Chosen Thief (26 page)

I rolled my eyes at their cuteness and ignored them, turning to stare at the woods, seriously hoping Sin behaved himself…and Leric, too. Instantly, I realized how foolish that was, so I turned my back to actions I couldn’t stop from happening within the woods, not going to worry until I
had to, and went to change into my bathing suit. I made a mental note to also grab Sin’s, knowing he would want to cool off after he came back, hopefully unharmed.

I grunted, the smell of dirt permeating my senses as familiar, strong arms lifted me against a bare, hard chest, waking me from the nap I was taking under the sun, the warm rays having made my body lethargic. “Sin,” I murmured grumpily,
hazy sleep keeping me under as I wrapped my arms around what felt like his dirty neck, tucking my face close. “I was comfortable.”

“I know,” he whispered softly against my hair. He started trembling against me, chuckling quietly. “But it’s time for you to wake up.”

I froze as I felt him jump, then we were freefalling before I shrieked at the contact of cold water touching my heated skin. I quickly
held my breath as we went under, the water like ice against my skin as it enveloped me inside Sin’s hold. I pushed away, swimming to the surface of the pool he had just dropped us in. Blinking water out of my eyes, I waited…then pounced as soon as he resurfaced, dunking him quickly and lifting my feet to his shoulders, shoving him down even farther. I chuckled evilly as I treaded water, staring
down where I had pushed him, then shrieked again as his hand gripped my ankle and dragged me down. We fought under the water, each of us trying to keep the other one down as long as we could. Eventually, when my lungs felt like they were going to explode, having nowhere near his lung capacity, I pinched his arm lightly and he instantly released me, shoving me up toward the surface while following
me up.

“Trying to drown yourselves?” Leric drawled from somewhere to our right as we sucked in oxygen, feet and arms treading water as we grinned at each other.

I tilted my head in his direction, still grinning, and saw him sitting at the edge of the pool, strong legs dangling in the water. Droplets of water glistened on his naked, golden-brown skin under the sunlight. He was resting back on
his muscled arms, his white hair wet and dangling in sexy clumps around his tilted head, his silver eyes watching us closely. “Oh, no,” I murmured after a moment of allowed panting time, “This is trying to drown him.” I pounced on an unsuspecting Sin, laughing as his green eyes widened before he went under. I followed him down, both of us fighting for supremacy, and I hoped I hadn’t given him enough
time to beat me.

I lost.

Again.

Resurfacing, I pouted as I caught my breath, and Sin chuckled, kissing my forehead. He murmured breathlessly, “There’s always next time, love.” With that, he winked at me and swam toward Roselle, who was standing in the shallow end talking with Aria. Reese was nowhere in sight.

“Your relationship is interesting,” Leric stated softly. “I think you would be pleased
to know I cannot figure it out.”

I smiled privately before turning in his direction and swimming toward him. “Most can’t, so don’t feel as if you’re losing your touch with regards to judgment.” I dunked myself under the water, dipping my head back to get any hair out of my face before resurfacing and grabbing the edge of the wall next to him. I rubbed water out of my eyes to stare up into his
silver ones.

“Is it still not up for discussion?” he asked, his eyes running over my face.

“Sorry, but no, it’s not,” I stated factually. “How was the bike ride?”

Instantly, he grinned, a real flash of thrilled happiness. “It was extremely enlivening.”

I gawked. His smile was lighting up his whole face, showing no menace of the One. Honestly, I hadn’t been sure if the man knew how to have
simple, honest fun being the individual he was, but apparently he did. “That’s a nice smile.”

His lips tilted even more, his eyes twinkling down at me as he brushed a strand of his white hair behind his ear. “Be careful, Sprite, or I might actually think you like me.”

Yeah, I knew what he was talking about. “I couldn’t let you murder him.”

He lifted a brow. “Would you have pulled the trigger?”

My lips pinched as I crossed both arms on the hot concrete, resting my chin there. “Yes.” And it was the truth. “He didn’t deserve to die.”

“Ah,” Leric murmured softly. His thumb thumped on the concrete for a silent minute before he stated, “You have the making of a good Queen to the Elementals.”

I peered up at him. “And?”

His lips lifted sardonically as he peered at the woods. “Beautifully
deducted, Sprite.” Silver eyes peered down at me, holding mine steadily without remorse. He whispered on the barest breath, “From a perspective of power myself, I understand completely your actions, but on a more personal level, sometimes sex…doesn’t turn out to be just sex.” He cocked one eyebrow. “So please refrain from knocking on my door again anytime soon.”

Instantly my stomach plummeted,
and I turned my head away, staring blindly, lost in my own thoughts. I understood. I understood completely. Last night it had been…different. It might have started out as a normal sexual encounter, but it hadn’t exactly ended that way, no matter how much I tried to ignore it or fool myself. I had quite possibly lost a very decent start to something more, doing as I had to do.

No.

As I chose
to do. Every action was my own.

No matter that he was the One, he was obviously still a man at heart.

And I had hurt him.

Swallowing hard, I murmured softly, “Right. I understand.” Jaw clenched, I inhaled heavily. Cleared my throat. “And I am sorry.”
For hurting you.

“And I believe you,” he said just as quietly…and nothing more.

“Right,” I murmured again and blinked quickly, mortified I actually
felt tears welling in my eyes. I realized I had been staring where the Rulers were standing near the back door of the house discussing something quietly amongst themselves, and that King Zeller was staring right at us, or rather, me. I knew I had the opportunity right there and then to tell Leric we had been eavesdropped on last night, to tell him his room was more than likely being spied
on, with the added benefit of doing it while King Zeller was currently eavesdropping. Luckily, Leric had been quiet enough now that no Vampires around us could hear the more intimate part of our conversation.

But, as he was just a man at heart, I was also just a woman. A woman he had also just hurt by making his decision, his own choice to not further our personal relationship. So I remembered
the political position I held, and sided with the Rulers. Pushing myself out of the water, I stood for a moment dripping next to him, running a hand over my face as I stared straight ahead. My gut was churning at what might have been, but I inhaled once…before I silently walked away.

Sometimes life gives you joyful sunshine with blue skies.

And sometimes it nails you with merciless hail.

I was drinking, not sipping, my third glass of vodka in one of the fine entertainment rooms of the Elemental section of the castle where everyone was congregating after dinner. We were playing poker at various tables when I decided a bit tipsily it was the latter of the two
that life was giving me as four individuals walked into the room.

One was a Mage in his thirties, strikingly handsome with golden hair to his shoulders. Oddly, he was dressed in black trousers and a black dress shirt and shoes; the only gold he sported was the buckle on his belt.

The second was a devilishly attractive Vampire also in his thirties, with American Indian ancestry and short, red
and black hair. He was dressed in an Armani suit, the jacket casually open over a blood red button-up shirt, and black shoes.

The third was a Vampire, about twenty years old and stunningly beautiful with ringlets of red and black hair to her shoulders. She was wearing a simple, straight-line silver dress that cut off at her shapely calves, and black heels, making her just shy of six feet tall.

The fourth and final person to enter the room was another Vampire, twenty years old. Her straight red hair with a few black streaks was a bit longer than she had worn it three years ago, now brushing past her shoulders. She wore a pair of flat front black trousers, an emerald green silk blouse, and a pair of black heels, though she was still the shortest of the four by a good half foot. She was
just as exquisitely beautiful as I remembered.

It was Isa.

I choked on my drink, quickly covering my mouth and grabbing the napkin Sin handed me, dabbing my lips. I watched Queen Ruckler jump from her chair at our table and rush to Isa, giving her a welcoming hug. I sat more than stunned. A bit drunkenly I recognized that this entire day just fucking sucked. Hell, Leric and Roselle were even
sitting at my damn table, to add insult to injury, and it had been a chore just to ignore what had happened earlier and be civil while repeatedly refilling my drink.

And now Isa was being resurrected from my past.

“
Fucking perfect
,” I grumbled under my breath, downing the rest of my drink. I turned on my chair, not even bothering to stand, and reached for the decanter behind me on a table.

Sin watched for a moment, eyeing the amount of liquor I was pouring in my glass, and sighed, knowing the conversation Leric and I’d had earlier. He turned back to the table and tilted his head covertly to where Queen Ruckler was greeting the newcomers, quietly asking King Zeller across from him, “And they would be?”

King Zeller also glanced at my glass as I turned around on my chair while taking
a healthy swig of my drink, before his gaze turned to Sin. “The Mage is Elder Farrar, Queen Ruckler’s father, for a lack of a better description. Elder Zeller, my father, is the other man.” I blinked at that, eyes going to the man across the room, now seeing the resemblance. “The Vampire with the silver dress is Torrie. She’s dating the other girl, who is Queen Ruckler’s adopted daughter, Isa.”

I swallowed a bit more of my drink.

Then a little more, before I slowly lowered my glass to the table as that sank in like a fucking brick. And…I started chuckling, because I had been taken for an absolute absurd idiot. The table’s occupants glanced at me, and I waved a hand. “Excuse me, I just remembered what a fool was.” I got a few blinks at that, and Sin actually reached for my drink, but
I intercepted his hand and patted it once. I whispered not so quietly to him, “You don’t need to cut me off yet. I’m just finally seeing the trees through the forest.”

Because Queen Ruckler had known who I was all along. And I had an inkling the Mage, and possibly even the Vampire over there if he proved to have dark eyes, were the two men who had been in the room I had walked in on three years
ago.

Leric sipped his own drink. “I believe the saying is ‘seeing the forest through the trees.’”

I chuckled in self-mockery, resting further on my chair. I prepared myself because this more than likely was going to be a brutal evening. “All right, perhaps I’m a bit tipsy.” I shrugged a shoulder, lightly patting Sin’s sticky-fingered hand when he reached for my drink again, before I lifted my
glass and placed it on the other side of me, farther from his reach. “It should be easier for everyone at the table to take my money, so rejoice as the criminal is currently off duty.”

“Christ, Caro,” Sin whispered under his breath, glancing at me with a scolding look. But he turned to the table with a cocky expression, shrugging a negligent shoulder. “I’m still on duty, so guard your stash.”

Running my finger around the edge of my drink, I watched the action instead of Queen Ruckler who was on her way over here with the newcomers. I pinched the bridge of my nose for a few moments, nearly achieving an instant headache from the performance I knew I was going to have to do this evening — already on top of the politically polite performance I was putting on with Leric.

Queen Ruckler began
introducing them to Leric, Roselle, and Sin. Brenna, who also sat at our table, already knew them. Apparently Isa had been visiting Elder Farrar as she usually lived with her mom. Queen Ruckler then introduced Elder Farrar to me, Elder Zeller — who did have dark eyes — came next, and Torrie was just as lovely up close as she was across the room. Then it was time to ‘meet’ Isa.

Queen Ruckler gestured
across the table. “Isa, this is Caro, the spirit Elemental I was telling you about.”

She had forewarned her daughter. Not too many spirits called Caro wandering about the world. My lips tilted at Queen Ruckler, possibly a bit more evilly than I should have, but I turned my carefully neutral eyes toward Isa for the first time since she arrived. I peered into the spring green eyes I knew would
be staring at me with cold detachment, utterly positive Queen Ruckler wouldn’t have told her about our
first
encounter, protecting her daughter. And I wasn’t wrong. She stood casually next to Torrie, leaning a bit her way, with covertly frosty eyes as we each silently evaluated one another for a moment.

With Brenna at our table, I was careful with my word choice. “Hello, Isa.”

Her chest rose
and fell once, but she nodded to me. “Caro.” Her head tilted and she blinked. “What did you say your last name is?”

There was a flash of claws. “I didn’t, but it’s Jules.” I blinked innocently. “And is your last name the same as your mother’s?” Not really a rude question with her being a Vampire with a Shifter mom.

Her lips lifted the barest bit. “Yes, it’s Isa Ruckler.”

“Ah.” I nodded, pointing
around my glass before taking a drink. “Your ring is lovely.”

And it was. Especially since I was the one who bought it just for her.

“Thank you,” she stated evenly, but her hand clenched where the emerald ring rested on her pinkie. My comment had knocked her off balance as I wanted, dredging the past back into her mind, the good and the bad, so she wouldn’t be at the top of her game. Her nostrils
flared and she turned her attention away from me, looking to her mom as she put an almost believable smile on her face. “Where do you want us all to sit?”