Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore Book 5)

by Scarlett Dawn

  “Get the One,” Roselle ordered someone. “She’s too young to handle that much.”

  “No!” I shouted, my voice sounding demented. I slammed my hands onto the ground and shook my head, lifting on my hands and knees to stare blindly at the floor. “I can do this.”

  Roselle squatted directly in front of me, lifting my chin. I ground my teeth together to keep from attacking her, and she stated softly, “The fact you’re able to control it at your age is a remarkable feat, Ms Jules, but you won’t be able to process as much as you took in.”

  “Walk. Me. Through. It.” I leaned my forehead again on the ground, my body trembling as my Core pulsed erratically. “I can do this. Just walk me through it.”

  She sighed then leaned down. “Try pulling it through your Core in smaller doses. Concentrate on one part of your body instead of the entire mass. Start with your arm or your leg, rope it in, and ease it through your Core…slowly…gradually.”

  Focusing was a feat in itself. I aimed at my arm, working through the darkness there and dragging it through my body like it weighed a ton. I screamed, unable to hold it in. The pain of fighting the evil was building up inside me like a bomb wanting to explode. But I pulled the darkness through my Core, even as I heard multiple masculine voices shouting from inside the protection. And I exhaled. Stars escaped past my lips onto the carpet. It was a purity being released, the equal and opposite of the evil that had run rampant throughout the world.

  “There you go,” Roselle murmured, petting my head softly. “Try it again with another body part.”

  I did, over and over again, the agony excruciating.

  But I still did it.

  I fell onto my side, my body trembling in exhaustion and remembered pain.

  My body was soaked with sweat, and my tears were only just starting to dry on my face.

  Roselle continued crooning softly to me, wiping hair out of my face. She stated loudly to the enraged group behind the protection, “You won’t understand this, but what she just did is amazing. It’s something you should be proud of her for.” A gentle smile down at me. “And you should be proud of yourself, Ms Jules.”

  My voice was a mere croak. “I am.”

  She flicked a hand at the cursing group. “You can come out now.” Her gaze went to Reese. “Don’t bother trying to make them forget. The One already told me half of them have protection against it, and I saw Elder Farrar a half-hour ago adding the protection to the rest.”

  Sin was rapidly scooping me into his strong hold, crushing me against his chest. “Are you all right, love?”

  “Hurts…tired…” I mumbled, letting my head roll to rest against his shoulder.

  King Collins’s right hand was on my forehead, running gentle fingers through my sweaty hair, but his contained fury was barely masked. He barked at Roselle, “Can a Mage help her with any of the lingering pain?”

  Roselle stated simply, “She is very young to have done what she just did, but what she’s experiencing will fade in time.”

  King Collins’s eyes glowed down on me. “It’s possible you should have taken the help.”

  I blinked blurrily. “I wouldn’t have known if I could protect you all, if I were alone in the future, without attempting what I just did.” I closed my eyes. “Sin…bed…”

  “Okay, love,” Sin whispered, hefting me closer against him.

  “I’ll inform the One what’s happened,” Reese stated, before a flash of white light erupted behind my closed eyes.

  A soft afghan was draped over my body, and efficient hands were tucking it in around my body inside Sin’s hold. Directly next to me, King Collins mumbled gruffly, “Keep her warm.” More tucking. “And maybe make her some soup if she starts to feel too ill.”

  Sin’s words were dry. “I know what to do, seeing as I’ve been taking care of her for the past twenty-three years.”

  “Just remember the damn soup,” King Collins muttered. I started to doze, sleep taking me under as shivers racked my body. But I still heard him as he pulled the blanket up close to my neck. “And if she gets worse, tell me immediately.” A snap of fingers accompanied by clipped words. “And don’t forget the damn spirit guards, since she’s not able to protect herself.” More snaps. “Frost. Farley. Get your asses over here before they leave.”

  “I think he’s got it,” King Zeller stated calmly. “Let’s go have a drink, Jack.”

  King Collins added, “Wait, one more thing—”

  “Yes, it’s time for that drink,” King Zeller interrupted, his voice sounding slurred as I went under, unable to stay conscious a second longer.

  I was down and out for five days. It was embarrassing as hell. I just laid in bed, my entire body aching like an elderly Com’s. My joints were inflamed. My muscles throbbed like they were torn. Even my short fingernails hurt.

  And I had a headache to end all fucking hangovers.

  Sin also informed me that I was a whining baby.

  He did make me soup though, between massaging my aching muscles. While keeping the blinds down and the curtains closed. And he supplied me with endless aspirin. And kept everyone out of the room.

  He was my Sin. And it was obvious he needed a break by day four.

  When I blinked open my eyes and groaned, holding my head, I was staring up into brown patient eyes gazing down on me. King Collins sat on the side of the bed. His lips slowly quirked, and he kept his voice low in the darkened room. “Sin went for a drive…and he was still wearing the same clothes he had on four days ago.” My blink was sluggish, and I stared at the aspirin and water he held. “He told me to give these to you when you woke up.”

  “I haven’t been that bad,” I grumbled, but I moaned when I lifted my arms to take the medicine and water from him. His eyebrows lifted, and I mumbled, “Whatever.” I blinked, staring at the pill and water. “Can you help me sit up so I can take these?”

  His lips didn’t even twitch as he stated steadily, “Of course.” Bending, he placed his arms underneath mine, carefully lifting me until I was upright enough to take the pill. My hands shook as my body recoiled from the movement, while my head pounded a fierce beat at my temples. “Easy, easy,” he crooned, holding my back steady. He quickly grabbed my hand over the glass before I spilt it all over myself.

  I guzzled it, completely parched.

  After he placed the empty glass on the nightstand, he helped me lie back down. He pulled the blanket higher on my shoulders, leaning over me, and brushed hair off my face with careful strokes. “Was it worth it?”

  “Yes,” I murmured, my eyes already closing again. His scent was comforting. “I can do it on my own now.”

  He hummed quietly. “Doing it on your own isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

  I sighed, but I found my head leaning toward his touch. “Shut up.”

  A soft, deep chuckle. “You are one unique Prodigy.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Being ill, I missed the sedated spirit using my Primal Diamond to track Philip Masterson.

  And the champion being shot in the head.

  The One had pulled him back through the ether when he felt the spirit’s life force falter, but it had been too late. He was dead at the shot. His suicide mission, what he had begged me for after I had double-checked he was sane, he had gotten. A quick death for a noble cause.

  The One had obtained the information we needed from the pull and instantly informed the Royals in the room. Philip Masterson was in Miami, Florida. The One left shortly after in respect for the dead, taking the man’s body back to the Temple and trusting the Royals to do what was necessary.

  Before the mission I’d handed over the Primal Diamond to Sin with a direct look. I wasn’t sure how Sin had managed it, but somehow in the mayhem when the body had been pulled back through, he had retrieved it. The spirit had duct taped it to his hand so there was no chance of dropping it. Without remorse, Sin had returned the Primal Diamond to me, stealing from the dead.

  Hours later
, the mission didn’t feel like such a noble cause.

  Philip Masterson managed to elude the MSA team who had struck the Miami-based shipping and exporting firm, a front for illegal firearms trafficking. The spirit had sacrificed his sad existence of insanity for nothing except the take-down of an illegal business, which could have happened at any time. But we weren’t shutting any of the businesses down yet in the hope Philip Masterson and Jacob Angel wouldn’t go to ground.

  I felt like shit and utterly sick to my stomach at the decision I had made but, more to the point, I was also pained to know I had done the right thing even with the poor outcome.

  “I’d like to get out for a little while,” I murmured quietly to King Collins. We sat at the breakfast table, others speaking around us. “You know…just get out for a bit.”

  His lips pinched, but he eventually nodded. “As long as your guards go with you, I believe it would be good for you to get out.”

  “I’ll be going with her,” Sin added, spreading jam on his toast. “We’re just going to hit a few of the shops downtown and maybe go to the park if she’s up for it.”

  King Collins nodded in relief. “That sounds nice.” He blinked. “Wait.” Another blink. “By the term hit, you aren’t implying you’re planning—”

  Sin shot a sharp look in his direction, cutting him off. He still wasn’t in the best of moods after diligently putting up with me for the past five days. “No. We’re merely getting out for a little while.”

  “You two are awfully cranky this morning,” Elder Farrar murmured, but he held out an envelope to me. “Can you mail this while you’re in town?”

  My brows lifted as I took the thick envelope from him, my fingers rubbing…yep, I would know that feel anywhere. “Wouldn’t you prefer to spell this to the recipient than have it travel through the postal system?” Besides, I wasn’t sure it was exactly legal to send what felt like close to twenty grand in cold, hard cash through the mail. And it was incredibly ignorant.

  He shrugged, sipping from his coffee. He appeared refreshed, like he might have had a very decent evening with someone special. I wondered which of the house staff he had snagged for one-on-one time. He choked on his coffee and I quickly held up a napkin. The vision of employee faces stopped floating through my mind.

  His eyes flared golden, glowing brightly. Everyone at the table froze, except for Queen Ruckler who grabbed his coffee cup, and Elder Zeller who grabbed the napkin from me and handed it to Elder Farrar. Elder Farrar dabbed at his mouth quickly, blinking repeatedly. His eyes stopped glowing…and he actually glared across the table at me. More dabbing of his mouth. “Ms Jules, do try not to think so loudly next time.”

  Now I blinked. “Excuse me?”

  He sighed heavily, sitting back on his chair and brushing away Queen Ruckler’s helping hands when she blotted at his shirt. “You do know a Mystical’s powers only become stronger as they age?”

  I nodded.

  He pointed at his head, a sardonic smile lifting his lips. “In the past few years, one of my gifts has accelerated, popping up now and then when someone is thinking about me.”

  I stared, and I asked point blank, “You heard my thoughts?”

  Golden brows lifted. “Yes.” His lips twitched. “You were correct although, it wasn’t one of the house staff.” He stared at me steadily. “Never do that. The possible problems are endless.” His eyes flicked to Aria then back to me. “Anyway, that envelope is going where it’s needed and going how it’s needed.”

  My cheeks instantly flushed, and I hastily stuffed the envelope in my purse. “I’ll mail it.” I cleared my throat. “My apologies on the…thought.”

  Slowly his lips curved in a private grin, his mind going somewhere I was positive had nothing to do with breakfast. “And it was more than decent, Ms Jules.”

  Sin started choking on his toast.

  I waved a hand, mumbling, “Really…too much.” I waved my hand again, trying to erase his pleased expression from my mind. “I shouldn’t have been thinking of you like that.” Realizing how that had sounded as everyone stared and my blush fully alive on my cheeks, I rambled, “That came out wrong. I didn’t mean it like that. I just noticed he looked…” Oh God. “…refreshed.”

  Sin chuckled deep in his chest, muttering quietly behind his napkin, “Shut up now, love.”

  “Right,” I murmured, brushing hair out of my face. I’d had enough to eat, and I was more than ready to leave. “Let’s go.”

  Sin looked grumpily at his still half-full plate. “I’m not done yet.”

  “Eat fast or take it with you,” I whispered harshly against his ear. I stood and grabbed my purse over the back of the chair, slinging it over my left shoulder. Sin stuffed as much food in his mouth as fast as possible, while I said goodbye to King Collins.

  The One murmured from his place at the table, “Ms Jules, I trust you have my diamond, since it disappeared before I could retrieve it?”

  The conversations at the table deflated into stunned quiet.

  I cleared my throat while covertly yanking on the back of Sin’s shirt to hurry him up. “I have my Primal Diamond, if that’s what you’re referring to.”

  Silver eyes flicked to Sin then back to me. “Two against one seems hardly fair.”

  My lips curved all on their own. “When I want something badly enough, I never play fair.”

  Elder Kincaid’s mate, Fi, who had a bit of a staring problem, interposed into the conversation, deflecting beautifully. “That is an interesting purse, Ms Jules.” She stared at it for a long moment. It was my black one with the pink skull on it.

  “Thank you.” I was going to take that as a compliment. I yanked harder on Sin’s shirt. “We’ll see you all in a bit.”

  Elder Farrar chuckled quietly, waving as Sin stood. “Have fun on your trip.”

  I had been starting to turn, but I slowly tilted my head back to him, cocking it. I had heard something in his tone. My eyes roamed his bronzed face. “Is there something I need to know?”

  “Criminals are always so perceptive,” he mumbled quietly, his grin still beaming. “How I do like you, Caro. And you should know…just that…” His head teetered back and forth. “You should remember your roots.” His face appeared pensive for a moment. “Oh yes…and the towel’s on your right side, not the left.” A finger flicked to the side. “To the right. That’s very important.”

  I blinked slowly at his jumbled mess of words and rolled my finger. “Let me try that again.” A slow point at myself, then Sin. “We’ll be coming home on time, right?”

  Again, his lips lifted. “Time does tell all, does it not? And it is such a figurative, fickle thing. It’s an amazing feat that it continues ticking away, never ending.” His tongue clicked a few times inside his mouth. “Tick-tock.”

  I wasn’t even sure I blinked. “Maybe we won’t go out, after all.”

  He laughed outright, enjoying himself way too much. “Go, go.” His eyes crinkled at the corners in some private joke. “Don’t worry. You’ll enjoy yourself while you’re out.” He waggled a finger. “But don’t forget my envelope.” The same finger flicked to the side. “And to the right, Caro. To the right.”

  Slow words from me, with a nod of my head. “Towel’s on the right. Got it.”

  A finger pointed at me. “Your right, not the other right.”

  Another slow word. “Okay.” My careful gaze turned to Sin. “Still want to go?”

  He shrugged a shoulder, his gaze also sensibly neutral. “He said you’d have fun.”

  “Huh.” I licked my lips. “Well, what’s the harm in a little fun?”

  Sin snorted as we walked away. “Just don’t forget the towel part.”

  “Yes,” Elder Farrar stated loudly behind us. “Your right, Caro. To the right.”

  “Issues,” Sin whispered quietly, neither of us turning to glance back at him. “Serious issues.”

  I elbowed him in the side. “I like him. Be nice.”

  “So d
o I…but man…issues…” He slung an arm over my shoulder, and we exited the room with guards in tow. He winked. “I was thinking table dancing and margaritas.”

  “Don’t even think about it!” King Zeller hollered from inside the breakfast room. “If we have to field any more damn phone calls, or arrange any more press releases, we will be pissed the fuck off!” A pause, then he shouted, “Don’t make me regret saying I’m happy you’re back, Sin!”

  “He sure does know how to take the fun out of everything,” I grumbled with false misery. “Maybe just a small table dance and one margarita.”

  “Caro!” King Zeller bellowed. “I’m serious!” A pause. “Go talk to your damn Prodigy before she ends up on the news again.”

  Sin and I double-timed it to his car.

  We cleared the gates before King Collins could haul us back.

  Window-shopping with Sin was always an interesting experience. He enjoyed it way more than I did, since he didn’t actually window-shop. He yanked me into every store whether I wanted to go or not. He tried on outfit after outfit and made me try on multiple garments.

  Some were respectable, but most were not.

  My stomach rumbled, and I called into the dressing room, “Sin, I’m hungry!”

  “I’ve got four other pairs of pants to try on,” he elucidated from behind the curtain.

  Sighing, I peered out the window of the cute shop into the downtown area. It was a perfectly picturesque postcard view of the finer north-east: the adorable town of Choep. The refined shops painted blue and white, with curving wrought-iron lights lining the intimate two-lane street, were peaceful. And, most importantly, I spied a bakery across the street. “There’s a place to eat across the way. How about I grab some sandwiches and bring them back?” I lifted my brows and eyed the curtain. “Do you think you’ll be done by then?”

  “Fine, fine,” Sin muttered. “I’ll be done by then.”

  I grinned. My guards followed close behind. “With this store, you mean.”