As the room went silent, Elder Jacobs stated quickly, “That’s what happened to the kid I saw before.” He paused. “She needs a Mage’s healing massage to revitalize her muscles.”
“Makes sense,” Antonio murmured, even as I felt the bed dip. “Ezra, you’re going to have to let her go while I do this.” Ezra growled a little, the vibration in his throat tickling my nose. “It’s not up for discussion. I’ll do her back first, so place her on her stomach.”
“Ezra, let me go,” I whispered, my wolf riding my voice hard. “I feel trapped like this.”
I felt his chest heave against me, but he nodded, gently laying my limp body next to him and turning my face on the bed so I could see him, his face stoically blank, with the others in the room. “Your wolf’s going insane?” He knew enough to deduce the issue.
“Yes,” I growled, my wolf literally pushing at my mind to break free, my eyes glowing fiercely and my heartbeat no longer lazy, instead skyrocketing. “And honestly, it’s freaking me the hell out.”
“Alright, sweetheart.” Ezra brushed hair off my cheek, glancing over my head. “Do it, Antonio.”
The bed moved again as Antonio readjusted himself, and I sighed as magically healing hands began massaging my shoulders, making my muscles twitch as his power jolted them.
Ezra glanced at Elder Jacobs, demanding, “This will heal her?”
Elder Jacobs nodded slowly as Antonio’s hands started moving down my arms. “She’ll be sore, but her Core and body will be back to normal within the week.” He nodded to Elder Venclaire, who was passed out on the bed. “As will he.”
“Well, that’s better than f**king stasis, which would be the only other alternative to keep her animal from making her insane if she was paralyzed,” Elder Merrick muttered, glancing at Elder Jacobs. “Could you imagine us on the brink of war and having the Queen Shifter unconscious for six months?” He paused. Blinked. “Wait, what the hell am I saying? She can’t be our Queen!” His voice rose to a fever pitch. “She’s a damn hybrid, which Farrar here f**king knew all along!”
“She is your Queen,” Ezra expounded, Antonio’s hands not faltering at Elder Merrick’s pronouncement, massaging into my shoulder blades. “What makes you think she’s not?”
Elder Merrick sounded like he was restraining himself. “A hybrid should be Lawfully dead. A hybrid is what creates those f**king freaks of nature. But most importantly, a hybrid cannot do a f**king Awakening!” He cursed hard.
Ezra took a deep, shuddering breath, and with as much restraint as what Elder Merrick had sounded like having, he said softly, “Your Queen has had her tubes tied magically so she can’t have children. Your Queen has done an Awakening. Successfully. And I, and your Queen, believe that f**king Law to be archaic, and brutal to the extreme of murder.”
Silence.
Sounding mystified, Elder Merrick muttered, “Truth. All of it.” A pause, then a half-frenzied, gravelly chuckle sounded from him, which he tried to contain as he muttered quietly, “The no condom thing makes sense now.”
“The four Awakenings before graduation,” Cahal said softly, ignoring Elder Merrick. “That’s when she did it.”
“Yes,” Antonio spoke calmly, kneading his fingers into my back muscles. “I have it all on videotape in a secure location so that no one can claim otherwise.”
Elder Jacobs sputtered, “The Elders have been lying to us this whole time?”
Massaging the small of my back, Antonio answered quietly, “I don’t know. They may truly believe it, a fabrication made long ago to keep hybrids from being born, when they saw the offspring of a hybrid and a Com. Or maybe hybrids couldn’t do it in our earlier days.” A pause. “I don’t know their reasoning, but I’ve done the research and plenty of it — not even including Lily’s proof with my own eyes — has declared itself in journals. Hybrids can indeed do Awakenings.”
“So, I ask you again,” Ezra said softly. “What makes you believe she is not your Queen?”
There were a few beats of silence, and then Elder Merrick growled, “Nothing. She is the Queen Shifter.” He sounded pissed the f**k off, but no longer hysterical. “Although, there are now some Elders I would like to dig up to rip their f**king heads from their corpses.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Antonio interrupted Elder Merrick’s rambling of shredding already dead Elders, mumbling quietly, “Lil, I have to touch your…behind. You have muscles there that are used for walking and fighting.”
I snorted. “You changed my diapers, Antonio.”
“Yes, but you were much smaller then.” He sighed. “It’s so hard when kids grow up.” He quickly zapped my ass, then went straight to my legs.
“Ow!” That had hurt.
“Sorry,” he rumbled, sounding embarrassed, which was funny in itself. He quickly changed the subject, speaking to the others while saying evenly, “This news is not to be leaked. In due course, the four current Rulers may present the change, but right now is not the time to advertise Lily’s hybrid nature.”
Elder Jacobs snorted. “Agreed.”
“No shit,” Elder Merrick muttered.
“Of course not,” Elder Zeller murmured.
“Good,” Antonio stated, then he muttered, “And I’ll see what I’ll have to do with Bindi. She is still in the apartment, isn’t she?”
Ezra and Cahal actually chuckled, glancing at each other, and then Ezra flicked a finger over my head, whispering, “She’s eavesdropping right outside the door.”
Softly, Antonio muttered, “Good, because if I have to wipe her memory I really don’t want to have to chase her down.”
Ezra’s lips pinched, his gaze meeting mine before moving back up to Antonio’s. “She’s a good physician and I don’t believe she’ll say anything. She knew the twins were hybrids, and she didn’t rat us out.” His finger flicked again. “She’s only curious.” A memory wipe was horrible in both of our minds. It was like mind rape, taking away knowledge you had gained.
Antonio grunted, patting my foot. “Roll over, Lil.” I rolled onto my back, biting my lip as my joints ached like an old piece of machinery that hadn’t been serviced recently. Antonio smiled, apparently pleased at seeing that I was able to move — as was I — even if like an old Com, but he glanced back at Ezra, stating loudly, “I’ll see just what secrets she can keep. A permanent memory wipe is only a last resort, but if it’s needed, I’ll do it.” He tilted his head at the door as he started working on the front of my legs, now going in reverse. “Just tell me if she runs.”