King Cave (72 page)

“What’s going on here?” Cahal demanded, his voice shaking in anger, eyes assessing.

Elder Harcourt suddenly blinked into appearance to the left, in front of the ghouls’ frontline, not dressed in black but in a golden ceremonial robe. He was resting back against the wall, his hands clasped before him and his face solemn, and he ordered, “Someone hit the lights, please.” The golden sparks flared to life. Unfortunately, the added light didn’t make the group in front of us appear any less intimidating, every single one of the individuals built like badasses under their tight-fitting black outfits, most definitely all males. When Cahal growled, since his question hadn’t been answered, Elder Harcourt stated, “Today, a Law passed concerning two Mysticals of different factions having sexual relations.”

I stilled but tried my hardest to keep my heartbeat normal. No one had seen anything torrid, only the four of us sleeping in bed together. They had no proof if I could keep it together.

Elder Harcourt’s gaze traveled, meeting not only Ezra’s gaze and mine, but Jack’s and Pearl’s as well. “Once someone brings a charge to me, the senior Elder, I am spellbound to uphold the Law if those charged are found guilty.”

Cahal’s Vampire sounded low and furious. “Exactly who has been charged and what are the specific charges?”

Elder Harcourt nodded. “King Zeller and Queen Ruckler are charged with possible sexual relations, and King Collins and Queen Cooper are also charged with possible sexual relations. The individual who came to me tonight stated he suspected after seeing multiple odd behaviors on all of their parts, including overhearing certain conversations between all parties on different occasions and even seeing all four of them nude together, doing…acts…in a hot tub,” he waved a hand, “such as two of them disappearing under the water for lengthy amounts of time.” He waved a hand again. “After the Law passed, he believed it to be in all of our best interests to inform me of this possible unLawful behavior.” He shrugged. “I must conduct a trial.”

I was ready to faint dead away, no longer able to keep it together, my gaze flying to Antonio through the mass of enforcers, which I was sure as hell that was what they were, sent to invade and capture the four current Rulers, knowing they would have a battle on their hands if we were found guilty. Antonio’s eyes met mine, and I almost dropped. His gaze said it all. This was exactly what he had seen, and he already knew the outcome. Trembling where I stood, I asked Elder Harcourt without taking my eyes off Antonio, “What is the penalty if found guilty?” They could have altered it since the last time we heard about it.

“Under the circumstances of a possible war, or actual war, I have the option to modify the ruling for Elders, Kings, and Queens.”

My breathing hitched, praying…

“If any of you are found guilty, seeing as you are the current Kings and Queens, I have the power to alleviate the normal jail sentence of five years, which I would do, so that the ruling would stand as a spelled memory wipe, and then a spelled separation.”

My vision swam, and I teetered to the side and stumbled a few steps, seeing Antonio’s reaction to the sentencing. His gaze had lowered, but I had still seen his chin tremble. I shook my head as a flood of tears flew down my cheeks, absolute despair reaching into my soul.

I was going to lose my husband.

Breath catching, I turned my attention to Ezra.

His jaw was clenched, unable to keep his pain hidden as he glared at Elder Harcourt, and he shouted, “Who the fuck brought these charges?”

Elder Harcourt actually smiled. “I thought you would never ask, King Zeller.” He waved his hand toward the back of the room, stating, “The charged seeks the accuser. Please step forward and identify yourself.”

There was a movement on the right, the side closest to me, as one of the men in black began moving forward. I wiped the tears off my face, but more tears came to take their place as I watched a man step out of the mass. His hands raised, and he took his mask off, his eyes intent on me as he stated bitterly, “My Queen should not be fucking the King Vampire.”

A jolt of Mage magic hit my body from the inside, and my gun suddenly pointed. I was unable to stop it, my Vampire speed showing for all to see as I put a bullet through his brain, the sound explosive in the small area.

Everyone froze, their eyes wide on me.

I physically jerked as my right arm, which was still aimed at the falling dead man, burned as a golden ring at my wrist first appeared then sizzled against my flesh. A soft shriek past my pinched lips as it lifted completely from my skin and grew to a large circle around my, now, normal wrist before disappearing.

Clarice’s first ultimatum complete.

Elder Talus was now dead, her dear friend’s murder vindicated.

To everyone else, I had just committed murder against one of my own, an Elder Shifter.

My gaze met Ezra’s, silently telling him I loved him, right before I was slammed in the middle by a pack of Shifters — they had to be, by their strength — and we went down hard even as I heard Ezra’s Vampire
roar
, shaking the very air around us. I fought, using every ounce of strength I had and every damn skill I had acquired, even using my tiny amount of Vampire speed…but these were enforcers, their skill set greater than mine, not to mention it was ten to one. Eventually, I took a blow to my chest and felt multiple ribs crack, and another to my left arm, feeling the bone break, and the last to my left thigh, the bone splintering completely through my flesh.

I was down.

It took them all of a minute to subdue me.

I screamed as I was yanked by my arms to my feet, all the while hearing Ezra’s Vampire roar in my ears, the sound just as earth-shattering as it had been the first time I had heard it. Shaking my head past the pain, I was dragged when someone kicked my one good leg and broke my ankle. My body shook in agony but not quite to the point of passing out, which would have been preferable when someone grabbed a handful of my hair, jerking my head up and placing my own gun to my temple.

My chest stinging with every breath I took, pretty sure one of my broken ribs had punctured a lung, I spit out a mouthful of blood, my blurry gaze quickly darting to my friends and husband. Jack and Pearl and Ezra were trapped inside three separate golden spheres of Mage magic, suspended in the air. There were four enforcers directly under Pearl, holding the spell together as she blasted her jailing sphere repeatedly. The same amount of enforcers had their hands pressed to Jack’s and Ezra’s trapping spheres, their power shoving into the hovering golden spheres as Jack and Ezra pressed their own powered palms against their spelled cages, fighting to get free. My gaze met Ezra’s glowing green eyes, and he growled, shaking his head furiously as he pounded on the sphere.

The man held my hair tighter and shouted to be heard over Ezra, “I have another char—”

Elder Harcourt stopped him by lifting a quick hand, eyes glowing. “Silence.” Suddenly, there was absolute quiet, even though I could still see Ezra’s mouth opening and closing in fury. Elder Harcourt flicked his hand. “Still.” Everyone froze in the room. As in, everyone literally froze in whatever action they had been doing. Including myself. The only movement my body allowed me was to breathe and blink.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Elder Harcourt push off the wall and walk toward me. I tried to breathe shallowly, but it still hurt like hell in the dead silence, Elder Harcourt’s shuffling the only noise in the room. He stopped in front of me, bending so that his wrinkled face was directly in front of mine, stating, “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted that bastard dead. He has committed so many heinous deeds it would overwhelm anyone here, but no one could ever catch him in the act. Now, thanks to your deal with Clarice, he’s no longer a blight on our society.”

He lifted and turned to walk toward Ezra. Stared up at him, his head cocked. “So this is the Vampire.” He rubbed his chin, talking to himself. “Impressive. Utterly ferocious. I don’t believe it would be in my best interest to release him.” He nodded and then moved so Ezra could see him in his frozen state. “I’m not going to free you from the sphere, but I’m going to move you so you can give Queen Ruckler peace while I heal her. If you try any funny business, I’ll make her pain one hundred times worse, so don’t test me.” He lifted a finger. “And please, stop the roaring, it was killing my ears.” Elder Harcourt flicked a hand.

Ezra was suddenly free to move and speak, blurring to his knees and staring down at Elder Harcourt with narrowed glowing eyes. His face was again harsher than normal, more deadly and beautiful at the same time, as he bared his fangs at the Elder, and a growl that gave me chills, frightening in its softness, echoed throughout the room from Ezra’s chest.

“Yes, I know you would love to kill me,” Elder Harcourt waved his hand again, Ezra’s sphere lifting higher into the air directly above the Elder, “and that is precisely why I’m not letting you out.” He began shuffling back to me through the frozen chaos, Ezra’s sphere moving with him. “But do try to behave so I can heal Queen Ruckler. She deserves a medal for killing that sadistic son of a bitch, not all of the broken bones she currently has.”

Elder Harcourt, I was seeing, was a little off his rocker. Not in a bad way, but still, a little…off…to not be frightened of the Vampire — and holy hell it was the Vampire — staring down at him with a million different excruciating deaths in his eyes. Elder Harcourt further proved his point by lowering Ezra’s sphere next to him, and Ezra stood to stare at him, his hands lifting to the sphere, but Elder Harcourt waggled a finger at him, murmuring, “Now, none of that. I’ll freeze you again, Vampire. Do you want to help her or not?” Ezra growled at him, but slowly, he lowered his hands, and Elder Harcourt nodded. “Now, be good while I lift her from them…she’s really not going to like it.”

He was right. He had to unfreeze me to do it, and agony poured over me while the old Mage lifted me from them. My mouth opened on silent screams, a flood of tears poured down my cheeks, and my body racked in shivers when every broken bone jarred with the movement. Ezra’s Vampire altered between whimpering and growling as he watched, slowly lowering to his knees and following our movement as Elder Harcourt laid me on my back next to the sphere. The Elder whispered, “Here, help here.” His hand glowed, picking up my arm that wasn’t broken and was closest to Ezra and pushing my hand through the sphere. I jerked as powerful Mage magic zapped me from the contact, but my chest heaved as soon as I felt Ezra’s warm hands grab mine inside the sphere in a tight hold and a heavy dose of tranquillity suffused my body, my eyes meeting his.

“There. Now both of you behave while I do this,” Elder Harcourt murmured, freezing me again as he began healing each of my ailments. There was still no sound coming from my body, but I felt the popping. It didn’t hurt because Ezra held my hand and was beginning to soothingly pet the back of my hand with his other, his furious gaze never leaving mine. Even though it was the enraged Vampire staring at me, I still saw the unconditional love shining from his gaze. His Vampire loved me like my wolf loved him. Minutes later, Elder Harcourt stated, “There we go. You’re all fixed up.”

Unexpectedly, I felt a blast of Mage magic from Elder Harcourt, and I was flying right through Ezra’s sphere, unfrozen and able to speak as I shouted in surprise, my entire body jolting from rolling through the mystical magic of the sphere but no longer hurting, my body healed. Ezra caught me, instantly crushing me to him, standing, and growling at Elder Harcourt while my feet dangled in the air. I blinked in surprise but turned my head to see Elder Harcourt place a glowing hand on the sphere, and it was like time and spells sizzled around us, crackling in the air, as he added his power to the previous Mage’s work, and he stated bluntly, “You won’t be able to get out of this. In fact, you will only hurt yourselves if you try.”

He gestured with his free hand across the room, where I could now see Antonio, Cahal, Elder Jacobs, and Elder Merrick inside a large golden sphere high in the air near our broken door. Antonio was lying on the bottom of it, unconscious, while the three of his four — not frozen or mute — hovered around him protectively, silently watching us. “If he couldn’t get them out of my spell, neither will you two, and it would be in your best interests to be conscious while I conduct this trial.”

I stilled inside Ezra’s hold at the reminder.

Elder Harcourt flicked his free hand, and suddenly, Pearl’s and Jack’s spheres flew at ours, colliding to make one so that all of us were together, Jack and Pearl also now unfrozen and able to speak. Jack instantly grabbed Pearl’s hand, yanking her behind him while he shouted, “Why the fuck weren’t we told this new Law had passed? Hell, we weren’t even included in the voting. We are the damn Kings and Queens. We should have had to sign off on it.”

Oh, good point. “It shouldn’t be valid now,” I shook my head, pushing to break free of Ezra’s hold so I could talk unhindered, “No Law can be passed without our signatures.”

Ezra’s grip on me only tightened, stopping my squirming, as he growled, “Not in times of war.” He met my startled gaze firmly, his Vampire receding so that it was the man, Ezra, who continued speaking. “In times of war, or possible war, emergency Laws can be issued as long as twelve Elders approve it over the majority voting.”

I blinked, slowly realizing he was correct. When a war was approaching, or at hand, not all of the Elders or Kings and Queens could sit together to make discussions as a whole, therefore, when what Ezra stated occurred, the Law was passed. Hope flying out the window in a brutal rush, I sighed shakily, but nodded, holding Ezra’s desolate gaze, and asked Elder Harcourt, “I’m not being charged with anything else?”