King Cave (Forever Evermore, #2)(3)
More than curious, I probed, “What things were you talking about?”
Kneeling, Ezra lifted a handheld gun from the depths of one of the bags and set it aside before continuing his search. “I don’t know what they were. Not Com. Not Mys.” My body stilled at the implication, even as he pulled a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt from the bag, which appeared remarkably like the clothes Ezra owned. He grunted, studying them. “I’ll explain later.”
A Com head poked inside the room via the broken window, and I fired instantly. The head no longer poked. Nor did it do anything else, since half of it lay on the floor while the rest of the body lay outside the window.
“Not Com or Mys? How is that possible?” Seeing Ezra raise his hands to yank the blood-drenched robe over his head, I kept my focus directly on the Coms’ access point, giving him privacy. None of the Prodigies — him, me, Pearl, or Jack — had on anything under our robes.
“It’s possible,” he grumbled, to my left. “But I’ll explain it when we have more time.” I could hear him pulling the jeans on, the rustling of fabric. He grunted again. “This is handy, but I think Antonio stole my damn clothes.”
“Or he purposely had them for this exact reason,” I murmured, most definitely beginning to suspect that Antonio knew more in advance than the average individual.
After a moment, Ezra hummed in agreement. “I think he also has your clothes, and Pearl’s and Jack’s, in here.” I heard him rummaging through the bag. “And wipes. Perfect.”
“Ezra, hurry up,” Vivian ordered, definitely using a mother’s tone. “Elder Farrar appears to be finishing.”
Ezra stalked in my direction. “Get changed. I’ll watch the window.” He tugged the black shirt over his head with one hand, holding the opened packet of wipes in the other. When he was finished dressing, I placed my gun in his waiting hand, and he began cleaning his face and arms one-handed with the wipes while keeping my gun aimed at the window.
I darted to the bag of clothes and found inside black cargos and a yellow shirt, which were absolutely mine. I pulled them out and hastily returned to Ezra, hiding behind him — he was the perfect screen so no one could see me — and beginning to change. Just as I had zipped my cargos and begun yanking my t-shirt over my head, I heard Pearl and Jack moan. I flinched, praying the spell Antonio was placing on them held true. If it didn’t, I would have to knock their asses out and cart them over my shoulder to get them out of here alive.
A particularly loud explosion woke them fully as I was pulling my hair out of the collar of my shirt. It rocked the building, and I teetered, falling against Ezra’s solid back. We rested against each other for support as the floor trembled under our feet, but the room we were in stayed intact. Earlier, Vivian had rambled that the room may have been spelled, and I was beginning to think she was correct. Especially when I heard parts of the upper floors crumble and bang against the ceiling but not crash through.
“What the f*ck?” Jack shouted over the resounding noise, sounding shaken…but not wretched, which he should have with Nikki dead.
“We’re under attack,” Antonio explained calmly. “You and Pearl need to get changed. You four have a job to do to move Mysticals to safety.”
“Were we injured?” Pearl asked, sounding muddled…but not screaming in agony from Gideon’s death. “I don’t remember anything but the initial blast.”
“That’s not important.” Antonio jumped to his feet, moving toward his bags. “What is vital is that you two are fine.” He tossed clothes in their direction. “Listen to my directives while you two change your clothes.”
Feeling confident in my blank expression, I turned my attention in their direction. They appeared confused to the extreme, but no desperation lurked in their expressions and no hurt was visible. In fact, the only perceptible evidence of anything abnormal, other than their bewilderment, was a diagonal streak of pink lipstick across each of their foreheads. Half of an ‘X’. And bizarrely, neither one of my besties seemed to notice the other’s half ‘X’ when they glanced at each other before turning their backs to one another so they could strip down in semi-privacy, doing as the Elder bid them.
Hastily averting my gaze, I slipped from behind Ezra so he could see me. A quick glance at him, and his eyes met mine. I nodded slightly, letting him know the spell had worked. His chest heaved once in relief, but his regard swiftly altered as he fired at and killed a Com trying to climb inside. From the corner of my eye I noted that Pearl jerked at the report, but Antonio snagged all of our attentions a moment later.
Zipping his bags closed, Antonio questioned swiftly, “Jack, do you remember how to use the pond for shelter by funneling your combined wills?”
Hearing him put his jeans on, I only listened as Jack directly affirmed, “Yes.”
“Good.” Antonio stood, slinging his bags over his shoulders. “You’re going to do it again. Mysticals will be traveling with you under your combined protection, so don’t falter. Don’t stop for anything. Or anyone. A single break in any of your concentrations will result in your deaths.” He explained this all matter-of-factly. “The roads are blocked. Right now, there’s only one way to Connecticut and to King Cave.” Absently, he tossed me a circular item.
Catching it, I saw it was a compass.