Every single Elder in the room grunted in agreement, my cheeks flushing. I swear to fucking God, I could have taken a decent nap during the damn embrace it was so long, and when we pulled apart onscreen I saw my face lit up, flushing brightly, that kiss not meant to be seen by anybody but the two of us.
Antonio cleared his throat. Squeezed my shoulder once. Patted it. Cleared his throat again, and growled at King Zeller, “If you ever do that to her in front of me, don’t expect to wake up for a damn week.” Then he was marching to the bar, muttering, “I need a real fucking drink.”
“Bring the bottle,” King Zeller mumbled, and from the corner of my eye I saw him run a slow hand over his face, the first emotion-filled action I had seen him make since the videos began. “Fucking shit.” His head fell back on the chair. “I’m married.” A pause. “To the Queen Shifter, the woman I tortured only a week ago. And I have a daughter with her, a hybrid, a highly illegal being.” He made an odd noise in his throat. “Yes, please bring the whole fucking bottle.”
I still did not move.
Not even when Elder Jacobs started to slip a hand down to one of the videos — I could guess which one — and King Zeller suddenly had a gun in hand, aiming it directly at Elder Jacobs — even though the Vampire still had his damn eyes closed, lost in his own thoughts. Smartly, Elder Jacobs moved away, going to the bar, and only then did the gun disappear back to wherever the fuck he had blurred it from. I tilted my head on the couch and leaned heavily on it, eyes still glued to the screen…only to be utterly shocked when Elder Zeller snuck up next to me and bent to give me a hug, which encompassed my entire body since I was hugging my knees again. Eyes wide, I stared at him as he bent his head and ever so gently kissed my forehead.
When he pulled back, my gaze flew to his dark orbs. He tried to speak, but made that gurgling noise I was used to, and his Vampire growled softly, but I held still, completely shocked as he ran the back of his fingers lightly down the side of my face, affectionately, before turning and pounding his hand on King Zeller’s shoulder a few times, also kissing his son’s forehead before moving toward the bar and grabbing a bottle of whiskey. Eyes still wide, I turned my gaze to King Zeller.
He met it and shrugged, muttering, “Apparently, he’s happy for us.” He grunted, eyes closing again as he tilted his head back on the chair. “Too bad we aren’t.”
I snorted, letting my head fall back on the couch. “Understatement.” I stared at the Elders who were still wearing blank expressions where they stood at my bar, making themselves at home as they fixed overly large drinks — a few made two drinks. My head cocked as I watched them…and I could have sworn they had a bit more bounce to their actions. “They’re celebrating!” Bewildered, I gawked. “They’re fucking celebrating this!”
Antonio lifted his drink to me in silent cheers, which was odd with his blank expression, but sure as fuck, he then toasted with the other three Elders before they took large swigs of their drinks.
King Zeller had cracked one eye open, watching them, and he grunted. “I might be too if I were them.” His eyes closed as he groused, “Seriously, I need that fucking bottle.”
I stared at King Zeller, shaking my head. “Do you really think a drink will fix this?”
His eyebrows lifted even with his eyes closed. “So says the woman who downed half a bottle of wine not even an hour ago?”
I scowled, not really able to comment since I was very much guilty of that.
His eyes snapped to me, his expression turning serious. “The other King and Queen need to see that first video.” A pause. “And possibly the second one, if we can edit out that last bit of us.”
I nodded once, attempting to be civil with him since he was making the effort. “Antonio can do that easily enough.” Resting my head back on the couch, I eyed King Zeller, still unable to process that the man on those videos had been him at one time…with me. “Do you know who’s able to perform a spell like this on us and them?” I tilted my head toward the celebrating Elders. “I’ve asked Antonio plenty of times, but he could never speak of it.” I knew the Law inside and out, but heaven help me if I knew who actually performed the punishments.
King Zeller’s eyes were tracking over my features as mine were his, but he still answered evenly, “Honestly, I have no clue. That is usually kept private for the Mysticals’ safety.” He ran his hand up and down Isa’s back soothingly, the action appearing second nature.
My lips thinned as I realized he already loved her, which I knew I should be thrilled about, but in a way I was jealous. Jealous that she had another parent now who was going to get half of her attention, half of her love. It was selfish, I knew that, but the emotion — another damn emotion — was there nonetheless.