Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore #5)(31)
The room went quiet, so I guessed no one else wanted anything. It made making the phone call I placed much easier. “Maybe you guys will be hungry by the time it arrives. I got enough to share.”
That was when Leric moved—to pop his neck—before refreezing at the end of my bed.
I rubbed my lips together, watching in fascination as his crown rotated around his head for a few beats, before I peered to my silent King. “Do you want to know the bad news now?”
King Collins’s eyebrows rose, and he started to walk toward me but stopped dead in his tracks when his face suddenly reflected silver…apparently, Leric’s gaze had snapped to him. He relaxed back against the dresser, the silver light on his face disappearing after a few beats, and he asked, “That wasn’t the bad news?”
“Oh.” I shrugged a shoulder. “No. You see, even if you know who he is—”
“We do, but we thought we’d killed him. I swear my shot was true, but the damned bullet wasn’t silver…I should have known better than to believe he went down that easy,” King Zeller groused in heated passion, then he instantly froze. His face was reflecting silver, and his eyes—almost—flicked all the way to Leric, but they slowly came back to mine. He continued speaking, the silver light shining brightly on his face. “His name is Philip Masterson, although I’m sure he’s using a false name—”
“Alexander Kurnoc,” I interrupted.
King Zeller’s eyebrows lifted. “The obscure gambling industrialist?” When I dipped my head, he mumbled absently to himself, “Very interesting.” A nod of his head. “It makes sense then that he’s never been photographed or interviewed.” He cleared his throat and got back on track to tell me something I didn’t know. “He’s a hybrid, Shifter and Mage.” My brows rose at this, and King Zeller nodded slowly at my expression. “Yeah, and because of this, his Mage magic tends to work in reverse. Our best guess is, whereas some powerful Mages can go forward in time, he stores up enough power to go back in time.”
He popped his fingers one by one. “It didn’t work out for him so well the last time he tried it—even though we thought he was f*cking dead—so I don’t imagine he would do it again anytime soon.” He blinked. “Oh yes, and he’s the one that initially started MCWWII, creating a large majority of the Beasts by raping Com women.”
I stared. “Alrighty then.” I tried to process all of that, and I was pretty sure it was going to take longer than a few minutes to wrap my brain around. “Well, you won’t like the bad news then.” I flicked a finger where the screen used to be. “He’s also got some type of protection surrounding him, so he can’t be found unless he wants to be.”
Leric glowed just a bit brighter, and all of us started to squint. There was a scraping sound at my door, followed by a bitty howl. Followed directly by a loud, snarling wildcat noise. I sighed and started to stand to let Isolde and Tristan inside, but Leric chose that moment to speak, his rage making the room shake furiously as he shouted a demanding order, “Caro, sit the f*ck down!” When everyone froze, his voice boomed, “Somebody else get the goddamn door!”
Roselle instantly moved. “On it, sir.”
Leric went mute again, his mouth still behind his steepled hands. The silver glow of his eyes disappeared every once in a while as he stared at the wall, apparently barely blinking while Roselle opened the door to let in Isolde and Tristan. She shut and locked the door behind them. Isolde chose to go around sniffing and growling at everyone, but Tristan instantly jumped on my bed, rolled on it a few moments, then his enormous head dropped onto my lap and he started his huffing purr instantly. Only to stop when I lifted Isolde onto the bed, placing her on my free leg and ordering her to behave. They both watched each other silently while I stroked their heads.
I yawned as I spoke. “What’s the plan to keep the big bad from getting what he wants?”
Elder Farrar flicked a finger at me, eyebrows raised. “Meaning you and Sin.”
I blinked tiredly. “Sin and I can both handle ourselves now, hence the reason I didn’t mention anything before Leric caught me in the lie.” I rested back against the headboard, my head lolling to the side. “But I’m going to go out on a limb and guess no one here believes that now, after seeing that memory, which, by the way, was before either of us had our powers.”
Elder Farrar smirked. “Your guess would be right, especially where he’s involved, since you know,” he waved a brazen hand, “the man did orchestrate MCWWII into happening.”
“Hmm.” I blinked slowly. “You almost had a point there.” Another blink. “You think my food will be here soon?”
Almost everyone blinked right back at me.
Oddly, it was Mrs Damon who snapped out of her funk, brushing Mr Damon away as she wiped at her bloodshot eyes. She stomped across the room, ignoring when Leric’s silver gaze shot across her face, making it glow, to lift the phone on my bedside table. She called room service and barked orders like a deranged military sergeant. I almost felt sorry for the poor schmuck on the other end of the line. She slammed the phone down, nodding efficiently at the mistreated phone while stating, “It’ll be here in a few minutes.”
My head lolled the other way, peering up at her. “You want some of my food?”