned on a yawn, “Especially, as loud as she screams.”
King Zeller started choking, and I heard him turning on his trundle.
“Leave. My. Prodigy. Alone.” My King sounded grumpy, and tired, as hell. “Now, all of you, shut the hell up!”
A deep snore echoed from Brann.
I think we all peered at him for a moment, seeing him utterly conked out.
Elder Samson muttered in tired awe, “How in the hell…?”
Flopping my head back on the pillow, I stared at Cain with an amused gaze, even as he stared back, eyes crinkling, still holding my hand while answering steadily, “The absence of the shift, then abrupt change, probably wore him out.”
My King growled, “Or it’s the simple fact it’s three o’clock…in the fucking morning!”
There was a minute pause, then Sin moaned deep and soft, “Just a little faster, love.”
I started laughing silently, my shoulders shaking.
Dry words from Elder Samson. “Someone please tell me I didn’t just hear that.”
Sin’s voice sounded breathless. “You’ll thank me once you’re sleeping under the stars.”
I kicked his shin hard, enjoying his grunt, no longer laughing. “That’s not funny.”
“You know…” Elder Samson muttered, interrupting us as Sin tried to soothe me, rustling on his bed. “I actually wouldn’t mind some stars on the ceiling. Can you work that, Ms. Jules?” A pause with chopped, choked words. “Without a climatic end?”
I grinned softly as Cain started rubbing his thumb back and forth over mine. “I can do you one better.” I let myself glow, then tilted my head, studying the ceiling before pushing my power, brushing my free hand wide, creating a large version of the screen right before calling someone outside the Temple, expanding the entirety of the ceiling above, the cosmos shimmering down on us.
There was silence all around, except for Brann’s quiet snoring as I cut my glow off, but left my Core open, eyes glowing dimly, to allow the best vantage point as everyone stared at the beauty above us.
Time slowly ticked away, then Sin mumbled, staring at the ceiling, “Love, I have a serious question.”
That was never a good thing. “Hmm?”
“You know how we all grow more powerful with age?”
“Yeah.”
“Well,” he flicked his hand at the ceiling, then lowered it back to my waist, “Do you think since you’re going to own all that damn galactic power eventually in your crown,” yeah, they had asked that one the third night they were here, “that when you climax, later in life, it won’t just be the stars that manifest from your body?” Another wave at the ceiling. “It’ll be that?”
“For the love of God, Sin!” My King barked, waving his hands at the ceiling. “We’re staring at all this goddamn beauty and that’s all you ask?”
I cleared my throat delicately, and knowing Sin was actually asking a serious question, just curious for my input, I murmured, “I believe some of it already is.” I pointed to one of the planets that looked like Mars. “That was there the last time.” I rubbed Cain’s hand soothingly with my thumb when it tightened marginally on mine, obviously not liking me talking about our private affairs…but it was Sin…so my finger flicked to the far left where a planet with two moons rotated. “So was that one.” I dropped my arm. “A few others were, too, but they weren’t in your field of vision.” Had to keep with this mindset that Sin was my lover around this group, thanks to Leric’s outburst. “So, yes, as I get older, and gain more power, I believe that’s what will happen.”
He hummed quietly, kissing my neck softly, and then stared silently at the ceiling.
Elder Bridges cleared his throat after a silent moment, muttering, “I know I’m not the only person in this room wondering what damn position he was in that those weren’t in his line of vision.”
King Zeller grunted, stating smoothly, “Blindfolded, for one.”
Snapped fingers from the Vampire Elder. “Dammit, that was too easy.”
“Yep.” King Zeller chuckled quietly. “Losing your touch for the dark side, Elder Bridges?”
“No,” arrogant words, “But, I just couldn’t visualize…never mind, they just seem too cute for the darker arts.”
I murmured slowly, getting my point across, “How about we all go to sleep now?”
“Best idea yet,” my King muttered on a yawn.
Elder Farrar spread his arms wide, staring up at the ceiling, mumbling absently, “Does anyone else feel like they’re going to be sucked into the big, black chasm?”
No one answered, and my lips trembled.
He brought his hands back to his chest. “Guess that’s just me.” A flicked finger up at the ceiling. “It’s like a bad acid trip the harder I stare.”
“Actually,” Elder Samson mumbled, his words muffled on his pillow. “I believe that’s exactly what Ms. Jules warned us would happen if we touched the screen during our private calls a few weeks ago.”
A tense pause, then Elder Farrar griped loudly, “She didn’t fucking explain that to me!” An irritated huff. “All I had to go off was the previous call at the manor!”
I cleared my throat once. “Oops.”
Cain started chuckling silently, shaking his head at me, eyes crinkling again, appearing all types of amused, even as Elder Farrar muttered a few curses under his breath, fluffing his pillow again by punching it.
My King’s reprimand was quiet. “Caro…”
“What?” I asked innocently. “Some like to blather endlessly…while others prefer silence.”
My King wasn’t stupid as I quietly snubbed Elder Farrar. “Caro…”
“Fine,” I cleared my throat, “In the future, Elder Farrar, never touch the screen.”
“Caro…”
Dammit. “And don’t get too close to it.” Only I could do that.
“Caro…”
I sighed heavily. “And never try to send anything magical through it.” The results were not pretty for the sender.
My King cleared his throat when Elder Farrar muttered another curse under his breath, hearing of the ways he could have been injured. “Apologize, my Prodigy.”
I snorted, snuggling my head further on the pillow. “Not happening. And besides, he knew the worst of the dangers.” The others would have just hurt him…a lot.
“Caro…”
I intoned deeply, “My King…”
King Collins growled quietly, but didn’t try again, muttering, “One day, Caro…you’ll have your own Prodigy to deal with.”
As one, everyone but Sin, Brann, and I started chuckling quietly.
Gaze still on Cain’s, I scowled, and he promptly tried to bite back his mirth, snorting with the effort, and appearing better, I chose that time to cut off the peace I was sending him, which only seemed to affect him a little, his own soothing peace quietly diminishing while the others laughed it up, not noticing any fluctuations in powers, our fingers still intertwined, just holding the other’s hand in the darkness.
“Keep laughing…because,” my lips tilted evilly, “a Prodigy under my training…only means another similar to me to deal with in the future as Elders.”
King Zeller coughed hard, muttering, “Jesus, she’s right.”
I crooned grandly, “And with that lovely thought, I bid everyone goodnight.”