“Now, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Antonio slurred his question, thumping back against the headboard.
Bindi cleared her throat, shaking her head a little. “Nope.” She blinked. Shook her head again, and then stood on steady feet. “Not bad at all.”
“Who’s next?” Antonio asked, when Bindi moved to the corner of the room. “Or, more importantly, who trusts me?”
Now, that was such a loaded question. “I guess I can—”
Antonio tapped the orange juice bottle against my mouth, stopping me. “Nope. Not you.” He thumped Ezra’s forehead with the bottle. “Or him.” He blinked lazily a few times. “The spell won’t work on you two, but it will on us since we’re just the rebounds.” He sighed heavily, glancing around the room. “Seriously, people, I can’t stay awake too much longer.”
Elder Merrick stalked to stand next to the bed directly beside Antonio, staring down at him hard. “We need this?”
“Eh,” Antonio’s head wobbled, “You don’t need it, but if I were you, I would sure as hell want it.” A scowl graced his features. “Now me, on the other hand, I’ll want to commit murder, but I already have the protection.”
“What’s going on, Antonio?” I asked slowly, beginning to worry, my amusement long gone.
His gaze met mine. He blinked. Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, his eyes filled with tears, shocking me still, never having seen him cry. No tear escaped, but everyone in the room froze, staring at him. He cleared his throat, his head teetering to the side. “A vision.”
Breathless, my gaze darted back and forth between his, even as I scooted closer to Ezra, needing his warmth. Ezra’s arms instantly wrapped around me, hauling me onto his lap and holding me close as we both stared at Antonio’s stricken expression. I whispered, “Can you tell us anything?” Because it was definitely about Ezra and me since he said his spell wouldn’t work on us.
His golden gaze swung back and forth between Ezra and me, even as Ezra practically crushed my ribs, he was holding me so tight. Finally, Antonio shook his head, whispering, “Just that I’m so sorry for the agony you two will endure.” And, f**king hell, a tear did slip down his cheek. One of the most vicious men in Mystical history was crying because of what was in our future.
Both Ezra and I didn’t move, our heartbeats pounding like mad, both of us not breathing, even as thoughts to keep our fate from occurring ran like rapid fire in my mind.
“Get the f**k out of my way,” Cahal ordered gruffly, shoving Elder Merrick to the side and bending over Antonio, his hands on either side of Antonio’s face against the headboard and his gaze level with his, staring him in the eyes. “Can this be stopped?”
Antonio’s chest rose and fell heavily, and he shook his head once. “I’m not powerful enough to stop it.” He held Cahal’s gaze. “I can only offer my protection to those I know should have it. Those I know it will work on.”
Cahal trembled, and slowly, like he didn’t want to know, he asked, “Do I need it?”
Antonio’s lids blinked slowly, his lips pinching. “You will wish to slaughter, too.”
There was a silent pause, then Cahal roared in Antonio’s face, slamming his fist into the headboard above Antonio’s head, cracking it. “Just do it.” He cursed. “Do the damn spell.”
Antonio’s chest rose and fell again, but he nodded. Swiped his thumb over Cahal’s forehead. I wasn’t in a position to see the dust appear and disappear, but Cahal jerked at the motion, telling me that it had and that he hadn’t liked the sensation. Antonio sighed again and grabbed the back of Cahal’s head, stating, “Open your mouth, and don’t pull away.”
Cahal’s Vampire growled, but he did as told and opened his mouth. Antonio lifted and pressed his mouth to his, Cahal like a statue as light erupted between their mouths. Cahal trembled, and he grabbed the top of the headboard when he jerked hard, Antonio’s grip becoming white-knuckled on the back of his head. But in the end, like Bindi, a deep, soft moan erupted from him right before his body relaxed and Antonio pulled his mouth away.
Like Bindi, Cahal blinked repeatedly and then shook his head hard for a few moments before lifting away from Antonio on steady legs. His heartbeat wasn’t normal, very much accelerated, but he still ran a hand over his face and turned to Elder Merrick and Elder Jacobs, saying, “It wasn’t that bad.”
Elder Jacobs snorted. “The hell it wasn’t.” He pointed to the top of the headboard, which was cracked not just where Cahal’s fist had hit it, but also where he had gripped it. “It might be okay for a Mage,” a head tilt toward Bindi, “because they’re used to that shit, but for another faction it didn’t look like a damn walk in the park.”
“We’re going to leave, if we’re not needed anymore,” Ezra stated slowly, his grip never having let up on my rib cage. “I’m sure Lily needs to rest.” If something was going to happen, he left unsaid, but it was heard nonetheless.
Cahal met his son’s gaze. “Go.”
Ezra stared at him a moment, then nodded, lifting me off his lap to the bed as Elder Merrick and Elder Jacobs started arguing about who was going to be spelled next. Ezra made his way through the debris to a dresser, opening it while I gingerly made my way off the bed, both Bonnie — now well enough to move slowly, too — and Clyde jumping off the bed. As Ezra put on jeans he found in a drawer, working them on underneath the sheet, I met Antonio’s woozy gaze.
“What happened to my Hummer?” I asked, not sure when I would talk to him again.
“I had to transfer it back here, which took forever,” Antonio rubbed his eyes, “It’s currently parked outside, and I gave the keys to Pearl.”
I rolled my shoulders. “Our Prodigies?”
Antonio yawned. “All four Prodigies are here. Safe.”
Ezra let the sheet drop, zipping and buttoning the jeans while adding to our conversation. “You do realize it wasn’t natural to have so many Coms in that town where I found the Prodigy Vampire, don’t you?”
“It was a trap for Ezra,” I stated firmly, grabbing my gun off the bed and my Cizano case from the floor, my body only creaking a smidge with the action.
Cahal nodded. “Yes, but you two left no survivors for us to question. We don’t know how they knew to take the girl and lie in wait for him. There were no clues where the girl was being held, and the two surviving Vampires of the battle had only been visiting with their friends who died that day.”