Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore #5) (17 page)

Flashing irritated eyes at King Collins, I lifted my hands, gripping Elder Farrar’s jaw lightly, and said, “Open, please.” When he opened his mouth, I tilted my head, inhaling heavily. I opened my Core, glowing white, and placed my open mouth against his. I exhaled extremely slowly, shooting my own unique blend of the protection of the stars into his very being, every nook and cranny. I had to grip his face tighter when he jolted, his hands instantly gripping my shoulders tight. I was not sure if the action was to push me away or to keep me close, probably a bit of both, as he glowed a smidgen. But when I gave all I had to give in that one breath, I released him.

He shook his head hard, actually knocking on the side of his head with his fist.

“Now, no,” I touched his arm, “with the enemy.”

He blinked in a daze but slurred, “No touching. Understood.”

Rolling my shoulders, I glanced behind him. “Next.”

Brann stepped forward, glancing at Elder Farrar. “How bad was it?”

Elder Farrar kept blinking, still glowing. He now had a bracing hand on a chair. “Oh, piece of cake.”

Brann grunted, seeing exactly what I was seeing: it appeared as if Elder Farrar was half drunk. Liquid amber came back to me, directly on my level. “Put ’em on me.”

I blinked for a moment, an actual chuckle escaping, even if a tiny one, and placed my hands on his jaw. “You asked for it.” I inhaled again, filling my lungs to their max, and glowed brightly before leaning forward, tilting my head, and placing my opened mouth on his. His hands instantly went to my hips, his fingers digging in more than slightly as his wolf growled loudly. I was suddenly slammed up against his massive body as I filled his entire being with my own unique blend. I released his jaw, tilting my head back when I was out of oxygen. His wolf was still growling, and he shook his head like a dog that had gotten wet, black curls flying about his head.

I patted his bare chest that I was smashed against. “You all right?”

More growling then a gruff, “Yeah.” His fingers slowly released my hips and he took one step to the left, dropping onto the chair Elder Farrar was still leaning on. His head fell back onto the top of the couch, and when he opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling, I could see they were glowing. Barely blinking, he ran a hand over his face before it dropped slack onto his lap.

Quickly, I averted my gaze to the remaining few. “Next?”

Predictably, they all hung back this time, expressions now wary.

I raised my arms innocently. “Elder Farrar said it wasn’t that bad.”

Brann snorted, then he started chuckling like a man three sheets to the wind. “It’s actually very,
very
good.” He rolled a lazy finger. “During and afterward.”

Elder Farrar started snorting and practically fell over the arm of the chair, his face level with Brann’s. “Thank God, it’s not just me,” he whispered not so conspiratorially. The control he had apparently been trying to maintain cracked as he laughed his ass off, his hair hanging in his glowing face. “I’ve never felt like this before.” A snorting pause. “Not by a woman, anyway.”

My eyes shot wide at that announcement, and I sniffed in their direction.

And yep, I could definitely tell they were turned on.

Brann rumbled, sounding high, “Hush, man.” He lifted a clumsy hand, shoving at Elder Farrar’s head and knocking him back. “I don’t want to lose it.”

Elder Farrar, snorting, fell from the shove right onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling, not moving except to blink. “Fuck, this is good.”

Jaw gaping at them, I turned my attention back to the remaining three in line. I shrugged a shoulder when they stared at me pointedly. “I guess it’s really not so bad.”

Elder Zeller glanced at them, and if I wasn’t mistaken, he glared the barest bit at Elder Farrar. He stepped forward, staring down his nose at me. “Show me what you’ve got.”

I blinked up at him. “You’re going to have to bend down.”

He grunted but did as told. I went through the process with him, and his Vampire growled loudly while his fingers instantly threaded through my hair, holding my face close. But he did release me easily when I was finished. He raised slowly, and stumbled…and fell flat on his face next to Elder Farrar on the ground, not really moving either. He muttered into the carpet, “I’ll have to work on imitating that.”

A fairly unintelligible response came from Elder Farrar.

King Zeller and King Collins were both appearing very apprehensive about this, and I rolled my eyes at them. “It’s for your own good.” I blinked sluggishly. “And if you need to think of it in another light, just remember it’s not cheating. It’s magic.”

Elder Zeller rumbled from his prone position, “Very good magic.”

“Be quiet,” Brann slurred. “Who knows how long this is going to last.”

When neither of the Kings moved, I sighed heavily and stepped forward. I grabbed King Zeller’s billowy shirt, yanking him down to my height. I planted my lips on his after having to use my thumb to open his mouth. I grunted when his hands slammed onto my back during the processes, his Vampire snarling as the man damn near ripped the back of my shirt.

In the end, he instantly jerked away from me. “Fucking…hell.” And he promptly fell on his ass right there, staring like an incoherent blind man. He chuckled quietly. “Oh yeah. I can duplicate this shit.” Quieter, slightly wicked snickering. “She’ll never know what hit her.”

My lips pinched. “You know what they say about old dogs that bring new tricks to the bedroom.”

“I’m not old.” He waved a wobbling hand. Fell on his side. “And I hide nothing from her.”

My attention swung to the wary gaze of my King. “You ready? It’s your turn.”

King Zeller sang drunkenly from the ground, “
Here come the water…water…water.”

Brann’s wolf growled. “Shut. Up. People.”

Before King Collins could protest—because he appeared to be about to—I yanked his face down and planted my mouth on his, luckily catching him with an open mouth as he was mid-protest. As with any turned on water Elemental, the sound of waves crashing instantly echoed in the room as I blew into his mouth. His hands flew to my cheeks and into my hair, gripping tight until I stopped. He stumbled backward, tripping over King Zeller, and flopped onto his back. He stayed there as he stared at the ceiling, while King Zeller laughed his ass off. The sound of the ocean was still heard faintly in the room. King Collins muttered, “I’m so writing this down about spirits.”

Snorting softly, I turned and headed to Elder Merrick where he was resting against the windowsill. Just watching. Like he always was. “Ready?”

He grunted. The man of many words.

“Hey, you made a sound. We’re getting somewhere.”

No comment.

Not even a grunt this time.

“Well, one step forward and two steps back. And all that shit.”

I didn’t peer into his eyes. They were trapping pools of complexity.

When I placed my lips on his, I tried not to freeze at their delectable softness.

Those lips were made for sinful pleasures.

His wolf huffed long and hard as my power filled him—and it was a possibility I took a little longer than I did with the others. It was out of spite. The lone wolf deserved it.

His hands crushed the windowsill he was holding on to, the wood creaking beneath his strong grip. Then it splintered and broke, shredded wood slivers littering the ground.

When I pulled away, he still said nothing. His gaze instantly landed on the carpet beneath his feet, and he shook his head roughly. Definitely a wolf in there.

I took the liberty to pat his broad shoulder. “That was fun, huh?”

His wolf…kind of…
huffed
.

I tried not to laugh. The man wouldn’t admit it, but his wolf was affected.

Rolling my head on my shoulders and staring at the incapacitated powerful men around the room, I muttered, “I have to prepare for the performance of my fucking life.” With that, I lay down on the vacant couch and stared at the ceiling, trying to numb myself to the absolute betrayal, the anger and disgust coursing through my system, and the definite mental collapse I would eventually have when it was safe to. The men didn’t bother me while they periodically chuckled or griped or sang from their positions, now protected from the Walker who could no longer read their minds.

Chapter Sixteen

Breathing in steadily, I stared a bit vacantly at the door to the private dining hall, the room reserved for us to eat dinner in. Elder Farrar had spelled the room for privacy and protection—that was his story, since we had been attacked just yesterday. Everyone was already in there, including Tristan since Brann had said later the tiger also smelled of death. I had hid in Elder Farrar’s room, and then my own room, when everyone had gone to work doing as I had ordered, but I knew I couldn’t stall any longer. With my white solace wrapped around me as tightly as I could, as I had been doing all afternoon, I opened the door and walked inside.

All eyes turned to me as I made my way toward the table.

I headed straight for Leric—the Walker—and smiled at him peacefully.

He stood and in a gallant move pulled my chair out for me.

I murmured, “Sorry I’m late. I was taking a nap and overslept.”

“That’s all right.” He placed his hand on my back, helping me take my seat.

I was so proud I didn’t completely lose it at his touch, not even outwardly shuddering like my insides did. I peered down at my food, asking him, “You ordered for me?”

He held up a hand. “Don’t be mad. I just knew you’d want to eat if everyone else was.”

“Right.” I glanced at his plate—chicken fettuccini. Mine was a hamburger. “Thank you.”

He draped his napkin on his lap. “I wasn’t a hundred per cent sure what you would want, so if you want to switch we can.”

I blinked up into his silver eyes. “No.” I grabbed my napkin, placing it on my lap.

He tilted his head to peer into my eyes. “Are you all right, Sprite? You seem a little distant.”

“I’m still tired from yesterday. I could have slept even longer than I did.”

“Ah,” he whispered. I tried to keep my body relaxed as he bent, placing his lips on my temple. “Are you still mad at me? Or have I been forgiven?”

I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat, keeping my head dipped. “I guess we’ll see.” I nudged his arm, lifting my own burger. “Try to behave with your parents here.” I looked up, making my lips curve. “Or forgiveness won’t happen. Ever.”

He winked. “Duly noted.”

He started eating as I did.

He didn’t even notice when I took a roll off his plate, feeding it to Tristan where he sat behind my chair.

Mrs Damon stated between bites of her meal, “I think I would have liked to see that play the others went to.” She flipped an agitated wrist at King Collins. “Next time, please inform us if there’s a change in activities, so we can attend if we wish.”

King Collins’s nod was humble, properly chastised. “I’ll do that in the future.”

Mr Damon grinned at me from across the table, munching on his own burger. “So, Caro, it’s not every day someone gets the slip on my son at the Temple. Not only that, you stole from him.” He winked. “Your background suited you well to escape our clutches.”

“Dad…” Leric growled before shaking his head at me. “I’m sorry, but decorum hasn’t ever been one of his finer traits.”

I forced a chuckle. “Your dad’s fine.”

Mr Damon examined my features. “What did you steal, anyway?”

“A way home,” I murmured, lifting a fry that tasted absolutely dreadful, my stomach still churning. “I achieved my goal.”

He blinked slowly. “You wanted to go home…so you snuck into his bedroom?”

I waved an absent-minded hand. “I stole the…” My brows puckered, glancing to Leric. “What was it called? The Pono Diamond, or something like that?” I shrugged a shoulder, my attention swinging back to Mr Damon. “You saw me use it in the memory. The Pono Diamond thing gave me that access.”

Leric chuckled quietly. “The
Primal
Diamond.” He tapped my nose lightly. “You stole it, and you didn’t even know what it was called?”

“I just knew it would take me home,” I stated candidly, gnawing on another fry.

His mom huffed. “You stole the Primal Diamond?” Her eyes were enormous as they swung to Leric. “She did give it back to you, didn’t she?”

Leric waved a hand. “Calm down, mom. I’m sure she’ll give it back soon.” He blinked, glancing down at me. “Sprite, you do know where my token is, don’t you?” Another blink, his eyes narrowing. “That bastard Philip Masterson didn’t take it from you, did he?”

Realizing a large majority of the spirits at the table were listening to the conversation, quiet as they ate, I went with the safe answer. I kept my tone apologetic. “I don’t have it anymore, Leric.” I made my gaze worried, darting my eyes back and forth between his. “I lost it a long time ago when Sin and I had to run.”

“
What?
” Mrs Damon practically shouted across the table.

Interesting. But I kept my worried gaze on Leric.

Waving a hand at his mom, he cupped my cheek with his other hand. “It’s all right, Sprite.” Again, I had to swallow down a shit-ton of bile as he kissed my forehead. “We can figure it out eventually, don’t upset yourself over it.”

“I am sorry,” I murmured, pulling my head away from him to peer up into his eyes.

“I know.” His lips quirked.

Acting properly remorseful, I peered down. My eyes dipped to everyone’s plates.

Which were empty enough.

And I sneezed.

All hell broke loose in that instant.

Elder Merrick, sitting on Leric’s other side, smashed his fist against Leric’s face.

Both of them tumbled onto the ground behind me.

King Collins blasted Mr Damon with a spray of icy water from his outstretched hands, throwing him across the room. He jumped to his feet, following and holding him immobile.

Brann tossed Mrs Damon across the room right behind her husband.

King Zeller blurred, grabbing Reese by the throat. He tackled him onto the table, and plates flew everywhere.

Elder Zeller blurred, knocking into Roselle when she stood shouting and throwing her arms out, and both of them hit the ground hard as he took her down.