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 fuck 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 fucking 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 fucking 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!”
Not a sound…not a blink…not even a gurgle.
The air shuddered out of me as with wide eyes I turned my attention to King Zeller, unable to hide my emotions, freaked the fuck out. “There would have to be a record of a marriage.”
He shook his head. “Not if we did it by old tradition.”
I shook my own head. “I don’t even know what that means.” Fidgeting, I tightened my ponytail. “If you knew me at all back then, you would have married me the old-fashioned way, not with some old tradition.” I nodded, knowing this was right. “There would have to be a record of this.”
King Zeller’s arched brows furrowed. He was quiet for the span of a minute, but he didn’t dispute or question my certainty on this. “If there was a marriage certificate, it more than likely would have been mailed to us, as is the normal custom after it’s processed.” He shook his head. “I don’t have any documentation like that.” His eyes caught mine. “Unless you do?”
I stared at him, realizing I was hugging my legs to my chest, and quickly dropped them, understanding how weak I had to appear. Scanning my memory gave me no new leads on legal paperwork, but it didn’t take long for me to realize where I would have sent documentation like that. I shook my head and chuckled softly. “I have a place where I send paperwork.” I held up an instant finger when his lips parted. “And don’t even ask where it’s at. It’s heavily spelled for a reason, and I sure as fuck don’t trust you to know about it.” My gaze went to Antonio. “Wanna take me on a quick trip?”
Chapter Seven
Riding in the golden emptiness that was Antonio’s fastest means of transportation, I worried that I had made the wrong decision leaving Isa with King Zeller to go to the PO Box in New York that Antonio had spelled for me years ago for all official paperwork I wanted hidden. King Zeller had argued to go along, believing I would hide information from him, but his argument hadn’t rung complete truth. I had pretty much gotten the gist that he wanted to snoop through my spelled PO Box, and I had firmly put my foot down, telling him to go to hell. And, although it had been somewhat amusing to see him sit back down to silently scowl — sulk — taking Isa’s sleeping form back from where he had passed her off when he had tried to intimidate me with his height, I still worried I hadn’t made the right choice leaving her with him. But damn if his Vampire growling at me when I had tried to take her hadn’t freaked me out enough to back down. Well, that, and he had given me his word — gruffly — that he, and she, would be there when I got back…as long as I came back with everything that might pertain to our mysterious relationship.