Chosen One (Forever Evermore #6)(38)
Elder Farrar sat at the table, grabbing a sandwich, golden eyes watching me calmly, interjecting quickly as Queen Ruckler’s eyes narrowed, her lips parting. “Lily, I believe I saw him a few minutes ago, coming in from a run. I’m sure he’s on his way here as we speak.”
“He’d better be,” Queen Ruckler muttered, and then leaned down whispering directly in front of my face. “Get over their deception. It was in the damn past before they knew who you were. Their actions were justified from what I understand.” She bared her teeth a bit. “You’ll only get hurt if you mess with someone a hundred times more powerful than you.”
My eyebrows only lifted a bit. “I don’t believe I stated I had done anything wrong.” My head dipped to her. “But thanks for the advice.”
And…speak of the devil. Literally, in my opinion.
Elder Merrick walked calmly into the room, wearing a pair of black dress pants and a silver blue button-down shirt, dressed nicely like the other Elders, but his chest was heaving a little, his black curls were still a bit damp from a shower, and—I bit down a grin—his cheeks were flushed on his olive skin, obviously having rushed to get here in the Elemental section for the meeting. Leave it to Elder Farrar to twist the words I had once used—which would only be yesterday morning in 2035—when his perusal swung to Elder Merrick, who was catching more than a few looks, deadpanning, “You’re looking refreshed, Elder Merrick.”
I attempted to contain my smile. Not only had I accomplished taking him down—literally into the ground—I had also snuck into his room and stole my short swords back. It had only taken twenty minutes to rummage through his belongings to find them. I stretched my legs out in front of me comfortably, continuing to eat my chips, and waited for his response as damn near everyone in this nosy room of onlookers were doing.
Elder Merrick grunted, swinging a leather chair around to sit down, saying evenly, “Actually, I am.” His grin was feral as he pulled a sandwich and chips from the middle of the table, eyes swinging to Elder Farrar. “A decently executed restraining technique can be invigorating, and I’d like to enjoy the afterglow and shit, so fuck off.”
I ate another chip, trying not to stare any more than the others were doing, comprehensively enjoying watching him put the truth out there to hide the secrets.
“Right, then…fucking off,” Elder Farrar mumbled, chuckling and shaking his head as he lifted his sandwich. “Although, I believe it bears repeating the house staff is a damn bad idea.” Golden eyes flicked to Elder Merrick, but slid to Aria before traveling back to his sandwich as he took a bite.
“I’ll try to remember that,” Elder Merrick murmured on a quiet growl as he started to peel into his sandwich, and I knew his comment would come up a lie under the Shifters radar, making them think he might have, indeed, slept with the staff.
Queen Ruckler instantly stiffened. “Next time you plan to miss a meeting for extracurricular activities, I would appreciate a phone call.” Her wolf huffed quietly. “I waited for thirty minutes.”
His head dipped to her. “Understood.” He didn’t apologize, just continued eating his sandwich, navy blue ice cold eyes never once swinging toward me to give anything away.
I was just biting into another chip, conversation starting up around the table again when the One asked lazily, but a bit harshly, “Ms. Jules, would you care to explain how you lost my diamond…in the fucking past?”
I chewed slowly, setting the bag down on the table, and went with a patient expression when I swiveled my chair toward the far end of the table to where he sat. Not having glanced at him yet, keeping a rein on my control for now, I stared directly into shadowed, attractive silver eyes, and lied out my ass, stating slowly, and clearly, “It was mine, not yours, and it went down a drain.”
Slow words. “Mine…and a drain?”
I nodded once, tilting my head toward Elder Farrar, but keeping eye contact with the One. “When I found Elder Farrar with it, I landed in a shower with him. He was…busy…with company at the time, and my arrival startled all three of us. I dropped the damn diamond,” I made a subtle, small whooshing motion with my hand, “and down the drain it went.”
It was dead quiet in the room as he blinked at me once, then asked in a bored tone, “You wouldn’t be lying to me, would you?”
“Of course not,” I stated, and then crinkled my nose. “Well, I guess I could be, but I would have come up with a better freaking story than that.” And, I let my cheeks blush, making myself remember vividly what I had seen on Elder Farrar. “It’s actually damn embarrassing.”
His eyes flicked over my face, and then he sat heavily back on his chair, running a hand over his mouth. “Dammit, I hate losing my shit.”
“It was mine,” I muttered, swiveling my chair, turning my attention back to my sandwich.
“Mine.”
I snorted, taking a bite of my food, chewing calmly.
And…not one Shifter outed me, every single one of them either watching silently, or eating their food calmly, even the one I had buried this morning.
Across from the One, Elder Zeller leaned forward, appearing all types of eager for information, asking him, “Now that’s it’s gone, will you tell me what it could do?”
The One flicked a tired hand, his brows still together in irritation. “It’s sufficed to say, the damn thing had many different influential uses.” Another irritated flick of his hand. “Think of the name itself. Primal Diamond…Primal. It wasn’t just spelled. It was ancient. An original.”