Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) Page 16

  Candy. I needed her to help things make sense. To make this anger worth something. Both eyes stayed closed while I tried to remember what she looked like. To feel a connection.

  When I opened my eyes Candy was standing up top of the elven housing. She was talking with the two guards. They seemed startled, but the bows vanished. Her gaze traveled to me and inaudible words mouthed in my direction. A finger pointing down. I shrugged.

  Her responding face was full of disapproval. There was no hint of her playful selection of clothes, or the looks she gave me before. The next time I saw the elf she was down next to a car. She had bent over in order to speak with another elf inside the expensive looking vehicle. My fleeting glimpse of the male elf told me he was old and important enough to have someone drive him.

  Hopefully, she wasn’t talking to him about my job as a part-time stalker. They parted with a nod and Candy walked over. Her body clad in a wrap that almost looked like an emerald scale kimono, complete with a set of heels that must be dark polished wood.

  “Jeff, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Her words and smile held some playfulness, but the eyes told me it was forced.

  “I have to ask for something.”

  “What, no foreplay?” Iciness shook away and her smile was actually genuine.

  “Two somethings actually,” I said.

  “Oh?”

  “I know you have a price, right?” I asked. My words were rushed and head still pounded a bit.

  “That I do though I’m not sure if you can pay it,” She said. There was a lift to one lip that seemed almost coy, but it didn’t reach the rest of her face.

  “I’ll pay.” Any price she asked couldn’t even begin to reach the worst parts of my history. From extortion to theft, kidnapping and roughing up low lives.

  “You’d have to. What did you want from me?” She asked. One arm draped to the side while her other reached across to grab it.

  “Help, and silence.”

  She pouted. “Not at all what I had hoped for, not at all. What could you possibly need from me, Jeff?”

  “You’re some sort of guide to elves, right?” I said.

  “That’s a question, Jeff. Try again, unless you want to owe me three favors. I can think of three satisfyingly good ways to repay me.”

  “Hell.” My head shook and both hands went into pockets, grasping uselessly. I stared at my feet while trying to rephrase the words.

  “You’re someone important, you know about addictions, helping people solve them. I know that without you telling me.” Her facial expressions didn’t give me any confirmation and it was a bit of a reach. My only clue was her actions with the other elf at the bar. Her short hair framed eyes that were nearly stone.

  “I’ve got an elf, and it’s important to me that he come to, but he’s so far under, and it looks like withdrawal. I need to help him, and I need for no one else to find out we have him until later.”

  Candy didn’t respond right away. If anything she seemed to be looking through me at something else.

  “Does this have anything else to do with your question last time, Jeff?” She asked. Her eyes narrowed slightly in my direction which brought her tattoos close together like a forest closing in.

  I didn’t want her to think about the other question. Anyone else putting the Lord, me, elves killed them, dots together was dangerous. The sudden realization that I was scratching my wrist prevented me from answering.

  “No. No deal.” She turned to walk away. I grabbed her arm gently. Candy turned and looked at me, half smiling and half serious.

  “I’d get that hand off of me right now unless you plan on using it somewhere much more fun.” The way she said it shattered my brain for a moment and I let go.

  “Why not, Candy? I’m willing to pay your price.”

  “I can’t, there are certain obligations I must place above my own needs, and your request borders on one of them.” She pouted again. It was distracting to see the down-turned expression on her face. “Which is pretty disappointing.”

  “Not even to help one of your own?”

  “Your little friend is unlikely to be one of my clan, else I would have heard. There are certain…” She pursed her lips in thought “situations in which I am in charge of.”

  “A clue? Anything?” I felt desperate.

  She tapped her feet and walked closer to me, her face tilted up.

  “If your elf has called someone their Lord, then their Lord can call them back.” There was a pause in her words as she got on her tippy toes and resumed speaking a few inches away. “But if there is a Lord, it would be best if I never find out.” Then for the barest moment she nipped at my lower lip, pressing her entire body against mine. My mind clouded over with an entirely different emotion.

  “That tidbit will cost you later.” Candy strutted off and I nearly limped after her.

  There was no sane way to react to all this information. My thoughts stayed muddled the entire way back to Julianne’s house. Night had fallen and I hadn’t even noticed. My giant dumb self stood near the doorway trying to figure out how to make this all work. Calling an elf back made no sense to me.

  Candy had clearly given an invitation that would make Julianne and Kahina both hate me. Facing either one of them worried me. Should I knock on Julianne’s door and tell her what little I knew? Or call Daniel and wash my hands of the whole thing?

  “Go inside, Jay.” Crushed peppermint accompanied sad words. My breath caught. I had spent too long trying to figure out the next step and completely lost the initiative. Getting out of bed today had been a terrible idea.

  I followed orders and opened the door.

  Both Stacy and Julianne and were waiting in the front room. The dent where I pushed Stacy had been covered up by a hastily moved table. Kahina clicked the door shut behind me.

  “Sit down, Jay.” My sort of ex-girlfriend said.

  “Rather stand.” There was a whole list of actions that sounded better than being here. Dealing with the elf in the back, drinking liquor, or even going back to Candy.

  “Sit down, Jay.” Julianne’s glare was echoed by Stacy. Running this time would completely destroy whatever relationship we had left. Julianne was the only person who welcomed me back without expectations. Besides money.

  I picked the recliner on the far end of the room, popped up the leg rest then leaned back.

  “Can’t you make him sit straight at least?” Stacy. I decided she would be called The Bitch. The Bitch would be easier to remember. Best of all, she was a wolf so it was technically accurate.

  “Be happy he sat down.” Julianne sounded upset at everything.

  “Why’s she here?” I asked.

  “Kahina Rhodes being here was my idea. We needed her side of the story.” The Bitch was louder now.

  “And you want to do this, now?” Surely the inflection in my voice showed just how ridiculous this was. This was the wrong time for an intervention.

  “You’ve earned no say in any of this, deal, or get out.” Was Stacy’s response.

  Kahina was silent. She stood behind the couch on the other side. Hopefully, I didn’t smell like an elf. Julianne cleared her throat and Kahina seemed to wake up. She went and sat down on the couch with the other two girls flanking her.

  These teams sucked.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “Well what, Jay? What do you think we’re going to do here?” Julianne snapped at me.

  There were things I wanted to say. ‘I’m sorry I threw Stacy, I’m sorry I left Kahina, I’m sorry I’m not a bundle of ass whooping vengeance like I used to be, Julianne. Can I go now?’ The series of phrases would probably induce a much-deserved thrashing upon my person. All of the words were quietly shoved aside. Instead, I stood up.

  “Where are you going?” Julianne asked.

  “Bathroom.” I didn’t wait for a response, and Julianne thankfully held Stacy back with a light touch. While one of my stops was the bathroom, the other was the comatose
elf.

  I hefted chair and elf into the front room then plopped him down next to the recliner. He was the only other non-female in the house and someone had to be on my side. My other option had been crawling out one of the windows and running down the street. No one would find it odd to see a giant muscled man running from females in the dead of night. No one.

  It took a carefully folded pillow to get his face propped up Evan was at least looking in their direction. I think being unconscious made him more intimidating. The sock ruined the effect.

  “Sorry, teams were unfair,” and still were “continue.”

  “You self-righteous prick,” Stacy said.

  “I’m not the one who staged an intervention,” I responded.

  “The way I hear it you’re an abusive drunk who deserves a sound beating.” The Bitch was probably right. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on my faults, though. We could deal with this after getting my answers and handing Evan over to Daniel.

  A word from Kahina slowed me down.

  “Jay.”

  It was heartbreaking. My moment of anger deflated faster than it had stirred up. “What do you want, Kahina?”

  “For things to go back to the way they were.” Her voice was quiet. Sometimes it was hard to believe she was an almost fully turned vampire.

  “Time doesn’t fucking march backward.” I bit each word as it came out.

  “Jesus, Jay, have you two even sat down and talked since you got back? About that night? About anything? You two were good together.” Julianne jumped in.

  “Were. What the hell would we talk about?”

  “I don’t know, maybe her side of what happened? Let’s start there. If you genuinely cared you wouldn’t have picked up and ran.” Julianne continued her plea.

  Kahina’s constant gaze through the entire thing was unnerving. I kept switching focus between one set of eyes and the wall behind them.

  “Fine. Tell them what happened.” I could accept that much. Let’s see what story Kahina had told them. She started talking with barely a shudder of breath.

  “That night was going to be something special.” Then there was a moment that would have been a blush. Vampirism had robbed her of the ability to pull one off. “Started out special. Jay was good to me, always was, but that night was better than most.”

  It was hard not to feel pride that at least I was good at something. The thought of nudging my comatose companion and making some smart remark occurred to me. That idea was suppressed. My score for brilliant ideas was a record breaking two for two tonight.

  “We’d talked about it off and on for a while, about starting the conversion. While it wouldn’t take until I was fully changed myself, it would prepare his body.” Her hands made small motions to go with the speech.

  I was nodding along at this point, so far so good.

  “I’d…fed, before that, but it’s not the same. The bonding requires you to draw first, and then give back before it’s completely absorbed.”

  “That’s when-” I started to talk.

  “Shut up and let her finish.” Stacy had no problem ordering me around. I sat back and let Kahina go on with her speech. It was taking forever for her to wind the story around to the crazy part. At least the elf was still on my team.

  “We said words to each other that night, that I was his, and he was mine.” She was glancing at me from heavily lidded eyes.

  “I remember.” That much was clear. We had said those words right before the attempt. It was our declaration of being more than some fickle love story.

  “When I went to start,” A polite way to say when she bit me and it wasn’t a love bite. “I tasted a little, then my head started swimming.”

  “Like you were drunk?” Julianne asked.

  “Worse. Or better. It was…” There was a look on her face as her eyes glazed over in pleasure for a moment then refocused. “It was good.” I also bolted despite the consequences. That was the same look that haunted my nightmares.

  “Keep going.” Julianne urged Kahina back to the story.

  “I don’t know how to put it exactly. It was like the vampirism was signing in pure joy.” Kahina’s hands kept grasping at the air and her face looked more animated. “He had something it needed more than anyone else in the world.”

  “What did Jay do?” Stacy asked.

  I leaned in waiting to hear the part where she went crazy. I couldn’t remember all of it. My memory involved flashes of imagery and the feeling of anger and fear. Kahina had attacked me that night I was sure.

  “He got mad. He said that it was his, his blood, and it wasn’t mine. Then pushed me away.”

  “Bullshit. BULL SHIT.” I stood up and shouted at her. That wasn’t how it went at all.

  “Sit the fuck down.” Stacy was in between us now. Wolf features rippled across her face. The mousey woman was growling at me and had her hand pressed against my chest. She didn’t hit me, though, thankfully.

  “Like hell I will. Is she saying I hit her? Do you know what she did to me?” I yanked the neck of my shirt to the side, ripping it. “Right here, here is where she tried to drain me like a God damned soda. She didn’t stop at a sip, she kept, going.”

  “No I didn’t, Jay, I stopped, but you were seeing red, screaming.” How could Kahina be so calm?

  “Bullshit!” I yelled over the women in front of me. I wanted to shake Kahina until her teeth rattled. The feeling was not comforting. But she was lying about me, betraying me. Making up stories about what had happened that night.

  “Jay,” Kahina started to say something before The Bitch interrupted.

  “You are clearly off your damned rocker, you’re violent,” hands waved in front of my face as the mousy woman vented. “I find her easier to believe than you, your stupid ass threw me into a wall.”

  “You slapped me first!”

  “How the hell does that give you an excuse to throw someone?!” One of her hands was still pressed against me, or maybe I was pressing against it in an effort to get past her.

  “You’ll heal, a damned sight quicker than I would,” I said.

  “Are you even listening to yourself? If Kahina bit you, where’s the scar? If she tore into you like you say, where’s the damage?” It wasn’t just her hand. It was how she pressed all five fingers at me like I was some sort idiot.

  “Or these other things I hear about you, wading through a pack of wolves, Jay? As a human? You’d have some damage somewhere.” Stacy ruled the room and kept on pushing over all my attempts to speak. “I bet you don’t have a scar on you. I’ll bet half of it is bullshit. You use our healing abilities as an excuse to be a brute.”

  “You about popped my head off with your slap. You’re the one who needs a lesson in control.” I shifted my angry gaze to Stacy.

  “Just because someone can heal doesn’t mean you should be violent.” This little woman with her dyed black hair and drab clothes was seriously getting on my nerves.

  “You slapped the hell out of me, Kahina bit me, but that doesn’t mean I slammed her around.” I wasn’t that guy. My path had crossed many an abusive scum and none of them were likable.

  “You did, Jay. You wouldn’t let me out of the room, you kept demanding that I give it back but I couldn’t. It was gone, I’d taken it all.” She hung her head in shame. Either it was the greatest act I had ever seen or she was flat out lying.

  One of us had problems.

  “No, you chased me around,” I said. My body felt shaky and wrist itched. The room was growing too hot for me.

  “No, I didn’t, Jay.”

  “Like hell.” I went to move past Stacy, but her hand held firm. She wouldn’t let me to the other side of the room.

  “If I was such a sensitive asshole about my blood, do you think I’d let myself get into fights, ever?” If Kahina and I had such a thing in our past, why did she even bother trying to get back into my life? Maybe that was a question I should have asked instead, but my mind wasn’t focused enough to argue proper
ly.

  Instead, I turned around and looked for something to prove my point but only found scissors. This would hurt. I opened the scissors and slid the blade across the inside of my palm. Julianne let out an ignored protest. Stacy stood her ground between myself and Kahina, like my sort of ex couldn’t take care of herself. I clenched and unclenched my fist a few times to get the blood flowing freely, then cupped my other hand under the drops.

  “Let’s see how well you do, here it is, my blood, the stuff you tried to rip from me.” I was barely thinking coherently now.

  “No?” I asked once I noticed Kahina hadn’t moved. Her eyes were wide as she gazed unblinkingly at the pooling drops. My palm hurt like hell from the blade’s sharpness. “Really? After all this time, after how good you know it is, you don’t want some? Better hurry, it’s fresh.”

  “Not on my fucking carpet! Jay!” Julianne went supersonic with outrage over her carpet of all things.

  “Maybe I should give it to the comatose guy here, do elves drink blood? Maybe that’s his twist.” I put my hands over his mouth. He was the only one on my side and here I was about to abuse his good nature. My silent partner in a room stacked against me.

  I used my elbow to lean Evan’s head backward. All my hard work propping him up was lost. My eyes stayed on Kahina and watched for any sign of her cracking. There was a lot of blood dripping, all of it fresh.

  The trembles of rage I had managed to keep contained turned into full on shaking. Things went from one level of messed up to another. I turned the hand cupping a small puddle of blood over into the elf’s mouth.

  “No!” Kahina leapt towards me.

  She fumbled past Stacy. Her mind was too lost to use the insane speed her nearly complete transformation would allow. That made the situation all the worse for me. Kahina placed a lot of stock in my blood and none in me. Stacy’s reactions allowed her to turn around quickly and catch Kahina. Black hair quivered in the air as Stacy struggled against the darker woman. Meanwhile, blood dripped into Evan’s mouth.