I nodded. I had figured it out, but couldn’t explain the truth. It was because of Ezra’s arm. When he had held me…well, the sexual fluid of a Shifter gives the animal away to one of our kind. Even though we smelled of each other from dancing, this was a different scent entirely, and no amount of grooving on the dance floor could explain the situation away.
He started stalking away, and pointed at me. “I expect you to call some of those Shifters by tomorrow.” An order. How lovely. He continued marching through the trees, rubbing a hand over his face repeatedly, and then began strolling normally before he was out of my view through the vegetation.
I was thankful at the moment that Aros and Felix had stayed back. Whenever King Kincaid and I talked privately, they were instructed to guard at a distance for privacy. Good damn rule.
My wolf was more than a little ticked but I, myself, felt like crying in frustration. I walked it out, pacing back and forth, only sniffling a few times and blinking rapidly to keep any tears from falling. When I felt I had better control of myself, I made my way out of the woods, and back to my table. I could sense the individuals at my table eyeing me, but I moved casually and calmly, and sat on my chair, which had been righted.
I kept my eyes on my plate, and sighed, realizing I needed a fork to eat with since mine was under the table somewhere. After getting another one, I sat back down and made myself eat. I was not going to pass out today. Food was a must.
Once I had finished, not hearing a word of the conversation around me and really hoping no one had tried to converse with me, I lifted my glass and perused the table’s occupants. Cahal and King Venclaire were both casually watching me as they talked to one another. Ezra was too, but more covertly, as he spoke with his mom about her lessons. After listening for only half a minute, I decided that if I were her student, I would probably run. By the sound of it, under all of that pretty and sweet was a hard woman. Opportunity knocked when Cahal and King Venclaire turned to view something behind them.
Stealthily, I tapped my nose and then my arm, before they returned to coolly watching me while talking between themselves, and I placed my glass down, fiddling with my fork.
Ezra’s conversation stalled. “Mom, I’ll be back in a second.” Smart, he was.
“Okay,” she murmured, confused, as he stood from his chair and sped away in a blur.
King Venclaire and Cahal flat out eyed me, not even bothering to talk.
Well, then…I turned toward Antonio, who was staring at the woods as calm as could be. “See anything interesting out there in the woods of King Hall?”
His gaze slammed to mine. “What did you just say?”
“The woods.” I pointed to said woods, having picked him to talk with because I hadn’t thought he would be mean. “Anything—”
He shook his head, stopping me. “Exactly, Lil. Exactly, what did you say?”
“Um…” A slow blink. “See anything interesting out there in the woods of King Hall?”
He disappeared.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Dumbfounded, I asked no one in particular, “Did I say something wrong?”
Cahal grunted. “He’s always been that way.”
My gaze met his dead on. “Not around me.”
All of a sudden, Ezra was standing behind his chair wearing a different shirt. It was black, like the other, but it had silver skull buttons instead of plain black ones. He had remembered to roll up his sleeves on his forearms like before. Hopefully, no one would…
“You changed your shirt,” Vivian exclaimed. Leave it to Mom to notice. “Did you get something on the other while you were eating?”
I blinked, barely keeping a straight face.
Ezra didn’t do so well, though. He coughed hard. Really hard. In fact, he had to walk away, having a coughing fit. When he covered his mouth, I could see little beads of water on his hand. So he had washed, too.
People were beginning to stare, whispering to one another.
Vivian’s jaw clenched and she turned to the gossiping tables, stating loudly, “He does not have a germ. He’s just got something caught in his throat.” Vampire hearing in action. She turned her gaze on Ezra. “Right?”
King Venclaire snickered quietly, making me almost lose it in a bad chain reaction.
Ezra’s face was priceless.
Spring green eyes wide, he cleared his throat hard. “Right, Mom. No germ.”
She nodded curtly, and then glared at the other tables’ occupants. Scary teacher. She patted his seat, still daring the others to dispute her son’s claim as he sat down as expected.
Cahal was quietly watching me, but he asked his son, “Why did you change your shirt? And in such a rush?” He turned his head, looking him straight in the eye. “And where did you disappear to after you left the dance floor?” The man had a scary-ass dad face. His parents were a perfect mating.
Ezra held that frightening gaze. “I had to use the restroom, and then got soap on my shirt. I changed it.” He shrugged. “And, Lily and I escaped the masses for a little while after dancing.” He smiled. “I’m sure you remember how it was when everyone wanted a piece of your time.” His smile widened. “Way back in the day.”
His dad didn’t rise to the bait, only hummed softly, and then turned his attention back to me, staring silently.
“She can give you a picture if you like her face so much,” Ezra stated calmly.
“She reminds me of someone,” Cahal murmured thoughtfully.
Oh, dear Lord, not another one. “When were you mated?”
His head cocked. “Around forty years ago.”
Relief flooded me…until he blinked…and peered right at King Venclaire.
How bad can a day get?
“Yes,” King Venclaire murmured. “She’s Angela Springs’s daughter.”
Oh, he just knew about their affair. Again, relief flooded me.
“That must be it.” Cahal looked back at me. “You look just like her.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
He blinked, his gaze returning to King Venclaire. “Didn’t Antonio say he raised her?”
I was really beginning to dislike this man.
King Venclaire’s jaw clenched, and he nodded once.
Cahal’s roaming gaze again revisited me. He said nothing verbally, but his eyes spoke volumes. He did not — to put it politely — approve of interpersonal relationships between Mys groups, and therefore, my mom, which was a direct consideration of me.