There was a beat of silence. “Not exactly the reaction I was hoping for—”
“Leric,” I groaned, cutting him off by clapping a hand over my mouth, “there’s glass all over the toilet.” I stood on tiptoe, rotating to glance for any outlet but trying not to cut my bare feet, my stomach rolling. “Not good, not good, not good.”
“Shit,” he muttered, his eyes flicking from my face to the glass all over the floor before he hurried to straighten. He opened the door a bit, barking outside, “Mom, get me the trash can over there.” I heard her start to say something but he cut her off, shouting, “Now!”
Three seconds later, I heard his dad mumble something close to the door, but Leric pulled a medium sized trash can—unlike the small one in the bathroom covered in glass—inside. He slammed the door on whatever his dad was saying, placing the trash can under my mouth just as I spewed into it, my stomach crunching painfully. I groaned heavily, trying not to move my feet, which was harder than I thought. I hurried to tuck in my towel tighter so I could grab the trash can from him, since he—the One—was already silently gagging as I heaved into it again. Once I had a grip on the trash can, he flipped the fan on—as if that was really going to help with the immediate smell—but he stayed in the bathroom manfully, pulling my hair back while I dispelled every last ounce of my dinner.
And possibly some of my breakfast.
I moaned quietly, spitting the disgusting remains of my stomach’s contents. “Can this evening get any worse?”
Leric gagged, his choking making my stomach clench all over. But there was nothing left in it to come out. Dry words were spoken by the One. “I’m thinking not.” A pause as he choked on air. “What the fuck did you eat, Sprite?”
“A little bit of everything from the looks of it,” I mumbled honestly, groaning as I spit into the trash can again. I didn’t really want to remove my head from the thing for him to see, partly because it was embarrassing and partly because I didn’t want to hold his hair while he used it next. “Can you grab a washcloth over there to cover this?”
“On it,” he rumbled, sounding more than happy to do so. Using one hand to hold my hair, he grabbed a cloth off the counter. He shook the glass off it gently, then quickly placed it over the opening of the trash can under my face. He released my hair to take the trash can from me and, yes, gagged again at the feel of it. He opened the door a bit, holding it out of the crack. “Mom, take this…away.”
“Is she all right?” His mom ask softly, actually sounding worried. She took the disgusting trash can since Leric’s hands came back inside the bathroom empty.
“Never better,” I mumbled in his stead, catching my towel as it loosened again. I took the opportunity to shove Leric out the door. I glared at everyone in my room. “Can someone get me some damn clothes?”
Wincing as Roselle pulled glass shards from my feet with bitty tweezers, I didn’t glance Leric’s way. But I was pretty sure he was either scowling or watching with amusement since that seemed to be his mood when I was making him leave the bathroom. Not to mention, I was fairly sure I was wearing clothes his mother had bought me. I truly hated the pure white silk pajama pants over a matching white silk tank top.
Gritting my teeth while Roselle plucked another shard out, I watched as Queen Cooper exited my bathroom, done using her Mage magic to fix my mirror. I really wanted to brush my teeth now, seeing as every single damn Ruler was crammed into my smallish room—and all of the spirits in attendance—leaving hardly any room to move, much less breathe on people.
Queen Cooper’s lips were pinched on her beautiful face, and she completely surprised me by placing her hands on her hips, stating bluntly, “You’ve thrown up twice recently.”
I shouted on a croak as Roselle pulled an extra-long piece of glass from my heel. I did manage to growl at Queen Cooper, “Your point being?”
“You’ve also been highly emotional.” She stared emphatically.
I shrugged a shoulder. “PMS.”
Her jaw clenched, her fingers tapping on her—fake—slim hips. “So you haven’t missed your period?”
I stared, and then my gaze darted to King Collins. “Don’t you tell her anything?”
His blue eyebrows rose slightly while he rested with his back against the wall. “I happen to agree with her line of questioning.” His brown eyes flicked over my head, his gaze darting in Leric’s direction—he scowled—then back down to mine. “I don’t know if you’re on birth control. You never stated if you were. I only guessed at the theory, and then you went mute.”
Predictably, every spirit in the room went quiet, none of us saying a thing to the credibility of his theory.