King Tomb (Forever Evermore, #3)(83)

Tipkin’s head rested on my stomach. He chuckled quietly. “Bye-bye.” He disappeared.

Ezra grunted, then he tilted his head toward me. “He’s dead.”

“Mm-hmm,” I hummed happily. “You took that bastard down!”

His lips slowly curved in a wicked smile. “Yes, I did.”

I lifted a finger. “Don’t forget. I did help.” Ezra would not have gone with Tipkin if I had not given my word to go. I made a fist. “King Tomb, baby!”

His gaze twinkled as he fist-bumped me. “King Tomb.”

Antonio cleared his throat. “What just happened? Who’s dead?”

I wiggled again, then I shouted in glee, “Philip Masterson is dead!”





Chapter Eighteen


Ezra and I sat across from our best friends.

When we had initially seen them, we had hardly recognized them.

It had been so damn hard not to react at first sight, but I was now different.

As was Ezra.

He and I were ruthless. And cold. In public.

In private…not so much. Mmm.

We had assembled in a meeting at King Mile with Antonio, Cahal, Elder Merrick, Elder Jacobs, the four Elders who had created the peace treaty after the first war…and Jack and Pearl.

Ezra and I had explained what had happened in our blast to the past.

The decision had been unanimous.

With the last Beast farm taken out, and our new intel, we knew how to end this war.

The spelled letters were already sent worldwide to the other Elders of our game plan.

Elder f*cking Harcourt’s own personal letter to us had arrived just after we had decided as a group. His correspondence had stated that he agreed with our decision. I had torn up his letter in the hope that he would arrive to vindicate the action, but not surprisingly, the old Mage had not shown so that I could strangle him.

And slice him.

And burn him.

And let my wolf feast on his charred bones.

Jackass.

Now, we still sat in the conference room, having asked Jack and Pearl to stay afterward.

They had politely agreed, utterly no recognition of our lives ‘before’ in their actions.

Their personal physiques did not appear any different; this war had not physically harmed them. But their eyes were those of a cold-blooded killer. For most of the meeting they had been silently eyeballing us, and each other, evaluating with indifference. My heart wanted to break seeing them like this…but I had the cure to fix it fisted in my hand under the table.

Ezra sat next to me, watching them just as coolly as I was. He did not waste time inside this privacy-spelled room. He got straight to the point, watching them where they sat across from us. His words were blunt. “Queen Ruckler and I know that you both had a memory wipe.”

Instantly, they both went still. If it were possible, their eyes turned even more chilling.

My lips pinched. “We know this because the same happened to us.” My gaze flicked back and forth between them. “The four of us…we know each other. The two of you just can’t remember it right now.” I lifted my hand up from under the table, showing them the vials. “Elder Harcourt did this to us, and he’s also gifted us the cure for it. King Zeller and I have already drunk ours. We now have our memories back. Once the two of you drink yours, the spell that Elder Harcourt originally enacted will be broken.”

Jack stared. His words were curt. “Why should I believe anything you’re saying?”

I rubbed my lips together, then I pointed the vials at Pearl. “Queen Cooper, will you please place a truth spell on King Zeller and me while we’re inside this room?”

Instantly, her eyes flashed in fury and she snapped her fingers. “Done. Now say everything that you both just said all over again.”

Patiently, Ezra and I did as she had ordered, our vocals pulling the truth from us.

Silently, I placed each vial on the conference table, then I gently pushed them toward our best friends. I watched as they rolled silently to their hesitant hands. “Trust me, you want to drink it.”

Jack’s eyes flared. “Do you know why the memory wipe happened to me?”

Ezra nodded. “We do.” He paused, then he stated evenly, “I had a letter that I found inside my closet at King Shadow. All of my effects were already there when I arrived. When I had a Mage inspect the closet, he told me it was a Mage space. I believe it was Elder Farrar’s work. Nothing inside the space could be affected by Elder Harcourt’s spell. It was exactly as I left it the night my memory wipe occurred at King Cave. The letter was from Queen Ruckler, but she hadn’t left a name on it. I tried accessing some of the safe homes she had listed on there, and even tried a,” he glanced at me, then back to them, “post office box, but each location was protected by the same Mage space — the magic exact. Elder Farrar’s.”

I blinked. “The letter I wrote you when we were finding the Prodigies?”

He nodded, his lips quirking. “It was an interesting read.”

That was how my husband had known that I loved him completely. The letter was personal and extremely intimate, along with all the information I had written down. “Oh.”

He chuckled quietly. “Yes…oh.” Gradually, his attention altered back to our silent, watching best friends. “Did you have nothing like that in your closets?”