Once Lost Lords
Date: 2016-01-12 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Paranormal; Urban Fantasy
Description: Humanity hasn’t been alone for almost two thousand years. Elves, wolves, vampires, all joined together with mankind to eradicate the ‘darker’ races and maintained a tentative peace until modern times. Society adapted, everyone has rules that help keep the peace in this modern era. Yet, absolute genocide is impossible when talking about creatures beyond the pale. Some hid, some buried, other were re-purposed. Some, like Jay Fields, pass for human with a little bit extra. His abilities didn’t belong to one of the major races, but any information was buried along with the long dead boogie men. Al

Royal Scales

Book 1, Once Lost Lords

Story by

Stephan Morse

Copyright © 2015 by Stephan Morse

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Events portrayed are based on alternate reality fiction.

- First Publishing, 2016

Cover Art includes a modified photo originally found on Aelathen's DeviantArt page.

- The unedited version may be found here.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Compulsive

Chapter 2 – An Odd Mix

Chapter 3 – They’re All Serious

Chapter 4 – Take the Dive

Chapter 5 – One of the Perks

Chapter 6 – A Few Times

Chapter 7 – It Always Gets Worse

Chapter 8 – Live for This

Chapter 9 – Blood-Bonded Male

Chapter 10 – Edges of Silver

Chapter 11 – Built All Wrong

Chapter 12 – Adopted by an Elven House

Chapter 13 – Most Other Races

Chapter 14 – Employee Fitness Day

Chapter 15 – A Dangerous Topic

Chapter 16 – Play in the Woods

Chapter 17 – Pretty Good Illusion

Chapter 18 – Elf, Wolf, Human, Vampire?

Chapter 19 – An Issue

Chapter 20 – Pack Lands

Chapter 21 – Adapted to Darkness

Chapter 22 – Almost According To Plan

Chapter 23 – Stay Until After

Chapter 1 – Compulsive

Elves had strange habits. Their nature turned them compulsive to the point of physical distress. No two shared the exact same problem either. Oh well. Everyone was addicted to something.

There were two at the far end of the bar, made obvious by thinner features, pointed ears, and a gaze that acted like others barely existed. One was a blonde female with ironed in curls and giant pitch black glasses. She wore an equally dark hat which extended circularly.

The male was fairly disheveled. His suit was halfway tucked in and covered with fresh coffee stains. Even sullied, those threads were worth a lot, probably three times my entire wardrobe's value. He counted out coins from a child’s piggy bank while taking up half the counter. Both elves had almost ground down the bartender’s patience. As it was she could barely stop her eyes from rolling.

“I’ll be with you in a moment, Jeff.” The bartender said.

Jeff was a new name for an old haunt. False names would help keep me unnoticed. Letting people know Jay Fields was back in town would surely bring unwanted attention. I had been in lots altercations during my lifetime. Of course, the word altercations equated to punching people in the vitals. Repeatedly.

A guy has to have a hobby.

“No rush, Julianne,” I answered while saluting her suffering with a raised shot glass. Tasty caramel and cinnamon trickled down my throat bringing calmness to the late evening.

Drinking was glorious after my self-imposed banishment from this bar. Four years had passed since I sat here. Those travels had ended less than a month ago. Julianne turned up the next morning demanding two things. A hug, and rent money. She owned the bar outright and spent her nights behind the counter serving drinks to poor saps like me. The apartment complex next door was also hers.

Tonight’s amusement, the male elf, had lost count again and started over with his pile of change. He had been trying to pay off some of his tab before Julianne would serve the sap another glass.

Elven addicts often got silly ideas in their heads. This particular slant eared man looked to be addicted to a beer that only Julianne could serve him. For her, it meant revenue. The fact that he had a change jar out in desperation meant that his family didn’t know about his habit or didn’t support it. Or part of his ritual was to steal the money from a kid’s piggy bank.

“No, no, no, not again.” He was muttering while shakily moving coins back and forth.

Elves have a hard time focusing when the withdrawals hit. This sap was one step away from throwing chairs. If he turned violent I would do something. Such as hitting him with a bottle. Repeatedly. Following that would be another name change and laughing.

“Look, leave that on the counter, I’ll sort it out.” Julianne and the elf were both increasingly frustrated.

“Would you, please?” He sounded desperate and groggy.

“Sure. I’ll serve it just the way you like it, but next time, you’re settling the bill with something bigger than coins.”

“I can do that.” He took a breath to steady himself. Julianne tactfully lifted a painted eyebrow. “I will pay you with something other than a piggy bank.”

Julianne didn’t waste any time and poured out a beer. She placed an olive inside with a little polka dotted umbrella. For a final touch, she threw in three ice cubes with a bit of grape soda. It looked like something a trucker would drink mixed with a martini. Their addictions always seemed like strange combinations. Not only physical, some craved certain situations, or places, or emotional rushes. Living with a need to fulfill some ridiculous craving must be hard.

Who was I to judge? I tilted back another shot glass. Only two more remained untouched on the counter.

Sipping his drink had a near immediate impact on the shaky elf. The shrewd edge to his narrow features took over and he gave the bar a once over. Elves were self-conscious about their weaknesses. Instead of panicking I downed the last two shots, hoping I blended in as another drunken patron. Mumbling to myself might help sell the act. Or singing along with the radio. No, his sober blonde guardian probably memorized my face. It wasn’t difficult to do. Buzzed brown hair, a light tan, brown eyes with a hint of amber or ruby. Beyond my linebacker size and a nose that had been broken several times, which had never healed right, my features were forgettable.

While both elves wore clothes that screamed money, she gave off a different vibe. Watchful, playful, and prone to sudden mood shifts. Maybe it was the glasses. It was hard to tell where she was looking with those monstrous shades. Or my tipsy mind naturally assumed I was being inspected. They made their way to the exit, leaving the pile of unsorted coins and a half empty jar behind. As the blonde one passed by me she lifted the shades for a moment, displaying a pair of purple and green tattooed eyes. She stuck her tongue out and flicked it in my direction. Her departing stride commanded attention. I would bet a grand on her addiction relating to bedroom activities.

“So, Jeff, rent’s past due.” Julianne snuck up on me while swaying hips caused a distraction. Hopefully, I didn’t look guilty as my vision swerved back to her. Small shot glasses clinked together as she cleaned.

“It is.” My unconscious lisp drew out the second word.

“Got my money?” She asked. There was a moment where I considered various excuses. None would go over well. Julianne disliked people getting between her and money.

“I take it that’s a no. Good.” She said. Both my eyes crossed in momentary confusion. Being unable to pay rent was bad, wasn’t it?

“Good?”

“Good. I need a favor instead.” Julianne said.

“Hell.” I slid my face down to the counter with a groan.

“Relax, it won’t be as bad as last time.”

“That’s what you said before.” Last time was nearly four years ago.

“Did I?” She was adorable when playing confused. Damn her tiny self. I settled for glaring at Julianne with one eye since my other was pressed shut against the polished top of the bar.

“So about my favor.” Her hands went onto the counter-top.

“How much is it worth?” I asked.

“I’ll clear part of your tab and a month’s rent.” Her offer was decent. My apartment was reasonably cheap. The small building consisted of three. Mine had a top floor and a nice basement. It was cool and dark and quiet, all things perfect.

“Two months.” I raised two fingers.

“Two months, two jobs.” She countered and tipped her head.

“You call them jobs like you’re paying me.”

“Paying off what you owe.” Which was a fair point. I did owe, these shots weren’t cheap like beer.

“Semantics.” My arm waved in the air while I tried not to slur.

“I’ll make the second one easy.” Julianne offered.

“How easy?”

“Too easy.” She smiled, showing startlingly white teeth. Julianne, now that I thought about it, looked a lot like the shot I drank. Short, and cinnamon-tinted caramel. Not a single serving woman, though, she had firmly rejected me and half the other hopefuls who staggered in over the years.

“Too easy is a 'no thanks', I’ll take the first job.”

She shuffled around some glasses behind her counter and unlocked a safe located behind the bar. Seconds later she produced two tiny black velvet bags.

“You sure? Easy second month’s rent.” She lifted the second bag and nodded her head towards it.

I shook my head no and took the first bag.

“Too easy.” I threw the words back at her with a half smirk and went about fondling the bag she handed me. She grinned in return while waiting for me to open the pouch. I eyed her and dumped the container out over the bar.

A lock of black hair wrapped in a purple ribbon fell out. A lock that I recognized right away, if not for the color of the ribbon and hair, then for the scent alone. Crushed peppermint leaves, not sweet like the candy, a bitter smell.

“No.” I pushed it away.

“Come on, Jay, you promised. It’s this or pay up.”

“No. Not doing it.’ My face was still planted on the counter-top and almost eye level with Julianne. “Not worth it.”

“I think it’s worth it.” The little Indian girl was pouting with both arms crossed over her chest. A bell noise from the door signaled more evening guests arriving.

“You sadistic bitch,” I muttered it to myself. Julianne had already turned away. She was busy preparing for new customers.

I closed both eyes and tried to wish the lock of hair away.

That failed.

Julianne glanced my way between filling drinks. I tried to plead the seventh, which had something to do with being too drunk for decision making. Unfortunately, she didn’t buy my inebriated act. The truth was I didn’t have rent money and could use a chunk off of my bar tab, but I wasn’t an addict twitching for a fix like the elf was. I never let myself be driven to an extreme for money.

Making money with my skills was difficult. Punching people. Tracking down lost goods. Getting a newspaper ad would result in uncomfortable questions once the government looked my way. Questions about a Western passport or something about taxes. Official licensing and forced government contracts. Blood draws, DNA tests, none of which were topics I wanted to get into. My family had never put me in the system.

Julianne offered a means for income, even if I hated the current option. I waited for her to travel back my way before trying to escape impending doom.

“What was the other job?” I asked.

“Defaulted personal loan,” She responded quietly.

That was a not so clever code for someone who didn’t pay on Julianne’s second business. Loans which revolved around sports gambling. It wasn’t the money lending that was illegal exactly, it was the methods used when someone slipped on payments. Four years ago collections had been my job.

“Can I have that instead?”

She stared at me for a moment and then went back to serving other customers. I should be happy she gave me the legal job and not a potentially illegal one.

“Fine. I’ll need more drinks first.” My throat felt dry just looking at the hair. Bless her. Julianne was decent enough to stay quiet while loading up two additional shots. I had a high tolerance for alcohol and an equally high bar tab. She grinned from ear to ear in amusement. My middle finger raised in response once she turned away.

Julianne half turned and I saw her face in the mirror that stretched along the back of the bar.

“Busted.” A patron near me muttered around his glass. He drank his liquid while I downed both of mine. The burn sent a gasp through me.

I reached for the locket of hair. Who it belonged to was obvious. Hell. I should have contacted the owner a long time ago. After all, we broke up rather abruptly. Mostly because she bit me. The remembrance made me back up a step in my readiness meter.

“Do I have to?” This situation reduced me to whining. Julianne came back with a final shot glass.

“Last one.” She said. I knew where our conversation was going. “Seven, seven drinks to get you to talk to her! If I didn’t know any better I would swear you were a little boy.”

Little was a term that rarely applied to me. My body housed more than my fair share of muscle. The best part of being this big was the room people gave me at the bar. Seats on either side stayed empty even when the place was busy.

“Heh, if you’re looking for a man I’ll offer my services.” My earlier eavesdropper opened his mouth again. He had a hat on still and a belly that gave up trying decades ago.

“Honey, if I was after a man I would have had him.” Tiny Julianne could have her pick of any drunk in the city, and some part time drunks like myself.

“Sweet little thing like you, bet you could at that,” He responded.

“Flattery will get you nothing but a refill.” Julianne humored him with a smile and slid another drink over before wandering off.

“That’ll do fine,” He responded, hardly noticing the bartender’s absence.

Me and the lock of hair stared at each other for a moment. I had fled from the owner, then once half the Western Sector was between us it seemed safer to stay gone. But home was always here, always pulling me back. I grabbed the hair and looked outside at the setting sun.

“Can I wait until morning?”

“Only if you want her to be mad.” Her being the person this hair belonged to. “She knows you’re back and is expecting some sort of explanation.”

“I don’t want to talk to her.”

“You two were good together.” Julianne’s head rocked back and forth as she spoke.

“Maybe for you,” I responded. “Why this way? Why not a phone?” Or a letter, letters required no actual contact. Or a telegraph. Or smoke signals. Anything that wasn’t so personal.

“I don’t know. Either way, do it now or the deal’s off. Easiest money you ever made, for basically a phone call.”

“It’s more than a phone call.” My protesting sounded defeated.

What she wanted me to do was natural yet more personal than anyone knew. Julianne and I had an agreement. She gave me things to find and bring back, people, objects, and whatever. I found them and got paid. People I generally returned, items didn’t always find their way back to their owner. In fact, some of my ‘unsuccessful’ fetches could be found in the apartment I rented from Julianne.

My ability to track usually worked best with something tied to the main object. For people, hair or nail clippings became fantastic links. Clothing was more difficult but depended on the style, size, and mostly how attached the person was. The hair and the ribbon were put together with my needs in mind. Recently.

Touching the link and changing my point of view was enough. Viewing the object as mine, completely, with the intensity a two-year-old ripping their favorite toy out of a parent’s hands. Even if my belief was temporary. Those two elements would form a connection. From there I would hunt down the object. Tracking was easy when someone gave me the item, easier still when I claimed it myself. Ownership by conquest.

If I completed things fast enough she, the person this hair had come from, might be none the wiser to my actions. Sunset was soon and I would need to move quickly. The hair itself wasn’t the danger. Holding it and remembering more than a few nights together, holding her, the moments where I truly believe we had a real chance. Together. Us. Those thoughts were dangerous. It was very, very easy to think of her in that way, a way that wasn’t healthy for my well being. Thinking of her as…

Mine

I closed my eyes for a moment and let the connection come. It had been awhile since I tracked anything. Each moment a brief capture of feelings. Connections forming between myself and everything nearby. Feeling each item’s weight, density, pressures, all the sounds passing through them. Anything that might disturb an object. All of it serving to outline the world as I passed through.

Eyesight fails. Touch expands. Back itches. Then twitches. Great limbs reach out. Feel air pass by. Swirls and eddies. The world leans against itself. Each weight an object. Each sensation a movement. A voice.

I always felt an itch on my back while tracking. As if I was spreading out something other than a set of arms, other than legs. The sensation felt so commonplace that I put out of my thoughts almost instantly. Mentally I grabbed the cord of energy connecting the hair to its owner. I imagined it as a crimson and purple chain. It slowly pulsed in time with a heartbeat miles away. Soon my mind was spiraling across miles at incredible speeds. A world went by shoving snapshots of sensation into my head.

A world lay below. Around. Passes quickly. Walls denser than air. Concrete indifferent to the weight pressing down. Feet press against floors. Air stirs in response to moving bodies. Each motion a ripple.

My senses slipped away from the bar towards the north across the city in a dreamlike rush of movement. Each movement brought a new rush of sensations. Feelings that brushed against me like I stood in the middle of a whirlwind of feedback.

Sounds assault objects. Vibrations outline the world. Conversations dull quick. Babies cries pierce heavier. Honks shake metal and flesh. Pulses jump in reaction. Living creatures warm the air with each puff. Bloody cord pulls still further.

These senses could extend up to roughly sixty miles but the distance was more than a day's walk. Travel speed slowed down as my mind approached one dark mansion in a rich neighborhood. This was certainly posh compared to what I remembered of her. Lights were slowly flickering on in conjunction with a sunset in the background.

Mine. Closer. Down. Through sheets of grainy wood.

Traveling through objects is the most disorienting portion of a normal trip. It feels like moving through panes of flowing water while senses flickered off and on. The denser the object, the more intense the shock. But until the link was released it would be difficult to stop drawing closer.

As my senses passed through layers of the building to the core I could feel myself growing both resigned and apprehensive. The final layer was a dense floorboard. Passing through this material was akin to a painful belly flop from the high dive. Hinges could be felt on one side, all the locks on the bottom. She lay in a dugout area barely big enough to house a high-quality mattress and ten feet of clearance. This was a small room designed to be hidden and protected.

No light. No warmth. No whisper of air. Difficult to feel the differences. Wood to one side. Fabric surrounds slumbering flesh. Resisting urge to feel more.

Her black skin melded in with the darkness of the hiding space. I had practice at finding her. Here just before nightfall, from this sort of remote viewing, she felt almost peaceful. Too bad the sun was setting.

I watched her in my intangible form. Not hard with this many drinks in me. Her hair was carefully maintained, tonight it was straightened out. Clothes were tantalizing and failed to cover slender shoulders and legs. Not an unhealthy anorexia, she had toned muscles across a tall frame. She dressed in fabric that felt purple, even at night she wore her favorite color. Purple also carefully wrapped around her wrist in a bow, something that covered an old scar which would never heal.

Air shakes. Vibrates me like rock tumbler. Energy surges through, magnetized, from somewhere else, towards female’s body. Her eyes flutter. Open. Unaligned. Unfocused. No light.

The tint of her eyes wasn’t tangible. Her irises should be a deep ruby color, surrounded in a pool of pure white. If I didn’t know who she was, or what she was, I might have guessed her eyes were a dark brown like the rest of her skin. Her gaze stayed unfocused for only a moment, then locked onto the area where I floated.

Words brush by. Shudder against walls confines. Sink in. Meaning lost at first. Then vibrations of sound are understood.

“Welcome home, Cat-nip.” The curve of her lips as they moved. Her words triggered flashbacks of kissing her lips and nuzzling the space between ear and neck. The memories were intense enough to smell a teasing scent of peppermint.

It was impossible to tell if she was angry or excited, her expressions for both were often the same. A hungry smile framed exaggerated incisors. Those very teeth had nearly killed me years ago yet somehow I was conned into looking her up again like nothing had happened.

Distress laced throughout my body while a panicked heartbeat grew in intensity. My incorporeal mouth wouldn’t move. Here I was, watching over her like a love struck dope. What a joke. No part of me wanted to get sucked back into whatever we had been. To risk that result again. She knew I was back and that was enough for Julianne. Every thought of belonging shattered and I mentally snapped across the distance back to my body.

Senses shatter. Last glimpse of her face. Trail a finger down her jawline. Feel her smile. Last touch of lips. I am drawn in even as link falls. Eyesight returns.

The aftereffects of a return trip were terrible. I could feel myself winding back onto my frame. Those extra limbs settled down along my back. Folding up and under each other. Tactile senses were on overload giving feedback from everything around me.

Creature down the bar feels cool wetness on calloused hands. Pool balls slam into each other. Collisions crack spikes through air. Heels tap concrete near front door. Voices chatter, too many voices. Building walls alive with sound. Music thumps under everything. Pulses realign to heavy noise.

“Janne!” I was angry and using a nickname that would get me punched. The others in the bar were either too polite to notice, or knew better than to make eye contact.

“What, Jay?” Which was an older name of mine.

“The other one. Now. I’ll do it.”

“Running already?” She asked. There was a mocking smile on her face. Julianne had won whatever battle we were having.

“Hell yes.” My head hurt.

The phone behind the bar started ringing, the number that only those close to Julianne knew. She eyed it for a moment and then pulled out the other velvet pouch and tossed it at me. I felt for a moment at what was inside, not a lock of hair certainly. Round, cylindrical, hard. A lipstick container?

“You’ll be coming back, right?”

I nodded. It had been bad enough leaving the first time, leaving again would be worse. Even after four years I never felt like I belonged out there. Only here was close enough to call home, to call mine.

“Usual percentage of whatever you manage to bring back.”

“How much?” I asked.

“Over ten.” Thousand, not a huge debt, but enough to make someone’s night bad. Hell. I really wanted to ensure someone else was having a worse night.

“Done.”

My percentage wouldn’t cover rent for the extra month she promised. Julianne had been trying to sweeten the pot in order to make me contact my almost, but not officially, ex-girlfriend. Because four years of no interaction hadn’t been clear enough. Vampires, even partial ones, didn’t track time the same as normal people.

Waiting around the bar or quibbling over the price of rent was no longer an option. Distance, quick distance, was required at this stage. Kahina, my ex, could cover ground a lot faster than I if she felt inclined. Living with that kind of money meant she could have someone drive her down here first thing.

My surroundings were still overdosing tactical senses with feedback. Bits of movement here. People rearranging in seats, sliding coins into a machine. Beyond that, I felt Julianne’s words. “Yeah, he just left.” Controlling my drunken swerve was difficult as I sped for the door.

Kahina would take thirty minutes if she was serious. That provided me twenty to get clear. An unheeded voice nagged at me. Part of my mind thought that avoidance wasn’t an answer, that perhaps we should sit down, say hello, and catch up. Such a wonderful idea would never occur to sober me. Maybe with a regular girl I could have done it, but she was far from regular. Regular girls were human.

The first stop was home. There was no use hiding where I lived from her, and it was worth the trip. I wanted a little protection against my ex’s anger if things went south. Getting home required travel through a coded security gate. Numbers were easy for me. My door was the third one down. I opened the front and received a rush of cool air. The place was a tiny two-floor apartment. Up top was a kitchen and living room that made sparse sound like an overstatement. There was a couch, workout bench, and a privacy screen that ran along ceiling hooks. There used to be a grill on the back porch, but it had been stolen during my travels. Eventually, I would track it down.

Near the sliding door that went to the back porch was another cubbyhole that could be mistaken for a closet. It led downstairs. I opened this door only enough to slip into the stairwell. Opening it too far would knock over a rock set on the top stair. My simple and hopefully clever trap would let me know if my inner sanctum had been invaded during an absence. I flicked the light switch on without hesitating and looked at the wall.

There were more than a dozen crosses, horseshoes, carefully pressed clovers. I even had rocks with holes worn through the center. The collection covered any warding charms that superstition might allow. Each one placed carefully on the wall in a descending pattern to the bottom of the stairs. Some actually worked. My favorite was a tiny cross made of pure silver. Dual function. Next to that was a set of knuckle covers made of iron underweight coated in silver. The metals combined in a slightly mushy exterior when fighting certain races. Not my most violent tool, but effective, quiet, and legal. I grabbed both. Being ready with the right equipment had allowed me to succeed years ago. Tonight’s armaments weren’t needed for a reputation. One was in case my ex managed to find me and was unhappy. The other in case tonight’s job wasn’t as easy as I hoped.

Habitually I roamed the entire bottom floor. Each room got a once over for disturbances. Nothing felt out of place. A lot of the items were still in boxes from my four-year exodus. Others were on shelves for display. Dust and webs piled up in untouched corners. Everything seemed secure.

Fourteen minutes had passed. Dawdling now would put me face to face with my greatest worry. A cab should be available outside Julianne’s. Seven shots meant escaping without a car would be difficult. I might run into a wall in panic.

Twenty blocks to the east things were looking a bit better. The cabby hadn’t talked beyond asking for a fare. No rain threatened to ruin the walk. More importantly, Kahina was nowhere in sight. She could have been truly happy to see me, or satisfied that I finally dared to return home.

I had been pacing on the sidewalk since leaving the cab. Vehicles never sat well with me. Most of my traveling took place by walking or a bus. Hell. Buckling down and keeping busy would serve me well. Even if the hasty escape required sitting in a car. Tonight wasn’t the best night to try and track someone down. Panic induced adrenaline couldn’t completely cancel out my inebriation.

One hand brought out the small pouch. The other fidgeted in a jacket pocket with the silver coated knuckles, slipping them off and on again. I undid the button and pulled out a cheap brass lipstick tube. Its top popped off easily so I could peer inside. Rather than the hue of pink or red smear-able paste there was a tiny rolled up picture.

Fine, pictures were usually a better focus than the tube. Even if it had been used until the lipstick was gone. Well, both might serve. A moment of concentration later I felt a pull at my left shoulder. Not too far away, not too close, it seemed an hour out by foot, which was good.

Eastward I went, wandering the late night with a fuzzy cloud over my vision. Sobriety should be closer by the time I found whoever it was these items connected to. In my haste Julianne hadn’t gotten a chance to give me the name. Still, the pouch never lied.

Hell. I somehow left without my prepaid phone so calling back to the bar would be tough. That was another sign of how inebriated I was. Or of how much modern technology annoyed me. An hour or two later, depending on the delay from my drunken stagger, I was smack in the middle of an L-shaped apartment complex. Real low-class stuff, a barely sanitary pool on one side, overstuffed parking lot on the other. Cars were crammed into spots that didn’t really exist along the grass and near trees. My tracking vision had led me up to one of the apartments upstairs.

Full on trance mode wasn’t needed yet. The weaker the link, the harder it was to get a solid fix. This picture was of two boys at some sort of camp. One an elf, grumpy looking, the other an excited human. Both with sun-drenched blond hair and the same closely cropped haircut. Ears and their expressions were the only things different.

The lipstick tube was completely separate in its impression though it still went to the same spot. It was almost like tracking through triangulation. Both items tied to the same person for different reasons.

First was a lap around the house to check for alternate exits. Some people bolted when you tried to collect bills. Others fought back, trying to make it difficult to push the issue. Occasionally they sobbed. The only exit was in the form of two parallel windows that likely went to bedrooms. Nothing to be concerned about, if he squeezed out and fell two stories catching up would be easier. He also left me with an entire house of things that linked back to him if I needed something fresher than what I had.

Hopefully, he wasn’t the elf in the picture. Some played dirty, with illusion and deceit I couldn’t keep up with. Luckily they were a limited breed, not like some of the other species Julianne sent me after. The official statistic was that one in twenty elves could do illusions. From personal experience it was even less than that. I was only human, sure I had one of the rare spin-off gifts of tracking and other things, but it wasn’t a substitute for raw speed or power or both. My abilities were all situational.

Both focuses went into my front pocket. I hiked up the stairs. The cheap half rusted railing rattled as I traveled. Breaking down the door had its uses for scare factor, but there were a lot of neighbors and one would likely call the police.

Four minutes of knocking had an effect. Two people yelled at me to shut up and finally the space behind the peephole lit up. A brief flash of darkness over the hole meant someone was looking out.

“Who is it?” The voice was tired, male, timid sounding.

“I’m here to talk to you about some business ventures.” I never thought negotiation was a bad tactic to try first. It avoided unwanted attention and sometimes they ran. In running, they sometimes ended up in an area without any witnesses. Sometimes they shot at me, and that made everything I did to them justified.

“Are you sure?” It almost sounded like he was expecting someone else. “What for?”

“A debt,” I said.

“Go away.” No denial and the objects in the pouch pointed this way. The little guy sounded firm now. I’d lay money on him not being older than eighteen unless he was the elf in the picture. Years are hard to tell on them.

“I’ve got all night, and I don’t mind shouting.” It was as close to voicing a threat as I could safely get.

“Leave me alone,” He said.

“Hey, I’m here to help you.”

“You are not here to help, you are a thug who wants to break my kneecaps.” The idiot, what did he think I was? Some sort of old fashioned vampire gang member? Then again it was near midnight. I was increasingly likely to break one kneecap.

“No need. I can find you anytime, anywhere.” Talking through the door was annoying.

“What? She has her tracker back?” He sounded strangely hopeful.“Maybe. Let me in, we’ll work something out.” I didn’t need to take it all back by force. Anything of value could be pawned for a partial repayment. That kept the debt open and collectible, and no one needed to get hurt.

“No, I would rather not,” He said.

“Suit yourself.” Plan B, I started knocking louder. “Davie, Davie I know you’re in there.” I had no clue if his name was Davie or not. “I saw what you did to my little sister you raping bastard.” My voice wasn’t exactly loud, but it held a tone like I was restraining myself. It was the kind of comment people tended to hear but ignored, letting things sort themselves out.

“If you don’t open this door, Davie, right this minute, I’m calling the police.” I almost gave the impression of shouting the last part.

“Davie!” The door opened and I could see one of the blonds from the photo. It was hard to tell which one since his hair was longer and a downright mess.

“What in creation is wrong with you?” He asked.

I walked inside by shouldering his thinner frame out of the way. Practiced eyes wandered through his house gauging items for their value. Anything worthwhile and mobile might take a trip home with me. The elf trailed behind me, barely awake. He was muttering to himself in elvish. The accent sounded different from the normal waterfall noises elves spoke in.

A brief search of the house revealed he had less than I did, at least my upstairs. There was no chance of solving this tonight unless he had a debit card with hefty savings tied to it. I kept one hand around the knuckles and the other checking drawers for rolled bills or a jewelry. Oddly the thin man didn’t fight back. He wasn’t even nervous as I wandered about the apartment getting nowhere. Maybe he had nothing or was too tired. While his skin and voice seemed young, the eyes looked worn down. I settled in the living room after taking one last scan.

“Ten thousand.” Blond bastard didn’t even blink, but he wasn’t making eye contact either. Good, my brain wasn’t firing in one direction due to drunkenness.

“Ten thousand dollars.”

“I do not have it. Tell her I can not pay yet.” His words were painfully crisp despite his exhaustion.

“What do you have?” I asked. Turned out the elf had a lot of silence. My mind was too far from this whole thing to get into a properly intimidating role.

“Alright. Here’s the friendly version. By tomorrow night, have something. Anything to pay towards your debt. Tonight I’m peaceful.” I said. The alcohol on my breath must be terrible. Hopefully, work was more fun if they thought I was a crazy drunken bill collector.

I looked around for something to cut with. A better link would be needed for tracking him again. There was only one solid option. A kitchen knife sat on the counter. Scary, and effective. Poor guy was too meek and worn to deal with my nighttime intrusion. I wasn’t feeling it either, this whole thing had been a poor excuse to get out of the area. Still, work was work.

“Stand still.” I grabbed the knife off the counter top. His eyes went to the blade’s edge. A sane person would have thrown up arms, backed up, protested, the elf just put off a confused air. He must have been sheltered by his clan until recently.

“I'll be taking a sample.” I lifted a swath of hair and sliced away. His scalp was rudely yanked, but the elf only winced. He seemed almost sad. Clearly I was not what he expected.

It only took one hand to get a good feel for the weight of the knife. A quick heft of the cheap item and it was lodged into the far wall. Blades weren’t my thing, but they were intimidating in the right hands. That little trick had taken a long time to get down right.

“I could call the cops.” The blond man finally found a measure of backbone. His voice more emotionless than it was a moment ago, perhaps it had something to do with me cutting off a chunk of his grimy hair.

“Go ahead, call the puppies, you’re the one with debts.”

The best way to turn a bluff around was reminding them they could crash and burn too. It helped that he didn’t know my name. I wrapped the bit of hair around itself and put it my other pocket. My free hand went to the set of knuckles, keeping it slipped on in case things got crazy.

“My neighbor…”

“Doesn’t owe ten grand.” I cut him off.

“Is one of those things you called a puppy.”

A low growl crept through the thin walls, broken up by snorts and snores. Hopefully, the neighbor was asleep and assumed my loudmouth was part of a dream. Nothing bothered the wolves like talking trash. Rarely did they have a sense of humor with non pack. Elves ignored insults and tripped a descendant for the grandparent's slight. Vampires bought out entire businesses to ruin someone’s career. Wolves settled for kicking the offending ass all over town.

Prime time television had a show based on two real life wolf lawyers. Producers put reinforced cages around the jurors and judge. The show’s gimmick was getting both wolves wound up and letting them fly. They threw around chairs, tables, and started swinging at each other while reciting legal jargon.

“Tomorrow night,” I grabbed now uneven hair and jerked his head up. “I’ll find you if you run.” He looked confused then made a motion to ask something else.

I put one giant hand in his face to shush him and walked off. His question would be the same pointless whining everyone spouted. My brain was fuzzy beyond caring. The drunken swerve to my steps was proof enough. I exited through the maze of parked cars, not caring at this point about the rest of the neighbors or what the debtor did behind my back. Tomorrow I would be sober and careful.

Chapter 2 – An Odd Mix

Eventually, these painkillers would kick in. Staggering up the stairs this early required barely achievable coordination. The rock had fallen down a few steps, either by drunk me or someone else visiting. Paranoia made me do a quick scan of the basement. I set about reviewing boxes, counting collectibles and looking for disturbances in the dust.

Non-human invaders should avoid the charm wall. Failing that, the silver and iron strips on my stairs would hurt others. Wolves were often barefoot. Home defense was a careful art that I almost compulsively built as my collection grew. Most spare money went into protection. Each layer of defense pushed the border of Julianne’s property rules. She owned this place, but I made it mine.

My treasures included many items. There were first edition comics, statues with gems, rare coins, and decent artwork rolled into tubes. A small collection of ornamental swords lined one wall. In one of the boxes from my travels, I acquired a real sword and shield, heavy weighted solid materials. Those items included an unfair amount of jewelry. I could have given Kahina a gift every day for a year and had some leftover, but I didn’t. Everything down there belonged to me alone.

I went back upstairs and set about my morning workout. A breakfast burrito went into the microwave and the ding of completion signaled my readiness to face the world. Upon opening the door, I discovered a man in a well-dressed suit and black sunglasses. He stood ten feet from the door while outlined by a blazing afternoon sun.

Minimal clarity and a microwave breakfast wrap made it hard to take anything serious. The ineffective painkillers and post workout pump almost counteracted things. I gave him an idle once over while munching at my food. This visitor had deep red hair, a black suit, tanned skin. The corona illuminating him made it hard to pick out more specific features.

“Jeff Fields, I believe?” The voice sounded gruff but familiar.

“How long you been out here?” I asked.

“Long enough to wonder if you died down there, man.” There was a hint of humor and most of the rough tone vanished, leaving behind a familiar voice.

I took another of bite of my food.

“Crummy?” It wasn’t polite to talk with your mouth full, but if it was Crummy, he deserved it.

The figure stepped out of the sun with a wide smirk. Some things had changed in four years. His head full of hair had been trimmed down so far that it was nearly nonexistent. Freckles that should have been present were buried under a deep tan. The man surfed like crazy during his downtime. I had never gone once in our decades of friendship.

Crummy put a hand out to shake.

Lazily, I juggled food from one hand to the other before reaching out in return. Daniel Crumfield didn’t settle for the shake, pulling in instead for a shoulder bump.

“Welcome back. Heard you were back in town under another stupid name.” His hand gave a wave towards my front door. “I see you didn’t bother to move.”

“Been hiding.” I said.

“I heard that too. Someone called in a disturbance and said a large man with a busted nose had accosted an elf over gambling debts.” Daniel’s grin was barely visible against the violent morning light.

“Someone called huh?” I hadn’t even noticed the blond was an elf. He had a lot of matted hair covering his discerning features.

“Yeah, man, they sent me down here to bring you in for disturbing the peace.”

I took a final bite and let out a muffled “Bullshit.” He laughed.

“Don’t shoot the messenger!” Daniel said.

“How about a friend?”

“Don’t shoot them either. Besides, you know I was kidding man.” Both his hands went up in an insincere surrender.

“That elf would never call,” I said.

“Those types never do. And you don’t exist on paper, man, remember?” His accent killed me every time. Surfer cadences rang through his speech. No amount of suit could bury the dude lurking below. “Little Julie dropped a line when you got back. I tried to pop in last night but you’d already taken off, so I asked where you were.”

That made sense, when he talked to Julianne she must have informed him last night’s apartment dweller was elven. Well at least that cleared up which one he was from the picture. This series of events bothered me. First I see my ex, sort of, and managed to survive the night. Now one of my few friends shows up.

“No files in four years?”

“Not a peep, man, thankfully. I’ve been keeping tabs on bulletins that might match you over the years. Nothing, nowhere. You’ve been a ghost.” The admission made me feel accomplished. I had intentionally 'disappeared' for the last few years.

“Anyway, what’re you up to today?” Daniel asked.

I looked up at the sky then said, “Before sunset? Nothing really”

“Sunset?” He put a few things together. “Still avoiding Kahina?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, man, I’d move out of the Western Sector all together, if I had a choice and pissed that woman off.” Daniel was a Sector agent. He didn’t get to leave without a damned good reason.

“Not moving. All my stuff is here.” I shrugged.

“Right, that collection you’ve been building since we were kids.” There was a hint of resigned amusement to his words.

“I’ve got more to sort out still.” During those wandering years, the hoard had only grown in size.

“I’ll believe it if I see it.”

“Maybe.” Like hell would I let him downstairs. Friendship didn’t go that far.

“Listen, man, I’ve got some time and cold cases. I wanted to ask over beers, but that idea’s busted. You able to help?”

This exchange wasn’t new. Favor for favor. When we were younger, a lot younger, he handed me one of the files that had stumped him. I managed to provide tips that went places. Occasionally he grabbed another set to consult me on. Daniel had gotten promotions and commendations because of our deal.

“Knew this wasn’t a social call.” I pretended to be grumpy.

“I know, man, I’d drop by for just drinks, but crime never sleeps. My next few assignments are shaping up to be huge. If I can find a place to start.” Daniel shook his head.

“Anyway, thought maybe you’d help me find some of these people as an in with this assignment.” He didn’t need to explain it. Crummy’s missing files included all sorts; long lost children, runaways, murderers. Often my involvement was limited to a direction and letting him know which ones were dead. There were only a handful of trackers in Western Sector and Daniel worked every resource he could.

But we were friends.

“Sure, I’ll try.” I didn’t mention money. I would take cash for finding and collecting debts, or a reward for recovering items. By applying my talents to debt collecting, I got to engage in a favorite past time. Punching the deserving in the face. Being paid for it was a bonus.

Finding people was another issue. Missing someone you cared for was heartbreaking. It scarred a soul down deep. I knew that pain. My own parents had left me, abandoned me. Their faces lost to time. There was nothing within my entire collection to track my own family with.

Daniel guided me and my vanishing breakfast to his car. From the back came a stack of files and items in evidence bags. “You know the rules, I can’t actually let you touch any of it.” He said.

“I know, makes it harder, but I’ll do what I can.” I shrugged. That was fine, I didn’t want fingerprints on government tagged and bagged items.

An hour passed while cruising through the five cases he presented. Two children, one alive and north somewhere. The other provided no response. The answer, once found, would likely be depressing. One missing person looked familiar. I wound back to the file Daniel had and tapped on the picture.

“Who’s this?” I flipped the file around for him to look at.

“Arnold Regious, son of one massively rich family, missing, believed kidnapping.” Daniel grabbed the case file then flipped through the thin stapled pages. “Human, no signs of the other races being involved so I’m not sure how they routed it to Sector.” Sector only got involved if it was interracial.

“And?” I bounced the photo up and down.

He was looking at a few different pages across the file and sighed. “And this dude vanished on the road during the day heading between family estates. Driver and a guardian both missing too.” The man said.

“Let me check something,” I said.

“You’re kidding, on this case?” He looked excited. “Man, that’s perfect.”

“Hold on.” I went back into my apartment, carefully making sure to close the door behind me. When I returned to Daniel it was with the picture of two blond boys. “This him?”

“Let’s see.” Daniel took the picture and compared it to some of the other photos in the file. “Hard to say, but it looks solid, one’s human, other’s elven. Where’d you get this?”

“An elf I certainly didn’t accost, sir.” I tried to put on my best innocent girl act. Too bad my voice wasn’t built for valley girl tones. At least the poor impression got a snicker.

“Alright, is he still alive?” He smiled.

“Couldn’t tell. Elf is, don’t know about the human.” I said. Couldn’t tell was code for likely dead. Daniel had been through this dance more than a few times with me.

“Mind if I steal your meal ticket?”

“Please do, if it’s more than a gambling debt, I want no part of it. Nothing personal.” Working with Daniel was fine but the thought of being in his way wasn’t comforting.

“I hear you. Alright, I’ll take this and go. This will mean a lot if it pans out, thanks.”

“Anytime,” I said. Daniel probably couldn’t hear me, since he was already settling himself into his car and slamming the door shut. The Sector agent quickly drove off. Next he would be bothering Julianne for information and then back to whatever nest the suits were stationed out of. She didn’t exactly like him nosing in on her clients, but like most bookies, when it was a bad debt there was no harm throwing them under the bus. Especially if it kept someone out of the rest of their business.

I slowly wandered back to the bar. Julianne’s employees ran about clearing leftovers from the lunch group and prepped for dinner. Friday nights were crowded. Which meant lots of bets being placed, hopefully someone big and dumb looking would be able to score a job as a bouncer tonight.

“Jannneeee.” I hollered down the hallways behind the counter that lead to a medium sized kitchen and the bookkeeper’s office.

Wheels ground against the thinly carpeted floor. A man’s head peeked out of the back office. I nearly forgot he worked here. Tall, huge balding forehead, and thin wire framed glasses. His remaining hair was uneven and splattered with shades of gray.

“Oh.” He whispered.

His size said nothing about the personality. He was quiet. Most people never knew he was back. The man tallied the bills, figured out taxes and would slip every fourth twenty under the counter for the less than legal funds. Half his magic was shuffling money around without arousing suspicion. There was some muttering.

“Hold on, Jeff, I’ll be out in a moment. We gotta fix the records for our little loose end that your friend took away from me.” Good, she was okay with the situation. An angry Julianne skipped straight to screams.

It was hard to keep the world straight when I changed my name so many times. Not even sure why I did it.

“You need a big dumb man to protect you tonight?” My words would carry well enough.

Julianne came out of the accounting room and walked down the hall. She looked mildly annoyed but willing to play my silly game.

“I could put up with for you tonight, but considering you smart enough to be dumb is a stretch.”

“Bitch.” Which she was. I smiled a bit, careful to keep my teeth covered.

“So you’ve told me, pay’s gonna be low for a night, though, still okay?” Julianne never stopped moving. Her hands straightened everything in range while we talked.

“Fine. Meals this week and the rest towards rent.” I could use something that didn’t come from a microwave.

“Deal.” She said.

Bartering kept us both from worrying about the books. Hamburgers were easier to write off than cash. Working would keep me busy. Kahina might leave me be until the end of my shift. If she showed up at all.

I headed back to my apartment and put on my less raggedy belongings. Clean clothes that were comfortable enough to swing my arms in. Some bouncers operated by intimidation factor, others looked deadly. Sometimes they were sneaky little martial arts majors. Muscles and size made me the former. The right clothes would help me look like a wolf or a blood partner. Which I almost had been.

Kahina hadn’t spoken to me in almost four years and she still fixated. Vampire studies showed that they kept the same type of associates their entire lives. Dead comrades were often replaced with someone of a similar build and personality. Obviously Kahina hadn’t replaced me.

Clothing ended up being a tight shirt showing clear muscles on the chest and arms. Shopping for taller shirts was hard. Jackets were harder. I donned one of my fluffier coats and a loose pair of pants. The shirt covered a cross. As long as it was unexposed things should remain calm. The hint of its form would keep any visiting vampires mindful.

Visible threats were all part of a clever facade ensuring a semi-peaceful existence. If that failed then Western Sector’s agents would resolve those still standing. Daniel Crumfield was one of many that forced a fragile peace. Decanters were rare. No one wanted wars. Hell, we got along as much as we could these last thousand years. Nearly every city had a substantial percentage of non-humans.

Julianne’s bar served all types. Most did. Wolves, Elves, Vampires, they all migrated across the ocean along with humans. Imagine, three ships headed for the Western Sector. The bottom cargo hold would have been dedicated to coffins at night. Wolves would have prowled up top during the day. Elves took their own ship since they’ve always been snobs. No one wanted to ride with their trees anyway. Things were different in the other Sectors. Millenniums of history and superstition drove the races to segregate.

At the bar, things were already in full swing.

“Jeff, you’re on IDs. Get back out there.” Julianne’s voice kicked me out before I even made it ten feet. Me, my jacket, and my big dumb persona went to the main door and carded. It was monotonous work but had its moments.

A few gaggles of teenagers would try to sneak in. Turning them away was fun but screening got tough. Youngsters often thought a pair of prosthetic ear extensions would make a fake ID look better. Envy meant those with money spent tons staying in good condition. Heaven forbid anyone feel inadequate next to an elf twice their age. By sundown, I only found one actual fake ID card, which I took pleasure in tearing up. Sure, there were laws in place to report them, but that required me to exist on paper. Besides, dropping the ID confetti down a shirt was fun.

Stand at the door long enough and all sorts were bound to show. Occasionally younger crowds had an elven member or two. The elf was typically decades older than the people they were traveling with. Most of the time they were bubbly and non aggressive.

Other crowds had someone who seemed too quick, a bit jumpy. Frat groups always had one dumb human mixed in who would take the dive as soon as he had money and the right friends. People grew up watching for signs. The likelihood of a childhood friend going furry in high school was often tied to how bad the kid got picked on. Shifting never solved anything. Bottom rung in human relations, bottom rung in the pack. Changing races wasn’t a cure for a submissive personality.

A lot revolved around their family. Most wolves were male since females rarely scored high marks after the transition. Being permanently unable to bear children turned most women away. With all the regulations in place, women were forced to face facts before signing on the dotted line.

Tonight a full blown wolf tried walking into the bar on all fours. Between the lack of a collar and the way he eyed everyone’s faces instead of their bodies it was clear, there was a human mind in there.

He had been keeping pace next to a few girls who might have been minors yesterday. Their chattering continued unabated as they approached Julianne’s. We weren’t the first bar they stopped at. I looked at each ID. Sensitive fingers ran over the continental seal which displayed the North Americas. The pictures on these cards matched their owners.

Finally, I looked at the wolf for a moment, careful with my eye contact. Leveling it, getting his attention. Keeping eye contact would ensure he regarded me as a potential equal. I just had to speak quick, before the little voice in the back of their heads yelled attack. Julianne had given me a rundown on how to interact with a wolf years ago.

“Gotta lose the fur.” I said.

He looked at me, then back at the girls for a moment. My gut said this wolf was escorting one of the girls. His wolf looked young, not puppy young, but certainly not a grizzled adult.

A very slight whimper let me know the problem here.

I sighed and stepped into the doorway for a moment to grab a standard care package. One cheap white shirt, long pants, and a belt. All donations from our local pack. Julianne actually went so far as to wash and vacuum seal them in so they didn’t get an outside smell on them.

“Lucky you. Change in here.” I opened an inconspicuous door on my left and let him pad inside.

Julianne had converted the front closet into a changing room. This way they could avoid walking through the bar. Drunks and an abnormally large wolf did not mix. Shoes were optional. Shirts were not. Moments later a barefoot twenty-something male stepped out.

“Told you the wolf was a bad idea, Amanda.” First thing out of his mouth was a complaint. His shoulders twitched while trying to relax. The kid had to be a six or seven on his rehabilitation. Any lower and he would start snarling this soon after a shift.

“Daddy made me take you, and this is a girl’s night, so you can yell at him.” One of the giggling squad looked ready to throw a fit.

“Ladies, in or out.” I put myself between their squabbles. The small squad huffed in unison before going inside.

“Thanks for the spare.” The male looked tired of his escort duties. His hair was short, cropped black, with deeply tanned skin. With those looks, he might actually find a good time inside if he loosened up. Only watered down drinks, though, wolves aren’t allowed the heavy stuff in public.

“Enjoy your night.” My normal friendly smile was kept well under control. I found out years ago that something about my teeth drove even the most domesticated wolf to aggression.

Julianne’s bar was one among a string that catered to all races. Accordingly this entire portion of road usually warranted a patrol car or two on heavy nights. They didn’t pay attention to a man like myself, I clearly served a helpful purpose.

“Chicka says head on in and do the rounds.” The voice came from behind me. He was a short Hispanic who migrated from the Central Sector with his family. The man was also a wolf who belonged to one of three packs in our region. He came out because another wolf had gone in.

I nodded and went inside.

The crowd was fairly mixed. Some people were riveted to television screens displaying interracial soccer. Other screens had football reruns or politics. This city was a busy coastal metropolis with having two major colleges and all the sports teams. Our baseball players were doing terrible this year.

A turn in the room later and I was face to face with Kahina’s features. Her eyes stared without blinking into mine. She wanted my attention, but her lips weren’t working. The black and violet clothes wrapping her body lit up all the right places. I had to fight the old reaction to kiss her.

She still wasn’t talking. Her face held that excited or possibly angry tint that I never could sort out. The way she teetered between smiling or scowling made both reddened lips quiver slightly.

“Hello, Kahina.” I dared speak first.

Her unwavering stare continued. Kahina’s brain must be going a mile a minute trying to figure out what to do with me. Hopefully, it wouldn’t involve leveling those arms in my direction. Or throwing me outside.

“Alright, I’ve got work.” I tried to step around and she sidestepped with me. Another sidestep resulted in us doing an awkward dance.

“Little help, Julianne?” I leaned to one side while shouting around the black woman’s shoulder.

“Kahina, either drag him to bed or let the man work.” She shouted back. Leave it to Julianne to watch the entire thing.

Kahina’s attention shattered and she turned towards the bar with a hiss. Not one word had been uttered towards me. Heels clicked as my ex charged to the bar. The sight of Kahina’s tall black form near Julianne’s shorter one gave an odd impression that normal was the wrong size to be.

“You didn’t tell me he tasted different!” I could make out her angry tone over the music easily.

“You didn’t ask-” Her words trailed off as their volume lowered. “-and how should I know what he tastes like? It’s not like I licked his face when he came back.” Part of me considered eavesdropping and seeing where the conversation went. The other part of me figured distance was safer than risking her circular thinking.

A couple laps through and I picked a corner to settle in. The crowd tonight wasn’t as wired as some I had been in. Hell, Julianne had thrown me out of this same location once or twice in the year’s past. Not that I didn’t deserve it, I think, I had been pretty drunk.

One of the waitresses handed me a platter with a hamburger on it. It was hard to make anything out about her beyond a set of shadowed eyes peering out of a face surrounded by pitch black hair.

“Must be strange working here again,” The raven haired female shook her head. “Amazing how things come full circle.”

“Your point?” I asked.

“Nothing. The miss wanted you to take a break then finish up out front. We’re closing down at midnight.” The waitress cocked her head at a weird angle to look at me, then she swiveled her head towards Kahina at the bar.

I grunted.

“She looked mad.” She was questioning, probing for details.

“Or excited.” I muttered.

“Be careful tonight, doubt she’s the kind to get over a breakup like that.” I couldn’t remember the waitress’ name, but she seemed familiar. We must have known each other from before my wanderings.

I devoured my food and headed back out front. From just inside the doorway I could soak up the heat and still keep an eye on both directions. Occasionally I would glance towards the bar. Each time Kahina was easily visible, talking to Julianne, or on a phone.

By shift end, I wanted nothing more than to collapse at home. My head felt heavy while both legs slowly dragged their cargo across the parking lot. As a former enforcer, my constitution was good by necessity, but exhaustion always caught up.

My life had existed on the shady side of the world for almost two decades. Experience had taught all about watching for warning signs. Tonight I’d been on guard for clues, the way someone moved their legs. Shifting weight, heavy staring over glasses. People shaking hands, smiling, facial ticks, how many drinks someone had. All of those things were details I’d sorted through in order to protect Julianne’s place.

There were warnings now too, even after shift. The stillness hanging about. Dark patches that didn’t mesh with the night. Both were warning signs of a sort. The real kicker was me disbelieving that dealing with Kahina was that easy.

With a small sigh, I sat down, picking the most convenient car hood under a street light. One finger scratched at my disfigured nose. Now it was a matter of waiting to see what showed up. If Kahina had something to say it needed to be before I got to my sanctuary. There was no one else that would be after me. Not after four years of absence on my part.

The stillness went on. I strained my hearing for additional clues. A wolf would do better. My tricks were of a different nature. Being between home and the bar would help. A method I had, that operated a lot like the tracking, was necessary at this point.

Calling on these abilities had been difficult over the last four years. Like the tracking, this was a matter of focusing on a belief. A mindset that brought everything to the fore.

This was my area. Mine. My home, my sidewalk, my work.

It had been so long since the last time. Years without so much a peep. The heady rush of my thoughts shifting. A mental switch turning everything upside down. A claim of ownership that required defending that which was mine. This ability allowed me to go toe to toe with wolves over debts.

The response was similar to tracking Kahina’s lock of hair. Tactile sensations fed it from everything around me. A low hum grew in the back of my mind.

Dense rubber presses against firmer asphalt. Tainted air swirls through the parking lot. Laden with cigarette smoke and exhaust. Streetlights barely warm the sidewalk below. Figures in darkness displace air. Not breathing. Not moving. Silent. Small heat, scarcely human.

It was a tiny sense of omnipresence that almost felt like seeing the world in daylight once my mind settled. There was someone nearby, and it wasn’t mental paranoia. They were a few steps away from Vampire. These partials would only lack a fraction of the speed and power the fully converted received.

Two were staring absently. Almost bored. The third looked right at me. Female, all the curves I’d known far too well. Kahina.

Her jaw smooth, firm. Eyelashes slowly bat. Orbs curving betray where she looks. Towards me. Clothes absorb light. No reflections.

If anyone says that vampires dress in all black because of their affiliation with the night, it’s a lie. They dress in black because it makes blending in and urban hunting easier. Hunting was theoretically outlawed, and to the public eye it was only rare abominations. Fully turned vampires tended to police their own rather thoroughly.

No matter what happened, I’d survive.

She was still again, trapped in a motionless circle of thought. The other two weren’t frozen. They looked around, slowly, taking in the sights, planning routes, looking for weakness. Gazes I knew.

Fingers curled through modified knuckles in my pocket. Crosses on top would have been helpful. Then a vampire would be twice as afraid of being punched in the face. Silver warped too easily. Even the cross under my shirt was a frail thing. The symbol wasn’t for physical strength. It would induce mental terror on those affected by the vampire condition. Going for it now would be a gamble.

I tried not to shake from the midnight chill. Only focusing on the right thoughts would save me when things turned sour. The belief of ownership, protecting what was mine, fighting off these invaders. Apprehension, self-pity, doubt, they would ruin me.

Air combs through fine hairs on skin. Her head jerks abruptly. Other two ticks move in unison. Forward. Towards me. Speeding. Quickness cuts the air. I stir to action.

One leg pushed off the car’s hood. An arm shot forward, bringing my knuckle covered fist out. It jabbed into one charging vampire’s path, predicting where he’d be flitting to. My punch and his running one hundred feet took the same amount of time. Fighting a vampire, even a partial, required being one step ahead. They only moved fast, rarely changing course.

The impact of a high moving sack of flesh colliding with my extended arm jarred my teeth. There was a crunch of bone that didn’t hurt enough to be anything of mine snapping, thankfully. My other hand was busy sliding the cross up and out resulting in a soft crimson light spreading in front of me.

Just after the punch the second vampire landed on my back and whaled on the arm holding the cross. Whatever he hit numbed me from the shoulder down making me drop the symbol. It dangled in front where the second vampire couldn’t see.

No line of sight meant no paralyzation.

The vampire’s scrawny form held an unfair level of strength and he quickly wove his arms through mine in a grapple. He pinched my arms together then pressed reedy fingers into shoulders. Muscles strained, trying to get an arm back into its normal position. The other arm was still numb and might be out of the socket.

I tried to shake his smaller form off. Maybe in the old days, before I’d left years ago, this would have been a lot easier. Four years of laziness meant I couldn’t even handle a second vampire before the first one stood up. His jaw was almost healed from where it had snapped.

Both feet strained to push us as high as I could. Twisting myself right and falling backward got the cross right in number two’s face. Even without touching the symbol it would send jolts of panic through him. Being a partial change meant he still had some sanity, enough to release his hold and bend both legs under me then extended rapidly.

His half coherent effort only shot me a few feet off to the side. A lifetime of being thrown helped me remember to land on my side and clench my jaw. I stood up, arm tingling from the lock. Using my undamaged hand, I managed to grab the cross and get it into position out front.

That was the hard part.

A few worthless street lamps couldn’t light up the area like the cross did. That glow had never been a part of television documentaries or mentioned by any vampires. I was fairly sure it was all in my head. Another strange aspect of my own abilities. Out of all the people I knew, the only time it illuminated any color was in my hands.

My head throbbed. Side ached. Eyes were shooting around the parking lot taking in all the details. I felt each footstep roll against asphalt. Bits of dirt and grime ground along the rubbery under soles. These vampires had attacked me in my territory. My home was close and I felt that extra sense open up completely, something that hadn’t happened in a long time. Years.

I straightened fingers around the modified knuckles to get a better grip. My neck cracked and I stalked to the already wounded vampire. Belief was something I had, not in God, but in defending what’s mine.

“Mine.”

The word magnified inside my head, drumming along with a heavy pulse of rage. My heartbeat would be like a dinner bell to the Vampires, further screwing them. It was like a mouse attacking the cat.

Ribs hurt from where I’d landed, but not enough to hinder my bull rush into the first vampire. I carried him backward, slamming abruptly into a wall. One fist repeatedly lifted and descended while I kept the cross on my necklace facing him. Even numb, there was a satisfying crack to each punch.

Mine. My area. Violation. Invaders. Unwelcome ticks. Wait. Other one. Feel feet slam. Figure charges from behind. Heavier than my current victim.

I whipped the first one into the second one. If he had been standing still then the partial vampire could have dodged, but I caught him while he was moving. They crumpled together in a sad heap. Following behind the tossed vampire, I slammed a booted foot into the second one’s groin. Pain couldn’t stop the combination of rage and steel toed boots from doing their worst to his crotch. Ask any obsessed woman, vampires are fully functional. Ask any man, of any species, being kicked in the package hurts.

Stomping the foot back down sent a second shock of pain spiraling up my spine. That little jolt wouldn’t stop me. One hand reached out to grip the vampire’s head before he fell backward. I ripped the cross off of its chain with the other hand and palm it quickly. Then I slammed the symbol into the other side of his head. Treating my hands like a vice, I laid the pressure on. Heat flowed into my palm and radiated down my arm, but this time the pain wasn’t for me, only his flesh burned.

My turf. My home. My area. A heartbeat thumped, drum-like, rapid. Neck pulsed against the air. Ticks hiss in frustration. Fingers claw against my skin.

“Jay!” Kahina yelled behind me, startling my senses. I dropped the vampire. His face now bore a blistering scar that would likely become a full-time feature on his face.

Heels clicked as Kahina closed the distance between us. No matter how much space, in miles or time, my thoughts always came back to her. For years, the fear of home had kept me away. Coming back was like closing a four-year gap in perceptions for a brief moment. Across that distance of time was a woman I’d once felt strongly about.

“Jay.” My hand curled around the cross blocking the reddish light. Kahina was close enough to hear. Her slow breaths were being used to taste the air.

Should I attack Kahina too? Should I stay on the offensive? God help me if I had to fight her. I didn’t want to hit her, not because she was a woman, but because it was her. She had been mine.

I should never have come back.

She trailed a finger along my arm sending chills throughout. More memories floated up from the motion. Her trail continued down my other hand. Her hand spread over the knuckles, across skin that split and still bled. That tantalizing finger scooped up a drop of blood and tasted it. I heard a gasp of pleasure.

“Catnip, it is you.”

I was still looking away from Kahina, at the two slowly recovering vampires. He wasn’t healing as fast this time. A few more deep breaths passed before I trusted myself to say anything. The word mine underlined each thought.

“Couldn’t just say hi?” My words came.

“You never said goodbye, so I’m not sure you deserve a hello.” She was close enough to almost curl along my back. One hand on my shoulder. Shoving the cross in her face would be a clear message. Only the scent of peppermint gave me pause. A pleasant purr of memories that tried to resurface.

“I’m going to bed.” It was a mundane statement.

“Did you want company?” She asked.

I turned around in anger.

“You’re the reason I left in the first place, did you think I would come back to you the minute I got home?” I failed to curb my shouting.

Kahina was serious. I saw her face, it was an odd mix of hopeful and vulnerable. Her eyelids blinked slowly, covering crimson irises then revealing them like a rose blooming.

“Why not? You belong to me.” As if she couldn’t comprehend why I’d say no.

“I’m not even close to ready. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.” Not if it went anything like the last time she’d tried to bond with me.

“You will not leave again.” Her voice and features shifted in an instant. Her eyes lost that coy aspect and the words were icy.

I looked around at the ground, at the area. At what I considered mine and replayed what happened a few times in my brain.

“I’m not leaving again.”

That much was certain but nothing more. Not right now, maybe never. Keeping it together out here was growing difficult. I gave one of the vampires another swift kick and turned away. Kahina let me leave without further incident.

The adrenaline wore off as I stumbled down the stairs. Shaking started once I passed my makeshift wall of wards. Sleep came in off and on bursts for the rest of the night, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Kahina may have tried to kill me. Again.

Chapter 3 – They’re All Serious

An unsteady rhythm of irritation banged out against a wall shattering my already fitful sleep.

“Wake your ass up, or I’m coming down there! Jay!”

Half asleep, my senses had unfurled across the apartment. Heavy boots pressed against the upstairs floorboards. The voice was male. His stretches and pauses in cadence took time to filter into words. Feet paced away from the basement door, then back and pounding started up again.

“Hold on!” I think I yelled it back. It was hard to tell, since what felt like cotton was lodged in every orifice I had.

What time was it? I tried to stand up and slipped to the floor. My entire body felt woozy, wanting nothing more than to go back to bed until I felt rested enough to stop the jelly feeling. I made it to the stairs, proud I managed enough coordination to get clothes on. My hair a bit mussed, but short enough that no one would really notice.

“Coming, stop, pounding.” My words were broken and half incoherent.

“Open that god damn barricade, man.” I could make out a mocking voice upstairs. His vibrations made more sense now. Daniel had never been patient.

I reached the final few steps and opened the door. I took a careful back step to avoid being hit by the door or falling backward. There wasn’t enough room to open the door outwards so it had been put in with a set of joints swinging inside.

On the other side was Daniel, in a suit that could have passed for the one he had on before. Daniel was the type of man that had an entire closet of suits all pressed and ready to go, each one a pristine clone of the first.

“What the hell do you want?” I demanded.

“Gotta track that elf. I went out to his place and he’s gone.” Daniel set about pacing while waiting for my mind to catch up. He had always been wound tight.

“Not my job.”

“Just a direction, man, anything,” He said.

“What’s so important about a cold case?” My friend was moving too fast. I wanted to put a hand on his head and hold him still while we talked.

“I ran some searches at work for the elf. His name must have been on someone’s list, less than thirty minutes later my boss is knocking on my door asking what’s up.” Daniel’s face pinched from a sour thought. I stared a moment trying to wind the whole conversation through my sleep addled brain.

“And?” I asked.

“And I may have mentioned I had a link between the two and showed the picture.” I groaned at his words. “They gave me the go-ahead to pursue the elf and bring him in if I could still find him.”

“He’s gone?” Giving my meal ticket to Daniel had resulted in a vanishing act.

“I tried to talk to him that afternoon, found him easy enough, nervous guy. You scared the hell out of him with the hair thing.”

I chuckled a bit at that and pushed past Daniel to the top of the house, looking for the kitchen, I was starving.

“You’ve got to help me, man. Tell me you have something more than the picture to link the two.”

“The picture that had my fingerprints on it?” Giving Daniel the picture had been a mistake already coming back to bite me in the ass. Fingerprints were a thing, right? I should sit down and study some criminal forensics. Maybe the government didn’t run around testing everything in the universe.

“They’ll never check that, don’t worry.”

“The hair?” Something Daniel had already confirmed was in my possession. More than enough for my kind of link. Daniel was already nodding as I caught up. My thought process was going faster with proximity to the fridge.

“Yeah, the hair. Do your thing and give me a location.” He said in a rush.

“Leave me out?” I asked.

“You know it, man, we got too much history for me to blow it up over a case.” Daniel was basically a giant, overactive fuzzy red puppy.

I grumbled and checked for anything edible. Inside the fridge, I found two hamburgers sitting on separate plates. Neither of which had been there last night.

“What time is it?”

“Two something.” Daniel rattled a chain link watch a bit and looked at it. “Thirty-four.”

I mouthed in confusion behind the refrigerator door. Two dinners waiting for me threw me off. Someone had been inside the apartment. Not that the top floor upset me like downstairs might have.

“You alright?” He asked.

“I guess.” Both burgers went onto one plate then into the microwave. My mouth was already drooling at the thought of cooked meat.

“So?”

“Food first.” I waved him away while staring at the spinning plate.

“Sure. I’ll be outside, don’t go back to bed again or I’ll barge down there.” My front door clicked shut as the agent left. Daniel probably stayed upstairs because he remembered how much I disliked people coming down. Last time he invaded I threw a fit. There was still a hole in the plaster that had never been patched up from the tantrum.

A half hour later I was cleaner and not quite as hungry. Deprivation still twisted my belly. I would need more soon, but there was an agent to deal with. Daniel was in his car with trashy dance mixes playing. His hands flipped through pages on a file and a laptop powered on inside the car. I had already found the elf. Tracking was easy between the lock of hair and empty lipstick container.

Daniel rolled down the window after I knocked.

“He’s at a hotel outside of town, looks rattled. Acted like he was watching over his shoulder.” It was what he wanted, and getting Daniel on his way would allow me to go hunt for more food.

“Got an address?”

“Caesars Junction Hotel,” The sign had been overly gaudy. “North. Close to a freeway.” I gave him the room number from my vision. Giant embossed letters that had been nailed into flimsy wood.

“Perfect, man. Get some minutes on your phone and I won’t have to drop by unannounced.” Daniel had to trash my little prepaid mobile. The thing had two features, calling out and dropping calls.

“Call Julianne, she’ll pass it back.”

“Right.” He was already closing folders and piling them into the passenger seat. The engine fired up and he was off again. Daniel was taking this case seriously.

My stomach growled as a reminder that Daniel’s problems weren’t mine. There were places nearby that I had scoped out since my return. I picked the one with the best barbecue and set about eating a late lunch. A half rack of ribs made the world bearable. I threw down some money to cover the bill and headed back to Julianne’s. It was time to start keeping myself busy again.

Just outside the door was a familiar elf. Not the one I had been tracking, this was umbrella beer the pointy eared. He had two drinks and was trying to navigate the door. Tired desperation lined his feature, like a druggie trying to escape with a fix. The female and her waggling tongue was nowhere in sight.

“Double fisting it today?” I grabbed the door for him and tried to act cheery.

Umbrella Beer glared at me. Warning bells went off upstairs. This guy wasn’t the friendly type. I shrugged and went inside to find Julianne. The elf followed.

“And who, exactly, are you?” Top ten on my list of questions never to answer. Especially from an elf.

“Don’t worry, we all got weaknesses.” I was trying to play it off now. “Julianne, what’s my weakness?” I shouted down the hallway trying to drag in a witness.

“Dark chocolate!” She shouted back down the hallway, headed on her way out.

“I meant for drinks!”

“Buttery nipples?” The elf was still glaring, like he was comparing my features to everyone who had ever crossed his path, trying to figure out who my family was. Or memorizing my face for use against future grandchildren. Asshole.

“Again, drinks!” I shouted.

“Oh, you’re a drunk, doesn’t seem to matter much.” To emphasize the point she got me out a shot glass and poured something bronze in color. Damned if I had a clue what it was.

“See, weaknesses.” I laid the liquid back slowly while trying not to frown. Julianne poured me something from the cheap end of the bar in retaliation.

The bartender knew enough not to engage the elf needlessly. I leaned against the bar acting distraught over the departure of my free drink. After a minute, Umbrella Beer gave up and turned away, taking both glasses with him. Once the door closed Julianne felt free to start up the ass chewing.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” I shook my head. “Didn’t know he was a serious one.”

“They’re all serious when you know too much. I’d suggest you avoid him in the future.” Julianne informed me.

“Someone important?” I asked.

“They’re all important, at least in their own heads,” Julianne said. I rolled around the empty little glass on the counter enjoying the sound. It lasted ten seconds before she yanked it out of my hands.

“Any other jobs?” I tried my damnedest to lay out a charming smile. Too bad Julianne was a cynic, a playful cynic, but charm was often frustratingly useless. My busted nose made it hard to look suave.

“You screwed up the last two, why would I trust you with another one?” She asked.

“One was a trap, and the other taken by suits.”

“Kahina is not a trap, she’s a friend whose heart you ripped out when you left.” Now Julianne was nearly mad. Her aggression was spent on straightening up her side of the counter. “Forgive the girl for hoping you’d be sensible when you got back. I told her not to expect much.”

Correcting Julianne wasn’t worth it. The night I left had started out differently. Hell. We had practically been getting engaged by vampire standards. The next step in their courtships involved a connection between human and vampire, blood bonded. A draw or sort of sharing, and by all rumors probably the greatest sex anyone could ever have. Not that it wasn’t good to begin with. It had been the first time I had let anyone, ever, near my blood and she flipped. That entire event was a little hazy beyond snapshots with coupled sensations.

“Anything, to keep me busy?”

“Nothin’ but rounds.” Rounds was code for reminding people of debts owed. Not as engaging as actual collections but less dangerous.

“Got a list of stops?” I asked.

“Fine.” She glared and yanked at my empty glass. “I’d take a moment before heading out. Your new admirer is probably waiting outside to follow you home.”

“That junkie?” The elf was probably huddled in a corner sipping in desperation. “It’s only rounds.”

“Remember how we do it? No violence, Jeff, these people actually come in and pay.” She handed over a slip of paper that had names and addresses scribbled on it.

“Sure. No touching.”

“No, Jeff, no violence.” She glared. Her standing form was eye level with me sitting on the bar stool.

“Sure. Reminders.” I emphasized the word like it was a code for something else.

“Jay,” She was serious now. “I swear to god if you break anything I’m adding their debts to your rent.”

Now I had to behave. “Juli…”

“Don’t even start. Now shush.” She said. I tried to keep the teeth flashing to a minimum and let her take a few breaths in order to calm down.

I shifted subjects. “Thanks for the two hamburgers last night.”

She looked puzzled. “Those were for the last two days, the deal was a week’s worth of meals, remember?” My jaw stopped working and I stared at her. I thought about it for a moment and started again.

“Hell of a night.” I muttered.

“What?” She responded.

“Nothing. I had a longer nap than I thought.”

Julianne raised an eyebrow at me and started to say something. A set of footsteps came out from the hallway and her accountant popped his head out. It was easier to see where his hair had been chopped at, resulting in an inconsistent look. Either he had children who attacked him while he was sleeping or was horrendous at doing his own haircuts.

“Julianne, we’ve got to finish this before tomorrow.” The tall balding man said.

She looked back, then forward at me and glared, an impressive feat for her small frame.

“You were passed out for two days?”

My blank stare must have been all the confirmation she needed. Hell, being asleep for two days surprised me too. Down the hall, her accountant’s voice echoed cutting our conversation thankfully short.

“We’ll get back to this later.”

My choices were to nod or answer awkward questions. Nodding was easier. Two hamburgers meant two dinners had passed. I had woken up on the third day after going to bed that night. Loving sleep was one thing, sleeping for over forty-eight hours was another. I guess that’s why my ribs felt a lot better than they should have. Even my back was doing better. With a wave, I headed to the door.

“Jeff!” She yelled at me.

“No unwanted physical interactions! I got it!” Then left to the sound of the doorbell jingling from above. Hopefully, if someone asked for a beating, I could use that phrasing to get out of trouble. It worked before. Julianne liked me better than most of her clients anyway.

Walking took time. A majority of people who gambled at Julianne’s were local, and if they were willing to pay it would be pretty straight forward. Show up, remind them of a debt, look imposing, leave.

It’s even easier than it sounds.

For humans, things are basic, show up, be in their bubble, violate personal space and be bigger. It’s not about what gets said, but what’s being done while talking. Keeping a hand in the pocket is all a worried person needs to spark their imagination. All that while sounding overly friendly.

For elves, it’s a bit harder. I have to look bored of their existence. I’m only a thug, a messenger, and expendable. Beneath threatening, posturing, or memorizing. Then when they’ve dismissed me, I take the chance to get behind them. Nothing drives them crazier than a human, looming over their back. It's not even a bubble issue, but an inborn fear of being stabbed. Generations of in clan fighting from the old world had ingrained a healthy fear. Elves with debts were loners anyway. No clan support made it easy.

Vampires are probably the most straightforward to deal with. Intimidation is typically useless. I would show up, tell them they have a bill, walk off once they make eye contact afterward. They’ll either pay or not. That was if I even met the actual vampire. Most were lesser-ranked cadre members on the twelve step program to leave humanity behind. Every full vamp had at least three partials.

The wolves were the most fun when cornered outside of their pack. I often only got one crack at a wolf for serious collections. Anything more and they would have their like-minded pack looming behind them. Since my job was to intimidate and my methods were hands on, guns were a bad idea. Nothing got wolves screaming hate crime like silver buckshot found in a wall.

My last stop was at a suburban home, furthest one out from the main part of town I floated around in. Cookie cutter houses lined both sides of the street. Each lawn manicured, probably by the same overpriced person. Roughly eighty percent of these houses belonged to normal people. Humans. The rest of the population was more controlled, or in some cases, segregated by personal design.

Elves were a prime example. Most lived with their clan. A family unit that went out to fourth cousins and beyond, all grouped together. I had seen them sometimes, owning entire blocks of the richer sections, refusing entry to normal people. They often had high walls made of all natural materials. Clay bricks, spirals of ivy, tree branches growing out in canopies over the sidewalk.

This house, according to the ‘W’ by the name and address Julianne had given me, belonged to a wolf. Full on capable of shifting between human and wolf and a rarer form in between. Their third form normally meant bad things were about to happen. Usually to me.

From the outside it would be impossible to guess they weren’t human. The yard was well kept. Two cars in the driveway. One was a van. Lights showed a peaceful kitchen and living room, the television tuned into a drama.

No violence was a good approach. My cross would be worthless as a symbol. The pure silver aspect would work. Their severe allergy affected everything down to a wolves’ choice in utensils. My silver laced knuckles would work. I wove a hand through the finger slots in preparation. Just in case.

I gave the door a solid knock. The sun was rapidly setting and I wanted to be on my way home before things were too dark.

There was the usual pause as someone tried to peep on who was outside. It was the same paranoid glance everyone did in this sort of neighborhood. Then the door opened completely revealing female barely into her twenties.

“Yeah?” Her eyes glazed over, less than five seconds into our conversation and she was already checked out. Her irises were sky blue, nearly as vacant as an elf’s might be, the ears screamed human.

“Looking for Francis.” I didn’t risk aiming at a nickname. Julianne hadn’t provided one and guessing would be a bad choice.

“Mom!”

Another female shuffled up looking like a middle-aged version of the first one. Her clothes were more professional than her dingbat daughter’s. She also had a few pieces of jewelry, like an ornate wedding ring that I could see sparkling from halfway down the hall. It took a bit to restrain the drool.

“Are you Francis Sauter?” I asked.

She raised both eyebrows for a moment in and tilted her head. Then shooed her daughter off and stood in the doorway.

“I am, who’s asking?” The woman said.

“My name is not important, I’m here about a business deal with Ann’s B&G.” My prepared speech citing Julianne’s business name. On some papers it was a bar and grill, on others it was betting and gambling.

“What about it?” She inquired. This wasn’t the first time a spouse tried to intercept me. Sadly, the nature of my job didn’t come with pictures of the debtors. Maybe we should start requesting snapshots.

“I may have the wrong home.”

“No I’ll bet,” Her emphasis was disturbing “this is the right place.”

Now the mother was angry though her posture said it wasn’t me, exactly. Part of me was giddy with anticipation at being the bearer of bad news. The other part worried that I had mishandled and Julianne might find out.

“If it is, then I’ve said all I need. Goodbye.” I opted for leaving, rather than deal with Julianne getting mad at me.

The door closed and a shout issued inside the house. Volume of that level and tone could only be achieved by an upset wife. Hopefully, Julianne wouldn’t count that as violence. I started off their pathway towards the road when screaming turned to snarls and yips. Two canines were fighting.

Julianne should have put two W’s down on this address.

A new voice started screaming. Higher in pitch, Francis’ daughter had proceeded to announce her opinion. Their garage was buckling under the weight of something being slammed into it repeatedly. Garage doors didn’t last long against that kind of force.

My favorite way to deal with wolves was to have them take care of each other. Packs were easy to rile up since each one is basically a walking powder keg of anger. One who was into gambling would probably be keeping it hidden.

Schools taught what they could. One extreme example was a thirty-minute video explaining how humans shouldn’t have sex with wolves in a nonstandard form. I had gone into hysterics when it occurred to me that someone needed the explanation. The lesson that applied to my current situation was different. Wolves chased running objects. Some girls rather liked that.

The flimsy garage door crumpled on one side. A panicked male wolf barreled out of the slender opening and took off. A second smaller form wiggled through, nipping the other’s heels. Both had the same dusty brown palette with slightly different markings. I would lay money on the first wolf being the real Francis Sauter. In most packs the males dominate. They’re more aggressive, tuned into the pecking order and obeyed their chain of command with a zealous fervor.

Then, there were females.

The formerly happy couple had covered ground fast. The soon to be ex-Sauter was making her feelings known. People stopped taking out the garbage, swerved cars and honked or shouted as they passed. Two wolves with incredible endurance might chase each other for an hour before winding down. Their journey would end in violence or the kind of makeup sex that broke trees. Or both. Shifting got wolves so wired they didn’t think clearly.

Shiny objects had been left in their wake. The ring I had been eyeing earlier was discarded somewhere during their shift. Wedding rings were too much trouble. A smaller one was easier to pocket, though. I whistled to myself, pleased at how tonight had gone.

Chapter 4 – Take the Dive

Hours later, a short stewing bartender cornered me. Impressive, considering I was twice her size.

"You were out for how long?" Julianne started the conversation where we left off.

"Only a day or two."

"Dammit, you hibernate like a bear, Jeff.” We were talking at the back door to her bar. Julianne was in the process of checking for things to be cleaned. Her eyes scanned over piles of cigarette butts, trash bags and stains on the wall. “You were napping for two days down there?"

"Unless it's an April Fools’ joke," Which was four months too late. None of my friends enjoyed the long setup for this kind of joke anyway.

"You don't normally get that tired do you?" Now she was starting to sound like a pack mother.

"No. But I had an unwanted interaction, hired help."

"Normal or..?" The question hung for a moment and I tried to consider which way to go with this. Julianne took my silence as a reason to change venues while shaking her head, we went inside while she flagged down one of the employees.

"Vamp, two partials." I could have pumped up the story a bit, added a broken arm, made it seem like I was some sort of badass, however, it was only lucky circumstances that had helped me win. My turf, a cross, being aggressive, a pounding heart. The list went on.

"Guess I should start paying you more when you're working here, huh?"

"Not a big deal, I remember being better at that sort of stuff," I said.

"You're just out of practice," She protested, but it was true. I had been quite good at roughing people up, and that sometimes required wading through more than one person. Maybe I was getting old. Julianne gave her employee a list of chores and some instructions before we continued talking.

"I don't mind one on ones," and I truly didn't in most cases "but she wasn't out to kill me." I regretted what I said right away.

"Wait," I could hear the gears clicking into place like an old time slot machine. "She? Vampires? You're kidding me! You pissed Kahina off enough that she tried to bleed you?" Julianne wasn't angry or even upset. She was smiling intensely with teeth and everything.

"She succeeded." I wanted to smile too but kept it under wraps. Other wolves I didn't mind pissing off, but she was worth keeping happy.

"Damn, she doesn't seem that far along. Guess she still likes you," Julianne was almost laughing.

"Why do you say that?"

"She would have moved onto someone else if she wasn't locked onto you,” Julianne jabbed me in the middle with an elbow. “Going after your blood, but not killing you, it’s practically an invitation back into the sack."

"Not sure why tasting my blood means she's still hot for me." Vampires who drank blood did so because of compulsions. They also tended to focus on people they wanted to convert.

"You know how it works, blood thirst is proof that girl’s still pining for you, even after your shit," Kahina had barely skipped a beat when it came to trying to get us back together, and four years was an eternity to humans. "So two of her helpers tried to take you on, and you survived with...what?"

"Bruised ribs and a scratched set of knuckles." I said.

"Real or those pieces of crap you imitate claws with?" She snorted at my hands. We had made it back to the bar counter where I grabbed a stool and sat down. Julianne started inspecting the latest location for anything out of place. She was as bad as I, in her own way.

"I do what I can with what I was given." One shoulder went up in a shrug.

"Man, you should take the dive one way or the other. I'm sure someone could sponsor you." The dive she was talking about involved switching from human to one of two species, wolf or vampire. Both came with downsides and registration with the Western Sector’s government.

"That's alright. I get by as a normal person," I said. Julianne ran some water onto a rag and handed it over. Fine. I could clean a counter top.

"No offense, Jeff, you ain't exactly normal, never have been," She said once I got to wiping.

"Well, everyone’s got something abnormal."

Julianne stared at me for a moment. I tried not to think too hard about my own comment.

"Got a spot for you for the rest of the week if you need it." She offered.

"Please. Door gig again?" I nodded while inspecting the counter. There, my corner of the bar looked much better.

"As long as it stays quiet." She confirmed and reached out for the rag.

"You're covered tonight, right?" I had seen the Hispanic wolf wandering around last night.

Often we were glorified door watchmen. Friday nights and weekends, especially payday weekends, were the busiest. They usually got out of hand. Julianne didn't have the normal bar scene, she tended to attract the other races in almost equal numbers. There was probably a bar that could boast that sort of claim in every city. Normal establishments would have one or two non-human patrons at a time. Julianne's would have dozens pass through in an hour."We're covered. Go finish your nap and show up tomorrow."

"Tomorrow then." My head dipped.

"See ya." She gave a distracted wave.

I wandered off and did what she suggested, not showing my face outside until the following afternoon. Slipping back into old routines was easy. For the next week I got up, drank water, then hit the weights. I had everything needed to get into shape. Four years of traveling had been counter productive to my physique. Inconsistent workouts, occasional starvation, cold nights, all served to make me haggard, not lean. These few weeks home had been heaven.

After the workout, I would head to Julianne's and handle a shift. There used to be other places in need of my services, but thinking about them now was out of the question. Work typically ended near midnight. The remaining night was spent roaming the streets. My hands would be tucked into pockets for warmth. Often I didn't return home until after sunrise, exhausted but pleased that only some things in the city had changed.

Occasionally, I caught Kahina quietly staring. Not enough to feel oppressed, but reminded. Part of me was disturbed at being stalked like a possession, the other part wondering exactly where we stood. The strange routine broke when an angry redhead startled me out of sleep.

"Get up, you're coming with me." Fingers clenched in a panic. I was vulnerable. Someone had invaded my sanctuary.

"Who..." I couldn’t focus this early. "What's going on?" Daniel's face was slowly clearing as my mind tried to establish where I was.

"I lost that damned elf again. He escaped custody two days after we tracked him down." Upset Daniel worried me. There were stories, that I may or may not have been involved in, where he went Biblical when venting his anger.

"Doesn't the Sector government have their own trackers?" I slowly stood up and tried to regain control of my front room. Daniel was pacing already.

"They have two contracted, both of which are busy on other cases. Neither one works as well as you do. They do some dreaming babble." He said.

"Get in line then. It's just a cold case." I responded while fighting a yawn. Daniel didn't want the elf, he wanted the rich kid related to him.

"Not that easy, there's a lot riding on this one." He shook his head.

"Not for me, Daniel," Anything more for this case would bring unwanted attention. "Nothing personal, I'm not getting involved."

"I'm doing this for you!" He snapped and grabbed at his hair.

"What?" I managed to maneuver myself between Daniel and the doorway leading to my basement. He didn’t even care. Once I was awake, the agent had taken to walking the far end of my top floor.

"No, never mind. Forget I said anything," His words left me confused. "You're going to have to come along."

"What? Why?" My head felt foggy. What was he doing for me? This? This what? The thoughts slipped out almost as soon as they passed through. I braced myself using the wall and tried to reduce a headache that had come out of nowhere.

"Man, don't make me be an ass."

"Then don't, case’s dead. Move on." It's hard being polite to friends.

"No can do, you and I need this."

I thought about my belongings and the trouble that would occur from leaving again. Daniel made it out like we would be absent awhile. My mouth opened to start a stream of protests then Daniel cut me off.

"Plus, you owe me big, always have, who keeps your name out of the system?" He switched tactics abruptly.

"That's how you're going to do this?" He just had to go for the low blow and bring up my separation from the rest of the system. It wasn't how I wanted to live.

"It's for your own damn good, man." Anxiety drained from his features. The hair pulling he engaged in settled down.

"You're giving me shit choices," I said. He needed to leave my house soon before things went downhill fast. Daniel was pressuring me into a verbal corner and it was getting uncomfortable.

"Good. Get some clothes in a bag and come outside, bring whatever you have for weapons."

"What the hell, weapons?"

"The world’s not a friendly place, man, you know that." He exited and I sighed with relief. Despite the media's control on stories, things happened constantly. People went missing, violent outbreaks, danger was an unadvertised constant. A set of knuckles, cross, and spare clothes went into a duffle bag.

The rest of my devices had to stay at home. Something had to stand between my basement full of little trinkets and the would-be robbers. I grabbed two different choke wires. One coated in acquired silver, effective, but weak against anything other than a wolf. The other was cheap iron, not as weak and good for snooty elves. Neither was designed to kill first. Both were motivational assets that would hopefully be pointless.

My packed bag weighed hardly anything compared to the full gear load used during my four-year travels. Dirt was still caked along the bottom from my journey home. The bag was thrown into the backseat of Daniel’s parked vehicle. Crusty flakes broke off upon landing. He didn't even look offended."I gotta tell Julianne." I said.

"I'll be here." Daniel was poking through files on his laptop.

Julianne wasn't at the bar for once. She wasn't at home either, or she would have noticed my call from the bar’s phone. I left a message on her machine.

"Headed out for a bit, not sure how long. Daniel’s got some work he's decided I need to help with. Watch my stuff please, I'll be back soon." The back of Daniel's car was crowded. Files and papers all over. I could barely make out the squiggles and small print. Everything looked mind numbing anyway.

An hour later, at the border of town, it occurred to me that Kahina hadn't been informed of my departure. Being attacked by her bodyguards a second time wasn't appetizing. I borrowed Daniel’s phone and passed a second message onto Julianne's answering service. The call barely ended when Daniel snatched the cellphone back.

"Can you straighten those up? They're my secret plans for world domination and you can't read them." He joked. I rolled my eyes and closed up his boring files.

"Where we headed?" I asked, shuffling papers into folders.

"Last place he was at, going to have you do a new fix."

"Caesars Junction?" The bright neon light had flashed annoyingly while tracking the elf.

"Yes. We'd had him sitting pretty and the bastard just vanished." Daniel sighed. His hands clenched at the steering wheel.

Only some elves could do it. Illusions. Normally they pretended to be elsewhere, then stood up and walked off, invisible. Miles down the road an elf, ragged from carrying iron, would be looking for a handsaw and a benefactor. The news tried to squash the stories, but the internet was filled with good deeds performed by elves in return for freedom. Elven punishments were harder to track due to their subtly.

"Checked the normal stuff?" I asked.

"Glamour? Illusion? Sure, I know you got your thing, but I do this for a living, trained for it. Besides, only like one in twenty can do that." The redhead was being defensive.

I covered my head with the bag and tried to blot out the passing landscape. Traveling in cars for a long while made me sick and irritated. Daniel kept right on talking.

"You packed everything you'll need?" He said.

"Like a good scout," I muttered. A hint of nausea could already be felt. Daniel’s idle motions distracted me, one of his fingers was rubbing against the steering wheel.

"Don't make fun, man, I was a scout for years. You weren't," Daniel said.

"Doesn't mean I'm not prepared." I said. The agent paused while trying to figure out my implications. What Daniel was trying to read into my statement was beyond me.

"Alright, we'll be there in an hour," He said. I felt the engine rev up as he switched focus towards driving.

My bag made a great shade against the world. Sickened by the motion, I slipped into unconsciousness. When I came to the car was turning into a gravel covered parking lot. A glance outside confirmed we were at the same gaudy hotel I had seen in my vision. They could afford the neon signs but not a paved parking lot. Police tape still cordoned off a room that looked like a herd of elephants had passed through.

"Come on, man, site’s barred, but the hotel manager is gearing up to whine like a firetruck." Daniel escorted us past the police officer, past the angry manager, and up to the room. "Get in, see if you can trace him using the hair, getting something solid this time would help. A direction, anything."

"You dropping me off at home after this?" I pulled up the bag on my shoulder and glared around the seedy hotel parking lot. This place looked as bad as it felt.

"Probably not," He admitted as he showed me into the room. He was paying more attention to the stack of paperwork in his hand than the room.

"Stand outside." One hand waved him away while I looked about the room.

"That serious? Good, good." Daniel seemed puzzled at first but made up his own excuse as to why I wanted him out of the area. Not that it mattered to the tracking, I was just annoyed at being dragged out here. He stepped outside with the cell phone already to his ear.

I grabbed a chair, one that was familiar from the last vision of the fugitive elf. This room had been tainted by dozens of people recently. There was no connection, emotional or physical, between these objects and the elf. Hands fidgeted with the hair and the empty tube. Thoughts slowly spun together. Linking that which I held to the other end. My hand, my items, mine. These were mine, all of it was mine. That which I owned could not hide.

Consciousness unfurled one inch at a time. The sensation of having more limbs stayed with me for a moment. My mind’s eye could see the room around me and felt everything. Cheap wood sealed tight by a false grain. Lamps were screwed into the wall, dragging down the plaster. Worn threads on the rug. My eyes shifted around, not really seeing, only feeling. There was a thread in my hands connecting hair and tube with something in the distance. Then that mild awareness stuck as another cadence of thoughts chimed in.

Other faltering connections. Many. None are mine. None elven. Hair connects. Tube connects. Different vibrations, same colors. I pull towards their destination. Pulls sharply west. Feel the sun's heat layered through everything. Welcoming. Comforting.

This connection went past the freeway, towards the trees. Elves always went for trees. Historical fact, and one of the reasons the Isles couldn't reclaim the Americas. Once the isle elves invaded they were in already claimed lands. Our elves were fiercely protective of their homes.

Soaring above the treetops. Trailing link. Following Long Ear's thread. Know this because of the colors. Four, five on connection. Always Long Ear. Savage earth is fuzzy things. Ticks laced with red. Pink meats complex, never sensible. Changes.

Trees sway. Images trail before and after. Glow. Spirits of living things. Diffuse compared to pink meats. Almost ghostly. Barely tangible. Material vibrates. Faster than pink meat buildings. Easier to pass by.

Every living creature I saw had an aura about them. If my vision was focused on a traveling person there would be a blur of energy just before and after them. Almost like destiny dragging them forward one moment at a time. With vampires, when they woke, that colored energy rushed from the ether to their comatose bodies. Right in time with sunset. Daniel and I had discussed it once over too many drinks and a starlit night.

Growing close. World small now. Look down. Will find what is mine. Need to. Pulse thumps. There. Found the Long Ear. He kneels. Appropriate. Trees dwarf him. Branches weave their patterns. Shade blots sunlight. Air cools from their actions.

Look at Long Ear’s face. Study. Still dirty. Hair, unwashed, grains in it, oils. Tangles through. Can feel it all. Disgraceful. Disrespectful.

Long Ear shudders but knee stays firm. His pulse skips with my displeasure. Barely feel supplicants weight against grass and dirt. Confusing how it sits. Feel the face, search for reason, expression, familiar. Faces all the same, regardless of specifies. Long Ear is wary, tried. Cheeks drag, eyes pinched, wrinkles line eyes. Unsure how old this one is.

Lips move. Air vibrates. Almost make out the sounds. Inhuman, incomplete. The reverberations of voice sink into the surrounding wilds. Lost.

In a startling moment of realization, I saw something else behind him. A figure, standing tall and looking around. Its head resembled the same mist that trailed after the trees. Almost like a spirit detached from the body.

Fog Head stares straight at me. The curve, posture, all telling. I look back. Confusion runs through me. It speaks words, clear words.

"Forgive me, Lord," The elf said. Who was he talking to? There was no one else this clearing. No one sizable. "I answer your summons. What do you desire?"

Oh Hell. He was talking to me. Never, ever, ever, before had anyone tried to hold a conversation with my tracking form. The closest thing was Kahina talking to me. The brief moment of comprehension she brought back with her as she awoke would allow her to see me. A side effect of her spirit traveling during the day.

Responding was a difficult concept to grasp. I tried to speak, feeling an odd disconnection as my body back in the hotel room spoke the words for me. It was like being drunk. Where words came out of me but someone else spoke them. A stranger operated my mouth.

"You can see me?" A hum whispers through the world. Leaves brush in agitation. Branches rustle. Birds chirp.

"Yes. You are a Lord. Forgive me for my delay in response," The elf said. This whole situation was growing stranger. I was basically feeling a conversation miles away and translating it into normal sensations.

Long Ear’s words are reverent. Tone soft as they pass through. My head tilts. I feel taller than expected."Why do you call me ‘Lord’?" Wind scrapes by trees, carving words out one at a time.

I should be asking where the elf was. Then Daniel would drop me off at home and life could go back to normal. Instead, I was going along with the craziness.

"You claimed ownership, I felt your call again and waited." Fantastic. Another mystery. Had he felt my claim while tracking?

"I am no full Speaker, please, ask what you will before my energy fades." Plus, how could this elf claim to have any energy? He seemed worn already with his scraggly blond hair and worn features.

"Why do you run?" Each word hangs on the air. Felt more than heard.

"Because they must not catch me," Comes the elf with an answer.

"Daniel?" Want to call another name. Stop myself. Correct it to Daniel. Can't remember other title. Not Pink Meat.

"Is that the Hunter’s name? If you are with him, Lord, be wary. He is dangerous to your kind."

"He searches for you." I whisper. The words come easier. Or Long Ear understands quicker. Hard to say.

"Do not tell him where I am, I beg of you, Lord." The strange form looked plaintive, and wavered at the waist, bowing slightly.

"Why bow?"

"Lord? You have claimed me, but I can not stay long." His hazy form blurred. "Find me in the waking if you wish to speak more. But I must not tarry for their Hunter."

"We hunt you now." My words terrify the ghostly figure. Sweat pours down the brow of his kneeling self. Warm. Liquid pools where I inspect. As if blocked by my nonexistent fingers.

It was weird to see emotions in one form and talk to another. Like talking to someone who spoke sign language. All the emotions were in the gestures and not in the face.

"I must run, Lord, forgive me."

Connection breaks. Two are one again. Tired shell of long ear stands. Looks at space that I watch from. Lips move. Mutters. Things that are blocked to my senses. Turns. Runs further west. Roots on ground trip him. Shows his exhaustion.

I retreated back to my form. For a moment, I had that hugging sensation as ghostly limbs folded inward. Settling in their normal place. Slippage from tactile sensations poured in with the mental retreat.

Man outside. Talks on small hard object. Phone. Few words audible as they bounce down hallway. Feet pace the row of doors. Heel, toe, heel, toe."Asset...working...soon," He said.

I had found quite a few elves and never experienced anything like this. Nothing remotely close. Most of my history involved the pathetic side of an elven family tree. Those that were often strung out and coming down from a high. One talking to me? One having a separate spirit form? Telling me that he was running from Daniel? Hunters? This was more than a cold case. Daniel might be covering up something huge, or he might not know. Now I had a personal stake in this whole mess.

The elf knew what I was, and seemed to phrase it in such a way that it was beyond a mere case of avoided vampirism. Kahina had believed my tracker abilities came from a close call with conversion during my childhood. The mental rewiring vampires went through could sometimes leave other changes in its wake. Rare, but possible.

Ditching Daniel would give me room to act. I would find this elf and square away some answers before the agent shoved him into a cell.

"Any luck, man?" The agent himself stuck a head inside.

"No. It was weird." That wasn't a lie.

"How so? Maybe I can compare it to the case files and shed some light on it."

"This elf is different than normal ones?" I asked.

"Well, you probably deal with the ones addicted to depressive shit." Daniel said. The few I tracked were often barely aware of their surroundings. "But he's from a nearly dead high family, I'm surprised he ever showed up on your radar, man."

"They do anything different?" I asked.

"Like vanish from sight in a pair of iron cuffs? I know he's one of the few that can actually do the extras,” Daniel tapped at his binder of papers. “They've got a name for them."

"Speakers." The elf had mentioned he wasn't a full speaker, though.

"Yeah. Those." Daniel nodded.

"Besides that." I prompted Daniel back to the conversation.

"Don't know. They don't show up on my radar a lot either." We were both out of our depth. Only I knew my relation to this elf, but Daniel’s was looking more and more confusing.

"I'll keep trying. See what turns up. Checking here isn't working."

"I didn't know you got mixed signals." Daniel was careful in his phrasing. He knew something was up. I could tell it by his face. The way he paused before saying his words. Did he think I was lying? Should I be worried about this? One damned elf, one damned conversation and I was already mistrusting. I had known Daniel for years, hell the greater part of three decades. But I couldn’t remember anyone talking to me like that elf. Not while tracking."This room’s screwing me up. You know how many different people have been in here?"

"Oh. Yeah, man. Forensics wouldn't even bother trying to get anything from a one-night hotel like this. Not without blood or something obvious." He dipped his head in defeat at that, then shook it to switch tracks.

"I guess I should tell you about the reward for this case." Daniel's comment immediately focused my attention. Reward was attention getting, right up there with boobs, explosives, and Julianne screaming.

"Were you not going to?" I asked.

"I was thinking of slipping you something, but I'm not chasing charity. I'm chasing dollar signs."

"Suits get rewards?"

"Not normally, but this case is one of the rare exceptions. If I solve it, we're talking a quarter million that goes into my paycheck. That's a lot of incentive, man," Daniel said with a smile.

I whistled. "No wonder you're gung-ho."

"Right, and that elf was my only lead, if I could hold him, he might know where Arnold Regious is." He handed a picture to me showing Arnold's face, and a clean-cut version of the elf. One of them had gone through hard times since elves normally looked younger than a human counterpart.

"Or what's left." My first search for this human resulted in nothing. Daniel shrugged it off.

"What's left would be fine. Anyway, man, it took awhile, but the parents finally admitted that the two had been friends for a long time." Daniel shook his folder of paperwork at me. All his answers must have come from inside. "One of those blue blood networking things. Shove the kids in the same class, they grow up and rule the world together. Why they'd pick a dead clan heir is beyond me."

Daniel was shaking his head and kept talking. "Quarter million, I could do a lot with that, and I need it."

"Why’s that?" His need was going to affect my demands for compensation. Legwork and tracking were the heavy portions of any hunt.

"Getting married, man. Need to propose, need a ring, need to plan. Shit’s not cheap." Daniel was counting off the items on his fingers. "New suit. Maybe two. A real house to come home to. The works."

"No kidding? Who's the lucky woman?" I asked.

"Boss’ daughter."

I whistled again, but this time it was in amusement. The redhead was dating his boss’ daughter, and as far as marriage already? He had moved on since the teen years. Next he would tell me he was going to be a father of little ginger headed triplets.

"You don't aim low."

"No, I've got to do this. I need to complete it, and it's not only the reward." Daniel's voice took a momentarily hard edge.

"Right, cheaper than kneepads I guess." I heard him blink in reaction to my comment.

"Fuck you," Daniel's face turned tomato red.

"She cute?" I asked.

"Of course."

"How did she get her claws into you?" I had to know.

"Our first date was at a shooting range. Her idea." Poor Crummy had fallen hard. The tone in his voice made it obvious. "But, business always gets in the way, at least until we get things sorted out."

"I hear you," That meant that it was time to get to work. "Cut me loose and I'll call when I get a lead."

"Here." Daniel eagerly handed over a business card with his name and phone number. It came with a few twenties for change. "I can't spare much more without writing up a report, but I trust you to keep me in the loop."

"Alright." Maybe I would keep him in the loop. Depending on what this elf meant by ‘Lord’. Maybe the elf was high on something. Delirium by forest mushrooms was a common enough addiction for the low born.

"We find Arnold first, then we can talk about splitting the reward, consider it a retainer for my best man."

I snickered. Like we could explain a nonentity showing up to a suits’ wedding. Much less a wedding to his boss’ daughter. Knowing the Sector high ups, even the catering staff would have to pass a background check.

"We'll talk," I nodded.

Find the elf, figure out what this elf thought I was, figure out where the Regious heir was, and radio home. Easy, and I knew which way to start. For now, it was time for food. The delay would give me a good excuse to see how far Daniel was going to follow me. I doubted his idea of cutting me loose was quite as free-form as I might hope.

We normally played straight with each other. The only reason I questioned things now was because of the prize. A quarter million dollars. Trust and friendship could be measured at a lot less for many people. It was something I had seen too many times.

No. Daniel was getting married, I would be anxious too.

Suits normally looked terrible on me. Being best man was doubly impossible, but I felt flattered he thought about it. Happiness carried me into the worst dive around. Inside would be a goldmine of unheard of food or at least a back door Daniel wouldn't be able to find. The location I found couldn't have been more than twenty feet across and went deep into the building. On one side, there were tables that made the idea of cozy look like a pipe dream. Opposite the tables was a menu, a counter to place orders, and likely the cook's station.

It was manned by a tall white kid that didn't have an ounce of muscle on him. His backward hat was probably as close as I could get to real sanitation laws. The burger was okay, not the best, not the worst. This place wasn’t worth a return trip for burned cow meat.

No one else came inside. If I was being followed, then Daniel would have been camped out on the street in his car. In that case, I could shuffle over a few blocks through alleyways and head west from there.

I dropped Daniel’s money on the bill plus tip then headed towards the back of the restaurant. Near the back, there was a network of other doors to different shops in this strip. A connection which allowed multiple stores to use the same restrooms.

Getting out the exit required navigating hushed groups of people. There was one set of strung out junkies and a confused looking teen searching for the bathroom. In passing, I may have suggested she hold it and turn around. The teen must have realized this was a bad area and decided to do just that. It helped that I filled a good chunk of the tiny hallway on my own.

A set of side alleys later and I was home free. Nothing in sight, no Daniel, no unwanted followers, only me and the streets. I hefted my duffle bag and hiked onward, one hand fiddling with the lipstick tube. Twisted threads of energy connected from here to him. Elven cords always resembled pureed crayons.

Mine.

Darkness claimed the landscape by the time I reached the tree line. Even after that I kept going. Answers and money pulled me forth. Hell, only a portion would be fine. Daniel could use it for his wedding. He probably needed to shell out tons to afford the wedding this girl deserved. I smiled thinking about it. Crummy had a girl. How cute.

Moonlight littered the forest floor. The trees around made a noise like laughter at my slow speeds. Reaching the clearing from my vision with the elf had taken hours. I set about bunking down for sleep. This wouldn't be my first camping trip outdoors and probably wouldn't be the last. My back propped up against the base of the tree and both eyes sunk downward. Sleeping away from home was difficult but possible.

A few hours would do me, then I could get back to tracking. Morning would come and I could go from there. One hand scratched an arm absently as darkness blanketed my thoughts.

Chapter 5 – One of the Perks

Waking up is never an easy process. Prior examples include banging doors, general yelling, angry ex-girlfriend, and finally something new.

A hand smacked me on the side of the head. I didn’t react well. Before I was fully aware, my fingers had curled around a solid mass of muscle. Incoherent snarls came forth matching an echo of noises behind me.

Blinking rapidly only gave me a few glimpses of my surroundings. Trees. People. Fur. Everything was blurry while both eyes kept crossing. Seconds passed as the situation started to register. In my grasp was the neck of a male I had never met. Somehow the two of us were standing up with him pressed against the tree. He was growling. Veins in his neck were popping as the man tried to force a shift.

Momentary confusion is too long when dealing with wolves. The other man flashed his arms quickly. One broke the hold I didn’t even know I could do. His other arm punching me in the gut with excessive force.

Sleep’s fogginess delayed my normal reaction. Instead of tensing for the punch, I doubled over and stumbled backward, falling. As soon as I touched the ground a large set of fangs snapped in my face. Panic flooded me as I moved to defend myself using a method so amazingly stupid that it worked.

Both arms latched around the wolf’s neck. My face buried in muscle and fur. A sharp breath caused my gut to clench in pain, I used that and tensed inward, knifing my knee into the wolf’s groin. Then a second swing, and a third before shoving the clawing wolf off into his pack mates.

There was enough room to scramble backward and get on both feet. Pain in my belly and legs made standing tall difficult. I reached a hand back in search of solid rear cover. Anything to limit the circle forming around me. My mind needed space to eliminate the flotsam thoughts and focus on the important things. Such as, what in the hell was going on?

To the left, there were at least three other wolves, large angry creatures that made normal canines look tiny. On my right were another two. Near them was a naked human digging through a duffle. My duffle. A snarl flashed across my face, at the circling wolves, at the man desecrating my belongings.

Maybe I was delirious. Dreaming. I shook my head trying to jumble things together. To calm down and make sure this whole situation wasn’t a fabrication. The hand shuffling around my belongings wasn’t an illusion. I could feel calloused hands violating each item. Like those unwelcome fingers were grasping my own skin. It was too much. Disturbing. Unwelcome.

“Mine.”

I pushed off from the tree being used as a shield. Waded across the landscape with a strange haze overshadowing my thoughts. Images blinked in and out of the moment as my hands grabbed at fur, legs, swung at snapping jaws. Each brush of motion stirred my senses. Each footprint a ripple across water. My senses drummed forward as I spun around lunges, ducked wild leaps, and shouldered weakened flanks. Each moment a still shot of action as my body moved on auto pilot. Then a series of angry growls accompanied the sudden sensation of something wrapped tightly around my neck.

Someone had snuck up on me.

My mind snapped out of the haze with a frightening speed. That was a tightness I knew. My own garrote was pressed tightly into tendons on my neck. The tightening sensation served as a focus for a new situation. Not only had my belongings been trespassed upon, now my life was in danger. Escape? Flexing hard enough with a yank might snap the cord, or I might get cut enough to bleed out.

Sloppy. Missing rhythm. Too slow. Too buried. Should be stronger. Fuzzy things capture me? Pathetic. Disgusted.

Breath came in short ragged gasps as my other thoughts flashed by. The self-loathing mentality put everything in a strange light. My head pounded and wrist itched. I didn’t dare move to scratch it.

Where were the wolves? A quick count showed two down, one was very angry, the others were circling. None of those included the person with a frighteningly dangerous piece of woven metals drawn tightly. A hand brushed against the duffle bag. I choked myself trying to escape before the pain became too uncomfortable.

A voice shouted. I closed my eyes and I frantically tried not to be offensive. Tried to retract my senses. My lips sealed tightly to cover teeth. Slow deep breaths to soothe myself. Anything that prevented me from straining against the wire.

“Stay still.” The voice behind me didn’t give warnings. Didn’t utter threats. Only commanded. I kept my eyes closed and nodded slowly.

The world was slowly calming. The wild sensation and defensiveness of my abilities retracted slowly. Words became clearer.

Other voices had joined in a loud conversation. Each one accusing me of unwarranted violence. Not only that, they were calling me racist and an assassin. Hell. Wolves. Not just one, an entire pack. I had assaulted one by nearly strangling him against a tree. Another wouldn’t be able to pee straight for days until his healing finished. More pack members had minor bruises, one cradled an arm that bent at funny angles.

My own damage was minor. A few cuts felt slightly aggravating. The promise of growing pain paled compared to the threat around my neck.

“You should throttle him now.” One of the other males, angry, human, and probably naked. It wasn’t likely he remained human all the way out here during whatever hunt they were on. He was breathing as deeply as I had been.

“No, we woke him up. He was within rights to be upset.” It was a male voice, older.

“Woke him, like fuck that’s an excuse. He tried to strangle Leroy, almost neutered Stan, and would have kept going if you hadn’t collared him.” There were other protests from the rest of the pack, most in the form of growls.

“Don’t. This is more dangerous than you know. We all must remain calm.” The man behind me was very measured. Clipped words. Almost military. Each sentence he spoke was preceded by a deep breath.

“Get Leroy and Stan to a hospital.”

“I’ve got the newbies on the fourbys. You got him? We pressing charges?” The noose around my neck tightened in preparation for my outburst. There was no way in hell I would let them call this a racial offense.

“Settle.” Pain tore across my body. The world grew faint and I almost slipped sideways while gasping.

“Get out of here.” The older man behind me was struggling to remain calm. I had given up entirely. He was in control, for now. “Don’t touch the bag and take the pack across our territory.” One hand was on my shoulder, for some reason the motion was familiar. Almost fatherly.

I relaxed slightly as the other members moved to obey. Wolves took orders at face value and didn’t put more than a pause into following them. If the man behind me wasn’t an Alpha, he was damned close. The woods grew quiet as the rest of the pack raced the wounded to care.

My belongings were safe. Only the wire around my neck remained outside of them. Tension had loosened quite a bit as I regained composure.

“You got ahold of yourself?” Their leader asked.

I slowly nodded.

The wire came undone and I froze for a moment trying to feel how bad my damage was. Using both palms, I rubbed my neck checking for cuts. No blood showed on my hands. Tomorrow would greet me with bruising in a ring pattern. Compared to the rest of the wolves I was on the better end of the deal.

“They okay?” Apologies could come later.

“They’ll heal. It’s one of the perks.”

I found my feet and turned to face the other man. He was older with graying hair on his temples. His face barely showed the drag of old age. And he was completely comfortable being naked in front of me, a fact I couldn’t quite return that favor on. He didn’t have much to be ashamed of, most wolves shared a defined physique. In fact, it almost took a conscious effort for one to grow fat and lazy.

At least I was taller, if barely. There was something about the way the man held himself that gave the impression he didn’t care a bit about my height. He was used to giving orders and having them listened to. His face looked vaguely familiar. My past jobs required a head for faces, but his escaped me.

“Thanks.” Alphas were one of the few groups that I tried to sound civil with.

“You’re lucky I was here. Leroy took the wrong approach, sorry about the rude awakening.” The older man said.

“Not sure what happened there.” I responded. All those events had flashed by rapidly. My mind was still trying to get an understanding the situation.

“We spooked you, you reacted. The boys touched your stuff.” He said.

“Never tried to strangle someone in my sleep.” Never had anyone wake me up out of the blue like that either. Not without some sort of buffer, like a door.

“He’ll heal, and it’s a lesson learned. The boys will want a good story behind why you’re out here, though.”

“Looking for someone.” I said and tried to remain calm while avoiding eye contact.

“No other scents here but you.”

I raised an eyebrow for a moment and looked at him. It was hard to say how far I should go with this. Should I tell him I was looking for an elf? He was unlikely to help, but if he was out here with a pack he probably thought of these woods as his own.

“Tracking an elf.” I said.

“Tracking? Forgive me if I doubt your skills, but trackers are pretty rare.” His voice didn’t waver as he talked.

“It is what it is.” Pretty rare is an underestimate.

“Elf huh?” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Sorry about the boys. These woods go on for a while, though, we checked to see if you were lost. Then someone found your duffle bag and tools, and took offense.”

“Don’t blame them, it’s a bad scene.” This must look terrible. A human, sleeping in the woods of a local pack, with silver lined items that could be used to kill a wolf.

“I assume you can get out on your own,” He stated.

“I can.” I hoped, I hadn’t really thought about anything except finding the elf in a day or two, my wood lore wasn’t exactly up to snuff.

“Take your things then, you’re ok to travel here for now. Just behave. We’ll steer clear.” He said.

“Thanks.” I kept the eye contact a little longer than I should have, but the man felt extremely controlled compared to the others. Hopefully, he understood the thanks was for more than packing my stuff.

“Don’t be surprised if someone checks in on you while you’re out here.” The pack leader stated.

“I’d expect nothing less,” I shrugged.

“Good, and next time?”

I nodded for him to continue, figuring that the next part was a verbal backhand.

“Warn the pack ahead of time, Mister Fields.” He threw out the comment in an offhanded manner. Worry crawled across my mind as he slipped away. Their Alpha had known my name.

Shit.

I stood there trying to puzzle it out. There were only a few people that knew my last name. Fewer still were aware I could track. As I walked away from the slowly rising sun I tried to puzzle out how exactly he knew me. The woods were far enough north that the pack was probably different than the ones back home.

Was it Daniel sending someone to keep tabs on me? Perhaps. He was the only person I knew locally. So much for thinking I had been sneaky in my escape. Daniel might have set out feelers to every contact he had in the area to track down the elf. An elf I still didn’t know the name of.

My shirt was exchanged for something fresher. Scratches on either leg were carefully washed out then bound with torn strips from the old clothing. I had expected worse. Nothing here would leave a scar.

While walking it occurred to me how pointless this entire trip had been. Me, trying to track an elf into the forest. Not only could he outrun me, he would out-survive me. Clever, if his goal was to escape, then a forest was the perfect place.

Wolves’ inability to smell elves was typical. They had hyper senses, but elves moved through nature without many traces. Entire packs had been decimated due to forest ambushes during the civil war. My advantage was tracking. The distance between the elf and I had lessened yesterday.

Tracking could lead me home too. My apartment was an unerring and nearly ceaseless pull. The four years away had been tough. I had been sitting in a studio that I rented by the week when my memories of home flooded in out of nowhere. I was on the continental bus home before my brain had fully registered what was happening. As for this current situation. Another day or two wouldn’t hurt. This elf was mine to hunt.

Autumn’s onset created a colorful landscape to travel through. Hours later there was a deliberate crunch in the fallen leaves. I carefully looked towards the source of the noise. A furry face stared back. There was a patch of darker fur over his right eye. It didn’t look familiar so I grunted and kept moving. My tail had arrived and was likely reporting back on my position through whatever pack mind wolves possessed. That tidbit wasn’t exactly common knowledge, but I had friends and enemies in the right places. Julianne had given me that advice after one of my earliest jobs put me up against a small pack instead of a lone wolf. My asking around had given him a heads up.

Got my ass handed to me. Things evened out in the end. Pack finds out you’ve gotten them involved in bad debts and some of their more civic minded members solve the issue.

My tail, correction, the wolf and his tail were never very far from sight. His eyes stared unblinking at me nearly every moment of the journey. I found a stream to drink from. The drink barely reduced growing hunger pains. Two days without water would have been detrimental. Two days without food was bearable. Starvation wasn’t new. There had been hungry days while I traveled.

“Did the boss give me a time limit?” I asked.

No yip, no bark or howl. The wolf did manage to tilt his head and glare. His fur didn’t look familiar to anyone I remembered. Similar markings ran in a family. Patches here, patterns, colors, shades. Dog breeders could spot literal family members in a pack with unerring accuracy. Pack members hated dog breeders as a general rule.

“No?”

The wolf sniffed and wandered off, vanishing behind a tree.

My large dumb self hadn’t thought to bring any food before I started this little venture. I assumed, in error, once I got into the woods the elf would come running up and answer all my questions. Had he been lying to me? An attempt at separating me from the law enforcement so he could off me? It could be a trap. One that I was dragging someone’s family into.

The wolf reappeared behind some trees, padding a path parallel to mine. I shouldn’t bother being suspicious, I wasn’t clever enough or observant enough to be any good at it. My choice at this point was to stop, turn around, and say screw it. Or chase an answer and an undefined cut of a quarter million.

Tomorrow might see me close enough. Maybe the elf would have food. Maybe I could catch a rabbit. There was a small dose of lighter fluid and matches in the bag. Not that it was specifically for a meal, I occasionally had other uses.

I woke up to talking and a painful reminder of how hungry I was. It was from near by, more like someone was having an external monolog and didn’t really expect me to wake up. It was an unremarkable voice, one that I could never pick out in a line-up.

“Why are you out here?” Someone new was speaking. My lips started to respond, but the voice went on without waiting for an answer.

“You seem familiar, but I don’t know you. Pops knew you. Something in his eyes when he stood there.” He didn't wait for me to speak or respond.

“Then being in our woods. That’s a lie isn’t it?” The voice paused again, and time seemed to slip by. “Because you’re out here in our woods, with two items of silver. You don’t look for an elf with silver.”

Another blink of time.

“Why are you really out here?” The last bit was hostile and almost joking. “You gonna to sleep forever, Princess?”

I jerked awake with a start, worried about how much time had passed. Quickly I scrambled for my focus, trying to figure out how far away the target had gotten. Yesterday it had been within easy distance to the west as if the elf had been walking slowly to let me catch up.

Only now it was far, far to the north and more than a few days away. Two days had vanished during my last time warp. Had it happened again? Already? The wounds under my makeshift bandages had healed. I bundled up the torn fabrics and put them into a pocket of my duffle.

The elf was too far way to get a proper fix. Trying for another weird spirit conversation was out as well. If the wolf was anywhere around and still watching then I might be able to ask him.

My choices boiled down to heading north after the elf. Heading west where I’d felt the elf a few days ago. Or going east and heading home, which meant starving unless I walked through the night.

“Hell.” I muttered and hefted my bag over a shoulder. Half a day’s walk was closer than all the other options. I might find some sort of clue. Maybe even a freeway. Perhaps the elf had hitched a ride north. That must be it, there was a freeway or road close. Maybe he had found a bike and peddled.

Wilderness was never completely quiet, but there was a sort of stillness in my immediate area. Like everything hushed for a moment as I passed through. Nature’s collective breath released as soon as my feet moved far enough away.

A few hours later I found the road. Too bad it was barely that. The path couldn’t have been wide enough to fit two cars at the same time. One direction wove through trees and faded into the distance. That was the direction I turned for.

Near high noon, I started getting too hungry to concentrate. Early hunger pains and dizzy spells were tolerable. Now it was getting near impossible. Things blurred, the world tilted uncontrollably. Stupid, stupid me. Food had always been an issue.

I stopped, set my bag down and dug through for anything that might be useful. A knife, sure, I could skin an animal. There was fluid for starting a small fire to cook. Nothing in here would serve as a snare. Trapping was a skill I had never learned. Daniel would know. He was a Scout.

Could I use my other senses to find something? Not a deer, though my hunger would probably see me through a good portion, but something smaller. A rabbit, hopefully a fully plump one getting ready for winter. The idea of meat set my mouth watering. I sat down and was trying to flip that mental switch.

This area was mine. I owned it.

No.

Not mine. I couldn’t picture myself as a forest creature. I wasn’t a wolf, wasn’t an elf, just human. Granted an odd one, but nothing special enough to fit in out here. I felt amazingly out my depth. The only thing that had helped me focus was a simple mission of ‘Hunt the elf’. My head rattled side to side. Negative thoughts, disbelief, those things were useless. I had to reset my thinking and start over. There was something closer I could focus on instead. An entire bag of belongings.

The pack was dumped out in shaky desperation. Leftover scraps from my shirt were strewn about quickly. Miscellaneous contents gained new homes under bushes and next to tree trunks. What little wood lore I possessed told me the smell would probably scare wildlife off. In my mind, there was a faint memory being roused. A hint on how to get food. Perhaps providence would be with me.

My things, my stuff in this area. It was my area now by virtue of a smattering of belongings. A home. A temporary stay. Two nights passed out on these woods. Slowly things clicked.

World is dim. Unfocused. Vibrations weak. Mind tries to unwind. Feel tangle of brush, leaves curl against each other. Diffuse trees, tops dim. Too far. Packed dirt of the logging trail. Low branches weighed down by discarded armor. Wires wrapped around trunks.

This was extremely tenuous. Nearby a low growl shattered everything. The growl switched to a male voice shouting.

“What the hell are you doing?” His words were hard to understand past the hunger. It was probably the same person as earlier.

“Hunting?” I said.

“No, you weren’t. You were doing something.” My head hurt too much to argue with some cocky wolf.

“Either find me dinner or shut it.”

“Excuse me?” The former fuzzball asked.

“I’m very hungry, help or shut up.” I tried to emphasize the very. Getting close to violent and hungry.

“I’m not paid to help you, princess.”

It took the last bit of my sanity to shove my response deep down where it wouldn’t get me in trouble. If I wasn’t so hungry. If I hadn’t been so deep into pack lands. If I didn’t have other shit to do.

I went back to what I was trying to do before he showed up. It was a slightly quicker connection the second time. All my senses switched to looking for food.

Hungry. Life everywhere. Plants. Thready. Roots reach down. Worms wiggle. Disgusting. Birds fluff and stare around. Too little. No meat. Pathetic. Tiny wings. Something moves. Fat. Pauses in confusion. Fur stands out against the air. Moving closer. It’s nearby. Not as hard to see. Dinner. Easily mine, hunger makes it mine.

The connection grew stronger as I focused. This was not on a link like when I was tracking. My mind was honing in on the concept that this living breathing meal was mine. The more I thought about it the hungrier I grew and the easier it was to see it.

Back shudders. Body unfurls. Feels good. Burning travels from skull to waist. Muscles long dormant, finally being used. Feel shoulder blades tense up. Mental arms spread. Cowering tiny furry creature. It feels me. Can’t see me. Doesn’t run. Starts moving towards my body. As if herded. Not controlled. Doing what is expected. Obeying the will of my hunger. Presenting itself. Prostrating.

Closer still. Within arms reach. I didn’t even hesitate, my hands lashed out and twisted. Only a second passed before the life collapsed out of its broken body. Those extra senses collapsed inward, satisfied that my hunger would be solved.

“What the fuck did you do?” The voice was back again, only this time there was more to it then the judgmental tone.

The dead rabbit and I had no answer. How had I known to try in the first place?

“I said what the hell did you just do?” The voice was demanding. My watcher took a step closer. Naked, of course, damned wolves didn’t seem to consider wearing clothes a requirement half the time.

“I have no idea.” I said.

“Tell me what that was.” He was demanding answers like I had some to give. Like I had sat in the middle of the wilderness and called for animals before like some sort of delivery pizza.

Had I?

The wolf, whoever it was, turned and shifted in a hurry then all but bolted into the woods. No doubt going to report on my actions. Wolves may share a communal bond, but it wasn’t as good as a cell phone. Smart packs kept pants somewhere back near the tree line, and a phone in a plastic baggie.

Not knowing what else to do, I set about lamely trying to skin the poor meal that had offered itself to me. The meat was edible, but no hamburger. Both hands hovered over the burning fire, soaking in welcome heat as it burned out. Now I knew starving wasn’t an issue. In fact that charred rabbit had been better than most meals I had ever eaten.

How long had I been out here? Two days? Three? I couldn’t very well justify my time with this little tidbit. Kahina would be furious at the extended absence. Returning home would also put me at odds with Julianne. Women were hard for me to deal with. Best not come back empty handed.

Hell.

Northward it was, towards the elf. My pace was slow and steady along the dilapidated road. Running would exhaust me. Soon I would be close enough to call on that elf again. My thoughts started getting choppy in delirium.

Rain hit towards afternoon. I kept trying my senses while traveling, checking for food. By nightfall, I was out of lighter fluid, soaked, angry, and a little unnerved. My mind replayed the most recent events as I walked. Tracking I remembered. Physically boosting myself was a familiar sensation from youthful times. Talking elves while I tracked was odd but within reason. They theoretically saw an entire spectrum that humans couldn’t. This new thing, calling a wild creature to me, then killing it. A chance encounter with vampirism in my childhood didn’t explain that ability or the Lord title.

Hunger, exhaustion, neither one helped me when trying to concentrate and track the elf. Both things changed my max range. Desperation and days of wandering in the woods pushed me to poor choices. My mind stretched out, chasing the ghostly link between the hair and the person it used to belong to.

Landscape passes by. Trees. More trees. Even more trees. Each different. Each the same. Wind ripples their tops, an ocean of spirits sway. Fog looms ahead. Perceptions edge. Ghostly, firm in its denial. Elven thread goes in. Doesn’t come out. Feels tired.

Should I try to breach the boundary of my mind’s senses? No, there were enough stories about astral projection gone wrong. My research into the so-called psychic realms concluded that pushing the mind was dangerous. While I have never met a human psychic, there had been plenty of vampires with little abilities. They kept an open library because anyone with a hint of ability was sponsored for conversion.

Circular thinking was starting to irk me. This Lord thing. If I wasn’t an elf, wasn’t a wolf, what else was there beyond vampirism? Everything else had been killed during the Purge.

I released the connection by discarding possession over the blond lock of hair. Calling this journey quits felt appealing. There was a rustle in the trees near me, and a click. Pain lanced through my body while I jerked spastically. A squirrel chittering sound barely proceeded the second click. My nerves jangled around and I had no control. A vicious one on one battle between the ground and my face ensued.

I lost.

Chapter 6 – A Few Times

“Rise and shine, Princess.” A mocking voice was repeating itself. Each time accompanied by a light backhand to the face. I was starting to hate waking up even more than I already did. “He’s finally coming to.”

“Check the bindings.” A second voice, from further away.

“They’re solid.” The first one said.

Both arms were bound behind me and my legs tied together. They had me trussed up, all that was missing was the fire and roasting pole. Both eyes watered as I tried to speak. Bastards had taped my mouth shut. There was also a blindfold across my eyes. The open air mixed with splashes of sunshine told me I was in the back of the vehicle. Our ride was noisy and bounced around from ditches in the road. Beneath me, I could feel the rows of bumps that went with a truck bed.

I checked my bearings against home. We were headed south, towards my apartment and away from my target. That made the last few days of my life pointless. Hopefully, my stuff was with me. The cross hung under my shirt, but my duffle bag wasn’t obvious. I would be pissed if a return trip to the depths of those woods was required.

A firm hand gripped under my jaw, squeezing painfully.

“How’s your hearing, nod if you understand me.” A male voice said.

I nodded.

“Yeah, he’s awake.”

This whole mess was turning into some sort of karmic revenge. Now I was being kidnapped. Normally things didn’t work that way. Struggling was useless with this setup. Maybe they would explain. Worst case they might hit me with that chittering item again. Even money said it was a taser.

I mumbled through the tape a bit. Maybe he understood ‘where are we going?’ in muffled tones.

“He’s trying to talk, what do you think?”

“Remove it, not like he can yell for help out here.” The man in the back of the truck chuckled, then yanked the tape off, leaving my face sore. I licked my lips slowly, hoping they hadn’t cracked. Torn hairs wasn’t an issue, five days of camping had resulted in zero beard growth. Genetics were against me on that front.

“Where are we going?”

“You’re being evicted for loitering.”

“Maybe north instead? The elf is that way.” It would be too much to hope that they would get me closer to my destination.

“Negative, orders are you exit where you came in.” The other voice, from inside the truck. It sounded like he was yelling out through a tiny sliding door.

“And the blindfold?” Or duct tape. Being electrocuted was unpleasant. Trussing. Lack of an eviction notice. An endless list of complaints passed through my head.

“For our protection. No need to let a tracker get anything on us in case they entertain thoughts of petty revenge.” One of the men said.

At least they were taking me out the quick way. If they trussed and blindfolded me through three days of woods I might have to shoot myself. Fucking elves. Why couldn’t they hide in a run down apartment a few blocks away? Why did they always run into the deepest tree line they could find?

“At least you’re civil.” Was my final response.

“Sure, we’re not inhuman.”

I didn’t need the blindfold removed to hear his mocking smile at that comment. There was another clicking noise and blackness overtook me. In hindsight, it was probably a good thing that I hadn’t had much to eat or drink for three days. Coming to the second time was much more pleasant. They had propped me upright and any traces of drool I had must have been wiped clean.

Breakfast was the first thing I noticed. The food smelled overwhelmingly sweet. Buttered up pancakes with bottled syrup slathered all over them. Next to that was a pile of eggs with melted cheese and diced onions. A fork full of food was in my mouth before the man sitting across from me even registered.

He looked familiar, at least from the neck up. The waist downward was confusing but welcome. This time, the man was clothed. Graying pieces of hair combined with a sun-worn face had painted an identical picture of the man from the forest. An older fellow who had held my life in his hands.

“Keep eating.” He nodded at the food in front of me.

I made it a personal challenge to devour the food. Minutes later a woefully empty plate sat between us. We stared at each other for a while before I sighed and shifted in my chair. The man was so upright in his posture it made me want either slouch as an attempt to balance, or sit up straighter.

“Eviction?” I broke the silence first.

“I had a few of my boys scout the area ahead and behind you the entire way. There was no elf.” The older man was calm.

“There was one, trust me, I would never have gone into those woods otherwise,” I said.

“I don’t trust you, Jay, never have. Never will. Boy like you works in entirely the wrong business.” He spoke calmly. From my peripherals, it was obvious this older man was staring at me.

“How do you know me?”

“Know of, Jay, know of. Very few trackers in the world. Just as rare on both sides of the law.” Daniel had told me before that the number of trackers in this sector fit on one hand. Out of those he only had reliable access to one. Go me.

“Mmmhh,” I said.

“The boys can’t handle a man like you in our woods for long. They get upset.”

I studied the man again, crossed my arms and leaned back. There was an impression that our paths had crossed at least once. I could honestly say we had never met before a few nights ago. At least not to my memory.

“Where are you going with this?” I asked.

“Keep your nose out of my trees.”

“Fine.” The elf was too deep for me. I would have to look again once I finished with this man. Whatever it was he was hiding, or protecting, could sit there and rot for all I cared. It wasn’t worth pissing off a pack of wolves. It also wasn’t worth asking about, or I might start getting nosy.

The other man stood up to leave.

“Who am I thanking for breakfast?” Now was a good time as any to fish for a name. The older figure didn’t smile, didn’t nod, didn’t even give me half a smirk.

“Not me, your money paid for it.”

A twenty laid on the table over the bill, enough to cover the food I scarfed down, and the orange juice the other man had drank. By the time I realized what he meant there was no chance of following him. My duffle bag was sitting calmly by the table. I scanned through it briefly and found they left my things alone and in one place. Outside the restaurant was a working pay phone. I pulled out Daniel’s phone number from the card he had given me. My head hung against the rain cover for a minute before dialing my friend.

“Agent Daniel Crumfield speaking.” Crisp, no hint of the surfer accent.

“It’s secret agent Jay Fields.”

“Hey man, hold on.” There it was. Professional Daniel switched to old friend Daniel in four words.

The phone grew muffled for a moment, but I could hear a softened set of words. It sounded like he was asking someone to stay still. Maybe, hard to hear through a hand. There was another noise in the background I could almost place. A sound that was extremely familiar to me, but was out of place when I pictured Daniel. The world’s noisiest door creaked through the phone then slammed shut.

“Alright, hard to hear myself think in there.”

“Been there,” I said.

“Anyway, man, welcome back to earth, what’s the word? You’ve been off the grid for awhile.” He sounded hopeful. Too bad I was about to dash that.

“Had a lead. Didn’t work.” Admitting to my friend exactly what happened was out. I’d ditched him to chase an elf, then failed miserably.

“Anything I can help with?”

“No. Unless you’re willing to take on a pack,” I answered. There was a pause of held breath.

“Maybe, man. What are we working with?” Daniel said. It was my turn to pause while I considered exactly to say. Last time we spoke I had been trying to escape from the agent. My clever brain said sneaking away to follow an elf would be worthwhile. The whole Lord prospect had grown rather difficult to look into.

“Not sure. Probably nothing. Your elf has gone a ways north, over sixty miles or so.” I said. Daniel deserved some information.

“North?” He asked.

“North. A lot of woods out that way.” There was a clever comment about needles and haystacks, which wasn’t that hard compared to elves in a forest.

“No shit.”

My recent experiences had stirred up wariness. This entire thing was in a realm that felt dangerous. Playing on the freeway scary. Nagging in the back of my brain said it could only get worse. One hand scratched at a wrist absently.

“I’m going to catch a bus home,” I said.

“I’ll be done soon if you want a ride back.” There was a snap of rubber in the background, like gloves coming off.

“You sure?” My words were hesitant.

“Don’t worry, I can wrap up this job anytime I want to, man. I’m only working my resources on another case.” Daniel sounded upset, or pleased. The two emotions were hard for me to tell apart.

The way he spoke stirred up strange imagery. Spying on Daniel with my abilities hadn’t been a good idea for years. We had been friends long enough that he almost knew when I tried. Still, I got a flash of him standing there, a fresh hand towel in one hand, wiping the blood off his fingers while sighing.

Nonsense. Daniel worked for Western Sector, but he was a desk jockey, not a field agent. That scene was more my world than his. Sometimes people didn’t pay. Sometimes a gentle reminder was needed to solve things. Julianne hadn’t given me anything big since I had returned, she seemed to be testing the waters.

I gave the agent my location. Then my bag and I went to find a bathroom and change out of some well-worn clothes. An hour later Daniel rolled up and honked. His clothes were as spotless as ever, and despite my mental ramblings I couldn’t help but check over for spots of blood. Nothing stood out against the black suit.

“Tell me about elves, because this makes no sense.” I started.

“You know as much as anyone. We’re all in the same sector, half of us are raised down the street from a clan.”

“This one isn’t right.” I protested. Daniel paused to consider a few things.

“Well, it’s not normal, no,” He admitted.

“You got anything on this guy?”

“Maybe. What set you off, man? Then I’ll know where to start.” He said. Give a little to get a little, right? I mulled it over from the back seat, the front was perpetually crowded by files and Daniel’s computer.

“Feels off. Any government trackers ever tried elves?” I settled on being vague.

“A few times.” He said.

“Problems?”

“A few times.” Came the answer a second time.

“Maybe it’s like those.”

“I’ll have to see if I can get a look at the files, but management may wonder why I’m looking into tracker files for this. Your call if you want me to risk it.” Daniel offered. I could feel his finger rubbing carefully back and forth on the steering wheel. My thoughts were elsewhere.

If other Sector members thought Daniel had access to a tracker then I would be subject to undesired attention. That tactic was completely out. I did not want to deal with any sort of catch up paperwork or jail time. Not once they started piecing my history together.

“No thanks. I’ll stay anonymous.”

“Thought you might.” I could see Daniel’s smirk in the rear view mirror. Jerk probably thought my aversion to being tracked by the government was funny. With my ass sitting in a government car, with a government agent, on a government case. Maybe there was some silliness there.

The things I do for friends.

“Anyway, I’ll look around, quietly, see if there’s anything off about this guy. But if you don’t like the results, remember-” I joined him as he parroted his favorite saying, the one he used when things were out of his immediate control. “-don’t shoot the messenger.” He smiled at the end of it, but it practically seemed forced. “Anyway, man, I’ll look.”

I nodded. “Please, nothing about this seems normal.”

“Man, you said that weeks ago, but the entire case is like that. You should see some of the stuff in the file.” He said.

“I thought he was only some rich kid?”

“Rich young man, but no, there’s always more.” Daniel pulled out a folder and shook it at me.

“Like?” I asked. The folder in his hands meant jack to me. Too many words. Too much data hurt my head to read.

“What else? His parents blamed a cult that doesn’t exist.” Daniel said.

“Officially or unofficially doesn’t exist?”

“Well you know us government types, we like to hide the interesting things from each other. The file and databases come up dead, therefore I’m hoping doesn’t exist period.”

“A cult, seriously?”

“Probably not. Cults typically attract people with certain personalities, operate in sects, have a charismatic leader. That kind of stuff. Plus I doubt they’d let me keep this case if it was a real cult.” There was some anger in his voice at that. Like Daniel resented not being good enough for the big jobs.

“Why’s that?” I regretted asking right away.

“Some old geezer upstairs would be printing the case file on goose feathers for a fuck pillow, they have a real hard on for that stuff.” Daniel snuck the mental image into my brain before I could escape.

“Hell. I can’t believe your mind.”

“What, man? You think the foul minds of the world only live in the ghettos and seedy strip clubs? This is reality, there’s fucked up shit on every block.” He responded.

I had to give him that. Daniel smirked again and kept on driving. My mind was already elsewhere. Maybe I could try another route with my questioning. There were a few elves frequenting the bar lately. They might answer an idle question or two. One hand absently scratched at my wrist. I caught Daniel staring and just shrugged. He frowned but said nothing.

Chapter 7 – It Always Gets Worse

The next day I braved the outside world. Julianne caught me halfway across the parking lot to the bar. It was one of the few times we had run into each other outside. The abrupt closeness made looking down her blue tank top nearly impossible to avoid. A quick step backward on my part barely avoided the reaction. She slapped me, hard, and that worked as a distraction. I rubbed at my jaw but didn’t question it.

“That’s for me. Kahina will get hers later.” Julianne said. My mind scrambled to keep up with the conversation already underway and not to think about a black lacy bra.

“Why? I left a message.”

“That’s only a few sentences up from last time, and I’m pretty sure she’ll chain you up then drag you home.” It wouldn’t be the first time. The girl was strong, and I had been enamored, or drunk. I snorted in amusement until the serious look on Julianne’s face wore at my humor.

“That bad huh?”

“I swear to God, you’re so dense sometimes.”

“Hell, if I knew her number I would have called her,” I said.

“Did ya ever consider asking her?” Julianne responded.

That made me pause and try to figure out anytime in the past where I had asked. Not a single moment came up. In fact, Kahina had always taken care of that stuff and more. She put her number in my old cell phone, showed up at nightfall, picked our dates. It was the story of our relationship, practically decided for me before I looked up. Something about Kahina and her possessive factor scared away other females.

Back then I hadn’t argued, now every time my brain considered hooking up with her again pain flared in my neck.

“No, I never asked.”

“Exactly, dumb ass, there’s a lotta things you ‘don’t ask’. Maybe life would be easier if you just asked.” She poked a finger into my stomach on the last few words, then stormed off.

Kahina. Dealing with her had always been a give and take relationship. Orders, demands, frequent and astounding sex. Male that I was, as long as I got the latter, I complied with the former. Then she wanted to take the next step, to make me an addition to her world. Vampire engagement, moving to marriage after a full conversion. A blood bond almost always lead to sponsorship.

Her sponsor was a highly ranked vampire. Her survival had a greater chance of making it through, and I would follow in her wake. Immortality had sounded nice when I was twenty something. Plus with her it wouldn’t come with the exorbitant fees that mainstream changes might require. That night, the first bite that she had actually given me, things went haywire, enough that I had hightailed it across the continent.

Four years later and Kahina was still possessive. Then I vanish again for a week? She must have freaked. It was a wonder she didn’t have my apartment staked out with some daylight minions or something. Maybe she did, I hadn’t exactly been in top shape last night.

That departure hadn’t hurt only Kahina. Julianne never said anything, but there were reasons she provided me scrub jobs. I was a different man. Broken. Tired. Whatever edge I had was so rusted it was depressing. Not like back when the world had been at my fingertips half a decade ago. Julianne was right, some things would be better if I asked. I shook my head, blocking the thoughts out again. My mind was rambling and only one thing solved that, alcohol.

Luckily there was a place that helped across the parking lot. I shouldn’t drink where I work, but it killed two birds with one stone. Besides, I wasn’t going for blackout levels, just a light, cheerful buzz.

A few hours later, after Julianne had me move around tables because one of the girls was pregnant, I had managed to stuff down a few drinks. Next week she would have me changing the curtains and redoing ironwork in the windows that passed for decor.

The iron helped prevent the glass from being shattered every time someone got out of hand. Some might think all the property damage came from the wolves or vampires, but ninety percent of the time it was a straight human.

“It’s getting worse.” Came a whisper of conversation that I didn’t manage to tune out.

“It always gets worse.” A female voice answered. It sounded frighteningly serious.

“Isn’t there anything that helps?”

“Timing is everything.”

The pair of voices belonged to the Umbrella Drink elf and Tattooed Eyes. Whatever their names were. He was less shabby than the last few times. The addiction driving him must be under far better control.

She had a hand on his shoulder as he shuddered and counted out coins from a pocket. Coins, again. Julianne shoveled them off the counter and poured out a drink. Beer, olive, polka dotted umbrella, three ice cubes, and a splash of soda.

I wasn’t watching him, though. I was watching her, she had the same dark shades, but no hat, and next to nothing on below the belt either. The dress was high enough that nearly anyone who gave her a once over could tell exactly how well shaped her entire leg was. Her top had three layers of shirts, carefully pulled down to display a rainbow pattern.

Playful, excessive flirt, party going and prone to one night stands when drunk. She dressed like that kind of girl. Her demeanor didn’t match. Her face was pinched, worried. The pose of both hands were protective. That thin frame tried to screen the male elf from another patron sitting too close. I had never seen such a set of mixed signals.

The male counted out his pile of coins then got his hands around a second drink. The shaking settled almost as soon as he was done counting out the change. It was subtle, but he glanced around to figure out if he was being watched. Julianne had already moved on, and I think I may have been the only person in the room dumb enough to stare for more than a few seconds.

His eyes traveled my direction. I didn’t even flinch, we were nearly on first name terms after three times of observing his ritual. He jerked upright and stormed towards the door. Anger flashed across his face while passing my stool.

She started for the exit as well. The walk, her sway, a lingering gaze, everything had synced up with her ensemble’s message. Flirty. Almost leering.

I was drunk but not so drunk I could imagine that look. She was sizing me up for all positions two people could share. Imagining that was beyond my current blood alcohol level. I raised an eyebrow back and she lifted her glasses and winked again as she went past. Now, there was an elf I might be able to get an answer out of. Perhaps something else. Me and Kahina hadn’t exactly renewed the lease on our relationship.

Hell. What time was it? My arm itched almost in time with the thought. Thinking of Kahina summoned up vague memories of the past. This room. This bar counter. The table across the room. Her face flashed across my mind in a million places and blurred out almost as quick.

Alcohol had both damned and blessed me. The reign I kept on my abilities was failing. I was hunched over my drink, relishing the numbing liquid that prevented me from feeling too much. For all the good it did. Every ounce of Julianne’s bar was familiar. The bar wasn’t mine, yet it was. I protected this place for years. Every fixture, ding, and crack was familiar.

And no amount of mental fog could block her out completely.

I noticed the heels first. Felt the tiny chime ring out. A familiar weight pressed against floorboards. Female curves displaced the air. I tensed as an absurdly tall frame traveled across the room towards me. Peppermint preceded her by mere moments. Kahina.

“Who was she, Catnip? A blonde tart?” Peppermint and vanilla words whispered near by. “She seemed quite interested in you.”

“She’s no one.” My words were mumbled into a bar counter.

“And yet, you know who I meant. Are you sure she’s no one?” I kept both eyes forward and focused on trying to read the bottles across the way.

“Sure, I’m sure.”

“I won’t have uninvited guests in our bed, Catnip.” She said. Each word bit at my senses with a flash of longing fangs.

“It’s not our bed anymore.” Liquid courage helped dangerous words pass my lips.

“It never stopped being our bed.” The words were hushed and hard to focus on. “You are mine, Catnip, mine and no one else’s.” Her voice strode off to the thump of clicking heels.

I dared to raise my eyes to the mirror and looked around the bar. No one was present. Even turning around slowly didn’t reveal any answers. Kahina’s slender form had exited the building as quickly as it came.

She hadn’t left our conversation at that. My walk home revealed another present. Wrapped around the doorknob of my apartment was a small purple ribbon. Her reminder. Her color. Her claim. I left it there. Maybe the wind would unravel the memento and carry it away.

Chapter 8 – Live for This

Daniel called later that week and left a message on my prepaid phone. Listening to the message was impossible until I paid for more time. A day later an angry ginger showed up on my doorstep. His flushed skin an awkward counterpoint to the black suit. My entire world had been in a mood since Kahina staked her claim, and Daniel’s nonsense was unwelcome.

He started talking and I cut him off.

“Headed for a walk. If you want to talk, feel free to join.” I motioned with my head to the west. I was going to wander to a park a few miles away.

He shelved a forming reply and fell into step.

A block later I dared ask. “Lost elf still?”

“Fuck yes, man, I need you on this. I can follow leads, gain information, put pressure on people, but I can’t fucking track.” The agent responded.

“Figure out those wolves?”

“No, I got stonewalled by paperwork nightmare just trying to get my request to the pack Alpha’s pile. They got too much shit to worry about for me to go that route. Their whole labor relations situation is getting worse.” Daniel’s fingers were combing through strands of shortened hair. His face tilted forward and eyes had no focus. “I’ll put the screws to them yet, though, if that’s what you need.”

“I don’t think the elf has left those woods.” It was hard to tell from this far away. My attempts at tracking over the last few days all pointed to the same location. There hadn’t been any variance in the directional pull.

“Christ.” The agent’s hands clenched in frustration. “I don’t even need the stupid elf. I need Arnold.”

“Arnold is probably dead.” I reminded Daniel, again, that it was pointless to look for Arnold.

“No, he can’t be dead, not entirely. Either way that elf will know.”

“Not entirely?” I stopped my walk and stared at Daniel. He kept on marching with my old pace. It took him a moment to realize I was no longer keeping up.

“Look, I can get you in, and distract them. I’ll order an airlift or something. If you’re willing. ” He offered as he walked back to me.

What did he actually want? Why would he want to go against a pack? It wasn’t happening on my end. Maybe years ago when things were easier for me. When my mind let me maintain that perception of the world. One that let me feel everything around me.

“Not now, not up for it.” The safe bet was to wash my hands of the whole thing. Daniel wasn’t forthcoming and I didn’t want to know.

“Why not? This is the perfect in. A solution to our whole mess.” I blinked. Daniel put a lot of weight on this reward being worth all this stress. “And there was a time you enjoyed the challenge. You’d wade into the pile and come out the other end looking like you’d rolled in barbed wire. Then there’d be that stupid grin plastered across your face.”

I chuckled a little but had no answer. There had been a time where the worse the odds were, the more enjoyable it was. Imagined feelings of crushing small armies had fueled a battle lust. All of it based on my abilities. Ones that barely functioned against two untalented partial vampires.

“Did your time away leave you empty? You used to live for this.” Daniel tried again, anger turning into disappointment. I didn’t answer and walked past the agent. Moments later I heard his feet traveling away.

My cheek tucked inward. Days had passed in a haze. Kahina’s claim. Unknown aspects of my abilities. Familiar faces that couldn’t be remembered clearly. Important things had happened and I couldn’t remember what. Had my near death experience changed who I was that drastically?

Absently I scratched one arm and tried to figure out the next step.

Chapter 9 – Blood-Bonded Male

For the next five days, I stayed sober. A record that hopefully would never be repeated. I didn’t see Kahina or Daniel, and even Julianne was scarce. I kept my routine of exercise, odd jobs, and wandering the city. Some nights I would find myself on the far end staring down the midnight highway. Other nights involved wandering through parks and forests, trying for that sense that had called a rabbit to me. The closest I came was a possum and two stray cats, none of which actually got close enough to be conclusive. Maybe it was a fluke that I managed that stuff in the forest. Or desperation mixed with hunger.

Walking through a busy part of town was disconcerting. Sometimes I forget how many humans there are in the world. My point of view had me constantly running into others, wolves and vampires mostly. Sometimes elves, those I met rarely stood around letting me ask questions. Normal people, those without blazingly repressed instincts, avoided me.

When I walked around town, people crossed the street to the far side. Another reason to like non-humans. They didn’t all shy away. I’m not the hugging sort, in fact, I rather enjoyed that normals avoided me. But even naturally intimidating guys needed a conversation now and then.

Day six brought me back to the bar as a simple patron. I wasn’t one of those people who played sports every weekend. No city teams, no Friday nights at the strip club, no shooting range or sparring matches to unwind pressure. Just me, the bar counter, and whatever it was that Julianne was able to slap together with a flick of her hands.

I had been watching Julianne go through the motions to start up a conversation for an hour. All the signs were there. Brief but worried glances, momentary pauses, a half opened mouth that clamped shut again.

“You alright?” Her question disturbed the personal time between me and a magically refilling glass.

“I’m in a rut.” My glass was depressive and empty.

Julianne was sneaking me refills to butter me up for something. Enough had shown up in front of me that it seemed magical. I did an imaginary toast to my rapidly elevating bar tab before a drink.

“Go do something about it.” She offered.

“Like what? You aren't exactly giving me anything entertaining. Rounds? Please, I used to find the big boys.” My talent made me akin to a laser guided missile.

“Honestly? You’re not ready for real jobs.” Julianne loaded up another few drinks which I eyed. My face slipped into a goofy half-grin as I picked out my first victim.

“Why? I find things no problem. Found blond boy before Daniel walked off with him. Found that list of houses you gave me. Doing just fine.” My hands tightened around the glass. Only liquid problem solver inside it prevented me from crushing the container in irritation.

“I don’t know, Jeff, you feel off. It feels as if something happened while you were gone. When you ran off you lost something.”

Great, Daniel noticed, she noticed, I noticed. Even Kahina had said something smelled off about me.

“I didn’t lose anything. Saved myself.”

“From what? You had a good thing going, a good job. Kept things quiet and controlled when I asked, noisy when it was needed. Kahina was there. What the fornication drove you away?” Julianne asked. She had gotten me drunk enough that answering didn’t seem to be a terrible idea. It should have, and part of my brain knew it was, but the words slipped out anyway.

“It’s pretty straight forward. We had great sex as a warm up, she went to bite me and turn me into a blood-bonded male.” Me, eternal mate material, laughable. “Then she flipped out!”

My drink sloshed around for emphasis. A drink I hadn’t quite emptied into my mouth. Instead it ended up on the counter in small little cream and cinnamon colored patches.

“Hell, sorry.” I said.

She handed me a towel to clean up my own mess. Unfortunately the task was trickier than I thought. Repeated near misses ensued. Failure resulted in a depressed slump onto her counter. My head was getting far too heavy to hold up.

“How exactly did she flip out, Jeff?”

“Eyes wild, fangs out, all the signs.” My brain was having trouble linking the words together in correct order.

“You know that’s not unusual, Jeff. She’s been this side of full vamp for years.” Julianne said.

“Sure, until you count that she basically started digging for more.” I could still feel Kahina rooting in my neck with those razors she called teeth.

“Shit.” The tiny bartender actually looked upset.

“Nope, only blood, blood, blood, blood.” I swung the small nearly empty glass around in time to the word. “Blood.” I clanked it down and waited for the magic trick where it was refilled before my eyes.

“You sure she wasn’t just overly excited about the blood?”

“Let’s say we needed a safety word, she became ravenous.” I responded happily.

“Maybe she really wanted to turn you? That girl’s in love bad.” Julianne shuffled around again while trying to find a reasonable explanation.

“It wasn’t romance, it was hunger.” I shoved the idea away along with a leftover glass. One of the many drunks around me had forgotten to clean up after themselves upon leaving.

“For real?” She asked.

“Yep!” Which was about ten times beyond what should have happened. Vampires rarely drank blood in public. Those ones never lost control. Their existence as a race depended on keeping civil.

Blood was, in theory, good, but not mind-blowing.

“That’s a little excessive, isn’t it?” I couldn’t tell if Julianne was talking about Kahina’s behavior, or the amount of liquor I had gone through tonight. My magical glass refilled though and that’s all that mattered.

“Did I mention she chased me around the room? If there had been more sex involved I might have been down for it,” That’s was a lie, I would, no might involved. “But there wasn’t.”

“What?”

“Like a damned bottled drink,” I was lost in my rambling. “Chased me around screaming and going on about how I was holding out on her. That I was the one, the best.”

“Jeff.” Julianne was trying to snap me out of it.

“That I was hers and she’d never let anyone else have me. Ever.” I drank down the latest glass.

“Jeff!” A short Indian woman stamping her foot might be cute to some. I was in a place beyond paying attention, though.

“Then I ran, freaked out and ran. Thought she was going to kill me. Then I’d be gone, gone, gone.” I shook the still empty glass around again in a pale echo of my blood, blood, blood chant. “Gone.”

“Jay, Jeff.” Both my go by names, but Julianne seemed calmer this time. She leaned over the counter to pull my hand and the swinging glass down. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” God her hands were warm.

“It’s not exactly like I could file a report.”

“Why not?” The tiny bartender asked.

“Because I don’t exist in the eyes of the government, or in the pack Alpha's eyes, or in the Tribunal or The Council. Fuck ‘em, it was easier to leave and hope she calmed down.” Humans, wolves, vampires, and elves, each one having their own version of a bureaucracy. It involved paper, registration, and being tracked and scanned. “Once I left, it was easier to stay gone.”

“You could have told me sooner, I might have been able to do something.”

“Oh yeah, what?” I over emphasized the question, my head rebounding a little from the movement. Julianne stared at me for a second and tried to puzzle out what to do. Good luck to her, four years hadn’t done me any good. Kahina wasn’t high on my list of people to get back into a relationship with. Not if she planned on round two of trying to crack me open to get to the good stuff.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll settle for a refill.” The glass had stopped performing its magic somewhere during my rant. Julianne didn’t give me a final round and stayed quiet the rest of the night. I staggered out. They conspired to run me out of town, now they were denying me alcohol. Sisters before Misters.

I made it halfway and passed out on the hood of someone’s car. Strangely it was one of the most peaceful nights I had in a long time. Even counting random visions of Kahina’s hungry red irises staring out in the darkness.

Morning light woke me by baking one side of my face. Things swung from content and relaxed to an angry attention demanding headache. I grumbled the entire way back to my hideaway and opened the door.

Once inside I attempted to block out every shred of light in the place. Getting back to sleep while things were intensely bright would be hard to achieve. Hazily all I could remember was Julianne’s words. Lost my edge? Left something behind?

Fine. I could do something about that. I would do something. Something really clever.

In between naps and spurts of clearing out the carefully packed storage room, I found some tools that could be used. I squirreled away a bunch of silver, an absurd amount beyond what anyone in their right mind would need. Entire factories were dedicated to recycling and reusing this stuff, and it wasn’t cheap.

Could I rewind the clock? Go back to what I had been? Self assured, strong, in charge of myself. Recovering that lost sense of self would restore the status quo. The best solution available was beating someone up. I had been rather good at it once upon a time. Extremely good, with the right tools and things stacked in my favor.

One night I held it all, a girl, a job that was enjoyable, money, home. Then true fear sent me packing. Coward. I had never run from a fight. No, my job was to start them, fleeing had damaged my entire self-perception.

First I needed to reawaken the possessive instinct that kept me aware of everything around me. This stupid plan would blow up in my face if I didn’t have that edge.

Staring out the back window wasn’t helping. Neither was trying to massage a headache that still lingered. A cold shower had only cleared a few cobwebs. My clothes were half dirty and the floor was dusty from where I shuffled around.

Cleaning the apartment was useful. I went several steps further, trimming my hair, sweeping the porch, putting piles of trash right outside my front door. Each change restoring order to my world. It took a good portion of the day but soon I was left with a nearly pristine living space.

Mental clarity wasn’t as easy. My prior personality had been built, one block at a time, over a decade. One moment had spun through like a natural disaster and sent it all crashing down. How on earth does a person shift their thought process around completely? No one could undo the past.

Kahina’s blood madness, my abilities, Daniel’s search for an elf, each item a puzzle piece. The center was still missing. I would start with this Lord situation.

A modified set of gloves sat on a shelf. It was a nastier version of the silver covered knuckles. Short, stocky claws made of mixed metals for toughness. Leather hide wove around the metal molded into sharp ridges. They pulled backwards so that a fist would slice, and a backhand would rend. The underside was forged iron. Any angle of it would cause an elf or wolf serious harm. My cross and sheer physical presence would take care of the rest.

Picking them up irritated me, making the voice in my head growl. Whispering that these sorts of parlor tricks were beneath me. It would work, though. The gloves went into a jacket pocket. Only a second was needed to slip them back on.

Next I needed a mission.

“Going to need a drink, but not my usual.” I told the other girl behind the counter. She worked part time when Julianne was out.

“Sure, whatcha looking for?”

“Don’t think it has a name, but I’ll tell you what to do.” I described the drink from the nervous male elf that showed up in the bar frequently. Luckily, only Julianne served Umbrella Beer’s drinks. This bartender wouldn’t have any clue what the combination meant.

She slipped it over and asked, “On your tab?”

“Sure.” I responded. She nodded and threw the numbers into some little touch screen computer they picked up while I was gone.

A few minutes later, me and the mixed drink were sitting at the remote end of the bar, the same corner where the elf counted out change every time. Not once had he paid with anything larger than a quarter. Shame, he could save a lot of nervous counting by switching to half dollars or those golden dollar coins.

I sat in the stool and held the drink.

This elf was my prey, I was going to find him, and beat the location of Tattooed eyes out of him. She was clearly in charge, older, and more knowledgeable. The chances of her being a Speaker, like the elf who had called me a Lord, were pretty high.

Her tattooed eyes fluttered back into my brain. Tiny green dots of ivy spiraling around the outsides, thin eyebrows, large dark glasses. This drink wouldn’t link to her. It should, hopefully, in this spot and with a hand on the counter where he spilled so much change, link to him. I was holding his favorite drink after all, his weakness.

His addiction. In my hands. My hands, my seat, my fingers pressed against the counter top. Mine. I could feel it. The connection slowly spun together from the items and thoughts.

Thin, thready, loose, a terrible cord. Wouldn’t hold a newborn. Might break if grasped too hard. Carefully. Tenderly. I follow it, barely touching. Leads somewhere close.

Sweat dripped down my forehead. My fingers were shaking from the effort of trying to force this tenuous connection. Success was encouraging. I let my other thought patterns control the process, relying on their instinctual nature.

A house. Clan. Takes up four city blocks. Three story in the center. Trees even taller. Each one is vibrant. Spirits show intense care. Not sparse like the forest trees.

My eyes had seen that house, that elven block they sat in like a fortress inside of the city. Of course he wasn’t one of the sad ones that permeated the poor parts of town, this fortress was well kept. Likely the clan was somewhere in the middle rung of elven society.

Cord still tender. Fades in and out. One eye watches. Follows lead to building. I soar closer. Over wood spawned walls. Past gatekeepers. Into a window. Limbs behind me. Slows descent. Catches wind. Barely brushing frail cord.

I followed it in further, carefully controlling the possessive mind set. My hands on his drink, my hands on the counter where he passed through. My feet placed where his feet had been. His house on a street my feet had walked through. The litany flowed in the background on my thoughts. Each item that looked even remotely familiar was jumbled in. A doorknob that looked like the one at my house, a rug that looked like one I had rolled up downstairs.

They could very well be mine. Were mine. No, they are mine.

Air feels odd. Harder to move in. Thick. Swimming instead of gliding. Struggle forward. Force the connection. House is protected somehow. Still, I progress.

Bedroom. Grown rather than cut from meshed woods. Walls feel alive. Warm. Inside is worse. Harsh colored threads against the natural woodwork. Each feels foreign. Unwelcome. Some are better. Share that same sense of life the walls do. Grown fabrics. Greens, browns. Natural colors.

Clearly this was not his room. I laughed both in my mind and out loud in the bar. My senses felt the pattern of sound and transferred it over to something understandable. At least a little bit. A husky voice of an excited female.

“You’d better last longer this time.” Soft tone. Bouncy. The words cut through. Female. Try not to feel the locks of hair. Clean. Well parted. Brushed carefully, constantly. Feels too much of her. Invasive.

Tattooed Eyes the Blonde was completely naked in all her rail thin glory. The chest barely a step beyond male, but her hips all woman. Her body confirmed what I suspected, that the tattoos weren’t limited to her eyes. Thin patterning spilled down her neck and twisted over shoulders and down even further, ending on the edges of her toes. Beneath her she managed to pin the elf I was tracking. He looked beyond prissy without a stitch on. She was clearly enjoying herself. Umbrella Beer looked like a little boy trying not to blow it early.

Try not to laugh. Hang there. Ignore the couple. Awkward knowing that I don’t see this. I feel too much. Almost break frail link. Can’t. Need to understand here.

I didn’t build this thin link to mock him. It was certainly a bonus, though. My mind fell back into default patterns. I looked around the room searching for items of value. Or easy entrances, exits, sharp edges, structural weaknesses. I wasn’t here to mentally peek in on his sex life.

This was to find him, then find her, only I found both in the first go. Still, there was something else worth testing. Next was checking if either one could see me while projecting.

Move closer. Try not to pick a revealing angle. Long Ear boy on sheets. Make face. No response. His eyes glazed over. Lost in the moment. Female keeps moving. Feels desperate. Face annoyed. Cheek pinches on one side. Back getting tense, not a build up. Stressed. Her sharp ears twitch.

Words shouted. Feels like cool water slamming into me. Not painful, quite surprising. Don’t understand. Thin link unravels. Frail anyway. Retreat back to body.

It fell apart completely. Either because of something she had done or because of my lack of concentration. It didn’t matter, I had gotten the part I wanted. A location for someone that might be able to help me answer a question.

And clearly.

She might be helpful. Umbrella Beer was useless to both of us. I raised a mocking cheer to the elf I could no longer see. The man was with a female he couldn’t figure out how to satisfy, which screwed with any man’s ego, no matter the race. Of course his poor choices extended to taste in drinks too. The sip I dared of his concoction tasted revolting.

Now to get Tattooed Eyes’ attention. I would take Julianne’s advice and ask outright, what is a Lord to the elven people? An hour and a half later and I was in the area from my vision. I found a tree that held a shared view of her little boudoir to park myself at.

It was stand here or barge in. History had shown a plethora of examples where barging into a clan home without an invite was a terrible, terrible idea. I didn't have the balls to try even with my track record. Government officials didn’t want to cross into an elven block without an invitation or the Council backing them up. Even the youngest elf was outstanding with a bow. Western Sector laws allowed them defense of their homesteads.

Time passed while I practiced my litany, turning it one way or the other, changing the order of the words. My coat, my pants, my footsteps, my hands, my eyes, my walkway. Mine. It was hard to recreate a point of view that I never realized I had. Nothing felt different, but then there was nothing driving a need to feel different. No attacking vampires, no missing items to track down.

Mentally playing back the earlier portions of my life revealed a constant change in perception. It had given me an edge, a tool, an awareness that others couldn’t match, for reasons I didn’t pretend to understand. It had to be vampirism. There was nothing else, all the degrees and studies in the world hadn’t turned up any other races since the Purge.

Why hadn’t I questioned it when I was younger? Then again, if someone had told me that pissing out a third story window every day a high noon gave me superpowers I wouldn’t ask why. If it worked, anyway. This was almost the same.

My eyes flicked to the window again, canvassing for any sign of either elf. The buildings that comprised this elven block were mostly forest in color. The trees inside had started to shift into autumn’s yellow and reds. Even elves let nature take its course. Separating out the houses was difficult, but possible since they were in a confined space.

The block itself was surrounded by an earthen wall. It looked like someone had sheared off parts of a cliff face and put it between houses and windows. The pathway channeled visitors through the main entrances and exits. There were some windows that were right on the streets, but those were for communication and trade between clans.

Elves were one of the few races that hadn’t fully migrated over to a monetary system. Instead they based things on trade goods, each block specializing in different items. Most of them typically owned a store or two to sell their goods for real money along the main roads.

Once again I tried to shift my mind to the stream of focusing comments. My hands, the path I had walked on, the tree I leaned against, air that came in and out of my lungs, mine. It was all mine, however briefly, however tentatively. Mine.

A movement at the window caught my eye. It looked female, right hair, right eyes, a hint of green and purple tattoos. I stared for a minute and tried not to smile like an idiot. How irritated would she be? Hopefully not too annoyed to help out.

It wasn’t like I knew where else to go. My contacts were scarce, my job typically made me unwelcome in most corners, and elves were rarely in trouble. The choice was to wait or give up and leave, and I wasn’t quite ready for that. A window closer to street level opened and her head popped out.

“Come on, come on!” She waved me over. Moment of truth. Maybe I should start by asking her name? Julianne said I should try asking things.

“This may …” I tried to speak.

“Want to go to your place?” She cut me off. It didn’t help that I could barely focus on her face. For once the woman wasn’t wearing glasses, but it didn’t help because her shirt was essentially see through.

“Uhhh…”

“First time’s free.” The elf said.

“First what?” I was more than a little lost.

“You didn’t come over here to ask me out?” She was pouting now.

“Not really, I…”

She slammed the window shut.

“I wanted to ask a question…”

The window propped open again, this time she was wearing a less see through shirt. It didn’t help me focus any because I had seen, not once, but twice, what was under there.

“Mmmh, for you I’d say, yes.”

“Do elves have anyone they would call a Lord? Anyone who isn’t an elf?” Just ask. Julianne had suggested I ask my question and not wait for the answer to come to me. Out of all the things I had to figure, why Evan had called me 'Lord' felt paramount.

There was a pause as she narrowed eyes in my direction. My confusion must have been evident.

“First favor’s free, sure you want to blow it on this? There are some things that are so much more fun than dusty, old stories.” Then she smiled and leaned over a bit. A hand stretched out in my direction, tantalizingly close. It had been a while and here an elf was practically placing herself in my hands. The choice took me longer to make than it should have.

“What’s the second one cost?”

“Is that your question?” She was completely chipper about it.

“No, yes, damn it.” I tried to settle myself. The entire litany was now shattered. “The first question please.”

“Awww…no. No, we don’t have Lords anymore. History says we sacrificed them all to survive.” She sounded pleased about it. Her eyes playful as she rolled over. Her body now draped out with her arms reaching out. Just a few inches away and she might be able to reach me. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.

She wasn’t exactly pristine from what I could tell.

“Why?”

“Second question, there’s a priceee.” She smiled and her voice got higher.

“What is it?”

“Can’t tell you. That’s part of the price. Agree or don’t. Answer or not.”

“How about your name?”

“I’ll give you my name for free, but only if you remember to call it out.” Her smile was infectious and nearly had me going. If pissing off Kahina didn’t seem like such a bad idea I might actually go for it. There weren’t any chains in her room that I had seen.

“Can’t promise I’ll need to.” Hopefully, my return grin was as convincing as hers was.

“Candy.” She said happily.

“Candy?” I echoed. It sounded like a bad stripper name. Then again, the way she was draped out her window it fit better then Carol, or Sharron.

“It’s actually Kanda’rila Ro’hal.”

“So Candy.” Both names were filed away.

“What’s your name?”

“Jeff.” I automatically gave my new name, the one that served me since returning to town.

“Pleasure to finally put a name to the face, Jeff.” She reached out a tiny hand, upside down, to shake. I took it carefully and shook.

“Pleasure, Candy.” I responded.

“Now there’s an idea. I hope that’s a promise.” She rolled back up again and stood, one hand on the window. “Any other questions, big guy?”

“Not right now.”

“Alright…” Candy pouted in a way that made me want to comfort her. Which would get me within arm’s reach. All sorts of things might happen, the end result being either very good, or train-wreck bad, or both.

I turned to leave.

“Oh, a word of advice.” Her voice shifted to something less playful, more serious and demanding. Even the lilting tone was gone. I slowly turned around to look at her with a puzzled look on my face. “Be careful who you ask that question to. You do not want other Speakers to find out you’re nosing into the histories.”

She sounded so different and serious that it was obvious this wasn’t a joke. “I’ll be careful.”

“Good.” Her voice shifted again to the playful one. “Because I can’t wait for you to say, my, name.” She winked and let the shutter fall with a clank of hardwood.

I’ll give Julianne one thing, just asking got results. Lords were a real thing. There were a ton more questions, and the price attached was unknown. It looked like sex, but it was never that simple with elves. The harder question was how much do I trust what she said? Hell, being suspicious went contrary to my natural thought process. Daniel, Kahina, Kanda. The names were too close and Candy would be easier.

Sex with Candy didn’t seem to come with the terrible possibility of being rent apart for blood. Yet one elf had called me Lord more than once, and another told me they sacrificed all their Lords. The possessive woman had proven dangerous. The playful one might find a reason to kill me. I should just find a bitch.

Kahina. I wasn’t exactly looking forward to the worst breakup in the city. She’d been loyal, looked out for me, hell the woman staked a man once, for me. That was a whirlwind of a night. None of that meant Kahina was safe, rather that she was deadly.

Chapter 10 – Edges of Silver

For my next trick, I put some minutes on my cell phone and checked the voicemail. The messages were few, mostly Daniel trying to get in touch with me. Nothing recent, he knew as well as anyone else, getting me by phone was unlikely. Daniel would have more luck looking for me in random bars.

The last one was from today, Julianne’s irritated voice.

“Drop by the bar before opening.” Then a click as the phone receiver was slammed down. The phone was pocketed as I wondered how grandly my screw up had been this time. Both hands beat on the bar door frame creating dull thudding sounds. Julianne’s level of trust didn’t extend to giving me a key to the bar. I’m not sure anyone but her and the bookkeeper had one, she tended to open and close every night. A vacation in her world meant she just disappeared after opening.

Wolves are territorial.

The door swung open revealing bookkeeper’s face. His uneven hair and coke bottle glasses painted a dirty picture.

“She’s in the back.” His pitch was surprisingly high.

I nodded and showed myself in. Either it was a real job this time, or an ass chewing.

“What’s up?” Julianne was staring at a number of order sheets and computer printouts. The back room was home to its usual paperwork nightmare.

“About time, Jay.” Julianne slid a fresh paperclip on the latest stack of papers and filed them away. Her chair swiveled around and she looked up. The height difference was so much easier to see now. At least her clothes were less revealing, with plain jeans and a shirt that said ‘Bar wench’ against a black background.

“Want to explain to me why the twenty-third pack Alpha seems to be upset with you?” She asked. Julianne wasn’t one to remain idle. Her hands were already digging through more paperwork and receipts. There was a pen in one of her hands that banged slightly against the desk in agitation.

I blinked, trying to place which one that was. Officially the packs had numerical designations like army divisions. They also had their own names, like sports teams with shifting ranks as things flared up.

“A northern group?” I wasn’t exactly sure which pack my travels had taken me to. Standing the doorway talking to her was awkward enough.

“Yes, a” her emphasis unnerving “northern group. They said you were in park grounds with silver.”

Fidgeting ensued where it was difficult not to put my hands into the modified leather gloves. Daniel pulled his hair when upset. I got ready to punch things.

“Gruff leader, graying temples, knows his way around some wire?” I asked. The man had rather neatly handled one. Enough to make me shiver just thinking about it.

“Better known as my Grandfather,” She responded.

Hell. Confession time. I said, “I was up there, but not for the pack.”

“So I gathered. Seems Crummy’s also trying to stir up crap around their woods. Checking out the sector’s land rights, reviewing border skirmishes.” Julianne was frowning. The pen banging on the table went into overtime.

Daniel must have been working hard to find me an opening to get by the wolves. Too bad it would require the lot of them out of the woods for a while, and probably a truck to head up that little path.

“I told Daniel he’s on his own with that.”

“Why would he even care? Daniel’s always left the pack alone.” She set the pen down and looked up at me.

“An elf,” I said.

“It’s not Evan is it?” Evan didn’t sound like an elf name. Neither did Candy.

“I never got his name.” Because I hadn’t asked, like a moron. “It’s that blond one.”

“That narrows it down, what with half the elves in the world being blond, the other half being brunette.” Sun-kissed or Tree-touched the bottles of dye that humans used to imitate elves. Grey hairs were Silver River.

“The one you gave me a few weeks back. Picture and the lipstick tube.”

“Evan.” Julianne was busy putting paperwork back into the drawers and sighing. I still stood in the doorway and tried not to fidget.

“Sure.”

“Why’s he got a hard on for Evan?”

“Tied to some missing rich kid, Arnold Regious.”

“Regious? As in owns half the ports on the eastern seaboard, Regious Enterprises?” She asked. I shrugged again. All these names so quickly for people I barely knew.

“Don’t know, he’s got some reward money he’s aiming for, man’s getting married.” A quarter million that would let him afford some grand wedding. Two hundred and fifty reasons to celebrate if he found Arnold Regious.

“No shit?” Julianne chewed her cheek and mulled over everything for a bit. “Gramps says there was no sign of an elf in the area. I told him to let you back in there to track. Apparently you riled up his boys,” Her tone mimicked the older Alphas “so he’s not going for it.”

“Might have had an issue or two.” I wasn’t sure how she would feel about my little scuffle.

“Good, Stan deserves more than a few friendly knees to the balls. Fucker.” At least she was happy. Her eyes stared off into the distance while smiling at the damage I had done. Go me.

“If the pack finds Evan, will you hold off Daniel?”

Only if I had a few hours with the elf first. Daniel only wanted the rich kid anyway, not Evan or whatever his elven name was. Probably Evil’dinosuar Dandelion or something girly sounding.

“Sure. Daniel only wants the elf.” I said.

She smiled and pulled out a notepad with tiny lettering on it. “Deal. Now I’ve got something else for you.”

“Something boring?” I asked as my back straightened. This actually sounded kind of interesting.

“Cleaning up another mess you caused,” She said. Scratch the interesting idea. This sounded terrible.

“Which one?” I groaned.

“A certain wife of one Francis Sauter seems to feel you’d be perfect in finding her husband.”

“She can’t track her own husband?”

“Jude,” Yet another new name. Damn Julianne for complicating my life. “believes you should clean up your mess, and I agree. I did say rounds, no violence, and you managed to cause a scene.” Julianne heaped the problems against me.

“I didn’t cause anything, I asked for Francis, got some interference, and backed out.” I said. Getting a wolf in trouble with his pack wife was an effective reminder.

“Sure, except he cleaned out the family’s accounts and vanished.” She kept talking while unlocking another cabinet.

That amount of balls deserved a whistle. “How much?”

“Between savings, retirements, and some bonds. Four hundred thousand. Ish.” Julianne said. Jude’s upset response was justified. That wasn’t chump change. That was a house or two. College money and future trips. Vacations and cars.

“He’s a wolf, isn’t the pack in on this?” I asked.

“She got him exiled.” Julianne responded. A second whistle came forth. Jude had switched to full on bitch mode. She had pull. That dollar would normally put every single pack member on alert for miles. Francis had probably broken bonds as the exile went through. This was the kind of job I could get behind. Hunting down some scum of a husband who took their family’s entire life savings sounded fun.

“Why not track their own?”

“Politics, power struggles, and he’s staying human in second-hand clothes. They could use your kind of tracking.”

“Rules?” I asked.

“Bring him alive and the money if you can, Alpha will settle for money and him dead, or him alive and a damned good excuse about the cash.”

“How much did he owe?”

“Around fifty,” She said.

I raised an eyebrow at her in question. Did she want me to intercept her portion? It wasn’t unusual. Julianne shook her head.

“Hand it to the pack, I’ll seek compensation through them. Should be easy as long as you bring him in before anyone else does.” Julianne shook her head slowly before sighing longingly. Money was her third favorite thing.

“And?”

“Normal cut on the fifty.” It would work out to be five thousand, not a ton, but certainly good enough for a night’s work. Not to mention I had been dying for something solid again, something to prove to myself and Julianne that I was ready for real jobs.

“Alright. I’m in.” My head nodded slowly.

“Make sure you’re ready for this one. That kind of money buys friends, probably paying them to stand in the way while he escapes.”

“I can’t wait.” I said while one hand fidgeted inside the pocket. Fingers slowly crept through the leather. Delicate brushing of the metalwork helped curb my growing excitement. Finally a chance at something real, a real hunt. Not an excuse to escape Kahina, not a cheap paycheck, not Daniel’s weird elf. It required nothing more from me then to be let loose.

The irony of hunting a wolf wasn’t lost on me.

Julianne handed me a small velvet pouch. One she’d kept due to Francis’ gambling debts. Fingernail clippings and hair trimmings. The more someone owed, the more she stored for a rainy day. It was like part of her business revolved around the expectation that I would be around. Maybe she just expected me back sooner or later to pick up where I left off.

“Francis Sauter. One wolf, dead or alive, officially he’s wanted alive.” She paused for a moment and I stared into her brown and red eyes. “This is unofficial, Jay, but the Alpha would rather have him dead. If you don’t, they will. He screwed with one of the few females this pack has, and she outranks him, find the money, go Biblical, no one will press charges.”

It might be a crime if this world had only been populated by one race. But we had four different sets of tendencies, views, beliefs. Vampires held no qualms about removing enemies. Elves were only civil on the surface. Wolves and their pack minds would cut out a foul influence like it was cancer.

I looked at Julianne for a moment with an overwhelming grin. She had okayed unrestrained action. And removing scum didn’t bother me.

“‘Bout time you started treating me like a human.”

I paused and covered my teeth up out of habit. Julianne was a wolf wasn’t she? We had talked about it. She had probably switched years ago. The woman moved like pack, acted like one, had every tell tail sign.

“You’re not pack?” I asked.

“Not as long as I own this bar.” She had never actually gone furry in front of me. Her not being pack made sense. Instincts were worse in their females, and wolves were territorial. People wandering into the bar would’ve set her on edge.

“Hell.”

“Jay, call Kahina before you go. Also, if he does have friends, they’re to stay alive, especially if they’re human. We don’t need Sector involved if it becomes interracial.” Pack could order hits on their own, the other governments wouldn’t have a say.

Julianne handed me a card with Kahina’s phone number scribbled on it. I nodded and left with barely a wave. The idea of back-up dampened the excitement.

I dialed Kahina’s number while standing outside. She used to insist on helping with occasional jobs. Thrill seeking or rebelling against her father. This wouldn’t be us as a couple, but maybe exchanging more than a few words.

The phone picked up quickly.

“Who is this?” A snotty sounding male answered.

“Put Kahina on the phone.” I said.

“Who is this?” The voice asked again, managing to sound even more arrogant.

“Who is this?” I asked back.

“I’m her second.”

I tried to think of what that meant in vampire terms. Next in line for the house? Kahina had a house going? She had been working towards one. It took a lot of pull and political power to form a house independent from all the already established ones. Guess the fancy mansion I had seen wasn’t just for show.

“Great to meet you.” It wasn’t. “Put Kahina on the phone or I’ll let her know that her second” and I tried to say it with the same sneer he had. “should be replaced.”

It was hard enough bringing myself to call, dealing with a brown nosing idiot wasn’t helping. The voice on the other line paused. Probably doing that stupid motionless thing that all partial vampires did when they were thinking too hard.

“One moment.” The second responded.

I waited, reconsidering my attempt to reach out. The phone picked up again before second thoughts got the better of me.

“I’m sorry, she seems to be away currently. Can I leave a message?” He didn’t sound sorry. Jerk.

“Where is she?”

“It’s not my business to pry.”

“Guess,” I said.

“I would assume the same place she’s been every night she finds herself free, searching for her cowardly former boyfriend.” The arrogant man responded.

I hung up. Hopefully, he would feel a moment of indignation about being cut off. Jerk. I wasn’t cowardly, I was sensibly wary.

The woman had her pick of guys in the world. After four years you think she would’ve moved on. Unless she was still fixated after a single taste of my blood. Fixation, lust, desire, none of those things were enough. Relationships are too fucking complicated.

My phone got pocketed and I checked out the velvet pouch. Trying to contact Kahina had nearly turned something simple into a convoluted mess. I just had to track Francis, disable him, find the money, and return each to their fate. A connection started to form almost instantly as my senses kicked in.

Moments later I knew exactly where Francis was. He sat in a darkened hotel room clutching a train ticket. Picking out the date and time was too fine a detail for my senses.

Tracking him had revealed a few surprises. Three others, armed with guns, stood guard outside his room. They had been babbling to each other about how easy this job was. Their words feverish and annoying. I learned that their job ended tomorrow morning.

Francis was still in town, earning that idiot label, and might be gone in the morning. The darkened room would prevent elves from casting visions to track him. The change of clothes would prevent wolves. Neither precaution stopped me.

His wolf nature was probably conflicted about abandoning a territory. Instincts were working in my favor, but if he was torn up about leaving then he was likely on edge. Jumpy, prone to poor choices. Desperate.

I headed off. Thinking about it could be done on the way to his hotel. A little hustle and the hike would only take a few hours. The walk would save me money and ensure perfect timing. Humans weren’t nocturnal. Wolves tended to do area checks a few times per night and go back to sleep.

An hour later I heard a voice.

“Jay.” It was soft, almost a whisper. The scent of crushed peppermint filled my nose. I looked around expecting to see Kahina but there was nothing. Just myself, an empty street, and a stream of words in my head trying to fuel my extra senses.

Moments later I heard it again. A sad whisper of my name, but it was hers. She was playing games and I wasn’t in any mood for them. Supposedly she was out looking for me. I hadn’t taken a cab to disguise my destination. Julianne would have told her anyway.

On my right was a brick wall with ivy choking it. On the left, rows of mindless little houses were scattered around. I had been taking a back road through some suburbs to get to another part of town.

“Jay.” The voice came a third time. It was a lot closer. Both feet halted so I could scan the area again.

“What do you want, Kahina?”

“We need to talk, Jay, about us.” Her words were quiet and couldn’t be pinpointed despite trying.

“Not now. I’ve got a job.” I said.

“Is that where you’re going?” Then just like that she was in front of me. Appearing with a burst of speed that set skin tingling. Her excited face tinted with anger.

At that moment, I understood why she had latched onto me. One side effect of vampirism was a difficulty to adapt as time passed. To separate out the recent past from longer memories. Years ago could seem like days ago.

It made me sad.

“How much longer do you have?” I just asked.

“Not long. I’ve been holding on.” Kahina kicked at a can laying on the sidewalk.

“Why?” Please don’t say it was for me. Four years, holding onto the last shreds of humanity for four years. Not a record, but too long.

“I’ve been getting all the defenses I can into place. Exactly like we talked about. To protect myself while you’re gone. So they don’t kill me.”

“Who?”

She smiled, it looked weird against her face. It wasn’t the feral smile I was used to seeing from her. It wasn’t the angry excitement, or a sadly twisted expression, just happiness.

“You do care.”

“I don’t want you dead, no matter what,” I paused and took a breath for a moment “happened between us. I just don’t want to be dead either.”

“I would never kill you.”

Every time I recalled that night I was filled with uncomfortable emotions. Not just fear of how close death had been. That was only part of it. Along side it was mounting outrage, heat crawled up my throat in an attempt to vent endless hatred for the violation. I had stayed away for her safety as much as mine. Placing blame on her had just been easier than admitting my own flaws. Each month it got easier.

Tonight, seeing her, realizing how she was stuck in the past, was enough to realize.

“Why me, Kahina? Why am I worth waiting for?” She couldn’t want a man like me. No one sane would.

“Because you can protect me.”

I laughed at the absurdity of her statement. Me? Protect a person? Bodyguard wasn’t the game I played, hunting, retrieving, intimidation, rackets, but not defending people. The only thing that really mattered was my collection in the basement.

Kahina had fled during the laughter. Her face had been completely unguarded. There wasn’t only excitement, there was hope. My amusement had crushed it, leaving a blank slate glaring outward, then an empty spot where her body used to be.

My elation at this job had dwindled to passive. When, exactly, had we talked about her protection? Only one conclusion could be made for sure. I had been a true asshole.

Chapter 11 – Built All Wrong

Locations were categorized into two types when tracking. Those that received attention from law enforcement, and those that didn’t. Reasons for not reporting varied from alarm systems, personal armies, or lack of caring. The hotel that Francis hunkered in was fancy enough to be one of the former. Barging in and believing I owned the place was easier in some run down dive. Caesars Junction was a perfect example.

Controlling the situation should be easy. My clothes and some Sector issued cuffs would solve most issues. These cuffs were designed with wolf countermeasures reserved for law enforcement. The slightest twisting out of shape on them would result in little bumps of sharpened silver coming to the top. It was designed so that those points would cut into the flesh of whichever person was unlucky enough to wear them.

The head Alphas attempted to get them outlawed every year. Every other government branch focused on control of unruly Pack members. Normal handcuffs were a joke against wolves. These would keep Francis in check.

I had to get inside without hotel security calling the police. From there it was a short hop to the hallway where Francis had parked himself for the night. Getting past the hired goons would be easy enough. What better way than to pose as a fourth thug? I looked the part with my perpetually recovering features.

Getting in was simple. Walking in the lobby and straight for the elevators didn’t set off anyone’s mental alarms. It was easier to be ignored by hotel staff if I pretended nothing was wrong. Acting like I belonged, not hesitating, not moving too fast or too slow. This was me pretending to be a man returning to the hotel after a late night.

My footsteps, my hallway, my target, my pray, mine.

Carpet is thin, worn. Walls are layer upon layer of papering held together by glue. People behind closed doors snore, chat on phones, stare at ceilings.

Cameras hung above the exits. Getting out the standard ways would be difficult. Especially if Francis was no longer among the living.

Just off the elevator and down the hall were two of the three hired guns. They were babbling something to each other in an effort to pass the time. The third man was probably inside the doorway. That’s where I would be. Making sure Francis didn’t crawl out in the morning and avoid paying.

Three humans would be far easier if I took them on away from Francis. Guns and a wolf combined could take down this big dumb bouncer easily. Especially since the humans had to be left alive and relatively unhurt. At least my possessive mindset was functioning a bit. Tidbits of the world about fed into my sense of touch.

Feet rest against ground. All pressure on heels. One gazes at nothing. Words rattle out, no meaning. One glances at me, constantly. Measures. His right-hand grips a gun. Handle is warm. Safety off.

Both my hands came out of their pockets and into the air. Hopefully, it would help me appear unarmed and sort of harmless, aside from my size. The hallway was too small for my taste, but that was common.

“Hold up. Who’s this?” The taller one asked. His hair a muddy color and clothes seemed to share the same selection of browns and tans.

“I’m here to help,” I responded.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” The tallest seemed to be in charge of this little trio.

“Someone said there was a job here for someone who could hold off wolves.” Or get a hold of them. My vague words gave me time to move down the hallway.

“Lot of someones for a lot of nothing. Roll yourself somewhere else.”

“Damn, man, I could use some cash too.” Daniel’s accent came out of my mouth.

“I’m sure you could.” The man’s voice was sarcastic and didn’t seem to hold an ounce of respect for me. If only I was in my old shape. I would have rolled down this hallway like a whirlwind of destruction while throwing chairs from the lobby.

“Ever held against a wolf?” I turned to look at the jumpy one. His hand was still working the grip of his gun. Fingers were flicking the safety off and on repeatedly. At least it felt like a safety.

“Sure we have, now get gone before we make you gone.” Because he would fire those guns in a hotel? Sure, way to get an unwelcome kind of attention.

The door behind the men opened and the last guard came out. His face seemed to pause for a moment as eyes shifted from the dark room to the brighter hallways.

“Boss says if he can hold off a wolf he can stay, but it comes out of our share.” Said the third one.

“Fuck that.” The tall muddy haired man answered.

Now I just needed him to close the door and separate himself from Francis. They weren’t clever enough to keep one eye on the prize. These hired thugs barely knew which end of the gun to point at the bad guy.

“Here, I’ll show you my piece.” I kept one hand in the air and started to put the other in a pocket.

“Hold it. What’s that you’re reaching for?” He asked

“Be cool.” I grinned at him.

“I’ll catch that, you just chill.” There was a moment where my friendly face slipped. Did he want to reach into my pocket? And take my things?

“Be careful.” I hope he cuts himself to ribbons. To his credit, the muddy haired man managed to extract one of the gloves without much effort.

“Holy shit.” The third one let loose his commitment from the doorway and stepped out.

“What the hell are these?” The first asked.

“A level playing field,” I responded while glaring at him and my gloves. He couldn’t help but try it on, an action that did nothing but annoy me.

“Bet you don’t even have silver bullets.” It’s easier to sucker punch someone if you get them talking, and with the door closing all three were outside and away from Francis.

“Sure we…” Muddy head’s next words were cut off when my shoulder drove into his chest. Our slam cracked the doorway and expelled air from his lungs. Fingers curled inward and punched the brown man next to me. He had almost gotten those grubby untrimmed fingernails around his gun. Nice to know my punches were still heavy enough to put someone out.

Gunfire went off behind me and grazed one shoulder. I turned while sweeping my left hand across knocking the firearm away before a second shot went off. Man three received my fist to the face. Pleasant sounds of cartilage snapping and grown men crying in pain filled the air. Blood poured out before the third one even hit the ground. A swift follow-up kick deterred another attempt at shooting me.

If these three had been wolves, or vampires, or remotely good at their jobs then this might have gone completely different. The fun part, the wolf, was inside and a lot tougher. Hopefully.

I pried my glove out of mud head’s grasp. Both claws slide into place. There was a rush of noise as I opened the door. Heavy grunting warned me just before tactile overload did. Something large and heavy was being heft.

Quickly I dashed inside and pressed against the wall. A heavy object hurled past and slammed crosswise into the doorway. A growl of frustration preceded metal grinding in protest. My tactile senses picked up other details. A heavy body turning away. Metal framed glass sliding upward. Francis was going for the window.

The possessive droning in the back of my mind fell apart as I rushed to catch up. One foot banged into a dresser, hands fumbled to get around the chair and coat rack. In the seconds it took to travel across the room Francis had already leaped out. Part of me was flattered a wolf had jumped three stories to get away from me.

I flipped on a light and looked around for a sign on where he was headed, car keys, anything that would let me chase after him. Instead, there was a ticket for a train out of town. Good enough.

The ticket quickly went into a coat pocket and I looked out the window again. He made good time while not in full wolf. His legs certainly pumped furiously. Mentally I weighed options. Francis wouldn’t risk shifting. He had a slight limp from the landing. I had his escape route right here. Half the pack was on the lookout.

But he was mine. This was my chance to start really rebuilding my life.

Head snaps. Old sensations flood in. Need this. Need enough to let loose, for a moment. Just a moment. Prey is so close. Back burns from unused muscles. Arm itches in reminder of things being forgotten. World goes black for a brief moment. Hear air ripple as it catches.

Sudden free falling and a rush of wind caused me to panic. Both arms were windmilling wildly as legs fluttered. A sudden backward jerk sent pain through both shoulders. My frightening descent lost most momentum. Feet slammed down into the ground and then I was running after him. There was a little voice in the back of my head screaming about what I had just done. I should be broken. Leaping out the third story was not something humans did.

The other part of me was hauling ass across the dimly lit parking lot towards Francis. I could figure out the jumping and surviving thing later. Ahead of me was a wolf who needed to be punched in the face.

Rapid fire thudding of footsteps echoed across the street. Francis turned with a quick jerk of neck muscles. Terror crossed his face. His eyesight was better than mine. I was going on a barely registered set of reactions to the objects around me. The scum wolf kept looking over while tipping anything nearby. A garbage can, newsstands, I hurdled over them all while closing the gap. I twisted backward to dodge swirling lamppost I felt flying through the air. Francis’ heartbeat had grown stuttered, face flushed, eyes strained.

Nearby was a shoe, then another. A shirt fluttered by. He wasn’t limping as badly now and if he completed the shift I would never catch up. Four legs sped way faster than two.

Oh Hell.

Francis was turning around while changing shape. I kept up my pace as one part of me watched him shifting and another part felt it. Muscles twitched and reformed, shoulders and head drawing up to a greater height, jaw pulling out to a toothy smile. His fur was the same color I had seen back at his house in the suburbs, but the look was far less welcoming than the canine form.

Wolves did not play fair. Neither did I. My other thoughts were in full swing as I charged.

Fur bristles. Scrunches. Rolls. Shoulder muscles settle. Heart pumps loudly. Body sways through the air while fuzzy thing gains balance.

Adrenaline rushed through Francis’ body. A psychological response to the change according to Julianne. Switching from one form to another came with an intense surge of chemicals that overwhelmed any sense of pain. Instead, wolves felt an intense rush of energy similar to a berserker.

My senses swept the same feelings over me and something similar answered the challenge. His life was mine. My prey, my target, my hunt. I chased him down and he wasn’t running away anymore. I barely had the sense to yank my jacket off so it wouldn’t get torn up.

This was the fun part.

Muscles in a wolf work differently. There are weaknesses and angles anyone can go for with enough practice. I was out of practice, but part of me remembered where to swing for. The chest was useless. It was too bunched up. The face and nose were sensitive and perfect. A throat would cause them to freak out. Legs were heavily muscled and suited for a bouncy equilibrium. Breaking the weak spot near his heels would work wonders.

Above all, silver helped.

For a moment, as I charged in, I wondered how badly this might turn out. What else could I do? The last few days had reminded me of one important fact. I would rather die fighting than live hiding. My limited skill set was only useful for this kind of moment. And I loved it.

Both feet launched me across the gap as Francis finished his shift. I lashed out, trying to connect silver to skin quickly. Francis fell backward while kicking on hind legs like a wild dog. Large feet rose against my flying form. One arm braced against the kicks. Claws rent through layers of skin.

First blood was his. Francis bent around and managed to back himself up and lowered his head to the ground. Even with that crouched position he was still huge. His voice choked up with spittle from nearly rabid growls.

Darkness robbed most physical sight. Wolf’s vision would be unfair. I could feel him as he paced. Most of his weight rested on large, awkwardly shaped feet. It was easier to focus on his pelvis, to feel the weight shift from his center. Francis slid sideways in order to reach my blind side.

Both hands shook, left, then right. Flashing silver would put him on guard. Keep him from blindly rushing in and overwhelming me. Hesitation on his part would make it easier to get silver into him. That simple action would cause the wolf to shut down and go into shock.

My left foot stomped down as loudly as I could in his direction. Francis flinched, his back rolled and twitched. Surviving in the heat of battle was making it easier to focus. To feel ownership. Awareness stretched behind me picking up scattered items. Strewn clothes were us behind us. Torn pants sat about his warped waist.

Mine.

Francis was getting smarter. Bunching up and quieting down. Part of his rational mind must be kicking in as the initial rush of transformation faded. I could feel his muscles roll in preparation. When he did move, it would be sudden, so sudden I might not react in time.

Weight shifts. Fur brushes air. There.

A brief flash of insight sent me leftward. Francis shot through the spot I had been standing. I pressed towards the ground, touching down with a hand and spinning about. The other hand swung through the wolf’s landing zone. Fur brushed across my fingers. I propelled myself forward swinging the other hand in and successfully grabbed more air.

Teeth rushed in from the right snapping a giant maw. Big enough to take out my head. My shoulder tucked in as I rolled to the side. Things were getting easier to sense. Taking on that all-encompassing sensation I had when fighting Kahina’s minions. Drumming pulsed in my ears overriding my real hearing. Each movement felt familiar, like a favorite pair of pants. Ones that would fit perfectly if I could just get them over my ass.

My mind slipped further into the moment, into the battle in front of me. This was my turf, my town, my target.

Heavy fuzzy thing. Angry snarl. Drops of perspiration splash onto ground. Across the street someone rushes by. Scared. Weak Pink Meat. Doesn’t look over.

I fell back on a hand to get away from the jaw. Grating tingled my senses as iron dug along the dirt. My free arm backhanded through the air again. This time things connected and Francis yelped. He didn’t back off. Desperation fueled each snap of teeth and each swing of claws. Both feet pumped trying to gain distance with awkward hops. Slobber spilled off of his jaws. The biting slowed down as my lucky silver strike started to hit home. Even Alphas disliked silver.

Escape was impossible. Francis’ front paws kept catching on my ruined pants. Small, painful grooves were carved into my flesh with each lunge. There was something close by. I shifted direction enough to back up towards my jacket.

My scramble paid off as I recovered my coat. The heavy fabric was quickly tossed over Francis’ head. He reared back and brought both malformed arms up to try and pull the coat off. Reaching above their heads was difficult for any wolf. Their muscles were built all wrong.

Recovering only took moments and I scrambled to press my brief advantage. A beat in my ears went with each step. Moving inwards. Sliding up to Francis’ left. Capturing his arm with my right. Bumping his middle. Placing one foot behind his paws. I pulled on the extra strength available and hefted the wolf up and over.

Startled whimpering signaled success. My jacket still covered his head. Francis’ legs and paws were kicking as he tried to right himself.

Mine. Den wrecking life is mine. Dominate. Prevent misunderstandings. Below me. Beneath me. Fuzzy thing inferior. Dares damage family.

Quickly I wove one arm under his. The other locked across his gigantic chest. My arms grasped together at the wrists and pulled the silver against his chest.“Shift or I’ll squeeze!” I shouted in his ear. Hopefully, it hurt. His struggling picked up steam. Warmth slid over my hands as blood seeped out from lines being dug into his chest.

“Shift, you moron!” He flipped us over and gave a weak howl while still kicking. Unwelcome liquid and foam flung around the area while I hung on. Silver tore deeper grooves into his skin. Francis wasn’t the only one bleeding and what little strength I had was fading.

Winning or losing depended on my ability to keep a grip. His struggles slowed, then stopped. Body heaving in deep breaths, tactile sensations picked up the spent give to his muscles. Aching, burning, losing strength. I loosened my grip somewhat.

“Shift! Or I swear I’ll shove silver into your heart!” A ripple of my arms as I flexed the rest of muscles, demonstrating just how hard that squeeze could get. Then I felt him shrink under my arms as he collapsed. My jacket still covering half his form.

I pulled my arms out and quickly replaced it with a curled fist to his back, silver side down. It didn’t take much persuasion to keep him peaceful on the ground. My other arm dug through my jacket pockets looking for the specially made cuffs. They slipped over his wrists. Once they were secure enough I eased up on my fist.

“Sector issued.” I rattled the cuffs. “Don’t shift.”

“I won’t.” He huffed then struggled to pull away from the dirt. I could feel the man’s breath as it curled out over the ground and was sucked back in.

“Where’s the money, Francis,” I asked.

There was a pause as I felt him strain a little against the restraints.

“Wrong idea, Francis. Where is the money.” I put my hand to his back again. The blade side down and started to lightly drag across his skin. Small welts appeared displaying his body’s adverse reaction. This was the part they paid me for.

I wouldn’t feel guilty for this. He would heal if I didn’t go overboard. Even the gouges on his chest weren’t irreversible.

“Money, Francis. Focus on the money and I won’t keep going.” I paused for a moment, leaving my hand where it was, before starting again.

“The hotel. It’s back in the hotel.” The cracking of his voice told me how bad it hurt. There was no pity for a man willing to screw his family over. Hell. I should double check. Those girls deserved good information.

“You sure, Francis?” I trailed silver down another strip then dug in. Francis shook and weakly tried to buck me off. He weighed too little as a human.

“Are, you, sure?” I asked again.

“Yes.” It took a bit for him to say it. His body was shutting down. Wolves tended to shut down and heal when it got to be overwhelming. Hopefully. Julianne had said that I needed either Francis dead, and the money, or Francis alive, and a damned good excuse.

Excitement slowly drained and my own huffing lessened. This had been a success. This target had been taken down by my hands. My target. All without help. I was seriously out of shape but not out of the game.

Other senses retracted. The world around grew dim again, no longer as vibrant, almost lifeless. No lights came on in the area, and things still looked extremely dark. I went for the cellphone and called Julianne.

“What’s up, Jay?”

“Got Francis,” I said.

“How is he?”

“Comatose. But alive.”

“Shame, and the money?” She asked.

“He said the hotel room.” I gave her the apartment number that I had seen in person and my visions. Getting back in would be too tough for me now.

“It’s not in there, Jay, we checked.”

“Wait, we who?” I asked Julianne for clarification.

“You think the pack or I would let you go without someone following?” She said. I paused for a moment and pressed the phone to my chest for a moment. Julianne hadn’t trusted me to solve this on my own? Typical.

“He said it was there.” I wish I had brought a partner, or not screwed things up with Kahina. It was easier to have one person check for the items while I handled the face punching.

“Hold on.” The phone clicked over to hold music for a moment then flipped back.

“There were some others in the area, humans, the scent was all over, sound familiar?”

“Yeah, three human morons,” I answered.

She snorted. “Where were they when you left them?”

“Out cold.” Only six or seven minutes had passed so far. Did they wake up and take the money during that window? Then somehow evade a wolf?

“We’ll scrape something together on them. However, until the pack has that money back I can’t give you a cut.” Because of a couple of little human idiots I would lose out on a finder’s fee. That money had important things attached to it. Collection building, rent, food, a new pair of pants.

“How about bringing him in?” I asked.

“His life is the pack’s, money was the only thing I had any room with. Drag yourself back and I’ll set out a few drinks, but that’s all I’m offering.” She said. Even though my thoughts were ungrateful I didn’t want to argue with Julianne.

“Fine, want me to sit on Francis?”

“Yeah, you’ll have company soon. Look for Malcolm, don’t hand him over to anyone else.” She clicked off.

“Bitch,” I muttered to a dead phone line. My vision was getting blurry. All that was left was riding this out until Malcolm showed up.

Jacket pockets were emptied out and the clothing went over Francis’ nearly naked body. At least some remains of his pants had stayed intact through the shifts. They were nearly stretched beyond use. Sitting on Francis was a literal suggestion. If he woke up then my weight would prevent a lot of struggle. It would also hurt his back, which he deserved for making me miss the money. He was lucky I didn’t punch him some more.

My mental switch was still somewhat functional. Kicking someone’s ass helped. What little light I had to see by was completely useless at helping me but the tactile sensation wasn’t lost.

Minutes later the soles of feet slammed against the concrete. Not just shoes but paws. More than a few wolves were showing up. Six, maybe seven pack members. I unhooked my gloves and pocketed them. My hands slowly went up. A car rolled down the street towards us. Its headlights were blazingly bright compared to the darkness I camped in.

The door cracked and someone stepped out. Medium height, nondescript build for a wolf, deeply tanned skin. He had a presence that assumed command but his looks were one step away from getting lost in a crowd.

“Jeff, I believe?” He said.

“That’s me, and you?” I asked.

“Malcolm.”

“Good, this is yours.” I stood up and grabbed my jacket. The action hurt more than it should. A majority of my wounds should be clotting. A dull ache was leftover as the adrenaline drained.

“You seem a little off.” Malcolm’s voice was flat and emotionless as he studied me. There was a slight flare to his nostrils as he took in the air around him.

“Wrestled a wolf, of course I’m off,” I responded.

“That you did. Julianne said you would be able to handle it. Not sure I believed it of a lone human.” Another wolf padded up, getting too close for comfort. One of the others was sniffing the hell out of the ground where I had sat. There wasn’t enough light to make out what he was looking for.

“Mama raised me right,” I said. Except for the likely vampire exposure in my childhood and the fact that I didn’t remember my real mom. “I’ll want the cuffs back.”

The key was tossed at Malcolm. My exiting limp was pretty sad. At least Francis and the other pack wolves were behind me. Home was a ways off. I could handle it. It only took a few blocks for me to determine that resting would be better. Rolling up my pant leg revealed a lot more damage than expected.

“Oh, Hell.” I winced, it had been easier to ignore the damage when I couldn’t see it. A lot easier. The fact that I walked off at all was amazing.

I rolled up my shirt and looked. My torso was mostly okay. Arms hurt a little. The muscle strain I had put them through finally kicking in. My shirt came off very carefully and was bundled up to dab at various wounds. The damage seemed to be mostly surface ones. I would have to stay off my legs for a bit or the rips would never stop bleeding. That made getting home problematic unless I could get a ride and a lot of extra large band-aids.

Maybe Julianne had a ride. Three calls to her phone later and I discovered she was either ignoring me or not there.

I had wrestled down a wolf. What the hell had been going through my mind? This damage was completely deserved. Normal law enforcement measures involved guns with special ammunition and a pair of pliers. One to put the silver in, the other to take it out after their targets were cuffed. The fact that my last wounds had cleared up by the time I left the forest gave me some hope that my complexion wouldn’t get any worse from this. A busted nose was enough.

The water fountain and my shirt were put to work trying to clean. Further searching revealed a few giant gashes on the sides that tore straight through a good portion of the muscle. I knotted strips of my shirt around the wounds and put the jacket back on. This would serve me until real first aid could be applied at home. Sleep was also desperately needed. My eyesight and mind whittled down to the path homeward. A path practically glowed in darkness showing me the way. Turn on this block, cross the street here, take a shortcut through some school playground.

Along the way, my feet had stopped moving. Someone with slender arms still carried me forth. When had that happened? My brain was barely aware of the change in sensation as the speed picked up. Someone was carrying me along, and it was still towards home.

“Left, down there.” I waved an arm towards a little alley that I wouldn’t know about on a good day. One that my mind lit up as a quicker route.

“It’s okay, Jay, relax.” A female voice.

I focused the best I could on the arms holding me. It felt awkward with her slender frame holding up a bulky man like me. Dark skinned, and that voice? Must have been Kahina. She had found me and was carrying me home. Not the first time the woman had come to my rescue. My eyes focused on the ribbon of purple that covered her wrist. There is where she had her first bite in the long process to shift to a vampire. It’s scar would never heal.

Kahina had tried to kill me last time I was this damaged. I panicked and started fidgeting. Her arms stayed immobile. Vampire strength was too much to fight for a normal person and even I wasn’t able to make headway. My head was fuzzy. Perhaps I had lost more than a little blood.

“Relax, I’m not going to hurt you.” She never had. Never, except one time. One time without control where she scared me so thoroughly my self-image shattered. I had run away as a result.

“Stupid, Jay, incredibly stupid,” She said. Tonight had been as much about reclaiming who I was, as it was about finding Francis’ money, for his family, to remove his debt. To deal with Kahina on top of it was unfair.

“You wanted to protect me.” Her words were rapidly becoming background noise.

Bits of thoughts passed through my brain, then stopped, and faded off into the mire. Everything got harder to concentrate on. More distance passed as she carried me. A shimmer of light rising in the east seemed to indicate dawn was close. Kahina shouldn’t be out in this, she should be finding a place before daylight overwhelmed her. Vampires went into a deep coma during the day.

“But who will protect you?”

Such a backward feeling. I was probably half again Kahina’s weight yet she was lifting me like it was nothing. Then I heard as much as felt the combination of buttons, metal gates swinging, a click of my doorknob. Crushed peppermint hung in the air. I was home. My eyes shut and left me with blackness even darker than the world outside.

Chapter 12 – Adopted by an Elven House

For the first time in four years, I found myself waking up next to a lifeless body. One listless hand was draped across me. My clothes were gone. There had also been nightmares of thieves invading my stash of goods downstairs. Any one of those would have been enough to make me jump under normal circumstances. I was exhausted, though.

This location was dark but smelled like home. The scent of long-settled dust and a pleasant stillness had mixed with peppermint. It felt right. Kahina was out like a light, with the barest hint of a pulse. Her spirit had fled her body for the day.

Vampire spirits left their physical bodies during the latter stages of the transformation. Scientist blamed it on an alternate state of awareness. Religion generally claimed their souls left to be one with God. Others said they went to repair the harm their kind had done to the world over the generations.

No one asked for my opinion. My unique tracking sight had made it pretty clear that their glow of life was absent during the day. It only returned during sundown. Kahina’s spirit had done just that when I first tracked her a few weeks ago.

Such thoughts kept me distracted as my legs were checked over. Fresh wrappings had been carefully bound around them. They soaked up blood from slowly healing wounds. Kahina must have managed to control herself or licked me clean. In another time and place might have been an intriguing experience. As it was, I needed to change quickly and get some air.

It took a bit of fumbling to get downstairs safely. A new set of clothing slipped carefully over the bandages. I picked up a giant, black curtain and brought it back up to my front room. The thick cloth was hung along ceiling runners to further block out the light. Kahina would sleep better this way. Not that it was required. She had never cared about comfort while visiting, but I had, and still did.

My legs itched like mad during the walk across a sunlit parking lot. Hopefully, that equated to healing. There would probably be some scarring or infection if the wounds weren’t cleaned again soon. Julianne might have something to help with that.

I shouldered my way inside. One hand used the wall as a guide to stumble down the hallway towards Julianne’s bar counter.

“Julie.” I tried to yell out, but half her name got stuck in my throat. My voice was still dry from waking up. There was also a growing sense of extreme hunger.

“Jay? Shit, hold on.” There was a scramble in the back room. A moment later a flushed looking Julianne came out. I didn’t want to know why her face was red and pulse was racing. The fact that my mental senses were picking up how she felt was a huge sign towards my lack of self-control.

“I need some food, drink, anything.” My hunger became more intense the longer I was awake.

“Alright, hold on.” Her face was still slightly red from whatever she had been doing. Her shirt was off kilter and there were red marks on her neck.

“Did I interrupt something?”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll get you some food and drink, okay?” She said.

“Please.” My head was pounding now. Exactly when was the last time I had eaten?

“Here.” She got a glass of water. That was hardly the cure I was hoping for but probably better than my other choices. A beep echoed through another room. Ribs sat on a plate in front of me before I noticed time had passed.

I ate it without question then rested my head against the counter as the food settled.

“Jay, you okay?” Julianne asked. The noise I made in response could have come out of sheep with a cold. My eyes closed for what felt like a moment.

“Wake up before you become a permanent bar fixture,” She said. I mumbled a response. It had only been a few minutes at most. “What did you say, Jay?”

I tried to sit up and wipe away the drool. “Thought I already was.” What was the question again?

“For the last few hours, but if you keep lying there you’ll scare away customers.” Julianne could be heard clicking around behind the counter. The sound was comforting.

“Sorry,” I said.

“It’s okay, but go back to sleep, tell Kahina I said thanks for taking care of you.” My brain barely registered the tone of worry in Julianne’s voice.

Staggering home was hard. The food and weariness were putting me right back to sleep. What she said finally registered as I approached my apartment door. How did she know that Kahina had been taking care of me? Never mind. After a nap those questions might be more important. I made the final trip downstairs and passed out again.

For a fleeting moment I awoke. There were odd noises elsewhere in the house. First screaming, then banging, and finally a soft choking sob. Fatigue prevented me from leaving my downstairs bed. My mind listened, only half conscious, until finally silence spread through the building.

I slept. Upon my return to awareness, things were vastly improved. I didn’t hurt. The wounds on my legs were inspected first. They seemed to have completely vanished. Maybe I had exaggerated the damage.

My phone painted a different story. According to the date display, I had lost another five days in hibernation. This time, the news came from a digital piece of junk rather than a friend. The hard part was figuring out how much of that had been the latest nap, or how much had been after Kahina carried me home.

I took a long steamy shower before daring to risk the journey upstairs. It helped me survive the brunt of seeing my front room. It was a wreck, looking like a miniature hurricane had come through while I was asleep. My weight bench was thrown into the kitchen counter creating a work of art that would eat my entire deposit. The couch was broken in half and the windows facing the back were shattered.

Had Kahina done this? Had someone else broken in? I tried to remember the noises from my half-awareness. It seemed likely that Kahina had been mad at being unable to get downstairs. The passageway down was filled with things designed to drive people off and the floor had its own surprises.

I carefully passed all the mess and went outside while there was still daylight. Cleaning could be left for tonight when a readily available shelter was needed. I wasn’t even going to contemplate what Julianne would do when she noticed. The fact that my windows being shattered hadn’t garnered complaints was beyond me.

Slow cognitive function and wanderings had me halfway down the street. Restless wasn’t quite the word for it but after being nearly comatose I needed to get out. Everything nearby needed to be checked for possible changes. There wasn’t any good reason for it, really I should be leaving a message for Kahina, talking to Julianne, or seeing how Daniel was doing. A few hours to myself would be nice. Just a few moments of peace to help me survive the return to reality’s nonsense.

In recent days, the park and I had become fairly familiar with each other. It was a plot of land that had been adopted by an elven clan. They took pride in remaining true to the original plant life by keeping anything not native weeded out. Part of Western Sector’s grants went to them as funding for their care-taking efforts. As a result, they were legally required to open their parks to the public.

It was a half win for both sides. Humans and other races got a beautiful place to get away to. Elves got to live in a city yet keep alive a lot of their older traditions. They replaced arrows through the eyeball with heavy fines upon littering visitors. Most elves felt that was even better than outright murder.

I hiked through with no particular goal aside from passing the time. There were others here, people out with dogs, strollers, mothers jogging along. The elves had painstakingly made a path that normal people could follow. For extra, anyone could pay for an elven guide, there were normally a few near the entrances in the larger parks. They showed all the unseen paths and great views.

My body was still shaky, but the outdoor air helped distract me. It was a welcome retreat. I hoped to see Candy somewhere in here. This park was near her clan. She didn’t seem like the manual labor type. Not outdoors anyway. That series of thoughts lasted far too long. Especially considering everything Kahina had just done for me.

The sun was still fairly high. There were more hours to burn before the cleaning started. Now was a good time to ask Julianne about how much a repair to the apartment kitchen might cost. Frame damage was cheaper than pipework, and my home hadn’t flooded. There was hope I might get off cheap. I walked back towards home only to find that Julianne wasn’t at the bar. One of the waitresses saw me and passed me a message. The same one that I could never remember the name of. Her jet black hair had a feather woven into it.

“She said to come by her house when you woke up.” The waitress was smirking like I won some sort of favor. From Julianne? Yeah, that sort of favor was unlikely. She seemed dead set on me and Kahina as a couple.

“Did she give you an address?” I asked.

“You don’t know it?”

“No, never asked.” Another question I should have asked in a long string of them.

“Hold on, I’ll write it down.” The waitress said. Me and a slip of paper, with extremely messy handwriting, headed out on a short trip.

Julianne’s house wasn’t what I expected. Her home was a two bedroom postage stamp property that didn’t stand out from its neighbors. At least she had a sizable yard. Being a corner property helped, and it looked like her fencing extended into a second lot. She must pay someone to mow the lawn.

I double checked the address in my hands a few times, then knocked on the door.

“Come on in, Jay,” Julianne called out from the depths of the little house.

The inside of the house was more along the lines of what I expected. She had a row of dolls strewn along the wall. No two were alike. I was willing to bet they hadn’t come out of the box like that. Each one had extra piercings, dyed hair and what looked to be handmade clothes. She had managed to create her own line of punk dolls out of young girl’s comfort toys. Morbidly funny.

The rest of the house followed the same pattern. Uneven color schemes mixed with lava lamps or electrostatic balls and felt posters. Clearly she did a lot more with her personal space than I did.

“Back here. We’ve got a present for you.” Julianne seemed happy. She also wasn’t alone. It was daylight so it wasn’t Kahina and Julianne. Not that I objected, there were certain fantasies that had crossed my mind over the years.

“Alright.” I followed the line of dolls to the hallway. Their staring eyes were getting creepier. They had slowly shifted to head level and the designs got more intense the closer to her bedroom I walked.

“Where?” I asked.

“Second door on the left. If you go to the third one I’ll have to kill you.” Her bedroom must be the third one.

“No worries, I value my life.”

Inside the room wasn’t just one female, but two. Neither dressed in the manner a fantasy of mine might dictate. From the distance between Julianne and the mystery woman, there was a chance they were together in more ways than one. I looked at the second female. A quick glance noted a long skirt, drab colors, and dyed black hair. Any evaluations I made would be kept quietly to myself. Her relationships weren’t my business.

“Where’s my surprise?” I raised an eyebrow and tried not to seem creepy to this new girl.

“Right over there.” Julianne pointed across the room to the side I hadn’t paid attention to.

One blond elf was bound in a chair and looked absolutely miserable. His clothes were in tatters and probably unwashed. Clumps of dirty hair clung to his face looking like the veins on a leaf. Julianne demonstrated a lot of self-control by letting this mess into her house. I turned back to the two ladies.

“Is this?” I started.

“Evan? Yes. Took a week of solid hunting, but they found him. Guess how pissed my grandfather was.” Julianne said.

“A little?” I ventured.

“A little in the same way that Mount Vesuvius only kind of buried Pompeii,” She responded.

“What?” I completely missed her reference. It sounded bad, though.

“Never mind.” Julianne glanced at her friend and rolled her eyes, all but spelling out what she thought of my intelligence level.

“How’d they track him?”

“We were catching some scents before it vanished. Finally, the boys staked out the area and waited.” The second girl said. This other girl struck me as overly mousy for Julianne. The only thing not brown on her was the hair.

“There were some ruins out there. Sure enough, a few days later Evan showed himself along with some second elf. Pack captured Evan and dragged him back, right out from under his friend’s nose.” Julianne finished the story.

“Have you told Daniel yet?” I asked.

“Not yet. We’ve been hoping you’d wake up before Daniel’s mess of paperwork started getting on nerves.” Julianne said.

“Why?”

“One of the last things he said was that he was avoiding his Lord that had been tracking him.” The short Indian woman crossed her arms. The other female seemed to shift with unease. “I only know of one tracker anywhere near this part of the Sector.”

I frowned. The whole Lord thing seemed bad to spread around. Especially after Candy told me they killed all their Lords.

“Lord? I’m good, but not royalty.” I tried to twist the conversation into self-ridicule instead of something worth consideration.

“No, you’re not. That’s why I figured you’d want him before we hand ’em over to Daniel.”

“Thanks. Mind stepping out while I sort this out? I wouldn’t want ladies to see anything unwelcome.” Not that I had much to work with. Evan had been silent this entire time.

“Big bad man going to torture the elf?” The mousy girl spoke up again. It came out with more than a little anger.

“No. I’m going to ask polite questions, and get answers,” I said. She glared at me and Julianne stepped closer. Between the two there was an obvious height difference. Not as intense as between Julianne and anyone else, but noticeable.

“Come on, Stacy, Jay gets paid for this sort of thing. We’ll go wait outside.” Julianne pushed at Stacy and mouthed at me rather intensely behind her back. The words were easy enough to make out so I nodded. No blood, I was in Julianne’s house and getting anything on the carpet would be unwelcome.

I constantly wanted to ask how Julianne got into the loans and gambling business. Her attitude, friendliness, and dislike for violence all seemed to go against it. Either way, she understood what might happen with Evan and set limits.

Evan was firmly attached to the chair with a few loops of metal on him. The chains around his legs looked like they might be rust rather than actual iron. I bent both knees and squatted down to get eye level.

“Evan, is it?” His ratty hair looked even worse than last time I had seen him. At least this time his pointed ears were obvious.

“I’ve got some questions for you, Evan. Easy stuff, and if you answer them then we can both go our separate ways.” I took the gag out and gave him a moment to find his voice.

He didn’t respond. I took my fingers and pried open his eyelids, checking for dilation. His orbs lacked any comprehension. One hand pressed to his face, and the other smacked the opposite cheek. He didn’t flinch or scream. Clearly the hope that this was all an act was unreasonable.

Maybe Julianne had used too much iron? Unlikely. Elves could be bound in iron for weeks. They would be miserable and willing to stab anyone. Not comatose. Their addictions not being met was another matter.

“What is it, Evan?” I shook him back and forth some more. There was no response.

“You, addicted to chocolate ice cream with marshmallows eaten using chopsticks? Watching the news at exactly three AM for only seven minutes and twelve seconds?” In disgust, the elf was pushed back into his corner of the room. I stomped around trying not to get upset. This was close to answers, but at the same time it was so far away.

“A line of crack off a hooker’s breasts, that you paid in two dollar bills?” Random ideas came out my mouth. Given the few addictions I had observed these actually seemed plausible.

“Come on, Evan, work with me.” I came back over and patted both sides of his face. His head lolled to the side and sat there.

“Fucking hell.” The gag was shoved back in his mouth harder than needed. A moment later and I was down the hall and in the front room. “He’s completely out of it, when’s the last time he had a fix?”

“Not sure. He never asked for anything, so we figured he was one of those once a year elves.” Elves occasionally had extraordinarily complex addictions. Highly complicated ones were able to stretch further between fixes. “He was eating.”

“Guy’s got no response. Completely gone.” I said. Julianne and Stacy shared a worried glance with each other from their side of the couch. We all knew that elven addictions became more twisted the longer they went without satisfaction.

“Shit, he was okay yesterday, tired, but okay,” Julianne said. “We can’t turn him over to Daniel if he’s not working. That’ll make him mad.” Stacy, the other girl, seemed to mimic the bartender’s worry.

They weren’t the only ones upset. Daniel was slow to anger. Once he finally did explode the results were titanic. One such event involved him demolishing a vampire cartel in the space of two nights. Western Sector strike squads were called in like accurate lightning strikes. He managed to hit the places that no one should have known about. Then the reports and all associated loose lips were shoved into a dark hole.

“We need to find an elf who works with addictions,” I said.

“I might know one.” Julianne had a person in mind. I looked at her for a moment then sighed.

“Candy?” I threw the name out there.

“Who?”

“Blonde, tattooed eyes, dark sunglasses, shepherds Umbrella Beer?” I only listed the safe characteristics.

“Yeah.” Julianne nodded. “That elf was always hovering around the other guy the first few times.”

“That’s Candy, why do you think she might know something?” I said.

“If anyone has an answer it would be her. He deferred to her. Candy’s either a leader or some sort of guide.” The bartender angrily glared at me about the whole subject. Once again Stacy mimicked the motions with a tilt of hips and one fist on her side.

“I guess I could ask her.” I ran my hand over shortened hair and tried to figure out what was next. There was no point in asking Julianne to do it or Stacy. They had already tracked Evan down and given me the first crack.

“You need to solve this quick. You clearly know this, Candy, elf, and Evan was looking for you.” Julianne had her hands on the back of her couch. They were curling and gripping the upholstery.

“I barely know her.” I corrected the shorter woman.

“Sounds like you know her overly well.”

“I did what you suggested. I had a question, and she had an answer I needed.” One hand raised with the palm facing upwards. Why is it that my choices always seemed to result in problems? Damned if I did, damned if I didn’t.

“Yeah? What question was that?” Julianne asked. I stared at her and got two equally annoyed stares in return.

“A separate problem.” Was my relenting comment. Not that they were separate problems at all. They were directly linked. This ‘Lord’ thing was my problem to sort through and not anyone else’s.

“Kahina doesn’t know that you’re stalking elven whores?” Julianne asked. She lifted a cushion on the couch in agitation and set it right back down.

“I haven’t told her, no.” My eyelids fluttered and neck bunched up. This was getting beyond annoying. I didn’t come here to be berated for trying to solve problems.

“Jay…” Her voice turned low and warning. My hands went into the air with a shout.

“What Julianne? You want me to patch up my relationship with Kahina like nothing happened, just a bump in the road, forgive and forget?” I shouted. There wasn’t enough room in this house to truly get angry.

She grew quiet.

“Good, because that whole night pretty much screwed over everything I had going for me,” I said, satisfied that this argument was in my favor.

“Shut your trap.” Stacy nearly snarled at me.

“Fuck you. You have no idea what happened…” I shouted. My mind was glazing over all the warning signs of impending doom. “and no right.”

My ears started ringing and vision took a sudden turn to the left. Stacy had slapped me, hard. With the kind of strength that didn’t come from a human. Wolf. Julianne was hanging out with a female wolf. I yelled again, only this sounded off, different than normal, and shoved the wolf backward into a wall.

Julianne let out a cry and ran to her friend’s side, or whatever they were. I didn’t care. This was too much. My breath was ragged from that brief bout. Julianne’s house was confining me. I made it out the door and stomped across her front yard. There was an itch on my arm and the sound of drumbeats in my ear. Worse still, I wanted Stacy to come out here and continue our fight.

Hell. Why couldn’t I ever leave someplace in a peaceful manner? Leaving Kahina the first time four years ago was bad. My first visit to Evan involved rudely carving off his hair and throwing a knife into the wall. Then there was the forest I was recently evicted from. All my life I had been burning bridges.

Hell. What was wrong with me?

After a few hours of walking, I was still angry. Angry at everyone else for telling me what to think about Kahina. Angry at myself for not having a good answer. Angry at Daniel and his missing person case. Then Evan for jerking me around with the ‘Lord’ comment.

I proceeded home. My modified knuckles went into a pocket and an iron chain was threaded through belt loops. Next I stopped at the bar, more out of habit than need. No one here knew me. No one besides Julianne and I had screwed that up. At the far end of the bar was a pile of coins and a puddle of spilled liquid. The arrogant elf had come in for another fix. I was back out the door before anyone felt the need to greet me. Hopefully I could get to Candy’s before nightfall. After that, avoiding Kahina would be a matter of timing.

Soon I stood across the street from Candy’s bedroom window. Two elves watched me from up high, perched on walls, strange bows strapped across their back. My head was pounding out its displeasure. Everything conspired to drive me bonkers.

Countless people passed while I stalked up and down the sidewalk. Cars came and went. Humans bartered for organic crops. Kids on their way home from school used the elven sidewalk for added safety.

My eyes slid down and I tried to calm myself. The same senses I used to defend my home from Kahina’s two hired goons were still rusty. That mental switch was getting easier to flip. Brief flashes of insight to the world about me flooded in. It felt like the ground beneath my feet was boiling with heat. A glance upward confirmed that both sentries above had their bows in hand, an arrow notched but not drawn.

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 properly.

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.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I sneered and felt completely justified. Kahina was framing me. Worse, her only reason to try and get back into my life wasn’t even for me. It was for blood. “See it going away? Not yours anymore. Not ever going to be, even if you came clean now.”

Kahina whimpered, then grew frustrated.

I clenched my fist. I would need to wash it out, and bind it as soon as possible. Maybe it would heal as easily as Stacy seemed to think. The pain didn’t matter, though, victory was mine.

Kahina’s face twisted for a moment then turned to a snarl. She swung herself to the side and for the second time today Stacy went flying. My now extremely ex-girlfriend dove for me. Her shoulder collided with my stomach and knocked us over. There was a crack of noise as my head slammed something behind me and the world went fuzzy.

The world spun and my mind tried to get a grip on the sudden change. The first thing I became aware of was a mewling sound and a tongue licking along my palm’s inside. It didn’t hurt. There was only pressure. Things came into focus slowly. Kahina was curled up nearby with my hand at her mouth. She was licking the blood straight from the wound where it slowly trickled. I jerked my hand in momentary panic. She didn’t release it.

“Kahina, let go!” I tried to pull my hand away. She locked her free arm around my elbow and kept me in position. My feet scrambled to get under me but the more I pulled away the more she tightened her grip.

There was a groan of noise to my left. It wasn’t female, though. I looked around. Julianne and Stacy were standing back a ways with an expression that bordered between uncertainty and fright. It wasn’t directed towards Kahina.

They were looking at where the groaning noise had come from. Evan.

His lips were moving, but no audible words came out. I panicked. Evan had answers. He had information. Kahina needed to return to her senses and let me go. At this point, Evan was the only thing keeping me here. My vision started spinning. Maybe all the blood loss in such a short time was adding up.

“Kahina, let go, you damned crazy bitch.” I gave my arm a jerk and pushed at her shoulder. She snarled and tried to get back to the blood.

“Let go!” I caved to her pull and slammed the thin black woman into the wall behind us. Her eyes crisscrossed as the house shuddered a third time. One moment of confusion was enough to yank my hand away.

I quickly stumbled to the elf. His chair ground against the carpet as he was dragged across the room.

“Keep her the hell away from me unless you want this to get worse,” I said. My hand stung again from moving Evan’s chair.

There was a budding anger in the back of my brain. Everything spun and the room felt dim. Something that was mine was being messed with. It felt like I was being robbed and was frozen, completely unable to prevent it.

I shook my head and tried to focus. My healthy hand shook the elf’s face. Any traces of my blood that had dripped onto him were gone. I must have gotten it all in his mouth. Julianne’s carpet was safe.

Evan was mumbling in that weird language they had. It sounded like the wind pitching itself through a long tunnel with waterfalls on both sides. Some women loved it. I got annoyed when I couldn’t understand them. Especially right now in the midst of all this other madness.

“What the hell are you saying, Evan?” I put my hand over his head and jostled. “Earth to Evan.”

I could hear Julianne and Stacy muttering to each other behind me. They made soothing sounds to Kahina. She was sniffling. Evan kept on muttering.

“Speak English.” I rolled his head around while getting angrier. It was hard to focus. I had been violated. Been stolen from. What was mine was in danger.

Evan’s eyes opened and stared intensely at nothing.”A Lord calls. He calls.”

“What the hell do you mean by that? Evan, tell me what a Lord is to you.” I said desperately. He slipped back into the other words again. “Answer me, you worthless spawn of a weed!”

“He calls.” Evan’s eyes seemed to gain slight focus once I stopped shaking his head.

“What are you doing here?” His eyes found mine and a look of terror passed over him.

“You are one of their hunters, how did you find me? Who?” He started panicking, bucking weakly against his restraints.

“You’re bound hard, Evan.” I leaned in close with my damaged hand cradled. My vision was doubling up. “Now answer the question.”

He was looking behind him, trying to figure out an escape route. Evan’s eyes only got wider as time passed.

“Evan, why did you call me Lord?” I spat.

He turned back to me and locked eyes with an intense focus. There was more muttering coming forth that didn’t make sense. Pressure started to build in my mind. His form started to blur and shake. He seemed to vanish. Then seemed to be waving from outside a window. But it was my eyesight that told me these things. My feet were still firm on the floor. The girls were still behind me talking. My hand was still cradled. Vision lied. I reached out to where Evan should have been and found purchase. Then shook.

“Evan!” I was shouting. “Why did you call me Lord?” The vision before me snapped away and the elf looked more panicked than ever.

“No, not you, not you. It cannot be. You are merely a thug, a minion, you are not one of them.” He was babbling. My mind was functional enough to register the elf’s worry.

“I saw you, Evan, I saw you talking to me in the forest, through that other body.” He was having a disconnection between me in front of him, and my tracking spirit in the forest.

He blinked, then blinked again and the babbling only increased. From the corner of my eye, I could see Kahina curled up. She looked distraught over what had happened. Stacy was watching me and Evan as much as she was watching Kahina.

“You need to run, you need to hide. It is not me they want, it is you.” Evan said. “They want you. Run away, Lord, run away, flee.” He kept going and I shook him again. His head flopped back and forth while his body remained bound by iron.

I could see little sparks of color appear. His eyes rapidly turned into a firework show as all sorts of hues flared up around us. Evan’s eyes crossed again and he seemed to be looking elsewhere.

“Run away, run far away, to the woods, we can hide you. We will take you away and shelter you. The old ways. We can flee and restore what was lost.” He kept going on and on.

“No!” Kahina had regained enough of her senses to hear what he was babbling. “You will not leave me, Jay! Don’t leave!”

I turned around. Both Stacy and Julianne were holding Kahina back. Her face was a wreck, but there wasn’t a spot of blood on her except for two small dabs by either eye. My head throbbed and hearing had started ringing. The doubled vision grew worse. Something important hovered on the edge of my memory, but nothing made sense.

“Why, Kahina? You don’t want your meal to get away?” My snide attitude felt like an afterthought as I tried to concentrate.

“No, Jay, I love you, you’re mine, mine! Not his, no one else’s!” Her babbling was getting similar to the elf’s. I wasn’t sure I could take standing in the middle like this.

The drop of blood slid further down her face. Oh Hell. She was crying. It had been a while since we were officially together, but part of me still wanted to go to her, to help her. She was strong a lot of the time. To see her breaking down was disturbing.

Vampires can’t fake crying blood.

Kahina made short surges across the floor as her strength and desperation mounted. She was strong enough to overcome the other two holding her. Evan rattled his restraints while mumbling the word ‘run’.

My next words were lost in a new bombardment of noise. Stacy’s head jerked up to look at me for a brief moment. I wasn’t even sure what I had said to Kahina.

The front room window shattered as something was tossed through. A pop and hiss barely preempted smoke filling the room. Seconds later the door was rammed open. Shouting threatened to destroy what was left of my concentration. Multiple someones had invaded and they were moving quickly. Their guns were heavy. I saw a Western Sector logo through the smoke.

I didn’t react well. The sense of violation started to grow increasingly, driving a need to protect what was mine. My mind had failed to understand this maze my life had become. Being attacked made things simpler. This was now a fight, something I should excel at. Something I needed in order to vent the feelings that had piled up inside me.

Kahina and the others were quick to move to the ground. The smoke grenade that had been thrown inside probably had bits of silver mixed with other particles. Enough to shut down most non-humans. My skin twitched and rolled as I went into action.

They opened fire and it felt like I was being punched with tiny lead tipped beanbags.

I dove for the couch and tipped it over. Hands knifed through the cheap fabric covering the bottom. Fingers curled around the wooden beams inside. Another few beanbag pellets connected. With a yell, I propelled the three seat couch in front of me like a shield and slammed into as many as I could. It felt good. There was a blow to the side of my head that should have put me down but didn’t.

I wouldn’t let them take what was mine easily.

Things got choppy after that. Real life flashed by in a series of still-life snapshots. One such picture was me throwing someone through the window while smoke filled my vision. Angry snarls came from behind me. Another flash and I was stepping out the broken window of Julianne’s house.

The yard was full of quite a few, more than the five of us could handle. Evan was back there uttering his stream of words. A moment later and I was charging across the lawn with a yell. One of the guns I had ripped away from our assailants was tossed at the vehicles outside. The makeshift projectile created a dent that seemed insanely big.

There was a loud succession of shots which resulted in more painful little rubber bullets. A dog pile of bodies landed on me and word were shouted. After that, my mind stopped registering things.

Chapter 13 – Most Other Races

I came to in a small run down room with a long table in front of me. The chair I sat in was heavy. Its material wasn’t iron or silver. My arms and legs were tied up in a manner that stunk of military precision. They gave me enough slack to raise both arms up. Julianne and Stacy could have learned a thing or two.

The rest of the room was equally depressive looking. Someone had slapped over-sized blue glow sticks on the walls that served as the only lights. The walls were stripped bare of even plaster. One armed guard stood inside the door. His gun didn’t appear to be loaded with the friendly suppression bullets that I had been playing with at Julianne’s.

My eyes closed and tried to recap what had happened. A sudden shake of my head brought no clarity. I used what little give these bindings allowed in order to scratch my nose. Once that immediate problem was resolved it was time to inspect the damage from the excitement at Julianne’s. There were no signs of bruising or other wounds. Either I was extremely lucky, or had already healed. Even my formerly split open palm felt okay.

I couldn’t remember healing this fast. Then again there hadn’t been a lot of need for it in the last four years. My wanderings about the countryside were indistinct and probably boring. Honestly, before that vacation I had been able to avoid being hit in the first place. My tactile senses and a young man’s reaction speed had done wonders. Hell. Now my wrist itched.

The bindings jangled around as I tried to get to the spot. The latest round of actions made the guard look over. The gun raised slightly in my direction. I lifted my right arm enough to wave. The guard’s response was elevating his weapon higher.

“I’m behaving,” I said.

The guard used his free hand and knocked on the door in a short series of raps. A slit of light appeared in the door-frame. There was no outright communication between the two people, only a quick nod between them. My babysitter turned back to the room. He had a robotic gaze that seemed to look at nothing in particular in the entire room.

I was starving. Despite all the noise my stomach was making the guard kept ignoring me. Finally, the door opened and Daniel stepped inside the room. At least it was a familiar Western Sector employee. This was probably going to be my least favorite part of the last few weeks.

There was a hasty whisper as Daniel muttered to the guard. The guard nodded then stepped outside and the door slid shut behind him.

“You have five minutes to tell me how this is going to go, Jay.” Daniel pointed a finger at me. ”Five minutes in which I have to decide if you’re an undercover asset, or you go in the deepest jail cell I can find. Your charges include kidnapping a key witness and assaulting multiple officers.”

“Crummy…” I started to respond.

“Don’t start that with me. Do you have any idea of the fucking mess you’ve made? Getting caught in there?” He waved an arm at one of the walls. “It’s bad enough you’re in with a small time bookie like Julianne, but Kahina? Keeper’s scion?”

“What?” I asked.

“No? Didn’t tell you?” No, she had probably told me. It was another thing my mind glazed over. “How about this Stacy Watershed?”

The agent shook a stack of papers that he pulled out from somewhere. Daniel and his files. The man loved them. I watched the pile bob up and down in the air as he kept up his rant.

“Looks harmless enough at first glance but wanted for assault and battery on at least three occasions. Only a level two rehabilitation?” He snorted and shook his head.

“She seems like a winner,” I said. The Bitch and I would probably never be friends.

“Then there’s the elf, wanted in regards to the biggest missing person case this Sector has seen in years.” Daniel dropped his pile of paperwork onto the table. I leaned back and attempted to cross my arms. It wasn’t easy with the rigging they tied me up with.

“Where is this going, Crummy?” I asked.

“I had people watching those woods, Jay, and watching your house. So when I get a report on my desk that says the elf I’ve been tracking, the elf that may hold the key to our missing person case…” Daniel’s eyebrows shot up as he leaned over the desk. “was found, not only by the local pack which I’d been putting pressure on but by my friend?”

I would have sunk into the chair, but the way they had me chained to it didn’t leave room to maneuver.

“Jesus, Jay! You went into the house, and I could see how you wouldn’t know until then. After, though?” He stomped away to the other side of the room.

Okay. I officially knew where this was going. None of it was good for me or anyone involved. The agent had a right to be upset. This whole thing had gotten wildly out of hand because of my desire to learn information. I should have called Daniel the minute the elf showed up and washed my hands of the situation.

“A booty call to a different elf that didn’t go well. A trip to the bar, for another drink I’m sure. Then your wreck of a home then back again to” He recited some mental list. “Julianne’s house.”

A drink did sound amazingly good. It practically made my mouth water. Plus it would mean that angry Daniel Crumfield was nowhere near me.

“Tell me how this looks good, Jay, tell me something. Neither of us wants to be here right now.” He said.

“I needed an elf’s help, and she was the only one that I was on speaking terms with.” He must have been talking about Candy. It was hard to explain how she factored in.

“You sure you weren’t telling her where to find her long-lost clan member? So they could fucking stonewall me along with the wolves?” Daniel dug through his papers and spun out a file with Candy’s face printed on the top left.

“Why would I do that, Crummy?” I was too irritated to tell him that they weren’t members of the same house. Or else Candy would have known one of her elves wasn’t feeding their addiction, or whatever it was she kept track of.

“I don’t know, man, I don’t fucking know. The reward money? Tell me something so I can make this go away.” He said.

Right, like I was going to tell him something that would dig a bigger hole. Daniel and I were friends outside of work. Out there I would take a bullet for him. But in here, with Daniel the Western Sector agent, it was a different story.

“The moment my team marked you leaving that house I should have had a phone call. One fucking phone call, to tell me you had him.” Daniel was back in front of me pounding his finger on the desk. His face nearly matched his blazing red hair. “But no, they find you wandering the God damned city. For what, Jay? What the hell is so important that you couldn’t call me and let me do my job?”

“I had some questions of my own,” I muttered.

“Like what, Jay? What was so fucking important?” Part of my mind was focused on that finger. He kept jabbing it into the table. Each pound grabbed my focus and irritated me.

“Some of the stuff he said to me,” I answered.

“He would say anything to get away, anything to escape.” Daniel stepped back and took a breath. He was trying to be calm but failing. “Don’t tell me you believed his story for a moment. Don’t tell me you’re that dense.”

Maybe I was that dense. For a moment, I had believed Evan. He actually sounded like he knew what I was. Being a Lord had to mean something. It had to tie into my issues, in the same way being a wolf caused allergies to silver. Or how being a vampire caused the blood thirst. I wanted to have a reason for why I acted how I did.

“I should have called,” I admitted.

“But you didn’t. You didn’t do shit to help me out. You’ve avoided me this entire case, saying you couldn’t help, that you weren’t any good anymore.” Daniel had worked himself back into full-on rant mode again. His hand waved at walls and the other jabbed into the table again.

My three seconds of silence didn't deter him. He kept right on going.

“My men saw what you did to Francis, saw you walking fine yesterday, a few days after he clawed the shit out of your legs.” How long had Daniel been watching me? Did he always watch me? “You’ve got it still, at least a little bit, and you could have helped me close this a long time ago, but you dragged your feet.”

“What the hell is so important about this elf?” I tried to stand up and shout but only managed to rattle the manacles around my limbs.

“You have no idea what Arnold was involved in. What it means, and how many will crawl over me to get this case.” He said. “I can’t let anyone else near this situation.”

“Why this case?” It couldn’t be the reward money. The amount was an enticing incentive, but it couldn’t be worth all this trouble. Maybe it was. I had seen stupid things done for a few thousand.

Daniel was on the far side of the room rubbing the back of his neck with both hands. His head leaned back. The man’s eyes were unfocused and gazing upward. There was a knock on the door and Daniel almost tore it open. Another suit stood right outside.

“The elf escaped, sir.” The guard seemed perturbed delivering the news.

“What?!” Daniel had been mad before, this was just short of a nuclear explosion. The other chair was thrown against a wall. Papers scattered everywhere.

“Did you have anything to do with this, Jay?” He turned back to me. His face was twitching with anger. I lifted both hands as much as possible and the bindings rattled.

“What do you think, Crummy?” I was rolling my eyes. “You going to explain or go chase the elf?” Daniel pinched his fuming face at me and finally nodded.

“This is a nightmare, man, and it’s entirely your fault,” He said. Daniel stepped outside then slammed the door. Once again I was left alone.

What now? I certainly wasn’t going to sit my ass here in a cell. Daniel didn’t leave the door open with an ‘exit here, buddy’ sign posted to it. Then again I was probably on his shit list for a while.

Where were the others? The last thing I recalled was ramming Daniel’s fellow Western Sector agents with a couch. My only source of relief was deliberately banging my head against the table. I exercised the option for the next few minutes with a slow, rhythmic thumping.

An almost imagined whisper caught my attention. I looked around trying to find the source of the noise. It seemed to be from the hallway. The low murmur happened again but closer. What was it saying? Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. It looked like the door Daniel had slammed was now fully open.

I was still bound, so it didn’t matter. Double vision plagued me. This time, I saw a ragged looking elf standing in the doorway. He motioned desperately in my direction. The image faded out suddenly. Evan must be using his abilities. Messing with my vision somehow.

My chains rattled in frustration. It was hard not to shout for him. Sure I wanted out, but I couldn’t do it like this. I wasn’t that strong. Soft, almost silent footsteps crept across the room. The real Evan appeared this time.

“Break loose, I can befuddle them on our escape.” The elf said.

“Can’t,” I responded. He made it sound as simple as breathing.

“You can. You are one of them. A once lost Lord, even their young could break this.” There was a moment where I felt him grab at my bindings. He immediately hissed with pain.

“I can not free you. I have no magic against iron.” He said.

“How did you get free then?”

“Who says I was ever truly captured?” He sounded smug about it.

“Find Kahina,” I suggested.

“I am sorry, which one was that?” He sounded winded. Almost gasping for breath.

“The black woman, partial vampire.”

“A Bloodletter? Are you sure that is wise?”

“She can break this!” I restrained myself from yelling at him. Kahina was a vampire, the iron would crack easily with her strength. Then we could escape.

“If you are sure, Lord.” With a slight uncertainty to his voice, he vanished from sight. His light footsteps crossed the room. Evan must be special to fool people trained to spot illusions.

After a long pause, I went back to banging my head. It settled to resting on the table while staring at the door. They hadn’t bothered putting a guard back in this room.

It was tempting to just sit here in custody. What was the worst Daniel could do? Hopefully, the agent would assist in my escape and let it slide.

“She is here. It took some time to prevent her from breaking the security beams.” Evan had gotten near me without my noticing.

“You managed to sneak her over?” I asked.

“I did. Though…”

“Did you know that they’ve got trip wires to catch speeding vampires? The elf can see them.” I heard her voice. Kahina was close by and all business.

“What?” I said.

“They set them up every twenty feet give or take, this place is rather run down, but they have some mobile ones. I stole a few.” She sounded proud of her pilfering from Western Sector’s finest.

“We need to escape.” Evan piped in. “Things are not as they seem, and we are all in danger here.”

“I’d love to,” I said.

“Any idea what sort of game Daniel is playing here?” Kahina asked an excellent question. There was no solid answer. Me escaping would be fine. I didn’t exist on record, and Daniel would probably let it slide.

“Maybe you should stay here until you can get a lawyer,” I said to Kahina.

“Daniel has no intention of providing me a lawyer. I’ve already asked.” She said. “We would all be best served by fleeing to our homes.”

“So break me out, and we’ll go.” I rattled the chain holding me.

“I’m not sure I should let you go, Jay. You haven’t been kind to me.” She said.

“Do you want to do this now?”

“I’d love to. We’ve got things to settle.” She responded to my question.

“After we’re out of here,” I said to her.

“You’ll owe me, Jay, and I will collect. Agreed?” Kahina was too close. I could feel air passing from her lips over to my ear. It tickled and teased. The scent of peppermint overwhelmed the building's dry cedar.

“Bloodletter, I can only maintain this illusion for a limited time. Then I will leave you.” Evan managed to sound a tad angry.

“A pointless threat.” Years of being around her made the face easy to guess. There would be a slight tilt to her head. Lowered eyebrows. A half-opened mouth where she tickled a long tooth with her tongue. The same look one gave a steak.

“It is no threat, only the truth,” Evan said.

“Would one of you break the chain, please?” I rattled them again for emphasis.

“Fine. But you and I, we’ll have our talk, Jay. One where you don’t run, don’t avoid, and talk to me.” I felt a frightening moment of wonder when Kahina’s fingers slid over my skin and zeroed in on the metal to crush it. “You need to explain why you persist with this cruel lie.”

“Later.” My response was curt. Now was not the time to deal with this.

“I still do not understand why you couldn't break the chains yourself,” Evan stated. His voice made me feel tired.

“Done, let’s go,” She said.

“The door? Is it open?” I asked.

“It never closed,” Evan confirmed. I stepped over towards the door as quietly as possible and leaned outside. There was no one there watching over any of us. The hallway was short and looked like it belonged to a re-purposed house of some sort.

“Don’t bother sneaking, they’re all gone.” She walked past me calmly and gestured around. Evan slumped against a wall with sweat dripping down his forehead. He huffed slowly.

“What?” I asked.

“I believe Daniel is using you as bait.” Kahina tilted her gaze towards Evan. “To follow us to your elf minion here.”

“What?” I was thoroughly confused now. Why would Daniel trap me then be sloppy enough to let us all escape? Evan was right here. Not that Daniel even wanted Evan. He wanted Arnold.

Oh. Oh, Hell. Daniel really was playing a game. Kahina was right. The woman was too smart for me to keep up with sometimes. First thing’s first, we had to escape past all the guards.

“You’re being used as bait by Daniel.” Kahina was calm about the whole thing. There was something in the way she walked that was quite possessive. The way her body leaned or how she kept looking in my direction anytime my eyes shifted elsewhere.

“Anyone have a plan?” I asked.

“I’ll be picking whatever exit you’re not leaving by.” Stacy showed up shortly after with Julianne. “Being as they’re after you two idiots, and not us.”

“What about you, Kahina?” I turned towards the black woman.

“What do you want me to do, Jay?” Kahina asked. She was suddenly standing a few feet away. Her pose seemed shy with both arms clasped behind her back.

“I don’t know.” And now wasn’t a good time to think about it. There were more immediate problems to deal with.

“Fine. I’ll decide for you.” Kahina snapped out of the pose and glared. “Pointy ears, go with those two and keep them unseen and get them out, I’ll bet anything Daniel has people on guard. I’ll go with big and dumb to keep him clear.”

“And if they have additional grenades? They were fairly well geared. Surviving a second time will be hard, no matter how well Jay was at throwing agents around.” Julianne said. She had a hand on Stacy’s shoulder.

“I did what?” I asked.

“Don’t you remember, Jay?”

“Not a bit.” There was nothing more than flashes in my head. The memories felt both familiar and foreign at the same time.

“I don’t care,” Stacy said. “All I want to know is which way you’re leaving so we can go the other direction.” She reached up and placed her hand over Julianne’s.

“Then does it matter which way we go?” I asked.

“No.” The mousy girl said. “Not to me.”

“Where are you going to take Evan?” I needed to know where Evan and Julianne were going. Otherwise, it would be difficult to meet up later. Worst case scenario my tracking abilities could be put to use.

“I don’t know. Pack woods?” Julianne said. She was looking at Stacy. Then they both nodded.

“Lord, we have to talk, without everyone else.”

“Sure. Once we’re safe.” I said to Evan.

There was a lot going on that didn’t make sense and my mind kept coming back to the inconsistencies. Daniel was my friend. He broke into the house, knocked me out, then drug us all off. We didn’t end up in a Sector holding cell, though. We ended up in some off the record house that no sane Western Sector agent would use.

“Whatever we do, we’ll need to move fast. Elf, how good are your illusions?” Kahina focused far better than I did.

“Good enough to escape humans trained to watch for it.” He puffed up proudly. Evan was well within rights to be smug.

“Can you make it seem like we’re running with Jay while the rest of us head the other direction?” She asked. He looked at me, and I shrugged back. It would be a neat trick if he could.

“For now.” Evan seemed hesitant to answer.

“For now?” Kahina raised an eyebrow. Evan didn’t respond.

“We should go shouldn’t we?” Julianne was vulnerable compared to the rest of us.

“As I said, I go with Jay. Pointy ears here can do his illusions and cover you.” Kahina said. She looked bored with the situation. One hand was up as she inspected her nails.

Evan looked at me again. Plans were not my strong suit. My job had always been simple. Find my stuff. Punch those in the way. Come home and eat.

“Can you do that, Evan?” I asked.

“Yes, but I may need an awakening afterward,” He said. What on earth was an awakening?

“They’re headed back this way.” Stacy’s ears were turned towards the hallway. “We’ve got a plan, let’s go.”

Evan was looking around, his eyes doing the brief flickers of starbursts before he closed them. Flares of color could be seen from under his eyelids. I had never actually witnesses an elf doing magic before. Then again no one was sure how many elves could actually do magic.

“It’s done.” Then he fell sideways towards the floor. Stacy stepped in and caught him. She hefted the elf over a shoulder and turned away.

“I’ll carry him. Jan, you stay behind me.” Stacy said.

“We’d better go, who knows what kind of timer he’s got on his illusions.” Kahina waved the other girls off.

“I’ll go first,” I said. My earlier question had grown unimportant as everyone zeroed in on the escape process.

I turned and headed down the hallway, looking for a back door out of here to ‘escape’ through. A few turns of the hallway later and it was just me and Kahina. Thankfully she seemed to be focused on something other than draining me of blood. If anything she seemed wired. Almost angry.

“Let’s try not to kill anyone.” Getting on Daniel’s bad side, even while we were escaping, seemed like a terrible idea.

“You’re a few steps behind as usual, Jay,” She said.

“Where should I be then?” My voice came out a little snide.

“Put a good show on, pretend to talk to the others, and then run in front of us.” Once again Kahina sounded bored. Her gaze focused on a strand of hair between her fingers. Why she picked the middle of an escape to preen was beyond me.

“Why?” I asked her.

“Daniel thinks you’re the leader of this group, and he’s hoping you’ll lead him to the slant ear,” She said. It sounded like a joke to me. I was not a leader of any sort.

My hand was on the doorknob. I turned and looked at Kahina. She smiled a strange mix between anger and excitement that I could never sort out. Her clothes were as ragged as I felt. Still, to me, she looked beautiful. Who knows what they had done to capture her. Probably held a cross to her face and terrified the vampirism. Thinking about it made me enraged.

“You know they’ve probably been instructed to keep us alive,” I stated with unexpected composure.

“Right,” She said.

“And we don’t have to be gentle just because we’re trying not to kill anyone.” I continued.

“I had no intention of being kind to them,” She said. For a moment, her eyes went red with blood before shifting back. The suddenness left me disturbed. How close was she to her transition? Months? Weeks? Days?

I couldn’t defend her. Not the way she wanted. The man I was and the man I had become in the last four years were not the same. I was trying to recover. Getting Evan out, getting answers from him, both would help. Still. Maybe I had summed it up best when talking to Kahina, time doesn’t march backward.

“If they’re any good, they’ll have a few watching us from higher vantage points. I’ll head for them, you and our friends-” she smirked at the illusions “-should stick to walls and between buildings. If we get clear then we can head to my home and plan from there.”

My eyebrow raised at her statement. The last house of hers that I had officially been in was a condo downtown.

“I’ve moved since you were last in town,” She said. “As I told you, I’ve been preparing.”

I turned the doorknob then yanked the door open. There was only a fleeting glimpse of the outside before Kahina dashed away. If I hadn’t known where she was headed I might have missed her leaping upwards to the top of an opposing roof in the span of a few seconds. My eyes lingered on her backside as it leaped through the air. Beautiful. Not only did the angle look good, but she was going to beat someone into the ground. Aside from the blood thirst she was an amazing woman.

The faded light made seeing difficult. At first glance, we were in a giant housing project. Many buildings were nothing more than the framework. Some were pretty close to done.

I slipped out and headed left. This direction led toward home. That pull was the only useful guide available to me. The illusions Evan had put out were taking off out other doors and windows. They wore false expressions of worry and panic but kept close to where I was. It was time to add realism.

“Come on, we’ve got to get out of here,” I said. A second illusion ran by me. An illusion of Stacy and I hightailing it across the yard appeared. Gunshots rang out from nearby. The false copies and I kept to our path out of the construction zone.

Coming around the corner, I found myself facing one of the armed men Daniel had brought. I knocked the gun wide and laid a fist into his face. The guard survived the first punch and let loose of the gun. His free hand went for a sidearm. My fist was faster. A second shot landed on his temple. The impact jarred us both, but I stayed upright. He slumped.

There was a flicker of movement next to me. I saw Kahina pick up both guns, grin, then vanish in a whirl of speed. Moments later a second set of gunshots rang out. I hadn’t known Kahina was willing to fire a gun. Most other races tended to shy away from them. They were a tool of humans and the different races had their own abilities. Of course, she had always been a modern sort of girl.

Another trio of images flickered past me. These looked like ghostly versions of Kahina, Julianne, and myself. That illusion was more believable than The Bitch and me together.

Increasing in number, Daniel’s people kept on coming. This time, there were three men at the end of a corridor. I turned and fled through a doorway to one of the partially completed houses. Hopefully, there was a passageway out that wasn’t guarded. Another round of gunshots rang out nearby. Small lights were mounted on the end of rifles. Two Sector agents were inside the house searching for me. The fakes were being eliminated. At least my own personal phantasm escort was still traveling next to me. The elf had done quite a number on these illusions.

Each house was roughly the same. Two stories, three or four bedrooms, and a garage. I took an exit out of the bottom floor’s partially constructed garage. The next building was fifteen feet away tops. At this one, I stopped inside the doorway and waited in a corner. My illusionary partner kept running through the house.

Two of the Daniel’s men came inside. I used my advantage and dropped both of them using boards that had been left at the construction site. I yanked off their helmets to look at something then promptly moved on. Once those two were down I doubled back to the previous house and headed in a new direction. I could hear bullets from further away as Kahina rained chaos upon the battlefield.

Something about this was wrong. Western Sector didn't only hire humans. Not one of these people had displayed anything above the standard reactions. No speed, no strength or heightened reflexes. Nothing.

A few minutes later and I was out of the new housing project. It was difficult not feel like a fish on land as I gulped for air. My body had worked up a bit of a sweat. Pausing for breath, I slumped against a wall and tried to figure out what to do next. Kahina and her rain of gunfire was a lot further away now.

“Well, Jay, you don’t disappoint.” A voice came from down the way. My refuge was useless already.

“Crummy.” The redhead was hard to make out in the darkness. There was no doubt as to who else it would be.

“I’ll let you go, Jay, but you need to find me Arnold. Do you understand?” He didn’t have his surfer accent and that was strange. “I don’t care about you, Julianne, or Kahina, I don’t even care about the elf, bring me Arnold.”

“Why is he so important?” Arnold was the son of a rich family, but this was ridiculous. I started walking towards Daniel.

“Listen, I’m your friend right?” He asked.

“I’m not sure about that,” I responded. Today had put the topic of our friendship into a ‘maybe’ category.

“Trust me, we’re friends, otherwise you would never have gotten out. I need you, as my friend, to find me Arnold Regious.” Daniel was trying hard to stay calm. I could see the shift in his face, he wanted to yell at me like he yelled at his men.

He knew better. Now that I wasn’t chained to a chair.

“He’s the key to all of this, he’s the heir,” He said.

“The heir to what?” There was more to this than a lump of money. Another guard appeared behind Daniel, this one resembling all the other ones I had seen.

“Sir, you need to test him.” The new guard stepped close. His voice was deep and loud. The very sound of it made me skin itch as it rippled through the area.

“I have tested him, it came back normal,” Daniel stated firmly.

“You heard the…” The nameless guard started to say something.

“Quiet,” Daniel said. I almost raised an eyebrow at Daniel but, something told me not to. Now wasn’t the place or time.

“Are you sure, sir?”

“I’m sure. There are none left, and this man is a vampirism survivor, now tell the others to pull back.” Daniel was defending me from something.

“Sir.” The guard nodded and drew back a ways. I watched the other armed man back up to leave. He was whispering something into a microphone on his shoulder.

“What was that about, Daniel? What is this all about?” Someone needed to give me some damned answers. Why did some random guard think I needed to be tested? For what?

Daniel had an object in his hands and he pressed it. His facial complexion changed for a moment.

“Man, do you know how many bullets I’m trying to dodge in letting you go like this? I can’t tell you much, but there’s a lot to this.” His surfer accent was back and it sounded frustrated. “Find me Arnold and I’ll tell you what I can.”

Daniel tossed a second item to me. I caught it out of reflex and rolled my fingers around a small pouch made of velvet. I looked down at it and back up. Daniel was already halfway around the corner. His angry, tanned face from earlier put back in place.

“Hey!” I shouted at him.

“Open the package, Jay.” He waved at me over a shoulder. In his hands, he held a green glowing disk. Daniel slapped it against a wall and it illuminated the area.

Then he rounded the corner. I started after him. The green disk blinked once and let out a sharp noise. Alarm bells went off in my head and I back peddled quickly. Ten steps later there was a click.

An explosion threw me into the packed earth. I clinched both arms in front of me and tried to twist in order to land on my side. It didn’t prevent the impact from rattling me. My ears rang as I scrambled to look where Daniel had been. There was no sign of the agent.

That one explosion hadn’t been alone. Back in the housing project there was an entire series of them. A crimson glow illuminated the night sky, making the raging fire impossible to miss. I hoped everyone else had escaped by now

“Jay, we’ve got to go.” Kahina was beside me. Her face was dirty and smudged. She either ran out of people to shoot or had been closer than I thought. I mumbled something back to her then gradually stood up. Daniel’s package was in my hands as I stumbled away.

“The others made it out,” Kahina said. “And we should be safe. Daniel’s men pulled out after that last explosion.”

“We should still…”

“Yes. We’ve got a few minutes before the police get here. Human law enforcement will be harder to deal with than Daniel’s men.” She was tugging at my arm. I lost focus for a second distracted by her arms. They were thin but well-toned. “We’ll leave here, and tomorrow night we can find your elf.”

“Who?” I blanked.

“I swear you’re dense sometimes.” She gave a short-tempered response. “The elf.”

“Evan?”

“Yes, Julianne said his old location might be the safest place right now.” She shook her head. “Though we should have left him behind.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked. Kahina kept pulling us forward. She hooked one arm into mine and we walked down the street like any normal couple in the world. In the middle of the night with burning buildings behind us. It made perfect sense. I was tired and perplexed.

“You were listening to Daniel, he doesn’t want the slant ear,” Kahina said.

“He wants Arnold Regious.”

“Why would he care about Arnold?” She asked. It almost felt like we were on a date of some sort. Only this one involved escaping a hostage situation.

“The elf and he were friends,” I responded. My free hand was still running across the outside of Daniel’s velvet container. The fabric felt like one of Julianne’s hunting pouches.

“Somehow I doubt it’s that simple.” She sounded, happy? I looked over at her for a second then back to the pouch. Tonight wasn’t a night to quibble about our past. Not after that. If I did get into an argument with her it would make things worse.

“Nothing ever is.” Only this time I wasn’t talking about Evan or Arnold. I was talking about us. Whatever we were, or weren’t. Even now I could see Kahina’s eyes drifting to the wound on my face. The one I had picked up after slamming into the ground from the explosion.

My mind thought about her anyway. Her obsession with my blood was enough on its own. No one dated a vampire and skirted the topic. How had she managed to have enough control to drag me home after the fight with the wolf? My pants practically soaked in blood from all the damage. Maybe she hadn’t had control. Maybe that’s why I had nightmares then.

“What is it about me, Kahina?” I asked quietly as we turned down another street. She didn’t respond right away, to the question or anything else. Finally, Kahina uttered something.

“It’s almost dawn, I need to get home,” She said.

“That’s not an answer.”

“I’m on a schedule, Jay. Maybe tomorrow night I’ll have the luxury of answering, provided you stick around.” Her statement was a painful reminder that most of the avoidance had been on my end. Starting with me leaving four years ago.

“Let’s get you home then.” I agreed. She would be much safer at home versus being comatose here on the street.

Maybe we could sort something out if I crashed at her place for the day. Kahina still had her cell phone for some reason. A quick phone call and an awkward twenty-minute walk was all it took for a ride to show up. I sat on the other side of the car and tried not to feel sick at the passing scenery.

An eyeblink later and we were at her house. A flurry of activity greeted us at the door. Well-dressed people all wearing the same style of clothing were at the forefront. Behind them seemed to be businessmen of some kind. They held papers and chatted away about things that required her attention.

The ones all wearing the same outfits seemed to be servants. They provided a change of clothes. She picked out a nightgown from a row of clothes that a pale young girl had draped across her arms. Then there was a slimy voice that I recognized as her second. The same irritating man who answered the phone last night. It belonged to a snobby looking man in a white suit though there were dashes of purple in various places.

“My Lady, we were worried when you didn’t check in.” The second said.

“We had a small run in with a sector agent,” Kahina said.

“Oh goodness, shall I check with our contacts?” The snobby male said. I mean who says goodness anymore?

“Yes, find out if this was a legitimate operation or not, we’ll act accordingly from there,” She answered. Her eyes were busy looking over the latest pile of papers to be put into her hands.

“And your guest?” The man asked.

“An old friend, he will be staying the day with us I believe.” She didn’t look up at me. Her hands flipped through papers and nodded. Seconds later she had a pen out and was signing away.

For my part, I felt overwhelmed by everything. This wasn’t the Kahina I had known, not this house, not this sort of business mogul she had become. Some of the items in this house that I saw on display were making me drool. Maybe she wouldn’t mind if I added one to my collection.

The male second, a partial vampire judging by his mannerisms and speed, was standing next to me. I stepped away slightly and tried not to punch him in the face. Tonight had set me on edge.

“Sir?” He seemed to take in the dirty condition of my clothes as an indication of my character. There was distaste to the way his nose lifted.

I glazed over for a moment until I heard a pen slap against the clipboard Kahina held.

“Sir, will you be staying the day?” The second asked.

“Sure.” I gave him my most infuriating grin.

Maybe Kahina would let me stab her second in the heart while he was comatose during the day. Maybe I could bind some crosses into his room and leave them there. I really, really didn’t like how he was in my personal space.

“I’ll ensure someone is available for you, and perhaps some other minor alterations as well.” The man said.

“That sounds like an excellent idea. Make sure you behave.” I wasn’t sure which one of us Kahina was talking to. She padded softly off down the hallway. Another servant motioned to me. We went in a completely different direction.

Walking down the hallway was a daunting experience. There were more doors in this place than one might expect. Some went to bathrooms and bedrooms along with servants quarters. Some doors went to kitchens and tiny laundry rooms.

“How big is this place?” I asked.

“Big, sir.” The person escorting me was the same person that had held the nightgowns for Kahina. I saw her lift one finger and brush at a table top in the hallway. It took me a moment to realize she was checking for dust as we traveled.

“This is a lot different than what I remember,” I remember Kahina had owned a condo in a high-rise downtown. Not a mansion. Her servants seemed mostly human, though, they needed to be. Being a vampire came with too many downsides for any of them to survive making a living as a maid or butler.

“The home has been in her family for generations.” My escort seemed distracted. She didn’t look at me, only at our surroundings.

“What?” My brow scrunched up.

“Lady Rhodes’ father passed on a few years ago. The home was left to her.” The next few tables didn’t seem to meet her expectations. There was a look of vague annoyance on her face. “There are no other heirs and the Lady is dedicated to her family’s legacy.”

“Dedicated? Like turning vamp?” I asked.

“Indeed.”

Was that the reason she had made the change? The desire to keep her family name strong was a good reason. It was far less shallow than wanting to stay young and strong forever. We stopped at a single door near the end of the hallway.

“This is the eastern guest room, the view is lovely in the morning.” She walked into the room and checked the pillows before nodding. “I would suggest enjoying the dawn then pulling the curtain closed. The drapes are heavy enough to block out the sunlight completely.”

“Thank you,” I said. This was beyond my depth.

“Not a problem. I’ll be up with a light breakfast for you if you wish.” The maid somehow managed to turn her question into a passive statement.

“Uhhh….sure,” I answered. The maid nodded and walked off.

This room was larger than my entire house. Kahina was turning into a big name vampire. I shouldn’t be surprised. I had seen this house in my visions when first looking Kahina up. Even at night it had seemed grand, from both the outside and brief snips of the inside. Seeing it in person was no less intimidating.

The light breakfast came in while I was trying to conquer the top of the room. My bulky form was balanced carefully on the sturdiest chair I could find with a hand reached out towards the ceiling. She didn’t even bat an eyelash and set food onto the table. Moments later she was back out the door.

I rocked the chair backwards and walked over to the small platter. It had a slice of toast along with half a peeled orange. Spices were mixed into the eggs and built a wonderful aroma. That meal was my only company as I watched the sunrise and tried not to think of Kahina.

Chapter 14 – Employee Fitness Day

Eventually, the muggy heat from midday stirred me. Only the thick curtains kept light from shining in. I woke up and slowly made it to the window, peeking outside. It was far too bright. A minute passed while I stood there blinking with only half my brain working.

This room was unknown and clearly not secured. Someone had come in during my rest and left a change of clothes on a chair facing the bed. My back itched, the thought of some stranger sneaking by while I lay passed out didn't sit well with me. Vampires had it rough. My discomfort didn’t stop me from putting on fresh clothes. The shirt fit well and the pants didn’t constrict my waist.

Next I started wandering the hallways. It only took a few twists and turns before I ran into one of the servants from the night before. Male this time, but with the same business-like air that the others had last night.

“Can I help you?” He asked.

I shrugged.

“Did you need something?” The man said.

“Am I allowed outside or did Kahina lock the doors?” I spoke slowly. The world was moving at full speed as my muddled mind tried to catch up.

The man looked at me for a moment. One lip curled up with a hint of a smile. “They’re not locked, no.”

“Can I go out, or do I need permission?” Not that I had a clue who to ask. Kahina would be out for hours yet, and her second needed a punch in the face.

“I’m sure there’s plenty to entertain a man of your nature around here somewhere. I’ll see if we have someone free to guide you.” He said.

“Just don’t make her cute, Kahina is the jealous type.” I tried to sound playful and failed. There was no reason for me to let Kahina’s employees get in trouble over me.

“I doubt that will be an issue,” He said. Clearly he thought my charming factor was pretty low. What did he mean by a man of my nature? Like I was some mindless thug. Never mind. “Head to the main entrance. Someone will be along shortly.” His arm waved out to give guidance then he left me alone.

By the time I found my way to the front the little maid was there waiting. Same red hair, same freckled face. She was shuffling her foot from heel to toe and back again. It was difficult to tell, but she seemed to be looking around the room for somebody. Probably me. I stepped down the stairs.

“Sir?” She stopped rocking.

“Are you my tour guide?” I asked.

Her head bobbed.

“Breakfast was good.” My first attempt at conversation had fallen flat. My people person skills needed a lot of work.

“It was nothing special.” She shrugged off my compliment. “Come on, we’ll tour the house and the grounds. Then I have an appointment at six, you may join us if you wish.”

“Join what?” I wasn’t all together yet.

“You’ll see.”

The tour itself didn’t do much for me. We did a pass of the outer property edge. Everything inside was the same anyway. It was basically an endless series of rooms with names and general descriptions. The few non-staff we did see were promptly avoided.

“Where’s this appointment?” I tried to broach the subject again.

“I will show you once it’s time,” She said. And the tour went on. A few hours had passed before I noticed and the girl eventually led me into a larger room deep in the mansion.

“Basement?” I asked.

“Part of one.”

I liked basements. They felt more comfortable then other types of rooms. It brought a sort of happiness, being underground made me feel at home. Secure.

“The Lady suggested that you might want to see how we pass our time during the day.” My tour guide said. I assumed they all worked like normal people. There were certainly enough folks fluttering around the hallways.

I shrugged.

“She believed you might find it interesting.” My guide sounded disappointed at my lack of enthusiasm.

“Suitable to a man of my nature?” I said.

“Perhaps.”

She opened the door and showed me inside, where I saw something that didn’t match what I expected. My expectation had been either a theater with a lot of cheap violent flicks or a line of girls eagerly waiting. Both would have been suitable for my nature.

Once again my inner male was disappointed. There were twenty or so people kneeling on the ground. Each one wore a plain white set of loose pants, with a folded shirt bound by different colored belts. The only redemption was the two people in the middle. They did give an air of cheap violence.

“Take your shoes off.” My guide said.

“Socks too?” I asked. Looking around made it clear no one was wearing socks either. Part of me felt dumb for asking.

My guide motioned to the end of the row. I tried to sit like the others, with my feet bent back under me and toes pressed against the floor. It was quite possibly one of the most awkward positions I had ever attempted outside of childhood games and the odd sex pose or two. My guide vanished into another room.

No one snickered so maybe I wasn’t a complete failure. Of course, no one actually looked at me other than my guide and perhaps a brief flicker of eyes that I hadn’t caught. The two in the middle of the room were the center of attention.

Both wore black belts, which by what little I understood meant they had been at this for a while. One of them was about average height with a light tan against dark hair. The other one was taller, a little bit bulkier and his hair was a carefully pulled back.

The short one took the offensive. He stepped in, shuffling his feet quickly and lifted a knee. The taller man barely flickered his eyes and opened his hands to try catching the entire leg. Shorty instantly stomped his foot down and whipped out a spinning back kick from the other direction.

Another shuffle of feet and the larger man had backed away. There was too great a difference on the reach between them. The smaller guy seemed faster, the taller one could strike sooner. It was the same effect where a shorter swifter basketball player was able to steal the ball frequently from the larger ones.

I blinked my eyes and there was another blur of movement. Somehow the tiny guy had stepped back in to try and throw the larger one. They had to be practicing a sort of mixed martial arts if they were changing tactics. Most disciplines focused on specific movements. Some on fists, some kicks, some throws, other joint locks.

Another twist of bodies later and the taller one had the shorter guy pinned on the floor. A leg jutted backward while the rest of his body kept the shorter man locked on the ground. Not a feat I would try.

Someone was counting in words I didn’t understand, then a shout that sounded like victory being called. The two on the mat broke apart, scrambled up to bow then turned away to different parts of the mat.

I found it fascinating that people who were professionals could find the fight over in a sudden flash. That made me feel better about being out of place. Combat made sense to me. Those were street fights. They didn’t have rules aside from not beating the other guy beyond whatever healing he could manage.

That was a fine line. Hastily regenerating from wounds was one of the perks of fighting any of the races aside from human. The slight limp the shorter man had wasn’t likely to heal up anywhere as fast as a wolf might.

Another match started. My former guide was sitting further down the line. She was in a completely different set of clothes. It was all white and around her waist was a blue belt. I had no idea where that fell on the rankings.

“Did you want to spar against someone?” She asked.

Yes and no. It looked exciting, very exciting. The idea of facing off one on one to test yourself was thrilling, but it was a game I didn’t know the rules to. The next set made it all look a lot smoother, more drawn out this time. They were of an even height and wearing different belts than the first two.

“No that’s alright,” I said.

“Afraid?” Her voice went from that cutesy maid voice to a deeper more annoying and raspy voice while she tried to whisper. I tried to think of an appropriately intimidating comment but settled on the truth.

“I’m used to scrapping against wolves, no offense to anyone here, but I don’t want to do something I’d regret.” Like knee someone in the package over and over in self-defense. Humans didn’t heal nearly as fast.

“Then we’re not good enough?” She questioned.

“I prefer a different battlefield.”

“Maybe we could learn something.” She continued to goad me.

I didn’t add anything to that, my advantage against the others was mainly because of how my mind perceived things. They became my targets when I hunted them. That switch inside me provided an edge as I tracked down what was mine.

“Nothing that’s useful here,” I muttered. There was a noise to shush further down the row.

She stopped talking and went back to watching. A flash of movement and one of the contestants was pushed out of the ring by a series of kicks and yells. Their routine was easy enough to follow. Bow, sit down, next set, bow again, fight.

“We could all learn from someone who has fought against wolves and vampires one on one.”

“No thanks, I enjoy watching.” That didn’t sound creepy.

“I saw what you did to Mister Janns, he’s asleep right now, but that scar won’t go away anytime soon. Not without plastic surgery.” She said.

“Who?” Mister Janns? I had no clue who that was.

“One of The Lady’s partial guards. There are two assigned to her by her patron, and Mister Rays is her Second.”

The person assigned to change Kahina had likely sponsored other transformations. Who had Daniel said her sponsor was? Keeper?

“I’ll pass anyway,” I said. Another shush of noise came down the path again.

This round finished when the higher belt tossed the lower one onto the ground and brought a heel down that wasn’t stopped in time. The winner managed to pull the foot so it did minimal damage. That didn’t stop the shout from whoever was refereeing that signaled it was over.

They stood then bowed.

“You sure you can’t show us?” She wouldn’t let it slide. Maybe this employee of Kahina’s was nervous and looking for tips. That made more sense than her trying to goad me.

“No,” I said. My eyes were eagerly waiting for the next set of people to come up and spar.

“If we’re to protect The Lady, we need all the guidance we can get.”

Someone shouted down the aisle and people almost simultaneously moved back a few feet. Even the nagging guide who kept hassling me the whole time had shuffled back a good three feet. It wasn’t a movement I had time to see or understand. Standing out in a crowd was already a problem because of my size. Being in the wrong clothes worked against me.

There was another shout of words that didn’t make sense, and everyone pressed their heads to the ground. My dumb self didn’t notice as I was still trying to back up. Now I was two mysterious motions behind.

“I wasn’t aware we had someone new starting.” A new voice said.

I looked around, hoping he wasn’t talking about me. No such luck. It took a few seconds to figure out who was talking. He was the taller of the two black belts that had been fighting earlier.

“Huh?” Was my stellar response.

“Who are you?” The black haired man asked.

“Jay.” I gave my real name accidentally. It was hard to keep them straight.

“Why are you in the middle of my class tonight, Jay?”

“Someone told me this was the place to be.” I managed to say it without glaring at the girl who had escorted me to this very room. The basement location no longer felt as welcoming as it might have.

“Did they? Fields, right? I’ve heard a little bit about you.” The man paused for a moment. “You’d be doing us a favor if you could show us what methods you’ve used to be considered so formidable.”

My escort was easier to brush off than this man. Not only issuing an informal challenge, he was all but saying that I wasn’t the tough shit my reputation said. Which was sort of true but to hell with letting him know that.

“I’m not practiced at sparring,” I said.

“Use whatever you know.” He calmly responded.

My eyebrow went up. What I knew was how to put someone down quickly. It wasn’t clean fighting. How did that translate to a place that clearly had boundaries and a countdown? Walls were out, there was no cross or silver. These weren’t twitchy dumb kids I could get a drop on.

I could get thrown around a little bit while trying not to break anything. That would keep it clean. There was only so much that you could learn by watching anyway. Then maybe this whole sideshow would end and I could go back to focusing on Evan and the answer to this Lord business. However to do that peacefully I had to wait until Kahina gave me approval, and pissing her off further didn’t seem like a good idea.

Life was easier when I only had to worry about myself.

“I guess.” I stood up and walked to the main part of the mat. There were small markings on the ground indicating where each person started.

My opposite was colored belt. Not that I knew the difference. She wasn’t wearing black or white. Her hair was shaggy and brown. She bowed and my return attempt felt botched. All I could hear was Stacy yelling at me that just because they would heal, I had no right to hit someone. It was especially true for a human like this girl.

I had almost given up thinking of myself as a human. Either way, the thought was enough to make me feel dirty for taking part in this. Play fighting, against someone I had no reason to bring my fists against. It was pointless.

She proceeded to toss me around for three minutes. Not that I fought it. I made dumb mistakes like stepping into painfully obvious moves. It wasn’t that I was familiar with the martial arts she was using, but I could see by her eyes what she wanted to do. Which way she wanted me to move. At least her blows were pulled. I think she was as afraid of hurting me as I was of hurting her.

I buried my own natural response which would involve barreling in and hitting her as hard as possible to end the fight. I wasn’t trying to knock her unconscious. There were still a few times that we were close enough that a bit more resistance from me might have ended badly for her.

Taking the hits had to be enough to satisfy them. Soon someone shouted signaling the mock fight’s end. My hands reflexively brushed at my front from the supposed ass whooping and botched my bow again. Once my ass was sitting, I took a mental inventory of how bad it would hurt tomorrow. Less than the encounter with the vampire a few weeks ago, far less than the wolf battle.

From the muttering around the room, it was apparent my display wasn’t impressive. I tried not to shake my head. My goal in coming here wasn’t getting in a measuring contest with Kahina’s staff members.

There was another series of shouts and everyone stood up, broke into groups and started some kind of routine. The taller man from earlier caught my eye and motioned me to the side with a small jerk of his head. Hell.

I followed him off the mat into a small office off to one side. The inside was lined with first aid kits as well as extra uniforms and manuals. There was even a series of remote controls to a television I couldn’t see in here.

“Why are you here?” His voice wasn’t as deep as I might have expected. It sounded almost soft, deceptively soft since I saw him lock down another man until a count went by.

“I’ll be gone tomorrow,” I said.

“Let me rephrase, why are you here tonight? You obviously don’t want to participate.”

“What gave it away?”

“Your clothes. Disrespect during other matches. Your lack of effort in the spar and no attempt at gaining permission to join ahead of time.” He listed the items slowly. I failed to notice a sign up sheet. The only instructions had been to take my shoes off.

“No one told me what to expect.” I tried to defend myself a little.

“Do you know why we’re down here?” He switched tactics on me. It wasn’t an employee fitness day. Not with the effort they were putting into it.

“For Kahina.”

“Correct,” He said.

“Even though the chances of her surviving are slim.” Her survival worried me when I dared give it thought. The final days of the transformation had up to an eighty percent fatality rate.

“Has anyone explained why the rate is so high for failures?” He asked. There were several papers on the matter. Conspiracy theories, nut job stories, and speculations. The final stages of transforming from a human to a vampire came with a hibernation in which few woke up.

“I’ve seen the videos.” The same movies that everyone sees as a part of high school health class. Documentaries aimed at explaining the positives and negatives of switching races.

“There’s more to it.” He shook his head and stepped behind me to close the door to our little room. Then he slid the blinds down on the one window that let me see outside to the rows of people punching in unison to more of those foreign words.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Getting sponsored is similar to being dragged forcibly into dirty politics. A majority of those that get put up for the change die of natural causes, yes, but some are targeted.”

“Targeted? Who would target a vampire?” My face scrunched up to the side with confusion.

“Anyone with a grudge against the sponsor. Other vampires, former business partners, childhood rivals, pro-human groups, among additional factors.” His words caused me to blanch a little. Everything that had been shown on the documentaries said it was poor survival odds from the condition taking hold. Not that Kahina would be attacked personally.

Leave it to vampires to give a skewed view.

“Well, it looks like you guys have it covered,” I said while going for the exit.

“I’m not sure why, but she thinks that you’re someone who can help her survive the change.” The instructor quietly sidestepped my attempt for the door.

There it was again. Me, somehow useful to her. “Why me?”

“That’s a good question.” He didn’t think much of me. Likely because I hadn’t put up a good show on the mat out there. To hell with him.

“You’re a big guy, and I’ve asked around, as much as I could anyway. Especially since Kahina has told me you’d be valuable.” I was grumbling at the idea of him being able to ask about me anywhere. “There isn’t a lot of information out there other than word of mouth, and a lot of that is dated.”

“Good.” That was the way I wanted it. My mind counted the number of steps between my spot and the exit up top. If I ran now, I might be able to fight my way through before Kahina woke up.

“Then there’s what happened to Kahina’s two burnout babysitters.” Burnouts were vampires unlikely to survive the change. Which he also didn’t think much of I guess. From his expression, it was clear he didn’t put much stock in anyone.

“And?” I asked.

“And you’re decidedly capable, or you wouldn’t have put down two nearly transformed vampires and still be able to walk. She said they were to break you if needed.” He looked at me again, his eyes trying to take my measure. I didn’t bother changing my posture or puffing up to look tougher. “That alone gives credibility to the other stories I’ve heard.”

“What stories are those?”

“Ones that said years ago you made a lot of enemies. That someone would let you loose to track and attack. That you were a beast that went barreling through anything in his path to his target.” He said.

I chuckled. That was a story I liked to hear about myself. But it was almost about someone else entirely. All that was tied to a mindset that felt beyond recovery at this point. Better than it was, but nowhere near the height before Kahina had scared me senseless.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I wish I was that guy still,” I admitted it out loud.

“How so?” His eyes narrowed and his hair seemed to try and scrunch forward. It gave his widow’s peak a funny sort of look as it wrinkled up briefly.

I shrugged.

He raised his eyebrows and ears in a brief movement of frustration. Then dropped a hand to the desk and rapped against it with his knuckles.

“Are you, or are you not, the man who threw around a squad of trained men a few days ago? The man who hunted down a wolf and then went toe to toe with him in his half form?” He asked.

Just how much did Kahina tell this guy? Everything? Who was he? First that slimy second, a man I wish had been the one to get the cross to the side of his head instead of this Mister Janns. Now I was being questioned by yet another person while a small private army punched each other.

“I did those things,” I said.

“Do you realize how hard it is for anyone to go against those people and survive? Much less be in one piece like you appear to be?” He shook his head. “I couldn’t do it.”

I didn’t really think about it. It was part of my standard bread and butter. My perspective about it was all tied to the tracker thing. Finding objects, defending them, being stronger and faster, sure. None of it was beyond a wolf’s strength or a vampire’s speed. I still wasn’t sure I bought this Lord thing Evan had been babbling about.

“Anyone could do it,” I stated.

“Maybe in larger numbers, maybe with tools.” He slowly gave his response.

“I have tools.”

“But not numbers. Nothing more than yourself.” The man looked bothered. His eyes expected a better answer when there was none in me to give. “I watched you out there, you wanted to fight back, to do something each time. Yet you suppressed the movements. Why?”

“Fighting that wolf was a job, fighting those vampires was my life, same for the squad.” Then the pack of wolves that I somehow waded through in the woods. A long time ago there were other incidents that were fairly similar. Maybe he would understand I didn’t rumble for other people’s entertainment.

“You’re not taking it seriously because there’s no reason?” He raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged again.

“What then?”

“Sounds close enough. Not getting paid, or anything else, why bother?” I jerked my head towards the window. “Besides, I don’t want to break her.”

The teacher shook his head back and forth a few times and scrunched his forehead. He said, “I’m not sure how she wants you to fit into all this.”

“Who says I want to fit in? Kahina and I aren’t on the same page right now.” Until a few hours from now, where she would say her piece or at least answer my question.

The instructor raised an eyebrow again in response. I shook my head back. It wasn’t his business. Not from my lips anyway. He sighed and seemed to give up for now.

“She should be awake in a few hours. Normally she looks at the day’s reports first, sorts out business matters then takes part of the night for herself. Though since you’re here she’ll probably try and cut the business short.” The man had his head tilted like he was going through a mental checklist.

“Alright.”

“You’re welcome to stay and watch. We typically wrap up a half hour before nightfall so everyone has a chance to take a break before the second shift.”

“Sure.” As long as there were no demands being made. I didn’t mind watching.

He opened the door back to the dojo and stepped out to take over his class. I followed but stayed off the mat. Setting foot back on there was like asking for someone else to try and spar against me.

A few hours later I found myself alone with Kahina in a well-decorated office. I had been ushered into the room by a random servant, meanwhile Kahina had said a grand total of nothing. It had a large window that peeked out to the west. Kahina looked like she needed sleep. Which was an amusing thought since she was completely comatose the entire day. If that wasn’t rest, then what was it?

She was staring out of the window that had thick curtains on either side that were pulled back right after nightfall. The barest hint of red could be seen in the distance as the sun curled around the horizon. It was the closest she could get to daylight outside of a movie for the rest of her existence.

“Do you have any idea what it’s like for me, Jay?” She finally spoke and it was a weird question.

It? If she was talking about the vampire thing then I had no clue. Well, nothing beyond a school educational that preached racial acceptance next to sexual health.

“There’s normal blood, and then there’s yours. It’s a million times worse and part of my brain has to focus on not running over and trying to crack you open.” Kahina said.

She knew how to make a man feel safe, but step one was acceptance in any addiction program, right? Should I even be here? My focus now should be finding Evan and Julianne. We were already a night behind them.

“Then you were giving it to that elf.”

To provoke her, to prove that Kahina had been the one that scared the life out of me that night. I fidgeted with the cross I had put in my pocket. As long as she didn’t pin my arm I could survive this. Pull the cross as my trump card, hold her in place, leave immediately through the nearest exit. My mind was already plotting out an escape route just in case.

“I can take temptation, Jay, I can put up with it and think of the bigger picture. I don’t want to hurt you.” Though using me like a blood bank once in a while was okay? “But I do not deal well with jealousy.” She made it sound like a threat and a statement of fact.

“So?” I said.

She turned around and had that confusing look on her face. I would be willing to bet that this time it was anger though and not excitement.

“You are mine, Jay. I will allow no obstacles. I endured your sabbatical, allowed you your fun and freedom as I had other things to get in line and ready.” Which means she had me followed as I traveled around. Her reach was further than I thought.

“Ready for what?” I asked.

“Ready for the final step. That’s one of the reasons I needed you back.” Kahina walked towards the desk and looked at me. The last sliver of sunlight had dipped below the horizon’s edge.

“Oh.” She hadn’t brought up our contrary stories back at Julianne’s house. Maybe she was still mulling them over like I was.

“We need to clear Daniel and his cronies from the table so I can focus.” Trust her to figure out what the real problem was. She could concentrate like no woman I had ever met. “His goal isn’t the elf, but this missing child?”

“Arnold Regious.”

“No child then. I’ve met him before.” She twisted the words as they came out. A suggestive emphasis underlined each word. I was irritated with the blond face that had only presented in photographs.

“Well, he’s dead,” I told her.

“How do you know?” She asked.

“Can’t track the truly dead.”

“You realize that last night wasn’t Sector sanctioned?” Kahina was looking at a small touch screen device that had words scrawled across it. They were impossible to make out from this angle.

“No, I hadn’t.” I responded.

“I got some answers back, they said this was something completely separate. They didn’t say what.”

“Sounds typical.” For Daniel. What was it he had said? There was a cult that didn’t exist on paper somewhere in Arnold’s file. Maybe they did exist, maybe it was more than a cult.

“What do you want to do, Jay?” She left the question open-ended enough that it could refer to anything. To us, to Evan, to Daniel. I had no clue about anything beyond being left alone in my apartment, and doing my job when it came up.

“Such a wimp. Such an indecisive little boy!” She stomped over to me and I could see how tired her eyes were. They drug at the edges, barely kept open, and while it was difficult to tell with her skin color, there were bags under the eyelids.

“Did you turn into a coward?!”

“Only because of what you did!” Now I was mad, shaking, yelling back, but I kept a hand in my pocket over the cross if I needed it.

“What I did?” She was quiet again and had moved a few steps away. I hadn’t felt her move. She shook her head. “What do you want, Jay? What do you want to do? Tell me and I can help.”

“Why would you help me?” I closed my eyes.

“Because you’re mine and I will remove any obstacle in your path to bring you back to me.” Mine, the same word that rolled around in my head every time I tracked something. “What about me, Jay?” Her voice was different. Tender compared to when she was yelling at other people.

“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.

Chapter 15 – A Dangerous Topic

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.

“What?” Her foot stomped and a cloth purse clanked. Hell. Officially I knew nothing about his bedroom prowess.

“He looks like minuteman.” I lamely tried to cover up my obvious mistake. Her face didn’t change an iota from its steamed look. Another attempt was made to distract her. “Are you good with illusions?”

It was a rash change of topic, but it got my mind back in the correct direction. Maybe she was like Evan and could get me in my house. If I could get inside then maybe I could get money. If I could get money I’d grab a cab north. Not that I wanted to spend any of it, but there was enough in the downstairs of my apartment for a cab ride.

“Who exactly have you been talking to, Jeff?” Candy didn’t know my real name.

“Told you. You’re not the only elf I know.”

“Are you talking about the conversation we had a few days ago? The one about the elf in supposed withdrawals?”

“He’s not under anymore. We figured it out. Thanks by the way.” I stood up. Damage from the last few days made everything ache. Maybe it was just from having my rear planted on cold concrete.

Her eyes were getting wide. “Oh, shit.” Candy uttered. “Please tell me you’re not. Please. Please tell me.”

“Not what?”

“I thought it was a joke, I had hoped it was.” What was a joke? “I, I just couldn’t believe that you, you’re cute and all but nothing special.”

“What are you talking about?” I let the cute commentary slide by and tried to focus.

“The elf you mentioned, you asked if we’d called anyone Lord, did he call you Lord?” Candy reached out a hand and touched the side of my arm. A moment ago and it might have been taken in a completely different light, but now, now she was worried about something.

“Why would that matter?” I asked. Maybe information could be pried out of her before talking to Evan. Then he could skip straight to handing out whatever was left of Arnold Regious and everyone could go home happy.

“It does. It’s very important.” Candy said.

“What are your Lords? Why does it matter?”

“Oh no, no, they did. What did you do, Jeff? What did you do?” Her eyes managed to get even wider. Then her eyes started that flickering collision of colors. Like a kaleidoscope going off.

Her hand didn’t move from my arm. Finally, after her muttering stopped her eyes glazed over a milky white. I stood there waiting for a sign as to what was going on. What was she doing? What was she seeing?

I saw her throat gulp.

“No. No.”

“Answer me, Jeff, answer me. I’ll give you any favor you want. Did the other elf call you Lord?”

“Two favors, Candy.” For once I had the upper hand with an elf. This day would go down in history as a true feat.

“Fuck.” She nodded. “I can’t ignore this anymore. I had hoped I could.”

“Two things, Candy, before I answer.”

“What?” Her hand was still on my shoulder, and it felt startlingly warm.

“Silence and a ride.”

“I’m not one to remain silent while riding.” Her face smiled for the briefest moment. “But that’s not what you mean. Yes, I wouldn’t dare tell anyone else about this conversation. But you need to promise me something as well.”

“What?” I asked.

She looked hurt for a moment. “Sorry, you need to agree first.”

“Agree to pay the unknown price first, right?” I confirmed the deal with her. We had this conversation once before a few days ago. Candy nodded. “Can I at least know how big a price you’ll ask me for?”

“The price won’t be more than the worth of the request,” She said. Her fingers couldn’t even make it halfway around my upper arm, but still she hung on.

A three-hour drive, on an hourly rate? That wasn’t bad at all. Silence might be a bit more pricey. My secret was unlikely to be the only one she had gained over time. Another may not mean that much to her. I honestly couldn’t figure out how this Lord thing was such a big deal to anyone but me.

“Fine. I agree. I’ll answer your question for silence and a lift north to Caesars Junction.” I could find my way from there.

“Promise?” She asked.

“Sure.”

“Done.”

“Your favor?” I wanted to know what her other request was beside me answering a question.

“If you’re going to see this other elf, you need to allow me to meet him first.”

“Alright.” I didn’t see a problem with it. It wasn’t like they’d get into a cat fight. Maybe she was just shopping for a new boyfriend, or trying to see how many people knew about this little Lord thing.

“Good, and the answer to my question?”

I took a breath slowly and let it out. “Yes. He called me his Lord.”

“Anything else?”

I shook my head back and forth slowly.“I don’t want to dig myself a deeper hole here, Candy.”

“Did he say anything about you laying claim?”

No, he hadn’t said it, but that was exactly how I’d tracked him. Evan said I’d called him. My frozen posture must have indicated more than I might like. She didn’t press it, having a clear enough answer on the subject. I wanted to ask her what exactly it meant, why she appeared upset. At least she hadn’t clammed up and walked off.

“Come on.” She motioned me to the parking lot.

I eyed the guards standing rather unmistakably outside the building. They stared back with passive faces. From the looks of it, they seemed to have more than enough confidence that I’d stay on my side of the security gate.

Candy’s car beeped as an alarm disabled, then doors unlocked.

“I thought elves didn’t like iron.” It was hard not to phrase my statement as a question.

“You’d be amazed what they can make cars out of nowadays. Enough layers and the best-padded seats money can buy.” She smiled as the playful persona came back into focus. “They’re very comfortable.”

At least I got to sit in the passenger seat this time. She was right too, the seats were extremely comfortable. Soft leather, carefully maintained. It was beautiful inside, and that wasn’t a phrase I used lightly when talking about cars. I’d ‘recovered’ some fine ones, with help, over the years.

Candy seemed intent on something else entirely as we headed north. She didn’t even ask where we were headed, Caesars Junction must have been an obvious enough location. I didn’t expect a hotel to be something she just knew about. An hour down the road some thoughts I’d been mulling over made me risk asking a question.

“Candy?”

She gave a happy hum but didn’t look over.

“I thought elves only had one addiction?” I asked.

“Are you willing to pay the price for that question?” Her tone was suggestive.

“That’s exactly what I mean. You seem to be rather…physically oriented.” Even though I was nothing special by her words. “And you have that thing with the questions.”

“I can answer it, but there’s a price, you’ll have to pay it now, though.” The last two questions didn't have overwhelmingly bad prices, so maybe they weren’t a thing to worry about.

“Sure, I guess.”

“Promise?” She said.

“I promise to pay whatever price you ask.” Since I wasn’t afraid of more questions at this point. She already knew one of the few little secrets I had, and it was only a secret for the last few weeks.

“Deal then.” She kept driving for a few minutes before speaking again.

“So?”

“One is for pleasure, the other is a means to an end, both are misdirection.”

“What? Which is which?” I know how to sort out the elf's statements.

“That’s your answer. Now I believe you owe me something in return.” Candy stated.

“Sure.” I was ready for anything she might ask.

“Well, Jeff, since I’m giving you a three-hour ride north.” She had a grin on her face that looked beyond pleased with itself. “I believe you owe me a three-hour ride in exchange.” Her voice carried every ounce of huskiness you might expect with that kind of comment.

I blanched for a moment.

“I’m kind of seeing an old girlfriend.” I was smart enough to know sleeping with another woman wouldn’t go over well.

Someone would end up dead. I could hear Candy flicking on the turn signal and pulling off the highway onto a dangerously quiet road.

“Did I ask if you were otherwise engaged?”

“No.” The car had stopped and her seat belt came undone.

“Did you promise to pay my price in return for an answer?”

“Yes, but…” I didn’t want to have to explain this.

“A deal is a deal, Jeff, besides, you’ll enjoy paying up.” Then she was too close, and all I could see was the smile on her lips as she leaned into me. What would Kahina think? But it’s not like we were actually together, right? After all, I had promised, and Kahina only thought of me as a glorified blood bank. That much was proven by her actions back at Julianne’s. And our conversation back at Kahina’s mansion? It was hard to say how much I believed that.

I saw Candy slip her shirt off with an expert pull. Then a moment later she’d unbuckled her pants and started in on mine. She wasted no time on foreplay, and it had been quite awhile that my body didn’t mind skipping it either. The most she stopped to do was pull out a thin blanket of some sort from behind one of the seats. She positioned it under my hips and took the moment to pull my pants the rest of the way down.

My brain didn’t have extra room for following that line of thinking. The press of her skin and the little moans coming out were very demanding. My last coherent thought, before a year or so of celibacy caught up with me, was how bad this would get if Kahina ever found out.

Chapter 16 – Play in the Woods

I was in good shape, but it would be a medical nightmare if I lasted in fine form that entire time. Doctors frequently gave warnings about ‘seeking help for erections lasting more than whatever hours’. Never mind the stamina of races outside of human. Mentally, the three hours were enjoyable. Far more than they should have been.

Candy gave me twelve whole minutes to recuperate in the middle of 'payment'. I know it was twelve minutes because there was a dashboard display blinking the time. She didn’t take a break or stop and kept other parts of me busy. By that point, I was in no mood to argue with anything happening. I was probably drooling on myself in happiness.

Three other tidbits of information were true. One, she certainly wasn’t the type to remain silent while riding. Two, she got her wish about me calling out her name, more than once. Three, fuck is a great word, way better than horse shit.

The three-hour mark hit and she collapsed forward with a satisfied smile. It was amazing, but she managed to time it right on the dot. Worn out didn’t even begin to describe me. Even if I did heal as fast as Stacy thought, this was a different level of work. Maybe the whole dating thing was worth looking into again.

Though maybe not in a car on the side of a freeway. How we’d avoided law enforcement knocking on the window was beyond me. Being in the early hours of the morning just before any sort of rush hour probably helped.

“How many more hours would it take to tell me which one is your real addiction,” I said.

She laughed. It was an excited and exhausted sound. I could tell part of her was absolutely wired while her body celebrated a flood of endorphins.

“You’ll find out sooner or later.” Candy sat up and smiled into the distance.

“I don’t think I’d argue with extra rounds later,” I said.

“We’ll see.” Candy stretched and it was fairly attractive. Fortunately, even though the spirit was willing, the flesh was tired.

“No, then?” I asked.

“Not right now. I’m good.” She glanced down at the leftovers of our act in the car. There was a mess of sweat and fluids.

“Hell,” I said.

She reached behind the seat and pulled out some effective looking wipes and a hand towel.

“Prepared for it all.” An eyebrow raised with my words.

“You bet,” She said. I was thankful vampires were diligent about communicable diseases. That meant the only worry was pregnancy, and that didn’t happen between races. Candy was still grinning as she cleaned up. The remains were tucked into a bag and she put her clothes back on. Her hair was short enough that it looked wonderful in its disheveled mess.

The only repercussions for our act would be if Kahina cared or not. Of course, the partial vampire had implied she was aware of my other excursions when I was traveling. Screw it, a statute had to apply somehow after four years. Guilt be damned.

“How about that Lord thing? Would I have to endure more of that for an explanation?” My excitement put me in a stupid frame of mind.

She paused and her serious face came back. The one that swung a complete one-eighty from where we had just been. Were all the women around me bipolar? Or did I have a special knack for saying the wrong things?

“The more people who know what you are, the worse it will be for everyone. If you don’t know, you can’t tell anyone. I will not be the one to try and change history again.” She sounded sad.

“What does that mean?”

Candy kept the look plastered across her face and started the car up. I hadn’t gotten my pants fully on by the time she swung back onto the freeway. At least a few cars going the other direction got a good eyeful of my privates. Not how I wanted to leave an impression.

“Candy?” I tried her name. “Candy?” My mouth opened to ask a third time.

“Keep it shut or you’ll never be able to ask me for anything in the future,” She said.

That shut me up.

“Even if I enjoyed it.” Candy gave a slightly warmer smile. There was something about those eyes that said she was also being serious.

For the rest of the trip, I didn’t say anything. At this point, it seemed to be the wisest choice made all day. An hour later, well past the first rays of dawn, we met with the gaudy sign for Caesars Junction.

“I can’t believe you know where this is,” I said.

“You’d be surprised. I get around.” Candy responded. I tried not to think of an alternate meaning for that. Something about my pause must have set her off. “If a man sleeps with a ton of women, they call him a stud, but if a woman does it, she’s a slut, right?”

“That’s a question, and there’s a price for that.” I tried for a joke in reply. It was either that or give her the locks and keys speech. A key that opens multiple locks is a good key, but a lock that opens for any key isn’t a very good lock. The fact that I managed not to say anything should count in my favor.

“Cute.” The blonde elf didn’t seem amused.

I sighed. “Well, I don’t know you well enough to call you a slut, and if it was just a physical thing, then, believe it or not, I get it.”

“Sure. You’re a guy after all.” She waved my comment off.

“I should probably warn you that my ex is rather possessive,” I said. This ‘guy’ hadn’t been with more than a dozen women in his life.

“How possessive?” Candy asked with a half smile. She seemed excited at the prospect.

“Well, she’s a partial vampire,” I answered.

“Hasn’t completed the change?”

“No.”

“Then you may have as many opportunities as you want in the future. Opportunities to ask me for all sorts of things.” The way she tossed it out there so casually sent a chill down the back of my spine. If Kahina didn’t make it then there would be no issues with jealousy. What a frightening thought.

“I guess,” I said.

“Which way from here?” She asked. We had made a deal for her to talk to Evan first.

I fumbled around in my jacket that had been disrobed in the shuffle and found the lipstick tube. Inside was the hair from Evan’s head. Candy watched intently as I closed my eyes for a moment and connected.

“Woods are west from here. Then once we’re inside the local pack should find us.” I hoped someone would be roaming around to find me. Stacy and Julianne wouldn’t let me wander around without some help, right?

“Sounds like a plan.” She turned the car west and headed for the woods at the edge of town.

“Not sure how far north he is. I had some problems tracking last time.” I said.

“What sort of problems?” Candy asked.

“Not sure. Thought I was getting closer, then he seemed to slip away.”

“Really? That’s interesting.”

“It’s frustrating.” I had wasted days trying to catch up to Evan.

“I thought I took care of all those frustrations.” Somehow everything I said turned into innuendo with Candy. She had certainly reduced my frustration level. I felt great, but even more tired than I did after leaving Kahina’s. Was that last night? Had I slept since then? My internal clock was all kinds of messed up.

Candy found us a place to park the car. We got out and she put the car alarm back on.

“Hold on.” She took off both shoes and set them on the ground. Then stepped up to the side of the woods.

“What are you doing?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Are you sure you want to ask that?”

“Don’t I have some left over positive karma? I thought I did a pretty good job there.” Better than that other elf at least. That should score me some points.

“You’ll owe me.” Candy laughed. “It’s simple enough. I’m following the traditions. These aren’t my woods, but it belonged to someone once. They’re weak, but there are signs if you know how to look.”

I scanned the area trying to figure out what signs she was talking about. Nothing showed itself to my untrained eyes. Maybe it wasn’t an issue of being trained or not. Elves could see things that the rest of us only guessed at. It was almost like trying to see in infrared without the aid of technology.

Candy stood up and didn’t put her shoes back on. She showed no signs of discomfort. If anything the elf looked thrilled by the prospect of going to play in the woods. My shoes stayed firmly where they belonged.

“I think there’s a place to drive up somewhere around here. Like an old logger’s path of some sort.” I remembered the path from the last trip.

She looked disgusted but nodded. “They’d be for trade supplies too.”

“What?” I asked.

“If this is an older colony, then the same path would have been used for horses and carts to bring in trade goods from other clans.” She was talking about some old practice that didn’t make any sense to me. It was likely tied to hundreds of years ago when we first migrated over to the Western sector.

“Not sure where it comes out. I was tied up last time.” I shrugged.

“I didn’t know you enjoyed that type of activity.” It was her turn to raise an eyebrow.

“Electricity running through me is a big turn on too.” Being tied up was alright in limited amounts. Typically when I was blissfully drunk after a job and Kahina was dragging me back for some victory sex. She had joked that it kept me from getting lost on the way home. I had never been sure if Kahina meant the being tied up, or the idea of victory sex.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Great. I had given her fuel for a crazy daydream.

“Any idea where this path is? I think he’s on the other side.” I said.

“I’ll look. It’ll be easier on us if you wait here a bit.” Candy wagged a finger at me and then turned around.

“I...” Then she ran off into the woods. “…uhh…sure.” Not that I had a clue if she heard me or not. “I’ll stand here and guard the car then.”

The car was locked with its alarm turned on. Candy didn’t even do me the courtesy of leaving the keys so I could crawl into the back seat and sleep. The dirt on the side of the road was tempting, though. I settled myself down near one of the trees, careful not to touch her car. Setting off the security system would do nothing but annoy the daylights out of me.

I fiddled with the lipstick container and tried to figure it out. There was no room for secret compartments or hidden messages. This wasn’t anything rare or special. It was important to Evan somehow or the item would never function as a link. Then there was the hair and picture.

Why had Evan been allowed to provide a lipstick tube and a picture? These items were personal which meant Evan had nothing else to let go, or he had hoped that Julianne had a true tracker. Trackers were rare, how had he known? I had been gone for years.

This Lord thing felt familiar. The more I tried to puzzle it out the more my wrist itched. Each attempt at concentrating felt like being on the verge of a revelation. Then fluttering birds or bugs would distract me and I would forget the whole line of thinking.

History was clear on one point. There had been other races nearly two thousand years ago. They were long gone. The big four races had banded together and engaged in a worldwide Purge. Genocide. Here I was. Not fitting into any specific box.

Vampires, even partially exposed ones, got groggy during the day. Not me. I healed quickly. Elves didn’t heal any faster than a normal human. Wolves shared some bonds but couldn’t track aside from following scents. Daniel had said the Sector Trackers would all use dreams.

Once again, I didn’t fit.

Constant confusion was getting exhausting. The last two days had worn me down from nearly every angle. Before I really understood what was happening my eyes closed and stopped opening back up. The silence prevented circling thoughts from going any further.

Waking up was quite gentle compared to the last few times. There was a tap at my shoulder and someone kept saying my name lightly.

“Jay. Wake up.” I must have snorted or something in response. “Jay.”

It was bright outside, closer to noon. The person waking me up wasn’t Candy, it was Julianne. She leaned over in a rather frightening reversal of our normal height differences. At least she wasn’t wearing something low cut this time. It was a vivid green shirt over tan rolled up shorts.

“Hi.” I was disoriented. “You’re not an elf,” I said. Probably not the best choice of words to start our conversation with.

“What does that mean?” She asked. Julianne backed off to let me stand up. A yawn and a stretch later things felt a lot better. Still tired, but not as sore as I had been.

“Candy was here a moment ago.” I looked around slowly trying to figure out what had happened.

“Why was she here?” Julianne held a motorcycle helmet in one hand. Her arms crossed as she glared at me.

“She gave me a ride.” I wasn’t about to mention the return ride.

“Uh huh. What about Kahina?”

“Kahina kind of kicked me out.” I scratched my head.

“Uh huh. Kahina kicked you out, you ran to Candy, and now she’s,” The way she said it made me feel like I was in trouble already. Maybe it was a guilty conscious. “here for what reason?”

“Part of the deal. She gives me a ride north and keeps quiet about it, then she meets Evan.” I tried not to wince.

Julianne stared at me then sighed. “Why were you sleeping?”

“Tired.” Worn. No clue what to do. Three fights in the last two days. A nagging sensation of forgetting important facts.

Julianne shook her head back and forth slowly then sighed. “You’re a moron.”

“Can we find Evan and clear this up?” I couldn’t argue with her. My idiocy with regards to females was rapidly becoming the stuff of legend. Dealing with women wasn’t some magic skill that got easier as time went on. Not for me.

“Fine by me, the weed eater completely buttoned up after you were out of sight,” Julianne said.

“Weird,” I responded. Evan had been perfectly fine talking to others, hadn’t he?

“You’re telling me, he’s got some sort of fixation on helping you, but anyone else isn’t worth notice.” She shot me a questioning look. My hands came up in defense.

“No clue,” I said.

“Is this tied to that Lord shit you were babbling about back at my house?” Julianne asked.

I didn’t answer. Julianne was tapping her foot in irritation. Her facial expression seemed to indicate she was seconds away from hitting me repeatedly with her helmet.

“Not going to tell me?” She said.

“No.” Given my way, no one would hear that title applied to me ever again.

“This better be a once off sort of thing, Jay, or I may have to fire you.”

I groaned in response. It was hard to tell if that was a joke or not with Julianne. “What will I do with my stuff?”

“Move. You’ll be lucky if you get the deposit back.” She waved the helmet around. Sometimes I forgot Julianne was also technically my landlord. A brief memory of the weight bench melding into the kitchen counter told me that I would be lucky if I wasn’t charged for reconstruction. It was yet another thing to thank Kahina for.

“So, do you want to wait for Candy?” Julianne’s tone of voice told me what I should answer.

“I could check, see if she’s lost.”

“You got something of hers?”

“A car?” A few love bites, hours of memories. Never tried that before but maybe it’d work. Never tried a lot of stuff that seemed to be working anyway, maybe it was time to expand my tricks. Of course, the car had an alarm so maybe I’d only pretend to touch it.

“You could leave her a note and head off.”

“No, I made a deal,” I said.

“Like that’s stopped you from breaking promises in the past.”

I looked at her and tried to figure out what the hell that meant. Was this about the jobs I didn’t quite complete? Sometimes I failed in the past, but I hadn’t deliberately screwed anything up since my return.

“Never mind, do your thing and let’s go.” She looked mad but turned away to a motorcycle I hadn’t seen. I hope she didn’t expect us both to fit on that.

With one hand carefully placed right above the car, I tried to switch my mind around to tracking Candy. I flipped through everything I knew about her. Her as a person. In addition to our conversations which constantly seemed to be about two different topics. In addition, she had a little birthmark on her lower left back. My senses unfurled and leapt towards the woods.

It was easy to think of her as mine, however briefly, after this morning. Possessiveness was a given for most guys right after sex.

Trees went by, they nearly vibrated with the after image of life energy. Why the hell had she gone so far into the woods? This was like twenty miles. How long had I been asleep? How fast could she go in the forest? My mind swung over the woods and got closer. Then closer. I could see her body dashing at a breakneck speed through the trees.

One moment it would look like she slipped then her foot would slam down and launch her even further. She found purchase that I could never hope to in the dense wilderness. I followed, but she kept running. Her gaze would look back every so often then focus on the journey.

The entire time she was headed away.

Around me, the same pressure that had been present when I was viewing Candy in her bedroom seemed to suffuse the area. It made it hard to catch up. Traveling along in her wake felt like swimming through syrup. Seeing her face was also difficult.

She stopped, spun and slashed at the air as if attacking an unseen foe. There was no one following her that I knew of. Really the only person in the wilderness was me.

“No!” Candy yelled, there was more, but that was all I made out in the jumble of tactile sensation. A moment later my concentration shattered and I slumped forward. It felt like I was suddenly forced to switch my focus to an object less than two inches away from my face. Dull thumping started in both ears.

I fell right onto the car which naturally triggered the alarm. It only served to make the headache worse as my mind retreated into the rest of my body. The noise bounced off of every solid object in the area, causing my back to twitch with irritation. My palm pressed into an eyeball to try and relieve pressure. Julianne was shouting behind me.

“What?!” I tried to yell past a headache and car alarm that ganged up to attack me.

Julianne said something again.

“What?!”

“What the hell did you do?” She was a lot closer, with the helmet in her hands.

“I don’t know.” I don’t think she heard my response over the alarm. Julianne pulled at an arm and I followed the tug.

She got us situated awkwardly on her motorcycle. I limply hung on while we drove away from the car’s whine. The motorcycle was as loud as the car alarm, but nowhere near as piercing. A few minutes later Julianne had us at the edge of a tiny road framed by dozens of warning signs.

Julianne pulled off to the side and stopped the motorcycle. I was thankful. The idea of going down the bumpy back road on a two-wheeler was more than I could take. Both feet firmly planted themselves on the ground, but my knees didn’t give the same effort. I knelt to the ground, relieved that my first motorcycle ride in years didn’t end poorly.

“What happened back there?” Julianne didn’t even give me a few minutes to gather my thoughts and figure it out myself.

“Connection broke,” I said.

“That’s not normal, right?” She responded. I hadn’t told her how it works, but she had seen it in action numerous times, she had a feel for it by now.

“No.”

“If I’d known you moving back to town would turn into such a cluster fuck I would have evicted you.” Julianne glared at me.

“You like me too much for that.” I weakly joked.

She didn’t joke back.

“Sit tight, I’ll make a call and get a truck up here. We’ll take it in from here and see if we can find Evan and solve this. I don’t want Daniel in my business anymore. And Charlie has made it pretty clear that all my extra business activities have come under heavy fire.” She said while tapping a foot angrily.

“Who?” I asked.

“Charlie? My accountant?” Julianne looked at me with a perplexed expression.

“Oh. Yeah. I got a similar sort of message.” I said.

“What kind?”

“If I go home, everything goes up in a fire.”

“What?” The skin around her eyes twitched in anger. She flung out a foot at me but was too short to make it the entire distance. Soon she had a cell phone out and started yelling at someone on the other end.

Julianne’s order of concerns went from her income, to pack, to friends. Maybe Stacy was above that, maybe Kahina too from the way they staged an intervention at her house before letting me deal with Evan. No wonder she was mad at me, here I was screwing up all of them.

I couldn’t hear the car alarm anymore, but any chance I had of linking to Candy using the car’s presence was gone. Not that I wanted to have her swing a knife at me again. Was she the same as Evan in that regard? Could she feel me as I closed in? Evan had and knelt to wait for me.

Evan wasn’t a full Speaker, and Candy had implied she was the real deal. Was that the difference?

She certainly wasn’t trying to find the logging road. If she had then it would have been reasonably swift. Julianne had driven there in maybe ten minutes from where the car had been parked. Was Candy trying to get to Evan first? To prevent him from telling me what I was? Was that why she made me promise to let her meet him? It had to be. I got up and started jogging down the logging path.

“Jay!” Julianne barked at me while alternating from her phone conversation. “Jay, what the hell are you doing?”

“We’re losing ground!” Candy had a lengthy lead. She couldn’t get to Evan first. I had to know why there was considerable pressure around what I was.

Kahina had started something years ago during that first blood draw. It caused her to go crazy, like a sort of thick red ambrosia. Candy and Evan, both elves, knew something. Something that no other elf I had tracked knew or felt. Then Daniel’s armed escort saying I needed to be tested.

Julianne was yelling after me, then cursed and started down the path.

Everything was related. Evan had the answers. Arnold Regious no longer mattered to me. If I knew what I was then perhaps some of my own problems would be solved. If I got there first she couldn’t stop me from getting my answers.

Ten minutes later and my energy reserves were already gone. I’d been run ragged by various activities back to back. Damn Candy, she probably wore me out on purpose. Sneaky.

“You know it’ll be just as fast to wait right?” She huffed.

“Beats waiting. Your bike okay?” I had to feel like something useful was being done.

“I rolled it behind a tree, one of the guys will take it to my grandfather’s.”

“How long you been dealing with Evan?” I asked.

Julianne shoved both hands into her pockets and shrugged. “Two years?”

“Good client?” I asked while doing my best to walk a straight line. My head was still fuzzy and trying to work through numerous problems.

“Until a few months ago, sure.” She said. That timing made no sense.

“Why the picture and lipstick? Why not the usual?” I asked.

“He seemed desperate. Evan claimed he didn’t have anything else to repay me with except the shirt off his back, and I didn’t want that.” She said. The elf’s shirt had been rather ratty looking. Being dragged around by Julianne and Daniel probably didn’t help.

“But those items wouldn't work for whoever was doing my old job, would they?” I asked.

“Not really. The scent was solid but doesn’t stick like hair does. Then again hair doesn’t exactly last long, tends to give me a time limit on my good graces.” How long before she made you pay up, or sent someone out to find you.

“I was glad you came back, figured I could finally stop paying second rate people, but…” But I had shut myself indoors for a few weeks and crawled into drinks.

“Sorry.” I was too.

“The upside is after Francis, I’m sure I can find some use for you.” She smiled briefly. Julianne wasn’t looking up at me and instead seemed focused on the distance.

“I thought I was the bad guy here?” I said. Julianne had been pissed off at me a moment ago.

“If you blow up my apartments, then you’re fired.” She paused. “Or if you hit Stacy again.”

“Look I’m…”

“Sorry, I’m sure. Both of us should’ve known better, you’re like a wolf in that regard, if pushed too far when someone nips at you, you give the same treatment back. It’s not pleasant, but it’s true anyway. I knew that slap wouldn’t break you.” She was so factual about it.

“Rung for a while,” I said.

“That’s what you get for being such an arrogant jerk.”

“I thought I’d always been one.” Maybe I shouldn’t be joking about this. The arrogant jerk factor must have been part of my whole self-possessed mentality that had given me an edge.

“No. Confident perhaps, easy to rile up, eager to prove yourself.” Julianne scratched her chin momentarily and looked uncomfortable.

“Really?”

There was a honk of noise in the distance. Julianne turned, a run-down pickup was gradually traversing the broken path towards us. She waved and ran towards it, leaving me to try and figure out exactly what I’d been like back then. I stepped out of the way as a truck, loaded with Julianne in the back, wheeled up.

“Someone order a round trip?” The voice sounded familiar.

“Me?” I questioned. This must be the ride that Julianne had called in for us.

“Alright, this time you get a deluxe ride. No tie downs, no blindfolds, no electric shocks! The whole package I tell you.” The male driving the truck was shouting out the passenger window at me.

“Probably not a good breakfast on the other side either,” Julianne said from her perch in the truck’s bed. I looked at her, then loaded myself into the back. It sunk a little under the weight before the suspension caught up.

“How much did they tell you?” I asked Julianne, pointedly ignoring the other man in the front.

“Oh, bits and pieces. Wait until I tell Kahina how good a woodsman you are.” She was smiling now.

I ignored the commentary and focused on important topics.

“You don’t have those blindfolds still do you? I could use a nap.” And reprieve from Julianne taunting me. She was definitely in a mood. Either because she was with some wolf pack member, or because she was enjoying harassing me.

“Missing them already?” The joker from the driver’s seat had a grin in his voice.

“I want sleep,” I said.

“Alright. It’ll take a few hours to get out there.” Julianne patted me like some five-year-old and then turned to chat through the window into the cab of the truck. I grunted and rolled up my jacket in hopes that it would serve as a pillow.

Chapter 17 – Pretty Good Illusion

The best part about sleep, good sleep, is that time zips by and I would feel great at the other end of it. This occasion was met with no great feeling and time did not zip by. It drug both feet and tripped repeatedly. My brain kept whirling around the events of the last few weeks trying to make sense of it all. Evan had some serious explaining to do.

I half hoped to be woken up by Candy hopping into the back of the truck with us, but no such luck. Candy showing up would mean that this wasn’t betrayal. Instead, Julianne and the joker driving made terrible comments at each other. They were both dedicated to the cause of making puns, dumb jokes about other pack members and who knows what else.

Finally, sleep felt unachievable and I sat up.

“How was your nap, princess?” The mystery man inside the cab said.

“Julianne would be a better princess,” I responded.

“I never saw myself as the princess,” Julianne answered. “Anyway, that’d make you what, the knight, Jay? You don’t seem like the dashing hero type.” Julianne couldn’t resist.

“Maybe he’s the horse.” The driver helped out.

“A horse? Maybe a donkey. Mule?” Julianne went right along with it. She waved one hand towards me and smiled.

“No. He’s not a good horse. They get eaten by the monsters.” The other man said.

“Oh, right. Wouldn’t want that.”

“Besides, we’re not rescuing a princess.” The driver said.

“I don’t know, proper clothes, fixing up his hair, might be hard to tell. Some of those elves are downright feminine.” Julianne said. I was regretting waking up. “What do you think, Jay? We could put little ribbons in his hair for you?”

“Ribbons would sell the image.” The driver said.

“Oh yeah. I can totally see it.” Julianne put both hands up in the air and seemed to gaze towards the heavens. She was yanking my chain, right? “Yeah, you think you’re in trouble now, wait until Kahina finds out you’ve left her for a cross-dressing elf.”

The two of them had nearly identical grins on their faces. Though it was hard to make out the other guy’s face. He was at least keeping his eyes mostly on the road. We were in a forest and deer could leap out at any moment.

“No?” Julianne looked happier than she had been in awhile.

“Come on, man, if she dumps you I’m sure there are some other vampire guys that would love your big slab of meat look. Just grow fuzz on that face and bam, instant success. Everybody wants a vampire loving up on them.” The driver said as the truck bumped along through potholes.

I raised an eyebrow at Julianne. “Who is this guy again?”

“Oh. Thomas, meet Jay. Jay, Thomas. He’s my brother. He used to have a beard.” Her phrasing implied I should remember Thomas from somewhere. I didn’t.

“Julianne is kind of everyone’s little sister in the pack, but I’m the only one related by blood, next to our grandpa,” He said.

“That explains a few things,” I responded. They clearly had been bouncing comments off each other for years. I didn’t envy their family members having to deal with that growing up.

“We’re almost there. Only about two hours out.” Julianne said. There was no choice but to listen to them making fun of me for the next hour.

“Shit,” Thomas complained about something.

“What is it?” Julianne asked.

“Downed tree. Big one too.”

“How big?” She said.

“Big enough that I can’t see myself lifting it.”

“Big, strong guy like you, admitting you can’t lift a simple tree?” Julianne remained in teasing mode. I must have been getting the watered down version at the bar all these years.

“How long would the rest of it take to walk?” I asked.

“With you two? Another…” He paused for a bit. “Forty miles or so? Hours easily, if we push it, maybe seven or so?”

“I didn’t bring my hiking boots,” Julianne complained.

I hopped out and looked at the tree in front of us. There was a rather large log that looked like it had broken off most of its branches on the way down. If you looked carefully the path of damage could be seen from the side of the road. Somehow it managed to find the perfect path between other trees and end up in our way.

“Can we carve it up?” I asked.

“Didn’t bring a saw.” Julianne sighed. We stared at it for a little bit longer and tried to figure out what to do.

“Aren’t you a wolf?” I finally asked.

“Sure.” Thomas smiled.

“Use claws?” Why was I the one pointing this out?

“Duh. Hold on.” He vanished behind the truck for a moment. There was a shuffle of movement.

“Your brother modest?” I asked Julianne.

“Nah, he only cares about the clothes,” Julianne said. Sure enough, Thomas threw his clothes into the front of the truck. A moment later and out came her brother in the half-wolf form. I resisted an urge to reach out and feel what he was feeling. There were no grounds for me to think of him in that manner anyway. It was just impressive.

Human form, wolf form, vampires, elves, you got used to them to some extent. But seeing a wolf in their halfway mode? Without getting into a fight? It was nice to be in the audience for once.

“Get the edge so we can move a part big enough for the truck,” Julianne said.

The wolf-man nodded. His face held the same patch of darker fur that I had seen in these woods the last time. It was as good a confirmation as any that he was the one that had followed me before. Also the same one that had run back to tell their Alpha that I was doing something weird.

Thomas headed over to the fallen log. His lip lifted to the side in an almost perfect replica of a puzzled human face. A huge clawed hand came out towards the log.

“What’s he doing?” I asked.

Julianne shrugged. Her arms were crossed in confusion as she watched her brother. Thomas’ hand fell through the log like it wasn’t actually there.

I cursed.

“What is it?” She asked me.

“Someone’s messing with us.” I responded. That tree was no tree. It was an illusion. Only elves could pull off such a trick.

“What do you mean?” Julianne hadn’t quite caught on yet. I jerked my head towards Thomas, where he was happily slashing through a visual image of a log that wasn’t real.

“That’s here to delay us,” I said.

“Who’d want to do that? Evan wants to meet you, and the only other elf in the area is Candy.” She managed to say the name and attach a few pounds of guilt to it for good measure.

“Yeah.” I agreed.

“Isn’t she on your side or something?”

“Don’t know.” She was the type to honor the deal, but beyond that? Who knows. All I had made Candy promise was a ride to the forest and silence to her clan.

“Then we keep driving?” Julianne suggested. We loaded back into the car, Julianne drove, and Thomas sat in the back. I got into the passenger’s seat. The two of us in the small truck bed would have been uncomfortable. Especially since he was easily bigger than I was and that was saying something. Shotgun was better than another hour curled up on the truck bed.

I glanced out the side mirror and watched the fake tree fade from eyesight. It was a pretty good illusion. Though Julianne had mostly kept me to people who had little in the way of clever tricks.

“Another one?” As soon as we lost sight of the one behind us, a new one appeared further down the path. Julianne idled the engine while Thomas got out and checked it. It was another fake. Twenty minutes later we’d made it another six miles and found six false trees.

Someone was unquestionably working to slow us down.

It was worth checking each one, though. Just driving through was a terrible idea. As long as the downed trees kept being fake we’d probably still make it to Evan before Candy.

As if proving me wrong, something connected hard with the truck. We slammed into the unknown object with enough force to send me and Julianne into the dashboard and steering wheel. There was a muffled yelp from the back as Thomas’ solid form slid into the cab. Vision blurred. One hand fumbled for the door in a struggle to get out. Neither of us had a seat belt on. Julianne had the presence of mind to shut off the engine and hop out. There was a small curl of steam kicking up from under the hood of the truck.

We all got out and looked at the front of the car. The grill had little bits of branches and leaves embedded in it. I toed out carefully looking for the item I expected. There. To make sure I landed a few solid kicks at the space I’d identified. A fucking tree. A tree that was there, but we couldn’t see. It was clever of whichever elf it was. After numerous fakes designed to get us used to thinking the wrong way about things.

A quick scan for Evan was performed. He felt far to the north. Tracking Candy was simple enough without a link. All that seemed to matter was the possessive aspect. The sex had helped, but I’ll be damned if I was going to screw everyone who owed Julianne a debt to avoid needing a tangible item.

I couldn’t follow her as clearly without a personal object nearby. All I got was a direction and nothing more. She was a lot closer than Evan. So close that I detected a hint of almonds. Wait, why did she smell of almonds? I hadn’t noticed that she had a scent at all. When she was around it wasn’t my nose that gave me sensory feedback.

“What is it, Jay?” Julianne asked.

“Huh?” I mumbled.

“You’re growling. If I didn’t know better I’d swear you were pack.”

Thomas was looming behind me. Julianne was trying to follow my line of sight. I didn’t even know what I was staring at. There was a space next to one of the trees that my focus had settled on for the last few minutes.

“What are you looking at?” She asked.

I had no clue but looking away was difficult. My mind was still halfway tracking Candy. Thinking about how she had left me back at the car and took off. Her face snarling at me as she ran through the trees.

Worse, there was this overlapping feeling like I was touching something far away. There was a sensation of uneven pressure against the base of the tree that my eyes were on. I felt a curl of fingers against wood that came with a slight tingle of energy. My hands weren’t touching anything, though. The longer I stared, the more alien the feelings became. Another example was my feet feeling like they sunk freely into the dirt when my own shoes were still on.

Thomas started up a louder growl than I. A moment later he took off. The unexpected action of his hulking form darting past me wasn’t enough to break my intense stare. The state itself was essentially secondary to the feelings echoing across my body.

There was a barely perceptible shift. Then I saw Candy peel away from the tree I’d been staring at. Literally peel away, it felt like she was walking through the soft leaves of some plant. Visually I could see her drop bark and leaves then leap off like a deer through the trees.

Had she been watching us? To see what?

“Holy shit,” Julianne muttered.

I nodded.

“I didn’t know elves could do that.” She looked at me.

“Your brother?” I asked. He was lost in the brush. My focus had been broken, but nothing stopped the sensations from coming through. My feet finding purchase on the trunk of a tree. My hands grabbing onto a branch and swinging forward. My heart beating faster than it should as panic scattered coherent thought.

“He’s a big boy. You alright?” Julianne asked.

“No,” I answered. Tactile senses stopped overriding my eyesight and the immediate area became visible again.

“No shit?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong, Janny.” No. I knew. Everything was wrong.

“What do you mean?”

“I wish I knew.” I shook my head back and forth. Evan had things we needed. All of us had to recover Arnold. Both of us needed to get Daniel off of our backs. I was going to seriously reconsider his friend status after this settled.

We managed to exercise what little mechanic skills were available by the time Thomas came back. He sank down with a huff nearby while we stared under the hood. From what I could tell he was winded.

“What do you think?” Julianne asked.

“It’s busted,” I answered her.

“You’re a useless man. Can’t fix a truck.”

The mess of wires and tubing leading between the different car pieces was a nightmare. I figured out enough to see the radiator was bent out of shape and that meant the cooling fan wouldn’t work. That threw off belts and anything beyond that was out of my depth.

“Thomas! Get some pants on and get over here.” Julianne snapped. I heard a sigh of frustration. It was half human, half canine, wholly exasperated. Thomas joined us a few seconds later, looking tired but human.

“How bad is it?” He asked.

“Not the worst wreck we’ve had, but I don’t think it will run properly.” She answered.

He saddled up to the side of the engine and looked inside. I watched him trace along the different parts and tilt his head around to get a better angle.

“Might run, but who knows how many invisible trees she left us.” Thomas hung his head.

“The elf was female?”

“Oh yeah. Once I caught the scent, it was all female.” Thomas glanced sidelong at me. “Smelled like she’d spent a little time with you there, big guy.”

I could feel Julianne glaring at me. “We took a ride up here together.”

“I guess that could be it.” He didn’t sound convinced. By the way he ignored me after that comment, either he didn’t care or thought less of me for it. “Anyway, you’re right, the truck’s not an option anymore.”

“So walking?” Julianne sounded depressed about it.

“Walking.” I agreed. Luckily I’d managed to get an attempt at sleep in. It didn’t help the mental fatigue, but it helped the physical exhaustion.

We manually cranked up the windows on the truck then locked it. Thomas pointed out a cooler in the truck bed that I had pretty much ignored.

“There’s some food in there.” He said.

“Brought a meal?” I asked.

“After last time? I know you don’t need it, I don’t, but Tiny does.” He jerked a finger towards his sister.

“Tiny?” I’m fairly sure if I tried that nickname I would end up castrated.

“Whatever, at least this way I don’t have to see rabbits walk into your hands. That was unnerving. I appreciate needing to eat, but there’s a difference when we hunt.”

“Why the about face?” I asked.

“My sister vouches for you, that’s a lot in my book. You’re weird, but this situation with your friend has been driving my grandfather crazy. I hear you’re trying to solve it so you get a pass for now.” He was extremely talkative. I wasn’t sure how to handle it.

Julianne was walking up from the other side of the truck. She had pulled a jacket out of somewhere along with a small backpack. It looked like it had a miniature tent on it.

“By your friend, he means Daniel. There’s been a lot of extra pressure coming the pack's way because of him.” She said.

“You told me some of it.” It didn’t surprise me that Daniel was being a monster in any way he could. He’d put Julianne on notice, me on notice, and a lot of demand towards getting Evan. All to get to Arnold Regious. Why? He was the heir to what? A fortune?

“Well, it’s bad. If it keeps going, the pack may go into isolation for a bit.” She sounded upset even uttering the words.

Isolation was a government act where a pack under pressure could take the property reserved to it and put all their people on that land. It helped justify maintaining wooded areas. It was a safety measure for humans and pack that let them cool down away from the normal population.

It also put the entire area on high alert and drug in law enforcement. People who weren’t pack and went inside the zone often never made it out again. There had been around twenty isolation events in the past one hundred years. Each one had a body count associated.

“That bad?” I asked.

“That bad.” Thomas agreed.

“We need to find Arnold.” It felt like every few seconds my goals shifted between finding Evan for myself, and finding Evan for Arnold. It was just a matter of which issue came up first.

“Maybe you’ll have better luck getting it out of Evan than we did,” Julianne said.

“You tried?”

“Tried being the key word. I don’t know what you and the elf have going on, but I would have choked the shit out of that weedbag if I thought it’d solve anything.” Julianne had a tight grip on her jacket.

“He should answer me.” About a lot of things. If I sorted out Arnold first, then we’d have all the time in the world to talk about the other stuff.

“You were always good at answers.” She sounded proud.

“Except for Francis.” Thomas put a hand in the air to count the point against me.

I flipped the lid next to me, someone had packed away a small army’s worth of food. The water bottles were shoved in the bottom. Not a drop of alcohol of course.

“Figured you two wouldn’t say no to some backup food.” Thomas sounded proud of himself for predicting our need for food.

“Backup?” I asked.

“It took us a few days to find him last time, you don’t think he’s going to be out and waiting for us, do you?” He flipped suddenly to being upset. Thomas had every right, wolves were master trackers by nature. Being eluded in their own woods was downright insulting.

“Jay can track him.” Julianne brought up a good point. Maybe it was time for a thorough search.

“Oh, really? I thought that was some bull that you’d made up to sound impressive.”

“Nope. Jay’s a full-fledged tracker.” Julianne responded to her brother’s doubt.

“Aren’t they rare?”

My hearing fled the area shortly after. A moment later I was back and blinked a few times. It was hard to tell how long I’d been gone, but the other two were clearly in different positions. Julianne’s brother was only a few feet away staring at my face intensely.

“Holy shit.” Thomas was the first to say anything.

“He’s back then? He always acts confused to use his eyes.”

“Found Evan.” I tried to deviate the conversation away from how closely Julianne watched me over the years.

“Where?” Thomas asked.

“North.” My head shook slowly trying to sort things out. “With another elf, male.” In case they thought it was Candy. “Definitely older.” Even my eyes could tell the other one had been alive for a long time. His hair practically pure white. That meant he was probably well into his second century.

“Evan has help?” Julianne asked.

“I guess.” I unwrapped a sandwich from the cooler.

“Fuck.” Thomas banged a hand against the side of the truck. “That old man was scary enough the first time.”

Instead of answering him I concentrated on eating the food in front of me. It wouldn’t do if I pointed out how long ago I could have solved this.

“We’ll go talk to Evan and figure it out.” Julianne offered.

The wrapper from my sandwich was thrown into the bed of the truck. With one arm, I shrugged on my jacket and started towards where I had seen Evan.

It would be nightfall by the time we caught up. Candy would probably be there long before us. Her affinity for the trees was a huge advantage. I could close my eyes and practically see her form dashing through the trees. Dainty feet skipped along the ground while barely making contact.

Then there was Evan. I didn’t tell the others, but when I tracked him down the elf had looked unaware. His body was completely out of it. Just like at Julianne’s house. The old elf tended to him by pouring liquid down his throat and muttering in a language that sounded like wind chimes left along an ocean cliffside.

Chapter 18 – Elf, Wolf, Human, Vampire?

The siblings never stopped talking. Neither one showed any fear as we walked through the woods. They had probably roamed pack lands most of their lives. Thomas would smell any remaining predators with ease. Their rambling became background noise while I considered the connections between the number of stars in the sky and trees in this forest.

Building a link to Candy and Evan was growing increasingly easy. Both multicolored cords snapped together without an ounce of effort. Each had differences in how they presented. Evan’s thread was weak and barely pulsed. Candy’s thrummed with irritation and panic.

The female elf was far, far ahead of us. Each attempt at connection would result in her pausing. These connections weren’t just a tentative thing. They were providing intense amounts of feedback.

I felt a tiny hand grip over her chest. A sharp rock dug into Candy’s palm. A weight pressed against the object as she barely avoided buckling. Moments later the elf splashed water over her face. The chill of liquid sent shivers all over that I had no way of explaining to Julianne.

An hour later we found a stream. We were catching up. Nearby was a boulder that had been drug up from the earth’s depths to sit alone in the riverbed. I had felt both the water and rock well before seeing them. My palm pressed into the same position that Candy’s had from my tracking sensations.

“She’s been through here,” I said.

“How do you know?” Thomas asked behind me. He sniffed the air while looking around.

“I told you, he’s my own personal tracker,” Julianne grunted as she stepped across the stream.

“Yeah, I heard he’d flaked out and left.” Thomas remained shirtless but was all human right now.

“Shush, there’s some stuff there you don’t want to get mixed up in.” The tiny bartender said.

“Drama? How bad? I don’t need details, give me a number on a scale of Ricky’s wife to Little Bob’s high school reunion.”

“At least a seven, maybe an eight.” She sounded thoughtful about it. Her face wasn’t visible right now as the tiny Indian woman was behind me.

“So not a contender for Drew’s sudden countdown embarrassment.” Thomas continued his banter with an entertained grin. He was parallel with me as we stalked towards Evan’s hide away.

“Not quite.” Julianne laughed.

I walked on and ignored them. My brain was only half in the now anyway. Everything was strangely out of focus. A fog had settled over my perceptions. Moments became hard to pick out. There was a wall of sensations pouring back from both elves.

My thoughts circled through the same pattern constantly since returning home weeks ago. Answers would be within reach regarding who or what I was. My mind would compare the current Jay to the prior. An itch would happen on my arm and I would end up distracted.

Feet moved forward with an absent-minded hustle. My senses that split across the miles to Evan were reporting small changes. Occasionally he shook and thrashed. Other times he lay there barely breathing. The older silver-haired elf that had been caring for him was somewhere else.

Continued tactile feedback came in. Candy had halted up ahead. She was very close to Evan now. We, the siblings and I, were nearly a step behind now too.

Approaching nightfall, during that fleeting dance between a parting sun and the horizon’s edge, a tree branch appeared in front of my face. Unlike other branches, this one was new. My senses snapped back together with a rush of panic.

Julianne was shouting. Thomas growled and ran past. Another chunk of wood sunk into the trunk right in front of the brother. He displayed better sense than I and took cover behind a tree.

“Hold it right there.” The voice sounded almost like a cowboy. There was far more than a hint of western to it. “Close enough for you all, I think.”

My eyes gradually focused on the shaft of wood I had nearly been penetrated by. The item itself was firmly lodged into the tree trunk and oddly shaped. I tried to comprehend the details. There was a feathered end attached to the thinly carved shaft. Its angle was odd as it jutted from the tree.

Hell. Someone or something had actually shot at me with an arrow. I had nearly been shafted and still barely returned to my senses.

“Jay, for the love of God, back up.” Julianne’s hiss made it through my addled brain. I looked around trying to figure out if the voice and the arrow had come from the silver-haired elf.

“Are you with Evan? The one feeding him liquid from a leaf? One sip at a time?” I shouted. My eyes weren’t focusing all that well. The last few hours had been spent staggering forward while seeing and feeling a completely different place from my body.

There was silence.

“Is your hair silver?” I tried again. Maybe by announcing what I had seen while tracking Evan, things would go smoother.

“Who are you? Wolves here to steal my boy away again?” The other man yelled. His voice seemed to echo through the trees.

“I need to speak to Evan!” I couldn’t tell if all this shouting was going in the right direction. The person who shot at us had to be the other elf. It had to be.

“It ain’t happening. He’s come back from you all nearly broken not once, but twice now.” The elf's accent was intense. “You all can scoot back to where ever you came from.”

Going home wasn’t an option. Shouting that I was a Lord would be dangerous. Candy affirmed rather explicitly that mentioning a Lord around elves was tied to being sacrificed. That advice seemed sound even though she was dead set on getting to Evan before I did.

“Julie, help out here.” Thomas motioned.

“I don’t know what to do.” Julianne was keeping her head firmly planted behind the tree she’d picked to huddle at.

“Didn’t the pack find him out here?” I asked.

“Yeah, but they slipped past this guy. Might not have been a good idea.” Julianne said.

“You all can just turn about those heels and head home.” The western sounding elf yelled. “Go on, get!”

“Not without answers!” Julianne yelled back at him. “Tell us where Arnold Regious is and I’ll happily go away.”

Three arrows sprouted on a tree near us. Each one was further to the right. The man must be running around to get a better angle on us. I shoved Julianne further around the edge of the tree in time to see another shaft embed itself where she had been.

“Don’t ask about Arnold.” I tried to keep my voice low.

“Your buddy there has the right idea.” The unknown person was closer and had definitely switched locations.

“Ask Evan who I am, he’ll vouch for us!” I roared back. Evan wanted us out here, me anyway. The first few shots had the feeling of warning shots.

“I don’t like this.” Thomas was behind another tree nearby.

“Feel free to charge out there,” Julianne responded.

“And get shot in the eye? I’ve read the history books, during the civil war elves shot wolves through the eye sockets.” I could see his hands waving about from here. “Then while they were down and blind, finished them with silver.”

My eyes shut while they complained at each other about their limited choices. Thomas was right, charging out there wouldn’t work. Elves at range had always held the advantage. This one also had the home court. This was a bad scene all the way around.

Evan had to wake up. He was able to sense if I called for him and that might solve our problem. Tactile senses barely started to expand out when my body automatically dodged another shaft.

“I can wait here all night,” He said. I could hear the chewing tobacco in his thick accent.

“Jay, what’s the call?” Julianne asked.

“Shush.” I closed my eyes tight and pressed my head to the tree as I hugged what little cover we had. Julianne hunkered nearby, hiding behind me.

“Jay?” Her words crawled at me from miles away. My senses had reached out to Evan, who lay on the ground completely still. Mats of forest debris were piled around him. One young tree was nearby, dirt freshly disturbed.

I could feel Evan muttering to himself. Words sunk into plants and trees swaddling the sound. Mother? Picking up words in a new environment was tough.

“Evan!” My voice gave an odd double echo, one inside my head, once in the forest where my body and Julianne huddled.

“Evan answer me!” I demanded.

The elf stirred a bit. His eyes were unfocused and bloodshot.

“Evan wake up!”

I concentrated on him. Part of me tried to reach across the distance to shake him. Evan had said I was his Lord, Candy had said I should be able to call him back. Neither one explained what that meant. Could I pull at him like I had with the rabbit? If I was a Lord, did that make him a vassal?

“Evan! I command you to wake up!” I tried shouting at him. His elven name might have garnered a reaction. Wait, Evan had said that an awakening was needed. Blood had worked the first time.

“Listen, you kin stealing igit, the next shot won’t be a warning!” In the background the older elf yelled.

My eyesight snapped back to reality. It took an act of will to keep my head still and try to focus quickly. Evan was a ways north, but if I ran, maybe I could make it to him. A little bit of blood and a few seconds, then he’d come back to again.

“Dear god, he’s going to kill us.” Julianne was muttering next to me.

“What?”

“I should never have come out here.” She wasn’t paying attention. “I should have stayed at home where it was quiet.”

“Julie, it’ll be okay. We just need to back out, we can call pack in for the rest of it.” Thomas was nodding briskly while talking.

“We won’t get away, didn’t you hear him? He’s not firing warning shots anymore, and he’s waiting there for us to stick our heads out.” Julianne was huddled against the side of the tree, her knees pulled up to her chest.

“Thomas?” I whispered.

“You back from your fucking trip?” The brother said.

“I know where Evan is.”

“That’s fantastic. Did you learn the magic password to get past the gatekeeper over there?” Thomas stuck his head out a little too far and another shaft of carved wood flew past. He swallowed and both eyebrows pinched together. “Because we could really use a secret code, or handshake, or anything.”

“Do you think he and Evan have a secret code?” Julianne had recovered instantly in the light of her brother’s playful commentary.

“An all clear call sign?” Julianne was sweating. I could feel her heart speeding along compared to the normal, calm woman behind a bar counter.

“We could tie a white flag to one of the arrows.” Thomas was slowly gaining composure. The lingering sensations of my tracking abilities were providing all sorts of extra details.

“Wave it in the air,” She said.

“Thomas.” I tried to interrupt them.

“You got your underwear on still?” He was caught up with his banter.

“Not white anymore,” Julianne said. She wiped at her forehead and wasn’t making eye contact with either of us.

“I’ll settle for red.” The elf called out from a distance.

“Thomas!” I was trying to keep quiet. Elves had different ears, but their hearing wasn’t exceptional. Thomas should be able to hear me if I could get a word in.

“Just talk, he’s listening,” Julianne whispered next to me. Her head shook and then nodded.

“Don’t have red yet!” Thomas yelled back. He motioned his hands at me to get on with it. I could see him staring at Julianne with a worried expression. His back rolled as he stayed behind his tree.

“I know where Evan is. I’ll run. I need a distraction.” My voice was hushed.

“You really want to risk our lives on Evan pulling through?” Julianne said. Her brother looked at me briefly then shook his head.

“Not a risk, Thomas can heal right?” I protested.

“So can you. Doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.” Julianne whispered back to me. She sounded offended at me using her brother as a defensive screen for arrows.

“Got another option?” I glared at her. The siblings shared a glance and Thomas shrugged.

“No,” He said.

Julianne took a deep breath. “Countdown?” Thomas nodded back. “From three, break on zero.” She put a hand on my back and looked up. “I’ll cover my brother as much as I can.”

“With what?” I asked.

Julianne pulled out a small handgun. I whistled.

“Only a few shots, short range, but it might scare him.”

“When did you get that?”

“When I stopped by the bar.” She’d picked up the handgun after dealing with Daniel.

“Who wants the next shot? I’m open to requests, legs, arms, lungs, tell me where you poachers want ’em.”

“I’d prefer you air ball all of them!” Thomas yelled back. He was looking directly at me, though. One hand was held up with three fingers.

“Wait.” I lifted my shirt and displayed the makeshift belt. Even after changing clothes at Kahina’s the chain loops had stayed with me. My hands paused their fumbling as it occurred to me that Candy hadn't cared about the iron during our earlier adventures. How had she managed to get my pants off? Maybe I had helped the elf a bit?

“What's that?” Thomas asked.

“Cold iron.” I handed the metal over to Thomas.

He nodded and wound the links around one hand. Julianne nodded next. They both started a countdown. I closed both eyes and tried to extend my senses. Their fingers started with three.

There was the vaguest sense of leaves being brushed aside. Fingers scraping past each other as one slowly closed. We were down to two.

Julianne tensed near me and lifted her gun up with both hands. The metal was warm and lightweight. Her breath came in short gulps and there was a rapid rate to her pulse. Another of Thomas’ fingers closed to reach one.

I opened my eyes and looked right at Thomas. His back twitched once, twice, then the final finger closed downward. It was go time.

Thomas shot out from behind the tree. Julianne came out at the same time, knowing her brother’s speed better than I. There was a bang from her gun that startled me into motion. My feet launched off towards Evan.

Our situation rapidly turned hectic. My head pulsed with a rush that was either excitement or fear. A picture of our surroundings hit my senses in flashes. Like static on a scrambled television channel, everything came in clear bursts embedded in madness.

I felt an arrow flying through the air towards Thomas. It connected with a tremendous amount of force, firmly lodging itself into Thomas’ chest. My brain didn’t have enough time to figure out if it was a lung or heart. Hopefully neither. Wolves healed, but that kind of shot was risky for any species.

Another swivel of motion betrayed the bow’s change in targets. The string jerked as another shaft hurled through the air. Julianne dodged behind a tree and an arrow chipped away at the bark. Her gun felt lighter than before. Her scream of outrage rattled the woods.

“Hide!” I yelled.

A thoughtful hum of noise bounced off the fabric. The bow and guiding arms shifted towards me with a lead for velocity and direction. I pumped both legs trying for increased speed to outdistance his range.

Time slowed as the old elf’s fingers loosed. My hands flew out to brace while I dived forward to the next tree. The face first slide was poorly timed and Evan’s pal was skilled enough in adjusting his shot. It zipped right over while I twisted to the side and slammed into the ground. My teeth hurt and head rattled, but I managed to scramble back to my feet and keep running.

The next arrow, one I was too dazed to feel coming, embedded into my arm. I noticed the new addition as the pain caught up. Both eyes started to water.

I had to escape. More arrows would be coming soon. Gunfire echoed repeatedly, each one violating the entire area. Julianne was emptying her entire clip. By the screaming, she’d gone mad. By the footsteps, she was headed towards Thomas.

Numerous arrows flew in my direction. Each one slightly off the mark. Distance and Julianne’s wild shots were helping. Chains rang out and slammed into each other. I felt bodies slam into the ground and someone cried out. Candy was close. There was no time to go back and check on the siblings. The scent of almonds permeated the air.

Half blind fumbling and bouts of adrenaline helped me reach Evan. He was right where my tracking had pointed. The elf was sitting up and looked absolutely lost. Both ears drooped and his arms were listless.

I searched for a blade to draw blood forth. Another thought occurred to me. A pained cry ground out between my clenched teeth. The arrow lodged into my arm snapped and yanked out.

There was more than enough blood for Evan now. My arm hovered over Evan’s mouth and I barely restrained myself from shoving his face into my pit. With the free hand, I tilted Evan’s head back and said a prayer.

Footsteps carefully tread the ground behind me. Slow paced. Calmer. Softer. Almond scent carried with them.

“Candy?” I looked up. Where was the old cowboy with his bow? She stood in the distance. Her face twisted.

“Jeff.” She said flatly. It was easy to forget due to her beauty, that Candy was probably close to one hundred years old. Decades of experience and resolution that I didn’t have. All of it shone on her face.

“Why, Candy?” Why had she planted those illusions? I kept hold of Evan and tried to get additional drops of blood into him.

“You can’t know.” She didn’t even shake her head. As if we had moved beyond a simple ‘no’.

“Can’t know what?” I set Evan’s head down carefully and stood. My eyes were set to full on angry bouncer mode. This was the face I used when collecting from low lives and thugs. Five years ago I could break weaker men with this glare alone.

“What you are.” Candy actually looked away first. I tried not to grin happily.

“Why can’t I know what I am, Candy? Why does that matter? Do you need another fucking,” I emphasized that part. “favor so I can get a real answer?”

“No amount of fucking-” She returned the snide tone, but her voice sounded distorted, “-would make me tell you. It’s dangerous.”

“Does this have to do with Arnold?” Was there a link?

“Who is Arnold?” She actually pulled her head back in confusion. That threw me off. Quickly my mind put things together. If she wasn’t here about Arnold than it was my fault, like always, causing issues.

“Then it’s me, why can’t I know?” I said.

She shook her head but kept her lips buttoned. Part of me couldn’t help but to admire how cute it looked. Every other ounce of her stance screamed anger and desperation.

“Why, Candy?” I’d gotten extremely close. She never once showed a sign of backing up, or looking at me. Her focus passed right through my body. “Why can’t I know?”

Candy stayed silent. Damn it, Julianne, you said to try asking. I had asked the elf three times and still got nothing. No one else was here to help me and Evan. Julianne and her brother were missing in action.

The silence broke when Evan shouted. Candy’s form fell apart like shattering glass. I turned to look at Evan. Candy straddled his chest, with both hands covering his eyes. Her lips moved in a silent whisper while small sparks of light shot out of her own orbs.

“No!” He yelled again, bucking weakly under Candy. It sounded distorted like Candy had earlier. “No! Lord, help me!” Evan’s voice came out in a cry for help. My help.

I ran at her. My dive met with air and I face planted into the dirt. More illusions.

“Evan!” I yelled, trying to find the source of his cries. Drumbeats started in my head. Their pounding demanded I defend what had been claimed.

“Answer me!” I fumbled about, swinging both arms as if wading through a pool. Hopefully, one of these wild swings would connect with anything. Evan’s voice grew further away while his words slurred together.

Auditory senses weren’t enough. I had another way to solve this. A single moment of concentration was needed. There, he was to the right against a tree base. I dove, trusting what I could feel instead of what I could see and connected. For a second time today Candy screamed my name but for an entirely different reason.

The illusions hiding her from vision shattered. Candy spilled to the ground under me, she raised one hand and shoved dirt into my eyes. Her knee followed up with a switch kick to my pelvis.

Winded, blinded, I curled into a fetal position and tried to suck in air. Evan was calling out again and I was unable to concentrate on feeling, or seeing anything. Blurred flickers of color proceeded brighter bursts like fireworks.

I managed to stand up by using the tree trunk. The landscape looked like two rainbows were fornicating five feet away. Wondrous pain occupied my thoughts. Both ears rang, gut clenched spastically, and nothing was in focus.

Candy was yelling at Evan. I could hear the words being shouted like waves breaking on a shore. A roaring sound of anger and frustration answered back. Evan’s voice was the sound of trees groaning in a thunderstorm. They spoke in with wild words that nearly made sense.

Candy was denying me an answer from Evan as well, by taking away something? His eyes? How did that make sense?

Another set of colors popped into existence. This time streaked with an angry red tint overlaying what would have been a bright rainbow. Evan’s voice yelled back, his words sounding harsher but no less wild than Candy’s. I gained enough control to rip off the jacket and mop my face.

When I could see again, the world had gone mad. Colors kept popping like little bombs of paint going off. There were false copies of Evan and Candy both running around. Yelling saturated the area so intensely I could feel the vibrations of the landscape.

An image of Candy ran towards me with a large tree branch. Yelling echoed as I tried to block the swinging branch. The actual attack came from a completely different direction, connecting firmly with my exposed ribcage.

“You can’t know!” An invisible female voice screamed. Candy’s words were tainted by the waterfall accent. I was bewildered and kept one hand in front of my face, the other over my wounded side. Her earlier blow had definitely cracked a rib.

“Lord!” Evan cried out. Numerous colors flared up obscuring him from vision.

None of the history books or documentaries had ever shown a scene quite like this. Elven abilities had never been described beyond a mastery over the visual spectrum. Even the few actual elves I had seen use their abilities didn’t come out like this. This was a master with a paintbrush compared to children and their chalk.

One Evan leaped onto a distracted image of Candy. The projections both collapsed. Another two dozen were dodging through trees. Each visually real that it was difficult to separate what I felt from what I saw.

I pressed my back to a tree and tried to figure out what to do. Wading in there wouldn’t work out. There was no telling where the real elves were amid the madness. Not without cutting out some senses.

Both eyes shut to assist concentration by ignoring their illusions. Evan’s distracting screams almost immediately shifted to background noise. My fingers were grasping at tree bark. The simple sensation of rough wood against my skin served as a starting point.

The two were struggling nearby. I opened my eyes again and the assault wasn’t as bad. Both elves’ illusions had dwindled. Those standing around wore slack-jawed faces devoid of real emotion.

One wasn’t standing. Candy pinned Evan down with a knee in his back. Both her hands cupped the male’s eyes as a scream came forth. Her voice was loud enough that I could hear it. They were still speaking in their elven tongue, elemental, primal, inhuman.

I limped over and tried to help.

Evan’s face dripped with sweat. Blurred images of the elf trying to escape spun out in desperation. Both Evan’s and Candy’s illusions were collapsing.

“No!” I closed the last bit of distance and weakly tackled the female elf.

My assault connected, and probably hurt me more than her. Candy was laughing, a delirious rush of excitement on her features as she grinned wildly beneath me. No dirt to my face, no knee to the balls.

“It’s over, Jeff, it’s over. I’ve protected us all!” She said.

“I will tell him.” Evan’s voice came from behind me. I turned to look up at him. He was battered beyond his normally disheveled look. His body was covered in forest debris and both eyes were a milky white.

“You can’t! You’re bound.” Candy said.

“What did you do?” I growled at her. She didn’t even flinch in response.

“I bound him!” Candy yelled. Her voice was no longer under me. She had scrambled to a new location behind me and left an illusion behind. “He can’t tell you what you are.”

“Why?” The version of Candy under me was a fake. An illusion like everything else. Her helping me. Evan’s answers.

“She fears what our kind will do if they know.” Evan gasped in the middle of his sentence.

“What?” I said.

“If they knew that you were a…” A flash of light in his eyes sent Evan backward with a cry.

“A what? What, damn it? Elf, wolf, human, vampire? What am I?” None of the above? He had been a few syllables away from telling me. Once I knew, once I had that under control I could better understand my abilities, right?

“He can’t tell you. I’ve bound him to save all our lives.” Candy said.

“Nonsense. The knowledge alone will not hurt anyone. In a year and a day, I will tell him.” Evan had recovered enough to protest.

“We will see. This battle is mine, though.” Her voice sounded amused by the phrasing. The image of Candy vanished into the trees. I could feel her getting further and further away. She had left me in the middle of the woods with an elf that couldn’t answer the primary question I came for.

“Oh, shit. Julianne.” I tried to scramble to the siblings. Multiple face plants into the dirt, an arrow, a tree branch to the ribs and being kneed in the balls outmatched me.

“What is going on?” Evan asked.

“The other elf was shooting at us.” I ground the words out. It took every ounce of concentration I had to stay on my feet. My entire body was drooping.

“I will take care of it.” The male elf nodded and started walking off. He kept one hand pressed out in front to carefully feel his way through the woods. Evan walked like a blind man in the familiar territory.

I leaned against the younger tree. The same one Evan himself had rested at in my vision. Once again I had failed. My arm itched and there wasn’t any strength left to scratch it. Slowly one foot gave way, followed by the other and my body slumped to the ground.

Chapter 19 – An Issue

I had regained a small amount of awareness. There was a distinct western twang that wasn’t entirely audible. Vague impressions of an old man complaining about some little girl came to mind. Was that Evan’s grandfather? Was everyone okay? My lips tried to groan out a question, but it didn’t quite come out.

“Jay?” Julianne’s voice was distant. It sounded worried and relieved.

“He is resting. It’s a good thing.” The response came from Evan. It was hard to tell where he was, but I felt a flickering heat nearby. I wanted to roll closer and bask in it. The tree felt cold compared to the warmth being kicked off from the flames.

“Are you sure?” She said.

“The tales say his people often rest after a fight. It is how they regain their strength.” The voice was Evan’s. He always sounded tired and didn’t use contractions. When he spoke it was like each word was worth using in its entirety.

“His kind? What does that mean?” Julianne shuffled closer to the crackling fire.

“I can not tell you anything else. It is dangerous to skirt the binding like this.” Evan said.

“Binding?”

“The other elf, the female Speaker has bound my eyesight. It is a terrible practice that is only enacted upon traitors of our kind.” The young elf didn’t sound upset. Just resigned. As if he expected something to go wrong or else it wouldn’t be business as usual.

“You’re a traitor?” Thomas’ voice. Strained, but whole. The arrow I’d felt must not have been fatal. That was good since it meant Julianne wouldn’t fire me over her brother’s death. Hearing him speak helped me to relax.

“Our clan was cast out from the old world a long time ago.” The cowboy twanged voice said. Drowsiness kept my eyelids closed, preventing me from seeing what was going on. Resting felt good despite the mismatched temperatures to each side.

“Why?” Julianne was gathering information. Something she always did. It was part of what kept her in business.

“Neither of us know. Only full Speakers are told.” The cowboy answered.

“So is that what you are then, a Speaker?” The direction of Julianne’s voice clearly changed. She was talking to Evan now.

“Incomplete. As was my mother before me. Our clan hasn’t had a full Speaker in generations.” Evan said. I almost lost his words as the flames crackled wildly.

“Where is she?”

“Dead, with a tree planted for a marker, as is our custom,” Evan said. There was a rustle of fabric as someone moved.

“Oh.” Her voice was sad at first. Then it changed. “Oh. Oh, we should move him then.” Move who? Me? I was unable to stir myself and say something.

“It is alright. She would rejoice, I think, to know the sins of our forefathers were not absolute. To know that our arrogance did not purge them all.” Evan said. The Purge was an elimination of all of the dark races some two thousand years ago.

There was a hint in there. Candy had said much the same thing. I felt little trust towards the female elf now, however, what she told me prior seemed to be confirmed by Evan's words.

“Sins of your forefathers?” She missed the turn in the conversation I was hoping for.

Silence answered her. The last thing I heard was Evan taking up a wordless song. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a man singing to me. Awkward I guess, but it sounded haunting. Like the wind across the prairie. My mind slipped off again into a deeper dreamless sleep.

Morning sunlight peeked through the trees and woke me. Hopefully, only one day had passed and not two or more. The jacket bundled under my head served as a pathetic sort of pillow. Putting it back on was difficult because my thumb insisted on getting caught in a new arrow hole.

One night’s sleep made a world of difference. I found Julianne and Thomas slumped out cold next to each other. They looked more like siblings than ever. Evan should be nearby. This mess could be salvaged by finding Arnold.

Locating him was frighteningly easy. Almost as soon as I thought of the elf, visions popped into my head outlining where he sat. A carved object in his hands was being spun about. Was this ease at tracking because of giving him blood?

Sneaking was not one of my skills so I staggered over. He sat at the base of a tree with his face turned towards sunrise. Even his irises were a pasty white color.

“Lord?” His face turned somewhat. I blinked and looked away.

“You promised me answers.” There was no good way to start this conversation. I kept my voice calm. Clearly Evan hadn’t conspired against me.

“I find myself unable to fulfill my part of the bargain. I apologize.” He said gently. The object in his hand spun around some more.

“No. Candy being here is my fault.” I should have stolen money out of the bar till and taken a taxi. Anything would have been better than getting into a car with her.

“Candy?” Evan asked.

“The other elf. Her real name is-,” I slowed my speech in order to say her name clearly. “-Kanda’rila Ro’hal.”

“Ah.” His response came out as a sigh. His normally serious demeanor was nothing more than pure exhaustion. “Do not worry.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I felt the bond starting with her as well. She will not hide the truth from you forever, and I doubt she wishes to keep this from you, not really.” Evan shrugged one shoulder and ran his fingers over the wooden carving. I stared at it. It looked like a wooden ball.

“It seemed like she did.” I said.

“It is not you that she worries about, it is us. Time or understanding will change her.” Evan said. A grimace of pain crossed over his face and fingers locked around the carved ball.

“I’m sure calmly explaining I’ll keep it a secret won’t work,” I said. We could pinky swear on it.

“You will not be able to hide it once you know. The knowledge will release you. That is what worries her.”

It was time for a topic switch. There was a certain desperation for answers, but his wording was also frightening. “Is Evan your full name?”

“No. But I like it better. My old name would be my family name, and my grandfather is all I have left.” The elf said.

“The others died?” I asked. Missing family members was something I knew entirely too much about. To my knowledge, there was no one related to me by blood.

“Murdered. By another clan.” He said.

“I’m sorry. I’d help if I could.” I really would too. Family was one of my personal woes. There was an entire story there that I didn’t have time to dwell on.

Evan started to say something to that. There was a quiet flash of light in his eyes as he tried. It wasn’t anywhere near as bright as what had happened last night.

“That topic’s off limits?” I asked.

He nodded weakly.

“What about Arnold Regious?” That was the other issue that was pressing on us. I should have dived in and asked, but it seemed rude to rush Evan. He was obviously wounded from my failure to stop Candy.

“Some of it.” He said. Was Arnold related to this? How was a rich heir to some family tied to the topic Candy didn’t want to discuss?

“How about where he is?” I tried for something simple.

“Arnold Regious is very much dead. There was little doubt that anything else would happen.” He said.

“Did you kill him?”

“I did not need to.” Evan was already extremely pale, but that admission caused him to lose further color. His fingers ran over the wooden ball’s surface in rough jerks.

“Please tell me you have his body at least,” I said.

“Yes. What little is left of it.” Evan stood up and slowly walked off. He didn’t seem the type to ask for help despite having a difficult time.

“Am I allowed to help?” I wasn’t sure if there were any rules here to deal with. Elves and their addictions often created weird, nearly ritualistic behaviors.

Evan paused and tilted his head. His hair seemed as dirty as it ever had been, but at least it fit the woodland vibe. “I will be alright, my Lord. If you would please follow me?”

The path we took was painfully sluggish. I tried to keep myself distracted by looking at how he was walking. Stealth wasn’t in my skill set, but both Evan and Candy were amazing at navigating the woods. Even fumbling around he moved like he was a part of nature.

He could step on a patch of earth and be noiseless. I would step on the same spot with noisy results. Asking Evan about the secret to his footsteps didn’t enlighten me. The elf only responded with a faint smile.

“You can see the ruins of our old home here. My grandfather tells me it was positively beautiful once.” Evan gestured before him. This piece of landscape looked a lot like everything else.

“It must have been.” I tried to sound positive.

Evan kept moving while I searched for housing remains. Nothing stood out under the ivy and other plants. Not to my untrained eye. My tactile senses were picking up bits of information and outlined hints of building foundations. Evan’s clan probably used natural elements, and nature would have recycled it all promptly.

“I am too young to remember the details. My family has deliberately been erased.” Evan faintly stared at one of the building remains I had sensed.

“Why?”

“We are outcast from those who came over to the Americas,” He said. His constant depression almost made sense now. The poor elf’s family had been eradicated over time. His only remaining relative was a grandfather who thought he was living on the frontier.

“I didn’t know elves got outcast,” I said.

“In many ways, elves and humans are roughly the same. We were until…” A flash of light prevented him from continuing the thought. He put out a hand and rested against a tree for a moment.

“How much of this relates to what I am?”

“Much,” He said.

“You can’t just-” my brain hurt trying to figure this out “-write it down and skirt the binding?”

“I never learned to write,” Evan said. That didn’t explain his gambling debt with Julianne. At least topic one wouldn’t be off limits.

“How did you end up owing Julianne?” I asked.

“I knew sooner or later you would return.” He stopped walking to lean against a tree and catch his breath.

“Then the odd objects were a plant?”

“Yes.” Evan shuddered and took a breath. The man had refused assistance before. If the elf collapsed I would sling him over a shoulder and continue forth.

“Then why did you act weird when I found you in your apartment? Why not tell me then?” I tried to distract him with easier questions. Ones that shouldn’t trigger the binding Candy had placed.

“I did not know you were back. I had never seen your face. Also, you seemed like a thug.” He said it without any emotion besides exhaustion. Evan pushed away from his resting spot and started forward again.

“I am a thug.” It was a description that fit me to a tee on the job.

“You are protective over what is yours and misguided,” He said.

“Misguided how?”

He didn’t answer.

“You can’t talk about it?”

“I skirt the bindings as it is.” He looked tired, more so than when we first started talking. “It is…draining.”

“Can you answer another question?” I wanted to shake him and yell, anything that might get him to spit out an answer worth hearing. I couldn’t bring myself to try. Bringing actual violence toward him felt wrong. Was this part of The Lord thing?

“I will try.”

“This is all related, right? My tracking. The possessive instincts. Kahina’s desire for my blood, your waking to it, all of it?” I was shaking a little myself as a result of asking everything at once.

He paused. Evan’s neck tensed up considerably and he shuddered out a nod. His face paled dreadfully right in front of me. That one answer had been pushing the far edge of the limit.

“One last question? I won’t ask anything about myself this time.” I tried to sound happy about getting a yes. It was difficult.

“That would be appreciated.”

“Who did the lipstick tube belong to?” The damned brass container had been bugging me since the beginning.

“My mother.” He smiled sadly. The admission stopped me abruptly. “Do not worry. We are where we need to be. Candy and the other Speakers are right on one thing, time should not march backward, as much as I might wish otherwise.”

We had paused in the middle of a cluster of tree trunks. Overhead was a woven net of branches and leaves that could have once grown into a roof of sorts. Evan leaned over into a hollow nearby that would have once been a house wall.

His hand came out with a small ornate box. The container was just over a foot long and obviously hand carved. I tilted my head to look at the top. There was a creature with wings flowing from one side to the other. It might be a bird or a serpent. There were men on the sides that held up their hands as if they supported the scene on the top.

“This will have to be sufficient for your friend. There is nothing more left.” Evan was focusing poorly on the carving. It looked sort of tribal, no, tribal was the wrong word. It was primitive.

“What is it?” I pulled it closer to look at the wood.

“Ashes.” The elf responded. I shifted the box and felt something slide around. One of my hands started towards the lock. “Do not open it. They will know it has been tampered with.”

“He’s really dead?” I asked.

“His path had few alternatives.”

“Care to explain?”

“No.” Evan’s face grew solemn. His entire range of emotions seemed negative except for one fleeting smile.

“Lord, one more thing if I may. Then I must rest.”

“Sure,” I said.

“Do not tell your friend about yourself. Do not tell him of what you can do. Those he travels with will, must, kill you for what you are.” He said. I had to bite my cheek to avoid asking follow up questions.

“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.

Chapter 20 – Pack Lands

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.

Evan’s cough brought reality back to the forefront. I shook my head and asked “Any other hints?”

The blond elf didn’t respond. He too seemed captivated by the fire. His eyes closed and there was a soft glow from behind the lids. I watched him slip slowly forward, then finally tip as if he couldn’t hold himself upright. By the time I reached him, he was snoring on the ground.

Perhaps I could push the issue by calling upon whatever bond he thought we had, but I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer. I wasn’t sure he’d survive me pushing at it. Not if he was passed out in exhaustion after he managed to tell me nothing useful.

“Jay!” Julianne shouted while running up to the small fire. I intercepted the tiny woman and pulled us away from Evan’s resting place.

“What’s up?” I asked once we were further away.

“Problem. Daniel and a huge number of his men have started up the road.” Julianne broke away from my grip and started pacing. She didn’t even appear upset that I had basically herded her.

“What? How?” I paused and started over. “What?”

“Seems Thomas told them we had Arnold, and told them he was dead. Judging by the convoy rolling up here your friend didn’t believe it.” Julianne bit her lip and looked off towards the city far to the south.

“Hell,” I said. One arm raised to run through my shortened hair.

“No joke. They’re armed too.” Julianne put one hand into her pocket. She was likely holding on to the small firearm from before.

“Daniel carrying a lot of silver?” I licked my lips and stared at the short woman.

“He’s headed into pack woods, against both law and orders from his superiors.” Julianne stared up at me and nodded. “So yeah, I’d bet heavily on him carrying enough to put down everyone.”

“And they’re trained.” I clenched both my fists and contemplated hitting something hard.

“Yep.”

What the hell was he doing bringing an army up here? Was he going to take over and root around trying to find Arnold? Daniel knew Arnold was dead.

“Your pack’s response?” I asked. Daniel heading into pack lands could be minimized if no one got in his way. At worst it would be me, Evan, and his grandfather. Julianne could easily hide somewhere or be escorted out with her brother.

“Pack’s not going to let anyone march into their lands. Western Sector or not. This has been our-” she shook her head “-their, territory for generations.”

“Of course not.” I understood the need to protect one’s things.

“They’re running in full bore, but I don’t know if they’ll be in any condition to help. Plus they waited to tell me.” Julianne ground her teeth for a moment and displayed a wolfish impersonation of annoyance. She may not be pack, but the woman had fooled me for a long time.

“It’s okay.” I tried to sound reassuring.

“My grandfather is almost here already. He’s getting up there in age, but the old guy can cover some ground.” Julianne looked fidgety. She wasn’t making eye contact, which was not an action I expected from her.

Shifting eyes around, refusing to meet a stare, both were signs of submissive pack members. Julianne had always given me the exact opposite impression. There was something happening that I would like even less.

“What?” I asked with a sharp tone.

“Um. My brother’s an idiot?” Julianne’s accent sounded sheepish.

“I figured.” My response was dry. The guy was too damned cheery when he talked, a smart ass cheery. “Anything else?”

Her eyes went wide, and I watched her look past me and wince. My body turned just in time to be bulldozed by a fuzzy battering ram. Soft fur and a quiet snarl coupled with very sharp teeth dug into my muscles.

Hell.

From my angle, there was only one eye visible that was glaring directly into mine. The teeth on my collarbone and the message in the glaring orb were begging for an excuse to rend flesh.

“Stacy?” I guessed.

The bundle of fur and angry teeth clamped down upon my neck, grumbling. Her teeth dug in, but the jaws didn’t shake back and forth. I could be extremely violent and take the damage, but there was no need. If Stacy wanted to harm me she would have already.

“If you want to talk, then shift.” I had to remain calm. It was like I was bouncing at the door. Momentary eye contact, just enough to give a solid connection that pierced through the haze.

Stacy, if it was Stacy, huffed in my face. Teeth pulled back from my neck and the wolf backed up. A moment later I had a frowning and startlingly naked woman yelling at me. There was a sign of something strapped to her shoulders, a travel pack?

“I can’t believe you brought them out here! What the hell were you thinking?” Stacy yelled while pointing at my face. At least she wasn’t violently slapping me.

“Stacy!” Julianne shouted back.

“No, Julie, you could have been shot by that elf. All because this abusive…” She stuttered as her arms struggled to get the backpack off. “MALE needs help to clean up his fucking mess!”

“We put Evan out here!” Julianne leapt to my defense while I tried to stay out of the way. A female shouting was one of my weaknesses and it never seemed to end well.

They kept bitching, literally, at each other. Part of me wanted to defend myself. What could I really say? Sorry my friend Daniel is screwing it all up for everyone?

Other people trickled in. One was the awkwardly naked older man I had seen before. The rest were wolves of varying color patterns. Stacy must have put in the extra energy speeding here in order to knock me down.

“Girls.” Julianne’s grandfather held an incredible tone with one word. It was a gift that anyone would steal if they could. “We’re in mixed company, Stacy. Put something on.”

Stacy narrowed her eyes for a moment before breaking the stare. She finished pulling the backpack off and dug out lighter clothes. They were barely a step up from a nightie. The woman grumbled while pulling a shirt over her head. Stacy’s lips kept moving as she muttered angrily.

I had to give it to Julianne, Stacy seemed like a keeper in more ways than one. She had probably started out reserved since wolves typically were more irritable. One thing I had no desire to run into was an already aggressive woman being turned into a wolf. They were bonfires of rage and burned out quickly.

Wolves in the background wore amused grins. There were maybe twenty total. Each one had a bag harnessed to them somehow. They all appeared to be resting after a long run.

The only one who didn’t show signs of fatigue was Julianne’s grandfather. He also showed no rush to get dressed. I kept my gaze averted. Not because I wanted to seem submissive, but because I was tired of naked men.

“Grandpa!” Julianne switched her yelling to him.

“Yes, child?” His tone of voice didn’t change, but his emphasis on the second word was obvious.

“Put on your pants!”

“In time. There are others coming.” He responded.

“I don’t want to see your penis hanging out!” She shouted while trying not to sound embarrassed.

“What’s wrong with a wolf being naked?” I wasn’t looking, but the old wolf sounded faintly amused.

“Because you’re human right now, and you’re old!” Her yelling didn’t let up.

The wolves in the background fought to contain wheezing laughs. Their amusement seemed to vanish promptly and I risked a glance. Julianne’s grandfather had given his pack a single glare. The wolves’ amused grins stayed put.

“Very well.” He took a pack from off of his shoulders that had a pair of shorts and a plain white shirt. Once he was dressed I felt semi-comfortable looking their direction.

“Where’s Thomas?” Julianne asked.

“Resting. He’ll be here soon, though.” Her grandfather said.

“How far out is Daniel?” She asked another question. I let her take charge in prying information out of the old man. Last time I had dealt with him things were decided against me.

“Hours. They’re moving carefully and slowly.” Her grandfather said.

“You’d think he would just roll in here.” She rolled her eyes and waved a hand around.

Those pack members still in wolf form swiveled their ears at once. Even the human form members looked off into the distance. Julianne turned her gaze too but seemed perplexed. There must have been someone or something approaching. I tensed and worried that Daniel might be here already.

A set of howls echoed in the distance. Julianne’s grandfather frowned and turned to his little gathering. There was a moment where I could have sworn he was talking to them. It was hard not to envy a pack’s ability to connect with each other.

A few members of Stacy and Julianne’s family howled back. There was a moment when I heard noises filling the growing darkness. My senses extended upward and I could feel the vibrations shoot through the clear sky overhead. It was similar to holding an arm out the car window and feeling the breeze ripple across my skin.

All the ears of the pack members swiveled again and the howling stopped. Slowly padding through the trees was another smaller set of wolves. They gave off a skittish vibe. Five in total became apparent. The group settled to their haunches and watched the rest of us.

Fur patterns on one of them looked familiar. There were a few ways to tell the gender of a wolf, but it would be considered rude. I felt sure that the wolf gazing towards me was Francis Sauter’s wife. Last time those eyes had been filled with nearly single-minded annoyance. Now they looked to be a lot calmer and most satisfied.

I blinked and nodded slowly at the other wolf. She blinked gold eyes back but didn’t nod in exchange.

“Welcome to our woods.” The old man’s voice sounded formal. There was a bobble of heads in the other grouping of wolves as if formally bowing while sitting. They started to shift to human. I winced and stared back at the sky.

“Sissy.” Julianne didn’t bother whispering at me. Not that it would have made a difference.

“Too much skin.” I wasn’t upset about seeing a good-looking woman naked. Nor was I homophobic. Wolves took a lot to get used to.

“You should see some of the places Kahina used to drag me to. Her eighteenth was a blast.” Julianne sounded giddy at finding a soft spot of mine to poke.

“No thanks,” I muttered.

“It’s safe to look now.” The tiny bartender said.

“It’s safe, Jay.” The old man’s voice was calm. On anyone else I would have called it mocking, but it was hard to tell with him.

I looked down. There was a small gathering around me now. Julianne, her grandfather, Stacy, and two of the other wolves.

“Ms. Sauter, Malcolm.” Names and dollar signs were part of my earnings. Thankfully I learned them fast. Different life lessons took far longer.

“We meet again, Jay.” Malcolm didn’t look any more distinct against the tree line than he had in the middle of the city. Something about him was so damned every man.

“In less pleasant times,” I said.

“Well, we owe you one.” The Alpha shrugged. My eyes had a hard time focusing on him and kept glancing around.

“And Francis?” I asked.

“Has left me a widow, sadly,” Jude’s smile said quite the opposite. Pack justice was brutal.

“I apologize.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that statement. Social niceties were not one of the skills a collections agent such as myself worked on cultivating. Maybe I should be upset that he was dead, but running out on your family with all their money firmly marked him as scum.

“It was no fault of yours I assure you.” Jude waved one arm in my direction and raised both her eyebrows in amusement.

“We’re expecting a few others,” Malcolm said. Who exactly could he mean? Who else was involved in this? I expected Daniel, but not in a good way.

“I should have picked up some party favors.” Julianne looked around waiting for someone to joke back with her. Thomas wasn’t here so it was on me to give it a try.

“You can give us all a drink when we get done.” I was happy to suggest alcohol instead.

“Them maybe. You? No.” She waved a hand in my face to stop me from going any further. Her joking sounded almost half-hearted. ”You drink like a fish.”

“What I’d give for a sea of booze.” I lamented quietly. Not that it did much good compared to the wolves’ hearing.

Julianne’s grandfather was glaring at me. Malcolm had the same sort of serious look, but there was a hint of something else in his eyes. Like he wanted to laugh, but this was a bad time and place for it. The little bartender had gotten me into trouble more than once.

“Who else are we waiting on?” Trust her grandfather to get to the point.

“Give them a few minutes. We’ve got other things to discuss for now.” Malcolm spoke up again. “What are your plans about this intrusion?” He clearly was addressing the other Alpha in our group.

“This is pack lands,” Julianne’s grandfather said. I still hadn’t learned his name and no one said it yet.

“And you’re okay rumbling with Sector agents?” Malcolm tilted his head down and looked at me. “Come what may?”

“I will not permit him to run rampant in pack lands.” The old wolf said.

“I agree.” The younger Alpha responded while nodding. Neither of them looked happy with their conclusions.

“Wait” I was against the whole idea. “This a terrible idea. Besides, this probably isn’t a sector operation.” A war with Daniel? That was like asking for him to bring in bigger toys. I swear he loved the idea of escalation. It only worked out well in the past because we were on the same side.

“You have alternatives?” The old man had this detached air about him like he was looking over a board for war games. Analyzing pieces then stacking them up against unseen maneuvers.

“Yeah. I hand over the ashes and tell Daniel to shove the box sideways.” I presented my genius plan to the Alphas.

“You think that’ll settle it?” Malcolm’s forehead wrinkled as he looked my way.

“We’ve got history,” I answered casually. Daniel and I went back nearly two decades so he would believe me. He could take this box and do a DNA test or whatever magic Western Sector had.

“I don’t know why he’s so overbearing about this. Normally Daniel’s reasonable.” Julianne said with a trace of annoyance.

“Someone’s pushing him,” I remembered that much from the note at least.

“Someone is pushing Daniel? Seriously? That won’t end well.” The short bartender looked surprised. It was the same expression to cross my face once I got the note implying all my belongings were being held hostage. Even now, if I thought about it too hard, a tremble of frustration started up.

“Our guests are close,” Jude Sauter said to her Alpha.

Both packs were watching the same direction. A figure almost popped into existence between the trees. He was dressed in an immaculate suit laced with a faint trace of purple thread. Hair was slicked back with gel. I tried not to get annoyed.

Only vampires could move like that. It took me days to get part way here the first time and they cleared it in hours. Everyone else was beyond fast.

Another vampire popped in. The second male’s head was shaved, but there was no mistaking the cross-shaped welt. His pale skin made the scarring even more pronounced. Both vampires were dressed in black without a sign of dirt or leaves. The second one that I had fought with before looked directly at me and opened his mouth to give a brief hiss. Some of the pack members nearby twitched from the aggression.

My nose inhaled a whiff of peppermint and I tensed. Kahina didn’t pop into existence like the other two. She strode in from the darkness behind them. Both her bodyguards separated to make room.

Wrapped around her was something that could be oriental. Slits on either side of the fabric traveled to mid-thigh. Her clothes weren’t entirely black. There were weavings of purple among the rest of the light dress. Evan’s fire and the moon above only cast out so much light and wolves were color blind when transformed.

“You made it!” Julianne ran over, completely ignoring both the show and either imposing bodyguard. They didn’t move to intercept the tiny Indian woman.

“Of course I did.” They hugged and the whole mesmerizing presentation lost some power. Kahina and Julianne joined our group while the bodyguards stayed in the distance.

“We’re all here?” Julianne’s grandfather gave a level stare at Malcolm and the tiny bartender.

“Everyone Thomas thought was useful, essentially because I gave him a list.” Julianne took credit for the gathering.

“Quick thinking.” My brow furled a bit.

“Well, I wanted a plan in case Daniel did something stupid. But I didn’t know we’d have to meet out here.”

“Something stupid? Daniel has sixty or more trained soldiers with him.” Kahina’s words came forth. I was distracted by her dress, giving it sidelong glances. It was one of my favorites.

“All human?” I asked.

“We were all human once.” Kahina retorted.

I paused and stopped eyeballing the dress. She was going to use every forum available to poke at our history. It sounded like Kahina thought my treatment of her was less than a person. That was a completely baseless tone to take with me.

“Yes, all those with him are human.” She relented and gave an answer.

“Like last time.” I tried to move past all the silly thoughts that crossed my mind. Clearly I was reading too much into our words.

“I wasn’t aware you’d noticed last time,” Kahina said.

“I do pay attention.” I gave in to her baited tone.

“I wonder what you pay attention to sometimes.” Kahina was practically inviting me to follow the words back to us, but this wasn’t the time for it.

“You’re both the prettiest,” Julianne said with a sigh. “Can we focus on the army invasion?”

“Please.” Malcolm chimed in. I looked at the other wolves nearby. At least Jude had a faint smile on her face. It almost balanced out Julianne’s grandfather who looked to be a step away from dropping a hammer on someone.

“This isn’t a sector operation. Daniel’s mixed up in something else.” I quickly said. During our escape from the housing complex with Evan, all the people we fought were human. Maybe it was an extremist supremacy group?

“So what?” Malcolm said. Julianne was the only other person besides me and Kahina who actually knew Daniel that well. It seemed weird that no one else understood his temperament.

“We can plan defenses just in case. If it’s not Sector sanctioned then we’re allowed to protect our lands.” Julianne’s grandfather said.

“Let’s see what we roll out to welcome them.” Malcolm was on board with the whole thing.

“I’ll introduce you to the two elves, they’ll have a good idea if anyone,” Julianne said.

“I don’t need an elf to show me around my own woods.” Her grandfather sounded affronted. The wolves and Julianne walked towards where Evan slumbered. Hopefully, they would leave the elf alone.

That left me, Francis’ widow, and Kahina with her bodyguards.

“Go help with the plans.” Kahina turned her head slightly to the other two. They managed to have nearly identical looks of irritation but followed orders. Then there were three.

“I wanted to thank you for what you did. My late husband wasn’t exactly a good man, to me or my daughter.” Jude said while looking between me and Kahina. She was wolf enough to pick up on the awkward vibe.

“My pleasure,” I said with a smile. That night had been fun, aside from the long trek home and the condition of my legs. Jude nodded and left as well to meet with the others.

One of the Alphas shouted towards the other wolves that were scattered around the area. It might have been an order to scout the woods, or maybe Julianne had suggested that we be left alone. Whatever it was, even the golden eyes slowly vanished. Then it was just Kahina and me.

I held my breath and stared at her. She stood there motionless, lost in thought. Her deep red eyes were focused on something unseen in the distance.

“Are you in that much danger?” I broke our frail silence. The question caused her to blink, but there was no answer. “Kahina?” I moved slightly. Her eyes regained focus and pupils dilated.

“Try a different question, Cat-nip.” She said haltingly. This time, I blinked while trying to process her statement. The scent of peppermint grew stronger as Kahina focused on me.

“Are they going to kill you?” Maybe if I rephrased it. Her eyes softened a little, but then a cold edge of distance overlaid her face again. Maybe not cold, but very deliberate.

“A different question, Cat-nip.” She bit at the words as they came out. It was hard to tell, but Kahina seemed close enough to reach out and wrap one arm around if I wanted. The idea further muddled my mind.

“What should I ask then?” I was frustrated. Things would be easier if we could return to the idealistic years gone by.

“For my answer to what you said.” She answered my question.

“What did I say?” I had no clue which statement Kahina was talking about. My eyes glanced around and verified we were still being allowed vague privacy.

“You asked at Julianne’s if I was still yours. So ask again, am I yours?” Kahina was even closer now. Had I stepped toward her? Or had she moved closer to me? Which way did she want me to ask that question?

“Are you still mine?” My words were soft and doubtful to my own ears. All the times I’d tracked her, Evan had said they were a form of laying claim.

Both her eyes shut so gently that I was riveted. Somehow Kahina made it into my arms. My hands settled lightly around her waist, her arms wrapped around my neck. I could feel her body from pelvis to chest as she leaned over and whispered.

“Forever, Cat-nip. If you want me.” Her pet name for me hung in the air.

“I do.” The words were out before I had a chance to think about them.

With that simple exchange of words, Kahina had given herself to me. I could feel her, feel both feet in light shoes, and feel the fabric wrapped around her skin as it rustled. My senses were hyperactive and tightly focused on the woman in my arms.

Candy had felt nothing like this.

It was…

This was….

Hell. I could feel her movements as if they were my own. Her heart beat slowly but strong. A tensing in arm muscles as she ran fingers through the back of my hair.

She was, by her own admission, utterly mine. That switch in the back of my head had flipped completely. This woman was in danger. What was mine was in danger. Anyone who put her there would be run over by a freight train if I had to tie them to the tracks myself, get in the train and press go.

I felt her slide those extra-long teeth along my neckline. A tongue ran parallel as she drug a tingling trail along the skin. What was worse, I could feel how badly her body cried out to do something about it. It felt good. Hell, too good.

“Kahina.” I was groaning.

She hummed in response. It was distracting. I had to have some control. We couldn’t get back together just because she’d said yes.

“Kahina we have to stop.” Everything felt pleasantly foggy.

“Why?” Her smooth lips curled in a smile.

“There’s people here.” If she didn’t stop then that little purple and black dress would be in pieces on the ground. Or maybe not, last time we had shoved parts of the dress to one side.

“Maybe a little bit?” Her voice was distant and hopeful.

“After, we’ll talk after.” I tried not to shiver. We had been in a good spot and then her dammed vampire drives kicked in.

Wearing this dress, saying those words, how much of this was a clever ploy? The thought sobered me instantly. Other thoughts ran through, Daniel’s impending army, the wolves in the area, her bodyguards, how badly she wanted to taste a little blood.

“Mmmh.” Her lips were tracing slowly along and I had a hard time not pursuing her body’s suggestive movements.

“Later. Kahina, later.” I pulled her back feeling myself sink down to earth.

“Promise?”

“We’ll talk.” Not here, not right now. I don’t know if I could bear the mind trip that had come every time she took my blood. Not without serious mental preparation.

“I have waited, Jay. I can continue.” Kahina smiled and backed up, untangling us from each other.

Her hands sliding away gave a pleasant feeling of warmth. Kahina swayed off towards the direction Julianne and the others had gone. I tried to watch her go. My eyes were unfocused as my other senses told me exactly what every inch of skin under those clothes felt like.

Hell.

It was very, very difficult to reign my mental senses. The feedback was incredible. Kahina’s feet stepped carefully, legs strutting by, and the fabric of her dress. She knew exactly how to tease me.

Many moments later, after she disappeared into the distance, I regained some sense of self-control. That sort of sensation overload might kill a man. Now was a perfect time for the drink Julianne had mentioned earlier. An entire ocean of them.

Julianne wasn’t serving, and Daniel was closing in. Evan wouldn’t be able to leave the area while both Kahina and Julianne were here. I couldn’t leave them. Not after the last time I witnessed someone get on the wrong side of Daniel.

Worse, part of me was scared by how easily my feelings had flipped. One simple statement from Kahina turned the internal switch of possession around. A connection formed so quickly it might have always been nearby. With a simple thought, I could sense Kahina nearby, talking to Julianne. Her mouth smiling absently.

I scratched at my arm and tried to figure out how to make sure those dear to me didn’t suffer from this situation.

Chapter 21 – Adapted to Darkness

Stop one was sneaking over to Evan. I had to see if the elf had suffered from the pack members' pestering. Afterward, there would be a reckoning between me and Daniel over this army nonsense.

The male elf had managed to right himself again. He sat huddled over a fire, his hands held out trying to soak up the heat. Everything about him was different from the man I’d first run into.

“I need to ask another question.” I hunkered down next to him.

“I will try to answer.” Evan was sitting in front of the fire that popped and crackled from a fresh log.

“This was something I was already told.”

“That may make it easier. The binding is on providing you direct answers to what you are.” The elf nodded slowly. His long blond hair fell in clumps. The poor guy hadn’t bathed in a while. Although, he managed to smell like a blueberry. That was weird.

“Candy,” I had to stop and correct myself. Candy was the name for her playful side. Her serious personality was the other name. “Kanda’rila Ro’hal, told me that you had killed all your Lords.”

“We killed the greatest, but we did not kill them all. Others finished what we started.” He answered.

“Why? Without pushing.” I quickly added the second part.

“A reason?” He stared intently while trying to figure out how to skirt the bindings Candy placed on him. “Fear.”

That was a rather broad answer. “Of my people?”

“No.” Evan looked across the distance to the others, Kahina, Julianne and the other pack members. “Of theirs.”

“Vampires?” Kahina was the most dangerous one to me. I could understand elves killing others to stay safe from vampires two thousand years ago.

“All of them,” Evan said.

I stared at people of all races, wolves, vampires, and humans. What was it that caused issues? Add in the fact that elves delivered the blows then all four races were somehow responsible for my race’s extinction.

“Stay safe, Evan.” It was time to go.

“You will protect us, Lord. I am confident. It is what you do.” He sounded tired, but at least the elf was conscious again. Maybe he had taken a short nap. “If you choose to.”

“You make me sound like an angel.” It was hard to be quiet, almost pointless to bother.

“I can say what you are not, Lord, and you are nothing so noble.” The male elf sounded amused for once in his depressive life.

“A demon then?” Religion was one of the few items still intact. The Purge could never manage to censor every Bible out there.

“To some.” Evan still sounded vaguely amused. Both eyes narrowed at him and I nearly missed his faint smile. The elf shook his head back and forth in a negative. Hell. He did have a sense of humor.

Daniel would leave with his precious box of goods. Evan and the rest of the group would be safe. Afterward, I could figure out what do with Kahina.

What was Daniel’s angle by holding all my possessions hostage? He should believe me about Arnold’s dead body, yet he still marched. He knew it would make me mad. He knew and pushed on. Was he trying to pressure me into something besides Arnold?

Everyone else was huddled in a gathering of war. Except me, I needed space. My presence would contribute little to the efforts. I didn’t try to sneak away, but I didn’t advertise either.

Softly treading feet from behind told me that someone was following already. Only two feet touched the ground so it was humanoid.

“Boy.” A western twang let loose.

I turned to look at the silver-haired elf. We had never talked directly. The old man had the distinct look of having been in these woods for the last hundred years and was probably less social than me.

“Boy, I brought that box along.” He shook the wooden container and it rattled around.

“Why do that?” I asked.

“You talked about telling your partner to shove the box sideways, seemed like a good plan. Figured you’d headed off to do that.” The old elf shrugged and ran a tongue along the inside of his lip. “Might solve this here standoff, then you and them hens will shut it and pull out.”His hair looked thin and ghost-like in the darkness, but what I could see of his face was serious. He rattled the box again in my direction.

“They know you grabbed that?” I asked.

“Won’t matter one way or another. Figure one way, you’re shot, another way, we’re all in clear. That or we do things the hard way.” The elf spat on the ground and pulled something out from a pouch. It smelled like bitter chewing tobacco.

“You think it’s worth a try?” None of the wolves had been on board with my plan. They appeared intent upon preparing for a wide-scale war.

“I reckon.” The elf’s voice was out of context with the woods around us.

“You know where Daniel is?” I took the box from his hand. That freed the elf up to get his bow strung. His motions were well practiced and calm.

“I can figure which ride’s his, sure,” He might have said. The accent made it difficult to clearly understand.

“And how do we get Daniel’s attention?” I hoped the elf had an answer for that too. My option was to stand there menacingly against a squad of armored people. It couldn't be that easy.

“Just saddle up and ask. Doubt they’ll shoot you, what with you having what’s left of their precious heir.” He said while picking up his bow and testing the sight a few times. The results must have displeased him because he scowled, spit and proceeded to tighten the string.

“What do you know about that?” I stared down at the box’s top again and tried to figure out what a snake with wings had to do with everything. I had never seen a creature like this before.

“Nothin’.” He sounded firm. Hell. Evan wouldn’t like me punching his grandfather.

The old elf would probably put an arrow in me anyway. My arm had recovered, but he had additional ammo readily available. A day’s worth of healing had reduced a bleeding wound to scar tissue.

“Come on. Your partner’s close.” The silver hair cowboy sounding elf stalked off.

“What are you going to do?” I turned and promptly went after him. Elves usually forgot the rest of us had to avoid branches and trees.

“I’m the cover if things go south,” He said.

There was a quiver on his back with dozens of arrows. If he stayed hidden until an escape was needed then perhaps we could dent Daniel’s men. Or maybe I would be a pincushion by the time I tried to do anything.

Daniel would hopefully be happy with the box, but I honestly doubted it. There was no reason for him to march in here with so many people when I, and the stupid remains, would have walked out in a day or two once the wolves got an all clear.

We traveled through the woods at a high speed. Every so often I could see the older elf shoot ahead. He would stop and look around. Each time I nearly stumbled right into him.

“Been searching for ’em by way of those beams. My boy says they run them around as they travel.” He said after our most recent near-collision.

“Yeah,” I responded. Evan had told me that too.

“Figure I’d set up here ’bouts.” He pointed up into one of the trees. I looked but couldn’t figure out how the old elf expected to get a clear shot on anything. In the distance, there was rustling which made the elf bolt up. “They’re close. You wander over, ask for your guy and make the offer.”

“And you’ll be watchin’ over me?” Hell. His accent was contagious and I was poorly imitating it.

“Like you were my own.” He didn’t even notice the slip. I was happy with his answer, though. The older elf seemed effective with those arrows.

I grabbed at his arm before the old man could keep walking. He glared at my hand then rolled the chew in his cheek around to the other side.

“Why the about face?” I asked.

“Like I told that little girl, we all do what we need to when you’re protecting your own.” The old elf’s head and silver hair fell around his face. “You all tried to help. To save that child’s dream. I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have treated you all so rude.”

“What if someone hurts what’s yours?” I asked him. My friends, those who I claimed were in danger from Daniel’s little gathering.

He let out one of those single syllable laughs before answering. “There’s always good old fashioned revenge.”

We walked towards the sounds in the distance. It sounded like a car or van with a loud engine idling. Thoughts of how to approach Daniel kept coming into my mind and falling apart.

Would I be willing to hurt Daniel if my things were damaged? It was just stuff, right? No. It was more than stuff, it was all mine, what little I owned in this world. Kahina and Evan included in a strange sort of way.

A few more trees stood between us and a set of lights in the distance. Evan’s grandfather stopped traveling with me and rapidly climbed up a nearby tree. His body managed to avoid making more than a whisper of noise that was drowned out by the giant armored vehicle in the distance.

“Shh,” He whispered to me. “He’s headed over. Don’t know how he found us. Go. I’ll watch your back.”

There were four sets of lights bobbing in the distance, two of them could easily be attached to some sort of guns. A clever man would have found the time for a quip. Sector weapons came with different types of bullets for every situation. Only a brief flip of a switch and they’d issue a different type of death for every race. Not that it took special bullets to take me down. At least I used to think it didn’t.

The lights drew closer. Both the flanking guns stepped out slightly to the sides and took beads on me. A third light scanned the darkness around in an attempt to see if I was alone. Brightness made it difficult to see who was facing me.

Both my hands went up in the air, slowly. The only thing I carried was a wooden box that felt increasingly heavy. No weapons, no utility belt or shoe gun.

“Crumfield,” I said. There was a vague outline in the distance that seemed like my friend.

“Jeff.” I heard his voice come back. He was using my fake name, not something he commonly did, at least not without a hint of mockery. Daniel’s voice was professional and calculated.

“Got your dead whatever here.” The box rattled a little bit as I shook it. Hell. Ashes don’t rattle.

The fourth figure that I could make out hissed. Not a vampiric hiss, just an irritated human sucking in air. Daniel was positioned behind the newest person, almost subservient.

“Look, the deal was to bring you Arnold. You asked me to track him, here he is.” I said loudly.

“Mister Crumfield, is this your asset?” The fourth man said. He had a lisp that came with heavy weight.

“Yes, sir,” Daniel answered. Slowly my eyes adapted to the intense lights. There were a few emotions passing across Daniel’s face. Anger? Irritation? Loathing? They were such brief flickers that it might have been imagined.

“And you vouch for this man?” The heavyset person asked.

“With my life, sir.” My friend answered.

“That’s what you’ve placed on the line. Go get the little box and see if it’s real.” The heavy man waved a large meaty arm that barely had any contrast from the surrounding darkness.

The other two lights were still locked on me. Part of me crossed my fingers in hopes that every story told of elven archers over the years were accurate. Their addictions were just a way of evening out the unfairness of their eyesight.

Daniel got closer and reached out an arm. “The box, Jeff.”

“Here,” I responded while giving him the box. Hopeful restraint prevented me from telling the agent to bend over first.

“This is all that’s left?” Daniel asked quietly.

“So the story goes,” I said.

“You checked it yourself?”

“No. Evan says it’s Arnold’s ashes,” I answered while wondering why the hell we were whispering. The volume cue was easy enough to pick up from Daniel, but it didn’t make sense.

“What are you two mumbling about over there?” The heavyset man wiggled the fourth flashlight in our direction.

“One moment, I’m checking out the box,” Daniel answered while sliding the box around. Inside something solid could be heard, like an uneven marble tumbling around. Both his eyes glanced down to the lid of the box, and on it was a completely different image than before.

I squinted and tried to make out the new picture. Previously there had been a serpent of some sort. Now it was a hooded human shape. A cowl covered the face’s top half. Robes draped down with an intricately carved trimming. One of the figure’s hands was behind his back, a stylized nub and blade protruded out opposite sides.

I looked at Daniel in confusion. Both of his eyes were peering directly into mine and the barest hint of a smile etched across his face. I knew that look. He was ecstatic and trying to hide it.

“This is perfect, Jay,” He whispered quietly. “This is it. From here we can really get started.”

“Is it Arnold?” The fourth man’s voice grew more annoying every time his mouth opened.

“I’m sorry, man. Don’t shoot the messenger.” Daniel’s voice was still quiet. My eyes glanced down at wooden carving of a hooded figure. That blade behind the back had to mean something important.

“What the hell, Crummy.” I tilted my head slightly and started shaking it back and forth. Why did the box look different? What was he sorry about?

Daniel backed up quickly to the fourth man. They were still hidden behind those intense lights. My friend, the Sector agent, was into something shady and had gone stone-faced.

“No. It’s a fake.” He said.

“WHAT THE HELL, CRUMMY?” I exploded with anger at the person who acted like my friend. “I got you your stupid kid!”

“He’s not stupid!” The fourth man yelled back. “He contained our only hope as a race!”

“Sir?” Daniel’s voice was hard to hear over the blubbering leader of this little group. The larger man sounded like he was having a meltdown.

“Do it. You warned him, we warned him. If he couldn’t recover the heir then there’s a price.” He blubbered while waving an arm accusingly.

“What the hell, Crummy!” I leaned over and there was a click from both the men with guns. It made me freeze while imagining just how quickly they could fill me with holes.

“Here you go, sir.” Daniel was speaking to the heavyset man. The two exchanged an item of some sort. My former friend shut off his light and there was a hint of a grin hanging in the near darkness.

“We told you. Told you that failure was not an option.” The fourth guy shut off his flashlight too so I could see what he was holding. “This is the trigger for all the wired explosives lining your little home.”

I started forward to try and tear the trigger away, but a quick series of warning shots destroyed the ground in front of me. Both guards had their weapons leveled back up in my face with their beams of light. Putting up an arm didn’t help block out the brightness.

Hopefully, Evan’s grandfather was prepared to put an arrow into these two. Quickly.

“One last chance, Jeff.” With two lights gone I could confirm the fourth man was indeed heavyset. He was older with formerly black hair fading to gray. “Tell us where Master Regious is, and all your little knick-knacks will be spared.”

“Please tell him, Jeff, I can’t stop him from pressing that trigger if you don’t,” Daniel said.

Kahina was right. The warning letter had also pointed the finger elsewhere. Was it this man? He was using Daniel, and Daniel in turn was using me. I slowly focused, pushing past the lights, pushing past the worry and honing in on the heavyset man.

“That’s all there was,” I said while anger gradually built. Rage at being used, being pushed, with the need to make someone pay for all of it.

“This isn’t enough to be a body, Jeff! Do you think we’re stupid?” Daniel said. He might be punched first. The agent deserved a sound thrashing.

“Agent Crumfield makes a good point. There’ll be no more lies out of you, Jeff.” The fourth man held that button up high as if elevation implied a larger threat.

“Don’t.” I shook my head.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to if you don’t come clean.” The man kept shaking and rolling his letters. I was trembling from anger that was only kept in check by a future full of bullets. “All our sources say you have Elo’dorian, and Arnold Regious should be close to him.”

“That’s him.” I pointed and tried not to scream.

“Don’t play stupid. It may suit you, but I won’t believe you’re this ignorant. You monsters are all together on this.” The fourth man said with his stupid chubby face.

“What the hell is going on, Crummy?” I asked. Only Daniel wasn’t around anymore. He must have slipped off into the darkness behind the others.

“Agent Crumfield is one of us and will lead the faithful forward. We’ll be ending you now. After all, thanks to him we know your weakness.” The blubbery man didn’t even notice Daniel’s absence, instead he moved one finger towards the trigger. “Last chance.”

“I don’t know…” He cut me off and depressed the button. There was a sharp click and two explosions. Or maybe it was one.

An arrow flew by unnoticed until the zip of noise caught up. The first gun-toting guard had time to turn and fire into the trees, but it wasn’t enough. Another feathered shaft slammed into his neck. Blood and lifeless thuds told me Evan’s grandfather hadn’t aimed to wound. I didn’t care.

That little click of noise, like the decaying beep from a fire alarm, signaled the end of everything I owned. All that I owned was gone. My arms were shaking and something needed to pay for it. Daniel? No. Daniel’s favorite saying, the one he’d been telling me all along for a reason, don’t shoot the messenger. Crummy wasn’t the one who had pressed the button. The blubbery fourth man would go first.

“Monster! Filth!” The man was screaming into the woods. “I’ll shoot you myself! Crippled, weak, you’re like he said you’d be!”

Only thirty feet away was the man who had ended it all. A spike in anger overwhelmed me so suddenly I barely had time to register my actions. The coherent part of my mind was taking note of the remaining man and his desperate struggle to pull out his sidearm.

Anger told me quite clearly that he recently destroyed everything I owned. My head pounded. Each heartbeat magnified with intensity, demanding retribution. Revenge. Something swift and sudden. Something that would be clearly understood. I would light this man ablaze and plant his head on a spike as a warning to everyone. To never touch what was mine again.

Both lights had fallen to the ground, illuminating me as I closed the gap in one leap. A rush of air buffeted away from me pushing towards the ground. Another gathering of force caught around me as I slammed into the other man. Inertia threw off the landing.

The man had been trained enough to aim his sidearm and pull the trigger.

Screaming. Growling. Heated and venting all the rage I had. One side of my face was twisted in a snarl, the other passive and detached. This was for vengeance, but it was also a matter of course, an example must be set. Vague sensations of pressure accompanied a sudden movement which sent the man’s body flying away with excessive force. Moments later it would land near the convoy, but his head was still in my hands, sizzling as one side of his face charred.

I performed exactly as warranted. Now the dead man was unimportant. My body twisted to hurl the remaining head towards Daniel’s armored trucks. Flames outlined their vehicles and made for easy targeting.

My arm itched and head went fuzzy. Things started slipping out from under me. The ground spun and trees laughed from above. The fire was important somehow. The sensation from jumping over thirty feet to kill a man triggered buried memories that were slipping away.

I stared into the distance watching battlefield chaos. Wheels were melting, cars aflame and overturned. Fire in the distance was important somehow. The heat grew in intensity as moments passed by. Crackling of branches and groaning wood accompanied howls and gunfire. Secondary explosions went off on other vehicles.

Hell. What had I been doing?

Everything felt unreal. My subconscious tried to flee repeatedly towards home, to check on that which was mine. Things I gathered over a lifetime of work. Personal belongings that meant more to me than anything rightfully should.

“Boy.” Words sprang from nearby, but they were lost in the aquarium landscape my senses had become.

“It’s not safe here. We’d best hightail it.” The man said. No matter how much I tried to bring myself to the now, those extra senses unfurled and re-wrapped over and over. My vision was broken in a strange kaleidoscope of images.

Too many words pushed together. It felt like forever before everything registered. Half hearing, half tactile sensation imparted by vibrations. Both at one time overloaded me with a mismatched comparison. Teeth ground as my mind tried to reconcile what was happening amid the anger.

Who would dare? Violation. Trespass. Danger to collection. Fire. Screaming. Fly. Need to check. Need to feel. Pink Meat pressed thing.

My jaw clenched tight while I tried to focus, fighting against a strain that threatened to burst me apart. I had to concentrate on sending my senses out. To get away from myself before everything was ruined.

Swelling in my throat died down but didn’t vanish. Rationality barely kept the lid on my boiler frustration. My focus stopped swimming and head ceased its denying shake. I cast my senses out quickly, spiraled across the landscape. Using myself as an anchor for everything I owned.

“Boy, we need to go. Wait…” Someone said.

I could feel a man’s hand reaching over to loosen my grip. One of the firearms was deforming in my grasp, either from heat or pressure. An accent twang cursed from pain. Steam rose from my skin and poured out from between my lips.

“Shit.” The older man said in the distance.

Quickly I flew out over a mental landscape, trailing after the thick bundle of links to my home’s possessions. My apartment, my basement, my storage of items. Cheap swords, rare comics, action figures and goodness knew what else. Each one a thin thread bundled together to form a link. Stuff that shouldn’t matter but somehow did.

“We’ve got to bind that up.” The words were muddled. Indistinct. It felt like Evan’s grandfather, but I was too torn up to care.

My mind neared the sixty-mile mark. That was enough to nearly reach the city line. The horizon of other sight loomed ahead as a wall of white. That wouldn’t stop me this time. I would push past the barrier and see the truth of home.

Evan’s grandfather kept speaking about things that didn’t matter to my strung out mind. Useless sensations flooded by. Muted howls echoed among the trees. Dozens of voices shouting at each other with demanding tones that felt like utter babble. There were too many voices and vibrations in my way.

The land felt alive. Rain clouds had appeared. Their drops collided with the energy contained within each swaying tree. There was more than that. Tiny creatures huddled in foliage. Birds sat in their nests with heartbeats giving off ghostly images from each pulse.

Explosions sent out shock waves. Air rippling by tingled against my skin. All this fed into my senses as I stood at the edge of my mental perceptions trying to bash down the immovable wall. I had to see my home and find out what happened. The upper range of my mind taunted me with indifference.

There was a grunt of confusion in my ears that must have been Evan’s grandfather back at my body. More vibrations ripped through the area. Gunfire answered against the hum of growls and snarls. Explosions overpowered the other vibrations for a moment.

Delirium fed me terrifying possibilities. Each pop of air might be another object in my home being reduced to ashes. I mentally threw myself at the wall of haze again and rebounded off. My mind was roaring in protest. The wall shifted slightly, a foot, maybe two.

Physically both knees hurt for reasons I couldn’t understand. Then a jolt of pain shot through both palms and the side of my face. Daniel had lured me out too far away from everything I owned. Evan’s grandfather was speaking again, almost frantic. It sounded like he was cursing then ran off somewhere.

Every attempt at the mental wall was accompanied by a sharp, spiking pain. My cries of frustration were useless and the ghostly world I viewed was slowly changing colors. Reds, oranges, swirling crimson and touches of white flared across everything. The wall remained unmoved, the limit on what I could track. No matter what things my body managed to do while enraged over protecting my stuff, even my abilities had a finite range.

“Gone…” The mumbling sounded familiar, my voice coming from miles back.

Among the sea of energy that spun over all the living things near where my mind hovered, there were two more cords. One rainbow of colors went to Evan. A purple lacing blotched with blood lead to Kahina. They were mine just as surely as the inanimate objects in my basement. I wouldn’t fail again. If they were all that remained, then they would get everything I had.

I recalled my mind with a shudder. The extra sensations of arms barely settled from agitation. A moment later and the feedback from everything surrounding hit me. Dirt grated against the skin where my face was planted. Arrows burrowed holes in the air as they flew out. Teeth tore into padded armor designed to prevent purchase. Screams, so many screams intermingled with burning bits of forest.

It was difficult to stand up. The woodlands surrounding me felt realer than my own skin. Bullets chipped portions of trees in the distance. Fire licked at the ground and steadily climbed higher. Trees were being reduced to cinders as an inferno swept across them.

Hell.

I stumbled towards the camp. Evan was that way. Kahina was close. Evan’s grandfather had taken off into the distance, likely putting his arrows to good use. The sensation of zips in the air had started to dim, but never actually lost pace. Only my extra awareness was starting to fade. Muddy thoughts came up with an action plan. Find Kahina and Evan, make sure no one got to them. Get Daniel the hell out of here, quickly, before he felt the need to call in more friends to play. Other concerns started pelting my mind, growling from alien thoughts. It felt like something huge in the back of my mind was uttering warnings. I had to focus.

The sensations from my surroundings finally ceased. The lack of extra sensation caused me to gasp and take one giant breath of air. The last detached sensation was one of feet thumping across the landscape in my direction. They felt too artificial for wolves. These were more like rubber.

“Jay!” A female shouted.

I turned to see Julianne and gave a weak wave. My other hand was pressed into my forehead to relieve the pressure of a budding headache. Throwing my mind at that white haze had been a bad idea.

“Jay, we’ve got to go help,” She said.

“That man blew it all up.” Now perhaps wasn’t the best time for bad news but I was exactly thinking straight. The loss of home still pulled at my mind.

“What?!” Julianne halted her run nearby and shouted.

Her voice and lingering gunfire didn’t help my headache. I tried to recall the weight with those footsteps. They weren’t Julianne’s.

“That man,” I gestured where he had been before I launched him. There were just splatters of blood left to show a human had been present. “Pressed a button to blow up the whole apartment place.”

“God damn it, Jay! God fucking damn it.” She was kicking now. Gunshots seemed to accent each swing of her short legs. “A newly turned pup would have more sense than you.” She paused and I swear her ears perked up. “Wait, what the hell is that…”

Another gunshot went off, much closer this time. I heard Julianne cry out and looked over in time to see her fall while clutching her side. Blood was seeping out. A nightmare, this was all unreal. No one’s life fell apart this quickly. Not my life. Not again.

“We’ll blame that one on you, eh big guy?” A voice I had never heard came out from the shadows near Julianne’s felled body. “Oops. Bad guys got too close. Casualties of war being what they are.”

The voice was a whisper of noise belonging to a figure that was difficult to make out. Black clothes laced with a thread that felt purple. A third dead Sector agent was thrown onto the ground.

I felt lost while looking around for anyone who could help a bleeding woman. Where was Evan’s grandfather? Where was Julianne’s grandfather, or Thomas, or anyone who could help her? I’d never laid claim on Julianne, never tried to or wanted to. She was my boss and a friend. The short bartender was also a confidante when I got too drunk.

But none of those things would send me into a rage. Julianne wasn’t someone I had laid claim over so my mental switch just sat there doing nothing. No amount of anger would prevent her from dying.

“I think we’ll clear up another little problem as well.” The whispering voice leveled a gun in my direction. For the third time in one day, I was going to be shot.

Options ran through my muddled head and came up with a useless response. I had nothing. No tools, cross, silver, bullet proof vest or heavy mesh, only cloth and skin.

Another click barely proceeded the force of bullets slamming into me. They were imperfect and lodged into the outskirts of my chest. The person shooting couldn’t seem to aim right. There should have been pain, but all I felt was an uncomfortable pressure. My eyes were trying to focus on Julianne’s slumping body.

I stood there stupidly instead of falling down. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t happen.

“Julianne?” Sound croaked out of me.

Lungs coughed and liquid leapt up. One arm jerked up slowly to swipe it away. A dark blot smeared across my ruined shirt. Part of my mind absently analyzed it. I was bleeding. Years of experience with fist to face connections taught me all about blood.

I looked down at Julianne. Her eyelids barely twitched as more shots rang out and impacts slammed into me. One skimmed off the side of my head, a fresh trail of pain and bone flaking with it.

Everything hurt, but in a passively detached manner that almost put my body and mind in completely different locations. The other man cursed about how I hadn’t keeled over. Instead of responding to him I sluggishly moved one foot forward towards Julianne.

“Added proof that you’re a foul Hidden abomination. I’ve known it since the first time I saw you.” He said. My head slowly turned to look at the other figure.

My face tried to scrunch up in confusion, but all the muscles were screaming in pain. His face was visible but didn’t make much sense. There was a single pair of almost milk-white eyes. Hair was completely gone. The left side of his face seemed to be branded by a small cross.

“And you should all have been killed.” He sneered.

What was he saying about an abomination? I stared at the ground that seemed too far away for someone who had been shot so many times. That sounded like a monster, but no more than this vampire was. He had shot Julianne so easily. My mind was trying to flip that internal switch and fight for her, to press him back, but was coming up empty.

“I wonder what your weakness is.” The other man said. I struggled to remember his name. Janns? Mister Janns?

“Why?” I croaked out the question and wiped away another bubble of blood.

“I’ll tell you after your last bit of life bleeds out.” He spoke with an arrogance I could do nothing about.

The next few bullets hit my legs. They buckled and everything took on a new level of pain. This was worse than the fight against Francis, worse than my first against Janns and the other partial vampire.

All I could properly focus on as gravity and a broken body pulled me downward was Julianne’s bewildered face. Maybe I wore the same look she had. We shared a disbelief that things had turned out so horribly wrong. Hadn’t she planned to run her bar, to go wolf sooner or later and share her time with Stacy?

There were snarls further out that sounded too far away. No one was close enough to do anything. Julianne’s eyes shook from the loss of blood.

“I’ll never know what she saw in you. Pathetic. You could never be a Second.” The male kept ranting and nothing made sense. There were more shots, but they were off the mark. I slowly followed Julianne’s eyes across the dirt. She stared at the dead humans dressed in Western Sector armor.

“First I’ll kill you, then I’ll leave your desecrated remains as a present to her. She’s dead anyway, you’re both dead.” There was a sound of metal being tossed into bark. “The Tribunal can’t let her survive the change.”

Julianne’s lips were moving and her eyes slowly honed in on mine. The wound to my head was leaking blood all over. Droplets splashed across the view of our crumpled bodies. I unfurled a tiny bit of my mind, trying desperately to reach out and hear her. My boss, my bartender, my landlord. Just thirty feet away. Such a small stretch.

“No, that’s too good. I’ll have to tear you into smaller pieces and ship them to her for holidays. I’ll even C.O.D them! Hah, she can pay for the pieces of her dead lover.” He kept babbling. His hatred was the kind that built up over months, years even, but I had only seen him once before.

Julianne’s lips still moved slowly. Light cast from the looming forest fire made it seem like her entire body was turning red. Tactile feedback reached across to sense the vibrations from her broken words. It was difficult to make out her words from among Mister Janns’ ranting.

“Protect Kahina. Protect her.” Julianne tried hard to stop shaking and focus on me. Her words were broken mumbles. “If you break my girl’s heart again I’ll put your balls in a jar myself.”

The last part came out muted, but it sounded like something she would say. I was probably filling in a lot of the blanks myself. Julianne was barely hanging onto life. She had given me a mission, though. Things were always so much simpler when someone gave me a goal.

My left hand moved to the ground, struggling for leverage. The arm quivered with weakness and there wasn’t enough strength to force myself up on that alone. The problem didn’t stop me completely. Mister Janns give an uneasy laugh at my efforts.

“I don’t think so.” He emphasized his statement by flickering with vampiric speed and kicking me in the side. The impact flipped me further away from Julianne. “I should never have bothered with human weapons, they’re pathetic.”

I groaned and tried to roll back over. My senses retreated from Julianne, and for a moment I felt each footstep he took. Each one compressing dirt on the ground as his weight shifted from side to side.

“Still hanging on are you? I should have done this from the start.” Janns came over and lifted me upwards by the head. His strength was incredible. Dead weight pulled at my body. Feet weakly spun, trying to touch down on firm ground. Another groan escaped me and my arms weakly tried to lift up. A freshly formed scab at my side ripped. I was healing faster than expected, but not enough.

“Ready to die? You promise to tell God I was a good boy, right?” Mister Janns started to lift one arm up and away. “Goodbye, abomination.”

While he was speaking, my arms struggled to reach his face. As his reached back to an apex I lunged to plant both my thumbs into his eye sockets. From there it was a simple effort to squeeze with what little strength remained. It was impossible to feel my face, but I hoped it was terrifying.

“How, HOW are you still alive?” The partial vampire dropped me and yanked away. His eyes were pulps from my brief contact.

I fell to the ground with a fresh wave of pain and started laughing. It came out more like a choked sob.

“Bleed to death then, I’ll still win.” Then with another limping rush of incredible speed Mister Janns was gone.

I was alive which was another sign of being inhuman. Bullets had ripped through me, luckily none had been explosive tips or there would be chunks missing. No one answered my cries for help. Julianne’s face was rapidly losing her remaining color.

Huffing, I attempted to traverse the distance. Both arms burned with strain from pulling. My abs clenched painfully. Babyish crawling barely helped me close the gap. Gunfire still spilled out in dying bursts. Flames had slowly succumbed to intense rainfall. The ground was cold, and Julianne’s eyes were fluttering. Each time they opened I found the strength to pull myself another yard.

The last few feet towards her were the hardest. Her eyes had a distant glazed look about them. Every so often they would come together and focus. I almost slipped in the puddled blood forming under her.

“Janny.” Speaking was much easier. In that short distance, my body had already started healing. This was unfair. I was getting better while she died in front of me.

“Janny, stay with me.” I reached out and patted lightly on the side of her cheek. Her eyes swung back into focus for a moment and she smiled.

“I was wrong you know.” Her words stuttered.

“About what?” Nearly all the other noises had vanished, even the crackling of burning trees was gone. My voice felt like a violation of the growing silence.“Not all men are assholes.”

“I think I’m an asshole.” I tried to laugh but ended up blubbering myself.

She gave a weak laugh. The quick motion of her chest brought a moment of pain to her eyes. “Jay.”

“I’m here.” I said slowly.

“Kahina’s worth it.” Hell. This woman was dying and the only thought on her mind was making sure Kahina and I stayed together.

“We were good together. Remember, Janny? You told me that.” I hung my head.

Julianne didn’t respond and her eyes completely lost focus. My fingers were unsteady as I put them to her neck. The only pulse I could feel was the pounding of my own blood in my ears. A moment later my hand shifted to hover over her mouth, checking for a breath of air.

I couldn’t tell. My body was numb, completely and utterly numb. There should be shooting pain, but there wasn’t. That couldn’t be a good sign, but at least there was still movement. Julianne couldn’t say the same.

“Janny.” My voice was louder than I expected, sadder. Not something I was used to feeling. “Janny, you can’t be dead.”

I reached out, trying to find a connection, a purchase with my powers, to feel if she still had her soul. My senses wouldn’t respond. Any abilities I had were overtaxed trying to keep me alive and mending.

Never once had I tried to locate Julianne like other people. Never once had I thought of her as being so important to me, but she had always been there. Before Kahina, before I left, and without question after I returned. Ready to help, lending an ear, a place to stay. How had I repaid her?

With failure.

Chapter 22 – Almost According To Plan

A single car engine rumbled in the distance.

Everything surrounding me tingled with raindrops. A heavy storm had started during the battle. It was only coincidence, but I wanted to think it was the world’s way of sharing my grief.

“Jay? What’s going on? There was gunfire over here.” It felt easier to move now, less stiff. Just in time for someone to find us. “Did you get shot?”

If only I could share the healing with Julianne. A brief moment of whatever I was would help her survive. I would plead and happily say here are my freakish abilities, be better.

“Please don’t be dead. Please.” There were no better words to say.

“Whose smell is that? It smells like…” The newest visitor said.

“I think Julianne’s…” My voice trailed off. I wasn’t even sure who I was talking to. Turning my head a little revealed Thomas, Julianne’s brother. Hell. This would be worse on him than it was on me.

“Oh no,” He said. Thomas shoved me out of the way in his hurry to get to Julianne. He cradled her to his chest.

Other faces had started showing up in the trees, golden eyes that started out distant and closed in. They were nearby but not intrusive as if allowing Thomas room to grieve.

“Come on, sis, you’re saposta be pack soon. You can’t die before that. We’re family. Don’t leave me too.” Thomas said.

I didn’t know what to do. Thomas was blood, the pack would have been her family in a very real sense. Me? I was a drunk who spent way too much time at her bar.

“Don’t leave. Hold on, just a little longer.” He muttered.

“Is she still alive?” My voice sounded foreign.

Thomas didn’t hear me, but someone else did.

“Perhaps. We will try to save her.” Their grandfather stood past me, naked again, but I couldn’t bring myself to care right now. “Put her down, Thomas.” His voice was hard, and even though he was directly related, there wasn’t a hint of the emotion he should be feeling.

Thomas’ head looked back up at his grandfather for a moment, then tilted and he almost whimpered.

“Yes. I will try.” The older Alpha said before sighing heavily as if bracing for what he must say next. “At worst, she’ll die pack, we will hold her spirit with us.”

Thomas nodded then set Julianne down to the ground reverently. The gathering of wolves padded forward. Most bore wounds of different degrees. One was missing chunks of hair, another had long rivers of skin torn apart. More than a few seemed to be cradling a paw. A fourth no longer had a tail along with patches of heavily matted fur. Julianne’s body was lost in a jumble of fur.

“Jay, what happened?” Another voice that barely preceded the scent of peppermint. I looked at Kahina, she glared at the three dead Sector agents. “Who did this to her? Was it them?”

“No,” I answered.

“Who did it, Jay? Did you make them pay?” Normally she played it cool or eager, sometimes angry, but this was beyond all those things. Kahina’s face was thirsting for vengeance.

“Not yet,” I said.

“Tell me who it was, I’ll find them, and we can settle this together.” Kahina reached out towards me with one hand. She seemed torn between the desire to be soft towards me and a need to make someone pay.

“Don’t think he’ll be worth much more tonight.” Another voice closed in. Evan’s grandfather and his western drawl had found the rest of us.

“Why? He seems perfectly fine.” Kahina’s sounded affronted. My blurring vision could barely make out her turn towards the elf. I felt unsteady and woozy.

“He was hurt worse than looks might say.” The silver haired elf responded.

Kahina shifted her focus to me. She got closer and bent at the knees to inspect me. Her hand lightly traced the wound on the side of my head. For a brief moment, I felt the world as she did. The shift of skin under fabric. Air laden with of metallic tastes. A sway to her body as she trembled from the desire for blood.

“These are minor wounds,” She stated. I chuckled weakly. How many bullets had Mister Janns shot me with? Seven? Eight?

“That is his blood all over, not some other fool’s. Well, most of it is his.” Evan’s grandfather sounded so dry when he spoke. The tumbleweed accent was the only thing that gave variance.

“I was shot, a few times.” I should be broken. It should be me dying, not Julianne.

“You don’t seem surprised, missy.” Evan’s grandfather was addressing Kahina over my head.

“I’m not. I’ve seen this before.” The dark skinned woman responded.

“You knew?” I made it through the fuzz in my head and managed to ask a question. Again my brain tried to drudge up hazy memories from years ago. Nothing solid stood out.

“That you healed? Or passed out afterward? Sure I did, Jay.” She gave a faint smile. “Why do you think we always ended up in bed after a tough job?”

I nodded slowly. Her words sparked vague memories.

“I’ll settle this myself. Who was it, Jay, who hurt her?” Her business face was back, but there was still emotion in the tone. Perhaps she was more distracted by memories than I was.

“Janns.”

“Are you certain?” Her voice went cold in an instant.

“Very,” I grunted.

Kahina’s face lost all expression for a moment. Her mind retreating in thought. The normal signs of life all paused as her body froze. Then she nodded and was gone in a flurry of motion.

“Come on, boy, we’ve got things to do.” Evan’s grandfather tried to lift me up by one arm. My body was too heavy and worn.

“What?” I mumbled a reply and blinked slowly.

“Stand up, brush yourself off, and walk with me before you pass out. A fella’s waiting on you.” The silver-haired elf had bent at the knees to stare at me.

I wasn’t completely sure I could stand up, but I tried anyway. It was easier than it should have been. The weakness from before wasn’t as bad. Not being shot in the last few minutes helped. Things still felt unsteady, but each limb worked.

“Move it.” The old elf was grumpier sounding the more he talked.

“Where are we going?” I took a look at Julianne, at the circle of wolves around her. It isn’t easy feeling useless. Not when it’s a friend whose life hangs in the balance. My career choice should have been a doctor, instead of a street thug.

“Leave them be. They’ll try, and it’ll work or it won’t. We’ve got more pressing issues.” Evan’s grandfather walked off into the distance, and I limped slowly after him.

“The fire?” I asked.

“It’ll settle. There’s old bindings on these woods.” The man dismissed any questions of the fire with typical mumbo jumbo.

I guess that was why it was raining. Though what had caused the fire was still a mystery to me. It felt like it had been going since the start, since the button had been pressed. What exactly had happened? Was it something that I caused, like the blisters on Kahina’s Second?

“Put a little hustle in those boots,” He said.

“Sorry. I was shot.” I dryly responded. My only defense for going slow was the truth. Not to mention the fact that I shouldn’t still be walking.

“No excuse for crawling along.” He didn’t care at all.

“It’s excuse enough.”

“Take off that skirt and put some man pants on.” Evan’s grandfather was making fun of me now. If his face was in view I would know for sure.

“What?” I asked with some confusion. He didn’t slow down. If anything the old elf marched even faster. The mental fuzz was weighing heavily and my eyelids drooped slightly, for a moment.

“Not yet, boy. Come on.”

“Where are we going?” It sounded more like ‘are we ing?’ through my sleepy speech. My body jogged itself to waking after stumbling over a tree root of some sort. The near face plant helped a lot and forced me to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.

“Not going, gone. We’re here.” He said.

“What?” I slurred the question while looking around. There was a large armored car, big enough to house an entire platoon. It stood with all the lights on and engine humming. The area surrounding had nearly transformed to daylight.

“Jay, is that you?” Daniel’s voice came from out of a speaker or something. I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on.

“Crummy? My face was easier to control than it had been awhile ago. One eyebrow twitched trying to rise in confusion.

“Thank God, man, I was thinking this whole operation had turned to shit.” The back of the large, nearly tank sized vehicle started lowering. Light spilled out of the opening gap.

He was complaining as he stepped out onto the forest floor. Behind him was a handful of armored Sector agents. Each one held their gun at the ready, but none of them were taking an aggressive stance. Three in the front and three in the back.

I hadn’t noticed at first because of how demanding the light from the armored personnel carrier was, but there were more than a few dead bodies laying around the area. Arrows sprouted from some, others showed wounds that were clearly teeth marks or claws.

“Woh, man. Calm down. We’re surrendering.” Daniel put his hands up.

It wasn’t until I felt the elf’s hand on my shoulder that I realized a growl was coming out. That was getting to be a terrible habit of mine.

“Start explaining, Crummy.” I said.

“Sure, first, I want you to know that everything is going according to plan.” He emphasized the last few words. “See, our goal was to get Arnold…”

While he started explaining, I watched something else that didn’t make sense. The three guards that were in the back slid their guns over, drew knives in unison, and slit the throats of the armed men in front of them. They were so quiet and careful that I almost missed it. Powerful hands kept their respective targets quiet, and for a moment I worried they might march on Daniel next.

“Well, almost according to plan.” Daniel amended his earlier statement, but it wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular. “Remember Arnold? He was the key to all of it.” My bewildered look was answer enough. Or all the blood that was drying on me. Or being shot. “How about what I said about the cult?”

Behind Daniel, all three bodies slumped forward with a gurgle of blood. One man managed to reach a gloved hand up to his neck to try and stop the flow, but moments later he was lifeless. The sound of them falling was loud in comparison to the shocked silence of their murders, and Daniel grinned almost in time with the noise.

“Turns out it’s all true.” Daniel turned over his shoulder and looked at the others, then down at the three dead guards. “Good, start the next phase.”

The three guards all nodded, then reached into pouches at their sides. I tensed up expecting betrayal again. Not that I had enough strength to fight them. Almost as one the guards bent down and ripped off insignias of the Western Sector enforcement officers and replaced them with some other one from their pockets then moved on to other dead guards in the area.

“Start talking.” The words were ground out from between my lips.

“Sure. In a moment, man. Hey Rolo, any casualties on your side?” Daniel looked over at Evan’s grandfather.

“A few wolves, but not too many considering.” Rolo answered.

“Good. It was a pain in the ass to switch out those clips before things got started.” My friend the Western Sector agent shook his head and frowned.

“What the hell?” I was amazed that Evan’s grandfather responded to Rolo. Plus Daniel had someone switch out the weapon clips and that made no sense.

“Sorry, man. Mind if we walk and talk?” Daniel pointed off to one of the other armored vehicles.

“Uhhh…” I stuttered.

“Good. C'mon, we’ve got to get everything situated right.” He stalked off towards a string of bodies that littered the road. Rolo stayed behind to help the three remaining guards with whatever task they were about.

“Crummy!” I limped after him.

“So it goes like this. Arnold Regious, truly in a cult. For real, man.” He sounded damned happy. “He turns up on your radar, then on mine, then on my boss’, and so on to the right and wrong ears.”

“So?” I was starting to get annoyed at him. No, I had been annoyed, then happy, confused, and now back to borderline angry.“This whole thing was a setup. Would you believe they’d already approached me? I told you I was trying to figure out an angle on my assignment.” Daniel waited for me to process the statement. It sounded vaguely familiar but with all that had happened recently I was still lost. He continued with his explanation.

“The cult, well, kind of a militia group, kind of a cult, wanted Sector assets. Easy enough to requisition all the outdated armor. Load them up, figure out who their members are. Had to use a few tricks to get in this deep.” Daniel sighed and looked around at the mess outside the other charred wrecks.

He started stomping through to the lead vehicle.

“They would have done anything to recover Arnold. I tell them I can track Arnold, bring you back in, sorry by the way.” I barely caught what he was saying in time to be upset. “Results in most of their members in this area being dead. Hurt them good. All because they invested so much in tracking down your cremated body.”

“What?” I was confused. Daniel stopped over a nearly dead Sector agent and motioned to Rolo in the distance with an open hand.

“Arrow please.” He said.

Rolo walked over. There had to be more to that name. It was too…odd for an elven name. Evan’s grandfather handed over an arrow from his quiver and Daniel sunk it into the man below him. He lurched as the last of his life was stolen.

“Wasn’t he one of yours?” I was so lost.

“No. My men are better trained, aren’t wearing outdated Sector armor, and don’t swear loyalty to a human supremacy group. I did have five guys here all ordered to encourage friendly fire accidents, then retreat when ordered to the last APC.” Daniel sighed and stood back up. ”Only three made it.”

“What?” I was still lost. Maybe it was the recent combat or the bullet wounds that were trying to heal. The drowsiness after using my abilities certainly didn’t help.

“Let me put it this way. My men don’t wave guns with bright lights attached. That’s just stupid.” Daniel said. He was right about one thing, a pack shouldn’t have won out against that many agents. Not without quite a few causalities.

“How did so few die?” I said. The explanation did help a little bit. It also made me feel even warier around Daniel. What kind of calculating mind could plan out an entire operation to lure one set of enemies into attacking a full pack in their woods?

“Fake ammunition. The first bullet was real silver, the rest were a weighted polymer and lead mix. And the fact that all the explosives that had been rigged at your house…” He bent near another person to lift a visor and check out who it was. A frown crossed his lightly freckled skin and Daniel settled to his knees.

“Crummy.” I needed more information. My mind was still replaying the other words, where he spoke of the explosives left at my apartment.

“Shit, Riley, you were in the wrong truck.” Daniel’s eyes closed for a moment and I could make out his lips moving. His face blanked out for a moment.

“Crummy?” I asked.

“Sorry. Riley wanted last rites, hope that’s good enough, man.” His fingers brushed the fallen agent’s eyes closed. Daniel stood up and dusted off his knees. Darkness and rain were slowly swallowing up the dying embers.

“Sorry.”

“No plan is perfect.” He sighed and shook his head. “Anyway, that little button was tied to the explosives that had been at your house.” My eyebrow raised. I still felt emotionally dead about that, almost like an arm was cut off and the wound already cauterized. “Had. I moved all of the explosives into the rest of this caravan here.”

His arm gestured out into the rest of the line of cars. You could see charred husks that had once been armored vehicles with guns mounted on the top. Bodies hung out of some of them that I couldn’t make out well enough.

Honestly, I was thankful that it was difficult to see the carnage. Other parts were all too graphic due to the back light of flames. It cast some of the bodies in an eerie glow. What should bother me was how comfortable the scene felt. Instead, all that came to mind was my stuff.

“Crummy?” I questioned again.

“Yeah, man. Your stuff is all okay. Or it should be. Just get home, relax, everything turned out almost perfectly.” Not once did he turn around to see Riley but I could tell that was part of what he meant.

“How?”

“How did I find you? When you were in the woods out here? That part was easy.” Daniel walked over from where he was with a shit eating grin on his face. He fumbled a hand under the collar of my jacket, one that was battered and torn from all the gunfire. A moment later he fished out some small round device no bigger than a fingernail.

There was enough in me to be slightly upset.

“I’ve been tracking you. Figured it was easier than bothering you every few days and pretending to be grumpy. I had it placed when we knocked you out back at Julianne’s. Besides,” he crushed the item between his fingers. “we’re friends, I had to look out for you.”

I had forgotten how scary Daniel could be to anyone not on his side. The grogginess made it difficult to completely digest everything he said, though. My lights were on, but no one was answering the door. His description sounded like I had been played as part of some larger scheme. It gave me some hope that something would come out alright, something, but not everything.

“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.

Chapter 23 – Stay Until After

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.

I opened the door and let myself in.

Kahina stood on the other side of the desk. Her dress the color of ash. In between us was the same desk that she had nearly snapped last time. Stress marks still showed on the outer edges. She held herself very carefully, not showing much in the way of emotion. A look that may be permanent on her if she survived the change.

My face must look like a wreck to her. Blood was still in the creases of my pants, dried remains hadn’t quite washed out of my hair. I was a mess, not like her. She was calm, cold, and still beautiful. Even a mask over her face couldn’t erase how Kahina looked.

I dared to speak first. “You’ve been trying to get an answer from me.”

There had to be more to us than a series of ‘what ifs’. Kahina had done everything she could to not get in our way and I should risk something in return. Every roadblock that had been thrown up was one of my own damned making.

“And?” She asked slowly.

“I…” My brain paused for a moment. “I’m going to give you a fair chance.”

“That’s all?” Her face kept a careful composure.

“In part.” I paused and tried a final time to put my thoughts into words. Whatever I was, all that I was, would defend her. “You’re mine, Kahina, and I’ll protect you with all that I am.”She waited.

“I’ll stay until the change if you’ll have me, and do everything I can to help you make it through. We can figure out where we stand from there. Is that alright?” I asked. If nothing else the transition had to be approached with a certain amount of realism. She might not make it through.

“Then you want to stay with me?” Kahina tasted the words carefully.

“Through the change,” I said.

Kahina smiled. It was still difficult to tell if she was angry or excited, but the desk didn’t groan in protest.

Afterward

The end of every book brings a chance to reflect on the choices that helped a writer survive the journey. With this series there is one event in history that stands out as a great contributor. During the fifth grade our teacher provided an assignment to write about, well, anything. I won't share the terribly silly work that my project turned into, but I believe this story is the end result of a seed planted twenty years ago by her. Odd how the teachers name escapes me but the homework assignment has stuck with me after so many years.

The end of a book allows me to list all those who helped us reach this far. This work would never have been completed without the help of my wife, who provided constant excitement, suggestions for improvement, and frequent eye rolling when I cited the latest mad plot. She was far more on board when I suggested the main character might be acted by Vin Diesel should the stars align and someone think it's fit for the big screen. The idea is far fetched, but it started many a giggle fit.

A long time friend approached me many years ago regarding a collaborative project in writer. This story is not that project, and that fiction may never see the light of day. Still, by asking me to write a companion novel to the work he is still polishing, I felt the desire to spin my own tales grow. Without him I would never have written this work.

Then of course there are the people who were unfortunate enough to test read one of the many iterations of this novel. At least ten poor souls dared brave those early versions. They were subjected to many of my growing pains as a writer. Playing with first person (poorly), learning how to write a modern fantasy novel, figuring out consistency in tenses (and failing), while trying to find an awkward balance between action and mystery. Without their apprehensive interest I would never have kept finding the keyboard to put down another round of words.

For those of you who have read my other work, Continue Online, this novel should come as a completely different change of pace. I feel proud that they are drastically different people in both action and thought. There are many themes that exist between the two series, but this work came first. Royal Scales, Jay Fields, and the world he lives in will remain my first true novel and is special to me for so many reasons.

This series is expected to span at least seven books. The first three are written and will slowly be release to Amazon (as I complete an editing pass). Book two in this series, 'Lady's First Knight', is expected to release March or April depending on time constraints.

Thank you for purchasing this book and reading along.

You may follow further updates via frustratedego.wordpress.com or Twitter @FrustratedEgo

Table of Contents

- Chapter 1 – Compulsive
- Chapter 2 – An Odd Mix
- Chapter 3 – They’re All Serious
- Chapter 4 – Take the Dive
- Chapter 5 – One of the Perks
- Chapter 6 – A Few Times
- Chapter 7 – It Always Gets Worse
- Chapter 8 – Live for This
- Chapter 9 – Blood-Bonded Male
- Chapter 10 – Edges of Silver
- Chapter 11 – Built All Wrong
- Chapter 12 – Adopted by an Elven House
- Chapter 13 – Most Other Races
- Chapter 14 – Employee Fitness Day
- Chapter 15 – A Dangerous Topic
- Chapter 16 – Play in the Woods
- Chapter 17 – Pretty Good Illusion
- Chapter 18 – Elf, Wolf, Human, Vampire?
- Chapter 19 – An Issue
- Chapter 20 – Pack Lands
- Chapter 21 – Adapted to Darkness
- Chapter 22 – Almost According To Plan
- Chapter 23 – Stay Until After