King Hall (Forever Evermore 1)

He turned, starting to walk away, but glanced over his shoulder, saying, “That silvering excuse was good, Lily. It might have worked — to some extent — if King Kincaid and I had never worn them before and known the effects they have.” His gaze swung to Ezra, eyebrows lowering. “Get to class.” Then his long legs were eating up the asphalt to wherever his car was.

Staring after him, I just blinked. I was pretty sure Ezra did too, since he hadn’t moved a muscle. I wasn’t even sure he breathed for a little while. So, that’s what we did. Stared. Stunned senseless and mute.

Not sure how long we sat like that, I barely noticed when Jack and Pearl got back in my Hummer, Pearl thrilled to be in the driver’s seat and Jack already fiddling with the radio. They didn’t even look back at us until we were out of the gates, jabbering away with each other about the party tonight. When Jack did glance back, saying something to us, his voice trailed off, and he blinked — much like us — and asked, “What’s wrong?” His brown eyes skimmed over where my fists were white knuckled on my top, and his eyebrows rose. “Lily, why’s your shirt ruined?”

“What?” Pearl asked, her head darting back to us, then forward to the road. “What’s going on?”

I tried to speak, but it came out a mumble so, after clearing my throat, I tried again, and managed to say with a hoarse throat, “King Kincaid and King Venclaire paid us a visit.” I licked my dry lips. “They came right after Ezra was done drinking. We were lying on the backseat so no one would see us.” My mouth flapped for a few seconds, but I eventually succeeded in continuing. “It didn’t look good to begin with, and my shirt’s buttons popped off sometime during the drinking, since it’s old, so when Ezra lifted off me, it looked like we’d been…” No need to finish that. They got the point.

Pearl yanked the Hummer to the curb, both her and Jack looking freaked, and she asked, “Are they separating you two?”

Ezra shook his head slowly. “No. King Kincaid left after we gave some bogus excuses for the drinking. He left King Venclaire to…” He trailed off, his voice just as rough and quiet as mine, all of us vigilant of any Vampires nearby.

“What? What did King Venclaire do?” Jack asked, eyes darting between our faces.

“Did he hurt you?” Pearl hissed.

We shook our heads. No, there hadn’t been any physical pain. Only mental anguish, but that wasn’t what she meant.

“Well, then what?” Jack asked, throwing his hands up and accidently knocking Pearl in the head. Reflexively, she reached over and thumped him back. Both pairs of eyes glued on us.

I cleared my throat. “They didn’t buy our story.” I paused, then choked out, “King Venclaire gave us a sex talk.”

Ezra added, whispering, “Told us to keep it private.”

“And circumspect,” I mumbled.

“He mentioned condoms.”

I nodded stupidly. “Said we needed to use condoms.”

“Asked us if we had any questions about Shifter/Vampire sex.”

“His door’s always open…”

Jack and Pearl gawked, jaws hanging wide.

“Oh my God,” Pearl murmured. Hiccupped. Swallowed hard. Another hiccup. A choked gurgle and then, she busted up, laughing.

Jack wasn’t too far behind her, his lips twitching fiercely, and he finally gave in, bellowing with a deep belly laugh. He pointed to us, laughing it up with Pearl. “And they couldn’t tell him they aren’t having sex,” a loud roar of laughter, but words still soft, “because he would have gone back to their original bogus answers.”

Pearl nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. “Oh, that’s precious.” Her whole body was shaking with her hilarity.

“It’s not funny,” Ezra grumbled, cracking his neck and digging his arm out from behind me. “It was horrible. We had to sit there and take it.”

“I think I’m that much more stupid for having listened to it,” I groaned while Ezra rubbed his temples. “Both Kings think Ezra and I are getting our freak on.”

Jack slapped his knee, bending over, choking on silent laughter. It had progressed to the point he was having trouble breathing.

“Maybe I’ll bring someone home tonight after the party,” Ezra mumbled to himself, “Make sure King Venclaire sees her.”

I nodded, thinking that was a good plan, and wondered who I could bring home myself, but Jack and Pearl found that even funnier.

Pearl sputtered, “That’s never,” she snorted, laughter bubbling over, “gonna work.” More tears wiped away. “If they think you’re together, they’ll see that tactic for what it is.”

“You’re lucky it was them that found you like that,” Jack sucked in a large breath, trying to get control of himself. “If it had been my King, or Pearl’s, you two would already be on planes flying in opposite directions.”

I crossed my arms in agitation. “If that won’t work, what do you two propose we do?”

Ezra leaned over the back of the seat, and then flopped back down, throwing on my lap a spare sweatshirt I had stored in here. “Cover those up. They’re what got us in trouble in the first place.”

Pearl and Jack hooted.

I glanced down to where Ezra was glaring. Crossing my arms had opened my shirt again and pushed my boobs up to full view. Bra, cle**age, and all. I sighed and ripped my shirt the rest of the way off since it was a goner anyway, and Ezra tossed it into the back with vigor. Once my sweatshirt was on, I asked again, “What should we do?”

Pearl and Jack were calming themselves, and Jack shrugged, panting a little, saying, “Just give it time. You don’t want them coming back to the truth, so let them think what they want, and once they figure out on their own it’s not true, hopefully they’ll have forgotten your reasons for being in the Hummer in the first place.”

Pearl nodded.

Sluggishly, Ezra and I agreed.

Jack added hesitantly, “This situation reminds me that I need to speak with you guys about something.” He rubbed his chin. “I think we need to discuss how much we touch each other in public.” We stared, and he simplified, “Nikki’s still new at school. They talk around her more, not realizing who they’re next to. She hears things.”

Forehead wrinkling, Pearl asked, “What things?”

Jack sucked in a breath. “Most of the students think it’s odd how much we touch each other. A few words Nikki overhears regularly are weird, twisted, and unnatural.”