King Hall (8 page)

He pushed my hand higher, placing the bag closer to my mouth, not releasing his grip on my hand. “Get it over with, Lil. You look like shit. You’ll end up
tearing
into a throat if you don’t, and I would prefer it not be mine.”

I considered the sloshing, crimson liquid, and gulped back the rising bile in my throat. I had already scarfed down the turkey sandwich, chips, and soda. I probably should have waited until I had managed the blood first, but it was too late now.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and sliced my fangs into the sterile bag.

Gagging on the disgusting, cold, bland blood, I felt Antonio’s grip tighten on my hand, keeping the bag against my mouth when I started to yank it away. He ordered, “Drink up. You want to go at the neck later? Fine, but right now you need this. Drink.” His voice was kind, but still carried an underlying command.

I pinched my nose, sucking it down quickly.

Only to have him hold up another. “One more. You’ll have your color back then.”

Groaning, I did as ordered. Vile, nasty stuff. Tossing the second bag in the plastic trash sack, I grabbed the toothpaste he handed me. An ample amount went on my tongue.

He hadn’t spoken anything of significance yet, but in his now extended silence, I mumbled, “They think I’m going to be the Queen Shifter.” I didn’t want to talk about Dominic, so I didn’t lead with him. Best to ask Antonio how to get out of this mess I was in. “They’re telling the press I’m sick with grief. Recovering from my loss, instead of revealing I’m missing.”

Antonio’s fingers beat a rhythm only he heard on the steering wheel as he cocked his head, apparently thinking, while I began finger-brushing my teeth. He finally spoke when I was through, asking, “What makes you think you won’t be the Queen Shifter?”

I stared. “I’m a hybrid, Antonio. You know I can’t be. And I don’t want to be.”

He sighed heavily, resting further on the leather seat, still driving at a snail’s pace. “Not touching on the hybrid part, do you really think every previous King or Queen wanted to rule?” His golden brows rose as he stared into my eyes for too long to be done while driving. No wonder he was going so slow. “That they woke up one day, and thought, ‘boy, I get to run the entire world for my Mys group, and it’ll be so much fun?’” He shook his head. “No, Lil. I can guarantee almost all Rulers didn’t want their crown in the beginning. It’s not something they had to work for. It was just thrown on them from birth. Slammed so brutally onto their heads, they either learned to deal with it or took drastic measures to get away from it.”

“How do I get away from it? How do I give the power to someone else?”

He gave me
the
look
. “The only way to transfer your Queen’s power is to die.”

“There’s no other loophole?” I asked, trying to think of anything else. “What about the person who would have gotten this power if Dominic hadn’t been mated? That person can have it!” I shook my head. “I can’t do this. I won’t be able to do the Awakenings. It would be ludicrous to put me on the throne.”

His sideways gaze held sympathy. “The power goes to who it’s supposed to. So it doesn’t matter who might have gotten it if Dominic hadn’t mated. You have it. It’s yours. There’s no passing the buck to someone else.” Antonio reached to open his glove compartment and pulled out a tiny, ancient book, dropping it on my lap. “Take a look at page fifty-four, third paragraph.”

Gingerly, I picked up the leather book. It was flaking it was so old. I carefully turned the tips of the pages until I got to page fifty-four. Skimming down the page, I found the third paragraph, and read aloud from the handwritten chicken scratch, “
The unimaginable was proven tonight. They were wrong, and so, my son died in vain. All these years, I believed them. Joseph’s death justified. Needed. And now, I weep tears of torture, of anguish, for they were wrong. A hybrid can be used as a magical vessel for an Awakening. Joseph, my beautiful boy, I am so sorry. I will surely burn in Hell for what I let him do.”
Immediately, I stopped, flipping back a few pages. It was a journal, dated May 31, year rubbed out, unknown.

“It’s only a madman’s ramblings,” I mumbled, brows furrowed, gently closing the book and placing it back in the glove compartment, even as my heart fluttered. “Nothing more.”

“You know it’s hard for us to conceive compared to Coms,” he glanced to me, “a hybrid birth even more rare with self-induced faction separation, but in my extensive searches I’ve found more journals with similar words inscribed as written proof. I don’t believe those accounts are all mere insane ramblings. I believe them to be fact.”

“If they were true, then why would they continue killing hybrids?”

“Fear, most likely. If you had kept reading to the end of that journal, you would have found that the father kills himself out of shame, much like all the other accounts I’ve found. Nowhere in them did the parent indicate they’d tried to enlighten their Ruler of their findings.”

I stared blankly at the road ahead. “Even if that were true, I still don’t want to be Queen.” He obviously believed what he said, his words
truth
.

Antonio huffed irritably. “It’s time to grow up, kiddo. We don’t always get to pick what we want in life. You just make the best of the life you’re given.” Golden eyes rested unbreakably on mine. “Your life has been picked for you. It’s time to own up to it.”

Jaw clenching, I questioned, “Why have you been helping me my whole life, only to leave me, and then show up now?” My blue eyes held the same hardness he had given me. “You want me to own up to the truth? To reality? Then you can give me the same in return.” I waited, watching him closely, scenting the air.

He answered simply, “Because I must.”
Truth
.

I snorted. Nice evasive answer. “Who are you really?” He had left before I had been completely coherent after my first Awakening, last name an alias, and now, I could feel his power with my own humming in my Core, and his power was immense.

He hesitated. “An Elder.”

I blinked. “You were a King?” I hadn’t seen that coming.

A gradual nod. “Yes.”

I studied him even more closely. His age. My eyes unblinking, words measured. “You were a King fifty years ago when Mysticals came out.” The war. The upheaval. It all made sense now. How brutal he was at times. Everything he had taught me to keep myself alive.

Another nod. “It’s time you knew.”

“For being a King, you and Mom didn’t teach me shit about Mysticals.” My eyes didn’t venture away from him while I took in the fact that the King Mage, one of the four biggest bads during the war that had seized the world for ten years, had raised me, right beside my soft mom. It seemed so bizarre. They had always been an unusual pair. They hadn’t been lovers from what I could remember, but they had been roommates, co-parenting my upbringing.

The man I knew as my
real
dad had been King…and he was crazy powerful.

He snorted. “We taught you what you needed to know.”

“No wonder Mom trusted your spell on me.” The spell he put on me when I was a baby to hide my Vampire power from uncomfortable, curiosity-driven magical probes.

He shrugged. “It took me a few months to perfect it.”

Bit by bit, I turned my regard back to the road, muttering, “I know what road you’re on.” Of course I did. “Were you planning on asking me if I wanted to go back to King Kincaid’s? Or were you going to hogtie me and carry me inside?” Knowing who he was now, I wouldn’t put it past him.

Even though he was an Elder, Antonio wasn’t killing me on the spot for being a hybrid because he believed I could handle an Awakening, leaving me no other option but to believe it, too. For now. Only time would tell. I sure as hell didn’t plan on blabbing to anyone anytime soon about what I was.

His lips twitched. “I would prefer you go peacefully.” He wasn’t kidding.

Eyes on the road ahead, I pointed a defeated finger onward. “Take me to the King’s home.” He nodded, pressing harder on the gas pedal, and I remarked vaguely, “I met my biological father.”

He was silent for a few beats. “What do you think of Atticus Venclaire?”

Confirmation. Of course, he knew. “He seems nice enough.” I shrugged, brushing breadcrumbs off my black shirt. I didn’t give a shit anymore about trendy clothes. I was going to let out my inner darkness through my attire. “Do you know him well? What do you think of him?”

“I always liked the young man,” Antonio stated. And I guess, to him, King Venclaire was younger. Forty years younger. “The few times I met him, he was charming, and very kind to your mother.” He hesitated, golden eyes flicking to mine. “I believe he truly cared for her.”

I nodded. “I got that off him.” I added, so he knew, “I haven’t told anyone about me being a hybrid. Only Dominic knew.” I stopped, my mind going numb mentioning his name.

Antonio pulled to a stop at King Kincaid’s gated property, which was now heavily guarded, rolling his window down to speak to the patrol at the entrance. “Elder Farrar to see King Kincaid.”

It was then I knew his actual last name — knowledge a daughter generally had.

The Shifter’s eyes went wide, clearly in shock, and he sputtered unintelligibly while nodding his head rapidly. I don’t even think he noticed me. He jumped into his little booth and the gates instantly opened. Guess he knew who Antonio was. He was on the phone only a moment later as we began driving through. At least King Kincaid would have a little warning.

Strolling inside the full foyer with Mysticals milling everywhere, all talking quietly and respectfully, all here mourning Dominic, I stared with void eyes, my heart shriveling even further; I was seriously hoping they didn’t approach me right now.

Antonio lifted a golden ring, an Elder’s ring, from his pocket, slipping it on his finger before he placed a gentle arm over my shoulders, protective, keeping me close against him. He kissed my forehead softly as he murmured, “It’ll be alright, Lil. I promise you that.”

I nodded mechanically, staying in his strong, quickly familiar embrace, taking what comfort I could. I was so cold. Didn’t feel like I would ever be warm again.

The grievers were only beginning to notice me. My face hadn’t been flashed all over the news, even though my name had, but any of my classmates here would know who I was. While I was taking a deep, fortifying breath, all four Kings, their two mates, the three Prodigies, and their one mate came around the corner in a flurry, all scanning the packed foyer.

Antonio grumbled on a mere breath against my ear, “I think I hate this more than you.”

I didn’t get a chance to ask what he meant. As a whole, their group spotted us. Most stared at Antonio in awe. All of them definitely stared in shock when they saw me under his arm.

Dominic’s parents, King Kincaid and Fi, rushed forward, swooping in to hug me.

It was awkward, since Antonio wasn’t releasing me. His tone quiet, he asked, “Is there somewhere we can speak privately?”

King Kincaid kissed my temple, even while Fi brushed a soft hand over my hair, a few tears trickling down her cheeks. The King’s dark eyes examined where Antonio was holding me and he nodded. “In my study.” He hesitated, but finally tilted his head to the other Kings, asking, “With the others?”

“That’ll do.”

King Kincaid nodded once, gesturing for us to follow him.

Once inside the study with the door firmly locked, they again stared at Antonio and then at me. And back again. Still with those emotions of shock and awe flying over most of their faces.

Antonio cleared his throat. “Thank you for meeting with me.”

They nodded, no words.

Humor almost found me. I had seen the man in his underwear, eating cereal and his golden hair a rat’s nest, almost every Saturday morning of my life. There was really nothing awing about that. He was still Antonio to me, Elder or not.

King Kincaid recovered the swiftest. “It’s a pleasure to have you in our home, Elder Farrar. It’s been too many years since…” He cleared his throat. “It is a pleasure.”

“Thank you, King Kincaid.” Antonio dipped his head regally, a comical action to me, and again, amusement tickled my coldness. “I know I’ve been absent some years, and I’m sure my being here is a shock.” Wagering his “absence” had been to help take care of me wasn’t a long shot.

“I assure you, we’re honored,” Fi murmured, still wearing an air of wonder. “Where did you find our Lily?”

“Up a tree,” he stated bluntly. Most stared as if they weren’t sure if he was serious. He didn’t seem to notice. “My Lil, the wolf that loves to climb trees. She always does something to make me smile.” He did smile down at me, still tucked under his arm, squeezing my shoulder tenderly. He quickly peered up to King Kincaid and Fi, stating humbly, “I’m very sorry for your loss. Please, excuse me. I should have said that before.”

Fi teared up once more and I watched the salty droplets track down her cheeks, still not feeling much of anything unless Antonio was trying to make me laugh or shock me. I blankly observed King Kincaid wrap his arms around his mate, holding her close against his chest and hushing her quietly, while the others moved toward us, giving them a moment.

King Nelson was first, yammering his condolences for so long that Fi had stopped crying by the time he turned to Antonio, stating, “It’s truly an honor to meet you. I have many questions I would love to ask you when you have a moment.”

So it went, the Kings first.

King Fergus gave me his sympathies before eyeing Antonio and shaking his hand.

I stopped King Kincaid before he stepped back, pulling him close and whispering against his ear, “I don’t want to go back to my uncle’s.”

His wolf huffed quietly, resting his cheek against mine. “You’ll stay with Fi and me.”

I wasn’t through yet. “I don’t want him here at all.” My uncle might try now.

King Kincaid’s frame tensed. “Your reason?”

“Please, just make it happen?”

Ever so slowly, he nodded, pulling back as he stared into my eyes. “Done.”

My gaze flittered between his. “It’s that easy?”

King Venclaire was standing next to him, eyeing us closely, and he leaned in King Kincaid’s direction, muttering softly, “A bullet would rid you of a nuisance.” He shrugged, straightening when we cast him a glance. “Just a suggestion.”