I sniffed, turning my attention to Ezra’s green gaze, keeping my voice cool. “Same woman as yesterday.” My eyes flitted to the healing marks I could still see on his arms that peeked out from beneath his shirt’s sleeves. “Impressive.”
I felt satisfaction seeing Jessica bristle next to him.
“Yes, it was,” Ezra murmured, cocking his head.
Scenting the air without making a production of it told me he was telling truth. “Good for you.” I couldn’t have meant it less at that moment. Rolling my shoulders, I turned and brushed past King Venclaire. “I’m going for a run if Jack and Pearl are fine.”
“What?” Ezra drawled lazily from behind me. “Finn didn’t wear you out?”
I flipped him off over my shoulder, not even bothering to glance back.
“Really f**king mature, sweetheart,” Ezra called loudly after me, his voice rising the farther I moved away. “Maybe one day you’ll learn to count past one on your hands.”
I pivoted, walking backward. “Look at that,” I yelled, throwing up both middle fingers, staring at them in mock shock, and then glaring at him. “I can count to two.”
His cheeks flushed in irritation, just as I knew they would. “I didn’t realize you turned into a bitch after a bad lay!”
I snorted and shouted, “That’s f**king priceless coming from the man who puts gigolos to shame and wouldn’t know a bad lay if his c**k was buried balls deep in it.” Getting a great view of his infuriated expression, I turned on my heel and continued to march away.
“Lily!” he bellowed. “Get back here, goddamn it!”
By now, everyone was mute and watching the scene unfold.
I continued marching at a fast clip, perverse righteous anger making my eyes glow.
“We are not done with this conversation!” Ezra roared, sounding like he was about ready to pop a blood vessel, he was so livid. “Lily, I know you can hear me!”
“All I hear is the gibbering of a pompous ass**le,” I screamed over my shoulder.
We had definitely caught not only this level’s attention, but also the few floors above and below, everyone peering over the railings to see who was making the racket.
Wonderful.
My eyes still glowed as my gaze shot to him across the expanse, keeping my pace forward, now having rapidly made it across from him. His eyes were glowing too, and he appeared so pissed he wanted to pummel me. I grinned, more of a baring of teeth, and waggled my fingers in goodbye when I saw his own teeth bare, before taking off at a light jog, more than ready to strip down and race through the forested area. I wasn’t really surprised when everyone moved out of my way, even those on the upper floors, who hadn’t heard our argument.
Chapter Six
“Let me down!” I punched on Antonio’s back, my head spinning.
Antonio slapped my rear end. Hard. I jerked at the contact where I lay like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. He shouted, “Shut up! Or I swear, I’m going to bend you over my leg and properly spank your ass like you deserve!”
Ezra wobbled drunkenly behind us. “God, I would,” a large hiccup, “love to see that.”
King Venclaire smacked the back of Ezra’s head. “I told you to shut up, too.”
I grinned, even as the passing black wall spun.
It had been one week since our first meltdown. We’d had many since then, some of them pretty damn epic and probably going down in a King Cave book somewhere, but tonight’s had… “Okay! Let me down,” I slurred. “We went too far. I’m sorry.”
King Venclaire snorted, dragging Ezra, who had stopped and wavered, and then started moving again. “Too far? Yes, I would say so. You two started a damn brawl in the only bar inside King Cave. Everything is smashed and broken.”
Ezra lifted a finger while I blinked blurry eyes, having to tilt my head to see him. “Not the far pool table.” His sloppy grin was unrepentant. “It may be a little off-tilt. Two women were dancing on it for me, but it’s not broken.”
I snorted. “You mean the two sluts you f**ked earlier in the bar’s bathroom?”
Ezra growled. It was Vampire. “Better than you f**king Finn in the bar’s supply closet.”
Pointing an instant, furious finger, I hissed, “No one went in there! It had a lock on the door, unlike the bathroom where everyone went in and out to use the only other stall! The whole bar was telling stories of what they could hear going on!”
“Shut up!” Antonio yelled at the top of his lungs. He shook me on his shoulder so fiercely I had to slap a hand over my mouth to keep the alcohol down, which was trying to reappear. “I lied, Lil! Children f**king suck.”
“You know,” Ezra murmured as if he hadn’t heard Antonio, his blinking eyes turning toward King Venclaire. “We didn’t technically start the fight. Lily and I never once touched each other with harmful intent.” Innocent eyes. “Everyone else started throwing punches.” He smiled and patted the back of my head. “I even saved her from being impaled by a flying bar stool.”
“I ducked,” I muttered.
Instant. “With my assistance.”
“You tripped into me,” I stated heatedly. “I saved your ass by pulling you down.”
“That was the second bar stool,” Ezra griped, trying to bend to peer into my eyes, but was yanked up by King Venclaire. “I was talking about the first one.”
“There was only one bar stool, you idiot,” I muttered. “Now you’re imagining things.”
“No, you just don’t remember because you didn’t actually see it.” His resulting grin was ridiculously smug. “I’m that good.”
I peered at King Venclaire. “Will you smack him again, please?”
“Only if he speaks.” King Venclaire’s features were of mixed amusement and irritation.
Alright. I glanced at Ezra. “Man-whore.”
“Bitch,” Ezra grumbled.
King Venclaire slapped Ezra upside his head.
I grinned lazily. “Thank you.” I patted Antonio’s back. “I want a different room.”
“No,” Antonio stated promptly. “Work out your issues. Quit running from them.”
“We’re not running from them,” I slurred, letting my head hang in defeat. “We’re yelling and drinking them away.” In the past week I had figured out what my issue was, and I didn’t want to confront it.