“Then we understand each other.” Jaw muscles ticked. “And don’t fucking do that again.” His eyes flicked behind me to the door, then back to me. “He’s damn lucky King Zeller was here to help calm me.”
I nodded once. “I caught that.” I tilted my head toward his door. “We should probably go inside.”
He shook his head, tilting it to the door behind me. “Too much time has passed for us to be out here alone. Go back in your room and get your bag. You can say that’s what we were doing when we go back inside.”
Ah, good plan. And so, I did.
“Jesus,” King Collins muttered grumpily, half slur, smacking at my hand. “Just a few more minutes…”
My lips trembled fiercely before I straightened, then shouted at the top of my lungs in an overly merry tone, “It’s time to rise and shine, my Lajaks.” All their eyes flew open, half shooting up on the trundle beds the hotel had supplied, since the two doubles hadn’t covered a group of eight men. I clapped my hands loudly, trying not to laugh at these powerful men’s grumpy as hell expressions—not to mention, major bedhead. “It’s a beautiful day outside!” I threw the curtains open, hearing them grunt or curse, throwing hands up in front of their eyes. “Time to face the day with,” I grinned, “smiles.”
Sin groaned, falling back onto the mattress I had shared with him. “Pure, you are not, love.” He threw the blanket over his head. “Evil has taken you over.”
I chuckled quietly, and stepped up onto the mattress and started bouncing on it, but spoke to the other Lajaks, even as Sin griped on a whine, his body shaking under the blanket from the motion. “You all thought it was such a good idea to take on the spirits representatives.” I shook my head, hopping a bit to the right when Sin raked a hand out the blanket trying to knock me down. “I hope you have all learned your lesson.”
It…had been a…massacre…of “Royal” proportions.
Cain grunted from behind me. He had claimed the trundle bed next to Sin’s and my double—a safe foot of space between the two—when almost all of them had staggered to bed in the early hours. “Do not include me in that assessment.” His wolf huffed. “I felt like a damn babysitter by the end of the night.” A pillow bashed the back of my head while I bounced before falling to the bed almost tripping me. “And Prodigies do not bounce on beds, wearing only a towel, in front of their betters.”
Elder Farrar grunted, snuggling under his covers. “A little towel, at that.”
“While I’ve showered,” I continued bouncing—being me, tightening said towel, even as Sin’s head popped out from the covers—being Sin, trying to see under it, but I hopped to the end of the bed, effectively still annoying him, but keeping those emerald green eyes from spying my goods. “You all still reek of liquor and smoke and shame from the embarrassing beating you took by a bunch of relatively young spirit Elementals.” I twisted in the air, twirling all the way around, enjoying myself immensely, even though my topic was sound. “While I may have come out ahead, and Elder Merrick, at least, came out even,”
A wolf’s indignant huff. “Two hundred ahead.”
“—anyway, even though it wasn’t a complete loss, what have you all learned from this experience?”
My King groaned, pulling a pillow over his head. “Stay away from the vodka here.”
Elder Samson groaned, rubbing at his eyes. “No shit.” He appeared vaguely ill while watching me jump. “That had to be homemade, damn moonshine.” He burped quietly, his face paling, waving a hand at me. “Quit that.”
I only jumped higher. “What everyone learned was…?” I waited, leaping back and forth over Sin’s covered feet.
King Zeller tumbled out of bed, practically crawling toward the window, growling, “That you aren’t sleeping in our room anymore.”
But when he shut the curtain…I only grinned, waited until he was lying back on his trundle, and sent a small pulse wave, opening them back up, and continued my speech. “Try again.” When Cain—the only sober one from last night—even lay back down, snuggling into his covers…although, he was watching me like a ambushing wolf from under his hooded lids, I explained loudly, “What everyone should have learned was you always…always…always need to be at your best here, otherwise, you will get taken.” My lips quirked. “And, every single one of you will need to enact retribution for last night’s actions on the representatives. They will expect this, and be watching vigilantly for it, so it won’t be easy. They will not respect you if you don’t accomplish it, which means, they will think you weak.” I stopped bouncing, a bit breathless. “And my Lajaks cannot be weak. So,” I waved my hands, dipping a bit, “I wish you good luck.”
I jumped from the bed, and started making my way to the bathroom. “And I want to leave within the hour to go shopping in the city, and spend all that cash I did win last night.” I had never had so much cash here at the Temple to spend. “So get your asses,” I grinned, turning at the door, and threw a pulse wave at each of them, tossing them off their beds, “up!” I slammed the door on their furious curses, chuckling quietly, and proceeded to finish getting ready.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Holy…shit…” Elder Bridges mumbled behind me later that day, staring—as I was—at the party taking place in my honor, Leric standing next to me, holding my hand like normal for any gathering we attended. But, this one was…Elder Bridges cleared his throat, asking—almost—respectfully, “Will you be participating, Ms. Jules?”
I choked.
Because…it was an orgy, but large enough to fill an entire ballroom, thumping music playing from the scantily clad—at least, they were dressed—band at the far end of the room.
Elder Bridges continued, keeping his voice steady, “I only ask, so we can formulate our plan for…protection.”
Funny man.
Sin damn near moaned behind me. “Give me the night off, love.” A pause with a hurried poke against my back. “I beg you.”
I scowled at Sin over my shoulder…because it still wasn’t easy with him, and I didn’t care if it showed—I sure as hell didn’t want to see it, and then asked Leric, “What the hell?”
He shrugged, white rolls dipping around his face when he glanced down to me. “Every city is different. This one traditionally respects its Rulers with love from the body.”
I pointed a finger instantly. “I am not going into that mess.” This didn’t really surprise me—spirits are “different”, but I wasn’t about to participate.
His lips twitched, and he tilted his head to the left. “Our seats of honor are over there. Whether we choose to join is completely up to us.”
“Thank God,” I muttered, glancing to the left, seeing indeed, two large throne-like-chairs at the end of the ballroom opposite the band. “Oh, how thoughtful. It’s even raised so we can see…everyone…and their everythings.”
Elder Bridges choked on a chuckle behind me, but quickly went mute as Leric moved us forward, our presence becoming known, those—Jesus—pausing in their actions, bowing, and murmuring, “Chosen. One.” All except for those in the throes of ecstasy, groans and moans coming from them.
Leric stated loudly, his voice booming, “You may arise.”
King Zeller whispered on a choke, “They already are.”
I inhaled, and glanced back to my group of Lajaks when the mass went back to “mass” fucking, and whispered harshly to them all, “Get your fucking acts together, or get the hell out of here.”
Sin pointed a finger covertly at one couple starting to glow, stars flying from their bodies, eyes wide, whispering hurriedly, “Love…do you do that?”
My cheeks instantly flamed. “Stay focused, dammit.”
Emerald eyes instantly flared a bit, but they hooded swiftly. “Hmm.”
“Actually…” Leric murmured absently, but pulled me closer against his side. “That only occurs with someone who a spirit releases themselves to with complete trust.”
Oh…I blinked slowly…now that was damn ironic given the
only person that ever happened with…was the one man who had used sex as a weapon against me. I cleared my throat, trying to ignore the man in question directly next to me, so close his side was rubbing against mine, heating my side, and glanced to Leric with blank eyes. “We should probably sit before we’re pulled out there.”
White brows lifted a bit. “Would that really be so bad?”
My mouth flapped a few times, and then I sputtered, “I’m not into groups.” I blinked, because that had probably come out a lie with my previous behavior, and quickly mumbled, “Let’s just sit down.”
Leric…pouted, tugging on my hand a bit. “One dance.” His head tilted to them. “They’re not all having sex, some are dancing.” He pulled me a step with him. “And I like this music.”
That, I hadn’t known about him, and I actually liked the music, too, but…”I don’t know.” I glared a bit. “You had…friendly…hands last night.”
“I’ll behave, I promise,” he murmured, and I could have sworn…he gave me a very honest expression. “I only want to dance with you.”
I didn’t trust him…but a few others were starting to stare behind his back, even though I wasn’t sure how they had that much attention span, since they were currently…busy. “Fine. One dance.” I let him lead me to the edges of the crowd, my Lajaks finally getting their acts together and spreading out, except for Elder Farrar and Elder Merrick who stayed close, keeping themselves between the crowd and us.
And…I danced with Leric.
And…actually had fun while doing so.
He was an excellent dancer while he twirled me, and brought me in close. It also helped that he truly did behave himself, only placing his hands on my hips, arms, or back, and I noticed we…moved…like one. As we had on the battlefield, our actions fluid and easy, symmetrical. In the heat of battle, it was just something we had…done. But here in the ballroom, it became apparent, truly obvious, that we were paired. Matched perfectly for our jobs.
And, all that aside, when my back was to his chest, his arm wrapped around my waist, my gaze flicked to Cain’s. And held for long moments, staring at complex navy blue…until he glanced away under hooded lids…eyes back on his work, making sure no one came near me.
As the song ended, I smiled softly to Leric. “One dance granted, my One.”
His own smile was small. “Yes.” He kissed the top of my hand. “I really do love to dance.” We moved to our seats…and I noticed his eyes flicking about the room from our heightened positions, my Lajaks flanking me. “Thank you, my Chosen.”
I watched him closely while pretending not to. “You’re welcome.”
His gaze roamed methodically, from one side of the room to the other, squinting at first from his lazy positioning as he peered to the far end of the room, his eyes slowly widening to normal the closer his perusal got.
He paused. Left side of the room. Stayed there, his shoulders tightening the barest bit.
My lips thinned, and I instantly turned my head to the right, and closed my eyes…and floated in the cosmos…and took a star away from my barrier in the wall.
Instantly, I saw behind my closed lids what he did.
Heard his thoughts.
Felt what he was feeling.
Jealousy.
He was inflamed with jealousy, barely keeping it together.
And what I saw was a beautiful Mystical woman with curly blonde hair, dancing seductively with two men, all still dressed, but the men’s hands…Leric zoned in on one hand that landed on the woman’s shapely ass…oh…he was furious.
And hurt, his chest aching with constricting fire.
But he understood, because he had put this into place.
Their separation…one of many they’d had in their hundred years of being together, sometimes exclusive, sometimes not, sometimes just taking a breather when it got to be too much, all because of the possibility of his reality…but this separation was different.
Because of his Chosen, his reality, needing to give it a shot with her, his other half…the woman who was supposed to make him whole…but didn’t compare to the woman he loved.
It was Lissa.
I quickly put the star back into place, my breathing accelerated…blinding possessiveness tearing through me. I placed a shaky hand over my face, trying to fight down the bond jealousy that made me want to rip her to shreds, use her body as fertilizer. This wasn’t me. It wasn’t me wanting to kill her, it was the magic. I had met her before, and had only been annoyed and irritated, not murderous.
Body trembling the barest bit, I tilted my head, hooding my glowing gaze, watching Leric’s lazy attention quickly alter when Lissa glanced to us. He didn’t look her away again, only holding my hand a bit tighter, not noticeable if I hadn’t known, so I watched her. I scrutinized her covertly for three more songs, her gaze always swinging up to us, then dipping quickly, as if she belatedly realized she was staring, her expression…quietly tortured.
I tried breathing through the bond magic, and it helped…somewhat…but I was holding myself back, my other grip on the chairs cushion brutal, as my blood simmered, trying to hang on to my sanity, what I knew was right.
During the fourth song, I saw her slip from the room, her shoulders thrown back after covertly glancing at us one last time…and I knew what I had to do, but I needed to be careful, less I killed her. Leaning over the side of my chair, I spoke evenly, my brows pinched, “Leric, I think I’m going to head back to the room. I’m not feeling a hundred percent.” He instantly started to rise, and I saw he appeared relieved, the slightest unhunching of his shoulders, but I held his hand steadfast, keeping him seated. “It wouldn’t be gracious for us both to leave. You should probably stay for a little while longer.”
He sighed, but eventually nodded…after glancing to the left, and seeing Lissa was gone. “Alright.” He squeezed my hand. “But if you start feeling too poorly, let me know.”
“I will.” I wouldn’t, just as I wasn’t now. And I needed to hurry.
Leaving the room, my guards kept a close flank on me when a few tried to pull me into the party with them, but I quickly exited out a side door, then surprised all my guards by taking off in a fast jog, my white skirt billowing out behind me, bare feet quickly eating up the white tiling, hurrying around the ballroom.
“Is there an issue?” Elder Farrar asked, keeping pace with me on my right, his expression quickly hardening.
Directly behind me, Elder Bridges murmured, “I believe there’s going to be if Ms. Jules doesn’t try to calm herself.”
King Zeller grunted from farther behind.
“What’s going on?” Cain asked gruffly, navy blue eyes peering down at me directly on my left. “You reek of aggression.”
“Just stop,” I stated brusquely, bitingly. “All of you.” I turned a corner, seeing the door she must have exited from, but no Lissa, although there was a hallway directly across from it. “I am calm for what I’m feeling.” The tiger growled from deep within me as I jogged toward it, turning down the hallway. “Your comments are not helping right now.”
They went mute, silently on alert.
And I came to a dead stop two hallways later, all my guards instantly following suit, and placed my back to a wall directly before an opening…where I heard a woman quietly sobbing. I closed my eyes, my body trembling, glowing somewhat with the exhilaration of the chase, and counted to thirty in my head while my body simmered with the aching need to protect, and claim, what was mine, all the magic sizzling through my veins. Gradually, and ever so slowly, I peeked around the wall…and saw her sitting in an intimate, but open room, the only furnishing the long marble bench Lissa sat on, hunched over sobbing, with the lazy trickle of a fountain next to the bench, long rows of floor to ceiling windows before her, the setting sun over the ocean’s coastline, glimmering over her, making her all the more beautiful in her misery.
Quickly, I sucked in a harsh breath, darting my head back to my guards. Not able to look them in the eyes,
I ordered gruffly on a whisper, “Don’t let me kill her.” And with that, I pivoted and moved into the room, my movements slow, and stalking, like the trained killer I was, my guards instantly following on equally silent feet, fanning out inside the room, placing their backs to the white sanded walls, dark pillars of strength and death, against the purity of this white gleaming room, Cain and Elder Farrar staying relatively close, but giving me space as I closed in on her oblivious form from behind.
I stopped, shaking my fists out, staring at the back of her head with a slightly glowing gaze. She still didn’t notice me, lost in her misery as she was. I could have slit her throat in an instant…and then, I stared down at the diamond daggers that just materialized in my hands. I could feel my Lajaks eyes on me, all studying, trying to figure out what the hell was going on while I gritted my teeth, nostrils flaring, I put them back into my treasure trove, and put my hands behind my back, gripping them firmly, brutally keeping them there, as I moved around her slowly. My eyes never left her even as I struck a casual pose, resting a shoulder against one of the windows, Cain and Elder Farrar standing a few feet on either side of me. And I continued watching her, cocking my head, evaluating her from the tips of her perfectly lush curly white hair down the tip of her perfectly manicured toes, her skin smooth and supple, her breasts lush and heaving, a shapely leg showcased from the slit of her own white, satin skirt.
Daggers appeared in my hands again with the feeling of inadequacy filling me, the woman even more beautiful close up in this lighting, but I quickly sent them back with a slow inhale, flexing my fingers behind my back, then I stated, my tone irritated and gruff, “Could you please cut off the waterworks?”
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