King Hall (Forever Evermore, #1)(65)
She nodded, staring down at the two liars, then back to Ezra, apologizing again.
Ezra muttered, “I’m out of here.” He slung his backpack over his shoulder, stepping over the guilty, and headed our way.
“You won’t leave school property, Ezra,” King Venclaire stated steadily.
Ezra nodded, waving a hand above his head, but to us, he muttered, “How fast can we make it to the Hummer from here?”
After going through the drive-thru of Ezra’s favorite pick, we sat in the park in Choep at a picnic table under the shade of trees while monsters — AKA toddlers — played on the playground watched over by a parent, our guards all around us, but far enough away to give us privacy and not scare the Coms too bad.
Jack bit into his chicken sandwich, saying around the mouthful, “Lily, that was freaking impressive power.”
I shrugged, fiddling with the lid of my milkshake. “We’ve all got our Ruler’s power. You just hadn’t seen me use mine yet.” I was still mad as hell, and had barely refrained so far from throwing my shake in Ezra’s face. Instead, I finally settled on picking up a fry and leaning over the table, pointing it at Ezra, hissing, “Why?” I didn’t say anything else. He had hurt my feelings. I didn’t know why he hadn’t asked, and it offended me.
Pearl and Jack paused in their munching, glancing back and forth between us.
“Caught that, did you?” Ezra lowered his half-eaten burger, his eyes on mine.
“Caught what?” Pearl asked, quickly swallowing her mouthful of onion rings.
I jabbed my fry at Ezra. “He was drinking off them that way because he wants…” I pointed at myself with the fry, scowling into spring green eyes. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Unhurriedly, he wiped his mouth with his napkin, and then placed his arms on the table, leaning over to be nose-to-nose with me. “Because you taste good.”
“And?” I asked, exasperated, my hurt feelings overpowering my anger. “Why the hell didn’t you just ask me instead of drinking off idiots like Rebecca and Viper?”
He took a deep breath. Blinked for a few ticks. “I hurt your feelings?”
I pinched his nose. Stupid thing. Keeping a good grip on it, I said, “Well, yes. Why wouldn’t you ask your best friend if that’s what you wanted in the first place, instead of trying to find a replacement?”
He swatted my hand away, wiggling his straight nose in agitation. “Because you are one of my best friends. It would be counterproductive for what we’re doing with,” he mouthed, “you.”
I blinked, realizing he was, in a sense, putting me first. If I drank from one of the three of them, then he drank from me, it would be counterproductive, like I had figured out that first time. I’d had to resort to bagged blood that night because I had been so low after he drank from me. I muttered, “I don’t exactly like it, but I don’t mind going,” I mouthed, “bagged,” then, spoke normally, “if you wanted to every once in a while.”
We knew I needed to be strong, and going bagged every day wouldn’t cut it for me, or for them, since they also liked me strong — like any real friend would — so Ezra couldn’t drink from me every day, but if he wanted a treat every once in a while, I could deal with it.
His lips thinned. “That stuff’s disgusting. It wouldn’t be fair.”
It was disgusting, but I had lived off it the majority of my life since my first Awakening. “I really don’t mind. Life’s not always fair.” Again, I pointed with my fry at his nose, which was still close, whispering softly, “Seriously, if you’re going around picking donors like you did today to try to get the same taste, I would prefer it this way. You can’t be put in jail, Ezra. If it means that much to you, I’m willing.”
“Let her do it,” Jack said, beginning to eat his food again, now that he understood the tension. “Like she said, it won’t hurt her to have the other stuff every once in a while.”
“Yes, and I agree with her,” Pearl muttered, tossing an onion ring at Ezra’s face. “Those picks were stupid. You should have just gone for the real deal instead of imitation.”
Sitting back, I kept my gaze on Ezra. “It won’t hurt me. It’s not really selfish because I don’t mind it too much.” It wasn’t pleasant, but it was doable. If he had something I really wanted, I would ask if I thought he wouldn’t mind too much. There’s give-and-take in any friendship.
He grunted, his nostrils flaring, and, finally, he nodded. “Alright.” His gaze lingered on my throat. “Thank you.”
“Just quit looking at me like I’m a juicy steak,” I amended. His gaze flew up, and I chuckled. “When we leave here, I’ll give you what you want.”
“Nikki said that to me last night,” Jack murmured absently. He was always saying stuff like that now. The man had a serious case of Nikkion-the-brain…or other parts.
“I’m sure she wasn’t talking about nutrition,” Pearl chuckled, going along with it.
He grinned cockily. “No. Not at all.” His smile softened, and he looked like the man in love he had become. It was sweet, but also an odd look for him. He worked it, though. “She thinks she has me wrapped around her little pinky. It’s adorable.”