Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) (36 page)

“Jay!” Julianne’s voice called out through the
woods. I stopped myself from yelling back since that might hurt Evan.

“Go ahead. I will find you after I have rested. There is a
little extra I can tell you once I have regained my energy. It should
not violate the bindings.” Evan was close to passing out on the
spot.

“And your grandfather?” I asked. Julianne and the others
appeared okay, but it was important to double check.

“Has made peace with your friends, and will leave you be from
here forward.” He said.

“Thanks.” There was nothing left to talk about that could
be asked without causing further issues with Evan. I left to go to
Julianne.

Being sightless in these woods was likely disturbing to the elf.
Perhaps tomorrow night Evan would be well rested and I would get that
last bit of information from him.

I found Julianne shaking her brother awake. Thomas was clearly
incoherent even after the bartender elevated the shaking to
earthquake levels.

“What?” He slurred the word.

“We need to tell the pack we found Evan again.” Julianne
was super close to her brother’s face. I could see Thomas’
nose flare and take in the scent.

“And Arnold.” I said from further away. Julianne was the
right person to rouse her brother, the wolf.

“Even better! Where is he?” She turned towards me with a
look of happiness. My hands held up the box and shook it a little.
The contents inside made more noise than ashes should.

“One cremated rich kid.” Maybe my wording was
disrespectful, but I had never known Arnold. He was dead too, a dead
man’s opinion didn’t matter.

“Shit, Jay, do you think that will be enough for Daniel?”
Julianne stood up and came over. Her head was almost level with the
box in my hands.

“Daniel knew how this would turn out.” I had told the
Western Sector agent that from the get go. Arnold Regious was dead.

“Would Evan lie about this? Maybe he has Arnold somewhere
else?” She spoke the words any reasonable person would. Normal
individuals couldn’t find others by using a link. Normal people
couldn’t lay claim to an area and get stronger. I wasn’t
normal.

“Arnold is dead. We need to tell Daniel we’ve got Arnold.
Can you tell your pack?” I said.

“I’ll have to run it. We’ve got no cell service out
here.” Thomas said. He put one hand over his chest and winced.

I shrugged. “I’ll be staying a bit longer.”

“Why? We’ve got what we need, let’s just go.”
Julianne asked while glaring at her brother. Her eyebrows went low
and words were mouthed. Thomas shook his head and waved the concerned
look away.

“There’s additional information for me here, and I can
watch Arnold’s ashes.” I said.

“I can take it back to Daniel quicker, a day sooner might make
a difference.” Thomas walked over and still looked pained. Even
wolves couldn’t heal immediately from a central shot.

I paused. Julianne could return the ashes on her own. As long as
Daniel got what he needed maybe he would leave the rest of us alone.
No. “Daniel wouldn’t believe you.”

“Shit, you’re probably right. Look, I’ll see if we
can get back to the truck, load up a four wheeler and get back out
here by tonight.” Julianne said. She started walking around
checking her pockets.

“That’s fine. I’m not going anywhere.” I
stood there holding the carved box while watching Thomas try to walk
off the arrow wound.

“You better not, Jay. I’ll find Kahina and we’ll
both kick your ass this time.” Julianne’s statement gave
me a real laugh. It had been a long time since anything did that.

“So you and the princess want me to haul back to the city? See
if I can get a truck headed out here?” Thomas was asking
Julianne. Evidently I wasn’t in a position to give him orders.
At least he looked to be walking easier.

“Yeah, doofus. Get those legs going!” Julianne waved both
arms at her brother.

“And Candy won’t bother you.” I said. My head hung
thinking about the failure.

“Want me to chase her?” Thomas looked at me and eyes
glinting eagerly, only too happy about the possibility. He tried not
to wince as his shoulder rolled.

“No point.” I shook my head. Julianne looked at me with a
frown. I shrugged. Getting Candy back here wouldn’t undo
things. Evan would have told me if there were other options.

“If you say so. I may give her a nip for the tree, though or
send her a bill for repairs.” Thomas turned, stripped without
so much as a pause, and shifted. He limped as he left but managed to
move swiftly.

“You’re going to stay here then?” Julianne asked.

“Yes.” I responded.

“I have to walk myself back to the truck?” Julianne
asked. “We could head back and get some more food out of the
cooler. I think we had some nonperishables in there.”

“Food?” I said. Food would be a welcome distraction.

We kept talking. Julianne tried to get answers out of me regarding
Evan and Candy’s event. It would be impossible to explain
further without outlining the Lord thing. I kept trying to shift us
back to dealing with Daniel and this box with Arnold’s remains.

“I hope Thomas gets in touch with the pack soon.” She
said.

“I thought they had distance speech.” I nearly included
her in it before I remembered to correct myself. She wasn’t
pack, yet, if ever.

“Sure. But it fades the further apart you are. They’ll
probably pick him up about halfway and get everything going from
there.” Julianne and I started walking to the truck. That was a
reasonable middle point.

Hopefully, the pack would be back by nightfall. Even a wolf running
at full speed would take hours to get to the halfway point. That
assumed the pack had people waiting. There would be another four or
five hours to drive out and get past the obstructions.

“Why are you deadset on me and Kahina?” I asked while
trying not to dwell on this endless forest. It would take days for me
to walk out by myself.

“She’s a friend, and she wants a Second who can handle
himself. A big stick to her smooth talking.” Julianne waved one
hand while talking.

“You knew she’d try to change me?”

“Sooner or later? Sure. She was going vampire come hell or high
water.” Julianne waved her hands and pretended to swing a
baseball bat. “I couldn’t join her, so she needed someone
trustworthy, someone to last the years with her.”

“You thought that was me?” I said.

“To be honest, you were perfect for each other and a better man
than a lot of guys I know, once you tiptoe around the possessive
streak.” Her comment made me snort. “I don’t think
I even did much, other than put you in the same room together.”

“Do you still think I’m good for her? Even after what I
did to Stacy?” I asked while trying not to think about the
endless miles of hiking between the busted truck and here. We would
be walking forever.

“You were provoked. I’ve never seen you do that kind of
damage to a human, or to Kahina, or me. Stacy is a bitch most days.”
Julianne didn’t try to make excuses for her girlfriend.

“Doesn’t justify it.” I muttered. Hitting girls
left me with a sour taste even if they deserved it. Stacy had managed
to hit every annoyance button I had and Julianne seemed perfectly
willing to forgive me.

“I was raised with a pack.” Julianne rolled her eyes.
“And when no one’s looking, they fight about everything.
Compared to that you’re downright peaceful and better than most
I see at the bar.”

“No decent wolf guys you could have set her up with?” I
said while stepping over a pile of woodland mush.

“Trust me. Men are generally the same in any species.”
Julianne made no attempt at hiding the revulsion in her voice.

“I escaped the stereotype?”

“Sometimes there’s hope for you. Then you do dumb things
like take off for years. The only way we knew you were alive was the
fact that you sent rent money back.” Her words triggered a
memory of the constant stream of odd jobs, many of them disgusting.
“It scared the life out of me. And Kahina? You broke her
heart.”

“I thought I explained that.” I had left because of her
thirst for my blood. Kahina had tried to explain the attack by citing
jealousy, instincts, and possessiveness.

“I’ve known her for fifteen years, trust me, you broke
it. She kept telling me that it was all part of some plan, and you’d
come back.” I scrunched my face up at Julianne’s words.
What plan had Kahina thought we were talking about? “Soon she
got so messed up with the vampirism that she made passes at anyone
who looked similar to you.”

“You saw how she acted!” I didn’t want to talk
about Kahina hitting on people because they resembled me.

“It’s part of the package. You date a vampire, blood’s
an issue. Date a wolf, the pack’s an issue. Date an elf, the
age difference is an issue.” Julianne stopped our march and
stared at me. Her finger poked in my chest just like it did every
time she tried to drive home a point. “Date a human? Still
drama. Doesn’t matter. It’s not your race, it’s
your feelings. You deal with the rest of it.”

“You’re saying that she still has a thing for me?”
I was stunned. Kahina had real feelings for me as a person? Not only
as a walking blood donating machine?

“And the blood issue would end if you joined her.”
Julianne said.

My mouth clamped shut on a bitter response. We walked for awhile
longer as I tried to settle my thoughts. If it wasn’t one
problem occupying them, it was another. Bouncing between Evan, and
Daniel, and what I was, then back to Kahina. Or Candy. Life never
handed me one problem at a time.

“Julianne?” I said slowly.

“What is it?” There was rude name calling implied in her
tone. She was probably still cycling through the previous
conversation.

“I don’t think I’m human, I don’t think I
could join her.” Admitting my woes out loud made everything
seem dire.

“No.” She sighed. “I don’t think you are
either.”

“Then what am I?” I asked.

“Male through and through.” Her tone held an edge of wry
humor.

We traveled to the truck, put into neutral, and pushed it to one
side. I plundered the food. Julianne found an emergency radio and
battery to take with us. She made me carry them.

On the way back to the elves’ hideaway, Julianne convinced me
to clean myself up. Ripe was the kindest word used. Julianne
practically threw me into the water. Drying off was awkward but I was
unmistakably cleaner by the end. Bathing in a natural stream felt
wonderful.

By nightfall, we made it to the camp where Evan and his grandfather
stayed. Our trip was far less desperate since it was already too
late. Julianne took the radio then headed out with cowboy elf to
watch for pack members. She believed they would be back soon with a
ride out of here.

My shirt was almost dry. I sat near the fire pit with Evan. The flame
was small and well-tended, proving that even elves didn’t
object to the occasional fire now and then. The younger elf readied
himself for round two of our little talk.

“I’ve found the limits of what I can say, but I doubt it
will help,” He said.

“Can’t be worse than what I have now.” All I had
now was a whole lot of warning that knowledge was dangerous, but no
idea why. I didn’t like how shaky he looked while he tried to
talk.

“I told you that you had laid claim. You must know this much
about yourself in order to do that.” Evan’s body drooped
from lingering exhaustion.

“I do.” It was one of the few things I did know. Frequent
glances were shot towards Evan to ensure he didn’t fall into
the fire. He shouldn’t be speaking now. Sweat started to drip
from his brow as he attempted to concentrate.

“It is absolute. It is frightening, it is an old calling. Any
Speakers you have claimed feel it like a gong that beats in time with
the pulse of our hearts.” He paused, gathering his energy to
try and betray a smidgen of information that wasn’t protected
by whatever binding had been placed on him.

I waited for him to continue.

“The first time it is easy to miss. The second is harder, and
each time after that until your calling drowns everything else out.”
The elf was getting worked up talking about it.

“Like Candy?” I had tracked her several times in the last
few days.

“Yes,” He answered.

“And Kahina?” I was suddenly worried that maybe my former
girlfriend’s obsession came from the tracking process. How many
times over the years had I searched for her?

“Who?” Evan asked in confusion.

“The black woman, you called her a Bloodletter.” It must
be an old term for vampires. It sounded formal and silly.

“She will feel it too, any of the…” There was a
flash of soft light from behind his eyes and he gasped then slowly
started over. “She will feel it. Part of her will know that you
are claiming her and try to respond.”

“Why?” Was that part of why she fixated on me? If
tracking her fueled the feelings then she would have felt my calling
years ago.

“Does it matter? Either you truly think she is yours, or you do
not.” Evan spoke gently. It was like Julianne’s words
were coming out of his mouth.

“You make it sound simple.” I was tired of this, nearly
as tired as Evan sounded.

“Like most, you make simple things seem hard,” Evan said.
That was a statement I couldn’t argue with. “But I fear
something.”

“What is that?” I feared a lot when it came to Kahina.

“While the stories say she cannot change you, it is possible
that you may change her. I wonder what she will become.” His
words felt, I don’t know, they felt true. Like his sincerity
traveled across that bond of dominion. That claim where Evan called
me Lord and I answered.

Silence sat between us for a handful of minutes. I stared into the
fire and watched as wood crackled. Each quick flare of energy drew
the scattered portions of my mind together. For a moment, nothing
else mattered but the dancing flame.