She muttered dryly, “I’ll go first, since no one seems to enjoy the spell.” She lifted a foot, kicking one of my hanging ones, making me look at her. “Lily, if I wasn’t mated, and wasn’t straight, and you were a Mage, and we hadn’t made that pact for friendship’s sake, I would totally screw you. You’re beautiful. And, really, most of the women at school are jealous of you. Not just because of your status as Prodigy, but because of your differences. What you call freak, most Mys women would love to be.”
She shrugged when I stared in shocked wonder. “I wouldn’t mind being a lot shorter. It’s awkward with the majority of Coms being so much smaller than me. It makes me feel like a gorilla.” Her mouth slammed shut. Really, she pinched her lips in an apparent effort not to say anything else. She pointed to Jack, sporting slightly pink cheeks.
He cleared his throat. “If you were an Elemental, and we hadn’t made the pact for friendship’s sake, I’d have sex with you in a heartbeat. Your face and body are just as gorgeous as any other Mys. You aren’t a freak because you’re smaller and you’re a Shifter with red hair. I can’t believe you don’t know you’re beautiful.” He cocked his head, brows rising, and bent at the waist to peer into my bloodshot eyes, his tone incredulous. “Do you not own a mirror? I mean really, Lily?”
I pretty much gawked at his truth to all.
Pearl pointed to Ezra.
He stated bluntly, “Lily, I think you’re sexy as hell. You have hips that a man can hold on to. A perfectly round, firm ass. And after seeing your br**sts today, I’m pretty f**king sure I prefer them over any I’ve seen since I’ve been in New York. Your facial features and red hair are just as attractive as the rest of your body.” He shrugged. “If you were a Vampire, and we didn’t have the friendship pact, I would have seduced you into my bed a long time ago,” a roll of his finger, “for lots of sex.” Another shrug when my jaw hung open.
Pearl stated factually, “As far as Felix goes, if you want me to kill him, I will. For you.”
“Ditto that.” Jack cracked his neck. “I’ll take care of him tonight, if you want.”
Ezra snorted. “I seriously doubt Felix was having sex with Lily because of his job.” He paused, and then added, “But, if you want me to kill him, I’ll do it.”
I sputtered, nothing real coming out until, finally, my vocal chords allowed me to say, “That’s so sweet of you guys to offer to kill him for me,” I guess I really did think that was true, my vocals still pulling the thoughts from my head, “but I don’t want him dead.” I felt compelled to offer, “I’d kill for you guys, too. I love you all.” I choked, my mouth firmly shut.
Pearl chuckled below. “I love you, too.” She sighed heavily before blurting, “I love all of you.”
Ezra divulged like he had a hairball caught in his throat that he couldn’t expel. “I love the three of you, too.” He instantly glared at Pearl.
Jack kept his mouth pinched shut, making noises like a Harley gunning its engine until he gasped hard and muttered, “I love you all, too.” His gaze snapped to Pearl. “Turn it off!”
There was a flash of gold, and a snap, and the spell was gone. Pearl instantly kicked my foot again, saying, “Okay, spill. Since we all know Dominic was bloody in love with you, your claim it was magic is entirely ridiculous, and I want the details. How drunk was he? Was it drunk enough for kinky shit? Or so drunk he could barely get it up?” Her golden gaze was angelic.
I snorted, laughing so hard I almost fell off the branch. These were my true friends. There for me not only when bullets were flying at my head, but also when I was having a pity party. No issue was too big or small; it appeared we were stuck with each other.
Chapter Ten
The Kings and Antonio got a wake-up call to technology not two hours later.
Welcome to the world of iPhones, nooks, camera phones, and video cameras.
The four of us were raiding King Nelson’s fridge when we heard the bellows coming from down the hall. Pearl stopped chewing her mouthful of chips. Ezra paused, his sandwich halfway to his mouth. Jack had a slice of pizza, which he left hanging half in, half out of his mouth. I paused in sucking on the straw of my milkshake.
“Get them in here now!” King Nelson hollered. “They’re probably in the kitchen, eating all my damn food, anyway!”
Said food was quickly tossed back in the cabinets or rapidly snarfed, and the glass thrown in the sink, so when one of the guards came into the kitchen, it appeared as if we had just been talking, our expressions innocent.
“The King requests your appearance,” the Mage guard told us.
We nodded, as if this was news to us, and quickly scuttled after the guard to the living room, which was odd in itself. The room was gold, from the couches to the coffee table, the recliners, and the chandelier, right along with the carpet and walls. There was even a piano in the corner continually playing soft music, the keys sparkling gold with magic.
This room had always wigged me out, and not due to the color scheme or the piano.
There were sparkles of magic dusting it in various locations. Like it was spelled. To maybe eat you if you sat where you weren’t supposed to. Definitely not my first pick of King Nelson’s rooms. A huge, 52” flat screen TV hung above the gold marble of the fireplace — the TV’s frame gold — and was turned on to a national news station.
The Kings and Antonio stood below it, watching avidly, not paying attention to us even though they had “called” for our presence, so we stood at the back of the room — careful not to rest against the bizarre wall — and watched what they were.
A Com anchor woman with animated facial expressions stated, “First, with the breaking news, we have video footage of Prodigy Ezra Zeller and Prodigy Lily Ruckler, the designated King Vampire and Queen Shifter, under attack today. As you will see, they were not provoking their assailants. From all accounts of the video, it appears they tried to run, and in self-defense, with the help of Prodigy Pearl Cooper and Prodigy Jack Collins, the designated Queen Mage and King Elemental, they took down their accosters.” A pause. “Please be aware this footage is under parental advisory,” not even a second’s pause, “and here’s the footage…”
“Oh, Jesus,” Jack muttered as the video began on the too-big, too-clear, screen.
Whoever was videoing it must have been high on a sand dune because there was grass on the outer edges of the angle. The video started with all of us sitting in one spot, talking, while the camera zoomed in to try to get a better shot. From all appearances, the person had been downwind, and far away, to keep off our radar.