King Hall (Forever Evermore, #1)(42)

“I know her value as a Queen.” Antonio’s voice was soft, and his eyes glowed as he peered off to the side. “However, pushing your will on her is not the answer,” a sharp glance at King Kincaid, his eyes no longer glowing, “and she will always be the child I raised.” He held King Kincaid’s gaze for another beat. “We need to focus on the attack. Talk to Com leaders in the United States. Find out what they know, keep the relations strong.”

Resting against Ezra and Pearl, I watched as all four Kings started shouting again, but this time at one another, and even at Antonio, while I recovered.

We waited for their verdict. We knew we were going to be “grounded” again, since we had been told before — repeatedly — not to fight with Coms. To run until we were stronger. We had directly disobeyed their rule. What we waited to hear was if we would be allowed in the discussion with the United States Com leaders, that now being the subject of their argument.

Eventually, they agreed we would, but disagreed on one subject, which I hadn’t even realized was a subject until it was stated and, seemingly, neither had my friends, because all four of us froze at the comments being voiced.

We had known Antonio was traveling the globe, asking certain high-powered Mysticals to transfer to our school, which they had done. First, there had been Felix. Next, was Aros — wolf Shifter. Then, Alex and Ally — Vampire twins. Later, Ross and Jordan — Mages. Lastly, Chris — earth Elemental — and Eda — air Elemental. What we hadn’t put together was why they had been specifically asked here. Now, we knew.

For us.

Essentially, they were here to be our elite guard, sworn to stay near, and protect us.

I stiffened further as a ghastly thought intruded my mind. As they argued about whether our elite guard should be introduced to the United States politicians, I interrupted loudly, ice in my tone, grabbing their attention. “Do they know what they are?” My friends stayed silent beside me, and I repeated my question, the Kings’ confusion clear. “Do they know what they are? That they’re supposed to be our elite guard? Training for it outside of school, perhaps?”

King Nelson’s golden eyebrows came together. “Of course they do. And yes, they’re training outside of school.”

While attempting to push back my ruthless assumption, I asked slowly, “None of you thought to tell us this?”

King Kincaid took a step forward, obviously deciphering I was upset. “We decided to tell you once they had all arrived, and we were planning to this weekend, since Eda finally made it here.” Dark eyes scanned my face. “Honey, is there something wrong?”

Jack whistled low, figuring out what I had, the errant thought I couldn’t rationalize away.

My eyes met Antonio’s. He was the one who had brought them here. He was the one who might have asked. I felt like an ice sculpture when I questioned, “Did you tell each of them to stick close to us?”

Antonio held my gaze steadily, his words blunt. “If you’re asking if I told Felix to have sex with you to keep you close, no, I did not.” His golden eyes never left mine. “Nonetheless, however he chooses to do his job,” he shrugged, “so be it. Just as long as he does it.”

I sucked in a harsh breath. God, Antonio was so brutally honest. If you wanted sugarcoated words, even if they were hard to say, he wasn’t the one to ask. He just told you how it was when he actually deigned to answer a question asked.

A deafening muteness overtook the room’s occupants.

King Kincaid’s eyes began narrowing furiously.

Antonio held up a stopping hand in the King’s direction and cocked his head, eyes on me. “I didn’t think you two were serious. Was I wrong?”

Ignoring the obvious answer to that and my voice cracking, I stated harshly, “Tell me, Antonio, would you want someone to take you to their bed because it’s their job to do so? And then, to top it off, you have no clue you’re just a job in the first place? Instead, you just think, hey, someone actually thinks I’m nice looking, actually feels something for me sexually, and not because magic made the person feel that way.”

Shaking my head, I felt hot tears rolling down my cheeks. I quickly swatted them away. “I don’t look like any of you! You’re all so damn perfect. And me? Not so much. Do you know how hard that is to be around all the time? To have people only sleep with me because they think it’s a privilege to sleep with their Prodigy?” I snorted and swiped away a few more tears. “And now, I’m just a f*cking job. The freak-f*cking-Queen lay.” Another shake of my head. “I wonder if he ran to the bathroom every time afterward, so he could throw up.” My stomach churned; I was feeling sick myself.

Silence.

Everyone stared. Like normal. But this time, their jaws were hanging open.

Pearl and Ezra had death grips on my arms, and Jack even had a hand on my shoulder.

Shaking, I tried to calm down, realizing everything I had just spewed.

King Kincaid took a tentative step forward, appearing very much like a man unsettled, not knowing how to deal with an upset woman, like the rest of the Kings appeared. With his palms out wide, he said softly, “Honey, Dominic thought you—”

“Dominic was drunk the first night we had sex,” I cut him off, my anger flaring once more, on a damn roll. After a Mystical’s Awakened, their magic knows. Elementals feel the pull to their intended mate when their magics meet. Mages much the same. Vampires know by the blood. Shifters through intercourse or, more specifically, right at their climax. It had been two weeks before my Shifter Awakening when we’d first had sex, so I hadn’t known then. He had. “How can I not wonder if it was just the magic talking?”