King Hall (Forever Evermore, #1)(50)

Pearl offered, “I saw it once before. Same thing happened when their magic touched. They actually fainted for, like, ten minutes, and then there were the sparkles of yellow and green.” She glanced to the news crews outside the gates. “Jack’s story is probably already being aired.”

Nikki smiled shyly at Jack when he said something.

I almost choked. God, the girl had a lot to learn to keep up with him.

Timid, he wasn’t, which he proved by kissing her right in front of everyone, and I did chuckle when he moved back, since she swayed like she was going to faint all over again.

“Oh, poor girl,” Pearl muttered.

Ezra grunted in agreement.

I continued snickering.


Jack kept rubbing his palm and pattering his feet, antsy as he glanced back toward the doors where he had left Nikki.

Squeezing his shoulder, I whispered, “Pull yourself together. This won’t take that long.”

The man had gone from petrified of finding his mate to protective of his mate in the blink of a shower of blue and red sparkles. King Fergus had ended up damn near dragging him away from the limo. Jack had only gone peacefully when at least five guards had been left with her. While she was locked inside an armored limo.

“It’s weird,” he mumbled, rubbing his palm. He glanced at me. “She’s pretty, huh?”

“Very. You’re a lucky man,” I stated honestly.

Ezra finished speaking with King Venclaire, turning to face us as we waited in the receptionist’s area outside the Oval Office, and stated bluntly, “Let’s see it.”

Pearl bounced on the balls of her feet. “Yes. Show us.”

Jack’s lips inched into a huge grin, and he unclenched his fist, palm toward the ceiling.

We tilted our heads over his hand. There was what looked like a tattooed red flame. It was faint, so you had to look closely, but it was there.

I squeezed his shoulder once more, this time in congratulations, but a thought occurred. My gaze turned to Pearl. “I’ve never seen your mark.” Mages also got tattooed mate marks, not bite marks like Shifters and Vampires.

Lifting her head from staring at Jack’s palm, Pearl blinked. “Oh.” Her cheeks pinked, but she covertly unbuttoned a tiny portion of her shirt near her belly button. She parted the material. Around her belly-button was a pale spiraling circle of gold. It reminded me of the mazes from the newspapers that I used to solve as a kid.

We bent, staring.

Ezra grinned, peering up at her. “What exactly were you two doing when your magics touched?” Mages also had to be skin-to-skin for the mark to form.

Her flush deepened, quickly buttoning her shirt. “Uh…”

Straightening, the three of us began to chuckle. Well, well. We now knew Pearl and Gideon did, in fact, have their kinks in the bedroom.


We were sitting along the wall of the Oval Office, and I couldn’t even be properly awed because Jack’s leg kept bouncing and his body kept jerking next to me.

I glanced around him to Ezra, who sat on the other side of him, and our eyes met.

His widened, clearly meaning: I have no flipping clue.

Sighing, and, even though it was rude as the President and a few Senators spoke with the Kings in the center of the room, I whispered against Jack’s ear, “You need to quit fidgeting.”

Jack jerked again and, to no one in particular, he mumbled, “Our gift is telepathy. I don’t know how to stop it. She’s nervous and scared,” he smirked, “and she thinks I’m hot.”

I was pretty sure two of the Kings heard his rant, and I whispered even quieter, “Concentrate on building a wall around your thoughts. For me, it was trees, but for you, try imagining a wall of water. A wall as tall as the sky is high, all around your mind. Explain this to her through your gift. It’ll probably be a wall of fire for her. You’ll still be able to hear her if she wants you to, and vice versa. You need to pay attention in here, and her distracting you isn’t helping.” It was harsh, but the truth.

He nodded slowly, and went still. He must have been communicating with her at first, because after a minute, he gazed blindly at the floor, somewhere far off in his own mind. He started panting quietly — it wasn’t easy to do at first — and maybe ten minutes later his large body relaxed against his chair. He wiped his brow, grinning at me sheepishly, and whispered, “Thanks.”

I nodded, and went back to what they were saying in front of us.

The President had given a press conference two days after our attack on the beach, and much of his comments were the same here. The Mys community had the full cooperation of the United States of America law enforcement. The Kings and President were now speaking about a joint effort between the Com CIA and the Mys MSA to provide intel between the two organizations about any planned attacks, whether it be Mys against Com — this was a real possibility since, with the attacks against us, our subjects were furious worldwide — or Com against Mys. They were correctly working for peace between our communities.

Although, the President surprised the crap out of me when he looked in my direction, then back toward the Kings, and cleared his throat — almost appearing nervous, but forged on — stating gradually, “I’m not sure if you have met Philip Masterson, Congressman.”

King Fergus flicked a finger. “We haven’t, but our Prodigies have met him. Along with your son, a few months ago.”