King Cave (Forever Evermore, #2)(102)
“Yes, please go,” Antonio stated quietly, but waved a hand. “I will expect you to come back to fix that crack you put above my door.” One eye opened. “When you’re invited.”
“Of course,” Ezra stated, setting me on my feet, even though I was pretty sure he had no clue what Antonio was talking about. “I’ll wait for your call.” He opened the door for me.
I had one foot in the hallway when I stilled. Cahal was using the old Vampire form of communication. Grabbing my earlobe, I tugged on it while I listened to his voice hiss in my ear, “If you ever hurt him, I will kill you.”
My wolf wanted to growl, but I swallowed it, dropping my hand and glancing back at him. He loved his son something fierce. There was no denying that. Ezra had frozen when I had, his gaze snapping to his father, smart enough to understand what was happening. Cahal’s head lifted. His dark eyes met mine.
Oh, did he ever mean his threat, too.
I got it, so I nodded, then exited the room with a hovering Vampire next to me.
Chapter Fifteen
Ezra was an intermittent growling mess once out of his dad’s eyesight.
On the plus side, no one tried to intercept us as we made our way to our bedroom.
On the downside, when we entered said bedroom, he went all loco-Vampire-freaky.
As soon as the door shut, his eyes glowed, and maybe a heartbeat later, I was dizzy and sitting on the bed with my back resting against the headboard. Jack and Pearl were lying on the bed being bums and watching TV, and they both froze as I thumped next to them. Eyes wide in shocked wooziness, I stared at the Vampire whose eyes were glowing fiercely as he growled continually, his movements too damn smooth — his predator peeking out to say hello — as he lifted the blanket over me, tucking it tightly around my legs and meticulously fluffing it up to my shoulders.
Jack started to tap my shoulder, more than likely to ask me what the hell was going on, but his face suddenly glowed green as Ezra’s attention snapped to him. His fangs fully bared, his growl rumbling more deeply than before. Oddly, the bone structure of his face was even more sharply defined, somehow appearing more beautiful and deadly at the same time. Intelligently, Jack’s hand retreated before he touched me. Ezra’s growl continued a moment longer at that lower tone, definitely a warning of sorts, before it went back to the only-just-scary growl…right before he gently placed his hand on my shoulder, pulling me forward to place a pillow behind my back.
He straightened, his head cocking. Reached to lift the blanket higher on my shoulder and brush a few stray strands of hair off my face. Slowly, his head slanted toward Pearl and Jack. He growled that deeper tenor before saying in a musically creepy tone, “Don’t touch her.”
They both nodded.
Finally, blinking past my dazed astonishment, I found my voice. “Ezra, I’m alright.”
He only stared at me.
Talking in a soft voice, one people use specifically when someone’s going off the deep end, I said, “Really, Ezra. No one hurt me. They only talked—” I squeaked when he was suddenly in my face, a finger over my lips.
“My dad had you,” he hummed, the tone just shy of hypnotic. “One time, you called him seriously scary, but that doesn’t even begin to describe him. He didn’t get his reputation by being…nice. The things he’s done, the things he’s taught me, are not anywhere kind enough for nightmares.” His head cocked, the movement all Vampire. “Don’t ever be that naive again, sweetheart. If he’s ever upset with you, hit him with every ounce of power you have,” he leaned forward until our noses touched, “then…f*cking…run.”
My lips pinched under his finger. “Antonio was there. He would never let him harm me.”
Ezra growled so loudly the sound actually vibrated against my entire body.
I wasn’t one hundred percent sure how to handle this situation. All I had were Shifter experiences to go from. If I had to compare the two, which truly weren’t all that far apart — between the four Mystical factions, Vampires and Shifters were the two predators of the group while Mages and Elementals were the gentler of our people — his reaction was extremely similar to the way a Shifter would behave after feeling a loved one had been threatened. Hoping I was right, risking his predator seeing it as a threat, I acted to try to calm him the only way I knew.
Shifter style.
Inhaling heavily, I cautiously pulled my hand out of the blanket and rested it on his cheek. Then hit him with a dose of soothing Shifter magic. His growl sputtered as he blinked a few times. I whispered, “I was fine. I know when to run. And that wasn’t the time.” Brushing his finger from my mouth, I bent forward and placed my lips gently against his slightly parted ones. “Shh. It’s alright, baby. I’m right here. I’m fine.” I kissed him softly. Once. “Calm down.”
His breathing became pants against my lips as we stared one another in the eyes. Again, I hit him with another dose of soothing magic. His whole body trembled, his growling quieting, no longer loud enough to rock the air around us. Shakily, he stated, “You scared me. When I heard my dad order you off the phone…f*ck, I was so scared.” His nostrils flared. “Promise me you’ll do as I said if your instincts tell you he’s too angry.”
That was a no-brainer. “I promise.” Cahal was one scary mother-f*cker.