“It’s an amazing experience.” Antonio’s lips instantly lifted, and he moved behind me where I felt him begin to unravel the material around her. “Cahal, I want you to meet Isadora Marie Ruckler.” I took my hand back from the frozen Vampire and pulled my arms out of the material hooked over my shoulders to help Antonio, but I kept a watchful eye on Elder Zeller, never completely trusting him. A few minutes later, Antonio tossed the sling over my shoulder and stepped beside me holding Isa in his arms, bouncing her a bit. “Isa, this is Cahal.”
The table’s occupants stared blatantly at her, and Isa’s tiny Cupid’s bow mouth pinched, her large green eyes staring up at Elder Zeller; in my proud mind, she was analyzing him. I reached over and pulled her vivid green knit cap down farther on her head, covering her bitty ears against the chill of the autumn air, the decorative frog eyes jiggling on top. She peered at me, back to Elder Zeller, then back to me, staring.
I nodded, smiling at her cautious expression. “It’s all right, Isa.” I peered at Elder Zeller, gauging him long and hard as he gazed at her with a slowly growing look of adoration, which I was not wholly surprised about since she was that adorable. I was decided. “He’s a nice man.”
Antonio bounced her again when she stayed mute, her attention going back to Elder Zeller. “Isa, smile for me. Show him that stunning grin.” And when Antonio ducked his head and made a monster noise against her throat…she giggled, her cheeks scrunching as she smiled at Antonio, clapping a tiny hand over his mouth as he lifted his head. “There it is,” Antonio whispered, kissing her fingers and glancing at Elder Zeller, his chest puffing proudly. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
And I blinked, seeing the badass Elder Zeller…grinning…flashing white teeth down at Isa. Guess he liked the little ones. “Yes, she is.” I watched his hand closely as he raised it, tipping her chin up with a light finger to stare down into her face, smiling at her. He bent, softly saying at her level, “It’s nice to meet you, Isa.”
She grinned, wiggling in Antonio’s arms, clapping her hands, apparently decided that she liked him, too, and enjoyed his attention. I smiled at her, fiddling with her matching green knit coat, making sure it wasn’t bunching at her elbows and bothering her. She hated that. Then, when I was done procrastinating, I turned my attention to King Zeller and stuck my hand out to him, stating, “King Zeller.” I couldn’t say it was nice to meet him because Elder Merrick was behind me, and the man had an incredible nose for truths, half-truths, and partials, and I really wasn’t in the mood to explain why I wasn’t happy to meet King Zeller again.
He shook my hand firmly, his palm warm. “Queen Ruckler.” His grip tightened on my hand. “And unlike you, I will say it’s a,” glacial green eyes held mine, “pleasure to see you.”
Lie.
Damn man. “Oh, rest assured, King Zeller,”asshole, “the pleasure is all mine.”
Lie.
And, a bit pathetically — I’m not even sure who started it — we were suddenly battling in a Mystical macho handshake of strength and will. Our powers crashed into each other where our palms connected, neither of us going easy on the other. Instantly, my wolf growled quietly as his power, feeling like dark and seductive whispers, made contact with my animal’s wildness, and I was pleased to hear his Vampire growl at the same time, both of us going completely still in an effort to hang on and not be the first person to blow us apart in an invisible, magical detonation.
“Huh,” Elder Jacobs leaned against the table, “I haven’t seen a decent showdown in forever.”
“King Zeller…” Elder Zeller sighed, the tone half-exasperated and half-warning.
The air vibrated around me, and I instantly pushed more power down my arm, countering the influx he threw at me. His grip turned bruising in an effort to hold on, even though I could have told him that if either one of us popped the explosion…well, my grip was tight enough that his hand would be coming with me and not with him…Lawfully. Which, I believe, he was just starting to figure out as his glowing gaze stared down at our hands.
And for the second time in so long, I chuckled, the sound just as gravelly as before. “I would suggest you relent, King Zeller,”asshole, “unless you would enjoy a surgery to reattach your hand.” Shifter strength did come in…handy.
Again the air vibrated, and I grinned evilly, my curling lips matching his as I threw even more power down my palm just in time to meet his assault. We both grunted, our bodies beginning to tremble while our predators growled intermittently.
Antonio bent, pressing his lips to my ear and whispering softly, “Lil, there’s no shame in yielding first,” my wolf growled at him, “because you’re not thinking clearly.” He paused, barely breathing loud enough for me to even hear, meaning no one else could either — even the Vamps. “Isa.”
I stilled and, instantly, overpowering fear crippled me. I had thought Antonio would protect her if an explosion occurred, and I still knew he would, but his pseudo threat was enough for all thoughts to hone in completely on my daughter. My power abruptly cut off, and I was consumed by King Zeller’s power. My knees buckled and air escaped me, and all I saw was a mist of spring green, a direct contrast to the dark, seductive power bombarding me.
Abruptly as it hit, the power attack ended.
I blinked, shaking my head hard past the fuzziness. “Goddammit, Antonio.” And I stilled, realizing King Zeller must have caught me instead of letting me drop to my knees in front of him, since I was wrapped in his arms against his heated, hard muscles, his scent engulfed in his warmth. I shoved at his chest, throwing myself out of his strong embrace, wobbling only for a moment. I met his hard green gaze. “Why?”
Why hadn’t he taken the victory?
King Zeller’s head tilted as he brushed back his floor-length, dark silver robe to place his hands in the pockets of his designer holey jeans, his gaze not leaving mine for a second as he slowly and quietly drawled, “Queen Ruckler, when you do,” a cruel, sensual curve of his lips, “fall to your knees before me, it will be because you can’t stop yourself, not because you tripped at a distraction.”
A few ticks of silence went by as our unforgiving gazes held.
“Well,” my eyes lowered to his crotch, then up to his icy gaze, “if that impossible day ever happens, King Zeller,”asshole, “just remember you’re not the only one with sharp teeth.” I mimicked his deliberately forbidding carnal smile.
If anything, that cruel smile of his only increased as he cocked his head the other way. “Yes, I do believe having you here will be interesting.” Gradually, his gaze touched my hair, my face, my throat, slowly moving down my body from head to toe, scrutinizing me. “I never would have guessed you to be the Queen of the Shifters.” Green eyes lifted to mine. “You’re fortunate you told me when you did last week, otherwise…well, you know where you would still be hanging.” My nostrils flared in angered irritation, and he smirked at my expression before his gaze traveled to Isa. “And I never would have imagined a Ruler to adopt a child of another faction, especially with this war we’re in.”
Protective instincts flared, stealing my breath I felt so consumed by them, as King Zeller just as slowly analyzed my daughter as he had done me. Before I knew it, I was standing directly in front of her, practically smashed between Antonio holding her and King Zeller, my wolf growling quietly and my eyes glowing brightly as I glared up at him. Wolf riding my voice harshly, I growled, “Mine.”
Deliberately, one cocky eyebrow rose as he stared down at me, not backing away. “I was only getting a good look at what sent you here to be tortured.” My growl lowered even more, furious, my eyes slightly narrowing as I debated the pitfalls of hitting him only once. Not to kill him, but just as a bit of retribution to feed the soul. Again he smirked, and bent so his face was inches away from mine, whispering, “You may think you know my weakness, but with certainty, I now know yours.” He rose, glancing over my head to Isa while I seethed. “And trust me, Queen Ruckler, even though your daughter is beautiful and appears sweet, I won’t ever lay a finger on her for any reason, good or bad.” He shrugged a shoulder, peering down at me. “I hate children.”
All of that had beentruth, except for that last comment. It had rung more of confused dishonesty. As if he believed he should hate children but didn’t entirely understand why. I said nothing, my head cocking as I evaluated that little bit of information. Every morsel of weakness I knew about this man was gold, as were my weaknesses to him.
I watched his eyebrows begin to pucker just the tiniest increment as he stared over my head at Isa, but his expression quickly turned hard and cold before he asked with a voice void of emotion, “Is she cold?” His gaze flittered down to mine then back to her. “You have her wrapped up like it’s the arctic, and her cheeks are pink, but she’s not sweating. If you would like, we can have a fire Elemental warm it up a bit in here.”
Ah…in no way did he hate children.
