King Cave (Forever Evermore, #2)(97)

Scanning the room again, I groaned. Fuck, this was his frigging office. Not even curious about what was inside, nor stupid enough to chance reading from it, I placed it on his desk.

Only to sneeze.

And freeze with a damning thought.

My senses were wacked without Ezra in here distracting me with his touch and scent. I was shaking and wanted to growl. The symptoms were all there. But, God no…

Deliberately, I rose, lifting a pencil from the desk. Dread began to fill me as I walked toward the lounge couch we had been on only minutes before. I sneezed again, my whole body beginning to vibrate. Taking a calming breath, I chucked the pencil at the fireplace.

As if in slow motion, I watched it fly end over end through the air.

It bounced off thin air, that area a dot of golden magic as the pencil fell to the floor.

I felt the blood drain from my face. Oh, dear Lord above.

Beginning to hyperventilate, I whispered, “Drop it, Antonio.”

He had done this once before. Snuck up on us, while we had been sleeping in Ezra’s bed, before my surprise funneling attempt. It had wreaked havoc on my senses then, the same as it was doing now. But this time, Ezra and I had been doing much more than sleeping. If Antonio was in this room, hidden behind a Mage spell, there could only be one reason why.

Holding my breath, I waited.

It didn’t take long.

A too large f*cking golden bubble appeared before my eyes, encasing a fourth of the room, an edge only a few feet in front of me.

Then it was gone. The room as it should be.

Dizziness rushed over me as I began gasping for air, very nearly on the verge of fainting.

Directly in front of me, standing at the fireplace, was Antonio. To his right, sitting on the far couch, was Elder Merrick. To his left, on another couch, was Elder Jacobs. Directly to my left, which I could see only from the corner of my eye, sitting on the gold leather chair, was the fourth to their group. Elder Zeller.

Ezra’s dad.

I was pretty sure I whimpered as I swayed on weak legs.

Mutely, they stared.

I gasped, my vision blurring. An excuse! Goddamn it, think of a f*cking reasonable excuse! My mouth flapped a few times in an attempt to obey my frantic thoughts as I desperately sought plausible scenarios that might actually fit this predicament. Shit!

Antonio pinched the bridge of his nose, as if he had a Com migraine. “Lil, don’t even bother.”

Snapping my mouth shut, I stuffed my shaking hands in my pockets.

I was well and truly caught.

His hand dropped to his side, and his gaze returned to mine, as he growled, “You couldn’t sense us until now?” He was mighty upset.

I sputtered for a few seconds, then cleared my throat, trying again. “I was distracted.”

Elder Jacobs replied dryly, “So we noticed.”

I still hadn’t looked at Ezra’s dad. Nor did I really want to. But, I did — carefully — ask the infuriated Mage, “Why didn’t you tell us you were in here?” Peeping Toms!

Antonio bristled. Uh-oh. “You sneak into my damn office and ask me why I didn’t show myself?” He stalked forward, and I moved backward. Best to keep a safe distance.

But still… “Yes.”

He stopped dead in his tracks at my response, clenching and unclenching his fists, and jerked his head toward Ezra’s dad. “We were having a private discussion we didn’t want others overhearing when Ezra walked in. He wanted to see how badly you two were lying to him.” A pause. “Then the whole situation turned,” another head tilt at Cahal, “and he wanted to know his son’s decision.”

He ran a hand over his face, suddenly appearing tired. “I’m going to have to buy a new lounge couch.” My face flamed so hot it had to match my hair. He pointed over my head. “And Ezra’s fixing that crack and anything else he broke by throwing my things about.”

I nodded quickly, watching him warily. Right now, he was running hot and cold.

He shook his head, muttering, “I seriously didn’t want to see that.” He glanced at the desk and the couch, making my flush stay bright. “You need to work on your willpower, kiddo. He played you like a f*cking fiddle. I thought we were going to have to watch the whole damn thing,” he shuddered, “to its conclusion.”

I choked, turning my gaze from him, entirely mortified. This resulted with my eyes landing directly on Ezra’s dad. I froze as my gaze collided with his. Antonio didn’t seem to notice as he rambled on about burning his precious candles, and so on and so forth, striding back to the fireplace and muttering to himself.

Ezra’s dad rested with his elbow on the arm of the chair, two fingers propping his chin up as he regarded me with a blank expression.

I had no clue what to say to the man. To any of them, as the room went mute again. An apology seemed ridiculous since I wasn’t, in fact, sorry. Denying the action was just ludicrous. Telling them it wouldn’t happen again wasn’t an honest way to start with a clean slate since, if Ezra wanted to be exclusive, it very much would happen.

Into the strained silence, my face still flaming bright, Elder Merrick drawled, “I do believe I’m going to have to watch my back for a few days.” His chuckle was gravelly. “It could be fun.”

My gaze wasn’t going anywhere from Cahal’s, even when Elder Jacobs mumbled, “And your front and sides.” A pause. “And from below and above.”