Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) (43 page)

“Julianne was shot.” I said.

“What?” Daniel’s tone turned startled quickly.

“Yeah. Pack’s trying a joining.”

Daniel looked up at the sky, the moon wasn't even close to full.

“Terrible night for it. Worse if she’s unconscious. Well,
let’s go see how she’s doing.” His voice was back
under control, almost resigned. It was painfully obvious that he was
prepared for her to die.

It had only been twenty minutes since Rolo and I left the gathering
of wolves. Daniel turned and yelled at his other agents and made a
twirling motion with one hand in the air. We started off towards the
pack, with Evan’s grandfather leading the way.

“Nice job by the way.” Daniel commented.

“What what?” I was almost asleep.

“With that asshole’s head. It landed in the middle of his
little band of cronies, those alive after the explosion. It was so
perfect they about shit themselves. I assume you left the body
somewhere?” Daniel kept talking as we passed by yet another
series of trees. I was so sick of these woods, they were nothing but
trouble for me.

“Threw it too.” I informed him. He looked thoughtful for
a moment then shrugged.

“Workable, if anyone comes sniffing they’ll think the
pack savaged his body. Hopefully, no one will figure out I was on
another team.” Daniel moved fairly quickly. Being in a suit
hadn’t slowed him down at all. Part of me wondered why Daniel
wasn’t in full gear like the rest of his men.

I was too confused, tired and worried about Julianne to question why
Daniel cared about the pack savaging anyway. Julianne was more
important than me. My personal issues could wait for the year and a
day.

“Seriously, man, once we leave these woods you don’t tell
anyone. As far as the Order is concerned I’ve come out a hero
against the nonhumans. I return with Arnold’s body and bam!”
He clapped his hands. “Things keep going.”

“The Order?” The question slipped out before I could
control myself.

“Order of Merlin. That’s who started this nonsense. Given
their choice, every nonhuman in the world would be wiped out. Racism
at its finest. Stopping that nonsense is part of the job.”
Daniel was talking and I could barely pay attention. We were almost
where the wolves were gathered and I was more interested in finding
out about Julianne.

“That’s…” My forehead wrinkled while trying
to figure out what to say. I vaguely felt Evan nearby. Kahina was
miles away charging through the woods.

“Look, we can’t talk about it. Not my involvement, not
the Order. Agreed, man?” Daniel refused to go anywhere until I
gave a quick agreement. His words were rapidly slipping out of my
mind anyway. Something about them seemed hard to comprehend. Almost
foggy.

“Okay.” I said.

We stalked to the small gathering. A sea of grieving browns
intermingled with shrubs and tree trunks. In the distance, we could
see ears swiveling from the wolves’ heads but none of them
actually turned around. They would have smelled us before we got
close anyway. If their noses could get past the lingering smoke and
gunpowder.

Thomas stood off to the side, fully human.

“How’s it going?” Daniel asked.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Thomas snarled at my
friend.

“My job.” Daniel used the same vocal quality that Thomas’
grandfather had, a tone that brooked no argument. Julianne’s
brother wasn’t in the mood to obey.

“You shouldn’t have come here!” He was yelling, and
I could see further heads turning this way, both human form and wolf.
They spared a moment then turned back. Thomas clutched at his head
for a moment, frustration raging against some sort of internal
conflict.

I blinked slowly and almost fell forward.

“What? No!” The angry yell wasn’t directed at
Daniel or me. Thomas’ fist clenched tight. “Fine. You get
a pass, just keep quiet.”

“And? What are her chances?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know. Gramps connected long enough to give
orders then blocked me off.” Thomas sounded angry but resigned.
I thought something seemed odd about the huddle of wolves. There were
more of them in between Thomas and Julianne’s body than any
other direction in the woods.

“Smart. Her best chance relies on the change being attempted as
calmly as possible.” Daniel had already figured out why Thomas
was kicked out while I struggled to keep up.

Thomas nodded, looking even more ragged.

“You can tell your pack that transition approval has already
been filed. Not that it was ever in doubt.” Daniel stared off
into the sea of wolves with one cheek tucked back.

“Thanks.” Thomas sounded exhausted and his expression
barely changed.

“It’s the least I could do. Even though we were on other
ends of each other in business, Julianne’s a good girl.”
The agent drew his other cheek back which turned his lips into a thin
line.

There was a pause in Thomas’ response followed by a look of
anguish as he turned to another figure. One definitely female, and
certainly not Julianne.“She was.” Stacy’s voice
reached across the way as she broke from the others. Her naked form
looked tear worn.

“What?” I asked with my chest clenching.

“Was a good girl.” Stacy hung her head.

“Then…?” I couldn’t bring myself to say it,
to admit it out loud. Not after Thomas had given me a shred of hope.

“She died as pack.” Thomas tried to find a silver lining
in the situation.

A howl started up from more than a few places. I felt my senses
slowly unravel and travel upward. Their cries for a lost family
member vibrated through the air. The ripples echoed far across the
landscape from each throat. I wasn’t pack, but anyone with an
ounce of sense would understand. Their message was simple. Goodbye,
Julianne.

Goodbye.

Malcolm, Julianne’s grandfather, and Rolo had apparently been
in on parts of the plan. I guess the old Alpha deserved a few points
for hiding the matter from his people. Julianne said, used to say,
that it was difficult to have a private thought when in a pack.

Daniel was smart enough to leave quickly. He was still part of an
invading force moving into pack lands. No amount of government
backing or paperwork filing could prevent resentment.

For my part, the exit was depressing but less rushed. A couple people
offered me a ride out of the woods. I chose to walk. Really all I
wanted to do was lay down and sleep. Instead, my mind kept whirling
over what had happened. What had gone wrong?

It was nearly evening the following day before I finally nodded off.
Time passed, and I could almost feel days tick by this time.
Something had changed. I was no longer completely oblivious as the
hours stacked up. Occasionally, during what I assumed was night time,
there were moments where I felt a warmth on one side. Like someone
was laying down with me.

By sunlight the feeling was always gone, leaving only me and nature
to pass the days. Finally, my eyes opened and it wasn’t a jerk
of startled awareness, nor a brutal demand from someone else. I woke
up the way any man would prefer to wake up when I was damn well good
and ready.

I had laid there long enough that birds chirped happily nearby. They
were completely used to my presence. There was no need to hunt them
for a meal, though. Someone had kindly left me some supplies in a
sealed bag during my slumber.

A few days passed while I hiked towards the forest line. My mind
wasn’t even attempting to control my senses. I felt people
standing ahead of me. Footsteps and pressure of each person dug into
the ground. Familiar patterns of weight and cut out forms. I walked
slowly on my path. Both figures stood near the exit.

“Jay.” One of the two people said.

I nodded at Julianne’s grandfather. His name was still a
mystery to me, but at least he wore clothes. Somehow even in grief
there was a sharpness to his stance.

“In her last moments, we saw a bit of what Julianne saw,”
He said. It was news to me that wolves could do that. “We know
a bit of how my granddaughter felt, that’s why I allowed you
the time to grieve.”

My voice was untrustworthy at this point. All that I could do was
slowly nod.

“But once you leave these woods, I’d ask that you never
come back.” His words were restrained. The old man’s neck
tensed as he tried to finish the sentence without snarling at me.

My neck slowly tilted with another nod. He likely blamed me for his
granddaughter’s death. It wasn’t an incorrect assumption.
There were a dozen places this whole mess could have been averted.

“I mean it, Jay.” He used my real name.

What else could I do but agree? Any one of us could have stopped
Julianne. Me, Thomas, her grandfather. Had there even been an inkling
that Kahina’s guard would turn traitor things would have gone
differently. Perhaps I should have killed him when we first met. Or
drug out Arnold Regious’ body right away. Anything but bring
danger to those I cared for.

“If you come back, I’ll kill you myself.” That was
the first sign of uncontrolled emotion that he had ever shown. For
just the briefest moment, my neck tingled like there was a garrote
around it again.

He turned and walked off, almost calmly if you never looked at his
face. Thomas stayed behind to watch his grandfather walk away. After
a minute of silence the brother finally spoke.

“She had high hopes for you. One of the few guys she actually
let get close to her outside of the pack.” Thomas stared at me
too, his eyes still red from the last few days of grief. “We
felt it, that she didn’t blame you. That’s the only thing
that made him leave you alone.”

“But make no mistake, our pack will always blame you for making
Julianne feel like she had to be out here.” Then Thomas left.
Only a slight stumble displayed how tired Julianne’s brother
was. After a few minutes, long after I stopped feeling their
footsteps lightly pad through the edge of the forest, I started
walking again.

Later I sat on the roadside just outside the woods. It was the same
spot where Candy’s car had been a week or two before. Her
vehicle was gone and even the tire tracks from Julianne’s
motorcycle had vanished. That’s where I stayed until sundown.
Despite my hunger, despite how far it was towards home.

Shortly before the last ray of sunlight vanished, a black limo drew
close. Headlights flashed as it approached. Finally it stopped,
engine still running, right next to me. I stood up and stared blankly
as the window rolled down.

“Hop in.” A male voice said.

Kahina had sent out her martial arts instructor to pick me up. Also
in the car was the shaggy brunette that had thrown me around. I
didn’t even object with our obvious destination. My sort of
ex-girlfriend and I had things to discuss. The inside of the
limousine felt tiny and far too clean for a man like me.

“Hungry?” He asked.

My head nodded before the question registered. The well-built male
handed me a crinkled to go bag from some restaurant I didn’t
recognize. In it was a boxed set of hamburgers that were quickly
devoured. Ten minutes passed while the meat was sent downwards into a
hungry belly. Eventually, I felt human enough to talk.

“How is she?” I asked.

“Anxious.” The man answered.

“About?”

“She hasn’t told me directly.” He stayed calm
during my questioning.“Guess.” I had never been one for
social pleasantries. Not with anyone. Even with two people who were
clearly armed and well trained sitting across from me.

“I’d say she’s worried about you. She’s lost
an old friend, and I think she worries that she may also lose you.
The timing is bad.” He said. Was this instructor concerned as a
friend or as an employee of a future vampire?

There wasn’t any good response to give him. Kahina was mine, by
her own admission and that changed a lot of things. I would protect
what was mine. If only there was a way to go back in time and extend
that to Julianne.

The thought hung for a moment in my head until I drifted back to
Kahina. We had been at this dance since I got back when Julianne
forced me to look her up. And all Kahina wanted was an answer, for me
to tell her how I felt.

To commit.

But did she love me? She had screamed it at me, in desperation, in
jealousy if I could believe her. At the time, I cast that aside as
some vampirism fueled delusion. Did I love her? If I was honest with
myself?

After the last time I dared let myself feel that way, that final
night with Kahina before the world had transformed around me. That
had been the closest I had ever come to admitting love. For another
person, for someone who wasn’t family. Really, all this time,
the problem had been me, wondering if I could risk it all again.

Even with my muddled feelings I felt her wake up as the sun set.
There was that familiar rumble of energy as her spirit returned to
life. It felt warm. The same heat that had kept me company each night
in the woods.

But was it love?

The question lingered with me until we reached her mansion. Kahina’s
instructor and the brunette escorted me up to the office where Kahina
had kicked me out of more than a week ago. At her doorway, I took
pause and noticed a grizzly trophy.

Someone had found Mister Janns and planted his head on a pike. It sat
there, impaled and devoid of most color. Even the scar on the side of
his face had faded to a broken white. Without any fresh blood the
thing, virus or curse, that caused vampirism had turned inward and
devoured chunks of skin.

“She’s waiting.” The martial arts instructor said.

“I know.” I could feel the dress as its fabric hovered
against her nearly motionless skin. The scent of peppermint was
lingering beyond the door. Her hunger pulled in my direction like the
tide and moon. There was no mistaking where she was.