Again the choking noise as I felt wind whip at my back. “Love you.” He gasped hard. “Please leave.”
“Here,” Ezra whispered, placing the pen on the ground between our faces. He grabbed my shoulder, tilting me away from Antonio. “He doesn’t want you here for this.” He tried pulling me away as Cahal started moving Antonio. “Come on, sweetheart.”
“No, goddamn it!” I shouted, brushing his hand away and quickly grabbing the book and pen, getting on my knees, and holding them out when Cahal had his back against the wall again to restrain Antonio when he bucked. “Here,” I grabbed one of Antonio’s hands, placing his needed items there, “Here’s your book and pen.”
He was trembling inside Cahal’s hold, but he calmed some and automatically began flipping through pages like a madman, intermingling this with thumping his head back against Cahal’s shoulder hard enough to break bones. But he still gritted through his teeth, “Get her out, Ezra.”
I shouted when I felt a rush of wind, instantly being carried outside like a child so fast that my head spun. Sobs racked my body, but I fought only half-heartedly when I was tossed onto the back seat of the Hummer with a restraining Vampire husband on top of me. I now knew why Antonio didn’t want me seeing this, his weakness, his frailty. He had said why.
It was because he loved me so much. As a parent. No parent wants to appear weak or to scare their child. That was why I eventually succumbed to Ezra’s quiet soothing, even though my heart ached, and let my tears take me under.
Entering the vacated house as the sun broke over the horizon, I felt as if a sledgehammer had been beating me repeatedly throughout the night. I wobbled enough that Ezra had to keep an arm around me so I didn’t fall, and when we found Lynn upstairs sitting outside his door with his head back, appearing just as beaten as I felt, I knew instantly he had been there all night. We stopped next to him.
I asked softly, “You waited to see if Elder Zeller needed help with Elder Farrar?”
“Yes.” His face was carefully blank. “Elder Farrar didn’t…calm…until an hour ago.” When my breathing hitched at his words, he eyed me. “I heard you say he’s your father?”
“Yes. He helped raise me, along with my biological mother.”
“Ah.” Behind hooded lashes, his eyes flittered back and forth between Ezra and me, finally landing on Ezra. “King Zeller, you may want to take a shower before you interact with another Shifter. The scent isn’t as strong as it was last night, but it’s still noticeable.” When we stilled at his comment, both of us forgetting about my sexual scent being all over Ezra, Lynn stood, cracking his back, and switched topics altogether. “What time are we leaving today?”
Ezra and I stood there for a few beats trying to catch up with the fact he wasn’t throwing a fit at knowing the King Vampire and Queen Shifter were sleeping together. Ezra cleared his throat as he maneuvered us so he was between Lynn and me, eyes hard on him. “You aren’t…” He left it unsaid.
Lynn actually chuckled. “Stupid enough to rat out the King Vampire and my Queen?” He shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’d like to live long enough to watch my children grow old.”
Truth.
Maybe Lynn Johnson wasn’t as stupid as I had originally thought him to be.
I cleared my throat this time. “We’ll be leaving in under an hour.” We needed to get on the road. “We’ll get breakfast on the way.”
He nodded and silently went into his room.
I patted Ezra’s chest. “I can take it from here. You’d better go take that shower.”
Warm hands cupped my cheeks, green eyes intent on mine. “You’ll be fine until I get back?”
My smile was a little forced. “I can manage.” I swatted his rear. “Go and hurry back.”
I was folding items and then stuffing them roughly into my duffle when I scented Antonio behind me. “You should have told me.” A shirt fell out and I began refolding it. “I wouldn’t have been so damn upset last night if you had given me a little warning about your gift.”
A snort behind me. “Curse, more like.”
I jammed my shirt into my duffle. “I’m pissed, Antonio.”
“I understand,” he said softly, placing gentle hands on my shoulders. “Although, one good thing did happen from it.”
“What?” I snipped, zipping my bag with almost enough vigor to rip it.
Soft words. “You finally called me dad.”
My damn eyes welled again, and my chin trembled. “Of course, you’re my dad.” I swiped a few tears away, only to have my throat burn and nose clog. I tried to hold it in before I completely lost it, but my body racked with sobs as I turned and threw my arms around his middle, stuffing my face against his chest. “You scared me.”