I didn’t understand his ‘gift’ completely. Nor did I understand him. But there was one thing I had to know. After holding his gaze, which was empty of any emotion, I whispered, “Why?”
Lips that were already pinched thinned further. The other occupants at the table quieted, their eyes never far from me right now, even though they pretended otherwise. Antonio blinked, and when his gaze met mine again, it held sorrow and guilt and, maybe, hope. “Because I must.”
Truth.
I snorted sarcastically, pissed off, and peered back to my plate. I lifted the knife, twirling it in my fingers and watching golden sparks of light catch on the fairly sharp blade as it rotated faster through my fingers. My gaze flicked to him. “You’re lucky I love you.” My eyes went back to the blade. “Because of that, I didn’t tell him what I know.”
My gaze returned to him while everyone around the table went still. “You would be a few days dead right now if I hadn’t protected your worthless ass.” My anger was red-hot, but I kept it leashed. Barely. I stopped twirling the blade, pointing it at him. “I probably won’t ever understand you, Antonio, but what I do know is that you fucking owe me.”
No one moved around us as Antonio and I held each other’s gaze.
Jerkily, he nodded once, his eyes lowering. “I’m sorry, Lil.”
I snorted, my own gaze falling to my own plate, and stabbed into my macaroni again. “Not fucking good enough.” I shook my head, chomping into my grub. “Not anywhere close.”
“Honey, I’m not sure what the hell this is about, and I realize you’re going through a tragedy right now, but you can’t threaten an Elder,” King Kincaid murmured quietly into the silence. A pause, then, “At least, not in public, anyway.”
My grin was feral as I peeked up at him down the table. “I didn’t.”
King Fergus slowly wiped his mouth with a napkin and set it down carefully. “She’s correct. She stated she saved his worthless ass.”
I stared. The man hardly ever stated something in my defense. Eyebrows puckered, I gave him a nod of appreciation and went back to my meal, everyone else slowly following suit, seeing the fireworks were over.
Halfway through choking down my steak, I scented Ezra. Breathing deeply, I also scented Jack. I kept eating.
To my right, Cahal set his silverware down and pushed his plate away, and asked quietly, “Ms Ruckler, do you happen to know where my son is? I’ve tried to contact him these past few days, and he never returned my phone calls or answered his door.”
I lifted my fork over my shoulder, eyes still on my plate. “He’s in line at the buffet.” I resumed cutting my steak into tiny pieces. No need to explain that I knew exactly where Ezra had been the past few days.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a few heads swing toward where I had pointed. I stilled for only a heartbeat, realizing I had probably given away the fact I was so in tune with Ezra’s body, but I went back to eating before anyone noticed my instant reaction. Ezra had acted only as a worried friend during our time in the medical ward, careful of those around him, but if anyone had looked close enough, they would have seen a father losing his children. It was best to be cautious for a little while, just in case.
Elder Merrick swung his large frame back to rights on his chair as I felt several pairs of eyes on me. “That’s one hell of a nose you have.”
My lips lifted as I glanced at him. “Yours is better.” He was the only one who had seen Ezra’s initial reaction. He knew. And yet, he wasn’t blowing whistles. It was another interesting fact about him.
His own lips lifted in recognition that I knew he was something else where scents were involved. “Possibly.” His head tilted, his arm sliding over the back of my chair. “I could teach you what I know if you would care to put in a few hours alone with me.”
I could smell that Ezra was coming closer. Again, it was when Elder Merrick chose to say a double entendre. Casually knocking his arm off the back of my chair, I turned back to my food. “If your offer’s honest, I’ll take you up on it.” I wanted to know how he did what he did. “For teaching.”
He leaned over, his mouth against the shell of my ear. “Oh, I’ll teach you.”
Ezra was now close enough to have heard that. And my knife miraculously found its way under the table, directly against Elder Merrick’s crotch. He stiffened as I turned my head to stare him in the eyes. Instantly, he backed off. I never thought he was stupid.
Taking my knife back, I primly set it on the table and began eating my sliced meat as Ezra and Jack sat in the remaining chairs at the table. Honestly, I was surprised they had sat at this table. I had done it because I knew no one would really bother me, but Jack and Ezra didn’t have that luxury, which was quickly proven.