Antonio blinked. “There’s not.” He disappeared.
Ezra’s breath caught, his heart rate galloping into a wild frenzy. “He wouldn’t.”
I stared where Antonio used to stand and breathed, “He did.”
Ezra’s gaze darted around the room, and I felt his power surge to epic levels, his eyes glowing bright. Command full force in his tone, he shouted, “Get the f**k out. Now!”
No one moved.
Ezra sucked in a harsh breath, eyebrows slamming together, and again his power surged, and he ordered, “Get the f**k out!”
No one moved.
Cahal’s own eyebrows were pinched together, but he stated evenly, “This suite is spelled for only my command.”
Ezra froze, breath hitching, his eyes on his dad. “Order them to leave.”
Cahal’s gaze was searching, confusion clear on his normally stoic face.
“You’d better not try any Vampire shit on me,” Elder Merrick growled quietly.
It was too late.
Antonio had reappeared with his hand firmly planted on Elder Venclaire’s shoulder.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The silence was damning, my future clearly in a noose.
Not a soul moved until Ezra blurred so fast that all I felt was the brush of wind against my side…then his fist was hammering into the side of Antonio’s face. He actually…floated. He followed the trajectory of Antonio’s body, catching him by the throat to hold him flush against the wall, his whole body quivering as he hissed in Antonio’s bloody face, “You bring him here to save her, only to give her a death sentence.”
Antonio didn’t fight back, merely stared him in the eyes as Ezra squeezed the living shit out of his throat, killing him, strangling him as he said he would.
Gulping air, I whispered, “Ezra.” If he murdered him he would have a death sentence, too. “No!” Not to mention, I didn’t want Antonio dead for saving my ass the only way he knew how.
Cahal recovered the fastest from Elder Venclaire’s — Daddy’s — arrival and Ezra’s attack on Antonio. He blurred to Ezra’s side, and I felt his power surge as Ezra’s had done moments ago. “Let him go.”
Ezra grunted, and it looked like he gripped Antonio’s throat harder, fighting his dad’s command.
Elder Venclaire was instantly on the other side of them. “Ezra, no harm will come to her. I swear this to you.” He put no command behind his words, even as Cahal grabbed Ezra’s wrist, trying to break his son’s hold physically.
Ezra’s head turned to him. “You know she’s your daughter? You’ll help her?”
Elder Venclaire glanced at me, his gaze worried. “I’ll help her.” Soft words. “And I’ve known she’s my daughter since I knew who her mother was.” A small smile lifted his lips, even as my breath hitched. “She may look much like Angela, but she looks plenty like me, too.” He placed a gentle hand on top of Cahal’s gripping one. “Ezra, let Elder Farrar go. I’ll hide her as I’ve planned to do, if needed, but it will be harder to hide both of you.”
“Release him!” Cahal shouted, shoving his face and command directly in Ezra’s face. “Now, goddamn it!”
Ezra blinked at his dad, and his floating stopped, his feet firmly planting on the floor. The movement not at all forced, he took his hand away from Antonio’s throat and stepped back, picking up my gun that had been tossed around the room in the whirlwind of the earlier spell, even as Cahal caught Antonio, who had begun to fall, coughing hard. Ezra didn’t seem to notice, though, throwing the safety off the gun and aiming it at Elder Jacobs and Elder Merrick as he moved toward the bed, Bindi having — smartly — hid behind them.
Intelligently, they stayed silent, even though their eyes were as wide as saucers, their gazes darting between the recovering Antonio, Elder Venclaire, and the gun aimed at them.
“Ezra,” I wheezed as he lifted the sheet to his knees with his free hand to climb onto the bed. “No killing.”
“Fuck that,” he muttered, eyes never leaving Elder Merrick and Elder Jacobs, even as his lips twitched, and he echoed my earlier comment, “What would you do?”
I blinked, a small smile lifting my lips. “Nothing different.” And it was the truth.
“Damn straight,” he rumbled, crawling behind me to place his back against the headboard. He used his free arm to pull me between his legs, settling my own back against his chest, my head resting on his shoulder. His arm circled my waist, holding me close as he rested his shooting arm over my shoulder, gun aimed directly on the two mute Elders and one silent physician.
Next to us on a pillow, Clyde was resting much the same, lying around Bonnie’s slight, quiet form and watching the proceedings, but his claws were out like he was waiting for an attack.
Again, my lips lifted, and I breathed, “Bonnie and Clyde.” My eyelids fluttered.
Ezra’s deep chuckle reverberated at my ear and against my back as his chest vibrated.
Antonio rolled his head around on his shoulders, only to go into another coughing fit, but brushed away any help. In fact, he pushed Elder Venclaire’s shoulder, shoving him in our direction. He rasped, “She doesn’t have much time left. Go do it.”
Elder Venclaire blurred, instantly at our side.
Ezra didn’t flinch and the gun didn’t falter at the action, nor did he move when Elder Venclaire sat on the bed. Instead, he asked evenly, “What do you need to do?”
“She’ll need to drink from me since we can’t give her my blood intravenously. Her body would reject it because it’s pure Vampire.” Blue eyes, just like mine, met my own. “You’ll need to quit masking so my power can find your own.” Softly, his fingers brushed a hair off my cheek. “It’s truly remarkable that you’re even doing it now.”
“Practice,” I whispered. My heart literally faltered as I felt everyone’s eyes on us, and Ezra gave me a shake. My eyes slammed open, though I hadn’t even realized they had closed.
“Hurry,” Ezra grumbled.
My dad placed his hand gently over my Core and whispered, “Relax.” And I immediately felt calm. “Open for me. Quit masking.”
Glancing at the others, who now wore varying expressions, my breath hitched, but I did as told. I quit masking. Years of training and survival instincts screamed at me, calling me a fool, as I laid myself bare to the power surging in the room, everyone already testing for the truth. I saw all but Antonio’s and Richard’s eyes widen, some more than others, their astonishment evident.