I laughed, the sound choked. “Go…fuck…yourself.” I paused. “Or…Dell.”
“Yes, well, I can see this is going to be fun,” he murmured, sounding irritated and gleeful at the same time, before he glanced over his shoulder. He barked at Bruno, “Get her down and have Jasper heal her. Then I’ll do this again, since I hate missing out on the fun.”
The screen went blank.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
I wasn’t even entirely sure Mrs Damon was still conscious inside Mr Damon’s hold, as his arms were wrapped around her tightly where she had buried her face against his chest. All the Rulers still stared at the screen, unblinking. Elder Farrar flicked his wrist, the barest movement, and the screen completely disappeared. He let his head drop, staring at the ground. Roselle and Reese were both still staring where the screen used to be, keeping their attention off of me…and Leric.
Because Leric had moved at some point during that memory. He was now sitting on the edge of the bed, closer to where the screen used to be, with his back to me and his strong muscles straining his white shirt. His elbows rested on his knees, and his arms were crooked so his chin rested in his hands and his fingers steepled to cover his mouth.
And there was the bitty fact he was glowing bright white, his crown of the galaxies sitting on top of his head.
I cleared my throat, oddly feeling detached from having to watch that special event. “I think I’m going to order room service.” I pulled the menu from the end table. “I’m starving.” Which was no wonder since I had puked all the food I’d eaten earlier. “Does anybody else want anything?”
King Collins’s gaze snapped to mine, very careful to not look anywhere near Leric, but he still stared at me like I was crazy. “You can’t be serious.”
“She is.” Queen Ruckler cleared her throat, also glancing at me and keeping her gaze off Leric. “She’s telling truth.”
“I’m hungry,” I mumbled, staring down at the menu and reading the meals on it as I shrugged a shoulder. “Seeing that wasn’t anything new or shocking to me, it was a pretty tame experience, really.”
The room went quiet, so I guessed no one else wanted anything. It made making the phone call I placed much easier. “Maybe you guys will be hungry by the time it arrives. I got enough to share.”
That was when Leric moved—to pop his neck—before refreezing at the end of my bed.
I rubbed my lips together, watching in fascination as his crown rotated around his head for a few beats, before I peered to my silent King. “Do you want to know the bad news now?”
King Collins’s eyebrows rose, and he started to walk toward me but stopped dead in his tracks when his face suddenly reflected silver…apparently, Leric’s gaze had snapped to him. He relaxed back against the dresser, the silver light on his face disappearing after a few beats, and he asked, “That wasn’t the bad news?”
“Oh.” I shrugged a shoulder. “No. You see, even if you know who he is—”
“We do, but we thought we’d killed him. I swear my shot was true, but the damned bullet wasn’t silver…I should have known better than to believe he went down that easy,” King Zeller groused in heated passion, then he instantly froze. His face was reflecting silver, and his eyes—almost—flicked all the way to Leric, but they slowly came back to mine. He continued speaking, the silver light shining brightly on his face. “His name is Philip Masterson, although I’m sure he’s using a false name—”
“Alexander Kurnoc,” I interrupted.
King Zeller’s eyebrows lifted. “The obscure gambling industrialist?” When I dipped my head, he mumbled absently to himself, “Very interesting.” A nod of his head. “It makes sense then that he’s never been photographed or interviewed.” He cleared his throat and got back on track to tell me something I didn’t know. “He’s a hybrid, Shifter and Mage.” My brows rose at this, and King Zeller nodded slowly at my expression. “Yeah, and because of this, his Mage magic tends to work in reverse. Our best guess is, whereas some powerful Mages can go forward in time, he stores up enough power to go back in time.”
He popped his fingers one by one. “It didn’t work out for him so well the last time he tried it—even though we thought he was fucking dead—so I don’t imagine he would do it again anytime soon.” He blinked. “Oh yes, and he’s the one that initially started MCWWII, creating a large majority of the Beasts by raping Com women.”