“Nor are you helping, Ezra,” Elder Zeller rumbled quietly.
Swirling the wine in my glass, I stared at it, barely hearing Elder Zeller. “There’s no f**king way you’re her father.” I shook my head, watching the maroon liquid swirl in my glass. My eyebrows puckered as I became lost in thought. “No way in hell.” My eyes lifted to him, watching as he opened his mouth wide for the swab, showing his pearly whites. His gaze didn’t stray from mine through the quick process. I shook my head again, downing my drink. “God, if I did have sex with you, I was stupid as f**k.” I pointed at Bindi as I stood, making my way to the bar. “No more than an hour.”
She nodded, quickly exiting the tent to perform her tests while I uncorked another bottle of red. Rubbing my left temple, I poured another glass of wine to the rim, growling at Antonio when he started to intercept me. “Back the f**k off, Antonio…unless you want to actually speak on this matter.” When his face went blank, I chuckled cruelly. “Yeah, the silent type is only charming to those not needing information, haven’t I told you that before?”
I lifted my glass of wine, aiming it at each of the Elders. “Come on, gentlemen.” I covered my mouth with my free hand in fake apology, my voice mocking. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Come on, Elders. The fiercest four ever. Please enlighten me and King Zeller,” asshole, “on how it could be possible for us to meet again if we’d been lovers.” I downed half the wine in my glass, instantly refilling it when they stayed mute, faces blank. I shook my head, laughing harshly. “Or better yet, tell me if King Zeller,” asshole, “is my baby’s daddy?”
I spoke in a pseudo whisper to King Zeller when they stayed quiet. “It sounds awfully ghetto, doesn’t it? Who’s your baby’s daddy?” Another harsh chuckle as I gulped the entire contents of my glass, slamming it into sink when I was done, the glass shattering loudly. Hard pants racking my body, I turned my back to them, rubbing my face and muttering, “Fucking pathetic, is what it is.”
After a few moments, King Zeller asked calmly, “Do you feel better now?”
“No, I don’t,” I stated simply, honestly, keeping my back to them and staring at the tent’s sparkling protection. “Not a single one of you would understand. And at the risk of sounding sexist, I’ll say it anyway.” My head dropped as I rubbed my temples. “You’re all men. You’ll never know what it’s like to be pregnant. And to top it off, I was pregnant and I didn’t know how I got that way, only having assumptions, analytical guesses at best. I had no clue who the man was I’d had sex with. No recollection of his face, his name, his touch. Nothing to make sense of the fact that I had a child growing inside me.” My hands dropped as I stared at the floor. “So, no, I’m not all right. I’m not all right with any of this. Not to mention, I still may not have my answers, because this doesn’t make any damn sense.”
King Zeller hummed quietly.
That was all.
But…that sound was enough for me to turn swiftly to stare.
His eyes captured mine. “Come here.” A pause. “Please.”
My eyebrows puckered, but I found myself moving toward him at his soft demand. “What do you know?” I sought an explanation in the depths of his eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?” I stopped, waiting for an answer.
Again, he hummed quietly. Watching me just as intently as I was him. “Closer.” Again, he asked nicely. “Please.” I hesitated. I was already close enough in my opinion. But when I opened my mouth to argue, he shook his head gently, saying softly, “Trust me.”
My jaw set, but I glanced at Isa. I already trusted him with my one light, my heart. Slowly, I took the remaining steps toward him, and I couldn’t help how I stood on the balls of my feet when I stopped directly next to his chair. And when he hummed in quiet reprimand, I sluggishly lifted my eyes from his hands — where the pain would come from — to meet his gaze.
One side of his mouth curved, and he murmured quietly, “You’re smart to be wary of me, especially because I don’t trust you, either.” Ever so slowly, his hand rose and hovered an inch away from my right hand. “But, I believe I have the answer to the million-dollar question.” His heated palm touched mine, and I barely managed to hold still as he turned my hand until I felt the slide of his palm against mine, holding it gently as if I were made of glass. Eyebrows puckered, I peered down as something caught at my ring on my thumb.
It was…a black ring, which appeared just as unobtrusive as mine, on his thumb, his skin dark against my peaches-and-cream complexion.
My breath caught as I lifted my other hand, touching his ring gently. “Does it have an inscription?” I turned it gently, wishing to take it from his finger to inspect it myself.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat, glancing at the other occupants of the room. He took his hand back slowly. “And I’d rather not say what it is right now, but,” his gaze returned to mine and held, “what I believe our rings mean, the only option I found while skimming the Law book after dinner,” his nostrils flared, his face tomblike and severe, “is that we’re married.”
I forgot how to breathe, and honestly, I couldn’t feel my body for as long as the silence reigned over us. I could only stare at him, as Law One hit me like a whirlwind. I gripped my own ring hard, needing to feel something, as I choked, “Married couples can’t be kept apart longer than two years, a minimum of one, no matter their punishment.” I watched King Zeller nod, his spiked hair shimmering in the sparkling Mage light, and I tripped backward, falling hard onto the couch to stare at him. “What the f**k were we thinking?”
King Zeller’s smile was scornful as his eyes lowered to stare at his own ring. “You know the answer to that as well as I do.”
I shook my head, denial coursing through my veins, and covered my mouth with my hand as I turned my attention to Antonio. “Tell me this isn’t right, Antonio.” I shook my head again. “Tell me we weren’t ignorant enough to not only have sex, but also have a child together and get f**king married.” My eyes were wide. “Seriously, please say something. Gurgle. Do whatever you do to tell me no.” I shook my head harshly, dropping my hand to swing it between King Zeller and myself when Antonio stayed mute. “Please tell me the King of f**king Vampires and the Queen of the damn Shifters did not do this!” My eyes flittered to all four Elders, pleading with them with my eyes. “Tell me we weren’t this senseless!”