Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) (28 page)

“What about you?” I was still mad.

“Am I yours?”

The question completely bypassed my defenses. It was a good way to
get to the heart of the issue between me and Kahina. The answer to
that would tell me if we could work past this or not. It was easy to
answer about how things had been between us. Once I would have fought
an army for her. I had, in my way, accepted everything that she was,
that we were together. Then she had broken it all. Yet here I was
still working with her. Standing in a room with no one else watching,
no bar patrons, no close friends, no bodyguards.

Because I couldn’t help it.

Even after so long. Even with me, a completely different man from
years ago, and she, she had never been the woman I thought she was.
Kahina was a rich heiress to some high-powered company. Not just some
woman who used to sneak away with me on my jobs. Not just a person I
had spent nights watching cheesy movies with.

I remembered briefly the conversation between myself and instructor a
few hours ago. No one had any clue how I fit into this. No clue,
because I didn’t know. I didn’t know because I couldn’t
commit.

“I…” The words didn’t come. She paused for a
moment to see if I would continue, but nothing came.

“If you can’t answer a simple question then get out.”
It was quiet, but her voice had taken on a professional demeanor. A
presence that masked any real emotions.

“Get. Out.” This time, it was louder and forced.

I backed up towards the door and kept one eye on Kahina. She was bent
over a desk with both hands slammed down. Slight trembles were
visible in her arms. The desk creaked under the pressure.

My hand fumbled behind me for the doorknob. The other stayed clenched
tightly over the cross in my pocket. This was my only safety net if
she flipped. She looked up as the door opened. Her eyes dripped
streaks of crimson. I barely had time to consider what that meant in
my hurry to escape.

“Get out,” Kahina said. No part of me wanted her angry,
not towards me, not while crying blood, and not again. Closing my
eyes for a moment brought back the image of her with fangs bared
chasing me around the room.

It was time to leave.

I shuffled through the halls to my guest room. Inside was the pouch
Daniel had given me. This was the only distraction available at the
moment. My hands shook slightly as I opened it. Anything to distract
from Kahina’s face, either one. The one from now, full of
crimson tears, or the one from the past, where her mouth had been
nearly as bloody.

Inside was a folded up piece of paper printed with tiny letters.
Along with that was the picture of Evan and Arnold, the cut-off bit
of hair, and the lipstick tube that made no sense. My eyes closed and
I tried to focus enough to check on the direction. Managing a link
while being mentally unstable was difficult. I gave up and read
through the note.

Jay,

Don’t shoot the messenger.

I can not stress in words how important this is for me, but
someone else has forced a little insurance to be taken out. This is
not my choice, I warned you others would step over me to get this
case.

As a friend, I would suggest that you do not go home. It’s
being watched. While your treasure trove is safe, my current
companions have wired your home to blow up in case of emergency.

I dislike such tactics, but I have to issue a threat to get you
moving. Were it solely me I would not do this, but I am no longer
alone in this endeavor. My life quite literally depends on finding
what’s left of Arnold and returning him home. It is sink or
swim time, and you are the only life preserver I have.

Beyond this warning and a day’s worth of time, there’s
nothing I can do until you find him. My associates have insisted that
you be left to your own means while they prepare. I have confidence
that you have sufficient resources.

I will do what I can. Be ready.

Your friend, Daniel Crumfield

Things had promptly turned sour. Being kicked out by Kahina was
outright secondary to Daniel messing with my stuff. By his own
admission, someone was holding hostage everything I owned. My home
was under siege by someone I thought was a friend. My items that I
had gathered over a lifetime were in danger of being blown up if I
didn’t achieve results. The word pounded over and over, mine,
mine, mine.

Vision blurred while the world seemed to grow and contract at the
same time. Blackness sent my eyesight into snapshot mode again. The
next noise I registered was the door being slammed so hard it
shattered. Not by someone else breaking in, but by me going out.

“Quite the little brute aren’t you.” The voice of
Kahina’s second in command oozed from nearby.

One second my hand was in my pocket, the next it was out displaying a
cross. It felt like I blinked and slid across the distance between us
with a red glow leading the way. It was odd, a brief moment of
predatory movement accompanied angry growling. If I didn’t know
that Kahina’s attempt at turning me had failed, I say it was
almost vampiric in nature.

The Second moved with that startling speed that even partially turned
vampires have. A second later I was after him. I felt his hiss of
anger as spittle hit the air. He fled down the hallway in zips then
practically flew down the spiral stairs to the main lobby.

Somehow I managed to horrify a vampire, probably the cross’
doing.

I didn’t take the stairs, instead leaping from above after him,
cross bared. He turned around and I saw panic in his eyes. Panic that
I had kept up with him though I wasn’t sure how.

The world around me felt like silence after a loud explosion, the
lack of noise made the world seem peaceful amid chaos. I felt wonder
at what was happening, joy at having something close by to vent my
frustrations on. Then more feelings, a concoction of emotions that
made no sense. There was a clear emotion centered among all of it,
though, rage.

Shouts were bouncing off the pavement. Things I could feel but not
hear. They were drowned out by my other sense going wild. Wild
because what was mine was perceived to be in danger.

A blackout later and I was on the sidewalk. There was someone in my
hands and yelling came from all around. My fingers were squeezing the
throat of a man who had been in my way. Something about a person’s
neck made for an easy target to drag people by.

My senses were on overdrive as they outlined exactly what was around.
There were footsteps pounding the dirt and pavement. Sound pelted the
walls, pavement, doors, and windows. Each splash like a bucket of
water being tossed in my direction. Each cry was felt. People’s
fingers kept clenching over cool steel and leather.

It wasn’t something I immediately realized, but Kahina’s
second was outside with me. I had dragged him from inside the
building to the sidewalk. His face looked brutalized, and parts of
his skin felt crisp. Crisp for fuck’s sake. Had I done that?
What was going on?

I felt a breath of fright and excitement hundreds of feet away.
Chilled hands pressed against an even colder window. Clothing
brushing around a pair of legs. Purple fabric shudders differently
than any other color.

A minute later and I dropped the Second. His own people would have to
take care of him. I had more pressing concerns. Finding Evan to find
Arnold. Returning Arnold to get Daniel and his group to go away.
Protecting what was mine.

Gradually my body turned to the figure in the window.

Kahina looked down at me. I couldn’t entirely make her out. My
senses felt more than eyes ever saw. Sensations swam in from all
around me. Those extra mental limbs kept expanding and contracting.
It was like my own hands brushing against the uneven brick wall. My
own skin rolling across the rough cement.

Then Kahina smiled. I could trace the curve of her lips with my
senses as if there wasn’t even an inch between us. Her scent of
peppermint lined the air about her. A slide of heavy liquid fell down
her cheek. It felt alarmingly real that I brushed at my own face in
reflex. For a moment, I could swear the bloodily tears smeared in
response on her face. Why did Kahina feel happy?

It didn’t matter. I had to find Evan. Evan had the answers to
what I was and to where Arnold’s remains might be. I ran off
down the street. The feeling of my own feet hitting the pavement
never quite matched up with the sound.

I didn’t know where to go. Julianne wasn’t answering her
cell phone. She was probably out in the woods with zero reception.
Daniel had basically told me I was on my own as far as he was
concerned. Asking Kahina for anything was completely out after my
stunt.

Evan was back in the depths of his forest. I could feel the familiar
pull towards the north. My problem was getting there. Time was not
one of the items Daniel implied was available in his note.

My pockets were still filled with the money from a few days ago. That
wasn’t enough to get up to the pack woods. A half hour south on
the freeway would get me home. From there it would be easier to find
someone for a ride. Or, heaven help me, pay for it with money
squirreled away in my basement. The thought of doing so made me
physically ill.

I caught a cab south to the bar and my apartment building. If it
wasn’t for my massive irritation with cars I might drive
myself, but I also needed to know how to drive.

My apartment across the parking lot had quite a number of people
stationed outside. Most were in cars. A people few wandered the
hallways that were certainly not my neighbors. Probably Daniel’s
partners in crime watching out for me. The bar wasn’t off
limits, but home definitely was. That…that was frustrating. My
mind couldn’t even think of a good curse for it.

By the time I walked in the bar my irritation level was riding high.
It must have shown on my face. The entire place was closing for the
morning. A few moments passed and one of the waitresses decided to
see what I needed. The same one whose name I could never remember.
Black hair that looked like it was chewed on one end. She wasn’t
wearing a name tag.

“Need something, Jay?” She asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Only got drinks for you, no work tonight. Julianne’s out
of the area.” The woman plucked at a thread of hair and studied
it for a moment before looking back to me.

“Don’t need drinks.” Hell, I wanted one
desperately.

“Really?” Her tone was tainted by a sarcastic drawl.

“Really. I need a ride.”

“Don’t have that either,” She said.

I nodded and looked around the bar for anyone who seemed familiar.
There had to be someone with a set of wheels and time. Not that I had
a lot of money to pay them with. All sources of extra cash were
firmly locked away in the apartment I couldn’t get into. Back
outside I sat on the curb with both hands pressed against the sides
of my head. Fingers traced through short hair trying to find
purchase.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed.

The street was sparse and yet someone was close enough to laugh at
me. Feminine and dainty amusement echoed around. I rubbed my face
with a hand to try press away any sense of exhaustion. My thoughts
weren’t clear. I had fought with Daniel’s people, twice,
been tossed around by a little girl, and done who knows what on the
way out of Kahina’s mansion. I should be sleeping it off.
Resting, but home wasn’t an option since it might blow up.

“Horseshit,” I muttered

“Not as good as the word before it.” The voice standing
above me was Candy. She was staring down. Her glasses were gone which
allowed all the world to see those tattoos that spiraled around her
eyes and down behind the nape of her neck.

Not that I officially knew how far they went. It was easier to see
them with the shirt she was wearing. It hung off to one side
revealing a shoulder. The rest of the fabric was a white that looked
extremely thin. The view was interesting from this angle but not what
I was wanted right now. I didn’t even have a bed to take a
woman back to anyway. Not to mention Kahina’s stake of claim.

“You wouldn’t happen to be available for a few hours
would you?” Here I was asking for help from an elf that
explained how everyone like me was killed by her kind. But I needed
transportation to the woods.

“Oh for you, I’m sure I could spare at least three
hours.” Her mind was obviously in a different place than mine.
Now wasn’t a good time for games with words.

“I need a ride north,” I muttered.

“I need a ride too.” Her words were sultry. There was
something in her tone that spoke of borderline desperation.

“In a car.” I tried to steer the conversation back to
safe ground. My hand waved out at the parking lot full of vehicles.

“I can go for a ride in a car,” She responded. Where was
that buried girl who was serious when she needed to be? It was hard
to tell, normally when I saw her, there was an air of deliberate
playfulness.

“Never mind.”

“Why not? I liked where this was going.” The elf sat down
next to me. There was a hint of ornate wood lacing around one ear
from a fancy earring.

“Where’s the other elf? The one that comes here for that
weird drink, counting out all that change every single time like he’s
having a fit. The one you’re sleeping with, maybe he can help
me.” I was babbling now.

There was a moment of silence where I looked back up. Her face was
stone as she glared at me, through me.

“What did you say?” She said.

“Which part?” Desperation had addled my brain. This
entire time my gaze was facing towards the place I called home where
people stood guard with their explosives.

“All of it.” Candy asked.

“You, Umbrella Beer the Quick, going at it.” I waved an
arm in the air and ignored all the warning signs once again.
Something about women and me communicating always seemed doomed to
failure.