King Hall (Forever Evermore, #1)(88)
“Someone’s been in the room,” I growled — yes, a little wolf — quietly. “The scent’s odd and light, but it’s there.”
His warm palm slid down my stomach, his fingers trailing over my skin so lightly, and even though I was freaked, goose bumps still popped up on my skin, before he gripped my hip, cocking his head. Listening. His thumb tapped a few times on my lower stomach in an odd rhythm before he started rubbing it back and forth soothingly, whispering, “Only the heartbeats that are supposed to be in the house are. Maybe, you’re scenting something on one of their clothes.”
Another inhale as I tilted my head left, then right. “No. It’s not them.” I was starting to tremble. The scent was puzzling, my senses distressed. I even sneezed.
“Sweetheart,” Ezra purred softly, repositioning, drifting up so his hard body rubbed over mine and stopped directly above me, his face so close our noses brushed, “Calm down. You’re scaring yourself over nothing.” His hand on my hip slid to the small of my back, then higher, rucking my shirt up over my hips to my belly button, and I tried to look around his head, wanting another look at the room, but he pressed down heavily on my trembling frame, keeping me immobile.
I glared.
A gentle shake of his head, his fingers delicately massaging my tense back muscles, and he whispered, “If there was anyone in the house who shouldn’t be, I would hear them.” He bent his head, rubbing his cheek against mine soothingly. His was bristly. Heated lips against my ear, he breathed even more quietly, “Although, I can tell you the cook is getting it on with one of the servants right now. Their heartbeats are going crazy.”
That jarred me from the shaking mess I had become, and I chuckled hard, my body shaking for a different reason now. A pleasant one.
“That’s it,” Ezra murmured on a mere exhale, his words only for us. “Just keep thinking about those old geezers getting their freak on.” He chuckled himself. “I have to listen to it every other night. Half the time they complain about their joints aching before, during, and after. I actually bought earplugs.”
Snorting, I relaxed my arms around his neck, sliding my hands to his shoulders.
That’s when the scent intensified.
My eyes blazed bright and my wolf growled low as my body vibrated.
Ezra paused too, but a second later he shook his head next to mine, teasing, “It could be that I need to buy you a night-light.” He lifted his head just enough so that our eyes were a few inches apart. “There’s no one here, sweetheart.”
A golden light blazed next to the bed in the shape of an immense bubble.
Our heads snapped to it; his Vampire’s growl actually overrode my wolf’s.
Ezra gripped my back tight and, with Vampire speed, blurred, pushing with his other hand and rising onto his knees with me in his arms, the too-quick motion making my head spin. The other occupants of the bed were stirring from our predators’ growls, right as the golden bubble burst outward in a sparkling display of beauty, but with a force that had me screaming and Ezra rotating his back to take the brunt of the explosion, protecting me. He grunted, the blast hitting him full on, and his eyes instantly closed as we collapsed back to our original positions on the bed, me under him and getting the breath knocked from my lungs as we landed, the magic having touched everyone on the bed, but me.
I choked, trying to get air in, and, suddenly, saw King Venclaire, King Kincaid, and Antonio standing where the bubble had been, their scents flooding the room as I finally inhaled and caught my breath, my eyes wide in shock, my body stunned motionless.
Antonio shook his head in disappointment. “You should have paid attention to your instincts, Lil.”
King Kincaid tapped his nose, growling, “Always trust your senses.”
Antonio lifted a hand, and flicked a glowing finger in my direction.
My eyes widened even further as a tiny, gold spark flew right at me. Jolting, I tried to get out from under Ezra’s unconscious weight, but the gold spark hit me dead center on the forehead. I saw nothing else as darkness took me under.
Blinking my eyes open to the dark night, I instantly knew I wasn’t where I should be. The side of my face laid on cool sand, along with the rest of my body, a quiet breeze ruffling my hair. Scents flooded my awareness that weren’t standard to waking. Wild scents.
Also, there were the sounds behind me.
A lion’s roar.
A wolf’s growl.
A panther’s snarl.
A monkey’s screech.
A bear’s roar.
Slowly, very damn slowly, I turned my head just enough to peek behind me. Peering through my hair, I saw all of those beasts — a lot of freaking animals — heading my way in a slow stalk, their eyes shining as they reflected the lamplight illuminating the zoo’s walkways for the exhibit I was currently lying in, the area where I lay a replica of the Sahara with red sand and ugly, pale brush sticking up sporadically.
Oh, shit.
Even more slowly than before — no sudden movements — I turned my face back the way it had been. Jack, Pearl, and Ezra lay behind me in a pile of arms and limbs, sleeping, all of us still in our pajamas. And the worst part was we were trapped. There was a vast sand wall stretching up at least fifty feet to where a railing lined the top, normally where visitors could look down at the exhibit.
Instead of visitors, all four Kings stood there, beholding us.