ã€ŠRoyal Scalesã€‹


 Once Lost Lords; Chapter 1 - Compulsive

    Elves have strange habits. Their nature turns them compulsive to the point of physical distress. No two share the exact same problem either. Oh well. Everyone has an addiction 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 more disheveled. His suit was halfway tucked in and covered with fresh coffee stains. Even sullied, those threads were worth more than my entire wardrobe. 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 elf 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 more than a piggy bank."

    Julianne didn''t waste any more time talking 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 just the 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 our bar a once over. Elves became really touchy about their weaknesses. Instead of panicking I downed the last two shots, hoping I seemed like another drunk. Mumbling to myself might help sell the act. Or singing along with the radio. No, his sober blonde guardian likely had memorized my face. It wasn''t difficult. Buzzed brown hair, a light tan, brown eyes with just a hint of amber or ruby. Nothing else about me would stand out except my linebacker size and a nose that had been broken more times than I care to remember. It never healed right.

    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 monster 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 just a moment, displaying a pair of purple and green tattooed eyes. She stuck her tongue out and flicked it in my direction. Her exiting stride demanded 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."

    "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 too cute when she was 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''ll clear part of your tab and a month''s rent." My apartment was fairly 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 a finger.

    "Two months, two jobs." She countered and tilted her head.

    "You call them jobs like you''re paying me."

    "More like 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 an easy one." 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 just drank. Short, and cinnamon tinted caramel. Not a single serving woman though, she firmly rejected myself and half the other hopefuls who staggered in over the years.

    "Too easy is 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 tilted 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 back while waiting for me to open the pouch. I eyed her and tilted 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 getting ready for more 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?"

    "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 just 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."

    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 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."

    I didn''t even ask what she meant by that.

    "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 just 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 just 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 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 quick. 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 onto the cord of energy connecting 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 a 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.

    The distance felt like more than a day''s walk. Still, it was within my senses upper range of sixty, or so, miles. Things 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 just 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.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    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 happened.

    Distress lanced 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 know better then 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.

    "Just 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 just 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 just 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 and 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. Iron underweight, coated in silver as well. 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 no where 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 just 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 exists. Some people bolted when you tried to collect bills.

    Others fought back, trying to make it too difficult to push the issue. Occasionally they just 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 situation dependent.

    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 too many 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."

    "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 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 little luck of solving this tonight unless he had a debit card with a hefty savings tied to it. I kept one hand around the knuckles and the other checking drawers for rolled bills or a jewelry drawer. Oddly the thin man didn''t fight back. He wasn¡¯t even nervous as I wandered about the apartment getting no where. Maybe he just 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." The alcohol on my breath must be terrible. Hopefully, it 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.

    "Just taking a sample." I lifted a swath of hair and sliced away. 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 just 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 just ignore insults and tripped a descendant for the grandparents slight. Vampires bought out entire businesses just 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 the protects. 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 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 not 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 non existent. 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 heard that too. Someone called in a disturbance, 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 too much matted hair for me to be sure.

    "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 a 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 rung through his speech. No amount of suit could bury the dude lurking below.

    "Little Julie dropped a line when you got back in. 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, no where. You''ve been a ghost." The admission made me feel accomplished. I hadn''t wanted to be found during these last few years.

    "Anyway, what''re you up to today?" Daniel asked.

    I looked up at the sky.

    "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."

    "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 social."

    "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 for debt collection 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." Which was fine, since I didn''t want fingerprints on government tagged and bagged items.

    "I know, makes it harder, but I''ll do what I can."

    An hour passed while cruising through the five cases he''d 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?"

    "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.

    He was looking at a few different pages across the file and sighed.

    "Anyway, this dude vanished on the road during the day heading between family estates. Driver and a guardian both missing too."

    "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 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, was he still alive?"

    "Couldn''t tell. Elf is, don''t know about the human." 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 just 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 one of the hallways behind the counters 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."

    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 so 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."

    It kept us both from worrying about the books. Hamburgers were easier to write off than cash. Working would keep me busy too. 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 just 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 paperwork. Besides, dropping the ID confetti down a shirt was more 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 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."

    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.

    The 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.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "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 unblinking 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 just the wrong size to be.

    "You didn''t tell me he tasted so 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 to check for you." Part of me considered eavesdropping and seeing where the conversation went. The other part of me figured the 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 little 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?"

    "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 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, smiles, facial ticks, how many drinks someone had. All 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 mind set that brought everything to the fore.

    This is my area. Mine. My home, my sidewalk, my work.

    It had been so long since the last time. Years without so much a 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 just 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. 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 backwards 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 backwards, 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''d caught him while he was moving. They crumpled together in a sad heap. Following just 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 backwards. 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. He 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.

    "Cat nip, 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 just 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 was past 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.

 Once Lost Lords; Chapter 3 - Theyre 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''d 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 backwards. There wasn''t enough room to open the door outwards so it''d 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''d 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 just hold him still while we talked.

    "I ran some searches at work for the elf. His name must have been on someone''s list, not less than thirty minutes later my boss is knocking on my door asking what''s up." Daniel''s face bunched up 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 and give me a location." He said in a rush.

    "Leave me out?"

    "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''d invaded I''d thrown 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''d 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''d 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 just 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''d 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''d 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 no where in sight.

    "Double fisting it today?" I grabbed the door for him and tried to act cheery.

    Umbrella Beer glared at me for a moment. 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 man, we all got our 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 doing that glare, like he was comparing my features to everyone he''d ever seen, 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 just a drunk, doesn''t seem to matter much." To emphasize the point she got me out shot glass and poured in 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 too much. 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."

    "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?"

    "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. Most of her aggression became spent on straightening up her side of the counter. "Forgive the girl for hoping you''d be sensible when you get back. I told her not to expect much."

    Correcting Julianne wasn¡¯t worth it. That night had started out much differently. Hell. We''d practically been getting engaged by vampire standards. The next step in their courtships involved a connection between human and a 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''d let anyone, ever, near my blood and she''d 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 just rounds."

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "Remember how we do it? No violence, Jeff, these people actually come in and pay." She handed over a half 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''d have to behave. "Juli..."

    "Don''t even start. Just, shush." 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 for a moment.

    "Those were for the last two days, the deal was a week''s worth of meals, remember?" My jaw stopped working for a moment 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 just 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 really bad at doing his own haircuts.

    "Julianne, we''ve got to finish this before tomorrow."

    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''d 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 then 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 small 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. Most people who gambled at Julianne''s were local, and if they were willing to pay it''d 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 off 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 not even a bubble issue, it''s inborn fear of being stabbed. Generations of in clan fighting from the old world had ingrained a healthy fear. Most 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''d show up, tell them they have a bill, walk off once they make eye contact afterwards. 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''d have 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''d see them sometimes, owning entire blocks of the richer sections, refusing entry to most 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 little ''W'' by the name and address Julianne had given me, was 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 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 a barely twenty one female.

    "Yeah?" Her eyes glazed over, less than five seconds into our conversation and she''d 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 nick name. 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 more pieces of jewelry, like an ornate wedding ring that I could see shine 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?"

    "My name is not important, I''m just 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''d mishandled and Julianne found out. Her daughter was growing worried, eyes widening, a hand covering her mouth. Too young for what was about to happen.

    "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 little 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''s 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. The most extreme example was a thirty minute video explaining how humans shouldn''t have sex with wolves in a non standard form. I''d been sent 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''d 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 make up 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 rings I''d been eyeing earlier were discarded somewhere during their shift. Wedding rings were too much trouble. A smaller one was easy to pocket though. I whistled to myself, pleased at how tonight had gone.

 Once Lost Lords; Chapter 4 - Take the Dive

    Hours later, a short stewing bartender cornered me. Impressive, considering I was twice her size.

    "So 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 and it wasn''t just a set of lucky conditions. 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?"

    "Nothing big, 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, bloodthirst is just 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."

    "Real or those pieces of crap you imitate real 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." I shrugged one shoulder again.

    "Man, you should just 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 registrations 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 just 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 just glorified door watchmen. Friday nights and weekends, especially payday weekends, were the busiest. They were the most likely to get 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 just 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 just reminded. Part of me was disturbed at being stalked like a possession, the other 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''d gone 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 just bring 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 just 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 the headache that had come out of no where.

    "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 really 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?"

    "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 little 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 more 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 the message with 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 all 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 just 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?"

    "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 too long 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 could feel him pause for a moment while trying to figure that out. 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 until we got here, 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 more real 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. His 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 really mattered to the tracking, I was just annoyed at being dragged out here. He stepped outside with the cellphone 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 Ears¡¯ thread. Know this because of the colors. Four, five on connection. Always Long Ears. 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.

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    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 so 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 you feel yourself saying words but it doesn''t register correctly. Like a stranger operates your 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 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 craziness.

    "You claimed ownership, I felt your call again and waited." Fantastic. Another mystery. He had 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 so tired 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 on 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 folding 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 more than 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 most 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 just a 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. Then I would find this elf and square away some answers before the Agent shoved him into a cell.

    "Any luck, man?" The man 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?"

    "Well, you probably deal with the ones addicted to depressive shit." The few I''d 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 just 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 slip of paper to me showing Arnold''s face, a much more clean cut version of the elf. One of them had gone through some 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 just shrugged it off.

    "What''s left would be fine. Anyway man, it took a bit, 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, so 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 portion 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?"

    "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 just the reward."

    "Right, cheaper than kneepads I guess."

    I heard him blink for a moment.

    "Fuck you," Daniel''s face turned tomato red.

    "She cute?" I asked.

    "Of course."

    "How did she get claws into you?" I had to know.

    "Our first date was at a shooting range. Her idea." Poor Crummy had fallen hard. Just the tone in his voice made it obvious. "But, business always gets in the way, at least until we get some 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 non entity 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 cosy look like a pipe dream. Opposite the tables was a menu, a counter to place orders by, 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 backwards 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, just 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.

 Once Lost Lords; Chapter 5 - One of the Perks

    Waking up is never an easy process. Prior examples include banging doors, general yelling, angry ex girlfriends, 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 backwards, 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 backwards 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 is 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 I used as a shield. Waded across the landscape with a strange haze over shadowing 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 against 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 just 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 just 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 race 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 their wounded to care.

    My belongings were safe. Only the wire around my neck remained outside of them. Tension had loosed quite a bit as I regained composure.

    "You got ahold of yourself?"

    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 slowly rubbed the 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."

    "Not sure what happened there."

    "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? It wasn''t likely he would help, but if he was out here with a pack he probably thought of these woods as his own.

    "Tracking an elf."

    "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, so 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."

    "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 just packing my stuff.

    "Don''t be surprised if someone checks in on you while you''re out here."

    "I''d expect nothing less." I said.

    "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 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 little 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 against a small pack instead of a lone wolf. My asking around had given him a heads up.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Got my ass handed to me too. 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 some hungry days while I traveled.

    "Did the boss give me a time limit?"

    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?" I probed.

    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 monologue and didn''t really expect me to wake up. It was a 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 so familiar, but I don''t know you. Pops knew you. Something in his eyes when he stood there."

    "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.

    "So 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 took my bag and headed west. 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?"

    "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 just 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."

    "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, whomever 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 a bit further away.

    "They''re solid."

    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 tapped 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?"

    "Un-tape 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, or taser. Trussing. Lack of a eviction notice. An endless list of complains 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."

    At least they were taking me out the quick way. If they trussed and blindfolded me through three days of woods I might just 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 really 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 bits of hair combined with a sun worn face had painted an identical picture to 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 moment 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." From my peripherals it was obvious he 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 so 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 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, just 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 just four words.

    The phone grew muffled for a moment, but I could hear a muffled 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.

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    "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 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''re 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. 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 forests.

    "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?"

    "Don''t worry, I can wrap up this job any time 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 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 then 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 a little bit from the back seat, the front was perpetually crowded out by files and Daniel''s computer.

    "Just feels off. Any government trackers ever tried elves?" I settled on being vague.

    "A few times."

    "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 said. I could feel his finger rubbing carefully back and forth on the steering wheel. My thoughts were mostly elsewhere.

    If other Sector members thought Daniel had access to a tracker then I would be subject to much unwanted 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 almost seemed forced. "Anyway man," He picked back up. "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 just 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 just 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, so 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 itched at my wrist. I caught Daniel staring and just shrugged. He frowned but said nothing.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 backwards 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 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 just called her." I said.

    "Did ya ever consider asking her?" Julianne responded.

    That made me pause and try to figure out any time 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 just 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 just ''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 high ranked. Her survival had a higher chance of making it through, and I would just 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 had went so haywire I hightailed it across the continent.

    Four years later and Kahina is still just as possessive. Then I vanish again for a week? She must have freaked out. 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 just 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 just 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 really 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 also 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." It was 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."

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    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 just shoveled them off the counter and poured out a drink. Beer, olive, polka dotted umbrella, three ice cubes, and a bit of soda.

    I wasn''t watching him though. I was watching her, she had the same dark shades, but no hat, and nearly nothing on below the belt either. The dress was high enough that nearly anyone who ever 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 give 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. 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 very interested in you."

    "She''s no one."

    "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."

    "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 unwind the memento and carry it away.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 shoved 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 few 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 for a moment. He just kept on marching with my old pace. It took him a moment to realize I was no longer keeping up.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    "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 really 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 just washing 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 bit, 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 really leave you so 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 really changed so much?

    Absently I scratched one arm and tried to figure out the next step.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 clubs, no shooting ranges 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 depressively empty again.

    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.

    "So go do something about it." She offered.

    "Like what? Not exactly like you''re giving me anything entertaining. Rounds? Please, I used to find the big boys." My talent made me like a laser guided missile.

    "Honestly? You''re not ready for real jobs." Julianne loaded me 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 just fine. Found blond boy before Daniel walked off with him. Found that list of houses you gave me. Doing just fine."

    "I don''t know, Jeff, you just feel off. Like something happened while you were gone. Like 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?"

    She had gotten me drunk enough that answering didn''t seem like 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 so I could clean up my own mess. Unfortunately the task was a little more difficult 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 too 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."

    "Nope, just blood, blood, blood, blood." I swung the small nearly empty glass around in time to the word. "Blood." I clanked it back down and waited for the magic trick where it was refilled before my eyes.

    "You sure she just wasn''t excited about the blood?"

    "Let¡¯s just say we needed a safety word, she became that ravenous." I responded happily.

    "Maybe she just really wanted to turn you? That girl''s in love bad."

    "It wasn''t just romance, it was hunger."

    "For real?" She asked.

    "Yep!" Which was about ten times beyond what should have happened. Rarely vampires would drink 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 too much 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''d 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 still 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?"

    "Because I don''t exist in the eyes of the government, or in the Pack Alphas 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."

    "Like what." I over emphasized the question, my head rebounding a little bit from the movement. Julianne stared at me for a moment 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 angry attention demanding headache. I grumbled the entire way back to my little hideaway and opened the door.

    Once inside I attempted to block out every shred of light in the place. Things were far too bright to get back to sleep. Hazily all I could remember was Julianne''s words. Lost my edge? Left something behind?

    Fine.

    I could do something about that. Would do something.

    In between naps and spurts of clearing out the carefully packed storage room, I found some tools that could be used. I squirreled away more silver than 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 out the headache that still lingered. A cold shower had only cleared some cobwebs. My clothes were half dirty and the floor was dusty from where I shuffled around.

    Cleaning the apartment was useful. I went a few steps further, trimming my hair, sweeping the porch, putting piles of trash just outside the door. Each change bringing more order to my world. It took most 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 just 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 one 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 moment 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 too frequently. Luckily, only Julianne served Umbrella Beer¡¯s drinks. This bartender wouldn''t have any clue what the combination meant.

    She slipped it over.

    "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 far 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.

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    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 just on her eyes. Thin patterning spilled down her neck and twisted over shoulders and down even more, ending on the edges of her toes. Beneath her she managed to pin the elf I was tracking. He looked even more 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 just to laugh at 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 Ears boy lost in 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 perk up.

    Words shouted. Feels like cool water slamming into me. Not painful, just 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 clearly 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 terrible.

    Now to get Tattooed Eyes¡¯ attention. I would take Julianne''s advice and just ask outright, what is a Lord to the Elven people?

    An hour and 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 with more than a few demonstrations that barging in a clan home without an invite was a terrible, terrible idea. I would never 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, the hint of green and purple tattoos. I stared for a moment 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 few, my job typically made me unwelcome in most corners, and elves were rarely in trouble. The choice was wait or give up and leave, and I wasn''t quite ready for that. A much closer window at 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 ..."

    "Want to go to your place?" She cut me off. It didn''t help that I could barely focus on her face. For once she wasn''t wearing glasses, but it didn''t help because her shirt was mostly 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 just wanted to ask a question..."

    The window propped open again, this time she was wearing a less see through shirt. It didn''t really help me focus any because I had seen, not once, but twice, what was under that.

    "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 just ask my question and not wait for the answer. 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 just 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."

    "Candy?" Like a bad stripper name. Then again, the way she was draped out her window it wasn''t to far off.

    "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 up, 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 really good, or really bad, or both.

    I turned to leave.

    "Oh, 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 she was deadly.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 print outs. The back room was home to it¡¯s 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 so 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 other 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, greying 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 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 just wants the elf."

    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?"

    "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." Which would come 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."

    "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." My hand fidgeted inside the pocket, I slowly crept my fingers 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.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    "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?"

    "Not as long as I own this bar."

    "Hell." I had never actually seen her go furry. It made more sense that she wasn''t pack. Instincts were worse in their females, and wolves were territorial. People wandering into the bar would''ve set her on edge.

    "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."

    "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 other surprises between us. 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."

    "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.

    In 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. Just 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 things that really mattered was my collection in the basement.

    Kahina had fled during the laughter. Her face had been completely unguarded. There wasn¡¯t just 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 prey, 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 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 a 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 wolf 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 left. 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.

    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    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 wolf. Angry snarl. Drops of perspiration splash onto ground. Across the street someone rushes by. Scared. Human. 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. Wolf 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 just 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 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, nondescriptor 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. Most 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 a came too close for my comfort. One of the others was sniffing the hell out of the ground where I had just 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''d been easier to ignore the damage when I couldn''t see it. A lot easier. Hell. The fact that I''d 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, just 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, so 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 just 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 be enough to make me jump under normal circumstances. I was too tired though.

    This location was dark but smelled like home. A 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. Which in another time and place might have been a very interesting 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 a bit 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 just 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 I let 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 exhaustion were putting me right back to sleep. It didn''t really register what she said until I hit 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 the briefest moments I awoke. There were odd noises elsewhere in the house. First screaming, then banging, and finally a soft choking sob. Exhaustion kept me from moving from my downstairs bed. My mind listened, only half conscious, until finally silence spread itself 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 over-analyzed the damage.

    My phone painted a slightly 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 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 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 half 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 little 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 little 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''d object, 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 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 some of the boys just staked out the area and waited." The second girl said. The other girl struck me as too mousey 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 just 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 little elf?" The mousey 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 seemed to all go against it. Either way, she understood how things might go 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 more rust 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 the room 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?" More random ideas came out my mouth. Given the few addictions I had seen 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 really complex addictions. Highly complex ones seemed 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 just 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 looked angry 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 too 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? Dammed 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. 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 backwards 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 just that brief bout. Julianne''s house was too confining for 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 went home. My modified knuckles went into a pocket and iron chain was threaded through belt loops. Next I stopped at the bar, more out of habit than need. No one here really knew me. No one besides Julianne and I had just 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 been back 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.

    Pointless 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 moments 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 brief 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 more genuine.

    "Two somethings actually."

    "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 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 very 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.

    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    "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 downturned expression on her face. "Which is very 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 for a moment "situations which I am in charge of."

    "A clue? Anything?"

    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 almost 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 just 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?" Hopefully 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 too much 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. Like ''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 ass whooping 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 much of 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 actually 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 Evan to Daniel and receiving my answers.

    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?"

    "Things to go back to the way they were." Her voice was quiet. Sometimes it was hard to believe she was almost fully turned into a vampire.

    "Time doesn''t fucking march backwards." 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 so 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 had really cared you wouldn''t have picked up and just 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 really 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 wisely 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 full 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 problems 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 just 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 just 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. ¡°Like 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 mousy woman was growling at me and had her hand pressed against my chest. She didn''t hit me though, thankfully.

    "Like hell I will. She''s 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¡¯s bullshit. You just 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.

    "So, 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 clenched my fist a few times to get 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 backwards. 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 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 too much 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 and closed the cut up. I''d need a moment to wash it out, and bind it as soon as possible. Maybe it''d 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 just 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 still slowly trickled. I jerked at my hand in momentary panic.

    She didn''t let go.

    "Kahina, let go!" I was pulling at my hand. 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 confusion 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 so much 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 for a moment 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 drug 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 to try 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 some more while getting angrier. It was hard to focus. I''d 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 some sort of 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 the moments 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 just 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 got worse. From the corner of my eye I could see Kahina curled up. She looked distraught over what had just 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 almost 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 so much 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 just strong enough to overcome the other two holding her. Evan rattled his restraints while babbling 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 had started to grow even higher driving a need to protect what was mine. My mind had failed to understand this maze my life had become. Being attacked made things so much simpler. This was now a fight, something I should excel at. Something I needed 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''d 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 so 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 so 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 far too many people for the five of us. 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 far too 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 trussed up in a manner that stunk of military precision. They gave me just 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 some sort of 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 look like it was 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 lead these trussing¡¯s 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 much need in the last four years. My wanderings about the countryside were indistinct and probably boring. Honestly, before that vacation I had been better at not 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 itching spot. The latest round of actions made the guard look over. The gun lifted just slightly in my direction. I lifted my right arm enough to wave. The guard¡¯s response was lifting his weapon slightly higher.

    "I''m behaving," I said.

    The guard used his free hand and knocked on the door in a short series of raps. A small slit of light appeared in the doorframe. There was no outright communication between the two people, just 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 brief whisper where 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 so far are kidnapping a key witness and assaulting multiple officers."

    "Crummy..." I started to respond.

    "Don''t even 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 persons case this Sector has seen in years." Daniel flopped down 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 much 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 just 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 some more 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 just 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 blazingly 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 just 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 just 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 were too much for him. He kept right on going.

    ¡°My men saw what you did to Francis, saw you walking just fine yesterday, a few days after he clawed the shit out of your legs." Just 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 just the reward money. There was a lot, but it couldn¡¯t be worth all this trouble. Maybe it was. I had seen stupid things done over just 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 on the other side.

    "The elf escaped, sir." The guard on the other side seemed perturbed.

    "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 just sit my ass here in a cell. Daniel didn''t exactly 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 slowly 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 slowly looked around trying to find the source of the noise. It seemed to be from the hallway outside. The low murmur happened again but closer. What was it saying? Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. My mind must have been playing trick son me. For a moment, it looked like the door Daniel had slammed was now completely open.

    I was still bound, so it didn''t matter. Double vision plagued me again. This time I briefly saw a ragged looking elf standing in the doorway. He motioned desperately in my direction. The image faded out quickly. Evan must be doing something with his abilities. Messing with my vision somehow.

    My chains rattled in frustration. It was hard not to shout at him. Sure I wanted out, but I couldn''t like this. I wasn''t that strong. Evan disappeared from the doorway. Soft almost silent footsteps crept across the room.

    "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 quickly 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 so 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 had to struggle not to shout at him. Kahina was a vampire. If she wanted the iron would crack easily. Then we could escape.

    "If you are sure, Lord." There was a moment of confusion in his voice then he was gone. His soft footsteps crossed the room. Evan must be something special to fool people trained at illusion spotting.

    After a long pause, I went back to banging my head. It slowly settled to resting there staring at the door. They hadn¡¯t even bothered putting a guard back into this room.

    It was almost tempting to just sit here in custody. What was the worst Daniel would 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 close 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 it seems." I heard her voice. Kahina was too close and all business.

    "What?" I said.

    "They set them up every twenty feet or so, this place is rather run down looking so they seem to 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 back 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 a great 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 here,¡± 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 buildings dry cedar.

    "Bloodletter, I can only maintain this illusion for so long. Then I will leave you." Evan managed to even sound a bit angry.

    "What 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, just the truth," Evan said.

    "Would one of you break the chain, please?" I rattled them again for emphasis.

    "Fine. But you and me, we''ll have our talk, Jay. One where you don''t run, don''t avoid, and talk to me.¡± I felt a freighting moment of wonder when Kahina''s fingers slide 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 chose not to 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 repurposed house of some sort.

    "Don''t bother sneaking, they''re all gone." She walked past me calmly and gestured around. Evan was 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 even more 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 of his 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 very possessive. The way her body leaned or how she kept looking in my direction anytime my eyes shifted somewhere else.

    "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, 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 for me to think about it. There were too many other issues.

    "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''ve got more of those grenades? They were fairly well geared. Surviving a second time will be hard, no matter how well Jay was throwing them around." Julianne said. She had one 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. Those moments felt 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, we would have a hard time meeting 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 too much 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 not get caught by humans trained to watch for it." He sounded proud about it. 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 give her a response.

    "We should go shouldn''t we?" Julianne was the most vulnerable one out of all of us.

    "As I said, I go with Jay. Pointy ears here can do his illusions and cover you." Kahina said. She almost 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 the eyelids over them. If you looked closely you could still see flares of color coming to under them. I had never actually witnesses an elf doing their magic before. Then again no one was sure exactly 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.

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    "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 work." 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 more wired than before. Angrier even.

    "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 only 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 was 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 little project, 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 never could sort out. Her clothes were as ragged looking 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. Just thinking about it made me mad.

    "You know they''re probably been instructed to keep us alive," I stated with more calm than I felt.

    "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 abruptly confused. How close was she to her transition? Months? Weeks? Days?

    I couldn¡¯t defend her. Not like 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 open the door. There was only the briefest 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 rooftop in the span of a few seconds. There was a brief moment of 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. It looked like Stacy and I hightailing across the yard. 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 other 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. It was much more believable than The Bitch and I.

    There were more of Daniel''s people coming. This time it was 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. A second round of gunshot 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 just 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 moved on quickly. Once those two were down I doubled back to the previous house and headed in a new direction. I could hear more bullets from further away as Kahina rained chaos upon the battlefield.

    Something about this was wrong. Western Sector employed not only humans. Not one of these people had displayed anything more than 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. For a moment 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 really care about the elf, just bring me Arnold."

    "What the hell is so important about him?" This missing person was the son of a rich family, but this was too much. I started walking towards Daniel.

    "Listen, I''m your friend right?" He asked.

    "I''m not so sure." 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 a trying hard to stay calm. I could see the shift in his face as he wanted to yell at me like he yelled at his men.

    He knew better. Now 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?" It sounded like it was more than just a lump of money. Another guard appeared behind Daniel, this one looking a lot like all the other ones I had seen.

    "Sir, you need to test him." A new guard stepped up 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 just 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 across his shoulder.

    "What was that about, Daniel? What is all this about?" Someone needed to give me some damned answers. Just why did some random guard think I need to be tested? For what?

    Daniel had something 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 just to let 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 it. This was 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 had been 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 glowing 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. Light of fire against the night sky was impossible to miss. I hoped everyone else had gotten far enough away.

    "Jay, we''ve got to go." Kahina was already 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 slowly 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 enough. 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 one of my arms. I lost focus for a moment looking at her arms. They were thin, but well-toned. ¡°We¡¯ll leave here, and tomorrow night we can find your elf.¡±

    "Who?" I had lost focus.

    "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 just 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 still tired and confused.

    ¡°You were listening to Daniel, he doesn¡¯t really want the slant ear.¡± Kahina said.

    "He wants Arnold Regious."

    "Why would he care about Arnold?" She asked. It was almost 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 moment then quickly went 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 just make the whole thing 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 just 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 avoid the topic. How had she managed to have control enough to drag me home after the fight with the wolf? I had practically soaked my pants 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, and 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 actually 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 in 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.

    It felt like 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 sort. They held papers and chattered away about things that needed her attention.

    The ones all wearing the same style of clothes 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 was holding 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 some 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. Moments later she had a pen out and was signing away on something.

    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 something to my collection.

    The male second, a partial vampire judging by his mannerisms and speed, was standing next to me. I stepped away just slightly and tried not to punch him in the face. Tonight had set me on edge.

    "Sir?" He seemed to take in the dirty second hand appearance of my clothes as an indication of my character. There was distaste to the way his nose lifted.

    I blanked out for a moment until I heard a pen slap against clipboard from Kahina.

    "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 all so far out of 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 the brief snips of inside. Seeing it in person was no less daunting.

    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.

    <hr />

    <hr />

    Notes: This one went through a lot of work to be smoothed out and not seem so....logic...missing. I don''t know. My brain isn''t wording right today. Sorry. We''re over halfway through this book....and....uhhh...good lord my brain. Ngh. Ignore me.

    Next Release: Chapter 14 - Employee fitness day

    Release date: This weekend or Monday. Probably.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 just thinking about some stranger sneaking by while I lay passed out. Vampires had it rough. My discomfort didn''t stop me from putting on fresh clothes. The shirt fit well and these pants didn''t constrict my waist.

    Shortly after 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?"

    I shrugged.

    "Did you need something?" He asked.

    "Am I allowed outside or did Kahina lock the doors?" I spoke slowly. The world was still moving a little too fast for me.

    The man looked at me for a moment. One lip curled up with something that might have been 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. Plus 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. "Just 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 someone. Probably me. I stepped down the stairs.

    "Sir?" She stopped rocking.

    "Are you my tour guide?" I asked.

    She bobbed her head.

    "Breakfast was good." My first attempt at conversation had fallen flat. My people person skills needed a lot of work.

    "It was just breakfast." 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 still wasn''t all together.

    "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 quickly avoided.

    "Where''s this appointment?" I tried to broach the subject again.

    "Not yet. 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 slowly guided me into a larger room deep in the mansion.

    "Basement?" I asked.

    "Part of one."

    I liked basements. They were more comfortable than other rooms. There was something about underground that 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.

    "Something 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 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 all 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 quickly stomped his foot back 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 just too great a difference on the reach between them. The smaller guy seemed quicker, the taller one could strike sooner. It was the same effect where a smaller quicker 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 interesting that people who were professionals could find the fight over in an unexpected flash. That made me feel better about being so 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. Quickly 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 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 the most intimidating comment I could and instead settled on the truth.

    "I''m used to scraping 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 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 didn''t stop trying to goad me.

    I didn''t add anything to that, my edge against those others was mainly because of how my mind perceived things. They became my targets when I hunted them. That switch inside me provided some sort of 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. Another flash of movement and the other contestant 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 taken 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, 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 just wouldn¡¯t let it slide. Maybe this employee of Kahina¡¯s was just 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 moments 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 much 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 sparing," 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 counting? 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 little sideshow would end and things 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 even more than I had 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 even more 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 really fought it. I made dumb mistakes like stepping into to 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 just 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 again 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 sort 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 smaller 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?"

    "You 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 hadn''t noticed a sign up sheet. Of course, there hadn''t been a lot that was brought up before the door was opened, and 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 came with something close to an eighty percent fatality rate.

    "Has anyone explained why the rate is so high for failures?" He asked. There were more than a few papers on it. Conspiracy theories, nut job stories, and speculations. The final stages of transforming from a human to a vampire came with a hibernation from which most didn''t wake 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 like being dragged forcibly into dirty politics. Most 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 other factors." His words caused me to blanch a little. Everything that had been shown on the documentaries said it was just 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 seems to think 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."

    Stolen story; please report.

    "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 clearly 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 poster or puffing up just to look tougher. "That alone gives some 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 comes 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 seem 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 and numbers." He slowly gave his response.

    "I have tools."

    "But not numbers. Nothing more than yourself.¡± The man seemed 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.

    "I''m just 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 just 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 a few things out for business, then takes part of the night for herself. Though since you''re already 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 or so 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 little 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 some sort of decorated office. I had been ushered into the room by some random servant and then 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 sort of funny since she was completely comatose the entire day. If that wasn''t rest, then I was lost.

    She was staring out the window that had the thick curtain on either side pulled back just 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 some 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 really 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. Just pull the cross as my trump card, hold her in place, leave quickly 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 long picture. I don''t want to hurt you." But 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 little 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 focus 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 emphasize unlined 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 too hard 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 even better how tired her eyes were. They drug at the edges, barely kept open, and while it was more difficult to tell with her skin, 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 even 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 shook my head and 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 so 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 issues 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 much different man from years ago, and her, she had never been the women I thought she was. Kahina was a rich heiress to some sort of 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 more came.

    "If you can''t answer a simple question then get out." It was quiet, but her voice had taken on a professional air. A presence that masked any real emotions.

    "Get. Out." This time it was louder and forced.

    I backed up slowly 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 for a moment 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 just 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 still 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.

    <blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>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 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 most of your home to blow up in case of emergency.

    I dislike such tactics, but they need to see some sort of 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</blockquote>

    Things had turned sour quickly. 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 and the world seemed to grow and contract at the same time. Blackness sent my eyesight into snapshot mode again. The next noise I registered as 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 out from nearby.

    One second my hand was in my pocket, the next it was out bearing a cross. It felt like I blinked and slid across the distance between us with a red glow leading the way. It was so 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 moment 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, that 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 too drowned out by my other sense going wild. Wild because of what was mine being in so much perceived danger.

    A blackout later and I was on the sidewalk. There was someone in my hands and shouting 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 just 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 yell 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 moment 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.

    Slowly my body turned to the figure in the window.

    Kahina looked back 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 bit at the air about her. A slide of heavy liquid fell down her cheek. It felt so overwhelmingly 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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. Someone had to be able to give me a lift. 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 more than a few people stationed outside. Mostly they were in cars. A people few wandered the hallways that were certainly not my neighbor''s. Probably Daniel''s partners in crime watching out for me. The bar wasn''t off limits, but home clearly 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 those 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 much money to pay with. All sources of extra cash were firmly locked away in the apartment I couldn''t get into. Back out on the curb I sat when 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 still 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.

    "Horse shit," I muttered

    "Not as good as the word before it." The voice standing above me 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 clearly 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 down 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 little 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 glaring 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 that I had 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 just 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 slowly 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?"

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    "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 though from my arm. Finally, after her muttering stopped and her eyes glazed over a milky white. I stood there waiting for some sort of 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?"

    "Sure."

    "Done."

    "Your favor?" I wanted to know what her other request was beside me answering a question.

    "If you''re going to meet 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 more than clear enough answer on the subject. I wanted to ask her what exactly it meant, why she seemed 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 obviously 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 some of the best-padded seats money can buy." She smiled as the playful persona came back into control. "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 focused 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?"

    "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 did haven''t 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 more minutes before speaking again.

    "So?"

    "One is for pleasure, the other is a means to an end, both are misdirection."

    "What? Which is which?"

    "That''s your answer. Now I believe you owe me something in return."

    "Sure." I was ready for anything she''d ask me.

    "Well, Jeff, since I''m giving you a three-hour ride north." She had a grin on her face that looked far too 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." Kind of not sure what to think about her. 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 little 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 little 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''d been so long 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 too much more 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 things. 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, far 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 more rounds later," I said.

    "We''ll see." Candy stretched and it was still fairly attractive. Fortunately, the spirit was willing but 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 other 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 so 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 little 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 that 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 just have a 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 back up 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 still 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 more than one 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 response. 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." She 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 almost 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 seemed to watch 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 just 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 some 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 just 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 just 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 excited 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 something 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 sort of thing." 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 some 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 just stand here and guard the car then."

    The car was locked with its alarm already 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 too. 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 almost 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 light green shirt over tan rolled up shorts.

    "Hi." I was confused. "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.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    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 quickly 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.

    "This is 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 it 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 just pretend to touch it.

    "You could just 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 right? 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 just 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 almost leapt towards the woods.

    It was easy to think of her as mine, however briefly, after this morning. Possessiveness was almost a given for any guy right after sex.

    Trees went by, they almost 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 backward 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. Even seeing her face was 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 other than 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 yelling 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 a 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 as we drove us away from the car¡¯s whine. The motorcycle was just as loud, 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.

    She pulled off and stopped the motorcycle. I was thankful. The idea of going down the bumpy back road with 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 enough to get a feel for it.

    "No."

    "If I''d known you moving back to town would turn into such a clusterfuck I would have evicted you."

    "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 confused 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. A moment later 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 any more, 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 done it 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 fairly quick. 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 yelled at me while alternating from her phone conversation. "Jay, what the hell are you doing?"

    "We''re losing ground!" Candy had too much of a lead. She couldn''t get to Evan first. I had to know why there was so much pressure around what I was.

    Kahina had started something years ago during that first blood draw. It caused her to go crazy, like some 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 so many things 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 too many different 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 so 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 don''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 itched her chin briefly and seemed uncomfortable.

    "Really?"

    There was a honk of noise in the distance. Julianne turned and saw a run-down pickup slowly traversing the broken path towards us. She waved and ran back leaving me to try and figure out exactly what I''d been like back then. I stepped back 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 just looked at her, then loaded myself into the back. It sunk a moment 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 clearly 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 a little window into the cab of the truck. I grunted and rolled up my jacket in hopes that it would serve as a pillow.

 Once Lost Lords; 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, the right 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 some 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 almost 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.

    "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 out some fuzz onto that face and bam, instant success. Everybody wants some male 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. We''re 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 was still 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 cares more 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 really 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 such a trick off.

    "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 to 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 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 certainly trying 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 so many 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 an actual 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 could almost smell almonds. Wait, why did she smell of almonds? I hadn''t noticed 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 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.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    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 sudden movement of his hulking form shooting past me wasn''t enough to break my intense stare. The state itself was almost secondary to the feelings echoing across my body.

    There was a barely perceptible movement. 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 had 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 settled 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 too much for me.

    "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 moment 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 right." 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 a 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 some sort of attempt at sleep. 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 very 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 packs 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 pressure towards getting to 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 more than a few 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 a 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 quickly to being upset. Thomas had every right, wolves were master trackers by nature. Being eluded in their own woods was downright insulting.

    "Jay can just track him." Julianne brought up a good point. Maybe it was time for a more 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 so confused to use his eyes."

    "Found Evan." I tried to deviate the conversation away from how closely Julianne must have been watching 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 had been almost pure white. That meant he must be 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 at.

    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 almost 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 him by pouring liquid down his throat and muttering in a language that sounded like wind chimes left along an ocean cliffside.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 of the 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. 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 the earth¡¯s depths to sit alone in the riverbed. I had felt both the water and rock long 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 too." Thomas was still shirtless but 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, just 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 no 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.

    More tactile feedback came in. Candy had halted up ahead. She was very close to Evan now. We, the siblings and I, were very close now too.

    Near nightfall, during that brief 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 showed better senses than I and took cover behind a tree.

    "Hold it right there." The voice sounded almost like a cowboy. There was certainly far more than a hint of western to it. "Close enough for you all, I think."

    My eyes slowly focused on the shaft of wood I had nearly been penetrated by. The item itself was firmly lodged into the main trunk and oddly shaped. I tried to comprehend the details. There was a feathered end attached to the thin 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 very 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 be 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 elves 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 was too dangerous. Candy stated rather clearly 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 just 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 just 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 almost 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 swaddled 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 gained 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 have never 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 quickly while talking.

    "We won''t get away, didn''t you hear him? He''s not firing warning shots anymore, and he''s just 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 here?" 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 something."

    "Do you think he and Evan have a secret code?" Julianne had recovered quickly 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 too exceptional. Thomas should be able to hear me if I could just 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 just need a distraction." My voice was hushed.

    "You really want to risk our lives on Evan pulling through?" Thomas stared at me and shook his head.

    "Not a risk, Thomas can heal right?" I protested.

    "So do 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 other choices?" 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 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. "Cold iron." It took a few seconds to unwind and hand the metal over to Thomas.

    Thomas nodded and wound the links around one hand. Julianne nodded. 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.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    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 downwards. 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.

    Everything went wild. My head pulsed with a rush that was either excitement or fear. Everything felt alive in flashes. Like static on a scrambled television channel, everything came in clear bursts embedded in madness.

    I felt an arrow flung through the air towards Thomas. It connected with a huge 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 fabric. The bow and guiding arms shifted towards me with a lead for speed and direction. I pumped both legs trying for extra 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 too soon 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, implanted 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.

    More 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 too 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 his ears drooped and the arms were listless.

    I searched for a blade to draw blood forth. Another thought occurred to me. Pained cries ground out between my clenched teeth. The arrow lodged into my arm was quickly snapped and yanked out.

    There was now more than enough blood for Evan. My arm hovered over Evan¡¯s mouth and I tried not to shove 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. Not fast 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 was twisted.

    "Jeff." She said flatly. It was easy to forget that for her beauty, Candy was probably closer to one hundred years old. That was decades of experience and resolution that I didn¡¯t have. All of it shone in her face.

    "Why, Candy?" Why had she planted those illusions? I kept ahold of Evan and tried to get a few more 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 on full 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 too 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 by now. 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 still 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 again like Candy had earlier. "No! Lord, help me!" Evan¡¯s voice came out again in a cry for help. My help.

    I ran at her. My dive met with empty air and I face planted into the dirt. These were 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 was seen and connected. For a second time today Candy screamed my name but for a much different reason.

    The illusions hiding her from vision shattered. Candy spilled to the ground under me, she raised one hand and ground 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 yelling 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 almost made sense.

    Candy was denying me an answer from Evan as well, by taking away something? His eyes? Why 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 still 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 certainly cracked a rib.

    "Lord!" Evan yelled out. More 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 so 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 cries 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 other 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 looked even more battered than normal. 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 so much had been. 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. His 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.

    "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 a way through the woods. Evan walked like a blind man in the familiar territory.

    I leaned back near 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 to scratch it. Slowly one foot gave way, followed by the other and my body slumped to the ground.

 Once Lost Lords; Chapter 19 - An Issue

    I had regained a small amount of awareness. There was a distinct western twang that wasn''t quite audible. Vague impressions of an old man complaining about some little girl came to mind. Was that Evan¡¯s grandfather? Was everyone else 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 so 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''s that mean?" Julianne shuffled closer to the crackling flames.

    "I can not tell you more. It is dangerous enough 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 against traitors of our kind." The younger elf didn¡¯t even 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. I was still too tired to open my eyes and see 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 ever told." The cowboy answered.

    "So is that what you are then, a Speaker?" The direction of Julianne¡¯s voice clearly changed. She must be 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 fire crackled wildly.

    "Where''s she?"

    "Dead, with a tree planted for a marker, as is our custom." Evan said. There was a rustle of fabric as someone moved around.

    "Oh." Her voice was sad at first. Then it changed. "Oh. Oh, we should move him then." Move who? Me? I was too tired to stir 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 wasn''t sure how much trust should be placed in the female elf now.

    "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 next to each other. They looked more like siblings than ever. Evan was hopefully 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. Something carved 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 slightly. I blinked and looked away.

    "You promised me answers." There was no good way to start this conversation. I managed to sound calm. Clearly Evan hadn¡¯t conspired against me.

    "I find myself unable to fulfill my part of the bargain. I apologize." He said slowly. The object in his hand spun around some more.

    "No. Candy being here is my fault." I should have just 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 name is really," 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 too. 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 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 slowly. 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 quieter 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 clearly wounded from my failure to stop Candy.

    "Some of it." He said. Arnold was 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 more 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." Evan stood up and slowly walked off. He didn''t seem the type to ask for help despite clearly having a difficult time.

    "Am I allowed to help?" I wasn''t sure if there was some sort of 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 slow. I tried to keep myself distracted by looking at how he was walking. Stealth wasn¡¯t my skill, but both Evan and Candy seemed to be 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 just responded with a faint smile.

    "You can see the ruins of our old home here. My grandfather tells me it was quite 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 still 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 quickly.

    "I am too young to remember it all. My family has slowly been erased." Evan faintly stared at one of the building remains I had sensed.

    "Why?"

    "We are outcast from the others 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 almost 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.

    "Just how much 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 our 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 march forth that way.

    "Then why did you act so weird when I found you in your apartment? Why not just tell me then?" I tried to distract him with easier questions. Ones that shouldn¡¯t trigger his bindings or whatever Candy had done.

    "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 very well on the job.

    "You are protective over what is yours and misguided." He said.

    "Misguided how?"

    He didn''t answer.

    "More stuff you can''t talk about?"

    "I skirt the bindings as it is." He looked even more tired than when we''d started talking. "It is...draining."

    "Can you answer one more 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 to him felt aberrant. 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 greatly and he shuddered out a nod. His face grew even more pale right in front of me. Just that one answer had been pushing the far edge of the limits.

    "One more question? I won''t ask anything about myself this time." I tried to sound happy about getting a yes. It was difficult.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    "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 is 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 clearly hand carved. I tilted my head to look at the top. There seemed to be 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 enough 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 a bit 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 little alternative."

    "Care to explain?"

    "No." Evan¡¯s face grew serious. His entire range of emotions seemed negative except for one brief smile.

    "Lord, one more thing if I may. Then I must rest."

    "Sure."

    "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 more questions.

    "Jay!" Julianne¡¯s voice called out through the woods. For a moment, I almost yelled back, but that might hurt Evan.

    "Go ahead. I will find you after I have rested. There is a little more I can tell you once I have my energy back. It should not violate the bindings." Evan was almost passing out on the spot.

    "And your grandfather?" I asked. Julianne and the others had seemed 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 must be disturbing to the elf. Perhaps tomorrow night Evan would be more rested and I would get that last bit of information out of 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 much further away. Julianne was a better 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 a bit more 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 that quickly 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 back out here?" Thomas was asking Julianne. Clearly I wasn''t in a position to give him orders. At least he seemed 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 seemed happy about the prospect. 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 quickly.

    "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 freezer. 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. There was no good way to explain anything without outlining the Lord thing more. 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 quickly." She said.

    "I thought they had some distance speech." I almost included her in it before I remembered enough 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 things 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 halfway. That assumed the pack had people waiting. There would be another four or five hours to get out and past the obstructions.

    "Why are you so set 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 wanted a Second who could 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 better than most guys I know, once you tip toe 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 even try to make excuses for her girlfriend.

    "Doesn''t excuse 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 Pack.¡± Julianne rolled her eyes. ¡°And when no one''s looking, they fight about everything. Compared to that you''re downright peaceful and still better than most I see at the bar."

    "No good wolf boys 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 disgust 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 all 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 other people because they looked like 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 actually still has a thing for me?" I was stunned. Kahina had real feelings for me as a person? Not just me as a walking blood donating machine?

    "And the blood thing would be over if you joined her." Julianne said.

    My mouth clamped shut on a bitter response. We walked for a bit longer while 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.

 Once Lost Lords; Chapter 20 - Pack Lands

    We traveled to the truck and moved 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 much cleaner by the end. Bathing in a natural stream felt fantastic.

    By nightfall, we made it to the camp where Evan and his grandfather stayed. Both trips were 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 even 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 little more information that wasn''t entirely 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 more until your calling drowns everything else out." The elf was getting worked up just talking about it.

    "Like Candy?" I had tracked her more than once 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 slowly. It was almost Julianne¡¯s words coming out of his mouth.

    "You make it sound so simple." I was tired of this, almost as tired as Evan sounded.

    "Like most, you make simple things sound so 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 moments. I stared into the fire and watched as wood crackled. Each momentary flare of energy drew the scattered portions of my mind together. For a moment, just a brief one, 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 far enough 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 seem 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 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 back 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 showed 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 or anything, which was not an action I expected from her.

    Shifting eyes around, refusing to meet a stare, both things 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''d guessed." My response was dry. The guy seemed too damned cheery when he talked, a smart ass cheery. "Anything else?"

    Her eyes got kind of wide, and I watched her look past me and wince. My body turned just in time to be bulldozed by some sort of 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 just begging for an excuse to rend flesh.

    "Stacy?" I guessed.

    The bundle of fur and angry muscle clamped down upon my neck, grumbling. 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 actually wanted to harm me she would have.

    "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 just 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 the 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 a lot more reserved, since wolves typically were more irritable. One thing I had no desire to run into was an already aggressive woman being turned in to a wolf. They were bonfires of rage and burned out quickly.

    Other wolves in the background wore amused grins. There were maybe twenty total. Each one had a bag harnessed to them somehow. They all seemed 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.

    Wolves in the background fought to contain wheezing laughs. Their amusement seemed to vanish quickly 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 confused. There must have been someone or something approaching. I tensed up 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 little 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 small 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 most of them were 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 seemed to be a lot calmer and almost 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 even bother whispering at me. Not that it would have made much of a difference.

    "Too much skin." I wasn¡¯t upset about seeing a good looking woman naked. Nor was I homophobic. Wolves just 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 at.

    "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 back 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 quickly. Other 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 seemed so damned every man.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "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 at the other people 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 collection''s agent such as myself worked on cultivating. Maybe I should be upset that he was dead, but running out on 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 more than 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 place for it. Not the first time the little bartender had gotten me into trouble.

    "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 little group.

    "This is pack lands," Julianne¡¯s grandfather said. I still hadn¡¯t learned his name and no one had said it.

    "And you¡¯re okay rumbling with Sector Agents?" Malcolm tiled 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 slowly. Daniel and I went back almost 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 too 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 bit of aggression.

    My nose took one 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 almost 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 mostly 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 little 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, mostly because I gave him a list." Julianne took credit for the little 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 too busy giving her dress sidelong glances. It was one of my favorites.

    "All human?" I asked.

    "We were all human once." Kahina quickly retorted.

    I paused and stopped eyeballing the dress. She clearly was going to use every forum available to poke at our history. It almost 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 some sort of 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 some defenses in case. If it''s not Sector sanctioned then we''re allowed to defend 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 I.

    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 really 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 slowly. 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, just 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 so much 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 closer to her? Or had she stepped closer to me? Which way did she want me to ask that question?

    "Are you still mine?" My words were soft and confused to my own ears. All those times I''d tracked her, Evan had said they were a form of laying claim.

    Both her eyes closed so slowly 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 just shoved parts of the dress to one side.

    "Just a little bit?" Her voice was distant and hopeful.

    "After, we''ll talk after." I tried not to shake. We had been in a good spot and then her dimmable Vampire drives kicked in.

    Wearing this dress, saying those words, how much of this was a clever ploy? The thought sobered me quickly. Other ideas ran through, Daniel¡¯s impending army, the wolves in the area, her bodyguards, how badly she wanted to taste even 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 back 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 some 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 too intense. 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 seemed so 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. Still, he managed to smell oddly 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 for a moment 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 quick 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 almost 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 all the others would be safe. Afterward, I could figure out what do with Kahina.

    What was Daniel¡¯s angle by holding all my stuff hostage? He should believe me about Arnold''s dead body, yet he still marched. He knew it would make me mad. He knew and still pushed. Was he trying to pressure me into something besides Arnold?

    Everyone else was in a little gathering of war. Except me, I needed space. There was nothing useful my presence would contribute anyway. 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 ghostlike 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 seemed 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 said. The accent made it hard to tell for sure.

    "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. Somehow things didn¡¯t seem that easy.

    "Just saddle up and ask. Doubt they''ll shoot you, what with you having what''s left of their precious little 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 there was more ammo readily available. A day¡¯s worth of healing had reduced a bleeding wound to half 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 quickly went after him. Elves tended to forget 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 sighting 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.

    "Sshh." He whispered down 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''d also taken 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.

    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    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 rewrapped 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 shockwaves. 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 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 more real 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.

    "More proof that you''re a foul Hidden abomination. I''ve known it since the first time I saw you." He said. My head slowly drug itself over 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 confused 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.

 Once Lost Lords; Chapter 22 - Almost According to Plan

    A single 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.

    "Common, 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 plenty of excuse."

    "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 confused look must have been 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.

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    "Good. Common, 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 backlight 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 was no where near 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 more heads turning this way, both human shifted ones and wolves. 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 myself. 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.

 Once Lost Lords; 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 stuff from his people. Julianne said, used to say, that it was very 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.

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    "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, since 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 her dress as fabric hovered against 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. Really, 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 very 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.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 1 - Decapitation and a Cross

    Vampire weaknesses aren''t advertised. Only a few limited shapes have ever caused them real issues. Crosses, Ankhs, the Star of David, items of that vein. Grade schools avoid addressing these issues due to possible disturbances.

    Children who find out their neighbor is a vampire tend to not think friendly, well mannered, polite, or rich. More importantly they don¡¯t understand grudges that last for generations. The young hear bloodsucking and equate bleeding with pain.

    As well they should.

    Things weren''t always stable between the Church and other races. It took nearly two thousand years of good will to progress this far. Vampires running most charity organizations helped. In any case, vampirism the virus or curse, has always been panic stricken about holy symbols being shoved in their faces.

    Everything else though?

    They suffer no repercussions when stepping into a church. The ground could be consecrated and blessed down to the rivets in each pew. Even sprinkles of dew from the Pope''s own piss bowl meant nothing. They have no problems swearing on the Bible, provided there''s no cross, or saying Grace over a Kosher meal.

    Nor, apparently, problems with saying ''Oh God'' until they nearly black out.

    A pretty woman owning that two word vocabulary had collapsed right next to me. Hopefully she basked in the same glow I did. It was a welcome distraction from our looming challenges.

    Anyone else would notice the fangs under her top lip. They had grown more prominent in the last few months. I took note of her eyes first. The whites were nearly swallowed up by crimson irises. Dark skin stood out against the cream colored sheets. Picking her out in an unlit room would have been difficult for almost anyone else.

    For me it became second nature. Every move she made would brush against my senses as if I were the one moving. Each sigh of nearly pointless air that crossed her lips was tantalizing.

    Kahina was nearly taller than my six foot four. I had eighty pounds on her. Not because she was thin or lacked obvious curves. That was just me, her frame was athletic. Mine was grumpy pro wrestler.

    A friend told me I looked like a man perpetually recovering from street brawls. That could have been talking about any part of my image. The glare I gave everyone, short cropped hair, broken nose, or rare smiles. To most people¡¯s eyes I was a large, towering brute.

    Not Kahina. She saw something in me. Every move of her body brushed against my mind in some way. It had been difficult not to engage in ''interpersonal relations''. I tried to avoid getting back into the sack. Scouts honor.

    She wore me down quickly. Willpower against females wasn''t a strong trait of mine. Vampires had crosses, wolves had silver, elves had cold iron. For me it was this almost princess. Not that she was royalty, or that princesses were a real weakness.

    Her fingers moved down my chest. The action itself was only one expression of a physical drive to feed. We had just shared a physical high and still she craved more. I felt her body pulling towards mine like the tide towards the moon.

    There was no chance of me being a delusional puppy who looked at her and saw only the humanity. She wanted blood, mine. I had no way to claim ignorance of her desire. None of her body''s cravings were outright visible but there was no mistaking as fingers trailed major arteries.

    That same friend who called me a chronic fighter had also said when you date vampires blood''s always an issue. In two thousand years no one had proven that vampires required blood, they merely craved it due to their nature. The way most races instinctively propagate.

    Kahina was after my protection, love, and blood, and not in that order. For now I had only given her one of those. The other two would be settled eventually. Not that the whole dilemma had put up much of a roadblock to resuming bedroom activities. Love and lust were very different things.

    "Jay..." Her voice trailed into a very enthralling hum. How long had she been saying my name?

    "Jay..." Fingertips turned to nails with brief digging pressure.

    "Jay!" Her voice was a little louder but wasn''t harsh. Finally I gave in and said something.

    "Kahina, I can''t think with you distracting me." I said.

    She laughed quietly. That rarely happened outside of these unguarded moments. In public she was one person, cold, tough and a powerful presence in any room. In private, with me, she acted like the woman from years ago, quiet, funny, and playful.

    "I''ve got to go back to work. You can rest if you''re tired." She said.

    My hum resembled her earlier one. Kahina slid to the edge of the king size bed, which was a delightful show, and gave a huge stretch before standing up. A quick tug yanked the sheets out from under me. Her condition provided a lot more strength than a normal human had. The air whirled around the room bringing to bear the scent of crushed peppermint leaves. That smell followed her everywhere.

    "Hey!" I feigned offense.

    She responded by flashing a playful smile then strutting off towards the oversized shower in the bathroom. My eyes tried not to follow her and my other senses didn''t even bother with avoidance.

    I did have some gifts. One of the main ones was feeling other objects like they were extensions of my own skin. It was all tactile senses and required certain perceptions from me. I had to believe that the person, place, or thing, was mine.

    She had met all the requirements. I gave her leeway when stealing the sheets, there was often no sleep at night anyway. During the day Kahina preferred her secure location, leaving the bed for exercise. It took her exactly one minute and thirty two seconds to wake up and drag me to a bedroom, often barely clothed.

    Her desire for blood had killed my after sex buzz. I relaxed and flipped on a history channel. Later Kahina exited all dressed and clean. Her hair had been semi straightened but didn''t completely remove the natural waves. She didn''t say goodbye. Either her mind was already in business mode or I made the wrong choice in not getting into the shower.

    Four years of separation and looming trouble with her transition had contributed to our relationship being what it was. Kahina was willing to give me a lot of emotional space as long as there wasn''t any physical distance. I had a feeling that was mostly about keeping her craving for blood under control.

    That left me and an oversized shower to some alone time. I made my way over and hopped in. The setup was ridiculous, all I really needed was a nozzle to stand under and stream scalding hot water down. Instead there were jets, clear glass frames and at least five shower heads with different settings. Which in the right situations, such as joining Kahina earlier, could have been entertaining.

    However, it was only me, three unused shower heads and one blonde female elf holding a stack of poster boards. If Kahina was one of my major problems, elves were another.

    Candy. This wasn''t her first appearance these last few weeks. Visitations occurred every few days. Always the same distance away. Always facing me. I wasn''t delusional, this was an elven illusion. Pure visual trickery. Candy wasn''t here physically.

    Last time I walked around the projection to see if she was naked. Turns out what looked three dimensional, wasn¡¯t. It could have been rounded but this elf loved to tease.

    Tonight Candy¡¯s hair was done up in pigtails with a pair of comically thick framed glasses. The combination made her look like a naughty schoolgirl. Lines of tattoos spun from her eyes down to her toes. Maybe they were ivy, or thorns, it was hard to tell. Either way she looked like a well kept twenty-six which meant she was near fifty or sixty. Elves cheat when it comes to aging.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    Hello Jeff

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    The first sign was always a greeting to one of my pseudonyms. Candy flipped it over to the next one. Meanwhile I fiddled with some of the controls and tried to turn on a stream of water where the elven lass was standing. Maybe I could disrupt the image.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    Was the bloodsucker sucking?

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    I almost answered until I remembered the phantom never seemed to hear me. She let that sign fall and revealed the next message.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    I''ll bet she was

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    Her body tipped forward to cast away the latest message board, almost revealing something more interesting than bare shoulders. One hand draped down, the other at the top, making sure her midsection was covered.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    She''s going to kill you

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    Barely any pause between the messages now. The elf had some way to know if I was reading her signs.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    She''ll lose control

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    The sign flipped down quickly.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    I''m better in bed

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    Each time the message shifted wildly between trying to force me away from Kahina and lure me back to the elf. I had no idea why. I did my damnedest to avoid her. Candy had rather firmly ruined portions of my life.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    She just lays there during the day

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    The next sign was guaranteed to be some sort of follow up comment.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    You know I don''t just lay there

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    The elf and I had a rather wild one morning stand that had ended in Candy betraying me for reasons that didn''t make complete sense. Not to mention that if Kahina ever found out about the whole event my balls would end up on a shelf. Vampires, even incomplete ones like Kahina, were possessive.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    If you ever need a ride, come see me...

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    Her top hand came up and covered her lips in a playful pantomime of a kiss and wink, almost letting the last sign slip away. Every one of these illusions had been an exaggerated vaudeville act. Gestures, words, each one looked larger than life.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    I could use one myself... Bye Jeff...

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    Candy looked down at her signs pursed her lips. She brightened up as the last sign dropped. The elf''s image grew fuzzy and she was gone before anything more than a tease was revealed.

    It did serve to bring my problems back into focus. There were three major ones.

    One, Kahina was nearing the final stages of her transition. It was the most dangerous time for a new vampire. The chances of her dying during this process were high. Until she completed the change she would only be partially converted, and denied many of the rights that came from the Tribunal. The Tribunal was the vampire form of government here in Western Sector.

    Two, the female elf with poster boards, nicknamed Candy, was trying to get my attention for some unknown reason. Last time I saw Candy, without an illusion, had been at the other end of a swinging tree branch. Followed rapidly by being kneed in the crotch and having dirt shoved in my face. Though she honored our deal and got me where I needed to be. I couldn''t decide how to feel about our limited relationship.

    Lastly, the root of it all. There was a reason behind Kahina''s strange desire for me. A reason Candy had gone to such lengths to hurt me. Something which explained how I could feel other objects and people as if it was my own skin and track missing items down across miles.

    I wasn''t human.

    Water helped me focus. Past the interpersonal relations with Kahina and the struggle of moving to a new location, I had finally decided to deal with Candy instead of admiring her personal peek show. I just had to find a way to get to Evan. He was a scrawny and depressive fellow that had been bound by Candy. Being bound prevented Evan from telling me anything about who I was, but maybe he could still tell me why Candy was sending me these illusions.

    While I showered one of the servants staffing the house straightened up the bed and set out a suit for me. They clearly thought my intelligence was low because the suit was laid out piece by piece on the bed. A neophyte would put them on left to right.

    Having my wardrobe redone ruined my self-perception. My usual simple jeans and t-shirt had been replaced by a higher thread count and professionally tailored items. Kahina¡¯s other employees insisted that I looked intimidating. They were only trying to console me.

    I hated it all. Part of me wanted to go back to my apartment and do my old job. Being a big dumb thug who was a part time bouncer, part time collection''s agent for a loan shark. It was a persona that took almost two decades to perfect. Four months of finery wasn''t much stacked up against that kind of time.

    The tie was the worst part. Thankfully someone tied the knot for me already. I just had to slip it over and cinch the noose closed. Kahina¡¯s dark purple theme didn''t look terrible against my suit''s shirt.

    My feet barely touched the hallway outside our bedroom before a voice spoke up.

    "Morning, Mister Fields." A female said.

    "Hi, Shaggy." Shaggy had been the latest thing to come to mind when assigning her nickname.

    "Sir." Good. She sounded as exasperated with me as I felt with her. Maybe because she had to call me sir. Normally Shaggy only attempted it once or twice during the night, after that she broke down and stopped calling me anything.

    "Yes?" I said.

    "Ann, please. For the fifth time this week. Ann." Shaggy kept count for me. Last week I insisted her name was Brownie. The week before that was Mouse, before that it was Hamster.

    Shaggy was a shadow assigned by Kahina. Her hair was a carefully ironed and shoulder length brunette. The cut was longer in front than in back. How she kept it out of her eyes was beyond me. She carried all that on a tiny frame that had thrown me around during a sparring match months ago.

    Her clothing was similar to mine, but effeminate. Collar slanted in different places, the vest was cut differently, her pants flared out slightly. A line of purple laced up one side. Everything in the household had the same theme. It was Kahina¡¯s cattle brand for all things hers.

    "We''ll leave soon." I wanted off the property. Shaggy also drove the car for me since I never felt comfortable with them, or learned.

    "Might want to hold onto that thought." She responded.

    "Why?" I asked.

    "Nighttime raid practice planned.¡± She pulled out a small device and scrolled through to a message. ¡°At the western gate, sometime between now and sunrise."

    "Tonight?" I asked. The one night I finally decided to get out of the house? To stop putting things off? Fantastic.

    "Yes, sir. Over the next few weeks he''ll start upping the practice classes too." He, the household''s main instructor, a man I only heard called Sensei by nearly everyone at the compound.

    "Great."

    "I don''t know why you care, you conned a free pass." There was something in her voice that acted like one of the guys. Her tone wasn''t cute, or tiny, or deep, just normal.

    The free pass she mentioned had been gained by virtue of being big, scary, and Kahina''s. Not because I was any good at this security stuff. It was the same reason they didn''t invite me to their daily practice downstairs.

    They were doing some sort of Mixed Martial Arts in preparation. I took it seriously once in the last few months and broke another man¡¯s leg and fractured two knuckles. Not because I knew anything about Martial Arts but because I was willing to get hurt. It had been declared a good demonstration of what a unshifted wolf could do by our teacher.

    Nighttime raids were done with the same focus in mind. To prepare for an attack.

    "Any guesses on what time it''s happening?" I couldn''t exactly use the phone to call Evan. Most elves lived in houses like everyone else. The one I wanted was lost in the middle of a huge forest.

    "No. I''d never tell you anyway, they''re less effective if anyone knows." Shaggy just wanted to see me squirm. The last time a practice had gone off I couldn''t make it back to Kahina in time.

    I closed my eyes and pictured her for a moment. Pictured her as mine, which she was. Slowly a portion of my senses activated. This always felt like giant sheets of silk were sliding off my back. Those extensions fanned wide and took in the feel of local objects. Each weight, vibration of sound, shift in the air betrayed details. Then there were links, paths I could follow to objects further away. Each belonging had a thin thread of energy that connected between me and a destination.

    Shaggy wouldn''t see any of these extra things with her eyes. No one ever did. The only clue about what was happening was an unfocused look on my face.

    Vision dims. Feel the world around. Feel cords. Each different texture. Feels like colors. Multiple, a rainbow that connects to Incomplete Servant. Trails far northwest.

    The thoughts felt muddled, like my brain was shifting gears and thinking in another pattern. None of this was visible, not really. My mind was translating the sense of touch and tactical feedback into a spectrum I could make sense of. I imagined it to be similar to bats'' echolocation forming a picture of the world.

    Another line nearby. Many tiny threads bundled together. Rubbery. Draws south. Home. Sanctuary. Last one, connection closer. Pulls towards the Dangerous Mate. Can feel the purple, feel the red splotches unevenly splattered along the cord.

    Threads showed up to objects that I had claimed. Kahina gave herself to me and that was more than enough to create the bond. Then there was the name thing. My brain couldn''t think of names right while tracking. Kahina became Dangerous Mate. It was a dead on title. Often, when I had worked collections, my mind called nearly everyone Prey.

    Follow connection. Tug along line. Travel through building, through walls and floors. Ceilings and doors. Far wing of house. Closer to Dangerous Mate. There.

    She sits in a chair. Smiles briefly. Might feel me, normally does. Sun long gone from this room. Remains of heat hang in the walls. The room feels of Dangerous Mate.

    Six other bodies are here. Their mass swirls the air as they move. Words rebound off objects in the room. Each pitch creates different impressions as they absorb into plaster and wood. Words bore like all business conversations.

    The connection released. A moment later I mentally returned to my body, secure in the knowledge that Kahina was safe and nearby. If there was a practice tonight getting to her would be easy. Her office was one of the main ones and I finally knew the place well enough to make it there quickly.

    My job was to ensure I was next to Kahina when the alarms went off. During the first few drills I had been completely lost trying to find my way through the house. It only took a few embarrassing remarks from the other household staff for me to take it seriously, that and my promise to protect her during the change would be worthless if I kept failing.

    "We''ve got time." I shrugged.

    "You could do some actual practice with the rest of us." Shaggy said.

    "No."

    She tried to get me to seriously spar against the others. Some wanted a rematch. I didn''t. They were all training in a number of different things on Kahina''s dime. Almost all her extra money went into improving their skills. I was an oddball to the whole thing. No one seemed quite sure how to deal with me or what skills I might need. That would have required getting to know me. Nothing about my demeanor said friend material. While everyone else studied I wandered the grounds or lifted weights.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "Well I need range time. My scores have been dropping over the last few months." She implied that being assigned as my shadow had caused her skills to get worse.

    "Sure." I didn¡¯t really care.

    "Some of us actually earn our keep." That one was an insult. It helped justify calling her anything but Ann.

    Drills, training, shooting ranges, hand to hand and other skills. Gentry topics weren''t shirked either. Kahina provided lessons in social grace for those who needed it. At first everything confused me. Why would anyone waste that much money training people on such dated topics? There were roughly twenty people under her employ devoting extra hours to this material.

    I learned it was standard for richer people who were converting to vampires. After a few months it made more sense. Vampires didn''t have other pack members to rely on, they weren''t kids sheltered by an elven clan. At most a vampire would have two or three of their kind nearby.

    No one else would protect them. She was building loyalty through wealth. There was money to be made if you passed the background checks needed for employment in a vampire household.

    Kahina was gearing to go big. She knew it, her people knew it. Even I, dense as a brick, knew it. This was a long term game. Their success was hers, and the reverse was true. It was almost symbiotic.

    "Let''s go." Shaggy wanted the shooting range and that was fine. Not that anyone would ever catch me with a gun. The only experience I had with them involved being shot.

    ¡°Okay.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not shooting though.¡±

    "Good. You can just sit there." She responded.

    We headed down to another part of the grounds. Some of the old buildings had been converted into more useful things. How many pools did a giant estate need? According to Kahina, only one. The place vaguely resembled a military compound.

    A few minutes later and we were in the range itself. Shaggy wasted no time checking out a gun and loading in ammunition. She slapped in earplugs and threw me a set. Moments later the female was unloading bullets into a stationary target. There were a few different styles. One was a standard cutout. Another randomly moved positions at high speeds. The final test recorded how quickly you switched bullet types and hit specific targets.

    Wolves had reflexes. Vampires had speed. Humans had to be prepared for both.

    Shaggy finished firing a warmup clip then started another with the dot. Everyone scored low on that since it required predictive skills. I knew it, she knew it, everyone did. Knowledge was useless without attempted application.

    "You''ll never improve like that." A new voice instantly grated on me. It was male with a slight crisp of professional asshole.

    "Don''t worry about me." Shaggy responded.

    The person in question was somewhere behind Kahina in the transformation process. His white jacket and gelled hair said one word. Snob. At least he never actually slicked the hair back. The partial vampire was also Kahina¡¯s Second. In many houses that also meant that they would be lovers.

    I would have killed him.

    "Are you ready, little one?" The other voice was quiet. Another partial vampire with short hair and a suit that practically hung off his thin frame.

    Both of them liked to pretend I didn''t exist. Hell. I constantly hoped they would fail to wake up one night.

    ¡°As ready as it gets." Shaggy said while tracking the red dot and squeezing off more shots. Some of them actually hit according to the targeting computer on the other side.

    "That''s good. There''s not much time." The quiet one said.

    "We know." Shaggy fired again.

    "If only everyone was as dedicated as you." Anthony was Kahina¡¯s smug sounding Second. His clever inflection directed the comment at me.

    A few months ago I had gotten into a scuffle with Kahina¡¯s Second. I remembered his head in my hands, horror painted unflattering wrinkles around the eyes. The damage from mild burns hadn''t recovered but he smoothed it over with makeup.

    "It''s not for me to question the Lady''s orders, Mister Rays." Shaggy responded.

    "My Dear, Anthony, please." The blond vampire side. She should punch him in the face.

    "If you say so." Shaggy didn''t like Anthony any more than I did. I wasn''t even a girl and his flirting creeped me out.

    Ann moved on to the third type of training. Targets shifted at random times. Faces, each one meant a different race and required different methods to score points. Headshots and hearts counted for extra. I wasn''t sure what kind of machine they had back there but it distinguished the three kinds of practice bullets.

    Silver coating for wolves. Iron for elves. Vampires took regular bullets and lots of them. The only things that worked in a real fight was decapitation and a cross. Or piercing their heart. Shaggy switched between the targets, seeming to prefer the vampire ones over others.

    Anthony stood there staring at Shaggy''s backside. No doubt dreaming up creepy fantasies. Vampires in thought, even partials, became statue like. After numerous times of seeing a fanger frozen over the meats in a supermarket, the wonder of it faded.

    Alarms kicked in with a sudden blast causing my heart to jump. The alert was designed to be subtle but I was on edge waiting for the noise. Beeps would sound everywhere but the intruder''s location.

    The history magazine I had been reading dropped slowly. My mind was starting to track down Kahina. Then it registered that neither of the other three had moved. They looked confused.

    "That''s the drill?" I asked.

    True to form Mister Rays and the other vampire ignored me. Both zipped out the door. My eyebrow raised as I glanced at Shaggy.

    "We should go." I said.

    "Yes." Her face looked slightly panicked.

    "What''s wrong?"

    "That isn''t the drill alarm." She turned and started to go out the door.

    History had proven my slow comprehension in times of panic. I struggled to compare these noises to the ones we were trained to recognize. The drill alarm was a short series of chirps, high pitched and only three.

    This had been four and the final note was longer than the others. No, that wasn''t the kind of mistake anyone could just make. Either this was a drill of a more serious nature, or...

    Kahina.

    My hand left an imprint on the wall as I burst out of the room like the vampires. Tactical sensations went on high alert, underlying my other senses. Water seeped into my shoes from moist grass. Heavy air brushed through with a tiny breeze. Footsteps slapped forcefully against the dirt.

    I spent these last few months practicing, remembering how to trust my senses without needing to see. My body ran forward on auto pilot while both eyes closed. Kahina. She was still in the same room upstairs, in her office.

    Gunfire rang out from the walls. Someone was trying to breach them and either it was a real attack, or it was a diversion. This was why Kahina insisted I be by her side for practices. Shaggy was somewhere behind me. To her credit she wasn''t yelling for me to wait up.

    I moved quicker than normal. Not as fast as a vampire but well above human speeds. My speed and strength shifted up a notch when something I owned was in danger. Kahina was the second person to ever have ownership applied to her.

    The first was Evan, the male elf in the woods far northwest. The same one I had wanted to go out and visit tonight. He wasn¡¯t in danger but Kahina was. More gunshots came from behind me and an explosion of some sort lit up the area. This certainly was not a drill.

    I barged through one of the side doors and took the stairs three at a time. My other senses started extending outward. Brief waverings of extra mental limbs reached out to feel everything. Tactile feedback started pouring in on a level so detailed that it replaced eyesight.

    Rail jerks as I grab it. Pressure flattens the wooden carvings slightly. Thin layer of paint crinkles under my grip. The Stalker''s feet hit the doorway. Sharp soled boots shift from cement to hardwood floor. In front, towards Dangerous Mate, a beam cracks. Attic shifts slightly around the weakened spot. Another shudder. Feels like chair clubbing someone.

    My feet carried me up the stairs, around a corner and halfway down the hall. Men in suits were running past me. They were business partners from her earlier group. Only three went by and I remembered counting six before.

    Three? In the room with Kahina? What were they? Humans? Vampires? Both would make sense. It didn''t matter what race they were, a single cross would cause her to panic. There had to be one, no one in their right mind would attack a vampire so close to transformation without a cross. Even I knew better and my life had revolved around being intimidating to all races.

    The door to Kahina''s office slammed open as I shouldered into it. A quick count revealed two people. One recovering from being thrown into a wall, he had a blade as long as his forearm in one hand. The second man bore a cross down on Kahina. She struggled, trying to overcome the overwhelming fear it must be giving her.

    Where was the third one?

    Hyper attentive senses had enough time to provide a visual of metal flying in from the side. It was warning enough to tilt slightly and prevent a chair from smashing directly across the front of my face. Instead it collided from temple to ear sending me backwards into the hallway. Pain rippled through but I suffered it with the help of my protective instincts.

    I was analyzing. The blow had a lot more strength than a human could manage. Whoever the third person was didn''t waste any time coming out after me. His shoulders rolled. Other little tidbits clicked. Ears were uncovered and unpointed, each of the three felt heavy, one''s skin twitched as he walked.

    "WOLVES!" I shouted over a shoulder.

    The shout itself didn''t help my ringing ears. Ann would be here soon with the right type of bullets. Her footsteps were still trying to get to the top of the stairs. Too far away for Kahina''s safety.

    "Let''s go, you pampered lapdogs." At least that''s what I tried to say. Really the only words to make it out of my mouth were pampered lapdogs, and those two were loud. If there was one thing that set off a wolf, it was insults.

    And any smile that showed more than the front few teeth. Wolf instincts screamed challenge from the right sort of smirk. Maybe it was just me.

    My expression set off the one who smacked me with a metal bit of chair. I scrambled to my feet and ran back down the hallway, luring them closer to Shaggy and further away from Kahina. Behind me I felt two sets of footsteps.

    Third trespasser doesn''t move. Feet press heavily onto floorboards.

    In a single movement I slipped one hand into a pocket and donned a glove. I brought the equipment back up and tightened down the velcro fastening with my teeth.

    Shaggy could be felt just ahead, around the corner I blitzed past on my way up. I sidestepped into one of the other rooms. Hopefully they were enraged enough to miss the fact that I had stopped running.

    The footsteps from both wolves pounded my senses like drumbeats. Their cadence freakishly synchronized as they got closer. Pack, they were from the same pack. Was it a local one? No, hopefully not. They might not have forgiven me, but they wouldn''t try to kill Kahina.

    There, the footsteps felt close enough.

    I swung an arm out right below head level. The first wolf connected neck first with my modified glove. They contained silver molded into razorback ridges. Dragging them one way would slice, pulling them backward would rend.

    Feel the moment of connection and the world pauses in celebration. Feel back of my clenched fist tear. World resumes as I smile in triumph. Small Prey. Weak. Will remind them of their place.

    The resulting fist to neck connection attacked my perceptions twice. Once through normal visuals, the other via tactile echoing. I grabbed his head with my other hand and forced the rending motion across his neck, dragging the molded silver out. Silver was a weakness to any wolf.

    My position was compromised. Close behind the first one was the second wolf. His body shifting to take on the extra mass of a halfway form. Apparently he didn''t like his chances without being in battle mode.

    Behind me I felt other footsteps, lighter, a brush of skin against the grip of a heavily weighted gun. The kickback would be terrible if Ann didn''t brace herself. Not my problem. My job was to get to Kahina.

    I dove down the hallway trying to skirt the second wolf. My speed was better than an average human though wolves still had superior reactions. Any real advantage I had was based on unfair tools, experience, and backup.

    Three bullets flew past in quick succession. I barely slowed down as they connected with the wolf. Two center mass, the third one hitting him in the head. Accurate, effective, and Shaggy said she needed practice. There was a spray of blood and brain matter that got all over my suit. It would piss the cleaners off.

    My senses were partway down the hall. Kahina was clammy. Her heartbeat pounded at almost the speed of a normal human''s, which was the same as complete and utter panic. Something bad was happening. My teeth tore at the velcro of the second glove and cinched it tightly.

    Around the corner again, through the doorway and setting eyes on the third member of the team. His body had shifted during the time I was gone. All of his clothes were torn and his shoes half exploded from the sudden burst in height and redistributed bulk. In one claw he dangling the cross. At some point this final wolf had picked up a cross tossed behind by his now deceased partner. It dangled from one claw. Kahina''s body shook with imprinted terror.

    His other malformed hand held the larger blade. It didn''t seem as disproportionate now that he was taller. For a moment I wondered how he could hold the handle of a weapon in that shape. The thought was shoved sideways as I realized he held the blade up and to the side. Ready to make a sweeping motion through Kahina''s frozen neck.

    "Stop!" I ordered. The shifted wolf seemed to flinch for a moment and his fur ruffled in anger. He looked like he was straining to start chopping but couldn''t quite do it.

    The pause was only momentary. His arm came down and I hit the wolf in the side simultaneously. Behind me Kahina''s voice cried out in pain. Her voice struck my ears just after I felt the brief flash of metal slice across skin. It was enough to send my instincts into overdrive. Mine, she was mine and no one would hurt her.

    Below me the wolf struggled to get up. Shifting fouled up range of motion in favor of strength. I didn''t let him get leverage. One hand shoved its way into his elongated muzzle and anchored across the top teeth. The other hand grasped his bottom jaw.

    He tried to bite down on my hands. Silver protruding from the back of my gloves caught his tongue and resulted in strangled yelping. Both legs started kicking wildly. His jaw weakened slightly as self preservation stopped the biting.

    I strained my arms as hard as possible. With a weight of two thirty from working out there was a lot of force behind these limbs. Wet, wrenching sound poured forth as his bottom jaw tore off. That bit of flesh and bone was tossed behind me as I wound back my fist to pound into the fresh passage. A sudden jerk later and the half wolf stopped moving.

    A quick inventory revealed that the side of my face felt swollen. My ear rang. Both palms hurt from where the gloves had barely held out against teeth. Remains of the wolf''s cranium being punched hung on my hands.

    All unimportant. Kahina had been cut, I felt it.

    Turning around didn''t feel right. I was almost afraid to find out if she was still alive, or how bad the damage was. Instead I reached down and took the cross with my cleaner hand. The symbol itself glowed briefly red on contact then dimmed as my palm closed around it.

    "Jay?" Shaggy''s footsteps were slow behind me. Hesitant, one foot would lift, then set back down where it was. I could feel the gun still in her hands but she wasn''t aiming at anything specific.

    "Did you..." She had shot a wolf in the head and still sounded squeamish. "Did you just punch him in the brain?"

    "Yes." I stood up and turned around.

    "Guess you''re useful after all, sir." She looked down at the mess below me, where the wolf had died and the awkward positioning. "Do you know why wolves make terrible hookers?" Shaggy asked as her gun slid into its holster.

    "They don''t work well on their backs." I said.

    "Damn, you know the joke." Her feet hadn''t moved from the doorway. My brain was still providing feedback of the area. The pressure of Shaggy''s sharp edged soles pressed into the floorboards.

    "Julianne would have liked you." Kahina''s voice was quiet and shaky.

    I turned and looked at her with a dumb smile on my face. With all the gore it probably looked disturbing but that didn''t matter. She was okay. On her neck was a clear red mark reaching halfway across which healed as I watched. I inched closer which resulted in Kahina snarling at me. It seemed like an unconscious reaction as her face shifted emotions right afterwards.

    "Get out." Kahina said.

    Hell. Our relationship was back to square one. I should have been here sooner. Or recognized the alarm quicker. Since both feet were already under me, it was easier to nod and start for the door.

    "Not you. Her." Kahina clarified.

    Ann looked at me then headed outside, closing the door behind her. Kahina hadn''t moved at all. Her body jerked in a tight suppressed motion. Then again. My face scrunched up for only a moment in confusion. I walked back over and knelt down and stared into Kahina''s eyes for a moment. They had looked so satisfied earlier tonight and now quivered just a bit.

    "You''re alright." I kept my voice low so that Shaggy wouldn''t hear us. "Common, this isn''t the worst we''ve been through."

    I reached out and touched the wound carefully to get a feel for how deep it was. Enough to frighten, but not bad enough to kill. Blood pooled slowly on her neck. Vampirism prevented wounds from coagulating right away. By design of course. Staying fresh would let the condition spread quicker.

    "God this stuff is messing with my mind." Once again she proved that vampires had no compulsion against words. "I thought you left me."

    "When?" I asked.

    "When you ran away. I thought you left me again." She said.

    I left once before without much word. That night had been one of the worst in my life. Four years of wandering and neither of us were over it. According to my recollection of that night she nearly killed me. In her story it was the other way around. Yet here we were. Together, in a sense.

    "No." She was being serious so I should be too. "No I''m here until the change."

    "And after? Will you leave me then?" She said.

    "We''ll make it work." I hoped there would be some method that didn''t involve one of us tempting death.

    She smiled briefly then her face crumpled again. "I swear she sounded like Julianne for a moment."

    Julianne was a subject that neither one of us brought up much. To me she was an old boss, friend, and bartender. To Kahina she had been a best friend, maybe her only real friend. Julianne had died a few months ago, murdered by one of the vampires that should have been under Kahina''s command.

    "I''ll be leaving later, but not for long." And that kind of comment was proof that men were idiots. There should have been a filter on my mouth to help with saying the wrong thing at the worst time.

    "No. Not now." Kahina clutched in closer. "Stay. Please."

    "Sure." I wanted to hold her, tell her would be okay, but my hands were more than a little gory. "I''m here." Instead I draped an arm over her, trying to make sure I didn''t get any of the mess on her clothes.

    "Just a moment. I just need a moment." She started shivering again. It hadn''t even occurred to me that leaving the room might frighten her.

    She had every right to worry about it. If I had stuck around the first time, instead of running due to fear, perhaps things would have been different. Hell. Kahina was one of the few things on this planet that truly scared me. Because of what she meant to me, because of what she felt when thinking of me. That barely veiled inhuman hunger.

    Dangerous Mate.

    Slowly, all my senses narrowed down to the woman holding herself close to me. Feeling every trace of fabric, flooring, and blood that touched against her skin. She didn''t surge in hunger, her muscles were bunched too tightly. The only thing was that smell, the sharp tang of peppermint leaves that always traveled with her.

    Stupid me, I had no idea what to say. Reassuring words were not something that came naturally. Maybe being there was enough. Maybe my actions told her what words couldn''t.

    For a moment, that brief quiet moment, it was just us.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 2 - Odd Affliction

    A knock at the door pulled Kahina out of break down mode. Emotions warred across her face, each successfully being reigned into a stern mask. I stood up and backed away to give her the space she needed to retain any sort of commanding presence.

    Mister Rays and Kahina''s other guardian swept in the door. Behind him stood Ann, one hand casually hanging off of a belt loop near her gun. The Second''s gaze swept across the room and noted the mess. I could see his lips quirk in a disgusted fashion.

    "Quite brutal I see," Anthony said.

    "I want a full report on how these men were able to slip by screening." Kahina responded without any tremor in her voice.

    "I''ll see to it." The Second replied.

    "Miss Myers," She addressed Ann in the hallway. "Please ensure that you file a report on your actions here tonight and send a copy to both Sector and the Tribunal."

    "Along with the Alphas?" Shaggy asked while walking back into the room.

    "Make sure it''s complete, but do not send it to the Alphas yet. We''ll need to figure out which pack this was before the rest of them show up and start howling for revenge." Even after a crisis my woman wasn''t above a terrible joke. The slight gleam in her eye gave it away.

    "Lady." Ann bowed, something people only seemed to do around Kahina. An eyebrow raised in my direction then she marched off.

    "Mister Fields." Only orders ever started with my last name. "Make sure her report is accurate with regards to your actions." Kahina wanted me to omit certain portions. Specifically where I ripped open the wolf''s head. We agreed that my odd abilities should never make it into a report.

    "I''ll forward the report for you, Lady." Mister Rays preferred all outgoing paperwork be approved through himself or his assistant.

    Kahina''s eyes met mine briefly and nodded again. None of her earlier weakness showed. Her glance sent a message.

    I nodded.

    Neither of us really trusted the vampires under her. Not after Kahina had chased one down and decapitated him. She would want me to make sure Anthony Rays wasn''t the only channel we submitted a report through. I had my own contact in the Sector agency. Ann, Shaggy, took care of most of the paperwork since I accidentally hurled three fancy phones into walls from aggravation.

    Reporting was frustrating but required. West to east coast there were five major branches of control. One for each species, Tribunal for Vampires, Pack Alphas for wolves, The Council for elves. Humans had their government that made less sense than the other three combined. Each one established for the same reasons.

    Mediation of their people.

    Between them all was a joint peacekeeping force that consisted of Sector Agents. Sectors branch of government controlled most of the interspecies actions for the continent. They took any race and made them lethal machines that kept the rest of us in line if our respective governments couldn''t. Essentially law enforcement with a utility belt and the training to back it up.

    Kahina, as someone who neared completion the change over to vampirism, had to report to both Sector and the Tribunal.

    I was friends with a Sector Agent. Childhoods on different sides of the tracks, though. We hung out a little more often in the last few months. He at least tried to rebuild our friendship after nearly shattering it. That mostly consisted of taking me out drinking at any bar but the one near home. It was working. Some of the best relationships in existence centered around alcohol.

    After we were alone in the hallway Ann started questioning what had happened. "Sir, what the hell was that?" Shaggy asked.

    "What was what?" I said.

    "The jaw popping, brain punching burst of manpower."

    "Did you think these muscles were for show?" I asked. Shaggy managed to convey her response through body language alone.

    "Again, mister big and tall, and ignores the question, sir, what the hell was that?"

    "That..." Big and tall? I could see how she might say that. Shaggy was almost as short as Julianne had been. "is why she keeps me around."

    "I knew you couldn''t be that good in the sack."

    "We need to head out." I ignored her comment and shifted the conversation.

    "Not until after we get cleared." She shook her head.

    We were stuck on the compound for a few hours. My suit was a mess so cleaning up would be good. The household was in a bit of a tizzy trying to mop up and preserve a crime scene at the same time. Sector agents normally left vampire households to the Tribunal but when it became interspecies related things got touchy.

    Wolves attacking vampires in a household of humans was about as interspecies as you could get. Though, most of Kahina¡¯s core staff couldn''t legally be treated as human while serving her. It was the visiting businessmen that brought Sector laws into play.

    Normally Sector Agents kept packs and vampires in their respective corners. Without Sector, our tenuous interspecies balance would collapse. We needed referees and enforcers. We needed people that everyone could go to when another race was stepping on toes.

    In some ways, they also allowed us to keep from segregating too badly. Some of the older territories in Europe still had wolves in mountain communities and humans living under feudal vampiric lords. Not good for morale.

    I took a shower, again, which washed away wolf remains and stress. Kahina would probably kill for a shower as well but as the head of house she had to stay present. Hell. Once again I missed the obvious. I should have stayed in there, blood-drenched, and smiled at that asshole she called a Second. Perhaps even fiddled with the cross under my shirt in a none too subtle manner. Even better I could have planted the wolf¡¯s broken skull on the desk as a trophy while laughing at Anthony.

    The fantasy made me happy.

    Ann startled me with a yell from the other side of the wall, asking for details on what had happened. I gave her a rundown that excluded my extra senses. She didn''t need to know all my secrets, even Kahina didn''t know them all.

    I only met two people, both elves, that had a slight clue as to how different I was. Candy refused to tell me, she created the apparition that had invaded my sight during the last shower. Evan was the other, and in a forest I was banned from with a promise of death if I returned. That threat was issued by Julianne''s grandfather.

    "How do you want me to write off the jaw ripping thing?" Ann yelled.

    "Emotional outburst," I said.

    "That''s good. I''m sure he''ll love seeing that clever phrasing." She did her reports on some little handheld PDA. "Which pack did you want me to put on this report under your name?"

    Kahina had told people that I was a loner. Didn''t belong to any specific group. Most people took that to mean that I was a wolf as well. It explained my muscle bulk well enough and gave a cover story for the extra senses.

    "Not pack, Shaggy." I heard a thump against a wall somewhere and a few words ground out through a clenched jaw.

    "So you keep saying. But Kahina wouldn''t lie to us, sir. It''s part of our employment contract." Ann picked up where she left off with the conversation.

    "She didn''t lie," I said. Kahina frowned on false statements, it was bad for business. Telling them the whole truth was a completely different situation.

    "I set a new suit out for you. Unless you''d rather run around nude and howl about your victory." Shaggy said.

    "Tempting." I ignored the second part where she implied I was a wolf again. Shaggy couldn''t conceive of a world where other races existed. She even told me the Purge had been successful and warranted.

    The Purge was glossed over in certain college courses. Each version of the story alluded to the same concept. Take a farm family in the middle ages, give them two dogs and a cat. The cat purrs nicely and is thusly ignored. One dog goes rabid. Suddenly all dogs are dangerous because they can become diseased, and they need to be put down. Father takes both out to the woodshed in the back and solves the rabies problem. Then refuses to talk about the dogs and removes all signs that they ever existed.

    Only the cat remains, purring. Instead of a dog, you have every other race on the planet. Things we could only guess at now. The cat, of course, would be the races that were allowed to survive. Never mind that felines also get rabies.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    The Purge was advertised. What races were purged wasn''t. Time had also managed to eradicate most written records and many oral ones. Everything useful was systematically destroyed.

    Hell. Shaggy was still talking. "No problem. It''s on the chair in there."

    What was on the chair? I glanced through the shower door and saw an obvious pile of clothes. They were tailor made. Apparently Kahina didn''t believe in generic suits for my frame. Fitting my shoulders without billowing out at the waist was difficult.

    "Careful there," I said.

    "Don''t worry, your pride''s intact. You''re not my type anyway."

    "Alright." I wonder if I should be offended. Probably best not to ask.

    "Don''t worry, you''ll be invited to the wedding." She sounded vaguely amused for once. It was a change of pace from her annoyed or plain tone.

    "Who''s the lucky guy?" She didn''t answer me. I shrugged it off, my brain was elsewhere anyway.

    It took longer to dry off a second time. Or I stood there just replaying the events over and over. Kahina had been close to dying. Stupid, stupid me. At least I stopped the two wolves.

    I checked Kahina''s location. Then checked again. Then once more. I checked so much the side effect of my abilities kicked into overdrive. Sleepiness. My eyelids drooped and shoulders were growing heavy. A brief bout of rest would do wonders to get me back into shape.

    "Let''s go!" Shaggy''s voice yelled at me. It was enough to shake off the specter of sleep.

    I got dressed and hustled out the door. My tie hadn¡¯t been replaced so I went without. Life felt better without wearing one anyway.

    "Reports off," She said.

    "Alright."

    "We''ll have to stop for some bullets before we leave." Shaggy was running hands over various pockets. God knows how she managed to pack so many clips away and still look like that. Her pockets were flat.

    "And everyone else?" I asked as we started moving towards the small armory Kahina had on site.

    "No deaths on our side. Four wounded, two of ours, two visiting businessmen, email says they haven''t stopped bitching since the gunfire started." I doubt the email said it in those words exactly.

    "Property damage?"

    "Nothing we can''t fix. The dents in the office walls are second to the bloodstains on her rug. Smooth move there, sir." My response was another shrug. "We should be clear to go once sunrise hits."

    "Great." Hours away, the nights were too long now.

    "We can hover over the Lady, like everyone else. Or patrol, primary force has already cleared the grounds but maybe they missed something." Shaggy frequently glanced between the device in her hands and our surroundings.

    As much as I wanted to be near Kahina, to make sure no one else got in the way, the idea of being around all those people made me feel redundant. We headed outside to see if anyone else was lurking nearby.

    "How''s she doing?" I asked.

    "Don''t know. Her feelings aren''t in Mister Rays''-" She tried to imitate the way he drug his last name out to almost three syllables. "initial report. Just prelims on who''s behind the attack and finger wagging for letting her come so close to death."

    "Too close," I said.

    "You didn''t do too bad."

    I started walking down one of the other paths. There wasn''t much to see. Whoever was here had left and we weren''t on the outer walls. Ann managed to keep quiet for five whole minutes before opening her mouth again.

    "Who is Julianne?" Shaggy asked. Answering wasn''t easy. Neither Kahina or I talked about Julianne.

    "My old boss," I answered.

    "A partial vampire? Like the Lady?" She scrunched up one side of her face and pursed her lips.

    "No. Nothing like Kahina." If she had been Julianne would still be alive.

    Ann checked out some more ammunition from the range then we headed back to the carport. I popped open the back door and laid out across the seat for a nap. There was another click of noise as the driver''s door opened and closed. Ann settled in, fiddling with her PDA. Little electronic beeps joined the background noise as I drifted off.

    It only felt like a brief moment before she was jabbing my side with some sort of baton. "Wake up."

    My brain wasn''t quite back up to speed. Things were brighter but not yet dawn outside.

    "Phone." She tossed the ringing device into my lap and I stared in confusion. "Answer it, stupid."

    "Yeah?" I put the phone to an ear and answered.

    "Jay?" Kahina. Her voice was groggy. Not surprising this close to dawn. Her body was likely starting to shut down as the sun came out. She would last slightly longer by avoiding sunlight.

    "What''s up?" I asked.

    "I''m pushing up the timetable." She sounded exhausted and stressed.

    "What? Why?" I sat up and banged into the roof of the car. One hand carefully rubbed the top of my head. Ann barely lifted an eyebrow at my image in the rear view mirror.

    "Too much risk in waiting." Her voice contained a hint of tremoring.

    "We could take more time, figure out who attacked, train your people better," I said while desperately trying to figure out all the ways in which we were lacking. Maybe we could build a trap dungeon, add in impossible to get to rooms. I don¡¯t know, anything.

    "No. We''ll do it tomorrow night, I''ll need you here." She grew firmer as we spoke. Exhaustion from near sunup still sat in her voice.

    "Of course..." My voice drug out in uncertainty.

    "You''ll need to meet Keeper. There''s still a lot to get sorted out."

    "Whatever you need," I said into the tiny phone.

    "I won''t pretend I control what you do during the day, but everyone''s on alert. This is your last chance for free time." She had just been attacked and was thinking of my needs. I should cancel this whole trip. "Be here by nightfall."

    "You sure you want to do it so soon?" The idea that she might be dead by the end of the week wasn''t comforting. Maybe we could cut the trip short. If nothing else it would keep me close.

    "Yes. Be here tonight." Her voice started to crack. The phone beeped in my ear.

    "Kahina?" Too late, I was talking to a dead line.

    Ann plucked the phone from my hands before it could be thrown against the car door. They were too darn aerodynamic. Seeing pieces of computer chips everywhere served as a quick method of stress relief.

    "Bad news I take it?" Shaggy said.

    I didn''t answer. Ann was clever enough. We operated around the same time table, and Kahina''s big night was when she took a final dose of vampiric blood. Enough to push the condition from its current slow development to a full transformation.

    Vampirism was an affliction that came with pros and cons, like every race. But vampirism operated much like a virus. The first thing it did upon entry into a new blood stream was travel towards the brain and rewire it. Little impulse changes that were designed to break down the body''s ability to resist. Reducing white blood cell production, removing other foreign viruses and making sure it was dominant. Then it slowly took over and ate all up all the normal blood in the body, replacing it.

    That was the hunger part of the condition. It wanted to spread to new untouched blood.

    Vampire transformation was controlled by Sector government and the Tribunal. It required evaluations, checkups, and a sponsor. Kahina had all of those before we even got together years ago. She had been taking the transformation almost as slow as one could go. The longest portion of the stretch was because she waited for me.

    "Where we headed?" During my brief moment of thought, Shaggy turned on the engine and put us at the curb of the compound.

    "South," I said.

    "Okay." Her voice was questioning as the car turned onto the road. Pre-dawn traffic was typically peaceful.

    I gave Ann directions to my home. If Kahina was going to be making the shift over to full vampire tonight then there were a few things I wanted from my stash. More crosses for one. Kahina''s household didn''t have a lot of them for obvious reasons.

    After that, I tried talking to Evan. Both actions would distract me from tonight''s impending disaster. It was like roulette with a loaded gun. Bullets in all the chambers but one. Kahina''s chances at survival had terrible odds. Add in the likelihood of her dying to assassins, or the strain on her body during the change, or anything else¡­

    No, best not to think about it.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 3 - A Bar of Wolves

    My other home sat in a tiny apartment complex. The word complex was misleading since there were never more than a few residents, myself among them. In the last four months, I never bothered to go back more than a few times. It wasn''t because I didn''t miss home. Quite the opposite, I loved my little apartment and its secure basement.

    It was the old owner of the home that I had issues with. Issues where I remembered her joking face and her quick hands as she poured out drinks for me on the bar counter night after night. Julianne had owned both the complex and a bar on the other side of the parking lot. The bar was out on the main street, the apartments tucked away in the back. For years, I spent excessive amounts of time at both locations.

    Stepping out of the car gave me a wash of feelings that had been buried for months. The air was almost the same. Only a few sparse cars on one end of the lot. Most packed in tightly closer to the bar. Normally, at night, one or two cabs would be camped out waiting for late night patrons who were smart enough not to try and drive themselves home.

    The name of the bar was the same. Julianne''s Bar and Grill. Ownership had switched over to pack. According to the will, she left the business to her partner, a wolf by the name of Stacy that hated me simply because of the equipment between my legs. And because I wasn''t pack. And I got Julianne killed, or more rather a group called the Order of Merlin had caused the distraction and I failed to stand in the way of bullets.

    Stacy turned the bar over to Thomas, Julianne''s brother. It didn''t matter at that point, pack was pack. Julianne''s pack owned the range up north. Those two were normally the only ones this far south. An act of god, or sports, was required to get them away from their region.

    How Thomas kept himself from growling every time someone came in the door was beyond me. I hadn''t been comfortable going in there since Julianne had been killed in front of me months ago. All that by one stupid bullet. A little piece of metal that meant nothing to the scum who fired it. That had caused so many problems.

    That same vampire put six more into me. No scarring remained. Julianne wasn''t blessed with regards to healing. She wasn''t even as durable as any other member of a pack. Julianne had never actually completed the change.

    I carefully walked towards the security gate for the apartments. It was a cheap digital keypad that barely served as a deterrent. Past that was my front door with a faded purple ribbon wrapped around the knob. Ann stood just behind me. She had never been here.

    The door stuck a bit and I had to force it fully open. A slight hint of dust and untouched air spilled outward. Everything felt empty and dark inside. There was still a weight bench attempting to forcibly mate with the kitchen counter. Broken dishes spilled out of the resulting wound. Next to the back entrance was a little door that lead downstairs. The windows were whole because someone had replaced them.

    Ann was right over my shoulder and I had to fight not to growl at her.

    "Stay here," I said.

    "Sir?" She looked startled and backed up a step.

    I didn''t want to say it out loud, but there was a good chance of going kind of crazy if she came downstairs. No one had ever been allowed down there. Just me, myself, I. This was my sanctuary. Not Kahina, not Julianne even though she owned the building.

    Shaggy stayed upstairs.

    A small piece of tin lay crumpled behind the basement door. My hand reached for the light switch inside the stairwell. Even the panel had protection from being made of silver. Inside the faceplate, was plastic and wire like so many other things. The goal was to deter other races from my stash of stuff.

    I crept slowly down the stairs checking for any disturbances. Lights gave a brief flicker where they died and started back up, finally staying on with a hum. Silver and iron lined the steps down.

    Along the wall was every single type of charm I could find over the years. Some worked. Some were silly, but I couldn''t be sure. It ranged from crosses, some simple and carved out of different types of wood. Others were complex and spiraled around pieces of preserved ivy or other superstitious symbols. Rocks worn through by river water, horseshoes, four leaf clovers that had been pressed carefully. Each one hung in an attempt to ward off unwanted guests.

    Home security was an important topic. The only thing bigger would have been actual booby traps on the stairs. I would have gotten dogs, but they required attention and food. Once I almost put in a crossbow and ceiling collapse.

    I traveled down the stairs slowly, enjoying the pressure against each step. Here, at home, my abilities were unchecked. The entire place felt alive as the sound of simple footstep bounded off the walls and fed into my senses.

    It was hard not to revel in the untouched dust that lined the room. An undisturbed setting made me feel secure that no one had bothered to come in. These belongings weren''t even worth a lot. Most were cheap, but mine, and no one else''s.

    There were two main rooms and a bathroom. One contained my simple mattress. It didn''t have a frame to lift the box springs off of the floor. The other room contained all my possessions. This was the place my mental multicolored cord connected to.

    The room full of stuff was all in order. Boxes lined up the walls, untouched and dusty like everything else. Each container held a myriad of items. Comics, replica swords, some real weapons, rare wooden puzzles. Jewelry I pilfered or bought. None of the bobbles were expensive, but many were old. Pieces of the collection had been purchased online, other items found in journeys, or acquired from random houses.

    Ann''s feet stomped around slowly above me. It was easy to sense things at home. From the feel of it, she had opened the sliding door to peer outside. There was a squish of metal wheels against grime that had stacked up in the tracks of the doorway.

    A few minutes later I was back at the top of the stairs with some items out of the basement. Tiny things that fit easily into pockets. A few spare crosses that had come off my wall of charms. There was also a choke collar with silver glazed tips that jingled in my pocket. Inhumane, but effective.

    "You good?" She asked.

    I nodded.

    "This is all we came for?" She pointed to the items in my hands.

    "No." Now was a good time to try and talk to Evan.

    "What else is there?"

    "The bar," I said.

    We trudged across the parking lot. Ann trailed along behind me as usual. The doorway to the bar didn¡¯t change. Windows had iron lined through the safety glass. The metal wasn''t there to keep people out, it was designed to keep the windows from completely shattering when someone inside threw another patron. Elves didn''t like the iron-laced windows so Julianne had covered most of them with posters and other advertisements. What they couldn''t see didn''t freak them out.

    This bar catered to all sorts of races. It was early morning, but that didn''t mean the doors were completely closed. Most people would be gone by now. Vampires didn''t stay out past sunrise, and those on the night shift would have staggered home by now. Someone was always here, though.

    Guilt made me first through the door, but I held it open behind me for Ann. I wasn''t sure what to expect. Not what we were presented with.

    A bar room full of wolves and two waitresses. The waitresses were laughing happily but shuffling drinks about, mostly water and soda from what I could see. None of the wolves wore faces I recognized. I tried not to remember Ann''s prior joke about wolves on their backs. Now would be a terrible time to snicker.

    Entering into a room full of wolves is very tricky. If it''s a public location then they normally keep things under control. The problem was that a pack''s perception of public domain was directly related to how many were in the area.

    A headcount put us at just over fifteen fuzzballs. A layman might wonder how someone could tell they were all wolves without seeing a shift. They had been around as long as vampires and elves, but that didn''t mean regular humans were desensitized. Consensus said wolves give off impressions that modern instincts couldn''t help but notice. Humanity would never have survived this long if it was completely unaware of danger.

    If anything they were a bit sharper.

    Ann didn''t bat an eye at the room. Hopefully, she had a chance to wash between leaving home and here. The smell of strange wolves and blood might make this difficult. As for myself? Shower, check, new clothes after the gore, check, carefully cleaned my gloves? Not like I should have. Deodorant? Not enough.

    We had been in the door ten seconds before heads started to turn towards us. I opened a closet to the side and reached around for a ziplock bag.

    "What are you doing?" Shaggy asked.

    A moment later and I shifted the gloves into the bag and sealed it up. The bags should be scent locked as well, Julianne had always kept them there in case something like this was needed. Shaggy put out a hand for the bag.

    "I got it," I said.

    "It''ll look better if I take it." She was right. Ann, correction, Shaggy, held the bag against her side. Visible but not threatening.

    Wolves stable enough to be in public knew this bag meant someone was sealing up silver. I wasn''t the only person that carried it for self-preservation. Most people settled for an iron cored pocket blade of some sort. The coating had to be light because of regulations preventing lethal amounts. Those same laws allowed defensive quantities to be carried without a permit.

    My gloves were well past lethal amounts. This was more like saddling into a room with a loaded shotgun instead of a can of mace. And I just handed it off to the dainty sidekick.

    "We''re not here to rile anyone up." I clarified, in case she missed it. Shaggy nodded and put the bag in an outside pocket creating an ugly bulge.

    I watched the tension in the room shift down a notch. Wolves wore emotions on their sleeves. Little shrugs in the shoulders, the way they rolled the heads to the sides, not oblivious, but not ignoring us.

    We were getting too much attention. Their quiet glances at each other or the way the volume died down. Both were hints.

    One of the waitresses decided now was a good time to notice us. A girl with jet black hair that I swear must be dyed. She had been here for years, smiled awkwardly at everyone. I could never remember her name. It always slipped my mind, and that was unusual for someone in my old profession. The only fact that stuck with me was her love of ribbons. She frequently had conflicting colors tied to her apron as she shuffled around.

    "Jay!" She swerved around chairs and headed over. "Long time no see."

    "Sorry. Been busy." I said.

    "It''s alright, we understand. The rest of the girls were wondering how you were doing. I told them you''d be fine. Man of your nature couldn''t be kept down just because Julianne passed." The waitress was as tactful as a sledgehammer.

    All the tension in the room returned. I looked over the waitress'' head, easy enough from my height, to the rest of the room.

    "Anyway, grab a table, I''m sure we can cook up something for you. New hours and all, these guys eat through at least three cows a day alone." She shook her head and headed to the nearest table. The girl bent over for a moment and wiped the tabletop with a cloth from her apron.

    "Here you go. I''ll tell Charlie you''re by, he''s got some numbers to babble at you. I swear I don''t understand what that man''s saying half the time." Her voice carried on from the distance as she went to the back room of the bar. Behind the counter, there was a hallway and a few smaller offices. In one of those offices would be Charlie, the accountant for the business.

    "I hope we didn''t come here for a meal," Shaggy muttered.

    We hadn''t, but I wasn''t sure how to broach the topic now that the wolves in the room were focused on us. Only one was actually looking. With the way pack thoughts worked only one would need to.

    "Sir?" My dainty sidekick asked. There was a snicker in the midst of all of them. "Should we sit?"

    I almost picked up some hush noises in the background. It was hard to extend my senses out and try to pick it up. Everything here was out of place.

    "Sure." I felt odd sitting at the regular chairs. They were a size too small. The bar stools were easier since they were higher off the ground.

    "So why are we here?" Her voice tried to stay quiet. A pointless gesture with wolves.

    "Well, once they stop glaring we''ll ask one of them if I can see Evan," I said.

    "Who?"

    "Elf-friend of mine."

    "Alright." Ann sounded confused, but it wasn''t on her face. "Isn''t he in a different region?"

    I sighed before clarifying. "I''m hoping to ask for some help."

    "Help? Isn''t that funny." Another voice came. It sounded run down and annoyed. Ann was already looking at him and I turned to join her. "Help is exactly what caused this mess."

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it."Hello, Thomas," I said. Julianne''s brother wasn''t a tall man. Barely bigger than Julianne had been, which wasn''t saying much. He never picked up as much of the eastern Indian look that his sister had. Just a hint about the eyes and accent.

    Thomas, drink in hand, spun a chair around and saddled up to our table. One arm was slung across the backing and the other propped up against the side of his face. He wore an expression somewhere between bored and serious.

    "Hey, killer. How goes the family murdering business? Come back to get a set for your trophy wall?" He said.

    "I need to talk to Evan," I said. This was one of the shitty things about talking with wolves. Any hesitation in my response and I would be seen as subservient. It was hard to talk to him and not bring up Julianne.

    "Too bad. He''s not coming out, and you don''t get to go in. That right was nuked when you got my sister killed." He smiled back at me without any warmth. I had known Julianne for a good chunk of my life. Thomas had known her since she was born. Not more than a year apart between them in age.

    "I didn''t kill her!" My words came out louder than intended. There was a jerk of other ears in the room.

    "You all but pulled the trigger. If she hadn''t gone with you out there then she never would have been shot. If that fake agent hadn''t been left there with a gun in his hands. If your leech of a girlfriend hadn''t brought her little entourage then Julianne..." Thomas'' focus slipped away for a moment. Not that I was directly looking at his eyes. His gaze was focused on a place miles beyond this room.

    "Well, then I wouldn''t have to hate you." He continued and then grinned without an ounce of friendship.

    "I need to talk to Evan, one day and I''ll be gone." I couldn¡¯t engage him about Julianne again.

    "One day. Just to check your love journals against each other and giggle, then what? You ask again in another four months? Keep reopening the wound?" His foul breath was becoming more noticeable. Both eyes seemed to have trouble focusing on the same thing. He even looked languid, which for a wolf was nearly unheard of. They constantly moved in subtle little twitches as their skin reflected their thought process.

    Thomas seemed almost dead with drunkenness. An inebriated wolf was terrible. It took almost three or four times the normal human limits to get them wasted.

    "How much have you had, Thomas?" I asked.

    "None of your goddamned business, besides, you''d know about getting drunk, right, killer?" He made it sound like a pet name for a kid. One who grew up to be an ax murderer.

    Ann wisely kept her mouth shut. I wanted to respond, to put out some sort of defense against his words. There wasn''t a good rationale available.

    "No? Nothing? Not going to cry about how it wasn''t your fault? Good, that''s refreshing. I''m tired of people saying it''s not their fault, that their terrible choices screwed it up for other people.¡± Thomas pointed at me with a squint. ¡°Ownership."

    The waitress from earlier saddled up with two plates filled with a half rack of ribs and fries. "Here, a little something for you. On the house."

    "Why are you giving him my food?" Thomas sounded offended. Or, consider it was food, maybe it was a pack thing.

    "It''s not your choice who we serve. You own this place in title only. I''d rather have that girl Stacy in here than you." Her voice was angry at Thomas. "At least she wouldn''t be so blitzed that two packs show up to keep things reigned in."

    Just how drunk was he? And two packs? Ann turned and looked at the other wolves and seemed as if she was comparing them to a checklist.

    "Didn''t notice." Ann wasn''t saying it to anyone specific. Did she know enough of the local packs to figure it out by faces alone?

    I tended to go by region when figuring out which pack was which. The bar was typically neutral territory. Julianne and Thomas had been from the next group north. Owning a bar here had been more about avoiding her grandfather than anything else.

    "I''m fine," Thomas said.

    "Sure. That''s what all the drunks say." The waitress responded.

    "What about him? He drinks more than I do." He pointed at me.

    "At least Jay has the sense to space out his drinks, and when there''s work to do he behaves. You don''t even have that down. Your shift at the yard started hours ago." The waitress used her towel and batted Thomas in the back of the head with it. He flinched away.

    I sucked in my breath along with a lot of the wolves in the background. Thomas didn''t do anything in response other than look dejected. His eyes were still unfocused. If he didn''t smell like a drunk wet dog I would really be panicking. At least he wasn''t being aggressive, probably because the rest of this pack was busy pouring in happy thoughts.

    "Don''t go telling others how to behave if you can''t figure it out yourself. Glass houses and all." The towel was tucked back into her apron. Ann and I both watched the rest of the crowd and Thomas for any sign of aggression.

    "Besides, no one told Julianne what to do. If she was somewhere dangerous, it was her choice. You''d think that''d be obvious to her brother." She shuffled off to other tables, picking up used glasses and cleaning countertops on her way.

    Thomas stared at the drink he brought over.

    "Don''t you dare throw that glass!" The waitress'' voice came back through the room. It wasn''t hard to speak over the others in here. The wolves had been fairly quiet the entire time yet still managed to move in closer to Thomas and me.

    A fragile silence took over the room. Thomas broke it first.

    "Do you know what it''s like for a pack to remember something, Jay?" Thomas asked while holding the drink in his hand. He looked like he was contemplating each individual ice cube. An expression I knew well.

    I spared a glance for Ann. She was watching the other wolves who were closer and they stared right back. Tints of gold laced more than a few eyes. Everyone was on edge.

    "When one of us remembers something, it touches all of us. It gets worse, and worse, and worse." Thomas'' face looked a wreck. "My little sister was like the pack''s little sister. A granddaughter, she was family twice over. Three times if you count Stacy."

    "I remember, then they remember. They remember, then I remember. There''s no escaping her face." He tilted the glass back and caught what little liquid and ice cubes remained. "And we let her get killed on our grounds. She barely got to see what she really meant to us. She should still be here."

    I couldn¡¯t find the words to respond. He was right.

    "Right here." He pointed to the table with a sad face. "Not..." Thomas faded off.There was movement behind Julianne¡¯s brother.

    Some of the other wolves were looking at each other. It was easier to see how it was two packs now. They sat in clumps that weren''t as intermingled. The difference in postures, different clothes. Almost a different scent but that was all in my head. My nose was nowhere near as good as a pack member''s.

    One set of wolves seemed to blink and nod at the same time. Then stand up. The other set stayed sitting. "Time to go, Thomas." A member of the mini-mob said.

    "Not ready to go." Thomas protested.

    "The rest of us have jobs, families, we have to go home." The random pack member tried again.

    "Then go! Me and killer here can have a nice chat about old times. Then he can give me a ride home and stand still while I punch his face in. Maybe I''ll call us even then!" The glass slammed down but didn''t break.

    "No. We need to go." There was something else driving his words. Something I didn''t understand. Pack mentality was so far beyond me. It was like watching a soap opera in french. Sure you see who''s kissing whom but the idioms escape comprehension.

    Thomas seemed to deflate even more, then nodded.

    "Yeah. You''re right, let''s go." He said. The other man''s face flickered as tension drained from his skin.

    Pack members came up forming an escort. Or protective detail for a wounded family member. Two lifted Thomas up, another went to the door, and between the lot they maneuvered Julianne''s brother outside. Cars geared up in the parking lot, mumbles were heard through some of the walls. The other group had remained quiet.

    "Any other friends I should know about?" Shaggy inquired.

    "No." Friends weren''t high on my list of things to make. The few relationships I had were more than a little screwy.

    "Sir, pardon me if I say this, but you should get out more," She said.

    "No more time." I responded sadly.

    Ann was silent. Kahina would be on the last leg of the transformation tonight. After that, I might be in the same situation as Thomas. Lashing out at anyone involved to cover up my shame of failure.

    "Sir?"

    "What?" I was distracted.

    "Are we going to sit here and wait for them to come over, or go to them?" She asked.

    "I guess," I said.

    It was easier to eat my cooled ribs than meet her glare. She always had a certain passive fearlessness in her eyes. Probably because she worked for one nearly full vampire and had to suffer two partials. Or her training under Sensei''s brutal expectations. Between bites of deliciously burnt meat, I tried to clarify myself to her.

    "They heard it all, and it''s probably Malcolm''s pack." Malcolm was a man I had run into twice in my life. Once he took a rogue wolf from my custody. The other time he was part of the little social gathering Julianne had died in.

    "We are." They crossed the barroom to our table. Only four pack members were still here. They all had that same hulking build that came from most wolves. Bigger human form translated into bigger wolf form and more strength. Strength was huge in pack dominance games.

    "Figured." I wanted to take another bite of my food but held off. Eating in front of wolves always made them think I was aggressive.

    Julianne had told me that most wolves thought I was a strange pack member that hadn''t earned his place. It was weird. Eating first warranted a growl. Showing my teeth got a snarl. Being unclean made them constantly flinch. I was careful with everything.

    "We''ve got our own things to do. If you''ve got something to ask, we''ll pass it on." The bigger one in front said. I didn¡¯t look him in the eyes because a fight right now wouldn¡¯t help.

    "I need to visit a friend in the twenty-thirds recruit grounds," I said.

    "Negative, not our territory."

    "Can you ask Malcolm Smith to talk to Thomas'' grandfather?" I still didn''t know the old man¡¯s name. It was annoying. If we were ever on good terms I would ask him.

    "He''s not..." One of the others nudged him in the back and the sentence changed abruptly. "Twenty-thirds Alpha is difficult to communicate with."

    "Uh huh. How so?" Ann asked my question for me. She somehow managed less tact in the phrasing then I would have.

    "He''s fucking up." The third one answered. He got an elbow in the side for his efforts. "What? It''s true. The whole thing''s practically his fault. We wouldn''t be here babysitting if they had their shit together."

    "Can you get me Malcolm?" I asked.

    They shrugged almost in unison. Pack mind was so freakishly creepy. One of them would think something, and the rest would think it at the same time. You could almost hear the ''I guess'' echoing in their minds.

    "Lucky you." The third one said.

    "Why?"

    "He''s already on his way." Came from the first one.

    "How long?" I moved on to the next question.

    "Don''t know, won''t be long. You and the cutie here can wait it out I''m sure." One of the three said. I kept eying my food and didn¡¯t really get a solid look.

    "Cutie?" Ann''s eyebrow moved upward in question.

    "Don''t tell me you''re racist?" There was a smile plastered across the third one''s face.

    "Not in the least." Her grin became sly and for a moment her eyes narrowed in speculation.

    "Good, because you know what they say." In unison, the trio headed to the exit and left the punch line hanging until they reached the door. Then one turned around and looked back at Ann and winked.

    "Once you go pack!" The third one couldn''t keep the stupid line from his lips.

    "You never go back!" The others joined in a tired chorus as the door shut.

    Ann snorted and stole some fries from my plate. I stared across at a moment towards her untouched platter of food. It took effort to suppress the irritation at having my things taken rudely like that.

    "Relax, sir, you can have my ribs." She shoved the plate over. Then she went back to watching the front door. My mind was stuck on the food she offered in return for the fries. It helped calm me down.

    "Men, same dumb jokes no matter what race," She said.

    "That sounds familiar, Shaggy," I said while feeling less hungry. We were in Julianne¡¯s bar, so close to the counter where I spent countless hours mulling over a drink while she shuffled around.

    "Seven." Ann counted and tried not to grate her teeth.

    I didn''t really call her nicknames to cause annoyance. In my mind changing her name helped me remember that this girl wasn''t Julianne''s replacement.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 4 - Other Peopleâ€™s Messes

    Malcolm Smith took his time showing up. I flipped through the television channels in the bar at least half a dozen times, trying to find anything about the Purge almost two thousand years ago. The closest result was a video talking about the chaos when wolves, vampires, and elves had first stepped into human lives to mingle.

    Ann dismantled her gun and cleaned it. The kit she used came from the car. Two waitresses had come back out to clean up the tables then made themselves scarce. My guess was they were taking an unadvertised break somewhere.

    Charlie had come and gone. His thinning hair was still in a ratty ponytail. Between a slight hunch and the stereotypically thick glasses anyone would have pegged him as a shady bookkeeper. It was probably because he hadn''t looked at anything more than ten feet away from his face for years.

    He wanted to know if I was still interested in doing my old job. I declined due to my other obligations. The offer was left on the table. I think he''d been trying to close up all the books now that the bar had stopped acting as a loan service for sports bets. People had worked up quite a debt and Charlie had hoped I would help collect.

    "Hiya Jay. Been waiting long?" Malcolm finally strutted in the door. The man wasn''t tall, short, or bulky like most other wolves. It might be a tan, might have been natural complexion. He looked like the sort of guy you could throw a ball cap on and get lost in any crowd.

    "Not long." I tried to sound pleasant.

    "Good. The guys said you looked peckish this morning, figured I''d let you finish grubbin''." Malcolm said. He was the oddest Alpha I ever met. It didn''t surprise me that his last name, Smith, was as commonplace as he looked. There was always this hint of a joke in his eyes.

    "Food helps."

    "You got the low down on twenty-thirds little problem?" The Alpha asked.

    "Kind of." I responded. The trio from before had given me an idea of what to expect.

    "Guess it wouldn''t make much sense outside the pack," He said.

    "No, I understand some."

    "Good, because under normal circumstances it''d be easy enough to get you up north, no problem. However, they''re all twisted up lately." He didn¡¯t seem interested in sitting down with us. Malcolm at least made standing up seem comfortable.

    My natural reaction to frown was muted in front of the Alpha. The side of one lip tucked back in annoyance. I understood exactly what the pack was in a ¡®twist¡¯.

    "Pack tries to keep this stuff under wraps, not anyone''s business what we do, right?" I nodded at Malcolm¡¯s words. "But when something screwy happens, like the chicka¡¯s death, it tends to linger. Worse, this mess hits their Alpha."

    "How so?" Shaggy asked.

    "Because he''s in charge." I knew this one. Julianne had provided me a lot information on pack ways over the years.

    "Too true. It''s a mental thing, packs rely Alphas to keep everyone''s head on straight. Like an anchor. Alpha gets shaken up?" Malcolm hung his head and shook in back and forth. "Bad times. We''ve got laws, but I can''t step in without approval."

    "Pack laws?" Shaggy brows scrunched for a moment.

    "Packs got rules. If shit storms hit, like this one, a buddy Alpha, yours truly, opens up his pack for anyone to switch over. Like a mental vacation from the constant reminders. Home away from home." Malcolm really looked like he wanted to sit down now. I stood up slowly from the bar stool. Shaggy stayed sitting down working on her firearm.

    "Why not do that here?" She asked.

    "The goals to cut out those hit hardest. Shrink the problem. Too many people here, besides, I can''t, won''t, and shall not have Charles in my pack. He''d screw up the hierarchy." Malcolm turned a little bit to lean against the bar counter.

    "Charles?" I said while wrinkling my forehead.

    "Julianne''s grandpops? My bad, I thought you knew his name. Charles Dunham." That would make Julianne''s last name Dunham? That sounded familiar. Malcolm¡¯s desire to keep Charles out of his pack made sense. The man was commanding. He had been an Alpha long before becoming pack.

    I finally nodded.

    "You wanted words with Evan, right? That raggedy elf from the woods?" Malcolm asked.

    "Yes. Before tonight." We should have enough time, maybe, to make it north and find Evan. To the side, Shaggy started reassembling her gun. At least she wasn''t pointing it at Malcolm.

    "Can do. It will take a creative solution. Consider it payback for that favor a few months ago." He said.

    "Just doing my job." I''d tracked down one of their own who''d tried to screw over his family financially by running away with their life savings. The wolf had been easy enough to track, but we''d never found the money.

    "Ever find the cash?" I asked.

    "Nope. All dead ends. Not sure how it vanished like that." The man had stolen four hundred thousand and tried to skip town. Skipping town failed, stealing the money was successful so far.

    "Sorry."

    "Don''t worry, wolves take care of our own. Cleaning up messes is half an Alpha¡¯s job." Malcolm shrugged.

    "Like Thomas?" Shaggy rejoined the conversation.

    "Like yours, Jay." His voice had shifted a little from half-joking to much more serious.

    "What?" Now I was uneasy.

    "Word came in that Fifty Five lost binds with three members." The Alpha didn¡¯t frown, but he did look kind of annoyed. It was hard to tell with the way his face lifted to one side every time he talked.

    "When did you get that?" I shouldn''t underestimate the pack bond. Likely their Alpha had noticed the minute they passed on through whatever connection they shared.

    "Did you have anything to do with that? Their Alpha phoned me personally and said they were all on a business trip out here. The woman gave me chills from a thousand miles away." He asked. All I could think of was Fifty Five''s Alpha being a female. That took some doing in a pack''s world.

    "If there was another pack in the area, wouldn''t they tell you first?" Ann asked for me.

    "In today¡¯s world? People come and go so often it''s hard to keep track. I don''t want to know about every wolf that hits an airport for a football game or concert. Way I figure, if a wolf gets the balls to leave his territory for a night then he don''t need me and mine pestering." Malcolm sounded joking, but the normal amusement I expected from him was gone.

    "Why question us?"

    "Sector Agents showed up on your woman''s doorstep an hour ago." How did he know? Maybe they were required to notify the Alpha of the region. "If it was vampire they''d let you all sort it out. Sector means someone else was involved."

    "Could be human." I responded. It took focus not to look directly at Malcolm while talking. Look at the room, check out any other movement besides the wolf in question.

    "We both know that a vampire¡¯s people are covered by Tribunal law, once they sign on the line. And you can''t bother Sector since last I checked you don''t exist on paper." Malcolm didn''t hesitate in leveling his gaze on me.

    I wanted to stare back. It was hard not to respond with my own challenge. One of the waitresses moved about the room again checking for dirty tables.

    "So was it you?" Malcolm asked.

    "If it was?" I said slowly.

    "Then you''re in for a world of shit. They''re not a friendly bunch." The Alpha answered.

    Shaggy put together the last of her gun with a slow, deliberate click. Malcolm looked over at her, then down at the table top at my bagged gloves. Sometime during our talking she pulled them out and set the baggie in plain sight. His normally calm face drew back to the side in a barely suppressed snarl.

    "I see," He said slowly.

    "Those wolves are part of why I need to see Evan," I said. There was no direct connection between the attacking pack and an outcast elf, but hopefully Malcolm wouldn''t pry.

    "We''ll do it. Like I said, returning a favor." He kept gauging me and the bag as if weighing what exactly had happened and who was responsible. The makeshift claws were clean and only slightly malformed. They were clearly intended for fighting people allergic to silver.

    I nodded in response to Malcolm¡¯s statement.

    "But if mine get mixed up in this, I''ll throw you under the bus and run you over myself. My people will always come first." The Alpha said.

    "They''re pack. It''s expected." I risked looking directly at him.

    Malcolm''s gaze settled on my own and it was strange not to look away immediately. This was one of those moments where I had to keep the eye contact and let him know I was serious. There was irritation in his expression along with barely restrained flakes of amber that grew outward from the center of his irises. Tension rippled across his face and neck, it seemed like an unconscious response.

    I still kept his eyes, not moving too much, trying not to tense in response. Serious, no challenge, a slight tilt of my head and shoulders. A posture Julianne had shown me that should equate to ''listen well to me''.

    Hell. I didn''t know how to use the pose without threatening someone. Normally it was combined with a flash of teeth when trying to collect from deadbeat wolves. Listen well to me worked great when I was demanding repayment. They got the message on all levels.

    Slowly the color in Malcolm''s eyes receded back to blue. Then his grin returned and I could see his neck loosen up as control came back. My breath slowly let out at the peaceful outcome. Alphas were picked for their ability to stay calm under pressure. It was like a mental rock for the rest of the pack. Physical strength was only one factor.

    "You''re an arrogant bastard," He said.

    "Just a well-dressed thug." I responded.

    His laugh broke the eye contact. By the time he looked back my gaze had shifted to his shoulder. It was for the best if we avoided a second staring contest. My gloves were in the bag and this place didn''t feel familiar anymore to be mine, not without Julianne. I would have been at a complete disadvantage if he responded physically to the challenge.

    "Alright. We''ll drive north a bit, follow my car." Malcolm said.

    "How far?" I asked. Going all the way into the woods wouldn¡¯t work out well. That was endless hours Kahina didn¡¯t have.

    "To the border. We won''t step into their territory. That should keep Charles from flipping shit." He reassured me before my protest was uttered.

    I looked over at Ann. Her response was to holster the assembled gun and stand up. We followed Malcolm out of the door. Shaggy drove and skipped the small talk. Months of attempted chatter had clued her into how much I hated vehicles. Something about them grated on my nerves.

    Malcolm''s ride kept a quick pace and Shaggy followed him like she had been trailing speeding cars all her life. At times I could swear she played tag with the other drivers on the road, only they didn''t know about the game so it stayed one-sided.

    My mind slowly unwound and the other sight kicked in. A version of the world overlaid my vision with strange after images. Each inanimate object grew dull and tasteless. Living things were so much different. Shaggy had a sharp brown hue to her, the edges crisp compared to most people. As we drove her form was preceded by a shadowy image.

    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    One trailed behind her as well, the entire thing showed the shifting motion of where she had been, where she was, and where she was deciding to go. Everything living had a similar effect with different colors. I never figured out if the colors were imaginary or some real aspect of this sight.

    So far my abilities were one of a kind. No online research or useless documentaries helped. Combing through old books was nearly useless. The Purge had been effective, even two thousand years later and amazing technological jumps were barely making headway.

    I studied the cords that connected me to the objects under my care. Things that were mine could be tracked. Normally I needed to own something related. Like hair off the person, their favorite jacket, or an old photo family photo of them. In some cases, I didn''t even need the items. Evan and Kahina had both acknowledged ownership which made tracking effortless.

    Four threads lope into distance. Deep purple and uneven red blobs. Dangerous Mate. Colorful dull tangle goes towards Sanctuary. Third, dim, dead. Untouched.

    The dim cord connected to something, but I wasn¡¯t sure what. Something about it must have been a strong bond, but it slipped my mind. Even thinking about it made my wrist itch a little. Oh well, for now my goal was the connection going to Evan.

    Vibrant bundle of colors. Elven. Shimmers as if unable to make up its mind. Incomplete Servant. Will feel if I call. I pull gently on his cord. It pulses slowly. The act brings exhaustion. Senses close.

    I nodded off again. Drowsiness was the primary side effect of these abilities. Healing, tracking, amping up strength or speed, it all put me to sleep. Or it might have been the boredom of watching trees flick by.

    Things felt better after a second nap. This time knocking on the window woke me. Both Malcolm and Ann were standing outside waiting. Ann leaned against the front door chatting.

    I got out the other side of the car and looked around. We were in a parking lot near a deep tree line. Malcolm was already opening the back of his car which revealed an electronic monster that weighed more than I did.

    "Here.¡± Malcolm gestured to the giant device. ¡°Normally packs use this with the newbies. Setup is fairly standard. Two-way should work well. Plus this baby''s rigged into the car battery, so we got the juice."

    "What does Evan have?" Ann asked for me. I liked when she did that. It made my life so much simpler.

    "He''s on a wind-up, probably won''t last long if he hasn''t been grinding the charging handle to a nub." The Alpha said.

    "A wind-up?" I was confused.

    "One of Charles'' crew drove it out to your raggedy elf a few months ago. They figured Evan was out there to stay, might as well be humane and give him a lifeline, in case an ambulance is needed. Word is his constitution is bad." Malcolm shrugged and held up a receiver for me to take. I reached over and held on to the device while he started turning dials.

    I didn''t ask how difficult that had been. These woods had belong to the Twenty Thirds pack. It must have been a shock to find an old Elven clan left in the depths. If Evan had wanted to press the issue he''d have a legal claim on a good chunk of the reserve.

    "This reaches all the way out there?" I asked.

    "Well, there''s repeaters all over with shelters. Never know when a wolf will get stranded. But it¡¯s gonna have static." Malcolm said. The radio whistled and ground as he turned knobs.

    It was hard to be upset with only a radio. Malcolm went out of his way to give me assistance. This tip toed around my banishment. Hell, Julianne''s grandfather might consider it stepping foot on pack lands. He swore to kill me if I ever came back. My balls weren''t nearly big enough to take on an Alpha. Not anymore.

    I closed my eyes and tugged on the cord that connected to Evan. It was easier to focus on that rather than woolgather about my issues with various pack members.

    "All fired up for you. Don''t break it if he doesn''t answer. Not sure I have the funds to replace it." He said. I doubt Malcolm had the funds for anything nice since he had to deal with the cash stolen from the Sauter family.

    I clicked the button on the radio, marveling how the background static dropped off for the briefest moment. My hands rubbed against the worn edge of the button a bit before finally pressing.

    "Evan?" I said.

    Nothing responded.

    "Evan? You there?"

    "Don''t know if he''s even got juice right now," Malcolm said.

    "Evan?" I shifted my thoughts back out to Evan''s cord. He told me that I was this Lord thing, and he would answer when called. The cord shimmered and pulsed strongly in my mind''s eye.

    "Here, Lord." Evan''s voice sounded winded. My breath seized for a moment. Calling him had worked. It wasn''t a fluke.

    "Time''s short and I''ve got questions." I turned and waved the other two away. Getting a wolf to walk far enough away from his property was difficult.

    "As always, I will answer if I can." His voice drug out words in the same slow manner of someone who was still figuring out how to speak English. Then added in a helping of depression.

    "How much do you know about elven illusions?" I asked quickly. My primary purpose for talking to Evan was to get Candy to stop her harassment. I could only imagine Kahina being attacked and suddenly a vision of wolves wearing tutus and doing a dance would assault me.

    "Not enough." He admitted.

    "I need to stop some visions." I said.

    "Lord? Only a Speaker could cast visions." His words made me cringe. There had to be a way to explain myself without sounding incriminating.

    "Candy''s been sending visions."

    Evan asked me to explain the situation in more detail. I tried between bursts of static. Slowly he got caught up on how Candy had been appearing with messages over the last few months. I didn''t tell him that most of those messages called Kahina names and commented on my relationship with her. The fact that Candy had been naked in most of the visions was also left out. If Ann was politely eavesdropping then things would be safer this way.

    "Sorry. From what you have said, this is all part of her prevention measures." The elf clicked onto the radio and spoke slowly.

    "Prevention?" I slowly dug my feet along the ground. The feel of pebbles was disjointed against the shoe soles.

    "There are..." Evan''s voice paused as he struggled with words. "Reasons to draw you away from...certain people." He must have guessed at what Candy was doing but was unable to provide anything useful.

    "That''s not helpful." The back of Malcolm''s car had some road dirt piled up. I calmed myself by smearing the small, sandy grains.

    "I can not say more, Lord." Evan persisted in calling me that. Not like it was a title, more like it was a description of what I was. A Lord. Which meant damned little.

    "Can''t you say anything that''s actually helpful?" I tried not to be angry at Evan, but it was difficult.

    "Say? No." His denial, like everything else the elf did, seemed devoid of any sort of positive tones. He managed to make everything morose.

    "You were dropping hints all over months ago."

    "It cost me much," He sounded even more exhausted as our conversation progressed. "and gained you little. Today''s world is too ignorant on what has never been."

    "Does this have to do with the Purge?" I asked.

    Silence and static were the only answer.

    "Can''t say?" I said after a few minutes. There was a pause while I checked the volume on the receiver. Maybe our connection had been lost. Maybe Evan was grinding the charger on his radio.

    "No," His voice came at last. "it is forbidden to say."

    That was an answer of sorts. Maybe I was going about this all wrong. Maybe there was someone who had information from the past because they had been alive for longer. An older elf? that would reach two hundred years, maybe two fifty, max. Not enough to speak first hand about the Purge.

    That left vampires. Older ones were a lot more reclusive. Even if I found one alive long enough there would be the matter of getting the information out of them. If they were anything like Kahina, then one hint of what I was might put them onto my blood too. The last time I bled around Kahina she was reduced to a mewling kitten with only the thought of lapping at my wound. Not at all sexy. Not something I wanted to deal with.

    At least I knew her better than other Vampires. She showed signs of respecting the blood donation boundary and was patient.

    There were no easy options right now. Evan and Candy agreed on one thing, the fewer people who knew what I was, the safer things would be. They didn''t agree on if I should be one of the few people in the know.

    "Thanks, Evan." I realized the elf had been waiting for me to respond while thoughts ran by.

    "It is my duty to help, Lord. I can, however, suggest two possibilities." The large sentence left him without breath.

    "What?" I asked.

    "I have a scrap of old writings that may answer some questions. Yet it would leave others in their place." He said slowly.

    My mind whirred into action again. Getting out there wouldn¡¯t be easy. If I tried, even in a truck, a pack of wolves would be right behind me. It wasn''t even worth attempting without a solid guarantee. Also, Kahina came first, I simply didn''t have enough time before nightfall to make it out there and back.

    "Or?" I questioned.

    "Ask her." Evan said.

    "Candy?" The female vixen who screwed me out of an answer the first time? To be clear, she had screwed me for an answer too. Now she taunted me with visions.

    "Yes." Evan calmly replied. "The more you call on her, the harder it is to fight your will."

    "No thanks." Asking Candy anything always had a price attached. It somehow figured into her addiction.

    All elves had them, each unique and twisted. Some elves might be addicted to dancing naked under the moon on a skyscraper, others to snorting crack off a street corner outside the police station. Self-destructive stuff most of the time. Candy''s addiction was unknown and probably dangerous.

    "Anything else?" Evan asked.

    "No." I answered. "Get some rest."

    I put the radio back and tried to figure out what to do next. One foot stomped down onto the ground I disturbed earlier and shoved small pebbles into the dirt with a dry squish.

    A picture of Candy hovered out of the corner of my eyes. As I turned my head the image became clearer. She laid back in a revealing bikini like she was by a pool sunbathing. Today wasn''t that sunny, was she at a spa? A pair of dark glasses covered her eyes. The trail of tattoos that lined her body were more startling when lined with perspiration. One slender arm held a whiteboard sign above her.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 5 - Reintegration

    Shaggy kept quiet the on the ride home. My mind had been playing out an explanation for our essentially useless side trip. None of the reasoning sounded logical, nothing I could spin in a way that would be positive.

    Sorry, we were talking to Evan because a psycho elf that I had a fling with is stalking me. Sorry, but if I know what race I am, I can defend Kahina better. Sorry, I managed to get myself kicked out of an entire pack''s region. Sorry, I wanted to make sure all the stuff in my home was still there and protected.

    Each excuse made me feel more dysfunctional than the last. Life was easier when I didn''t have questions, didn''t have secrets, and didn''t give a crap what other people thought of me. I guess that made me a giant child for most of my twenties.

    We parked in an underground garage off to the side of Kahina''s complex. Concrete felt less forgiving than dirt to my senses.

    "Anthony sent out a notice with reminders for tonight." Ann, damn it I was forgetting to keep her name straight, Shaggy was looking at her little handheld again.

    "And?" I prompted.

    "Looks like a change of clothes again, careful grooming, there are some comments in here about proving we are a unified front and not a ragtag band of brutes and barbarians." Her voice turned mocking at the last part and ended with a smile into the rear view mirror. "I think he''s talking about you, sir."

    "Fantastic." It was the only response I could come up with that didn''t involve shoving a cross up Anthony''s rear end.

    I let myself out of the car. Shaggy fell into step while still reading the screen. One thumb rolled over the trackball built into it.

    "Got some intel on the three wolves too," She said as we walked. That made me perk up. "Three, male, all were newer members to Fifty Five according to Sector roster."

    "Daniel got a report back already?" Daniel was a childhood friend of mine. He was a through and through ginger who was also a Sector suit on top of it. The combination threw off a lot of people.

    "Sure did, sir, I asked him extra nicely." She sounded smug. It was one less question hanging over my head. This also meant her success at getting information out of Daniel Crumfield was better than mine.

    "The dossier goes on to say they were all extended family to some of the pack members. Sponsored a few times over, and completed reintegration training with good time. Certification and everything. One of them was cleared to start Agent support training next year."

    Reintegration is a process new wolves go through before being released into the public. It acted like obedience school but closer to taking a wild wolf and domesticating them. Slapping a label on the process made it a legal hurdle for all pack members. The process ranked wolves from ''unsuitable for public exposure'' to ''handles extreme situations''. Extreme situations mostly meant sports games.

    A slightly drunk wolf at a football game would go crazy if they couldn''t maintain some control. Imagine Western Isles'' yearly soccer games with a half furry crowd yelling at each other across the stadium. That was exactly what happened during one of the most amusing halftime shows I had ever seen. Only instead of yelling six different packs had launched themselves onto the field, yellows and greens had surged in a tidal wave of violence.

    Ranking systems helped with job placement. If a wolf wanted to become law enforcement then they needed the highest classification. Due to the stress of being the arm of the law. Or fang, or claw. Agent support meant someone had scouted them out and made an offer. If that went well they may find full Sector Agent training on their menu. We had basically killed some pack¡¯s future all stars.

    "Why did they try for Kahina?" I asked.

    "Well, according to Anthony this sort of thing is fairly typical. Not advertised, but typical. He says it will get worse before it gets better.¡± Shaggy scrolled down some more and nodded to herself. ¡°The Lady''s follow up E-Mail indicates it should calm down after she''s completed the change, which gives us a week or so of hell."

    "If she doesn''t?" The question was out before I could stop it. Her chances at success plagued me constantly.

    "Then we have a severance package, hazard pay, and a set of skills that will easily carry us to other jobs. Most of us had offers pending from all sorts of places. Well, those that attend the training anyway." Shaggy said with a half glare in my direction.

    For me, things would go from terrible to worse. There was no home available to me. I didn''t have a Sector identification number. Nor a credit score, social media account, and most of my contacts were from years ago.

    "Why do you ask, you know something we don''t?" Ann took my silence to have more meaning that it did.

    "Not really." Which was the problem. I didn''t know anything for sure. If felt like I had half a box of puzzle pieces, or a gun without bullets, or a car without gas. How could I protect anyone if I had no idea what I could do?

    "Well the Lady''s placed a lot of trust in you, so don''t screw it up. Sir." She said. My automatic scowl was hard to suppress. Judging by Ann''s next words I must have failed. "Perfect. With that look on your face tonight I''m sure you''ll impress Keeper."

    "What look?" I asked.

    "There, that''s even better, sir" Shaggy had to be messing with me. "Anyway, don''t worry about the wolves. They won''t report it to anyone outside of the packs, Sector has their noses in everything and passed it on as a favor."

    "Alright." I shelved one part of the worry and replaced it with another. All her reassurance meant is that the wolves believed this was personal.

    "I''m going to my quarters, you remember how to find your room?"

    "I''ll be fine, Shaggy" Her attempt at banter barely registered. A moment later she rolled her eyes and walked off, leaving me behind for once.

    My brain was elsewhere. Kahina was switching over tonight then. I still wasn''t sure how our relationship would be after the change. Soon she''d be completely inhuman. Would it change her? Like I was one to talk. Hell. Not knowing what I was might be more frightening than what she was becoming. At least I''d been raised in a world that dealt with Vampires on a constant basis.

    Her hunger would probably be worse than ever. Blood would come up quicker in our conversations. Sex, if any, would include a slight nip on the neck, a careful one. Or elsewhere, a lower elsewhere. That thought induced uncomfortable shudders.

    I healed. Bullet wounds and excessive blood loss hadn''t put me down. Not even a hospital visit. Countless amount of scraps in my twenties hadn''t left scars aside from a busted nose. I was a rolling bundle of drunken rage during those years.

    Thinking about drinking made me thirsty. There was liquor to drown my musings somewhere. I traveled upstairs to my room to find a change of clothes that had been left out. Getting dressed gave me a properly imposing air. A few layers of clothes were removed to allow for full range of movement.

    I went downstairs to get a drink or five before the sun went down. Afterward would be the mouthwash, a lot of mouthwash.

    After a few moments, I realized where my grand plan was leading. Candy was right. Kahina was going to kill me, but not because of the blood. No, if Kahina killed me it would be for the age old reason between men and women. I, as the male, would do something incredibly stupid that warranted too much attention. Kahina, as the female, would see my actions and assume everyone thought she was crazy by association when it was only a reflection upon my own poor judgment.

    Recognizing my future didn''t stop me. It never stops any drunk for long.

    Searching yielded a converted break room where I could easily exercise a lack of foresight. Kahina had enough visitors and members on staff that she''d turned one of the side rooms into a lounge of sorts. Small, nowhere near the size of Julianne''s bar, but cozy. There were a few different tables and a small counter lined with bottles and glasses. I saddled up to one of the stools at the counter feeling almost at home.

    A single swinging door went out into a kitchen. Not the biggest one in the house but fairly close. I could tell the hinges were well oiled from the lack of sound as they moved. Four months living here and I only noticed this room today. This building was huge. Kahina''s mansion held too many people for me.

    No one else was here which left me with an unattended bar. I fished a tiny glass and bottle of tequila out from behind the counter. Quick and effective. I wasn''t tacky enough to drink straight from the neck.

    Not until after the first few shots.

    I started to tilt the chilled bottle back when Daniel walked in. He was the only redhead I knew with such a deep tan. My oldest friend was dressed in some professional ensemble. Daniel tried to explain to me once the difference between a good suit and a cheap one. A knowledge of fine clothes wasn''t included in my skills.

    "Looking sharp, man. What is that, a Deckard?" Daniel said in his west coast surfer accent.

    Of course the first thing he noticed was my clothes, acting like I stopped and read their labels. Clothes were clothes. Though these did feel very smooth, not rough like my normal stuff. Damned if I would tell Daniel that.

    I eyeballed him and kept tilting the bottle back. It took a lot to get me drunk, but persistence would pay off. Hopefully before this meeting with Keeper I would be vaguely sober.

    "Mind if I grab a seat?" He asked.

    Shrugging was easier than taking the bottle out of my mouth. Daniel took the shoulder movement as an invitation to sit.

    "Hold on." He reached behind the counter and found a clean glass and another bottle to set in front of him.

    I gasped and finally spoke. "Matching shots?"

    "Against you? No thanks, man." Daniel said.

    "Lightweight," I muttered. He did keep up with two glasses before passing a round.

    "Why are you here, Crummy?" I asked.

    "If, by your so cleverly disguised question, you are asking if I care about this morning''s excitement, no, I don''t. Maybe in a few weeks from now."

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    Hell. I guess he did get the report. It shouldn''t be surprising that he brought it up first. At least he didn''t seem worried about it.

    "What then?¡± I said. Daniel poured himself a small glass, then poured me some of the bronze liquid. Rum from the smell.

    "Tonight''s little event requires an observer from Sector to be made legal. Otherwise, I have to charge your woman with trespassing over more than a few laws. Not a fan of that idea, man." He said while glaring at his drink for a minute.

    "Shorten that," I said.

    "I watch. I sign on the dotted line. Kahina and Keeper work out the last part of the arrangement, in a week or two we come back and see if things went well." He downed his drink and grabbed another one. I was too confused to join him.

    "If? You know about...?" Tact was nearly impossible when talking about Kahina''s change. Hadn''t Daniel been the one to tell me anyway?

    "I help manage Sector liaisons for an entire region, what do you think?" He drank another glass and started over. It''d been only a few minutes and he was already laying it back.

    "Going to switch to water?" I asked while slowly blinking a few times.

    "Nope. I''m preparing." He followed the statement with a vigorous head shake.

    "Why?" It was the clearest word to come out of my mouth in the last ten minutes.

    "Listen, Jay. Do you know what my job truly is?"

    "Police the police?" I tried to sound clever. It sounded funny to me, but Daniel didn¡¯t laugh.

    "A lot of what I do, what every Sector Agent does, is making sure everyone out there gets along on the surface. Sometimes I solve problems with violence. With drop in interviews. Or paperwork nightmares. Tonight I''m solving problems with a drink." He rolled the small glass around on the table before sighing and going for another shot. Daniel was up to four, maybe five now.

    "Sounds logical." I solved a lot of my problems with alcohol. As much as anyone could by drowning reality one bottle at a time.

    "The Keeper is a big man in the Tribunal, not one of the three but old and knowledgeable. This is me preparing to get on his good side." The Western Sector Agent looked almost annoyed at the latest bout of liquid to pass through his lips. Heathen.

    I didn''t understand. Drinking like crazy was getting along? Daniel nudged my glass, the one he so carefully poured for me, but I hadn''t noticed. Things were happening and slipping by with barely an idle thought.

    Hell. Kahina was going to die tonight. Might. This might be the last night she ever got to be aware.

    "A toast, man," Daniel said.

    I shrugged and lifted a glass in return. My sorrows could always use a bit more drowning.

    "To keeping the world semi-peaceful." He toasted.

    ¡°To sort of peaceful.¡± I couldn¡¯t focus on all those words. We clinked the glasses. The drink burned more going down than what I had been plowing through. A few quiet minutes passed by while my thoughts tried to sort themselves out unsuccessfully. I kept sipping at the bottle and considered switching to water.

    Time passed while we chatted. Daniel went on about his latest assignment, nothing specific, general bitching about how annoying it would be. More annoying than the last one.

    The full story of our last adventure went downhill quick. In short I had rushed out to Evan for two reasons. First, to learn what race I was exactly, because it clearly wasn''t human or elven or wolf or vampire. Second was to track down some rich heir to a cult. Dead it turns out. Daniel had been working, as a double agent, with the a cult called The Order of Merlin and putting pressure as a Sector Agent on me. During the final conflict, he betrayed the cult and put a whole series of explosives onto their caravan in the woods.

    Booming happened. Crazy moments of near insanity. An easy thirty people had died to gunfire, fireworks, northern pack, and me. Daniel revealed he was on my side all along. Too bad that night Julianne was the one casualty on our side.

    "How do you manage all these people and have time for extra assignments?" I didn¡¯t actually manage the sentence in one go. It slurred out a few times as my tongue tripped into teeth.

    "Stunt doubles, man, and being good at my job."

    All this drinking didn¡¯t sound like being good at a job. Then again I drank a lot and I was good at my job. Intimidation, muscle for hire. Thug in a nice suit. A suit designed by someone I couldn''t name with this much liquor in me. Deck something.

    "Keeper''s gay." Daniel commentated.

    "Gay? So?" It didn''t make sense why a vampire''s sexual orientation would concern me. I wasn''t ignorant of different lifestyles, not that I ever swung that way myself.

    "Don''t stand too close to him while you''re plastered. He has a thing for half drunk slabs of manly meat." My friend said with a vague smile.

    "You''re just now warning me?" I said while one eye threatened to lose vision.

    "Figured it''d be easier now than an hour ago." He shook his head and stared into the distance. Both of his hands rested on the counter top.

    An hour ago I was sober and could have made a decision to stay that way. I think. Of course, I wasn''t really drunk. I was far into the land of fuzzy. Very far.

    "Why are so many of the older male vampires gay?" I asked. There was a study or ten that were fairly conclusive. Or maybe it was a fact that had been made up on the spot by my completely sober thinking.

    "It''s easy, Jay, eventually they figure out that having your prostate tickled is far more fun than a mystery box."

    "What?" I sputtered. That sounded like nonsense. Trust Daniel to throw me a comment like that. My slightly less sober friend laughed.

    "They''re not all gay. Most are Bi but don''t worry about it. Kahina would have told Keeper to keeper his hands off. Your tush may be admired but not violated. Unless you and Kahina..." Daniel rolled the empty glass around again. He couldn¡¯t sit still and fiddled with everything.

    "Not inviting another man to the party." I firmly said.

    "Then you two are back together, together." He gestured with both hands then dove for the rolling glass before it fell.

    "Mostly" We had unsorted issues that would have to be settled soon. "and provided she doesn''t try to bite me again." I rubbed at my neck with one hand. She had tried once years ago, a second time didn''t seem like a good idea.

    "Man, still shy about that?"

    Here I was drunk with a friend asking me personal questions again, last time it had been Julianne pestering me. There should be a disclaimer on the side of these alcohol bottles. ''Warning, may disable personal boundaries.'' Then again if anyone else had asked I probably wouldn''t have answered. Drink or no. There''s something to be said about having a friend to talk to. Even if Daniel was the only one left.

    "Not shy. They all do it, nothing unusual. Kahina says that my blood is..."

    "Oh, that. Right, well I wouldn''t worry about it." I shot him a confused look. "It''ll solve itself, it did before." One of the part-time employees swept in through the kitchen door, took one look at Daniel and me and turned right back around.

    "What does that mean?"

    "Not sure, something important but I can''t remember." Daniel''s face was puzzled as he took another swig.

    "Does this have anything to do with...that other thing?" My voice lowered with the question. Even now the drinking felt a little less effective. Healing shouldn¡¯t sober me up, but it did.

    Daniel, while under cover, had been posing as a cult member. Some group called the Order of Merlin. Not my problem so I never asked much about it. What concerned me is that one of his cult buddies had asked Daniel to check me for something. The way he asked felt like it was related to whatever I was, species wise.

    "Probably. That''s what I''ve been bitching about. After the change is over I''ll have more time to invest in Order nonsense. Hard to balance all this stuff. I''ve told my contacts that I have to keep things straight for a few more weeks before I can devote myself to the pursuit of our cause." His words didn''t have any slur to them. How he managed that while drinking heavily was a mystery.

    "I thought you were good."

    "I''m great, man. Kept your name off the books with all the nonsense you do. In a world that has a file for every human, including a document showing how many times you shit a day, it''s tough to erase somebody without the right tools." He spouted off the lines while tapping out a disjointed pattern on the table top.

    "Thanks." I stood up to leave but couldn''t resist asking at least one more question. "Am I the only one?"

    "There''s all sorts of odd things out there, Jay." Gods above, the man actually gave me an answer that contained valuable information. Someone gave me an answer.

    "Things that escaped The Purge?" Alright, maybe I had a few more questions, at least when he answered like that. Maybe he knew if other races still existed somewhere.

    "Yeah. The motherfucking Purge. Seven shots at this and it¡¯s still not done." He stared at the glass as it started to fall yet again. I reached out and grabbed the glass while Daniel kept talking. ¡°And all the useful information was destroyed. Everything outside the four we basically have to solve with no guidance.¡±

    "Seems like you''re offering yourself plenty of rounds already." I said while setting down the glass. He was worse than I with half the liquor. There was enough left in my consciousness to try understanding his lament.

    "All part of the plan. My part in helping us all get along." Daniel smiled and lazily reached for the glass. ¡°I can¡¯t talk about it, Jay. Those are the rules, don¡¯t shoot the messenger.¡±

    ¡°Fine.¡± If he couldn¡¯t talk about it, so be it. I didn¡¯t want him risking his job that kept me safe. Now was a good time to walk off some of this alcohol. Or go on a job then change the undershirt.

    "See you in an hour." I had an hour to reach passable sobriety so Kahina didn''t throttle me.

    He didn¡¯t even wave. I heard the sound of his chair twisting away and another drink being poured. The bottle clanked against the counter as he set it down.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 6 - Backup plan

    Once I entered the office Kahina wasted no time with words. Her fingertips were cool and smooth as they grabbed one arm and steered me into position. She didn''t even let me ask what to expect.

    It was hard to tell, but Anthony seemed to be trying to kill me with his eyes. Maybe the lingering drink was thinking for me. Occasionally his normally smooth face would flicker both eyes to my neck. I swear they slowly traced from one side to the other. Tipsy me had low impulse control and tilted my head slightly then pulled back a cheek. There was no growl, but it was implied. Even half vampires could be startled. Shock forced an unneeded breath into his lungs.

    "Keeper will be here soon." Shaggy was watching one of the security cameras on her phone. How exactly they wired the display to do that was beyond me.

    Anthony snapped both eyes forward and I allowed myself to turn away. Judging by positions I scored second in command somehow. Kahina stood on my right while Anthony got the left. He was closest to the exit. Maybe someone would charge through the door and take him out for me. Then they would apologize and say ''I thought you were a vaudeville villain''. Finally, I, being the generous person I was, would let them live with a stern warning.

    If only. The slimy asshole would probably live forever.

    Daniel and Shaggy were on the other side facing us. Impressively he managed to walk in without the slightest hint of a sway. Shaggy seemed awkwardly close to Daniel, I wasn''t sure why she was even on that side.

    A newcomer opened the door just enough to slip inside. Nobody held it open. No one announced him, but it must be Keeper. No one else could be that bold stepping into this room. One hand carried a cane crowned with an impressive jewel. No top hat or monocle went with it. He did manage a sharp looking trench coat. His breast pocket seemed to have a paperback book shoved into it. Keeper was a vampire that had stopped keeping up somewhere in the eighteen hundreds.

    The man didn''t have an impressive size, in fact, he was almost easy to discount. That bothered me. Everyone talked about Keeper like he was this important person. I was struggling to notice him.

    Kahina was dressed to impress. It was her night after all and the clothing certainly met my approval. Both earrings were large silver hoops. Probably real silver given how last night went. The dress was a dusty gray that was layered in the front and gave the impression of hanging a lot lower than it did. I hadn''t gotten too far beyond an initial glance before being ushered into position.

    "Are we all here?" Keeper''s voice was quiet like he was on the verge of taking a long nap or was so far away mentally that it was a distraction to talk to the rest of us.

    "Yes, we are," Kahina answered with a steady tone.

    "Perfect. You have approval" Keeper had a nearly invisible smile "from the Tribunal to attempt completion. Have you made all your arrangements?"

    Daniel stepped in for a moment to speak. "The will¡¯s in order, signed, and filed. Legal notification has been provided to the neighborhood and law enforcement. Western Sector has every document needed."

    "Ah." The word was yawned. "Good." According to Shaggy, Keeper was old enough to remember a time before Western Sector. He was kind enough not to seem offended by Daniel''s answer. "Well then, we shall take the final steps then, yes?"

    "I would be honored." Kahina bowed her head only slightly. The fact that she deferred to anyone was amazing to me.

    "Excellent. Also, I believe you have some guests outside."

    My lady''s eyes narrowed.

    "Don''t worry, I took the liberty of scouting out the area before I came in. There were a few humans and one fledgling outside the grounds. A good test of your defenses." Even his warning came out like he was distracted.

    Daniel smiled at Keeper without tripping into a drunken leer, barely. "Rival house I assume?"

    "I believe so. The fledgling is not known to me so he cannot be close to his time." Keeper answered.

    "Fantastic, less paperwork for me." Daniel didn''t completely keep out the lisp but managed to play it off as a morbid excitement. Perhaps he was truly entertained by the idea of upcoming combat.

    "They must not be ready to attack, the alarms haven''t been set off."

    "I disabled your alarms in their area." The old vampire said. My head tilted trying to figure out how someone stuck in the past would disable an alarm. How long had Keeper been roaming the grounds?

    "What?" Anthony struggled not to raise his voice to a squeak in front of Keeper. It was fantastic to see his face turn nearly purple. Too bad it wasn''t from my hands cutting off his air supply.

    "It will ensure you do a thorough check." Keeper said calmly.

    Ann popped out her phone while stepping out into the hall. I moved to follow, but a light touch on the arm stopped me. Kahina shook her head just barely.

    "Well," Keeper beamed. "now is a good time to see your Rest location." He absently clicked the cane against the ground.

    "Mister Crumfield." God the woman was sexy when she talked with that timber of authority. Daniel narrowed one eye at Kahina. Yeah, he was losing his professional grip. Sober Daniel wouldn''t have skipped a beat.

    "Yes? How can I assist the Lady Rhodes today?" Daniel must be upset that Kahina had decided to use his last name and used hers back. It was a form of drunken revenge that was easy to understand.

    "I''ll need you to be safe and serve as a witness tonight." She said.

    "Do I get to explore your secret bedroom?"

    I almost choked on my own tongue. Was Daniel hitting on my woman? Mine? I hope to hell that was one of his jokes. The drinking must be coloring my perspective on who meant what.

    "Why, Mister Crumfield, I believe you''re inebriated." Keeper''s voice and attention didn''t sound so distant now. I could almost hear his attention honing in on Daniel.

    "I''ll admit to nothing."

    "Well, in any event, as a Sector Agent you should join us tonight, to inspect of course."

    "Just doing my job, Keeper," Daniel replied with a smile.

    "Excellent, between you and Kahina¡¯s fine young man here I''m sure we''ll be able to complete this quickly." Keeper had noticed me. Hell.

    Why would Daniel be letting Keeper hit on him? I must be over reading things or the amber haze was trying to fool me. One of my cardinal rules of drinking was to keep quiet. Occasionally I succeeded.

    "If you''re ready?" Kahina motioned to a wall panel.

    I had been in this office enough to know that there was a secret compartment of some sort. She didn''t let people in there any more than I let people in my basement. At least not once it was built. Tonight was going to be an adventure. Lets hope she didn''t feel like ripping my head off when we went down there.

    "No, go ahead, it''s your home. I merely have to ensure everything is secure and lay eyes on your resting place." Keeper said absently.

    "Of course." Kahina nodded.

    "Not that I expect you to use this one. None of you ever do. Everyone shows me some false location and then hides in another one. Rather silly, who am I going to tell?"

    I watched Kahina pause for only a moment then she hit the switch and a wall slid backwards. That was so much more fantastic than my basement. Perhaps I should get a secret compartment in my next place.

    "No it''s fine. Go ahead and lead us onward. If you have security measures or traps please disarm them. Point them out or don''t." Keeper didn¡¯t even bother looking around.

    "Keeper." Kahina''s voice was wounded and low. She stood in the newly formed doorway ready to guide the four of us onward.

    "No, my dear. I fully expect any number of wild constructions. After all, I believe I suggested most of them." Keeper sighed and twirled the little staff in his hands. "Of course law does require me your supposed resting place for the next week. This way, when you haven''t reported back in two weeks, we have a place to look."

    The descending stairs were steep but well lit. Just because the vampires could see in the dark didn''t mean they wanted to. Or maybe the lights were for show. They certainly cast a favorable shadow on Kahina.

    "Of course," Kahina said. I was having a hard time not staring at my woman''s backside in that dress.

    "He is right you know. Often vampire bodies turn up in completely different locations. It''s a mess sorting out who they are afterwards." Daniel cheerily added, mostly for my benefit.

    "Too true. Fortunately we''ve started keeping dental records so it is less of a trial for us. And for the fine folks in the Western Sector." Keeper sounded a little less distant.

    Kahina kept silent as we weaved through tiny corridors. If my mental map was right we had ended up somewhere a floor or two down and almost near the other wing. It felt like we were headed towards the pool. Maybe, or maybe my connections were all off.

    "I hear many of the old world governments still haven''t switched over." Daniel kept the conversation going.

    "Old habits die hard, Hunter Crumfield."

    "Agent technically. Hunter went out of style a while back." Daniel was barely in front of Keeper, leaving me to slowly stagger behind everyone.

    "Pardon. I do lose track sometimes." Keeper didn''t sound apologetic.

    Things were difficult enough for me as I tried to keep up with the tilting hallway. Being back here was far less stressful. The walls felt too cold and smooth compared to the rest of the house. Each footfall sent out a clanking sound that echoed down the hallway.

    "Age does have benefits, but it must be difficult to keep up sometimes." The Agent said.

    "Oh I assure you, I can still keep up with anything you younger races can dish out." Seriously, I couldn''t be imagining their flirting could I? Did drunk me assume everything was a innuendo?

    "Some of your brethren are equally adaptable, but not all."

    "It is difficult. The transformation makes us stagnate." Keeper, which had to be a title and not a name, was talking about one of the side effects of vampirism.

    "I always wondered if there was any truth to those studies." Daniel said. Research said there were a number of things included with transitioning. Incredible speed, regeneration, a sense of taste that nearly replaced smell much like a snake. Plus the pathologically crippling fear of holy symbols and the desire to ingest new blood.

    "More than we might like to admit. It''s part of the price for eternal beauty. My daugheter Kahina is a shining example." A little less obvious change meant the mind couldn''t adapt as easily to new information. It was impossible to lock the body at a certain point without doing the same for the mind.

    "You flatter me." Kahina said. She was his daughter? This man was entirely the wrong skin tone to be her father. Kahina shot me a look out of the corner of her eyes, trying zip my mouth shut with her mind. Not that I said anything out loud. I hoped.

    "Nonsense. You''ve worked hard on everything here. I can only hope it goes well." Keeper continued.

    "I''ve worked hard to do you proud, Keeper." She responded

    "I know, that is part of why I sent your guardians on a wild goose chase." The old vampire responded with another click of the cane.

    "Keeper!" Kahina sounded offended. Goose chase? Was the whole thing about an attack and security being disabled a lie?

    "It will be interesting to see if their reports are accurate."

    "Unless of course there is a real attack. Tonight would be perfect." Daniel brought a positive spin on the situation again.

    "Of course, we wouldn''t want someone to miss a real threat." Keeper responded. What real threat? Wasn''t the point of this whole compound to be secure? If there was anything that would attack, it would come from outside. Background checks, careful monitoring, financial record reviews, everyone on the staff was vetted for by millions of pieces of paper. Except me.

    "Through here." Kahina was ahead still next to a panel that had some retinal scanner along with a thumb print.

    "Ah, finally." Keeper stepped through the threshold and into a dimly lit room.

    Daniel followed while Kahina waited at the doorway for me. It was easy to feel awkward about this because I was walking into a place that she might never return from.

    Kahina looked at me and frowned slightly. "Come on, Jay," She said.

    I strode past her and into the room then looked around. It felt off. Everything about it felt off. Nothing resembled Kahina. The room was gray and black in tone, without a hint of life or flavor. No pictures, no furniture beyond a bed. Just a room.

    Most of all I noticed the lack of purple, the lack of peppermint scents that went with her. This wasn''t the right room, like Keeper had said. The real question was where would Kahina actually be?

    "I need to hear confirmation that this is the correct room," Daniel said.

    "It is." She replied.

    "Perfect. Now gentlemen," Was Keeper including me in that comment? I tried to suppress a chuckle but it was hard with this many drinks in me. "I need you both to step outside for a moment."

    "Of course." Daniel herded me outside past Kahina. Her face was carefully composed and didn''t offer a hint of what she was really thinking.

    The door locked behind us and I swear it pressurized. Not that I had a lot of experience with that outside of movies. For a moment, I worried and had to check through my tracking abilities how Kahina was on the other side.

    Keeper''s voice was strong as it bounded around the room on the other side of the door. That was good since I was still a bit tipsy and it was difficult to make things out right.

    "Be careful, my dear." Did they have a relationship? Was I going to have to get into a fight with Keeper over Kahina? "There are many of them, and few of us. The transition will be hard to break away from."

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    "I''m ready."

    "I know, you''re strong, you always have been, and in the last few months I''ve seen your power grow." He said. Though what he meant by the last few months didn¡¯t make sense. I hadn''t seen any changes in Kahina.

    "Jay has been much help." Kahina¡¯s voice, rare praise about me. I hadn''t done a damned thing except walk around the compound, and occasionally hang out with Daniel somewhere.

    "Is he the man you were considering as your Second?"

    "Yes." Score one for me, take that Anthony you pompous asshole.

    "Will he be your first?" Would I be her first what? We''d already had sex, more than a few times.

    "If he agrees."

    There was a punch in my shoulder that made me lose focus. Sensations feeding through the wall ceased and Daniel¡¯s face gained focus.

    "Wake up, man. We''ve got to talk." My friend said with his surfer accent.

    I blinked and tried to bring my eyes together. As always when I retracted my senses there was an odd overlay of the area around me. The feel of Daniel''s professional shoes flat against the ground. His tie shifting slightly as he moved. The seal of the door snug all the way around, one side suctioned against the other.

    "What?" Talking coherently wasn''t completely beyond me.

    "Well, I managed to figure out a few things."

    "While flirting?" Since that was all I noticed. Keeper flirting with everyone, Kahina being demure, Daniel flirting back.

    "Keeper''s talkative when he''s flirting."

    "Didn''t notice." I forgot to put sarcasm into my tone.

    "Kahina¡¯s security has some gaps. Not sure what kind, but she has gaps." Daniel said while running a hand through his hair. Both the redhead''s cheeks were flushed from either heat or drinking too much.

    "Why tell me?" Why not tell Kahina? It was her security.

    "I can''t interfere." He stared at me like there should be lightbulbs going off above my head. There weren¡¯t. Lightbulbs probably would have caused me to get a headache.

    "Why not?" I asked. Sector basically did what they wanted right?

    "As long as it''s within race Sector''s hands are tied. To be clear," Daniel placed a hand on my shoulder and stared straight at me. "no matter what happens, Sector can''t officially get involved unless it''s interracial."

    "Oh. Should I expect trouble?" I said dumbly. Danger this soon into her change seemed wrong somehow. Then again we had been attacked last night. I tried to shake off the last of a buzz that didn¡¯t seem to fade.

    "Yes. God yes, man. Haven''t you been paying attention? Kahina is being turned by Keeper himself, Keeper. Not some new age vampire, not some family obligation, she was picked by The Keeper."

    "What''s going to happen?" I asked.

    "I can''t say. If it follows pattern then the next week or so will put this compound under constant attack.¡± Daniel looked up at the ceiling. I looked too and got annoyed that it was so low. ¡°Kahina picked a good place, though, and the walls are high. Being inside the city will limit some actions what with security cameras everywhere near by."

    I wondered about oversized brick walls surrounding the entire property. Not too much, a wall was to keep people out. As a private man I understood.

    "Likely more attacks from Fifty Five, probably some lower vampires that aren''t expected to survive the change, maybe humans.¡± Daniel paused and stared at me. He pulled at shortened hair and sighed. ¡°Scratch that, you''re here, there¡¯ll certainly be humans attacking. There hasn''t been a transition this high profile in decades."

    "All her employees are prepared," I said.

    "I know, she''s put a lot into this. A lot. You have no idea what sort of paperwork is required to get an Ex Sector Agent to instruct." Daniel was shaking his head back and forth while still tugging.

    "Who?" My forehead wrinkled slightly while I fidgeted with these clothes. They felt too stuffy and confined.

    "I think you know him as Sensei." Oh, right, he spent a lot of time downstairs training everyone in hand to hand, or strategies for defense. I hadn''t seen much of him in the last four months.

    "Can I trust him?"

    "No. No, you can''t trust anybody. It''s you and Kahina, that''s it." Daniel said.

    The door behind us depressurized and started to open. Daniel clenched his hand and shook me for a moment then let go. Keeper stepped out into the hallway.

    "Gentlemen, I believe it''s time." Keeper said to us with his quiet tone.

    "I''ll go then. My job is completed." Daniel gave a short bow to Keeper.

    "A shame, but yes. Until next time, Agent Crumfield." The short, unassuming vampire said without a return bow.

    "Keeper." Daniel nodded and walked down the hallway back towards the exit.

    "And me?" I had no clue what my actions should be.

    "That''s between you and my dear Kahina." Keeper turned back to the open door. "She''s inside, come."

    I stepped inside after the shorter vampire and the door sealed shut. It made the room feel darker than it should be. A small amount of light spilled around the room. Kahina had laid down. Keeper sat on a plain chair next to the bed.

    "Are you sure you want to do this here?"

    "Yes." Kahina''s eyes were unfocused. Was she worried about the change? Anyone in their right mind would be. I was, but there was no room for my feelings in this decision. These choices had to be made by her.

    "Tonight?" Keeper pressed.

    "Yes, sire," She said.

    Keeper pulled an object out of his jacket. It was hand length and thin. Whatever it was had been wrapped in a dark fabric, probably purple if Kahina had her way.

    I shuffled a bit closer to Kahina and him, in case he did something threatening. Maybe a little closer than was proper but it was Kahina laying there. She looked so tired. Minutes ago she had been demure in front of Keeper. Now she was clammy and sweating. Kahina must be afraid again, with good reason.

    "There used to be much ceremony with this before it became so mired by laws. Oaths instead of forms, honor instead of legal bindings. Still, this is better then grabbing young princes from a campfire." His voice had regained that distant tone now that Daniel was gone. "Some parts anyway." He at least remembered how to smile.

    "Keeper, please." It was hard to tell what expression Kahina was going for. Her face drooped on one side and the words were lethargic.

    "Of course, dear."

    Keeper unwrapped the item in his hand, revealing a clean little blade. Without further comment, he took the blade and cut into his forearm where blood eagerly welded up.

    "Drink it." He put his arm out near her lips. "After all, we must adhere to some of the old forms."

    I watched as he slipped his arm to her lips. Watched as her eyes drifted upwards to mine, then his and fell back down to the bloodied arm in front of her. Slowly she suckled the gash and blood slipped away past her lips.

    Kahina gulped slowly. Her complexion didn''t change, but her eyes grew darker. The serious changes would be internal and easy to miss. No matter how prepared someone was, watching it in person wasn''t comforting. Knowing that she basically pulled the trigger in a game of six chamber roulette.

    "That should be more than enough, it is much more concentrated than what your body is generating currently. The last of your old self will be overwhelmed and the condition will take full hold."

    She nodded. "I know."

    "Of course, dear, you''re doing wonderfully." His voice was slow and soothing. It was hard to say who he was trying to reassure.

    "I''ll need to leave you soon, dawn may catch me otherwise."

    "I can feel it." She slurred. Was she talking about dawn?

    "We will help you through the transition." Of course I would help her. Keeper''s help would be good too, and Shaggy, and the others in the household. Each of us had something invested in keeping Kahina alive. Even if Daniel said trust no one, he was likely making sure I didn''t rely on anyone.

    "Your Guardian will need to come with me." The male vampire said.

    "Jay." Her voice was worse, uneven, shaky.

    "Only for a moment, dear." He tried to reassure Kahina. Her hand slowly edged towards the side of the bed. I took it carefully and felt a faint pulse.

    "Too soon." Then her eyelids closed. We both watched her lying there. I checked for only a moment with my other sight. Briefly acknowledging that she was mine.

    World shimmers. Feel the vibrations of life. Energy, denser than air. Dangerous Mate. Weak. Drifting. Still alive. Uncomfortable expectation. Touch her hair. Her face. Feel the changes speeding through. Tiny battles have started inside.

    "Come, quietly." Keeper was back at the door. Then the passageway opened with a rush of air and we slipped outside.

    "What did you want?" The words came out ruder than they should have.

    Keeper stood and stared for a moment. Not at my eyes but at all of me. His eyes traveled up, then down, looking for something. Hopefully he wasn''t wasting my time by gauging if I was a good lay or not. Now was not the time. He leaned closer and I saw a deep breath pass through his body. Then another, and another.

    "What are you doing?" I asked.

    Finally he stopped and stepped back.

    "It is good that she has one of The Hidden helping her. Though you taste of tampering." Keeper nodded.

    "What?" That was my third question to someone and still no answer that made sense. It felt almost typical. "The Hidden?"

    His eyes grew wide. "You do not know then?"

    "Know what?" That I wasn''t human? Yeah, I knew that. What I was besides that still was a mystery.

    "Then I am fortunate I did not say more. I would not risk death by misspeaking." He said.

    What the hell did that mean? Telling me information somehow flirted with death? He had a hint as to what I was? If I learned that then maybe I would know what I could really do. If there were others like me, if Kahina and I could get along without her flipping out on me when she drew blood. Waiting for Evan to provide me information involved waiting eight or nine months.

    "What are you talking about?" It was my turn to step closer to him, falling back on the normal tactics of invading his personal space. Something that normally made other people uneasy.

    "Back, up, child." The way he said the last word was purely insulting and no longer distant. His attention was very much in the now. Those eyes drilled into mine.

    "Child?" I didn''t move.

    "You are young but different. Do not think that your size or alien nature is an advantage. Or that my girl''s good graces ensure your life." Keeper''s voice felt focused compared to his normal method of talking.

    I debated pulling out a cross. It would take too long to yank one out of my pocket, though. Being aggressive with Kahina''s patron was a terrible idea. Hell. He offered her help too. I stood for a moment longer and stared down at Keeper. His hand seemed to sit calmly on the cane, but his body felt utterly still. Finally I gave up and tried to settle down.

    "Perhaps I can say a little, rarely do The Hidden show up in the world. Especially since the completion of the Purge." Keeper nodded once I was under control.

    "The Purge wiped out all the other races," I muttered dryly. That fact kept presenting itself every time I tried to get information.

    "It was impossible to be that thorough.¡± Keeper sounded distant again, but a little amused. ¡°Not that we didn''t try."

    "You were there?" I asked.

    Keeper nodded.

    "Why can''t you tell me anything?" I asked another question.

    "The ruminates of old pacts bind those who know from telling those who don''t, with few exceptions," He said.

    "Elven magic?" Which was purely visual and illusions, wasn''t it?

    "That I cannot say.¡± Keeper shook his head back and forth. ¡°The bindings prevent us from talking about The Hidden races in any sort of specific manner. That is why you are called Hidden. If you were any of the core races then I would risk telling you this much."

    "Fine," I said. It was getting annoying that no one could tell me about myself. "Everyone likes to allude."

    "Ah, then I am not the first?"

    "No."

    "And the others?" Keeper asked.

    "A friend." Sort of, not that we ever hung out. What were Evan and I then, servant and master? "He was bound and unable to talk about it."

    "Elven?" The vampire asked. I guess when you''ve been around a few hundred years ''binding'' only meant one race.

    "Yes."

    "Perhaps there are some answers there that won''t result in death." He nodded for me and tapped the cane twice on the ground.

    "Why elves?" I said while quickly shaking my head with annoyance.

    "Because they started the Purge." The shorter man and his damned sparkly cane had a grin plastered from one side of his face to the other. Keeper left me with more questions than I started with.

    "Don''t worry. You''ll be found by kin, eventually. Perhaps they watch you already. They may reveal what they will, where I will not." Keeper turned distant again. I was starting to think that he became lost in thoughts easily. "Now I must be safe before dawn. Go back inside, stay with her. She will need all the support we can give."

    "How are you..." One moment Keeper was there and the next moment completely and utterly gone. I looked around the hallway as it went down one way and back the other, nothing. Darn vampires.

    That left me and a door that had sealed itself behind me. The door handle was cool to the touch and refused to budge.

    "How do I open this thing?" I wondered.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 7 - The Change Takes

    I went through my mental status checklist. Door, locked. Kahina, behind it. Me, too stupid to know the unlock code. My own lack of foresight hardly felt surprising at this point.

    Maybe I could go back outside and look for someone with a security code. That would mean exposing her hiding place, not that it was extremely hidden, just secure. Should I reach out to Kahina through my abilities and hope she mumbled a pass phrase? That was clearly a plan without flaws.

    Daniel had gone, Keeper vanished, and Ann probably wasn''t allowed down here. Sensei might be. Leaving  would basically be admitting I was a failure as Kahina''s protector.

    Maybe I could get mad and rip the door out. Superhuman strength was a perk. I doubt even a vampire or wolf could break down this door. That was the point. Had Kahina snuck my fingerprints into the little security panel? I should at least check. One eye scan and fingerprint later and the door opened with a whoosh of noise.

    It was unexpected. What exactly had Kahina been doing all this time? Better yet, when had she snagged my fingerprints and a retinal scan? Probably during one of my many hibernations.

    Inside felt heartbreaking. Not from things looking bad, but because Kahina was unconscious on the bed. Her face appeared serene in a detached sort of way. The thought was morbid since she might never wake up. Was it only last night that we had been using a bed for something much different?

    "Kahina?" I moved closer to the bed.

    Perhaps she was just nearly unconscious. It was difficult to admit that I needed to talk to her. To hear something more, a way to know that she would be okay.

    "Kahina?" Two fingers were placed along her smooth neck. For almost a minute, there was no pulse. Then one single beat that I might have imagined. Another minute passed and an even fainter heartbeat came. Then nothing.

    "Too soon." I echoed her previous words. This, this was far too soon.

    I had no clue what to do. During the last four months, she should have made plans with me. Given me an idea of what to expect after the change. Of how I was to guard her. Most of our interaction involved sex. Other than that my understanding boiled down to: stand there, look intimidating, punch the right people, and let the household do their job.

    They were the ones that made plans, trained, managed all the day to day activities. Yet after months I didn''t have a clue what to expect. Nothing more than a single looming thought. She might die during this process.

    When would I know? Right away? An hour from now? Tomorrow? I closed my eyes and looked for Kahina in my other sight. There was still a faint halo of life about her that dripped upwards, away from the body.

    I laid down on the bed and stared across at her. The sheets weren''t even that high in quality, being far more coarse than her normal bedding. Not that she could complain. If only some of her apparent calmness would rub off on me. My eyes closed only for a moment before they reopened. Now was not the time to be sleepy.

    Eventually, I looked beyond Kahina to the rest of the room. Everything was set up like a bedroom, but items were missing. No dresser, mirrors, or nightstand. There was a television mounted into one of the walls. Maybe it got cable? Nothing else here but a doorway and the mildly fancy bed frame. No food either. Sooner or later I would have to venture outside this room.

    As a man, my next choice was whether to turn on the television or not. I could at least keep Kahina company until dawn. The TV power button was hidden on one side. My resulting screen looked nothing like the local selection of channels. Words were plastered across saying ''For Jay'' and gave me a play or exit option.

    I didn''t want to seem desperate for guidance, but it was difficult not to grow a little frantic while searching for a remote control. Finding it turned out to be easy since the room was fairly desolate. Moments later my finger hovered over the button.

    For a brief second, I glanced back at a motionless Kahina. How much had she planned? How had she found the time? More questions than answers and it was beyond time for some answers. My finger pressed play.

    "Hello, Cat-nip." Kahina''s face showed up on the screen. The smell of peppermint had slowly filled the room. It almost felt like she was actually talking to me and not some recording. I tried to place the scene. Wrapped around her was a blanket from the bed upstairs. In the background, I could see myself sprawled out, clearly asleep.

    "This message should be in my first stage safe room. There are two other rooms on the property, and another two off-site. Ann will know their locations." She said while I wondered how Kahina had set up five different safe rooms without my knowledge.

    "If you already know this, then perhaps I no longer worry-" her pause drug out for a moment before she pushed through "that you''ll leave. Maybe you¡¯re watching this because you want to stay."

    "Please stay." She looked back behind her to where the other me was laying on the bed.

    It was weird to watch a recording of myself shift and mumble while sleeping. Thankfully I wasn¡¯t snoring. I didn''t answer her recording, but I did look at Kahina again on the bed behind me.

    "I can''t explain too much. Dwelling on what will happen may tip off those against me. During the day..." Now she was chewing on her bottom lip. That was an action I never saw in real life. It was startlingly cute. "During the day our thoughts are not entirely our own."

    Her statement didn¡¯t make much sense. What did she mean by saying her mind wasn''t her own? Was that some clever way of saying that vampire instincts controlled her?

    "My sire, Keeper, advised me the change takes anywhere from four to seven days. He warns that it is not the change that brings death, but the others." Kahina kept speaking. I remembered hearing from Daniel how dangerous the transition process was.

    "There is a good chance that I will be gifted, powerfully so, when I transition." She didn''t use the word ''if''. At least one of us was confident. "That perhaps their constant threats may be changed for those that follow. First though we need to make it through this and to do that I need an anchor."

    "I''ve always wanted that to be you, Jay, from the day you came into my life." She was speaking and the words didn¡¯t connect. Me, an anchor? Even before the thing with the blood? What exactly did she mean by anchor?

    "It was difficult to let anyone know my plans. Difficult to trust, but Ann...reminds me too much of Julianne." And Julianne had been like a sister to Kahina. Combine that with a vampire''s inability to adapt easily and you had trust by association. "I always trusted Julianne, so I feel compelled to trust Ann."

    Daniel had said don''t trust anyone. It would be difficult to say who was right. Maybe I should only trust myself.

    "I can''t help it. I must believe in someone. I hope there is still a we, Jay, more than this." Her words were growing shorter, in the background I could see myself starting to wake up. A wobbly handheld camera panned outward to show where I lay flopped on the bed. "Not that I don''t enjoy it." She tried to play off the words like a placating joke.

    Then all I could see was her face and a single careful red tear falling slowly down her cheek. Maybe there was more going on but nothing else was in focus. Just her. I was such a sucker when it came to crying women.

    "Please stay, Cat-nip. I need to see you when I wake up." Kahina said.

    The video clicked off leaving only silence in the room. It was weird. That was the longest speech I had heard her make. For as long as we had been together she focused on giving short orders and doing something. Action over pleading.

    I wanted to stay in here with Kahina, but that didn''t seem feasible. It was hard to believe that Kahina trusted that tiny brunette. I easily understood being distrustful of Anthony. Especially after Keeper''s other partial, Mister Janns, shot Julianne.

    There was little choice but to go out and find Shaggy. I carefully pulled the covers over Kahina and walked through the door back up the hall. The secret panel opened into the main office. Now I knew where the resting place was. I could make it back without much hassle.

    Where would Shaggy be? She and Anthony had charged off. No one was in the outer hall. All former businessmen, guards, and housekeepers were absent.

    An alarm¡¯s low hum filled the empty rooms. The noise was new and difficult to hear from my location. Either the alarm wasn¡¯t serious, or it had been triggered near here. Maybe a leftover from Keeper¡¯s test?

    The second-floor hallway had a good view of the outside. Darkness was pushed back by lights scattered from windows and a streetlights over the wall. No one sat in the driveway. Cars were absent along the street.

    Directly below me was a side entrance to the first floor. People gathered in so close that I had overlooked them. Three people, all well dressed, were in calm discussion over a dead body. The deceased looked like it belonged to one of our house members. It was difficult to say who from this angle. At least the three standing over the body were ours and not someone else''s.

    I knocked loudly on the window to get their attention. One knelt down to the body, the other two looked back up towards me. The man known as Sensei, according to Daniel he was ex-Sector, stared up for a moment then motioned me down. A minute later we were all standing over the dead body.

    "Ours?" I asked.

    "Oh. Sure is. Cause unknown, probably vamp. You see anything up there with Miss Rhodes?" One of Kahina''s many employees responded then sighed heavily.

    "Nothing unusual." I responded. Aside from a drunk and flirting Daniel and a vanishing vampire. Oh and that video from Kahina.

    "Joy," Sensei spoke with a flat tone. "Has it started?"

    "She''s started, yes," I said.

    "My contract¡¯s over then. You, Rays, and Myers will be in charge." Sensei looked back at the body and crossed both arms over his chest.

    My raised eyebrow was clear enough.

    "Part of the deal. Sector can''t get involved unless it''s inter-species. Being retired doesn''t change that. I was on retainer to train the household until her final transformation started." He said while narrowing both eyes at the dead body.

    "Alright." Arguing with Sector was useless. It meant that our side had even less chance than before.

    "What did Danny say?" Sensei asked.

    "Danny?"

    "Agent Crumfield." Sensei clarified. Now I knew Daniel had another nickname that would be funny to use. My brief moment of mirth vanished as the whole reason for this situation popped back to the forefront.

    "That we missed something." I responded.

    "What?" Sensei''s pitch still didn''t change.

    "Would it do any good to tell you?" I asked while frowning. The man¡¯s contract  was over. Not being paid usually meant minimal assistance.

    "Officially, no. I''ll go over the preparations again, though. Maybe there''s a gambit I missed." Sensei started looking around the grounds while one finger rubbed against his beardless chin.

    "And then?"

    "And then you won''t find the answer waiting for you on Myers¡¯ PDA."

    I tried not to smile. Sensei managed to succeed, keeping an emotionless expression. Maybe it was a trick of his training. Smirks naturally found their way to my face.

    "I''ll need to report to a Sector officer as soon as possible. Keeper won''t take long to file his end of the paperwork, and if I''m too far behind that I can kiss future contracts goodbye." There was a tone how he said paperwork that implied a deep dislike.

    "You''re leaving?" I asked.

    "I am," He answered while still flat-voiced. His thoughts must have occupied reviewing the plans. The finger was rubbing in overtime now.

    The other two, both female and male members of the house looked worried at that.

    "Officially, I¡¯ve done what I can. The rest is on you all. Good luck." Sensei didn''t waste time hanging around and headed back inside. Ann¡¯s voice surprised me with an abrupt appearance.

    "Sir, I''ll have him escorted out," She said. I asked myself how the gun toting woman had managed to sneak up on me. "You two, go." Shaggy motioned to the other employees.

    Sensei actually smiled at that one. "Good girl. Someone paid attention during training."

    "I always pay attention." She responded.

    "You''d have to for this job." Sensei was talking about Ann making it into Kahina''s household.

    For a moment, I saw Ann pause and bow to Sensei then turn back to the dead body. The two employees she''d motioned at escorted Sensei off the premises. That left me, Ann, and a dead body.

    "Who is it?" I didn''t really know all the names yet. Then again I hadn''t gone out of my way to know anyone here. Shaggy had been forced on me.

    "Henry Mcintyre. His sister will be upset, but they signed the paperwork like the rest of us." Ann plopped down onto the ground next to Henry and stared into vacant eyes while I tried to remember the rules.

    Once someone signed onto a vampire household they were covered by Tribunal law. As long as these attacks were initiated by another vampire, Sector Agents wouldn''t get involved. The one concession was if a person passed away a household life insurance would kick in.

    The exact value of it varied by each house. Judging by Kahina''s set up Henry''s sister would be perfectly fine. Once she got over the missing family member. If she got over it. The idea that a life could be measured by dollar signs had always perplexed me. Though it was only a step away from beating someone senseless to collect a debt.

    "Kahina is..." I tried to figure out the next word. Unconscious? Dying?

    "We''ll have to move her from position one to two today." Ann barely skipped a beat. "Hopefully if we do it during early dawn the scent trails will fade before nightfall." Fledgling vampires, those still undergoing the process, might be able to taste where Kahina was and had gone. Or if a pack was involved then they might smell it too.

    "Is it always this bad?" I asked.

    "I''ve heard rumors, but two attacks in two days?" Shaggy shook her head and kept staring at Henry''s lifeless body. "Doesn''t matter, we both have a lot riding on this."

    "We do?" I didn¡¯t really hear her question and muttered a response.

    "I do, an entire career. What about you?"

    "Just her." Kahina was the only thing that mattered. Mine, she was mine and I''d protect her. It had been a promise. "What''s the plan for now?"

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    "Sir." Ann acknowledged my question. "Now the fun starts." She wasn''t smiling, though. That''s fine, neither was I. After a heavy sigh she started tapping on her PDA.

    I stared into the darkness surrounding the house.

    "Make yourself useful," She said.

    "What should I do?" I had no idea which action to take.

    I should have paid more attention to Sensei''s plans, or gone to the training drills. My few months working with her amounted to nothing against these employee''s years. Kahina spent a lot of money on this household during my long absence and the results were clear. She was ready for a war.

    The cost of this made me shudder, but if she succeeded then she would get hundreds of years to rebuild everything. Not to mention contacts with the other fully turned vampires. She would be a member of their elite.

    For a moment my concentration slipped. Thoughts sought out Kahina in the bed back underground. I could feel her through those extra senses. No breath, cool but not chilled, eyelids closed. There was a soft tingle of fabric from sheets resting against her skin.

    "Sir?" Shaggy was talking.

    "What should I do?"

    "I told you already," She said slowly.

    My blank look must have been enough of an answer. I had been elsewhere in my thoughts. Ann tried to suppress a sigh and stood up from the dead body.

    "You should do a lap and then report in." Ann grabbed a walkie talkie from Henry''s dead body and spoke into it. Her phrasing focused on asking when someone would come round up the body. Not soon enough, but it wasn''t like we had a large enough group for a medical staff. Only a few people trained in first aid and field triage.

    "Why patrol?" I asked. What good would doing a lap do? I should go back and stay with Kahina.

    "You''re the Lady¡¯s enforcement arm. The rest of us are part of it, but she''s painted you as her personal hound." Right, like I did any real tracking in the last few months. "If you''re a half decent wolf you might pick up a trail and follow it back to the breach."

    "Yeah." Maybe someone had left something laying around for me. If there was something and I used it right then we could figure out who killed Henry. Not that my skills included detective work.

    "Do we know who this was?"

    Ann shook her head back and forth.

    "Do we know anything?" I tried again.

    "It gets worse before it gets better." Ann summed up the story of my life in one sentence. Getting better hadn''t happened yet.

    Shaggy stayed behind with the body, and I strove to beat my personal record for a lap around the compound. Even then it took thirty minutes. I had forgotten how far back some of the land stretched. By the time I returned Henry was bagged up and gone. Almost like they had everything ready somewhere on the property and had been waiting to see who was first.

    My own goals were a pure failure. Nothing remained to track with, no fur, blood, or anything from the invaders. Maybe it was like Shaggy said, and everything I did was merely for show. Maybe I was only useful when following someone else''s lead. Stand here, intimidate them, find this, punch him. Simple orders were best.

    I drug my feet more than necessary and slowly headed towards Kahina¡¯s office, it should be our rally point when at home. Ann was nowhere to be seen so far. For once my own footsteps didn''t echo down the hallway to announce my presence. Or Shaggy and Anthony were so involved in their conversation that they didn''t notice.

    "I can''t believe you expect me to buy that bullcrap." That had to be Ann. It was also quite possibly the loudest I had ever heard her be.

    "Girl, remember who you are talking to." Anthony¡¯s voice responded. I could hear a hint of teeth and snarl to it.

    "Someone who I thought knew what they were doing!" Her voice went up an octave.

    "Little girl." Anthony was irritated too.

    "Don''t ¡®little girl¡¯ me, you''re only two years older than I am and clearly incompetent."

    There were more than a few gawkers in the side rooms. They didn¡¯t stand right in the hallway but were off in other doorways whispering among themselves. Some of the men and women had confused looks on their faces. Anyone in their position had a right to be worried. None of this was a test, there were no more drills, it was Monday morning on finals week and failure meant death.

    "We''ve got to figure out how they got inside the walls."

    "Keeper told us there was a breach, and that he''d taken down the security on the western side." Anthony managed to sound reasonable. I hadn''t expected him to be the calm one and Ann the angry one.

    My last few footsteps were a little louder than I expected. The noise was enough to startle some of the others in the hallway. At a glance there were about six out of the fourteen that should be alive still. Anything these ones overheard would be passed to the other.

    "Figure it out, Anthony. Figure it out or we''re all..." Shaggy¡¯s words were lost as I took action.

    I couldn¡¯t let these idiots fall apart in the face of conflict. If there was one thing I understood it was a fight. My giant hand clamped down on the employee nearest me and spoke up. Hopefully, this would drown out whatever nonsense Shaggy was going to say next.

    "The building should be on lockdown. Make sure it is." I stared right at the man, Kurt, I believe, was his name. A brown haired brown eyed man. He only hesitated for a moment before nodding. "And dawn''s coming. Be ready for humans or wolves. Follow your training.¡±

    I had no idea what the actual plan was beside murder those who tried to screw up Kahina¡¯s transition. There had to be something more specific. At least wolves and humans didn''t move as fast as vampires. Even a partial vampire would be over the walls before half the compound noticed.

    "But, sir-" Kurt spoke up finally. I stared directly at him and cut off whatever nonsense was about to be spouted.

    There''s a look that years of beating people up for a living can provide. It''s best delivered from a larger mass, taller stature, and a face that looks used to assaulting people. He flinched first.

    "Get going!" I grunted. My gripping hand twisted the man around then shoved Kurt down the hall. Thank goodness he was distracted enough not to fight back. I had seen Kurt take down others quite easily in hand to hand.

    "Sir." He herded the other five away. Maybe they needed direction too. Ironic that it came from me. Or maybe that''s the way orders worked, the person on top spouted whatever seemed right at the time.

    "Better come in, sir." Ann cracked open the door. She looked like hell. Arguing with Anthony could add years to anyone''s face.

    "Ah, there you are, little puppy dog." Mockery tainted his voice. I wanted to rip the cross out of my pocket and castrate him with it. The idea was shelved for personal entertainment later.

    "Anthony''s an idiot, but you too, Shaggy?" I didn''t even look at him.

    "What?" She sounded startled by my accusation. I guess Ann hadn''t expected to be put in the line of fire.

    "You two are yelling. The others were listening. What does that tell them?" Better yet, why did I have to be the one to point it out? My job description shouldn¡¯t include this sort of thing.

    "Who was it?" Shaggy said while grinding her teeth.

    "Kurt, and others," I said.

    "Where are they now?" Anthony asked.

    "Following their training. Where¡¯s the other partial?" I said while trying not to grumble.

    "Right behind you." Another male said with a soft voice. I turned slightly to see the vampire come out of a shadow. How long had he been standing there? "And please, I prefer Lennon."

    At least I hadn''t actually charged Anthony, with his buddy behind me things could have gone downhill. He slid over to Anthony''s side as if declaring his allegiance.

    "Gang''s all here," I muttered.

    "Kurt and the others should be notifying the city council to reroute traffic from this area. Then we need to figure out who got to Henry, which I was explaining to Mister Rays." Her voice was extremely strained and it was easy to tell how she felt about dealing with the partial vampire.

    "Anthony, my dear."

    "First it''s little girl, then you call me dear?!" With one comment, the tension in the room shot up another notch. Ann had her gun out and locked onto Anthony in the time it took me to blink. Needed points on the shooting range my ass, her draw was frightening.

    "Shaggy." Maybe I shouldn''t be using nicknames at this point. That seemed to be what was getting Anthony in trouble.

    "Not, now, sir." I could actually hear her teeth grinding

    together and her finger tensing on the trigger.

    "Ann." I dared use her real name. "We need to stay calm."

    "And I need to put a bullet in his head." She leveled the gun at Anthony. Anthony was probably having flashbacks of her practicing at the shooting range.

    "We need him."

    "We''re all on the same team," Lennon said. A very slight smile slipped onto his face. It felt like he wouldn''t care either way if Anthony got shot.

    "What he said." I stepped closer to Ann.

    "You need to calm down." Lennon''s voice was mellow.

    "Fuck." Ann holstered her gun almost as quickly as she''d brought it out. "I wasn''t actually going to shoot him. Even if he deserves it."

    "Well." Anthony started to talk, but Lennon shook his head. Thankfully they both understood that now was not the time to rock the boat.

    "Sunrise is soon. You two get to ground, we¡¯ll move Kahina." I said while standing between the short-tempered female and both partial vampires.

    "Are you sure?" Lennon asked with his whispery tone.

    "It''s best to wait, right?" I asked.

    Lennon looked at Anthony and shrugged. Then they both nodded.

    "Yes. There should be fewer eyes in the daylight. Also, make sure to open up the entire building to fresh air. It''ll mess up the scents. Stay inside the household and double back a few times. It''ll spread the smell around and confuse anyone tracking her."

    "Done." Ann nodded.

    The two partial vampires slipped out of the room and into other parts of the house. Where exactly they slept during the day was a mystery to me.

    We ducked into the secret passageway and headed down to pick up Kahina. I''d hoped to see her breathing, even a slow shallow breath, but nothing. She didn''t look any different. I felt guilty for leaving her alone down here. No one else was keeping her company.

    Ann led the way from the first room to the second. Kahina was draped in my arms, the gray dress on still. It was difficult to maneuver her down the hallway and I couldn''t bring myself to sling her over my shoulders.

    Skipping to the second safe room seemed odd to me since the first one hadn''t been compromised, but Ann insisted this was a good idea. If I had my way we''d put Kahina in the safe location and I''d camp out next to her for a week. If the new room had a microwave and a bathroom then it was doable.

    A left, three rights and two security codes later we found a second room. Keeper was right, she had never intended to use the first room. With three other backups I doubt she expected this one to last long.

    "You''ll have to be out there, looking around." Ann was ahead of me holding open the door into the next room. This place looked far more sneaky than the last room.

    "Why?" Why couldn''t I stay here and keep watch? I was a final line of defense wasn''t I? Inside was a very cramped room. Only enough room for a bed and a chair. At least it wasn''t a drab color, it looked a bit more lively.

    "You staying here gives away her position too easily. It also shows a lack of confidence in the house¡¯s defenses." Because I had confidence in them to begin with. "It''ll keep you busy. We''ve got days yet before the Lady will wake up."

    "What will you do?" I wasn''t going to leave Kahina alone with anyone other than me.

    "Same thing." Shaggy was walking around the room searching in the cabinets for something. The doors would flip open giving a brief glimpse inside. Ammunition, first aid kits, nonperishables. Almost like a siege room.

    "We just leave her here?" I stood in the doorway while Shaggy took up all the spare room.

    "Don''t worry. My PDA''s got a remote feed into the security cameras. Not the greatest quality but it''ll be obvious enough if anyone hits this room. The door will hold them long enough for someone to fire a few down the hallway." Ann moved out of my way after finding a few more clips of ammunition.

    I slipped Kahina onto the bed carefully. When it came to her my mind fumbled through nothing but worry. "You sure?"

    "She was sure. That''s good enough for me." Shaggy said.

    It wasn''t good enough for me. If everything up top was compromised or if someone found their way down here, then what could I do? A few people were easy enough. A lot of people could be handled with the right equipment. Yet, even I couldn¡¯t stop an army.

    "Move." Ann shooed me out of the way and started stringing up something above Kahina.

    There was a hook on the wall that she snapped a pouch of red liquid into. The other end dripped downward into an IV. She snapped on a pair of sterilized gloves. I almost charged Ann as she slipped the needle from an IV right into Kahina''s arm. No preamble, no swiping, barely even searched for a vein. Only a well-angled stab.

    "Sir, relax. She''ll need blood. It''ll keep her body from going completely dormant." She leaned over into another cabinet and fished out some clear tape. In a smooth motion, she bound the needle into place.

    "She should go through a single bag in a few hours, according to Keeper''s notes it''ll serve as a catalyst for some of the changes by exciting the vampiric condition. Like meat in a piranha tank." The image was disturbing but probably fairly accurate. I had felt Kahina''s hunger for blood before. It pulled her entire body like a tide.

    "There." Ann stood up and yanked off the gloves then shoved them into a baggy. "You ready to go?"

    What the hell kind of question was that? Was I ready to go? To leave Kahina all alone down here in such a state? I answered her. "Not yet, Shaggy."

    "Too bad, sir." Ann shoved me out of the door. Almost as an afterthought I heard her add "Two."

    I guess my count had started over.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 8 - Completely Dormant

    Given a choice, I wouldn''t be walking around trying to look imposing. At least not right now. It was a little before noon and nothing interesting had happened. No reports from Ann or any of the other staff. No sudden attacks or bombings. Our compound''s only visitor was a coroner who picked up Henry''s body. They wouldn''t dare try to analyze it on site. The cause of death was easy. His throat had been torn out.

    Someone had found a pile of ash and bone this morning where a dead partial vampire hadn''t survived. Two and two put together meant a vampire killed Henry, and enough bullets killed the vampire.

    Forensics wasn''t my thing. I couldn''t even pretend a basic understanding of crime scene layouts. Some of Kahina''s staff members could. They were tearing the place apart looking for more information and left me rolling in boredom. Between the tedium of my uselessness and sleep, sleep would''ve won. I was running on a day and a half with only a few hours of naps to show for it.

    Ann, dammit, Shaggy had suggested I last until sundown. That way Anthony and Lennon would be awake and could take over. Human servants were there to cover the day shift. She fought my suggestion of letting the rest of the household take watch while I sleep.

    I hadn''t seen Shaggy for a few hours. I would bet real money on her having tucked off somewhere and taken the nap my body craved. To ensure I couldn''t do the same word had gotten out that I was the ''go to'' guy for orders about the household. Most everyone steered clear of me. Their training had been thorough enough to make this place run on autopilot. When one person asked me a question I responded with a very impressive ''What do you think?''. The man spouted off some idea and ran off to take care of it. For all I know he could have been asking about the trash pickup schedule.

    Hours later things did start to happen. Some authoritative looking people from different parties gained entry through legal processes I knew nothing about. If Ann had been around I might have asked her but the people she left me with seemed to feel it was standard.

    The first party was a set of officers from human law enforcement that showed up for a statement regarding the dead human. They wanted to check the box declaring him deceased during a vampire house skirmish.

    Pack law did something similar by sending a female out to the house. She walked into the house and sniffed the area around Kahina''s office before turning to us. It was a boring process I had mostly tuned out, and the wolf in question wasn''t someone familiar.

    "Very well. I can report that a vampire was definitely present in this room, and I can smell the deceased wolves." She said.

    "Impressive. We''ve had the house aired out." The person answering was a female from Kahina''s house. All the actual talking was her responsibility. Being in charge allowed me to delegate.

    "Of course, but I''m required to have a better than average nose." The Pack female said.

    "Of course." The not pack female responded. Exhaustion made it hard to tell which woman was talking. I got as far as ¡®ours¡¯ and ¡®not ours¡¯.

    My role was to look intimidating while the law enforcement branches did their thing. It seemed like a good idea to look at her name tag. Too much nosing into the smells around here couldn''t be good. Not when we tried to air the place out all day.

    Dianna Kundre. A fake name? Perhaps, or maybe she was legit. Probably not worth worrying about. The wolf''s blond hair might be dyed though it was unlikely. Medium height, not too bulky like most wolves ended up being. Dianna probably lifted weights for tone rather than size. Either way I would pass the name by Shaggy.

    "Nice setup," Dianna commented.

    The employee she was talking to went by the name Jacky. No long version. Jacky was slightly more toned and you could see where most of her body fat had been burned away over the last year. Her light auburn hair came straight from a bottle and draped halfway down her back. It was darker than her natural color.

    Kahina had an evenly split household with regard to genders. Her general policy was to match up guests based on their personality. Since most wolves were domineering, they might see a female as easy. Or in some cases they might see someone like Jacky as a no-nonsense career woman.

    "We do what we can. If you''re finished we''ll escort you off the property." She was also annoyingly polite with her words, not that you felt any sort of empathy behind them.

    "Oh sure." Dianna didn''t seem to be paying much attention to the conversation, instead she was looking around. Maybe I was paranoid but I couldn''t help but feel like she was checking out something other than the decor.

    "This way then."

    "Great. Not sure I''d find the front door on my own. This place is huge."

    "It''s been expanded over generations," Jacky said. It was the same tone you heard from tour guides that were bored with their jobs.

    "I''ll bet." Dianna twitched her face. I could almost see the hint of her wolf form in that movement, a brief slip of the nose and a half lip lift. The wolf''s version of a snicker.

    Her entire presence felt weird. Very off. Too nosey, too much right now. Maybe it was the thought of Kahina downstairs and alone, relying on me and the others to be careful. All of it put together was enough to make me worried. Being careful was a far sight better than being lax.

    "Get Myers," I spoke for the first time since Dianna stepped onto the premise. If something was wrong then Shaggy would be able to figure it out. This spot was a good place for Dianna and me to wait.

    "Sir?" Jacky questioned. Why did everyone insist on calling me sir? Kahina''s instructions must have included it.

    "Go."

    "I''ll be fine on my own, if you need to go somewhere." Her shoulders were less relaxed and both eyes stopped their wandering. Now they gave everything more consideration, especially me. She hadn''t missed the deferment from Jacky.

    Jacky headed off. Cute, but she started out on my bad side when we first met. Jacky was the same maid who needled me into an embarrassing sparring session with Shaggy though I didn''t really know either of them at that point. I still barely knew any of the staff beyond Shaggy after four months.

    "We''ll need a copy for our records." My head inclined towards the red folder in Dianna''s arms.

    "It''ll be filed with the local Pack, and sent to Fifty Five, I''m sure either party will happily provide you a copy." She said. Fifty-Five wouldn¡¯t provide us anything after three of their members had died during the first assassination attempt.

    "I''m sure Malcolm won''t mind my getting a copy now." I said.

    "Are you sure you need it? It''s fairly standard stuff." Dianna managed not to seem verbally upset. It was the most polite statement I had ever heard from a wolf. Especially given my tone.

    "We do." We was a strong word to use in a conversation with any wolf. Maybe it wasn''t the same as a pack, but this household would act united to the outside. I wouldn''t be the one to break that impression.

    A few minutes of uneasy silence passed. It was difficult to walk the line between imposing and nonthreatening. I had to stand straight but not too tense. Then do anything but look directly at Dianna, even though she probably had passed her rehabilitation with high marks. Of course, I also stood between her and the path out of the building. Not directly in the doorway or I would be seen as trapping her, but near enough that it could go either way.

    All this, plus I didn¡¯t actually care about a copy of the report. I wanted Shaggy to see if she looked familiar.

    "Whose Myers?" Dianna finally broke the silence to ask.

    Ann Myers had come around the corner behind me. I only knew because of the way her feet hit the floor. Tiny hard soled shoes that made a dent in anything she kicked. The same sharp click that Daniel¡¯s feet had.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    "I''m Ann Myers," She said.

    "Myers, I was telling Dianna we needed a copy of her papers." The natural insult rolled out. Both the use of her first name and insulting her pedigree. Not that wolves were dogs. Not quite. Though I''d dated a wolf once who wore a spiked choker and enjoyed being lead around. Brief but interesting.

    "Dianna?" Shaggy seemed confused.

    "Just here checking up on last night''s disturbance." I saw Miss Kundre pause and evaluate Ann. Whatever she saw seemed to relax her a little. My money would be on Shaggy if they decided to fight.

    "That''s fine, Adolpha Kundre. We always cooperate with law enforcement." Shaggy''s eyes shot towards me in a question, my response was a partial shrug from where I stood off to the side. Hearing Ann call our visitor Adolpha was mildly interesting. I felt a few muscles in my back unwind.

    Dianna turned and eyed me for a moment. My response was to stare at a spot on the wall close to her head. I certainly didn''t spend my spare time contemplating what surface would be easiest to slam her into if things went wrong. Not that I planned on it. This was Ann''s show, not mine. I had no clue what half the laws were surrounding vampire households.

    "Sojourn?" Dianna tilted her head and switched her stare to Shaggy in question.

    Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ann''s nod. What the hell did that exchange mean? I risked a glance at Dianna''s face. She looked excited by something.

    "Let me copy those files really quick. That way neither of us have to deal with the risk of tampering." Ann said.

    "That''s fine, I don''t think any household I''ve been through hasn''t all but attempted to rip them out of my hands," Dianna said while sounding friendly. Her body had relaxed a lot. "Make sure page four comes through clear, some copy machines can''t seem to pick up the ink right."

    Ann turned and marched off with Dianna stepping in behind her. They both had almost the exact same cadence as they marched. Feeling more than a little out of place I lumbered behind them with a much longer stride. It wasn''t long before they outpaced me. I swear short people had speed complexes.

    They were also muttering something I didn''t quite hear. Obviously Ann felt comfortable conspiring with Dianna so I guess my paranoia was unfounded. They stepped into another room, an office of some sort if my memory served.

    I stood outside and leaned against the opposite wall.

    Maybe I should eavesdrop a little. It might give me some sort of insight on how they knew each other. Both eyes shut for a moment and my thoughts started their possessive drone. This house was Kahina''s, Ann was Kahina''s employee, Kahina was mine. Both my feet in this hallway, rooms I had tread through. Both of my hands were pressed against the wall.

    The hardest part about using my abilities was that need for a connection. Normally I had to have an item, a trinket of some sort to connect through. Four months ago I''d found that it wasn''t specifically the trinket, but the possessive thoughts that went with holding something.

    It was barely enough. For a moment, there was a tenuous connection between my senses and the other side of the doorway. Enough to feel what was happening in the room. Not to see, not to hear, but to feel the room''s contents, to hear the sound of their words as tables, chairs, counters absorbed the vibrations.

    "How long have you been under?" Dianna''s voice felt rough against the walls.

    The whir of the copy machine obscured parts of it, but it felt like Ann said nine months. Whatever that meant. It took awhile for me to parse out the pounding hum of machinery from their words.

    "Almost over?"

    "In a few weeks," Shaggy answered. Her voice was so crisp against the objects in the room. Like there was no doubt at all who she was and what she was saying.

    "That soon? Got big plans afterward?" Dianna was excited for Ann, and I had no idea why. It was like they were planning a baby shower.

    "Not right away. I have to wait for someone else to finish their sojourn." Shaggy''s voice was disappointed, and the copy machine died down.

    "Rough life."

    Ann''s hand slammed against the door thrusting it open. It was enough to shatter the connection to the other room.

    "I''ll escort Adolpha Kundre to the front door. Why don''t you make sure everything''s in order." Shaggy said to me. "Take a break."

    Any other thoughts melted away at the idea of laying down. That was a great plan, I would go downstairs and check on Kahina, maybe see how hard it was to change out her blood bag, then find a spot to curl up and pass out.

    I blinked a bit then nodded at Shaggy.

    "This way, Adolpha." There was that title again. Maybe I should read some more on wolf lore. Maybe Malcolm would know.

    My room would be too far away. Instead of going there I detoured downstairs, past the security gate and into the room where Kahina was sleeping. Where she might never wake up.

    The blood bag was almost empty. Ann had said that keeping it fresh would help Kahina make it through the change. It took time to find the other blood bags and switch them around.

    Less than a day had passed so far. Eight hours to be exact. In another six Anthony and Lennon would be up. This was their time to shine. Their futures depended on how things turned out. If Kahina survived then the chances of them surviving would increase in leaps and bounds. She could extend the protection of an already established household. It would scare off some of the weaker enemies that might sniff around during the transformation.

    Or she might not. Keeper hadn''t exactly extended a home to Kahina. His only commitment had been that ''they'', a vague identification, would help.

    I plopped down onto the ground near the foot of the bed. She didn''t look any different than her normal daytime self but still felt off. There was a sneaky feeling that grew and rattled from the inside. Then that growing emotion only got worse the more my mind dwelled on the thin difference between a deep sleep and being truly dead.

    Her hand felt so small. Even lacing my fingers through hers didn''t help me feel useful. There was no pulse of life anymore, no hint of warmth that showed blood still circulated.

    "You''re going to be alright." It was hard to say if I was reassuring her or myself.

    "I put on this stupid suit for you." I hated suits. The best part about my life had been the ability to completely avoid anything that required a tie.

    "You let me stay here." We hadn''t ever lived together before four months ago. Maybe a night or two, but not actually sharing a home.

    "You asked for my protection." I rubbed the inside of her palm trying to get the blood flowing again. Maybe she could feel it, I had to believe something I did was useful. "But I don''t know a thing about how to protect a person." The admission made my gut cinch up.

    Why had she placed so much hope on me? Why did she really want me? To be her anchor? That was something for ships, not for vampires.

    Both eyes shut again and I called on the connection that let me feel where Kahina was. While the thread of purple and red splotches lead straight to this body, the sense of vibrancy that living things had was completely absent. Wherever Kahina was, whatever she was going through, her spirit was no longer in this room.

    It was all I had right now.

    Maybe she would complete the change by morning and all this worry could stop. It was wishful thinking but better than dwelling on the alternative; that she would never wake up. If she woke then we could sort out our relationship. I could tell her I loved her, that I would stay, that I would always be there if that''s what she wanted.

    All she had to do was wake up.

    Both eyes stayed closed and I drifted off into sleep, holding the thought of a purple and crimson thread in my mind.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 9 - Primal Fear

    Dreaming was not a familiar concept to me. Normally there was awareness, then the silence of sleep. Waking up was wholly different. That process varied from calm and peaceful to throttling a wolf before my eyes had opened. But dreams? I was never aware of them.

    Never once had I been able to make a choice, to move around. A few months of studying lucid dreaming to try and better understand my abilities had been useless. The book went into the trash can. I should have kept it because the landscape before me certainly wasn''t reality. Not unless a horde of elves had spun illusions in front of me.

    Parts of this world looked familiar. A rolling series of hills made sense. The sky above was lit with a faint glow similar to the moment before dawn peeked over the horizon when it bounced off of clouds.

    Other things were abnormal. Next to me was grass that didn¡¯t move correctly. It bowed and waved in uneven patches as if the wind was randomly choosing sections to punish. Each plant tinted by a set of diluted watercolors.

    My thoughts felt stranger still. It was almost the same as tracking people. Words in my head tried to speak with that other possessive tone. The muscles on my shoulders ached and burned. I felt tired and worn looking around. My limbs felt half asleep.

    Finally, there were pillars. Large, jutting objects painted with swirls of gray and other strange patterns. They were more real than anything else in this landscape. Maybe the paleness of the sky and hills made them seem more intense than they should be.

    I wanted to touch one. No. I needed to with a raging focus that had never crossed my mind before. Along with the need was a certainty that everything in this dully splattered world would make sense if I could just lay a hand upon one''s base.

    It was hard to move in this dreamscape. The more I tried to go in any direction, the worse my performance. Each limb felt unaware, like dragging someone else''s body an inch at a time. Part of my brain screamed at each leg, to bring the nearest pillar closer so I could lay a hand on it. To touch it and see if it felt as alive as they looked.

    Progress only happened when I distracted myself with something on the horizon. Looking at the fields of grass would let me slide forward, or contemplating patterns on the pillars. I was making headway. Reaching a protrusion was still beyond me.

    My mind bent towards moving each limb again and the distance dwindled.

    One hand reached out in desperation. I was finally near enough to touch the carved surface, but my legs weren''t taking that last step. No, they stayed behind and the rest of me fell face first into the alien landscape.

    On the way down my fingers brushed against a pillar''s base.

    My earlier certainty was a delusion. Nothing made sense. A darkness passed over my fallen form, swallowing up everything in its path. Like a black hole had shown up to devour me whole. Then someone spoke.

    "She must survive." The voice said.

    I woke up terrified.

    Nothing responded quickly. Part of my mind tried to figure out if this was another dream, another part tried to move all my limbs at once. I wanted to scream, but my mouth wasn''t responding. Was I even breathing?

    The last concern overrode all the others. Time passed and the only thought available to focus on was the air moving in and out of my body, too fast to hold onto. A slow, rhythmic thumping grew in volume and betrayed that I still had a pulse. Numbness flushed my entire body.

    A nightmare. The first in my life, which explained my uncontrollable shivering. Never had I felt this sort of fear before. The past held anger, apprehension, frustration, but not fear. Not like this. It felt like my mind and my body were in two different locations and both of them too stricken to move.

    The door slammed open and I still couldn''t function well enough to stand and defend Kahina. Instead, my bulk fell to the floor and sat there.

    "Are you alright?" Shaggy''s voice felt muffled by the cobwebs still residing between both ears.

    "Maybe." My own word didn''t make sense and I tried to blink my eyes a few times. Things weren''t quite in focus yet. The thudding of my heartbeat still slammed into my head. What if that hadn''t been Shaggy? What if that had been another wolf after Kahina? Numbness retreated enough for me to feel my mouth.

    "Good, the temperature flared in here, I saw you passed out it had me worried." Shaggy¡¯s breath was coming in slow gasps, had she run down here? Her little camera feed must have a thermostat.

    "Me too." Whatever had just happened certainly had me freaking out. The only reason I didn''t sound panicked was the murkiness that still clouded my thoughts.

    "What?" Shaggy asked.

    "What time is it?"

    "One, you were out for nearly six hours. Anthony and Lennon are already checking the grounds for anything out of ordinary. The rest are on rotation with a staggered practice schedule." Ann stepped over me to the cabinet with the blood bags. She swapped them out quickly and quietly.

    "Practice?" The idea of handling normal things felt weird to me.

    "Routine breaks up the stress." Ann recited the fact like she was reading from a textbook. Maybe it was in a manual I missed for dealing with volatile situations.

    "Thanks." I stood up slowly.

    "For the explanation or letting you sleep?" Shaggy''s voice tipped upwards towards the end. Maybe she was trying to relieve stress through poor jokes.

    Standing on both feet proved challenging. The world tried to trick me into falling by spinning around relentlessly.

    "Yes." Single words were easier to articulate.

    "Yes to which one?" Another set of rubber gloves and an empty blood bag went into the trash. I looked at Kahina and it almost seemed as if her skin was radiating intense heat that hadn''t been there before.

    Ann followed my eyes.

    "Conversion. Her body is burning off the last of its old human cells and replacing them." Her voice quickly explained.

    Conversion was a topic covered by vampire documentaries. Reality felt far more intense to watch. Kahina''s change wasn''t a television show. I hadn''t expected to watch the last of her humanity vanish. Two thousand years of coexistence couldn''t prepare anyone for this. They started human, but vampires ended up something else entirely. No matter what legal rights we shared.

    "Anything new?" The words came out a lot clearer now.

    "Sir? There''s still the report from Adolpha Kundre. I think you''ll find it interesting." There was that word again.

    "What does that word mean?"

    "Adolpha? Noble wolf, in latin, basically. It''s an old title denoting rank between packs. Law enforcement wolves tend to come from higher packs." I nodded along with Ann''s explanation like it made sense. "She''s as close to leadership as they get short of Alphas. Noble cast anyway."

    "What''s on the report, Shaggy?" I asked.

    Her teeth ground, clearly irritated. Vampires ought to have dental in their medical plans. Shaggy''s eyes shut tightly and then opened back up. "I''ll show you on the way out."

    "Do we need to do anything else here?" I was still looking at Kahina''s shimmering form. The heat she was kicking off must be incredible. If nothing else it meant she was still alive which was a good sign.

    "No. The room''s vented in cycles and the air purified, she''ll be alright down here." Shaggy tried to usher me to the door. I sat glaze eyed looking at the bed where she lay, possibly dying. How could Ann ask me to leave Kahina?

    "Sir, we need to go. It''s been nearly twenty-four hours since an attack, and the papers I scanned seem to imply more is incoming. We''ll need to hold them upstairs if at all possible."

    "Wolves?" I asked.

    "Come on." Right, the front line was a far safer place to hold off any attackers. Letting them get too close to Kahina while she was defenseless would be terrible.

    I would violently stop anyone who tried. Maybe my scores on the range were nonexistent, but there were certainly advantages to me protecting Kahina that no one else in the household would be able to provide.

    Shaggy got the door behind us, punched in the code and locked up the room. We passed the second security gateway before she explained anything.

    "Adolpha''s papers showed movement from other members of the assaulting pack." She started with a juicy piece of news.

    "Do they always tell households that information?" I asked.

    There was a pause from her. "No."

    "Lucky us."

    "There''s a lot of concern about the Lady Rhodes living through her conversion." Her words sounded like a confession.

    "People from outside the house?" I probed for more information. Keeper was invested since he was Kahina''s sponsor. Sensei since he trained most of the house. But other people outside of that?

    "Far beyond. We''re getting a lot more help than a household should normally receive." She said it, but it didn''t feel like we were getting assistance. I had never gone through a normal conversion before. Maybe they just threw the potential vampire onto a slab near the morgue and waited.

    "That''s good right?" I asked.

    "Yes and no, more help is almost always tied to more opposition."

    "Did her report show anything else?"

    "Yes. There are at least ten other wolves from the same pack with immediate transit plans to this region." She said. I ran through the chances of survival in my head. Three had almost killed her, ten would certainly rush at one time, probably right after dawn when our vampires were asleep.

    "These walls aren¡¯t enough." I glared off towards the front of our compound.

    "They¡¯re good, but we don''t have enough people, and cameras only give so much warning. We''ve got patrols going on inside the property." Ann looked around. Even though we were supposedly in a secure location she kept one hand near her firearm.

    "Great," I remembered some stuff. We had fallback points, rooms that we could hold out in. Hallways that had been modified to make good kill zones. Morbid but Sensei and Kahina had believed in being prepared.

    Ten wolves could tear through one of our hallways in record time. Even if we got silver in them they could last long enough. A few seconds against a wolf with anything less than perfect aim wouldn''t be pretty.

    "That''s not the worst part." Her pace slowed down.

    "What is?" My mind was still trying to weigh out the chances of success. Shaggy¡¯s aim was clearly fantastic. Was the rest of the household as good?

    "Fifty-Five is a mercenary pack, normally overseas, but they were hired by another group I''ve never heard of." Shaggy had her PDA out and was staring at the text on the screen.

    "Who?"

    "This is weird, the report only lists this as speculation since it isn''t an official group, but they''re called The Order of Merlin." Ann sounded worried over the name of the group. She had every right to be.

    I felt my thoughts hiccup and the same line replayed itself in my mind over and over. The Order of Merlin. Those bastards had been around when Julianne had died. If they hadn''t been in those woods then Julianne would still be alive. There would have been no opportunity for her to be shot in the back.

    They had forced Daniel into rigging my home with explosives. The Order chased me trying to find some heir who was dead and ash. After they got the cremated remains they pressed the trigger to the bomb at my apartment.

    "Fuck." Those filthy bastards were showing up again to ruin my life. Now they wanted to take Kahina. To take what was mine and add another head to the trophy wall. It didn''t matter that a huge amount of their people had died in those woods. No, they should all be brought violent retribution.

    Trembling started a course through my body, a conflict between the part of my brain telling me to be calm and the rest of me screaming to tear something down. When I got mad, truly mad, it rushed over every perception until all that was left was the need to hit anything resembling the problem.

    Ann, no I was using the wrong name again, Shaggy wasn''t at fault. The only thing left was a wall. I turned and every muscle available was used to punch the vertical surface. My vision went dark as I hit the wall. A jarring connection of flesh to layers of material made me smile. There was something uplifting about the tensing of muscles then unleashing them in unison to crush an obstacle.

    "Sir?" Shaggy repeated the questioning tone a few times before I finally pulled my fist out of the deep crater in the wall. The skin across my hand was shredded and blood flowed outward from gashes. My wrist had a sharp twist of intense pain from damaged bones. It felt so good that I punched the wall again with the other fist.

    "The Order of Merlin." I finally said, slowly extracting the other hand from a second crater.

    "Yes. Sir, are you alright?" At least she answered my question first. Both hands were bleeding now from the torn flesh. Would they heal? My gunshot wounds had repaired in days. Torn legs had healed in a few days as well. A few bloody scrapes on my hands wouldn''t take that long.

    "I''m fine."

    "Those don''t look fine." Shaggy stepped in and tried to grab one of my hands to look at. I pulled both arms away from her and growled.

    "They''ll be fine," I said.

    Both hands started to itch like mad, a brief glance down showed that they were scabbing over already. The pain from my wrists had dimmed to a tiny throb. I looked back to the wall to see that one of the spots I punched went clear through to packed dirt behind the concrete. Both holes were at least a foot deep.

    "Call Daniel, tell him what you told me." Daniel Crumfield knew about the Order of Merlin, and if they were involved then this was inter-species. We might get Sector help and the change would be that much easier.

    "Why would Danny know anything about the Order?"

    "Just ask him, Shaggy, now." I was getting blood all over the suit Kahina had bought for me. Sure there were spares back in my closet, but it felt wrong to treat her gifts this callously.

    "Sir? What does he know about them?"

    "Just call him!" I yelled at her then staggered off through the hallway and out of Kahina''s secret passageways.

    Once escape was achieved I looked at my hands again. The blood matted near the wounds already. They were quickly healing. Not as fast as a vampire, better than a wolf, and far faster than a human. It was a mixed blessing. Normally if I abused any of my abilities then a sense of exhaustion swept over me causing sleep. My recent nap should prevent the worst of it from hitting.

    "The Order of Merlin," I muttered to myself while trying not to shake in anger again. Dark thoughts spun by. I had a score to settle.

    For the rest of the night, I walked around the walls, mostly on the outside so I could feel the full boundaries of the home. If I walked the area enough then I would be able to bend my perceptions to view this place as mine. Four months here and no matter how I tried it always felt like Kahina''s home, not mine. But Kahina was mine, right? What was her''s was mine, or was that the other way around?

    Ownership felt easy to transfer. Belief mattered. I had to feel like I owned it, however vaguely. Anyone can delude themselves for a moment. Felling possession over an object for long enough to be useful was extremely difficult.

    Feet carried me another lap around the building. All my mind could focus on was the number of wolves. Ten. They would sneak in most likely. If they were a mercenary group then they probably had a plan of attack. Maybe picking off any single targets that presented themselves. Maybe one of them was already here and had attacked earlier.

    I should have been walking inside the wall, not outside. Anyone with a scope could score a headshot and end me. Not that wolves were likely to use man-made weapons. Most other races preferred their natural gifts over a gun. Wolves looked funny holding a rifle anyway. None of them were made in a comfortable shape for their altered grip.

    Vampires moved too fast most of the time, so a gun was useless.

    The Order of Merlin was composed of humans. They would happily use a gun if it meant achieving their goals. And for some reason their priorities involved killing Kahina. Why?

    Another lap was completed and no answers had presented themselves. Then another. My feelings about the area weren''t settling right.

    Ten years ago fighting against ten wolves would have been almost fair. There had been a time when my unique perceptions had let me tackle any challenge in front of me. Even half broken I still matched up against other races with ease. It took a matter of focus and believing in myself. Or believing that I owned everything that lay before me like some sort of lord.

    Wait, Lord. Hell. Why hadn''t I noticed that sooner? Evan had called me a Lord. That had to be tied into it all, my abilities and perceptions were and had always been directly related to my perceptions of ownership. That I lorded over the items and people in question.

    It was such a simple connection that it had to be wrong. Ridiculous even. I pursued that line of thinking but got nowhere useful. Once I looked up my feet had wound to the west wing of our building. Dawn was starting to peek out with that strange glow the morning gets before the sun has actually risen. Light bounced off the clouds in a false dawn.

    Ann''s voice was yelling at someone. I changed my path to head closer to the shouting and see what all the fuss was about. Words became easier to make out the closer I got. Shaggy was shouting at Lennon, the second of Kahina''s two vampires.

    "Lennon!" Shaggy was yelling in his ear.

    "Lennon what happened here!" Lennon stood motionless outside the sliding glass door to a servant''s lounge. A dull yellow glow poured outward illuminating the scene.

    In front of Lennon was Jacky''s body, crumpled on the ground. Her red hair looked almost brown and the normally white undershirt was darkened on one side. I knew how blood looked at night. Always the same unassuming patch of thick oil sitting where nobody expected. Worse, Lennon¡¯s hands had blood on them and his face was smeared with fresh trails.

    He stood there without movement. The same motionless process all vampires did when they were heavily thinking about something. Their brains stopped dedicating attention to the blending motions they were taught by their sponsors. It made him look like a statue that someone had painted.

    "Sir, talk to him. He''s not answering me." Shaggy threw up her hands in frustration.

    "And say what? That''s blood on his hands and mouth."

    "No shit." She dug her phone out and snapped pictures of the scene.

    "Don''t you think he killed her?" I tried not to ask the obvious question, but she didn''t seem to be making the connection.

    "He didn''t. She was dead when I came out here and Lennon showed up afterward." Shaggy flipped out her phone and made a call to someone.

    "And the blood?" That was all over the partial vampire''s form? He made my battered hands look clean in comparison. At least I didn''t get it all over my face.

    "Vampire, fresh blood. Even a partial will slip, I watched it and tried to stop him." The explanation was quick, clinical, and annoyed. Obviously the other person she was calling hadn''t answered yet. "Next time I''ll shoot him, maybe that''ll get through his thick skull."

    I stepped closer to Lennon. Interrupting a vampire lost in thought was dangerous. No one should do it without a cross ready. When they came to by force it was typically on auto pilot. That was a polite way of saying they would probably start attacking.

    Tips like that were covered in public school. It was explained with the same passionless tone as many other basic concepts. Dogs bite. Fire is hot. Jumping off the fourth floor can kill you. Interrupting thinking vampires can get you hurt.

    "Lennon, it''s Jay, snap to." I risked it anyway.

    His eyes didn''t even blink. Lennon¡¯s glare bore into the body on the ground. Jacky, another dead in a household of people I barely knew. Body number two. How large would the count get?

    Lennon¡¯s stance made me wary of getting too close. Jacky''s blood was still pooling slowly in the dim light. Her unmoving body looked peaceful compared to the partial''s face. Red smears lined his mouth and streaked to one ear. The lack of expression reminded me of those pillars in my nightmare. Motionless, frozen, terrifying.

    "Lennon, it''s almost dawn," I said. Vampires normally felt uncomfortable with being out in daylight even though it didn''t harm them. I had no clue where he slept and wasn''t the type to tuck in a grown man.

    He didn''t respond.

    "Lennon. You need to wash that off." " I dared reaching out to him. Shoulders are good neutral ground for touching. They can be used to demand attention, turn people, make people sit down. It was almost as good as someone''s hands, you can guide the entire body through a person''s hand.

    "Shaggy," Her eyes closed for a moment and then she opened them again. "We call anyone yet?"

    "Anyone official? No. I''ll take care of it. Because I can¡¯t wait for another visit from the police." Ann popped out her phone and dialed. The scowl on her face was probably better than anything I could whip up right now. "This is just the kind of shit I need on my watch."

    Lennon hadn''t responded yet. Even getting closer to him didn¡¯t gain a result. Shaking the vampire did nothing.

    "Can we get him a towel?" I asked. Cleaning him up might make this less disturbing.

    "To clean up what''s left of Jacky? What a great thought, Jay!" She yelled at me. I don''t know what was more startling, Shaggy raising her voice or using my name.

    "No. That won''t be necessary. I''ll take care of her myself." Lennon spoke up for the first time. His soft voice slipped out from that startling face.

    "You okay?" I asked.

    "No." He didn''t offer any more information and knelt down by Jacky''s prone form. One hand reached out and pushed back her hair carefully. There was finally an expression on Lennon''s face and it wasn''t a good sign in the slightest.

    "You and her?" I said in response to his sad and lingering gaze.

    "Not yet." He sat there trying to gather her hair up. Jacky¡¯s constantly wavy hair had never been straight. It was even worse when the strands were clumped with the blood. "Now, not ever."

    "Alright?" I was confused. Shaggy ignored me and went back inside. The glass door shook fiercely with her slam.

    "She would have made a good first, don''t you think?" The tone in his voice should have worried me more than the question. I didn''t know how to answer but tried to sound positive.

    "Sure."

    "They''re important you know," He said.

    "I know." I had no clue what he was talking about. It seemed like the supportive thing to say.

    "A first isn''t merely a title, it''s a bond back to life. A reason to wake up each night. Your anchor." Lennon looked at me. "A reason to live."

    That was the sort of statement where someone is trying to impart a message, but it doesn''t click. By the time it made sense Lennon had run off. No doubt to get something for the dead body. Jacky laid there, her hair almost perfectly tucked behind the ears. Oddly the only thing that ran through my mind was how out of place she looked with straightened hair.

    Lennon might have been talking about himself, or Kahina, or vampires in general. A bond back to life? A reason to wake up? I opened the sliding glass door and looked inside for Ann, she was still venting into the phone attached to her ear.

    "Lennon took off."

    Shaggy closed the phone mid-sentence and turned to the wall. A moment later she was leaning into it with her shoulder and rubbing her forehead.

    "Alright. We deal with the body until it gets wrapped up.I''m stuck as the first witness. Lennon should have given a statement since he disturbed the body." She was tapping the phone against her leg now. "Tomorrow night we''ll have to send him off for a statement, that''ll leave us with Anthony and fourteen staff, then you."

    "Against ten wolves, the Order, burnouts." I sighed while thinking about our odds.

    Shaggy''s face twisted further in annoyance. "Danny says to call him," She said.

    "About the Order?" I wanted to make sure that she wasn''t talking about something else.

    "Right, won''t tell me anything about it, says he''ll only speak to you." She twisted her lips in annoyance. It was nice to know that no matter how quick Shaggy could get answers from Daniel, that there were certain things he wouldn''t tell her.

    "Can I use your phone?" I asked her. Shaggy had the only one nearby.

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    "Sure. Speed dial twelve." She passed me the phone and stepped back outside, no doubt to watch over the body until someone official bagged it up.

    Maybe I should be worried about how we bagged up the bodies. Any human murder would have a team of people here inspecting each leaf. Vampire laws had all but removed human law enforcement and their forensics from anything in their households. Vampires tended to keep the pursuit of offenders personal, not legal.

    "How much do you call him?" I muttered to the closing doorway. There was no answer, Shaggy must not have heard me. The phone rang exactly three times before it was whipped up and Daniel''s voice answered.

    "Hello, what are you wearing?" Daniel''s voice was deep, alluring, and creepy.

    "Wrong person." The drunk needed help identifying who was the on the phone. Though why he would answer his office like that was beyond me. I pulled the phone away and squinted at the numbers. Maybe this wasn''t his office phone.

    "No, no, my man, what are you wearing. Or better yet are you using Myers phone?"

    "A Deckard." That was what he called it earlier. "And yes."

    "You''re learning, I approve, now walk further away from Myers and let''s talk." There wasn''t anyone else in the room that I could see. Still I looked for a quieter corner off to the side and picked up the phone again. "You breathe far too heavily," He said.

    "I do?" I asked while looking at Shaggy¡¯s phone in confusion.

    "It''s a cell phone man, not a popsicle, pull it away from your mouth a little," Daniel said. My poor little prepaid phone conditioned me to believe all phone users were deaf.

    "Talk," I told him.

    "She''s far away right?"

    "Yeah, man," I threw the word back at him. "Tell me how the Order is involved."

    Daniel groaned on the other end of the phone. You could tell by the noise that he hadn''t decided where to start yet. "Well, it''s all your fault to be honest."

    "How so?" How many years of friendship did we have? Not enough to prevent me from wanting to strangle him through the phone. My fault that Kahina was being targeted?

    "Can''t say."

    "Can''t or won''t?" I probed for more information.

    "Won''t because I can''t. So here''s the short version. You have a handful of wolves, an unknown but likely high amount of vampire burnouts, and possible but unlikely human backup." Daniel listed things off and I could hear papers being shuffled around through the phone. He must be reading off of a list.

    "Is Western Sector going to help?" It was interracial now wasn''t it?

    "No. I''m not even having this conversation with you, and I won''t be erasing all the records of this phone call once we''re done." Daniel''s idea of a secret code was sarcasm.

    "Why?" I asked while glaring at a nearby wall. The urge to hit things crawled along my back once more. Daniel¡¯s words weren¡¯t helping. It was all junk that I could already figure out.

    "Wolves are hired out by the Order of Merlin, but there''s so much paperwork there that officially Sector doesn''t know.¡± Daniel shuffled his papers again. ¡°The only reason we know now is because Adolpha Kundre gave away information she shouldn''t have."

    I stayed silent. Really it was that or start yelling. Having Western involved would make this whole thing a lot easier on all fronts. They had the manpower, the tech, and probably a secure location that no one could crack. The fact that Daniel said he couldn''t help was frustrating, but I hadn''t expected a lot.

    "Here''s what I can say. Don''t trust the other vampires." Daniel stated.

    "What?" Don''t trust them? All other vampires? Keeper had stated he was going to help somehow during this transition.

    "I told you, don''t trust anyone other than Kahina."

    "How about Shaggy?" I asked.

    "Shag a who?" He asked.

    "Ann."

    Daniel started laughing hysterically. It took a few minutes for it to die down as I sat there waiting. This was the worst part about phones, it was hard to be intimidating through these glorified tin cans. How did anyone glare through a phone?

    "Myers is fine as far as Kahina''s life is concerned." Daniel finally calmed down enough to get a sentence out.

    "Keeper?" I wanted to hear it straight from Daniel, not just in my head.

    "On our team, sort of, but you won''t see him until after the change. Tribunal law says elders can''t help a new household survive their first night.¡± Daniel was still fighting off bits of mirth during the explanation. ¡°Which is silly since it''s more like a week, but Kahina Rhodes won''t be successful if an established vampire steps in."

    Having experienced both firsthand, the difference between a full vampire and a partial is frightening. Burnouts were the worst form of partials. They were humans who expected to die and sold what was left of their lives to the highest bidder. Then they threw themselves into the job. If they died during work or during the final transformation, no big loss.

    "Why is the Order involved?" I needed to get everything out of Daniel possible. It was that or scream in outrage and destroy a far more fragile wall.

    "I can''t get into all that, but I''m working on it. Hopefully, man, hopefully I''ll buy time until after the change. Not that it''ll stop their more zealous members from trying." The Agent''s teeth were gnashing as he spoke. I could almost see Daniel trying to yank out his already shortened hair.

    "Great." I wondered if his suit ties were clip ons or real. If they were real maybe one could be used to strangle him.

    "You need to protect Kahina and I''ll try to keep the bulk of the Order distracted. Not that it''ll help against the other vampires and their little squabbles, and Fifty-Five will charge ahead based on some mercenary code unless they find out about the Order of Merlin. Pack mercs don''t like working for human first groups."

    "Thank''s for the help."

    "I''m not kidding, Jay, Western Sector can''t be involved without serious repercussions. You''re on your own with Kahina, and if anything happens to her-" His normally joking demeanor had shifted around in just a sentence.

    "What?" I said while trying not to shake with budding anger.

    "If anything happens to her, it''s bad news for everyone else," He said that. If anything really happened to Kahina I would make it my life¡¯s mission to punish everyone involved.

    "What''s so special about her, Crummy?" Besides the fact that she was mine. Besides being brought over to vampirism by Keeper.

    "Like I said, man, it''s all your fault." Crummy sounded tired and frustrated by now.

    "Why?" I said with more anger than expected.

    The phone clicked off on me. I dialed back, but there was no answer. Not even a voicemail. Daniel clearly wouldn''t explain more. First Evan was prevented from saying anything. Then Keeper said he couldn''t, now Daniel. No one was being forthcoming because of an invisible conspiracy.

    At least Crummy confirmed a number of people after us. He basically told me to keep going and things would click sooner or later. Twice he told me these problems were my fault. Why the hell were they my fault? How was Kahina knowing me a problem? Maybe it was this Lord thing. That was the only thing special I knew about myself, but how it was an issue for Kahina didn''t make sense.

    None of this explained why I had the strange dream when sleeping near Kahina. Where the overwhelming primal fear that had paralyzed me originated from. Maybe I was that stressed out.

    Shaggy pounded on the sliding door. It shook as I walked across the room to see what demanded such abuse of glass. She had one hand out and I passed back the phone.

    "Were you able to squeeze anything out of him?" Ann asked me.

    "Nothing useful," I said.

    "Typical." She glared at the phone then shoved it into a pocket. "Sector Agents never say anything useful when it matters. It''s in the training."

    "He''ll try to keep the Order out of it, but that still leaves Fifty-Five and burnouts."

    "At least they won''t be as quick as Anthony and Lennon. They''re further along from waiting with Lady Rhodes."

    "That''s something." Shaggy worried me,

    Daniel said she was trustworthy with Kahina''s life, but that didn''t extend to everything else. Why was that? Julianne had told me before she passed that I didn''t ask the right questions, or indeed any questions.

    "How do you know Daniel?" I tried to edge around what was annoying me without risking Shaggy¡¯s anger. Everyone who could help Kahina was needed regardless of my own worries.

    Shaggy stared at me for a moment then answered. "Our parents were friends, and he helped me get this job."

    "He never mentioned you," I said. Nowhere in the last few decades had we ever talked about Shaggy. Her list of reasons was too short and a little suspicious after hearing this Sojourn thing.

    "Daniel didn''t mention you either. He keeps his life compartmentalized. It¡¯s part of their training."

    "Oh." Her explanation made perfect sense. Daniel only really involved me in drinking, idle chatter, and missing person cases. Then more recently I threw myself in the middle of his Order of Merlin mess.

    "Why the speed dial?"

    "Having an Agent a phone call away is extremely useful," She said.

    One question remained. I had to ask because either Daniel had been screwing with me, or with her. "Why did he ask what I was wearing?"

    Ann''s face went crimson in a single moment. The flush of color was enough to let me know there was something else going on. Some sort of relationship between Shaggy and Daniel that went beyond the professional.

    Daniel was getting married, though, to his boss'' daughter. Maybe it was a last ditch at flirting before he tied the knot. Or was that a lie? Or was Shaggy living a lie? The background check required to get into a vampire household would be significant. Neither the Tribunal or Kahina would have let anyone questionable get into a position like the one Shaggy was in.

    A loud noise of breaking glass disturbed my thought process. Ann''s gaze snapped to the outer walls while mine turned up to the source of the noise, a second story window.

    Ann whispered into an earbud that was normally unnoticed. Probably code for our location and an alarm level. I tried to make out what happened. Looking near the window''s edge showed where part of the wall had caved in.

    "Down!" Shaggy shouted.

    Prior experience as bouncer and ''collections agent'' trained me to never hesitate at that word. My face tried to become one with the ground in an instant. There was a crash of noise from the building. I turned to look at the second gaping hole in the house. A giant disk of some sort was still poking out of a wall.

    "Stage two, wake everybody up!" Ann was shouting now. "Sir!" There was a third disk coming in, this time more apparent as it descended almost carefree like a frisbee. If frisbees had older angry brothers on steroids made of metal.

    I got up and ran towards the wall. Someone was attacking our fortifications from outside the property. Another two sailed overhead by the time my frantic pace made it to the high walls. Scaling them was beyond me but there was a gate to the south. Fallen leaves crunched behind me. Air whistled as another disk flew overhead, followed by the loud slurred cheers of men.

    "We''re out!" A female shouted.

    "We need more!" One of the male voices shouted. A very familiar voice. There was some grumbling from a few others. Maybe five or six different people were on the other side of the doorway.

    "I''ll find some." Someone said.

    "We need more beer too!" The familiar male voice said.

    "Got it!"

    "Grab some food!" The female said.

    There were only a few groups that had those two voices, might be drunk, and would be mad enough at Kahina to do something. Add in the excessive strength needed to toss that chunk of metal across hundreds of yards it became even easier to narrow down. Wolves.

    The road became visible as I made it through the gate. Sure enough, in the middle of the street was Thomas and Stacy. At least they had clothes on.

    There was a truck on one side with the tailgate down and some cheap camper shell on top. Cars were parked in a sloppy barricade on both ends of the street. The road was all but barren of traffic on a normal day, and even less traffic went through at night. They must have set up recently or I would have noticed them in my laps around the house.

    None of the wolves had attacked the house personally. Hopefully, this was just extreme vandalism. I walked closer. There wasn''t a breeze to consider, no cover noise to drown out my footsteps. Sneaking wasn''t one of my skills anyway.

    "Thomas!" I yelled.

    "Hey hey! Look, Killer joined the party!" Thomas threw something glass to the ground. The shattering sound filled the moment of silence.

    "Want a drink? You can join us in demolishing your old lady''s house." The wolf started digging through the back of a truck. "Then I''ll have to throw you a beating or twelve." Surprisingly his words weren''t completely slurred. Close, though.

    "Great, the person I never wanted to see again." Stacy said. She always dressed like a mouse, clothes that covered almost every ounce of skin, long drab dresses, but her mouth spewed out a string of pure hatred for me. Her voice had grown rougher over the last few months.

    "Now is a bad time." I said.

    Thomas eyed me while drinking the entire contents of a bottled beer. "It''s a perfect time!" Then he threw it toward the house. Moments later it crashed into something.

    "You need to go." I tried again.

    "You don''t get any say in what he, or I do." Stacy chimed in. She didn''t look as drunk as Thomas. "You''re not pack, and never will be." I didn''t even bat an eyelash at her comment. Now was not the time to quibble about me being able to join a pack.

    Thomas dug into the back of the truck looking for another beer. He found one, drained it, and hurled the remains over the wall in the same line they threw the metal chunks. Julianne¡¯s brother went for another.

    "Found more!" An unfamiliar wolf jogged up with metal disks under each arm. He was a large dopey man that looked allergic to the sun. Under both arms were manhole covers. They had been tossing sewer caps over the wall in an act of dangerous vandalism.

    "Haul ¡®em over!" Thomas yelled happily.

    Cars would get into wrecks if they hit the streets wrong in the morning. Worse, each hunk of metal could cleave someone in two. Every ounce of damage made it harder and harder to defend Kahina''s home.

    "Thomas. We can''t do this now." I said.

    "Sure we can." He took a moment to power through the newest bottle and tossed it into the street for some lucky morning driver.

    This was nonsense. Three wolves having a drunken pity party? Leaving this kind of disaster? It was all yet another mark against Kahina¡¯s reputation. We should have been making the change somewhere more secluded. A large estate property away from neighbors and foreign packs. But no, I was stuck here dealing with an asshole that I wasn''t allowed to kill. Not Julianne''s brother, not even if he deserved it. The conundrum annoyed me even more.

    "Get out of here!" I yelled at them. "Go!" My hands motioned for them to leave. It was dark out, but they wouldn''t be completely blind to my motions. There was enough ambiance from the cab of the truck and street lights.

    "What is he trying to do?" The unknown male tried to catch up with the conversation by asking Stacy.

    "Treating us like wild mutts." She crossed her arms and took a stance that screamed defiance. The tilt of her hips, the opposite slant of her shoulders, narrowed eyes. It was surprising that she didn''t attack me. Stacy had made no secret of how she felt about me.

    In her eyes, it was my fault that Julianne was dead. Between her glare, Thomas, and the fact that Kahina was somewhere behind me in a coma it was a surprise that I hadn''t snapped. My head was pounding. There was no apparent reason for it other than the stress of dealing with Stacy and Thomas now, of all times.

    "Leave, Thomas. We¡¯ll settle this later." I tried reason again. Hell, we could duke it out on the playground after school for all it mattered right now.

    "No. We can settle it now." His words were becoming less slurred despite the amount of alcohol he powered through. Wolves had an unfair metabolism. He was probably burning off a bottle at a time with each metal slab he threw.

    "I''ve got to go." My own words surprised me. Why would I say something like that? It felt like something was going wrong back at the household. I tried to focus and track Kahina''s thread. Another bottle crashed in the distance. The shattering sound pissed me off.

    "You heard her, you don''t get to tell us what to do." Thomas said the friendly tone was gone and replaced by defiance.

    My mind was trying to figure out what was wrong. Was I that upset at dealing with Thomas? Was it something back at the house?

    Ann stepped up slowly behind me. Her footsteps weren''t disguised, but cautious. Maybe one of her classes had a course in approaching potentially hostile wolves. I could see the training manual now. Step one, don''t approach them. Step two, don''t irritate them more. Step three, why am I still hanging around? Here I was, treating them like dogs, ordering them around, and somehow getting closer to where they were parked.

    "Sector is on the way. I''ve reported that this is a local pack vandalizing property and not an attack related to transition." Shaggy said behind me.

    Her words shattered my attempt at forming a link to Kahina. I turned around to see Ann only a few feet away me. Shaggy sounded controlled, but her facial features weren''t. She looked downright pissed. There was a nervous tick above her left eyebrow that I never noticed before.

    "Transition?" The dopey unknown male said. "Here? Tonight?" He didn''t seem nearly as drunk compared to Thomas.

    "Yes. Now leave before someone shoots you by mistake." I doubted Shaggy could shoot anyone by mistake. Any bullets she fired would be deliberate.

    There was a moment of silence between the pack members.

    "Listen, shrimp, that fang snatched backstabber deserves whatever happens to her." Stacy started to badmouth Kahina. Her words came out heated and angry.

    I tried to talk at the same time, but for an entirely different reason.

    "What did you say?" Shaggy asked me. One hand had dropped to the gun at her side. It was holstered, but that didn''t mean much with her lightning fast draw speed. If it came down to a fight between the three wolves and Shaggy there would be no contest.

    "Something''s wrong." I repeated myself.

    "Yeah, you''re missing the good part." Thomas ran by with a huge metal slab, building up momentum for a toss. "He shoots!" The disk came out of his grasp and started sailing over the wall. Both of the wolf''s hands shot up into the air.

    "Tom, we should get out of here." The dopey male wolf said.

    "He scores!" Thomas shouted.

    "Fuck them. I''ve got a debt to settle with Killer here." Thomas turned to me and started yanking his shirt off.

    "You don''t want to do that, Tom." Dopey sounded slow and doubtful. At least his words were sensible. My silver wasn''t equipped, both claws were in my pockets. Then there was the headache and the nagging feeling that something was wrong. I closed my eyes and tried to check on Kahina again.

    "What is it, sir?" Shaggy asked.

    "Kahina?" I asked. She was the only thing back in that compound that would set me off. The only thing in there I gave a shit about. It only took a moment to connect this time.

    Mind spirals outward. Away from body. Across the distance. Quickly. The danger is real. Present. More than foolish wolves. Travel through buildings, walls, stone and dirt.

    Feel her room. Her body stuns me. Can feel the shimmer. Feel energy pooling and crawling through.

    A darker being displaces air. Their body still. Only currents are from the doorway. Feel woven fabric and the weight of dense metal. Smooth fingers curl against the frail wooden bed frame. Vampire. Blood letter. Tick.

    There was an unexpected crunch as knuckles collided with my nose. It was a familiar feeling. Not the first time I had landed on my ass. This was a lot harder than normal. A human couldn''t hit hard enough to send me flying, but this punch was powerful enough to send me rolling across the street.

    "Jay!" Shaggy yelled. I looked over to see her with a gun out and aimed at the two wolves. They both were twitchy.

    "I''m alright." My words were slurred through a river of liquid dripping down my face.

    "Good. Get up." Thomas'' words came from my right.

    I ran an arm under my nose and checked to see how bad it was. The resulting blood told me things were somewhere between great and terrible. I would survive. Though this was yet another suit ruined by blood. Three in three days. There was a reason my old wardrobe was mostly cheap jeans and t-shirts.

    "Check the cameras. Someone''s in the room." I told Shaggy. My nose hurt and my eyes were watering a little, but healing would solve it. Thomas seemed unwilling to wait and started circling. First one direction, then the other with an excited look on his face.

    "I''ve always wanted to see if you were as good as my sister said." He leaned over and waved his hands at me to get this fight started. "Big bad tracker."

    "Tom?" The dopey one said with lowered eyebrows. He hadn''t taken on an aggressive stance, but Stacy looked all too willing to jump in and start kicking me.

    "Nah, man." Thomas hopped around a bit. "Don''t care. The princess here deserves to be knocked on his ass again."

    I pushed myself up, ignoring Thomas'' rant. Ann had her gun leveled with one hand, and the other on her PDA. She kept flicking her eyes back and forth.

    "If I gotta spend a night in the kennel so be it." Julianne¡¯s brother said.

    "Stacy?" Dopey tried again. Stacy looked up at him and sighed.

    They did that silent thing that wolves do. Where they''re communicating but no one outside of the pack would be able to make sense of it. Shaggy had a growing look of concern on her face then completely dropped the gun aimed at Stacy and ran back to the compound.

    Thomas rushed in and swung a boot into my mid section. I curled with the foot and tried to throw him off balance. He was too fast for me to grab onto. Damn wolves.

    "Tom, we should check out this transition thing." Stacy was grinding her teeth, but at least her words sounded supportive. Thomas turned around and started yelling at her.

    "You want to let him slip away?!" Thomas said. "He''s half the reason Julianne died!"

    I took advantage of the situation and staggered to both feet while trying not to wince at the pain in my side or face. The river of blood from my nose had nearly stopped. My suit soaked up the rest.

    "Later, Thomas." I couldn¡¯t plead about it. Begging a riled up half plastered wolf would give the man a free pass to kick my ass even more.

    "Shut up!" Thomas turned to me pointing an accusing finger. "Why shouldn''t we curb stomp him, Stacy, why the about-face?" His attention turned around again.

    I tried to follow the link again while he was distracted. Thomas and his angry tone faded into the background as my mind traveled.

    Little Hunter runs across grass. Fast. Not enough. Lights flare across the building. Quiet alarm disregarded. Every shadow feels deeper. Find Dangerous Mate.

    Room even darker. Chills crawling across the room. Dangerous Mate laying on the bed. Energy swirls up walls, like tendrils reaching for life. They swirl back to her center and creep back out again.

    "Of course I don''t want to actually kill him!" Thomas'' words came to the surface of my thoughts like a submarine breaching the ice. "I know exactly how she felt!" He kept going, and I was trying to concentrate on the other figure in the room. Who was the mystery vampire?

    "No, Kahina shouldn''t die either! Why am I explaining this to you? Fuck you two think too loud." Thomas was yelling in the background at the other two wolves but his words were nonsensical.

    The Tick moves forward towards Dangerous Mate with a jerk. Halts. Fights to stand straight. Is conflicted. Feet press one way. Hands another. Hear Tick protest. Words. Know that voice.

    "Noooooo" It says.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 10 - Burning Up

    Was it Anthony? That posture made it hard to tell, but there were only two local vampires on the premise. Only one sounded like an asshole no matter what he did.

    Tick jerks into motion again. Feet drag forward against its will. Blade, the heavy weight of folded metal in his hands. Feel the curve. Sharp enough to cut the air.

    "I wanted to kick his face in a little! That''s all!" Thomas'' one-sided yelling match was loud enough to break through my focus. Behind that was the sound of police sirens. "One for the road, alright?"

    Tick stands over Dangerous Mate. Too far. Can''t stop. Body in the wrong location. Must correct the wolves. Must put them back in their place. Tick utters another protest. Manages to step back. Thick soled shoes weigh at a safer distance.

    "Alright Jackass, I''ll make this quick," Thomas said. My vision snapped back to the physical. There was no time to put up with him, no, I had to get to Kahina, now.

    Julianne''s brother didn''t see it that way. Stacy and Dopey were somewhere in the background, packing up the truck by collecting beer bottles that didn''t quite make it over the wall. At least they were sober enough to clean. I doubted it would extend to putting their manhole frisbees back where they came from.

    Thomas swung for my face. Kahina was in danger and what did I do? I stood here arguing with a litter of spoiled puppies. Things blacked out again. Which was a bad sign, every time things went dark something violent that wouldn''t make sense was about to happen.

    It had happened when Sector Agents stormed Julianne''s home. When chasing that wolf down for Malcolm. When Anthony had set me off four months ago. It even happened briefly when I punched the concrete wall downstairs. It was happening now.

    Will allow this puppy to understand. Will show his insignificance. Will unfurl a little. Just enough.

    My brain existed somewhere between sleepy and raging anger. The thoughts that came to me while I tracked were saying something important, but the context failed to click.

    When the darkness clouding my mind receded I had wrapped damaged fingers around Thomas'' windpipe. They dug in and bent the confused man backward towards the ground. Maybe he hadn''t expected me to fight back. Or to be able to force him into such a submissive pose. Or do what no human should be able to.

    It felt like my thoughts were being held under water. Another blackout blink later and things had gotten even worse. Stacy was leaping in my direction with a half furry face. The snapshot of coherent vision would have been enough for any horror movie, with Dopey only a few steps behind her.

    "Sit." I command. She obeys without choice. Knows nothing of me. Of what she dare stand against. Threatens me and mine. Feels strange to speak this way again. Too long asleep.

    Vision skipped again like the lens of a camera was closing for the briefest moment. When things came back both Stacy and the other male had firmly planted their asses on the ground. She was actually yipping through a half transformed face. The noise was pitiful and distant.

    Thomas struggled from the position he was in. Both of his hands had wrapped around my arm in an attempt to get purchase. His body couldn''t scoot right and get any sort of stable posture without causing self-harm.

    "This is unbecoming." Can''t let myself remember. Must focus. Too soon. "If you wish to retain the redemption your kind were given-" Puppy''s eyes widen. Voices of his ancestors swirl through the pack bonds. They warn him. He understands. He knows.

    Each of my words came from a stranger''s mouth. A darker voice that lived in the back of a great cavern. The kind of tone that was powerful enough to pierce through solid objects and sound came from everything at once. It was me and it wasn''t.

    Maybe I was possessed by something. Yes, that was it exactly. All those mental trips hunting down items over the years had caused me to be possessed. That was why my arm was burning up.

    What a silly creature I have become.

    The thought flickers by.

    I or whatever was in me, threw Thomas across the street into his truck. Another flicker of black and his crumpled form hit the pavement. At least my thoughts remained calm, mostly because my body wasn''t responding to anything. It didn''t stop my heartbeat from drumming loudly.

    The skin on my right arm started to throb, in addition to the burning from muscle strain. A moment later and it hung limply to the side. Then my face fell into slack-jawed confusion. Stacy looked terrified and was scrambling backward. Even Dopey had a grim expression on his face. He was watching me more than trying to get away.

    There was a scream, female, loud, and scared. It rumbled through similar to how my own words pierced our surrounding area. I looked at Stacy through those brief moments of clarity and established that it wasn''t her. She was scrambling to get to Thomas and didn''t even seem to notice the noise.

    "Kahina." My mouth shapes her name. Must stay awake. Must get to Dangerous Mate. What is mine being threatened.

    Whatever force was deciding how I should move wasn¡¯t done yet. Both feet turned around towards the house and started running. Another moment of darkness and I was leaping over the ten-foot wall, not even bothering to detour through the gate to the south. The landing on the other side wasn''t as smooth. Dead weight from a limp arm threw my balance off. Dirt ground into flesh as I crashed.

    Another burst of darkness passed by, and before vision returned I was back up and pounding across the ground. At least both my murky thoughts and the thing guiding my footsteps had the same priorities. Get to my woman.

    Running with a dysfunctional limb was difficult. Even with the arm hanging there it never stopped burning up. The heat coming off of it could probably boil an egg. It didn''t feel painful, in fact, this felt strangely liberating.

    Inside the house. Down the secret hallway. Each landmark was another brief light in the darkness. In the snapshots of reality, I passed Shaggy. She had one hand up to her cufflink, shouting into a microphone and was running at full speed. I had caught up to her and was now passing her by. Leaping over the wall must have cut off more time than I thought.

    Ahead of me, outside of the final doorway that went to Kahina''s room, was another man. His suit was much cleaner and resembled the same style I wore.

    The lights in this hall were extremely dim. From what I could tell this other thing in my body was operating more by a sense of touch than anything else. Those extra limbs told me how smooth, rough, or heavy something was and had been giving feedback the entire run. Now they told me things about the man in front of me.

    Another Tick. One of its legs strains forward. Trembles in effort against the fabric. Hand braces against the door frame. Fingers grip tightly on metal. He fights against something. Feel his jaw clench, grind in frustration.

    I ran at the figure. Ten feet in I could make out who the Tick, vampire, was. Lennon stood outside the doorway fighting to stay put while Anthony had lost that battle and somehow ended up inside with a blade. My momentum sent Lennon flying down the hallway. What had he been struggling against?

    I warn him. Do not dare. She is mine until I say otherwise. Given to me. Taken.

    A snarl ripped out of my mouth and rattled the hallway. The existence inside of me stared inwards at Anthony''s back. His white suit was the only feature of a dimly light room.

    Anthony''s head slowly turned around. I looked at him, his face flickered between joyous triumph and terror. His eyes traveled down to the arm with the sword. Fear finally won out and both the slimy man''s eyes widened. My own gaze followed the arm, trailed along the blade, and saw a terrible sight. His sword had already completed its swing down into Kahina''s neck.

    Maim. Destroy. Rip. Rend. Will burn him, drown him. Choke out his life...

    The voice in my head ranted on, a litany of hate and death threats. Burning that had been isolated in my arm grew along with my anger, overtaking my shoulder and reaching across the back in ripples. Anthony''s face slowly parted as he tried to talk.

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    "Helpppp." The words were in slow motion.

    He wanted my help? If Kahina was dead then help would be the last thing Anthony would receive. I would shatter him bone by bone. Then once they healed I would start over, again and again until he was so fragile that moving his body caused hairline fractures. Each night I would brand a new cross into his flesh to help him keep track of the days. I would ration him on a pack of blood every week, enough to drive him mad, enough to keep the vampire in him alive and demanding. Each sunset when he woke up the necklace would hang on the wall in front of him so that his first feeling would be terror until his mind and body gave out.

    Then I would bury him with the holy symbol somewhere far to the north. A place where night would stretch on forever and daylight wouldn''t come. There would be no relief from the fear. Anthony would regret the day he ever signed on the dotted line. He should have gone pack or stayed in his normal human life. Afterward, I would find whatever was controlling him and continue with them until they all tasted retribution.

    I didn''t even feel shocked at how dark my thoughts were over this betrayal. Worse, the fantasy was nearly instant, like it had been a plan implemented countless times before.

    The Second, Anthony, was no longer conflicted in his desire. There were no crossroads of staying away from Kahina and trying to kill her. Now it was survival. He could see that I had zero intention of helping him.

    I tore across the small room, reaching out for Anthony. The vampire ducked away from my grasping arm. My hand barely brushed across his face, curling, trying to grab on. Skin sizzled as burning fingers clawed a pathway across his face, opposite the branding I gave him months ago.

    Then he was out of the door and away from me. Both I and this other thing inside of my head barely paused. We went to look at the blade that had descended onto Kahina. Again a mark crossed her neck, far less cosmetic than a few days ago with the wolves. No, this cut had almost crossed the halfway mark.

    One arm reached out and carefully pulled the blade away. Blood welled up and instead of flowing freely it hung around the wound. Her face never changed expression. She was almost decapitated and the pain hadn''t even registered. Things blacked out for a brief moment as I moved closer, to sit by Kahina and study the damage. All my anger was shoved aside almost methodically as a useful resource but nothing more.

    "Did the blade go all the way through?" A male voice from behind me asked. I turned to look at the source. Lennon''s words were quiet but worried. One arm was clutched tightly across his chest. Broken ribs? It was likely. He was holding still aside from the occasional breath of air to speak.

    "Is Lady Rhodes alright?" His worry sounded false. Lennon was probably trying to figure out what to do next. Maybe he would attack again. The partial had been fighting something like Anthony had.

    This will not stand. Tick will not betray Dangerous Mate.

    Things blacked out again. I had a vague sensation of moving across the room to grab the remaining partial vampire. The feel of his shoes pressed against the rubbery edge of the doorway. All his weight shifted to his heels as he tried to back up. Then nothing as his body was lifted off the ground and swung around to the bed. It wasn''t a pure blackout, but my mind only registered how things felt, not how they looked. Maybe I was adapting.

    I could feel Ann''s footsteps finally making it to the room. Small drops of perspiration hit the ground around her. She had made good time for a human, but all the action was over. Not that there had been a lot. What she saw now would probably confuse her as much as it did me.

    With one good arm, I lifted Lennon up and shoved him into the wound on Kahina''s neck. Lennon didn''t seem to be struggling, but his eyes were wide at the sudden movement. Her blood still hung there, pooled about the gash, almost reluctant to spread any further. It might be weak. Or maybe it knew this was a dangerous wound and was trying to heal carefully.

    "You will not betray her!" I yell at him.

    Little Hunter gasps. I glare over my shoulder at her. Sweat lines her face from the run. My expression warns of danger. She grips the gun in her hand. Calluses rub against the grip.

    I turn back to the Tick. His face shoved at the wound. Crimson blood creeps onto the Tick''s clothing. The white of his face stands out against the darkness.

    "Drink!" I command. I shake his head. "Drink or I''ll end you!"

    Why was I putting him in a position that was so dangerous to Kahina? I shouldn''t be risking her like this. Again I looked at Shaggy, her face was set in a grim mask. She couldn''t understand what I was doing but wasn''t interfering. I didn''t understand either. That other person in my body seemed to have an agenda, though.

    "I''m already b..." He tried to say something.

    "DRINK!" I yell. Tick does not understand. There is no choice. I make my point by lifting his head and slamming it against the headboard. His eyes cross.

    Lennon licked his lips and obeyed. There wasn''t a lot of struggle coming from him about it. Instead, he awkwardly tried to get to the red liquid oozing out of her neck. Either my grip was too strong to resist, or he knew that his situation was a dangerous one. I didn''t even have a cross out and had chased off Anthony.

    Whatever it was inside of me, that other thing that was controlling all my actions refused to let up until Lennon''s face was smeared in Kahina''s blood. Finally it, I, leaned in and whispered into his ear.

    "Do you taste it? That thread of..." Focus. Must not remember the words. "That''s me, and it will only get stronger." I continue.

    "I own you now. Her fate is your fate. Her death," I shake in anger. Want to kill him. Frail under my fingers. Weak. Will be made to serve. "is your death." I say.

    The words didn''t echo from everywhere this time. They still felt powerful, final, merciless.

    Bright lights had dimmed after their burst but still painted a frightening visual. Lennon stood up and went motionless, shoulders and arms hung limply like a marionette with cut strings. His face covered in someone else''s blood for the second time tonight. Some of his hair was in patches from where it had crisped from brushing against my burning arm. There was a long motionless draw to his face that spoke of horror passing through his thoughts. Was he thinking about what had just happened? About attacking me?

    I shifted my gaze to Kahina. A flicker of other vision showed that her body was spilling out energy again but slower than before. Whatever I had done made her weaker. Let''s hope it was worth the trade off.

    Lennon only kept his motionless pause for a moment longer. Then something snapped and his eyes drifted up towards mine. Whatever it was he saw must have shocked him. Both eyes widened and he nodded in spastic jerks then fled the room. He bypassed Ann without a glance.

    She stared down the hallway where he had gone, then back at me. Her face was pale too, and while she tried to keep her expression bordering on disapproval, her eyes quivered in confusion. Her knuckles were still white from the death grip on the gun.

    "Sir?" Ann didn''t sound sure where to start. At least she didn''t make a joke about me punching a wolf in the brain.

    "What''s going on? Where''s Anthony?" She must have missed him zipping down the hallway. Or he went a different direction than the one Shaggy came in from.

    The other me ignored her. That wasn''t out of character. Not that there was any acceptable explanation for what had happened. Anthony tried to kill Kahina and had gotten closer than the wolves had. Yet another betrayal from within the household. Then, Lennon, I did something to him that might remove the risk of betrayal. I hope.

    A blade in the corner was nearly absent any blood. Kahina''s body shimmered slightly as the old flesh burned away, but not as intensely as before. My arm was damaged. This suit looked to be in worse condition then Kahina. The shirt felt brittle in the same places that my skin burned. Even the sleeve was in tatters.

    I knelt back on the ground next to Kahina. Her hair was lopsided now from the blade''s passage. It would piss her off when she woke up, her hair was a vain point. If she woke up. When. My mind shifted back and forth, fighting the possible reality with reassuring thoughts. That I had saved her now, that I would watch over her until this was done.

    Fingers carefully hovered over the shortened hair. I couldn''t risk actually touching her with my arm on fire like this. Thoughts rattled around trying to figure out how to make her survive. Whatever happened I would never leave her side again without a damned good reason. No matter what anyone, Shaggy or otherwise, said. She''d almost died twice during my absence.

    "I''ll protect you, my Regina." I say. My thoughts collide. The word is strange and true. Must sleep soon.

    Hand broken earlier. From unrestrained outburst against mortar and dirt. I bleed. Useful. Slowly I drop liquid onto Dangerous Mate''s neck wound. Watch as the lighter red swirls against deep crimson. Her wound accepts the offering. Feeds on it. Heals faster.

    Binding hurts. Tired. Sleep. Will sleep now.

    Things went dark again and my head slipped to the bed. The throbbing discomfort of my arm faded off into the distance.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 11 - Pile of Ash

    Things felt odd. Maybe they had never stopped. Ever since Julianne died nothing was solid. Watching the world move on with barely a pause at her death was frustrating. I survived Julianne''s death by changing locations and focusing on Kahina. Reconnecting, remembering the little things. That Kahina hated onions, four-way stops, and thought shorts were tacky. She loved attending open mic nights, wind chimes, and race cars. Not that she had time to care about much in the last four months.

    A list of little things all proving she was real. Someone I knew, who knew me. Then Hell happened. Near death twice, high chance of dying anyway. What do you do with that kind of situation? How do you find stable ground to move forward from?

    Everything conspired to confuse me. Now I found myself back in the odd landscape of monochrome pillars and pastel fields. Nothing was right. My thoughts felt like they were being violently filtered. The tactile sense I relied on was almost gone. Everywhere here was intangible.

    Not everything was bad news. The burning sensation in my arm and shoulder had faded.

    I tried to wave an arm. It moved sluggishly but at least it was under my control again. That was something. That strange internal voice seemed to be gone as well. No moments of darkness where time slipped by me. The sky above me was now a dull gray. Previously it had been brighter.

    What was the point of this? Where was I going to go?

    This time, there would be no touching. The paralyzing fear from before had been enough of a lesson. I studied the pillars at a distance instead. Each column had a pattern. Some of the patterns had portions that looked the same. In one place, I could see a swirl of gray and white that repeated higher on another pillar. Another two shared the same straight black markings going from top to bottom. Connections which made no sense.

    Forever passed by as my eyes sought similar markings. The more I watched, the more obvious it became. Pillars in one area would all share the same patterns. Each one clustered around an extra large column that stretched into the sky. There were only a few of these great ones nearby. Others were far out on the shortened horizon.

    I could smell peppermint. There was only one person who brought that scent to mind.

    "Kahina." My words held a strange double echo.

    Where had I last seen her? Bleeding from a deep wound, but healing. Then all the abuse of my abilities had caught up with me. That must be why I fell asleep suddenly. At least she was safe, for now. Ann was there, Anthony had fled, Lennon was hopefully hunting him down. The household would be on high alert.

    I could hear shouting. It sounded feminine. Shaggy? This was a dream and she was close by. Her voice sounded frantic but far enough away that caring was difficult. Was Kahina somehow in this landscape? Dreams were supposedly our mind''s way of sorting out what we experienced. The idea that my subconscious was trying to tell me something was laughable. I couldn¡¯t remember much out of it before.

    It had started making up for lost time. Those strange thoughts taking control clearly meant something. Almost as my suspicious thought occurred, it faded away leaving me confused. It didn''t matter what had happened. It, or I, had saved Kahina, and needed to keep doing so.

    I had to find her again. Maybe I could track in this dreamscape. Closing my eyes felt silly. I did it anyway. Almost immediately Kahina sprang to mind. She was next to my passed out body. Did she dream? Was her mind somewhere else like this? What was Kahina, a body, or the life attached to it?

    A dull purple cord flowed off into the distance. Without a better option, I trudged down the path. Both legs felt leaden. They moved in slow, clunky jerks. The cord wound through pillars, over hills and fields. It was easier to resist touching those giant monstrosities this time. At one point, the path passed through two almost perfectly identical columns. Both had a swirl of grayscale patterns that turned into warped faces leering down at me. I could swear one winked.

    The dully lit sky grew brighter. Landscape lost color depth as pseudo-daylight crept across. Even the grass stopped waving. It made the world look devoid of life, no, devoid wasn''t the right word. Drained.

    Kahina''s purple cord lead into another cluster of pillars. This group was nestled in some sort of valley. I looked across it trying to get a feel for what my clearly insane subconscious wanted to communicate. On the valley''s opposite lip was the largest pillar yet. It towered over the others as if a skyscraper placed in a sprawling suburb. The pattern on it held all sorts of extremely defined shapes. Diamond edges melted into pinstripes then into what looked like a flat trail of spikes rippled around towards the base.

    Even after this much traveling I had barely dented the distance between here and that monstrous column. They were essentially mountains in the distance. Big worked to describe them at first. Getting closer proved how inadequate the word ¡®big¡¯ was. The sky lit up and the shadows being cast by each column became increasingly obvious. The largest pillar cast a shadow over the valley of small ones.

    A new object moved. No, again I was wrong, it wasn''t one thing. Portions of the slowly forming shadows were traveling all over the landscape. Blobs of shade broke away and dared the dim light briefly before diving back to the slowly defining shadows.

    The motion made me stop. What did that mean? Was it a person? In my dreams? My imagination could run wild when it came to ways of motivating people, but this was incredible. Nothing in my real life could have inspired this. Blobs of shade flowed like streams spilling in from all directions to gather in pools.

    One group, the largest, stood right outside the great shadow. They lined up as an invading army on the horizon. Other faint shades were scattered around the landscape. Finally, there was the home team, a much smaller clump, that had gathered in the heart of the largest pillar''s shadow.

    What were they gathering for? Shadow football? The light above grew, sharpening the darkness. Each flicker of movement looked more and more human, but the only distinguishable features were bloodshot eyes. Most columns had no clear shadow as they were engulfed by the darkness cast from the largest one. The mob of attacking things surged forward towards some unknown goal.

    A sudden renewal of the pain in my cheek distracted me. I shook my head back and forth trying to get rid of the sensation then opened my eyes and focused. The cord to Kahina, hopefully, was right in front of me. Slowly vision trailed its path into the distance. I looked at the mob again and back to the cord to make sure. Both the cord''s direction and the mob''s charge went in the same direction.

    "Kahina?" My voice echoed. Not the strange possessed voice from before, no this was something else. I might have been talking out loud while dreaming. Both voices sounded like a moron stuck on repeat.

    The home team of shades moved to intercept their attackers.

    "Kahina?" I dumbly repeated.

    This dream had to be important somehow. One side was the good guys, the other bad guys. Not that real life was that simple. I had no idea which side was which or if it was possible to help. Even my tracking could have been a delusion of the dream. But if she was down there? That wasn''t something I could leave to chance.

    Downward I went. Both forces below collided as my feet drug along. Dreaming made my body feel disjointed, trapped, almost too large to move through the landscape right. Maybe it was my imagination but things seemed to be growing smaller.

    The mob of invaders hesitated near the pillar shadows. They would reach across the boundary for the shade creatures from the defending clump and try to pull them out. Little flickers of movement showed figures from the larger blob would flee off into the distance. Only a few fled at first. Then more as the sky brightened. I tried to get a better look at the ones running by, but none came close enough for me to make out.

    Things started getting fuzzy. It was like waking up. Sunlight seeped into the cracks between eyelids. Rays of light blotted out the landscape one chunk at a time until the surreal dream faded completely.

    Pressure under my gut increased. Maybe I was being carried over someone¡¯s shoulder while half dreaming. I was too drained to fight it. Something clicked, then clicked again, now my body felt awkwardly shoved into a tiny space. Hands groped at uncomfortable places and pushed me across something familiar.

    A female was complaining. The words were muffled and indistinct. My face stung again, then again from a sharp whack. There was nearly painful pressure on my shoulder as someone shook me back and forth. More complaining. Then there was a slam of metal. Minutes later there was a sudden weight pressed across me. Another slamming noise. Finally, things slipped away to the dream again.

    I looked around the landscape. It was much the same. The brightening sky and warring blobs didn''t provide hints as to what was happening. Everything had somehow become smaller which made it easier to see the entire battle from above. Kahina''s cord connected off into a shelter provided by the largest pillar. The other end of her connection felt extremely close and far at the same time.

    Kahina didn''t seem to be anywhere in the melee. Her cord led further into the darkness, past the fighting groups. Trying to reach her was almost a useless gesture. Skirmishes were fought and started again in the time it took me to move my feet one step. Each blob of shade could move faster than I.

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    The invaders were growing more frantic in their movements. They dodged into shadows with larger groups and grabbed single creatures on the defending team. A few of these attempts ended in failure, others were successful. Successes were dragged to the edge of the pillar''s shadow. Most of them broke away from their captures and dove back into the heart of darkness.

    Two of the defenders didn''t manage to escape in time. They were both hauled out. Another batch of attacking shades proceeded to drag them up the hill I stood on. They looked so small. The shades and pillars were smaller too. Something had happened, or clearly my subconscious was trying to even out my role in this dream. Each creature wasn''t any taller than my knee. Maybe they never had been. This was a dream. A long and confusing one.

    Above the sky had grown even brighter. In the distance, there was a burning light of some sort on the horizon. From my angle, it seemed to be a giant sheet of fire rolling across the sky, much or a storm blowing across the sea. This wasn''t the sun, no, this took up everything from one end of the horizon to the other. There was a heat that I could sense from here. The warmth made me happy. As a result of the impending light, each pillar cast a clearly defined shadow.

    The invading shades didn''t notice me until bumping right into my legs. Both dark creatures panicked after colliding with the imaginary giant I had become. They dropped their struggling captives then looked up. Bloodshot eyes widened. Their frightened expressions felt better than the heat coming across the horizon. I smiled and that sent most of the shade creatures fleeing across the landscape. Their flight lead away from the battle, away from the coming fire, and back towards the other pillars I had traveled by earlier in my dream.

    A sluggish arm descended on top of one of the stragglers. I pressed it over the shade and dug all fingers into the dull grass and dirt. The creature was small enough to be contained by my grip.

    I stared at it trying to understand this aspect of my dream. Even my hand looked odd, shade like. Similar to the creatures fighting below. Not dark, just faded and transparent.

    It made no sense. The creature under my hand strained and tried to turn, to claw, to bite, but nothing it did made me move. It was disturbingly easy. I had thought there was no way for me to help during this fight.

    Below both parties were still struggling but combat dwindled as the fire rolled across the valley. I looked over to the two captives. They had been laying there in confusion. Clearly they hadn''t expected to be dropped. Or maybe hadn''t expected me. I looked at their faces, trying to make out anything distinctive. Nothing stood out besides red-rimmed eyes.

    One got up and fled back down the hill to the home team''s shadows. The other stayed there. Either it was too terrified or dazed to move. I lifted my head back up and looked into the burning horizon. It felt so good to bask in the light for a moment. Things felt positively giddy after a few minutes.

    My grin might have been deranged as I looked back down. The creature still pinned under my hand seemed to be shrinking in silence. The other one on its shadowy knees pleading for something. None of it made sense.

    The rolling fire above made it over the mountain''s edge. Shadows cast by each pillar instantly solidified. Not every shadow was caught under the largest column, many smaller ones stood alone outside the biggest shadow. Flames somehow cued the invading army''s retreat. Even defending creatures broke away and found a pillar to hug.

    The rolling fire must be dangerous. Not that I felt the least bit intimidated. It felt great. Incredibly comforting, like a hot tub made of flames.

    I stood there watching all this action and took little notice that the creature in my hand had turned frantic. My head turned away from the activity below and watched the shade thing. Its frantic motion under my hand was a battle I knew. This struggle wasn''t for freedom but to survive.

    Everything here was a dream, right? I wondered what would happen if the burning light hit it full on. After all, it was part of the attacking team, invaders to whatever sanctuary Kahina had found in this dream world. It deserved repercussions for this attack. At least this shade seemed to be against Kahina¡¯s group. Unless the defending blobs had been holding her hostage?

    Hell. It was too late to care.

    Fire blasted across the valley''s sky. Light flooded the valley shrinking the shadows cast by each pillar. The invading shade under my hand screamed. I think. Its eyes squeezed tightly while shaking back and forth frantically. Both hands clawed at my enlarged fingers. Then it started flaking away. First hands, then arms, shoulders and even the main body under my fingers fell apart. There was no wind to carry it away. Everything sat there in a vaguely human shaped set of debris.

    Something banged on my chest. I tilted my head down to look. My main body felt very far away. It was just as bad as my hand had been. Next to my chest, I guess, was the surviving defender. The creature huddled in the shadow my body was casting. There wasn''t a lot of room, but the thing must have been thankful for anything. Especially if it would turn to dust like the invader I previously held down. The defender wasn''t looking at me but at the largest batch of darkness being cast.

    It looked back up at me. I slowly shrugged. Maybe it wanted to get back to its own safety. There was no telling what would happen if I woke up from this dream. Letting one of Kahina¡¯s team die felt dirty.

    I took a slow ponderous step forward. Then another. Maybe we could make it to down the valley before midnight. Whenever that was.

    The fight had completely died down. Above me, the fire had engulfed the sky but somehow each pillar still cast a six o''clock shadow. This little defending shade I escorted was in luck, each pillar''s safe zone stretched in our direction. That mountainous column on the valley''s far edge had quite a few shades inside of it. It was also the direction of Kahina''s cord. We were going the same direction anyway.

    Another step, then another. The landscape was moving in greater chunks due to my increased size. Soon we were close enough. My hitchhiker didn''t hesitate and dove across to safety. There were tiny flakes of gray ash creating a trail from the brief crossing between my safe zone and the monstrous pillar''s shadow.

    Defending shades peered out of their protective darkness. They positioned themselves between me and the cord''s far end. I couldn¡¯t see Kahina past their wall. Their eyes were all the same detached bloodshot and it was hard to make out arms and legs in the jumble. My sense of touch was completely numb in this place.

    I didn¡¯t feel comfortable crossing the shadow''s edge. They stared outward, unblinking, a wall that couldn¡¯t be seen past even from this vantage point. After a few moments of this silent staring match, they started to glance among themselves. Maybe the shades were confused as to how I could stand out here in the light. A feat none of their kind seemed to be able to do without leaving behind ash.

    Finally, from a signal that I didn''t hear, they parted. Further in the shadow''s safety was a body that was all too familiar. One that I could pick out in darkness. Kahina. She was curled up in the fetal position and twitching. Her eyes were open but unfocused. Her body was clad in something resembling a white toga. It was the only splash of color besides a sea of crimson eyes floating around her.

    The mountainous pillar sent out a quiet vibration across the distance. Lethargic feeling air rustled briefly in response to the motion. I had no idea what that implied. Part of me was still trying to register the strange sensation of walking on four legs. This was a dream though, that was probably perfectly normal.

    One shade knelt down to Kahina and pressed something against her forehead. Fingers maybe? The movement was slow and calm, like checking an exhausted child''s temperature. Whoever was kneeling over Kahina must have been important. All the other figures gave it room.

    Her condition must have satisfied the creature. It strode towards the edge of the shadow''s boundary and looked at me. Then frowned. How I knew it was frowning wasn''t apparent, it had no mouth, had no visible facial features. Maybe it was the tilt of the head. The frown was more felt than seen.

    "Will she be alright?" I asked.

    It shrugged. Without distinctive features, it was hard to tell if it was a passive shrug or a worried one.

    "Is this real?" I tried another question.

    Both of the shade''s eyes narrowed in study. It slowly but distinctly nodded. Not that the nod was much help. Having never dreamed before it was difficult to say how my subconscious would answer. Would it always say dreams were real? Would my brain tell me if a dream was fake? At least Kahina was okay here. Those shades that had gathered around to defend her didn''t seem to be doing anything wrong.

    If that invading bunch was trying to drag people off into the distance, then it must be bad. Especially since they were attacking before that firestorm rolled across the sky. I finally relaxed. The darkness seemed to crawl outside the boundary cast by the pillars and take over the rest of my vision. No freezing terror came forth. Only rest.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 12 - The Plan

    I woke to the backseat of Ann¡¯s car. She was in the front driving. My jaw ached. Being in the car must have caused me to grind my teeth. One shoulder tingled from sleeping on it wrong. There was a bright red cooler sitting on top of my chest. I shoved the container off of me and managed to sit up.

    "Welcome back, sir." Shaggy¡¯s words were less pleasant than normal.

    "Where?" I managed to get one word out and stumbled over the rest.

    "On the road towards another safe house. We''re skipping to four." Her eyes flicked to the rearview mirror and gave me a once over. I was being sized up for something.

    "How did I?" Sleep drug at my words.

    "Lennon loaded you in and sent us off. What the hell happened back there?" She cut me off with a rapid fire explination.

    "What?" I tried to catch up. My brain was still trying to decipher the dream. What had that been about? Darkness, shadows, pillars. Shade people fighting. Kahina.

    "Where is Kahina?" I asked a better question.

    With a sudden jerk of anger, she pulled us off the road and parked. She hadn''t even bothered getting over to the right side curb, no, we were trapped in the middle of an eight-lane highway.

    "Answer me or I swear I''ll shoot you." Her gun was out and in my face in a blink. "What the hell happened back there!?" Her words were forceful.

    Having a gun in your face brings two responses. Fear, or anger. My body had no energy for anger, and fear wasn''t too far away. I knew how good a shot she was, and point blank was hard to miss. I tried to crane my neck back and focus on the gun.

    "Talk!" She demanded.

    "I don''t know."

    "What did you do to Lennon?" Her teeth ground. Now was a terrible time to try and remember if Kahina''s staff got dental as a part of their medical plan.

    "I don''t know." I gave the same answer.

    "Why did you pass out?" She shook the gun. All this aggression pointed in my direction and the best I could work up was exhausted irritation at Shaggy. At least the tingling in my shoulder was almost gone. The clicking of hazard lights was starting to get annoying, though.

    "I don''t know." I tried again.

    "What about those wolves?!" Shaggy didn''t let up on the questions. My response couldn¡¯t come soon enough. "Well?!"

    "Thomas'' sister was killed by one of Kahina''s bodyguards. He blames both of us for it." Shaggy stared at me for a moment then turned back around, placing her gun against the steering wheel and placing her head against its flat side. Then she hung there for a moment muttering to herself.

    "Where is Kahina?" I should be angrier. It was difficult to be mad at women for long.

    "In the trunk. We couldn''t let any staff see her on the way out. They think I''m taking you to an elven healer on retainer." Shaggy''s words came out cold. Not quite the level of detachment that Kahina conducted her business in.

    Lennon and Ann had shoved Kahina into the trunk? I fumbled with the seat. These cars always had some fold away method to get to the trunk from the back seat. A moment later I tipped it down long enough to see Kahina''s face. Serene, not breathing.

    A glimpse of other sight showed that there was no life in her. It took a moment to calm myself and remember that she never had any signs of life during the daytime. The only proof that she hadn''t passed was the heat shimmering off her body. Faint but visible.

    "Why did we leave?" I asked. The compound was the safest place for Kahina. That was the whole point of setting it up, of training her employees, of having all the land around the house.

    "After you recover-" she did air quotes with a gun in one hand "we''re going on the offensive. It''s not an unknown practice for some of the household elites to try and hunt down their enemies. Though the playbook''s a bit antiquated."

    "That seems odd." Everything seemed odd. Waking up at all, the dream, the business-like attitude that Ann had somehow reverted to after her moment of frustration.

    "It''s only done when a house is confident they can hold. Or in desperation. Other times it''s to remove rivals." Ann sounded like she was reciting from a manual somewhere. "There''s another angle as well."

    Shaggy didn''t say what it was right away. The gun was tucked into her holster. There were other bags piled in with me filled with first aid items and spare clips. Our cooler should contain blood packs.

    "Which is?" I prompted after closing the cooler.

    "They might think we''ve defected. We can use that to our favor." If I had been less drained that statement would have set me off. They thought I would abandon Kahina? Not again, not after I gave my word to her.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Shaggy gave me a flat stare through the rear view mirror. Her look made me think on the comment. My track record was against me. How long would my original flight from Kahina taint everyone''s view?

    "Face it, sir, you don''t show up for practices, you don''t patrol or sign up for any tutoring sessions. You don''t look like the fathering type, and you haven''t taken a vampire adaptability test." Ann pulled back into traffic without signaling. "You don''t even drink with the rest of us."

    "I drink." With Crummy.

    "There was a betting pool on how long you''d stay. I guess it''s still there. It''ll be something to come back to." Her eyes were looking across the dashboard at the traffic. She flipped across lanes and got onto the freeway heading south.

    That information was difficult to respond to. I should be affronted. Or counter her argument by cracking my knuckles and growling. Any sort of response felt beyond me. Things felt unreal as I tried to clear the cobwebs. It should be considered miraculous that we were speaking at all.

    "No one thinks you''ll stick around, even afterward." Shaggy said.

    "That''s between Kahina and me." I responded.

    "Not when the livelihoods of each member of the house are at stake, not when their children''s children may still serve Lady Rhodes as long as she survives. If you dodge out halfway through then everyone''s screwed."

    I didn''t have a good way to respond to that. It hadn''t really occurred to me that what I did for Kahina would matter to anyone beyond us. Then again the last few months were muted since Julianne''s murder. Since before that really. My entire life existed in a weird fog most of the time.

    "I''ll stay." I tried to sound firm. Kahina and I had a good time together, but relationships required a magical combination of saying and doing the right thing. Unfortunately, I seemed to have foot in mouth disease.

    Shaggy stayed quiet while looking in the rearview mirror. She would stare at me in quick flashes with both eyebrows creased together. Eventually, she stopped looking back altogether and kept both eyes on the road.

    I reached through the car seat''s cushions and found Kahina''s skin. Each part of my body still reported exhaustion. Weariness threatened my consciousness. Each time I woke in a panic. Partly I wondered if sleeping would return me to the strange dream landscape. Another part wondered if I would wake up only to find Kahina died because of my negligence. My failure to guard her.

    "What''s next?" I asked an hour later. My head was still drifting in and out as feedback from my abilities took it¡¯s toll.

    "We''ll bunker down until nightfall, contact Lennon, get a status report from the main house. See what kind of numbers we''re working with." Shaggy kept changing lanes while talking. Each switch resulting in being stuck behind someone new. "After that it¡¯s kill anyone who comes after Lady Rhodes. Hopefully, she''ll complete the change in the next day or two."

    "Can we trust Lennon?" I asked sluggishly while trying not to yawn.

    "I guess you did something about that. He was terrified for Lady Rhodes'' safety. Practically shoved us out the door, refused to know where we were going." Shaggy said.

    We sat in silence for a few more minutes before Shaggy spoke up again.

    "You really don''t know what happened?" She asked sounding more worried than ever. Ann threatened, placated, made snide remarks, but never sounded like this.

    "I remember." My head turned to stare out the window. "I just don''t know what it means." Or what that other voice that had possessed me meant, and how the burning feeling in my arm tied in.

    Even trying to pick apart my dream for some sort of existential meaning was failing. The fiery sky could be the sun. Each pillar was, what, something that lived in darkness? Something similar to Kahina? Or other vampires?

    That made no sense at all. Vampires didn''t burn up in sunlight, they only fell asleep. They did turn to ash when dying so that portion was similar. Maybe my mind was pulling in random elements. The heat of my arm, what Keeper had said about trying to protect her. Or what Kahina had said herself, that her thoughts weren''t her own during the day.

    I must have been imagining that other place. My first dream ever was a little too real. My mind''s way of trying to work through the stress of Kahina¡¯s looming failure to survive. That''s all.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 13 - Younger and Incomplete

    We pulled up to an unfamiliar hotel. Shaggy got out first and insisted on scouting for possible ambushes. It would help if Anthony knew about this place or thought to look here.

    She came back fifteen minutes later and showed me where to go. I carried Kahina and some blood packs to the penthouse suite. Apparently this location and dozens of places like it were reserved under shell companies. The others were mostly decoys.

    We managed to unload everything in one trip. Shaggy had two giant bags slung over each shoulder. She had clearly taken Sensei''s training courses seriously otherwise lifting all this stuff would have been difficult.

    "The elevator will shut down afterward. Stairs and shaft have motion detectors. Multiple camera feeds hook into the spare room." Shaggy dropped both bags inside the doorway and started rubbing her shoulders. Her bags were filled with clothes and first aid supplies. I got the ammunition.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.

    "Bedroom''s over there, the bathroom''s that way." She motioned to different rooms in the suite. The place was nearly stripped bare. Aside from the furniture there wasn''t much to look at. Each window had heavy curtains hanging on them, much like the ones at the mansion. Even the lights were dim.

    We got Kahina set up in the master bedroom. Her still form was nearly swallowed up by the mattress. A fresh blood bag hung off the wall and dripped down the tube leading into a slender arm.

    Shaggy kept right on moving into the rest of the house, checking under cabinets, switching things into the bags, pulling out a change of clothes. Then without further explanation she dashed into the bathroom and started the shower.

    I was running on empty and went for the fridge. Rows of bottled water lined the insides. Up top were a few microwavable meals but nothing good. This place wasn''t stocked with human comfort in mind. The kitchen cabinets at least had some protein bars.

    The secondary bedroom had a clear line of sight into the master. Getting the security system working proved to be fairly easy. It was just a matter of turning on the power switches and everything went into auto pilot. There were two screens showing six different points of view on the building. A third screen showed various words all in green text on a black background. Each item was labeled for where in the hotel it belonged. Main stairway, secondary stairs, elevator shaft, rooftop, outer hallways and so on. How this place had gotten so wired up was beyond me. Maybe it piggybacked an already existing system.

    My abilities wouldn''t do a damned bit of good in providing any forewarning. All I could do was watch the screens and try to stay awake.

    Shaggy used all the hot water in the building and still camped the shower. Nearly an hour later she staggered out completely dressed with her gun strapped. Finally, the woman fell face first onto the bed. The only indication that she had been in the shower was barely damp hair.

    I tried to keep quiet while traveling between the rooms. Paced around the entire suite for hours. Anything to keep me awake. A phone rang while I was on lap thirty.

    When I made it back to the guest room Ann had woken up enough to shove the phone against her ear. Her face still pressed into the pillow. It was easy to tell how tired the woman was, mostly because she tried to answer the person on the other end without moving her head. The words were muffled would be incomprehensible with fabric in the way. Finally, she tossed the phone towards the chair I had been sitting in.

    Talking to the other person was now my problem. The man on the other end was yelling into the phone by now. I picked it up and tried to make out the voice. Once it became apparent who was on the other end I cut them off.

    "Start over," I said.

    "Lord? This is Myers'' phone." Lennon''s soft voice answered. He was up early. It was barely sundown. What was this Lord nonsense about? Did he start having the same brainwashed attitude Evan had?

    "Status?" I made my way over to the master bedroom and shut both doors on the way. Shaggy needed rest.

    "Dead ends. Anthony''s gone, completely gone." Lennon responded.

    "Anything else?"

    "The house is worried, Lord," He said. There it was again. He was calling me that title like Evan did.

    "Why are you calling me that?" I asked.

    "Calling you what?" Lennon''s whispery voice sounded worried. Like he was nervous about upsetting me.

    "Lord."

    "I..." He faded off into silence.

    "Well?" I pressed for an answer.

    "It''s what I should call you." Lennon finally responded in his quiet tone.

    The phone pressed against my forehead as I tried to figure out how to punch people remotely. This Lord thing was getting old quick. First Evan knew what it was, then Candy, yet they wouldn''t tell me. Now a third person was calling me this title without knowing why or what it meant.

    I had to deal with Candy soon. Knowing that slant eared whore she would probably enjoy it. At least her little illusions hadn''t been visiting me the last few days. I sighed and put my ear back to the phone.

    "Any new attacks?" I asked.

    "No real attacks. The city has quarantined the area and Sector Agents evacuated the houses nearby." Lennon said. Another person was talking in the background, Kurt maybe. One of the household staff also providing a status update.

    "Great."

    "It''s all accounted for, and the Lady made sure each of her neighbors were aware they''d be reimbursed for damages." Lennon kept talking. I squinted at the phone and looked for a way to turn him up. Modern technology annoyed me.

    "I don''t care." The politics of dealing with local movie stars and doctor''s wives didn''t matter to me. Though perhaps Kahina should have done this somewhere more rural.

    "Alright." Lennon wasn''t quite subdued, but there was a tone to his voice that I hadn¡¯t heard before today. Fear? It was hard to tell. "Is she okay?" The partial vampire asked.

    I stared at Kahina. Blood dripped down the IV into her arm. Her skin was shimmering again. The fact that her body was still going through some sort of transition was hopeful. If she hadn''t been burning off her humanity still then there were two possibilities. One, she had completed the transformation and would wake up, or two, that she was dead. You didn''t have to be a math whiz to figure out which of the options was likely.

    "She''s still going." My eyes were starting to become unfocused. Her body''s hazy burn looked weak compared to the rolling firestorm that had been in my dream.

    "That''s..." For a moment, Lennon sounded frustrated. "Good."

    "Hanging up."

    "One more thing. A message." Lennon said.

    "Hurry up." I had walked closer to Kahina. To this woman who meant too much to me. This person was the only real person I had left after Julianne passed on.

    "Keeper advised me to tell you, that everything you saw was real." Lennon¡¯s words made my heart jump.

    "What?" I needed to hear more details.

    "I don''t know. Keeper is far older than almost all of us. He says there are things that the younger and incomplete can''t see." Lennon was such a quiet person I almost didn''t notice he finished the explanation.

    "Incomplete? You mean partial vampires." I said.

    "Yes. Keeper wanted you to know he heard your question and wanted you to know that it was real."

    "Okay." I clicked off the phone and lost focus for a long time after that. My mind tried to piece together all the things that had happened in that dream. Keeper said it was real.

    The two armies of shadow, giant pillars, and rolling firestorm? All of that was real? I asked that question to the shade who seemed in charge of the defenders. His group had been in front of Kahina¡¯s prone form.

    If that shade was Keeper then it was easy to assume that each shadow belonged to a vampire. The jump in logic was small. After all, how long had I been following items and people through an aura filled landscape? Years of seeing things made this easier to absorb. Or at least it was possible that this whole thing wasn''t some brain aneurysm.

    That meant that someone had died when I had pinned them down. Someone attacking Kahina. A grin grew across my face before I realized it. That was exciting. I could kill people attacking Kahina even while sleeping. The grin vanished and was replaced by a scowl. If my conclusion was correct, then the reverse was also true. People could kill Kahina without ever attacking us in person. How could I defend her from all sides? Could I? Could anyone?

    A snore came from the back. Loud enough that it could be heard all the way out here. The floorboards let out soft squeaks as I tiptoed back across the penthouse. Peering in the second bedroom showed an utterly exhausted Shaggy propped in an odd position on the bed. Another snore ripped forth.

    I studied her face from the doorway. Her eyes had dark circles under them that I never noticed before. She wasn''t a still sleeper either. Her breathing increased rapidly for a moment and the left half of Shaggy¡¯s face started twitching. Then it all settled down and she started snoring again. Even in her sleep Shaggy was fighting.

    Ann was giving this her all. Shaggy studied furiously and went to every single practice session available. She ran to protect Kahina at the first sign of danger and killed two wolves without hesitation. Finally, she drove for hours to get us to a potentially safe location. The fact that I even paused to think about it was shameful. My partner here was giving this her all, I shouldn''t do any less. Not if Kahina mattered. And she mattered. Kahina was mine.

    I would protect her on both fronts, somehow.

    I slid back into the guest room and stood watch over the security system. Screens fed images of an undisturbed stairway. Occasionally people walked by outside but no one lingered long. No one looked familiar or even remotely nonhuman.

    Things stayed peaceful until right before dawn. Shaggy hadn''t moved from the bed. I contemplated waking her up once or twice but finally decided against it. She hadn''t slept much since the transition started and there was no telling when we might get to rest again.

    Right around five in the morning I started having unwanted visions of impending doom. Specifically, Candy started showing up on the security cameras. Her rail thin form wasn''t distinctive on its own. It was her walk, taunting and playful, and perfectly positioned to give the hidden security camera the best view. She walked by the street outside not once but five times. As much as the elf''s existence drove me crazy, mostly because of what she did to Evan, it was impossible to deny her allure. The shirt was thin and a creamy yellow. A wide neck that slipped off one shoulder.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Finally, Candy looked straight into the camera that watched the street outside. Her smile was playful. A moment later the woman''s form vanished from the screen. At nearly the exact same time, there was a knock on the door.

    Shit. This was not something I needed right now.

    "Jeffff..." Her voice pierced through the doorway in the main room. It was low and attention demanding. Candy did things with her vocal cords that most normal people couldn''t, going from playful and giggly to frightfully serious in a heartbeat. She called me Jeff because I never gave her my real name, just an old pseudonym.

    "Jeffffff..." Candy called again.

    I turned and looked at Shaggy. Kahina''s bodyguard was still unconscious on the bed. None of my normal gear for dealing with elves was here either. There were all sorts of iron chains at my house, though. Mostly for elves.

    Candy kept calling my name from the penthouse doorway. A moment later a cheesy but bright arrow showed up in front of my face. It pointed to the door, like a roadmap for the mentally challenged. The female elf was getting tired of waiting for me to answer the door.

    It took me a few moments to walk away from the security setup, check on Kahina, and then try to quietly make my way across the floorboards. I took a breath to steady myself before opening the door. It wouldn''t do any good to try and kill Candy, she wasn''t evil, merely a bitch.

    "Jeff!" Her voice went playful in an instant and she hugged me before I could react. A moment later she was back in the hallway watching me. I stepped outside and closed the door behind me, making sure to feel the click as it locked. It was difficult to look at Candy and not think about what she looked like under the revealing clothing.

    "Why are you here, Candy?" I asked.

    She hummed happily when I said her name. "Well, I had hoped you''d ditched the dead meat for a livelier meal."

    "No." My words were flat.

    "Perhaps we can make another exchange." The elf''s voice flustered my thoughts. Our last exchange had been great in the beginning and terrible at the end. The same could be said for most failed relationships.

    "Last time we made a deal it blew up in my face," I said while glaring down.

    "Oh, it blew alright." She fiddled with the side of her shirt. Then her pants and finally fussed with her short hair. All of it designed to get my attention. I rolled my eyes. Of course part of me was paying attention to every little action. It was difficult not to. "Sorry, Jeff. I really am, but letting you know could mean the death of everyone. It''s bad enough that these people are after you."

    "After Kahina."

    "No. In the end, the Order is after you. I know, I looked. The cold fish is a way to flush you out." Candy turned serious with her voice and posture. All the playful fidgeting was gone and she crossed her arms and chewed at a bottom lip in thought.

    "What?" Shock ran through me. The Order or Merlin was trying to kill her because of me? What the hell could be so important about me that they would wage war against an entire household?

    "That''s why I''m here to make a deal. I help you stay off their radar and you give me something in exchange." Candy smiled at me and tilted her head.

    If there was anything that Candy believed in more than being a tease, it was making a deal. She stuck to the terms of these verbal contracts. Months ago she told me it was a distraction from her real addiction. Even the flirtations were misdirection. Which meant this woman''s true motivations had nothing to do with sex or trading favors.

    "What''s the price?" I asked.

    "Ah ah ah." There she was, right back to playful, each noise sounded like a porn star winding up. "Now I can''t tell you that, Jeff. Deal or no deal?"

    "No deal."

    "Are you sure?" Candy tugged at her shirt again while looking down and frowning. She might be pouting at me, or the clothing. A moment later her shirt looked bubble gum pink.

    "Because you need me to stay hidden. They''ve got a Seer tracking you. I can make it look like you''ve gone back into hiding at dead fish''s mansion." The tone was playful, but the implication wasn''t. Somehow they were following us. It took me a moment to register her words. A moment later I was nearly knocking the lithe elf over.

    "What?" I tried hard to be calm about it. Candy leaned back against one of the walls and slid her hands down by her side. Eyes cast down, her breathing seemed shallow and hitched.

    "Oh, angry Jeff." She was biting her lip again with a much different look resulting. "Make a deal, and I''ll misdirect the Seer, or you''ll need to start running now. It''s your call, big guy." Playful tone aside there was something wrong with her voice. Where it was coming from didn''t match the image in front of me.

    On a hunch, I placed a hand out to Candy''s form. There was no resistance where her body seemed to be. The image of a female elf in front of me was an illusion. She had been right in front of me but escaped to somewhere else in the room.

    "Now now, Jeff. You can look, but no touching. Not right now anyway." The projection shot me a playful wink as it melted away under my hand.

    It might be possible to use my other senses to try and track her down. I had done so once before, using memories instead of objects to flip that mental switch. The effort would take too much time for no payoff. Candy was messing with me. Then again she knew about the Order and that couldn''t be a good thing.

    "Are you sure about that deal, Jeff?" Her words came from somewhere behind me. There was no one visible in the hallway when I turned around.

    "I can''t risk her," I said while looking around for signs of a hidden elf.

    "What if I promised that your Bloodletter wouldn''t be physically harmed from our bargain?" She asked.

    "Kahina?" I backed up towards the main door. It was the only threshold that Candy couldn''t be allowed past. For all I knew letting Candy by would get Kahina killed.

    "Yes. Her." Her voice sounded sour at the name.

    "Can I pay your price after the transition?" Stopping these people from tracing us would be extremely helpful. It might even be worth the unknown price.

    "Is that a deal breaker?" Candy asked.

    "It is."

    "Then I believe we can come to an agreement." Her voice was sultry and far too close. I squinted and tried to figure out where she was hiding. There was no ripple of air, no blur or distortion to give away her position. It wasn''t like any movie about aliens with cloaking devices. When an elf cast illusions it was visually flawless.

    "You keep the Order away from us and leave Kahina unharmed?" I reiterated.

    "As much as is within my power, yes," She said.

    The choice between having Kahina''s enemies lead to our doorstep and having them diverted was an easy one. Downsides revolved around the strings attached to my choices. If this deal went anything like our prior one, I would regret it on some level. Being unable to get information from Evan hadn''t physically hurt me, but Julianne had died. Maybe if I had known my origin she would still be alive.

    No, having Candy on our side during the change over would be best.

    "Fine. Deal." I nodded.

    There was no good choice. I couldn''t fight on all sides at once, not without help. We had Daniel trying to run interference, and the household was still in position, and Keeper. We had a lot of people on our side. A very big group for a single transition. It still wasn¡¯t enough. We had already dealt with two close calls.

    "See, that wasn''t hard at all." Candy''s image appeared again. She was tiptoeing along the edge of the hallway. Playful, like a child balancing on the edge of a sidewalk. This image was probably fake too.

    "The price?" I said while trying to keep calm. It was like dealing with a small pretty looking devil.

    "Do you want to know it now or later?" She asked.

    "I get a choice?" I tried not to feel stunned.

    "Sure."

    A choice wasn''t comforting. The fact that there was an option of when tied to this bargain had to be a bad thing. That meant it was something that could be done now just as easily as later.

    "Now." Bad news up front.

    "It''s easy."

    "When the Bloodletter survives..." Her voice was suddenly husky and very much in tune with the image that had gotten close to me. "You need to leave her." The last part was almost whispered in my ear. She was in my reach now and all my brain could compute was the fact that her top was nearly see through. Had it always been that thin, or was this another illusion?

    "Now that''s the hard part." She grabbed at my groin in emphasis.

    "But..." I tried to form a sentence. This woman was overly aggressive in some ways. In other ways, it was just right.

    "A deal''s a deal, Jeff." The elf was suddenly gone again. "I''d go pack. The Seer has already sent some men this way. You have maybe twenty minutes."

    Only the slight tapping of shoes down the hall gave any hint of her direction. After a moment it was was completely silent and the enormity of our conversation started sinking in. Candy had said ''when'' Kahina survives. Like she knew something that I didn''t. There hadn''t been a tremor of doubt in her words either.

    Her other words started to sink in too. The Order was after me but not Kahina? That was confusing. Daniel had said ¡®it was all my fault¡¯.

    Why was leaving Kahina so important to Candy? These illusions, sexual taunting, the constant reminders, and distractions all led somewhere. Evan had told me it was all part of her plan to keep me from figuring things out. Part of me desperately wanted to fail on my end of the deal. Of course, every news story I had ever seen stated breaking a bargain with elves would have terrible repercussions.

    Finally, and maybe worst of all, I had to wake up Shaggy without pissing her off.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 14 - Teeth Everywhere

    Ten minutes had passed since Candy gave me her warning. I told Shaggy that people from the Order were on their way. She cursed, loudly, and started preparing. Her brain was barely awake while she dashed around the room. It was almost mechanical, a high speed nearly frantic mechanical.

    "Put these in the stairwell, hurry!" The short gun toting brunette ordered.

    "The stairs?" I was trying to look through the cabinets and find more food to pack.

    "Yes. We''ll have to cut power to the elevator while they''re inside. It should buy us enough time to slip away." She said.

    We were on the fifth floor of the building. It wouldn''t take long to charge down the flights of stairs. If the stalled elevator held out long enough we could get to the car and back onto the freeway.

    I grabbed the bags and ran them outside, leaving the door open behind me. Shaggy met me in the stairwell with the other two bags and a freshly stocked cooler. The stuff we had from a few days ago was almost gone. Kahina¡¯s change was burning through blood bags at an insane rate.

    "Can we do this in one trip?" I looked over the railing. There was enough space between the stairs to make the bottom visible. If I could jump down without hitting the sides, or breaking myself on the landing things would be easier. A wolf could do it.

    I had done it once before. That wasn''t a feat worth trying to recreate deliberately. Failure would mean fractured legs. A broken neck was more likely.

    "We''ll lower it all by rope once they''re in the elevator." Shaggy pointed up at the bar hanging across the ceiling. "Then you grab the Lady and run her downstairs while I clear the area ahead and get the car."

    She wasted no time digging out a long nylon rope from one of the bags and handing it over. It looked too thin in my eyes. I yanked on different segments of rope trying to test the strength.

    "That''s Kevlar, it''ll be fine. Toss it over the bar there and grab ahold of the clip." I stared at her, the rope, and the large bags we had been repacking. We were a regular mobile hospital of nonsense. The bag with all the ammo was the heaviest one.

    "We''re on a timer." She reminded me.

    We had roughly six minutes left. I made one last trip inside the room and looked at the monitors. Shaggy disconnected the remaining equipment from Kahina and left it hanging there. She should be okay, there was enough in the bags that we could last the remaining days somewhere else. According to the numbers, we only had one more safe house after this anyway.

    I lifted Kahina and Shaggy bundled up items under the covers and tried to make it look like a person was there. She ran over to the security system and slammed buttons on the keyboard. Another display I hadn''t known about popped up and she started triggering things. Words flashed across the screen too fast for me to keep up. A moment later and we were huddled in the stairwell.

    "What did you do?" I whispered.

    "The elevator will lock up, alarm systems will activate, a silent alarm for the police and most of the doors in the building will start locking and unlocking at the same time." Shaggy was leaning over the rail and looking down. A moment later she pressed against the wall trying to listen for the elevator gears.

    "It will make them go slower if it seems like we could be hiding out anywhere. I also opened the window in the guest room so it''ll look like we snuck out.¡± She kept listing off items from a never ending series of safety measures. ¡°Then we''ll hit the basement and take a catering van through the service entrance opposite the main parking lot."

    "How many are there?"

    "I thought you knew," She said.

    I shook my head then noticed something was wrong with the wall behind Shaggy. It looked like some sort of television screen had been inserted and was tuned into the news. The problem was that screen hadn''t existed a moment ago. My eyes squinted at the image.

    Candy¡¯s face popped into the projection. This time, she was in news anchor attire, a business suit that ruffled in the front. Her light green skirt stopped right above the knees.

    She waved and looked chipper. Then whipped out a pointing stick and smacked it against the wall. Never once did the news broadcast theme go away. There was even a channel number and a little picture of her face in the corner where a normal logo would go.

    The pointer slapped against the top left showing a countdown. Two minutes. It kept ticking. Another slap of the pointer against the bottom right showed an energy bar. She pointed at herself, then back at the bar. I nodded, Candy was saying her energy wouldn''t last forever. Projecting images like this had to be draining.

    Shaggy turned around from the stairwell at looked at me, then tried to follow my gaze. I was locked onto the illusionary screen where Candy was giving us information. The female elf whacked the stick against the top right this time and showed a head count.

    "Twelve, all human." I immediately relayed it to Shaggy.

    "Great. They won''t all be taking the elevators then. Two teams or three?" Shaggy stuck her head back over the side of the railing and immediately went to clipping items onto the rope. After the item was clipped in she edged each bag between the rails so that lowering them wouldn''t require lifting first.

    Candy¡¯s form gestured with overly dramatic arms to three boxes that appeared around her. The screen was getting crowded now, but trust Candy to find a place to stand out. Her clothes seemed to be getting skimpier. All three screens flickered to life, showing SUVs rolling up to the front door of our empty hotel.

    We had a picture in picture situation. Television manufacturers would kill to get this kind of imagery, only the elf''s version had no audio. I flicked my eyes towards the energy screen where Candy was keeping tabs on how long she would last. According to the bar that one trick of showing us the invading teams had taken a lot of power. Maybe she was including the drain of our little hallway interaction earlier and tracking me down.

    "Three groups," I told Shaggy. She looked grim but secured the last of our bags.

    Candy was actually helping out this time. Of course, if she failed I would renege on our deal and be happy for the limited help we received.

    My eyes drifted down to the unconscious Kahina in my arms. Her body still shimmered, but the heat didn''t bother me. It was comforting. We were about to try and sneak past a group with an unknown level of training. Judging by the gear on the display screen, they had at least some idea of what they were doing.

    "Any other details?" Shaggy whispered back.

    Candy¡¯s countdown timer reached zero and vanished. A moving picture showed four people headed straight for the elevator. Another group went for the stairwell. The final one sat outside in the front and fanned out, watching the side exits.

    Below us, people stomped up the stairwell. I looked at the image one last time for any sort of guidance. Newscaster Candy pursed her lips in thought then brightened. The rest of her display floated away and left the elf alone with a pile of items that looked exactly like our bags.

    The bags on the wall illusion gradually vanished. I turned to our pile and didn''t notice anything different. One eyebrow raised and looked back to the phantom Candy. Footsteps below grew louder and closer. No one showed signs of noticing the rigging and rope hanging off to the side. Candy nodded and made a shooing motion.

    Our big bags were no longer visible. Shaggy looked at me with uncertainty. I shrugged and tried to make a hand over hand motion while cradling Kahina¡¯s form.

    Footsteps clomped up another flight. We could hear the elevator engines going. It went up a floor then stopped abruptly with a jerk of locks and gears. Mumbles broke out among the four below us as they paused.

    Shaggy gently lowered the bags over the edge. The combined weight had to be more than hers. Luckily the rope had been woven through the rails to take off some of the pressure. Her only goal was to get things to the ground safely. Hauling them up this way would have been painful. Still, the fact that Ann was managing all that weight spoke of how toned those arms truly were.

    There was a ding in the penthouse foyer. I nudged the doorway to the stairs shut. Shaggy closed her eyes and then lowered the rope with even more urgency.

    A clanging symphony of sound poured forth from the elevator shaft. Shaggy grunted and let the bag drop the last few feet to the floor. Below us, the guards started talking into their comms. It was a lot easier to hear them in the silence that followed the elevator being sabotaged.

    "Check in." A voice whispered. Shaggy and I quietly held our breath and tried to figure out what steps were next. She pulled out a mirror from her pocket and leaned it over the edge to try and get a good look at the people coming up.

    "Spider, check in." The voice below said. They tried to be calm, but you could tell something had upset them.

    "Stairs rigged too?" Another one of the group asked.

    "No. We knew the elevator was a risk. We''ll continue up and secure the penthouse."

    "How solid is this intel?" No amount of whispering could disguise their words. Not this close. Shaggy was squinting into her mirror and counting. She stood back up with her gun ready to go.

    "Solid. Overwatch, what¡¯s the status?" The voice paused and we listened intently. "Confirm, is the target at the location?" Another pause. "Understood. The traitors are stationed in the kitchen and secondary bedroom. The count is three hostiles." His words threw me. Why would he think we were inside still? Was Candy misleading them?

    The footsteps started clanging up the stairs again. All attempt at silence was gone now that the elevator had broken down. I stood there with Kahina in my arms and had no idea how we could play this one.

    With all the activity happening, I had forgotten about the wall image and glanced up to see Candy''s form waving frantically. After making eye contact, she sighed heavily and then pressed herself up against the wall. Her body turned invisible for a moment then reappeared and pantomimed running. The elf''s normally playful face was sweating profusely. All the illusions she was sending out must be draining her resources.

    Shaggy was ready to put bullets into the group. Her finger hovering over the trigger when I made a noise at her. She turned and looked over for the briefest moment. I shoved myself against the wall opposite the stairway and tried to take up a small amount of room. Ann ran over and pressed up near me with her gun still out. She must have put two and two together, and assumed we were going to do the invisible trick again.

    My lungs grabbed one final breath of air before our attackers turned towards the last flight of stairs. The guns they had weren''t little peashooters. These were assault rifles.

    I held my breath while they rushed by. Shaggy tracked them with her gun. All four moved forward into the foyer like we didn''t exist. A second later we heard some sort of spray, then silence. Shaggy tried to peek around the corner and see what was happening, but our angle didn''t allow it.

    She looked at me and then nodded. The gun was put away quietly and her fingers went up in a countdown. For a second my mind replayed the memory of Thomas doing the same thing a few months ago. I looked down at Kahina and realized that the way she was being carried wouldn''t work out well for running. Not really.

    I slung her over a shoulder and prayed that Shaggy would never mention this part of our adventure to anyone. My hands were all over Kahina''s legs and ass, how could I explain that I felt up my nearly lifeless girlfriend? Some things you just shouldn''t do without active participation.

    Shaggy''s countdown hit zero right as a loud explosion came from the penthouse doorway. Another bang and flash followed. Thankfully my other senses didn''t work right now or the blast alone would have given me a splitting headache. The sound of bullets followed.

    She ran down the stairs and I moved quickly while holding Kahina. Numerous bullets sprayed out above us along with shouts. Four floors later and we flew past the clump of sitting bags. Shaggy picked up one bag, and I jostled Kahina to a secure resting spot then picked up another with my free hand.

    "Garage?" I asked. It had been the plan after all.

    "This way. Basement level. Other side of the elevator shaft." She slunk off with the heavy bags and carefully made her way across the lobby.

    There were four others outside watching the exits. Our hotel lobby was too narrow but we kept to one side. I had Kahina on my right shoulder, away from the primary entrance.

    As we passed by the elevator Shaggy noticed it was part way open. A gun poked out first, then a man was lifting himself up from where he had fallen. With a grunt of effort, he managed to get one knee underneath, ready to lift himself up. All that effort went to waste as my partner put her gun next to his head.

    "It would have been easier if you had just laid there," She said. Her words were cold and detached.

    He looked over in surprise. Shaggy didn''t hesitate. A bullet later and the man slumped forward, half in the elevator doorway. A quick check cleared the elevator, no one else was conscious inside. Maybe they were all dead. Shaggy stripped the man of his earbud and the attached receiver then placed it in her ear like she''d been wearing one her whole life. It only took her a second to holster her gun and pick up both bags.

    I kicked the man back into the elevator as we passed by.

    "Are they coming?" I whispered.

    Shaggy held up a finger and listened to the earbud. Her eyes were busy checking the next room. I stood there stupidly with Kahina and a large bag.

    "They''re checking in. Trying to figure out what went wrong.¡± She swept into the next room right before the garage.

    "Do they know we''re here?" I asked.

    She paused again and listened.

    "They know someone¡¯s here. They don''t know if it''s their target, we need to get to that van." The bag in her hand made it difficult to point, but it was obvious without her attempted guidance. There were only a couple of cars down here and one van. It belonged to a catering company.

    "Red Velvet Deliveries?" I tried not to laugh at the name. It was difficult enough to muffle my voice as we crept around.

    "It''s a real company," Shaggy said. Behind us, I could hear footsteps carefully going through the lobby. We were out of sight for now. Whoever it was would see us soon if they kept sneaking this way.

    "Go," She said. I poked my head out gradually and looked in both directions for any sign of life. There was none so far. We managed to slip over to the van before Shaggy winced at a noise.

    "They found the one I shot." Shaggy threw a set of keys at me and set down one of the bags. "Start the car."

    A minute later she had a nasty looking pair of grenades ready to go. It was another object I didn''t remember showing up in any of the training classes. Kahina had been teaching people how to use explosives? Sensei was an ex-Sector agent so it was plausible that he had the skills. Passing them on was another question entirely. I was starting to regret not attending those classes.

    I barely had the driver''s door open before she primed the grenade and tossed it into the doorway behind us. It was timed nearly perfect. Two men had shown up in the little room. There was a split second for them to yell out before a deafening boom rocked the walls. I made the mistake of looking directly into the explosion as bits of concrete shot around the room.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    "Load her in now!" Kahina was still slung over my shoulder. I crowded through the front part of the van and set Kahina on the back row of seats.

    Shaggy ripped open the side door and threw her bags in. The bag with the explosives was treated with a lot more care than the others. She hadn''t had time to close it. I looked inside and found an object worth my time.

    Gunshots came from behind us but were way off the mark. One of the men must have survived the explosion. The short knife I pulled out was ideal for throwing.

    The next round of gunfire grew closer and a few managed to glance off the van. Whatever it was made out of was probably bullet resistant.

    Shaggy hopped into the front seat and kicked the car into gear. The woman didn''t even bother sliding the door closed. She likely expected me to do it.

    Instead, I clutched the blade and closed my eyes. My senses were nearly absent but with enough concentration this could work. Stepping out of the van, I braved the gunfire and swung my arm forward like a pitcher throwing a ball. The blade released from my grip and spun end over end towards the far side of the garage.

    Our assailant''s head nearly exploded as the knife caught him in one eye. The force of the weapon carried him backward a few feet into the wall. Blood splattered outward from the mangled form that had been his face.

    I turned to see Shaggy wide-eyed. Sure, she could shoot a man in cold blood and I barely blinked. When I killed someone with a thrown blade though it was a reason to pause in amazement. His eye hadn''t actually been my target, but Shaggy wasn''t going to hear that from me. Only hours of drunken betting against elves gave me any practice with throwing knives.

    The van¡¯s side to closed behind me. I sat down in the back and waited for us to move. Shaggy looked unfocused but had both hands on the wheel. Hopefully, she was listening to the earpiece. Candy hadn''t shown herself since we left the stairwell and I had no clue what was going on.

    "Where to?" I asked.

    Shaggy had both eyes squeezed shut and a vein near her forehead ticked. When this was over I''d buy the women a spa trip, if we survived.

    "Shaggy?"

    "One moment, sir." Her teeth grated. Clearly she needed a full weekend relaxation package. "Okay, we''re going to slowly drive out. Keep your head down. Surely we can make it to the freeway."

    "Last safe house?"

    "Yes." She accelerated and started driving out the back entrance.

    I kept my eyes on the rear windows. This van didn''t have any sort of side view and looking out the front made me sick.

    "What about the four outside?" I asked.

    "Two." She corrected.

    I shrugged, Candy hadn''t given me a new head count. We weren''t likely to get anything from her either. I was hoping that whatever energy she had left was going towards throwing off the Seer.

    "Shit." Shaggy ground her teeth once more. Our van was making little progress on getting out of the hotel¡¯s parking garage.

    "What?" I asked.

    "Fifty Five got wind. They''re on their way." She said.

    "We''ll be long gone." In five minutes, we''d be lost in a crowd of cars on the freeway. Provided we managed to get away from here without incident. It was unlikely that these guys had spike strips or anything else.

    "Get down!" Shaggy yelled. I hunched myself over Kahina.

    Shaggy slammed the gas before we emerged from the parking garage. I warily looked out the front to see what the problem was. The two remaining that had been patrolling the outside stood in our way. One was fumbling with something in a pouch. The other took aim and fired.

    His bullets should have crushed the windshield, but the glass seemed to be resistant. It wasn''t thick enough to stop every shot. Two were close enough together that they pierced through and whizzed by my head.

    We practically ran over one of them on the way out. At the last minute, something banged against the side of the van with a loud thunk. More shots followed us down the road. The scanty amount of traffic became chaotic as cars swerved out of our way.

    Only a few rules of traffic were followed. Shaggy signaled when we switched lanes but it rarely lined up with the direction our van went. Speed limit and right of way laws were violated thoroughly in our rush to the freeway.

    Reaching the van''s front seat was hard given our constant swerving. Our rearview showed two of the cars from earlier following us. Bullet holes and a ruined windshield probably didn''t help us hide.

    "This piece of shit..." She muttered and slammed on the gas trying to get additional speed from the engine. Shaggy wasn''t about to let the light in front of us turn red. We had been lucky, no cross traffic to deal with thus far.

    She kissed her hand and pressed it against the ceiling. The light stayed amber long enough for us to pass through. Not that the two cars chasing us paid attention to regular traffic laws. Tires and horns went wild with noise behind us.

    "At least it''s not raining. Hang on!" Shaggy kept up her complaints from the front. I was still trying to get past all the bouncing and buckle up Kahina. Seatbelts were important, especially when we could tumble end over end from taking a corner too fast.

    I had time to clip in Kahina but not myself. The van hit a corner hard and started to tip. My body slammed into the far wall as we landed on four wheels again.

    "Why the hell did we take a van?!" I complained loudly

    "It''s camouflage!" She shouted back while yanking the wheel. My body slammed across the van and into our bags. I prayed that our explosives hadn''t been overly jostled.

    I scrambled back to my seat and looked behind us at the cars following us. "It''s not working!"

    "No shit, sir!" The volume of her voice was stuck on high.

    "We have to lose them before we get to the next place!" I said.

    The resulting shift across traffic was a lot extra violent. She completely ignored the red lights now, trusting her reflexes to get us away from our pursuers.

    "Got it!" She swerved onto a freeway exit and tried to drive her foot into the floorboard. I wanted to explain that cars only go so fast no matter how hard you press the pedal but now seemed like a bad time.

    "We''re headed to SeaSide!" She turned and looked back at us. Kahina¡¯s head lolled to the side and I still hadn''t figured out where the spare belt buckles were. We sped along with the two cars behind us. They hadn''t missed a beat in following.

    "Great, and then?!" The adrenaline was starting to kick in, finally. I hadn''t felt much when sneaking by the guards, going down the stairs, or even throwing that knife, but this car chase was making me pumped.

    "We blow them up before we get shot to death." She was gaining control of her voice as the plan came together.

    I looked out the window and noticed one of the people chasing us was trying to lean out the passenger window with his gun. Shaggy''s timing was dead on, every time they had a clear line of sight she switched lanes to put another car in the way.

    That meant someone else might take the bullet for us. Surprisingly the action was enough to keep them from shooting in our direction. Miles flew by and I lost track of where we were. SeaSide had to be getting close, and traffic was starting to thin out. It was a weekday and only desperate tourists headed out to the beach this time of year.

    "Almost there." Shaggy said through gritted teeth.

    "Great." I wasn''t sure about this plan.

    "Grab some grenades and get ready near the rear door." Shaggy said.

    Explosives were not one my skills, and I informed her. "I can''t use them."

    "What?" Shaggy was startled enough to look back at me then remembered she was driving at high speeds.

    "Yeah."

    "Get up here and take the wheel." She said.

    "That''s probably worse." I came forward anyway. The choice between handling live explosives and dealing with my dislike of motorized vehicles was an easy one.

    "It''s not hard. Foot on this pedal," She pointed down with a free hand. "Hands on the wheel, it''s power steering, don''t turn too hard. We''ve got a straight away coming up soon you just need to hold it steady." Her words were rushed and barely comprehensible.

    I slipped my foot in beside Shaggy¡¯s and put a hand on the wheel. She was tiny enough that getting out and moving to the back of the van took no juggling. My ass planted right into the freed up seat.

    "Don''t let up on the gas!" She yelled from the back. I looked in the mirror briefly and caught a glimpse of her with one hand on the door and another holding a row of explosives.

    Driving a car was nerve wracking enough without that extra visual. The cars behind us were full on shooting now. Why hadn''t they started shooting before I was driving? Probably because no one else was on the road. With no one else on the road, there was no fear of getting humans involved. No humans meant no Sector.

    "Shaggy..." I groaned between bouts of barely suppressed agitation and panic.

    "FOOT, PEDAL, NOW!"

    My foot pushed down on the gas pedal that I had unconsciously eased up on. The engine jerked. In the driver''s side mirror, I saw the cars chasing us had started to catch up. Those two little sports cars had speed far beyond this modified brick I was trying to drive. They were probably the wolves from Fifty Five.

    "Keep us on the fucking road for a few seconds..." She muttered. It was difficult to tear my eyes away from the road and look into the rear view mirror. My brief glimpse showed Shaggy peeking out the back windows.

    Rounds of shots hit the road and our van. When the bullets stopped she cracked open the door for a second to let the explosives slip out. Almost immediately I heard the door close.

    The side view mirror went wild as flames flared to life. An explosion behind us tossed chunks of asphalt in front of our van. I tried not to stare at the reflection and watch the chaos. One of the pursuing cars ran straight into the guardrail and landed in a ditch. Two cars behind us were gone, but the two sports cars swerved around the crater and barely paused.

    "Take this back!" I yelled.

    Shaggy opened the door again and fired shots towards the remaining cars. Our perusers didn''t return fire. A moment later she hustled past the seats up to the front. I didn''t know how to get out of the way without releasing my death grip on the steering wheel.

    "MOVE!" She screamed. Her voice was starting to sound hoarse.

    I gave up figuring out how to switch us around and abandoned everything by diving out of the driver''s seat. The van swerved as she settled back into the chair. Her foot found the gas and tried to make up for lost time. From the rear window, I could see both cars speed up. One stayed behind us while the other sped up to the driver''s side.

    A glimpse of the people behind us told me everything I needed to know. They were both wolves, had to be with that build, with those reactions on the road. Or remarkably well-trained meatheads, which was unlikely. The driver behind us was twitching like mad and didn''t spare a glance in the other car''s direction. Each motion a giveaway.

    The man in the passenger seat had shifted halfway to wolf and looked like he was going to jump onto our van.

    I searched through our bags looking for anything silver. My gloves, the thin wire that had been one of my favorites, a blade, anything. I was able to find a string of wire and a knife before something crashed into the vehicle''s side.

    Claws dug through the thick metal as the wolf anchored onto our van. It had to be in half beast form to have a grip like that. Seeing it leap at the van would be enough to unnerve any sane person. Shaggy and I weren¡¯t the normal sort, though.

    Shaggy swerved into the car to her left trying to scrape the unwanted passenger off. It was ineffective and the claw marks tore a trail of new hand holds up to the window. Glass shattered next to her head. A giant clawed hand reached in and started fumbling for something to grab.

    The brunette shouted at me to do something while leaning to the right. I reached across to the driver''s side window and shoved a blade into its arm. The wolf yipped in pain and yanked its arm and the weapon out my hands. A moment later it was clawing for purchase on the side of the van but failed. Our attacker landed on the car tailing us and bounced off their hood before ending up on the highway.

    The wolf would live provided no one ran over it a few times. They healed ridiculously fast if the injuries stopped coming. Maybe a few cars would ram into it first.

    "Two more wolves!" Shaggy was checking mirrors repeatedly.

    New sets of hands latched onto the roof and driver''s door. My mind raced for a solution while the sliding door was peeling off. Shaggy swerved the van into the nearby car again, but that hardly slowed them down. She dug out a gun and started shooting out her window. A car next to us peeled out, but it didn''t stop the two from clawing at the sides.

    I wound the wire around my hands to get a solid hold. This would hurt them more than it hurt me. One of them at least. Both sets of hands were ripping at the van''s frame with an unnerving focus on our door. Finally, one got a good grip then pulled.

    Our poor door cried out in screeching protest as it came apart. Next they completely destroyed the hinges. I wrapped my wire around the first visible head to poke through. Silver dug into my hands as the wolf''s neck resisted the pressure being put on it. Its teeth tried to twist around and snap at anything close by.

    In a battle between silver and a wolf''s neck, there was only one victor. The thin metal was stretched and snapped right before severing the wolf''s head. A final jerk separated the two chunks of body. Our attacker''s head flopped into the van and the body hung by a claw while smacking against the freeway over and over. The second one hardly paused at its companion''s death before coming inside the van.

    This one got right in my face. Teeth everywhere. Strings of drool splattered against me. My free arm fumbled around for something, anything to help.

    Shaggy shot it nearly point blank. The bullets didn''t do the damage that silver coated ones would have. I wrapped my fingers around something. I found the decapitated head and thrust it into the second one''s chest. My present was enough of a distraction that the wolf missed my fist, complete with the mangled wire remains, swinging into its face. I kept punching, ignoring the returning claw marks and drove it out of the van.

    Cars still chased us, and everything was torn up. I looked out the side door when someone behind us opened fire. Our defeat of three wolves seemed to remove their desire to remain off Western Sector¡¯s radar.

    The second lifeless wolf flapped on the van¡¯s side. I heard a sound that was almost gunfire but not quite. Screeching filled the air and the vehicle started fishtailing. Shaggy screamed in frustration as our ride lost all traction and started tumbling.

    Here I was without my seatbelt.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 15 - Anything Hairy

    Recovering from a car crash isn''t easy. The van rested on its passenger side. Our roof was at least a foot lower than before. Kahina''s unconscious form hung limply with only the seat belt anchoring her. Shaggy was groaning. One hand was still on her gun, the other buffered against a deployed airbag. At least we didn¡¯t explode.

    I tried to take a quick inventory of my working parts. My left temple throbbed. One leg kept sending up sharp cries of pain. Both shoulders were partially numb. My battered hand was cracked open again and bleeding. I tried to wiggle both sets of toes. Only one responded with any accuracy.

    It took a moment to realize that there was another noise coming from the freeway above us. Sirens. Gone were the snarls of wolves. Gone was the screech of tires and gunshots. Sunlight peeked in at a sharp angle. Had it only been an hour or two since Candy showed up? If that? We must have been laying here for more than a few minutes.

    Based on the wailing noise of emergency vehicles it was a no brainer as to why our pursuers had cleared out. They couldn''t stick around waiting for the police any more than we could.

    "Shaggy. Shaggy, wake up." My voice was dry. I tried to twist around carefully to a sitting position. My broken limb banged into anything it could find. I kicked at the back of her chair with my good leg. "Wake up. Wake up!"

    Ann Myers barely stirred. The grip on her gun tightened. I had a feeling that she would hold that thing well unto death. I reached up and grabbed at the side of our vehicle. It took a lot of work to drag myself up and look outside.

    Our van had slipped from the highway and down a short hill into a ditch. There were a few people talking just off the road. One was on the phone, another couple were talking to each other. Their words indistinct.

    The fourth figure is what royally set me off. It wasn''t a wolf, but you could tell the person was watching the van. Or specifically, since I poked my head out, he was watching me. I fell back to the inside of the vehicle and tried to gather our stuff.

    The bags with our supplies might very well be ruined. What had been a carrying cooler was now a mashed piece of plastic. Deep red and purple liquid flowed freely into a pool against the back doors. Our ammunition was in a different container sitting crosswise on top of the blood bag.

    "Shaggy!" My voice was working better. She didn''t stir.

    Every movement where I twisted my body brought fresh jabs of pain. I worked through it and turned back to Kahina. The shimmering was nearly gone. Now that the sun was up it would put the vampirism condition into a dormant state. At least there was a faint haze to her skin. Maybe it was my imagination. I had to be hopeful. After all, without Kahina, what was the point?

    I slid a shoulder up and braced it against her. A second later and the belt buckle was undone. Shaggy was finally making some sort of motion in front of us. She should have faired better than I did short of a concussion. Well, except for the airbag being shoved into her face at high speeds.

    "It''s okay." My mind was bordering on frantic. "We''re okay." I should be calm and collected like always. "We need to get out of here."

    "Nnngh?" Shaggy asked something, but it was unintelligible.

    "We''ve got to go." I was shoving things into the remaining bags. There were two left and I had no idea how to carry everything with a broken foot. Maybe I couldn''t. The sirens were closing in fast. "Hell."

    "NNnghh?" Shaggy asked again. Then the brunette¡¯s eyes opened and saw the mess of an airbag nearby. Both hands flailed at the white fabric which caused her to slip even further out of the seat.

    "We crashed. My leg¡¯s broken and the police are coming. What do we do?" I asked her. She always had a plan.

    Shaggy put the gun into its holster. She fumbled with the seatbelt and tried to brace herself from the fall. The attempt was successful compared to my landing.

    "What do we do?" I whispered again.

    A voice cut in loudly through a megaphone bullhorn.

    "This is Officer Franklin. If you can hear me just hang on. We''re sending down a paramedic." A young male voice, judging by his timber. Not that it meant much.

    "What in the furry fuck is going on?" Ann said.

    "We crashed." I started over.

    "No kidding?" Her sarcasm was tangible and words broken. "Is Lady Rhodes okay?"

    "Yes." Kahina was in better condition than me and Shaggy. Aside from the looming threat of death.

    "Good. We need to get away from the police."

    "Difficult. My leg¡¯s busted." I said.

    "Set it?" She asked in a tone that implied I was stupid.

    The thought never crossed my mind. While Shaggy''s speech was slow to recover, apparently her brain was firing on all cylinders. My leg should heal given time and quicker if it was in the right place. Of course, I hadn''t tested any broken bones since returning. All my wounds in the last five months had been flesh and guts. And I was relying on something that there were no guides for.

    "I''ll set it," I said.

    "Backdoors?" Shaggy moved on to the next subject.

    "No good." We were parallel to the highway. There was no sneaking out any exit.

    "If I run interference, you think you''d be able to get out?"

    I thought about it. There had only been one person with a clear line of sight on the van''s back door. Though with the police nearby it was hard to say how well that''d go. Shaggy''s phone started vibrating now of all times.

    "How long until you can walk on the leg?" She pointed down at the blood-soaked pants. "And carry any real weight?"

    "Not soon enough," I answered.

    "Weak. I thought wolves healed faster than that."

    I stared at her. Now was not the time to even begin this conversation. Chances are the break would heal in a day. Faster with good sleep. Hopefully.

    "Look I''ll head out there. Here. Answer this while I deal with the circus." Shaggy pulled out the phone and handed it to me. My huge fingers found the green phone button and pressed it.

    "Hello?" I had no idea who was on the other end.

    "Jay? That you, man?" A familiar voice said.

    I recognized the surfer accent but had to ask. "Crummy?"

    There was a sigh of relief.

    "Alright. You all in good shape?" Daniel asked.

    Shaggy was trying to get enough purchase to pull herself out. The crash had left her a little jumbled. She barely managed to lift up over the edge.

    "We''re alive," I said while eying the brunette¡¯s escape.

    "Good, you and Kahina Rhodes are okay?"

    "Leg¡¯s broken." I absently replied.

    "Listen. Is Ann okay? Please tell me she''s okay." The concern in his voice was intense.

    "She''s okay."

    He let out another sigh of relief. "Now for the bad question. Please, please tell me this crash out on 607 isn''t you."

    "That out towards SeaSide?" I gently set Kahina back onto the side wall. It took another moment to find enough space for my leg to straighten out.

    "Jesus Christ. This is not low key at all." The Western Sector agent rattled something against a desk. I could almost picture him slamming a stapler up and down in anger.

    "At least they backed off." The first aid bag was smaller than the one with our guns. Somewhere inside may have a brace and wrapping.

    "I doubt it," Daniel muttered into the phone. Then he picked back up with a louder tone. "Listen, Ann should know what legal codes to recite and get you all out of there. But you cannot let the police see any weapons out in public. You cannot let them know that any of the damage to the highway was your fault."

    "Wasn''t me. It was Shaggy''s."

    "That woman will be the death of me," He murmured.

    "Probably," I said.

    It should have been obvious before. Somehow Daniel and Shaggy knew each other, very well. How was beyond me, though. She said Daniel got her this job, but there was more to it. Active Sector agents would never work for a vampire household. Background checks and god knows what else would prevent it. Sensei was retired and maybe the rules bent a little bit then, but even he had stepped out once the transformation started.

    "Are you listening, Jay?" Daniel asked.

    "No." I hadn''t been. My hands were busy stripping away fabric around a broken leg and trying to check the damage. At least nothing had poked through the skin. It just bulged in a disgusting shape.

    "I''ve got an agent nearby. He''ll be stepping in to take over the scene until the rest of the squad gets there. You have about four minutes, tops before the place is locked down." My friend rapped fingers against a desk. Their rhythmic sound helped soothe me.

    There was a grunt as I braced a few long rods against my leg. They were flimsy feeling but the best our first aid kit had. At least there was wrapping to bind everything up.

    "The agent will be there right before the others. He''ll take you into custody."

    "We can''t get arrested." I grit my teeth and pulled myself up. I''d need to hobble a bit in order to get to the back doors on the van. Once there I''d have enough room to get Kahina and a bag out without needing to lift us all up.

    "He won''t take you in. You two are going to take his car and vacate the area." Daniel said.

    "Is that standard?"

    "Fuck no. But I''m doing it anyway, man.¡± Daniel kept talking while I tried to test my leg¡¯s tolerance. ¡°After you get the car you''ll have about ten minutes before it''s noticed and called in. The agent will be forgetting his cell phone in the passenger seat."

    "Alright." That wasn''t a lot of time to do much of anything. We were pretty far away from anywhere useful too. My home was a few hours in the wrong direction. Kahina¡¯s mansion was a bit closer but still not somewhere we could get in twenty minutes.

    "Gotta go then." I juggled the phone to another ear and lifted one of the bags. It hurt like hell but not quite as bad as being shot. I''d walked that off, a broken leg should be easier right?

    "Listen, Jay..." Daniel started.

    "Yeah, thank you." I didn''t want him to say it.

    "Not what I was going to say, but you''re welcome."

    "Quick then." I couldn¡¯t stay in here much longer. Shaggy had to have made some progress with the law enforcement cars showing up.

    "You keep them alive. Got it?" He said.

    "Of course." I wouldn''t have another Julianne on my conscious. Kahina had been right in that aspect, there was a lot of Julianne in the way Shaggy acted sometimes.

    "Good." Daniel clicked off the phone and I shoved it into a bag.

    I wanted to carry the one with guns and explosives. The first aid kits would have been nice but would but there wasn''t anything useful left in there. Not with all the spare blood pouches busted. Not when the silver and bullets were in the bag I had.

    With four minutes left it was unlikely we would have enough time to make it back down here and get another bag.

    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    I stumbled past the puddle forming in the back and pulled at the latch for the doors. One flopped open, but the top one refused to stay up. There was no good way to get Kahina and the bag outside of the van with a broken leg. Getting everything outside required setting her down and some awkward dragging. It was too heavy to do it any other way.

    The scene outside was worse the second time. There were at least five police cars and one person propped up against his door with a clear line of sight down to the van. That person had a rather large gun perched on the crack between the door and car frame.

    "Get your ass up here!" Shaggy turned and yelled. She sounded heated.

    "He can stay down there until the W.S. boys show up." The man next to her said.

    "Wrong, you have no right to hold any of us!" Her voice quivered in frustration at the officer. It was the same tone she had used on Anthony back at Kahina¡¯s mansion.

    I tried to do as suggested and limped gradually up the hill. Each step shot a bolt of pain straight through my center. Kahina and our weapons were being lifted. I pulled on my strength just a little, using her presence as fuel for a mental switch. I sure as hell wasn''t going to leave Kahina down there. Or the weapons that helped us keep her alive.

    "That''s where you''re wrong. Destruction of property, reckless endangerment, murder even if you think it''s self-defense.¡± The officer¡¯s gruff voice tried to sound level-headed. ¡°Either way you''re not leaving here under your own power."

    "None of that means shit! Tribunal law trumps human law in the face of transition!" Shaggy said.

    "We can sort it out downtown." The lawman said.

    "Like hell we can!" At least she was smart enough not to reach for her gun. "A jackass like you would ruin everything!"

    "Listen, Missy." The officer tried to keep a cool head while talking. His calming tone didn¡¯t much good, though.

    Moving up the hill was difficult but doable. I almost dropped everything more than a few times. Luckily my leg held up. The break might not have been as bad as it seemed. Not that it reduced the pain any.

    "Worst case you stay here till W.S. shows up. You can either be nice about it, or we can put you in a squad car until then. Either way I''ve got nothing to lose if your fanger dies." He said.

    The words soured me. Not only what he was saying but the dispassionate way it came out. Like he had seen this sort of failure over and over.

    "Sir!" Shaggy said. The officer brightened for a moment until he realized she wasn''t looking at him. She was looking at me.

    I was about to drop Kahina and club this officer over the head repeatedly until he changed his tune. There were a few other suits with hands on their guns and the one that kept a clear line of sight to my body. It wasn''t like I had snuck up at all. This officer in charge had let himself be caught unaware.

    "We''ll wait for W.S.," I said in a relaxed tone. Dropping Kahina would put her at risk anyway.

    "Sounds like a smart plan." The officer had taken a step back so that we were both in clear sight instead of on opposite ends.

    "That jackass can''t bring charges if we walk off. You sure we should wait? Sir?" She said.

    "Daniel said yes."

    The man in charge stepped back and the remaining police gathered in a half ring around us. They weren''t being outright aggressive, but you could tell we were only a twitch away from gunfire.

    Down the road, someone was sitting over a dead wolf head that had spilled out from the van during our tumble. It was beaten thoroughly after rolling along the concrete. There were other lights in the distance, probably around the other half of the body. Cones were being put up to redirect traffic. Numerous cars were arriving by the minute. I gave Shaggy the bag with the ammunition. She didn''t bother trying to hold it and set it down.

    There was one clean looking car without any sort of affiliation sliding past the blockade of vehicles. It had to be our Sector Agent''s because it looked almost exactly like Daniel¡¯s car.

    "Oh no." Shaggy groaned upon seeing the car.

    "What?" I asked.

    "Nothing," She said.

    I sat there carefully cradling Kahina and putting a great deal of our weight onto my good foot. The braced up leg had held up this far. That meant either I was healing or it wasn''t that bad to begin with.

    "Friend of yours?" I asked.

    "Not even close." She uttered.

    My responding grunt said it all. Anything Shaggy said at this point was suspect. We needed to have a talk once there was breathing room.

    "Crummy said we''re getting a ride from an agent." I tried to explain part of what we had talked about on the phone.

    Shaggy looked at me, then back at the car. A slight smile spread across her features. "Did he now? Under our power or the agent''s?"

    "Ours, I gathered." We were whispering now. The car stopped and the man who got out looked extremely pleased to see Shaggy. He had brown hair like Shaggy, but the angle to his face was sharper than hers.

    "Did he say I could knock out the agent?" She asked.

    "No."

    "Officer, I''ll be taking over from here. This is clearly one of ours." The Western Sector agent said.

    "Have at it. That firecracker has been throwing legal precedence into my face since she got out of the van. The sooner it''s in your hands, the better." We heard the officer say.

    "He likes you." I whispered.

    "He can like my foot up his ass." She responded.

    "Excellent, let me get them into custody."

    "You need cuffs? Maybe a muzzle?" The officer asked.

    "No. Our teams will be here in two minutes. Hold the fort until then but don''t touch anything." The Sector agent managed to say it without an ounce of condescending attitude.

    "Yeah, yeah.¡± The office shrugged and waved at some of the police officers. ¡°We know the drill. I''ve got no problems handing this cluster fuck over. Ain''t enough overtime in the world to deal with a vampire transition."

    They parted ways and the officer went back to his people and started issuing orders. One or two of the cars were already loaded up and ready to go. You could tell that the regular police didn''t want to be anywhere near this mess.

    All we had done was decapitate one wolf, after blowing holes in the freeway plus a car. There had been humans inside of it. Then there was slipping into a tumble on the freeway, skidmarks clearly outlined our trail. Plenty of gunfire had happened. To top it off there would be at least a dozen traffic violations.

    None of this took into account the broken elevator shaft, explosions at the hotel and five or so bodies back there. Maybe the police had a good reason to avoid this headache. Thinking about it made me cringe. Things would only get worse between now and the end.

    "Shaggy." I felt a tinge guilty for using her nickname.

    "What, sir?"

    "Do things always get this messy?"

    She didn''t answer until the Sector agent was basically on top of us. "No. This has been the worst case I''ve ever seen."

    "You two have no idea." The agent said. His hands had two pairs of plain looking handcuffs. "Come on, time''s a wastin''." The smile hadn''t left his face.

    "Seriously?" Shaggy asked.

    "Dead serious. You think they''ll let me take you away without securing you?"

    She turned around and presented both hands pressed together. The agent didn''t drop his expression if anything the grin got wider as he locked the cuffs around her wrists.

    He came over to me next and I gave him a flat stare. Kahina was in my arms. The ammunition bag was now sitting there and Shaggy couldn''t carry it. Eventually, it sunk in and the unnamed agent shrugged.

    "Prolly need silver cuffs for you anyway." He put the remaining pair away. "You can hold everything. Between that and the leg I doubt you''ll get far."

    Whose benefit was he speaking for? Mine or the police officers still on the scene? A good portion of them looked antsy. He had me place the bag in the back, Kahina in the front and then set a pair of silver laced cuffs on me. I didn''t argue. The sooner we got through this charade the better. We probably only had a minute or two until everyone else showed up. According to Daniel, we had to be out of here before then.

    "All set?" The agent was talking to Shaggy again.

    "Yeah." She responded.

    "Remember, on those models-"

    The brunette cut him off. "Pressure and twist left." She sounded amused at his attempted reminder. "There''s a reason I got this assignment over you." What she meant by assignment was over my head. Just another thing to put into my ''Shaggy doesn''t make sense file''.

    "If this goes well, your boyfriend is giving me a promotion, so it should all work out." The agent said.

    Shaggy snickered and let herself be lowered into the car. The agent turned and walked back to the police barricade. Another set of sirens could be heard closing in.

    I looked around. Sure enough, the agent had left his phone on the front seat. The engine was still running. Next to me Shaggy grunted and I saw her elbow bend at an awkward angle. A moment later there was a snap as the cuffs came undone. That was a neat trick.

    She slipped through the small space between front seats and laid back casually. Her eyes peered over the dashboard into the crowd of other cars.

    "Time''s running out." I tried to twist my arms in the cuffs behind my back. It didn''t work well at all. The little silver spikes on these cuffs didn''t hurt me like they would a wolf. That didn''t make it pleasant.

    Shaggy looked in the rear view mirror and nodded once. Then she sat up and slipped the car into reverse. Behind us, two blocky black vans with WSRT painted in giant yellow letters were cruising up. They started filing out before we managed to escape. Luckily they didn''t even pay attention to our car. They veered straight for the agent who had shown up first.

    "Bravo, get down there and secure it! Watch for secondary bodies. Charlie, you''re on the road. Lock down everything that looks remotely hairy!" We could hear the shouting through the car. His take-charge tone was helping to keep everyone distracted from our slow escape.

    "Local, your people better start turning over the rest of the site! I''m going to need to see..." The rest of the words were lost as we made it past the blockade and back onto the freeway.

    "We''ve got maybe ten minutes." I said.

    Shaggy nodded. "It''s plenty."

    I sat there in the back of the car mulling over my next course of action. There were important questions to consider, like what exactly Shaggy was doing here. What sort of game this was. She knew too many people in Western Sector for it to be a coincidence. Finally, she must have noticed me staring into the rear view mirror at her face.

    "What?" Shaggy asked.

    "We need to talk." My arms crossed as I glared at her.

    She didn''t respond.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 16 - Past due

    I didn''t bring up my questions right away. Instead we found a place to stash the car, stole another one from the same parking lot and drove off. This vehicle was an SUV with tinted windows. My leg was starting to feel normal, but the sleepy side effect of healing was gradually taking its toll. I mentally drifted for the next hour while Shaggy drove us to the next and last safe house.

    Each brief bout of rest would show me that alien landscape of pillars and fire. The sun in this alternate world almost matched the one in reality. Shaggy¡¯s phone rang and stirred me from the latest round of near sleep.

    "Shit. Are you serious?" She asked whoever was on the phone. There was a pause. "How?" Another pause followed. "We could come back to the compound."

    The one-sided conversation wasn''t very helpful. My fatigue made things sort of hazy for a while.

    "No, you''re right. What about you guys? How is everyone holding up?" Shaggy asked. A moment later her breath sucked in sharply. "Jesus, really?"

    My eyes opened enough to actually look at Shaggy. She slumped against the side of the steering wheel. Her face drained of all color as she listened to the voice on the other side.

    "I don''t know. We''ll figure it out. We''ve only got to lay low for another couple of days. The worst part will be replacing the blood bags." She paused again. Shaggy was looking at me from one eye. The rest of her face was covered in the mop of hair. "Yeah. I''ll ask. If anything he''ll heal quickly enough provided we keep food in him."

    She listened to the last bit of whoever was talking then clicked the phone closed. Her eyes bored into mine as her brain tried to digest the conversation. I waited to be brought up to speed.

    "That was the house. They were attacked." Shaggy said to me.

    "How bad?" I was hesitant to ask. Part of me was grateful that fewer people were chasing us. The other part was frustrated that Kahina''s people were dying.

    "Four wolves down. Two burners, one human." She listed off what must be the enemy casualties.

    "And ours?" I asked.

    "Three of the main staff." Her words dropped off and hung there.

    "Anyone else?"

    "Family members that shouldn''t have been there." Shaggy kept her eyes on the road and refused to look back at me. I didn''t know how to ask any more questions anyway.

    Those in Kahina''s employ often times had their family visiting. Parents, brothers, children from estranged spouses. It was in everyone''s best interests to keep in touch. A niece or second cousin might be invited into the household if they were recommended by a current staff member. It was a lifetime position with a good salary. Not to mention possible sponsorship if they wanted to attempt a transition to the vampire race.

    Now was the worst time for family to show up. Chances were they had come to be supportive during this rough time.

    "Who was on the phone?" I asked.

    "One of the daytime staff. They said someone had been in all the computers last night." She responded slowly.

    "What does that mean?"

    "That Anthony knows where all of the Lady''s properties are. Bank records, credit card statements, everything. They''ll be waiting for us at any of her locations." Shaggy turned the car down another road. I only vaguely knew where we were by triangulating the pull towards my home and Evan.

    "They''ve got a Seer too," I said, recalling Candy''s words from our earlier deal.

    "Are you shitting me?"

    "That''s what an elf-" Friend didn''t quite fit. Given the help we received, enemy didn''t seem right either "-I know said."

    "That''s odd. Seers are typically elves who are good at projecting visions of other locations, past, present, sometimes future. It would be difficult to block one for any length of time." She mulled over the idea as we drove. Her cheek caved in while she chewed at it.

    "Well, it explains how they tracked us to the hotel. Though with Anthony getting the other locations from the computer would be just as effective." Shaggy briefly closed her eyes at a stop sign and starting muttering under her breath. "This elf, is it the one who kept us hidden back there?"

    "Yeah," I answered.

    "Are they still helping?" She asked slowly. A car behind us honked and we moved forward through the intersection.

    "I guess.¡± I shrugged awkwardly. Candy was probably out there watching. ¡°The deal was to block the Seer and help us get out of there. She''s been quiet since we left the hotel."

    "Great. What''d you offer her?"

    "Nothing immediately important." I skirted the answer. The idea of leaving Kahina after all this was done irked me. "Can''t we go to Sector?"

    "Haven''t you been paying attention? If Anthony, a vetted vampire, was compromised, there''s no telling who else is. Daniel is about the only person I trust and he''s not in charge." She kept driving down streets I didn¡¯t know. Either Shaggy memorized all these locations or we were both mildly lost.

    "He acts like it," I muttered while thinking about Daniel¡¯s attitude about this.

    "No. His family can call in a lot of favors, but it isn''t enough." Shaggy said.

    "What then?" I asked.

    "Well, there''s one more place we can try." Shaggy hesitated for a moment.

    "Where?" We had run out of safe houses. Whoever was following us had bigger guns than I could deal with. Even if I survived a few bullets an automatic might kill me. How many would it take to put me down, ten, twenty, thirty? Being in a car made it easier to escape. Sitting at my house wouldn''t work out great.

    "Lady Rhodes suggested we try your place as a last ditch effort, sir." She tried to sound polite with the statement. It was one of the first times her words hadn¡¯t been annoyed or snappy.

    I was growling before I realized it. My place? My sanctuary? What right did Kahina have to offer up my home without asking?

    "The Lady said you might respond unfavorably." Ann Myers nodded. Was my face that obvious? I tried to relax it, which was fairly difficult at this point. "Look, if it helps you can take the Lady there, protect her, I don''t have to go."

    Oddly that did feel better. There had to be more to this vague plan. "Where would you go?" I asked.

    "If I work quick enough maybe I can act as a decoy and distract additional enemies. I''m pretty sure I can keep moving for a day or two. Can your elf get them to follow me?" Shaggy asked.

    "Maybe, if she''s watching," I responded slowly. Candy probably was looking at us even now. She seemed potentially voyeuristic. "I¡¯m not sure how hard these illusions are."

    "She seems good at them.¡± Shaggy nodded while looking in the rearview mirror at me. Our vehicle turned towards my apartment. That much was easy to tell with my own abilities.

    "So far. No one else knows where I live?¡± I asked.

    "The only person who knew where you lived was the Lady, and until a week ago I''d never seen your place," She said. It seemed odd that no one had bothered to track me down. Though there were a few others who might know.

    "Anthony may know where I live."

    Ann cursed up a small storm. She didn''t bother asking why or how. Maybe she remembered the incident from a few months ago where Kahina and her traitorous pet underlings had ambushed me. Anthony hadn''t been there, but Lennon had.

    "We''ll need to sneak you home, and then I can go for Anthony." She stared off into the distance, thinking intently, then started smiling. "I never liked him anyway."

    Given Anthony''s smarmy attitude, it wasn''t surprising that Shaggy was looking forward to this. Ann strapped another pack of ammo into a pouch and started counting again.

    "Don''t forget to make noise, anyone after you, isn''t after Kahina," I suggested.

    "That''s the plan. Hopefully, if I can get their Seer''s attention and make a run for it, they''ll go after me instead. Wolves are predictable like that. They always chase." Ann Myers sounded willing to play bait. It should have bothered me, but her life didn¡¯t mean as much to me. Not compared to Kahina''s.

    "The elf I know, directed this Seer towards the mansion." I said. while trying to figure out how far away we were. Maybe an hour at best, getting anywhere in the city always took an hour.

    "That''s probably why they got attacked. Can you get the Seer to follow me instead?" Shaggy asked.

    "Maybe." I frowned a little. There had to be an easy way to ask Candy for help on this. "You''d leave me and Kahina?"

    "She''ll be protected downstairs in your place. Daniel said that it was safer than anywhere else. Even if Anthony knows, you''re crossed up right?" Shaggy rattled off the reasons. When had Daniel been in touch with Ann? Of course, she could talk to all sorts of people on that little phone and I would be oblivious.

    "Sure." My shoulder shrugged. There were more than a few crosses throughout my downstairs. "Doesn''t help against humans."

    "If we''re lucky they''ll never know," She said hopping onto the main road that ran roughly northeast. It would bring us to my neighborhood soon enough.

    "Luck isn''t running strong with us," I responded.

    "We could all be dead. Since we''re not I''d say our luck is just fine. Anyway, make sure to cover her up before you go down." Shaggy said with a straight face. For a second, it looked like her forehead twitched as other thoughts occurred. "For the crosses. It might mess with the transition."

    I barely stopped my eyes from rolling at the badly phrased comment then responded. "Fine. Drive." I said, pretending not to know which direction we were already going.

    This neighborhood looked dingy enough to be one of my haunts. It wasn''t quite noon yet and the place was ugly. At least no one was chasing us. Whatever tail we had should have been lost between Candy''s efforts and the police scene. If that didn''t do it then Shaggy''s daredevil driving might also be effective.

    She kept the car headed towards my home. Gradually, some of the landmarks looked familiar. This place was maybe a handful of blocks away from Candy''s compound. Not that I was tempted to visit.

    I bent down to check my leg. The wrappings were almost soaked through. My toes were able to wiggle. It took a few minutes to unwind everything and look at the mess. A little bit of pressured yielded pleasant results. The pain wasn''t completely gone, but it was a lot better. The vehicle had a few useful items. Road flares, a solid wrench, and one plastic bag that all my makeshift bandages went into.

    "The Lady will need blood, with an overabundance of it the transition will have a greater chance of success." Shaggy broke the silence.

    I didn''t say anything right away. Blood was one of many outstanding issues between me and Kahina. That and the emotional garbage we would have to sort out after she woke up. If. No, when.

    "If you''re going to stay with her it should be you. Besides, as Pack you''ll heal fast enough." The slightly shorter brunette tried to sound polite at least.

    "I heard you earlier." I said, thinking about her offhanded mention of keeping food in me.

    "Will you do it?"

    Kahina was in the backseat of our borrowed SUV. I finished pulling off the wrappings and brace before turning around to look at her. Her body barely shimmered anymore. Though I couldn''t tell if that was due to a lack of fresh blood in the last three hours or the daytime impact, maybe it was both.

    The first time she tasted my blood life had gone from happy times to the dark ages. Then the second time had been rather heated. Our relationship had changed since then. And since she was unconscious maybe we could manage. She wouldn''t have any way to fight me for more. Hell, I hoped not.

    "I''ll take care of it," I said while trying to remain calm.

    "Good." Shaggy nodded.

    There was an uncomfortable silence as we drove onward. The issue with Shaggy¡¯s real identity had been put off long enough. We had a small amount of time and weren''t being chased. Now was my best chance to clear the air.

    "Everyone acts like there''s something off about you," I commented.

    There was a pause. I saw her hands grip the wheel a tiny bit tighter. "How so?"

    "Little things. That agent. What you said about an assignment. Standing next to Daniel when we first met with Keeper." I started listing off the issues. There were other moments. Having my best friend on speed dial? That was the game breaker really. I doubted any of Kahina''s other employees had his number.

    "It''s nothing." She tried to wave it off. Last time I confronted Shaggy about this she gave a half-assed excuse about family connections.

    "How about that wolf, Adolpha Kundre?"

    "What about her?" Shaggy''s voice turned defensive. That was as much a confirmation as any other action.

    "She asked you about a Sojourn." Of course, there hadn''t been any explanation about that. A Sojourn was a temporary stay of some sort. Ann couldn''t be temporarily staying with Kahina. Vampire households were a lifetime contract. "What does that have to do with you?"

    "Nothing that will hurt the Lady," She said.

    "Hell. Daniel said you could be trusted with Kahina." I didn¡¯t question her intent with regards to Kahina. It was more along the lines of needing to understand Shaggy¡¯s conflicting backstory.

    "How glowing of him." She chewed briefly at the inside of her cheek. It was a conflicting signal compared to her other habits. Shaggy ground her teeth and had a forehead tick, but the inside of her cheek was reserved for serious thinking.

    "Although he never said I could trust you in general." I tried to remember the wording but failed.

    "Probably not. If it came down to a choice between you and the Lady I''d let you die in an instant." She paused briefly.

    "Fine." I shifted in the chair to get a better view of Kahina''s slumped form. She had trusted Ann, Shaggy. Enough to tell Shaggy where the safe houses were. Something that even Anthony and I hadn''t known. The question was if the trust was by design or accident. Finally, it seemed reasonable to follow Julianne''s last advice to me. Just ask.

    "Who are you, really?" The direct method might work better.

    "Ann Myers. Twenty-four years old. Went to college and got a major in marketing with a minor in fine arts." Her tone was trying to joke, but the pinch to her face wasn''t selling the same story.

    "Are you one of the Hidden?" Keeper had mentioned them. She barked a short laugh.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "The what?" She looked genuinely perplexed at that one. "I have no idea what that is. Honestly." Her laugh was completely at my expense and genuine. The Hidden was foreign to her.

    "Are you an agent?" I dropped the real guess on her. It took a moment for the mirth to die down. We had to sort this out.

    "And if I am?" She asked. If Shaggy was lying about who she was, it would be difficult to trust her. Before, sure, but this was crunch time. Even if Shaggy had put all this work into Kahina.

    "I''d ask how you got past the background checks."

    "Ann Myers is a real person." Shaggy gripped the wheel tighter while talking.

    "Who. Are. You?" I was starting to angry with my question being avoided.

    "Can''t tell you. Not officially, not out loud. You can guess all you want and nothing will make me tell you." Shaggy shook her head. We were almost to my tiny apartment.

    "Why?" My words felt almost parrot-like at this point. I could have taken her and tied the woman to a chair and demanded answers. There were lots of ways to get people to talk.

    "It''s just how it works. I''m Ann Myers. To everyone, I''m Ann Myers. You should understand."

    "I don''t," I said while trying not to feel annoyed.

    "Jesus." She muttered. The words were barely audible and only my sense of protection over Kahina gave me any access to my abilities. Shaggy''s words bounced off the window with a slight distortion.

    "What can you tell me?"

    "My orders." She briefly smiled. Most likely the woman was happy to give me any answer so I would shut up. "Since it''s not my name or who I am."

    "And those are?" I said. It felt good to finally get somewhere in untangling life.

    It was frustrating to admit that being able to share personal details was starting to feel normal. I couldn''t tell Ann, Shaggy, what I could do or who I was. Candy and Evan wouldn''t tell me either. For someone else to refuse to tell me about their personal life felt par for the course.

    "My orders are simple. Ensure Lady Rhodes survives no matter what else happens." Her words sounded dry as if she needed a drink to keep talking calmly.

    "That includes letting me die?" I asked. She had shown no regard for safety. Any help directed towards me was purely because of the tactical advantage my life gave.

    "Yes," Shaggy said.

    "And killing those humans?" I asked about those she had essentially taken care of without a thought in the elevator.

    "Yes."

    "Endangering civilian lives?" My words moved on to the next target. Those explosives had been her idea, not mine.

    We were getting close to my apartment now. She turned into a cramped driveway. Just another car in a mess of them. Julianne owned, had owned, one of the few free parking lots in the neighborhood. Tons of people parked here on weekends and wandered the entire strip of bars. Others came down to watch the sports on a large screen.

    "Yes." Shaggy¡¯s voice was still dry.

    "Why?"

    There was a long pause while she figured out how to answer. My hands slowly ran over Kahina¡¯s face, straightening her hair. Finally, Shaggy said "Because letting her die would cause untold amounts of destruction. You haven''t seen it, I have."

    "Seen what?" I couldn¡¯t figure out how the death of one woman would end the world. It would cause me grief, I might go mad, but the world would keep right on going.

    "If she dies it''ll be the end of everything as we know it," Shaggy said. We had parked a few minutes ago, but the conversation kept right on going. I needed to understand.

    "That''s crazy." I tried to sound certain but failed. Candy had spouted the same sort of doomsday nonsense. The whole idea of an end of times was ridiculous. Tomorrow the sun would rise, people would be born, people would die. There was no one person that important in the grand scheme of things.

    "If she dies, it''ll come true. You don''t have to believe me. We can show you." Shaggy paused and looked at me. "Later of course."

    "Of course." I parroted while trying not to raise an eyebrow. "So Ann Myers, not a Sector agent, not undercover." I practically felt like Daniel with my stupid sarcasm. "You¡¯re saving one vampire convert because everything ends otherwise. I mean I love the woman, but that''s far-fetched."

    The comment came out offhanded. It took me a moment to realize what I said, out loud. God help me. I loved her. It was one of those statements that splits a man¡¯s thinking into two parts. One part analyzing the words for truth. The other part held its breath as if the world might shatter upon hearing it said out loud.

    "Ask your elf friend if you can read the Sins of the People sometime. It''s mind warping, and they show that it''s true." Shaggy didn''t bat an eyelash, it was clear the world had no intention of falling apart from four simple words.

    "What''s that?" I asked about the Sins of the People while trying to fix Kahina¡¯s dress. Fixing her clothing didn¡¯t help keep Kahina, but smoothing out wrinkles made me feel better.

    "Trust me. You want it read from the source. If I explain it you''ll think I''m nuts. Ask them to do the visual presentation. If you know any Speakers anyway, which you must." She was sort of rambling now. This topic probably freaked her out a little bit.

    Shaggy got out abruptly. We unloaded amidst a crowd of cars around the bar. It was the perfect camouflage. I slung Kahina over a shoulder and we limped towards my home on the far side of the lot.

    "Look. You lock down here, sir. I''ll drive off, give me about thirty before having your elf put them on my trail." Shaggy fell behind me. It didn¡¯t matter, this close to home and I would know if anyone unwelcome was nearby.

    "You''re taking the guns." I insisted. Guns didn¡¯t suit me anyway. They never had. Their weight, the abuse that went into casting them, the pressure of a bullet being fired. It set my senses alight with aggravation.

    "Yeah. I''ll need them." She confirmed.

    "Alright," I said while thinking about other options. There were a few swords downstairs. Plus crosses, silver, between all of it I could hold off a handful of people easily. Hopefully. I was putting a woman I loved on the line.

    Shaggy pulled out a portion of the first aid supplies and set them outside my door. Bringing them in from there would be easy. She started to turn and walk away.

    "Shaggy." I stopped to correct myself. "Ann." This was the first time I had used her correct name out loud in months.

    She turned around in confusion. Really this sort of thing was beyond me. She was marching off to play decoy for a band of people trying to kill us. What do you tell people? Good luck with that? It seemed like a hollow choice of words.

    "Don''t die. I think Daniel would kick my ass." I said.

    "He probably would, sir." She smiled momentarily before crossing the parking lot and hopping back into the SUV. Maybe Ann wasn''t good with this sort of thing either.

    I had a feeling that she was really Daniel''s fianc¨¦e. The boss'' daughter he told me about months ago. There were things that made no sense. Western Sector might have access to nearly every file and be able to push paperwork wherever it needed to go. The question wasn''t about the documents, it was the time. Shaggy had been in Kahina''s employ for years. How had the woman been leading a double life? Hell, at least I was invited to the wedding.

    Kahina was bundled in a sleeping bag now. We stole it from the SUV. Partially using it to keep the sunlight off her in case is screwed with her transition. The other part was to disguise her while I carried her to my home. It also helped get her past the crosses without causing additional problems. Even unconscious vampires flinched from the symbols of their persecution. It was kind of creepy.

    Like their bodies were aware.

    I carried her through my front door where Kahina''s purple ribbon remained to this day. We went past the weight bench that had once been thrown into my kitchen counter. Down the stairs that were lined with all sorts of homemade wards. Finally I landed on a simple mattress. It wasn''t anything close to Kahina''s caliber, but it was home.

    Having her here didn''t feel strange. Four months ago it would have been grating. Years ago it would have been unthinkable. Now it didn''t bother me. She was mine just like anything else down here. The fact that it didn''t bother me was both relieving and mildly unnerving.

    I wandered back to the stairwell and set up my lame alarm system. It was a bit of tin that would crush if the door was opened wrong. My ears had been trained on that sound. It would seem almost natural to anyone trying to break in, but the noise would set me off.

    The ceiling had been a weak point until I tore up the carpet upstairs and painted crosses on. Better still there was some silver wire running through right under the floorboards that might catch tearing claws. Not that anyone had tried. The idea felt sound but hadn''t been tested.

    The defenses cost a lot to put in. Julianne would have been outraged to find out how much remodeling I did. All to create a place where I could sleep peacefully.

    Lifting the carpet and checking my alterations took five minutes. I took another ten with a can of black paint to touch it all up. Footprints had worn down portions over the years. A half hour later I took a breather and tried to figure out how to contact Candy. My cell phone might have minutes left on it from months ago. I didn''t know Candy''s number, but I knew Daniel''s.

    "Talk quick, man," Daniel answered right away.

    "I need an elf''s number." I felt too tired for arguing with Daniel, much less talking about anything else.

    "Name?" Someone knocked on his door in the background. I heard Daniel tell the person that he would be there in a few minutes. Probably a meeting of some sort.

    "Kanda''rila Ro''hal," I said it carefully. Candy''s full name sounded nice but was too close to Kahina for me to use often.

    "Second." The phone muffled and he spoke to someone in the background. It didn''t sound important.

    "Alright. Got it." He gave me the number and I scribbled it down in black paint on my broken countertop. If I stayed home for more than a few days this might actually get fixed. Julianne¡¯s death made it difficult to stay for more than a few hours.

    "How''s it going?" He said.

    "Terrible."

    "Should only be a few days, man. Once she''s through the pressure will back off almost instantly."

    "Weird." I didn¡¯t understand why vampires gave up after the transition. It was almost like a painful trial by fire process. Those who didn¡¯t survive weren¡¯t worth being part of the race.

    "Vampires, right?" I could hear the shuffle of clothes as he shrugged. "Anyway, how''s Ann holding up?"

    "Your fianc¨¦e?" I probed.

    "Heh. Wondered if you''d catch that. Anyway, man, call her Ann from now. There''ll be time for proper introductions after we get this sorted out."

    "She''s out driving. Not sure where." I said. We hadn¡¯t discussed how long she would be gone, which direction, what to do if there were problems. We covered none of those things, part of me suddenly started to worry.

    "What? Why? Does she have Rhodes with her?"

    "No. Kahina is with me," I confirmed that much.

    "Thank goodness." He sighed. Someone knocked in the background again with a lot more force. "Listen, gotta go. You keep them safe, you hear?"

    "Sure." I clicked the phone off, getting the drop on Daniel for once. Daniel didn''t know Ann wanted to be used as bait. That probably wouldn''t have gone over well. Part of me felt shifty for doing this to my friend.

    Next would be a call to Candy. The idea gave me shivers. We had talked this morning, but it felt like days ago already. A moment later and my ears were presented with some girly song instead of the normal ringing. That was a new twist on technology.

    "I hope that''s you, Jeff." Candy''s voice answered the phone. It wasn''t playful or serious. In fact, she sounded exhausted.

    "It is," I said.

    "What do you want?" The elf¡¯s tone took a hard turn.

    "Can you make them think Kahina is in that SUV my partner was driving?" I said.

    "Sure." Then Candy said nothing. I double checked my phone to see if the call had dropped.

    "For how long?" I asked the elf.

    "Not long. Hours, maybe. Their Seer is strong but lacks finesse." Candy spoke, and each word took another breath to try and say. The way she talked almost felt like Evan''s passionless words. Where he was reduced to pushing past the fatigue in order to move his mouth.

    "Give her twenty minutes before you start."

    "Twenty minutes. Time for a quickie." Candy tried to turn it into an innuendo, but exhaustion muted the result.

    "Thank you, Candy," I said.

    She gave an empty hum and the phone disconnected. I guess saying her name still had some effect. The girl liked hearing it said. Maybe the name thing was her kink. Knowing for sure was impossible. Part of me hated her for mistreating Evan. Yet she had unquestionably gotten Shaggy, Kahina, and I out of a rather difficult situation at the hotel.

    I was tired, but there was more to be done. Time passed while I dug through the storage room downstairs. It was deep and narrow. This had originally been two rooms until I discovered one of the walls was purely decorative. Reconstruction projects typically took days to research and drink my way through. My home wasn''t perfect, but there were signs of hard work all over.

    One of longer boxes had swords. Not the curved blades from junk shops. These were heavy pieces of metal with scarcely dull edges. Straight from the Emerald Kingdoms at the height of their feudal wars.

    Years of neglect meant the metal needed work. Ripostes and parries were complicated for me but poorly kept weaponry was simple enough to figure out. Somewhere in this mess was oil and cloth to get them back into shape. No one could say I didn''t care for my belongings.

    There were only a few real weapons. I owned chain mail and a helmet that had seen battle. These old fashioned defenses were buried in between comic books, troll dolls, and other items still in their original wrapping. If someone did manage to kill me then this room could be cashed out for a lot of money. Everything needed care. I planned to do it after clearing space to work in my bedroom and a nap.

    I face-planted into the bed next to Kahina. Once again she was the last person in my vision before passing out.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 17 - The Sieges

    Sleeping next to Kahina brought the standard result since she started the transformation. Tall pillars scattered everywhere in fields of pastel grass. Fiery sky warmed my skin. Shades huddled in shadows.

    Being in this weird place felt routine. Everything was small again. I could almost reach the top of some of the marble columns. Not the biggest one of course. That remained on the far lip of this valley. It had to be high noon in the waking world, but here the sky was filled with flame.

    I hadn''t noticed before what the fiery sky did to the shadows being cast. They looked oddly skewed as if one column cast multiple shadows, some weaker, some stronger, and one felt like a true shadow with a creature of darkness huddled inside.

    Kahina laid in the greatest shadow cast by the biggest pillar. My limbs felt sluggish as I tried to lean in and see how she was doing. Around her form were other little shades that warily looked up at me.

    Standing directly over Kahina was the same darkness creature from before. If what Lennon had said was correct, somehow this one was related to Keeper.

    I had known that vampire souls left their bodies during the day. Who was to say that their spirits didn''t come here, to this flame filled parody of a world. I knelt in closer and tried to sniff the air. It came out in an awkward huff.

    "Keeper?" I tried to ask.

    He peered directly at me with those glowing red eyes and shook his head, and then nodded.

    "Not quite Keeper?" I mused out loud.

    Keeper, or not Keeper, nodded very clearly. How I understood its gesture was beyond me. Watching darkness move in darkness shouldn''t have made any sense. There was nothing distinctive to separate it from the rest of the background. But it was.

    "We are pressed hard out there." I jerked my head to the side and caught a strange glimpse over my shoulder. Something had sprouted out from my side and fanned out wide. There was another slither of movement among the grass below like something snakelike was sneaking around.

    Too aware here. I tell myself to ignore these things. They are useless for now. This is a place where Dangerous Mate lays in preparation for her completion. To be whole. I shall watch. I shall guard.

    It took me quite some time to turn my head back and look down at the shade thing. By then everything I had just noticed was practically a distant memory. The creature''s eyes tracked my movements and after a moment they narrowed carefully.

    "Is she safe here?" I asked.

    Not quite Keeper shook his head and nodded again. That same confusing yes and no answer.

    "Can I help?"

    The same yes no series of motions.

    "Your answers vex me." I leaned in and nearly smashed my face into his. The other shades scattered to make room for my larger size. This was the first time I actually reached into a shadow. Here, looming over Keeper, it was clear how much bigger I seemed to be.

    The coolness of the largest shadow slowly crept over me. It felt nearly as good as the warming fire above but in a different sort of way. This was like a rush of swirling cool air, not damp, not stagnant, merely a chill. All the heat my face had absorbed was being leeched out into the darkness. I saw Kahina shiver and could hear her groan.

    The groan wasn''t only here in this otherworld. She was making noise in real life. The not quite Keeper creature made a shooing motion at me and I pulled back out of the darkness. Immediately the noise stopped.

    Rolling fire above was starting to fade. Which meant that more time had passed in the waking world than I thought. Not once had anything interrupted us which hopefully meant we were safe. Shaggy was probably out there somewhere playing car tag. A tiny apartment like mine wouldn''t be worth notice.

    It took me a long time to turn my head around. Things didn''t move right here. Maybe this was my fault somehow. Deep sleep perhaps? The shades around me seemed to change position rapidly every few seconds. Fire from above faded in jerks and hops. In the distance additional shades slowly appeared. They were starting to swarm on the far side of the valley as the heat died down.

    I moved sluggishly. I tried to concentrate on the dream, on this other place. It felt like watching things through a television screen. Nothing was in focus, I was barely in the scene at all.

    Out of the corner of my eye, there was a giant flap of scaled skin stretched out across bones. Like a bat wing of some sort. It was gone as soon as I noticed it. Maybe my subconscious thought I was King of the Vampires. The idea made sense and didn''t. That was how dreams were meant to be according to the book I tossed out. Everything makes sense but doesn''t.

    Darkness had descended and the new siege started. Blobs on the hill poured down towards us. I turned back towards the defending blobs much quicker.

    The shades looked different, like the light of consciousness was gone and all that was left was a feral blot. Not quite Keeper made a face and the pillar in the distance reverberated in a low tone. The group defending Kahina spread out past me and engaged the enemy.

    Shades brushed against my legs giving way to goosebumps and wracking chills. Things were different when the sky¡¯s fire was gone. Nothing felt warm. Maybe these were true demons. I heard of them before but never believed they were real. It was stupid speculation on my part.

    I stepped out towards the attacking shades to the best of my ability. They gave me a wide berth. Only a few dared run right by me. The briefest touch of their rushing forms gave me the chills. Feeling one of these creatures at night was worse by leaps and bounds to feeling them during the day. Their voices filled my head. Angry indistinct shouting. It served as further emphasis as to how quiet everything was here. Their screams were the only noise I heard all night. Every time I visited this place something was different.

    Swinging at another shade resulted in failure. My fingers were too slow. The frustration of missing so many of them didn''t stop me from trying again and again. My actions didn''t make a whole lot of impact one way or the other on the fight at hand. Both sides tore into each other in waves. There was no light to drag the opposing team into now.

    Shades limped away from the battle and over the valley''s lip. I uselessly tried to chase. My dream-self wasn''t responding with any speed. Numerous shades drifted to the rear defense and huddled around Kahina. They might have been limping, or have the equivalent of broken bones. If living darkness could get broken bones.

    It was pointless. Between the frustration of constant misses, the chills that wracked me from head to toe, incoherent screams, and a mounting hopelessness, I nearly broke down. If Kahina was taken here, what would happen to her in the waking world? Would the transition halt?

    Thin metal crunched innocently and pierced through the screams this dream landscape bombarded me with. My home was being invaded. We weren''t being attacked from just one angle, we were being attacked from two. The sieges in real life and the dream world were designed to try and get Kahina killed by whatever means necessary.

    Now was not the time to be asleep. Our weird fire and shadow landscape was important but beyond me. Instead, there had to be some method of waking up and getting ready for my uninvited guests. Maybe the wall of crosses would make them pause if it was a vampire. Silver would unnerve wolves.

    If they brought humans into the home then all my items could be taken down in a matter of minutes. Or they would crash down here and kill me in my sleep. I should have installed the shotguns and collapsing stairs. That would have served me well.

    Adrenaline spiraled through with a pleasant set of chills. The world of shades started to fade away, but not before giving me a final glimpse of Kahina. Her body was still wrapped in the reverent white sheet, but her normally dark skin looked chalky. I had a distant thought as my eyes cracked open to the darkness of my bedroom. When was the last time she had been given blood?

    Another crunch of tin set off alarm bells. There was more than one person on the way. It was time to go to work. This was the entire reason I signed up with Kahina. To stay by her side, to be between the enemy and her life, to keep her safe. I would not fail her here. I loved her.

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    The blade slid out of its sheath. It wasn''t perfectly quiet, but I didn''t bang it around either. Stealth was useless against wolves if they were here too. They could smell the oils but may not place it right away. Next to the door was a full shield that I would use as a battering ram to deflect bullets. The last time I had been shot it was by lead projectiles without any sort of explosive tips. It was a sure bet that these bullets would be a heavier caliber.

    My body felt sluggish. Nothing was in focus. This was becoming a frequent problem. In the future, I would ask the bad guys to attack after coffee. Both ears were on high alert. Trying to track footsteps, the clink of guns, heartbeats and breathing. Anything. They were in my home after all.

    There was no time to fully track. Instead, I let my senses run wild.

    Two below with me. Heavy padded armor that grates as it moves. One upstairs. Sniffing, pulling in air with huffs. Wears less armor. A fourth in the stairwell. Heavy. Fingers brush against silver and lowers pieces to the ground. Two down below stand guard. They are nervous. Barely move. Breath frozen. Pulses erratic.

    I slipped my arm into the shield¡¯s braces. Someone had told me this was a Pavise, all I knew was that it was rectangular and tall. It had no decorative animals on the front and the straps weren''t leather like in the old days. This was a modern recreation that stood there like a chunk of movable wall. Between this and the sword, I should be able to make it the ten-foot distance of my hallway.

    I lifted the shield with a slight grunt. It was clunky. Even my extra strength wasn''t enough to stop that. The blade wasn''t that impressive. A lot could be told about wielding a weapon simply through it¡¯s shape. This one was small but sturdy and had a solid guard with sharpened edges. It could, in theory, function with a thrust or slice.

    Parrying, feints, ripostes, all of that was above my skill level. I planned on shoving the pointy end into someone so the weapon fit my purposes.

    The best part of this basement was easy to access circuit breakers. They were just behind the door to my bedroom. I held the shield up with one arm and pried open the panel. The noise hadn''t gone unnoticed by the invaders in the hallway. I heard guns being readied.

    With a deep breath, I slammed off all the power. Lights upstairs and downstairs went out. It was nighttime and the darkness would help. Especially once my next trick kicked in.

    I flipped on two switches that had taken time to install. One tied into a strobe light on the upstairs ceiling. It went off every few seconds in order to screw with creatures that could see better in the dark than I. Second was a switch that turned on a dog alarm. It was a high pitched whistle above human hearing that was proven to bother wolves. Every wolf within a mile of here probably heard the sound.

    It took me another three seconds to reach the door and muster my courage. I was about to charge into a narrow hallway with a sword and shield against men holding guns. This was a sure-fire plan that couldn''t fail.

    Kahina laid on a bed out of view from the hallway. Gradually I opened the door. Even if they had night vision goggles or something it would take a moment to adjust to the sudden lack of light, then hopefully the blinding burst would screw things up even more.

    Maybe grenades. Next time I would pack a couple. Except they would ruin my entire basement. Not that bullets were any better. Between the pending gunfire and mangled countertop upstairs, it was clear I would never get my deposit back. Never mind the painted floors and other modifications.

    The lights had flashed once in the time it took me to open the door. Both guards had their hands on guns aimed straight at me. No words, no angry shouts of revealed plans. They were waiting for something to emerge from the depths of this apartment. Who was I to disappoint them?

    I yelled out in challenge and charged into the hallway, shield in front of me. Guns rang out in response. Bullets slammed into the metal, a few tore through, others thudded. Further ripped holes into the plaster walls.

    It wasn''t enough to stop me, though. Through some miracle I made it to the first invader, he was crouched low while the second one had a gun over his shoulder. My shield molded with the standing one¡¯s face in a destruction derby of force. The sword in my hand was brought down into the second one''s neck with a nearly pristine moment of rage and calm. With a yank, I pulled the blade out and slid it into his companion''s gut. Other than the gunfire they barely made any noise. Well, that and a burble of blood that spit out as their insides'' ruptured.

    It was easy. Absurdly easy. Elsewhere in the city this would have been harder and required more focus. But this, this was my home, people invading it deserved what they got, nothing more, nothing less.

    Two down. A wolf and human to go.

    The final human had put down what he was holding and switched to another gun. It didn''t feel fake, the weight against his gloves was enough to be real. He was still around the corner. I yanked out the sword from the dead body and looked at it for a moment. Somehow a simple blade had slid through Kevlar vests like it was nothing. Weaves that should have at least caused my weapon to shift direction a little bit. Either I was that strong, or their armor was defective.

    Hopefully, the third one would be as easy. That would leave me with a wolf. My shield was a useless chunk of metal with holes in it. I carried it around the stairwell and threw the damaged remains ahead of me. It was heavy enough to knock the third human off balance. His gunshots went wide while I scrambled up the stairs.

    A leg gave out on me partway up the steps. Kneecap slammed awkwardly into steps when my still healing limb landed unevenly on discarded remains from the wall of charms. I reached out with my sword to try and get the killing blow. Gravity pulled me away too fast and the thrust that would have been dead center only grazed the human''s foot.

    Light flashed from the muzzle of his gun. More bullets came out but aimed at the wrong places. Chunks of ceiling rained down along with rocks and other objects from my wall. Each spray of bullets caused further damage to my home than I had ever done in anger. It was hard to use my senses and get a feel for the landscape around me. Everything shifted suddenly as a bullet reverberated through plaster, wood, concrete and occasionally dirt. Each projectile that violated my home was like nails on a chalkboard.

    I threw the blade in my hand, using my fractured sense of touch to get a bead on the attacker. The gunfire ceased long enough for me to get my bearings again. A gun had clattered onto the stairs with one limp hand still holding the stock.

    My eyes were useless. The strobe effects and muzzle flashes gave me spots. Feeling my surroundings was growing easier now that the bullets had stopped flying. There was a deep whine coming from upstairs. Like something huge was in pain.

    Probably the wolf.

    I took a moment to get a feel for the third human. A minute of work told me he had a blade piercing his head from chin to skullcap. All those drunken bar games with knives had paid off twice now. Using the blade to kill a wolf would be difficult, though.

    Instead, I pried off one of the stairs with a jerk. This one was tipped in silver. At the time, I had installed them to be a deterrent to wolves. Never once had I expected them to become useful. One hand was holding the broken stair step while the other helped pull my beaten body up to the front room.

    I took a self-assessment while crawling up the steps. Nearly all of the bullets had missed. Some had been grazes, a few going straight through. Luckily none had been center mass, or I assumed they hadn''t since I seemed to be alive. At the top, I paused to gather myself. The wolf was still whimpering and I needed to be somewhat calm before confronting it.

    Once my feet were steady I walked around the corner and proceeded to beat the whimpering wolf in the head with the silver piece of the stairway. A few whacks in I realized the wolf was a female. Her hair was nearly shaved off and the muscles betrayed how much she worked out. It was a close thing, but I stopped when she was finally out cold. She wouldn''t like me for it. Things were about to get a lot worse for her.

    I had questions and only knew one good way to get answers.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 18 - Bad Times

    While the bitch was out I cleaned up. Alarm systems were turned off. Regular power was turned on. Half the outlets downstairs didn''t work anymore due to bullet holes. Kahina was unharmed. All of the broken plaster had managed to avoid where she slept. I held my wounded arm over her mouth and tried to drip blood in. Maybe it would help, maybe it wouldn''t, but I felt no rage after dropping it in.

    I honestly couldn''t tell if she noticed. Her body didn''t react. Without proper needles or anything useful I couldn''t just inject it straight into her blood. There might have been some in the first aid kit leftovers, but I didn¡¯t have time to check. Vampires could drink blood, doing it this way might work eventually.

    Kahina was alive. After our little firefight that was impressive and more than enough.

    I shook off some of the haze creeping over me. Adrenaline was fading. Both eyes felt fuzzy. Each missing ribbon of flesh stung like crazy. There wasn''t enough gauze and bandages in my bathroom to cover half the damage. Both arms and my head were run under the shower in an effort to clean some of the wounds.

    There would be time to truly check the damage later. It didn''t feel like bullets were stuck under my skin. Legs and arms functioned still. Moving hurt but it was manageable. I would heal in theory.

    Now wasn''t the time to worry about myself. Hell. If things went right I could scare the bitch off and maybe the rest of her pack would follow suit.

    The three humans were all done up in some sort of armor. I managed to pry my sword out of the third one''s head. That was a mess that turned even my stomach. There was a mangled tattoo on the side of his neck that resembled a man on fire.

    After some effort, I tied the female wolf up in a chair. Her arms were bound by a strange combination of duck tape and the leftover Sector handcuffs I stole from Daniel years ago. I liked having these cuffs because trying to break out or shifting would cause a huge amount of pain. Not lethal, but enough to knock out most wolves.

    That took roughly seven minutes. My attempt at scrambling to get things done was interrupted by pounding on the door. At least the lock was functioning. I had closed the door earlier as part of my attempts to clean up.

    Entertaining guests was out of the question due to the female wolf currently tied up in my front room. The knocking was becoming violent. Standing in front of the thin wood entryway felt like a bad idea so I peeked out the window.

    It was Thomas. He decided now was a good time to bring Stacy and Dopey along. Stacy, not only a bitch but ¡®The Bitch¡¯, was the one pounding on my door. I slid my captive wolf around to the back. Hopefully, she would be out of sight.

    Otherwise they would need to magically fail to notice the heads sitting scattered around, headless body on the rug, and blood all over my face. That assumed they didn¡¯t care about the gunfire earlier or my siren that debilitated wolves. Well, the blood was mostly gone but shouting through the door would be better.

    "Not a good time, Stacy," I yelled.

    "Open up the door, you fucking fang-snack!" She yelled in response. I guess she recovered from our last meeting.

    "Jesus, Stace," Dopey commented quietly. My head hung down for a moment while I pondered what to do. Then everything caved in. Why not open the door? Why not let them see my face at least? Maybe they would flee.

    "Open up, you spineless whore!" Stacy''s degrading words came through again and clinched it.

    "What!?" I opened it up and let them see everything. Bullet wounds, a bleeding side that had mostly scabbed over. Another man''s fresh blood all over my hands. It would be extremely easy to reach out and smear a trail of the liquid across her face and hope she retched.

    "What the fuck?" She had backed up into Dopey hastily.

    "I''m having a very bad day, and right now I don''t want to put up with your bullshit," I shouted at her.

    Dopey and Thomas stood mute behind Stacy this time. She was apparently in Alpha Bitch mode. Fine, whatever. I guess my appearance threw off the rant she had planned.

    "Nothing?" I asked.

    Her jaw was trying to find words.

    "Good. Your problems are secondary. Why don''t you drink yourselves retarded like Julianne''s death only affected the Pack." My words were intended to be harsh. The bad day thing wasn''t a lie. Not even remotely.

    "You have no idea what she meant to us!" Stacy found her anger again. Even Thomas looked irate. It was clear he was still trying to numb everything by being inebriated. A man after my own heart. I would do the same if something happened to Kahina.

    "My sister, you jackass!" Thomas slurred. "And here you are living on her property, getting shot at, setting off that..." His face scrunched up in confused while he tried to figure out what exactly I had done.

    Dopey just stood there, his nostrils flaring now and then. Hopefully, the gunfire was overpowering everything else. I couldn''t imagine what they might think if the other factors became apparent. My downstairs was a disaster area.

    "You''re some lowlife scumbag who barely knew her!" Stacy yelled.

    "Look, Bitch" I stepped out and put my face right into Stacy''s. There was no blinking, no hesitation, no avoiding eye contact. This was a long time coming.

    "You accuse me of having no clue about her? We knew each other for years before you came along. Julianne was one of two people I trust in this world." The other being Daniel, and even that was sketchy. "She''d always been there for me." More than my parents, longer than Kahina.

    "I watched the god damned life bleed from her eyes and could do nothing about it." The door hung open behind me, but I doubt anyone noticed. My arms were spread out and agitated. The muscles in my arms firing uncontrollably as I tried not to punch this mouthy woman in the face. "She was always there, helping me out, and didn''t even blink when I came back! If I had a way to bring her back from the dead I would, in a heartbeat! But I don''t!"

    Stacy''s eyes were wide and I could see the wolfish colors creeping along the edges. It would be fight or flight time soon. My care level was too damn low to worry about it. She was afraid. Stacy, The Bitch, kept trying to back up. I closed the gap and kept right in her face.

    "Now you idiots are here fucking up my attempts at keeping one of Julianne''s best friends alive. You''re all a bunch of disgraceful animals who should be put down!" This had to be the longest rant that had ever come out of my mouth. Normally I kept things clipped, shortened. It was only the knowledge that these people were Julianne''s family, that kept my rage in check.

    Besides, there was a better focus for all of my anger inside. Stacy started to respond. Even Thomas and Dopey looked ready to say something. I cut them all off.

    "Either help, like Janny would have, or go the fuck away." I hadn''t given Stacy an ounce of space. Not once had I stopped looking at her eyes. They were kind of pretty. A green that bled slowly into brown around the outer edges. Just that moment gave me a perspective on what Julianne might have seen in her.

    For once she stayed quiet. Maybe she remembered how bad things had gone outside of Kahina''s property. Maybe she had never really wanted to hurt me to begin with. Maybe Stacy was looking for someone to blame. Fine. I could stand silent blame and being shunned, but having it thrown in my face repeatedly was not happening. No one wants to have their failures brought to light by other people. Life was stressful enough without the extra nonsense.

    Stacy backed up again. This time, I didn''t close the gap. Finally, she left followed shortly by a staggering Thomas. Dopey brought up the rear. Once they were out of sight I let out my breath. Staring down a wolf always had the potential of going either way. Three wolves would have been bad times for me.

    I went inside and slammed the door shut. Thankfully I had managed to deal with the trio without blacking out. In fact, I survived the entire fight downstairs without once losing consciousness.

    There wasn''t a lot of time. The chair holding my wolf captive wasn''t a problem. In this case, it was the lack of props. While she regained consciousness I wandered downstairs. There were three dead people that no longer needed their heads.

    The first two were easy. A few quick hacks and they were removed from the bodies. I set them on my broken counter, staring directly at the unconscious wolf. It was bloody and disturbing, but everything helped. I intended to shake her up first then go from there. Stains weren''t a concern since everything in the house would need to be replaced at this point.

    This is my home. All things in it are mine. The violators lay dead except for one. One who didn''t cross the final threshold. She may live. I feel her wake. The Pack Queen shudders. Body tenses against the bindings of tape and rope. Large inhalations test the limits. Arms flex. Careful force. Subtle movements that someone relying on eyesight alone might miss.

    Clever Pack Queen.

    "Don''t bother," I said.

    She didn''t react. Chances were her next move would be to try and check Pack bonds for anyone nearby. I stepped over and looked down at her face. Hair was matted to one side by slowly drying blood. Both eyes were focusing well. The wolf would be coherent enough for what came next.

    The third body was on my stairs still. I drug him upstairs by a shoulder strap. His rig was solid enough that it didn''t fall apart.

    This one I decapitated right in front of her. His face was a mangled mess and my work wasn''t helping matters. Finally the head came off with a squish. The scene in my front room was depressing. Maybe Kahina could recommend a good cleaner or the entire place should be burned to the ground along with my clothes. There was a reason I preferred cheap shirts and pants. They were easy to replace compared to this ruined suit that was in tatters on my body.

    In the back of my mind, I could hear an imaginary Daniel groaning about the suit¡¯s treatment. A Deckard, high-powered, expensive, and now covered in gore.

    With a deliberate slowness, I set the last head in its place near the other two. Lips were pursed, the head readjusted, finally I swapped them around, making the entire situation seem a little over the top. At least one of us was feeling talkative.

    "Rather rude, these three." I nodded to the heads without looking at the female tied to a chair. "First they break into my home. Then try to kill me."

    One of the heads made an awkward puppet as I lifted it up and danced it around.

    "It was just a job!" I mimicked. "Sure."

    The head was thrown in her direction. There was an overwhelming sense of satisfaction when she flinched.

    "Only following orders!" The second lifeless head was waved around as it mimed talking. "Sure."

    I lobbed this head in her direction as well. It wasn''t in keeping with the original plan, but this felt appropriately unnerving. My gut feelings were confirmed each time her breath quickened against the bindings.

    "It''s nothing personal." The last head said in a detached voice before it was thrown in her direction. She tried to draw back as I came around the counter and walked towards the chair. "It never is. Personal, I mean."

    She was brave enough to hold back a response. Maybe she''d been trained or was talking to some other nearby wolf.

    "Except in this case. It is personal." I amended my statement. "You violated my home, threatened my woman, like I''d ever let anyone take away what is mine. I will fight tooth and nail to keep her safe." My fingers grabbed at the woman''s jaw and forced her to look up. It was difficult for me to keep a mental balance. Messing with a captive like this wasn''t in my nature. Normally it was one way or the other and quickly. Decisively.

    Today was a very bad day. Focusing my thoughts wasn''t easy. What came next wouldn''t be pretty but felt necessary. Kahina was close by and danger still hung around us like a fog.

    There was a short knife I had dug up from my stash. There weren¡¯t a lot of weapons left in my home. This would have to do the job. I brought the blade over and held it up with every ounce of calm available. It shook with a rush of barely suppressed anger. Blackness threatened to overwhelm my vision while I tried to maintain consciousness.

    Violent negotiations tend to follow a pattern. Pain, explain the stakes, address outside help, give a thread of hope, and offer your deal. When in doubt repeat the first step. Sometimes you linger on the first step for a long time.

    "The first cut should never be personal," I repeated my earlier words with the same absent tone of voice.

    The blade was pressed against her leg where the pants had bared flesh. Step one in hostile negotiation was always the same. Demonstrate a willingness to inflict pain.

    "Some doubt my resolve, or think that I''m secretly a nice guy." My words felt mechanical. This speech was an old one. The type I used when talking to scum who couldn¡¯t pay their bills. The type of violence that Julianne paid me to handle but not advertise.

    Explaining my actions helped detach the moment. It was like surgeon explaining the process ahead of time. My tiny slice was sudden and a bit deeper than intended. The wolf jerked a bit but managed to regain control.

    "Except it is personal," I said.

    The blade was pressed against her other leg for step two. This spot wouldn¡¯t pierce anything vital. It was more of a focus point for her attention as we moved along in the process. Blood trickled from the first wound with no signs of rapid healing. Step two demonstrated a willingness to inflict pain, again.

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    "Questions, to determine what¡¯s next." I stared at her face.

    It was difficult not to picture her as someone familiar. She could have been a pack member of Julianne''s, or one of Malcolm''s, or a friend in another lifetime. This woman could have been Stacy in another reality.

    "Show me you''re listening." My words were colder than expected.

    The chair jerked suddenly as she struggled. It tipped one way then the other. If it wasn''t for the solid weight at the base it might have fallen over. Not once during her struggle did my blade actually pierce her flesh. This was the fight I expected earlier. Finally, she gave up, gasping and glaring at me from a lowered head.

    "Good." I nodded, proud that we had reached this stage of the conversation. "Death will be slow and painful should I decide it, understand?"

    She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded. That brought me right along to step three, remind the captive of what''s at stake for them.

    "Interruptions from friends results in a painful but quicker death. Police or Pack, when they get here, will force me to kill you. Understand?" I managed to keep relatively calm.

    There was a hitch of breath and her eyes flickered around. My tone hadn''t changed, but her mind would try to figure out how long to stall for. Hopefully we would make it. Candy''s cover up of illusions helped. Daniels handling of the police made other problems go away. Shaggy was out there breaking so many laws that people were chasing her down.

    "There''s no one else." The words came out of her mouth, but they sounded hoarse. Her silence was finally broken.

    "Nine of your pack are dead." At least that was the last count I knew of. Three at the start, three more on the road, two more at the household while we were gone. "You''re ten. I expect at least four others."

    She didn''t say anything in response. Her head was lifted a little bit, though. Maybe part of her was considering a quick death against a slow one.

    "Today has made me unpleasant." I started.

    Hacking at the other bodies, playing around with them like sock puppets, none of that helped me be clean. I probably looked worse now than when I answered the door for Thomas. All this gore just to torturing a tied up woman. I missed the simple days where my problems involved finding a drink.

    "Would you like to live?" I asked. It was my final question that mattered. The problem with this question was that it might give her an incorrect expectation. Her life remained on the line. If things went right she could walk away. Killing women never sat well with me.

    "Of course." She was looking up again. Her eyes were trying to pick up any signs of body language. They flicked to arms, neck muscles, the tilt of my head. I was being careful with my posture for this reason. Not aggressive, not defensive. Listen closely to me, a posture that Julianne had taught me for dealing with wolves.

    Just like that we were on the final step. I had her attention, she had a way out that might be worth listening to. It was a good thing too, my mind was barely holding it together. Revisiting step one would make controlling myself difficult.

    "Then listen," I commanded her, keeping my voice level. Now it was time to see if Daniel had been right. "The people who hired you are called the Order of Merlin. It''s a humanity first group. They want you dead as much as any vampire."

    I tried to remember all the rules from a decade of this kind of thing. The wording was important. Her eyes were wide and head tilted to the side. I had her attention and curiosity. It confirmed my suspicions. She was merely a trooper, not a trained assassin. Not really. Probably didn''t expect a fight.

    "The humans you''re with, are they potential pack members?" I asked.

    "No. Other mercs, we were told it was a joint operation." She was surprisingly open about the answer.

    "They''re Order members." I had no proof, only a gut feeling.

    "So?"

    "These people have invaded pack hunting grounds without invitation, fired silver into members defending it, and killed unturned family members." Technically a vampire had killed Julianne, but the Order had engineered the opportunity.

    My captive looked properly angry and horrified at these actions. She should understand as a mercenary people died, but screwing with one''s family was well outside the bounds of decency.

    "Do you have proof?" She sounded skeptical. It showed that she was thinking and didn''t trust me. The suspicion was valid since a sharp blade sat pressed against her leg. Not once had I smiled either. Nothing in my tone sounded friendly.

    "You, if you live, can ask the pack leaders here and to the north." I wouldn''t suggest going to Julianne''s Bar and Grill next door. Not today, not after all the havoc we caused at my house just across the parking lot.

    She chewed over the words for a minute before I launched my next question.

    "Was the pay worth the death of your family?" I put the questions back on her again.

    "No."

    "It never is," I said with a touch more sadness than expected. Those words were becoming the mantra of our interaction. "Did you want to die for a group that hates all wolves?"

    "No." This time, she said it slower, and also softer. Her voice was almost broken, but she kept it together.

    "Then make a deal."

    She stared at me for awhile. It was difficult for her to figure out which side of the obstinate line to be on. Sassy, sarcastic, afraid and timid? None of those. Passive with a hint of disturbed. At least she was talking. The last time I did this was over a stolen car worth a little over a hundred thousand. That guy had turned stubborn. It took a lot longer than this.

    "Call your pack, cancel the contract." She was obviously waiting for my terms. We couldn''t have a lot of time left so I couldn''t afford to play mind games.

    "Or?"

    "I kill you. I kill whoever else comes after you. Then once the dust settles I come to your pack grounds and keep going." I leaned in close and kept both eyes locked on target. It wasn''t a hollow threat. If these wolves managed to get Kahina then I would spend the rest of my days hunting down everyone involved.

    "That''s it?" She asked. I still didn¡¯t know her name, beyond the Pack Queen name assigned by my other mind.

    "It''s more than enough." The deranged and blood splattered smile on my face painted a clear picture. I leaned in and let her get a good whiff of the drying blood, assuming she could pick it out from the gunpowder and other bodily fluids.

    "I''ll need a phone." She wasn''t flinching in fear anymore. That was either very good, or bad.

    "Where''s yours?"

    "Front pocket," She said.

    I dug it out with a more force than necessary. There was a line between relaxed and ready to follow through on my threat that I was trying to walk. Too much hesitation would give away my real feelings on the matter.

    I did want to kill her for invading my home. That much wasn''t a lie. Letting her live might make things easier for Kahina and that was worth the sacrifice of my pride. There would be a lot of pent-up aggression for whoever was left.

    She told me a speed dial number. Soon the phone was ringing. I held it up to her ear with my free hand.

    "Yes." She paused. "Check orders. Who set the contract?" Another pause. "Why?" Her eyes came up to meet mine and then shied away.

    "This contract¡¯s too dangerous." The calm voice on the other side started screaming. I knew it was screaming because the wolf tried to yank her head away from the phone. There wasn''t a lot of room to move, though.

    "Nine down. Supporting mercs violating clause three. And I''ve been captured." That was the only part of her conversation that wasn''t said in cold tones. "Screw distress words."

    I glared at her, it hadn''t even crossed my mind that there might be some sort of code for her to use. Most of my experience was with thieves and lowlifes. They were not smart or clever enough to make a difference.

    "Escape? Not happening. He''s staring at me with a butcher''s knife." She said.

    "Yes, I''m sure he knows how to use it," She said. It only took a short motion to jab the knife into her leg. Satisfaction crossed my face as her scream deafened whoever was on the other line. The woman nearly crushed the phone as her head snapped back and forth.

    My knife slowly came out. There was no sense in hurting her beyond what was needed to drive home a point. Moments passed as she regained breath, huffing with painful hatred. I understood, and in a different life I would have felt bad.

    "Does he believe you now?" I asked.

    They had a few more lines of conversation.

    "Assessment stands despite personal danger." She paused again. "Listen, you brown-nosing dipshit, this guy will fucking kill us all." She was cutting someone else off and straight talking over them. "I''m not dying for this shit contract! CANCEL IT."

    Finally, there was a murmur of confirmation and a relieved look crossed over her features. I took the phone and carefully broke it in two. There was no reason to keep it around.

    "Listen, you going to let me go or was that bullshit? I got the contract dropped." The woman was still wincing in pain from where I wounded her leg. The fact that she managed to keep composure after the first scream belayed just how tough she was.

    If it hadn''t been for the siren in my house there''s no telling how things would have gone.

    "Any revenge hangups?" I asked her. There was no way she could lie at this point. Too many physical twitches gave away a wolf''s thoughts.

    "No. Price tag was absurdly low for this much opposition, we reserve the right to cancel, and if it was ordered by some Humanity First group then we''ll be having words with them. Revenge only where it''s due." She smiled then winced. Being bound, bloodied, and in tattered clothes made for a grisly image.

    I doubt my vestige was any better. Maybe the skulls on the countertop had been a bit much. The place would start to smell soon. Sirens started in the distance. Her ears perked up and so did mine.

    "Good timing," She said. "Let me go and we can bolt."

    "Not quite," I said.

    The pack mercenary rattled her chair violently. "Let me go, that was the deal!"

    I ignored her and walked downstairs to grab Kahina. It was time to go somewhere else, anywhere else. Where would be easier to figure out once we got away from the area. Police would show up, survey the scene, start questioning the locals. They may set up a few roadblocks nearby.

    A sleeping bag, some small towels and a bottle of water along with the first shirt I came across. I needed something clean to pass a first glance. Luckily everything was out in the open.

    She had finally managed to tip over the chair during my absence. While I lugged up my items and a body she was ranting incessantly. Understandable. I carefully set down Kahina and tossed keys to the cuffs towards the opposite side of the room. Slowly I approached her with the knife.

    The wolf in human skin became motionless. My arms were calm, the blade wasn''t raised. Each action designed to be passive in body signals. She would have heard those sirens well before I did and still worked with me. There was ample incentive.

    "Hold still," I said.

    She did. It made it easier to slice the bindings. The cut was enough to give her leverage and tear out of them. Immediately she started twisting out of them but it would take some time.

    "The only reason you''re alive is because you never made it downstairs," I said. "If you get caught ask for Agent Crumfield. Say Jay sent you." Why I went so far was beyond me. Maybe it was an attempt at redeeming myself. The last fifteen minutes couldn''t have been pleasant.

    I picked up Kahina and went to the front door. Behind me, the female wolf was struggling out of her bindings and surging over towards the handcuff keys. The door slammed shut behind me and the wolf''s life became someone else''s problem.

    Outside the world was lit up in chunks by streetlights and a faded moon. Thomas was nowhere in sight, and the apartment complex still had a cheap security lock that would keep people away even after muffled gunfire. Night was a wonderful time to move a comatose body. My brain was at least used to operating on this schedule from four months of being with Kahina. The contrast between the tactile senses being home gave me and this outdoor world was shocking. It was hard being reduced to a visual element again.

    I made it a block away before splashing water on my face and hands then using a towel and old shirt to mop up. The items were shoved inside a trashcan. Hopefully, the smell would cover up anyone sniffing behind me.

    Each corner was greeted with suspicion. Was there another set of them watching me? Were more on the way even now? It was nerve wracking as I slinked through back alleys and tried to find my way to somewhere safe. Even if it was temporary. Windows that were still lit this late at night were avoided. If anyone was on my side of the street I stepped out of their way.

    Most of my contacts were out of date. Safe houses, places to crash for the night, Kahina''s list of extraneous homes. Everything was out of reach. There was a park nearby that I had frequented months back. It wasn''t pack grounds, this was an elven adopted one. Best of all it was quiet. It would do for a night or two.

    After that, we would be so far beyond Kahina''s window of change that it wouldn''t matter anyway. That would put us near eight or nine days compared to the seven maximum it should take. I paused. Had it really been that long? Was I just imagining it? Maybe we had gone over the time limit.

    It wasn''t until I got to the park entrance that I realized my cell phone was at home. Shaggy couldn''t find me. There was no way to call Daniel or Candy. I was alone with no help and Kahina was being hunted in both the waking and sleeping worlds.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 19 - Dead or Alive

    Things went from bad to worse when it started raining.

    If religion was right then clearly God hated me or had a terrible sense of setting placement. Alone, in the woods without a soul around. This place was strange in that my normal senses were completely useless. On top of that my mind was starting to drift in and out. It wasn''t a complete pass out. I had managed to get sleep at home so part of me was rested.

    Everything hurt but functioned. The fact that my damage was minuscule was amazing. Those bullets should have left missing chunks not grazes. Somehow the shield and sword were tougher than expected. My leg ached a little, but it took the pressure without issue. The wounds on my arms and legs had stopped bleeding fairly quick. Rain helped wash away the rest. The pants were black and purple so bloodstains wouldn''t be immediately obvious.

    We found some shelter under one of the trees. It didn''t stop all the water but blocked a good portion. I cradled Kahina in the sleeping bag and was thankful it was at least semi-resistant on the outside. Not by design, just by luck of fabric. Her body felt like clay.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The knife had made it with me. A fresh cut was all it took for some crimson liquid to trickle out of my palm. I dripped the inkling of blood into her mouth and prayed. Hell. Hopefully, it helped.

    My head hung over hers and I held her close to my chest. For that brief moment, it was the two of us again. This woman I admitted to loving, finally, out loud with a witness.

    Years ago I asked Daniel what he thought love was. The Agent said it was a lot of things but mostly being willing to sacrifice anything for another person. I had just started dating Kahina at the time and didn''t pay it much attention.

    Now, though, now I understood. Anything meant exactly that. Life, limb, property, or destroying a relationship. I was losing her. Dead or alive we would never be together. Candy''s deal had seen to that. I agreed in order to keep her alive, by sacrificing our future together to allow her eternity.

    It felt like the greatest ¡®fuck you¡¯ in the world when a bright sun rose in the morning. The type of hazy sun that doesn''t care in the slightest how shitty things were going. Proof that life would keep on going no matter what happened.

    I held her and cemented her face to memory.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 20 - Help Princess

    Dawn mocked me with its indifference. I had hangovers that gave the same effect but without the heartache of revelation. Still, it was a relief to have made it this far. We had to be close to the end. Everything else would wait until afterward.

    My clothes were a soggy mess and the sleeping bag was slightly damp. I took it off Kahina and set her in a ray of sunlight to warm up. Thankfully daytime only knocked vampires out. She must have survived the otherworld shades attack.

    I patrolled the immediate area. Kahina stayed in sight while I tried to figure out who was in the parking lot. If elves were going to tend the park, I would need to pack and leave quickly. Worst case scenario there were empty houses in the neighborhood.

    It was surprising to see a familiar truck in the parking lot. I''d seen it once outside Kahina''s house, filled with empty beer bottles. Thomas. Muscles in my back tensed up at the thought of dealing with his bullshit again.

    Thomas looked terribly ragged standing next to the backend. He barely passed for upright. Maybe he opted for sobriety since leaving my house. On the plus side, the sunlight seemed to be hurting him. His eyes were worn but looked straight in my direction. Had he followed me?

    I ignored the glare and turned around to Kahina. If Thomas was here then our location wasn''t a secret. Any wolf might be able to find us. If that female from earlier had decided upon revenge or any of Fifty Five''s pack hadn''t gotten the message, we were in danger.

    To top it off there was a Seer chasing us. That unknown elf might be watching me right now. Candy hadn¡¯t left any details recently.

    Thomas didn''t move from his support. The parking lot was absent other cars. That was worth a moment of thankfulness. Instead of focusing on Julianne''s brother I went back to Kahina.

    There wasn¡¯t even a faint pulse. Kahina¡¯s body didn''t shimmer anymore which was either nothing or awful. Maybe she had finally died and last night was the end. The fear was unfounded after further thought. Keeper and Daniel had both agreed that vampires failing the transformation normally were ashes and bone.

    She had to be alive, barely.

    I thought back to that other plane where I''d held one of the attackers captive under my hand. He''d turned to ash when a raging fire poured across the sky and burned him up. The link between failure in that other realm and death in real life was painfully obvious.

    Kahina''s body must be under a pillar¡¯s shadow in the other world. Maybe that was the key. When they went comatose somehow those shades kept out of the sun¡¯s rays instead. Was it a weird metaphysical double layer of defense? What would happen if a vampire didn''t have a shade protecting them at night? Were their souls harmed by sunlight?

    I felt increasingly hungry. Undernourishment had been easier to ignore with the rush of hectic situations. Nervousness and worry had muted simple problems of the body, but nothing could stop it forever. Especially not after all the damage I sustained recently.

    It was impossible to leave the area and get food. I''d never been able to reproduce the feat of calling animals for food since I got home. There had to be a way to protect Kahina and get something to eat. No sooner had the idea occurred to me than the name slipped out.

    "Thomas," I said out loud.

    Using him would be the best bet. He obviously knew I was here. Maybe he would be willing to help me out and bring me food. If not then at least we could start a conversation. Maybe the wolf would be civil when speaking of hunger. Worst case scenario the man might rant and storm off.

    A few moments later I was at woods¡¯ edge.

    "Thomas!" I yelled out and disregarded attempts at stealth. His hearing was good enough to pick me out. It was unlikely the man came to elven woods for giggles when his entire pack owned land up north.

    Thomas winced. Watching him nearly stagger over was reassuring. He had all the signs of a hangover from hell. How he drove anywhere was beyond me. I guess being a wolf didn''t mean his metabolism could burn through a week long drinking binge.

    "Really, Princess, keep it down," Thomas said. At least he wasn''t calling me Killer anymore.

    "Water. Drink lots." I suggested.

    "Oh yeah? Hangover tips from a long time professional?"

    I shrugged. There was no use denying it. There was a moment where he stared at me. Both of us were unsure what to say. My anger from last night had deflated. Thomas had never truly been the root of our problem anyway. Julianne''s death was.

    Thomas broke the silence and said, "You look like shit."

    "You too." I didn¡¯t feel like smiling or witty banter. Not today, not in this situation.

    "At least my clothes are clean," He said.

    The wolf¡¯s comment was irrefutable. My apparel was a complete mess. Thomas almost had his stupid grin back. It was hesitant as if he didn''t remember how to smile without being an asshole. He probably hadn''t bantered with anyone since that night in the forest.

    "Low blow. Sorry." He realized I wasn¡¯t going to respond to that one.

    "I had to leave in a hurry." I tentatively offered the topic up. Maybe Thomas would have information about today''s aftermath.

    "Yeah. We saw from the bar. Police blocked off the entire building and half the parking lot." Then he winced and paused for a second. "They were taking pictures and witness statements before Sector showed up and took over."

    I tried not to shake at the idea of my home being invaded and focused. "Is Daniel there?"

    "Who?" Thomas asked.

    "Redhead, tanned, from the woods the night-" My words drifted off. Daniel had been there when Julianne died.

    "Oh. Him." Thomas thought about it. Emotions flickered across his body in an incredible jumble. Anger, frustration, sadness, and lastly resignation. Finally, he responded.

    "Yeah. I think so." The awkward silence was back again. I turned and looked back at Kahina to make sure everything was okay. She hadn''t turned into a pile of ash during my absence.

    "Thomas?"

    "What''s up?"

    My grumbling stomach made noise, asking my question for me. I thought it was quiet, but to a wolf''s ears it might have been drumroll.

    "Oh. Need me to grab something?" He easily offered the very thing I had been hoping for.

    "Can you?" I tried not to sound desperate.

    "Yeah. Sure. You''ll be here when I get back?"

    "Yes." I had no idea where else to go until Shaggy or Daniel contacted me. Which brought me to a second question. "Do you have a phone?"

    "Not on me. Pack doesn¡¯t typically use them unless we''re traveling." Thomas¡¯ shoulders drooped and head seemed to sink down a bit. His words were tired but not as bad as Evan could get.

    "Damn."

    "I can deliver a message, though?" Thomas was being amazingly helpful. Maybe he was earnestly trying to repent for the last few days.

    I considered having him tell Daniel something, or getting to my phone. Both ideas were horrible. Daniel would be surrounded by agents who he may not trust. Thomas was enough of a risk. Getting to my phone would require being able to step into the apartment, which was unlikely. Three dead human bodies would warrant a tightly locked crime scene.

    "No," I said after a pause.

    "Alright. I''ll be back then." Thomas was wincing a little at the sunlight. Him driving probably wasn¡¯t that safe, but my options were few.

    "Thomas," I called after him. He turned around briefly. "Thanks."

    "Don''t mention it, Princess." With that, he slowly climbed into his truck and left.

    I hunkered down in the woods again. There was little to no traffic through the entire park. A cop car pulled in but faced toward the road. After about ten minutes of worry on my part the cop left, lights flashing, after a speeding vehicle. It was easy enough to stay out of sight back where we were.

    My hunger escalated as I waited for Thomas. Was he going to another district for food? Maybe someone would drop by the park and I could beg some grub that way. I probably looked homeless. Knowing my luck I would end up being maced instead. Forever must have passed before the familiar rear end of Thomas'' pickup pulled into the small parking lot. Thomas got out of the passenger side and this time he wasn''t alone. Stacy and Dopey were with him.

    Panic nearly drove me to grab Kahina and run until I noticed Dopey carrying a bag of food. Even with the offering it was difficult to come out and meet them. Instincts told me it would be best to stay near Kahina, just in case.

    "Uhhh..." The big guy started to call out but didn''t know my name. Stacy whispered harshly to him. "Uhhh...Jay? You back there?"

    "He''s back there. I can hear him breathing." Thomas said. He sounded a little better. Maybe he had taken me up on the water advice.

    "This is a retarded idea." Stacy wasn''t even trying to muffle her words.

    There was a moment of fidgety silence. I tried to eavesdrop from where I was sitting next to Kahina. No more words could be heard about their current line of conversation. Either they shut up or it was part of a pack''s silent communications. Judging by the lack of footsteps or other noises I was betting on a pack thing.

    "Fine." Stacy declared at last. There was a ruffle of a paper bag and stomping through the woods. She stepped on twigs, beat away branches, and cursed under her breath the entire time.

    "Hey, stupid, we brought food." A bag was unceremoniously tossed in my lap as she burst through the last layer of plant life. I stared at Stacy. Thomas and Dopey were bringing up the rear slowly.

    It took me a moment to realize I grabbed the bag of food and huddled even closer to Kahina. My body was placed between her and the wolves. Especially Stacy. Taking all three of them on in foreign territory would be extremely difficult and all of the silver I owned was elsewhere.

    "Stacy." Dopey''s voice was worried. He tried to step up in between me and the female wolf but faltered at the last second.

    "What?" She glared at him. Thomas had a sad look on his face as his eyes flickered back and forth.

    "Let¡¯s take a walk." Dopey had a stubborn set to his jaw. It was the most determined action out of him so far. He was definitely not Alpha material. This was the kind of man who never made it past fifth on a pack hierarchy.

    "Why should..." Her voice trailed off under his gaze and she turned back towards me as if an idea occurred to her. Eyes swept over my defensive posture and Kahina''s limp body.

    "Sure. We¡¯ll be back, I¡¯ve got things to set straight." Stacy was speaking out loud for my benefit. Dopey ushered her out to the parking lot. Thomas watched them go looking tired.

    Now that the immediate threat was gone it might be safe to eat. I dug into the bag finding cheap hamburgers from a drive through. They were gone in a matter of bites.

    "Who¡¯s Dopey?" I finally asked after my gluttonous chow down.

    "Corey? He''s new to the pack."

    My grunt must have been disbelief enough.

    "Stacy''s got him miles away in the friend zone that there''s no winning. We''ve tried to tell him that she doesn''t wag that way, but he''s clueless." Thomas continued. There was that half smile on his face again.

    "Wasn''t she and Julianne..." Damn it. Just saying her name out loud made Thomas flinch. He recovered and plopped down next to another tree.

    "Yeah, they were."

    "He knows right? Don''t you guys share thoughts?" I was torn. There were a number of issues that were more important than this. It was also these sorts of situations that brought the rest of the world back into focus. Like the world wasn''t made up of people trying to murder Kahina and me.

    "Not really, Princess. You''d have to be thinking about something really hard for other pack members to pick up on it. Corey has been looking for a no, and Stacy hasn''t stopped grieving long enough to think it." Thomas paused for a moment with his eyes closed. "And it''s lame, but she needs a friend right now."

    "Ah." I said. Sitting with Thomas was easier than the other two, he reminded me of Julianne despite being completely different.

    Stacy must be suffering. When Julianne died it was sudden. In a break up there''s a comfort in knowing they''re alive, and more importantly, that in the future things might work out better for both people. Death was an unfair way to end relationships. I was faced with losing Kahina, but at least she would be alive. Hopefully.

    Stacy would never get that kind of comfort. She would never watch Julianne go on with her life, and laugh, smile, joke. Thomas wouldn¡¯t either.

    My thoughts spiraled inward while Thomas sat there. I halfheartedly looked through the bag a few dozen times trying to figure out if food was hiding in a pocket dimension.

    Stacy and Dopey, or Corey I guess, wandered back in our direction. This time, my posture was relaxed. Stacy still set me off, but it was survivable since I was no longer starving.

    They collapsed next to Thomas with Stacy in the middle. If there was any discomfort in their proximity it wasn''t obvious. Wolves were a lot more touchy than the other races. A picture of vampires hugging was rare. Elves embraced but in a friend-enemy way. There were a number of opportunities for stabbing each other in the back.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    No one said anything. Which was typical. My presence made it hard for others to speak normally. In fact, the only people to talk to me like a human were Kahina and Daniel. Julianne had, before.

    "Why are you all here?" I finally asked. There was a moment of silence as arms twitched, looks were shared and heads nodded. Thomas spoke up first.

    "I think I told you this before, but the worst thing about being in a pack is the memories. The minute a thought gets stuck in your head it''s, it¡¯s impossible to escape.¡± Thomas put out a hand in a gesture. His eyes stared down at it sadly and the other two pack members took on a hint of sorrow. ¡°Normally, it''s songs. Corey had a commercial jingle his head for two weeks. Drove the pack crazy."

    "Heh." Corey chuckled weakly, trying to shake off the brief bout of melancholy.

    "It''s been rough for all of us. Pops blames you and it''s all he thinks about. Over. And over. And over." Thomas spoke the words slowly.

    I was silent. The whole situation had been plaguing me since she died. Charles wasn''t the only person who had been dwelling on past mistakes. He had held her through death, though, and I only caused the events that caused a great woman to pass.

    "Anyway, what you said was right. We should be honoring Julianne''s memory better than this. She treated the fang-cu..." Stacy paused for a moment and managed to look embarrassed. "The vampire like a sister."

    "Kahina." I said the black woman''s name.

    "Yeah." Dopey nodded. He hadn¡¯t even been there and acted like he knew what was going on. I couldn''t think of him as anything besides Dopey. It was like the nickname was plastered across his face.

    "So we figured maybe you could use a little help, Princess." Thomas said. Stacy looked miffed, but didn''t argue.

    I thought about their offer before speaking. "No. You might die from this." Having anyone on my side would be great, but also dangerous.

    "That''s what I told them." Dopey said.

    "We owe him." Thomas tried to insist.

    "No, we don''t. And if we did the food has to count for something." Dopey was heated about the issue. It was amusing watching his face try to look angry, even for a moment.

    "We owe it to Julianne." Stacy and Thomas said at the same time. It was a freaky display of pack synchronization. Their words shut the third wolf¡¯s mouth. He turned and looked off into the distance.

    "Anyway. We can''t do a lot without getting my gramps involved. That, and this whole mess seems to be taking place in Malcolm''s territory." Thomas explained further without the females pack synchronized echo.

    Malcolm hadn''t crossed my thoughts him since the bar. He''d made it pretty clear that my actions were being watched. None of the wolves we''d killed had been in his pack. Hopefully, that''d kept us on the right side of friendly.

    "Have you heard from Malcolm?" I asked.

    "Not a word since his people encouraged-" Thomas did air quotations "-me to dry up."

    "Do you have his number?" My mind leapt from one idea to another. There had to be ways through this all, a method for getting in touch with the house, with Shaggy, getting Kahina to safety. Three wolves would help, if they were allowed to do so.

    "No, Corey does." Stacy said while pointing at the goofy lug.

    "No!" Dopey protested.

    "Give it over." Thomas crossed his arms and stared over Stacy''s head at the bigger wolf.

    "No." He said stubbornly.

    "Corey." Stacy was quiet about it, almost wounded.

    The tone was dirty to use on a man hopelessly pining after a woman. Moments passed while he struggled against her request. Corey wore the same look men wore who came into the bar hoping for dates. They sat there trying to figure out which drink to buy a pretty girl.

    Men everywhere, including myself, seemed incapable of answering relationship questions correctly. The problem wasn''t with my gender. Women wanted one thing but needed something else entirely. The two items rarely coincided. Not that I had a ton of experience dating. Just lots of time watching the dance. Kahina had been my only real partner for a long time.

    I became lost on her lifeless face, hoping for any movement. Momentarily desperate for a breath of air or shimmer of energy about her body. My life would be complete if she woke up and smiled for me once more.

    I came to with Corey tapping my head with his cell. He was trying to frown sternly and failing.

    "Hit call." He grumped and sat back down. Despite the feigned anger, he was still pressed up against Stacy''s side.

    Clearly no one trusted me to figure out a phonebook. Or they all had secrets on their phones. It almost felt like the device would crack under the pressure of my finger. That''d probably give the wolves something new to complain about.

    Malcolm picked up quickly. "Corey!" Once again, using someone else''s phone was causing mistaken identities. "How''s it hanging?" His tone was friendly.

    "It''s Jay." I corrected him while trying not to sound upset.

    "What, Corey''s not hurt is he?" Malcolm''s concern was for a pack member first. Not that Corey and Malcolm were in the same pack to my knowledge.

    "He''s fine. I''m borrowing the phone."

    The Alpha grunted then moved on. "What''s up?"

    "Heard anything about Fifty Five¡¯s movements?" I asked. The three wolves nearby perked up in unison but didn¡¯t say anything.

    "A few flights being booked, and their Alpha called me with a formal apology a few hours ago. Is that your doing?" Malcolm was wary but friendly enough.

    "Sort of." I responded.

    Stacy snickered and muttered something I missed.

    "Well, her informal message was a lot nastier." Malcolm said.

    "Oh?" I dreaded thinking about yet another group being pissed at me. My actions deserved it but now wasn¡¯t the time. Especially not if it put Kahina in danger.

    I looked down for a moment at the woman. Her hair was a mess. For the tenth time today I tried to straighten it out.

    "Seems pissed. Probably because her little girl rolled into the pack clinic for treatment. Said she fell down stairs." He sighed through the phone. "Can''t tell you how much paperwork that was. On top of that she claimed sanctuary."

    The Pack Queen stays. Interesting. Dangerous. Vengeance. Knows too much.

    "What''s that?" I wasn''t familiar with wolves sanctuary practices.

    "Means she''ll be sticking around until her mother has calmed down. Which is unlikely knowing Fifty Fives. Failure is frowned upon, even if they cancel out of a contract. Their Queen Bitch doesn''t play well with the others."

    I sighed with relief. Finally some positive news.

    "That''s the best thing I''ve heard all week." I said.

    "Figured you''d like it. Bad news follows good, though, so here''s the official response from yours truly." He cleared his throat and tried to sound official. The man¡¯s voice never seemed completely serious.

    I held my breath and listened. Malcolm was friendly sounding when talking to other people, but something about his subtle demeanor was also scary. Like the friendly outside person was a cover over the powerhouse an Alpha could be.

    "You listening?" The words sounded odd directed at me. It was almost the same tone I''d used on that female wolf back in my apartment. It made me close my eyes and take a deep breath.

    "Yes."

    "Stop shitting on my yard. And if Corey is listening, he better know that his new family pals need to keep a low profile. Otherwise, I''ll have to deal with Charles." That made sense. Anything that the northern pack did down here would warrant some communication to Thomas¡¯ grandfather. And he was probably still in a bad place.

    "Alright."

    "I¡¯m dead serious, Jay. I do not want to deal with that man, and if he finds out that his people are tied up in more of Miss Rhodes¡¯ shit he will personally tear us all new assholes. Twice." Malcolm sounded sure of that. It made sense, one of Kahina''s subordinates had actually fired the gun that was responsible for Julianne''s death.

    I leaned my forehead closer to Kahina and sat there for a moment. It was hard to tell if all these problems were my fault or hers. Would removing one of us from the equation help at all? The Order of Merlin was after me. These vampires were after her.

    "We clear?" The alpha said.

    "Yes." I gave the due amount of lip service.

    "Good. Now sit tight, I''ve got to get Agent Crumfield on the line."

    "What?" Hold music cut off my confused question. I did need to speak to Daniel but hadn¡¯t expected to be connected straight to him. Next, hopefully, I could talk to Candy and figure out what was going on. Shaggy also needed to be updated on our current status. Maybe if wolves were pulling out we could pull back to the compound. It would certainly be less opposition.

    The phone clicked again.

    "Jay?" I heard Daniel''s panicked voice.

    "Hey."

    "Where is she?" He asked.

    "Right next to me." I was looking right at her as we spoke on the phone. Kahina hadn¡¯t shown one sign of life.

    "Not Rhodes, Shaggy!" Daniel started with another name but managed to correct himself.

    "She''s still out." I said.

    "Well, something went fucking wrong, man. She''s hurt. I swear to god Jay if you''re responsible for this-" The agent started rambling.

    "What''s going on?" Malcolm interrupted.

    "I got a distress signal." The tremor in Daniel''s voice betrayed just how disturbed he was. If Shaggy really was his fianc¨¦e then it was understandable.

    "Why''d you get the distress message?" Malcolm asked.

    "Mind your own business, Smith.¡± All traces of Daniel''s calm surfer lifts were buried under a harsh edge. ¡°In fact, disconnect."

    "This is my territory, and if one of your agents..." Malcolm started up with the standard Alpha dominance whine. Instincts were understandable but not helpful.

    "Do you have a location?" I cut them both off. It was a dangerous thing to get between a Sector Agent and pack Alpha. Suffering their anger was minor enough in exchange for Daniel¡¯s focus. After all Shaggy had done to keep Kahina and I safe it was only fair to return the favor.

    "Yeah. Yeah, man, I do." The agent responded.

    "Where?" I said.

    "9th and Svelte, maybe twenty minutes from your apartment." Daniel¡¯s location was near my home but in an opposite direction from this park. It would take me hours to walk that far.

    "I''ll get her." I promised. Malcolm¡¯s huffing could be heard on the line between our words. The Alpha must be desperately trying to calm down after being rudely told to get off the line.

    "Thanks. Listen, call me as soon as you can. She won''t be near the distress site, but something of hers should be. Use it, find her, and keep her safe." Daniel said.

    "Can you help with Kahina, so I can go after Ann?" I asked. Mounting a rescue for Shaggy and keeping Kahina safe were contrary objectives.

    "I can''t go out there, man. It has to be you. I''ve already stretched the rules. Anything more and entire operations are compromised." Daniel sounded beyond flustered. Why he cared about an operation over his fianc¨¦e was beyond me. Isn''t love stronger than honor?

    Yet I was willing to fulfill my deal with Candy just to help keep Kahina alive. For me, my word meant more than love. Part of me wanted to keep Kahina out of things, especially since the bulk of these attacks were designed to pressure me into action. My presence risked her life.

    "It''s helped us a lot." I said.

    "No, man. All this is for you. Now you owe me one, keep my girl alive while I try to keep this clusterfuck of a crime scene under control. Hopefully, this nightmare will be over soon." The phone beeped in my ear abruptly.

    "I''ll get her." I said. The clear description of my demolished abode made me wince. Somehow I would have to juggle Kahina and try to find Shaggy.

    "I think he dropped." Malcolm said. He was probably right. Knowing Daniel he''d be charging out there no matter what regulations said. I didn''t know the regulations for saving an undercover operative, but Daniel probably didn''t care.

    "Thanks, Malcolm." I said. The alpha had genuinely helped out on this one, or at least reassured me that a few problems were solved.

    "No problem." He sounded amused and irritated at the same time. "Oh, and if Corey and the others are listening, tell them orders still stand. Keep it out of my backyard."

    This time, the phone was kind enough to beep in my ear, signaling Malcolm''s disconnect. I was left with a lot of good news and bad news. Fifty Five was gone, Thomas and his trio wanted to help but shouldn¡¯t. Shaggy was in trouble. As if my day wasn''t already off to a fantastic start.

    "Can I get a ride at least?" I asked.

    All three wolves argued on the way to Thomas¡¯ truck.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 21 - Red Eyes

    The trio kept squabbling. Like siblings they mixed in playful banter and punching equally. Thomas had me and Kahina load into the back of his truck. Three wolves crowded into the front. Corey tried hitting Thomas hard enough to cause the truck to swerve into the other lane for a moment. Thankfully there was little traffic.

    My mind was trying to figure out how to handle this mess. Too bad there wasn''t a place I could safely leave her for an hour. Anything would be better than walking around with her body. I once saw a vampire security alarm company called Fangtastic Day Care. It was for the poorer would-be vampires. Success was not guaranteed.

    Bickering from the front seat distracted me every time my thoughts came up with half a plan. It wasn''t like I could ask the wolves to watch Kahina. Could I? Could they even be trusted for five minutes? Finding Shaggy shouldn''t take that long if I had something of hers.

    Maybe. Asking them would require a huge leap of trust. I pondered the risks of letting Daniel down versus entrusting anyone else with Kahina.

    We swung by the bar and dropped off Stacy and Corey. They hopped out, still arguing, and left Thomas to finish driving me. Once they unloaded he yanked open a little window that divided the front cab and camper shell. This felt sort of familiar.

    "Don''t think this means we''re buddies," He said.

    "Wouldn''t dream of it," I promised.

    "I told the others, after..." He paused. "Kahina took care of the one who killed Julianne, maybe she wasn''t so bad."

    "Neither of us wanted it to happen." I wasn''t going to say her name again. Not in front of Thomas anyway.

    "It''d take a pretty fucked up individual to honestly wish death on another person," He said.

    There was no good way for me to respond to that. In the last few days I had nearly doubled the number of people I murdered, justified or not. Not once had a feeling of guilt or remorse nagged at me. Putting Kahina in danger had established where my morals drew the line. I was willing to kill anyone, wolves, humans, or elves for her. Willing to give her up forever. Willing to do what it took to keep her spirit alive in that other realm.

    "We''re here. How long do you need?" Thomas pointed to a street sign.

    "Not sure," I answered him.

    The truck had stopped short of 9th and Svelte. We were parked on one side of the road. I peered out the tailgate and saw fresh skid marks from where a car had peeled out. They trailed off into an alley. That would be a good place to start.

    "Well, Princess, I''m in for the long haul. I''ll do what I can to help, pops will have to suck it up." There was something about Thomas that irritated me. It wasn''t that he set off my trust alarms. Maybe it was the way he assumed everyone would accept his mocking tone of voice. Whatever it was had become easier to notice now that Corey and Stacy were gone.

    I hopped out and left Kahina in the back. She was covered up so it wouldn''t be obvious a body was laying there. Maybe Thomas could be convinced to keep her safe. Talking would be easier through the driver''s side window anyway. He rolled it down for me.

    "Just going to leave her?" Thomas frowned then smiled like the whole thing was a joke. The action reaffirmed my annoyance despite his willingness to help.

    "Listen. The people that invaded your pack grounds, they''re called the Order of Merlin. Julianne was shot with one of their guns."

    "Okay..." His normally joking demeanor had shifted a little bit. Hopefully, he was taking this seriously.

    "I don''t know a lot, but they want Kahina dead," I said.

    "Good enough reason to keep your ball and chain alive right, Princess?" Thomas nodded like the conclusion was easy. He didn¡¯t understand how difficult the idea of trusting anyone with Kahina was right now. I had no other option, though, and there might be a number of dangers down the alley.

    "Can you give me ten minutes?" I asked him.

    "Sure. I''ll go grab some food and circle the block a few times. Meet me back here when you''re ready for a pickup. I''m sure Corey will report me if I stay down here much longer, though."

    I looked at Thomas for a moment. It wouldn''t be too hard to yank him out of the car and take the truck for my own use. Part of me honestly debated doing that and stashing Kahina inside an actual car or closet. There were no nearby super security vaults to my knowledge.

    "Alright," I muttered. Kahina had said it, we needed to trust someone. Taking a chance and liking a person were completely different, though.

    "See you in a bit. Good luck finding whoever it is." Thomas rolled the window up and shifted the truck back into gear.

    All sorts of horrible thoughts passed through my brain as he left. Would he kidnap Kahina to exact his revenge? Would they hurt her? Kill her? Maybe Stacy and Corey had been dropped off earlier in order to round up additional pack members. Thomas could be driving off to an abandoned warehouse.

    I closed my eyes and tracked Kahina. It was a relief when Thomas did indeed pull into the nearest drive through for food. My senses vibrated with the words passed between him and the fast food intercom.

    Okay. Now it was time to find Shaggy, fast, and hope she was alright. She was a trooper and had taken on groups of attackers with a frightening calm. My money would be on her sitting calmly on a pile of dead bodies and then chewing me out for leaving Kahina in someone else''s care.

    At least that''s what I thought until rounding the alley¡¯s corner.

    It was the vehicle Shaggy had been driving yesterday. Somehow she backed the car down the alley. Headlights had nearly expired and bullet holes could be seen in the windshield. Never mind that the windshield was near the entryway of the alley and the SUV was much further down. Shaggy must have kicked it out while driving backward, and possibly shooting at someone.

    Daniel was right to be distressed. Especially if my guess was anywhere close to what had happened. If she was a Sector Agent, undercover, it wasn''t beyond reason. Driving like that was an insane stunt. The television said it took timing and practice, but it required guts beyond what I had. Or lots of desperation.

    Damage had been done to all sides of the stolen SUV. There were scrapes along the doors, unnatural dents and a busted bumper. A dead body sprawled through the window and across the passenger side desperately reaching. It was male. Blood pooled across the passenger seat. Not completely dried. Not fresh either. I scanned past the body looking for anything of Shaggy''s that could be used to track her.

    There was nothing apparent. No torn clothing. No favorite gun. Her PDA might have been useful too, Shaggy carried it everywhere for the last few months.

    No, there was something in the man''s hand. I leaned in closer to try and see what the object was. A golden cross. It was tiny and hard to pick out. Did this belong to Shaggy? Downright dirty to wear one while employed in a vampire household. He had died recently enough that his joints weren''t all locked up and the cross came out easily.

    What was rigor mortis at? Just under three hours depending on conditions? I think it was close to that. It was one of those odd facts that stuck from documentaries. Under three hours ago this man had died. That meant Shaggy could be holed up anywhere nearby. The cross had to be hers or there would be no way to find her. I closed my eyes and tried the connection.

    Wood down the alley is rotten and weak. Dried blood litters the area. Recent, old, everywhere in between. I pull on the cord that connects somewhere. Fuzzy, hard to grasp, one layer over another layer. Brown over blonde. Dyed wool.

    Pulls towards an apartment complex. Feel grainy stairs going up. Fresh blood stains travel downward. So do I. Bullet holes riddle the walls like open wounds.

    Why did no one call the police about these gunshots? Was Daniel suppressing the report or Candy? The female elf had been watching over Shaggy.

    I hustled to the doorway and down a flight of stairs. It was a basement level apartment, maintenance, plumbing, heating ducts, the whole works. It might even lead to an underground level that ran along the sewers. There were things like that all over the downtown areas.

    Shaggy was down there somewhere, but my link didn''t feel solid. The connection flickered in and out, alternating between active then nothing. Being unable to completely track her was a bad sign.

    Twists and turns passed by. A slightly bloodily handprint here, a drying drop on the ground, damage on the walls from gunfire. Two bodies laid on the ground that must have been chasing her. Pools of liquid had formed recently. Neither body was moving even after I rolled them over with a foot.

    There were further bodies scattered down the hall. All human so far. Probably Order members. The connection to Shaggy, when it worked, lead somewhere nearby. This latest room was mostly empty. A few boxes lined one wall, looking like printer paper that had been stored from an office upstairs. Chunks were missing from where bullets had torn into the reams. Heat absorbed by the paper poured across my senses.

    "Shaggy?" I said to a still room.

    The connection swam in and out of focus. She was close, yes, but barely alive.

    "Ann?" I tried again. There was nothing behind the stack of boxes. Nothing in any part of the room. The door opposite where I came in led to nothing. Cubbyholes on either side of the room had no one in them. Even the caged area that probably passed for security in someone''s world was empty.

    "Hell, Shaggy. Daniel''s going to kill me." I muttered while looking around. This whole search had me going in circles.

    There was a brief reflection of light out of the corner of my eye. One moment Shaggy wasn''t in the room, the next a very obvious body was huddled in a corner near the boxes. Her body lay still. I scrambled over.

    "Ann, come on, I''ve got you." My senses gave me tiny snips of detail.

    Little Hunter''s pulse wavers. Thready. Each breath hitches. Clothes torn. Tender flesh lines her neck. She has tears. Killed those hunting her. Did well. I approve of her fangs.

    Hands clench an empty gun. Her vest warps with dense patches. Little Hunter¡¯s chest struggles to raise. One pocket heavier than the other. A phone.

    I unfastened her vest and pulled out the PDA then hit speed dial twelve. Daniel answered before the phone even rang.

    "Sweetie?" His voice was instantly choked up. I checked over his fianc¨¦e''s body for wounds. Gunshots and one of the boxes had fallen over onto her during the fight. Her entire ribcage showed damage from where bullets had slammed into the vest. It wasn''t deep, but the impact can''t have helped.

    "It''s Jay," I said.

    "Is she?" He couldn''t finish the sentence. I ran my hand over Shaggy''s head to try and feel for a lump, it came up wet with blood. The box had probably done more damage than the bullet.

    "Alive? Barely." I took a lungful of air and tried to prepare Daniel for the worst. "I''m not sure how long she has." One moment she was there in my senses, the next she vanished then came staggering back.

    "What? Jesus, man. No, no, no." I could hear him hold the phone tightly. "Listen, you can save her." Desperation lined his words.

    "I''ll get her to a hospital."

    "No. No, no." He cut me off. "Right now, you can help her." A car door slammed on Daniel''s side and the background noise quieted down considerably.

    "What?" I didn''t have the power to heal someone. If I had I would''ve used it to save Julianne.

    "You can and you can save her. Man, you''ve got to try." He was muttering to himself. Trying to spark a foggy memory.

    "How?" I asked.

    "Blood." He snapped. "The answer''s always been your blood."

    "I don''t understand, Crummy!"

    "You used to but had to forget," Daniel said.

    "What?!" This was absurd. My mind got stuck on the word forget. I couldn¡¯t remember something? How the hell could anyone make me do that?

    "Listen. Put some of her blood to your lips, and some of yours on her wound. Then command it to heal her."

    "It won''t work."

    "It has to." He sounded even more desperate than before.

    "It won''t." I protested. The creature in the back of my head nagged at me. Saying that this was a bad idea. What had Evan said? Awareness was the key, being aware of what I could do would reveal what I was.

    "If she dies, Jay, that''ll be the end of it. I''ll fucking reveal all the shit you''ve done. Your name will end up on every watch list across the globe. I will personally hand your name to the Order."

    "Don''t threaten me, Agent." That other voice took over in an instant and my words echoed throughout the room. Whatever it was that laid inside my body had given Daniel an order. That action took balls that I never noticed between my legs. Hell.

    "I''m sorry, Jay. Just, please, please help her." Daniel''s voice was broken.

    That other voice responded again. Like before a portion of the words were censored. Some of the meaning bled through, though. It, that being inside of me, was telling Daniel to do something. Bargain?

    "Of course. I know you don''t remember why, but-" Daniel''s words faded out again. Nothing made sense. The rest of the conversation shut off and the last idea I picked up was one of time. Like time was growing short.

    The man on the phone. Deluded. Not a threat to me. Not now. No longer holds my life in his hands. His idea is still sound. Should interfere. Little Hunter is valuable. Helps keep Dangerous Mate alive. Owe compensation. Life for life. Will be pleased.

    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    I do what he says. This once. Take Little Hunter''s blood. Taste it. Feel the differences between mine and hers. Roll it around. Thin, but stubborn.

    Crack one hand against the wall. Skin barely healed, now broken open again. Smear the hand against Little Hunter''s wound.

    Remembering too much. Must forget what is happening.

    Suddenly I blacked out. One moment Shaggy was unconscious, near death. When things came back together she was sitting up and slowly putting on her jacket. The sudden loss of time made me jump.

    "You''re okay?" I asked.

    "I guess it wasn''t that bad. I thought for sure that was the end." Her voice was rough and her skin showed bruises from where the vest had protected some of the damage.

    "You were nearly dead."

    "That potion you saved worked. News to me that elves could store their healing magic. I feel way better." She was standing and one hand rested on her gun.

    "Yeah." I tried not to seem puzzled.

    "Anyway, sir, if that wolf Thomas is able to give us a ride we should get going. We also need to make sure Lady Rhodes is alright." She said. Her words were slow but didn''t overly slur.

    Her phone was in my free hand and displaying the time. Ten minutes had passed without an ounce of consciousness from me.

    Somewhere during my blackout the other presence in my head had explained about Thomas and our current situation. It had also come up with a clever lie about how I fixed her.

    I waited for the other presence inside me to keep things moving. Another minute passed before it was obvious that I was in control again. It, the being, was sleeping somewhere in a dark corner of my mind. My head felt leaden, but that could have been the newest wound on top of all the others.

    The first attempt at standing failed.

    "Come on." Shaggy was exhausted, gun in one hand, and looking at me expectantly. If she could stand then so could I.

    "Where do we go now?"

    "To someone that can help."

    Once both legs were firmly under me we started off down the hallways. It was slow going. The fresh damage to my hand had clotted, but anything more than that was a stretch. Moving it hurt.

    "Did you call Daniel?"

    "You heard me call him." Her eyes were red like she had been crying and barely managed to bottle it back up.

    "Oh, right." During my blackout moment. "Still recovering." From everything.

    "Did they get you too?"

    My response started with a nod. I tried to explain what had happened at my abode. A lot of the details were left out or glossed over, because there was no way to explain them without sounding crazy. Little things like my strange sword and shield were left out. Some of the graphic details of decapitating humans to throw at the female wolf from Fifty Five were also skipped. Shaggy sounded happy that the mercenary pack had pulled out of the conflict.

    "What''s left?" She asked.

    "Burnouts, and Order members. Though..." I eyed some of the dead bodies as we went down the hallway.

    "Yeah. The paperwork will be hell after this assignment."

    "I''m sure." I said.

    "It''s worth it, though. If she lives-" The woman¡¯s head shook back and forth rapidly as it casting away some terrible idea.

    "She will." Everyone seemed certain that the change itself wouldn''t kill her. It was in their wording. "Who is this person that will help?" I shifted back to our earlier topic.

    "A Sector asset. She handles some weird cases. Daniel said she was stationed close to you."

    "Oh?" I tried to picture the people I knew. None of them were any stranger than the others. It felt like everyone around me had some sort of quirk or strange situation going on. I was willing to bet that even the drunk plaid wearing man back at Julianne''s bar had a secret story.

    "And Daniel didn''t outright say it, but you''re probably her weird case."

    "You''re odd yourself, Shaggy." I deflected.

    There was a pause while she stopped and smiled. After a moment of quiet amusement and a short nod, she kept going. We exited the sub-basement and looked around.

    Finding Thomas was easy and didn''t require tracking Kahina. The connection was solid so she was still alive. The twenty minutes or so I left her in the wolf''s care hadn''t backfired on me. He was parked at the end of the alley and stood near the tailgate of his truck. The time we were apart had done wonders for him. Maybe it was the food.

    "Thomas!" I shouted and jogged over. Shaggy moved a lot slower behind me. It was clear her body still hurt in a lot of places. Mine did too, but there was no way it would slow me down.

    "Thanks," I said.

    "Sure. Thought you died down there with the rest of them. The stink coming out of there is intense."

    There was a rush of exhaustion that swept over me, signaling my abilities being overtaxed. Only a few hours and things were bad already. Even though my senses were still hypersensitive from whatever had happened with Shaggy.

    Little Hunter releases the gun from its rough holster. Clicks off safety in same motion. Aims over Angry Wolf''s shoulder. Feet rub against dirty asphalt. Twists around. Looks for something. Angry Wolf looks confused. Ears perk.

    "I don''t know." I turned around and looked at Shaggy.

    "Something''s wrong," She said.

    Thomas sniffed a few times and turned his head to try and listen.

    "That''s odd," He said then looked up sharply.

    Following his gaze didn''t help as sudden fear overtook me. Like the screaming voices in that other place, only I was awake. Past the fear I could almost make out the shape of a man standing perfectly still on top of the building.

    "Shades?" I nearly whimpered the word. The name didn''t fit, not completely. That creature in the back of my mind had another name for them, but it was just out of reach.

    Shaggy and Thomas weren''t cringing like I was. This man wasn''t the same as the things from my dreams. It wore pajamas and stood there as sunlight poured from behind him. Garbled screaming echoed down the alley bouncing off of walls, trash, and vehicles. A shadow hung unnaturally along the wall below him. The same red eyes peeked out at us from the depths of that shadow. Darker than black.

    Not quite vampires.

    "They''re after Kahina." I tried to say.

    Screaming echoed around the alley. I turned sharply and looked behind me. Another one stood at the far end. Shaggy pointed and fired, only her gun came up empty. She cursed and dove for the SUV she had been driving in.

    "The Lady!" She yelled.

    I had to move, but my legs felt leaden. Like walking through the dream landscape. Thomas had no such problems and ran for the truck. There was a click of noise as the creature from above us leapt down three floors into the alley. A snarl and hiss that was vampiric in semblance.

    Thomas body checked one of the creatures that was reaching into the car. Two hundred pounds of wolf won out against the thinner frame. Shaggy limped by me firing bullets that caused my senses to ring. She turned and yelled something that I couldn''t hear past the Shade''s gibbering. Her hand motions obvious, demanding that I move.

    I shook and tried to get to my feet. A pair of hands dug into my clothes and pulled. Shaggy fired over me and the bullets knocked me out of its grip. I turned onto my back and started kicking into the man''s face. The Shade hiding in his shadow split with glowing redness where a mouth should be.

    My foot slammed into shadowy face and the look changed to one of surprise followed by anger. The Shade tried to move and dodge but couldn''t get far without the body casting it.

    Thomas yelled something behind me. More bullets blazed across the distance. Shaggy was pulling at one of my arms trying to get me back to the car.

    For just a moment, my vision slipped into that other world of pillars and flaming sun. Feeling it rather than seeing. Mentally I spun away on a thread connecting the vampire''s body to the world where those shades lived.

    Two columns stand in front. Short. My heart races from the terror. Their very nature destroys the calm.

    Vision snapped back to reality. The man Shaggy had shot and I kicked was getting back up. She fired into a knee cap and limited its movement. I tried to pump my leaden legs to get away faster.

    The twin pillars look down. No longer jester smiles. Now scowls peer towards me. Near the pillar¡¯s base, in the deepest shadow, a creature of darkness rests. Small red orbs peering between slits in my direction. The other column houses a second creature. Feel it shift uncomfortably. Knows I see it here. Here and in the other world.

    Will destroy it. Will fight. Arms feel heavy. This is not my world. Forced my way across the boundaries for Dangerous Mate.

    I stretch my legs and stand tall. Reach the top of the pillar. Limbs balance against each other. Difficult motion. Forgotten motion. Limbs feel asleep.

    Reality blinked back into existence. Thomas was still yelling and fighting. I heard the clang of metal on metal. The two-day walking vampires with shades in their shadows were moving. The one Shaggy had been shooting was crawling after us. I kicked in spastic jerks, but both legs felt useless. My body was trying to shut down on me during the middle of a battle. The last few days had placed repeated strain on my abilities and I would be lucky to survive.

    I stand in the world of grey scale pillars. No strength to do more. Barely any strength to keep standing. Will fall down soon.

    Must use that fall.

    Fall towards pillars. Limbs spread wide. Catch both. Bring all weight to bare on the creature''s hideaway. Fiery sky rages above. Nothing will protect it. Ash soon. Their red eyes widen. Both shades know death becomes.

    Kahina was in danger. My eyes opened to the normal world. The screaming had gotten worse, inducing terror. I tried to ignore the fear and summon my strength to stand up. Both legs threatened to buckle, but I made it upright. Shaggy tucked under one shoulder and helped me along. My mind swam in between reality and the alternate world of pillars and flame.

    Columns crumble. Fire and light pour across the pitiful creatures. Should not have attacked. Should not have threatened what is mine.

    Behind us, the creature could be heard weakly scraping along. Vampiric healing would get him back on two feet soon. Thomas fought the other one. It looked like he had slammed the vampire, repeatedly, with a broken truck door. Wolves had the reactions but not the speed.

    A second face existed in that one''s shadow as well. Only this one was fading slowly. Almost in time with the pillar crumbling under my weight. Whatever was happening hurt me in real life as well. My chest felt the pressure of granite tearing it. Every moment was a triumph of courage over the strange fear.

    Shades in the other world scream silently. Burn under the sky of fire. Ash flakes. Job done. Must rest.

    Eyes returned to the normal world and things were strangely quiet. I turned to look at the attacking vampire behind us and noticed that pajama-clad figure was motionless. Exactly like a vampire should be during the day. The jeering face was gone from its shadow. Absurdly the vampire started flaking apart. Melting into ash from the sunlight and completely unaware.

    Turning back to the car revealed that the second attacker was much the same. Transforming to ash and battered from where Thomas had beaten him with the truck door. The shade creature was absent and hopefully dead. It was so relieving that I closed my eyes for just a moment. Exhaustion made my body feel leaden. Nothing moved right. The energy use from my abilities demanded repayment.

    I nearly missed a new person creeping into Thomas'' blind spot. Shaggy didn''t and yelled a warning while raising her gun. Almost absently I identified the new figure as Anthony. His face was no longer conflicted, muscles surged in perfect unison and brought a curved sword across.

    Thomas could hear and react quickly, but his speed wasn¡¯t fast enough. Anthony gutted him as the wolf turned around in surprise. Shaggy tried to fire her gun but couldn''t get any solid shots. Bullets zoomed by in slow motion. Part of my mind could feel the trails they left while boring through air.

    I tried to run for Anthony. The vampire looked at me. His expression lacked that normal smarmy presence. Whatever he saw wasn''t worth pausing for long. When he turned away it became clear that I was harmless in his mind.

    Hell. I would meld his face with the nearest wall and show the vampire how worthless I was. Neither leg responded correctly. Head met the dirty alley ground again. Even my neck barely reacted in time to look up at the day walking vampire. Anthony calmly strolled up to the back of Thomas'' truck and pulled Kahina out. He didn''t spare a glance in my direction and ran off with her over one shoulder. The blur of speed as Anthony vanished was maddening.

    She was mine. Mine and none of my normal abilities were responding to the demands being issued. I could barely move, felt worn to the bone and on the verge of passing out.

    Shaggy stood in the alley with a concerned look on her face, panting, both hands on the gun. She slowly traveled up to Thomas to check on him, then the two piles of ash that had been our attacking vampires. It was all I could do to watch the wolf press a hand to his wounded side. He frowned and studied his blood stained fingers.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 22 - Remember It

    Ann came back and propped me up again. It was clear that she didn''t expect a lot. Either the being in my head had given her an excuse or she was shaken by those creatures. We tried to hurry over to Thomas, but it was difficult. He had been closer to the truck than us by the time the fighting ended. It was only thirty feet or so but it felt like a mile. The wolf eyed me as we approached.

    "Tell me about this Order." Thomas struggled to get words out. "Make me believe getting gutted was worth it."

    "The Order of Merlin." I corrected weakly. My ears rang, but the rest of my senses were gradually coming back together. Winding back in around my limbs.

    Thomas managed to take slow shuddering breaths with disconnected muscles. "Who the hell is that?" He wheezed.

    I couldn''t shrug right. The Merlin part had never made sense to me. Supposedly there was a bird called a Merlin. Beyond that, there was no answer on the internet.

    "They attacked your pack." I said.

    Shaggy leaned against the car trying to catch her breath. She wasn''t feeling that great either. The shade creatures had essentially left her alone. I wondered why the woman hadn¡¯t tried first aid on Thomas. Maybe survival was out of the picture.

    "If they hadn''t pushed us then-" I couldn¡¯t finish the thought.

    "My sister would still be-" He trailed off with a shuddering cough. There wasn''t a lot of blood coming out of him anymore. Once she felt better Shaggy knelt down to check his dilation and the wound.

    "I don''t know if he''ll make it." Ann said.

    "Of course, I''m dying." Thomas coughed. "Take my truck. Keys are in the ignition."

    Shaggy and I shared a look. Do we try to do something for Thomas, or take the wolf''s word that he was dying? Should we call him an ambulance and hope he could hold on long enough? Doing so would double the reasons for Malcolm and Charles to hate me.

    "We''ll take care of your friend." Shaggy said. "Then find out where Anthony has taken her. Somehow. There''s no point rushing after him, though, he could be anywhere by now. We''ll have to wait until he''s stopped moving."

    "I can track Kahina." I said to her.

    "Right now? Without a real scent trail?" Shaggy was surprised. Thomas snorted.

    "Yes." I said.

    "I''ll get the guns." The undercover agent tried to hustle back to the SUV and started gathering ammunition.

    That left me and the wolf. Thomas had only recently turned into a nicer being. Part of me remained upset about his actions over the last few months. The other part felt a little guilty. Thomas had gone to bat for Kahina and me in these last few hours.

    A normal person wouldn''t usually be calm over seeing someone with their guts hanging out. I could see where parts of his flesh were trying to knit back together. Blood didn''t gush out, but even a wolf''s hyperactive healing wasn''t enough. Shaggy seemed indifferent to his situation and I wasn''t much better. Maybe it was all the death recently or I was a product of my environment. Maybe it was easier because I never really liked Thomas. Yet watching a man die, one who had a name and wasn''t some nobody, wasn''t easy. It felt like a dirty irony that he was dying in front of me just like his sister had.

    "God I want to hate you so much." Thomas looked miserable and checked his wound again. A sword, who carried a damned sword anymore? Anthony, that''s who. Well, and me for that brief period of five minutes.

    "It''s hard." Thomas said. "She, won''t, let, me." His hand was weak, it kept slipping ever so slightly. I propped him up against a wall. If nothing else it might make Thomas comfortable. "I can''t let go of her."

    "Julianne?" I asked. Was he talking about a pack memory?

    "No. Nun down the road. Saw up her skirt and fell in lust."

    Shaggy ignored us and planted her stash of guns into the back of the truck. She was doing the best out of all of us, physically at least. Her body language was detached. I had a feeling she hit a mental wall. Bottled up emotions would come out eventually. Hopefully, we would be done by then. She and Daniel would need to work through surviving together. Maybe she didn''t truly nderstand how close death had been. Ann might be a psychopath and not care.

    "See. You''re fine." I got back to Thomas and attempted terrible banter. If he could joke at a time like this then things might not be as bad as they looked. Maybe he could survive by holding his guts in long enough to heal.

    "Wolves know a fatal wound when it happens. Too bad it''s dragging ass." His breathing slowed down along with speech. "I went out with style."

    "Taking on two vampires for your dead sister''s best friend is definitely stylish, I¡¯ll even call it noble." I tried to play along. Similar to how he and Julianne had bantered.

    Maybe if I knew first aid, or anything more complicated than shoving a shirt into his wound. I tried to poke the beast in the back of my head with a mental stick. Too bad that presence was sound asleep. Thomas'' breath grew shallow and his eyelids dropped.

    "Stay with me." I shook his shoulder lightly. Maybe he could pull through. Not that I held a lot of hope. Maybe the police would show up soon. Maybe they wouldn''t. There were too many maybes in this situation and it was driving me crazy.

    Police were out anyway. With a transition like this going on, they were probably all taking extremely long coffee breaks.

    "The pack''ll be better without me. You''ll see. Grandpops can move on." Thomas¡¯ words were distant. Like he was watching his death from somewhere far away.

    "You can move on too." I said.

    Shaggy started the truck up and revved the engine a few times. She wanted to get going, now. The woman was willing to leave Thomas here. I almost was, but Julianne¡¯s brother deserved better.

    "No. I don''t want to forget her." Thomas wasn''t smiling anymore, his eyes were off in the distance. At least I wasn''t holding him, that would be a little much for me right now.

    "Pack never forgets right?" I suggested. What would Julianne''s grandfather think of me now? The wolf''s entrails were gradually drawing back into his body, but most were hanging there. The only reason he was conscious as death closed in was because of a wolf''s toughness.

    "We don''t forget." Thomas'' words started to drag out. Each one took longer to form than the one prior. "But we bury our memories." He said in a flat tone.

    I had to blink a few times before the joke registered. "Hah."

    He tried to nod. Then took another shuddering breath. All the color had dripped out of his face. I had never seen a wolf drag on this long.

    "Tell Stacy she''s a bitch." He almost whimpered trying to get the last words out. One last stupid attempt at humor before his breathing stopped altogether.

    "Yeah. I will." Only a moment''s rest had helped me regain control of my legs. That and those creatures being gone. I looked down at the latest sacrifice for this madness. Amber eyes stared off into the distance. A poetic sort might believe Julianne would be waiting for him on the other side.

    There was a vampire to hunt and Anthony had a head start already. Thomas'' truck was right here. Almost as soon as I turned around someone laughed. Weak but amused. I turned back to see Thomas eying me from his position on the ground.

    "No goodbye confession? Not secretly pining for me?" His words sounded far more coherent. My facial expression must have been funny because he started weakly laughing again.

    "You didn''t think that nonsense was real did you? Help me shove my guts back in. We''ve got to rescue my sister''s friend right, Princess?" Thomas didn''t even wait for me to come over. He started threading his intestines through the wound on his side and kicked both legs weakly.

    The whole dying act had been a joke? While Kahina was being carried away by Anthony? I couldn''t decide if I was relieved he was alive or hated him even more for playing a tasteless joke on me.

    "Looks like a platter of scrambled eggs." His shaky hands were doing rather well. "We''ll put all this back in and hope my morning crap is right on time." That damage should have killed him. I would have died for sure, healing or not.

    "I''m not the first in our pack to get hurt this bad." He said. I still hadn''t left the side of the truck. This was utterly bizarre and my brain had finally snapped. "The healing is great, lets you do all sorts of stupid stuff and walk away."

    Shaggy rolled her eyes, got out of the driver''s seat and popped open the tailgate. The sleeping bag Kahina had been in minutes ago became a bedspread. It was amazing that the undercover agent didn''t make a comment. Her teeth weren''t even grating against each other in frustration. We were both beyond exhausted.

    "My great uncle Ted, he lost both feet at once, shoved them back on with some glue. Can''t dance anymore, not that his wife lets that excuse fly." It was hard to tell who Thomas was talking to now. Maybe himself, maybe me, or the ghost of Julianne that was stuck in his pack memories.

    We worked together to lift the heavy wolf. He kept talking the entire time, hopping and trying to hold his guts in with one hand. Thomas kept rambling through the open window between the cabin and back. I wasn''t sure what to think as we loaded into the front.

    "David, you know, Doug''s brother, he actually had his eye popped out." There was a squishing sound as we heard Thomas feed the last yard of intestines into his side. "Sure, a new one grew in eventually, but it moves funny when he laughs. He can legally drive, not that anyone in the pack wants to hitch a ride with him."

    The truck was idling and Shaggy stared at me expectantly. It only took a moment to find a direction for Kahina. I pointed off to the north. The vampire had managed to cover miles in a matter of minutes. Now he seemed to be walking inside a building. Shaggy shook her head.

    "We''ll do Daniel''s suggestion first. It should help us sneak up on him and those things. If there are more. Daywalking vampires are rare as hell." Shaggy said with a dry voice. Like she saw it happen enough in her line of work that it had a classification. I didn''t want to correct her. Those weren''t daywalking vampires, they were being ridden by the Shades on the other side somehow.

    "How long will it take?" I asked.

    "Maybe twenty minutes? Then it depends on your ability to track." She said.

    "I can track her from anywhere." It came out as a mumble. "Will Kahina live that long?"

    "I don''t know.¡± Ann stated without emotion. ¡°By all rights Anthony should have killed her already, but hasn''t. Something must be holding him back. Maybe he''s still on our side and trying to throw off the remaining hunters."

    I closed my eyes and tracked Kahina down. Sure enough, Anthony, with one of those weird Shade creatures in his shadow, wasn''t hurting a hair on her head. It didn''t make me happy, but at the same time I couldn''t handle another round of that fear again. Not without help to back us up. Twenty minutes was long enough for Thomas to heal partially.

    "Maybe." Anthony might be on our side, he had been fighting a possession last time. Maybe Anthony or the creature in his shadow was friendly. Come night time the vampire would be awake and back in control. We had hours until it happened.

    There was nothing to do but get the extra help Shaggy suggested. Even if we charged after him right now there was no chance. That sword, speed, and our poor conditions.

    I looked back on our wounded wolf. Thomas was rambling in the background. Maybe he would live at that. The open window didn''t prevent his delirious rambling from reaching the front.

    "You''re tough." I commented to him.

    "Comes with the breed, Princess. The bullets that caught my sis would never have killed a real wolf. Not without silver." The half gutted wolf wheezed out his words.

    "I know."

    "I know you know I know." His heart wasn''t in the attempt at humor. Thomas¡¯ fingers were slowly losing their coordination again. He managed to get everything back inside and was trying to keep pressure on the wound.

    "Hang in there." I said.

    "Cats hang. Wolves lounge." Thomas'' eyes were rolling in the back of his head.

    I surveyed the damage. Blood had gotten all over the back, it wasn''t a lot, just everywhere. The wound on his side was starting to close on its own. Like his body had waited for body parts to no longer be hanging out.

    "That''s gross, Thomas." I said. Conversation might help him stay conscious.

    "It only makes me hungry." He frowned and tried to move an arm. "That should disturb me. Is there still food up there?"

    "The healing does that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice deadpan. Shaggy tossed a fast food bag into the back while driving. Thomas fumbled with one hand.

    "Yeah, healing and gushing more blood than a vampire on her period makes me ravenous." Thomas was becoming unfocused as time passed. The distant look in his eyes told me he was in shock. Every time he blinked it felt like his eyes would never open again. Then I really would have collected the set, like Thomas snidely remarked a week ago.

    I slid the window closed and looked at Shaggy.

    "How is he not dead?" I whispered.

    "You''d know more than I. Only Alphas have that kind of regeneration, though. He might be better than you."

    Might? The man survived a blade across his stomach and was rambling as a result. I could see into the back where Thomas was unwrapping a hamburger one handed.

    "The cut wasn''t deep. Anthony could have sliced him in two but didn''t." Shaggy said.

    "How do you know?"

    "Because I went to practices, you didn''t. Anthony is a master with a blade. It''s part of what got him hired on as a second. Vampires respect hand to hand skills."

    "Hell." I muttered. The idea of a sword-wielding partial vampire having Kahina worried me. One slip or loss of control and she might die.

    "Anthony only improved after you burned the side of his face months ago."

    "Great." Last time it had been easy to stop the partial vampire. Now, months later, he was more proficient, had an actual weapon, and was closer to completing his change. Worse, I was too tired to use half my abilities without passing out.

    "So the wolf lives, Lady Rhodes may be in good hands, or may not be. Either way we''ll get our assist and go get the Lady." Ann Myers said.

    "Where are we going?" I glanced at the brunette out of the corner of my eye. Was her hair really that color? Did she use boosts in her shoes to make walking easier? Maybe she spoke in a surfer accent like Daniel. None of those questions were said out loud.

    "Not going. Gone." The truck shifted into park with a clank of noise.

    I stared in confusion. We had gone a full circle more than once over the last week. This time, we were back at Julianne''s Bar and Grill. Half the parking lot was blocked with sector tape which extended around my entire home. It would never feel secure there again. A few heads turned over to us from where they were looking. None of them looked like pack, though. No strange shadows with faces in them.

    Daniel was nowhere in sight. I was willing to bet he was watching from a car, biting his nails in frustration. The man was torn between what his job required of him and the feelings he had for Ann, assuming that was her real name. She didn''t even look around. It was like her brain had reduced life to a series of short tasks just to keep moving forward.

    "What do we do with Thomas?" I asked.

    "Let him rest. It''ll be fast anyway." She said.

    Shaggy escorted us in this time. Both of us were moving sluggishly but better than we moved in the alley. There was no awkward pause at the door to seal up silver. The room was nearly empty except for a very bored looking waitress standing behind the bar counter. She was fiddling with a ribbon.

    "Who are we meeting?" I asked.

    "Her, I think." Shaggy said.

    "She''s just a waitress."

    "And you''re just a bouncer." The waitress responded. The ribbon became wrapped around one finger, then unwound. A moment later it was bent into a bow shape. She almost clucked at it in disapproval.

    ¡°Sorry. I can''t remember your name." I said.

    "Muni." She smiled while talking. This wasn''t a friendly smile, it was like being laughed at. I sat down at the counter and looked across at Muni. Shaggy didn''t seem comfortable sitting.

    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "We''re here for a trinket." Shaggy said hurriedly. She looked slightly nervous while one hand kept inching closer to her gun.

    "Oh?¡± Muni paused her ribbon manipulation to stare at Shaggy. The motion made the undercover agent blanch momentarily. ¡°Who gave you permission?"

    "Daniel Crumfield."

    "Interesting." The waitress kept glancing around the room, her attention barely settled on anything for more than a moment. She was much different now than any other time I had seen her. This person, Muni, gave off a completely different vibe.

    "You and the Lord both need a trinket?" She continued.

    "Lord?" Shaggy looked puzzled.

    Muni ignored her and stared at me, waiting for something.

    "What does she mean by that?" Shaggy asked me.

    "I wish I knew." I tried not to grind my teeth in irritation. It felt like everyone on the planet knew what I was but me. And Shaggy. "Can you tell me what a Lord is?"

    "Sure." She opened her mouth and I was hopeful for the first time in a long time.

    Then time skipped. A clock in the background had swung forward five minutes in a single blink. Either the creature in my head had blacked things out or something else had happened. There was a sort of liquid marble in Muni''s hand. She popped it into her mouth like a grape.

    The smile on her face as the food vanished was disturbing. A curve to those lips coupled with a hooked nose made her mouth look like a beak momentarily. She stared directly at me then shifted away. Not once had she actually blinked.

    "Did that make it clear?" Muni asked.

    "Make what clear?" I asked.

    "Exactly. Maybe you''ll change your mind later." Muni said.

    The waitress fussed with a feather woven into her hair, picking at a bit of fuzz that had attached to it. She wrapped the ribbon around the feather, tying it up. Her next words caught me off guard. "Though I must remind you, Lord."

    "Of what?" I turned to look at Shaggy. The brunette was staring ahead with a glazed over look on her face.

    "If you persist on your association with the Bloodletter my life will have been risked for naught." Muni¡¯s words held a hint of a leftover accent. Almost Emerald Isles but harsher. Winter made vocal. Old.

    "What risk-" Time skipped again. I found myself on the other end of a sentence, agreeing with something that hadn''t stuck with my memory. It was hard to say if this was because Muni or that damned presence in the back of my head.

    "About..." Shaggy started up like a mechanical doll that had a fresh pair of batteries.

    "Don''t waste our time asking. Trinkets take more than a moment to make. Luckily you already have a solution."

    Muni stopped talking and started preening again. Her fingers twined through other feathers hanging from hair. She was completely engrossed in the moment. Then she stopped and looked around the bar with a sigh.

    "Explain." Shaggy said.

    "It can''t be done." The waitress clucked.

    "Explain Muni or I''ll have your licenses revoked." Shaggy threatened. One hand rested comfortably on the gun.

    The look in Muni''s eyes was cold and inhuman. It was like an angry wolf looked out from a vampire''s cold demeanor. The irises were nearly pitch black on her white face. There was no way she was normal either. The Hidden. Keeper was right, they had found me. Why did that feel unimportant? Like I had known all along?

    "You''d be a drooling idiot before you reached the door." Muni said.

    "Try me." Shaggy gripped her gun tight enough to whiten knuckles.

    "Ladies." I said, once again having to be the voice of reason. Not a role I enjoyed. "We''re short on time."

    "It''s pointless because he already has my most powerful trinket." Muni didn''t look at me anymore. I started to ask for an explanation, but Shaggy cut me off.

    "How does it activate?" Shaggy asked.

    "Just start calling him a different name. It''ll make him hard to remember. Even looking right at him you''ll find his form slipping from memory." The raven haired woman shrugged.

    The undercover agent stared at Muni, then looked at me. Obviously her brain was going the same place mine was. What on earth had I done that warranted an object to make people forget me? Never mind, there was a long list.

    "How long have I had this-" I fumbled for the words in confusion. "-trinket? Where is it?" Hopefully not in my bullet ridden basement.

    "On your wrist." She said.

    I looked down and was startled. Sure enough, there was a woven band around my wrist. It was difficult to concentrate on and as soon as I noticed it my eyes started to wander. Seconds passed as I looked around the bar, completely forgetting what we were talking about. Finally, my eyes settled back on Shaggy and Muni. The waitress looked embarrassed, her face fluffed up.

    "You''ve had it a long time." Muni was hesitant in her words. "I won''t say more." That inhuman gaze still avoided me. I stared at her trying to will eye contact, to read anything in her body language.

    The waitress didn''t say anything else. Not even when the side of my face drew back in a snarl. Her eyes flickered with an undecipherable emotion, then it was swiftly buried. It didn''t matter, that was a look I knew well. Fear. Beneath that angry sneer, Muni was afraid of me. No, not me exactly, the being inside my head. If I moved with even an ounce of aggression she would hop out of here so fast a dust cloud might form.

    "Fine. Will it work with Shaggy?" I tried to pull my confused anger back. Now wasn''t the time to be lost to that other presence.

    None of it made immediate sense. I had a feeling that this went back a long ways. There was a faint brush of that other voice resting in the back of my head. It reminded me that there were more important problems now.

    "No." Muni responded.

    "Alright." A stylish flash of light caught my eye. Similar to what revealed Shaggy earlier. On the table were weakly scrawled words that hadn''t been there before. My head tilted slightly as I read them.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    Run, Now  - Candy

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    I could hear the sound of tires screeching to a halt outside the door. The Order found us. Candy must have run out of energy that had kept the illusions going. I would send her a gift basket and a spa voucher if we survived this. Now it was a matter of staying ahead of our pursuers long enough to recover Kahina. And trusting Muni.

    "Hide." I told the waitress, but Muni was already gone. In the time it took me to look down at the words and back up, she vanished. The only thing betraying her former presence was a single pitch black feather.

    "Rear door, sir." Shaggy was planning an escape.

    "John. Call me John."

    "Okay, John. I''ll get the car."

    "This way. Julianne had another exit." I grabbed Shaggy and started down the tiny hallway that lead past the kitchen to the back rooms.

    "Underground?" She asked me.

    "Yeah." I used it once or twice when ducking police inquires. "Wine cellar to the sewers." We were talking on the go. I lifted a foot and slammed it into a door covering the back room.

    "Joy." Shaggy said.

    Her gun was held in a death grip. She kept it leveled down the hallway waiting for the first unwelcome person to poke their head around the edge. I wasn''t exactly being stealthy either so it might take moments for them to fan through the rest of the room. Voices came from the main bar room. Feet stomped and rattled the floorboards.

    There hadn''t been anyone else in the bar that I saw. Then again they could have all been in the bathroom, or on a break, or across the parking lot staring at the crime scene my home had become. Muni may have made them forget to come inside the bar. It didn''t matter because our pursuers were unaffected. Shouts echoed from other rooms as they invaded.

    "Find him!" Him, not her. They weren''t after Kahina. Once again they were after me. I had to rescue Kahina first.

    I was still weak yet managed to flop a few kegs in front of the cellar door. Shaggy helped. They found the cellar door almost immediately after we barricaded it. The exit was in the back of this room. It took a bit to move away empty crates. We slipped through a half sized alcove with a ladder going down. I used this escape more than once in the past when working the more questionable assignments Julianne had given me. The fact that it remained useful after four years gave me hope.

    "Quick!" I lowered myself down five rungs at once. It was too slow to take them one at a time. Shaggy came down right after. She lost her grip on the last part of the ladder, but I caught her.

    I had forgotten how bad the smell was down here. It was a sewer, but nothing prepared you for the stench. Shaggy''s face scrunched up and she tried to avoid stepping in anything nasty. It was impossible to avoid all of the mess.

    "Where do we come out?" She asked.

    "All over. Best exit is across the street between buildings." I responded.

    "Best?"

    "It''s not a manhole cover, and we have to get Thomas." My shoulder went up in a shrug.

    "We can steal another car." Shaggy said.

    Above us, we heard shouting and gunfire. Our pursuers were shooting the door down. Idiots. Their answer to everything had become bullets. Here''s hoping they didn''t start a fire and blow up the bar.

    "Your guns are in Thomas'' truck." I said. She cursed but finally nodded. The woman let me lead us towards an exit.

    "Here." I pointed to a slim doorway. This was an access tunnel that was no longer maintained.

    Shaggy cleared the passageway first. Behind us, I could hear stomping as the people chasing us tried to catch up. There was no sense of fear that came with those daywalking vampires so it was probably only Order members chasing us. We ducked behind bushes and watched across the street.

    "Hide here." I said.

    "You''re going over there?" Her eyebrows went up for a moment in surprise.

    "That trinket''s on me right? They will hopefully forget that I''m even there." My words were a little unsure. This trinket must be a real thing, I tried to remember where it was but couldn¡¯t quite pin the knowledge down. I had always gone by alternate names while avoiding trouble. Perhaps there was a reason for it. "I can bring the truck over here."

    "You suck at driving, and it''s a stick shift." Shaggy lifted her gun and got ready to go out.

    "Then what?" I asked.

    "Get my guns, I''ll call a ride." She suggested.

    "You sure, Shaggy?"

    "Ann, for the love of god, sir, Ann. I call you John, you call me Ann." She said.

    My brain wrapped around that for a moment. The reason she hated me using nicknames was because she had a trinket too? That must have been confusing. Not that I understood a damned thing about these mythical devices. Mine theoretically made people forget me. Did Ann''s make people think she was someone else?

    "Fine, Ann." I conceded. My own mind had been waffling on how to label the woman since her near death experience.

    "If Thomas is up to it, get him to drive. If he''s not, leave him there. They don''t know the wolf is on our side. No sense dragging him into more of this, sir. John. Sir."

    Anything was better than sitting here waiting for the Order to figure out which way we had gone. Assuming they sent many people down into the sewer.

    "Good luck, John." Ann said.

    Walking across the street seemed foolish. It would be suspect if I tried to sneak through. Instead, I went into the parking lot like nothing was wrong. From the outside of Julianne''s bar, there wasn''t much visible beside awkwardly parked cars in front of the main entrance. There was still a batch of people drinking and staring at my taped off home. There was nothing in there that was useful enough to detour for. I had to trust that Daniel was being careful with my stuff and preventing people from going downstairs. No matter how bad the scene was.

    Thomas'' truck sat in the middle of what few cars there were. I cracked open the top of his camper shell and peaked in on him. The wolf was passed out with hands still clenched against one side. Breath came slow but steady. Stacy and Corey would be on their way soon for him I was sure.

    I was going to just leave the wolf there. Charles would kill me, but there was no way I was dragging anybody else into this madness. I would rather deal with a third auto theft than face either Alpha over this situation. Kahina had to survive first. Otherwise nothing else mattered.

    "Thanks, Thomas." I said, then yanked out the bundle of guns. A man walked through the parking lot nearby. He didn''t look familiar or threatening, but he was loudly speaking into a phone.

    "We missed him." The man said. "My men are trying, but their damned slanty ear whore blocked the slave."

    I assumed the slanty ear whore was Candy, and this slave must be their Seer. The Order had come to the bar looking for me, not for Kahina. Was it really my fault? I was torn between following the man and listening to the conversation and escaping back to Shaggy.

    There was no time. The longer I stood over here the higher our risk. If they were after me then I had to get away to keep helping Kahina. The walk back to Shaggy was slow. Not because of any desire to take time. My body was barely functional and the bag of weapons was heavy. It was worth the effort but only because Ann was such a good shot.

    Not once did anyone shout at me, fire bullets in my direction, or bother to glance in my direction. Even Shaggy ignored me, talking on her phone to someone.

    "I need a pickup." She was saying. I stood there waiting for her to notice me.

    "No, now." True to form she had one hand on top of her holstered gun, the other on the phone. She was crouched behind a random trash can.

    "I know it''s rough back there, but this is almost over. We''re coming back in. This ends tonight." Shaggy kept right on talking, ignoring me standing in front of her. "Right, for better or worse."

    I set the gun bag right in front of her and stared blankly. It was difficult to remain upright.

    "Shit." Shaggy blinked like there was fog covering her eyes. "Sorry, sir, didn''t notice you."

    "It works then." I nodded.

    "Trinkets do. Don''t ask me how." She looked at me then back down at the bag. It was the closest look to happiness on her face since she nearly died. "No, you need to get a car out here. I don''t care which one and stealth isn''t important." Shaggy rattled off a street address two blocks over then hung up.

    "What do we do?" I asked.

    "We''re going to head over to the compound after we get the Lady back. It''ll be a straight shot between the two." Ann said.

    "Is that wise?" I asked.

    "Nowhere safer. Your elf has to be running on fumes.¡± She said, and I could only briefly picture a sweaty exhausted Candy. The image didn¡¯t help my focus. ¡°We can¡¯t really consider any other options."

    Her speaking got my mind back on the subject of the creatures chasing us. Daywalking vampires made no sense to me. I said, "I''ve seen those faces in their shadows before."

    "What faces?"

    "The face in those vampire''s shadows." I tried to restate my idea without feeling puzzled. They had been clear as day and a dozen flavors of creepy.

    "I didn''t see a face."

    I shrugged and stored the mystery away. It didn''t really make a difference anyway. Knowing they were possessed by something wouldn''t magically reveal a weakness. There were no chants or charms I heard of to fight them off. Though that strange pillar smashing I performed was clearly effective.

    My body about keeled over. "I need to rest."

    "You okay, sir?" She asked.

    I stared across the street at my boarded off home. Shaggy followed my gaze. My answer consisted of a softly spoken "Not really."

    My only skill was being a thug in a Deckard. Seeing my home taped off, knowing the wreckage that was in my hallway, the blood everywhere. Hell, not to mention that Charles and Malcolm would be pounding on the door the minute things settled. No. I wasn''t okay by any definition.

    "Yeah, me either." Ann almost smiled.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 23 - Lady Rhodes

    The car was going to take a nerve wracking thirty minutes to reach us. A rental company was driving out here. Thomas didn''t come out of the back of his truck. Ann kept one hand on the gun, the other in our bag, probably on an even bigger gun. Rest did help a little.

    Our pursuers hung around for awhile. Some nosed near my apartment. The man I saw on the phone earlier looked practically livid for at least five minutes before driving off. He said more than once that this slave of theirs was ''clearly too weak''. Candy must have been running interference again to keep us safe, hopefully we would be okay until the car got here.

    I wanted to ask about the charm but Shaggy needed rest too. We were both existing well beyond exhausted. Our struggles were so close to being done that the idea of giving more made it worse.

    I tried tracking Kahina. She was in a bed, hooked up to another IV, where blood dripped slowly. Her skin no longer burned. The faint white energy that had flowed upwards out of her body was gone. Only her body being whole gave me any hope.

    The car was a rental. Maybe it was easier to get it out here. Or the household couldn''t spare anybody to drive out to us. Money solved the problem by making someone else do it. Shaggy signed away on paperwork, ignored anything the delivery might might say, and threw her guns into the passenger seat. My ass went in the back as always.

    We drove.

    "I''ll need the cross." I finally said.

    Ann didn''t say anything and handed her necklace back to me. Her eyes stayed on the road towards where Anthony was hiding. It turned out he had gone to the safe house we''d skipped. Number five. Between the care he showed her, and the use of her actual safe house, I might not have to kill him. Paralyzing him would be good for safety reasons.

    There would be a very thorough explanation encouragement session instead. One that involved burning his face for a third time if needed.

    I stared at the cross. Compared to most of my pieces it was extremely plain. Even the gold was barely painted on. This was the kind of cross you wore because of its weight. Each moment would be a reminder to have faith. To believe that something higher was looking down, trying to make it all work out.

    "How long have you had this?" I asked.

    There was a brief pause in Shaggy''s response. "A long time."

    "Daniel buy it for you?" It had to be at least slightly cherished for me to use it in tracking. Or physically tied to the other person. Or I had to feel strongly about the person, like I did for Kahina and Evan.

    "No. My mother."

    "She nice?" I knew nothing of mothers. Other people had them, not me.

    "She was great." Ann said. Only she wasn¡¯t really Ann at all. The idea that Shaggy was more accurate than Ann felt disconcerting. As if my entire effort of using a nickname had actually been an indicator that Ann never fit in the first place.

    "Oh." I heard the words ¡®was great¡¯. "I understand."

    "What about Ann''s parents?"

    "Good people. One''s a part time librarian, other''s a software engineer." Shaggy commented easily but without emotion. Like they were facts memorized from a sheet of paper. Or she was distracted from driving through the rain that had started this afternoon.

    "Ann is a real person?"

    "Yes. I am." She turned the windshield wipers to a higher setting.

    "Alright. As a hypothetical, what happens to the agent when this assignment¡¯s done, and what happens Kahina''s employee?"

    "Hypothetically, sir? Ann wakes up remembering all the work she''s done and feels proud for her role. The months she''s spent elsewhere are all a dream. The agent goes back to her life secure that the world''s safe for another day, and waits for her fianc¨¦ to set a date."

    "That slacker." I played at badmouthing Daniel.

    "It''s a hectic lifestyle." She wasn''t defensive in her tone though.

    "Everything to keep the peace." I referred to Western Sector''s logo. Daniel had a version of the creed in his office. Depicted was an eagle fighting a bear, with those words in Latin.

    "That''s the motto." Shaggy responded quietly. "And it means everything. Which is way easier to say than do."

    My brain was fuzzy and randomly keeping tabs on Kahina. Her fading presence worried me, but there wasn''t a lot to be done. Something else was bothering me too.

    "Ann," I carefully avoided the nickname. "do you know why the Order would be after someone besides Kahina?"

    "I haven''t a clue. Weird shit is Daniel''s division, not mine. I''d assume it''s part of the Sins though." The female responded.

    "Sins of the People?"

    "Yeah. Like I said, have your helper give you the theatrical version. Mind blowing stuff, sir." Shaggy shrugged.

    Candy, Daniel, Muni, all of them had serious explaining to do. Not right away. If I survived this, if Kahina survived this, afterwards.

    We parked on a street that was new to me. A tiny shopping mart was on the corner with a gas station opposite. From there it was rows of middle class homes that looked occupied. Shaggy seemed unsure what to do next. For this entire ordeal she had been giving order after order but this was confusing.

    "You sure Anthony''s in here?" She said.

    "Yes." My head bobbed briefly.

    "That''s it then, the fifth safe house. We skipped it earlier because Anthony was compromised. But if he''s is in there..."

    "Should I kill him?" I hated the smarmy bastard but if he was on our side then killing him would be counterproductive. A nearly full changed vampire would be a huge asset and extremely hard to kill. Especially considering how worn down Shaggy and I were.

    "If you can sneak up on him, maybe. But he might have a plan that Lady Rhodes didn''t tell us about. Vampires aren''t above feigned double crosses to misdirect people."

    I got out and walked to the driver''s side window. Both my gloves were on, just in case they might do a damned bit of good. Too bad they were better suited against elves and wolves. That''s why I wanted a cross.

    "Expect betrayal?" I asked her.

    "You''d better, John. If we''re lucky he''s no longer day walking and passed back out."

    I shook my head slowly then said "He''s up and moving."

    "Damn. Still not sure how you can tell. Explains why you''re such good friends with Daniel, you and the weird shit." Ann paused as thoughts raced through her head.

    It was probably similar to what I was thinking. Would it be better to go in together? A snatch and grab? Or talk to Anthony? Which choice gave us our best odds of survival?

    "I''ll keep the engine idled." Ann said. "There should be two sets of keys and a security panel right inside the door. The charm won''t work against technology. It''s memory only."

    "There a code?" I asked.

    "It''ll beep anyway. Anthony will hear it go off."

    "Hell." I shook myself a bit to try and wake up. Then slammed the top of our rental car. "I''ll be back, or I won''t."

    Shaggy rolled up the window and took out her phone. Her lips were already talking to someone as I turned to walk away. My eyes rolled but both feet kept going towards the house.

    A day walking vampire. It was an odd concept. With their shade creatures it was like a puppet being manipulated rather than any sort of consciousness. Anthony was the only creature in the house. Would the Shade notice the alarm? Would he ignore me and forget?

    The key was exactly where Shaggy said. I slid it quietly into the lock and took a moment to gather myself. My senses would pick up everything between here and Kahina. No link had been needed in months to find the woman.

    Feel rubbery bag holding blood. Electricity runs through walls like veins. Motionless body hangs in middle of the room. No air stirs.

    Anthony wasn''t moving. Vampires mostly operated by sense of taste. He might not notice until the door opened. I closed my eyes and muttered a prayer. The door slowly pushed inward and an alarm started beeping.

    I pulled the door closed and waited, senses extended out. Anthony, or whatever it was, had noticed the noise and walked over to the front room. His body never took in an ounce of fresh air until stopping at the security panel. Then he sucked in a lungful and searched the room with a head that jerked mechanically as it turned.

    Seemingly he noticed nothing then shut off the alarm. Once the alarm settled the vampire turned around. Anthony went back into the room where Kahina was with the same puppet movements he used to come out to the front room.

    I opened the door while the alarm was still resetting. It didn''t go off again while in an arming phase. My entrance into next part of the house was hesitant. Part of me tried to hold my breath just like the vampire had. The other part focused on extended my senses to feel if Anthony was moving.

    A deer in headlights must feel the same way.

    Anthony didn''t move. Weight on his side from the sword caused uneven pressure. The mans clothes didn''t even twitch. Kahina''s body wasn''t moving either, her breath still.

    Slowly, very slowly, I peeked around the corner. Sure enough the day walking vampire had another one of those faces. The red eyes and mouth were twisted slightly, almost thoughtful. The positioning of Anthony''s body triggered a faint memory. Only really old vampires ever managed that passively aloof stance.

    Every time my feet moved forward the house let out a creek. Anthony and the shade camping in his dark outline would blink then go motionless. Like the memory of sound was leaving their minds.

    This trinket was amazing. If it was real, and this wasn''t a trap. Ann had said to expect betrayal. I took a generic picture frame from the counter very carefully and threw it into another room. Anthony moved towards the frame like a robot. His shade''s red face looked deep in thought.

    I readied the cross and stepped back a room. This was the real test of Muni''s device. If the vampire could taste me in the air, escape wasn''t an option. If it didn''t notice, maybe a fight could be avoided. Especially as weak as I was.

    Both hands were open to try and deflect the sword, in case. The metal on my palms might help. I might be sliced in two. Nothing came to get me. Anthony''s footsteps went to the front room and I heard a shuffle of a curtain. It was difficult to sense everything now that he was opposite Kahina.

    I cautiously backed into Kahina''s resting place. Eyes locked on the hallway just in case Anthony came back. Maybe he hadn''t noticed or the Shade creature might not be in tune with the vampire''s senses. Personally I hoped for both.

    Nothing. No motion of footsteps. No hiss of air passing over a tongue. Anthony wasn''t moving. Kahina wasn''t either. The needle in her arm was done with the same precision that Shaggy had shown. None of them really bothered with more than a token piece of tape to hold the tubing straight.

    She wore the same dress that was showing clear signs of wear from all the movement. Creases lined the fabric. The same silver hoop earrings laid intertwined with strands of hair. Both eyes were closed and her face was completely relaxed. Her look was far from the slack jawed half vacant stare truly dead people had.

    Curtains rustled heavily and footsteps started again. Calmly, mechanically, Anthony was returning to the bedroom. Had he noticed me? My body froze so thoroughly I might have finally passed for a vampire myself. Anthony came around the corner, his eyes nearly drooped closed. His head didn''t even swing in my direction.

    I stared, one hand over the cross, ready to unleash it before Anthony sprung. Inside my palm a weak red glow came off of the cherished metal. Kahina flinched.

    Anthony sucked in a breath of air. The shade creature riding the vampire looked happy and both seemed to watch Kahina for further signs of life. I did too, without hesitation. It took me time to realize that she moved because the cross'' glow was touching her skin.

    Kahina didn''t stir again. After a few minutes the shade looked sad, its face turning into a slightly tucked frown. The back of my brain fervently chanted ''I am John'' while standing in a room with this creature that could paralyze me in fear. Not to mention the body it possessed might slice me in two. Yet both ignored me.

    A car horn honked, loudly. Anthony moved towards the front room again. For a third time the curtains shuffled.

    I worked quickly to take down the bag of blood and set it on Kahina''s chest. Her face looked incurably pale with sunken cheeks. Like she was starving. Worst case scenario I would crack open the pouch and pour it down her throat. The car horn honked violently again. It sounded like it was coming from across the street where Ann was. I held her cross and let my senses unfurl across the road.

    Not Quite Weasel''s clammy fingers stand out against rough curtain fabric. Tires and cars weigh upon indifferent concrete. Water presses against a hydrant cap. Little Hunter''s calloused hands slam repeatedly onto the steering wheel. Her eyes feel wide and head aims in my direction.

    Little Hunter digs through cold metal. Searches the pile of guns. Uncovered feet press into grass and sidewalk. Bodies attached don''t breathe. Land around them grows cold. A dent of fangs from Not Quite Weasel.

    Hell. Day walkers had shown up. The fear hit hard. Tactile sensory perceptions didn''t rewind back to my body as normal. No, senses shattered as the extra possessed vampires started getting closer to the safe house. I tried to count how many had been out there by the feeling of feet pressed against the ground. More than five, less than ten. Too many. Two had ignored Ann and tried to kill me. Only Thomas had held his ground last time and that was before being gutted.

    I pushed past the fear and tried to gather up Kahina. Limbs shook, vision blurred, hearing drowned out the background noise of the car horn honking repeatedly. Anthony''s return to the room was sudden and unnoticed. Until he put a hand on my arm.

    That I hadn''t expected. Violence would have been more fitting. Anthony clearly wasn''t in control though, his eyes were vacant under those heavy lids. The creature in his shadow was staring at me though.

    I didn''t look at the vampire, instead looking at the shade, trying to figure out if it was one of the ones on our side or not. It''s bloody red slits etched into the shadow being cast. Never mind that the outline didn¡¯t match any of the lights, it moved independently. The shade looked puzzled at the eye contact. Briefly the silhouette swiveled back and forth as I tracked the face embedded in it.

    "I see you." My voice was weak. I felt better with Kahina this close. Like her being near gave me the strength to try and protect her.

    The shade paused in its swaying. Not once had Anthony moved since placing his hand on my arm. It wasn''t a solid grip.

    "I''m taking her home." I said.

    The reddened face shrugged, a motion that was easier to discern in this world. Clear outlines had formed where it hung against the wall like an evil cartoon character.

    "You''re on our side?"

    This time Anthony shook his head back and forth, then nodded shortly after. It was a familiar motion.

    "Keeper?" I asked.

    It smiled, then shook Anthony''s head in the yes no fashion again.

    "Not quite." I stated. A single nod came back.

    "Run." Anthony''s voice drug the words out. "Keep, Her, safe." Like a child''s toy where the batteries were dying.

    The alarm went off again. This time it wasn''t me, it wasn''t Anthony. His body turned and whipped out a sword, that same fluid motion etched in every line of the vampire¡¯s body. It was just in time to see another man, this one in boxers only, come around the corner. Anthony didn''t hesitate to decapitate him in the small space allowed. Superior strength let him pull the blade out from a very difficult angle. Anthony rushed into the hallway, then his footsteps and passionless snarls tore throughout the house.

    I took Kahina and ran for the back door. I had seen the edges of an exit earlier while creeping through the house. Anthony was keeping the strange possessed vampires busy at the front.

    My foot kicked at the back door. Not at the handle, but at the bolts holding the door hinges together. Wood splintered as they tore off. I carefully carried my comatose girlfriend through the doorway. Behind me Anthony was slashing at enemies. They didn''t die quick enough. I could hear the house shudder as people were thrown around.

    She had never really been safe here. The penthouse hotel was clearly superior. There were no security cameras, no collapsing elevator. Our only defense had been a double layer of fencing around the back yard. Two layers of chain link, each taller than I was. It was higher than any sane wolf could have jumped.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    One of them was electrified. A yellow sign with a bolt through it outlined the danger. If that wasn''t enough of a hint then the weak hum coming off the metal was. What the hell kind of paperwork do you have to file for an electrified fence in a residential area?

    My brain shoved the legality questions to the side and looked for an exit. There had to be a switch to turn it off. The chain link had a locked gate too, one that would be impossible to break.

    A presence rushed through the doorway behind me. Fast, and with it that sweeping sense of terror grew. Enemy vampire. I held Kahina in both hands and tried to keep away from the electricity coursing nearby. Just being knocked into it might be fatal.

    The attacker paused in the middle of the backyard. It was obvious the creature had zipped down a pre-programmed path, it realigned in a new direction and charged at us.

    I dropped to the ground trying to protect Kahina''s head. Maybe I fell because my knees gave out from the fear that poured forth from those shade creatures. Dealing with this shade generated fear was proving difficult.

    He, our attacking vampire, stopped a foot away. A creature stared at me with a livid face etched in red against an unnaturally thick shadow. Another blur of motion and a second vampire slammed into him. They both went flying into the fence. The first one didn''t survive the volts that raced through its body. The second, Anthony, seemed unruffled.

    He stood with his sword and bolted back into the doorway. More snarls echoed out of the house. Windows cracked and the foundation shook. It felt like a wall had given out.

    "Sir!" Ann yelled at me from the other side of double fences.

    "I can''t get out."

    "Power''s there!" She pointed across the yard. "Hit it, I''ll bust the locks." Her gun was out in one hand.

    I left Kahina on the ground for a second. A second where I needed all the willpower left to me to make it across the yard to the switch. Humming electricity faded instantly, followed by gunshots.

    It had taken me maybe ten seconds to travel the yard and pull a switch. During my brief absence yet another vampire stood over Kahina. This time it was female. She had zipped in with a blur of speed then paused and prepared to lunge. Ann hit her with two bullets to the shoulder. I stumbled past and grabbed Kahina and made it to the freshly opened gate.

    Ann stepped in behind me and leveled a shotgun that was strapped over her shoulder. There was no hesitation as she took a bracing stance then pulled the trigger. A spray of lead embedded itself into the vampire. I looked over my shoulder briefly and saw the unnatural shadow clawing along the ground, trying to escape where it was bound to the nearly decimated vampire.

    "Go, GO!" She yelled. I heard a crash of noise as the cracking windows shattered completely. Metal raked against metal. There was no time to turn around and see exactly what was happening.

    The undercover agent fired that shotgun one more time and then cursed. She swung it back over her shoulder and pulled out another rifle. I didn''t want to think about the collateral damage from all this gunfire.

    I opened the car door with one hand and tried not to hurt Kahina as we got in. The engine''s purr sounded almost pleased. Ann skidded up to the driver''s side, dove in, and had her foot on the gas before even shifting out of park.

    Day walking vampires had caught up with us again. One clawed at the side of the door with fingers that shouldn''t have been able to hold on. At least two others ran alongside the car in bursts of speed. One moment they were with us, then they blurred into motion to try and get ahead of us. Ann put our vehicle through its paces, swerving to avoid some, scraping off others. Finally they stopped trying to get ahead and hung alongside of us, content to wear us down.

    Ann veered straight for the main thoroughfare. It was a single road from here to Kahina''s mansion. We would come in hot.

    "Warn them!" I yelled. We couldn''t bring this madness straight to unsuspecting people, no matter how well trained they were.

    "Busy!" She shouted back at me.

    I looked out the window. It felt like every partial vampire in the city was chasing after us. Maybe they were. Ten, twenty, maybe thirty of them. Were there really this many partial vampires in the city? Some bounced off cars going the other way, their feet slamming into metal roofs and causing wrecks behind us. Ann honked the horn repeatedly, warning who she could.

    A number of them were darting across rooftops of houses and commercial buildings. They leapt and dug into the concrete like fleas pausing before hopping off at incredible speeds. Others tried to get in front of the car, some Ann hit, trusting the grill of the car to resolve the problem. Those ones rolled off the front then either hit the windshield or roof and kept on flying. These ones weren''t even fully transformed yet. If there had been any complete vampires in the bunch it was more likely they''d just stand in front of us and rip the car apart.

    Throughout it all Kahina remained motionless. There was no shimmering. The blood in her bag had gone from nearly full to empty in a short time. Her cheeks looked fuller than before.

    "The phone!" I had to do something. Driving, shooting, any of that would nearly impossible. Ann had put away the guns. Maybe there was some hope that we wouldn''t tear down the city this week.

    "Here!" Her adrenaline must be through the roof. She was trying to be heard over the sound of screeching tires.

    People honked their horns, and sirens were closing in somewhere out there. There was no way the police would let us get away this time. Not unless we made it to the mansion, once we were on Kahina''s property it would be a Sector issue.

    I flipped open the phone and hit redial and pressed speaker phone. Kurt answered almost immediately. Ann was reloading the shotgun while driving.

    "Ma''am?" Respect lined his words. Kahina''s people were well trained. Martial arts, guns, ass kissing.

    "We''re coming in. Expect company." I said.

    "Sir?" I could nearly hear Kurt''s brain grinding its gears in confusion. "Hostiles?"

    "Oh yeah."

    "ETA?" Kurt asked.

    "Not fast enough!" Ann''s voice cracked in desperation and the car swerved to the side. It wasn''t quick enough and we picked up a new hitch hiker.

    I turned around and saw the latest vampire cling to the torn sides of our car. Entire chunks were missing on the outer frame. This day walking monster had the audacity to tap on the glass politely. Worse, this female looked like a shriveled grandma that was daring transformation late in life. The length of her fangs and how she vibrated with energy, those things spoke of how close the elder woman was to a change.

    Worse, dread that had been muted as we sped down the road had returned. Grandma''s unnaturally moving shadow crawled up the side of the window with a gleeful expression similar to the grandma''s. My heart pounded and brain scrambled for any semblance of a plan. Ann was shouting but all I could see were those twisted smiles.

    A futile effort was made trying to imagine the giant pillars. If I could crash down on another one, maybe it would remove our attacker. To fall from the great height and let my body demolish the Shade''s protection against the burning skyline.

    Our car swerved back and forth, trying to shake her off. The elderly lady was dug in tighter than a tick. Then she started tapping on the glass even harder. Strong hits that cracked the window in a spiderweb pattern.

    Ann cursed loudly and tried to reach for a gun to shoot with.

    I panicked. Looked anywhere for an exit. Somewhere to run, a path to take Kahina that would be safe for us. There was no escape. Nothing within arm''s reach. The cross I had ready to use on Anthony was buried in a pocket and using it was barely an active thought on my consciousness. I fumbled for it anyway.

    The elderly woman stopped knocking on the window and shoved her feet downward, digging into the concrete which slowed our mad dash considerably. We spun in the middle of an intersection. Other cars completely frozen by the scene. Some were popping into reverse and fleeing, like any sensible person should.

    I shoved the cross up to our fractured window. Red fog, barely visible in the daylight, reached across to the woman. She flinched, cowered away. One hand covered her face, and for a moment she looked like a harmless female. The Shade creature raged in her shadow but the body didn''t move forward. Ann cursed and and cracked open her door to fire.

    Another vampire leapt in from behind and connected two feet squarely with my back. The cross went flying and the glow stopped. Ann managed to fire a few rounds into the elderly woman but the bullets were ignored. That stupid grin was back on both her face and the shadow''s. I heard a snarl and turned to the second vampire. It ignored me and sniffed around, wild and on all fours.

    I had to get the cross. It was the best tool there was against this many vampires. Even partials would be terrified, the Shade creatures couldn''t suppress those instincts.

    "The Lady!" Ann yelled. She didn''t even have time for a curse. Her face scrunched in a glare and the reloaded shotgun swung to the second vampire.

    Two shots fired in rapid succession. It wasn''t a decapitation, maybe the partial vampire would heal, but that one was certainly down for this fight.

    The old lady still fought. She leapt over to Ann and tore the shotgun out of her hands. I dove for the cross but couldn''t swing it around and close the gap fast enough. There was a rush of motion as the older woman pinned Ann then got ready to sink teeth in for a final blow.

    Honking, louder than anything else so far rang out across the nearly emptied intersection. Music too. Heavy metal nonsense that only the drug addled could actually understand. Along with those noises rang a chorus of howling. I looked over, and saw a sports car swerving through traffic with a grace that Ann couldn''t manage.

    It cleared the last set of cars in a blink. Going at least sixty in a thirty zone. A giant hulk hung out the side with a baseball bat.

    The car threaded the space between me and Ann. I barely heard the crack of bat hitting flesh and a crunch over music. Whoever was driving spun the car around in the intersection with a screech of brakes and burning rubber.

    I spared the car a moment''s look, then turned to Ann. She was coughing on the ground, eyes wild. Her hand still grasping for a gun. Finally she pulled it out and emptied four bullets into the now headless body pinning her down.

    "Come on!" One of the figures in the car yelled. "We ain''t outta this shit yet!"

    "Lets go, Princess!" A female yelled from the driver''s seat. "Get your corpse and hop in!"

    The third figure was howling in excitement with a silly grin on his face. It had to be Thomas in his halfway form. He was huge, intimidating, and slobbering like a puppy with a tongue lolled out to the side.

    "Ann, we''ve got to go!" I tried to move quickly.

    There were other partial vampires all around us. They circled and hissed. They weren''t throwing themselves at us, though. Self preservation perhaps? No, Stacy¡¯s car had a huge ass cross painted on the hood. It was a clever idea that also amounted to a hate crime.

    My leg hurt, head throbbed, and back clenched with pain. Somehow I made it to Kahina and transferred her to Stacy¡¯s car. Ann was hysterical over the elder vampire''s corpse, hitting it, screaming, almost flailing.

    "Move it, dude!" Corey, the one who had wielded a baseball bat, yelled.

    I stumbled for Ann and lifted her up. She was an understandable mess. The woman tried to level her gun towards the corpse again but I pried the weapon out of her hands. Tiny feet clad in work boots kicked at me, fists pounded into my back compounding pain. Holding her was difficult but Daniel wouldn''t appreciate leaving his fianc¨¦e behind.

    We got into the back of the car and Stacy tore out of the intersection. Some day walking vampires followed. Their sense of terror niggled the edge of my consciousness.

    The third wolf stood up in the back of the car. An excited grin plastered across his face. He howled with an volume that could be heard for blocks. It choked off with sudden thunk as the wolf hit all fours to avoid a hanging intersection light. I couldn''t figure out if Thomas challenging the world on top of Stacy''s car was a good thing.

    Ann shuddered next to me, she and Kahina were pressed into one seat. Corey in the front with Stacy driving.

    "You okay?" I whispered to the agent. She shook her head and tried to get it together. I gave her the gun back and she cradled it.

    "Thanks." I said to Stacy. We were moving quickly. Stacy wove through traffic like it was a video game. Her wolf gifted reactions would keep us safer than Ann''s mad dash had.

    Thomas plopped down next to me. The man was covered in fur that poked through the remains of my clothing. It was disturbing and comforting at the same time. This was the closest anyone had been to me besides Kahina, or the poor SOBs I used to throw out of Julianne''s.

    I could feel the ripple of muscles as he took deep breaths and got ready to howl again.

    "Shut up, Tom!" Stacy yelled at him. Corey just smiled.

    "He''s right, though." The dopey pack member said.

    "Yeah." Stacy said. "Very cathartic."

    "Big word." I muttered.

    "Smashing a vampire''s head? We didn''t get to off that other bastard that took down Julianne, so next best thing." Stacy had the same sort of grin that Thomas would have if he wore a human face instead of a half monstrous muzzle.

    "Malcolm doesn''t-" I started. Corey stuck an arm out and close lined a partial vampire that tried to get in front of us.

    "Fuck ¡®em." Stacy''s trademark attitude came out. "We''ll deal with him, and I doubt pops would begrudge us a little revenge."

    I groaned but couldn''t help the weak smile creeping up on me.

    "You should register as Lady Rhodes¡¯ employees, or at least sign paperwork saying you were in her employ for the transition." Ann managed to get a few words out.

    "What for?" Corey said.

    "It''ll grant you coverage under Tribunal law. It''s the only thing keeping us out of Sector jail for murder." Ann didn''t comment on how dicey things would get if Kahina didn''t make it. A house without their leader isn''t really a house.

    "Fine!" Stacy said. Thomas nodded as well.

    "I guess." Corey seemed unsure about it but so far he always backed Stacy''s requests. He turned around and surveyed the approaching hovering vampires. "They''re not attacking?"

    Ann sniffed for a moment. "They probably won''t until we stop moving and get out of the car."

    "Maybe we just stay here?" He suggested and sounded confused in the same breath.

    "They''ll start throwing stuff." I said.

    Corey grunted and looked around. "So many, during the day." His face had grown worried.

    "Yeah. Day walking vampires. Weird shit." Ann muttered, glaring at me. I shrugged and tried to keep my stomach below my lungs. Every time one of those vampires flitted by a grimacing face rested in its shadow. All of them had the same faint facial shapes. Like an army of clones had hopped into vampires to ride them around while their spirits were away.

    "We''re headed to Kahina''s." I said.

    "Yeah we figured. Thomas wouldn''t shut up til we came to help out." Stacy said.

    Thomas was unruffled by our commentary and had that dumb grin on his face. He looked at the world like an overly excited dog enjoying the ride. I wanted to move over and get away but there was no room.

    At least our situation was looking up. Even if the trio left us at Kahina''s we would still be better off. Not stranded not away from her home. We should never have left in the first place.

    Ann on the other hand was deeply shaken. She huddled in tiny ball, trying to make herself smaller. I understood that feeling. None of the others had voiced feelings of terror like I did. Ann didn''t look at the shadows of those vampires sprinting by us. Even without looking I knew their faces were there, one to a shadow.

    Were they visible to me because I''d seen into each realm? None of the others did or they''d say something. The fact that each wolf barely batted an eyelash at the day walking vampires was a stretch on it''s own.

    "Almost there!" Stacy yelled over the wind.

    "Thank god they replaced the manholes." Corey muttered. Thomas slid into me. Between the two of us, Ann and Kahina were nearly crushed.

    "Yeah." Was my dry response.

    Ann had a communication device that she spoke into quietly as Kahina''s home came into view. The gate slid open for our arrival. Men with guns and crosses stood at the entryway to the house and garage. Dusk was rapidly approaching.

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 24 - Sundown Countdown

    The trio of wolves had decided to prowl the grounds together. It was a small comfort that they would help in this final confrontation. Plus they were staying out of the house, wolves tracked dirt everywhere.

    Ann was only half together with a good portion of her attention fractured. Sudden movements made her jump if she noticed them at all. I walked in with Kahina in both arms much to the surprise of the members of the house. To their knowledge, Lady Rhodes had been secured downstairs in a secret basement somewhere.

    Some were outraged. The first person to voice a complaint received my backhand. Members of the house were confused and stunned by the sudden aggression. Most of them barely saw any action out of me. Only a few knew how much I could bench on a normal day. The fact that Kahina''s staff member got back up should be a testament to his ability to roll with a hit or a reflection on how weak I was right now.

    "Complain another time," I said while the man stood up.

    We took Kahina to a couch further in the house. This latest pausing point had been a sun room before heavy blinds were hung across the windows. Kurt was the only one besides Ann who dared to come in the room with me. He stood at attention, gun on one side, a barely covered cross on the other. The man was prepared.

    "How''s it look?" I asked him.

    "Sir? Not too fucking good if you don''t mind me saying." Kurt responded.

    "Being blunt helps." I acknowledged.

    "We''re down to seven who aren''t in emergency rooms. I can confirm what Myers reported earlier, no wolves have been seen today. No vampires either until-" He trailed off with an annoyed sigh.

    "We showed up." I finished for him.

    "Yeah. Thanks for that, sir." He was being a bitter ass. The last week hadn''t been good for him either. Exhaustion etched his features.

    "There were a lot out there too," I said.

    "Not enough. You used us as decoys."

    "We signed up for this, Kurt!" Another employee shouted from the doorway. "We knew this would get dangerous." Kurt didn''t respond to the person''s statements..

    My head shook then I said, "Tonight this ends. We need a plan."

    "We have plans. You''d know if you hadn''t flaked off since you got here." Kurt ws clearly upset with me.

    I wanted to snap at the man. I wanted to compare kill counts. To ask him exactly what he had done recently to protect Kahina. Was he willing to give up everything like I would? I didn''t have the strength to argue about it. Any emotion I had was lost under the shit storm of events that had happened to me, to us.

    "Give me the plan," I said.

    "Keep Lady Rhodes in a secure location. Shut down the north and east wings of the house. Cross up their entryways. Funnel any attackers through the south entrances where we can use the long hallways to our favor."

    "How many lives will that take?" How many of Kahina''s people would die to buy a few minutes, a few hours?

    "A good deal, sir." Kurt snapped at me.

    "Options?"

    "Nothing useful. A majority of our defenses have been shredded over the last few days." He replied.

    "Shaggy?" I asked. Maybe the agent had an idea worth giving. She didn''t respond to my question. "Ann, do you have an idea?"

    The woman looked up puzzled and her brows pressed together. "No. No, I have no idea what to do."

    "Nothing?" I asked. The undercover agent always had a plan.

    "No, unless you have any weird tricks." She said.

    I nodded and tried to figure out what could be done.

    "Nothing?" Kurt echoed. "Not that anyone expected much. Lady Rhodes gave you a home here and not once have you done anything to earn it."

    "It is my home, isn''t it?" I asked with a slight sense of growing wonder. Kahina had never once treated me like a stranger here. She gave every courtesy, a room, let me roam the grounds. We walked the garden together more than once. It was home, had been home for months. Had she even realized it? Had she been quietly trying to make it our home without pushing me into anything? Maybe Kahina had been grieving too, torn between the loss of our best friend, and the demands of her life.

    In the end, only my feelings on the location mattered. This was a second home. I looked down at Kahina and amended my thoughts. Home could be with a person too.

    "Blades. Get me some blades." I snapped.

    "Sir?" Kurt said.

    "Throwing knives. I''ll need those and crosses. We''re going to funnel them through the tunnels below and use the security gates. Same hallway idea, better hallways." The Order of Merlin, vampires, to hell with it, throw wolves in too. I would take them all on with a smile on my face.

    This was Kahina''s home. It was her life and all the members of my woman''s staff were in danger. My senses were slowly unfurling to match the perception of ownership. I felt nails holding floorboards together. The shuffle of our household staff as they tried to stay calm. Heartbeats thud against cloth as their attempts at serenity failed. Nearby a person was counting bullets into their magazine over and over.

    Outside Thomas howled again. I felt their voices vibrate through the air over the compound. This wasn''t the same sound that his pack had given when Julianne died. This was a high and long cry, a warning, an invitation, a dare.

    "Damned straight." I stood up and grabbed Ann by the shoulders. She looked at me, startled and confused. "This is our home, and I''ll kill anyone who dares hurt this family."

    Two more howls took up the first one and poured across the air together. Corey and Stacy were out there as well. It was almost like they picked up my thoughts and had given them a voice. Following the seriousness was a comical idea where I hoped they wouldn''t shit all over the yard.

    "Let¡¯s get everyone ready," I said.

    Kurt tried not to let amazement show. The mask of professionalism slipped for a moment, then he was all business. Ann gave a tired smirk.

    I left Kahina with the undercover agent. She was together enough to wield a gun. The windows were reinforced so it was unlikely a vampire would burst in. In any case, the agent had her cross ready. Both vampires and Order members shouldn''t be able to find Kahina right away.

    Kurt followed in my wake. I gave orders like they were second nature. Each person was pulled back into the side rooms. They were told to ignore the vampires. Ann was operating under the assumption that da walking vampires were an anomaly of primal instincts. By nightfall, they would revert to their normal composed selves.

    That wasn''t quite right. The way they moved, those Shade faces. They felt similar to creatures getting inside an empty car and driving off. An occupation. Either way nightfall would bring the vampire spirits back from that other world and maybe kick the Shades out. We could trap them in the underground tunnels until sundown. It was a viable plan. Hopefully.

    Our remaining allies were few. Lennon was hidden in a separate location, but come nightfall he would check in. Not-Quite-Keeper hadn''t shown up yet, and the body he possessed, Anthony, was questionable in loyalty.

    Kahina was moved again to the secure room that we first had her in. It felt ironic that we came full circle. The door was strong enough to deter nearly anyone. If we all failed outside than being in there would at least give her a few hours.

    "Ann, you have to show me how to remove authorizations from this system." I stared at the locking mechanism that had stumped me a week ago.

    "Already done." Kurt answered for Ann. "Lennon took himself and Anthony out of the system, no one else has access besides the Lady."

    "And me?"

    "You''re still in there I think," He said.

    "You should be, sir. Lennon didn''t have access to remove you." Ann said. At least she was talking.

    "You''d know." Kurt shrugged. He sounded increasingly cheerful as our plan came together. Especially since it didn''t require the staff to sacrifice themselves.

    Kahina would have been proud at hearing me finally take charge. The thought only made me miss the last step on some stairs. She would see another night and continue living, with or without me. I would see her at least one more time when she awoke. Even if I had to leave her afterward. Candy would be dealt with, and in the end there might be a way back. Those were problems for another day.

    We started on our way out of the tunnel. The rest of the house would have barricaded the extra rooms with gates or metal braces that were designed to sit between the door and floor. Or used couches, beds, anything.

    "Almost sundown," Kurt said.

    "If they''re going to push it''ll be just before," Ann said.

    "Day walkers?" He asked.

    My head grew dizzy right before the house shook. I could feel the sensation of wood and plaster being torn apart. Ann and Kurt looked alarmed and put their hands out towards the walls.

    "Come on." I strode off, not even worried about the possibility that the ceiling may fall in on us. "The Order is here." Vampires don''t use explosives.

    Ann motioned at Kurt for ammunition. He wordlessly handed over two clips and readied his own gun. My hand traced over the throwing knives someone had found me. They were well balanced.

    "Is the Order human?" Kurt asked.

    "Yes."

    "They''re humanity first whack jobs," Ann said.

    "Jesus, bad enough we had to deal with wolves and vampires, now we have zealots attacking? Who thinks like that nowadays?" Kurt grumbled while checking his gun over again.

    "They claim to have had visions of a world where all non humans are wiped out, not just some of them." Ann kept on talking.

    I hadn''t known that. Daniel had only given me hints. Ann had probably been on the phone asking for more information to figure out what she was up against. The house rocked from another explosion.

    "Jesus," Kurt said again.

    My head was ringing. It was hard enough getting a feel for a place I knew well. Kahina''s mansion was huge compared to my apartment. The rooms felt odd, kitchens especially with all their metal.

    Almost as soon as I got a grip on one piece of landscape it was disrupted by the blast vibrations. I had one hand pressed against the side of my head trying to keep focus on the here and now. I didn''t want to feel the house, not completely, not yet.

    "Got a sundown countdown?" I asked.

    "Sir?" Ann checked her phone. "Twenty-three minutes."

    "Security room says the day walkers are still out there, but unmoving."

    "The vampires will be back soon," I said. It was hard to concentrate through all the vibrations around the household. Kahina''s people were running one way. The Order of Merlin¡¯s footsteps traveled a different direction.

    "Aren''t they vampires?" Kurt asked.

    "No. Something else is in control." My teeth were grinding together and the pain behind my eyeball was worse than it had been.

    Kurt stared at Ann for confirmation. She shrugged weakly and stared off into the distance. I couldn''t figure out which was the greater risk. All the vampires operating with free will and possibly attacking us, or the ones that were controlled by Shades rushing in mass.

    Sharp objects plow into wood and mortar. Cracks form in walls. Tears at my skin. Some stick like thorns. Others fly free through the air and into a far wall. Guns. Bullets. Such an item makes the inferior dangerous to us all. Father preferred swords.

    The strange pattern of thinking swept over me. That other presence was completely awake. That was fine. It would be useful. Right now my other mind was running interference on the tactile sensations overflowing from our home.

    "We need to get up there." Kahina''s people were fighting to defend her. Here we were sitting downstairs in a tunnel which didn''t help anyone. Not yet anyway.

    "No." Kurt and Ann said at the same time.

    "You remember the drills right? Your place has always been next to Lady Rhodes. Every time. Don''t screw it up now." Kurt protested.

    "But..." Of course, I had to argue.

    "Look, you don''t have a gun, the Order would tear into you. Even if they don''t have silver. Too many bullets, even normal ones, and you''re done." Kurt laid out the arguments.

    Above us, there was another exchange of fire. It felt like it was in the main hallway now.

    "Let them down here. Then secure the doors behind them. Don''t get in their way." I relented. But if the Order was after me, and the Shades after Kahina, then both of us needed to be secure. If nothing else this keeps the household staff safer.

    "Sir?" Ann asked.

    "They''re after me and Kahina. But they''re not together." My response felt like a portent of things to come, me and Kahina, but not together.

    "The day walkers and the humans?" Kurt asked.

    "Same plan, let them both come down here, kill each other."

    "We''ll have to take out the explosives." The agent was gripping her gun while thinking. In fact, I don''t think it''d left her hands after I disarmed her last time.

    "That door won''t hold long against anything major."

    "Yeah." Ann looked thoughtful.

    "Kahina wakes up, vampires stop, right?" I asked.

    "In theory, sir. It''s as much a test as anything else." Kurt looked annoyed at the whole prospect, but he didn''t disagree with Ann''s statement. Hopefully, the vampires would flee once their Shades were kicked out by the returning spirits. If they could be evicted.

    Feet surge. Dozens. Like cats leaping onto thigh. Air strains against human sized shapes. Cracks asphalt and walls. Night Shades dare join the fray. Glorious. Will show them not to dare. Will triumph. Invaders must be punished.

    I felt like screaming. Felt like ripping out chunks of the wall and smashing everything nearby. My body vibrated with a roar dying to be let out. It was only barely suppressed as I gasped. That other voice was spinning out of control, fighting against things I couldn''t reach.

    "Give me a comm." My first ever. I could help from down here. Somehow. Ann didn''t even question and handed hers over. Kurt looked confused.

    "Get going!" My head was splitting with rage about our home being violated. I pressed a thumb to the security door and it opened with a rush of air. "Keep everyone out of their way!"

    I closed the door. The last thing I saw with my eyes was Kurt shouting into a headpiece and Ann clutching her gun like it was the difference between life and death.

    It was difficult to focus on any one thing. This home was in danger. Barely filtered sensations ran through my body, describing everything in the building. For once I wasn''t getting the feedback secondhand. Those other thoughts were more of a running commentary along with tactile responses. Distinctly separate yet still mine.

    The Ticks move fast for such an unwieldy combination. Feel the Night Shades pass across the ground. Makes them impure. Not as intended. A violation of design. Two creatures that should not be one. Clever. Wrong.

    Revelations passed through as that inner voice observed our attacker''s movements. They were quickly absorbed in a rush of sensations. Everything in the house hit me. There wasn''t enough time to ponder what exactly my thoughts meant.

    Inside Kahina''s resting place was cold. No lights were on. The power might have been knocked out or a switch turned off. Kahina should be on the bed. I made my way across the few feet without tripping over anything.

    Senses were scattering between the far reaches of the property and my current location. A combination of the abrupt silence and being sightless merged with exhaustion and set me mentally reeling. I tried to calm myself down and focus on one item at a time. My small apartment was easier to manage. Kahina''s home was like wearing a sumo wrestler body suit while trying to jog across the city at the height of summer.

    Yes. I focus. I watch. Subjects defend as they should. We are ready. They visit my sanctuary. Death greets them in return.

    I plugged the little communication device into my ear like Ann did. It was uncomfortable, but paled compared to all the other tactile feedback from my senses.

    "Check," I said.

    "We hear you, sir," Kurt responded.

    "Good." I ranged out with my senses, trying to hone in on the portion of the house where Order members were going. "I''ll tell you what I feel, listen close."

    I had never done this in front of anyone else that I could remember. Yet, it felt natural. Second nature almost. That other presence was close by. Guiding our thoughts along the correct paths.

    "Six, no, seven Order coming in through the west wing kitchen," I said.

    It wasn''t a big room and they were moving slowly due to being pinned down. Gunfire rang through the hallway. One of them unbuckled a round object that practically shook with energy as my senses touched it.

    "Grenade," I said quickly.

    I was watching the battle with my senses and talking back at my body. Splitting myself like this was new but easier than expected. Maybe this was how elves felt when they observed remote locations. My home shook from the explosion, but Kahina''s people were clear at least.

    "Back out of the hallway. Let them down." I said.

    "Kurt?" An employee of the house asked over our comm line. Female, not a voice I remembered.

    "Follow your fucking orders!" Ann was in the background of someone¡¯s headset.

    "Vampires?"

    "Coming in the front door." Another new voice said.

    "They''ll follow the trail we took Kahina on. Keep clear of it." Ann was speaking loud enough for me to hear. None of our visiting vampires, partial or otherwise, would know the layout of her home. The Shades possessing them should know even less. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Feel the ticks cross the threshold. Snarls and leaps. Broken door frames and smashed walls. They bumble against each other down the hallways. The strength in their limbs is puny. Not fully converted. Incomplete.

    "Clear the upper hallways. Corridor seven and eight let the human mercs through five." Kurt ordered.

    "Bait them in," I suggested. "They''ll assume we''re guarding Kahina''s position. The Order may not know she''s in the tunnels." Were it up to me to hunt one person, the path of most resistance would be followed. People always tried to protect the good stuff.

    "I''ll do it," Kurt said.

    His footsteps rattled down a hallway. The other four house members guarding that wing became scarce. In supply closets. In tunnels between rooms. Secret passageways that had been built into the house. Ones I never noticed before. Each movement happened like I was there holding their hands. Fingers pressed against their arms, feeling pulses, their rapid-fire heartbeats and deep breaths.

    Great home. Superior to the old one. Room for lots of treasures. Must be cleansed first.

    What useless commentary. I felt Kahina''s people hold their breath in a collective pack like unison while the Order trudged by, checking rooms and finding them empty. Kurt lured them forward by firing from down the hallway. Random bursts that felt like someone fleeing before a storm.

    "Burnouts are in the first room." The voice in our security room said. I hadn''t noticed. My attention was on the Order members. They were a more explosive threat.

    "Fourth Order member has a different payload." I couldn''t get a perfect feel for it. That invader¡¯s footsteps were a lot more weighty on the floor, but I couldn''t feel air being displaced like he had a large gut. Extra padding carried across his side.

    "C four?" Ann''s voice rustled as she tried to talk and situate an ear piece.

    "Unsure. Something different." I said.

    "How''s he doing that?" The other female asked. Her voice was faint now. I felt the air vibrate as Ann shrugged.

    "Don''t ask," Ann said.

    How silly. Their words meaningless. Won''t be allowed to remember. Not yet. Perhaps Little Hunter. Slippery presence. Stubborn.

    "Okay." The woman''s words were tiny and scared. Her knees unsteady and feet shuffling along the floorboards between walls.

    "Kurt, can you stall them at thirty-six?" Ann asked.

    "Fourth bedroom?" He asked back on the mic. Then another round of gunfire spat forth. I felt an empty clip hit the floor with a slam.

    "Yes." Ann''s voice was quiet. Her feet shuffled along the corridor between bedrooms.

    "I think so." Kurt nodded.

    "Burnouts are moving towards the main office." Came the update from our security room. "Maybe two minutes before they figure out the secret door and head down," They said. Hopefully, Shade creatures couldn¡¯t understand hidden doors.

    Something tugged at my guts. A feeling that had been forgotten in the recent madness. I pushed it away and tried to focus on what Ann was doing. She had almost crept down the entire hallway. The Order members ducked into various rooms for cover. Some in a bathroom, one in a closet, others in spare bedrooms that house our visitors.

    "Myers?" Kurt asked.

    "She''s too close to talk," I said.

    "What''s she doing?" Kurt asked.

    "She''s going to take out one through the wall," I said.

    "How is he seeing that? I can''t even see that." The voice in the security room said. I didn''t have an answer for why I felt the entire house as a part of my own body. Well, there was an answer but Evan hadn''t given it yet.

    "I don''t know," Kurt said.

    "Ann, move your gun to the left six inches," I said. She needed to hit him with the first shot and then get the hell out of there. The gun shifted and pressed against the new location.

    "This is bullshit!" The security room voice protested.

    "Perfect." I ignored them and focused on Ann''s fingers across the gun. Clenching and unclenching. She pressed both hands and braced her back against the wall. The muzzle was held back from the wall so it wouldn''t backfire. Only plaster and some wood separated her from the Order member crouched on the other side.

    "There''s another two next to him. Take your shots and move down to the right. It should keep you clear." I hoped. "Kurt, give her a distraction."

    Ann clutched her cross. Calloused hands nearly smashed the poor thing. Her lips brushed against the air in a silent prayer. Then she took a breath, pulled the trigger twice, and fled in the direction I''d given her. The Order members were distracted by gunfire from Kurt and didn''t even notice until it was too late. One of their own was dead. A moment later someone fired at them from the rear, forcing them forward.

    The Pink Meats complain. Mad that they left behind their vaunted explosives. Should grow stronger instead.

    "Vamps are at the office door," I said. We were lucky they hadn''t encountered anyone else. Most of the main household was hidden in alcoves around the Order members.

    "Kurt, get out of their way," Ann said.

    "Happily." The male responded.

    "Ann?" I asked.

    "I''m okay." She sounded winded but unhurt. "Keep pressure on them from back here. They need to move quicker to the day walkers." Her words were a whisper into the microphone.

    "We''ll keep them moving." Another somewhat familiar voice was on the communications with us. "Just stay safe."

    "Kurt?" Ann said.

    "Clear," Kurt responded.

    "Burnouts got the door figured out, ripped it clean off. They''re headed into the tunnels now. I can''t see shit down there so good luck." The staff member watching the cameras sat in one corner of Kahina¡¯s compound. I could feel him eating chips while glaring at screens.

    "It''s okay," Ann said.

    Somehow this was working. None of our people had died. We had close calls and grazes that would leave conversation starters. Best of all the Order members and partial vampires were on a collision course. If we were lucky the Order would come up behind them and take a few out before dying themselves. At this rate, the worst problem would be an outrageous repair bill.

    That tug came at me again. Stronger. Closer. Like the tide pulling against the moon. I knew that feeling. Knew the hunger. It was thrilling and terrifying all at once. Focus on the household was lost. My senses retracted like a balloon deflating.

    Dangerous Mate? Feel her body pull towards mine. Hungry. Eyes not open. Her lips part with a gasp.

    "She''s alive," I whispered.

    Kahina was waking up from her transformation. I turned around and looked at the bed. It was still dark and not an ounce of light in the room beside a soft glow from one light on the comm device I''d gotten from Ann. It was difficult to adjust from feeling everything to seeing things weakly.

    "Sir? Are you talking about the Lady Rhodes?" Ann''s voice was puzzled.

    For a moment, I saw Kahina in that other world. My vision slipped even further away from the here.

    She stands on the top of the valley''s lip. Unafraid. Watches the distant sun with excited eyes. Fiery sky above fades. Her arms held high in celebration. A soundless cry of joy. Triumph. Want to shout with her. She slowly fades from this strange world and I follow.

    Her spirit vibrates the air. Brushes against my senses. Feel her slam back to life. Takes me a moment to return. She sits still.

    "Sir, did you say she was alive?" Ann sounded desperate.

    "Did I hear that right?" Voices were shouting across the comm line. There were cheers and celebrations. Pointless ones considering the burnouts and Order were down here somewhere. I could only focus on Kahina. She still hadn''t taken a breath to taste the air.

    "I''m here," I said. "I''m here just like you wanted." My feet unconsciously moved closer to the bed.

    Fingers and hands banged on the door in the background. Gunshots tore into walls around us. Separating chunks of concrete from each other. Screams and hisses came from outside. I felt these things in a detached sense. My eyes, my true attention, were focused on Kahina.

    Her skin was nearly flawless. Remade into something new. Something that only looked human. She''d be happy that there''d be no further need for makeup to cover the uneven tones. Kahina''s hair was almost alive, wild, the perfect kind of mussed up look that would captivate the attention of any man. It was unnatural and alluring compared to what it had been before.

    Then her eyes opened. I could barely see them. Hell. They had been red before. Now they were like smoldering coals. If I looked too deep I would burn in pools of lava.

    Very Dangerous Mate.

    I took her hand into mine and ignored the noise and feelings coming in from around me. The bullets were still going, screams, crosses weakly held up in defense against an onslaught of vampires destined to die no matter what happened tonight. Burnouts. Then the slice of metal cutting through everything. A scream as one man''s body was split in two. The Order had made it to the tunnels.

    Kahina''s hunger was more intense than all these items combined. Like waves lapping heavily against a shore. Her head turned towards mine with a primal expression. I banged my head standing up quickly. She was hungry, stupid me. There had to be a pouch in here, or a power bar, mini fridge, something. There had to be. I tore out the few drawers in this place looking for anything to help her.

    People were shouting across the comm lines. Ann and Kurt gave orders to clear out the hallways. Someone screamed that Anthony had returned but was unresponsive. A countdown to nightfall went out. Three minutes.

    My apprehension was growing stronger. Kahina needed me to find a way to help her before she turned towards me as a source of food. Then I saw a set of red eyes blinking on the wall. The mouth thin. My barely suppressed fear wasn¡¯t coming from a desperate need to help Kahina. No, this was the fear from those Shade creatures. One was in the room with us. The seal was airtight yet it had slipped through. I blinked, and another handful sat on the wall looking down at us.

    "Nightfall in two. How are you holding up, sir?" Ann''s voice came through the microphone. I couldn''t respond.

    Kahina made a noise behind me. My limbs refused to turn about. Both eyes were glued to the wall. There wasn''t just one glowing face on the wall. There were a dozen, maybe two. One per dead partial vampire outside. Each with peering eyes and a scowling jagged two-dimensional mouth. Each projecting fear that made it hard to focus on any one thing.

    I expected them to leap off the wall and devour me whole with their jagged smiles. A wild cackle of maniacal children''s voices brushed against my senses. Angry chattering. Questions and pelting words that went too fast. My brain split in two as my tactile senses catapulted into the other realm again.

    Pillars loom overhead. Tall. Unforgiving. Displeased.

    "They are confused." Anthony''s voice was muffled through the door. I felt more than I heard.

    Swirls of gray against the dying fires above. Other world grows cold.

    "We ask you why?" Kahina''s Second remained possessed somehow. The words slowly came out and battered against the torn up hallway.

    "We hold the pact, Spawn of Jor." The winding down child''s toy voice sounded perplexed. It might have been worse than his normally smarmy tone Anthony had.

    Anthony''s fingers clawed at the great door. I could hear fingers pressing the keypad repeatedly in frustration. I was between Kahina''s barely repressed hunger and the maniac with a sword outside who could kill me in an instant. Trapped with a mob of angry shadow creatures who apparently questioned my adherence to an unknown pact.

    Kahina. She had been too long without blood. Her awakening would make it hard to control herself. The woman completely ignored the Shades and went for the nearest source of blood, my neck. Her teeth were long and extended. It was the kind of horror depicted on television.

    She had me like a deer in headlights. Frozen. Petrified. Kahina captured me. I hung there with her arms wrapped around my sides. Even if I had the energy to struggle there was no way I could have. The stress between my shoulder blades drained out quickly along with my energy. It was like going to sleep after a long workout. My body gave up.

    I felt the cold slide into the room. Ice clawed at my back. Kahina moved her head, stopped feeding for a moment and stared behind me. Probably at a Shade. Feral irritation shot across her face.

    It was difficult to make anything out. My senses were dwindling from the rest of the household to just Kahina. She was alive. Alive. We had made it.

    A frowning face and red eyes stretched across the wall next to the bed. Too close for Kahina''s comfort. She protected me, in the same way a lioness would protect her kill from hyenas. With anger, with roars of protest, and finally with an attack.

    Her face snarled and a hand shot out. Cut through the air with a frightening speed. Her hand sunk right into a shade creature hanging on the wall with barely any pause. It wasn¡¯t physical strength, somehow the woman¡¯s limb actually went into a reality sideways from this one.

    Approve. Very Dangerous.

    The creature had no time to sway out of the hand''s way. It wiggled and the face went through rapid changes. It opened wide to silently screamed in terror. Both red cartoon eyes were large, panicked, then finally closed from pain.

    "Are we free?" Anthony''s mouth made the words come forth. He still stood outside, only my senses gave me any hint as to the possessed vampire''s actual words. They vibrated down the hallway, among the bodies of dead Order members. His movement was nothing compared to the Shade''s writhing. I barely registered the words.

    Kahina''s face was screwed up in anger and rage. Her hand sunk deep into the shadow, clutching at the heart of a creature that barely existed in this world. I couldn''t feel her hand in the wall itself. No, it was somewhere else, somewhere between this world and that one.

    "Free?" It asked again. It almost danced as she twisted her hand to the side.

    Pillars. Darkness¡¯ home. Crumbles. She severs the link. Dangerous Mate calls down fire from above. Burns. She stands in it like one born to flame. Familiar. Hard to see. I tire. Numb. Can''t feel.

    My head throbbed. The feeling wasn''t painful, every part of me felt beyond worn out. Like a great drum beat slowing down at the end of a powerful solo. Funny, I hadn''t done a damned thing this time either.

    "Jay?" Kahina tasted the air.

    "Hey." My word was weak and took time. Everything took on a fuzzy outline. Walls felt indistinct. Each of my limbs felt like a stranger''s.

    Thoughts slipped in and out of my mind. I could feel Kahina rustling around, feel the slide of her body against mine as she lifted me up to the bed. Her fingers traced across my face and down to the wound. I couldn''t muster the strength to move my body. To reassure her that I was alright, but I wasn¡¯t.

    Kahina was rocking back and forth. My head in her lap in a pleasant reversal from last few weeks where I had cradled her in worry. I could see the hurt look on her face. She had completed the change and could still manage a completely undisguised look of sadness.

    "No, Jay, no. No no, you have to live." She was speaking. Lights snapped on and blurred my vision.

    All I could do was stare. I had forgotten how beautiful she looked. Those eyes were mesmerizing. A crimson outer edge and at their core was a new fire dancing deep within. A hint of the sky in that other world.

    Blood dripped from Kahina¡¯s face. Some of it mine. Some of it hers. The only kind of tears that would ever be available to her anymore. Her face was a mess from where she had latched onto my neck, draining my body like a squeeze pop.

    I tried to reach up and brush away the tears. My arm didn''t work right. It didn''t even twitch. I couldn''t manage a simple frown at the failure of my body. All of my energy was devoted to holding my eyelids open and looking up at my girl''s face.

    "You promised me, Jay, you promised. You have to stay with me. You have to, Jay." Kahina was babbling. Broken. Maybe part mad from her long nap.

    An image of Candy loomed over Kahina''s shoulder. It was fuzzy, either from the blood loss or due to her own exhaustion. She was ragged, her face covered in sweat. If there had been an ounce of makeup on her face it would be in rivers. She stood without a hint of teasing posture. In her hand was a sign with three simple words.

    <table>

    <tbody>

    <tr>

    <td>

    I warned you

    </td>

    </tr>

    </tbody>

    </table>

    "Congratulations, my dear. You''ve made it." Keeper, actual Keeper was somehow in the room with us. I faded in and out while the scene around me changed. Nothing else was clear.

    Footsteps sounded down the hallway, a breeze rushed by. Just enough to make the hair on my arms stand up. I was riding on a device with wheels. Their rhythmic noise occupied my thoughts. People were rushing me somewhere. Racing against the claiming darkness. I could hear Kahina sobbing with dry heaves.

    Dying was worth it. My life for hers. That was love. Right Crummy?

 Ladys First Knight; Chapter 25 - Perfect Romance

    The world came back into focus one inch of skin at a time. First a toe tingled. Then a spot on my upper leg itched. Hairs on my arm were caught by a breeze of cool air. Eyelids fluttered then slowly opened as the world spun into focus.

    Nothing angry prowled the room. No screaming or madness inducing gibberish filled my ears. No broken down doll speeches. I tried to turn my head and look around. No shadows hung on the walls with carved faces of madness. Daylight was apparent outside. There were no tubes in my body. Just wristbands, pulse monitors, electric devices attached to sticky things on my skin.

    I was alive.

    Kahina was out cold next to me. I tried to swallow and found my mouth dry. There were problems we needed to talk about. My deal with Candy stood between us, until I found another option.

    A nurse came in. She had a tablet of some sort that she was scanning readings into. The woman pressed buttons on the screen and moved on. I tried to wiggle an arm and wave her down. The effort resulted in her looking over. Her face had the sternest look I had ever seen.

    I tried to speak and failed.

    "You''re in a Sector hospital. Agent Crumfield will be in soon. I''ll make sure he brings a drink." Her words were professional and crisp. Sure enough, less than a minute later Daniel swept in the room.

    Following him was the waitress who wasn''t a waitress. Muni. Her raven hair looked even more pronounced. Easier to distinguish. Feathers fluttered through her hair. It was hard to tell if they were woven in, or if they grew from her scalp.

    "Man. What a giant mess," Daniel said. "Here, drink this. It''ll help, trust me." He tipped a small glass of murky water to my lips. There was something sweet in it. I was too thirsty to care.

    A third figure came in. An older elf with pure silver hair. It took me a moment to remember him. This was the elder from Candy¡¯s clan. I had seen him once from a distance.

    "This him?" The elf asked.

    "It is indeed. Our very own Mister Fields."

    "Right." The elf wasn''t as professional. His words held a left over gutter accent of the Emerald Isles. "I''ll be quick then, and on my way."

    Daniel shrugged. He clearly didn''t care one way or the other. Muni remained silent. Everyone seemed to disregard her and focused only on me. I was confused.

    "You made a deal with one of us. Honor it." The Elder said.

    "Yeah," I said.

    "You''ve promised. Stay clear of that Bloodletter." His accent grew increasingly pronounced the longer he talked.

    "I know."

    "I don''t know or care why. You made a deal with one of us. We''re honor-bound to carry through." The old man shrugged. He looked displeased at needing to be here.

    "There a way out?" I asked.

    "Not by human laws or ours. Western Sector is bound to enforce it as well. Unless you''ve something to offer in exchange for the debt?" His silver hair pulled back and an excited look crossed his face at the prospect of a deal.

    "I don''t know what you''d want." I had a ton of things.

    "Bah. Fine. You hash it out with Kanda''rila. Or come see me. Don''t go trying to wriggle out. If a deal¡¯s violated our entire clan¡¯s bound to dig up everything we can and make your life turn to shit. Trust me, us elves can find a lot."

    I tried to open my mouth and yell. To threaten him. All that came out was a tired whimper. There was no energy in my entire body. Both eyelids were heavy and fingers barely moved.

    "I''ll help him get it sorted, Elder Land''ril," Daniel said.

    "See to it, Agent. That''s your job. I''ve had my say." The old elf turned and walked out the door.

    Daniel sighed and rolled his eyes theatrically.

    "Elves. Anyway, I wanted to thank you, man. My girl, she''s shaken, but alive. That''s better than I dared hope." The agent was keeping his distance. The glass he had me drinking from was nearly empty.

    "We need to talk, Crummy." I slurred.

    "Sure, man, but you get some rest first. You''ll need it." Then he left too. Not a word about Muni being in the room. In fact, both men had acted like she didn''t exist at all.

    The raven haired woman stared off into space for a bit. Considering, choosing her words carefully. I had a lot of questions for her. My thoughts weren''t straight right now, though.

    "Is it starting to come back?" She finally asked.

    "Is what?" I asked.

    "That''s good then." Muni¡¯s body lost a lot of tension. "I''m not sure how long much longer it''ll last."

    My life felt far different since returning home. That other presence felt aware, alive, and less of a stranger. Abilities that I never experienced felt familiar and natural. Every time my thoughts started trying to understand why, I got sidetracked. It was frustrating.

    "The elf he mentioned, Kanda''rila, forces me to leave what is mine," I said. "Daniel tells me I''m hunted. I don''t know why."

    "That''s good."

    "Not remembering is good?" I asked.

    "For now. You are hiding, Lord." Muni said.

    "From what?"

    "From the followers of Merlin. Pause for a moment. Don''t struggle against it." Her voice was hypnotic. Or it was the water I drank. Probably some damned fine drugs in there. "Your emotions are the same. Thoughts. The only thing I can touch is your memory of them. You know that it''s good to forget."

    I didn''t want to pause and didn''t want to think about it. Instead, I focused on something else and asked "Why memories?"

    "If you forget yourself, then so does everyone else. You stand out less this way." She clucked a few times. "But it is impossible to diminish you forever."

    I had no idea how I was diminished. What she had done to make me feel differently. Or what I had forgotten. Worse, I was both frustrated and accepting of the lack of knowledge. Being of two minds about a topic explained why I hadn''t gone straight to Candy for answers. It hinted at why I hadn''t asked vampires or other elves about what I was. It wasn''t only the vague notion of danger, something else in me didn''t want to remember.

    Not yet.

    Muni knelt down next to me and Kahina. Well, next to Kahina. Muni seemed uncomfortable around me. Like she wanted to be tough but couldn''t quite pull it off.

    "Time to forget," She said.

    "For me?"

    "No. For everyone else who might have heard or seen you. I''ll be very busy for the next few weeks." She sighed then fiddled with her ribbons. The action was extremely familiar.

    "The elf is right you know," Muni said.

    I didn''t respond.

    "You being near her is very dangerous."

    The silence stretched for a few minutes before I finally said, ¡°I know.¡±

    "I can help." She offered.

    "How?"

    "I would take her memories of you when I take everyone else''s. She would not seek you then, and not know you survived." Muni¡¯s hands didn¡¯t move as much when she spoke. The more we interacted, the more obvious her nature was. That black hair looked like an illusion covering something else.

    My mind tried to weigh her offer. Would forgetting make it easier? Kahina would be free of me completely. No more wondering about my blood. No more worry about what I might do or say. She would never have to stress about me showing up drunk to a stuffy business meeting. Or punching her asshole Second in the face.

    I would remember her, though. Remember nights with her. Seeing movies in the showroom of her mansion. Remember swimming in the single Olympic pool. Feeling both drawn to her and afraid to get close. The scent of peppermint would forever remind me of Kahina. But she would be safer without me, especially since the transition was done. The other partial vampires were all dead and The Order was only after me.

    Could I be so clinical about it?

    "Can you take my memories of her?" I asked.

    Muni shook her head back and forth. The feathers braided into her hair never went out of position. Almost like they held on with glue and not bits of string.

    "Taking your memories are dangerous. You I can only block temporarily, anything more will break the seal." She said.

    "But it''s not dangerous to take hers?"

    "It''s like comparing rainstorms to tidal waves. One is violent but survivable, the other is destruction incarnate." Muni¡¯s words made little sense.

    "I''m the tidal wave?" I asked. Her explanation would probably make a lot of sense if I didn¡¯t already have issues. My brain was elsewhere anyway. I wished Kahina''s eyes were open. Instead, all I had was this sleeping face to study. Beautiful to be sure, but not as good.

    "You know many of us are forbidden from telling you."

    "Why?"

    "Because you ordered us not to," Muni answered.

    I hung my head. That made even less sense than the tidal wave analogy. When did anyone listen to my orders? Besides that thing with Stacy and Corey being ordered to sit.

    Things were peaceful right now and I didn''t want to argue. Whatever was coursing through me was damned effective. Not to mention my body was barely hanging on. It was a surprise that I hadn''t passed out again already.

    A huge chunk of my blood had been drained by Kahina. Only my ability to heal kept me moving. Before that had been a nearly endless run in the woods, facing sword-wielding vampires, being shot by a sniper and a wolf tearing into my shoulder.

    "Make the decision now, Lord. Before she wakes." Muni pushed for an answer. Her footsteps dared hop closer. The woman remained out of arm''s reach.

    "What will she remember?"

    "A bodyguard laid down his life for her survival."

    "Will she remember my face?" I asked.

    "In a sense," Muni said. "She will mourn a man she barely knew. She may dream occasionally of his face. Of his protectiveness. An old boyfriend from before."

    "But not me? Not that I''m alive?"

    "It''ll be someone like you, but that man will be dead. She will remember him dying in her defense. Only how she remembers the ending need change." Her words felt far away again. My eyes tried to focus on the pretend waitress. Black, just black with small eyes that stared at me. Feathers around everything.

    Kahina was easier to see, and sunset would arrive soon. I took solace in the fact that we had met once upon her awakening. It had been one of the few things she asked for, in that video from a week ago. Kahina''s face was starting to stir. She was eager to wake up.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    I had a deal to fulfill with Candy or the rest of her clan would blackmail me. It didn''t take a lot of thought to figure out how a group of people who could spy on my every move might make life miserable. Worse still, they could drag Kahina''s entire household and business into it and ruin her. She didn''t need to deal with my shit. There was a list of reasons to go and only two for staying.

    She was mine.

    I loved her.

    It would be better if I let her go. Easier if she didn''t remember me. Kahina would be fully awake in a few moments. My acceptance of Muni''s offer hung unspoken as I tried to talk. The side of my face had a quiet stream going down it. Hell, if anyone saw those tears my entire tough guy image would be ruined.

    I didn''t wipe them away.

    "Do it." Before I change my mind.

    "Do you remember your promise?" Muni asked slowly.

    There wasn''t emotional room left for anger or surprise. I merely stared at her.

    "You don''t." She looked timid for a moment, then replaced it with the waitress look. Used to dealing with people, didn''t take attitude. Tired of the same old crap. "You promised to find my brother, Lord. Somehow."

    Slowly my eyes blinked at her.

    "Please find him. This world is incomplete without him. I will adjust her memories of you. It will prevent the danger that chases you from finding her. Just, please, find my brother." Muni didn''t approach me with demands this time. No, this was something else. Desperation.

    "Keeper too?" I didn''t want that ancient vampire to know I existed. If he hungered for my blood like Kahina then life would be difficult. Especially for a vampire who could pop into an airtight room.

    "That old man?" Her face ruffled for a moment. "Yes. And all her household will forget your life. The wolves will be hardest."

    "Okay. Your brother. Deal." I could look into it once life settled down. It would take time to come to grips with being forced out of Kahina''s life.

    Life wasn''t a perfect romance novel. Love couldn''t overcome the united forces against us. Kahina could continue her existence, build her empire, make money, support the entire household if I just left. The pressure my presence would bring was too much. Elves, the Order, both were unwelcome.

    Muni didn''t even nod. She leaned her head down towards Kahina''s. Like a bird perched over food. I didn''t look away from Kahina once during the process. Not even when small grape like marbles surfaced on her face. Not even when Muni took them, carefully cradling them like a precious substance.

    This might be the last time I saw Kahina in person and one of us should remember the moment.

    Once it was done she chattered at me. She repeated the words. I was too exhausted to notice. Muni was probably telling me about her brother, but nothing got through. Finally, she gave up and left.

    I reached over and carefully tried to fix Kahina''s hair. Quiet minutes passed with the setting sun peering in through a window. Just us two. Liquid I couldn''t control dropped down onto Kahina''s serene face. It wasn''t from rain.

    Daniel returned. My brain wasn''t in a place to care. Beyond tired, physically and emotionally. His presence stirred me out of our moment together.

    "Time to go." He wasn''t rude about it. The Western Sector agent had just as much reason as I to be upset over these last few days. Daniel provided me a shirt and pair of pants to slip on.

    "Sorry, beautiful." I wiped at my face with a sleeve and kissed Kahina on the forehead. This was a hell of a way to keep someone safe.

    "Come on, man." Daniel gave me a hand getting detached from the machines and out of the bed. He propped me up on one side. The man was stronger than expected. The guidance was comforting. At least he was still here.

    Ann, Shaggy, whoever, stood outside and helped pack me into an SUV with the Western Sector logo on one side. In latin sat those words that loosely translated to ¡®everything for the peace¡¯. The two drove me home, keeping quiet, but I saw Daniel''s hand holding Ann''s. She would be okay in the end. They were both strong enough. Protected by their families, their government, and each other.

    They took me home to a ruined apartment that was still locked down by police tape. Daniel didn''t say anything as I got out of the car. Neither did I. Bypassing the tape I stepped into the mess that was my apartment. Blood remained on the floor and plaster was broken. The room felt disorienting and confining. I turned around and went back outside.

    Sleep dragged at my eyelids from the second I got out of the vehicle. Instead of giving into exhaustion and Daniel''s drugs I fell back on old habits. I picked a direction and walked. The length of time wasn''t measured. Everything hurt and nothing was clear. My mind was numb. Only half aware. That might have been the drugs.

    I traveled back to the nearby park. To walk the trails where Kahina and I had slept for a night. Next was the alley where Shaggy had nearly lost her life. The vehicle and windshield had been removed. The entire alley was clean. Almost like the entire event had been a dream. For a moment, I pondered how my blood had helped Ann live. Daniel had known. Daniel knew what I was. Yet I didn''t rush out to throttle him for answers.

    Muni had told me I would understand. That forgetting was important and acceptable. I did, and it was. It hurt knowing that Kahina wouldn¡¯t remember me. The idea was strangely comforting as well.

    Frequently I failed to resist the pull of Kahina''s red splattered cord. I trailed the purple and blood spotted line from my neighborhood towards her mansion. The scenes tore at me. As I watched her with that other sense the same results played out all night. She was fine one moment, then she would seize briefly and a spot of blood would trickle out an eye. Her face a barely masked bundle of confusion.

    I had to leave her alone. Had to cut off ties in every sense. Last time I left the area for four years so I could avoid the call of her presence. This time, it would be even harder.

    My footsteps must have traveled half the city before finally starting back towards home. It was somewhere near dawn before my surroundings became familiar. This was the first night in months that wouldn''t be spent near Kahina. Soon there was an easily recognized door in front of me. Even the door chime felt muted as the door opened.

    Julianne''s bar was quiet tonight.

    The bar was my last haven. A place that I had only been to twice since the short woman died. Other problems distracted me and prevented the full weight of memories from hitting. A flash of Julianne''s form haunted my mind. I could almost see her being the counter, shuffling glasses around and smiling.

    Muni wasn''t around. Maybe she was off adjusting everyone else''s memories of me. Her actions would erase me from existence in the minds of those who mattered. Distancing them from my dangerous presence. The only recognizable face was a drunken trucker wearing plaid. His bench sat next to my normal seat.

    How many hours had I spent in this building? I stood there in the middle of a place no longer felt familiar. The place could be burned down to the brick foundation and it would have the same alien presence.

    There was a small shrine set up in the corner. It was hard to tell if the pack had done it or the bar patrons. Both perhaps. Burned out candles, little handmade frames around cute pictures of a younger Julianne. Happier times. Even now, months after she died, someone cared for this little corner of remembrance.

    I walked over to the pictures and touched them one by one. There were so many captured moments that didn''t include me. A lifetime of friends to Julianne that had never crossed my path. Her and Thomas, their stern grandfather. Other members of the pack. Stacy was standing quietly next to Julianne in more than a few pictures. A lot of these were taken at the bar, a few in other places. It was hard to imagine her ever leaving this place. This was where she spent all her time, all her energy.

    There was one picture with Kahina and Julianne, both wore smiles painted across their faces. Julianne had a glass in one hand and both arms out wide. Kahina looked relaxed. In the background was a banner hanging across the ceiling. It was a birthday party from two years ago.

    No wonder none of these pictures had me in them. I had been gone. Kahina would never come back here either, not with Julianne dead. Not if Muni was removing all those memories. Kahina would never visit Julianne''s grave. She was the type who would feel the wound like it was freshly made the moment she saw these pictures. All the more reason for her to never visit.

    Business was quiet enough for me to sneak a bottle out from behind the counter. I grabbed the remote and flipped on the television. There was a vampire reporter giving out the latest updates. A Tribunal member was found dead at sundown. A new household had been born. They didn''t act like both stories were linked, they just put the pieces back to back.

    I turned the television off and the bar room drifted to silence. That marked an end to us. She had everything she ever wanted. My protection. My blood. My love. And none of it mattered because she wouldn''t remember.

    Those final images were burned into my brain. Her eyes as my life drained out in pints. That protective anger as she killed the shadow creature. The horrified look as she saw my face. Her screaming and weeping over what had happened. Any doubt in my mind regarding her feelings had been obliterated with that image.

    Useless certainty only a small consolation from this nightmare. Yet, her eternal life would stretch on like royalty while I sat in the crowd looking up with longing. It was a group I never fit into. Me, a thug in a suit, fitting into that crowd and being able to keep her safe had only been a dream.

    It was safer for everyone if I kept to myself. Alone, like I had been for years. There weren''t any appropriate words to say in farewell. Forgetting what had happened would be difficult according to Muni.

    There was one solution that would help. Like a prize from a cereal box, my hope for memory modification waited at the very bottom of this bottle. If not, then maybe the next drink would be a better solution.

    Eventually, I passed out. Kahina and Julianne¡¯s picture clutched in one hand, a half empty glass in the other.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 1 - Missing her

    Sorrow comes in many forms.

    Wolves'' grief comes out in food. Some binge, some starve. They become prone to wild mood swings, turning violent or suicidal. This behavior is one of the reasons each Pack has its own land. A haven where they can run or hunt as wolves while ignoring the trappings of humanity. After nightfall they howl their goodbyes towards the moon.

    Elven funerals aren''t open to the public. They¡¯re not anti social, but very ritualistic. They smile while trading, interact in schools, but these relationships are all superficial. Only a few elves ever dare associate with humans beyond a passing friendship. In the end, all family deaths involve planting a tree over the deceased''s grave.

    Vampires will praise those departed. The longer the life, the louder the praise. Betrayals are just as intense. Dirty secrets that come out decades later, when the cultural norm has shifted enough to be judgmental. Vampires will honor the murder of their true friends with obsessive vengeance.

    Humans varied just as wildly. I celebrated my sorrow by drowning myself in drinks. Not just a single glass, it was an entire supply chain of bottles all filled with wonderful substances that induced incoherence.

    Cheering from the front rooms rattled down the hall. Game night shouts reminded me that this bar was full of drunks. Lots of them. All swilling down liquid problem solver.

    Slowly the advertising and careful management helped this bar recover. Pack members had found someone new to shuffle drinks around then replaced one of the waitresses who quit. No one but me remembered what she looked like.

    There were some holdouts from the prior crowd. Those stubborn people consisted of myself and the frequent barroom patron who thought plaid was a single color. He always took the same bench at the counter. Third one down from the end. I crawled away to the back room. He paid his tab faithfully every night, while mine came out in trade. And I wasn''t a lightweight when it came to liquor.

    Four weeks ago I vanished into a bottle and hadn''t come out. Sobriety wasn''t an option. Glasses were been pointless because drinks went straight down my throat. Tonight the world around me felt blissfully dull. Nagging from my full bladder had numbed. Noise from the main bar was muted. No one came down here unless there was a real problem. It was safer for everyone that way.

    I had been prone to bouts of physical expressionism upon other individuals. Hell. The wolves thought it was funny while matching punch for punch. Every now and then a new person would stumble back looking for a fight. Like I was the bar''s test of manhood. ¡®Welcome to town, let''s go rile up Jay and see who''s still conscious in an hour.¡¯

    I should have changed the television channel. Blurry pictures of last week''s ceremony flickered by on the screen. Each one fueling smoldering hatred. Only excessive alcohol maintained the lethargy. Two full bottles of rum had finally reached my shoulder blades.

    Drinking solved nothing, but it did put things on hold. Consequently I had no problems. When the booze ran out the world would come crashing in and demand attention. Each one of my issues had a name attached.

    Evan was an elf who called me his Lord. The confusing designation brought me more trouble than happiness. He could tell me what I was in another six months. Too bad it was pointless this late in the game. I wanted to know who I was because of one person, and they had just tied the knot with an unexpected suitor.

    Candy was another elf who spent her time screwing me over literally and figuratively. Twice. A sneaky tramp. Making a deal with her had saved lives, at a high cost. I couldn''t decide if I liked her or hated her. Probably both.

    Daniel was a supposed friend who played me more than once in the last year for an unknown goal. Sector Agents had a motto, everything for the peace. That included keeping me in the dark about my life. He had been off doing who knows what since things fell apart for a second time.

    The list didn''t cover half the people I dealt with. It even left off the most important person. A female I shaped my life around one way or the other. I couldn''t even think her name without getting angry.

    I needed new uncomplicated friends. Assuming there was such a thing. Expecting a grown adult not to have emotional hangups was unrealistic. There might be five people without baggage in the world and they were only friends with each other.

    Opening the desk¡¯s bottom drawer was a downer. There were only two more bottles to keep me company between now and sunrise. Drunk me was pessimistic about the odds of making it through the night. Six hours where I needed to stay calm enough to avoid doing something stupid or plastered enough that I couldn''t coordinate myself out of the doorway. Fifty two hellish minutes of overtime should have rounded up to seven hours.

    The stupid action I had been contemplating for a week was very straight forward. Should I kill the muscled headed prick on the television?

    Kill.

    Livid thoughts coiled around my mind painting clear impressions. After weeks, months now, I understood more. This wasn''t possession, psychosis, or telepathy. The strange thought patterns came from a suppressed version of myself that had been buried by necessity. I didn''t understand it all. More accurately, I didn''t remember.

    Can peel his pampered hide. Disturbing what is mine. Takes Dangerous Mate away. Filthy hands.

    If I hadn''t spent the last few hours being exceedingly plastered the man on television would have been dead by sunrise. Never mind his fangs, the speed and strength that came with being a full vampire. Never mind that he was over a hundred years old and had experience on me. There wasn''t an ounce of fear in my body that he might get me first.

    No sneaks. Can take the Tick easily. Know the home inside and out. Can feel every ounce. Is a home. Our home. Reclaim it.

    Each person had a title that was strangely fitting. My former girlfriend was thought of as Dangerous Mate. Most vampires were called Ticks. Evan was Incomplete Servant.

    For the Tick¡¯s safety I personalized some drinking games. Every time the television screen showed his smug face next to hers I would drain another glass. Whenever their vows were repeated that would be two glasses. Speculation about the future, net worth, them dancing, kissing, her face beaming quietly up at his. Everything had a liquid equivalent. Two hours passed and I was down to one bottle.

    It wasn''t that I could begrudge her. My ex sort of girlfriend, Kahina, deserved happiness. Just not without me.

    "Jay?" The voice wasn''t timid, but it was whispery and apprehensive.

    I barely glanced over my shoulder towards the doorway. The man talking was tall and gangly looking. His hair was uneven and I could see bald patches that had formed. Everything about him, even the comically thick glasses, told you he was even less of a people person than I was.

    "What, Charlie?" Despite all the drink there wasn¡¯t even a slur in my voice. Anger kept parts of my brain functional.

    "I have jobs for you. If you want. If you''re not busy. I, I''ll understand." He wasn''t quite stuttering. Charlie had a healthy fear of interrupting my brooding mixed with serious social anxieties.

    "Fine. Give me a job." I said.

    "Alright." His feet shuffled with every step. A moment later he was back with a picture and sheet of paper.

    Tonight I had to be sober enough to earn my keep. There was probably a cab out in the bar parking lot that would take me wherever Charlie had in mind. This had happened a few times recently. It wasn''t enough to keep me completely distracted.

    "There''s only a few, a few, some outstanding accounts left." He said.

    "Oh." That was bad. The need for my services would run out soon. Rum by the bottle wasn''t cheap.

    "Unless we start, start the whole thing up, again." He suggested.

    "Not sure." I stared at the television and tried not to hate the world.

    "We could, but we''d have to find a new front person. Julie, I mean I, I''m, I''m no good with that, and you''re..."

    "Only the muscle." I said dryly.

    "Sure." The way he said it didn''t sound sure at all. It sounded like he was trying to say something but couldn''t find the right words and had given up.

    "I don''t know anyone."

    "Neither do I." Charlie looked disappointed. He once worked the numbers for the betting and gambling that this place had run. Julianne, our deceased boss and ex owner of the bar, had been a bookie in her spare time. Not a huge operation, but enough of a side business to pad everyone''s pocket.

    "Well."

    "If we run out of jobs I can''t pay you as much." He said.

    I''ll babysit the door." I tried to shrug but drunkenness may have blocked the action.

    "Maybe. Or we can offer, offer maybe, tracking services. Not the loan stuff. Maybe a missing persons service." Charlie tried not to stutter and failed.

    "Maybe." I drained a good chunk of the latest bottle and tried not to glower at the television screen. It was showing another scene from my ex''s recent wedding. Hell. The media thought she was an actual Princess or something.

    "If you think of something, let me know. Otherwise I, I, well, I may have to find another job." Things must be bad if Charlie was thinking about bailing on this place.

    "I''ll consider it." I took a few tentative steps and found myself depressingly stable.

    "I had a couple in, in here last week. Looking for their son." Charlie said.

    "Yeah?" I didn''t really care.

    "Run-away. Heard of a, referral. Offered five hundred. We could split that. It''s enough, enough for a little while."

    "We aren''t front counter type." I said.

    "No. Probably. I could try, maybe. See. Maybe put an, an ad, online, somewhere. We did that, once, I, I think." His hands stayed clasped together.

    "I guess." Another motionless shrug went through my head.

    "Yeah." Charlie wasn''t normally one for words. He kept his sentences even briefer than I. Here we were having a full fledged conversation.

    My head started to swim a little as the latest batch of swill processed. I said, "I better go."

    Charlie nodded and stepped into his office. I took the employee exit and checked the note. The handwriting was sharp and concise. An address, a name, an amount. He even wrote in likely locations to find the person.

    My gut clenched when I saw the locations. This was the type of person I hated. Frequented all the wrong habitats. Fight clubs, betting arenas, brawl pits. Different names for the same idea. There was only one real contender for true enthusiasts. Bottom Pit. Chances were that was exactly where I might find tonight''s debtor.

    I hailed a cab.

    Traveling always took at least an hour. Didn''t matter if it was on the other side of town, a county or two over, three blocks away. Always an hour of uncomfortable car riding. The commute got me sobriety and ample annoyance. I had the driver drop me a few blocks away from Bottom Pit. He got his money and I got out.

    I borrowed a retail store''s restroom in exchange for buying breath mints and water. It was late at night and the clerk was barely coherent. The clock above the door told me it was after one.

    Perfect timing. Bottom Pit would be probably be warming up to their main act. Fights were held near two in the morning. It ensured that even vampires could attend if they wanted. Wolves had no problem staying up that late. Elves rarely found their way into the betting grounds below. Humans made up the crowd''s majority.

    Death wasn''t always involved but the ambulance drivers knew which nights to be aware. Bottom Pit didn''t even have to hide from law enforcement. Waivers were signed, and the best fights were always non humans. Mostly wolves. Secretly, I think everyone enjoyed it when the other races, vampires and wolves, killed each other off.

    Contenders flew in from all over the Sector, nearly seventeen packs had fighters in the last tournament I went to. That was five years ago. I had been a different person. Stronger, faster, more sure of myself. A creature that lived wholly in the now. I became someone else over the years. This completely worn sad sack of a man. It was like the bits of my life that made me feel normal had been muted and blurred. Static ground over entire batches of past.

    Exploration of the holes in my memory was a mission for sober Jay. Progress was nonexistent.

    Bottom Pit had no signs outside, just a main entrance and a side one. Secondary doorways were typically easier and quieter. Less idiots to deal with. Bottom Pit was odd in that getting to the back door required passing by the front door. The place was half fortress and club security could decide to stir up problems.

    The main entrance had bouncers with dark glasses standing outside. There were always three big guys guarding the doorway. Another four would be inside. Each one was built like an extra beefy linebacker. Their arms crossed and faces sat etched in nearly permanent scowls. Topping it off were uneven teeth from frequent fights that oddly mirrored slight bellies and thick arms. I was a big man myself, but these guys were the next size up.

    One scanned the line trailing along the building side. The other two stood in the doorway creating a narrow space that Bottom Pit''s visitors would have to squeeze through.

    I walked casually towards the side entrance off to the right of the main door. Past the small line of mostly human males. Past the swollen grunts at the door. One meathead lowered his dark shades in my direction. Orbs tainted with greens and yellows peered over the rims.

    Abruptly he grinned and elbowed the other doorway bouncer. Soon they both had the same silly expression. They both gave a polite nod. I kept going past the strange greeting. There was no hassle, no names, no words, only a smile and acceptance of my presence.

    They knew me. Or they mistook me for someone else. Perhaps I had hung out here and lot more than I remembered. Part time, maybe a fight or two. It was entirely possible there were gaps in my memory about this place. Some might come back to me as I thought about it.

    There was actually two side entrances. One giant doorway for cargo trucks and the smaller normal sized entryway. No guards. On the other side of the metal would be giant iron bars that served as locks. All sorts of things went in through this door. Employees, the owners, fighters, take out delivery.

    This place felt far too familiar but I hadn''t been to Bottom Pit for years. I knocked on the smaller door. It was the same knock I used when going to people''s houses. Firm and without hesitation.

    Feet shuffled as someone muttered just inside. A grate in the middle of the iron frame slid open and two eyes looked out at me. The face was older but vaguely familiar.

    "Dunno you." The man inside said and slammed the tiny slit shut.

    Two voices conversed on the other side. The metal barely muffled their routine. They argued over and then the peephole slid open again.

    "Who are you?" He asked.

    "Former employee, looking for someone." I answered.

    It slid shut again and they talked some more. There was a grunt and shuffle of feet. The same face opened up the slit and peered out. It was easy to see the scars and broken noses he survived. There were some new ones layered across his cheek that hadn''t been there years ago.

    "Password?" He asked in a dumb voice.

    "Little pig, little pig." I said. It had been a password when I worked part time in this very building. The pair behind the door probably didn''t remember me. Both of them had been hit on the head so many times that they were as scrambled as I. It might have been that charm thing around one of my limbs messing with their perceptions.

    The metal slit clanked shut. Standing here longer was bringing back memories of this place. I vaguely recalled how things would look from inside. Pure iron flowed through the building. Elves shied away from Bottom Pit for a reason.

    I sighed and tried to get a feel for the words on the other side of the wall. To feel them echoing into their surroundings. It took a bit to unfurl my mind. To picture the nearby world as mine. That was the key to any abilities I had. Ownership. By perceiving something as mine I could feel it like an extension of my own body. It also made me stronger, faster, though just how strong and fast I could get was beyond me.

    Flipping the mental switch of ownership was harder now than it had been five years ago. It was also easier now than a month ago. That other voice took heed of our location.

    Familiar. Feel blood. Ground through the building. Much. Some mine. Something else here. Been here. Many times.

    The thoughts were murky. My brain censored itself in an attempt to prevent me from remembering everything. It skipped, mused, pondered an idea that I couldn''t quite grasp. Constantly incomplete thoughts were becoming habit when I tried to track things.

    Want to know if they will obstruct me. Between me and what is mine. May reconsider. May break them. Unsure. Can feel the words. Sink into cloth. To wood. To unnatural stone.

    "He''s knows the champ¡¯s password." Mud Wall speaks. Bigger. Body displaces more air. Dull. His words hang with drool.

    "Yeah but is he the champ?" Shorter. A quiet anger. Roughly shuffles grainy paper. Folds. Refolds. Leaves sharp creases.

    "Nah, looks like a chump."

    "Chumps ain''t champs, wrong password, tell him to go away."

    "What if he was a champ?"

    "He''ll know the rest." Second creatures turns. Feet grind onto dirty concrete. His hands hold something. Paper, magazine. Rolled up. The eyehole slides open.

    "Go away." The mutilated face was a wary distance away from the hole. Probably been poked in the eyeballs once or twice. I shook off my other senses and spouted the second half.

    "Open up or I''ll huff and puff." I said. Hell. Whoever made these passwords based on nursery rhymes was a moron.

    The little slot closed again. Their words were loud enough that I didn''t need to use my senses to pick them up. These came through unfiltered by my strange thought process.

    "He knew the rest." The stupid one said.

    "Stop hassling me then. Let him in." His shorter friend grumbled.

    "Yeah but we don''t know him, and he ain''t food."

    "Moron. I''ll check." If there had been a third person behind the door this might have been more amusing. Their banter almost felt normal. Nothing had changed in the years I was gone.

    Rusty dragging preceded a fourth opening of the peephole. Eyes looked out at me. They looked up, then down. Then back up and down again. To the side, one arm, then the other. I wasn''t wearing a jacket tonight so there wasn''t a lot of room for concealed weapons.

    Finally it closed. Then the door opened and a short round man greeted me. He didn''t offer to shake hands. Both his limbs were too busy with a bag of microwaved popcorn.

    "Hey, John." The roll of flesh said. "Long time no see. Come on in before the rabble notices."

    I walked into the building. Another part of my past that had been buried with everything else. Parts of it were coming back to me just by being inside this room.

    "Hey, Barnie." I greeted the shorter round man. The second guy was was named Ted. No one really liked Ted because he had the IQ of two squirrels fighting over the same nut in a field of acorns.

    "John?" Ted said.

    "John, you remember John, used to work here back when the old Boss was still coming ¡®round." Barnie sounded grumpy half the time, friendly the other half.

    Barnie had been in the business for so long that any sense of morals had been ground to dust. It didn''t make him a jerk. He was actually decent enough until the orders came down. I had seen the man aim shotguns and shrug just before pulling the trigger.

    "That''s back aways. Years, yeah Barnie." Ted was my size, not a wolf or anything. Just a big guy who had more muscle than brains. We got along fine until he started drinking. He was a mean drunk.

    "Yeah. Hey, John, Boss left a skirt in charge. She''s a fiery bitch who wouldn''t know a good time if it pried her legs apart. Keep clear. You know, else our business ends. Unless you''re gonna fight. Let me know. I''ll get one of these suckers to put some money on you." Barnie said all this while pulling his chair back out and plopping down in front of a television playing old movies.

    "Huh." I said. I didn''t remember fighting down here.

    "Easy money, yeah Barnie?" Ted had a silly look on his face now that he was away from the door.

    "Oh yeah. So you warn me." The squat man said.

    "Sure." I agreed.

    "Anyway, she''s down on the floor. Champion fight tonight. Long odds are four to one against the newcomer. Some quick little fuck." Barnie nodded, mostly to himself.

    "Not here to bet."

    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on."Nah? Well, everyone should have some playtime. Whatcha after? Girls? Drinks?" Barnie always did most of the talking. Both were focused on the screen blaring out cheesy lines.

    "Collections." I stated.

    "From the Boss? You ain''t that stupid." Barnie said while Ted turned his bag of popcorn upside down. The large man grumbled. "If she doesn''t kill you I''d have to. Fucking stupid."

    "No." I told him about my latest job. The guy I was after frequented places like this and if tonight''s fight was a champion bout then there was no other place he could be.

    "Oh yeah. That guy. Fight night, yeah. Downstairs on the left. Prick¡¯s prolly chasing titties." Barnie turned and threw a few kernels from the dregs of his bag at Ted. "Where''s that twat with the checkered shirt? The one you had to drag out last week."

    "Table four." Ted answered. The big guy never tore his eyes away from the television.

    "See, told you. Downstairs on the right." I didn''t correct Barnie. We weren''t that friendly. "Table four. Listen, you keep it quiet alright, John?" Barnie smiled with no emotion. "Boss don''t like disturbances, and I''m not in the mood for work tonight. I''m on fucking vacation."

    "Fucking vacation." Ted echoed, still staring at the screen.

    "Alright." I said. No arguments would come from me. Barnie was the type to bring a rocket launcher to a knife fight.

    I started through the door towards the main rooms. The fights and more would be going on downstairs and there were things to do tonight.

    "Oh and hey." Barnie said. I turned back to look at him. "Welcome back." The short man eked out a sliver of real feeling.

    "Chasing titties." Ted mumbled. "John." He puffed out air then spoke one final line. "No stray hands."

    I nodded and walked out of the back, past a restroom and break rooms. Extra paths were ignored and my feet traveled straight for the main floor. Stepping out in Bottom Pit proper brought back a rush of memories. One in particular.

    The ladies of Bottoms Pit didn''t wear a lot in the way of clothes, which was a very bad thing for a single and emotionally damaged man like myself. Of course this whole place was out of touch with my recent habits. It was like a smoker taking his first drag in weeks. I would call it like an alcoholic taking his first drink in years but I had no idea what that was like.

    It was a good thing Ted had warned me. Each breath brought a heady rush of feelings. Hell. I wasn''t angry right now. I was excited. I wanted to watch people beat each other senseless. I wanted to see blood splatter against the walls down below. Chasing down a piddly debt was secondary to having a good time. This was an excellent way to distract myself.

    The wet sound of a fist colliding with flesh with incredible force rang throughout the room. Cheers followed. A giant metal cage housed two men pounding at each other. People in suits screamed at the sides, cheering and jeering in equal measures at those inside. Ladies who wore more on their heads than the rest of their bodies wove through the crowds. Liquor flowed from platters. Scenes like this would jumpstart anyone''s pulse. It was hard to say which vice was more appealing; the violence, women, or drinks.

    Why not all three?

    I had only been single four weeks. Long enough to realize that life was going to continue on no matter what I felt. Too short to be serious about anything. Not that it stopped me from looking. I had practice in not being a sleaze ball about it. It was impossible to be effective if I would get distracted by every rack that jiggled by.

    "John!" One of the large suited grunts waved over the heads of patrons and employees. He made his way through the crowd like a steamroller. Anyone in his way got pushed aside. "John, hell, man, been ages!" The grunt greeted me with a handshake. "Hasn''t been the same since you left."

    "Ain''t that the truth." I smirked. Nothing had been the same since I left.

    "My brothers said you''d passed by the front." He had the same disfigured teeth that the other three out front had. His words were hard to understand around the lisp. "Didn''t believe it. Thought they were screwing with me. John! Fuck yes."

    "Yeah, here on a job." We slowly made our way to a clear view of the fighting cage. This wasn''t the main stage. Just a warmup. There was a cage, and then there was The Pit. I doubted that I would be around long enough to see those grounds in use.

    "Yeah?" The grunt looked me up and down. It was awkward being sized up like that. "Not gonna jump in The Pit?"

    "Hadn''t planned on it." I answered.

    "Damn. You want in, you tell me, there''s a whole new crowd of suckers in here that don''t understand how one sided the match would be. We give you a welcome home brawl, you''ll love it." He grinned. His name wasn''t coming back to me like Ted and Barnie¡¯s had.

    "Maybe later." I offered.

    "Yeah, hey, I gotta keep doing rounds. You know how it is. I''ll tell the rest of the family you''re here, we''ll catch up on old times." He placed a friendly hand on my shoulder. I nodded. He still had that broken smile as he waded through the crowd.

    "Hey!" He shouted at someone in the distance.

    It was nice to know that people remembered me. Better yet, they were willing to bet on me over their own fighters. My reputation was intact down here. Or maybe they just wanted to see me get my face beat in. I vaguely remembered the bouncers being semi sadistic. They didn''t always care who was on the other end. Their love was for the fight.

    Somewhere around here was my target. I didn''t own anything of his. Had no pull to go off of. Tracking would have to be done the old fashioned way. Asking for directions. I stopped a waitress and managed to keep both eyes up top. There should be an award for that.

    She made a disgusted face once I mentioned the table I was headed to. Table four was down the middle of the room, not left or right like Ted and Barnie had said. I took a drink from her platter and dropped down a twenty. The waitress, or showpiece, hard to tell which, went about her rounds. I''m not ashamed to admit I peeked as she walked away. A simple glance put a smile on my face.

    I sat down quietly with drink in hand. The table was intended to seat three or four people, but everyone had crowded the front lines. There was a blissful few minutes of peace between me and the concoction.

    Liquid was swilled down in a blur leaving me fidgety and worried. What if this was the wrong table? The wrong person? I riffled through the jacket that had been left behind. No money. No credit cards.

    There was a Sector card that confirmed my location as correct. Steven Gates. Twenty five years old. His picture had a sheepish grin across it. Next to that was an employee badge that identified him as a computer tech that worked for EXI, whatever that meant. The logo wasn''t very helpful.

    Was he a computer geek? He probably spent all day staring at a monitor or electronic board things. No wonder the man spent time somewhere exciting. Too bad he decided to throw down money in the wrong places. I managed to shove his cards back into a pocket when the man himself showed up. His face started confused then smiled like everything was a joke.

    "Awesome fight up there! Say you want to help me get closer to the front? I could slide in behind you. You look like a good battering ram." The man was fit, but just on the goofy side of good looking. Brown hair, brown eyes, probably full of shit half the time.

    I didn¡¯t have a quick response.

    "No? That''s cool. Hey keep the seat warm, I''m gonna grab another drink." Steven rushed off.

    He seemed like an excitable idiot.

    I scanned the crowd. There was no real hurry to complete our transaction. Steven either had enough to pay Julianne''s back, or didn''t. A few drinks and a good time wouldn''t hurt him.

    Besides, I was having fun. Whatever Bottom Pit put into that mixer I grabbed was strong. It brought everything firmly into fuzzy land. There were no news channels on here, there was no one talking about the latest high profile wedding. No, here the cameras were all on the fights.

    Betting tickers scrolled along multiple walls. Odds on this fight and the next fight. Minimum bets and expected payouts for wins. None of tonight''s fighters were house sponsored. Another part of the display told me there were twenty minutes until the big event. The current champion would go against an up and coming challenger from a few counties over.

    Might be worth a glance. I doubt anyone would begrudge my wading up to the front to look in on the proceedings. I could hassle Steven when he came back then go about my night.

    Only Steven didn''t come back. With ten minutes left to the fight I started getting antsy. Had he ditched me? Unlikely since his stuff was here. I grabbed the jacket and used it as a link.

    Dense. Air hard to move in. Heavy with yells. Exciting. Pulse pounds with the cheers. Remember. Yes. Past distracts me.

    My head shook to get thoughts back in line. They kept trying to drift towards the cages and waitresses alternately. Attracted by different things for different reasons.

    Find the Pink Meat. Cord connects to jacket. Goes somewhere up. Not far. Can wait. Want to watch the Gladiators.

    The gathering of people made it extremely hard to focus on the cord that would connect Steven''s jacket to the person. Drunk me tracked horribly. Normally I could follow the ethereal connection through the swirl of other sight and life energy onwards toward my destination. My submerged mind had other desires and vetoed this work assignment.

    Getting out of the chair was more challenging than expected. Being two bottles under was starting to hit hard. There was another refill on my table. I didn''t question my fortune and took it.

    I staggered the straightest curve I could manage over towards The Pit. It felt so familiar. The Pit was a huge hole beneath two layers of metal grating that anyone could walk across. Forty feet down and fifty feet in diameter. The dugout floor was ringed by metal cages. Above that were two layers of alcoves that people could watch from. Spectators could also watch from the cameras. Metal shook as I walked across. There weren''t many gathered and the early birds would grab the alcoves first.

    Down below, around the walls of the ring, there were handprints indented into a clay like surface. Each one a champion. Immortalized, or as close as a fighter could get. There was a tournament held for the true champion yearly. The winner had to impress their hand into the wall without any aid. Only one human had ever won out of the multitude and his handprint was the lightest. The human had survived against intense odds and retired quietly after, broken but proud.

    I wandered back to the table where another drink was waiting. Just as heavy on the liquor as the prior. The aftertaste was an exciting bite of sour apple that cleared my nostrils. The emotions I felt all night were growing more intense. Excitement and anger coursed through in equal measures. The hair on my arms stood up and a chill ran down my back. My shoulders rolled and neck cracked.

    Steven still hadn''t moved. His jacket was a terrible connection.

    "Drinks good?" A large hand slapped me in the back. I turned and found myself looking up at two of the large bouncers. Clear differences stood out. Weavings in their hair, the way they stood. One was clearly in charge and he was talking to me.

    "Yeah." I answered.

    "Good. Good. It''s better than the normal swill. Think of it as a welcome back. On the house." This security man had a controlled slur too.

    "Thanks." My throat felt dry and itchy.

    "Enjoying the view?" The leader asked.

    My gaze was mildly distracted by one of the bare chested ladies walking by. She had an attractive lilt to her step. It took some effort not to flinch like I had been caught. These bouncers had heavily shaded glasses and might get away with looking.

    "Yes." I said.

    One of them swiveled his head and nodded to the waitress. She gave a tired smile and kept moving.

    "Not the flesh." Both men smirked, almost Pack like in their unison but far more disturbing. Almost a filthy leer. "The Pit brother, the place where boys become men! Our own little proving grounds."

    "Yeah. Brings back memories." I responded slowly, this place felt good, and foreign, and like a second home.

    "I''ll bet. You keep drinking. Enjoy yourself." He nodded.

    "Sure." Emotions rolled over me like a surging tide. The shivery excitement was growing sharper. It ebbed and flowed over my whole body as the crowd cheered at the latest fist hitting someone.

    The brothers turned away.

    "Hey. Where did Steven go?" I held up his jacket. One of the bouncers turned back to me and looked at the article of clothing.

    "He''s upstairs having a heart to heart with Boss Lady."

    "Does Steven owe her too?" I asked the bouncers.

    "The weakling got too friendly with our women." The brother who had been doing all the talking had more braids in his hair. Knots woven down one side. It meant something. I mostly spoke to him and nearly ignoring the second bouncer.

    "Not a good idea." The lesser bouncer said.

    "While they''re here, they''re ours to care for. Unless he paid, which he hadn''t." He didn''t slur as much as the other brothers. His face also looked less broken but held a very protective expression. It wasn''t lecherous, or slobbering, it was annoyed. These guys took their jobs very seriously. This was their house and no one was above the rules.

    There were three posted above the main door. Three posted around The Pit. Simple words to live by.

    ¡®Guests of Bottom Pit shall follow the rules. One, you are guests, not owners. Two, everything has a price, pay up front. Three, The Pit is the final arbiter of all arguments.¡¯

    Rule three was my favorite. I vaguely remembered trouncing a few uppity people when I worked here. There was at least one incident per week.

    "Drink up, you''re family here."

    "If you insist." I grinned and laid back the liquid. It burned going down and left that same puckered aftertaste. "Will this woman be done with Steven soon?"

    "None of my business.¡± The leader said.

    "Maybe." The lesser one shrugged.

    "Don''t act like you know something when you don''t." The one with more braids nearly snarled at the younger man. They shuffled back and forth. I noticed most of the crowd was avoiding us. "For you, John, we''ll go ask. I''ll take you to the boss, see if she''ll let your prey loose."

    "Doubt it. Clingy bitch." Muttered the second bouncer.

    "Watch it." The more commanding one cuffed the other on the back of his head.

    "What''s in those drinks?" I asked.

    "The Beast? What is that, your third? Fourth?"

    "Fourth." Counting was getting difficult.

    "You''re going to be feeling it soon." The secondary bouncer looked happy. "We got room for him downstairs?" He asked.

    "Hopefully." The one in charge had a sly happy grin to his face. Were they talking about putting me in The Pit? Why did everyone want to see that? "Those are hard to make, worth every moment. When it hits, you''ll know, and it''ll be a fight you''ll need."

    His finger pointed to my now empty drink. I mulled over the decision to go full on tipsy. Leaving Kahina had turned me from a usually peaceful drunk into a half sane powder keg. Luckily I stayed mostly sober no matter how hard I tried, at least until I quaffed this Beast stuff. It was definitely putting me through the paces.

    My heartbeat had sped up. The world moved in a detached and almost slow sort of way. That suppressed presence in the back of my head was nearly purring in happiness. I wasn''t sure how anyone could be so relaxed, angry, and excited at the same time.

    Us three ventured forth and the crowd parted around us. A few were noisy and whispered questions at each other. Trying to figure out if I was being thrown out, or who I was to be escorted by two of the club''s employees. We went past the bar, past the first set of stairs up, to the second set. The path wound up a floor, down a hallway, and into a room with grand double doors. They were dark things that chased away all but the bravest rays of light.

    The first bouncer knocked briefly, then without waiting for a response he opened the door.

    Inside was intense. I sucked in air and tried not to gasp in delight. Every time we took a step forward something glittered. Items shined. A reflection here, a beam of light there. It was like a disco ball, or what the inside of a diamond must be like. Central to it all was a simple desk with a lamp that spun out just enough to light up the room.

    Behind the desk was a person. Behind her a nearly black sheet of glass that proved to be a one way window of sorts. It looked out over the crowd, much as the crowd might look over a match in The Pit. In the middle of the room, looking not the least bit sheepish, was Steven.

    "What is so important that you need to interrupt me, Roy?" She said.

    "John here wanted to see if you were done with Steven." The head bouncer¡¯s words startled me. Either they were chummy enough that he could get away with talking like that, or Roy, the larger and more braided of the two bouncers, didn''t care one bit what his boss thought.

    "John?" She looked from the bouncer over to me.

    The woman who responded was nothing like what I expected. It turned out the new boss was a redhead. Not like my friend Daniel. He was tanned, more auburn than red. This woman had hair like fire and freckles to match. Her complexion was straight from the isles. Thin, but not without muscle, wiry. I could almost see her spouting nonsense about lamb and potatoes.

    "Yeah. John. He''s family round here, from before you took over." Roy nodded.

    "What, a Part timer? We have plenty of those, and none of them warrant my attention enough to barge in here."

    "I can totally leave if you''d like." Steven said.

    "Don''t even try." The fiery woman lashed out with her words.

    "You sure? Seems crowded in here. I can just..."

    She looked at Steven. Her expression wasn''t angry, worked up, or even sad. It was an emotionless mask. Almost as perfect as my ex girlfriend''s. The only difference was in the bend of her jaw, the slightly tense look around her eyes, and her foot tapped slowly. My ex was composed, relaxed, and didn''t have such an obvious tell.

    ¡°Right. I''ll sit here."

    "Look, fight''s on soon. You should hit the floor." Roy said.

    "I love how you assume my ignorance on what must be done." The boss turned one hand over in annoyance.

    "I assume nothing. Steven''s debts won''t be cleared with one beating though." Roy said. I couldn''t tell if he respected her or not. It seemed mixed.

    "He owes her too?" I asked.

    "Him? He owes everyone."

    "Not everyone." Steven said.

    There was a moment of silence in the room.

    "The debt to me comes first." The woman said. Her name was still a mystery to me.

    "How much?" I questioned. Steven only owed Julianne''s a couple thousand. Nothing major, certainly not worth fighting over.

    "Well over one hundred grand." She maintained a mostly still expression but those words felt tantalizingly warm.

    Maybe it was just a side effect of being a woman in power. Maybe looking emotionless was her way of preventing being taken advantage of. Maybe she tried being friendly once and it backfired miserably. Too bad the vibration of fiery anger never left her tone.

    "Have him work it off." I shrugged one shoulder and tried not to lose my happy drunken buzz.

    "Mister Gates¡¯ work ethics are sketchy at best." She said.

    "We tried that. That''s how he ended up owing some much in the first place." Roy added in some details. The second bouncer had wandered off while we were talking. Probably back downstairs.

    "It was a perfectly safe script. Nothing would have been hurt." Steven shrunk.

    "Your program wiped out our accounting for two days." The boss responded from behind the desk. It looked like she wanted to lift up the furniture and throw it at Steven. I prematurely mourned the loss of such polished looking objects.

    "It would have been fine." Steven squirmed in his chair. Now the woman was glaring. Her lips drawn back in a nearly perfect angry snarl. I couldn''t have done better myself. "If no one had..." He tried to sink further into his chair. "turned off the computer..."

    "And where were you during this time?" The woman actually came out from behind her desk and leaned down in front of Steven. His eyes drifted in the wrong direction then he gulped.

    "Noooo where." Steven fidgeted.

    "I believe he was in a hotel, with one of the waitresses." Roy turned and looked at me. His face wasn''t grumpy, if anything he was kind of amused. "And he tried to bill us for that time as hours worked."

    "I was working. Hard."

    "That''s enough." I finally said. This was getting ridiculous and my brain wasn''t focusing right. The night was difficult enough. I was definitely feeling the effects of whatever was in those drinks. Another part of me just wanted to bask in this room''s dazzling glory.

    "We''re due downstairs." Roy said to the redhead. I just watched. Feeling more and more worked up. Angrier. A rush of cool shivers kept making its way up and down my spine much quicker than before.

    "Very well.¡± She pushed Steven over and his chair clattered to the ground. ¡°Gates, you poor excuse for a man, we''ll be talking soon. And don''t think I''ve forgotten where you live."

    I didn''t ask why she knew in the first place. Maybe she copied his card down or something. The man was kind of stupid to leave it in his jacket.

    "And you, John, can get out of my office." She said.

    I clenched my teeth and followed Steven towards the door. The real action would be downstairs one way or the other.

    "See you soon, John." Roy gave a broken grin as I exited.

 Trials Of the Chief; Chapter 2 - Beer and Titties

    "So, you some kind of debt collector? Here to rough me up for money?" Steven didn''t even have the good grace to wait until we were down the stairs.

    "Something like that," I answered.

    "Really? Which place you from?"

    "Julianne''s."

    "Oh wow, that''s legit? Like you can go after me even though she''s dead?" His comments and my mounting ill temper left only one option.

    I slammed Steven into the wall hard enough to make his eyes roll back. It only took a little bit of pressure. A bit of focus. He didn''t even try to squirm. Once his eyes finished rolling there was kind of a silly smile on his face.

    Man feels off. Pulse erratic. Eyes dilated. Breath full of extra things. Too little fight in this creature. Worthless.

    "Are you high?" I asked.

    "Me? No, dude. Just happy, happy, happy."

    Clearly he was mentally short a few screws. Either it was drugs, or he was an amazingly carefree guy. I threw him to the side and kept walking down the hall. His hang-ups weren''t my problem. Steven bounced up almost instantly and limped after me.

    "So, what am in for? You got like, late penalties? ¡®Cus I can totally pay. Got money riding on the challenger tonight." He managed a few stupid jabs at the air and didn''t even wince. "If Sandberg wins I can take care of your collection and maybe some for that sweet number upstairs."

    "Good luck," I said.

    "You''ll see. Odds aren''t too bad."

    "Sure." I just wanted to be away from him and somewhere I could enjoy the fight. I needed to see blood splattering. My head was starting to throb.

    "You going to go watch the match? Can I like, follow you down there?" Steven asked me while smiling.

    "No."

    "You''ll hardly notice me. I swear." He put one hand against the wall and held the other up as if swearing an oath.

    "No." We made it down the stairs and Steven still didn''t leave me alone. He had made good time on the steps even with his hurt leg.

    Then I saw a face that paralyzed me. Her face. Dark skin that broke only for a smile. The whites around her irises. Her dress was daring and dipped so low in the front that any man would do a double take. Brown creme fabric against dark chocolate skin.

    I quickly veered away from that side of the room, found a corner and tried not to freak out. This was too much. We had separated long enough that things were becoming bearable. Just short enough that seeing her smiling face felt like being shoved into a grinder.

    "You alright? You look super white. Like, a ghost, maybe some sort of returned from the dead thing. They got a name for those?" Steven¡¯s head tilted to one side. The man had followed me down and it was aggravating.

    "Don''t know." The question threw me off. I had never heard of such a creature. Vampires were close, considered partially dead by a lot of people due to their nocturnal nature. It was an old belief from centuries ago.

    "Damn. I should come up with something about monsters coming back from the dead. It sounds like a money maker. I''ve got a nose for these things." He rambled.

    I had to give it to Steven. He was distracting, just enough to get me past the initial panic. I dared to look up and over at the main reason for my messy past. Kahina. She was walking around with her new husband in tow. A man she married less than a week ago. They weren''t out on some island resort or near the North Pole to enjoy their honeymoon. No, they were here, tonight, at Bottom Pit.

    Hell.

    The television claimed they knew each other for years. Storybook romance. Too bad I never saw the guy once during my association Kahina. Until two weeks ago I had never even heard of the guy. Reginald Horn. A man whose credit limit totaled higher than all the money I had ever touched in my life. Full fledged vampire. Over a hundred years old. They were a perfect couple. I hated him instantly.

    Thirty bodies between us. Not much. Like tiny ants. Could reach this Tick. Kill him. Reclaim Dangerous Mate. His death must be swift.

    I tried to shake off the thinking. Tried to shake off the slow focusing of rage and awareness. To prevent my world from becoming a tunnel of violence.

    "Come on, the fight starts in like five minutes. Bets are closing. Well, the good bets." Steven took off, limping through the crowd. True to form he stopped at the nearest scantily clad waitress and tried to chat her up.

    I lost focus on the idiot and tried not to flip out in the middle of a crowded room. The back of my neck was tingling almost full time. A rush of nearly orgasmic pleasure was being muted by frustration. If I could just get rid of Reginald things would be so much better.

    And I was staring. The distance between Kahina and I barely existed in my mind. I removed myself from her presence for a month but I hadn''t given up on a hope of us eventually. Distance hadn''t changed how I felt about her. She was still mine. Still one of the few people I could track without a link. Without effort.

    Mine. Mine. Mine.

    The word pulsed. I turned and shook my head then stared at the wall like it was a lifeboat. It was difficult to move. My feet wouldn''t even shuffle towards the door.

    Dress almost silk. Slides as her arm moves. Feel her smile. Lips curved and barely tense. Slightly past from makeup. Her back flinches where the Tick touches her. Barely a stutter. Dangerous Mate breathes in time with twitch. Only I notice. She''s mine.

    Why would she flinch at this man? I managed to stifle my anger long enough to look the pair over. He was busy chatting to the men in suits. Their words excited and loud. About the fight. Her eyes looked around the room, and every so often she chimed in on her husband''s conversation. Showing she wasn''t to be ignored. They seemed perfectly normal.

    Reginald gave her a peck on the cheek and dropped his arm. She flinched again at the momentary contact. Something in her mind wasn''t reacting right. Maybe the romance was just too fast. Maybe she was still upset of the death of a man she didn''t remember right. I could only hope that the false memory of me was impacting her.

    I had been her guard, there for her when she went through a vampiric transition. I gave her everything. My protection, love, and blood. Then because of a barely remembered threat, I let her memories be wiped away. Days later found me floating along in a sea of booze. The world kept spinning while I put off processing my grief and regret.

    Not once in the last four weeks had anyone beyond rowdy wolves tried to attack me. The entire thing might have been a fabrication. If it wasn''t for the nagging voice in the back of my head that had grown more defined over the last few weeks. It told me the danger was real. Very real. And if the wrong person truly wanted to kill my former girlfriend then it was easy enough. There was a threat. One I couldn''t quite grasp.

    Even vampires could die to a high-powered sniper rifle. One shot, one stupid well-placed bullet from upon high and her head would explode like a watermelon. It made the anger worse just contemplating how quickly she could be snuffed out.

    I planned to find Daniel, find Muni, find anyone and ask how I could end my self-imposed witness relocation program. Once I got over the initial shock of leaving Kahina.

    Then there had been an announcement of their wedding. That put me back for days. I hadn''t expected her to pick up a relationship so soon.

    "You should see the line up there." The brown haired goofy man said.

    "Steven." My hand went up and stopped just before the smaller man''s face.

    "What?¡± He leaned to the side and looked around my hand. ¡°You ready to crowd up to The Pit? Who''s your money on? I hope it''s not Holland, I swear-"

    "Shut up." I cut him off.

    "What? Why? You feelin¡¯ alright? You just hang out with me. We''ll drink, see a grand fight, take home some money, maybe some lovely lady-" Steven nudged me and spoke a little louder. All for the benefit of an approaching waitress. "-would be interested in going out for dinner after their shift ends."

    I wanted to throw the geeky man into a wall, again, with more force. Chances were Steven would ignore the pain and only smile.

    To make matters worse, Kahina had noticed me. I saw that momentary look in her eyes and turned away to avoid encouraging her. If she ever remembered that I had left her things would be disastrous. Being around Kahina would make me a public figure and essentially painting a target on everyone I cared about saying ''Please try to kill them, thanks, Love, Jay''.

    "Woh damn. She''s like a guided missile. Sorry, vampires, not my thing. I''ll scope out a good vantage point. You have fun with toothy there." Steven whistled low and tried to slyly scoot away. Then he gave up the act and a grin crossed his face. Moments later he was chasing down another waitress.

    Her legs run smooth. No nylons. Barely a hint of fabric to the light dress. No bra. No¡­

    The voice in my head was out of control. I couldn''t allow myself to think about what she felt like. Yet my personal circle of Hell rarely let wants and needs meet.

    I did want to talk to her. Hell, I really, really, really wanted to. Not just talk. I wanted to spend a lot of time on a bed or the nearest convenient table. The closer she got the worse my background thoughts became. More primal.

    Kill him. Take Dangerous Mate home.

    Avoiding a growl was difficult. Shaking my head to regain control was ineffective. By the time she strode across the room I was almost prepared to face her.

    I looked up and froze like a deer in headlights. Crushed peppermint filled the air making my eyes water slightly. Her scent invoked memories, nights together, laughing, conversations, all things that I couldn''t bring up. Guilt washed through me for checking out the waitress earlier.

    Kahina had almost killed me before. Twice. That kind of danger should have scared me. Should have made me run the other way with my imaginary tail between my legs. For the longest time, I had thought I was afraid of her. For four years that was what my memory told me. Until I learned it was all a lie. I had run to keep her safe.

    I wanted to take her right there on the table.

    "Do I know you?" The woman said. Her face was nearly level with mine and dark red eyes bored away searching for secrets. Both lips were nearly a perfect match of crimson.

    "No." I said carefully.

    "Are you sure?"

    "I''m very forgettable." It hurt to say that. It hurt even more to control myself and not say or do anything else. My back still tingled with surges of angry happiness. Both shoulder blades were trying to spread wide and bat against the air. I wanted to jump up and down like an excited puppy.

    Kahina frowned but didn''t stop glaring. I finally sighed and switched tactics and started to back away. Her fingertips pushed against my chest and my breath caught.

    "You are extremely familiar." Her words were almost a purr. I could hear an unspoken word at the end of her sentence. Cat-nip, her pet name for me. Her face was nearly hypnotized. Sharp peppermint had grown stronger.

    How did no one else notice that smell?

    I maintained eye contact. Not through any demonstration of will power. It was because my gaze was riveted to her face. My other senses felt the rest of her body. It was clingy. Almost lecherous. Especially when considering the woman was now married.

    Can solve that. Simple. Can kill him.

    "You were staring quite intently across the way there." I felt her subtly taste the air. She had grown better at that. Her body mimicked human patterns almost perfectly. False breathing. Eyes blinking. Arms moved and fingers drummed against sides as if lost in thought.

    "Star struck," I muttered.

    "Ah. Perhaps. But you don''t seem like the type." Her tongue snaked out to lick a sharpened fang. I watched and tried not to remember all the good and bad memories that mouth had brought me.

    "You never know."

    "No, men like you, I know. You love the conflict. Subtly is a waste of time. You seem like the sort that solves problems with a hammer." Kahina said.

    "So?" I tried to shrug one shoulder but it moved slowly. That burning sensation in my back kept distracting my mind.

    "So. A man like you stares that intently and he has two thoughts. Fight or fuck." Her words were vulgar and dead on.

    "Maybe."

    "Which is it?" She asked.

    "Neither." My honest answer would have been both, of course. "It¡¯s just not everyday I see the East Coast''s Hotel Princess in a place like this." I had to change the conversation. A wise man might have run, history had proven wisdom was not a trait of mine.

    "Well I expect quite the show tonight so I insisted we go out. These events remind me of my younger years." She smiled. This was the first expression of happiness Kahina had given me since her change.

    That alone was worth stifling my urges. It pushed back the clouded thoughts in my head just a bit. I felt human for the first time in weeks.

    "I''m sure you''ll enjoy it." I responded. Kahina had loved to watch the fights on television, especially during our last few months together.

    "I do hope so. The few fights I''ve seen tonight are rather boring. The champion fight promises entertainment. Do you have money on anyone Mister...?" Her voice trailed off.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    "John." That was what Barnie and Roy both called me. A good a name as any.

    "No last name, John?"

    "Not tonight." My brain tried to remember what Muni had told me a month ago. What would happen if Kahina did actually hear my name? Would memories come flooding back? No, hers were completely removed.

    "Ah. Well then, John. Who''s your money on?" She looked around the crowd as if scouting for a good person to place a wager on.

    "I only bet on myself." I too tried to look away, but both of us seemed intent upon tracking the other with our peripherals.

    Kahina turned back towards me and said, "Are you a fighter then?"

    "Used to be," I muttered slowly. Part of me could vaguely recall joining a fight or two when I didn''t have people to chase down for debts or lost items.

    "Did you enjoy it?" Her words felt like being stalked by a panther. Not because they were both black, but because there was a wall of muscle just beneath the skin. Long sharp teeth, that name felt much more fitting than Dangerous Mate.

    "Fighting helps keep me level headed.¡± I tried to skirt honesty while talking to her. Now my mind was imagining her naked, stalking across the bed while licking one tooth again. The idea had me flustered, I wanted to fight her and do all that other stuff too.

    "Have you worked for me before?" Kahina shifted gears suddenly. I paused and gave a confused look. The clever girl was trying to catch me off guard. Just being around her was disarming enough.

    "No. Never even heard of you before I saw the news." How long could I play dumb? Her questions were difficult to dodge, and I wasn''t about to walk away first. Not from her, not again.

    "Sorry, Miss Rhodes." Using her last name was safe. According to the news, she kept her maiden name.

    "Call me Kahina."

    "Maybe."

    She hummed in thought then tensed a bit. It was barely visible. If my senses hadn''t been picking up every trace movement of her body I would¡¯ve never noticed.

    Reginald wandered up behind her. He had the same build I did, large, thick, muscled. Only instead of the general thug presence I carried, he was sophisticated. The tailored clothes, the professional smile, a ramrod straight back, head pried back, everything. Just a slight tilt to his head that let him peer down at everyone.

    "Who''s your friend, Dear?" His voice annoyed me. There was a self-assured calmness to his words. Everything felt measured, but not calculating, well paced and steady.

    "This, is John. Just John." Kahina¡¯s hand waved at me in an almost offhanded manner. I felt relieved while the bottom dropped out from under my gut.

    "John? I''m not familiar with him." Reginald was slightly shorter and managed look down on me.

    "No, it seems I''m not either," She responded while looking across at her new husband.

    "The fight will be starting soon." He said.

    I hoped Reginald would combust. Maybe flooring would drop out from below him and he would get sucked into the molten core of our earth. A stake could just magically appear piercing his heart and I would be the happiest man on earth.

    "Yes, we did come for a fight, didn''t we?" Kahina said.

    "Of course, you insisted this would be a worthwhile adventure. Goodbye, John. Come on, Dear, it''s time to get to our seats." He wasn''t even subtle about putting his hand around Kahina''s waist. She flinched again and I definitely didn''t imagine it. The anger that barely stayed controlled nearly broke loose.

    Hell, I nearly snapped and tore the man a new air hole. The fact that I didn''t should have put me up for an award. One of many I deserved for tonight.

    "Of course." She turned and beamed a smile across to him. That look used to be for me.

    My gaze wasn''t even remotely friendly now. Too bad the other man didn''t know about my past. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have looked so smug.

    "Enjoy your night. I''ll be betting on you, that is, if you do decide it''s worth your time to fight." Kahina nodded in my direction.

    Reginald turned her away gently and they strode off. I watched for a moment fighting hard to restrain my senses. To control all those perceptions that wanted to wrap around her form and feel everything that had been denied to me over the last month.

    Dangerous Mate.

    That suppressed voice didn''t sound angry. No, it mourned from deprivation. Finally, they moved out of sight. The man that I had been hunting down slid back over and plopped down on a chair. He looked bored but was decent enough to remain quiet. This situation felt like too much. Everything was too much. Steven and his stupid giddy attitude. Reginald having everything I couldn''t. Kahina trying to remember me and failing. The giant roadblock that had ruined my life, The Order of Merlin.

    I picked up the table and slammed it into the wall. Arms swung again and again. It wasn''t a real person, wasn''t good enough. Hell, the crowd barely even paused to pay attention to me. There was a fight on, and the Pit was warming up. One man destroying a table wasn''t as exciting.

    "Sir." A dainty voice behind me said.

    "He''s busy. I can hold that for you." Steven¡¯s voice felt distant.

    "Sorry, Mister Gates. I''ve been told that it goes to him only." The waitress sounded tiny, a frail thing without much meat on her bones.

    "Something special? Not trying to roofie my friend here are you? ¡®Cus he''ll go willingly. If he won''t, I will."

    "The House would never do that." She said in a huff. Dainty feet stomping in outrage wouldn¡¯t have been out of place, but my eyes were still glued to the broken furniture.

    "Oh, drinks from the House is it?" Steven acted like he had stumbled upon a great mystery.

    "It is."

    "That''s weird. I never get free drinks." He said.

    "Shut, up!" I turned to Steven and swung at him with the table¡¯s remains. The problem was that I didn''t hit Steven. I hit the waitress. The table leg clipped her on the shoulder and causing her to cry out while crumpling.

    I stared for a moment. She was rail thin. Something about her reminded me of a frail doe. Hitting women didn''t sit right with me. Much less clearly human ones that had no chance against any of the stronger and faster races. Hell, human women had enough problems with their males.

    "Woh." Steven checked her eyelids for consciousness. She was limp. He checked her wrist for a pulse then checked the woman''s chest for authenticity.

    Those weren''t the things that bothered me. What bothered me was hearing a shotgun being calmly loaded behind me. Steady fingers put shells into two barrels. It closed with a final sort of clang.

    "Gonna need you to come with me, John." Barnie said. I turned to look at him. My face a picture of anger.

    "No trouble, mister." Ted¡¯s stupid voice chimed in.

    "Trust me, no matter how riled up the Steven got you, you don''t want to test my patience. I''m on vacation." Barnie looked on the verge of an annoyed yawn.

    "Don''t test ¡®em. It''s vacation day." The larger one repeated.

    "Wasn''t me. Drinks are from the House. House doesn''t give me free drinks." Steven said.

    I was too stunned at my own actions. The waitress wasn''t moving. Even Steven had paused his unwanted attentions. Hell. Her arm was turning unfriendly colors. Maybe it was broken. To top it all off not one, not two, but three of the bouncers showed up.

    "I didn''t rile up anybody." No one responded to Steven''s second self-defense. "You know how to party huh?" Steven whispered, backing up towards me. Why he thought I was a safe to be near was beyond me.

    "Look, you idiot." I started.

    "One sixty-two. Technically not an idiot."

    I was about two breaths away from turning Steven into a human club and laying waste to everything I could find. Maybe his increased IQ would do extra damage to Ted''s stupidity. Barnie looked down at the waitress and the spilled drink. I followed his gaze, trying not to huff in frustration. Barnie¡¯s lips turned into a slight frown.

    "You been drinking those?" He motioned to the puddle. It was smoking slightly. Barnie didn''t seem to care one way or the other about the waitress.

    "Dunno." It hadn''t burned me like it was the floor. That was a disturbing image. I almost pushed past everyone to retch.

    "He has." One of the security goons said. Not their leader, Roy was somewhere else. Just one of the many broken faced thugs wearing suits around here.

    "How many?" Barnie asked the staff member.

    "Three." I lied through my teeth.

    "Five." The bouncer seemed certain.

    "Fuck me sideways. Alright, John, if that''s how we''re playing it, best go somewhere private and get this shit sorted." Barnie kept the shotgun leveled at me but turned towards one of the bouncers. "Call someone for your honey trap. Then get Roy and Boss Wylde, we gonna do this, we do it right."

    The bouncer grinned and waded off. They had been filling me with those drinks for a reason. Something fishy was going on and I didn''t have enough brainpower to figure it out.

    "Move, John." Barnie pointed the gun at me.

    "Yeah, move John." Ted said.

    I stumbled off in front of them and tried not to hit anything on the way. The pulse was growing again. My face felt hot. Both shoulders nearly burned. The shirt I was wearing was uncomfortable and stifling. It felt like my body was cramped and needed to stretch.

    We made it back up to the office. Barnie, Ted, and two of the younger looking bouncers with no weavings in their hair were all between me and the exit. Steven had vanished. Probably consoling the poor waitress. Offering to ride with her to the hospital. If she was even conscious. Or alive.

    I paced back and forth in front of the giant dark glass that overlooked The Pit. There were fighters in there. Just two. People cheered. People stomped. The hum of excitement crawled out of that place and flooded this room. It was difficult to sit up here. Difficult to behave. I wanted to leap down there and join in.

    Barnie picked his teeth. Ted just stared. I barely spared them a glance.

    Another cheer came up from the fight below. The champion, Sandberg, was being beaten rather soundly by Holland. It was only the second round though. This fight could go either way. Some fools kept track of points off to the side, just for giggles. A fight like this wouldn''t be decided by the judges. It would be complete when one of them stopped moving.

    "What is so important that I have to be interrupted a second time tonight?" The redhead stormed into the room. I was too distracted watching the fight below. My face nearly pressed against the glass trying to get a better angle.

    "Boss Wylde. John here tried to break one of the pieces of ass downstairs. Figured we''d hold him for you." Barnie said.

    "Ass pieces." Ted chimed in.

    "You again?" Her name was Boss Wylde, too bad it didn¡¯t matter right now.

    I ignored her and focused on the people hitting each other below. Their actions brought me happiness.

    "Yeah him. John." Ted was always so helpful.

    "We''ve already met once tonight." She said

    I heard her cross the room. Some distant part of me warned of impending danger. That disregarding her was not beneficial to my livelihood. It felt like a rolling wave of heat was chasing me from behind.

    I turned and snarled at her. Letting the barely controlled anger flood out for just a moment. The voice that went with my other senses was so close to the surface. Close to taking over and letting everything out. She snarled back, meeting my unspoken threat with one of her own.

    People rarely did that to me. Rarely matched my anger with their own. Most creatures, vampires, wolves, elves, and humans at least hesitated. On some level they understood that I was dangerous, a response I enjoyed. It was why Barnie held his gun. It was why the bouncers kept a wary eye on me. It was why people rarely stood in front of me. Even if I didn''t feel very threatening anymore.

    Not her. She threw it all back at me in equal measure. It made me pause.

    "Why haven''t you been kicked out yet?" Boss Wylde demanded.

    Roy came in the room.

    "John''s family." The bouncer said. His lisp well under control.

    "I don''t want excuses." Long fingers with ash painted nails snapped in my direction.

    "He''s been drinking their stuff." Barnie said. "The runt over here says he''s got five of them in him."

    Hell. I needed to hit something soon. The glass in here was too frail. The chair too decorative. Everything perfectly positioned to shine and distract. I couldn''t destroy this beautiful room. My eyes scanned the other people and wondered how many swings I could get in before Barnie¡¯s shotgun gutted me.

    "You''re making me miss my fight. For what? He''ll probably explode with that many in him." Boss Wylde¡¯s accent grew the angrier she got.

    "He won''t. Not John." Roy said.

    I wasn''t sure about it. Their words made little sense. Instead of arguing with her or Barnie I turned to the leader of the bouncers.

    "A brawl? You said a welcome back brawl." My voice felt foreign, like some fevered druggie spoke instead. One hand pressed up against the cool glass below. It made concentrating easier.

    "Fuck yes." Barnie went from grumpy watchdog to ecstatic teen girl in two words. "John goes in. Rule three in action. Solstice come early. Titties and beer everywhere." Barnie said while humping the air with his shotgun.

    "Yeah. Rule three. Titties and beer." Echoed Ted.

    "Oh?" The redhead paused to consider the action then looked back at me. "Think we should?"

    "If that''s what he wants." Roy was careful with his words but there was hope in the man¡¯s eyes.

    "I do." I nodded, fingers clenched into fists and unfurled slowly. Everything felt like fire. My forehead sweating again. I needed to drown in the cries of my enemies.

    "Been awhile since we had a good brawl." Boss Wylde looked around the room gathering opinions. I could feel her move, normally liquid drowned out my senses, which is why I loved it so much. These Beast drinks were doing the opposite.

    "Won''t be enough." Ted nearly grumbled. "Five."

    "That''s the point." Roy slurred briefly around his teeth.

    "Brawl?" I almost panted. Holding my head together took a lot of concentration. It felt like the glass had started to sag under my palm that still pressed against it. No longer was the material cool and pleasing. I said, "Need to fight something."

    "Fine. Rule three it is. Get him downstairs and I''ll put out the announcement." Boss Wylde turned around and pulled out a phone from her desk. Roy motioned for me to follow him. I did, eagerly.

    "You have a good time, John," Barnie said as we moved past the duo.

    "Good time. Beer and Solstice titties." Ted echoed.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 3 - Boys Become Men

    We left for the heart of Bottom Pit. Where boys become men. Where men become warriors. Where warriors became legends. I didn''t care about that part. I needed the violence. Needed to be part of it. Unrestrained. Not like I was at Julianne''s. There I mostly behaved. Bottom Pit wasn''t made for behaving.

    A bell chimed through the halls to signal the end of this round. Both the champion and his challenger would be sent to their corners. Statistics went out. Commentary echoed over the speaker as the judges speculated on how this fight might turn out. There was a polite chirp on the speakers as another voice interrupted.

    "Ladies, Gentlemen." Boss Wylde''s voice was smooth. "And all you other animals." Cheering rattled the place. I felt sound bouncing off the walls.

    Vibrations made hearing almost useless. Everything about it felt familiar, welcome, a second home. I felt my mind slowly sliding to pieces. Unfurling. Connecting, latching onto the objects around me. The smoothness of a railing. Heavy footsteps stomping against the floor. Each faint presence filled the entire building to make it seem a living thing. People were quieting down for Boss Wylde¡¯s announcement.

    "Rule three has been invoked." She spoke and more cheers came forth.

    The crowd was drunk and excited. An army of scantily clad waitresses were weaving attractive hips through the tables. In their hands were platters of liquid problem solver and hors-d''oeuvres. I couldn¡¯t even bring myself to give them a passing glance.

    "I''m sure you all know that House rules override a current fight." Her voice twisted with feigned sadness and the audience played along with boos, hisses, and other decanting noises. ¡°Sorry folks. But we''ll make it up to you. Tonight¡¯s rule three comes with a twist. I invite you all to see a Brawl. Our first in three years."

    Walls shook hard enough that the place might come down. Four hundred, maybe five hundred voices were cheering at the top of their lungs. Another hundred started chattering to each other. People everywhere, men and women, stomped their feet. Things were being smashed. Between feeling the crowd''s excitement and the shivers passing through my body, it was a wonder I could stand.

    "I should explain for our recent converts. Brawls are special, my little Animals. Everyone is invited to let your frustrations and anger out. If that wasn''t enough incentive, those competing fight for prizes equal to any of our tournaments."

    I felt the masses surge to get good spots. Plastering themselves to the sides of The Pit below, or crowding the grating suspended above. It was a welcome distraction as I followed Roy down below.

    "Hush now." She snapped, the accent coming back in full force. "Let me finish." The crowd obeyed the command and quieted down instantly. "Betting is allowed. On yourself, on anyone down below. But remember rule two. Everything has a price."

    The crowd joined her in reciting it. Eager. Too eager.

    "If you wish to join the Brawl, you risk pain for glory. Risk shame for pride. Life for immortality." She spoke in a slow tease that made me feel warm just hearing it.

    The crowd held their breath waiting like good little boys and girls.

    "Glory begins in twenty minutes. If you wish to join you''ll need to see the betting counters and sign your waivers. To our humans, feel free to join. There is the last human standing prize. Also, when humans are present the wolves must keep their claws sheathed, and vampires must keep their mouths closed." Her voice turned throaty towards the end. "Enjoy the Brawl."

    My thoughts were so scattered that I could practically feel Boss Wylde smiling upstairs. Impossible without a link. Yet this place, I knew it. I lived and breathed here. My memory was foggy, but the feelings of familiarity were there underneath all the surging anger, under all the shivers of delight.

    I was one of the first into the ready cages. Money and glory made people do stupid things. Others were piling in. College kids with more brawn than brains. Wolf packs worked to crowd their favorites inside. Some were fit, some were frail, each one wild with anticipation as they were locked into the cage.

    Viewing our surroundings from a cage induced mild deja vu. Objects felt sharper. Primal. The floor was loose and dry. Almost a fine sand. Dirt would swallow up blood, sweat, and tears. Bottom Pit''s ready cells were tiny with a door behind and a drop away set of bars in front.

    Once the fight started that last barrier would slide away and let each contender out onto the wide arena in front. Afterward, mayhem would rule. Energy rushed over me as I thought about that first step out. That first moment would signal the start of release. Rolling the dice, challenging fate, daring the odds for glory. Romans must have felt this way in the Colosseum.

    Roy crowded into the cage, inspecting for who knows what. He seemed heavily invested in this fight. I was being sized up like a warrior going into battle. He yanked the shirt off of me. Sweat ran in rivers and things hadn''t even started. I wasn''t the only one removing loose clothing either. The bouncer ripped the belt loops off my pants so there would be less to grab onto. He checked my hair to see how long it was. Patted my arms. Then threw dirt from the ground on me.

    The bouncer¡¯s actions, like everything here, felt familiar. I shivered and focused on checking out the competition. Picking a target. Do I go for the easy ones and leave the tough people for last? How many humans were in here? Six? No, closer to twelve. At least two vampires, partials from what I could tell. One wore a suit, he wouldn''t be a burnout. Four wolves. All of them staring at each other.

    They weren''t shifting. I wouldn''t have cared either way. The vampires were given face guards. Wolves had bracers bound around their arms. Ones that would make it hard to shift in.

    "The humans will drop quickly," Roy said, working his mouth around the few broken features he had. "Once they are out the others will have their restraints lifted. Keeps the show lively."

    I grabbed the bars in front of me and shook them. This was taking too long.

    "Once you are done my tribe will help with the rest."

    "Your tribe?" I tried to understand but felt confused.

    "I lead them now." Roy clapped me on the shoulder and I looked over at him. "You do us a great honor. You need this fight, so, we arranged it. Enjoy our gift to you."

    Roy stepped out of the tiny cage and barred the gate. Only a minute left now. Above the pit, there were two floors of alcoves that the guests could look down from. Others squatted above, watching from an overhead view. The walls were crammed full of people.

    Some of the other fighters were cheering from inside their cages. The two that had been fighting before, Holland and Sandberg, were both in different cages as well. They weren''t missing out on this rare event.

    I looked at the crowd above for a face. It took no effort at all to find Kahina. Her lips were curved in a smile, quiet, tiny, and nearly bloodthirsty. She knew where I was. That asshole Reginald came up from behind and momentarily soured her expression.

    Kahina would have been proud had she known that I was fighting because of her. Well, except for the memory thing. Too bad it wasn''t in a way that mattered. I wasn''t fighting the one person I really wanted to give a beating to. Reginald hadn''t stepped down.

    Feel her skin. Between us, iron wrought bars. Dirt of the ground hides decades of blood and sweat. Pulses thrum. Voices shout. Words and nonsense. Only fuel my rage. Back prickles. Arms tighten. Legs tense. May leap. May tackle. May watch. Will win.

    This place will be mine. Is mine.

    For the briefest moment, I hesitated. This isn''t just me going one on one with idiots for debt collection. This wasn''t me beating up an attacker when I carried silver weapons. This was bare flesh against bare flesh for the express purpose of hurting someone.

    A memory tickled the back of my mind. I looked over at the wall of handprints ringing The Pit. Those were all former champions, not only of the tournaments that happened twice a year. Above that first ring was a second, much smaller ring of prints. Those markings were for Brawl champions only. I remembered it. Remembered very clearly. This truly was my arena.

    The bell rang. Gates slid down. Chaos erupted. Shouting from the spectator floors above rattled the walls. Deafened us. The world spun sideways as everyone went different directions. One human landed on another, flailing away with untrained attacks. Some were clearly half drunk and wanted the excuse to let go.

    The first thing in any fight is to establish a zone of control. Arms length. A few feet in either direction. I swung at humans and nonhumans alike. Some connected, some didn''t. We could have exchanged church pleasantries and done more damage.

    Holland and Sandberg traveled in different directions. Both were wolves, chances were they would try to thin the crowd out. They didn''t put a lot of energy into their actions, instead focusing on awareness of the other''s movements.

    I had them beat on that regard. My senses were everywhere. More amplified then they had been at Kahina''s home. Almost like this was my own apartment. It was wild. How many times had I been on this very floor? The memories were muddled. A dozen times? Two dozen? I knew this place. This arena was mine.

    Mine.

    I shuddered with a release of happiness.

    Small thing lunges. Step aside. Grab it by the waist. Throw into the cage. Face first. Metal digs into skin. Its flesh tears. Makes me smile.

    I moved carefully. Three humans were down already. I''d helped with one. The wolves were sticking to the walls and trying to prowl the room. Forming a nearly perfect circle, one to a quarter. I had edged slightly towards the middle.

    Other fighters tried to exchange blows. Each one unsure how invested they should be in their skirmishes. It was early. Two humans had sort of teamed up to herd contestants into each other. If nothing else, it might take a few others down. They might be trying to split one of the prizes.

    Feet curl against wall. Figure torpedoes through the air. Like missile. Swallow. Light. Duck down. Move fast. Assailant misses me. I drive shoulder into it. Miss main body. Hit legs. Heavy for small creature. Is Tick. Spirals off.

    The vampire that had attacked spun off towards one of the wolves. He wasn''t the one in a suit. That vampire was getting his ass kicked by three of the humans. It was hard to tell who was winning. They couldn''t be pleased because of the face mask.

    More punches. More half-hearted feints. A human attacked me, and I attacked back. He ducked around some of the other contestants and didn''t come out the other side. I watched for him and tried to keep to my study of the room. So far no one had really tried to mark me.

    Behind me, the vampire I sent spinning couldn''t break free from combat with the wolf. They threw punches, kicks, snarled at each other. After a few flurried exchanges the wolf ended up in a headlock. The wolf charged into the walls trying to dislodge the vampire. Finally, the wolf fell, face purple.

    Want to scream. Want to yell. Will shout down the stars. Rattle the heavens. Challenge the gods. Body is on fire. Life itself surges. Breath dies to get out. Burn it all.

    Warnings flashed across my mind. The submerged persona was nearly loose and the rush of emotion caused me to lose focus. I had been mad before, but this was all consuming and barely restrained. The feeling of the arena around me shrunk for just a moment. Things sped up as I stared distractedly. It felt like something inside me was rattling at cage bars.

    My distraction garnered a tackle. A fairly well-built human started whaling on me. Fists collided with my skull. I threw up both arms and tried to keep my brain from being rattled. Another human came in and kicked at my sides.

    One rib cracked. The sharp pain pushed air out of my lungs. I panicked and struggled with the human on top of me. With a surge of strength, I pushed one human into the other''s kicking leg. It was my turn to get back to them. I just had to work through the pain of lifting my right arm. The left fist functioned enough to land a few solid blows. Both humans went down. Either unconscious or unwilling to keep going.

    Pit security stood inside some of the cages, waiting to drag out limp bodies. One of the younger ones slipped over to a defeated contender, eyeing me critically. I stared back, noting his yellow tinted eyes.

    Ignore it. Feel another. Furry thing. Toes curling against the floor. Steps lightly. Rushes in. Scrapper. Almost respect it. Let the male connect. Measure his strength. Hurts.

    I fell forward from a force that could dent cars. The wolf behind me seemed confused. I stood up to look at him. A human could crack my rib but my other mind wanted to let a wolf full on hit me. Never mind, my rib didn''t hurt anymore. Both arms felt functional. I was healing a lot faster, or the damage had been less serious than I thought.

    Watch furry thing. It crouches low. Doesn''t understand why. Instincts say cower. Human side shakes off fear. Attacks again.

    Sandberg, the furry assailant I was playing with, focused on me. Either he thought I was easy prey or just wanted to test me out. He was foolish and rushed in too much. The wolf might be trying to shut everyone down so only he and Holland were left.

    Stupid. Foolish move. It swings. Grab arm, hook around. Flip furry thing to ground. Twist arm, quick snap, bone breaks. Kick foot into its side. Ribs crack. Hear it howl. Understands why it should cower now.

    The challenger Sandberg was down. I had broken his arm with a rush of strength and skill unknown to me. No, not unknown, unremembered. Clearly he hadn''t expected limb breaking. I hadn''t expected it either. It was too fast and smooth for either of us to realize what was happening.

    Sandberg tried to shift and stand. I slammed down on his leg then broke another bone. One of the bouncers hustled in and yanked the fighter out before things got worse. By the time he reached the cages Sandberg was full on snarling and barely being held back. Roy''s family had to be strong to control a place like this.

    Two Ticks. Two furry things. Three pink meats.

    My head was pounding again. This was going too fast. I needed more, needed to draw it out. I stood in the center trying to figure out who was next.

    "Come on!" I shouted. A wolf and a human charged me.

    This room was overly crowded. Everything in my brain was running on autopilot. Arms whirled as I punched and swept aside their clumsy attempts. The human I spun around and held in front of me. It didn''t deter the wolf from attacking.

    I used the human as a shield against the first few blows. My arm clenched around his neck until his eyes rolled and he patted on my arm in resignation. The human was tossed aside.

    The wolf kept swinging fists at me. The only clothing on him was a pair of pants and those odd bracers. They weren''t silver, but it had to be throwing off his senses just a little. I had no such problems. But I needed to meet the challenge head on.

    Before I understood what was happening my body stepped straight into the wolf''s latest punch. I swung my head down from above and collided with his face. My forehead shattered the wolf''s nose. Blood burst from all over as he fell backward in panic. I licked my lips and smiled. He tried to get up. My foot connected with the side of his face firmly enough to remove the thought completely.

    Worthless.

    One of Roy''s family ran in to recover the fallen wolf. Howls from above remind me that I probably just damaged someone''s pack member. I felt Sandberg shouting on one side of the cages. He was being held down by two of the house¡¯s security.

    Need the battle. Need the release. Unrestrained. Not hiding. Spectators above don''t understand.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Another human was taken out. He was bleeding from where his ear was torn. Fingers looked bent out of shape, probably broken. The remaining human hugged the cage doors. One of the bouncers let him out with a sadistic chuckle. All that was left were the two vampires, Holland, and me. Each one spreading out around me. I turned, trying to look at them. It was difficult, and things were hazy. My eyes refused to focus on any one thing. Instead, I relied more on feeling their movements. Feet tried to stay light as they moved. Weight shifted as they restrained themselves to see who''s next.

    Four of us, whoever moved first would probably end up being taken out. I didn''t care. Nothing mattered besides the fight. I charged the vampire in a suit. He panicked. Maybe it was the blood around us. Maybe it was being attacked. Or the look of reckless joy on my face. He fled in a blur of speed and round an exit. He banged on it to be let out.

    His suit was ruffled but in one piece. The snobby bastard probably hadn''t ever been in a real fight. I spat on the floor behind him.

    Holland made a move and I spun around and smiled at him. He showed incredible reflexes and backed up. The champion wasn''t as afraid like Sandberg had been. Still, something held the wolf back. I watched his human face sniff in confusion.

    "Come on! Is this it?!" I shouted at the remaining two. My back was burning, there wasn''t enough wind down here to cool anything off. I wanted to fan at the air.

    A bell chimed from the speaker system.

    "We have a winner for Last Human standing. Fantastic. Let''s up the ante shall we, my little Animals?" The ceiling above shook as people thumped and howled. Voices echoed from alcoves. "All restrictions are off. Those who stay in the ring now truly risk their lives for glory."

    I looked around above us for a moment. The remaining vampire and wolf discarded their restrictions almost instantly. I stopped scanning the crowd long enough to take note of the remaining vampire.

    Lennon. One of Kahina''s two partial vampires. He didn''t look partial anymore. There was a definite sense of completion to his body. It was in the air about him. The way he stood at ease with everything. Swaying back rather than crouching forward. He filled out a little bit. Maybe not having a suit on made it easier to tell how defined the man was.

    Lennon looked up into the crowd.

    Her. Dangerous Mate. The Quiet One watches for approval. Dangerous Mate nods. She radiates with authority. Body wants blood. Feel her tilt towards the battleground. Almost steps off. Would fight her. Would fight her then-

    I cut off those thoughts.

    "You sure about this, Lennon?" I asked the vampire. He looked calm at the sound of his name. Slowly his eyes traveled back down to the arena floor. He shrugged.

    "The Lady wishes it." His voice was just as faint as I remembered.

    "You two want to go? I got no problems taking the winner." Holland was looking slightly winded. The wolf had backed up, making it an odd sort of triangle.

    "Fine." I didn''t want for an answer and charged at Lennon. Kahina was watching, and while I couldn''t tell her anything, I could show her.

    Lennon was fast. He ducked to the side and planted out a fist to my middle. It felt like diving onto a pole sticking out of the ground. I grunted and spun around. There was no doubt he was a fully transformed vampire. Kahina''s bodyguard was already on the far side of the room. Fangs were slightly out but face still composed.

    Holland watched and studied. My blood was boiling now. Not just excited. Not just angry. I needed to hit him. Lennon moved, body a blur and rush of speed.

    There. Silent One moves. To here.

    My reaction surprised the vampire. His dash across the room started with a pop of motion that I should have missed. When his rush ended and he switched gears, my fist was already headed for his face. Lennon avoided the punch by blurring across the room again. There was a puzzled look on his face this time. He must be trying to figure out how I predicted the movement.

    It was slowly becoming easier to use my abilities. Less restricted. I smiled and circled the vampire. Considering what to do. Lennon was motionless, thinking. Holland leaned against a wall, arms crossed, watching. The crowd above was screaming, their cries were almost a drone by now. They chanted names, cursed those standing, demanded action.

    The three of us in The Pit were somewhere else mentally. Focused and lost in the moment. Lennon snapped to, rolled his head in my direction and stared straight at me. Then he gave a cocky grin that I had never seen on his face before.

    He blurred across the room. I stepped back to avoid the hit. Lennon didn''t stop with one jump, making another, then another. Each one getting closer. It was getting harder to predict where he''d go. He couldn''t outpace my reactions so he was trying to move even faster. The bars rattled when the vampire spring boarded off another wall, barreling towards me. His fingers reached out like claws and just as effective. Fresh wounds appeared all over my sides from near misses.

    There.

    I stuck a foot out and Lennon went flying to the ground at high speed. Holland chuckled. The vampire barely paused for his snarl then dove around again. Tactile sensation couldn''t keep up for long. He was getting lost in a rush of movement. His body was causing too many eddies in the room, touching too many surfaces in quick succession. I barely got feedback from one object before Lennon bounced from another.

    Worse, I hadn''t hit anything recently. My head was starting to throb again. Back starting to itch. Each heart beat from my chest pounded irritation through me.

    Lennon took advantage of the distraction. His body launched onto my front, springing like the tick I thought he was. Reedy fingers dug into both arms. The vampire''s jaw came in for a bite. Elbows bent and my hands inched up just enough to press hands into his face. Trying to pry him off of me. His mouth was close, too close. And getting closer.

    The rest of The Pit was fuzzy. Vision honed down to the sight of those teeth coming for my neck. Screams echoed around the room, calling for blood. I lost my mind then shoved his face to one side whiling diving for his neck.

    Something crunched in my mouth. A collar bone. Fresh blood welled forth. It felt like the part of his side I grabbed ahold of had nearly caved in under the pressure. Foul tasting meat ground under my teeth. Lennon yanked away and I was only too happy to spit out the chunk of flesh I parted him from.

    Then I smiled at him. The crowd went wild. Lennon clutched his hand at his shoulder and looked faint. Eyes darted up to Kahina, looking for a sign of what to do.

    Silent One looks for guidance. Dangerous Mate shrugs. Feel her clothes ripple. Fabric brushes softly against skin. Thieving Tick has one hand over her. Possessive. Will challenge him.

    I ran for Lennon. He tried to dodge away but his balance was shot. Intercepting him through use of my tactile sensations became simple. The building anger inside me achieved some release as I hit Lennon over and over until his face was battered.

    Holland, arms still crossed, hadn''t moved from the wall.

    I did something that surprised us all. Me with the strength displayed, something I was still unused to exerting. Lennon as he sailed through the air up to a side alcove. Reginald, the Thieving Tick, got his surprise as Lennon slammed into the metal bars between us.

    Just enough blood splattered from Lennon''s wound to the newly married couple. Reginald looked irritated and Kahina downright pleased.

    The roars got even louder. Lennon clutched one arm onto the framing, refusing to lower himself down to our level. Refusing to come anywhere near me. Rightfully so. Security personnel opened one door on the far end of The Pit. Lennon tried to eye the distance and made a sloppy jump for freedom. He missed and landed too close to Holland and me.

    I stared at the vampire. Me, I defeated the person who was now in charge of protecting Kahina. I was better than him. Only because my brain thought of The Pit as mine. Because I knew this place. Because whatever the staff had slipped me was making it hard to be friendly. Lennon had helped save Kahina and that simple fact allowed him to walk out alive.

    Lennon limped through the exit. The grate shut behind him and the crowd hushed to watch us. A final fight that would hopefully prove to be more exciting than the initial culling had been. More exciting than the few brief fights between then and now.

    Holland smiled. He had to be nearing forty but still strong. I could almost gauge how the man played things. Bided his time. Waiting until the right moment to strike. He had probably kept his title through experience and tenacity, not the arrogance of youth.

    "You shifting?" Holland asked.

    I glared at him. "I don''t shift." The words were hard to grind out. My breath haggard.

    "Suit yourself. This is the first brawl since I joined this circuit, and I aim to win it." He said. Then the transformation started.

    Sure, it was the first since Holland joined, but it wasn''t the first brawl. I remembered the first large scale fight. That had been by invite only. Not this open arena garbage.

    My vision was full on busted. Staying conscious was taxing. I tried to focus on how to win this fight. It would be hard with no jacket, no makeshift claws, and worse, no silver. Tools helped immensely, but brawls were fights for supremacy with nothing extra. We could only use what we stepped into The Pit with.

    I did have advantages, clearly. My strange perceptions of the world around me helped. Abnormal strength brought about by my belief of owning The Pit and barely checked anger were weapon enough.

    Holland completed his transformation and the crowd screamed again, thunderous, excited, drunk. Water splashed in, other objects littered the floor. There were at least two sets of panties on his side. The men were roaring almost as loud as the women. It was easy to see why they went wild too. Holland''s wolf was pure white. Except for those eyes which were arctic blue. He stood a good head taller than me in his half beast form. Most wolves cringed at high pitched sounds. Holland had enough experience that it didn''t bother him.

    Things settled. All the musing died away and I slipped into the moment. I was going to kick his ass.

    White Wolf lunges. Arm swings. Deadly test. Dodge it carefully. Wolf swings again. Faster. Then faster. Speed keeps increasing. Predicts where I dodge to. Pants rip, arms bleed. Fresh wounds. Tiny wounds.

    Holland was trying to figure out exactly how fast I could respond. He wanted to bait me into revealing all my cards. My head throbbed. Eyesight was a useless cone of vision. I relied on the sensations pouring in. The lights could have been off, pitch black, and I would have been much the same. I closed both eyes. This half vision was damaging my ability to react.

    White Wolf pauses. Hums to himself. Vibrations deep, rumbles dirt. Mindless masses scream. Voices pelt everything. Echoes everywhere. Like old wars. Dirt, blood, death, the cheers. Stirs old memory. Father''s memory.

    Attack back. Fingers curled like claws. Tips burning. Singes fur tips. White Wolf bounds away and snarls. Circles behind. Turn with him. Eyes closed.

    My head felt like splitting in two. It wasn''t pain. It was being broken apart. Like someone was forcing apart a lock to get at what was inside. To rouse my buried personality traits. Worse, the anger I felt shifted to pleasure as we fought. Each brush of claws, near miss, dodge, and redirect made me happier.

    White Wolf lunges from behind. Swing at him. Wolf dodges. Quick reactions. Respectable. Almost worthy. Too late to give honor. Too hard to focus.

    Want to roar.

    The ground rumbled. Bars shook. Clumps of blood splattered dirt vibrated as a thrum of sound fills the room. A trail of dust curled behind me like a tail swishing along the ground. The crowd above took no notice. They probably assumed their actions caused the intensity.

    Hell. It was me causing this. Whatever I truly was, was bursting to get free. Rattling the cages. I had to distract myself and find a better outlet than a public reveal. The rumbles tapered off.

    Body shifts. Bare toes curl into dirt. Figure leans back. Spring at White Wolf. Bat away claws. Duck past fists. Sidestep his hind legs. Chase. White Wolf runs as only a canine can.

    He was still baiting me. Enjoying being chased. It frustrated me that Holland was difficult to catch up to. It was exciting too. Like hunting.

    Feel White Wolf''s nails dig into dirt. Whips about. Fur brushes air. Eyes curve towards my face. A shape snaps at me. Fall back. Unhurt. Almost startled.

    His balance was incredible. That maneuver would have caused many other partial wolves to fall over. I chose not to pursue him through the kicks and claws.

    We kept fighting around the room. I backed into a wall. Holland''s claws raked against metal as I ducked. Then we were moving again. Exchanging weak shots to the body and face that didn''t do any real damage. I could actually feel myself healing while we fought.

    Strangely there was no exhaustion from my abilities. My mind felt more primal, but aware. Normally I would be half conked out by now. The Beast drinks, or whatever was in them, had to be helping.

    Packed dirt threatened to rumble around us. I shook my head, trying to clear away the sweat and blood. Holland paused too, both of us taking a breath. Neither of my hands could form a proper fist. The tingling that had been centered on my back threatened to swallow everything. I was becoming lost in the excitement of this fight. On the verge of release.

    Last exchange.

    Stand up. Strike back. Miss. White Wolf is fast. Knows. Change tactic. Bull rush. Wolf welcomes me close. Fool creature. Claws tear at my back. Can''t feel over adrenaline. Could be worse. Endurance match.

    The half-wolf tore at me. Claws minced my back. My face was pressed up against his body, hugging close enough to keep the worst of his hands from me. The angle was wrong for a wolf. I opened my eyes and smiled, a giddy half grin. Here I was, one step away from death, being completely reckless and self-destructive.

    This was heaven.

    Punch his ribcage. Claws struggle to out damage my cracking of his bones. White Wolf tries to bend. To protect. Damage mounts. Will heal soon. Wolf will not. Repeating strikes make his body hum. Pressure his lungs. Kidneys bruising. Blood pours out from internal wounds.

    Claws at my back slow. I keep punching. Pulp under my fingers. White Wolf howling. Mob above cheers.

    I could smell the blood. There was noise in the background that didn''t make sense. My vision was still fuzzy. It felt too good to keep punching. Each swing caused another weak wave of bliss to wash over me. I wanted to tear into the half-wolf under my arms. Hell. The crowd had quieted down. Muttering to each other in confusion. My fist was still punching when it became obvious that Holland had stopped moving.

    Breathing heavily, I pushed the former Champion onto the ground. He fell, completely limp. My eyes opened to see a narrow tunnel that could only make out one chunk of the world at a time. I tried to focus on the fallen fighter. His wounds were visible. The flesh around them beaten beyond mince. There was an overwhelming smell of burnt flesh. His fur matted with a dark red. Smears across his face and hands. Both eyes felt closed.

    Two of Roy''s family members rushed in past me. Both shirtless. Both giving me lots of space. Roy himself stood off behind one of the cages. They drug Holland out in a hurry. Their faces were excited at what had just happened. A voice on the intercom shattered the lingering silence.

    "And our Brawl has a Champion, my little Animals." The voice piped across the intercom.

    I had a hard time listening. The rush of euphoria I felt while fighting was lingering just out of reach. It needed it come back and drown out all my problems.

    "For those muttering that this fight was rigged, you clearly didn''t pay attention to the leaderboards, tonight''s winner is a former Champion, proving that he still has it." Boss Wylde sounded heated about her statement. Then again she had always seemed worked up.

    I could only huff in irritation and eye those still moving. Part of me desperately needed someone to get up and start swinging again.

    "Those who wish to argue will be treated as if they''re invoking rule three. I believe our Champion has some energy left to burn." She purred the latter sentence. Slowly voices above hushed down as her statement sunk in.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 4 - Drums

    Boss Wylde was spot on. It hadn''t been enough. My cuts from Lennon were warm tingles. The side where my rib had been cracked was a dull ache. There was sure to be some bruises tonight on my leg and shoulders, nasty ones. Damage to my nose would take days to heal right. Sharp cries of pain echoed across my back. Blood flowed freely in a number of spots. Despite all that I still wanted, needed, to fight.

    I paced around The Pit''s floor. Unable to calm down. Back and forth in the middle of the room. Dirt swirled behind me, spinning in animalistic eddies. Every so often I rattled at the bars. Roy''s family, Bottom Pit''s security, filled up the cages and watched.

    "Bring someone else!" I shouted.

    "Not yet, John," Roy said.

    "Now!"

    "Not yet, John." His words were a bit more slurred.

    "NOW DAMMIT!" The room vibrated but no one seemed to notice. Dirt thrashed into the ground on its own.

    "He said not yet. Listen to the Chief." One of the younger ones said. I rushed at the smug brat and rattled the bars in front of him. He flinched.

    Roy chuckled and said, "He''s young."

    "I''ll be a man soon!" The brat responded. There were murmurs of disbelief from the other members of Roy''s family.

    "Perhaps. You may not live long enough." Roy answered.

    Focusing was difficult. The pain was only barely overridden by the promise of pleasure. If I could fight someone else then everything would feel better.

    Those side alcoves had been steadily disbursing. Even Kahina left me. I felt her footsteps travel across the floor. She''d been softly touching everything with a free hand. Trailing fingertips across walls, rails, even chairs. It helped to distract from the roller coaster of emotions. Kept me still for a moment.

    Boss Wylde was somewhere just outside The Pit. I could feel her strutting. Feet propped up on heels that gave her another two inches in height. Others were with her. Their bodies displacing different amounts of air. Pressing weight onto the floor.

    Barnie felt heavier than expected. Ted was a veritable giant. Steven, the tiniest weight of all, was in there somewhere. Even lighter than Boss Wylde.

    "Fantastic show," She said and stepped into The Pit without hesitation. Completely ignoring the fact that everyone else had left me alone. Even Barnie and Ted were unwilling to step inside.

    "Boss." Roy sounded respectfully irritated.

    "No really. I didn''t know our John here had it in him." Wylde said.

    "Our first Champion, from the good old days. Beer and titties." Barnie piped up.

    "Titties everywhere." Ted''s smile was lethargic. My head throbbed. They were still talking and I couldn''t quite focus on it. I nearly whimpered. Boss Wylde was strolling around me, inspecting.

    "Fantastic. Gates¡¯ debt with us has been more than settled. Right Barnie?" She was smug. Her words crawled across the nearly silent Pit grounds.

    "Father." The younger bouncer spoke with nearly the same need I had. This was the same teen who had declared he would be a man soon.

    "Soon." Roy responded.

    "Right. Told you John here was the one to bet on." Barnie said. He cradled his shotgun idly.

    "Bet on John." Ted stood over his shoulder with his chronic grin.

    "Fantastic." Her words were starting to annoy me. I circled The Pit floor, testing the bars for escape. Boss Wylde watched, not in the least concerned. I wanted to punch her too. "Too bad, though. He has nothing left to pay you with, you see, Gates here was stupid and bet against you."

    "Miss," Roy said.

    "What is it, Roy?"

    "This fight''s not over. You need to leave." The head bouncer uttered.

    Her confident stance shored up as she fought for height. Boss Wylde said, "You''re telling me what to do?"

    "Please. This is for us." Roy didn''t seem like the type to defer to anyone.

    There was a pause while the woman considered Roy¡¯s words. I could tell part of her wanted to order him down. The other part of her realized that she was in a room with hulking men that were all itching for a fight.

    It was fine. I wanted to fight them too. My side hurt. My head throbbed. There were scratches on my shoulders and face, and skin near both shoulders was riddled with tears and scrapes. My body surged with unbridled energy regardless. That overwhelming release of pleasure was just a few heated blows away. I needed the violent destruction. To keep rampaging until nothing stood before me. Until all threats had been removed.

    More. Need more.

    "Fine. I need to go escort our guests out. Clean up in here."

    "We will," Roy said.

    Boss Wylde left The Pit with a distinct clink of the metal gate. Steven was shoved out the door by Ted. Stupid fool kept trying to look past Ted and see what was going on. I could feel his featherweight body hopping and spinning around. Ted kept shoving him out of the room.

    Small. Need to move on. To find Dangerous Mate. Kill the Thieving Tick. Recover what is mine.

    My brain spun around, grasping at threads between the few objects I could access without a physical link. One moment my brain was flashing towards home. It was just inside my range. Another moment I was checking on Kahina. She sat in a limo, opposite Reginald, they were heated about something. I tried to reach Evan. The elf was beyond my reach.

    Mental focus returned to The Pit. Snippets of other sense filled me in on the room. Metal was everywhere, nearly solid, packed. Dirt below went down for a few feet before ending in concrete. Each object carried a different impression. Some were light and grainy, or firm and heavy.

    People always had strange energy outlines that were faintly visible through my other sight. Fog like patches that vibrated with possibility. I''d been using a combination of the two readings to survive the brawl earlier.

    Strong. Bodies like iron. Unrestricted. Clothes light on their frames. Pulses steady.

    The family around me was nearly solid. Their bodies held only one movement, one thought. To stand like silent sentinels. I spun around and tried to understand. It was hard to see them with my eyes. How many were there? Eight? Nine? Some looked a bit more worn. Faces more beaten. Different braids woven into the side of their hair. None of them had glasses on. None of them had shirts or other items. They stood like warriors waiting for a signal.

    Roy was the most elaborate. It wasn''t cornrows, not quite. It wasn''t something spun from facial hair. They seemed to be knots on the sideburns and along the back. The longer I stared the more visible the decorations became. They weren''t braids, it wasn''t hair. There were excessive details for a knot of hair. Patterns flowed down their sides and across each chest in varying amounts. Other things slowly faded into sight on all of them. Things that had always been there but I was unaware of.

    They were really tattoos. Inked markings reached across their shoulders. They shared the same core symbol on one pectoral. A family marking. The other chunks had to have meanings as well. They didn''t seem like the type to get pictures of cats or children''s feet. None of the senses picked up by my eyes or other sight had been hair at all. My brain felt like the world had played a trick on it.

    "Attention!" Roy barked the word.

    "Chief!" The rest of the family shouted back while growing even straighter. Their backs tensed like soldiers. These were fighters grown in The Pit. I grew nervous.

    Hunters. Old ways. Father''s memories warn of danger. Maybe. Ritual. Will listen. Will be ready.

    It was a weird series of thoughts. I wanted to unravel the rest of it. What did the part about my father¡¯s voice mean? I had never encountered anything like that before.

    "Runts of the Last Tribe, tonight you may become men!" Roy''s annunciation deteriorated at higher volumes.

    Three of the younger ones shifted around eagerly. I turned slowly, unsure of what was happening. The voice in the back of my head was rambling and distrustful. It whispered of traitors and breakers. My mind seemed to be pulling at the knot around my memories in order to find something, like a child shuffling through cases of toys for a specific car.

    The males around me were of all ages. I locked onto the oldest one for a moment then tried to understand what his body might say. He had short gray hair with faint yellow eyes. The skin was worn but covered in scars from blades of some sort.

    He stood in a ready cage. Tall and proud, despite the weight of years. This oldest man was at least sixty, nearly ancient for a fighter. His body was covered in an excessive amount of tattoos. If anything, the tattoos made the scars stand out more. There was pride in both items.

    "Long ago the First Tribe hunted the mountains. Wild, our ancestors against the elements." The words were marble-mouthed but strong and firm. This fighter¡¯s voice belonged to an orator. "We were strong in those days. Strong but untested. Seeking true challenges."

    I looked around again.

    Roy was less damaged than the others. Either skill or brains kept him safe. I watched him next. In a situation like this, you lock onto the most dangerous threat. Roy was clearly in charge. The chief bouncer looked back at me, face passive. He didn''t want to break the story.

    "Word came from over the mountains. A great beast had claimed the pass between towns. It demanded tribute." The oldest one grunted then said, "and killed those who denied it."

    Once again the feeling of deja vu struck me. Everything here had happened before, but the memory sat out of reach.

    "The First Tribe went, not because we were asked, but for the challenge! The chance to test our mettle!" The youngest three were getting restless. Their stances slowly broke down as they shuffled in place. I could feel their movements against the dirt.

    My noticing must have cued in Roy. He didn''t break his gaze into The Pit¡¯s center.

    "Runts, stand tall! Do not disrespect the Tribe!" Roy shouted. They went ramrod straight in an instant. These runts looked like hulks but had the faces of battered teenagers.

    The cages weren''t opening. Being unable to see correctly, still feeling the edge of anger and happiness, feeling the anticipation of those around me, it all confused me. Our audience was gone along with Kahina. Barnie, Steven, all my original reasons for being here were absent. Yet, something important was happening.

    The elder¡¯s voice brought up inklings of the past from the recesses of my mind. I knew these words. The familiarity settled me.

    "Five nights we hunted The Great Beast. Laying traps, poisoning livestock for its consumption. Our actions only served to enrage it! The Great Beast laid waste to the weakest of the First Tribe, to those who dared venture onto its mountain."

    "They deserved it." Words came out of my mouth unbidden. There was an important thought in the back of my mind that I couldn''t quite grasp.

    "At last, we tracked the Great Beast to its lair. Our numbers culled. Those that had survived were our finest. They were the measure all future warriors would be held against."

    "They were strong," I said. The feeling of other thoughts itched at my head. This wasn''t the same as when I tracked things.

    Roy was smiling.

    "The war band''s leader stepped into the mouth of the cave and shouted-" The oldest one spoke a cue for one of the other people waiting nearby.

    "Fight me!" The bars in front of Roy''s cage dropped and he stepped forward. He was proud, tall, and immense.

    I stood in the center of the room. Oddly removed.

    "You dare?" I asked.

    "We are warriors of the Last Tribe, descendants of the First!" Roy protested.

    "You are no warriors. You are children playing with sticks. You are no Sons of the Mountain." I snarled the worlds and once again dirt around me crashed unbidden. Where the hell had those words come from? Why did I say them? What were Sons of the Mountain?

    "The First Tribe¡¯s leader shouted back at The Great Beast. What right do you have to judge us so? We who have hunted you. Your hide will line our floors and adorn our armor." The old man took up the story once more.

    Mirth threatened to override everything. I shook my head and tried not to laugh. Arrogant amusement tickled at the back of my mind.

    "You truly wish to test yourselves?" I asked while feeling every ounce of arrogance the memory summoned up. This wasn''t from my life, though, this was from before. It was something else that went deep to in my hazy past.

    They roared in unison, pumping themselves up. I grinned.

    "Step into my den, if you dare." My voice took on that strange echo of other, a dark tint that seemed to carry forth from the very ground itself. Like a subwoofer pressed into the dirt that vibrated everything.

    "This is our arena, not yours, beast!" The youngest, the one who called Roy father. He was a disrespectful runt.

    "It is mine by conquest." I pointed to the wall of Brawl champions. My handprint was up there first. It had been burned deeply into the wall, on a night much like this one.

    If we had stepped away from the ritual neither Roy or Tal seemed upset by it. Instead, they stood quiet, watching.

    "We will best you!" The cages on the younger threes¡¯ bars dropped. They all stepped out in unison. Eager.

    "Come then. Impress upon me your worth." I whispered. Again, my words seemed to come from everywhere. Dirt vibrated beneath my feet. The subdued feelings that had been under a spell broke loose.

    This promised to be interesting and worthy of The Pit. We traded life for immortality. The thrill of danger was addicting. This fight was without fear, without gibbering madness I experienced before. Everything, since I stepped into Bottom Pit, had been building to this.

    Mountain Runts are rigid. Stiff. Heavy. I watch. Eager. I wait.

    The young ones held their hands in a funny way. Not a fist. Not an open hand. It was a halfway pose, almost martial. Their bodies stayed rigid without an ounce of flexibility to their movements. As if their next strike would shatter brick through force alone.

    The floor was still rumbling. My stance dipped lower and made them seem even more hulking. They slowly circled to the sides. I marked one for watching but didn''t attack. The other two would probably test me from odd angles. They were clear to my tactical senses at present. Their energies didn''t proceed any of the movements as if there was no deliberate thought to each movement.

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    One shouts. Spirits blur. Bodies fly forward. Fast. Strong. First hit connects unexpectedly. Hurts.

    It was hard to tell which one hit me. The half fist felt like a brick slamming into my head. These three were stronger than the vampire planting a fist into my stomach. My body was burning up with excitement. A rush of joy slid over my skin.

    First few blows connect. Feel tips of pattern. Hunting party circles.

    There was almost a cadence to their heavy strikes. A normal human would have been broken by this abuse. Each hit just fired me up more.

    World thrums. Ground dances. Feet slam to dirt. Runts Punch. Kick. Grab. Pattern found. Like drums. Beating tempo. Three drums. They strike to the pulse of pounding hearts. I dodge. Weave between blows. Spin through.

    I was moving like a meaty ballerina dodging swinging cannonballs. Each near miss kept me in one piece. It was healthier than taking more of those shots to the face. How long since I''d been able to fight like this? Years? Old memories were surfacing. Expectations. I''d suddenly halt and switch directions. Not fighting back. Not yet. I let the urge build and build.

    I hated to restrain myself. When I did strike back it would be...

    Glorious. Unable to wait. Stop. My foot stomps down. Ground cracks under pressure. Lash out at the first one. I yell with the strike. Hits runt in chest. My handprint burns into his skin with a flash of heat.

    The other two stepped in and kept attacking. There was barely a pause in their actions. Only a slight change in cadence threw me off. It took time to try and absorb the new pattern. These two runts were clever enough to continue adjusting. They kept me away from the third one I had struck, which allowed him time to recover.

    Drumbeats. Two pick up slack. Third weak. Uneven. Rushes wrong. Stumbles. Runts'' arms swing through air. Bodies surge like wild rhinos. A thin layer of armor over iron muscle.

    Soon all three were attacking again. Their attacks careened through the air with whistles. Tons of force sat behind each half hand. I broke out of a sloppy hold, avoided one lunging from behind, then barely managed to block my midsection with my lifted leg.

    They kept me surrounded neatly. I would have been beaten soundly if it weren''t for my advantages. Being able to feel their movements, being able to sense those blurs of decision and action, and years of experience all played a part it keeping me alive. Plus I knew this dance and their beat.

    One of the runts swung a bit wilder. His body leaned further in with each blow. I feinted an attack in his direction. He nearly leapt in anticipation, then overreached with a shout of triumph. His attempt at capturing me failed. I ignored the weakness and let myself move.

    Youngest Runt. His beat annoys. Distracts. Not in time. Ruins the dance. Will remove him. Will stop the grating feeling of Youngest Runt''s yells.

    They resumed the same familiar pattern as mental drumbeats rang forth. We could have been fighting in a campfire circle. The intervals they rotated through styles seemed predetermined. I could count the heartbeats until the new pacing started. Each pattern change brought a new rhythm to the thumping. Two of them tried to increase the tempo but were held back by the youngest.

    Strike during a change. Aim for reckless one. Runt''s heartbeat ahead. Side isn''t guarded. Step in. Twist. Surge his body up and over. His side open to other Runt''s punch. Cage broken. Step out of their circle.

    Break pattern more. Tear it apart. Shatter it. Runts'' faces falter. Discipline wanes. Two less reckless ones try to recover. Fail. Third, weak link, goes on his own. Too weak.

    "You are weak." My hand was at the youngest one''s throat. I felt him squirm and a chill fought back. The runt¡¯s face felt angry after my declaration.

    His buddies rushed in and tried to recover their formation. I was too livid to play anymore. The third¡¯s recklessness annoyed me. The pleasure I felt during the fight turned sour. This was fruitless. Their movements were extremely easy to fall into the pattern of, even if there were three of them. My face was welting up on one side and a shoulder was tender from multiple punches. The pain meant nothing.

    I dove into their movements and danced between the punches. I heard nothing but the hum of the earth below and their beating hearts. Mentally there was nothing but the rush of their energy as it moved. Bitter tingles washed over me.

    The connections as I fought back were unnoticed. Their movements fell apart increasingly. Runt number three tried to attack, tried to join in, but couldn''t find a place in the broken beat. Soon three shattered males lay around me quietly clutching at wounded parts.

    I was upset. Anger wasn''t specific enough for the frustration coursing through me. Roy had promised to quell the fire burning inside and this fight had been a giant tease.

    "This is nothing! You are weak!" I shouted at the fallen males. "You, you were the worst!" I pointed to the reckless younger one. "You held them back!"

    "Is that your judgment then?" Roy was still in The Pit with us. Somehow he stayed out of the way. Not a hair on his head was out of place.

    "Strength, yes, skills, yes, but coordination? No." I wanted to kick at them. Needed to do something. "The beat was wrong. Too slow. Faltered. Broken. Vibration wrong." My head started to throb again. My words were that of the other voice. I spoke like it, though.

    The cone of vision I had been able to see out of was gone. It was just me and my other senses now. My blindness didn¡¯t bother me as much as the trio''s failure.

    I swallowed back a lump in my throat and tried to gather some focus. It hurt. I wanted to scream at their failure. I wanted to tear down the walls of The Pit with my bare hands.

    "This isn''t enough, Roy!" I stomped around, ignoring the Runts trying to edge their way to the sides.

    "Very well." Roy seemed disappointed, but it was hard to tell without seeing his face directly. "We will regain our honor."

    "Chief?" The oldest one sounded hopeful.

    "Yes, Tal, it''d be an honor to dance with you," Roy said.

    "Thank you." Tal¡¯s words were the hardest to understand. I could feel the crispness of his salted hair. Sensed a texture change where tattoos ranged across his chest and back. I felt grateful for the old man''s presence and didn''t know why.

    "Brother," Roy said.

    A third quietly stepped out. This was the same excited man who first greeted me inside Bottom Pit. His hair felt far longer than the others. His discipline was strange. He wasn''t firm but felt more like water. The remaining few seemed disappointed. They stepped in also, but only to drag out the three I already defeated.

    "Are you ready, John?" Roy asked.

    I smiled, opened my arms wide and said, "Let¡¯s do this."

    The other two stepped around. It was the same as the first trio. Only these steps were firmer. I felt the drums tentatively do single taps in time with their footsteps. From one direction, then the other. I turned and felt them slide in behind me.

    True Warriors. Tested. Hard to sense. Hard to touch. Disconcerting. Their energies stand still. Motionless.

    Roy stepped in first. I dodged. He was using the same pattern his family did. The same cadence and attack style that I already experienced.

    When the other two joined in the rhythm was quicker. Crisper. There were no wasted movements or extra beats. The change in speed and skill clear. I rolled with the attacks. Swung my arm back in blows that would have caught the prior three off guard. They dodged and moved right back into the same pattern. It went on for far longer than it should have.

    The beats stopped and there was silence. Roy and the other three stepped back. They shuffled around again by walking calmly when I wasn''t looking. I could barely feel their movements. My bitter feelings of disgust had slowly ebbed away. Once more I felt the beat start.

    Mountain Elder moves first. Body solid. Block a blow of iron bars. A kick smashes from behind. My body twists. Turns. Retaliates. They expect my movements. Know my pulse better than I. Their feet barely touch the ground.

    My throat was in pain, a bulging pressure welled up. Muscles in my neck and shoulders were incredibly tense. I felt like an animal being shoved into a corner and nothing was pleasant. A niggling sensation tried to surface in my memories. Beneath that was a fear, that these warriors might truly kill me. It was from an old memory that crawled all the way back to childhood.

    The beat paused again and they stepped back. My eyes were barely open. Each time they halted the feeling of frustration crept back. I was being teased to the point of irritation.

    Beat starts again. Feet shuffle. Complex pattern. Three warriors rush. Faster than before. Than ever. Dodge. Try to move. Arms block. Legs dance out of their way. Patterns long unused. Sloppy. Forgot too much. Regret.

    I should have been amazed that I wasn''t trying to brute force my way through. I should have been amazed at keeping up like this, but I wasn''t. Their movements were something I didn''t remember yet knew in some way each pattern used previously was understood. Dead memories were being pulled to the surface by fear and anger.

    The motions drug on. My body had barely moved from a six-foot range. Either the trio was trapping me in this area or I didn''t feel the need to move. Maybe both. Abruptly the dance stopped a third time.

    I took a breath and tried to figure out what was going on and understand what I was doing, or how. This kind of movement would have made fighting anything easier. Why was it just coming back to me now? Was it this place? Was it the drinks? Were my memories coming back?

    They all strike. The beats almost absent. A stuttering pattern. Confuses timing. Throws off movements. I dodge into a punch. Hurts. Angry.

    I tried to clear out the uncomfortable feeling. Tried to focus on anything. My eyes were open and useless. Everything was spinning. It was impossible to catch up with the rhythm now.

    The attackers didn''t wait. Didn''t let me breathe. They didn''t let me out. It only got worse. I tried to strike back but my blows were brushed aside. Roy and his family were delivering a sound thrashing. One I deserved.

    The beating made me mad. Roy pinned me down to the ground in nearly a reversal of what I did to his son. Both the chief bouncer¡¯s arms locked across my throat. I tried to buck out but could feel where the other two had my legs and feet captured.

    Their arms refused to budge. Even with my extra strength, even with my senses, Roy was too much to fight. I struggled and flailed. I tried to put my arms out for his face and kick his crotch. Anything that would help failed. One on one, perhaps I might have won. Their group was stronger than the Runts had been, far stronger. They knew each other in the way only seasoned warriors knew each other.

    "Let it all out, John." Roy''s voice was calm and unbroken.

    "Let it all out." The elder, Tal, said. His arms bound around mine.

    "Let it all out." Roy''s brother said. His words far more garbled. He was breathing heavy.

    There was no winning against this group and no point in struggling, but I had to fight. The creature I been and still was at the core wouldn''t accept another defeat. Not after the losses I had. Not after Julianne, after Kahina. Not here in my territory. This place was mine by conquest.

    My throat burned while I gave a broken and bloody smile. My face throbbed. Everything hurt and I was going under. Consciousness was nearly gone and with it, I might lose the mental restraints keeping me in check.

    I shook again and tried to break loose. One arm yanked, pulled, and failed to successfully gain permanent freedom. An arm slipped for a brief moment before they clamped down again.

    "Let it all out," Roy spoke. The other two echoed his words. Dozens of other voices outside The Pit chanted. I couldn''t tell who. Roy''s family. Maybe. Not just marble-mouthed men either. I heard the hint of female tones.

    Will rend. Will tear. Burn. Humiliation, intolerable. Make them pay. May them pay. Suffer.

    The frustration was getting worse. Being tied down and unable to do anything made me panic. My thoughts were anything but friendly. Still, my submerged personality seemed confused. Like a puppy snarling at an empty darkness.

    "Let it all out."

    I shook and vibrated. My body was trying to tear itself apart. The rush of freedom was tantalizing. I couldn''t see and couldn''t hear anymore. Everything that was happening went through my other senses.

    "Let it all out, John." Roy was pleading. It wasn''t in the tone of his voice. It wasn''t in his stance. It was the curve of his eyes. The way the skin around his damaged face had a downward tilt to it.

    "Let it all out." They were nearly speaking as one. Only the fact that many voices were saying the words let me hear it past my own heartbeat. The pulse in my ears was getting overwhelming.

    My mouth opened in a silent scream. The growing pressure in my throat became unrestrained. Muscles around my mouth stretched to impossible lengths and teeth felt sharper. I couldn''t hear Roy or his family anymore, but their words vibrated through my core.

    I did what they said.

    God help me, I let it all go. All the anger at the Order and losing Julianne right in front of me. The brief bouts of pleasure at each fight I had participated in since leaving Kahina. The frustration of seeing her with another man. My deep nagging sense of failure over so many things.

    I gave voice to those emotions. From the depths of my lungs, something welled up. Something immense, uncontrolled, and ancient. It seared a path up my throat and leapt out. Fire spiraled outward and engulfed The Pit.

    Shortly after I collapsed.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 5 - This time

    I was awake. I think I had been for some time. It was hard to tell. The world remained pitch black but it wasn¡¯t nighttime. A pleasantly comforting feeling of sunlight could be felt baking my skin. This darkness existed because my eyes weren''t working. I wanted to panic but couldn''t bring myself to be that upset.

    Female voices tittered in low hushed tones nearby. They were excited about something. I didn''t understand any of their words. Everything was numb.

    It wasn''t a bad thing. My arms were comfortably leaden and hearing unfocused. Even my extra senses were absent. I couldn''t feel any connections around me. Not to Evan, or Kahina, or my home.

    Slowly things came together. Not my eyesight. That was still gone no matter how much I blinked. But my arm moved. Toes tingled. Hairs registered a breeze combing through. I was outside on what felt like grass. Fingers curled and I relished the sensation of clumps of dirt giving way.

    That small feeling was everything in the world. For a moment, I wondered if this was a dream. Similar to Kahina and her strange otherworld of shade creatures. Maybe this was heaven, but it was doubtful anyone would let a man like me in.

    Two voices became distinct as my awareness grew. They were talking about a garden. Discussing plants, trees, moss, birds, insects. One of the girls sounded annoyed with bugs, she expressed her desire that they all be eaten by the birds chirping nearby. The other kept trying to say that they had a place. That everything did. They went on for some time while I replayed what had happened.

    Roy had drugged me and lured me into a series of fights. I couldn''t say I went unwillingly. Hell. Between the pressures of the last few months, the drinking to bury it, and mounting guilt, I had been rather stressed.

    Now I felt drained. This kind of pleasant detachment normally came after a good workout session. Or after the most restful night of sleep a body''s ever had. I didn''t want to let go of this absent lethargy.

    Ten minutes passed with two girls talking about the uninteresting version of birds and bees. I finally felt brave enough to sit up. I tried and failed by flopping to the side. Their voices hushed almost instantly.

    "Hello?" The stiffness in my voice was tainted with a rough aftertone. I must have laid here for quite awhile.

    "Are you there?" My arm fumbled uselessly. I found something rough and tried to pull myself up.

    A woman gasped then said, "Stop that!"

    I kept pulling.

    "Stop, that tickles!" The female voice was closer. It was a wispy thing. I finally managed to get onto my knees. Not stand, that was beyond me. Sitting up was a good enough start.

    "Where am I?" I asked while trying not to sound froggy. My throat hurt a lot.

    "In our garden" said the one complaining about being tickled.

    "The garden!" said a second female. She was insanely chipper sounding.

    "Where''s Roy?" I asked.

    "Roy?"

    "The man I was fighting. Bottom Pit''s head of security." It took forever to get the words out.

    "Oh, that Roy!" She drug out his name. "Hold on, I''ll get him!" Chipper voice ran off. Her feet made no sound at all. If my senses were working correctly they''d probably say she weighed next to nothing. The only sign that someone had come and gone was a heavy door slamming.

    Roy was alive. That was something. I had no idea what had happened down in The Pit but I thought for sure he''d died in that inferno. An idle thought tickled the back of my head. Something saying that he should be proud to have survived. It wasn''t quite my subdued personality speaking, but it was close.

    "What happened?" My throat still hurt. Swallowing increased the throbbing.

    "It''s hard to say." The female said. "I wasn''t there. And all the males have been tight-lipped." I was carefully grasping around. Trying to get a feel for my surroundings.

    "Watch it!" She said.

    I tried to get more information. "How did I get here?"

    "Some of the males from downstairs brought you up. Said it''d be best if you rested here." Her voice was softer than the others. Not tiny, not faint, just soft. Steady. Soothing.

    I gave back into the tired feeling and quit trying to get upright. It was too much for me right now.

    "I''m above The Pit?"

    "Sort of. The Pit is near here, and below, yes. Why are you asking? You should know all this." She wanted to sound angry. I could tell. Those words were wrapped in a layer of cotton.

    "I should?" The woman''s words confused me. This place was familiar, but without eyesight, there was no way to tell where I had ended up.

    "Yes, of course you should. And you don''t need to use my tree to rest when you have a perfectly good..." The door banged shut again. I hadn''t heard or felt it open. There was a definite sound of footsteps this time, though.

    "Hush, girl." Roy must have arrived. His tone was easy to make out compared to the other women.

    "Don''t hush me," said the less bubbly female.

    I tried to sit up again, pushing on the tree trunk for leverage.

    "Stop that!" Her soft voice broke from its stern pattern into a fit of laughter.

    "John. I''m glad to see you''ve recovered." The large bouncer came over and grabbed my fumbling hand. With a sturdy yank, he had me off the floor and standing. I couldn''t see him, but he felt solid enough. More so than I was.

    "What happened?" Both words hurt to ask.

    "You fought us for honor and glory. It was worth the wait."

    I felt puzzled.

    "You told us you''d have to leave for some time. That when you came back we would be allowed to undergo our trials." Roy spoke with a slight lisp.

    "The Great Beast," I responded.

    "Yes. A hunt. A challenge. You had done it for us before. There are few worthy challenges left in the world." His words confused me. Drinking had been a much simpler way to pass the time.

    My head shook slowly. Having no senses beyond touch and hearing made me feel disoriented. I couldn¡¯t judge facial expressions or even use my extended range to replace the missing sight.

    "That''s nice. He''s awake. Now get him away from my tree." The ticklish female said.

    "Are you so eager to get rid of him?" Asked the larger man.

    "Yes. Dear Gods yes." She responded. Air rippled through and there were leaves rustling above. I looked up in confusion while they talked. Was there a tree up here, on top of Bottom Pit?

    "Not how I remember it." Roy''s words sounded more garbled than normal. Almost half-words. Like something was wrong with his ability to move his lips.

    "He''s fumbling, blind, and useless. Plus he tickles." The female said.

    "Not so," Roy responded.

    "Not so? He certainly tickles. And four years have gone by. With no word. No one knew, none of us. He gave us hope, brought us here, and then-" Her words exuded calm. Even the angry attitude felt soothing.

    "Hush. He''s not fully returned to us." Roy seemed intent on getting the woman to stop talking. There was a hidden meaning to their words that I felt passing right over my head.

    "Then he''s useless. Go somewhere else." She sounded firm.

    "Come, John."

    "You know my name''s not John, right?" I asked, confused. John, Jeff, Jake, a myriad of false names that were used to keep me forgettable. Roy acted like he knew me. Expected more from me than a simple John would warrant. Probably among the same reasons I knew this place.

    "Of course, but your real name is difficult to say for everyone except Rachel," Roy spoke slowly, making the words easier to understand.

    "Who¡¯s that?" I didn¡¯t remember anyone named Rachel.

    He answered by saying, "Family."

    We started hobbling off somewhere. The air felt colder as we went indoors. There was very little to go off of for landmarks. Not being able to see, or use my sense to feel, made me useless. I had to trust Roy to get us to another location.

    "Should you tell me?" I asked.

    "Maybe. I have to consult with others. First thing''s first. You''ve been lounging around for days. Come. We''ll find some food. My father wants to see you as well."

    My face scrunched while I tried to remember the older man''s name. Roy''s arm was steady under mine. I felt strange being supported by someone else. There was a core of strength to him. Reliable. Like a rock that withstood wave after wave.

    "Tal?" I finally figured it out. Roy had said it once just before we got into that weirdly ritualistic combat.

    "Yes. Tal. Watch your feet." He warned me as if guiding around blind people was second nature.

    "My eyes-" I started to ask what was wrong.

    "Will be fine, given time." He cut me off. "As well your other senses. They will come back first, a day, maybe two."

    "How do you know?"

    "Some secrets I know because I watch. Some because we have fought, many times. One warrior to another. Others because you trusted me like a brother." He spoke and my mind drifted off slightly.

    Bottom Pit was dead during the day. Correction, it wasn''t completely devoid of life. There were people around. I heard the shuffling of feet passing by us in the hallways. Sounds from a kitchen prepping endless meals. Compared to the roaring of the crowds this was downright peaceful.

    "I''m not sure I want to know." I finally spoke, feeling conflicted about being this close to an answer.

    "You can''t hide forever. Surviving this long is a feat worthy of any Teller¡¯s arsenal. You should share this with my father. He''ll be happy with your success."

    We kept walking. The floor clinked like metal of some sort. A musky smell of dirt slowly faded away.

    "You''re the Hidden aren''t you?" I asked. Thinking was clearer now than it had been for weeks. Even though I was blind, stumbling, my mind felt sharp. Things were easier to pick up.

    "Yes," Roy said. Voice firm, barely slurred. The longer sentences were giving him trouble, but one word at a time was easy.

    "Your family?" I asked.

    "Our family,¡± He said the words with force. ¡°All Hidden. There are many of us here."

    "How?"

    "How what? How are we here? How do you not remember it?" I felt Roy ripple with a shrug. "Both were your choice. Come. Sit. Before you fall. Let me find food. One of the women is sure to have something."

    I was guided to an unseen plastic chair. The kind people stacked up and shoved in a closet by the dozens. It was impossible to know exactly where in the building we had ended up. This wasn¡¯t one of Bottom Pit''s main rooms. Their chairs were fancier. Here the air felt different, more open. Sunlight came in through a window. It was warm, pleasant. Not as good as that rooftop garden had been.

    Roy''s mention of food gave me other concerns. Thoughts of eating sent my belly into overdrive producing rumbles of noise. Roy chuckled, almost fatherly. The kind of laugh that could only come from a man who raised teenagers.

    While he was gone I contemplated this current situation. Being here seemed safe enough despite my defenses being completely down. Where I woke up felt comforting. The female had been somewhat hostile. Roy had called me family and hinted at answers. If I dared.

    Keeper, the vampire who had transformed Kahina, had told me I would be found by other Hidden eventually. Was this what he meant? Who else here was a different race? Barnie? Ted? Boss Wylde? I hadn''t exactly been found, but instead stumbled across them.

    Then there was the other question. What were the other races? What could they be? Stories were few and far between. The one Tal had spoken of last night was the first true monster tale I''d ever heard. Entire cultures had their past removed, books burned, cave paintings painted over, myths squashed, there was nothing left to cast hints.

    Vampires, Wolves, Elves, Humans, all the standard races had been kept largely in the dark. News publications, history shows, all alluded that anyone outside the big four had been wiped out nearly two millennia ago.

    That event had been called The Purge. Other races were deemed too dangerous and incompatible then systematically removed. Beyond genocide.

    Keeper had been right. Wiping out that many had to be near impossible. They, we even, had survived.

    Someone cleared their throat making the room feel even larger than I thought. Suddenly finding myself with company after thinking I was alone set me on edge and all thoughts of being comfortable here vanished. They were close, maybe at the same table under my arm. I panicked and shifted myself towards the noise in order to face it head on.

    "Relax." A voice said. Not quite female. Not quite male. Somewhere between in timber.

    "Who''re you?" I tried to sniff the humid air. To get a feel for anything. My fingers clumsily reached out for a plastic table.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    "Just another member of the flock," It said.

    "Some flock."

    "They''re more likely to eat all the sheep, farmer too, truth be told. In the old days anyway." It didn¡¯t sound like both a man and woman at the same time. I just couldn''t tell from the voice alone and that bothered me. This reminded me that the world was currently a blanket of darkness.

    "Yeah?" I tried to sound interested. Their words were almost offhanded despite the severity of their subject. Monsters had eaten people, that¡¯s why The Purge happened.

    "Sure. Food was scarce back then. Meat was meat." They said.

    "Not now?" I asked while listening for any sign of movement. The other person seemed content to sit there talking. No hands waved or fabric brushed. Chairs didn¡¯t scrape. My own breathing was louder than anything this person did.

    "No point. Steaks everywhere for a little bit of money. We live in an era of plenty. People whine about taxes and don''t realize what blessings they''ve been given." They said.

    I paused and tried to figure out how to respond. This other voice was opinionated. Not chipper, but rather bored sounding. At long last they shuffled in their chair. The noises delivered an impression of someone fidgeting due to bulky clothes.

    "So now you ask,¡± They said.

    "Ask what?" I asked, then rapidly felt dumb for walking into an obvious verbal trap.

    "If you know me, and the answer''s no. I''d remember you, and we''ve never met." The unknown person said. They didn¡¯t sound like Boss Wylde, or Roy, or any of the bouncers from earlier. Their tone didn¡¯t match anything in the recent past.

    "I don''t remember a lot of people," I said dryly.

    "Yeah, featherhead did a number on you I can tell. Not sure why. But no one here tells me anything."

    "Sounds familiar."

    "I''m sure it does," They responded. There was an impression that someone should be nodding but without my two main senses, it was, weird.

    "Are you Hidden too?" I asked.

    "Oh, I go by many names, one for each season. Hidden? As in a people? No. Silly.¡± Even without eyesight, I could tell there was an amused head tilt to the other person''s body. ¡°Though I am hiding. Yes."

    I shrugged. It was hard to tell what parts I''d care about and what parts were worthless. Each time someone new presented themselves into my world there was a backstory, details, personality traits, and half the time none of it really mattered to my choices.

    "Food good here?"

    "It''s passable. There were some old country recipes I wish were still around. Nowadays companies buy out the good ones, mass produces them, not as good as homemade. Just passable. I miss having real meals. Microwaves made cooks lazy."

    My belly rumbled again in response to the food prompt.

    "See, you get me. Not all mortals do." The other person said.

    "Mortal?" I heard that word before. Never in reference to actual people, though. Everyone died, no one lived forever. Even vampires who could live eternally, in theory, tended to self-destruct eventually.

    "Sure. Hey, listen, I''ve got to get going. Work starts soon and Boss Wylde will try to kill me if I''m late. Silly. Silly woman." The chairs rustled as this other person''s feet stepped closer.

    "Alright," I said while hoping my eyes weren¡¯t growing panicked. For all I knew this man could have a loaded gun pointed at my head. Would enhanced strength and healing recover from a spray of bullets? Probably not. My skin itched thinking about the possible dangers. I tilted back slowly.

    "My hand''s out, you grab it, we shake, those are the rules for this era. Greet each other, talk for miles, say nothing immediately useful, shake hands, say goodbye." The other figure sighed and kept on. "I miss the old days. We used to try and kill a stranger first, then say only the useful things. People listened after you beat the crud out of them. None of this polite handshaking needed."

    The not quite male or female voice seemed displeased by a lot of things. I felt something wave in front of my face. My hand reached out and grabbed at the hand I couldn''t see. Whoever it was pumped my hand a few times.

    "Now say goodbye," They said.

    "Goodbye. I guess." It was a weird meeting. If I had been up to my normal self perhaps this would be annoying. At this point, I was still leaden.

    "Silly. Don''t guess. Make a choice, stick with it. You seem like the sort who tries to do both and fails. Most of your lot are. Except those that can''t be." He, she, it, whatever, was confusing as hell to listen to. "Choose, follow through. Tomorrow the sun will rise. Trust me, I''ve seen more than enough to know it''s true." The voice sighed again. "Mortals, they forget that the entire system is designed to keep itself alive at any cost." Words faded off into the distance as it spoke. "Anyway, goodbye, silly mortal."

    Then I was left alone. No one shuffled. No one coughed. Roy hadn''t returned with a meal and I was getting pretty desperate. I just had a strange conversation and all that my brain could think of was food.

    I sat in near silence long enough to get worried. What if Roy had forgotten about me? What if someone had distracted him? How would I make it to food? How long would this blindness last? Echolocation was not a trait of mine. Though my tactile feedback might be close.

    A loss of eyesight didn''t automatically give me a white and red cane. Chance was against there being one in the lost and found box. Tapping around for obstacles would confuse me and this chair wasn''t suitable anyway.

    There had to be some sort of kitchen nearby, or a fridge, anything with snacks. Sniffing to get a scent was nearly useless. My nose was nowhere near a wolf''s. They''d be able to navigate straight to meat from miles away. Having a barbecue in a neighborhood where wolves lived was like asking for constant visits. Especially for the grill masters. Half the time wolves were polite enough to bring their own meat.

    I tried not to laugh at the mental image of a wolf in canine form showing up with a package of chewed up hot dogs in his mouth.

    One tentative step at a time I shuffled down the hallway. If I was in Bottom Pit somewhere, if I had been here before, it should just be a matter of following my gut. Or backtracking to the prep noises I heard before. My gut and vague memory said to head left. Each step brought worries of stubbed toes, stepping on knives, or Roy trying to find me from some other direction.

    Five turns was all it took to get completely lost. No smells lingered in the hallways. No other footsteps traveled close enough to talk to. I didn''t want to admit that I needed the help. Being weak was one thing, showing it blatantly was asking for trouble.

    Perhaps it was pure luck that I recognized some voices in the distance. They were around a corner. Or down a hallway. Maybe some side room. Without eyesight, everything was a guess.

    "You can''t tell him, Roy. Just don''t, man. It''ll screw up this whole thing. Lives are at stake here." The surfer accent was strong. The only person I knew who spoke like that was Daniel Crumfield.

    What was the tanned redhead doing here? He was a Western Sector Agent and should be out refereeing some elves and wolves that were fighting over which trees could be pissed on. Not in the middle of Bottom Pit where the Hidden were.

    "He deserves to know. We owe him a great deal of respect." Roy responded. Their pause for conversation answered my own musing on long absent food.

    "Exactly, we would dishonor him by going against his wishes." The Agent seized on the wording.

    "That makes no sense. He wants to know."

    "Did he tell you that? Did he use any specific words? There''s a code he''ll say when ready. We agreed on it." Daniel asked.

    I was happy about staying conscious during this entire conversation. Many times these tidbits turned my mind blank. Part of my mind seemed intent upon self-censoring, the same part that thought in a different cadence. That voice had been subdued since fire raged across The Pit. Tired, content, at peace for the first time in awhile.

    In short, I wasn''t aware enough to stop myself from learning a little.

    "No. But he looks lost. You should have seen him when he returned to us. The need was overwhelming." Roy''s deep voice sounded sad.

    "Lost, yes, he''s lost, man, so buried in sand that no one can tell his ass from the next meathead¡¯s. Muni''s trinket has muddled everything he comes across. Do you think this place would be so mellow if they knew he''d returned?"

    "It seemed like they knew during our trials, but then no one commented on what happened. I had wondered why." Roy''s voice was broken. Had something happened to him that screwed up his speech? Was it just the effort of speaking so fast, or without as much effort?

    "You, me, Muni, only a few actually see him for who is. Others suspect. I''ve tried to have Muni yank their memories but she''s too damned busy cleaning up after last month''s mess. Jesus what a clusterfuck. Grade A clusterfuck." I could almost feel Daniel ripping his short hair out. He kept it buzzed for a reason. When stressed the Agent tended to pull on it.

    "My family remembers him."

    "Family, or your brothers?" Daniel snapped quickly.

    "Brothers, and father."

    "Exactly, you''ve been there since near day one, like I have, and we¡¯ve all sparred countless times. Between you two the Tribe has recovered some of the dances.¡± The agent shuffled around, at least, it seemed to be him. He was lighter than Roy by far, and the shoes sounded sharper. ¡°That''s important enough to cancel out any general memory wipes. Muni couldn''t yank him without shredding your noggin, and we need you whole. Your brothers too, man. You''re what holds this place in line."

    I held myself motionless and tried not to breathe loud. I didn''t want to give anything away. Daniel had said that Roy and I recovered the dances? Those battle styles? No wonder they felt familiar.

    "Then what do we do? The Council should know." Roy asked.

    "Absolutely not, man. They''re worthless anyway, self-appointed idiots. Like there''s enough gathered here to put anyone in charge."

    "We''ve had to, since he''s been gone."

    "Don''t even tell me. I know. This whole thing has been a series of disasters. I can''t even begin to explain how busy my teams have been just trying to root enough of the Order to breathe." Daniel sounded angry, annoyed, and defeated all in one go.

    "This is their fault?" Roy spoke the question slowly.

    "Of course it is, man."

    "Does he know about them?" Roy asked. Clearly the bouncer was missing puzzle pieces too. Just like I was, and yes, I knew about the Order¡¯s bullshit.

    "Look, I tried to keep him out of it, but he waltzed right into the middle of three operations!¡± Daniel was pacing again. Sharp footsteps could be heard clanking around the hallway. ¡°Even when he left and traveled the coast he practically waded into their meetings. How does anyone do that? Go into hiding, forget everything, and still manage to go out of his way to step on a landmine?"

    "It''s who he is. His nature. He''s desperate, like my father and I were before he started bringing us together." Roy¡¯s voice didn¡¯t change locations. He seemed like the sort who stood there, imposing, unmoving until a situation required it.

    "I know. He''s searching. Like he was when I first met him. I''ve got some ideas about that." Daniel trailed off as if thinking about something serious. Without seeing his face, it was impossible to know for sure.

    "You finally found something, that will help him search?" Roy asked.

    I tried to picture the two talking but couldn¡¯t. They sounded fairly close to each other. Daniel would have been shorter than Roy by a good six inches. Being blind and without my normal senses made me feel small and burned out. Maybe that was a good phrase for it, burned out.

    "More like a backup plan. A far out and extra dangerous one. None of my sources seem to believe it¡¯s possible." The Sector Agent spoke in a hurry.

    "Then we stick with the first plan, Hunter?" Roy almost sounded amused.

    "Yeah, man. We keep him busy. Come on. Let''s get that food then we''ll sit down and talk with Jay.¡± There was a pause that could only be Daniel shrugging. ¡°I''ve got some leads that he could use anyway."

    "Who?" Roy asked as they both walked in an opposite direction.

    I held my breath. Daniel knew exactly what I was. When I raged about it, stressed, and boxed into a mental corner, Daniel had known everything. The entire time Roy was here, he knew, his family knew, the woman upstairs with the soothing voice knew. My burned out relaxed feeling started tried to turn to aggravation. Being blind made it hard to really punch people solidly. Plus Roy had sort of kicked my ass once already.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 6 - It Was Petty

    Once I was sure they had gone far enough I slowly backtracked to the room from earlier. My efforts got me even more lost. Finally, the smell of food lured me the rest of the way down a hall. It took far too long and too many wrong turns to locate my target.

    "Fields! Wondered where you went, man." Daniel had beat me back. How we missed each other was beyond me. This place felt like a maze. Footsteps echoed at strange angles. Walls were in unexpected places.

    "Crumfield." Daniel liked to use my last name, so I used his in retaliation. It was the kind of pettiness only good friends would get over. If we were friends. I had twisted feelings of betrayal and thankfulness all knotted together inside when it came to the Western Sector agent.

    "In the flesh," He said.

    "What are you doing here, Crummy?" I tried to tell by his voice alone if he noticed my eavesdropping. It didn''t seem like it.

    "Visiting, can''t I do that?" He asked.

    It took even longer to figure out where the chairs were. Being a blind fumbling idiot was not good for my self-esteem, especially after hearing that my friends were hiding stuff for my own good. All because, how had Roy put it, I chose to forget.

    "Shit, man, here. Vision''s busted, right? No worries. A day or two." Daniel got up and slid something under me. A seat. Then shoved the table in my direction. Plates clattered, tableware banged, something was pushed under my nose that smelled perfect.

    "Steak in front. Knife, fork, to the left. No sauce. Sorry." Daniel rambled and sounded nervous.

    Maybe it was the glare on my face or the sounds of my stomach. I was starving. Huge messy bites were shoved into my mouth at high speeds. There was no time for water or napkins, just eating.

    "Hunter, have you asked him?" Roy''s feet were large and gave off a heavy clang of noise with each step.

    "Letting him eat, trust me, we let the man eat before asking for favors.¡± Daniel took a deep breath which indicated nervousness. ¡°You know it, I know it."

    Roy responded with a grunt.

    "Whatever it is, no." I managed to speak with the food being shoveled into my mouth. What Daniel wanted wasn''t important right now.

    "No? I haven''t even asked yet. Why are you doing this to me, Jay? Come on!" I couldn''t see him, but Daniel sounded upset. Not angry, just upset. Angry Daniel was normally associated with someone getting beaten senseless then thrown into jail.

    "First, tell, or remind me, why I''m hiding from the Order," I said.

    Silence was broken up by the loud smacking of my lips chewing through the last of the steak. It had been huge and I still managed to scarf the meal down. My belly rumbled and a barely perceptible arm passed in front of me for the plate. A hand shot out and grabbed at the dainty wrist I shouldn''t have noticed.

    Roy''s presence in the room was obvious even without most of my senses. I could feel him lean in closer, protective, upset.

    "Let go!" A familiar and chipper voice exclaimed.

    "Jay, she''s getting you a fresh plate, trust me, man. It''s okay." I grumbled then let the tiny limb go. Moments later a new plate was placed in front of me. My hands wanted to pick up the steak and eat it like a caveman. I managed to use the knife and fork for a second time.

    "Why do you want to know?"

    "Look. There are things you can''t tell me, or won''t tell me. I don''t know where the line is." I gulped down another bite of food. Without vision, everything about Daniel''s responses was a guess. He was probably guarded right now. Maybe an attempted smile that might disarm a lady somewhere.

    "I do know that this Order of Merlin-" A group I''d run into a few times now. They believed that nonhumans should all be wiped out. "-¡±-is the main reason I''m hiding."

    "Yeah, sort of," Daniel said.

    "That''s the problem, I''m getting half answers. I''ve killed for this, left Kahina again, and all from a gut feeling saying that''s the right thing to do." I should sound a lot angrier than I did. Being blind might have been keeping me off balance. Or the lingering sensation of calm that had crept over me upstairs.

    "Mmmh. Alright. Maybe, yeah. We can clear parts up. Hold on." Daniel shuffled around and there were beeps of some sort. It sounded like a cell phone. "Yeah, we got time. Roy, can you have someone run down to my car? In the glove box, there''s a pink folder. Grab that and bring it up. Make sure they don''t touch anything else."

    "I''ll do it personally, Hunter," Roy said. The funny accent he had made hunter sound like a dirty word.

    "Agent, we''re all agents now. It''s easier."

    The security chief, Roy, grunted then stepped out. His feet were distinctive enough that I could track him from sound alone. Now it was just Daniel and me.

    "Hunter?" I asked.

    Daniel sighed. His head clearly sounded like it slid downward and thunked on the table.

    "Fine, but give me something. Tell me Kahina getting married to someone else had a fucking point." This dish should have been smashed. Daniel should have been shoved to one side. That damned older vampire Kahina married could be dead in hours.

    "Sure, man. This way she''s alive. Any other way she''d die as bait to lure you out. A Hunter-Born being after her would have been much different than the bunch of idiots you dealt with." Daniel raised a hand to stave off anything I might say. At least, I think he did, the shuffle sounded like a hand going up. "Keep eating. I''ll just talk awhile."

    He stood up and paced around. I couldn''t stop eating for long. My stomach protested loudly and didn''t even feel close to full.

    "So Hidden, Hunters, Order of Merlin''s motivations, things you don''t remember. Though you do know a few pieces. You know your blood can heal, the tracking thing never went away. Some of your strength, speed, and if you tested out Roy''s little brats I bet you felt the dances too."

    I nodded. Daniel could have been looking anywhere for all I knew, but it seemed like the thing to do.

    "And your girl, Kahina, thinks you''re dead. Which is good and bad." Daniel continued on.

    I was between bites this time and said, "All that''s old news."

    "I''m prepping, man, you set down rules before this."

    "And a safety word."

    "Yeah, man!" Daniel slammed down into a chair nearby and leaned in. His excitement was nearly tangible. "You remember it? That''d be much easier."

    "No." I sawed off another portion of meat.

    "Fuck. Well, that''s good too, I guess." He stood up and paced some more. There was a crispness to his shoe steps that Roy simply didn¡¯t have. "Okay, Hunters. That I can share. We''re humanity¡¯s response to monsters." He gave the word a comical drawl. "Take a normal human, amp him up, bam, Hunters. Easy peasy."

    "All agents?" I felt skeptical about the idea that every single Western Sector agent was literally an ultra-human.

    "Nah, just some, man. Me, a few others. Maybe a dozen family trees. Lots of training, you should see me with a knife or gun."

    "Shaggy was a good shot," I remembered her planting bullets into wolves and vampires with startling accuracy.

    "Yeah, she''s one of us, not really fully in the know. Her dad kept her in the dark until we figured out if she''d be receptive to other races."

    "She said you handled weird stuff." My head nodded slowly as some pieces came together. Pushing for personal answers might not work, but if Daniel was willing to shed some light then okay.

    "My girl¡¯s called you, them, this-¡± There was a flutter of movement that wasn¡¯t visible. ¡°-weird before. Really it¡¯s just leftovers. Scattered remains of entire races." Daniel was offhanded about it.

    "Do all Hunters work with these Hidden?" I tried to sound quiet about it but failed.

    "No! Hidden, like you, man, are the heart of this cluster of a situation. Some Hunters are still trying to complete The Purge like they get bonus points for overtime. They''d kill Roy and the others here in a heartbeat if Muni didn''t keep this place remembered wrong." His voice was growing heated. Angry. He took a few deep breaths to calm down then he kept right on talking.

    I said nothing but lifted my plate a few times in hopes that food might still be on it.

    "Anyway, I figure Hidden, like normal people, got good eggs and bad ones. Maybe some extra quirks, but all races have something. At least in my experience." Roy seemed nice enough.

    My head nodded and one hand motioned for Daniel to continue.

    "Then people like the Order are trying to take everything back and do it again on our terms. They have Hunters too, they''re the ones we''re hiding you from." Daniel rushed through the explanation, and once again I wondered why he was so nervous about this whole topic.

    "That doesn¡¯t make sense," I said.

    "Which part? The all of it?" Daniel asked.

    "Doing it again on their terms." Time doesn''t march backward. It wasn''t possible to just do something again on different terms, was it? If it was, could I do everything again and keep Julianne alive, and stay with Kahina?

    "Okay. You''ve played video games before right?"

    "Maybe." I didn''t own a television. There were little slot machines and stuff at Julianne''s. Most bars had something similar. That was as close as I got.

    "Well some let you save games, and if you wipe out it''s possible to start over. Redo things, fight the boss again, whatever." He must have been waving his hands and waiting for me to act like this conversation made sense.

    I nodded to show I was paying attention.

    "Now imagine you can do that with the entire world. Restart it from a save point, redo everything. Problem is that it would put the world back to before the Purge." There was silence while Daniel let me absorb that idea. How kind of him.

    How would that work? Redoing everything? Was it like time travel, paradox creating, killing your own great grandfather to change the future? Weird. Impossible.

    "That''s insane." Was my only verbal offering.

    "Well, it''s happened. Not once or twice, the elves have these stories-" Daniel sounded hesitant about explaining this part.

    "Sins of the People?" The words were garbled around my food. There wasn''t much left on the plate that I could find so I was trying to savor a few bites.

    "Man, did you remember that, or did someone tell you? If you remembered it we''re in trouble, sort of."

    "Your woman told me." I still didn¡¯t know Ann Myers¡¯ real name. She had always been Shaggy, or that undercover Western Sector woman.

    "She tell you anything else?"

    "To ask for the theatrical version."

    "Hah, she was impressed by it, Jesus, so was I. Everyone is. It''s amazing, man, and frightening, and humbling. To imagine that things had happened differently, that humanity was almost wiped out three times. Nuclear warfare, vampires enslaving mankind, all sorts of endings." Daniel paused this time until I made a rolling motion with one my fork.

    "Alright, short version, The Sins are a story about the world resetting like six times. Each prior iteration the world starts self-destructing and elves start things over with notes on what to do next time." There was another pause where Daniel gathered his words.

    I motioned with my fork multiple times trying to get him to start up again. There was more to this half explained thought.

    "Problem is, in order to do it they need someone like you. A Lord-" His words reminded me of being called that by two different elves. "-to sacrifice, you don''t get to survive, in exchange everyone gets two thousand or so years of history to do over. And if they start it over it''s not just murder or genocide, it''s un-writing us all from the beginning. Ab inito."

    There was a brief pause while I tried to decipher that madness induced statement. Finally, I said, ¡°Not happening."

    Candy had mentioned something like this before. That she wouldn''t be responsible for the deaths of everyone. She was terrified by it. Instead of letting me know anything she tried to block me from finding out what I was. Now I knew a bit more of why. Or at least what they thought I could do.

    Hell. They thought I was a fucking reset button. Daniel, Candy, The Order of Merlin. Thoughts rampaged through as I compared Daniel¡¯s explanation to everything I had heard. My fork idly scraped against the base of an empty plate.

    "I mean, that can''t happen." My protests sounded silly.

    "No, it''s not, elves are fairly established this time, things are working out great. Between actual racial cooperation and long-term integration, a reset is unlikely.¡± Daniel was being talkative today. It annoyed me more than it should have. Maybe it was our subject matter. ¡°The real problem is the Order of Merlin. They think they can mimic the ritual and try again, wipe out all the nonhumans straight from the get go. Or worse."

    I wasn''t sure how much I believed Daniel at this point. Rewriting history was a bit far fetched. Implying elves had their fingers on a trigger was strange too. Then saying it required my sacrifice? Was I that unique?

    "Or worse?"

    "Or worse is bad, man." Daniel responded.

    "Or worse," I said dryly.

    "Yeah, man. Hence the worse." He could have been joking or going with the flow. The man wasn¡¯t even drunk. How did a blind man pick up sarcasm?

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    "The whole thing seems stupid," I said. In the distance, I could hear Roy''s heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. Boots, he had to be wearing some sort of giant military footwear.

    "It is stupid. It''s diving into a feeding frenzy without a cage stupid." Daniel was disgusted. "So we''ve been hunting their members down. The problem they have people from all walks of life. Western Sector members, congressmen, police, anyone who bears a heavy grudge against nonhumans."

    "We''re killing them?" That implied a conspiracy. Hell. I was part of a grand scheme to eliminate another group of people and couldn¡¯t remember it.

    "Yeah. If needed. That fat bastard in the woods? Where you ripped his head off? Senator." Daniel was nonchalant about it.

    "Hell." I had killed a senator?

    "Someone cares, but we''re in the clear, the only people that might know are Order members. They can''t exactly advertise their violation of Pack lands either."

    "Good." That made me feel happier at least.

    "They do hold a grudge, man, and there''s a lot of them." The agent shot down my brief elation at getting away undiscovered.

    Roy was in the room again. His presence made the room feel smaller despite a beam of sunlight coming in. Maybe the big security staff member had found Daniel¡¯s files.

    "Can''t be that many." I protested.

    "Sure there are." Daniel walked across the room and I tilted my head to follow. He was rustling papers for something. "Here, these are incident reports from your escape from the NightShades. Just the one stretch that last day."

    "NightShades?" I was confused again. Today seemed to be a good day for information overload.

    "The things in the vampire shadows, you named them, not me. At least, you''ve told me there are things in them. Possesses them during the day." Daniel and I had talked about this? I blinked as the agent kept right on rambling. "Let''s not get into that, man, I''ve got a few minutes then it''s time for me to go."

    "Alright." I was done with those NightShades anyway. They had shown up because of Kahina, because of the change. Now that she was done with her transition, and I had chosen to stay away from her, seeing those strange faces in shadows again was unlikely.

    "Let¡¯s see. Four separate car pileups, three fire hydrants damaged, two street poles, and about fifteen homicides that are gradually being covered up by Muni. Car crashes, extensive damage, I''ve seen action flicks with less costly bills.¡± Daniel shook his papers loudly then said, ¡°Mostly the lawsuits."

    I frowned and tried to count in my head. There had been a lot more deaths than that. A lot more. The car wrecks should be blamed on Daniel''s fianc¨¦ and a certain bitch I loved to hate.

    "Those are just the ones still outstanding. Your official count? Nine murdered wolves. Can''t wipe them completely, Pack bindings screw that idea up. Even more deaths of partial vampires, each one falls under Tribunal laws, and they don''t really care if burnouts die. They''re too busy replacing their third seat anyway."

    I had forgotten about that. Somehow the night Kahina had completed her transformation one of the three Tribunal members had failed to wake up. Very likely the two incidents were related. Daniel shuffled through papers again.

    "Here''s the real problem, man. Humans, over a dozen straight humans died in the middle of the city. Each one with family, some with witnesses, and if we don''t find them all those people will carry grudges, resent nonhumans, and maybe lash out." He said.

    "So? Retaliation isn¡¯t new." I said. There were plenty of people that hated nonhumans or were afraid. Even more wanted to join their ranks and applied every which way they could.

    "Each one is a potential Order member. Each additional Order member, each one seeking a way to stop the ''monsters'' from ruling the world." Daniel didn¡¯t say ¡®you monsters¡¯. He seemed to include himself in our ranks or hadn¡¯t put much thought into it. Maybe it was because the surfer accented male wasn¡¯t entirely human either.

    "That''s pessimistic." I frowned.

    "That''s reality. I''ve got people at their meetings, at their compounds. Compounds, man, they train there on reservations that human governments won''t even try to touch. Gun rights in action.¡± The papers rattled again as Daniel shuffled them around. ¡°All in the name of avenging their unfairly murdered friends and family.¡±

    It was sad to hear, but the way Daniel phrased it this almost felt justified. I had damaged a number of things. Hurt a number of people. All in the name of letting one vampire complete her transformation successfully. If one day, one reckless drive, had hurt that many people, how bad was an entire continent of racial friction? I could nearly see a trail of damage caused by me alone that stretched far into the past. Hell.

    "Anyway, I''m holding forth here and it''s not the answer to your question. I''m helping you hide so that the Order doesn''t stumble across you and sacrifice you to alter history. Having Hunters on their side is bad. Every time you use your abilities, like a few nights ago, anyone of us in range can feel it like a beacon."

    "You can?" My heart thumped.

    "Yeah, man. That''s why you had to forget who you were, and those abilities. Using them is second nature to you, and being near Rhodes-" Daniel used Kahina''s last name, he preferred everyone''s last name. "-kept forcing you to use them."

    That set me back. The Order would easily attack Kahina, just to force me to act. Triggering my abilities and being hunted would lead to eventual death.

    "Simple tracking is fine, but the strength, speed, controlling, all of it''s tied to your true nature, and that nature sets off big fucking alarm bells. That''s how they started finding you in the first place." He rambled on.

    I blinked and raised an eyebrow. What the hell was he talking about now? The confusion on my face must have been obvious despite blindness.

    "That night you returned home, got into a fight with Kahina Rhodes¡¯ bodyguards, you used your abilities.¡± Now the agent was rambling about events that happened months ago. ¡°It was weak but still there. That''s how I knew you were back."

    "And three days ago?" I put aside the fact that he considered my ability to take down two partial vampires a weak reaction. Hunter senses must have been weird, but I tracked people through a crazy spirit world with threads of connection.

    "Lit up the entire bay.¡± Daniel probably waved his arms in the sky. ¡°Most Order members in this area were ousted thanks to you, but it''s only a matter of time before they flood back in, and one of their Hunters starts poking around."

    "I''m dead, though." I protested weakly. The calming effect had mostly faded, but being stuffed full of food made it easier to listen.

    "You were dead. Until last night." The agent might have been shrugging. He could have been frowning or angry, but there wasn¡¯t much in his tone aside from a faint hint of ¡®dude¡¯.

    "So what do I do?" Being blind was destroying my ability to keep track of things. The plate held no interest without food. There were no footsteps in the distance. Even Roy, who was still here, remained silent as we spoke.

    "Keep low. Let me and other Sector members find out who their Hunters are at least. If we can keep them away, or in jail, or dead if needed, then you can come back out."

    "I agreed to that?" I asked.

    "It was your idea. You found Muni and made it possible." Daniel said.

    "Past me sounds stupid." My mouth turned downward. Hell. All this was apparently my own damn fault. A deep pit in my stomach told me that everything spoken here had truth to it, but it was like feeling gravity''s pull. It existed but the details were beyond me.

    Daniel snorted. Roy said nothing. He was practically a statue in the room.

    "Look, I''ve got to head out, will you consider the other request?" The agent said.

    "Keeping me busy?" I asked.

    Daniel didn''t even notice my usage of his own words. Or if my friend, or Agent, Hunter, whatever he was, did notice then he chose not to comment. Maybe he had made a face of some sort. Maybe he was secretly really angry but managed to keep his voice clear. Until my vision returned it was impossible to tell for sure.

    "Tracking''s fine. We''ve gotten a few vague reports of a possible Hidden living to the west of here, near the coast. I wanted to send you out to try and find them." He said.

    "Why?" I asked while trying not to shake my head back and forth.

    "You may not remember, but gathering the Hidden was one of your personal goals.¡± He said and my mind flashed to some of the others'' commentary. That ticklish angry girl from upstairs implied I should have been bringing people back. Daniel kept talking. ¡°Besides, it''ll get you out of the area. I''m not sure if anyone noticed besides me, but you did light up the entire sky for miles. At least to my kind. If you do run into trouble, if, then using your abilities elsewhere will lure them away."

    "From Kahina," I stated calmly.

    "Yeah," Daniel responded.

    "She got married." My words turned rapidly annoyed despite the cathartic release of spewing fire all over Bottom Pit. Kahina had gotten married to another man. That made her important, but also almost not my concern.

    Maybe that was it. My mind quickly raced through a few other ideas. Was the reason I felt so calm simply tied to unleashing all that pent up anger in the form of literal flames? If I paused to think about it, there was a core to me that normally felt hot, but right now that center was mostly drained. Cooled off compared to the normal ball of repressed anger.

    "So?¡± Daniel¡¯s words took a moment to catch up. ¡°If not for her, then you''ve got a ton of other people here who are your family, even if you don''t remember them right."

    "That''s true," Roy said. "You brought us together."

    I said nothing.

    "Crap. Alright, man, I''ve got to get scarce. Boss expects me for an evaluation or something." Daniel said. "Roy can explain about the person I was hoping you''d track, if you want. Maybe get some rest first, man." He barely spared me an awkward shoulder pat before crisp footsteps exited the room.

    The silence stretched on. Roy said nothing. I kept thinking, trying to figure out if Daniel was playing an angle again. Or if he was truly concerned about my welfare. Tried to figure out how much of what had been said to believe. Daniel wasn''t human, or he was some sort of superhuman response to monsters.

    Not once had he said why he was working with me, why he was working with The Hidden. To make amends? To gather them for ease of tracking? His kind, if there was a kind, had likely done huge amounts of work during The Purge.

    Unless his sole goal was to keep me out of the Order''s hands. Wouldn''t it be easier just to kill me and call it good? If I was already dead it''d be impossible for anyone, human or elf, to sacrifice me. My searching must play into why Daniel kept me alive. Or maybe we really were friends. I''d started questioning that set of memories. I''d questioned everything lately.

    "Can I get a ride home?" Three days away from my little apartment was too much. Being without my other senses was finally starting to worry me. Feelings of calm that had smothered me were fading.

    "If you want," Roy said slowly.

    "Yeah."

    "Will you come back? Father would like to talk to you." He asked.

    "Maybe." I wasn''t sure how I felt about this place. It was familiar, the fighting had been glorious and perplexing at the same time. For just a moment I heard the thump of drums as Roy crossed the room.

    "Return soon then. He can wait a few days. Come on. One of the women will drop you off." Roy led me off. Found someone to give me a ride, then stayed next to me until I was shuffled into a truck.

    "When you''re ready, or in need, return here," Roy spoke to me before closing the door. It sounded like he was worried but trying hard to keep a respectful tone.

    "Family right?" I asked, feeling oddly mixed about the idea of having a family.

    "Distant cousins in a way, but always family."

    "Huh," I remarked.

    "We''ll be there when you need us." Roy''s somber words were the last thing I heard before the door slammed shut. The person driving obeyed stop lights. Hardly pressed the brake and turned gently into every curve. Beyond that, I had no clue who was driving. They never uttered a word.

    That was fine. I was sick of talking. Living as a shadow of myself came with a number of problems. Needing friends to explain my own life was ridiculous. And my center, the figure that mattered most in my life, was gone. I couldn''t even feel Kahina anymore.

    Eyesight remained absent. Not that the driver helped any, my only cue was a tap on the shoulder and a gentle shove out of the car. I could hear familiar voices in the distance, shouting at each other over some game. My drive had put me near the bar. Thomas, Julianne''s brother, was inside railing loudly against a referee''s call. Excited and happy.

    I stumbled across the parking lot, past the security gate, and into my battered home.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 7 - A Terrible Idea

    I spent the better part of two days huddled inside my house. Going out would be impossible until things returned to normal.

    Instead, I passed the hours stewing. Working out wasn''t difficult. My weight bench had been replaced a week ago after a decent paycheck. The weights were racked off to the side. I lifted, not really for the exercise, but to tire myself out.

    My body wasn''t back to normal by any metric. Responses felt slow, muscles ached when I turned, legs were sore. The wounds across my back felt like rumble strips when I laid down. No position felt comfortable enough to rest in for long. On the first night, I woke up with a damp sheet that probably wasn¡¯t from sweat.

    I couldn''t see the liquid to find out. Fretting was beyond me right now. Thirty minutes of fumbling was enough to replace the sheets and lay down on my side. Sleep was broken up by shaking, shivering, and unsteady hands. I grabbed some water and tucked back in for another few hours.

    Food was a bit more awkward. I broke two cups and a plate. Then cut my hand getting down to sweep things up. Sure, I could take a punch, take a claw, but only when that switch was flipped and there was a fight. Right now my toughness was on par with any human. Which is to say I banged into every surface in my house at least twice. There''d be bruises on my body for sure.

    Towards the middle of the second day, there was progress. I was rooting around my house trying to figure out where my cell phone charger was when it nearly lit up like a beacon. Not from my eyes, but from my tracking senses. It helped to have the matching cell phone in my hand. Feeling the smooth plastic of the charger and the small tiny bits of wiring inside felt fantastic.

    Things got easier as the day passed by. Nothing extremely far away from me could be sensed but the objects in my house were simple enough. I owned them all, some things for a decade, others for days. Time was largely irrelevant next to perception.

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Later that evening I went outside to look around. Things grew dim beyond the threshold of my doorway. I concentrated. Tried to flip a switch and connect to something out there. Something that I could use as a lifeline to some other place.

    Active tracking should be okay if Daniel''s paranoia was to be believed.

    There were only a few cords. Home was behind me, the wrong direction. Evan was north, and that went into a wall. Kahina was north as well but in a different direction. I dared to try and track her connection, for only a moment. Not my wisest decision.

    Miles. Lands of compressed leftovers sail by below. Free now. Numb too long. Will seek Dangerous Mate. Brain nags. Says this is enough. Isn''t. Must check that which is mine.

    This was a terrible idea. I started tracking Kahina, and couldn''t bring myself to stop. She should be asleep right now, hopefully, it felt like there was still some sunlight left out here.

    Her home. Our second home. Given, earned. Fought for. Past people, past wood and brick, through air and branches. Forward. Follow cord of purple and red.

    The connection zoomed somewhere else. Not her hidden bed. Not the place she locked up inside of during the day.

    She was in the master bedroom. Naked. Unconscious. With him and a glazed smile of happiness on her face. I shattered the connection and gasped for air. She really was gone and had married him. It wasn''t just a dream. I wasn''t drunk or muddled and incapable of straight thought. That was her life, and it wasn''t with me.

    Because I was four days sober, and a very tough man, there was only one sensible course of action to take. I laid down on the sidewalk outside my front door, clutching at a long faded purple ribbon, and bawled.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 8 - Time and Distance

    Five long weeks had passed since I decided to leave her. I tried to get my mourning done early, said my goodbyes, then aimed for time and distance from the memories.

    When leaving a town, it''s possible to return. When driving somewhere, it''s possible to drive back. Time is just a sneaky form of distance. Like any other type of dimension, the bridge between now and then could be traversed in a single unintended moment.

    Seeing Kahina was traversing the gulf of time. At one point it had been me in that bed, with her, like that. The pain I tried to leave behind was just as fresh.

    I don''t know how long I laid there blubbering like a giant baby. Grown men shouldn''t cry, but it happens. In theory, my manhood was safe. No one else lived in these apartments, only a few people knew the combination to the front gate and they weren''t coming. Between those things, I should be fairly secure in my masculinity and allowed a good sob.

    After having a personal moment I decided to get away. Knowing that it was possible to touch her again with only an ounce of concentration, but that he would be nearby made my gut clench, head spin, lungs seize up. Being close enough to sense her like this was torture.

    Daniel had offered me a lifeline. A way out. I would take him up on that. It was that or straight move at least sixty miles away, more would be useful. Julianne was gone, Kahina wasn''t mine. Evan was hidden in the woods to the north. There had to be houses out some direction. Sadly in order to buy anything, I would need money or a Western Sector ID, and I didn''t have one of those.

    Plan A, get out of town for awhile. I had to figure out how to get back to Bottom Pit. Hailing a cab when I couldn''t see would be impossible. I was pretty low on funds too. The phonebook might be a good start, except it''d be difficult to see anything. And I didn''t own a phonebook.

    First, a stumble to Julianne''s Bar and Grill across the parking lot. Included obstacles were cars, jutting bumpers, people, everything. It was evening, and I think it was the weekend. Some of the louder regulars could be heard across the way.

    I dried my face with a shirt that might be clean. Brushed back hair that was in need of a cut. Then slowly made my way across the pavement. Steps were misjudged. Curbs found unexpectedly. A fire hydrant six feet in the wrong direction. Behind me was easy. A trail of lit up objects displayed between myself and home. Ahead was a mystery.

    Somehow I made it. Finding the bar¡¯s wall was the best thing to happen to me all day. I trailed the brick siding gradually to the rear door. There I took a breath before knocking. Hopefully, this was the right location. It would be awkward if someone else answered. I think the building next door was a religious knick-knack store. The owner normally gave me a weird look every time I walked by.

    The world around me had increased in visibility. No, visible was the wrong word. It was tangible. I could feel the nearby objects easier. Maybe getting this sort of feedback was always going on but I didn¡¯t remember it. Maybe it was a survival method because I was blind. It didn''t go far, only a few feet, like existing in a weird bubble of space.

    The door opened. I felt it fade back into the distance while a fuzzy figure stepped forward into the passage. Fuzzy was the only way to describe someone that couldn¡¯t be felt perfectly due to muted senses.

    "Jay?" The faint male voice answered.

    "Charlie. Great." My voice was rough from all the manly displays of emotion. "Let me in?"

    "Sure." I heard Charlie move with his trademark shuffle. "Are you okay?"

    I placed one hand along the wall and guided myself down the hall to one of the back rooms. Charlie trailed behind. Being blind wasn''t something I could outright admit. At least it was easier to feel things from inside a familiar building. I frequented the bar enough that the perception of ownership wasn''t difficult to flip around. Hopefully, this was low key enough that Daniel wouldn''t have issues. Hunters could track my abilities? What nonsense. This wasn''t strength, wasn''t speed or fighting. It was a blind man trying to see.

    "I''m fine. I need a phone book." My lie came out smoothly enough.

    "In the desk," He responded.

    "Which side? Things are blurry." I pretended to be extremely hungover.

    "Here." Charlie moved past me and pulled out something from the desk. I would never have found it. This weight and razor thin pages went with a phonebook or a bible.

    "Thanks."

    The accountant hung around. Either he worried about me, or he had more to say. My head was starting to hurt. I lined the phonebook up by its spine and pretended to go through it.

    "You don''t seem okay," Charlie said.

    My teeth ground together before saying, "I am."

    "The phonebook''s upside down." Hell. I tried to catch that by checking the spine. My arms itched a little and head felt fuzzy.

    "Just light headed," I said.

    "Your hands are shaking." The accountant responded in his whispering tone.

    "So?"

    "You look sick." Charlie kept commenting. Each statement increased in accuracy.

    "Stop!" I shouted while trying not to shiver. Shame washed over me, Charlie had been nothing but nice to me. Hell. Please let me avoid having another breakdown here in front of a real human being.

    "Who are you calling? It''s, is, it, a job?" The man sounded unfazed by my brief outburst.

    "No. Sort of." I guess Daniel had offered me a job of sorts. "An errand. I need to get out of town." It was difficult to remember that the accountant was just concerned.

    "Are you, you, you''re leaving again?" Came the accountant''s wispy voice.

    My hands were sweating while trying to hold the phone book. The throbbing in my head had started growing worse. Every time I turned around it felt like something was out of whack with my body.

    "Yeah. I¡¯m not sure how long this time." I tried to reassure him. We had talked about this earlier, my going away.

    "Yeah. Will it be years again?" His voice was hurt.

    "No, probably not."

    "Oh. That''s good.¡± Charlie always spoke slowly and simply. ¡°When will you leave?"

    "Today." Or sooner if I knew how to get away from myself.

    "Do you have time for a, a job?" The accountant¡¯s question caught me off guard.

    "Not really."

    "That couples, the, the mother''s here with their son''s sports co, coa, jacket." Charlie stuttered through the word. He might be a bit clammy, or sweating but my vision didn¡¯t have that information.

    "Right now?" I asked.

    "They''ve been here every day, well, the mother has.¡± He took a breath and tried not to sound shaky. I tried to take a breath and not startle the poor guy. Charlie braved my presence where most humans detoured around me.¡°She''s, she is desperate. Police, they''re, they''re no good with miss.ing kid reports."

    I sighed. It was money, two fifty would help me buy food where ever I ended up. My last trip along the countryside came with frequently empty pockets and a hungry belly. Money had been scarce. Survival came through odd jobs, manual labor, and more questionable methods of gathering cash.

    "Alright." If Charlie thought now was a good time, then now it was. My shirt was likely stained, hair a matted mess, eyes heavy with sleep and probably bloodshot. And the quiver of my hands. I couldn''t even hold onto the phonebook. "Do you, maybe need, need the bathroom first?"

    "I guess.¡± There was a rather ripe smell that hadn¡¯t been dulled by my manly displays of emotion or sightless status. ¡°Can you find Bottom Pit''s number? Put it into my cell?¡±

    "Yes," Charlie mumbled.

    The main restroom was a pool room and hallway over. Stumbling there went quicker than the parking lot crossing. My senses and range hadn''t improved any but I could tell the difference between water and bathroom tiles. I could almost feel the slight change in texture for some of the labels around the bathroom. Not enough to pick up the words. Memory helped me figure out which door was the male''s room. No one screamed so my guess must have been right.

    Many details were too tiny or foreign. Being able to tell if my eyes were bloodshot was impossible. These clothes could be full of stains. I ran my fingers over the shirt trying to find any patches where blood had gone through. There may have been tiny spots that were missed.

    Ten minutes later I was slightly cleaner, face washed, hair smoothed out a bit, clothing less smudged, and my nose was decidedly clearer than it had been. Well, it was clear for a whole thirty seconds. Close enough. I even tucked in my shirt. Then realized I had no belt on.

    I exited the bathroom and slowly made my way over to the bar counter. Maybe a drink was in order. My shaking hands rattled against the counter top. I paused to try and figure out why controlling them was so hard. Was it cold in here? Was it hunger?

    Oh. No. No, no, no. Hell.

    Charlie brought me a jacket. He either noticed and thought I was cold, or it was to cover up blood spots on the shirt. My back wasn''t completely healed. The uneven ripples and tiny scabs kept catching on fabric and itched like mad.

    I put the jacket on and held my hand out in front of me. Trying to keep it level. The shaking grew worse then more I focused. Hell. Had I really been drinking that much?

    "Are you ready, to, to meet her, Jay?" Charlie asked.

    "Sure." I wasn¡¯t but quick money might help all of us.

    "Should, should I call you Jay, or something, one, else?" Charlie asked me. His tone was very hushed and wavered more than my hand.

    "Jay''s fine." I clasped the shaking hands together then took a deep breath. The smell had improved a little bit. A scent of copper hung along with faint brimstone. My stomach heaved once and I managed to restrain myself.

    Charlie¡¯s nod could be felt. He stepped out of the way. That dull bubble of tactile sight helped me stumble past other bar patrons then to a corner table. The way Charlie moved was interesting. Kept to walls, tables, chairs, like they were anchors. He practically clutched at the surfaces with one hand. It wasn''t instability because his legs and balance were fine. Was there an opposite to claustrophobia?

    "Jay, this, this is Mrs. Richards." Charlie''s voice held a tremor. It was hard for him to talk to new people.

    "Is this him?" She asked.

    I moved into range then sat down on the far side of her table. It was just enough to catch her shape. The woman''s body was heavyset and drooping. Her face felt puffy and slightly clammy. She had been crying recently. There was some sort of clothing in her hands. It was a jumble of thicker fabrics and embroidered letters. I couldn''t tell exactly what was on it.

    "Yes. Jay is our, the, our, tracker." The accountant stuttered through. His voice lifted towards the end with a shaky emotion of happiness.

    "I heard you can find anything," She responded.

    "With a link. And if they''re alive." I interrupted Charlie''s stutter. No use sugar coating things. I wasn''t a person willing to let some grieving mother build up hope. Too many family members had crashed on me over the years or turned violent in rage.

    Mrs. Richards choked up for a moment then regained control. It was interesting feeling her body seize then slowly let out a breath. The edge of her skin and pulse could be felt through my tactile sight. Her tension didn''t vanish completely.

    "If your child''s alive I can get a direction. If they''re near by I''ll get an exact location." My upper range for specific tracking sat near sixty miles. Anything beyond that was a haze of white noise.

    "You said five hundred right? I''ve got it ready, you can have it, just find my son." She reached into her purse, one of those holds everything on the planet sized ones, and pulled out bills of some sort. Mrs. Richards was shaking as bad as I was. Though our reasons differed.

    "Charlie?" His thick fingers were gathering up bills. I felt paper being brushed around but couldn''t tell the difference between fives and fifties.

    "It''s right." He flipped through the bills a few times. Despite his inability to deal with people those fingers danced a different tune when handling money.

    ¡°Do you have something of his?" I reached out in hopes that the item she was rubbing to death belonged to little Timmy so and so.

    "Can you really find him?¡± The woman''s breath came in short gasps while her nose threatened to whistle. ¡°Are you sure?"

    "I¡¯ll need a link." Why did people question me? I tried not to get upset with the worried mother.

    "This isn''t a scam?" She slid over the jacket anyway.

    "No." I hated people doubting my abilities. Though Mrs. Richards might be within rights. I tried to clean up in the bathroom, but I probably looked a mess. Even looking her in the eyes to feel reassuring was impossible. We were probably better off without that anyway, people didn¡¯t like looking at me.

    "Are you blind?" She asked. Apparently my inability to focus had been noticed.

    "No." I ran my hands over the jacket, getting a distinct feel for it. Bumps and lettering ran along the back. The color lining felt frayed in spots.

    "Tell me about him." I prompted her.

    "His name¡¯s Cliff. We adopted him when he was four months old." Her words started drifting in and out. I was trying to concentrate on forming a connection. It felt too easy to pull at the already established ones, easy to pull at the items I owned in my house, but out here it was harder.

    "What sports is he into?" I asked.

    "Running. Track mostly. He¡¯s always loved to run.¡± Her sniffles faded for a moment. ¡°Cliff just started pole vaults last year. His coach thinks he might be able to do state Olympics."

    Part of me was afraid to exercise my abilities, Daniel had warned me that anything above tracking might be dangerous. The problem was waking up the other part of my mind. It chatted up a storm back at Bottom Pit. Since that burnout event, the other self had been nearly comatose. I forced the thought. Mine.

    Don''t want to. Tired. Feel sick.

    I frowned. Mrs. Richards kept on rambling in the background. Charlie had shuffled off somewhere. The rest of the bar was busy doing its own thing.

    "He''s fourteen and just found out about the adoption. We hadn''t told him.¡± Mrs. Richards kept right on talking. Her words were a river of worries that sounded like every other mother to ask me for assistance tracking a runaway. ¡°Milly, I mean my sister, said we should have told him when he was younger so it wouldn''t be a shock. How was I going to tell my little boy that he wasn''t mine? He was mine. I raised him."

    I sighed and tried to connect again. The attempt at spinning a thread of senses out across the distance failed. Nothing was happening. It wasn''t because he was dead, I couldn''t even get far enough in the process to tell. My brain felt like a car engine failing to turn over. The ignition just kept grinding away and refused to catch.

    "Now he''s gone, has been gone, for two weeks! Two weeks! I''ve checked with his friends, asked their parents. No one''s seen him. There are a few calls on his phone, but the police say it gets turned off too quick to get a fix."

    She had given me the jacket. It was mine, for now, this moment. I owned it. The coat was too small for me. Cliff had narrow shoulders. There were worn patches inside from elbows brushing against the fabric. His arms probably were swallowed up by the length of these sleeves.

    "How''d you find me?" I asked her to try and get more information. It was that or keep grinding my gears.

    "An old friend of ours suggested you. She''s the same one who found Cliff for us, his god mother. We didn''t know what else to do." Mrs. Richards said with an abrupt sniffle.

    "What¡¯s your friend''s name?¡±

    "Muni," She answered my question.

    Half a breath caught in my lungs. Was Muni out and about? She used to work here based on clearly faulty memories. The black haired waitress slipped everyone''s mind. I stopped fiddling with the jacket and stared across at Mrs. Richards. My senses tried to find some sign of otherness.

    The woman felt completely human.

    "Muni said if anyone could find my son, you''d be able to.¡± The damned shaking never left her voice. It made me remember my own fingers and their inability to stay level. ¡°She said maybe you could help sort him out. Your name came up out of the blue, in all the years we¡¯ve known each other not once has she mentioned you, or this place.¡± Mrs. Richards lifted and gestured to something outside my range.

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    "I keep a low profile," I said while trying to understand. Was Mrs. Richards one of the Hidden? She struck me the same way every other suburban mom did. Worried easily, slightly overweight, and otherwise useless to talk to.

    "Did you find him?" She was looking at my hands. They had a slight tremor that was being covered up by keeping them against the table.

    "No." I said, then realized that sounded bad. "I can''t get a link. Here," I reached out to Mrs. Richards. "Hold my hand. You''re his mother, it''ll help."

    If Muni was mixed up in this then there was a good chance the adopted child was a Hidden of some sort. Daniel had said I tracked down other races to bring them together. The lady in the garden alluded to the same thing. Roy and Daniel wanted to send me on a mission to find one. This was a good way to build up to it.

    Mrs. Richards took my hand. Her pulse and temperature felt like every other human I had run across. She exhibited the same tremor of apprehension others did. It was a shiver of barely recognized fear. My presence intimidated normal people.

    "Tell me more about him. Anything helps." I said.

    She thought for a moment, then words poured out. Favorite flavors of ice cream, fighting with him at bedtime, his first crush who was reportedly a little tart. The list went on. Each item feeding into a sense of the young man on the other end.

    My other hand sat on the jacket as I concentrated. The complaints of my other mind were ignored while a connection formed.

    Look around. Normal threads. Sanctuary, jumbles of lifeless colors. Incomplete Servant, a shimmer of rainbow hues. Dangerous Mate, dark, decaying, will ignore it.

    Turn towards new thread. Small. Thin. Frail. Reinforce it. Tie in details as the Human Mother spills words

    Finally, we had progress of some sort. I hummed at her pauses or tried to respond by repeating interesting details. Cliff hated computers and played outside constantly. He ran everywhere because track only took up some of the time. Mrs. Richards tried to keep her descriptions positive, but I had a feeling he was a shy youngster.

    Firm enough. Will look. Look, then rest. Deserve more rest.

    Exhaustion washed over me. The tremors in my hands slowed. I wanted more sleep because my body was still recovering and I was pushing it. One simple enough job than I could take a train ride anywhere and pass out.

    Cliff was fourteen and basically a child. missing kids had always been a weakness of mine. It was difficult to imagine someone so young out there, lost, separated from those who cared for them. After running away returning home is a terrifying prospect. The looks of a disappointed family had ruined more than one reunion over the years.

    I understood a lot of the fear that came from the thoughts of returning home. The apprehension so thick it paralyzed me. As a foster child, I also had my share of experience with running away. There was a faint memory of a father and son pair who were very strict.

    I pull weak connection. Test. Dive after it. Fly headlong across the city. Through porous wall. Over dense concrete. Brush leaves. Air heavy with smog. Dizzy. Hard to focus..

    "I''m getting something." I managed to get out a sentence.

    "What?" She asked.

    "Keep talking."

    Mrs. Richards tried to figure out what to say, then started in with more details. Cliff''s first day of school, terrible pictures that had to be retaken, or homework shredding episodes. She spoke of lunches that were left in his backpack for two days.

    Find something. Moving. Hard to feel. Metal. Large. Far bigger than dinner. I swing closer. Tempered glass. Fine layers. Figure sits on other side. Reach out. Feel face. Mixed impression. Young. Old. Round. Square. Eyes tilted one way. Then another..

    That was weird. It was like his face had two layers to it. The top layer felt like an old man. Cliff¡¯s bottom layer felt like a younger boy. I shook my head. There had to be a sign of location around somewhere. The only thing I had to go off of so far was that Cliff was on a big metal bus.

    Disgruntled. Tired. Want to let go of link.

    I pushed past the exhaustion while growling. If Cliff''s mother noticed she was kind enough not to say.

    Not yet. Need to find signs. Not just know. Two-Face is east. Edge of city. His metal steed slows. Stops. Humans get off, others get on. Check nearby signs. Feel one with distinct enough letters. Memorize.

    A bus stop right outside a GreenLots to the east. That was something useful. The bus had just stopped there at a clear location.

    I turned my head and asked, "What time is it?"

    "Three fifteen," Charlie answered quietly.

    "Is there a stop outside GreenLots? It''s east about forty miles. Just off the freeway."

    "You found him?" Mrs. Richards asked while standing up. Our hands parted then the connection dropped into a misty thread.

    "I think so." I had tracked the connection using this jacket and Mrs. Richards. If the person on the other end wasn¡¯t Cliff, and those double faces were weird, then Cliff was a figment of someone''s imagination. Muni was involved, and that impression certainly put this into the messy category.

    Should I tell Daniel? No, he had enough to worry about. I doubt he actually went back to work for an evaluation with his boss or whatever excuse that was. The likely answer involved Daniel getting yelled at for being anywhere near me.

    "I, I''ll look." Charlie¡¯s shuffling footsteps could be heard. Tables clinked as he leaned on them for support. Using my hearing and small range to divine what happened around me slowly became easier.

    "Where is he?" Mrs. Richards sounded almost frantic. "Is he at that bus stop?"

    "No," I answered.

    "Then where?"

    "He¡¯s on the bus."

    "What?" She shouted. A few other bar room people shouted back, or maybe it was at the television. Faint sounds of a sportscaster could be heard.

    "He''s on a bus," I repeated myself. Why did people ask the same question twice? It was like they expected a different answer.

    "Why would he be on a bus?" Mrs. Richards changed the words slightly.

    A brief flare of anger got to me. The mostly calm center of my emotions burned a little while the urge to smack Cliff¡¯s mom was suppressed. How did she expect me to understand why her son was on a bus? The woman had fourteen years on my four minutes.

    "Is he safe?" She asked a more reasonable question.

    "I believe so," I answered.

    "Anything else? Is he eating okay? Does he seem healthy?" Part of me wondered why she didn¡¯t question the abilities. Then again trackers existed in myth as people who could hunt down others in various ways. All of them were probably inhuman and masquerading as normal people.

    "I don¡¯t know.¡± My words came out slowly. Our connection hadn''t been strong enough to pick up how the teen felt. He could have been running on fumes or full of tacos for all I knew.

    "Can we get him?"

    "Wait for Charlie," I said.

    We waited six long minutes where I had to endure a mother''s frantic questioning. She didn''t seem to understand that my brief connection hadn''t resulted in much. He was alive. He was on a bus. His face was weird. Charlie took seven minutes too long to get back with an answer. He had a printout of some sort.

    "Mrs. Richards? Here''s the bus, I, I think." He crinkled paper while trying to shove the document towards Cliff''s mother.

    "What''s this?" She asked.

    "Ah, a, well, the route. I printed it, it out." Poor Charlie was getting flustered.

    "Where¡¯s the transfer station?" I asked.

    "Yes, yes, here." Charlie''s finger could be felt moving towards the table and poking on it. My blindness made the action pretty unhelpful.

    "Do you want to drive there?" I turned towards Mrs. Richards. Parents of lost children always wanted to run off right away. For the money we had picked up, stopping to find the child in person would be simple enough.

    "Yes!¡± She declared while jingling keys. ¡°Now!"

    "Charlie, will you be okay here?" My head tilted up towards the tall man''s head.

    "Yes." He paused and swayed for a moment. That motion normally meant a person was being indecisive.

    "I''ll go with her." I offered.

    "Thank you, thank, thanks." He nearly fled to the back room. I think being out front like this had been extremely trying for the poor man. His heart rate had been slowly climbing the longer he stood out here. There was a reason he stayed in the back room counting numbers.

    Finding lost people wasn''t that difficult provided they were nearby. If he truly wanted to start up some sort of business venture again, we would need a new front person. We had gotten lucky with Cliff''s mom being referred here, but most runaways went to other cities. Up north about eight hours was another major hub. It had the highest percentage of homeless in the entire Sector.

    "Let''s go! Come on!" Mrs. Richards kept rattling keys as she dashed out the door.

    I tried to follow her at something resembling normal speeds, the woman nodded at the edge of my senses. A faint halo of her face lit up as air moved around.

    "Do you know where to go?¡± I asked her.

    "Sort of. This map will help. I''ll just turn on the GPS." She responded. The prospect of hearing a digital voice giving orders didn''t thrill me. We made it through the front door and towards a car. It beeped when we got close.

    "Do you mind if I sit in the back?"

    "Why?¡± Her question hung for a moment. ¡°It''s a mess."

    "I get motion sickness." I tried to keep my answer vaguely truthful. Cars generally made me uncomfortable and being in the back seat helped.

    "It''s a small price for your gift. Being able to find people. That''s rare, even for a bite victim." She gushed. Most people assumed I survived an encounter with vampirism.

    My shoulders went up with a shrug. The sound of a car door unlocking was followed by objects being brushed around. Tin crinkled as Mrs. Richards gathered up a small pile then ran off somewhere.

    "Everything has a price," I muttered Bottom Pit¡¯s second rule while trying to track her progress. I was paying, had been paying, and would continue to do so. My guts clenched again as I tried not to think of Kahina''s unintended betrayal.

    We loaded into the vehicle and drove onward. Mrs. Richards chattered for a few minutes then finally seemed to realize I wasn''t a talker. It was a lesson many people picked up on eventually.

    I held the jacket and tried to keep tabs on the connection. The only sensations coming through were fleeting senses of direction. The bus was headed our way but traveled a strange route. It passed down one street before going back up another in a slow crawl across town.

    My eyes shut and consciousness started to drift. Car rides coupled with general exhaustion nearly put me to sleep. The rest was welcome.

    Finally, she pulled along the side of a wide street. I sat up and looked around before realizing the automatic response was useless. Blind me couldn¡¯t see anything that far away. Even Mrs. Richards'' face in the front seat was vague at best. Being away from my home made everything seem worse.

    "Where is he?" She asked.

    I looked around again then found Cliff through his jacket. Checking felt like pulling a sore muscle. There was enough to be confident when saying, "Close. I''ll go get him."

    "Shouldn''t I?" Mrs. Richards turned around to face me. Her arm swinging over then putting pressure on a chair cushion.

    "He ran away, right?" I asked.

    "Yes. I don''t know why. Everything was going well. His school was fine, he was happy. We were happy." Parents of lost children often said the same things. They almost never mentioned how bad things really were. Something had gone wrong, either at home or at school or with his perception of the world.

    "You won''t like this."

    "I should go get him!" She opened the door. My hand reached up to pull her jacket shoulder back. Mrs. Richards flopped back down and almost banged her head. ¡°Why did you stop me?¡±

    "He ran for a reason. Kids doing this normally twist all their emotions together. Seeing you will cause him to panic. People do stupid things when they panic." Stupid normally involved attacking me because a normal human couldn¡¯t stand my face. One person had actually run into oncoming traffic.

    "How would you know?" She asked.

    "I¡¯ve done this before.¡± My breath sucked in for a lungful of air before sighing it out. ¡°So, I know."

    "I''m his mother, he would be happy to see me."

    "Mrs. Richards." She kept protesting. More words that hurt my head. Everything she said was getting harder to filter correctly. My senses started picking up the vibrations of her rambling and combined them with normal hearing to create a headache inducing double echo.

    Being sober wasn''t helping. I tried to keep a solid grip on her shoulder. Not forceful, just solid. The line was thin and I probably misjudged it.

    "Lady!" I nearly yelled, trying not to wince at the sound of my own voice assaulting me. Yelling was a very bad idea.

    "What? You found him, you have your money, let me go get him!"

    "I''ll get him. He''s scared and confused. A few days out here may have exposed him to things he wouldn''t like. You can''t just rush people like that. I''ll bring him back, you have to trust me." I hated this speech. Hated that it was needed. When Julianne had handled my jobs this sort of case came up once in awhile. I had seen more than a few reunions blow up badly for all parties involved. Typically because there was a lot of barely repressed hurt.

    She started in again. I shook her.

    "Trust me. You''ll want to come in anyway, to watch from the sidelines, to do something because you''ve been helpless this whole time." I couldn''t be making the correct kind of eye contact. Being blind was screwing me up.

    "Do. Not. Interfere. You said he has a phone. We''ll call you when he''s ready." I said. There was a moment of silence. I heard buses in the distance pull up. That strange compression of breaks and gears being lowered and raised. It was a familiar noise. Distinct.

    "Are you sure?" She asked me.

    "Yes."

    "This isn''t some stupid scam is it? You and that man just vanish with my money?"

    "No. You said Muni sent you, and she and I have a history." I said. One past involved very mixed feelings. That featherhead had helped me keep Kahina alive, helped me stay hidden from the Order of Merlin, but she also stole away my memories somehow to do it.

    "I''ll bring your boy home when he''s ready."

    "Do you promise?" A slight sniffle could be heard in her voice.

    "Yes." I nodded.

    "Okay. I believe you." She sounded deliberate with her wording. Maybe she knew it was best if someone else got Cliff.

    I got out of the car. If Mrs. Richards was apprehensive it didn''t matter. If she followed me I would never know. All my effort was put into walking towards the buses. Tracking the slight pull of Cliff''s cord helped immensely. He was close, on a vehicle that lit up dimly to my tactile senses.

    There was a whoosh of gears being lowered. The bus Cliff was on had shifted around to let me on. I must have looked more pitiful than I thought. The transit driver didn''t even ask for a fare. Hopefully I was in a free ride zone or I looked so blind that he didn''t care. A handicapped person wasn''t worth arguing over three dollars with.

    I held both hands out to feel the rails. Slow awkward groping led me to the back of the bus. There I violated one of the cardinal rules of mass transportation. An empty seat was on the right. I sat down with more force than necessary on the left, next to Cliff.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 9 - Blind Man

    Runaways were never easy to talk to. Often they were extremely defensive. Some had mental trauma. These last few weeks had probably introduce Cliff into an entire side of reality that no one liked. Long term homeless people had a system. Newbies to the lifestyle often didn''t catch on quick enough.

    Experience taught them to migrate from place to place. They *conversed about safe areas to bed down or shelters that weren¡¯t full. Some shared tips on getting handouts if they weren¡¯t one of the crazy ones. New people spent their first few weeks with starvation and screwed up sleep schedules. The hunger made a person snappy, prone to overreacting, and desperate.

    Four years of my life had been loosely defined as transient. Traveling around like I did often meant there was no good place to stay the night. It took a week or two to find a steady job. Another few days after getting funds would free me up to search for some lowbrow hotel or home which didn¡¯t require background checks.

    Then there was arguing with other transients. Picking the wrong place to bed down could result in being kicked, pissed on, having things thrown in your face. Being startled led me to rapid violence and often a night of escaping police cars. Planning ahead was not one of my gifts.

    I had to check the connection a few times, even though I was sitting right next to Cliff. His jacket was bundled up under my arm, twisted so the lettering wouldn''t show. That would have been a dead give away.

    The teen felt disgruntled. His posture was defensive. Hunched as far back in the seat as he could get. Dirty looks were shot at me, at least it seemed like a dirty look. Details were still difficult, especially with his strange double layered face.

    Our bus drove off towards destinations unknown. I doubt Cliff knew either. He had probably managed to scrape a few dollars together and sat on the bus to get warm and maybe take a nap. Sitting in the back was a good way to be near the heaters.

    "Long day," I said.

    Cliff didn''t respond which was fine. Enough chatter would prod him into conversation sooner or later. Maybe the teen would even feel uncomfortable enough to get off the vehicle.

    "Hope this bus goes downtown," I said while not caring in the least. Mrs. Richards had probably driven after us. "Getting around is harder than I thought."

    We sat there doing nothing as the bus hit another stop, then pulled forward.

    "Not a talker? That''s fine. Me either." My words were slow.

    Dysfunctional eyesight didn¡¯t prevent me from feeling Cliff¡¯s smirk. The teen''s seeming disbelief of my desire for conversation bothered me. Normally I didn¡¯t like talking. Isolation these last few days didn¡¯t help. I wanted to hear something besides the clanking of barbells and running water. One hand scratched at my chin trying to figure out what else to say. Something that would get a conversation out of the young man without inducing panic.

    "Where you from?" I turned, taking up this huge amount of space. Cliff inched away. I was probably too much person in his personal bubble.

    "You''re blind, right? How can you even tell I''m here?" Came the response. It sounded like your stereotypical teenage male. Snide, full of confidence that I was stupid.

    "Blind, not deaf. You breathe loud." Let him think I was a wolf. Never mind that wolves were rarely blind, and those that were often had traveling companions.

    The silence went on. At least Cliff had said something. It caught me off guard. I wanted to see how his face moved while speaking. To see which mouth moved around, if it was the weird older outside one, or the younger inner one. I was paying attention when Cliff asked his next question.

    "Why did you sit here then?" He asked. The inquiry made him sound far smarter than I might have guessed for a runaway.

    "Blindness makes it hard to see the stops.¡± The bus actually said which stop we were at out loud but Cliff might not have noticed.

    "So tell the driver." His body scooted closer to the window.

    "Or you could tell me if we reach downtown,¡± I said.

    The teen snorted. His younger face had to be the right one. It matched his attitude. When he spoke the sync between faces was off just a little. The older one lagging just after the younger one. I think. More talking would help me check the theory.

    "This bus doesn''t go downtown," He said with a heavy shudder.

    "Really?¡± I felt like smiling but couldn¡¯t manage it. Using my abilities made me grumpy. ¡°How do I get there?"

    "Call a cab." Cliff talked to the window. He didn''t want to be part of this conversation. Me either to be honest. I scanned him over a few times with my other sight. Anything outside the bus window was a blur, but inside was becoming clearer.

    "They have cabs for blind people?"

    Cliff shrugged. I pretended not to notice.

    "You hear me?" I said.

    "I said I don''t know." Attitude layered his words. Every time he talked it became more obvious that the teen was miserable. My tactile senses were minimal but enough to tell he had no coat and holes existed in both pant knees. Nights around here had to be getting cold.

    I handed Cliff his lettered jacket then said, "Here. It''ll be chilly tonight."

    Cliff didn''t even notice his sports coat.

    "Can''t stay on the bus all night, they shut down," I said while shaking the thick cloth.

    "What business is it of yours?!" The teen yelled. His pulse raced against my senses like a drum beat. Being this close and holding the jacket made it effortless to feel. I sat there, trying to stay calm. Even if he did actually hit me it probably wouldn''t hurt. Not after Roy''s fists.

    "It¡¯s not my business. But your mother is worried about you." I said. At least Cliff was actively talking now. His heart skipped a few beats and I felt his body flush with heat. Those physical signs could have been any number of things. Embarrassment, confusion, anger, or excitement.

    I felt his arm pull on the stop request line. The vehicle slowed down and Cliff pushed past me to get off the bus. My stumbling footsteps following after.

    The driver didn''t say anything. They weren''t paid enough to care and had a job to do. Asking questions wasn''t part of it. Hell, he probably wouldn''t remember me in five minutes anyway. Not just because of Muni''s trinket. The item helped others forget about me, and made it difficult for self-awareness. It was a woven thing of beads and threads that was tied around my, something. Leg, or wrist? Maybe my manhood? I couldn''t remember exactly where.

    "Cliff!" I shouted. The teen was moving faster than I could. He didn¡¯t run but certainly traveled fast. My head tilted while the footsteps etched into my mind. Tracking with the jacket would be hard while on the go.

    He deserved points for attempted cleverness. Cars honked at me as I crossed driveways unexpectedly. Following the runaway was hard. That bubble of tangibility I used to see was barely worth mentioning.

    I pulled at each connection I had to try and get a clear picture. Briefly I tugged on Evan''s, then my home, then again on Cliff''s. It was like checking both ways before crossing the street. The sensory overload was deafening. There were a lot of people around. Vehicles rolled by. Footsteps pounded against asphalt. My ears were drowning and the sea of pressures from various objects threatened to make it worse.

    "Cliff!" I shouted again. He didn''t slow or turn around. I navigated across the landscape. People were everywhere. We must be in a set of stores, maybe near a park. Brief checks against home and Evan lit up a small trail of landscape but made my head throb. This hub was busy.

    I stepped off the curb into the middle of a street. It felt empty but wasn¡¯t. A lot of horns honked all at once. People shouted and cursed with their angry voices. My hand reached out and touched the hood of a still rumbling car. How had blatant traffic escaped my notice? Something about chasing Cliff was screwing with all my perceptions. More so than being blind was.

    Going back wasn¡¯t an option. I hustled across the street, navigating past warm cars and hung trucks. Each one honking violently at me. One asshole gassed his car at me. I pulled on my strength for a moment and slammed a fist down on his hood. The resulting dent got me called more names but at least he didn''t try to run me over again.

    Pulling on my abilities hurt like hell. They were essentially a worn muscle that was out of use. Especially with the overload fighting Roy that had robbed me of eyesight temporarily. I shouldn''t be out here trying to work before recovering fully.

    I finally survived the street and found a wall to lean against. Cliff grew further away. The teen could go wherever he wanted. I still had his jacket. Escape would be impossible. The connection would show me every movement of his body like it was my own feet traveling the sidewalk. Each breath of air, each beat of his heart, blink of eyelids, I felt them all.

    He stopped in what felt like a quiet alley. Cliff huddled further down near a corner. I walked slowly, taking my time, not wanting to step out into traffic again. It had taken at least ten minutes to catch up with Cliff.

    "Kid? You down there?" I felt rude implying he was young, but dammit he was.

    "Your parents are worried." I stepped into the alley. Things felt odd here. Cliff was clear, as clear as a teen with two faces and a desire hide from me could be. "You have your phone still, right?"

    Nothing.

    "Can you at least call your mom? Tell her you''re okay?"

    More nothing.

    "Hello?" I stepped down the alley slowly. For all I knew there could be an invisible spike trap on the floor. It wouldn''t surprise me at this point. "Cliff?"

    Only the pull of my abilities provided assistance. Otherwise, I would be a nearly blind man lost in an empty alleyway. I kept stepping and talking. My goal was not to sneak up on a runaway. Younger kids who did this were often foolish or got aggressive when they felt cornered.

    "I ran away once myself." I started talking about bits of my past. Running away had happened more than once. "The people I stayed with, well they weren¡¯t good or bad. They were just people."

    Cliff paused. He was listening and might be crying or terrified. There was a hitch to his breath that triggered memories of years gone by. Portions that weren¡¯t completely lost in the haze. I remembered living with a father and son above a gym, but their faces were blurred.

    "The first time I was maybe twelve," I remembered turning thirteen. That had been a big year for some reason. "My foster father grounded me for getting into fights. I had been suspended from public school again. I fought children and the teachers, and was always angry."

    He said nothing still. It felt like pouring out my life story to a wall.

    "Not like you, Cliff, your mom said you did great in school. You could go pro I hear. That would be good, my foster father had dreams of a football linebacker." The older man''s face couldn¡¯t be pictured. There was an itching sensation on my arm that went along with trying to recall him. I was getting confused again but needed to fix my words. This was about Cliff, not me.

    "That went out the window. Suspensions make it hard to get into sports programs." Being in school had been easier back then. Sector Identifications weren''t required, just documentation on the parents.

    There was a slight scramble of noise as Cliff pushed himself back against the wall. I could feel cold brick seeping through shirt and dampness in both the teen¡¯s shoes.

    "They found me each time, somehow. I was thankful for it." I was lucky that they brought me back home despite my issues. It could have been any number of other unsavory people. Drug dealers, street gangs, the police.

    Mrs. Richards¡¯ son turned his head in my direction.

    "It was hard, school was, everyone was afraid of me. I ran away after being dropped off one day because I couldn¡¯t stand being looked at, by those people again. Not like you, your mom said you have a ton of friends."

    Cliff¡¯s pulse jumped and his body jerked. The youngster had one hand up over his face but remained hidden.

    "There was this other kid." It was over twenty years ago, his name escaped me. "He had run away from school, the only kid who actually talked to me. I remember roaming the streets trying to find him. If he could make it, maybe I could." I was maybe six feet away from Cliff and talked quietly.

    I paused and sucked in a breath of air. The kid from my past had been a few years older but I couldn¡¯t remember his name. He had seemed lost, always stared out the window with a leg that never stopped jerking up and down. Before he left, he had said ¡®I¡¯m going to find others like me¡¯.

    Daniel had said I was always searching for other members of The Hidden. I liked to think that vague memory in my past had been one of the reasons. Wolves, elves, even vampires, all those bastards had members of their kind to explain the rules and regulations. People like me fell through the cracks without ever understanding why we were different.

    "He was dead. Overdose. Maybe fifteen." The memory bothered me. Why couldn¡¯t I picture anyone''s faces? Were they buried under the fog of alterations that Muni had done? Even my childhood? "And I don¡¯t want to see that happen to you. Your parents care like my foster dad did.¡±

    I still had Cliff''s jacket. The alley felt weird. My arm held out the fabric in Cliff¡¯s direction.

    "Take the jacket at least. Then I can tell your mom that you''re okay. Maybe she and Muni will let me be for awhile." My muttering was mostly to myself. Cliff hadn''t moved from his hiding spot and may not until I left.

    Cliff''s jacket was draped over the side of a pile of crates. Mrs. Richards probably had something else to track him with if needed. It was a problem for someone else, though. I was going to get out of town and get away from the memories. The sooner I found my way back to the bar, the better. Feet started tracking a slow path out of the alley.

    There was a shuffle of movement that made me pause. "Did Auntie Hramn send you?" Cliff had stood up to ask me a question. His voice sounded broken in spots.

    I cocked my head in his direction. "Is that Muni''s last name?"

    "Yeah."

    "Then she sent me, sort of." I couldn''t tell what he was doing now. The jacket had been my link to the teen. Without it, I was blind as to his actions.

    "Crap." Cliff said abruptly then started repeating himself.

    "Why does that matter?¡±

    "They¡¯re looking for Muni, and I don''t know if they''ll let you go." His voice cracked as the words came out. I heard him shuffle towards where the jacket had been set. Shoes squished and pallets clattered to the ground.

    "They?" I sniffed and turned around. My senses didn¡¯t spread to the area. This place wasn¡¯t mine and I had never walked this corner of the city. Even the very act of trying to lay claim hurt my head.

    "Good luck, Mister." Cliff ran by me, there was a rustle of noise and confusion. He was escaping the alley. Footsteps fade off into the distance. I reached out for the jacket but he took it prior to dashing by me.

    "Hello?" I was blind, but according to Muni''s lost little lamb, someone else was here.

    There was a slow stepping of feet. They walked past all the objects I stumbled into and maintained near silence. One person was in front of me maybe thirty feet based on the sounds. A slight scrape from above betrayed a possible second person. I tried to visually see the sources of noise but couldn¡¯t. Even tracking my few available links didn''t result in immediate information.

    "Hello?" Maybe those noises had been imagined. Still, something was out there and it made my back twitch uncomfortably. I needed to get back out into public view.

    Nothing answered me.

    God, the lack of answers grew ever more annoying. First Cliff hadn''t completely engaged in conversation. Everyone didn¡¯t like providing me answers. Come to think of it, if everyone refused to answer me, maybe they weren''t the problem.

    I grabbed something and threw it ahead of me. If there was someone, the noise might startle them, or amuse them. The bag of trash I found was simple enough. Tossing it down the alley resulted in lots of noise. Some from the material bouncing and sliding around. The rest from two people who started talking.

    "Our little bird doesn''t seem blind." A male voice came from down the alley, where I had come in. How did Cliff get by this person? Were they working together?

    "More like a bat. He''s not using eyes." A female spoke from further away.

    "You sure this is one of Muni''s?"

    "Has to be. Who else would see past the charm?" The female responded.

    "He did talk right past it. Though he doesn''t seem like Muni''s normal throwaways."

    "It does seems odd." She didn''t sound confused by it. She sounded like it didn''t matter. They could have been remarking on the weather, or a funny pattern on toast.

    "Who are you?" I interrupted their banter with a question. They seemed to be talking about me regarding one of my associates. Muni irritated me some days, but the woman had helped me too. In theory anyway.

    "Should we answer the birdy?" The male seemed to ask a lot of questions.

    "We are talking already."

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there."If he''s human." He said.

    "Then he won''t remember anyway." She followed up. The male always said something first then was followed by the woman saying something. Their back and forth around me was confusing and half mad.

    "We could wait." He offered.

    "She might be upset if we don''t."

    "Or we can."

    "Yes, I''d rather we did." She probably nodded then their footsteps started going in opposite directions. The female was above me, the male in front. I couldn''t tell if they had firearms, but I was willing to bet they did. Taking a shot or two in the back would be painful.

    I tried to inch towards the exit instead.

    "I wouldn''t try birdy."

    "You can if you want." She offered in follow-up. Something metallic clicked. The female, I think, had gotten down below somehow.

    "We won''t mind," They said in unison. I shuddered. There was no good option. I could do the dumb thing and try to break away.

    Hell. I almost did exactly that. If my eyesight was still working it would have been a sure thing. If using my abilities wasn''t somehow bad, well there were multiple reasons not to. For once in my life, I did the wise thing. Both my hands went up.

    "He''s surrendering."

    "I can see that." The female said. She was getting closer. Their footsteps nearly sounded the same. Were it not for actual voices I would be even more lost than normal.

    "We could question him." He offered.

    "I guess."

    "I don''t want trouble." I said with my hands still up. This last week had been bad enough already in terms of new problems to deal with. "What do you want?"

    "Money." He said quickly.

    "Power." She said half a moment slower.

    "That''s not right. Money is power." The male said. He too had something in his hands. I heard it wave through the air. It was hard to get much more of an impression of these two.

    "Yes, but power is power. It''s better to have the thing itself."

    "But money lets you buy oh so many things as well."

    "That''s true."

    "Trade?" The male asked.

    "Trade." The female answered.

    "Power."

    "Money." They both sounded perfectly happy about their decisions. I was even more bewildered. During their talking, I managed to sneak a few glimpses of other sight. They both wore the kind of professional suits Daniel would be in love with. Small cannons in their hands would hurt like hell if not outright kill me.

    "I meant from me, if I answer your questions will you let me go?" The answer was usually no. It was no when someone asked me. The questions were just a hook to pull someone into worse problems.

    "No." The male sounded certain. It was the expected answer.

    "Perhaps, birdy." The female sounded playful.

    I stepped back. Hoping that the sudden movement wouldn''t get me shot, but maybe it''d bring some focus to the conversation.

    "Is he running?"

    "I hope so."

    Hell. This was insane. I put my hands down and sat on the floor. It was gross, grimy, but that didn''t matter. A grunt of pain escaped me. Anyone who says they want to die on their feet has never been as tired as I was. At a certain point staying upright mattered less than getting rest.

    "You''re boring her." He said with a clink of metal.

    "You are." The female said.

    "Just ask your stupid question or shoot me." I muttered.

    "We can do both." The male offered.

    "I''d love to." She probably was smiling happily. Both were just outside my limited range. Pulling on so many threads in the last hour had taken a lot out of me.

    "Perhaps introductions?" He suggested with a slight change of pitch. I imagined that to mean the male was looking at his partner.

    "Worthless." She scratched at something nearby.

    "James." I raised a hand up. The new alias would help them forget me when Muni¡¯s trinket kicked in. The former waitress had told me that the trinket I carried was activated by calling myself a different name. Doing so triggered some mystical disconnect between me from the past from me of the now.

    "Don." The male was professional. His attitude felt downright pleasant despite the fact that he had a gun in his hands, ready to shoot.

    "Dee." The female sounded upset.

    "Hello, James." They said.

    Their dynamic was very weird compared to others like Barnie and Ted. Barnie did all the talking and Ted just echoed what he said half the time. This pair was more like a set of twins that both did the talking. Their builds felt similar, their nearly feline movements as they came close together. If it weren''t for the guns I might assume they were pack. They had to be siblings at the least if they weren''t outright twins. Wolves didn''t use firearms, though.

    "Don, Dee," I used their names in the male female order, no sense in riling them up when I was at a huge disadvantage. "Pardon me for asking, but what the hell do you want?"

    "Muni." They said without hesitation.

    "What the hell is a Muni?" Playing dumb sounded better than admitting anything. It was a gamble.

    "Maybe you''re Muni." Don said.

    "Maybe we''re remembering you wrong, birdy." Came her now predictable commentary.

    "It''s possible."

    "Wouldn''t be the first time." Dee finished up while sounded disgusted.

    " I was just paid to find the kid and I''m not this Muni person, can I go?¡± My tracking skills should have been fairly obvious. Air sucked into my lungs with slow steadying breaths. Cliff had lured me here, hadn¡¯t he? Hell.

    "Amazing job that." He said.

    "Yes. He was fairly well disguised." The female responded.

    "Very well. Not even himself."

    "You''ve done too well to just be human."

    "I''m an actual tracker." I said while throwing both hands back up to halt their back and forth. It hurt my head in a different way then my exhausted abilities did. Trying to listen to people on either side of me, in a weird ping pong sort of conversation, was getting very annoying.

    "Impossible." Don tapped one foot sharply.

    "Ridiculous." She said.

    "There''s only around twenty of those in the entire sector."

    "Less perhaps." Dee tapped once with mirrored irritation.

    "I was paid to track him, his mom gave me the jacket. That''s it." How long before they became bored with this series of questioning? It was easier to get a line of sight on them from this angle. When I pulled on the connection that went home there was a brief flash of the male''s confused face. It seemed rounded at weird angles.

    "Do you have a card?¡± He asked.

    "Certification?" She followed up.

    "No." I answered their questions with one word.

    "What is going on here?" A new voice spoke up. This person was female but didn¡¯t have an accent native to our western sector. It sounded from the Far East, which was rare. Immigration was extremely difficult, even visiting Western Sector from another country took some series legal backing according to Daniel.

    "We were questioning him."

    "The birdy might be Muni." Dee said in response to her possible brother¡¯s statement.

    The new voice was with them as well. Was this the mysterious her they''d mentioned? The person they said they should wait for? Maybe this entire conversation was just a funny sort of stall to allow her to catch up.

    "He''s not, yet she''s touched him somehow. He has one of her trinkets." The third voice grew closer. It was harder to understand the words past her accent. "I can feel its foul twisting." She sounded disgusted.

    "His name is James." Came the twin''s unison words.

    ¡°He¡¯s a very polite birdy.¡± Don said.

    ¡°Annoyingly docile.¡± The sister responded.

    "I doubt his name is James." The third person said with a rough layer in her words. She probably didn¡¯t believe them, which made me frown. My back twitched again with worry and an urge to flee.

    "Watch him." She said quickly.

    The other two moved in closer. I felt the cold press of metal in two places. Once between my shoulder blades, once to the side of my head. A hand snaked between the two guns and reached for my arm. Female fingers wove around a wrist. They felt the edges of something that I couldn''t quite remember. Dexterous hands found threads and unknotted it rapidly.

    "What are you doing?" I was worried. If she took that off there was no telling what would happen.

    "Revealing your true colors." The eastern accented female answered.

    The chatterbox twins were actually silent for this part. I could feel all their eyes on me as the third person pulled off the bracelet that had been put there years ago. According to Daniel, to Muni, that was what was suppressing my memories. Would it all come rushing back?

    The answer was no. Nothing rushed back right away. My heart clenched and nervousness struck me. It might have been the chill from their guns next to my skull and chest. I sat there in stunned silence, same as the other three. A good thirty seconds passed with our mutual waiting. In all my pondering not once had it occurred to me that the trinket Muni gave me could just be removed that easily.

    "Nothing?" The male asked.

    "Nothing." The female responded with disappointment.

    Who dares?

    A sluggishly violent thought flashed by. Wind brushed through the alley carrying a whisper of the words with it. Trash rustled against the pavement and building sides. Something rumbled in the ground. My breath heated with thick air.

    Who dares wake me?

    The thought flashed by again. Worse, louder. Filth in the alley danced along the ground. Something was waking up. No, not something. I was waking up. It felt like my eyes were slowly opening for the first time in ages. The world hummed with energy. Walls lit up as electrical currents passed through them. Each swirl of air painted a picture.

    ¡°It will rain soon.¡± I said while looking up. There were raindrops high up there hanging heavily in clouds. The air felt alive with the promise of thunder.

    ¡°What¡¯s that, birdy?¡±

    ¡°Rain?¡± Dee said in the wake of her brother''s question.

    Next was an emotion I thought was worn out, absent for days. Raw yet worse than it had been. *The anger of presence that had mostly slumbered for years and was being woken up forcibly. Jay, John, Jeff, James, and all the false names I went by slowly slipped away. They unraveled like a knitted sweater that had been held together by illusions. There was so much underneath it. Memories of another world. Memories of a family slowly disappearing as decades went by. Each moment was a new revelation that had been inherited.

    My eyes felt wide and a growl escaped. The other three were saying something. The twins bouncing words back and forth. The third female shouted orders. I slipped away into a sea of red, lost in the mind of my true self.

    "Kill it!" Red Tail shouts. Her sharp voice echoes around the surroundings. Still mostly blind. Have enough strength. Have enough. I smile. Is a nasty thing. Grin at odd angles. Wider than it should be.

    "Yes!" Two shouts. Twins. Their pulses hammer in unison. I curl a hand. Twist my back. I am fast. Not that fast. Men''s metal is dangerous. Dodge quickly before their fingers completely tense. Barest edge of bullets catch my skin. Puncture holes. Wounds start to seal.

    I swam in the back of my own brain while something else controlled my actions. Not just helping, not just giving opinions or warnings. Strangely I didn''t feel upset but instead reveled in the freedom to be myself. If it wasn''t for the bubbling layers of anger this would have been fantastic. Under that was another thought, Daniel had given me a warning of some sort. Perhaps it was related to the smoldering asphalt where I had sat moments ago.

    Shove garbage can. Anything else in range. All become missiles, sent flying. Leith Twins dodge. Different directions. Harmonious. Third runs in. Short blades flashing. Two. Dodging her. Dodging bullets. Leith Twins fire dangerous shots.

    Fighting hurts. Dances absent. No beat. No rhythm. Survival only motivator.

    Tired. So very tired.

    In combat, there were two types of reactions. Fight, or flight. Flight was needed but unattainable until I gained some distance. There wasn''t enough room, and my brain was still trying to process the shift in perceptions.

    Female screams. Bystander. I feel her. Timber of voice familiar. Runaway''s mother. Followed me. Unwise decision. She stands in the alleyway''s mouth. Feel her energy, vibrant, alive. Arm pressed against face. A phone. She says words, a report, police, frantic.

    Twins turn. Feel their shift. Feet spin against ground. Third pushes me back.

    Wait. Memories remind me. A way out. An exit. Above. I jump. Arms wide, beat against the air. Swinging my body more than anything. Alley rustles.

    My other mind chose to escape rather than fight while being wounded. There was a whoosh of air then I found myself standing on the rooftop. Gunfire followed my escape upwards. This was the wrong place to shoot a bullet. There were too many people nearby. Too much attention. Police would be here in minutes. Especially if Mrs. Richards was calling them already.

    Crouch. Huddle against rooftop. Ashamed. Too weak to win. Body hurts. Mind hurts. Need rest. Will remember these three. Mark their weights. Their outlines, the shift of their bodies. Their sway. Commit to memory. Will not forget.

    "After him!" Strange third yells. Twins protest. Unhappy. Argue that they are not dogs. Three voices exchange heated words.

    Remembering them should be simple enough. Even if Muni¡¯s trinket muddled me again I could still pick their voices out, hopefully. The bracelet was down in the alley somewhere. It was easy enough to sense, it''d been on my arm for years. Now that it wasn''t there anymore I could actually remember the damned thing correctly. I had to make sure that Mrs. Richards was okay as well.

    Arm wounded. Run fingers over damaged locations. Pick absently at bullet. Lodged between bones. Pain minor compared to headache. Almost able to ignore as I yank out the offending remains.

    I tore at my shirt, pulling it apart and binding scrapes around the wounds. There was no time to wash them out. My head was flooding with images. Snips of the world I remembered. Of my father''s memories, warnings, lessons, all sorts of guidance from someone who didn''t exist anymore.

    I had to shove all that aside. If the trinket, the bracelet, whatever it was, had been removed, then it was only a matter of time before a Hunter noticed. Especially that burst where I''d leapt up top. Not to mention the three in the alley. That woman was almost certainly a Hunter, she''d seen right past the trinket.

    I crept further down the rooftop and tried to listen for the sound of anything. There didn¡¯t seem to be much but my other senses took over and kept going.

    Cast senses about. Then again. Alley feels clear void of Leith Twins. Someone below me barely moving. A huff of air against the ground. Young male holds older woman. Hand clamped over her mouth. Must get to them. Must find way down.

    Feel rooftop careful for path. Listen to sirens in the distance. No time to search. Swing over edge. Dangle with one hurt arm. Drop down then grunt in pain.

    Shuffle over to trinket. Ignore two hiding at the alley''s entrance. Place woven bracelet back on. Need it now. Sooner, safer, easier. For all of us.

    One thought at a time defined my past. My name was Jay Fields. I used to live with a small foster family that was kind but stern. Once I turned eighteen I left that temporary home to wander the coast for years before settling down. I used to work in collecting outstanding debts or security for the bar on rough nights. I enjoy finding people. My best friend is Daniel Crumfield, a Western Sector agent.

    These things were true but felt incomplete. I tried to grab at memories as they slipped away to be covered by other moments in my life. Some perceived bits of the past shrank, others grew, and soon the landscape of my mind was a completely different thing. The trinket wasn''t replacing memories, it was just covering up many of them. It felt like I was looking through a hole filled blanket and trying to create a person out of the few glimpses I could see.

    Daniel had to be told what just happened. I managed to pull out my phone then press buttons. Only, I hurt a lot and everything was catching up. I fell, face first, onto the ground. All that remained was pain, then that too went away as my body shut down to heal.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 10 - Line of Sight

    A solid bump with the door-frame stirred my consciousness.

    "Jesus, old man, how heavy are you?" Someone was pulling me along. The male voice barely registered. I groaned.

    "We''ve got to go."

    "Nnghh?" I tried to eloquently phrase a response and all that came out was incoherence matching a drunken bar hopper.

    "Your boy on the phone said we¡¯ve got to get moving." Cliff''s words came by. At least, it sounded like him.

    My legs weren''t working, again. It felt like they were constantly failing me when needed. Today¡¯s excuse was jumping down to an alley floor from the rooftop. That had to count for something. I rarely even saw wolves try that kind of maneuver and they could throw cars.

    "This way. It''s clear over here." A female voice spoke that belonged to Mrs. Richards. She was doing something, scouting ahead maybe.

    "Hurrbble." Sneezing dogs would have been proud of my articulation. "Wherrbidat." Nothing came out right.

    "Mom! I can''t lift this geezer!"

    "Be nice!" I heard her footsteps coming over. The sirens were getting closer. My attempts to figure out where I was and what was going on were failing.

    "Mom, just help me!"

    "Holy fuck he''s heavy." Mrs. Richards said.

    "No joke!" Her son responded.

    They tried to lift me. Now I knew for sure neither one belonged to a race with unnatural strength. Their support was enough for me to get one leg under my body. I wasn''t broken or beaten but winded from gunfire. My arm hurt like hell where Cliff was pulling. That couldn''t be helping me heal.

    "Let''s go, this way!" The teen shouted in my head.

    Eyesight still hadn''t recovered. Everything else felt even more damaged than it had. The very thought of tracking anything made me retch. The world was dark, even the minimal recovery of my senses, the ones I''d been using to get around, felt disjointed.

    I hadn''t even managed to stand for more than five seconds before Cliff and his mother shoved me onward. The teen put something plastic in my hands. It was tiny and light. I lifted it in hopes this was a cell phone.

    "Jay?" A voice said in my ear. It made my head throb.

    "Too loud." I winced. The pounding was miles worse than a hangover.

    "Jesus motherfucking Christ. What the hell is wrong with you?" Daniel was speaking with a sharp tone. It took a moment to process exactly how unhappy he was. He was somewhere above hair pulling but below nuclear strike.

    "I said lay low. Lay low means lay low, man, not whip out your junk and slap the Head Alpha!" Daniel was shuffling things around. It sounded like filing cabinets were being slammed.

    "Too loud." My protest came out again.

    "DEAL WITH IT!"

    "This way, come on. We can slip into the parking lot through here." Cliff was leading us somewhere. Between Daniel''s screaming, my headache, and the mother and son leading us who knows where, well, things were messy.

    "There were people."

    "Really? Did you think there wouldn''t be? Do all your plans take place in a dream world where no one is impacted by the clusterfucks you leave behind?" Great, Daniel was unleashing sarcasm. "Tell me what was so damned important you had to light up the world, again, again Jay!"

    "Lady and some funny twins.¡± I wanted to sound coherent despite my hangover and almost made it. ¡°Took off the trinket."

    "What?" Daniel¡¯s ranting stopped completely.

    "Stay here, mom''s getting the car." My brain shifted gears to Cliff and I tried to figure out where we were. A sidewalk of some sort next to a parking lot perhaps? The background noises weren''t very helpful. I wanted to crawl into a hole and sleep for weeks.

    "Jay. One more time, man, what happened?" Daniel spoke up in my ear again. I''d have to just trust Cliff and his mother at this point.

    "A lady took off the trinket," I said.

    "I don''t believe it, man." He was quiet. It was the bad kind. It was the silence before a storm. "You let someone take off the trinket?"

    "It was that or be shot."

    "Meet me at Bottom Pit." The Agent said.

    "I can''t just..." I started to protest. Cliff wasn''t of age, and his mom would like it even less.

    "Bottom. Pit." Daniel cut me off.

    "I didn''t-" My second attempt treated the same way.

    "Bottom. Pit." He uttered. I don''t know how, but his words got even colder.

    We weren''t friends right now. Judging by the tone in his voice it was questionable if we''d ever be friends again. Having my trinket removed had been so incredibly bad that Daniel wasn''t in the mood to argue.

    Once before Daniel had dared to boss me around, and I''d backed him down. Not this time. The suppressed version of me had nothing left. Freshly put down. Extra abilities taxed beyond the breaking point.

    "Alright." I found agreeing easier to deal with for the moment.

    "Jesus. Jesus, man." He finally snapped, yelled, and a crash came through over the line. Then the phone went dead with a rattle of noise.

    "Kid."

    "Yeah, old man?"

    "Can you see if he hung up?" I fumbled the phone over to where Cliff sounded like he was. Thin fingers took it.

    "Yeah," Cliff said after a few choice words regarding my archaic piece of crap phone.

    "Check the history, call the number just before that one."

    "Okay. Who is it?"

    "Somewhere safe for you," I answered. Those three had been chasing after Muni, and who knew why. This kid was tied to her somehow. After all, he had that strange double face that I wish I could see. *Then hunkering down with his mom and being overlooked while the others ran off.

    "I was doing fine before you came along." The youngster said.

    "Sleepless nights. Freezing cold. Stealing to survive. Fights." I was trying to recount the things I''d had to do to survive over my years of wandering. And talk straight. The pain was becoming manageable. "You were doing fine."

    "I was fine."

    "Maybe." I didn''t care enough to argue anymore. "Anyone follow us?"

    "No one''s following, I''m not stupid." He used that annoyingly defensive tone all people gained upon turning thirteen. The one that implied I was stupid for evening thinking he might miss something.

    "Did you look up?" My finger pointed upwards.

    "What?"

    "Helicopter." I could hear the sound of blades spinning. Probably not looking for us. News maybe, police maybe, looking for anyone at the scene of the crime. Chances were someone had cried wolf, literally, and Western Sector had been sent out.

    "So?" Cliff said.

    A car horn honked and cut me off with a surge of head pain. There had been things I wanted to explain. That any of the extra races could follow us without being in direct line of sight. Hell, let''s hope they weren''t trailing us with an elf or wolf. At least vampires would be asleep right now.

    "Mom can drive you, get in." The teen acknowledged my general blindness. I was surprised he hadn¡¯t asked about all the other events which happened in that alley. Maybe he was used to weird stuff, or it was an unspoken rule not to pry.

    "No, Cliff, I''m taking us home. He''s done his job." Mrs. Richards had shifted in attitude. "We got him away, I owed him that, but we don''t have to put up with this."

    "I can''t go home!" Cliff shouted.

    "Why not? It''s where you belong." They were yelling at each other. It sounded like Mrs. Richards was in some driver''s seat yelling across the passenger side. Her words were nearly lost in the hum of a car engine.

    "I couldn''t go home because they would kill you and dad! Or my friends!" Cliff''s voice shook with the sudden snap of admissions. I barely felt phased.

    "That''s silly, why would anyone need to threaten us?"

    "It''s not you, they wanted Auntie Hramn." His voice was cracking. Hell. Puberty was a terrible time in general. Add running away on top it? The kid would probably break down the minute anyone gave him space to breathe.

    "What? Why would they want Muni? She''s so sweet."

    "Can we just go? I have some place safe for us." I tried to offer a peaceful solution. At least until Mrs. Richards saw the scantily clad females running around.

    "He says he has a safe house," Cliff said.

    "What? Who just has a safe house? Who needs one?" Mrs. Richards asked in a perplexed tone. At least she wasn''t yelling anymore.

    "You do," I said. Even though Bottom Pit wasn''t really a safe house. My impression, my vague memory, and what Roy had said, all implied the location was a gathering point for Hidden. Imposing on them shouldn''t be an issue, assuming Cliff and Muni had more than an accidental relationship.

    "Swear we''ll be safe," She said.

    Fingers fumbled on the car roof and I leaned down, trying to find the window without being able to see it. My nose bonked into the side of the little car. Pain was becoming a theme in my life.

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    "I found your son, didn''t I?" I said.

    There was no verbal response. The door unlocked, though. I backed up to the rear seats and let Cliff have the front one. A sane person like me wouldn''t be in the middle of that awkwardness if I could help it. Family reunions were low on my list of things to witness.

    "Where is this safe house?"

    "Bottom Pit," I said.

    "Bottom what?" Mrs. Richards asked. I sighed. She was completely clueless. This would be a wake-up call. My directions were vague at best. The woman grumbled and drove us off while arguing with her son.

    I dialed Bottom Pit''s number. It was a general help desk, but something was better than nothing. Random unfamiliar female number five answered. The background sounded noisy. After a brawl, their foot traffic would skyrocket for a few months. The moment I mentioned my name and Roy''s name in conjunction there was a brief and panicked demand for me to wait on hold.

    "John." Another female voice answered. This one I did know. The anger and a slight hint of an accent. Her full on freckled body and red hair popped into mind.

    "Wylde," I said.

    "Yet again your name comes up. I''m beginning to dislike you. Which is a shame. Your fight was fantastic."

    "I''m looking for Roy."

    "Roy is indisposed." She sounded angry. It could have been at me, or in general. I understood the emotion. It colored every view I had of the world.

    I took a shuddering breath and tried to stay calm. "Is he okay?"

    "It''s none of your business." Boss Wylde answered.

    "We''re family." I gritted my teeth. Roy had said that a few times. "His well-being matters."

    Boss Wylde sighed in return and it felt a lot like my own had been. "He''s with his father, I am not the sort to harm my employees."

    Satisfied, I hung up. There was no telling what Wylde knew or didn''t know about me. She seemed to only have a vague clue who I was based on our brief encounters. The woman at least knew I was a former brawl champion where I hadn¡¯t remembered that tidbit until seconds before the fight.

    I needed to get ahold of Roy. The car kept driving. Mrs. Richards and her son both seemed to be holding their breath. Maybe they were waiting for me to say something. I couldn''t tell how close we were to our destination.

    "Where are we?" I asked.

    She gave me a cross street and I overlaid it with my mental map of the city. Some roads were mysteries but most of the main ones were stored in memory. I''d walked these streets for almost a decade before my four-year vacation. This whole situation nagged at me. It was too easy to escape from that woman and her strange echoing twins.

    "There should be a gas station ahead, pull over there. Park along the side." I directed her to a stopping point. Would Cliff be able to spot a tail if I told him what to look for? Come to think of it, how did I have a clue? I filed the mystery away. Maybe it was just a matter of logic. "Mrs. Richards, can you grab some food from inside? Cliff''s probably starving."

    "I completely am," He said.

    Mrs. Richards clucked at herself. She was probably upset about not noticing sooner. Cliff was a teenage boy who likely hadn''t eaten a real meal in days.

    "Okay, what do you want?" She was polite enough to think of me.

    "Doesn''t matter," I said.

    "Donuts. Chips. Peanut butter cups." Cliff gave an excited list. "Jerky. Lots of jerky." He paused and I could almost hear the drool. "Chicken. If they have chicken."

    She rattled around in her handbag, gave Cliff a kiss on the cheek that was absurdly loud then got out of the car.

    "Cliff.¡± My mind played through an ordered list of ways to spot a tail. ¡°Look around for cars that are just sitting there. Anyone who isn''t getting out. Probably three people in it, maybe just two. Male and female. In business suits."

    "The people that were in the alley, right?" He asked. The boy was smart enough to catch on quickly.

    "Yes." I nodded, but there was no clue which way Cliff was looking right now.

    "Do you think they followed us?"

    "Probably." Maybe Roy or Daniel had a plan, just in case.

    The teen flipped around in his seat with an obvious jerk. Then, hopefully, started looking around. It was impossible for me to do it with my eyesight still broken. I tried to stay calm. If we were being following then it would be terrible for me to just go straight there. I''d wanted to talk to Roy and see if there was some sort of plan.

    My phone rang. I handed it to Cliff. He identified it as a blocked number. That didn''t mean much to me, half my contacts probably had blocked numbers. I answered, hoping it was someone who could help us.

    "Jay?" Daniel¡¯s voice sounded much calmer.

    "Yeah." I acknowledged.

    "Where are you?"

    "A few blocks out." I gave him the address from what Mrs. Richards had told me. "We may be followed."

    "I don''t see anyone," Cliff said.

    "Keep looking." I waved a hand towards the front of the car. "Check across the street, other parking lots, that kind of thing."

    "Who''s that?" Daniel asked.

    "Muni''s godson. Cliff Richards."

    "Cliff?" Daniel sounded surprised and confused. It wasn''t often anyone knew something he didn''t. "Little Cliff?" Of course Daniel knew who he was.

    "Not so little." I tried to remember how Cliff had felt when tracking him. The boy had been tall, lanky. Eventually, he''d fill in, especially if he kept up the sports.

    "Why''s he there?"

    "The lady who," I wasn''t sure how to say this without setting off Daniel again. "removed the trinket, was using him as bait."

    "For who?" Daniel went from calm to rattlesnake deadly in a heartbeat. "For you, man?"

    "No. Muni."

    For a moment, no words came through the phone line. It wasn''t completely silent. It sounded like Daniel was hitting something over and over. While that happened my phone chirped like another call was coming in. There was no time to switch or review it. Probably a telemarketer anyway.

    There was another voice in the background. Too low for me to distinguish any words. The line grew muffled as Daniel and the second voice talked about something. Finally, my friend came back on the line.

    "Sit tight, Roy''s going to send some of his Tribe out there. They''ll canvas the area and bring you in." The Agent said.

    "Thanks." I felt grateful for any assistance.

    The phone dropped. At nearly the same time Mrs. Richards opened the door and slipped in with food. Cliff, true to teenage form, dug through the bags immediately and started stuffing his face. Wrappers crackled, liquid sloshed, it was kind of sickening to imagine what was going on. He sounded like a pig at the trough.

    Nothing made it back to me and that was okay. I massaged at my arms and legs, trying to get down to the core parts of my body that throbbed in pain. My discomfort was probably mental. The repetitive motions helped soothe me a little.

    "We''re waiting for someone," I said.

    Mrs. Richards hadn''t spoken since she got back in the car. From the posture, the sound, the general feeling in the air, she was probably staring at Cliff. They''d been separated for weeks at least.

    I understood a little. After returning home I spent a day buried downstairs, straightening everything out in my apartment. Sure, it wasn''t living and breathing like a child was, but it was my stuff. It had to be that much more intense with a living person. Kahina had been that way when I got back.

    Cliff kept eating. His mother stayed silent. I tried not to relapse into mourning. It was better to focus on the happy moments. Late morning movies, the park after dark tours. Every so often I remembered she was with another man and had to chase the thoughts away with something else. Ten minutes passed with each of us lost in our own little dramas.

    A knock on the window broke the turbulent reverie. I had no clue who was out there. It made me jump, knowing that someone had snuck up so close without an ounce of sound.

    "There''s a man outside." Cliffs voice quivered around a mouth full of food. I sighed. Clearly there was someone out there. The question was, who?

    "Roll down the window," I suggested.

    "He''s got a gun. Do your friends have guns?" Mrs. Richards had a clear undertone of panic.

    "Probably." Was my answer.

    "Get out!" The man shouted.

    I let myself out of the car. The voice was one I recognized. The slur of words, sounding like a mouthful of marbles, pitch, tone. Everything was familiar.

    "What¡¯s going on?" Mrs. Richards asked.

    "We''re stealing your car," Roy said with a grunt.

    Oddly, my eyesight recovered just in time to see Roy punch me in the face. A second figure started kicking at me. Not hard, but enough to deter standing. The last thing my ears registered was a voice telling Mrs. Richards not to scream or she''d be shot.

    This was a shitty day.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 11 - Subterfuge

    I laid there trying to hold together the last shreds of my dignity. Part of me wanted to weep in happiness that my eyesight had recovered. I''d been pretending everything was alright. Roy and Daniel had told me the plight would be over in a few days so I held off panicking until the time frame passed. Vision had just snapped together. Complete, whole, as easy as breathing.

    When they shoved me into another car, I could see it happen. When they forced Mrs. Richards and her son into a second car, I could see it happen. When Roy looked at me with a barely apologetic expression, I could see it happen. That part was fantastic. The remaining events weren¡¯t as enjoyable.

    Roy wasn''t driving the car. He seemed uncomfortable about it. Someone else had the wheel. *A silence twitch female who wasn¡¯t a wolf. Not an elf either, though she almost had that rail thin build. She could be an anorexic human for all I knew. I''d seen recovering drug addicts who were much the same.

    She drove like our lives depended on it. A second similar car peeled off in another direction. I saw Cliff and his mother in the back looking fearful.

    My jaw was firmly busted so talking was impossible. It didn''t stop me from trying. More than a few failures later I finally kicked at the back of Roy''s chair. He turned back, and calmly slapped me across the face with the butt of his pistol. I stayed quiet and contemplated the fresh wound.

    We ended up at a warehouse. I wasn''t sure where. Seeing things was disorienting. My busted face wasn''t healing anywhere near the speed I''d hoped for. Before, a cracked rib had healed in minutes. This went nowhere. Roy didn''t even offer me a towel to mop my face up with. The car we were driving in was probably stolen then. No one in their right mind would want this kind of mess. Was I becoming expendable?

    Was this the final resort for what I was? I''d spoken to Daniel. Daniel had sent out Roy and his family. Maybe they decided that killing me was safer than letting anyone else get their hands on me. No one could reset the world if the button didn¡¯t work.

    I was yanked out of the car. Roy had more power in his limbs than I did in my entire body. He didn''t even let me stand up. The world jumbled around as I flopped onto the ground. More kicks followed, herding me into position.

    "Clean him up." Female words were fuzzy from ringing in my ears. "I want to see his face." Boss Wylde was here. What the hell?

    "Runt, towel." Roy''s words were strained. He was angry at me. Or maybe he was just in intimidation mode.

    A third person shoved the towel in my face then dragged it across. No kindness showed itself anywhere in the gesture. Everything hurt even more. Someone''s calloused hand at the back of my neck prevented me from recoiling in fresh pain.

    It was easier to see after they cleaned my face off. It didn''t last long and fresh blood trickled down from the damage, grimy in some places. Any healing I had was probably spent on keeping my bullet wounds closed.

    "Well, John." Boss Wylde said.

    I couldn''t bring myself to smile back.

    "Seems we''re at an impasse." She tilted her head to one side and a spiral of hair bobbed.

    One eyebrow lifted upwards. We were just now at an impasse, really?

    "Our lovely Western Sector contact tells me I need to dispose of you. That you''ve outlived your usefulness as a decoy."

    "What?" I tried to say. Someone held my head in place so I couldn''t even jerk around to demand an answer.

    "See, you''ve done something stupid. You''ve tried to lead some of them- ¡° She spit the word out like a curse. ¡°-into our little home. When a decoy returns home they''re no longer useful are they?" Boss Wylde and her damned heels were clicking around on the asphalt. Roy and his family member, bouncer number six or whoever, just stood there.

    Had I really done something wrong?

    "Roy, make sure he''s paying attention." The redhead snapped fingers at me.

    I realized what that meant about a split second before being kicked forward. They didn''t even let me right myself. Instead, the chief of Bottom Pit''s security lifted me up by my head. One meaty hand reaching fingers around my skull with a grip that made me feel like a fragile egg.

    "You paying attention, John?" She asked while leaning in.

    "Yes." I hastily slurred the word and tried not to look down her dress. Something about Boss Wylde was attractive and I couldn¡¯t tell for sure what that might be.

    "Good. We''re not heartless animals. We''re going to wipe your mind again. Put you back in the pathetic little life we found you in."

    "Huh?" Was my witty response.

    "Jesus. Muni, this guy doesn''t even understand what''s going on." Boss Wylde stood back up and sighed.

    Muni practically faded into view. She looked upset and withdrawn at the same time. Her clothes were indistinct, hair jet black, ribbons and feathers twined together. Where Muni was concerned, memory was untrustworthy. She''d probably been standing there the entire time and my brain refused to register her right.

    "He doesn''t have much left," Muni said with a hesitant chirp. The black haired woman didn¡¯t seem to like Boss Wylde anymore than she liked me.

    "Then wipe him and let''s be done with it. A ruse discovered will only hurt us now. We need to get rid of some of the players."

    "I understand." Muni almost hopped forward. Every movement careful, one of her eyes looking at my face for the slightest aggressive move.

    Roy was holding me with those giant hands. There was no way I could to do anything. Even thinking about it hurt. I wanted to demand answers from her, from Roy, from Boss Wylde, and lips refused to form more than a single syllable.

    I struggled to speak anyway. My throat swallowed and Muni paused in her approach.

    "Found Cliff." I got the words out. She deserved to know that much at least. ¡°They wanted you.¡±

    She slowly nodded but didn¡¯t smile.

    "Muni, what''s the chance this won''t work?" Boss Wylde asked while watching our exchange. There was a frown on her lips that felt out of place.

    The former waitress and her jet black hair turned around to Boss Wylde. Then she shrugged and said something I couldn''t quite remember. They were words that became lost in the moment. Chances were Muni''s abusive memory abilities were already coming into play.

    "Then let me say a few things in case he does something stupid." Boss Wylde¡¯s heels clicked over again. Roy and the other man lifted me up higher and held my arms in a lock. There was no way I could manage to struggle out of this even if I wanted to.

    All that my brain could process was the idea that I was a decoy. With Muni right here, and her ability to screw with memories, it was entirely possible that everything going on was false. My entire life had no center anymore. Without Julianne, without Kahina, and now, being told that Daniel had somehow turned me in was like salt in the wound.

    "Are you listening, John?" The redheaded boss of Bottom Pit was right in my face demanding an answer.

    Shrugging got me backhanded which made ears ring. My face stung even more than it already did. Things were getting blurry again. It wasn''t my eyesight going out this time, it was just hard to see through tears and blood.

    "A man I respect taught me very important lessons prior to passing. I''m going to share one if you''ll listen." She said.

    My eye was swollen and jaw probably broken. I felt certain there was fresh liquid trickling down my chin from a split lip. This situation meant any words uttered would be pointless. I knew it, and she knew it. I nodded anyway.

    "When you threaten someone there are rules to follow. You don''t warn them." She stepped around the room with that slick dress.

    Boss Wylde and Kahina were alike in that. All business was conducted in professional clothing. Recreation was something different. I could almost picture the redhead naked and it didn¡¯t help me process this situation at all.

    "You make it hurt." Her hand twisted together in a pantomime of snapping someone''s head off. "You wound something precious. A near miss if you will."

    Boss Wylde turned to stare at me. Eyesight had recovered enough that I could actually look her in the eye. The expression was one that didn''t make sense. A mix of anger and frustration. Not targeted at me, though. Then again in her mind, I was just a decoy.

    "Do those sound like fair guidelines?" She asked.

    "Sure." My words didn''t sound right. The busted lip wasn''t helping.

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    "Am I threatening you?"

    "Don''t know." I wanted to shrug. Laying there was about as far as I got.

    "Rest assured that if I ever threaten you, you''ll know. That''s the last part of the lesson. You make sure they understand the message."

    "Nothing left." I tried to explain how there were very few things left to take away from me. Roy and his family were betraying me. My brief reintroduction to some sort of group was a sham. Boss Wylde was telling me that my entire life was a lie. Even if it wasn''t, Kahina was sleeping with another man. Daniel wasn''t here and had sold me out.

    "For now," She said. "If you do warrant a threat, rest assured I''ll find something." Her heels clicked around again.

    "Sounds wrong," I mumbled as a stray thought occurred to me. My wrist itched like mad as I tried to figure out what could possibly be bothering me besides the obvious. Roy almost, but not quite, chuckled behind me.

    "Oh? Do tell me about my man¡¯s wisdom, seeing as how you''re such a brilliant specimen and know everything." Mockery laced her words. "What do you, in this startling bout of insight, think the lesson was? A man you''ve never met?"

    I waited for a moment. Not because my mind didn''t have an answer. There was one, it had unfurled in the back of my brain. Offered by the same source that handled tracking. In the same manner, other memories were unearthed.

    "Warranted vengeance is swift, silent, and clearly understood," I said the words slowly, focusing on each chunk of the saying as it came out. It felt like words from a long dead man echoing from my mouth. Memories dredged from the same place as my words during Roy¡¯s trial for the three runts.

    There was silence. Boss Wylde was agitated. Not only agitated, something about what I''d said bothered her immensely. It bothered me too. I could almost feel the gears working at high speeds in her head. Her entire stance radiated frustration with me and everything else.

    "There was another lesson." She got closer.

    I tensed. There was no way getting into a fight with her could be healthy for me. The way she walked, the way she moved, without fear, without a doubt of superiority, in a place like this. She earned that walk and I knew it.

    "When you lie, lie so well that those closest never suspect." She paused and held her breath very carefully. "Are you lying to me, John?"

    "Don''t know." That wasn''t the important aspect. It wasn''t the message she was trying to get across. In her eyes, in her expression, there was this hint. That something wasn''t what it felt like.

    "Then I''ll tell you a truth. Muni''s mind wipe will remove everything you''ve experienced as John." She paused and considered her next words. "There''d better never be a whisper that you remember any of this. Or rest assured you''ll know when the threat comes. If a normal life away from this Hell means anything then you need to keep your goddamned mouth shut."

    Boss Wylde¡¯s attitude reminded me of a furnace aflame. Her words and that thick red hair ringed around a freckled face might have been cute under any other circumstance. Now, though, it was disturbing. I heard her words and nodded as seriously as I could manage. Finally, Boss Wylde turned away, either satisfied with my answer or upset. The way she stood could have easily been either emotion.

    "Fantastic. Muni, finish wiping this little puppet''s mind and send him somewhere useless." The redhead said with a wave. "You two." Boss Wylde pointed to someone nearby. "Torch the car and clean up this floor. We were never here."

    She and those jabbing heels clicked off into the distance. Roy went with her. They left me behind bound and helpless. Some family. Some fucking failure of a family.

    Muni stepped between me and the sight of that arrogant woman''s backside. I''d been practicing my laser death beam glare, but the liquid pooling over my eyes was stopping the full effect. That, plus being on the ground without even enough strength to stand. Nothing was healing fast enough. I had abused my abilities to the breaking point. And now Muni was swooping in to mess up my mind even more. Like it wasn''t riddled with holes already.

    "No." I tried to protest and scoot myself backward. Roy''s brat had left me alone, he was busy pouring gasoline on the car. I could smell the fuel.

    My glare at Muni caused hesitation. Then she stepped in again. I pulled back a lip and growled but couldn''t actually swipe at the female. Finally, braving the distance, she hopped in. Three feet away from my face and she started fiddling around.

    "No. They''re mine." I had to fight this and couldn¡¯t lose.

    Her eyes told me that she didn''t like what was about to happen. Once Muni had told me that trying to mess with my memories was like comparing a hurricane to a rainstorm. Maybe. If I had strength.

    "Stop," I said.

    She plucked at ribbons in her hair. Yanked them out and wove the bands together. Not once did an utterance pass her lips. Her body shifted, twisted around as fingers laced the strands of string around and over and through. I tried to kick myself away. She''d done this in front of me once before.

    "Don''t want to lose anymore." My pathetic words spilled out. Half mumbles Full desperation. "Not again."

    When Muni removed memories it was much different. Liquid marbles would pour out of a person''s head. Almost like miniature grapes bubbling to the surface. It was disturbing. This sort of knotting, weaving, the bands, it was to mess with my memory. Not remove it.

    They were putting another layer over me. They''d broken me, left me half beaten and in pain, taken away from everything. They were going to remove me even further. No one would go to this kind of trouble for a simple decoy. It was all subterfuge for someone. A plan.

    "Not again..." I whimpered.

    Muni slid another bracelet around my wrist, next to the first one, and the world dimmed. I felt like a man in a mansion with endless rooms. In those rooms were chapters of my life, items won, people''s faces, names, friends, and enemies. Things I''d done, places I''d been. Each room had a light suspended above the various collections, some fixtures were powered on, others off.

    Muni''s trinket slowly powered down room after room. Entire swaths of personal history glazed over as sections went dark. My more recent adventures were the hardest hit. A room containing Julianne''s bar blurred from distinct moments in history to a location that seemed the same as every other drunken dive I had ever been in.

    Bottom Pit became another place in the background. It was an easy room to lose, with so many things still unprocessed. Barnie and Ted, Roy, Boss Wylde, the waitresses. Each fixture in these rooms of memory collapsed. The real three dimensional moments turned to meaningless cardboard cutouts.

    "Please no." I was begging as the changes continued.

    Kahina, the driving force in my life. Her room became empty, save for a life-sized still image. I could almost see it moving, almost see the memory smile, flash into motion. With a simple blink, her face had transformed from a smile to this cold passionless expression. Her body lost those vibrant lifelike colors and shifted to an empty pastel painting. Now she was just another vague person from the past.

    "Can''t take anymore..." I didn''t even know why I was arguing. It had grown impossible to remember.

    "Remember your promise, Lord. My brother. Even if this breaks you will be incomplete. I hold your memories ransom." Muni cawed partially tangible words at me.

    One eye was open and barely functional as changes reformatted my mind. Just enough strength to make out Muni''s face. The feathers weren''t just in her hair. They came from her skin, from everywhere. Those jet black tresses were a simple camouflage for what she really was. Featherhead. She hated me, was afraid of me, yet needed my assistance.

    There was a room for that too. One with me and her talking hung on the wall like a picture frame. I had made her a promise to find someone. That memory was lost vanishing as everything continued to shut down.

    "Mine. Mine." Something was wrong. "All gone." My face hurt and I had no idea why. Cold concrete against my side was forgotten as soon as I noticed it. Even my new memories were being buried.

    I was crying, and couldn''t remember why.

    After an eternity of confusion, other lights switched on, other memories surfaced, and things shifted around. Among all the changes swam a very clear thought.

    This wasn''t betrayal.

    I closed my eyes and let oblivion take me away.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 12 - New Digs

    Groggy was a perfect word for how waking up left me. My head was full of cotton and vision unsteady. Reality showed no desire to focus. I felt hungover.

    A desk was on my left. On it sat an alarm clock beeping out pure irritation. I hated the noise. Sharp piercing cries for attention that crawled into every inch of my skin. Even a good hard slap barely muted my displeasure. Today was probably a Monday.

    My fingers brushed against high-grade cotton, relishing the sensation of fabric just a moment before my brain completed startup. I had a new job today. Wait, no. I''d been there a week already. That''s right. How could I have forgotten something so simple? It wasn''t every day I snagged a job that paid decently. Especially not in a new town where everyone was barely more than a stranger.

    "Wake your lazy buns up!" A voice shouted.

    I dug out a shirt from my bag and put it on. My short hair was bent at odd angles but it''d be serviceable enough for morning interactions. Faint tingles shot up my legs as toes ran over across carpet.

    Sunlight had barely started coming through the windows. It was there, peeking over the horizon. Even though my mind was capable of functioning this early I hated mornings. Too bad I didn''t drink coffee. It might help with the headache riding my skull like a cowboy on a bucking bronco.

    How long had I been boarding in this house? Today? A week? It was a place that felt familiar and foreign at the same time. Like I just arrived yesterday and already felt comfortable with these surroundings.

    That slightly familiar voice shouted down the hallway again. I tried to piece together the recent past and slowly details filled in. We met two weeks ago during my first night in town. The stout woman was willing to let me borrow a bedroom without a background check.

    Imagine that, a man like me boarding on with a woman. Most females refused to acknowledge me. Even if I was rather good looking, or at least kept in decent shape.

    I passed by the second bathroom, handled cold water to the face with minimal shock, and took a quick rinse with the mouthwash.

    "Going out for a jog!" I said while passing through.

    "Alright! Breakfast will be..." Her words were lost beneath the door slam and feet cruising down creaky stairs.

    Today''s extremely reachable goal was ten miles before seven AM. Ten miles was enough to cover most of the main strip. The ground was damp from last night''s rain. Nothing major, just a sprinkle. I made it a mile before hitting the center of town.

    Jogging was a routine. Whenever landing in a new town there were a few good ways to learn the roads. Getting the layout of an area helped the place feel familiar. Along with that was the simple pleasure of air curling around my body as I traveled. Windier days were even better.

    If things went right my run would be completed before full dawn. Early morning exercise meant fewer people to interact with. Though most gave me a wide berth, even in the shorts, even clearly exercising. Don''t get me wrong. People waved and said hello. They just did it from a reasonable distance.

    A vampire wouldn''t have cared who I was. A wolf would have been ecstatic to see someone out for a run. This town was nearly all human from what I noticed so far.

    This morning jog exercise had been going on for about a week. I think. The first two days were the worst, I''d gotten out of shape somehow during my travels. Too much of a belly. Some mornings I felt sick and shaky like I''d been fighting off the flu. Probably eating garbage and drinking too much. Not like my normal self at all.

    "James! Going strong this morning. Good for you!" An older man said with garbled words.

    The other figure couldn¡¯t be made out this early in the morning. There was a rattle of chain that helped me remember the man traveled with a dog. I waved and kept running, trying not to huff. No matter how many times my route altered this guy seemed to pick the same path. Four times in two weeks of running was more than coincidence.

    "Come on, Senior!" The old man clicked off the leash and they took off after me.

    I kept my normal pace. If he wanted to talk we''d have to do it on the go.

    "How''s Rachel treating you?" The older man had managed to catch up. I looked over and caught a brief glimpse of his profile before swiveling my eyes back to the sidewalk. Not tall, kept in good shape himself. His movements were fluid, not at all stiff and sore like I normally expected from someone of his age. It wasn''t bright enough for much more detail.

    "Good," I said.

    "Yeah? She''s a sweetheart. Got you all set up?" The old man''s canine ran ahead of us. Hell, it was larger than a dog, almost a damned wolf. That''d be weird, though, an old man walking a shifted wolf on a collar.

    "Yeah." I had two bags full of stuff, just enough to carry with me from town to town. Getting set up was a matter of unzipping luggage.

    "Fantastic," He said. That word annoyed me for some reason. "Hey, after you get done with work you should drop by the park."

    "Okay." I didn''t even argue. Being invited to do anything in a new town was always dicey. Normally it was best to keep my head down and blend in. Still, the old man didn''t seem like the type to let me get away. "What time?"

    " ¡¯bout an hour before sunset.¡± His words were difficult to make out. He tried to be crisp in the wording but our pace made it hard. ¡°Some of the town folks and I do exercises to keep in shape. Figured you might like to scope it out, being a fellow enthusiast."

    I slowed down for a moment then outright stopped. This would ruin my ten-mile goal, but running while talking was unfair. The older man was keeping up while Senior, his dog, ran laps around us the entire time.

    "I dunno how long I''ll be around." I felt it was better to admit I was a drifter now. No hard feelings later that way.

    The older man nodded then said, "That''s fine, join us if you can. We''ll be there, every evening."

    "Thanks for the offer."

    "Sure, if we don''t keep fresh blood interested then our town would dry up!" He laughed at his own comment. I couldn''t tell if it was a self-depreciating joke or friendly attitude. His words were hard to understand as well. Probably old age, or the uneven teeth in his mouth.

    "I might not make it over tonight." I tried to politely back out of the event. Two weeks in a new town wasn¡¯t long enough to get comfortable, no matter how many times I jogged these streets.

    "Sure, you''re still getting your bearings. Anyway, I''ve got to go before Senior gets worked up." The giant dog was still powering through the laps. "See you around, James!"

    Huh. Well, I wasn''t sure what to make of that. Guess he''d been scoping me out to see how interested I might be in his group. The action made sense but felt a bit sudden. It was easier to just go back to my jog. I really enjoyed the solid slap of my feet against broken concrete. Noise spilled across the neighborhood as I strode through.

    Other than the old man this town was pretty dead before dawn. That was the nice thing about these small areas. Businesses started on different schedules. Weren''t all corporate owned. Frequently stores said ''Sunup'' or ''Noon'' and were open until ''close'' which was an arbitrary time. It was also the biggest city in the county which wasn''t saying much. The bigger electronics stores and furniture locations were in the next town over, technically in another county.

    There was only one bar, which truly measured how small the community was. I couldn''t say it bothered me. Staying away from alcohol was one of my better ideas.

    People around here walked to work. Only one bus came through and that was an hour long ride across the countryside before it connected back to the next city. Almost a token gesture from the state to keep people satisfied.

    As I jogged it was easy to mark other differences from the big cities. Going through the residential areas showed lots of gardening, dogs everywhere. No fancy cars, often times they were beaters or old vehicles that were kept up by their owners.

    My run finished with roughly eight miles completed. Not the goal I''d been going for, but there wasn''t enough time to finish out the last leg and still make it back. I got into my rental and Rachel was standing near the kitchen counter. She stared down at a cold platter of food while the television prattled on in the background.

    "James! I can''t believe you. Wasting food. It''s scandalous." She said while pointing with a wooden spoon.

    "It''s not wasted." I grabbed the gritty plate in one hand and smooth fork in the other. Before digging in I gave her a salute. "Thanks for the grub, Ma''am."

    "Oh no you don''t. I''m not some old biddy." She emphasized the word using the same tone every woman used when they felt old but didn''t want to be reminded.

    "Just being a gentleman."

    "I doubt that."

    "Hey! I''m perfectly..." I tried to defend my honor.

    "Shush. I want to hear this part." Rachel flipped up the portable television''s volume with a knob on the side of the screen. It wasn''t new enough to have a remote control.

    "That the strike?" I whispered.

    "Yeah. The world''s going to hell and those mutts are demanding more money."

    "They work harder." My shoulder went up in a half felt shrug.

    "Harder? Don''t spout such nonsense.¡± She turned towards me and waved the spoon across the kitchen counter. ¡°They''re abominations, able to lift more, but they don''t work harder. Next, someone will be telling me we should pay crane operators more just because they can move heavy objects."

    I didn''t want to point out that they did get paid more. Specialized training versus general grunt work. Being on the grunt end of most jobs gave me a rather understanding perspective.

    "Or elves should get paid more as gardeners just because they can grow plants." Rachel continued.

    "But they do." I pointed with the fork while chewing a mouthful of eggs. Rude, but I was hungry. Probably shouldn''t be shoving my face like this after exercise.

    "That''s just nonsense."

    "Nonsense." I happily echoed. My own feelings regarding wolves were indifferent. If they wanted more money they could argue for it. It wasn''t like I could lift near as much as they could. Or vampires for that matter. One of them easily powered through what I could lift. Elves were easy enough to out bench, though.

    I set the plate down and rummaged for some much-needed water. Chilled ice clinked around in the tray as I searched for a cup.

    "Shush. We''re missing it." Despite her feigned anger, Rachel still managed to get out a glass and set it down for me. I splashed liquid from a filtered container into it then drank away.

    "Wage inconstancy has been a driving factor for this entire movement." The news reporter tactfully chose not to call it a strike. "Yet wolves already have an income that''s twenty percent higher than your average human. Now you''re demanding even more?"

    "If a pack member-" The other person started with their response. No self-respecting wolf ever did anything without crediting the entire team. "-only lifted twenty percent more, then that would make sense. As it is your average pack member lifts forty to fifty percent more, works longer and needs fewer rest breaks."

    "But they also work smaller shifts, have smaller crews, are you saying a group of ten working..." The television spouted numbers that became background noise. Rachel may care. I didn''t.

    "I''ll be back." I left the food uneaten then dodged back to my room, grabbed clothes and showered. Self-cleansing after a run was glorious.

    Rachel was glued to the television when I got done. I slid onto a stool and finished off my meal. The interview continued on with some Alpha that looked like a grizzled old war veteran.

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    "The world''s going to hell." She muttered.

    "Sure is." I agreed while crunching ice.

    "First, one of the Tribunal members dies abruptly. Those fangers may be ponderous with everything else, but when it comes to politics they''re like cobras." Rachel wandered around the kitchen. Her words were accurate, the Tribunal member had been dead for nearly six weeks now and already campaigning was going on for four different replacements.

    "Now this strike from wolves. Not only the coastal unions, no, all across the country they''re picketing." Rachel was unhappy with everything she saw on the television.

    "Straight to hell." I said. Rachel turned around to see my grin. Hopefully it came off playful.

    "You agree with them, mister?" She shook a grainy spatula at me. The woman always had a utensil in her hands and cooked constantly. It was by far the best perk of this house.

    Her eyes demanded a real answer. I tried not to stare down my nose towards Rachel but it was difficult. She was a head shorter and somewhat plump. Her face could go from cheery to stern with a twist of the cheek.

    "Work''s a trade. Money for labor. Twice the labor should equal twice the money," I said. She opened her mouth to argue and I shook my empty glass at her. "regardless of species."

    "Still, they keep bending the rest of us over the barrel with demands for more."

    "Your cakes are better than any store bought cake, wouldn''t you want more money for something you do well?" I asked.

    She hummed and thought about my stance. Her cakes had been a conversation topic when we first met. From there it went on to other things. Turned out I knew more about barbecue than she did. Rachel respected food knowledge.

    An oven alarm went off derailing the conversation.

    "Work harder, or smarter, get more money. Basic economy." I pressed while she shuffled dishes around her kitchen. Sheets of food grated against the oven racks then went onto hot pads on the center isle. I restrained myself from grabbing at the divine smelling cookies she just finished.

    My knuckles were still smarting from the last failed attempt at pilfering baked goods.

    "Let''s hope your Mister Henderson thinks that way. You go earn some money. Your shift starts soon." She pointed towards the door with a spatula.

    "Ahh, hell. Yeah." I was going to be late if I didn''t hustle.

    "Lunch is at one!" The little woman shouted after me.

    Our arrangement included meals with the rent. It left me with nearly no money but was worth every penny. A place to live where no one asked about my past, home cooked meals, and occasional conversation were more than enough. Rachel had even gotten me set up with this job.

    I hustled downtown. Henderson''s was a company which handled all sorts of manual labor. We did packing up and moving, delivering of televisions, couches or even evicting people. There were two drivers and four other packhorses like myself. Sometimes we drove out to the department stores and took their truck out to the deliveries.

    It was a magical combination of contracting work and self-employment that seemed to pay under the table. I hadn''t received a paycheck yet, but the owner had never asked me for a Sector ID, so he probably wasn''t reporting my part time help. That was understandable. A new man to town might vanish in the wind one night. If an employee is only around for two months, putting him on the books was more work than was needed.

    And this was a quiet family business, going back three generations. The grandfather had passed on years ago and left it to his son, Lance Kenneth Henderson the third.

    Church bells a few blocks over were ringing out the hour as I walked in the front door. Lance didn''t even bother waving at me. His hand instead pointed towards one of the other workers. He didn¡¯t care much for conversation either.

    "Come on." The tanned man said. He was human like nearly everyone in this town, ate a little too richly, and sat in a chair often. The man could help lift a couch so little else mattered.

    I followed my coworker out to the van. Today was going to deliveries. My brain shut down as we traveled to Hyatt, the biggest city in this county. If anyone went shopping for more than groceries, Hyatt was their destination. Our little bedroom town was called Tennison. Their names barely meant anything. I passed through dozens of blips on the map like this over the years.

    The only catch was that Hyatt was an hour''s drive from Tennison. We only got paid for what we delivered, not by the hour. Henderson''s drivers were paid because they knew when to speed and when to slow down. They probably drank with the sheriff''s regularly and had all the speed traps memorized.

    One of the drivers gabbed endlessly. He was with the other van or pulling an evening shift. The man I was with barely said two words a day that I''d seen. It made an annoying trip in a metal deathtrap even worse. Being confined to a vehicle grated on my nerves.

    Work had barely started and time passed just like it always did. Dragging slowness mixed with silence that refused to advance more than half a second at a time.

    Six hours and ten deliveries later we called it quits. We drove back to the main office and got out of the van. Henderson''s main office was shut and the lights were off. The driver slid the van¡¯s keys into a dropbox and wandered off, shoulders hunched, hands in his pocket. I wasn''t sure what to think of him after a week working together.

    There were more important factors to consider than my barely formed relationship with a part-time coworker. I missed lunch. Rachel probably made something for me. I ambled home.

    The old man who invited me down to the park was on my path like always. I swear he did nothing but wander about looking for victims to prattle to. Now that there was light out I could see him better. He looked to be in his late sixties with a smile between grizzly and kind. His hair was trimmed short and top covered by a simple brown shirt. I had him pegged as a war veteran or long time military man. His stance screamed discipline. Scars from burns crept up his neck. Maybe he got a medical discharge.

    That dog was an intense creature. Certainly not a younger pup but extremely well behaved. It had white fur and blue eyes. The build was near that of a wolf but that was impossible. Being walked around and wearing a collar would be demeaning. Not to mention the dog had a limp, and wolves healed pretty much anything.

    "Evening, James!" His friendly voice rang out across the street. I''d avoided walking on the same side and it hadn''t been any use.

    "Don''t forget my offer!" At least the old man didn''t try to cross the street. I was hungry, tired, and in no mood to deal with people.

    "Tomorrow! I''ll check it out tomorrow!" I shouted across the street.

    The old man didn''t say anything right away, instead content to let us pass each other as we went opposite directions. A stir of barely audible words reached my ears. Almost felt them rather than heard. In the same way loudspeakers would thrum music into the ground, vibrating everything.

    "I''ll hold you to it." The words felt strong and firm.

    I blinked then shook my head. What had that been? Me, feeling words? Silly nonsense. The old man''s voice had been strong enough to be carried by even a faint wind. That and the near silence of these back streets must have allowed me to hear his words.

    I stepped in the side door of Rachel''s house. She was gone somewhere, probably gardening. It was edging into afternoon and Rachel had proven to have birdlike tendencies. Even a hint of sunrise and she was bright, cheery, and noisy. Come sunset the stout woman was out like a light. Vampires acted the same way, but in reverse.

    Lunch was fantastic. The cookie I snuck in with my meal was even better. I needed to go out for a jog again later tonight to balance out Rachel''s cooking. She fed me better than I ever fed myself. Maybe the old man''s offer would help as well. He seemed to imply it was something that required physical activity. Not that Henderson''s didn''t require work, but it was in spurts. One hour of sitting in a cramped truck for ten minutes of movement was hardly real labor.

    Rachel stormed into the kitchen. Her look was extremely old fashioned. A dirty garden apron, trowel in hand, and one small brown basket filled with carrots in the other. She set everything down on the counter and started washing off the fresh vegetables.

    I watched and kept quiet.

    "So, James, you never did say where you were coming in from." She said.

    "Out east." I said vaguely.

    "Nearby Manette?"

    "Further east." My forehead wrinkled. Not being asked about my past for two weeks had been rather nice, but too good to last.

    "Tulkin?" Rachel pried away.

    "No. Just past Dales." It was on the other side of the sound. Nothing special, just a big city sprawled out across the land. It started out as a trade port, then a military base, and grew from there.

    "That''s a couple hundred miles away.¡± She said while bustling around the room. ¡°What brought you out here?"

    "I needed a change of pace."

    Rachel paused and looked at me. Her lips pursed together and eyebrows lowered. She said, "I hope you''re not in debt to anyone. Couldn''t abide by that. You''re nice enough but I''m not helping you for charity."

    "I know." I nodded. At least Rachel made the conversation wind back to business. Her concern was for the rental money promised. That was understandable because money was important.

    "There''s no debts, just people-" One specific person. "-I couldn''t be around anymore."

    "A girl?"

    "Yeah." I couldn''t really remember anything about her. What she looked like or how tall the woman was, details were fuzzy. Only the faint scent of peppermint leaves stood out. This distance idea was working perfectly. Maybe in a few more months I''d be over her.

    By then, if I was still here in Tennison, I could build an entirely new life. The people here were nice enough, and finding a place to live and a job in the same two weeks since I''d come to town was a godsend. Some towns were far less kind.

    "Well, girls are always trouble.¡± She shrugged then finished taking off both gloves and started washing carrots. ¡°Maybe you''ll like it here in Tennison. The place suits me fine."

    "Sure. A friend recommended heading out this way." I closed my eyes a bit longer than needed.

    "A friend? No, never mind me, I''m being a busybody, you go do whatever it is boys do, supper will be ready in a few." Rachel said.

    I waited for Rachel to move to another part of the kitchen. Once she was clear from the sink I scrubbed off the dish and put it away. Cheap plates rubbed against cheaper plastic on the drying rack.

    What Rachel had asked was troubling. Not because she asked it, but because my own answers were vague. It bothered me that my former girlfriend''s name wasn''t coming to mind. Worse her face had somehow escaped my memory. There was a gap somewhere in past.

    Then the part about a friend directing me out here was true. Coming here was the result of his suggestion. He said I would like these new digs and introduced me to Rachel I thought. What was his name? How long ago had that been? Questions kept coming and it felt like I was digging at the edge of the Gordian knot.

    I remembered traveling from town to town to avoid a woman. Cold lonely nights filled with unceasing exhaustion. Everything in my past felt like an unimportant haze. This place was peaceful and relaxing enough that I could get away from myself for a while.

    Laying down on the bed brought the same rush of feelings I had when waking. Grogginess, leaden head, and a deep fatigue lacing through every muscle. My fingers repeatedly grasped at the cotton sheets, relishing the sensation of being able to touch something. Then silence descended as my eyes shut.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 13 - Evening Rush

    That afternoon, evening and night came and went in one motion. Rachel and I had clearly reached an agreement that involved letting me sleep quietly. I was just unaware of our accord until the next morning when my eyes shot open.

    My room was dark. The world felt strange. My arms laid numb on either side. None of my fingers reported the sensation of sheets around me. Even my chest failed to move while I struggled to remember what should occur upon awareness.

    Then it hit me.

    Breathing should happen.

    Heavy air flooded into lungs as I gasped. My heart raced into motion or maybe it had been pounding all along in a panic. No other noise in the house stirred aside from my frantic actions.

    I curled up and rolled from my tiny bed straight down to the floor. Carpet flattened against my knees. Elephants sitting would have been quieter.

    My thoughts were scattered half-formed ideas trying to recall a dream I had. Gray images and lots of darkness. The pieces crawled together in spurts. A strange world of faint fire rolling across the sky. Large patterned objects stood tall against a pastel background while below them stood a sea of angry red eyes.

    Memory played out a hand reaching for me. Emotions only conveyed by a warped expression on one shadow''s face. Uncontainable longing, hunger, anger, and frustration. The face itself was indistinguishable from dozens of others around it. Creatures of darkness writhed through the landscape.

    I wanted to remember more and figure out why those images felt familiar. Nothing came to mind. My body heaved a few more breaths as I started to rationalize it. Dreams were extremely rare, but maybe those images were a nightmare from a television show. The half-heard whispers that accompanied those red eyes probably belonged to my subconscious. It was just replaying prior day conversations. Was the world going to hell? Vampires jockeying for power, wolves refusing to work. Next elves would stop trading and stay entombed in their clan homes. Anyone would be stressed.

    Later, Rachel woke up with the approaching dawn. I heard her come down the stairs slowly, cautiously, as if she knew that someone else was awake before her. Maybe she sensed my exhausted agitation, or I banged around too much last night.

    I sat in front of the television, bleary-eyed, watching reruns from yesterday''s news. Wolves striking had forced many companies to invest in better equipment, put out expenditures that hadn''t been expected. Newscasters raved about how stocks were a roller coaster. Yet the strike was ongoing, talks were faltering all over the board, and nothing new was happening. It was mind boggling how such a large chunk of one race could up and refuse to work. Maybe all the Alphas had decided together at a meeting or something.

    It wasn¡¯t my problem, especially out here. Tennison and Hyatt seemed devoid of a pack, elves, and vampires. Not enough of a nightlife and no Sector mandated parks for the elves to maintain. The county seemed to be mostly human.

    "You okay, kiddo?" Rachel hesitated to step into her own kitchen. I looked over, barely aware, and grunted.

    "Right." She saw my state and came up with her standard solution, food. "I''ll get some eats cooking. You stay right there."

    "''Kay." My face slowly melted over crossed arms. Eyes drooped closed then shot open in a panic repeatedly. Each time the whispers from my dreams crept back a pop of sizzling bacon would jerk me to consciousness.

    "That''s hot now, let it cool." A ceramic plate clattered onto the counter.

    "''Kay."

    "Eggs too?"

    "''Kay." I was stuck on repeat.

    Rachel clearly had enough and expressed displeasure with a wooden ladle to my forehead.

    "Show some appreciation for my hard work, junior."

    I smiled a little this time then said, "''Kay."

    She hit me harder then slid over silverware to go with the meal in front of me. Moments later she was shuffling around again, cracking eggs, throwing on seasoning, and clanking everything in the room at least twice.

    I wasn''t hung over so the noise didn''t bother me. I''d just slept terribly. Rachel was right, though, food helped. A few pieces of bacon in and the world was brighter already. Finally, sated and happier, I stood up.

    "Thanks. Your food''s great." I meant it too. Rachel stopped what she was doing and looked over with a smile. In the background, her little television blared out the latest worrywart theories.

    "My pleasure." She said.

    "I''m going to go out."

    "Don''t run on a full belly!"

    "Just a walk." I picked up the plate and started towards the sink. Rachel waved me off.

    "I''ll take care of it." She shoved me away. "Go clear your head."

    I shuffled out the door with less enthusiasm than yesterday. Maybe things would end on a brighter note. Rachel had certainly helped with the meal. Maybe this place would last longer than the others after all. Tennison. Strange that a place so far out of the way would start to feel like home.

    A stray vibration brought Rachel''s words to me as I left the building. "That boy. Always troubled."

    What struck me as odd was how feeling words felt commonplace. I shook my head dismissed the occurrence nearly as soon as it happened. Feeling words a second time had to be complete nonsense no matter how natural it was.

    This morning was dark. The old man was probably out and about somewhere. We never actually exchanged names but he probably knew mine from Rachel. It was a small town and gossip spread through them like wildfire, even with the advent of the internet. These kinds of places still had people out on their front porches, talking, eating, watching sunsets and sunrises.

    I walked casually without a destination. Feet traveled to the right when it seemed best. They turned left just as easily. There was no chance of me ending up anywhere extremely interesting. Not out here. The town had one bar, two gas stations, and corner markets that were trying to carry one of everything. There was a city park on the eastern side of town for children. No one would be there this early.

    That was where I found myself fifteen minutes later. Staring at a large twirly slide that was a few years away from being a deathtrap. With one hand I deliberately felt at the edges, relished the pattern changes between smooth polished metal to paint chipped surface and finally over the rust covered areas. Each brief texture a different sensation under my fingers.

    I wandered from there to the swings then felt the dense clingy rubber of the seats and twists of chain link. Grain on the wooden supports and a dirt blasted pay phone. One hand wandered to the receiver while my other dug out a few pieces of change and clinked them into a small slot. A dial tone replaced the automated demand for money.

    Then a number was dialed and someone spoke. My head felt dizzy as it blotted out and a rapid dial tone played. I tried to remember the number that my fingers had punched but couldn''t. Even the voice was a blur. By the time my feet reached Rachel''s porch all thoughts of my mystery call were almost gone.

    By the time church bells rang out the next hour I was in the passenger seat of a truck. Groaning out my displeasure at being trapped in a metal monstrosity next to the chattiest person this side of Western Sector. Maybe this situation was a blessing. His constant demands for verbal engagement kept me from getting overly melancholy. Near the end of our nine hours of deliveries and driving my brain had completely shifted from teetering depression to a desire for escape.

    At last, the driver dropped me off blocks away from work with a promise to tell Henderson I had worked my full shift. Henderson didn''t care as long as the jobs were done. Or at least he hadn''t cared so far. My first real paycheck would have to wait until next Monday.

    Rachel must have worried up a storm. The house smelled fantastic and pastries were clearly on tonight''s menu. Hopefully, there was some meat in there somewhere. A real steak or slab of cow would have been welcome.

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    I padded around looking for food solutions. There was a kitchen grill for meat that hadn¡¯t been used in months. There were a few pans on a higher shelf that also seemed untouched. I wondered how a shorter woman like Rachel even got them up there in the first place.

    Hunger made me settle for the baked goods. Rachel came in from the garden and was kind enough not to ask about my day. Not once did the wooden utensils hit me in chastisement. Gloom must have lined my face clearly enough that she felt sorry for me. Hell. To Rachel, I was probably a giant stray dog.

    There was an itching sensation on my wrist the entire meal. I absently picked at it and searched for a bug bite dozens of times. Eyes would drift over the limb, not register anything odd, then slip away to something else on the counter.

    It was easy to be distracted and out of sorts. This was still a new place to me, no matter how far my morning exercises had gotten. And didn''t I have some place to be anyway? I put up my own dishes this time and headed for the park. That''s where I was earlier this morning and where the old man had invited me to go at dusk.

    Rachel said nothing, but her quiet brown eyes were keen on my every movement about her kitchen. It felt like her gaze followed me out the door and down the street as well. I leisurely made my way to the park before the evening rush started. Not that this town was that lively on a busy day.

    The old man was there in the middle of a crowd moving along. His giant canine laid down under a tree. Either Senior was tired or bored. Exhaustion seemed more likely given how many laps that near wolf did around me yesterday.

    There were about twenty people in total. Children, adults, females, males, the entire range of possibilities were lined up like a class. One large stern looking man stood in front demonstrating what to do while the others followed.

    Was this yoga? I stood back and watched the movements, studied the area and spacing. Not that there was much to compare it to. The instructor must have been really good because I almost fell into pace with them. It was like I knew which way he was going. Next he could flow into a stance that leaned slightly forward, one arm up high, the other down near their navels.

    The old man''s canine companion leapt up and wandered over to where I was. His white fur didn''t stand out as much at dusk. A wound lined one side, perhaps where he''d gotten into a fight with another dog. He sat down a few feet away, not facing me, but angled towards the gathering in the park. Senior watched where I watched. As if trying to figure out what was so interesting.

    Smells and sounds washed over me. The slow casual counting of the man in charge reminded me of a scene in the past. That gathering had been smaller and maybe ten people at most. Those in the memory were sparring in practice because they needed to protect someone. The recollection was a barely tangible thing. Trying to grab ahold of it was hurting my head.

    My silent partner kept watching the dance in front of us. Each movement linked to the next. The instructor leading the group kept his pace even, slow and collected. His hair trimmed extremely low and a dark pair of glasses sat on his nose. Blue sweats and a tee that tensed over defined muscles and a slight belly.

    There were two other figures traveling through the crowd. They looked like brothers with nearly identical expressions. Both were stone-faced and barrel-chested like the instructor in front. Their corrections were gentle. People moving along were told to adjust their feel slightly, or place hands higher. Some students were instructed to fix their pelvis tilt or pry back their head.

    The dog snorted and kept watching.

    I didn''t snort but lost focus instead. Vision drifted to the pay phone nearby. This morning I used it but couldn¡¯t remember the person on the other end. The person¡¯s name and face were out of reach and trying to dive into the blur of memory made me lose track of time.

    Sunset came and went before the exercise finished. Slowly the crowd broke up and started going their separate ways. Whoever the instructor was calmly talked to a few stragglers. Something about his face stirred half-memories. We had met recently, I was sure of that much.

    "You made it, James!" The old man was jubilant as he walked over to Senior and I. "How did you like our group?"

    "They¡¯re okay. Was that the workout you were talking about?" I pointed towards where they had all been gathered.

    "Of course. It''s a great practice, very relaxing, helps focus the mind and body." He said.

    "Bit of a strange group." I scratched my head and shrugged. Not just the age range. Each person had looked a little off. Some stood weird, more hunched than expected. Others were a bit wirier than average or had bigger ears and tiny hands.

    "Family''s always weird." The older man said with a similar shrug.

    "You''re all related?"

    "Not really, we just found each other over time, they''re as much my family as any flesh and blood." He was a difficult man to understand. It could have been his age, but it sounded like he had marbles in his mouth.

    "More so, sometimes." The second man said while walking over towards us. He spoke loudly and stood tall.

    "There¡¯s two types of family right?" I tried to remember the saying.

    "Blood and bonds. It¡¯s good to hear you understand, James." The instructor said. He didn¡¯t smile as much.

    I understood where this conversation was going before they even asked. The whole speech coming was predictable. I tried to back out before anyone could tie me down. "Look, sir."

    "Tal, my father. I''m Roy." The instructor said. He annunciated things a lot better than his father had. Tal blinked in confusion then brightened.

    "Right, forgot to introduce myself." Tal frowned for a moment.

    "It''s fine." I said. "I''m not sure how long I''ll be around."

    "We understand." Roy spoke with that deep and attention-grabbing voice.

    "While you''re here, feel free to join us. Consider yourself family." Tal had the same tone, but it seemed mellowed by age.

    White hot anger flashed through my mind before being suppressed by panic. Family? I had no real family. They were gone. My father was nothing but a vague voice in my head. The people who had supported me during my growing years was a stern man that I couldn¡¯t remember. Hell.

    Thoughts that made no sense were fighting each other in my head. Itching plagued my wrist. Fingers were pulling at the skin, trying to remove the source of irritation. I tried to mute the actions and not seem like I just had a crazy fit but it was difficult.

    Roy and Tal politely said nothing while my mind tried to sort out conflicting thoughts. I was aware enough to see them exchange a worried glance.

    "I''m okay." I gritted through teeth.

    "I hope so." Tal tried to smile but looked wary.

    "We''ve got to head out, work soon. You have a good night." Roy said. His father grunted while rubbing at burn marks on his neck. They both nodded briskly and walked off to a parked car.

    I guess some people did work the night shift in this nowhere town. Unless they drove to Hyatt, or further. Dales was nearly a three-hour drive to the east. Those two large guys fit that place more than they fit Tennison.

    None of this was my business anyway. Thoughts spiraled around the conflicting elements of my past. What I remembered felt wrong, which was impossible. There were no ways to mess with a person''s memory like that, was there?

    Then there was meeting Tal and Roy, officially. Something about them reassured me and pissed me off at the same time. That crisscross of feelings only happened when I knew someone well and typically went with a long history, debts owed, and occasionally a deep grudging respect. With Roy, it felt like all three.

    Hell.

    I spent the entire walk home trying to figure out what was wrong with my head.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 14 - Past Repeating

    Things fell into a routine which felt alien. Each night involved restless slumber like I was detoxing. Shivers and sweats woke me up frequently. I wound down at night by walking, normally near midnight, trying to exhaust myself so sleep would be easier.

    Sitting in front of a television didn''t help. Rachel''s home cooked meals didn''t help. Work, exercise, keeping a log of my dreams, nothing made a difference.

    Some nights there was a vague feeling of being dragged along. Occasionally I woke up in strange places with jumbled thoughts. One Sunday I ran downstairs at four in the morning. I did three laps around the house before it dawned on me that we weren''t being robbed. Another morning I woke up clutching at a phone, listening to that strange woman''s voicemail again. Other times I sat there, drawing a badly distorted face onto paper napkins. Once I woke up to a vision of some rail-thin blonde woman frowning down at me then it vanished. I chalked it up to an out of place nightmare.

    Days were easier. I got out well before dawn, ran, came home, then ate. Work consisted of listening to pure silence or inane drivel. After work was another meal then a few hours of free time before these evening practices. Most nights I joined them. It was a much-needed distraction from the turbulence my nights contained.

    Fitting in wasn''t too hard. They weren''t all chatterboxes and those that were kept the introductions to a minimum. The movements were calming just like Tal had said. Learning the steps wasn''t hard at all. Though having one of the twins adjust my stance was awkward. Having other people, all other people, touch me was disturbing. I liked my personal bubble. After a few sessions, I became just another figure in the crowd moving along for an hour each night.

    Not once had Roy asked anyone for money. Neither did the twins, whom I believed were his sons. If not then nephews or related definitely. They had the same barrel-like bodies, thick muscles, and tinted shades. This whole situation seemed to be all about family.

    The membership of our little gathering changed nightly. Very few people were there every time. Roy''s family was constant. Tal was there most nights, along with his large white-furred canine named Senior.

    One of the few pestering people was a guy named Steven. His response to corrections was to laugh like a child. Half his time around our exercises was spent hitting on the girls. He clearly only joined this with one goal in mind. Getting laid.

    It was difficult to blame him. I tried not to leer at the females as we moved. The twins seemed to take offense with straying glances. That was a shame since those ladies were definitely built for sin. They wore warm clothes that left little to the imagination. Tans, no tans, hair different colors, eyes, nose, face, bust sizes, all different, yet they held the same allure.

    It had been awhile for me as well, and that was certainly frustrating.

    Roy and Tal left shortly after practice nearly every night. They were both machines. Going from one thing to the next. I usually saw Tal off and on all day, no matter what shift my work ended up with. How he managed to go off to work after being active all day was beyond me.

    Roy was different. He showed up in his car just before the meetings and not once did I see him during the day. The man didn¡¯t appear to live in town.

    Two weeks passed bouncing between war-torn nights and peaceful days. Television news played the same stories out till everyone was sick. The strike moved slowly and entire production lines had ground to a halt. Next year''s cars would be later than expected. Buildings weren''t making it up in time. Wolves were looking like the probable winners of this dispute.

    Vampires were still gathering support to fill the empty Tribunal spot. Six candidates had been whittled down to four. Most of their races petitions had been placed on hold until a three-person vote could be applied. No one noticed the hiccups it might have caused. Vampire justice was often met out based on a very well established series of laws. Their Tribunal really only got to vote on strange occurrences or to overturn outdated rulings. Most vampires that had survived the change were from older generations. Adjusting their habits was like herding hungry cats with an army of plump mice.

    On the third week, Roy took a break and his two sons were left teaching the class. Their movements weren''t nearly as smooth but were well practiced. The group kept going without much of a pause. During that week, Steven finally broke me down.

    Since I joined the little group the shaggy brown haired man had glommed onto me. Frequently he tried to get me to go drinking with him after a workout. The guy seemed to lack a male friend. Not that he was wanting for female companionship. When he failed at getting me to drink he somehow talked his way into giving one of the ladies a ride home. It wasn''t a one-time occurrence either.

    I was annoyed frequently when he talked and several of the women showed the same displeasure on their faces. Yet they still willing got into his car. Of course, there were people like that. Great in some situations and aggravating everywhere else.

    We finally hit the bar, essentially because I had enough pestering. I sat calmly on a stool trying to stick with water. Drinking seemed like a terrible idea. Steven had no compassion for my abstinence.

    "This place is actually decent." Steven failed at whispering to me. He wasn''t dressed in anything special, slacks and a shirt that might pass for office appropriate attire. Ladies noticed, then tried to ignore him as soon as his mouth opened.

    "I guess," I said.

    "Is this your first time in here?¡± He asked and I nodded my head. ¡°Ah man, say it ain¡¯t so. Bars need patrons. Guys like us need drinks. It''s a great circle of codependency."

    "Right." I blinked.

    "Tried this one? Sunspots, looks cool-" Steven slid over a drink he picked up. "-but too fruity for me. All yours."

    "Thanks." I stared at the drink. An illusion of slow fire mixing together concocted by orange and tomato juice. Hopefully a few layers of alcohol in between. "You¡¯re okay buying me a drink?" I raised an eyebrow at Steven.

    "Sure. Last job just paid out, so tonight''s on me. You can buy next time." He smiled broadly.

    "Fine." I sipped at the drink. It was good. Soon I drained the whole thing, forgetting about my dislike for liquor.

    "Now it''s a party!" Steven shouted and clapped me on the back.

    Our celebration consisted of maybe six of us and the single employee running the place. Tennison wasn''t big enough to support a larger establishment. Not like this one place I used to frequent. The name of that prior establishment escaped me at the moment.

    "So, tell me about yourself, James. What makes you tick?"

    "Not much to tell," I responded while looking around for the next drink. Should I order something or was Steven on top of that? Fingers clutched the water glass and tried to focus.

    "Sure, everyone says that. It''s always a lie.¡± He kept spinning in his stool. ¡°Everyone''s got a story. Roy and Tal think highly of you."

    "And badly of you." I quipped.

    "You wound me! How dire." Steven took a gulp or ten of his beer and procured a refill.

    "That''s what it seems like." I defended my words. I barely knew Steven and was annoyed with him a lot of the time. Still, offending him was probably a bad idea. That was a good way to feel unwelcome in a small town.

    "It''s true. I had an altercation with Chief Grumpy when we first met. That''s my story by the way.¡± He shook the latest refill at me and I followed the glass around. ¡°A lifetime of poor choices followed by a chance at redemption."

    "That''s a quick description." I pulled myself back and responded. The world felt slightly more numb and that delighted me.

    "No one''s really interested in my life, James."

    He was right, and I couldn''t bring myself to lie to the man. Not even to say something nice and uplifting. That wasn''t who I was. James Fields didn''t play the nice and supportive friend who was there to make people feel better. He, I kept to myself when allowed.

    "So, talk away. Regale me with tales of daring wit and bravery." Steven pressed onward.

    "I travel around a lot, been here for about a month, seems like a nice place." My head felt a bit fuzzy trying to recall all the details.

    "Delightfully enthralling. Though I''ll admit, this town is pretty good, it''ll be better once these network upgrades are done."

    "Is that why you''re here?" I asked.

    "One of the reasons. Most of my work can be done from anywhere, but, conveniently, I''m being paid to oversee some construction lines for high-speed internet for this county." He chatted happily regardless of the rapidly emptying cup in one hand. The man was unaffected.

    "Exciting."

    "It is," Steven said with a sly look. "Anyway, Tennison''s a great place, not the best place, but certainly has a homegrown feel. Very natural."

    I followed Steven''s eyes around the small room. He wasn''t talking about the food when he mentioned homegrown. His attention was on a rather well-endowed woman in a pushup bra a few seats over that had recently entered. Hell. The man never stopped.

    "You''re taking to the old man well. Or at least he believes you are." Steven said while staring intensely.

    "He''s-" How could I describe Tal without being offensive? "-intense."

    "And a gabber, and fiery when drunk. Can¡¯t imagine him being so friendly, the man seems like a Four Star General that finally stopped taking life so seriously.¡± Steven shrugged then kept on babbling. ¡°He''s good with stories. Tal once told me a two-hour tale about a splinter in his foot. Complete with moral. Aesop would have been proud."

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    "Who?" I asked.

    "Old Greek dude, back before the purge.¡± His hand rolled over and over to emphasize a large amount of time. ¡°The guy''s stories were as much rules for living as they were warnings. I often wonder how many of his works were torn apart because of their fantastical nature."

    "Greek?" I felt dumb. The word stirred something, but I couldn''t quite make the connection.

    "Yeah. Greeks are from Greece." Now he was making fun of me. I didn''t really take offense, though. "An ocean or two away, near that boot on the globe? One of the few sectors to retain its original name. Besides the Eastern provinces."

    "Oh." I knew the boot. "How many stories survived?"

    "Not enough. They translate weird too. Gutted and censored by Western Sector, the past repeating again. For our own protection!" Steven looked disgusted but didn''t lose his smile.

    There were times I felt out of my depth. This was one of them, but part of me actually was interested. No one spoke about the purge or events before it in real life. Only old guys on television who were dry and boring talked about history. Them, and Steven.

    "You know most of our language comes from that whole region?" His eyes were clearly wandering, but his mouth spun a different story.

    "I did not."

    "Yeah. Talk to a vampire, if you dare, they know all sorts of stuff about how the world changed.¡± Steven gulped down more swill then lifted his glass to the barkeep. ¡°I roamed this site with interviews for tracking down entire chunks of missing history."

    "Sounds dull."

    "It is, not as boring as church, but dry. I couldn''t do it. Still, bits were interesting. Skimmed it a few months ago. Was stealing some coding from their site." The man had this perpetual grin on his face and didn''t come across as disturbed or upset by anything we talked about. He was more interested in talking than leading to any specific destination.

    "You know any other languages?" I ventured. Maybe Steven wanted to talk about this topic. He''d put us here after all.

    "Besides computer ones? Nah, never studied them. Too busy with video games and taking electronics apart. You?"

    "Random words." How I learned them was another mystery, but yes, my brain had a few phrases shoved in it.

    "Shoot." He drank down a glass and gave me a happy glare. "Let''s hear some."

    I had the perfect one. It summed up how I felt about Steven half the time he talked.

    "Backpfeifengesicht," The world rolled out oddly. Probably messed up. Missing emphasis in the right places. I''d only heard it used once or twice while traveling on the east coast.

    It was funnier when Steven tried to repeat it and failed. He sounded like a goat trying to get out the middle part.

    "What''s it mean?"

    "It¡¯s German. You should look it up." I said.

    "Germans are from Germany. Or whatever sector absorbed the country." I couldn''t tell if Steven was being clever or trying to make a joke. "Too hard. Give me another one."

    I spouted a few others. Words that didn''t translate directly into English. My drinking partner had fun trying to say them. All without a hint of a lisp. Clearly the drinking didn''t impact his ability to speak. Sadly.

    "One more." He prompted.

    "Ab initio," This one had been bothering me. The word had surfaced in my memory after a particularly bad nightmare last weekend.

    "Yeah, what''s that, German again?"

    "No. Latin." I didn¡¯t explain the rest of it. The phrase loosely meant ''from the beginning''. Why that was important was beyond me.

    "What''s it mean? Something dirty?" It was becoming clear that Steven didn''t really care what the words meant. He just wanted to hear the sounds. "I hear those vampire chicks dig dirty talk in Latin. Might help me to know some."

    "This won¡¯t help." I gave a snort of laughter.

    "Probably best. They''re wildcats, like trying to tame two hungry lions when you''re a steak." He rambled onto the new topic. Taming lions sounded like it took a set of balls I didn''t have. I would happily fight another man, but fighting a fast moving cat wasn''t a good idea.

    "Personal experience?" I asked.

    "Nah, my brothers."

    "He told you?"

    "The coroner did." Steven frowned for a moment. That was the first time any expression besides glazed happiness crossed his face.

    "Ouch," I said gently.

    "No worries, he died with a smile on his face and woman in each arm.¡± Steven lifted his glass up and looked towards the ceiling. Seconds later he swallowed the entire container down. ¡°Can''t ask for much more than that. Even if they were comatose due to daylight."

    "That''s something," I said. It probably made a good picture. A dead horn dog with two lifeless naked bodies next to him. Signs of sexual activity everywhere.

    "He would have been insufferable if he''d lived. Every tale swap would end with ''Did I tell about the two vampire burnouts I banged?'' and then I''d have to try and top him."

    "Not sure you could." Not sure anyone remotely sane would try.

    "Sure I could. I''m good at what I do, very good. It''d just take a lot of convincing." Steven said.

    The conversation continued like that. The irritatingly friendly man tried to convince me of what he could talk the ladies into. He babbled about Game theory, Keno patterns, and how confidence impacted things. I gave up trying to hold my own. Soon I was responding in whatever way would rile him up more.

    Drinks kept flowing, the one bartender didn''t question because Steven kept throwing money down onto the counter. Somehow Steven was still able to talk coherently. Our bartender, excellent man that he was, made the rest of our conversations none of his business.

    Things grew hazy for me around the fifth round of drinks. Steven wasn''t held back in the slightest. He polished off his beers faster than any creature I had ever seen.

    "You should stop doing that," Steven said between drinks.

    "What?" I said through half my mouth. The word spilled out with a few extra syllables for good measure.

    "Chewing on your wrist. It looks like you¡¯re half rabid. You''re not secretly a biter are you?" Steven had the entire pitcher in his hands now. He must have been nearing a toxic level of blood alcohol and barely cared. The bartender stopped and took note of us with a critical eye.

    I ignored them and kept chewing.

    "No." My arm itched like crazy.

    "Bitten by a vampire? Or two? Tell me you didn''t succeed in the double fang-bang!"

    "No." That felt like a partial lie.

    "Well, whatever, stop chewing. Grossing me out. Can''t get my inebriation on properly." He took the entire pitcher and proceeded to pour it down his gullet in three outrageous gulps.

    I was stunned. So was the bartender. It was about that time he decided we were well over the legal limit and proceeded to explain how we were cut off for the night.

    I tried to protest, saying that my share of the drinking had been minimal. It was a failure. Steven argued his way into one more beer, wandered over to a lone female, chatted, seduced, and proceeded out the door with her under one arm in two minutes.

    Huh. I put down some money on the counter as a tip. It wasn''t much, but neither was my income.

    "That a friend of yours?" The bartender engaged in conversation for the first time since our arrival. For the last hour, the lean man had been handing out a few drinks and spending most of his time on a phone, probably texting someone.

    "Sort of. Just met him. Kind of annoying." I admitted.

    "Yeah, man. I can see how." He said.

    "Just trying to get to know people." My shoulder lifted in a half shrug.

    "Tennison keeps to its own."

    "Really?" I blinked slowly and felt my head wobble. After a moment, the rest of my thought came out. "Everyone¡¯s been unusually friendly then." Almost five weeks in this town and no one felt even vaguely standoffish.

    "Friendly sure, man but little towns like this take time to warm up to new people." The bartender said with a half smile.

    I blinked. Maybe he just didn''t get out much. Roy and his group had clearly been working together for a long time. They liked me. Rachel''s house was filled with decades worth of material. Nothing about them gave me an impression that they hadn''t always been here.

    Steven, on the other hand, was out of place. Maybe there would have been better drinking buddies. Social ventures were hard enough for me, though. Being around people made me tense, except for Tal¡¯s group of park exercising family.

    "Yeah, Steven and I are new," I said with an exaggerated nod. This place wasn''t that big. The bartender would have clearly heard that part of our conversation if he''d been paying attention.

    "Hm." The man wrinkled his face, rubbed at a nearly shaved head, and then gave me a weary smile. "Yeah, that''s good. You drop by more often and we''ll be old friends soon enough, man. Anyway, have a good night."

    "You too." My words were doubtful. Something about his attitude bothered me.

    Oh well. If things became hectic I could leave town. No one here would be depressed if I vanished. Not after such a short stay. I would miss Rachel''s cooking. Feeling happy, relaxed, slightly fuzzy, I put the bartender''s misunderstood words out of my head and stumbled home.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 15 - Foolish Madness

    The rattling of metal rings slithered across a bar. Bedroom blinds shot open. Sunlight poured in and assaulted both eyes. I groaned, rolled over, then pulled the nice sheets up and over my head. The attack kept going as someone stomped around the room. Each footfall vibrated through my skull like a jackhammer. Items were picked up and slung about like bricks.

    Nothing was in focus, my head refused to coherently think, logic was impossible. Minutes passed by as my brain tried to sync up with reality.

    "Hung over?" Rachel''s voice cut through the layers of cotton I''d bundled in.

    "Hnngh." was my grandiose response.

    "Didn''t your father teach you anything?"

    The question was like a cold splash of water to the face. More effective than even that. Rachel didn''t pause to notice anything. She wandered around, opening windows, grabbing garbage, shoving clothes into a basket.

    She stomped out, stomped back in, and kept on straightening up the few meager possessions in the room. Her room. In her house. The plump woman had every right to be upset about how it was being treated.

    Still, regardless of her huffy actions, my brain was stuck on the question. Hadn''t my father taught me all sorts of things?

    I scratched at my arm and felt, irritated. My cheeks tucked back as I tried to remember the old man¡¯s face. Parts of my mind could almost hear his words sliding around in the foggy patches of my memory.

    They were lessons that had been repeated so many times I felt like they were part of my bones. Sayings that had rumbled through my core as a babe. The deepest voice in my universe. But what those exact words were escaped me.

    "Well?" Rachel demanded.

    "Sure." I lied.

    "He teach you that the drink is dangerous for you?"

    "Probably." I didn''t remember but admitting that was unappealing.

    "Well, you''re failing your old man, kiddo," she shook her head. "Bring a clean face downstairs and I''ll feed it. Food will do you good."

    Rachel left me to sit alone and slowly adjust to the natural light. The sensation was unpleasant but deserved. I shouldn''t have been drinking at all. Spending time with Steven had been a bad idea. That man talked endlessly about nothing interesting.

    I migrated to the bathroom and tried to clean up. A lukewarm shower helped but I couldn¡¯t turn it up to scalding. Passing out from too much steam felt like a real possibility.

    My brain tried to pick apart the building questions of my family. Tried to recall exactly what had been said over the last few weeks that had me so bothered. Then an itching on my wrist distracted me.

    Eventually, I made it downstairs. I was hungry, thirsty, and no wiser as to the mysteries plaguing my life. Rachel had a meal set out that would solve at least two of the problems. Her tall chairs made it easy to sit at the island in the middle of the kitchen. There was probably a real table around but I hadn''t used it once.

    As usual, the television was tuned to a news channel. I glanced over at a list of candidates vying for the open Tribunal seat. Two females, two males. The other two who had thrown their hats in the ring weeks ago were not talked about. Probably dead. No one would question vampire politics. If they wanted to off each other then it was perfectly fine.

    The newscasters were speculating on two of the current contenders now. Comparing policies and practices, history and future expectations. Boring nonsense.

    "I don''t know why they''re even trying to vote on it. They''re all old, stuck in their ways, and likely to make the same mistakes their predecessors did."

    "Don''t like vampires either?" I asked between bites.

    "Not a bit. Wolves, vampires, elves, they can vanish and I''d throw a party."

    "Mmh." I didn''t know what to say to the brief flash of hatred in her voice. It was strange to see racism first hand.

    "They''ve done more damage than good," Rachel said.

    "Sure." Violent accidents were just as often human only. The extra races rarely did anything to humans, except for the odd case like Steven had mentioned.

    "Don''t placate me, kiddo. People nowadays just don''t understand, haven''t studied their history. The Purge was an awful, destructive, thing that didn''t save anyone."

    "Genocide," I said the word used by history channels.

    "Multiple levels of Genocide, deliberate plagues, wars, burning entire villages to the ground," I hadn''t been aware of all the destruction Rachel started spouting. "Those four came out looking like roses. What nonsense."

    I was getting bored of all these people talking. Hopefully the exercises tonight would break up and practice sparring or something. There was a certain need to hit people that had been creeping up on me over the last week.

    "I wouldn''t know, Rachel,¡± The last of my plate went down in two bites. ¡°I wasn''t there. Maybe these other races were really as terrible as it sounds."

    "You''re telling me it''s okay to kill someone because of what could happen?" Rachel looked wounded. "Even their children?"

    I sighed. It should have been obvious that Rachel didn''t care one ounce about their temperaments, just the children. She certainly was a kind person. Taking me in, feeding me, and now taking offense at something that started two thousand years ago because it might involve children.

    "No. I''m not." My head shook slightly.

    "Good. Don''t let me hear you say otherwise either. Not in my house. Or I''ll put you out on the street." she shook a whisk at me. Bits flew off from the cookie dough Rachel had been mixing.

    "You ought to know better by now, kiddo." Rachel continued.

    "I do."

    "Good." she turned away.

    I gulped down my glass of water, snuck a cookie out of the jar, then hustled out of the house before Rachel could further chastise me. The weather outside was downright terrible. I didn''t have a jacket, though, only a sweatshirt that was reserved for running on cold days. Walking in the rain was an experience all too familiar. Yet again, my arm itched.

    I jogged through a light downpour to work.

    Henderson was catching a smoke under the awning. He clapped me on the back with a wet hand then ushered my soggy form into a truck. The man was even kind enough to throw an extra umbrella my way.

    Our deliveries were all across the country, same as always. This time, the normally silent driver actually spoke to me. It was disorienting, wrong, and completely unexpected. He had to repeat himself before I noticed.

    "You''re quiet," he stated. His name escaped me even though we had been working together for awhile now. The idea that I couldn¡¯t remember a person¡¯s name felt weird.

    "You too," I said.

    "Yeah."

    He went back to saying nothing. We handled another delivery before conversing again.

    "I wanted to warn you." his voice wasn''t that loud either. Like talking was difficult.

    "About?" I asked.

    "One of our deliveries. It goes to a weird place." he didn''t stutter or seem mousey. The driver wasn''t shy but was unused to speaking and instead relied on eye contact with quick nods. He was also pretty short.

    "Okay."

    "Just keep to yourself. Follow what they ask. Don''t cause any trouble and we''ll be fine."

    That made me pause. People with those requirements were often bad news when crossed. "Is this place dangerous?¡± I asked.

    "They usually stop deliveries at the gate,¡± he spoke a bit clearer. ¡°Then someone brings a flatbed around and offloads everything."

    "Alright. Thanks." I paused to see if the driver would say anything else. He didn''t. Maybe there was nothing else to talk about.

    We drove for another hour while I tried not to over analyze the man''s words. Was this place bad enough that he needed to break the pattern of silence? Or he had a bad experience here before? Finally, we headed down a long dirt road. It wound between trees, over potholes, and across barely graveled paths. The truck we drove wasn''t a full semi, only twenty feet in the bed. It was just enough to make it past some of the twists and turns. Worse, the driver''s posture grew hunched and withdrawn. He was uncomfortable just approaching this place.

    When we got to the gate it was pretty clear what the problem was. The fence was a dirty chain link that reached up ten feet with barb wire topping it. Two men and a female stood at a large rolling gate with very clear guns on their sides. Not small ones either, assault rifles.

    My skin started crawling. I tried not to panic. People playing with guns like those were not the kind of guys I wanted to be around. No wonder I was warned to keep my mouth shut.

    We rolled to a stop but the engine was kept running. The driver was probably ready to bolt at a moment''s notice. One of them saddled up to our side window and motioned for it to be rolled down. The two men walked around the car, checking underneath the edges.

    "What''s this?" the female stopping us asked.

    The driver didn''t respond but handed her the clipboard with a pen. His actions were clearly a silent plea to sign the paperwork.

    "Oh yeah? Delivery then?" she asked while jerking her chin in our direction.

    He nodded.

    "Alright, open up the back."

    The driver looked at me. I stared for a moment. This had to be a joke right? No way did I want to be the one getting out of a the cab with a bunch of crazies. One of the males rapped his gun against the passenger side door making me jump.

    "Let''s go!" he yelled through the rolled up window. The man¡¯s whiny voice tore at my ears and made me want to punch someone.

    My glare at the driver caused him to flinch but he showed no signs of helping. I blinked rapidly and tried to calm myself down, then got out.

    "Hold on." the militia member nudged me with one hand. His other on the firearm. This was not even remotely comfortable. I hadn''t done anything to warrant him being hostile. Not that my generally cooperative actions stopped his attitude.

    "Arms up!" he didn''t even wait for me to finish moving before the pat down. I wasn''t in a position to argue since the second male was just off to the side, both his hands on the rifle.

    Sickness hit me hard. My empty belly began to roll and everything around me started to feel disconnected. I struggled while both eyes lost focus and my mouth shut. I successfully avoided shuddering at the clumsy hands checking me for whatever. This was so far into my personal bubble that I had to fight not to knee him in the face. A voice in the back of my head was growling, threatening to do unspeakable things to the man.

    The glint of polished metal kept me well in line.

    "He''s clear." the man said.

    I didn''t carry anything besides some cash. These pockets were devoid of identification or a cell. That might be bad in this case, if these men killed us and left me in the woods then no one would know. Not that anyone cared what a wandering vagabond like me did.

    "Get moving." one of them motioned.

    I walked to the rear of the truck and unlocked the back. Then slid up the door and climbed in. The men joined me, one up in the top, one down below. Again they checked through the compartment. This was our last delivery so there was nothing else to paw through.

    Leaving this place for last had probably been the plan. Any sane person would do this location towards the end, or not at all. Still, those people standing around with guns had me rattled. The situation made me angry and frightened at the same time. I did well to hold myself in check while they sorted things out.

    "Alright. Cargo''s clear. Bring around the truck." one of the armed men said to the other. They both wore the same sort of stupid paramilitary gear. Even the female was clothed along similar lines. It¡¯s like they were out here in the woods pretending to be an army.

    I was extremely thankful when they brought their own people over to our truck and pulled out the furniture. What they wanted with a couch and matching recliner I didn¡¯t know. Even zealous gun nuts might want something comfortable to sit on. Once done, they escorted me back to the front of the cab, then cleared us to drive off. I watched out the rear view mirror feeling mixed about what had happened.

    That isolated compound definitely made Tennison, and this entire county, gain a huge black mark in my book. Worse, the bartender from where I had gone with Steven was one of the people taking away the furniture. I don''t think he noticed me or even looked in my direction.

    I shuddered again and tried not to think about it. Henderson''s driver just looked at me out of the corner of his eye. Hopefully, we never made a delivery there again. The whole episode made my mouth taste like ash. Something told me that troupe wasn''t out to sell cookies.

    Neither one of us said anything for the rest of the drive.

    I made it to the park, feeling antsy, agitated, and extremely disturbed. My upset feelings carried over for the next two days, throwing all my attempts at going with the flow into disarray. The hours went by with me trying to lose myself in the movements. Trying and miserably failing.

    "You alright, James?" Tal''s gravely voice snuck up on me. I blinked a few times, trying to figure out where I messed up the transition between two poses but not making the connection.

    "No, he''s not." Roy''s words were clearer than his father''s. I hadn''t even noticed that our main instructor had returned.

    "Rough week," I responded

    "Some get like that." Roy agreed.

    Finding the rhythm proved difficult. I desperately needed to lose myself in something. A third night carrying these emotions would capsize me. I needed to get lost in the dances. Our main meeting ended and again I hadn''t been able to relax. Sleeping tonight would be hell.

    "Here. Like this," Roy took a stance next to me and deliberately spun through the first two steps I was working on. "Foot down, pivot, shift the weight back, arms switch positions. You know this one." he curled his hands like there was something in them. One slightly to the side. Almost like a drummer holding a large instrument.

    I tried to mimic the movements and failed.

    "It''s all on the back foot," Roy sounded upset. So was I. "Do it again, slowly."

    Three more attempts made negligible progress. Seeing that compound of people had bothered me fiercely. We had been there less than thirty minutes, a normal person might have gotten over it.

    "You''ve been doing fine until recently," Tal said to me.

    "Like I said, rough week."

    "You''ve done well considering." Roy agreed.

    "Considering what?" I asked. They sounded like they knew all about my hardships. Maybe the quiet driver had explained what happened? People in this small town might all feel the same way.

    There was a pause while the larger man debated how to answer.

    "Well, we''ve all had trials. Some harder than others. I expect much of this is strange to you." Roy''s words were hesitant and vague.

    "I guess," I said. Maybe the feeling crawling through me was new town blues, and a countdown before my feet hit the road to greener pastures. These last few days had me thinking about moving on. Rachel had been fantastic, having steady income was good too. I could save up for a week or two then cut ties.

    "Tell you what. Tomorrow''s Saturday. You want to go on a trip?" Roy said. The large man seemed positively giddy. "It¡¯s about time you got some excitement."

    I grunted and tried to do the stupid motion once more. After another failure, I shook my legs then asked, "What kind?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be a surprise, but a man like you will enjoy it,¡± Roy said. He clapped a hand on my back which made my shoulders twitch in annoyance.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said feeling strangely at peace with Roy¡¯s suggestion. It felt natural to agree to whatever he planned. Part of me wondered what the hell was wrong with my head that I trusted both Tal and his son with such ease.

    Disturbed would have been a kind word for my gut feelings. Everyone felt like strangers from an estranged family. As always, when memories of the past floated by, my wrist itched. I scratched absently and tried to figure out what was going on.

    The next day arrived. I met Roy and his father at the park. We chatted while loading into a car. The thought of being trapped in a vehicle for hours made my teeth grind together. At least Roy¡¯s car was more spacious than I had expected. Something about him felt strangely together, focused, the kind of man who carried on because he only knew how to go one direction. Roy moved forward in a steady and unshakable march.

    Tal prattled away while we drove. He calmly spoke about the weather, people, politics, culture, and everything else under the sun. He seemed like the sort that had been reserved until old age made him question the need for stoic silence. I was interested enough to respond occasionally.

    He asked me all kinds of questions. Did I know that there used to be stories about people who controlled the weather? He talked about great beings of immense power and ability with silly rivalries. My response was, ''no, I hadn''t known at all''. Tal chuckled and called them Gods, not singular, not like the Churches referred to a single God. Multiple, and he implied they were a petty lot who had almost all been killed.

    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Did I know that wolves used to exchange leadership with fights to the death? I told Tal that the practice wasn¡¯t new to me. According to television documentaries the succession by blood trials had been outlawed nearly two hundred years ago. Roy and Tal both expressed their disappointment at the leadership by combat being removed.

    The old man kept going with one about vampires. He said they truly did need blood to survive. It was greatly reduced as long as they never abused their powers. Sounded like bullshit, and the kind of story a racist old man might spout. I didn''t oppose Tal''s view with anything more than a snort.

    Tal laughed, seeing my disbelief for what it was.

    He tried another tidbit of racial knowledge. Tal claimed elves had a way to turn their illusions into real objects. That was old news. Elves performed alchemy and transmuted all manner of things, it was a tedious process, but worth it. Only some of their more powerful elders actually had the skill. Their efforts had nearly cornered a huge swath of the rare minerals market. Silver prices especially were impacted by their constant production. Scientists had only recently figured out it had to do with the periodic chart and similar elements.

    He kept on rambling away. For some reason, the old man was eager to get my opinion on everything under the sun. He asked what I thought of various political leaders. From there he went on to racial offices, such as the vampires running for the open Tribunal spot, local pack Alphas, and elven royalty. I hadn''t met a lot of anyone nonhuman so it was difficult for me to comment. Still, he gave me names and because I saw their faces on Rachel¡¯s television, I had opinions.

    What''s more, it seemed like the old man respected my choices. I told him that most Alphas I saw on television were very driven people. They cared for their family members. The only issue was that pack came first, the rest of us be damned.

    Tal and Roy nodded.

    "Family always comes first." Roy said.

    "My boy''s got that right." Tal''s garbled words came. I just shrugged. I didn''t really have a family anymore.

    The vampires were harder to talk about. All the candidates annoyed me, especially the youngest one, a man by the name of Reginald. For some reason, he had a face badly in need of a fist. Roy and Tal smiled at my expressed dislike, but it felt like a strained smile. Maybe they were his supporters, or they were just worried about crossing a vampire.

    We drove into an unfamiliar city. I froze with panic, what if they were just going to dump me here? Had Tennison finally decided to evict me? My mind rationalized the issue by counting how many days it would take to walk back. The rain would make me miserable.

    To say this neighborhood was questionable would have been kind. Dilapidated houses lined one side. Convenience stores with boarded up windows stretched across the other. Roy parked the car in a rather full lot then got out. Some of the cars were fairly nice. I shrugged to myself and got out as well. At least this was mildly interesting.

    I expected people to be watching the cars for a sign of weakness. Maybe some shady looking guy would stand in the darkness looking for an easy vehicle to rob. There was no one.

    We wove around the building to an empty space between buildings. Tonight¡¯s forecast included muddy dirt, humid air, and shouting. The source of all those yells became obvious as we cleared the last corner. There was a circle of people gathered around other men. Loud people cheered while waving their arms. Other people stood off to one side, money exchanging hands under an umbrella.

    Roy headed straight for the money counting man. Tal was slower but led me in the same direction with a gentle hand. By the time we got there the large instructor was already deep in negotiations about something.

    "Next round?" Roy asked.

    "Buy in''s five hundred, win tonight, next week''s buy in is three hundred. Flunk out and the price stays at five." the man said. He didn''t even give us a full look over. There was a hefty looking guy behind him who was clearly the muscle.

    I would put money on Roy if things got rough.

    "Got it." came Roy''s gruff reply. He looked fairly calm, but his tone implied the money counter wasn¡¯t worth respect. I never had a problem with gambling officials myself. Either way, currency changed hands.

    "You''ll be on deck in two rounds. Be ready. And hey, good luck!" the guy sounded sincere but his smirk told otherwise. Maybe he deserved a punch in the face too.

    "Let¡¯s go, James." Roy ushered me to the main ring where even now people were yelling and faces were being pounded.

    "You headed in?" I asked.

    "Not me." Roy said.

    "Tal?" My eyebrow went up in confusion. The older man was fit, but fighting ready seemed doubtful.

    "Not me, boy, you." the old bastard was grinning at me.

    "What? Why?"

    "You need to hit something." Roy said.

    That gave me a pause. With the general sleepiness of Tennison and that compound''s weird vibe, I had been stressed out. Hitting things sounded fantastic. The moment that word passed through my head I became even more annoyed. Now a fight was definitely needed.

    "Sure," I agreed. Face punches for everyone. Free of charge.

    "Good, we¡¯ll watch these others. See if there''s and strength in them." Roy nodded.

    We found a side of the circle that wasn''t overly crowded and watched the first fight. Tal and Roy both grew quiet and studied. Their eyes followed the fight¡¯s movements. Both managed to keep the same calm stance and even breaths, almost like they went into a trace. They were trying to get a feel for something. I found myself watching them more than the match.

    Suddenly they found a rhythm. Roy and Tal started moving along with the fight. They swayed, barely, in the same directions. Both of them twitched in the same way or rolled shoulders and tensed fingers. I turned and looked at the two men pounding on each other in the ring then back to Roy and Tal.

    Their strange weaving was mimicking the battle. By watching those two, anyone with eyes would understand what was happening. Soon I was moving too. The fighter should pull back in one spot, then move slightly to the left in another. They could feint with a right and pull in with their left. A knee broke off the obvious grapple attempt.

    I had never expected either of them to bring me to a place like this. Vague memories of watching fights surfaced in my head. I had seen more than a few but hadn¡¯t actually fought in years. My habits were to stick to punching bags, pads, trees, whatever was handy as I traveled. A few dollars could get me a day or two at the gym when needed.

    Now these two had enrolled me in actual combat. Hell. I was game.

    My doubts had started to worm their way into everything as the first round ended. The father and son combo here might be able to win a match, but I had no practical experience.

    "Five?" Roy asked.

    Tal grumbled a bit.

    "Four, if he''s lucky."

    "Me?" I was puzzled.

    "No, the younger one over there." Tal waved a disgusted arm at one of the men. The human fighter had a tribal tattoo on his shoulder. It was stereotypical.

    "That bad?" I hoped we were on a one to ten scale.

    "Too much seasoning. Not enough real meat." Roy said.

    "These guys have no edge." Tal grumbled.

    "Huh." their explanations didn¡¯t make much sense to me.

    "Real men, who''ve fought for their lives, you see the difference in reactions. These guys measure everything. Think too much. Doesn''t just react." Thankfully Roy was explaining. If Tal had tried I might have been lost in his mumbles.

    "Sounds familiar." I aired some of my insecurities.

    "Don''t worry. You''re not like them."

    "What''s my score?"

    "Right now?" Roy asked while raising an eyebrow. He glanced at his father with a slight question.

    Tal just shrugged. In the background, the second fight was nearly over. One of the fighters had the other pinned on the ground with an arm close to being broken.

    "We''ll see what''s left." the older man said.

    What the hell did that mean? The set of his jaw, the focus in his eyes, something serious was passing through his thoughts. Roy grunted and came to a decision.

    "James, I''ll tell you how to handle it."

    "Son..." Tal looked worried. Roy gave the older man a glare. They engaged in their visual pissing match.

    "You''re up, new meat." the money counter had elbowed his way past the crowd to get ahold of me. He escorted me to the starting point. Roy came with us.

    "James, think of yourself as the champion," Roy was high if he thought I was more than a drifter. "Your opposite is trying to take what''s yours. The title, the honor, failure here means losing everything."

    "How''s that going to help?"

    "You got ten seconds, new meat." the little man said.

    "This ground is yours, this fight is yours, don''t think, just react, live in the moment." Roy was getting further away, and understanding him with cheers around us was even harder than normal.

    "What?" The circle closed in and a bell chimed. Calloused feet brushed along the ground behind me. I turned around just in time to throw hands up and avoid a punch aimed at my head.

    "Hell." I muttered.

    The other man stepped in while swinging his other arm. He tried to connect a blow from the outside. I wasn''t ready. My opponent''s fist rung the side of my head something fierce. I tried to gather myself and pull back.

    The other man followed and kept the pressure up. My brain was still trying to scramble through Roy''s advice and apply it somehow. Think of this place as mine?

    Somewhere in the fog of my mind, there was a twinge. A shift of perceptions. Like a deaf man sitting in an empty auditorium. Peaceful, empty. Only he turns around to find a band has set up behind him. Then someone bangs on the drums and sends an incredible sensation through his entire body. Even deaf he would notice the vibrations.

    A flattened foot connected with my side that had been partially blocked by a lowered elbow. Fresh pain caused a half hunch sideways. Whoever I was fighting preferred striking to grappling. That was good I guess. I tried to return a punch or do anything but only felt disjointed.

    We slowly circled. Roy and Tal stood in the background. Like before I was watching them more than the fight I was part of. They swayed to the left, then right. I missed cues and took two more hits which helped everything hurt.

    Roy''s stern eyes were unblinking. He showed no sympathy or kindness. The man expected more. Tal had said my number was up in the air. I tried to remember their advice, to think of this place as mine. But why would that make a different?

    Another punch rung my head good. I recovered gradually and stopped worrying about why, and tried to perform instead. Wrapping my sense around owning a parking lot felt both foreign and comforting. It could be, or would be mine.

    Mine.

    The word pounded, or pulsed. Maybe it banged instead. Its erratic beat transformed into a steady drumming. My ears became numb to the rest of the noise. I was still being hit but the pain was secondary.

    Mine.

    The word was powerful enough to make me shiver. The other man was trying to keep pressure up but I was getting better at blocking the movements by thinking less. My mind started to slide to a place that existed only in the moment.

    Mine.

    The concept was easier to picture. Easier to understand. This place was mine, I was the one in control here if only I took it back. Or maybe that was insanity. I smiled. If nothing else, this was different. Exciting. Adrenaline had caught up.

    This time when he came in I brushed his hand away. It was one of the movements that Roy and Tal had us practicing in the park at twilight. One arm controlling where theirs went. The other striking in return to the center of the body. Not with a fist, but with the palm''s heel. Upward, shocking the rib cage.

    Fast. Hard. Stop him. Vibrates. Rattles. Enemy''s beat skips as I strike. Shout in triumph.

    My opponent stopped then went crossed eyed. His body slipped forward and that was it. Winning had been simple. A connection of pure force to his middle had ended him. My ears were pounding. I didn''t understand. There had to be more to this fight than a quick one-two.

    Pink Meat''s heartbeat flutters. Cheers vibrate me. Feet stomp. Weak noises, but welcome. Appreciation of my superiority. Missed.

    I shook my head trying to shake the strange thoughts away. The man in my arms was barely breathing. People were rushing in to pull him away. Someone was shouting while Roy pushed another man off of me. Angry voices pelted my ears, ranting about how hard I hit. Blood welled to the surface leaving a handprint on the man''s skin. They were rolling him over in desperation.

    Eyes roll. Room noisy. Too loud now. Dislike. Want quiet. I am sleepy.

    Sound permeated the region. Roy and Tal, one on either side of me, kept people away as we went to collect our winnings. Their words were hushed but sounded like there was another round being arranged. Both men stood as guardians all the way to Roy''s car.

    My head was becoming overwhelmed by the excess noise. Too much was going on. Everything tingled. I could swear that people''s footsteps were my own. That their arms brushing against the air felt personal. That the shouts crashing through objects were piercing me directly.

    It got worse. As we drove the hum of the engine''s belts and pistons brushed against me like my hands were wiping each other off. Only more intense, like pulling hair, like a suit of clothes that didn''t fit well. I hated it.

    "Tal?" The words drug out of my mouth.

    "Yes?"

    "What''s my score?" I was sleepy and so extremely tired. My wrist itched again.

    "Mmh. Six, maybe seven."

    "That bad?" I asked. The idea that I couldn¡¯t fight well bothered me. That guy had gone down in one good connection. My prey. My turf. Both eyelids fluttered back and started to close. Blackness was crawling across my awareness.

    "There''s hope. You could be a ten again. Maybe more." Roy¡¯s head nodded.

    "Oh." I faded further away.

    Consciousness was stuck in that place where a single snore startled me. It was impossible to tell if I had been out for ten seconds or ten minutes. Everything was dark while the two up front were muttering at each other. It was hard to hear. My mind slid slightly and their conversation became clearer.

    "There''s enough left." Roy¡¯s words weren''t directed at me.

    "This is dangerous." Tal said. "How are we to hide him like this?" The older man''s words were garbled again. Maybe he said something else. Something profoundly deep, such as ¡®cow art we to let him bike this¡¯. Those words might make more sense at this point.

    "We shouldn''t hide him."

    "You wish to reveal ourselves, after all our efforts?" Tal asked.

    Mountain Elder is shocked. Body shifts, freezes. Last Chief grumbles. Angry. Controlled, though. Barely ticks. Only hint are fingers gripping wheel. Pressure crushes at leather and plastic.

    "If he could lead us." Roy said.

    "That¡¯s foolish madness. We shouldn''t be risking any of this." the older voice devolved into broken protests.

    "You''re not in charge anymore, old man. You lost that right, unless you wish?" the middle-aged male left his question hanging.

    "No, Gods, live long, son. I''ll never take that back." Tal muttered.

    I shifted my position and felt myself snoring heavily. Roy and Tal both quieted down. Finally Roy turned the stereo to classical music. I hadn''t expected him to listen to anything so old fashioned, but lot of things about the big man didn''t match my half-formed ideas. My consciousness bled away while a flutist spiraled through endless notes.

 Trials Of The Chief; Trials of the Chief; Chapter 16 - Tender

    Author Notes

    Alright. Todays chapter should be the final leap in putting some pieces into place, I think. A couple of notes for anyone who hasn''t picked up on it (And because I want to hear what those reading think)

    The girls who all kind of look like Barbie dolls aren''t human, so what do you think they are? Inspired from Greek myth.

    Steven isn''t human either. Think along the same vein as the girls, anyone want to guess what he is?

    Rachel isn''t human....any guesses there?

    I can confirm if people are super interested, and I''ll throw the answer in spoiler tags or something.

    Also, I still have the questions posted a month ago to come back to. It''s been rough to find more time to write new content. Work is busy, and I''m scrambling to do three solid updates a week between my two fictions. CO''s closing will relieve some pressure.

    Next chapter involves more action, more plotting, then things devolve rapidly from there to towards the books ending.

    <hr /><hr /><hr />

    My stomach was doing backflips but I woke up slowly. Sitting up wasn''t hard. Being hit so many times last night should have left me stiff and tender in spots, yet nothing was noticeable. I performed better than expected, even if Tal only measured the effort at a six. That was kind of exciting, ten was a goal. A real personal destination.

    Groggy calculations of my performance were derailed by a heavenly aroma. Laying next to me was a pile of food that would taste even better. Soon I was shoving a side of beef and potatoes into my mouth that tasted fantastic.

    My mood turned sour as the word ran through my thoughts. Why did the word fantastic annoy me? I was on the fence about fighting and that adjective drifted through. I shook the thought out, finished my food, then stumbled to the bathroom to search for bruises.

    I checked myself over enough to be a borderline narcissistic. Ten minutes of self-inspection revealed no lasting damage. No damage displayed on my side, chest, or shoulders. My face felt nearly pristine minus the nose which had never healed right. Having a hard skull was good for something.

    Maybe Rachel was up still. I didn''t even remember getting into bed, Roy and Tal must have dumped me off. I wandered downstairs and found the stout woman in her normal kitchen location. Halfway between cooking enough for two armies. It prompted a question I had meant to ask for weeks.

    "Where does all your cooking go?" I asked.

    "You eat some, other townsfolk get some. Then friends in other cities pick up some once a week. Some gets donated." She didn''t even wonder about my sudden appearance. Guess I was noisy coming down the stairs.

    "Huh."

    "You sleep alright?" Rachel asked.

    "Yeah." My sleep had been the best in weeks. Roy¡¯s words about me needing to hit something were accurate. I didn¡¯t remember being violent, though. Not to that extent.

    "Good, you found dinner?"

    "Sure did. Thanks.¡± I scratched my chin. ¡°How did I get into bed?"

    "Those boys dropped you off." Only Rachel could call two clearly grown men ''boys''. Tal was probably at least Rachel¡¯s age, and then some.

    "Huh," I repeated.

    "You out drinking again?" she asked.

    "No." For some fighting and drinking went hand in hand. That didn¡¯t feel like the right style for me. I vaguely remembered being a bad drunk in the distant past.

    "Don''t you lie to me, kiddo. I hate liars."

    "I didn¡¯t drink."

    Rachel turned and stared at me. Clearly she expected an explanation.

    "A friend got me into a match, to fight another person.¡±

    "Oh." The answer didn''t improve her mood. Her cooking kicked up a notch and as the woman started bustling around even more. She went to the fridge to get additional items out, preparing another meal for the already growing stockpile.

    I dug out a few leftovers and loaded them onto the plate. Dinner upstairs had been good, but there was still room in my stomach for another helping. There was no microwave and the stove was completely occupied. Cold food suited me fine. No salt either. After compiling my goods I sequestered myself in a corner of the kitchen and stared out one of the windows.

    "Did you win?" Rachel asked after around round of preparation and food testing. She wasn''t using gloves in her cooking but I doubt anyone cared.

    "Yeah.¡± My head bobbed up and down as a small rush of giddiness hit.

    ¡°I did."

    "That''s good.¡± Rachel¡¯s hand on the cutting board paused for two seconds. ¡°Did anything else happen?"

    I held my tongue. Explaining my weird other voice felt like a bad idea. Being strangely overloaded and feeling physical objects I wasn¡¯t touching felt like a delusion. Maybe that was just the fight or flight instincts kicking in.

    "Well?" Rachel asked. I hadn''t answered her quick enough.

    My mouth opened briefly to try and say a clever lie. That failed, so I did the next best thing. Another forkful of chilled leftovers was shoved into my face while I contemplated the nearest streetlamp.

    A wooden ladle to the head put focus back where Rachel wanted it. By the time I turned around she already had another one out and was stirring brown liquid in a pot. I stared at her, then the ladle. She must have pulled it out of a drawer just to throw at me.

    "Not really," I said.

    "You sure, kiddo? Fights do weird things to boys. My husband always hated how he felt afterward. He used to spin me such a yarn in his letters."

    "You were married?" Rachel didn¡¯t have a ring that I saw. There were no pictures in the house. If I hadn¡¯t seen her sleeping here I might have suspected this place as belonging to someone else.

    "I sure was, but that was ages ago," she paused and blinked, "he was a kind man who died overseas during World War Two." Rachel stopped cooking for a moment and stared. This time, the delay was even longer than before. After ten seconds the woman went back to bustling around the kitchen.

    "Huh." I felt stuck on repeat but didn¡¯t have a better response. World War Two was decades ago. It helped me guess how old Rachel was. I had a hard time figuring it out. Her hair stayed a dark brown and she looked like she had the same short plump figure forever.

    "Well, when you want to talk, I''m here. I ain''t so old that I don''t remember how boys get when they squabble. Always need to air to someone, else the anger sits like poison."

    I blinked, then smiled.

    "Sure, Rachel."

    "Oh. Mister Henderson called, guess one of his weekend boys is out sick. I told him you were out rabble rousing last night, but should be okay tomorrow. He wanted you to come in for an extra shift. Take food with you."

    "Tomorrow?" Working on a Sunday sounded horrible. Not even God worked on Sundays.

    "Tomorrow. Your normal time from what I gathered. I''m not a secretary, so if you want details, you go ask the man." Rachel shook a rolling pin at me without looking up

    "I couldn''t see you as a secretary."

    "Watch it." She didn''t sound offended though.

    I shrugged, then staggered out the door. I wanted to clear my head a bit. The food had helped, having a normal conversation helped. Still, last night was weird.

    Only a few blocks away I found myself practicing the movements Roy was teaching us. Not the full blown dances, only portions. An arm here, a footstep here, twisting the hips like so. Anything that might help dissect how they went together, what they did, what the point of each move was.

    The one I used last night was a good example. It relied on turning the opponent''s movements against them. Forcing them to open their defenses and take the damage. Some combat schools focused on joint locks, others on striking techniques, some on ground control, or just kicking. Each one had a different cadence.

    But Roy''s I couldn''t quite figure out. There were a lot of different stances. A lot. It almost seemed like they were entirely separate flavors. Strawberry verse chocolate. Bananas against Rum. Hell. That was a terrible analogy, but I was still hungry.

    Sirloin was a spinning set of swipes that twisted in circles. Sawing at the edge of someone''s defense, knocking them off balance before going for the kill. Prime Rib punches that annihilated the weak spots between limbs. Separating chunky meat from bone.

    I wandered downtown while counting out my pocket change. There was a market that stayed open most of the day. Combination food store, pharmacy, liquor, video rental. People in Tennison still had VHS.

    They would have jerky or something to snack on. Maybe then I could focus on how these moves tied together without equating them to food. Rachel was going to kill me for eating somewhere else.

    Finding food was easy. I grabbed a few strips of preserved meat and walked to the register.

    "Hey, man," a male voice greeted me in the checkout line. I turned around and looked. The bartender, or crazy paramilitary cult member, stood behind me. He wore baggy clothes and glasses which barely covered his intense gaze.

    "Hey," I said.

    "I¡¯ve seen you around town. Figured I should properly introduce myself. I didn''t want you to be chased off from our last meeting."

    "No, I don''t drink much. I''m James." I held out a hand for a shake. Playing along with the nice crazy man was the best course to take.

    "Zach. I remember you from the bar. I''ve got a good head for faces, man." We shook. It was firm if a bit forceful.

    "Nice to meet you." I wasn''t sure about him, but rudeness wouldn''t serve me. Being new in town came with social hazards. "I''ll see you around."

    I slipped the cashier some money and headed onward.

    "Hey, James!" Zach shouted after me. I turned around at the door and waited for his additional words of wisdom. "You watch out for that lady you''re living with. Something ain''t right about her."

    The look on my face must have been pure confusion.

    "You should drop by the bar again, we''ll talk." The cashier distracted Zach by asking for money. I made my way out the door before the bartender was done shifting cards around.

    He was warning me against Rachel? She was such a nice lady. A bit stern, maybe weird with her sleeping patterns, but if vampires could have their nocturnal habits, Rachel could sleep however she wanted to. If that qualified as disturbing then there was no telling what my hearing a strange voice would be. Zach''s unintended counsel helped cement my silence.

    I munched my goods and wandered to the park. There was an hour until our gathering. Time passed as I laid on the grass contemplating what had been happening. Too many things weren''t adding up. Nearly everything. I had traveled a lot of places around Western Sector, one coast to another, and Tennison had more going on than originally expected.

    I tried to untangle the people from my recent months. Was staying here in Tennison worth it? It wouldn''t be hard to pick up and leave. We were barely invested in each other. Leaving wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone.

    That compound of gun nuts had members from all over town. Zach was probably only one of many. Still, not everyone liked them. One of Henderson''s drivers clearly detested the place.

    Rachel gave off the mom vibe but didn¡¯t have children. That confused me because one of the upstairs bedrooms had been a nursery of sorts that was remodeled recently. She provided food which ensured a high score, even if she beat me with kitchen utensils.

    Roy and Tal seemed overly attached to my well being. We only knew each other for a few weeks and that was enough to drag me out to a fight. Afterward, they tucked me into bed. It qualified as strange. Still, they hadn''t shown any signs of hostility or ulterior motives.

    Then there was Steven. He basically amounted to a skirt chasing puppy. He would probably pester me again tonight. We hadn''t gone out to drink since last time, yet I had an invite from the bartender himself.

    Luckily there weren''t any other players in this town. Everyone else was unimportant. Even my job was a pointless blip on the radar. Something to do for money.

    The list had numerous problems on it. If this place got worse then I would pack my bags and hit the road again. I didn''t want to get involved in a mess. Avoiding complications was the whole point.

    Fingers scratched at my arm idly while I tried to remember the person being avoided. Recalling even a full scent felt difficult. There was something, the barest hint of something sharp and crisp which cleared my sinuses. What was that flavor? My fingers could almost feel smooth skin attached to a tall body. The woman¡¯s legs were long and firm and part of me ached to be near her and say a name. I knew her voice went between quiet and demanding or angry, but never for long. Yet, remembering who she was, that proved difficult.

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    The sun was setting before I noticed. How long had passed while my memories danced just out of reach? Thirty minutes? An hour? Hell.

    Looking around revealed a lighter crowd than normal. Roy and Tal were gone along with most of the group. That seemed off for a Saturday. I looked around for either of Roy''s sons but found no one.

    The ladies were here. Steven was here. A black teenager with his mother had also shown up and they chatted off to one side. He demonstrated some of the moves, trying to walk her through the steps. She was middle aged, white, slightly overweight, but most of it was in her top. I was willing to bet she was only here to make sure her son didn''t stare too hard at the other females.

    "Where''s Roy?" I asked the crowd.

    "He''s busy tonight," one of the women spoke up. She was one of many of the indistinguishable clones. Why such an array of beautiful ladies showed up in this group was beyond me. Normally there were six or seven of them, tonight there were only three.

    "Tal? Anyone?"

    "They¡¯re not here either. None of the men are, except you," a second one piped up. She looked worried and confused. The worry spread through the trio.

    "And me!" Steven acted as his own cheerleader.

    "And Steven. I guess," a girl said. She was a bit more put together than her vapid supermodel sisters.

    "Come on, we both know I''m man enough," he insisted.

    "It''s not the same." She shook her head.

    "How so?" I asked.

    "I don''t..." She drifted off and looked at the other women, "...don''t..." The words fell apart again. They tried to help each other out but were having a hard timing completing their thoughts. I knew that feeling, especially recently.

    "Roy and Tal help us. You help us. But I don''t..."

    The black teen noticed our conversation and ran over. He stood between the ladies and me. Steven, true to form, had found his way to one of the female''s sides. He was busy whispering, no doubt trying to secure his nightly plans.

    "You remember James, he''s been exercising with us." Steven stepped in and gestured in my direction. He patted my arm in reassurance and I almost punched the wiry man.

    "Yes. I know him. Ja..." her words drifted again. The one who had been doing most of the talking was a brunette. Normally they weren¡¯t spacey, and they never talked to me. They usually followed along like dancers. Yet, now they couldn''t link two thoughts together.

    "James, yeah." Steven nodded.

    "James can protect us." One settled on the thought and smiled pleasantly. Confusion passed over their faces as they looked in my direction.

    The teen nodded along with Steven. He said, "We''ll just have to go without Roy tonight. James can show us."

    "Me?" I blurted out doubt before it even registered. Putting me in charge wasn''t the best idea. A few weeks weren¡¯t enough to be in charge of anything.

    "Sure, just do the same stuff we practiced last night. It''ll be fine," Steven suggested while the black teen nodded.

    "Are you two sure?¡±

    "Yep, stand over there, we''ll face you, and just watch the movements.¡± Steven pointed.

    ¡°We¡¯ve done this a few times, so it should be easy,¡± the black teen said.

    I didn¡¯t know his name off the top of my head. ¡°Roy said you''d be okay with it. He''s giving you the class for the night."

    The class was mine tonight? Mine? Why did that word matter so much? I tried not to shiver at the strange thought pattern passing through. The teen was giving me a weird face. I had to get myself together.

    "Roy said this was mine tonight?" I asked.

    "Yeah, I got a text a few hours ago." The teen held up a white phone with some lettering on it. I squinted and tried to read the words but it was snatched away before anything became clear.

    "Someone has to lead," one of the girls said. "Someone good. You''re good at it." She seemed convinced.

    "I just started." I tried to back out again. Being in front of people like this felt weird. Fighting another man and being punched had been far less scary.

    "You''re better than I am. This whole thing makes me feel like I''ve got two left feet. If it wasn''t your summer vacation we''d be back somewhere sensible. Like home or a movie," the teen''s mother said. She looked exhausted already but we hadn''t even started. Her clothes were comical and not the least bit workout ready.

    "You promised you''d do what I wanted to, besides, it''s only for another week," the teen told his mom. Their conversation became background noise as I scanned the rest of the group.

    Steven had nearly separated one girl from the crowd, she had a pleasantly confused look on her face. She all but exuded confusion about how she got so far away from the other two women. It was odd how spacey these three were getting.

    "Alright, we''ll start. Line up," I directed my words at Steven. He missed them completely. The female with him did not. She regained her composure and headed back to the group.

    "Steven, you''re up front." He had tried to position himself behind the ladies.

    "Me?"

    "Yes." I stared at the man and his perpetual grin.

    "Alright, boss. If you say so." He ambled up front, right in front of the girls. I glared. It didn''t stop the man from giving a wink behind him and then turning back to me with a faux serious look on his face.

    I sighed then we started.

    We started with the first series. It moved slowly and felt designed like a warm up. I liked to think of it as peeling a giant potato. When Roy did it things quickly moved from one motion to the next. I went slower because everything felt weird from this side of the crowd. Focusing was harder than expected since some of the movements required low dips or poses that looked far too appealing on the ladies. There was at least some plus about having Steven in front. His stupid smirk made staring behind him easier to avoid.

    We held each position a little longer than we should have. Half a dozen mistakes were barely avoided as I tried to walk through the transitions. Some people¡¯s hands were too low or feet in the wrong spots. A nagging voice in the back of my mind kept correcting motions before the problems became obvious. By the fourth starting stance I found something resembling a rhythm. We moved through the rotation once and then started over.

    I tried to eye the six people gathered like Roy would. My goal was to see if they moved right and check their posture. At the same time I had to remind myself to keep my head pried back, shoulders down, and spine tall. No one really needed adjustments besides me.

    Watching the others for errors felt harder than Roy made it look. That man had his body on autopilot and his attention on the crowd the entire time. Splitting attention was beyond me right now. We made it almost the end and moved into a cool down phase.

    Steven was probably cursing himself now for not having a prime view. I was kicking myself not to stare too hard when the ladies bent over. Their fronts were even worse on my sanity then their backs.

    I tore my lingering gaze away then looked around. The teen and his mother were doing fine. He had to be adopted but the two of them managed to remain friendly. They didn¡¯t feel standoffish like some families.

    Stretching felt pleasant and I really focused on the ones for my arms and upper back. I tried to close out with Roy¡¯s short bow to the group.

    "Enjoyed the view girls?" Steven asked. We had barely finished and he was already back to work.

    I shook my head and worked the cool down further. Tension bled away as my side stretched. One ear focused on listening to the others for any signs of failure. No one complained or uttered anything negative. They weren''t saying much either way.

    That was good, right? Hopefully Roy would be back tomorrow and we could talk about it then. Maybe he could explain why his entire family had vanished out of the blue. For weeks they were steady, one of them at least, then disappearing. Did it have anything to do with the fight last night?

    The girls left in one car. The mother and son in another. Steven was the last person there and he looked dejected at his failures. Then he turned to me and the partial disappointment on his puppy dog face shifted to happiness.

    "Do those lines ever work?" I asked him.

    "Sometimes."

    "You enjoy failure then?"

    "Can''t win the game if you don''t play!" He bounded over and pantomimed shooting a basketball.

    "That''s kind of shallow." I didn¡¯t place much value in girls without a personality.

    "Not at all, if nothing else these girls know I appreciate their looks, trust me, they''re just as concerned about how they appear as I am."

    I shook my head and sighed. Steven didn''t seem like the type to change his mind easily. He had probably been acting this way for years. Anyone could tell just by associating with him. That personality was ingrained in every action he made.

    "Drinks? We can go to that sad little bar! Then I''ll convert you to the Game as well. You and me, I need a good wingman! With those arms, we could lure them in for miles."

    It should worry me how much thought Steven put into my arms. Sure they were defined, but that was only from years of work.

    "C''mon, you reel, I''ll hook," Steven said. That stupid smile was plastered across his face.

    "I''m not a good wingman."

    "I''ll be yours then. You could use some action.¡± He pinched his nose and waved me off. ¡°Believe me, you reek of pent up frustration. Though it''s better today than it was a few days ago."

    How the hell would he know? It couldn''t have been that obvious, right? Maybe Steven was a pack member. The comment put me on the defensive.

    "Yeah. I was out last night," I said slowly.

    "That where that sweet, but barely visible, I swear, shiner came from?" He pointed at my face.

    I reached up and pushed at a spot that was still somewhat tender but not too obvious. "Yeah."

    "Out fighting?"

    "Yeah."

    "Damn, wish I''d been there, the drinks? The girls? Ladies get all hot and bothered watching a good fight.¡± His arms waved in the air as if praising a glorious sunrise. ¡°It¡¯s worth every moment. Cave man mentality in action."

    "There were no drinks or ladies." I shrugged and started toward the parking lot. Walking home two miles would give me space to try to unravel this latest twist.

    "Ah, boring. Sausage fests aren''t my thing," Steven muttered behind me.

    "I needed it."

    "Sex is way better," he said, sounding deadly serious.

    I nodded slowly. The man was probably right, but talking to him about it was disturbing. When had I ever talked to anyone about this sort of stuff?

    "So we''ll make a thing of it, tonight? Or, tomorrow? Tonight''s better though. I''ve got no plans."

    Steven clearly needed plans. He was starting to wind up toward full on hyperactive. Where the man found all his energy was beyond me. I tried not to look hard at his goofy face. How girls fell for that was beyond me. He would be fine without me.

    "Not tonight." I shook him off.

    "Suit yourself! See you tomorrow!" Steven wasted no time waiting for a response. Moments later he was in a rather nice looking car, gunning the engine, and tearing down the street. Chances were he only had that kind of car because it attracted females.

    I walked home alone.

    Solitude was preferred. Standing in front of that small gathering, even if they were silent and just following along, had been draining. Presenting myself wasn''t the same as hiding on one side or another. There was an awkward pressure I shrugged off by concentrating on my movements. Only afterwards did it become obvious how out of place I was. No one said anything, but they had to be thinking the same things I had.

    What the hell was I doing up there? Who was I to just be put in charge like that? Why did they trust a man they barely knew? That last one was a bit of a stretch. Still, those three girls had said I could protect them. That turn of phrase bothered me. She said it with such conviction and certainty but hardly knew me. A few weeks of standing in a group together an hour a night wasn''t enough to judge anyone but Steven.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 17 - Camp Grace

    Sunday was terrible. We received another order for the compound in the next county over. They insisted on having everything delivered by Hendersons. Henderson Junior didn''t care in the slightest about who was receiving the packages, just that they paid.

    I was paired with the quiet driver again. He said nothing, I said nothing, we both knew what was going to happen.

    We would reach the gate, be frisked awkwardly by armed men, and then stand there mutely as they carried away the latest crate of whatever. I didn''t actually look that hard as it was loaded up. Some giant box. Had to be wood. It was slammed onto the truck bed. Metal rolled around in a second smaller crate. Must be unassembled furniture.

    Hours later, after other smaller deliveries that were crammed into the same workload, we arrived at the compound. Sure enough, three armed men escorted me out of the cab and to the back of the cargo truck. They frisked me there. One man with a gun on me, the other with both hands patting down. How often did they practice this nonsense inside their fences? Every day? Ten times a week? Who in their right mind felt the need to prepare for some sort of apocalypse like this?

    "Hey, man, it''s James, right?" one of the males said. I looked over and noticed that Zach was on guard duty today.

    "Hey," I said back.

    "I didn''t know you worked for Henderson."

    "Yeah." Here and now was not a comfortable place to chat. Zach had his gun halfway ready. The other man hopped into the back of the truck and looked around. Searching for who knows what.

    "You should come inside, man, see the setup. We always welcome guests," Zach said.

    I tried not to shudder. The thought of going into that compound disturbed me for many reasons. Guns being the primary one.

    "We¡¯re dropping off a package at the last stop, then I''m headed back to Rachel¡¯s." I said carefully. She seemed to cook enough food for half of Tennison. Hopefully people knew her in the community. Roy and Tal did, but that might not count for much.

    "Yeah, that old lady has pretty good cooking I hear," Zach stated.

    "Rachel. Yeah."

    "How''d you hook up with her?" He nudged his gun in an offhanded manner. I tried not to grow nervous while answering him.

    "A friend," I couldn¡¯t remember that friend¡¯s name, "said there was room and board if I came out this way." Why had I told Zach the truth? There was no reason to lie. He stood there with a gun like it was natural, and I didn¡¯t feel comfortable being a liar.

    "Really? You didn''t know her before?" he asked.

    "Not until I got to Tennison."

    "Nice town yeah?"

    "We''re clear up here, Zach. I''ll call the flatbed over. Then they can get out of here," the other gun-toting guard said.

    "Sure, man, have you met James here? He''s new to Tennison," Zack introduced me.

    The other man with his gun narrowed both eyes in my direction, trying to decide how that information settled. I shrugged without raising my arms. That might be taken the wrong way.

    "He came after the others."

    "Oh. Okay then." The strange glare I had been getting reduced from live grenade to indifferent cat. What did my arrival time matter? What others did this Camp Grace guy care about?

    "Go ahead and hop back into your truck. We''ll unload the back," Zack said.

    I nodded.

    "That offer of a drink still stands. Bring your friend if you want,¡± he pressed the issue.

    "I might do that." If Steven pestered me enough we would probably end up at the bar again. Then those two could distract each other and I might be overlooked.

    I hopped into the cab and Zach went to the rear of the vehicle. Our cab bounced around a little and muffled chatting could be heard through the metal as more men hefted out the items. They didn''t even bother using the lift, instead just powering through the process.

    Off we drove. I watched the passenger side mirror, studying the place behind me. What was it that disturbed me so much? Was it just the guns? Was it the fact that places like this really existed? Television painted these places with a religious belief that was ninety degrees off sane. Zach seemed perfectly fine, even outgoing.

    That part that confused me, really confused me. How did the bartender even get outside? Weren''t most of the places intensely insular? No contact with the outside world? Maybe Zach got a pass because he owned a business. Or at least worked at one.

    Maybe he was a spy upon the outside world.

    Come to think of it, bringing Steven and Zach together might be a terrible idea. There was a possibility this place trained out here because of a strange local history. They could be some left over Minute Men. Assuming they were crazies was poor conduct.

    I tried not to let little tremors wash over me. Tried to convince myself there was some legitimate reasons for that place. That my teeth didn''t grind, that my skin didn''t try to crawl away, that my eyes didn''t ache.

    The compound was wrong and no amount of rationalizing could make this knot in my gut loosen up. I had only seen the main gate and their giant fences. Tall, ten feet or more, with trees planted all around the outside. They cleared everything inside. Buildings sat erected like barracks. Anything could be hidden back there.

    Something was being kept there. I was certain of it. An inkling in the back of my head told me so. Like an itch that kept crawling along my skin to new locations.

    I had to distract myself. Food would be fantastic. Annoyance at the word flared while I cracked open the plastic lunch container. I shared a small piece of Rachel''s cooking with the other driver. Normally giving anyone my food was nearly unthinkable, but he looked as disturbed as I was. He smiled a little upon biting into one of the cookies. We ate in silence while driving the miles of backroads to our sleepy little town.

    Finally, we pulled in, and the driver only had one thing to say, "I don''t like them."

    I nodded.

    The shift ended then both of us went our separate ways. He in his car, I to the park. I needed to distance myself. To move, fight like I had two nights ago, maybe talk to Roy, something. No one else from our group was present. Just a few afternoon townsfolk. One mother gave me strange glares while I tried not to pace on the far end. My goal wasn''t to creep out a poor woman who was just looking out for her children.

    There was a path that went into woods. Going down a strange trail was better than hovering near the park and risking a confrontation. Not against a female. Guys I could fight or tell them to go to hell. Women were a weakness and always had been.

    I traveled down the wooded way and watched out for other people who might be put off by my presence. No one showed. This was most likely a path that only children and teenagers took. A few twists and turns later almost got me lost. I closed my eyes and tried to picture where I ended up.

    The sensation felt natural. On par with breathing or checking for a pulse. As simple as running. Everything near by felt alive and hummed with energy. Then I smiled and gave the new feelings no further thought.

    My little room was somewhere to the left, two or three miles. The park just behind me. Maybe half a mile tops. This was a long, but well worn, path. Sunset was an easy hour away which gave me plenty of time to kill.

    I kept walking. If memory served, this direction went toward a library or maybe a road with houses on it. My morning runs had taken me around here before, not this exact trail, but nearby.

    Emergence put me by Tennison''s library. Barely three rooms crammed together next to the city hall. Their lawn was just as nice as the park I left behind. All told the place amounted to boredom. There were only a few employees that worked there during the day, and no one during the evening.

    I turned around and headed back down the trail to the park, satisfied that I killed some time. To waste more time I explored alcoves, wandered off the main trail, and generally poked around in any cranny I could find. There were side paths that went off into houses, others went down to a tiny stream. Kids and homeless people made these connections through repeated use over a summer.

    Along one of the side routes, I noticed someone collapsed against a tree. At least it looked like someone. It was hard to tell since they were under fabric that was soggy and matted from the rain.

    "Hello?" I said.

    No response. Maybe they were asleep or a runaway. Still, being out here couldn''t be healthy for anyone. I stepped in closer, crushing leaves and twigs loudly. They didn''t react.

    I peered harder, trying to see past the winnowing light from sunset. Shadows were cast just wrong, there was a sort of small clearing, though, just enough to watch cautiously as I approached.

    My mind started spinning all sorts of details. A female, probably, couldn''t be male. Had to be nearly starving. Thoughts turned fuzzy and it became harder to concentrate. This felt familiar. I''d been in this situation before. I tried to recall what had happened in the past and compare it to now. She, whoever she was that my memory told me about, had been black. Maybe this person I was creeping towards was dark skinned as well. Deep pigments against the base of that tree would just blend in.

    I looked for eyes, for hands, a hint of pink anywhere.

    There was a throbbing in my forehead that grew worse. A pressure stuttered inside my skull, threatening to tip me over. I put out one hand and tried to balance while still making progress towards the hanging cloth.

    "Hello?" I asked again. Maybe there was no one in front of me. Still, I approached, trying to figure out what was so familiar about this.

    The tint of plants and long shadows darkened against the brown bark of the tree. A female, why did I think there was a female here? Clearly there was no one. I was mixing up now with a buried recollection of some sort. There had been a woman in my memory, for sure. Who was she? Her dark skin stood out like a beacon, eyes drooped closed. Accompanying her was the smell of bitter crushed leaves. Covered, to protect her from the rain and cold. For all the good it did. The woman had been clammy, barely heated by where I was holding her minutes before.

    I stumbled over. Entranced by the fragmented memory surfacing in my mind. My eyes watered. The world felt barely connected. One hand reached out lamely to the hanging fabric as if touching a piece of cloth would help summon the rest of my recollections.

    But there was nothing. I stood there trying to recall the remaining details. It had been important. Had been a final moment of some sorts. My mind spun, failed to ignite, and ground out the gears before inconsistencies added up. The sun was all wrong. That it had been sunrise in my memory, not sunset like now. There had been rain, not just damp air.

    Everything shattered. Nothing I remembered made sense. I was left staring at a tree and a rag, wondering what exactly I''d been grasping at before. And, as it had for days now, my arm itched.

    In confusion I walked back to the park. A process that took far longer than expected. Everything was scattered. Thirty minutes passed in the blink of an eye. What had formerly be a fine afternoon had tilted fully into sunset. The mother who''d glared at me was gone, along with most of the other park goers.

    Instead, it was a small but familiar group. The black teen and his clearly adopted mother. The three somewhat air-headed females. No Steven, though. I looked around for Roy or his family. They were missing again.

    "James?" One of the girls sounded worried. I was too addled to answer her right away.

    "James?" she asked again.

    "Yeah?"

    "Tal¡¯s missing."

    "Again, I see," I said.

    "He''s never missing." The woman¡¯s voice rung with startling urgency.

    "Well, his family sometimes comes in."

    "Yeah. But Roy isn¡¯t here either." She must have been thrown off by our leaderless situation.

    "He''ll be back. Roy''s handling some business. James can take charge again tonight, right James?" The black teenager cut in from the back.

    "I guess." My shrug only further compounded the confusion. I hoped to have someone else sane to talk to and help clear my head. They all slowly moved to our normal spot and took up positions. And with no Steven to run interference I was getting a healthy eye full.

    "Guess we''ll start." I stood up and worked through the same routine as last night.

    I twisted into positions with no real comprehension of what was happening. Moved both arms in unison to a new stance and stretched out one leg behind me. My head felt foggy, but oddly that made it easier to just move around. They followed along, a bit slower than normal. I held the pose and scanned over my small crowd.

    "Here. Move your hips forward more," I said. One of the trio of girls was a little off center. A brunette that was built like a dancer. All lank and no curves. "Shoulder back just a bit."

    She corrected it and I nodded in approval. Then we moved onward. Another motion, and another, then doubling back to try out some of the ones we had trouble with. We were doing skill work and learning through repetition.

    The cool down went fast. Tonight¡¯s air was heavy with moisture and we hadn''t worked that hard. Finally, once we were done, the one I helped out thanked me with a blush then nearly ran off to the comfort of her friends. They collapsed around her immediately and started chattering. Something about their voices made it hard to eavesdrop. Then one turned and gave me a wiggle of her fingers with a wink.

    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    I had no clue if that qualified as flirting or not.

    "You really know this stuff, don''t you James?" the teen''s mother said.

    I looked at her and shrugged. "It seems familiar."

    "I''m sure Roy will be happy to know you''re taking care of everything." The teen cheered me on with an oddly positive attitude. It felt off. Part of me expected him to be surly.

    "We''ve got to talk about how well you and Mister Roy are getting along."

    "He''s okay people, mom!" the teen protested. His face screwed sideways in exasperation.

    "I don''t know how much I like a grown man texting you."

    "He''s family, mom!"

    "You say that, but I''ve never met him before. Certainly not from your father''s side either."

    "Don''t stress about it, mom."

    "We''ll see." She smiled, not in the same manner the trio of girls had. The mother acted kinder but slightly strained. I barely knew their names. It kept slipping from out of my head. It could have been Rich or Richard? Both wandered off to their car and drove away.

    Once again, I was left alone.

    Tonight I didn''t like being alone and that was weird as well. I needed someone, anyone, to vent to. To just talk with. Being grounded, something. Maybe Rachel would be available. She offered earlier, advised me that ''boys'' need someone to talk to. Her statement had been dead on.

    I walked home. Rachel was out like a light when I checked her room. Which made that whole idea useless. I staggered back outside, intent on wandering until my body couldn''t stay awake anymore.

    Up some streets, down others. I tried to keep to the main roads. Roaming around in the residential areas might not exactly be welcome this late at night. Someone was likely to call the cops, all three of them, and then where would I be? Up a creek, no paddles, waterfall incoming.

    I needed something, though. There was no one around to talk to. No way to go back home tonight and start blathering away. The mysterious friend who helped me find Rachel¡¯s place was a faint figment. His face was just as foggy as my mystery female''s. The very one I had run away from, the one I suffered a weird vision of in the forests.

    I must have stood in the same spot another twenty minutes trying to recall anything useful. An hour later and I was at the bar. Zach was at the counter like last time. There were a few other town regulars nearby. Sunday nights were more popular than Tuesdays, or whatever day I had been in here with Steven.

    I settled down on a stool. It was the most isolated place in the entire bar I could find. That meant two empty seats on one side, three on the other. Maybe five feet to the small group at a table behind me. Basketball was on the television.

    "Hey, man, didn''t expect you in here this soon." Zach was in the middle of wrapping up someone else''s drink.

    A more heartless man might admit that coming in here was a last resort.

    I did no such thing and said, "Yeah."

    "I''ll get your order in a moment, here." Zach forked over a menu. "Grill''s still open for last call if you want."

    "Closing soon?" I squinted at the clock.

    "An hour or so maybe. Officially we''re done at eleven, but some nights it''s sooner, depends." He shrugged then wandered back down the counter.

    I watched as he chatted at one of the groups. Zach''s voice wasn''t exactly loud, but it carried. He gave an impression of expecting attention. That seemed unusual in a bartender. Most of the ones I knew chatted, sure, but didn''t exactly come across as commanding. They didn''t need to. An aspiring drunk nearly always kept careful track of where their next glass was coming from.

    The menu was basic. Hamburgers that were probably frozen. No chicken. A token salad with mention of dressings. I counted out my meager earnings and compared that to pay day. Well, I''d worked overtime, a drink and food wouldn''t hurt me. Hopefully. If I kept it to one.

    "Let me guess, hamburger and a..." Zach mused on his approach. "Twister?"

    "Huh?" I asked.

    "Strawberry, lime, Absolut, shoved into a highball. Or do you prefer straight shots?"

    "I''ll take whatever." I had no idea what was good. There was a vague tickling in the back of my head that said it didn''t really matter. A fragment of memory said I had always been more interested in the effect, not the cause.

    "Will do. One on the house as a welcome to Tennison. That okay, man?"

    "Can you double that then?" I tried not to grin.

    "Hah, sure, man."

    Zach wandered off and I mulled over my choice. Switching that to a larger dose of alcohol had been an automatic reaction. I didn''t drink that often, though. Why would I be interested in increasing the amount like that?

    "Here, food''s got about ten minutes." Zach passed me a glass that had yellow and red liquid floating in between ice cubes. I took a sip and the strawberry overpowered me.

    I shrugged. It was free, Zach could water it down if he wanted. Not that I saw him pull any tricks from this vantage point. I had gulped down half of the drink by the time the bartender wandered back.

    "So, planning on staying in town long?" Zach asked as he came over. His other regulars were chatting happily among themselves.

    "Not sure," I said.

    "Really? This place is a lot nicer than most. Quiet and peaceful."

    "Most of it." I was distracted by a slightly fuzzy feeling that started from my nose. My ears were starting to ring as well.

    "Well, you know us small town folk, always hiding some big secret. That''s what the movies show."

    "I don''t know what you mean, we''re all perfectly sane here, no secrets!" One of the people at the table behind me butted into our conversation. "Right?" Our drunken interloper looked for support from his table.

    "Friendly family community," another one said.

    "Speak for yourself, I moved out here because the property was cheap," the third voiced.

    "Who are you going..." Their words faded off and another round of drunken debates started up.

    "Three times a week they''re in here, half plastered,¡± Zach pretended to whisper to me. ¡°Volunteer firefighters for the county. They work weird shifts on top of normal jobs."

    "And it sucks!" one said.

    "Wish they''d hire someone," the third muttered. "Could use a full-time job."

    I turned to Zach and raised and eyebrow. He shrugged.

    "Everyone''s been nice here," I admitted.

    "In Tennison?" Zach gave me a questioning look.

    "Yeah."

    "But not everywhere you''ve been?"

    "Yeah," I admitted. "Well. That place," I didn''t know what to call it, "It''s..." How do you tactfully call someone''s choice of hangout disturbing as hell? I mean really, truly, straight out wrong in its vibe?

    "Hard to get used to. Trust me, I know. That camp¡¯s been around for five or six years, mostly just a bunch of us learning new skills."

    "You talking about Camp Grace?" a drunken person in the trio of fire fighters spoke up.

    "Weirdos."

    "More like a doomsday cult. Really? Preparing for a war against nonhumans? Like that would ever happen." The third finished off their circle of commentary.

    "Nah, they''ve got it right,¡± said the first.

    "What? Hoping for war?" They kept arguing between the three of them. Zach and I didn''t even have to prompt them.

    "Hey, you never know. One day Western Sector might fail to keep everything peaceful. Then where will we be?"

    "Bent over a barrel," Zach said and snickered. He was quiet about it from his spot behind the counter.

    "Exactly." One of the trio overhead him anyway.

    "Two thousand years of getting along, and you''re worried about it now?" the female in the crowd said. They kept right on conversing using the bartender''s comment like fuel on a fire. I couldn''t even tell who was talking half the time.

    "We only got along because the furs and fangs could wipe us out in an instant. Now we got the technology to even the scales. Whose to say they won''t wise up to the risk?"

    "He''s right," their third member said. "It''s sad, and I''d hope that we''ll all get along, but it never works out that way."

    "Don''t give me that horse shit. Pure unfiltered horse shit.¡± The first person banged his cup and down on the table. ¡°You''re both delusional idiots. There will be a war eventually, it''s just a matter of when."

    "You''ve seen the news. Killing sprees from vampire transitions? How many people have lost jobs from the Pack strikes?" The second speaker seemed to be the biggest supporter of this Camp Grace group, whoever they were. I found it odd that Zach didn''t really take sides. Maybe he was being tactful.

    "Same nonsense it''s always been. News always shows the most attention getting stories, and paints a pretty picture of everyone involved," the third one said.

    "Politics, right wing idiots keep saying we should get along." The first one slammed down a drink, splashing it everywhere. "Make no mistake, those nonhumans have done more damage to us than to each other."

    Zach just rolled his eyes. I carefully downed the rest of my own liquid.

    "You''re listening to the television''s lies again. They just focus on the bad news. I keep telling you..." The third one got cut off in the middle of their defensive statement.

    "It''s not just hype. Even those Elves, they''ve blocked so many development projects that the bigger cities are like checkerboards of parks. I could have bought a real house in town if land wasn''t so restricted."

    "You''re just pissed that those condos never went through,¡± said the female in the middle.

    "I could have kept my job, no, fuck that, I''d still be able to see my kid more than once a month." The first nodded then paused to scowl at his drink.

    Their conversation twisted from ranting about races to the costs of child support and how terrible an idea getting married had been in the first place. I stopped paying attention when they moved onto high school prom dates and missed opportunities. Sulking was never interesting.

    "Well, I guess that sums it up," Zach said.

    I shrugged. Zach handled another round of orders. A few minutes later my food came out and I dug into the hamburger while trying to muddle through what had just happened. There had been a lot of anger in those words. Not outright name calling, but it was only a confrontation away from a physical altercation. Maybe the second speaker had been another Camp Grace member.

    Or maybe they''d just lost someone to one of those other races. Rachel hadn''t been too fond of them herself. Though she had been more upset at their portrayal as heroes in the histories.

    "So why are you at Camp Grace?"

    "Because of a friend." The bartender twisted his lips in a tiny smile and tilted his head.

    "Huh?" That made no sense to me. Then again there was likely no reason that would sound healthy.

    "A friend of mine got involved with them, and I couldn''t very well let him face it alone. So I found myself at Camp Grace."

    I considered his reasoning. This Camp Grace was full of military hardware, enough that the local police and Western Sector''s finest hadn''t shut them down. No one would get involved until their members actually hurt other people. The few I saw besides Zach had twitchy trigger fingers, aggressive attitudes, and took too much pride in their outfits.

    Zach, on the other hand, was laid back. Almost joking with his expressions. Friendly. It seemed opposite to what Camp Grace would want for its war preparations. Driven people, human supremacists, oppressed personalities that would do nothing but follow orders.

    "I hope he''s a good friend," I said.

    "He''s a great guy, just confused."

    "Maybe he''ll pull out of it."

    "Maybe, man, there''s always hope." Zach smiled and slipped another drink onto the counter. "One for the road."

    Turned out the bartender wasn''t bad folk. No one who gave me free alcohol could be terrible. The second drink slipped down faster than the first. With a grunt I stood up and got ready to leave. I threw down a twenty on the counter. The hamburger cost enough, and the rest could be a tip.

    "See you around, James," Zach said.

    The other three at the table saluted with a giddy cheer. "Night, James!" They were excited about something I hadn''t noticed.

    My feet wove a curved path down the sidewalk, managed to avoid slamming into a mailbox, and traveled onward toward destinations unknown.

    Morning found me collapsed at the base of a the tree I had been at yesterday. The one that disturbed me with vague recollections of the past. The side of my face was damp, and it unlikely that it had rained last night.

    How messed up was this? I was grieving for someone that I couldn''t remember. At least I finally identified the smell. The sharp bite of peppermint haunted my incomplete memories. Whoever she was, she was important. It hurt. Something had happened between us, something bad.

    No, whatever it was shouldn''t be dwelled on. Sulking wasn''t interesting and I was putting too much thought into the past.

    But sometimes it can''t be helped.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 18 - Disappointment

    The week went on and I managed to avoid Rachel''s accusing glares. She still fed me, expressed displeasure at the news stories, and threw kitchen utensils. It wasn''t exactly the same, though, something bothered her.

    At least it seemed that way. She was easy to read like I had known her forever and could pick up on all the little movements. A purse of lips was her form of disagreement. One cheek would twitch proceeding flying ladles. Outright telling me I was wrong equated to a normal person¡¯s version of livid anger. This week, since Sunday, she had been broodingly quiet, hung up on something.

    I didn''t have a lot of room to think about it. Work came and went. No more deliveries to Camp Grace occurred for a few days. Our evening practices got better, though. Come Monday night two of Roy''s spawn had returned, the set that looked like twins. They showed no interest in talking to me. In fact, they appeared bothered, almost afraid, anytime I got close. I wanted to ask where Roy went but they didn''t say much.

    The scrawny teen and his mom were gone also.

    Cheerleaders came and went. Like there was a strange factory pumping out random combinations of females. The idea sounded like a fantastic strategy for some downtown gym. Yet, confusion often lined their features if they so much as glanced my way.

    I didn''t have the guts to talk to them. Not even a casual conversation. Approaching one woman is hard enough, but when they traveled in packs it became awkward. They didn''t seem local, bringing them home to my room at Rachel''s would probably be frowned upon. Never mind that I was trying to sort out my feelings about this girl I couldn''t really remember.

    Like most guys I''d known over the years it came down to a simple equation. The headache of small obstacles prevented me from making any attempt at conversing. Probably better that way.

    Finally, on Friday night, I had enough of being completely ignored.

    "Where''s your father?" I demanded of them.

    The twins were always near each other. They even exchanged a slight glance before one answered me.

    "Gone," one said. They were hard to tell apart. Both had slightly thuggish faces, solid jaws, barrel bodies, and dark framed glasses that only came off well after sundown.

    "Is he coming back?"

    "He doesn''t owe you anything."

    "Listen." I stepped up closer and took delight in watching him flinch. "Isn''t this whole gathering something he started?"

    They glanced at each other again.

    "Yeah." a twin gave a garbled answer. Whatever speech issues Roy and Tal had were clearly inherited by these two. Like they were trying to talk around extra large teeth or something. Not that I could see anything outright broken with their facial features.

    I grumbled.

    "He''ll be back tomorrow, for you. He wants to take you to another match." They actually forgot their fear for a moment and looked happy at the idea of conflict.

    That satisfied me and I turned to leave. For just a moment something felt off. A pressure, a shift, like they were moving aggressively. Nothing made a sound, not an audible one. I felt the stuttered edge of a drumbeat. The opening of a rapid pounding rhythm.

    I paused and looked back toward the twins. They were standing shoulder to shoulder staring directly at me. Unblinking and measuring something. Belligerent drunks who didn''t know what they were doing used that glare. It was an expression for someone eager to fight. I turned the rest of the way and waited. Roy''s sons were probably well trained, likely had years of doing these moves that seemed to be the basis for a martial art.

    How would I measure up to them? Were they sevens, eights, or higher? Did it matter?

    They exchanged another glance then wandered off to their vehicle, a truck that looked to be waxed every other weekend. Truck. Hand wash only, dents not allowed.

    If my hunch had been right, they were after a confrontation, and they either decided against it or didn''t like their chances. Two on one was typically bad odds for the single man. I stood there a bit longer than needed trying to sort through the brief interaction then decided it didn''t matter.

    Rachel would have dinner ready by now, so I went home.

    The next day I woke up during the late afternoon feeling both sluggish and apprehensive. Rachel had a worried look on her face and was staring out between drawn curtains. I tried not to sneak up on her but she was clearly engrossed.

    "Nosey neighbor?" I asked.

    "Too nosey," she muttered. "A man has been watching the house for the entire week. Part of last week too. Thinks he''s clever hiding behind a mailbox."

    "Nothing escapes you."

    "Not very much." Rachel let the blinds slip closed and turned to stare at me.

    I tried to ignore her and pick through food laying around the kitchen. Everything looked disorderly. Items on the highest shelves were nearly untouched for months. Rachel must not be able to reach up here without a ladder, but if that were true, who put them up in the first place?

    "Careful eating there, your rent money went quick this week," she said. I pouted and stared down at the plate in my hands. It was a combination of mashed potatoes and turkey that I squirreled away after dinner last night. Rachel smiled briefly before saying, "I''m not saying you can''t eat, kiddo, just might not be much tomorrow."

    "Okay,¡± I said.

    "Well, it might not matter. But it''ll take more than a nosey neighbor to get me out of a house," she said, her words were faint and worried. I barely understood them. Moments later and she was back at the blinds peering out.

    Since, to the best of my knowledge, Rachel owned the house, I didn''t see why anyone would try to kick her out. Might be a small town rivalry. Or the local bridge club had turned against her.

    Oh well. My current mission was to complete chowing down on another fine meal which contained a ton of pepper and garlic. Delicious in any combination. Afterward, I scrubbed off my plate and headed outside.

    "You going out?" She caught me as I reached for the front door.

    "Yes?" My hand on the knob wasn''t clear enough I guess.

    "You be careful tonight. Getting dark out."

    "I''ll bring a jacket," I said.

    "Tell those boys of yours to be careful too,¡± she said while waving a finger at me. Her other hand held open the blinds.

    "I''ll tell them." There was no reason to keep it to myself. They probably had nice all weather clothes. Not that I could picture either of them bundled up in heavy jackets.

    No, Roy and Tal probably were suit people. Something slick looking like that car Roy drove. I could see the man in a designer clothes, the kind that was hand tailored for a bigger build. He would look imposing in that kind of getup or as security for someone rich. Such a job might explain the nice car he and his sons had.

    Rachel ignored my response and kept eyeballing the other side of the street. I gave it a glance but didn''t see anyone of note. If there was someone there they were well hidden. Maybe Rachel was just getting old. That was a sad thought.

    I went to the park and waited. Roy showed up an hour before sunset and didn''t seem at all surprised to find me sitting there. Tal was absent. I got the feeling he didn''t really drive anywhere on his own. Though I thought Tal was a local, and Roy was either an out of towner or just worked somewhere else.

    "Ready to go?"

    "Oh yeah,¡± I nodded.

    "There''s the fire.¡± Roy smiled but it looked strained. ¡°It''ll be a long drive again. You okay with that?"

    Being in a car at all irritated me. "I''ll survive."

    We got into his car. The front seats were even better than the rear ones. Everything was adjustable. I pressed all the buttons I could find before ending up in an almost fully reclined position. Laying back made the trip much more bearable.

    Ten minutes later I remembered that Roy had explaining to do.

    "Roy?" I asked.

    The large man reached over then turned down his classical music. "James?" he responded with a flat and nearly pure business tone.

    "What-¡± my mouth felt dry, ¡°-happened last time?"

    "Which part?"

    "I don''t know,¡± my words drifted as I fumbled for a way to vocalize my question without sounding crazy, ¡°I kind of, lost focus."

    There was a pause and finally Roy said, "Battle frenzy."

    The answer sounded like bullshit to me. "What do you meant?" I asked.

    "It happens to warriors when they get lost in combat. Your mind expands, picks up lots of details."

    "Like vibrations?"

    "Sometimes. Touch, sight, hearing, it''s a thrill that many combatants seek. It''s why many return to fight week after week." Roy explained as if what had happened to me might be natural. It wasn¡¯t. It couldn¡¯t be.

    "So you¡¯re saying it¡¯s just adrenaline?" I asked.

    "If you like. My explanation sounds more majestic." Workout teacher, garbled speech, drives a fancy car, listens to classical, says words like ''majestic''. Roy was a confusing man.

    "Do you enjoy fighting?"

    "I do." His feral look betrayed just how much.

    "Why didn¡¯t you fight last time?" I asked. The car ride was making me sleepy. Maybe resting in vehicles was self-defense against the aggravating feeling of those gears grinding away.

    "I only fight those worthy of my time."

    "Like?" I wanted to hear more information on what Roy considered worth fighting.

    "Champions. Men who''ve clawed their way to the top of a ranking. Veterans, strong new blood, doesn''t matter." He shrugged.

    "Do you normally win?" This man talked about battling the cream of the crop like it was a pastime.

    "Usually."

    I tried to picture myself fighting at that level. Against the best of the best. For some reason, it made my arm itch. I stared at the limb for a moment trying to figure out if there was a rash but noted nothing. A slightly charred smell did fill the air, probably from the car¡¯s heater. Roy said nothing while rolling down one of the rear windows.

    "That thing.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to call his strategy of perceiving the fight as mine. ¡°How''d you know it would help?"

    "Old family secrets. My father always taught me that some people reacted better when they had a focus. Boxers do it, as challengers, or when guarding a title." Roy flipped a turn signal on and merged across lanes.

    "Handy," my words were absentmindedly spoken.

    "For some people, it helps things click. Try it again tonight. We''ll be there a bit early so you have time to focus, mentally prepare. Maybe study the other fighters."

    "Like you and your father?" I wasn''t sure they ever actually advertised their relation since my arrival at Tennison. It was just obvious. Their family traits were shared across three generations. Maybe it was the hint of larger foreheads, squinted eyes, the slight barrel chest, any number of things.

    "Yes. The old man¡¯s still got the eye."

    "Yeah, he looks like he¡¯s been in a fight or two over the years." I had watched Tal. He had a slight limp in his walk. Not that it stopped him from keeping upright. It was just moving that looked painful. His skin had to be drawn tight and hurt somewhere under the full garb he wore. Scars, or burns perhaps.

    "Tal¡¯s seen the fires of real combat and dove straight into them. You''d be thankful if you understood the depths of it."

    "Is he a war veteran? Military?" I tried to narrow down Tal and Roy''s history. Service members would make sense. Roy''s entire family could be true blue patriots. Maybe they were Homeland Corps. Those who fought for the Sector were often broken over and over until there was nothing left but steel.

    "Not entirely,¡± Roy hedged. ¡°We just take our jobs seriously."

    "Mh?" I questioned.

    "My father and I, my boys, we all have one real job in this world. To protect the family. It requires a lot of us. We train, we fight when we have to."

    "But a man should enjoy his work." I was starting to get sleepy. Being in cars always gave me the same reaction. Stress, irritation, then it made me tired.

    "That he should." There was a bit of tooth to Roy''s words. Friendly, yet worked up at the same time. Something about our conversation had set the larger man on edge.

    Why did I know that? It was like Rachel all over again, Roy had easy to read vibes. Everything we ever talked about came across without guile or falsehood. Family was a powerful motivator to him. Not just their existence, but protecting it. What an alien concept. My family was distant at best. Family felt like him cleverly alluding to an organization. Police? Mafia? Some other underground system?

    "Your sons wanted a fight." I switched topics.

    "Did they now?"

    "Mh." The reclining front chair coupled with endless street lamps was starting to work magic. Almost hypnotic.

    "You have my permission to put those men in their places."

    "Men?" My eyes slipped downward. "Not runts?" I frowned, trying to remember when I heard them called that.

    "Not anymore," he casually said.

    "The Last Tribe grows. That is good." I yawned, not even paying attention to what came out my mouth.

    Most of the motion was in his cheeks, raising upward to grin, then mouth pinching closed in worry. He didn''t say anything outright for a few minutes. During his silence darkness crept in. When I opened my eyes much later he was talking on a phone to someone. The same worried look still present. It was easy to ignore. Calming notes from the classical music spun around in the background and put me right back out.

    The car stopped. I woke up, expecting someone to start pounding on the window signaling our arrival. No such knocking came. In fact, Roy had barely parked and was just unbuckling his seatbelt. He gave me a raised eyebrow but said nothing. I shifted the seat back to its upright position and got out of the vehicle.

    Tonight''s location was much better than last week''s. We were indoors for starters and stopped in a decent parking lot. People gathered nearby in larger numbers. We weren¡¯t in a back alley and even the building was well cared for. This had to be a gym of some sort that was operating after hours.

    Roy nodded his head over toward the door. We needed to wade past the crowd. I could hear the sounds of people talking. Some cursed and others sounded angry. The floor vibrated.

    We headed over. Our goal was inside apparently, past a line of people stuck at the door. Roy barely even glanced at the bouncer and the man motioned us on in. People complained but no one tried to push by the guard. I guess he knew the fighters by face.

    Women were at the door, but not very many. None fell into the high-class category. It wasn''t like they were all drugged out coke queens or anything. No, they were just out here, attached to various scrubby looking men, waiting for something to happen. A few individuals looked fairly clean. This clearly wasn''t a championship match.

    Most were probably here to bet on the fights. I knew that kind of crowd. They put money down on anything that breathed, followed rookies from their starting positions all the way to their inevitable failures. Hopefully, I wouldn¡¯t be one of those, the prospect of losing wasn''t appealing at all.

    I trailed behind Roy. The big man didn''t bother going around everyone. Most parted as soon as they saw him. From back here it was impossible to tell if the man had a scowl or a people repulsion technique.

    Then I noticed some of the people were looking at me, not Roy. Maybe there was something on my face. An unconscious sleeve check resulted in nothing. My frown must have disturbed the onlooker because he scurried off as soon as I looked back at him.

    People didn''t like me here either. I was used to that. Jogging in the mornings had shown me how much pedestrians avoided my presence. People avoided me nearly everywhere I had been over the years. This fact only slipped my mind because of how well Tennison had treated me. Tal, Roy, Rachel, Steven, even recently the bartender. Maybe the town was really growing on me.

    We arrived at a locker room. It had that musty smell coming forth from the doorways. Roy shoved a pair of shorts into my hands that I hadn¡¯t seen before. Maybe they had come from the car somewhere.

    "Go change,¡± Roy said. ¡°Pants and shirt won''t work from here forward. Shoes come off too." I blinked at him but the man kept going. "I''ll get you when it''s your turn. Try to remember what we did last time. Make this place yours. Own it."

    I nodded then went inside. There were a few other guys, all doing the same thing. They looked me over, I gave them a glance, trying to figure out what numbers Tal would assign them. Some were tense. Some nearly languid. They could have been fives, or threes and a seven. One guy to the side could have been an eight. Or maybe they were all the square root of pi.

    I grabbed a bench, switched out my clothes, and debated what to do next. Roy had said to think of this place as mine. To focus on that belief.

    My fingers clutched around the bench''s edge. Thumbs ground back and forth across worn wood. Grooves already existed on the seating, probably from former people getting ready for a fight, just like I was.

    Shoes were pulled off. Socks peeled away. The smell in here couldn¡¯t get any worse. Too many men sat in a small room. Too much sweat saturated the walls. The floor wasn''t extremely dirty, it wasn''t exactly clean either. I worried about athlete''s foot for a moment before it dawned on me that all the other fighters had their shoes off as well.

    Hell. Now we were all part of the Brotherhood of Gross Gym Floors. That should make punching each other easier.

    I noticed one object after another. The ground was actually warm, not disgusting, but heated. Smooth flooring sat below us save for the rubbery texture between tiles. This air was heavy. Steam filled part of the room, someone was showering. Water pelted into the ground, flowed down the curved floor into drainage. Silly little things that added up to a larger picture.

    The location didn''t feel like mine, though. Not like things had during that brief click last weekend. Last week I had briefly existed within the moment and been able to put my entire consciousness into the fight.

    Shortly afterward everything had spiraled out of control. Roy said it was just a fighter''s high. Runners got the same thing, especially at the longer distances, but these two things had been completely separate.

    My clothes sat on the bench next to me. I picked up the pants and rubbed at the rippled cloth. Feeling the slight dips between each piece of machine woven material. Fingers traced the stitching that traveled down one leg. These jeans were mine, sure. It wasn''t on the same scale as a place, though. Pants were just an object that prevented my privates from awkwardly showing to the world.

    There was something, a hint of a memory or ghost of a feeling. The jeans almost hummed. Both eyes were losing focus, staring at the world like an optical illusion was forming in front of me. There was a growing disconnect between vision and everything else. Thoughts still centered on the sensation of fingers sliding across fabric as something strange appeared. A weird ghostly essence was slowly fogging off my foot.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    I blinked and the image stayed. It persisted with both eyes closed. Again, and again I blinked. My breath coming in a rush.

    "Don''t hyperventilate," one of the others said, which caused some chuckles to fill the room.

    The foggy visual vanished. My head shook back and forth trying to recapture the feeling.

    "You here for the tourney, or just a single fight?" a taller man asked.

    With a frown, it occurred to me that Roy had not explained exactly what kind of occasion this was.

    My lips pursed to one side as I tried to recall what we set up last week. "Single. I think."

    "You''ve got time then. Singles are interspersed between the tourney fights.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It gives us a breather. Well, some of us."

    My head tilted up to look at the person talking. The guy near me, the only one actually, was a giant black man. Not the intensely muscled kind, but he clearly put work into his body. I could almost see him delivering a deodorant commercial or something similar. A slight tint of olive to his skin spoke of a mixed heritage. Tal might have him pegged as a seven. Maybe Roy could help me gauge.

    "Thanks," I acknowledged the man''s information.

    "You¡¯re not going to pass out right?"

    The idea seemed possible. I had witnessed my foot shimmering with white and didn''t feel too shocked. That alone should unsettle me, but hadn''t. I shook my head in the negative.

    "Alright." The man hesitated and both lips turned down in a slight frown. "Didn''t expect Pack to only do a single round, though."

    My back twitched once. ¡°I''m not a wolf."

    "You sure? I could have sworn..." The man sniffed a few times. A gesture that clearly said he was a wolf himself. I suddenly looked around, worried that I missed signs of other races.

    "Huh. Well. You smell like one," he finally said.

    Was that an insult or compliment? Coming from a human it might be insulting. Implying wet dog smell. From a wolf, it was just confusing. The only canine I hung out with recently belonged to Tal, a monstrous white creature he called Senior.

    I shrugged.

    "Good, I was worried for a moment. But if you''re doing singles and not a wolf, then I doubt they''d pit us against each other anyway.¡±

    "Okay." Maybe this strange talkative guy would leave me alone if I kept my responses short. It worked on other people.

    "How long have you been fighting for?" he asked.

    "Awhile."

    "Talkative. Hey guys, what do you think?" the black man shouted at the rest of the guys in the locker room.

    They protested, told him to shut up, but he kept right on smiling like it was all a game. Which, to a wolf, wasn''t far from the truth. They were typically the best fighters, and it took an insane amount of training and skill just to go toe to toe with one. More if the wolf actually did any martial arts.

    "I''m betting he''s a striker."

    "Nah, grappling. With those shoulders?" one of the others said. "Imagine a headlock."

    "I could get out of it," another said. Soon they were all chiming in. As much to put each other down as to comment on their own skills. It was hard to tell if this was a chance to boast, figure out other people''s skills, or what. This group was mostly amateur, though.

    "Hey, what''s the crowd like?" someone asked me. "You were the last one in."

    I hadn''t realized my arrival was that late. Roy''s words earlier led me to believe we were early. Roy was probably the type to show up, get into the ring thirty seconds later, then leave once the enemy was hugging floorboards. Maybe this was his version of early.

    "Scraggly," I responded.

    "It''ll shape up for the next few rounds."

    ¡°Prize money''s shit at these smaller events."

    "Got to jump the hoops." They kept talking and I had a hard time keeping up with who was speaking.

    "You say that, but pitting against a wolf is unfair to the rest of us."

    "That''s why it''s a two tier. You get an overall winner and a top human winner. Plus I have to wear fucking restraints." The black Pack member showed a bit of teeth.

    "Should wear a muzzle," a scrawny guy said.

    "Yeah, like one of those freaky masks they use to prevent prisoners from biting." Two of the other guys in the locker room were ganging up on the black Pack member. I kept my mouth shut.

    "That''d suit you huh, mutt?"

    "Hey, you¡¯re the one with a loud mouth,¡± said the wolf.

    "I''ll send you running with your tail between your legs," responded the scrawny guy.

    I couldn''t tell if the other guys were trying to mess with him or serious.

    "Only tail you¡¯ll see of mine is your girlfriends," the black man said. "She''d by my bitch after one taste of this." Between the rude gesture and his smirk, it was plain as day that the black man didn''t care in the slightest about the other two. Trash talking wasn''t new to him at all.

    I groaned. Bantering with a wolf inevitably devolved to accusations of sexual preference and doggy style jokes.

    "She only likes real men,¡± the scrawny one tried to defend himself.

    "Smells like you prefer real men too," responded the black guy.

    "Hey now, nothing wrong with that," another male piped up, eager to get in on the banter. "Common, Teddy, what say you and me go visit the showers after a match? Huh?"

    I couldn''t tell if he was calling someone a Teddy Bear, or there was someone with the name of Ted in here. Everyone was staring at me, and it took a minute to realize it was the former, and the man had been hitting on me. The confusion on my face sent laughter around the room.

    "Ah damn, that a no?" The other man looked hurt. He was thinner than I, defined, but not overly muscled. I probably had half again his weight.

    "Not my type." I tried to keep quiet.

    "Yeah, I''m more of an on top guy myself. I could dye my hair though if you prefer. I look hot as fuck with the platinum. Eh?"

    Clearly they were screwing with me. Or maybe he was somewhat serious. I had been so comfortable reading Roy and Rachel that this stranger was difficult to understand.

    "I''m straight,¡± I said.

    "What? Where''s the witty banter? Jesus fellas, I think he''s been hit too many times. How am I ''saposta get rid of the pre-fight jitters when he''s so serious." The awkwardly flirtatious one sounded put out, but was laughing by the end.

    "So? Maybe he survived the first round because his opponent chickened out," someone offered.

    "Won''t work from here forward," the black wolf rejoined the conversation.

    "First round''s always stupidly boring."

    "Bunch of wannabes signing up. No idea what they''re getting into." There were too many people here. I glanced behind me to make sure this corner was devoid of others. Luckily I was mostly alone over here.

    "I was there for his fight, guy one hit KO''d the other fighter. Dude swears he had a heart attack," another person said. I looked around trying to figure out who was speaking. Separating out the voices in this crowd of strangers felt aggravating.

    "No shit?"

    "God''s honest truth. Bam, to the chest."

    "See, striker."

    "With those arms? I don''t see it. Who¡¯s he against?"

    "Probably your dumb ass."

    They kept going and I did my best to tune them out. It was getting impossible to track which one of the fifteen or so contenders had been doing the talking. It seemed like a different voice every time. Only three really stood out, the black guy, the scrawny one, and whoever it was that had called me Teddy.

    I continued to wear down the fabric from my pants, relishing the tingling sensation on my thumb. It was getting sensitive, picking up the ripples more as I wore away thin layers of skin. A bump here and a thread there. Small snags from tears that had formed over weeks of heavy lifting.

    The voices drifted in and out around me. People slamming lockers too hard. Their echoes careened around the room before becoming absorbed in the concrete. Feet slapped back and forth as contenders paced the room. Two fighters left, called forth by voices I didn''t clearly hear. Some guys laughed, insulted, and threw out tones that were difficult to interpret.

    Off in the distance, I could hear a hum. The direction was impossible to distinguish. That noise betrayed something, a vibration of energy. Like taut cords being twanged. I closed my eyes and tried to recall that energy I saw earlier. Tried to recapture the feeling of ownership. Anything that would help me tonight. I needed to hit something, and I needed to win. Failure was not an option.

    Breathing slowed, growing less stressed. Shoulders relaxed, setting myself at ease. My spine curved just so at the neck, head hung down, watching the ground.

    Remember this. Mine. See it. Feel it. This place.

    Gradually I managed to recapture the sensation. It required moving past the strange thought patterns. I wiggled my foot back and forth, watching the perplexing haze around its movements, predicting where it would be and had been. Stranger still, the sight was evident with my eyes closed. It wasn¡¯t like seeing with actual vision, but a feedback that was tangible. A hint of air curled around my toes. I lifted my head but kept my eyelids shut.

    The objects around the room didn''t have that vibrancy. They were inert, lifeless. When I tilted my head to the side and snuck a glance at the others, I noticed they had the same strange energy. Then there was their words. The way they rolled around the room and bounced off of objects. Not just the walls, but the air. Everything. It created an odd ripple effect.

    Air thick. Laden with yapping. Room full. A Furry Thing. Pink Meats. Weak. Not a challenge. Want to go home. This place. Worthless.

    The disgust running through my thoughts was intense. My eyebrows creased and tried to understand what had just happened.

    "James," Roy''s voice cut through the dull hum and succeeded in ruining my concentration.

    I looked up.

    He nodded at me. "You''re next."

    "Alright." I stood and went with Roy towards the door.

    "Holy shit. Is that..." the black man muttered as we walked out of the room. I didn''t know what he was talking about and didn''t care.

    Down the hall was where our fight would be. The room ahead was a huge auditorium or a college gymnasium. I didn''t know they rented out for this sort of thing. There were bleachers on one side. People gathered on them in clusters. Most were engrossed by their phones.

    Spectators sat in foldable chairs that lined the edges of our makeshift arena. We weren¡¯t given a steel cage or boxing ring. Our stage was to be a wooden pig pen with reinforced walls. Solid, thick boards formed four walls with minimal padding. Cages alone couldn¡¯t hold up to wolves dishing out damage. The wooden stage had another ring of chain link around it. One was a boundary for the fighters, the other a minor safety precaution for the audience.

    Roy brought me up to the same gambling official we met last time. Today he was in slightly better attire with a pair of suit pants and nice button up shirt.

    "Round two''s simple. You''re outside the wood for more than three seconds? That''s a loss. You end up pinned for ten seconds? A loss. If you can''t get up and keep fighting, you lose, if you die, you lose." If I died? That was a bit morbid. Then again with this kind of thing maybe it wasn''t unexpected.

    There were no point keeping judges. We weren''t exactly fighting in a well-policed system. I saw a referee, but he was off to the side wearing jeans and a hoodie. Clearly the only way he gave two shits about this fight is if diarrhea struck.

    "You avoid all those things, and you go onto the next round. Survive the two rounds and you''ll be in the top two. Then next week you go onto Regionals. Buy-in''s on the house if you make it that far." The fight arranger kept right on talking in a well rehearsed speech.

    I guess that answered the question tossed at me earlier. Tonight wasn''t a single match, I was in the tournament. Roy''s face didn''t show any apology. Maybe he didn''t expect much from me tonight. My concern was releasing some stress anyway.

    Roy ushered me over to one side, and the little man who had just given a speech went off to another contender. I barely took note of the person I was to fight. They could have been big, or strong, or wiry, quick, it really didn''t matter. We would soon step into the ring, then from there, who knows.

    I got into my corner and closed my eyes, not to try and pass time, not to reduce stress, but to feel that sense of other again. The one that had let me get lost in the moment and just move.

    An iconic bell sounded, and before I had time to wonder where they dug up the fossil my opponent rushed into striking distance.

    The last fight started with a crowd of people, in this ring, the border was wooden boards. I stepped out of the corner, refusing to be boxed in. The other fighter threw a kick in my direction then put his guard up in a well-practiced move. He expected me to strike back.

    I wasn''t functioning correctly. The blow barely connected with my leg but sent a throb of pain across my senses. Both arms went out in front, hands open, fingers slightly curved, ready to grab something. Roy hadn''t shown me any moves like that, though some of the deflecting stances involved guiding the enemy with palm and wrist movements.

    Another punch came my way that was brushed off. I swung back and missed. We exchanged more blows that went no where. This fight wasn''t going either way. That feeling I wanted to recover was completely absent. The other contender looked annoyed as well, probably at my half-hearted effort.

    He tried giving another kick to the same leg. I stepped out of the way and into a hand he had left out and open. One of my arms was grabbed then the rest of me followed, slamming into the floor as I was thrown.

    That broke my meager concentration, and sent panic through me. I put up one leg to kick, the other pushing away to get distance so I could stand again. People in the crowd cheered at the sudden change in action.

    I managed to get back to my feet just in time to be punched in the head. There was no time to figure out my strange abilities. No time to try and focus or get into some sort of zone. I had to fight, here, now, with whatever skills I possessed.

    Both hands went up again, this time I stepped forward on the offensive. Sidestepping one punch resulted in getting hit by another. Still, I managed to push through that and bring a knee up to his side. Not into my opponent''s balls like I might have done on the street, this was a somewhat clean hit.

    He winced then tried to back up. I closed in then followed another knee to the side again. My fist swung through his face when he tried to dodge.

    This time my enemy hit the floor face first. I backed up, breathing hard, trying to shake off the pain I endured just to do that small amount of damage. My knuckles stung, back felt raw from where I pushed away on the floor. One knee was almost numb from how hard I connected with the guy''s side.

    And him? He was breathing hard. Someone counted in the distance. Slowly, dragging his ass through each number from one to ten.

    At a seven count the other contender stood up. Those seconds were all the breathing room given. He came back at me, trusting an offensive to keep me backing up. Despite the pressure I was enjoying myself.

    A push kick caught me squarely in the abs. My back smashed into the wooden boards. A sharp line of pain accompanied my spine bending upon the corner. I dove to the side before a follow-up fist clipped me.

    I shuffled backward across the arena. Trying to buy distance and coddle the pain in my back. Hell. This man allowed me no peace. More feet, knees, and elbows assaulted me. There was no type of blow frowned upon here except maybe a groin shot.

    Roy stood off to one side with arms crossed. Not moving, not watching the other fighter. Like last time, he was solely focused on my actions. I spared him a glance then kept on moving. The crowd booed. Someone threw ice into the ring. Classy. Roy didn''t even look offended.

    I went back on the attack, trying to barrel through some blows. The patterns Roy had worked to enforce in us were falling apart. I was a step away from treating this like a street fight.

    One shot got through, truly got through. My left fist collided with the side of his head. The other fighter''s arm slipped down and lost any pretense of defense. I kept on swinging, again, and again, as long as he stood. The strength in my arm was weak due to the damage I had taken, but it was enough. Finally he crumpled.

    My brain was rushing with energy. Arms felt heavy and tingled. Knuckles were reporting pain from the repeated blows. I looked over at Roy, and the clock near by. Four minutes of fighting without a break. No wonder I felt winded.

    Well, winded and completely exhilarated, and maybe truly alive. The tingling that started in my arms was covering over everything, rushing by me like a tide. I failed at trying to capture that feeling of ownership. Yet, in terms of this fight, I won.

    Roy said nothing while escorting me back to another room. This one sat separate from the first locker room. There he reviewed my wrists, checked the wound on my back, then grunted with disgust or possibly disappointment.

    "I barely won that." My head hung down to make staring at the floor easier. I was trying to under what had happened and digest my performance.

    "It was pathetic. A runt would do better," Roy agreed. He was barely a foot away, looking me over. I felt his gaze, intense, like a father figure who had been disappointed by his son''s actions. A look Roy probably had down pat, and may not have intended to direct at me. Still, it was there.

    "Guess I''m not champion material," I said.

    "No, not like this. This, this is a disgrace," he nearly snarled the last word. A bench crashed against the wall.

    I looked up at Roy, trying to figure out what he meant by that. The emotion there surprised me. His face was barely restrained. Ripples of displeasure rampaged across the man''s face and were covered. His eyes wavered just slightly and betrayed just how livid he was under all that control.

    It was like a pot just before the boil.

    "There''s one more round, right?" I asked.

    He didn''t say anything, just nodded.

    "I''ll do better next round,¡± I promised. There was a pause. That look didn''t vanish from his face despite my attempted reassurance.

    "Do that," he finally said, then stormed out of the room.

    I had to learn to pull on that other sense faster. That sense of self made all the difference. I had to focus. Moments later I was sitting against the wall, breathing slowly, trying to ignore the small hurts all over my body.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 19 - True colors

    A couple stragglers gathered in the second room. Not all the same people from the first group reappeared. Everyone looked slightly beaten while breathing heavily. Fresh bruises that were forming. Rattled gazes were worn by many.

    They were doing worse than I was. One man rubbed his shoulders against a locker. Another had an icepack on an arm. Two were just sitting there, staring at a wall. Probably lost in the aftermath. Still, we were survivors. The losers were either drinking, heading home, or on a stretcher.

    "Looks like a real winner''s circle in here." The black Pack member had made it through. Wolves had an advantage over most humans.

    A few of them chucklehead weakly. The scrawny one from before outright laughed. He boasted about his ability to get out of a headlock I was supposedly able to perform.

    "One more round and we''ll see who¡¯s left."

    "Only three slots," the scrawny one said. "One for you, one for me, and then someone else."

    "Why? You don''t know who you''re going against." The one who pretended to hit on me earlier sounded amused.

    "Only two slots. Not three."

    They kept talking over my head. Once again I felt annoyed at so many strange voices.

    "Well, that settles it. Me and the mutt move on, the rest of you might as well forfeit." That little bastard was cocky as hell.

    "You can''t be sure," the wolf said. He had a grin on his face that matched a barely friendly tone.

    "Sure I can. I''ll beat any of you all."

    "Who are you fighting?"

    "Ain''t you. Ain''t him." Scrawny thumbed toward the wolf.

    "Probably the Teddy Bear then," Flirty said.

    "Bah."

    "Lucky it ain''t me. I don''t flinch when getting close. That guy you were against looked uncomfortable as all hell after you got him locked down."

    "He was a chump. Money says Teddy over there''s a chump too," the cocky boasting one responded. This guy was really starting to piss me off.

    "James," I said, and nearly growled before it occurred to me that doing so would be weird. There might be something to that wolf¡¯s statement from earlier.

    "Whatever, chump."

    "Hey, you gotta tell me, was that Forge earlier?" the black man asked while staring in my direction.

    "Who?" I was lost already. No one showed a willingness to leave me alone long enough to try and get my thoughts in order.

    "The guy who got you for round one. Was that Forge?"

    "Roy?" One eyebrow raised.

    The man¡¯s face lit up like a puppy in love. "No shit? Roy Forge?" Was that Roy''s last name? That was an archaic one that felt out of place. It served as another piece of contradiction to the larger man¡¯s persona.

    "I guess," I said.

    "And he''s training you? You lucky son of a bitch. I''d give my left nut to be trained by Forge," he said his voice reverent. A pack member giving this sort of awe for a nonwolf was unheard of.

    "It''d just regrow. Fucking wolves. The things I could do if I was Pack," the scrawny one said. Apparently no conversation was private in the locker rooms. Typical.

    "Thought you hated wolves."

    "I do."

    "No self-respecting Pack would take on a hateful little worm like you." The wolf sounded pissed off now. Not joking like before. This was more than witty banter. At least they weren¡¯t bothering me anymore.

    "Try me. I got techniques for you too. Strength be damned." They were chest to chest. Almost eye to eye but the difference in mass was almost amusing. There had to be a good thirty pounds of muscle on the wolf that the other guy didn''t have.

    "Maybe on the next leg. If you''re really good. But when you lose then I really will take your girl. In front of you."

    "Listen, you son of a bitch-"

    "No, I told you, she''d be my bitch," the wolf cut off scrawny.

    "Like she''d roll over for some hound dog like you."

    "Oh, clever insult chicken lips."

    "Chicken? I''ll peck your ass to death!" Two of the other fighters got in between and started pushing the squabbling pair apart. Another one just laughed.

    "Hey, now you''re venturing into my area," the flirtatious one said. I sighed and tried to zone out of their nonsensical conversation. Really, it was impossible to tell if they were that serious or just blowing off steam. At least this wasn''t putting me to sleep.

    Desiring not to hear someone couldn¡¯t turn me deaf. Smarter men might use this as a challenge. Achieving goals under pressure would be valuable training. I smiled and tried to remember what happened last time.

    Mine. Ownership as a concept made the huge different in my skills and abilities. I only needed to think this way about a small twenty-foot wide territory. Inside that ring, there was only one master, me.

    That was the thought process required. From post to post, board to board, ground to ceiling, all of it was mine. The other fighter was an invader. Better yet, they were an enemy, come to take away what belonged to me.

    Dense floor. Thin layers of water. Sweat from feet. Weights press down as figures travel. Air swirls behind one Pink Meat. Furry Thing leans against wall. Huffs. Back twitches.

    There it was. That strange thought process that had accompanied my fight last time. I tried not to focus on it, these thoughts were like a bird that would be startled should my body move too suddenly. Breathing was risky enough. Each curl of air in and out of my lungs changed the air in front of me. Made it heavier. Hotter.

    Air cold. Breath cools as it exits. Steams. A tease of the fires. Hints. Ready for conflict.

    I shuddered as a ripple of worry passed by. That thoughtless moment vanished in the rush of emotion. That''d been dangerous. Whatever had just happened couldn''t go over well. My brain registered familiar footsteps almost as soon as someone said something.

    "Hey, Forge right?" The wolf¡¯s excited words cut across my reverie.

    There wasn''t even a grunt of response. I turned just in time to see Roy walk right around the black man¡¯s figure without pause. My eyes were unfocused. Slight tidbits of the world around me were still pouring forth. It was like the bench, the air, the locker walls, everything was an extension of my body. Tied to my own sensations as surely as any limb.

    "Are you ready?" Roy asked.

    Mental minutes passed as my vision cleared up. Finally, I saw Roy¡¯s face, he was more composed than before. A shadow of anger and frustration clouded those eyes.

    "I think so." I nodded.

    "Not good enough." His tone was displeased. "You do what we talked about?"

    "Yes." I had bent my perceptions around that concept of ownership and noticed a change. Deliberately performing the action was markedly different than accidental.

    "You felt it?" He asked.

    I nodded. Roy smiled, a slight thing compared to his other emotions, but it was encouraging.

    "Forge?" the black man questioned, his tone almost hurt. I guess being ignored wasn''t something he was used to.

    "Looks like your idol''s set on someone else," a voice came from the room.

    "Laugh it up, chuckles," the annoyed wolf responded.

    "Doesn''t matter, I''ll break a leg for you," said another one of the fighters.

    I felt the lighter person come out the door moments after us. There was something in his pocket that vibrated slightly. It felt like a buzzer, the kind of pagers restaurants had for people on their wait lists.

    How did I know that when the scrawny man was twenty feet behind me? His footsteps rang off the walls as if he was made of air compared to Roy¡¯s dense form. My senses were still filtering things through that other sight. A strange glow of energy surrounded everyone. Not something I saw, but a ping, or a hum in the back of my mind syncing up with my vision.

    We waded through a crowd of wild figures. Swinging back and forth, frighteningly hyperactive auras surrounded the spectators. They cheered. Their words were pale in comparison to the spastic jerks of energy pouring off of them.

    I turned my head to Roy who was taller and denser. His energy was a tight and focused brick. Maybe it was more packed, like heavy metal. A living creature whose every move held only one result, one action.

    People were excited about the second round. More people had shown up too. A sign hung off to one side of the room but the letters were indistinct. The ring''s framing had been replaced in places, I could feel some remaining cracks. Like a wooden bone fracture.

    This was a feeling I couldn''t fight or ignore. The world was strange and familiar all at once. This was right, this way of seeing things. I found a piece of myself that had somehow been misplaced.

    The feelings of euphoria at my discovery put a grin on my face. Roy left me at the side of the makeshift ring. No clap of farewell, no words of encouragement, pep talks, anything. I didn''t need them.

    Scrawny got into the ring on the other side. A few people in the crowd cheered for him. Either friends, or family, or just fans. They were in for disappointment. I''d mop the floor with him and no amount of cheerleader support would do an ounce of good.

    I studied his energy. Not out of fear or worry, more like a child studied an ant before crushing it.

    His aura was slippery and fuzzy. It spun one way, then the other, I could sense him picking moves, trying to find openings. The fight hadn''t even started and his body was betraying more about his fighting style than expected. He was a grappler. The boasting about escaping headlocks wasn''t just for show.

    The old time bell rang and we stepped closer. I kept one foot back, hands loose around my belly and hunched slightly.

    He was quick. Well practiced movements flowed into attempts at grabs. Most of his first strikes were testing for weak points. The man was looking for places to slip into for some sort of submission. A larger man might try to tackle me from below and knock us over. This opponent didn''t follow that mindset.

    I slapped hands most attacks away while ignoring fakeouts. The energy spilling off him made it obvious which strikes were feints and which were real.

    Feet vibrate. Body steps. Arms swing against his flesh. Shove away clumsy attempts. Feels like toying with him. Lesser creature. Weak. Doesn''t understand.

    Patterns were easy to detect. They came and went; a one-two punch, an attempted grab of my arms. Stepping too close allowed him to try and tangle up my legs. Staying too far away put my back to the boards. Neither option was great. Instead, my body fell into the patterns I practiced with Roy and his family. Weaving to the sides let me stay within striking range.

    Air grows hotter. Room larger, robs away heat as it slips out. Dislike this air. Dislike these fools.

    "Not a wolf my ass." I felt him mutter.

    I just smiled. There was no doubt in my mind as to what I wasn''t anything like a wolf, or vampire, or elf. The thought threw me off and I started to try and remember exactly what race applied. My arm started itching like crazy. The scent of charred yarn flooded my nostrils.

    "Fucking monsters." His voice was low but not really directed at me. The man¡¯s words were more like complaining to himself in the face of multiple failures.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    However I got stuck on the word. Was I a monster? Confusion mounted and everything I held onto started falling away. The power, the sight, tactile sensations, everything which let me have a personal edge drained. A fist connected with my arm and I stood there, failing to react.

    Being distracted was deadly. An arm got entangled, joints twisted, and his foot crossed over neck muscles. The inertia of a man half my size sent me spiraling face first to the ground. I tried to tuck my shoulder in and roll back up. Two arms pulled my elbow in and locked around an opposite leg. Pressure threatened to tear limbs out of their sockets.

    People cheered but not for me. They celebrated the man who had put me on the ground in a split second then performed a complicated lock.

    I shook my head and reached for those other perceptions. Escape would be easier if I could react correctly. During my failed efforts the referee counted to five. I grunted and bucked then managed to get a knee under my chest. One arm was still locked but part of me remained loose. My elbow swung back, trying to connect but failing to dislodge the other fighter.

    With one leg I kicked fiercely, pushing the two of us over to one of the wooden posts. With another surge, we went into it. Given another few seconds I would have tried to merge his head with wood. He grunted and let go, risking the loss versus taking the punishment I tried trying to inflict on him.

    He hunched over his middle, trying to protect where he had taken damage. I yelled and charged in, no longer playing a game, no longer worrying about my other abilities. Roy''s opinion didn''t matter. The spectators didn''t matter. One thing that stood out in my mind was a simple belief. I must not lose, not again, not ever again.

    The other fighter was cursing under his breath. He swung and tried to grab at my arms. I brute forced my way past the defenses and carried us into the ringside. It crushed my forearms while popping noises came from his back.

    He slumped to the ground and tried to roll off to the side. I chased and planted a kick near his face. It almost missed. There were no rules to my knowledge against ground striking. He should be thankful I didn''t take away his ability to breed.

    The room was spinning and my breath felt heavy. I stumbled backward and put a hand to my head. Roy was shouting while pushing me backwards. I absently registered that the fight was over. My enemy lay upon the floor, tapped out and barely moving. A groan of pain escaped him.

    I tried to push past the others and continue stomping the man into the ground. This had gone beyond a fight in my head. Either a lack of coherent thinking or utter rage at the world had pushed this into a death battle. Roy was saying something. The ring was crowded. Boards were torn down to let us out.

    [align=center]Head pounds. Feet like thunder ripple across the grounds. Little objects bleep. Tones. Sharp, cut through the air. Fingers press into plastic. Want to spread out, want to shout. Claim this area. Mine.[/align=center]

    I''d won. That much was clear.

    Everything else was in doubt. These fights were hectic. Most chaotic during the finishing portions. None of them lasted long and left a sour taste in my mouth and confusion in my head. It felt like something was missing.

    The side of my face was bleeding from something. A rip where my hair had been torn at. Parts of my body burned. Roy had me lifted up but seemed standoffish.

    I tried to grin then said, "I won."

    "Yes," he said, his agreement was grudging.

    Winning must not have been the point. The other task, holding onto that perception of ownership must mean something. "I couldn''t hold onto it," I admitted.

    Roy said nothing and kept hefting me towards the car. He pulled out a towel and ice packs from a cooler in the trunk. The man had been prepared.

    "But I won," I tried to focus on the positive.

    "This is not what we trained for." Roy shook his head, got me into the passenger seat, then left. I guess winning hadn''t been the point.

    I contemplated my failure. Not in combat, but the inability to meet Roy''s expectations. It was silly. His opinion shouldn''t mean shit to me. Roy was just a man I met sometimes for practice.

    Why the hell did his disappointment matter then? A psychologist might tell me this was a need for approval stemming from issues with my father. I might tell a psychologist to shove their degrees somewhere dark, frame and all. Not that anyone would catch me talking to a shrink without some serious motivation.

    Roy''s disapproval came from my inability to hold onto that feeling. That momentary rush of power that heightened everything. I had it, then lost it, all at the mention of one word from the other fighter''s lips.

    Monster.

    Was I a monster? Those other senses, that strange glowing aura that surrounded objects. The sensation of domination over a place, an object, a person. It had felt real, visceral, and strangely natural. Not an ounce of those abilities bothered me or felt alien. Those traits were me and tied to the center of my existence.

    Did that make me a monster? Monsters killed normal people. Monster¡¯s crawled out of closets and nightmares to devour unruly young and sinners. I didn''t remember killing anyone, but at the same time it nagged at me. That someone had died in my hands, multiple someones. I could almost feel a wind passing by my face, hear shouting and metal ringing out. Sensations of gunshots, snarls, and then ending someone''s life all hit me.

    "Wakey wakey eggs and bacey." Someone was shouting at Roy''s window. The sudden intrusion into my mental space caused me to jump. Once I identified who was outside the window I hit the button to lower it down.

    "Nice job in there, sunshine! I know you''d win. Inside scoop." Steven''s goofy face was bent over, a large wad of cash in his hands.

    "Here! This should settle our debt." He tossed in half the stack. I scanned it quickly. Based on the bills and size this had to be at least three grand.

    "Debt?" I asked.

    "Sure, hey, is something on fire in there?"

    I readjusted the icepack that had been covering my bruised ribs and sniffed at the air. Sure enough, there was a faint hint of charring material. This was the second time something in here was burning up.

    "Think Roy''s car is busted," I said.

    "I doubt it. This thing''s a wet dream on wheels. Can''t disrespect a ride like this." Steven started checking out wheels, looking at the hood, almost fondling the curves on the front while humming to himself.

    "Get away from my car, Gates." Roy''s voice was heavily annoyed. I was thankful it wasn''t at me.

    "No harm no foul, right boss? I''ve got places to go anyway, women to woo, you know how it is."

    Roy grunted and stared at Steven. I hadn''t know his last name was Gates. Or maybe I did, it sounded familiar.

    "Oh, Roy, my man, that guy you''re babysitting? You should know that his old lady''s been tracing some calls made to her cell. Seems someone''s been drunk dialing his ex, got her all hot and bothered." Steven''s goofy smile delivered the news with amazing cheer.

    There was a pause where Roy stared at Steven. I couldn''t tell what they were talking about and really didn''t care. There was a lot of cash in my hands that demanded counting.

    "Get out of here, Gates, now."

    "Sir yes sir, Commander and Chief, sir." Steven saluted then meandered off into the distance. I looked at his path, and sure enough, there was a female at the other end. She was attached to some other man. Steven probably didn''t plan on letting that stop him.

    To be honest, he was kind of an idiot. An idiot with a one sixty-seven IQ. Why did I know what his reported intelligence was? Had Steven told me that somewhere before?

    Roy got into the driver''s side and started up the car. His gaze traveled to the pile of cash I gathered up.

    "What''s that?" he asked.

    "Steven said he owed me a debt."

    Roy nodded. "That he did. Not to you, though, not exactly."

    "Oh?" The total came out to be three thousand, four hundred and twenty-one. The single bill confused me.

    "He''d borrowed from a loan shark, and forgot to pay up," Roy clarified as we drove down the road.

    "What''s that got to do with me?"

    "Gates probably meant it for me. I''ll make sure it gets to the right place. You can have the finder''s fee and the extra for your wins." Roy took the money and I''m not ashamed to admit that letting go was difficult. He peeled off four hundred and handed backwards to me, the rest was pocketed.

    "So you work for a loan shark?"

    "No.¡± Roy¡¯s head shook. ¡°Not for years, but I used to work with one now and then."

    I blinked and tried to figure out where to go with this conversation. Roy didn''t seem to be lying, but there was clearly something he danced around with his wording. Misdirection somehow.

    "Steven''s a weird man."

    "All families have that one person you''d rather be without. Can''t stand them, and murder''s illegal."

    I chuckled until I realized that Roy wasn''t laughing along with me. Was he being serious about the killing part? Steven was annoying, but not that annoying.

    "Is he really family?" I asked. Roy and Steven looked nothing alike.

    "By circumstance, not by blood,¡± he answered.

    "In-laws. Just ignore him."

    Roy turned and stared at me. That angry glare was back, like he looked through me, beyond me. The man he addressed in the car was barely worth noticing.

    "The fact that you even say that just shows how far you''ve fallen," he said then shook his head. "Things cannot continue, James. Not like this. It is disgraceful."

    I wasn''t sure if there was a good way to feel about this. Part of me was insulted, growing angry with being told my actions were disgraceful. The other part of me understood, accepted it, and mourned what I had become. Being of two minds on a topic was difficult.

    "I am?" I opted for trying to peacefully talk my way through this. Besides, Roy would kick my ass.

    Roy nodded sharply, then caught himself.

    "It is not your fault. Not entirely."

    "Whose then?" I asked.

    "Mine, in part."

    "Care to explain?"

    "Not tonight. Tomorrow."

    "You can''t," words and thoughts were getting hard to form. Being polite was difficult, "just not explain."

    "I can, and have. You will need to wait until tomorrow.¡± He drew in a steady breath then nodded. ¡°This is not something I can undo by myself."

    There had to be something to that. Either Roy was blowing hot air around, making small problems seem huge, or something was going on. Was this whole thing a setup? Roy? The group at the park? Was Tal in on it? Or that huge ass dog of his, Senior? Rachel? They all felt familiar and Roy''s words were muddling things even more.

    My stomach flipped around and the world narrowed.

    We weren''t near strangers like I assumed. This man knew me from my life before Tennison somehow. Worse, I knew him. I could feel it, with certainty. Worse still, my brain was giving me flashes of the past, images of fighting, being anger, seeing the same people at different times. The memories kept vanishing like smoke leaving deja vu in their wake. It got worse the longer I looked at Roy and tried to figure out what was going on.

    My arm itched. The air smelled faintly of smoke. Roy rolled down the window.

    I kept to myself while traveling between towns for good reason. Everything my mind knew screamed that revisiting the past was dangerous to myself, to those around me. Growing comfortable with Tennison was the start of a terrible future.

    Tomorrow I would be gone. Roy and his cryptic remarks could go to hell along with the rest of this place. Luckily with my winnings and whatever finder''s fee Steven had given me, there were ways to get out. I shut up for the rest of the ride, and formulated escape plans. It was safer for everyone.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 20 - Dont Shoot the Messenger

    Roy dropped me off then left immediately. The last glimpse I had showed his grumpy face and a phone to his ear. I should have napped in the car on the way home but my mind was spinning in circles.

    Once upstairs rapid packing ensued. Everything that mattered fit into a single bag. I nodded off for a few hours then woke to an alarm. The actual departure from my temporary home happened well before sunrise.

    Rachel was dead asleep. On her kitchen table remained rent money for the next few weeks, an empty platter for food that had all been packed into a duffle. Hopefully, that old woman would be okay come morning. She had been kind to me, kinder than most, and her cooking was delicious.

    Henderson''s was quiet this early. I waited at the door for the man himself to show up. With maybe thirty minutes to dawn, he arrived. He didn''t even question my tone when I told him of my resignation. Henderson didn''t look upset when I asked for a ride out of town with the next delivery truck. The man nodded, went inside and gave me the cash with a tired smile. I wasn''t the first drifter he picked up and probably wouldn¡¯t be the last.

    Hyatt started kicking into high gear before my arrival. The silent driver who I still didn''t really know let me out of the cab with a polite nod. I tried to give a friendly smile back but wasn''t feeling it. Goodbyes were awkward things designed to wish someone well upon parting. They rarely conveyed any true depth.

    I shook off the worry then walked toward the nearest bus stop. From there I could get to a transfer station, then I could find a greyhound or something similar. Spending my money on a taxi was a poor use of my pocket change. Stretched, this money would last me months.

    An hour later and I was at the useless transfer center. They only had route maps which wouldn¡¯t assist in escaping the country. I hadn''t decided if my next destination was north or south anyway. West was a coastline. East was too close to issues that needed to be avoided. North would be cold in a few months. South sounded better overall. Maybe I could make it out of the country to the Central Americas. Last I checked the only hurdles were for getting into Western Sector, not leaving it. Leaving a place only required legs and the determination to venture into the unfamiliar.

    South it was.

    I spent the next few hours alternating between Rachel''s home cooking and trying to find a place to catch a bus that went further than the other side of town. By the time I found an archaic train station they stopped running for the afternoon.

    Train stations were annoying. All the major routes had left before eleven in the morning. Hell. The place wasn''t large enough to warrant more action and maybe employed ten people on a busy day. Enough to clean the bathrooms that homeless people left a mess in.

    Never mind that I was recently one myself.

    A security guard waved me off from sleeping on the benches. I tried to ask him for a cheap location to spend the night and he pointed me to the local shelter. Apparently Hyatt had two which weren¡¯t exactly my preference. Other homeless people tended to be aggressive, even to me.

    I wandered around, trying to find a quiet spot to get some shut eye. A wall to rest against would be more than enough. Preferably one near a heating vent. Failing that the thick hoodie and double layered socks would keep me warm. At one point I owned thermal underwear but they vanished before I got to Tennison.

    Sleep is a weakness when transient. A veteran of the homeless lifestyle slept in spurts. Hours in one place, another hour somewhere else. Drifting in and out was normal. Home sounded heavenly compared to this hellish future. I shook my head and desperately tried not to imagine how great it would be to crawl back to my long forgotten apartment.

    Wandering was easier than expected. I initially kept near the train station, but far enough away that police wouldn''t hassle me. This situation had to be toughed through, caving to weakness and getting a hotel room would just make it harder when the money ran out.

    Hours passed in darkness and cold. The only sources of heat were from vents at the bottom of buildings, or briefly ducking into a twenty-four-hour minimart. I bought a stick of beef to justify the minutes of warmth.

    Possible destinations flickered through my brain. Complete reasoning was hampered by growing exhaustion. Getting on the train would give me hours of warm sleep alone with vague security while headed away from people who might be hurt because of my presence. I could go around my old home and way further east. Some of the larger parks back east had camp training courses. With this money there might be enough to get there and sign up. Then I could vanish into the wild and wouldn''t have to stick to cities.

    The thought of escaping from people, in general, made me happy. That last fight night with Roy had reminded me how normal people reacted to my presence. Worry, tremors of fear, apprehension when I locked gazes.

    Shortly before dawn the next day I roused myself out of a stupor. Wandering at night brought no healthy thoughts to my consciousness. Traveling back to the terminal would kill another hour then I could finally grab a ride far from here.

    Exhaustion tainted every ounce of my body. Unusual places were sore and one eye barely opened from the fight last night. Putting this journey off might have been more healthy. Rushing into fleeing made me feel weak and stupid. I wallowed in self-pity which caused one failure to compound onto a lifetime of them. Two men who were desperate, scraggly, and wild-eyed stood in my path.

    Hell. Normally I avoided sketchy streets but my attention hadn''t been focused on the surroundings. Alleyways should be detoured around if there wasn¡¯t bright daylight or a lot of people. Especially when wandering through a broken portion of the city like this one.

    I looked around, trying to figure out what the easiest way to avoid this nonsense would be. Trash was lined up against the sides making the alley even narrower. Turning around revealed a third man, this one was armed.

    The two in front drew closer. Both gave off the same vibe. They were wary, nervous and twitched every few steps. Their look went hand in hand with drug abuse. I eyed them and waited for their inevitable demand.

    "Give us your shit,¡± one in front said.

    "I¡¯ve got nothing but clothes,¡± I responded.

    "Yeah right." They were sort of smart about it. The two with knives went for my bag. The one with the gun kept it trained on me. Too bad they were stupid for other reasons.

    "It''s all I''ve got." I sidestepped slowly, trying to screw up their line of sight.

    "Shut up and hand it over!" The twitchier one on the left got closer then snatched away the duffle I had been carrying around. His grabby hands pissed me off a lot. They were taking what was mine.

    Mine.

    The three started to disperse by backing up while watching me. In their minds this was a simple robbery, not an assault. Too bad that they picked a man like me. I only had one real skill from everything I experienced with Roy, beating people up.

    Truly stupid people aren''t intimidated by size, it''s a challenge in their mind. They only see muscle and assume I''m mentally defective to balance it out. They don''t realize that even those with intelligence disorders are possessive. More so than normal people sometimes. They just act out in ways that are often associated with five-year-olds throwing a temper tantrum.

    It was that same rage and focus that filled my body. These fools were taking the one bag I owned, the items I used for survival while traveling around. The only blocker was flipping a mental switch.

    Mine. That bag belonged to me. It was all I had left, all that was safe and near. The perception came easier than anything else had. Easier than trying to claim a place, easier than trying to see those ghostly images. My senses expanded in an instant and the world around me came alive.

    Endless layers of clothing. Fabric brushes against dirt laden skin. Pink Meats'' shoes are wet, filled with moisture from puddles. Weakling behind me, gun too light. Feel empty chamber. Spring bearly coiled inside. Annoyed. Thinks me a fool. No danger.

    They robbed me with an empty gun. These idiots probably didn''t have money to afford real bullets. The world tilted sideways as my body pushed past bruised muscles and ignored tenderness in my limbs. I couldn''t just let my stuff go. It wasn''t even about money, that was in my pockets.

    I tackled the one behind me first. He clicked the empty gun repeatedly, trying to scare me away with a useless weapon. I drug him to the ground and planted my shoe into his head then tore the weapon out of his grasp. The other two were running already. Their feet echoed down the short alley to both my sense of hearing and tactile feedback.

    Heft weapon. Feel smoothness. Slight grit, not cared for. Balance poor. Close eyes, breathe, raise hand with gun back, and let item fly. Hits weakling in the side. He crumples. Shame. Aimed for head. Missed. Need practice.

    "Jesus Fucking Christ, man!" a fourth voice shouted out.

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    I ran for the fallen duffle bag and got ready to hightail it out of this alley. Being picked up by the police would hinder my escape plans.

    "Whoa, Whoa! Jay!" the voice shouted after me.

    My prompt escape put me halfway around the corner before his words clicked in my head. I turned to look down at the end of the building and figure out who called my real name.

    "Zach?" I asked.

    He was running up to me, completely ignoring the two people down on the ground and moaning. He was completely unfazed by them. My third robber was long gone by now.

    "Seriously, man?¡± Zach asked. ¡°Running away? After all the trouble I went through to get this set up for you?"

    "What?" I started backing up slowly. Sleep deprivation couldn''t completely be canceled out by the adrenaline of almost being robbed. Everything hurt while throbbing plagued my temple. Something about the way Zach talked was giving me a pounding headache. I backed into a wall and startled myself while attempting to get my head on straight.

    The world about me was still giving excessive feedback. Walls felt heavy and bore their weight upon the ground below. Like something sitting on my chest. Litter, cars, everything felt light compared to the pressure of buildings.

    I shook my head and tried to disengage the extra perceptions. Tried to pull everything back into myself. Arms, limbs, threads of sanity pulled together gradually. Zach stood there, asking if I was okay. Not touching me.

    "James? You alright, man?"

    I started to realize things. The scent of burning plastic and straw filled the air. Zach''s tone, patterns, pitch, all shifted toward surfer. He had called me Jay. No one around here knew me by that name.

    I shook my head and asked, "Do I know you?"

    "Sure, I¡¯m your bartender, Zach? We''ve met a few times."

    The glare I gave him must have shown how serious this was. Zach''s feigned friendly face fell away with a sigh. He straightened, stared at me, and seemed to be evaluating something in his mind.

    "Fine." He reached out for me. The motion sent tremors of fright up and down my spine then rattled both knees. There was nowhere to pull away though without dodging by the man. "Jay, relax, and try to remember," Zach paused then sighed again as if readying himself for something unpleasant, "don''t shoot the messenger."

    Quicker than I expected, he wound his fingers around an object that I couldn¡¯t see on my wrist. Whatever it was broke with hardly any resistance. He held it up and studied the remains of a hand weaved bracelet that looked half blackened from fire.

    "Jesus, this thing is barely holding together," Zach mused.

    I stared at his face and watched as certain features became more recognizable. Not something that I could directly peg, just familiar bits and pieces. The tilt of his chin and sharpened eyes. A laid back glance that could turn angry at the drop of a hat. His hair was different, dyed to a darker color. Freckles were buried under a slightly smudged masking of makeup. There was enough to diffuse his distinctive features.

    My head was flooding with bits and pieces of past memories. The sensation didn¡¯t feel uncomfortable but did make my head swim. Like waking up from a long slumber and not knowing what day of the week it was.

    It occurred to me that this had happened before. Last time it was pictured as a house filled with rooms. Instead of lights shutting off, they were now coming back to life. Pictures that had been flat and lifeless took on a healthy dimension. People, places, and things took on a fresh life. Each one a moment from the past being sorted into their proper places. Faces stood out easier than the rest.

    Roy''s face was familiar from a place called Bottom Pit. His father and sons were there too. Steven, and those cheerleader cutouts, all of them I knew from the same location. Cliff Richards, the black teenager at the afternoon meetings. His mother. Then one more face swam into view and every other surfacing memory ceased to matter.

    Kahina''s athletic and narrow features stood out in my mind. That was the woman''s name. I had been trying to remember her for a month now. She was the one I called in the early morning hours. It was the darkness of her strange NightShades that gave me terrors. I hadn''t run from her, I had run for her. To keep her safe, and distant.

    Wait, I hadn''t run at all.

    "Crummy," I said feeling an ember of heat forming. The motion made my lungs feel heavy and the air dry.

    "Yeah, man, welcome back," the other man said. He was distracted by counting something on his fingers.

    Zach, or as I knew him, Daniel Crumfield, was still studying the charred trinket when I threw my bag to the side. Anger flared. He didn¡¯t see my punch coming.

    "You!" I landed one good solid blow to his face that sent him spiraling across the alleyway.

    Daniel smashed into the wall with a solid crash. No cool dents, just a very clear connection. His face took on a vacant and dazed expression. He sat there, and I briefly wondered if I killed him. My strength surprised me, clearly caught him off guard too.

    "Jesus. I told you not to shoot the messenger." He huffed then stood up with a wince. With one hand he felt around for broken bones. The side of his face bled from where my knuckles had collided.

    More memories sorted into place. Daniel was a Hunter, a kind of amped up human. I wanted to hit him again but there was no reason. Just the once had expressed every ounce of frustration and anger left over. After all, at this point his betrayal had happened months ago, I think. It was hard to tell under the fog of revealing histories.

    "We good?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow.

    "No." I picked up my bag and started walking off.

    Daniel Crumfield had returned me to myself, but that didn''t mean I was going to thank him for it. It didn¡¯t mean I wanted anything to do with whatever insane plot he had in mind this time.

    "Rachel''s been taken!" he yelled after me.

    My stomp filled exit halted abruptly. I turned around and raised an eyebrow.

    "Once you were gone, they took her just like they took Tal a week ago.¡± Daniel paused but didn¡¯t approach. ¡°They drugged the hell out of that old man and he still took down two of his attackers."

    "Why?" I didn¡¯t bother asking who. There would be only one group that bothered kidnapping such specific people. Camp Grace, the place unnerved the bejesus out of me. They had to be related to the Order.

    Hell. How had I been so muddled that I couldn''t put that together sooner? What exactly had that been around my wrist? It had to be a trinket which messed with memories. Something that came from Muni and buried parts of my past.

    Snippets of Boss Wylde''s conversation came back to me. What had she said? Lie so well that those closest to you don''t know. There could be no person closer to me than myself. I lied like a champion.

    Someone had taken Rachel. A person who allowed me to stay with her and fed me. I left that tiny town expecting everything to be okay. When had Tal been abducted? Was it when he stopped showing up around town a while back? No wonder Roy vanished for a few days. That old man had been nothing but supportive.

    Boss Wylde had also talked about threats. Warranted vengeance is swift, sure, and clearly understood. Camp Grace and the entire Order of Merlin was in serious need of some threatening.

    "Because they''re not human," Daniel answered my question as I tried to muddle through everything.

    "They''re all Hidden,¡± I said, putting the pieces together.

    "Yeah, man. Rachel, Tal, Roy, even little Cliff."

    "Were they all taken?"

    "Not yet. They''re moving fast, though. Tonight''s meeting is an ambush, if there is one. I called them and suggested pulling the plug but Roy''s stubborn. Doesn''t like to back down from a challenge."

    "What do I do?"

    "First, I gotta know if you¡¯re going to hit me again, man, are you?" Daniel asked.

    I seriously thought about it. For a solid five breaths, I ran through my feelings, sorted what had happened and searched for the reasons behind my situation. Eventually, I decided that Daniel, in his own twisted way, had been helping me all along.

    He said it once as Zach, in the bar. Daniel was involved with Camp Grace because of me. I wanted to get out of town and wanted to get Cliff and his mother to safety from that other trio. They had been secure, in a way, at least until I blew it all by chickening out.

    Hell. Not to mention everyone else I left behind. Charlie, the accountant, was bound to have moved on by now. Julianne''s Bar and Grill would be a difficult place to go back to after this. Even more barren of people I knew, people I was semi-comfortable with.

    "Not today,¡± I answered Daniel¡¯s question finally.

    "I''ll take that, man.¡± He nodded. ¡°Anyway, I figured we just drive up to Camp Grace and get you inside."

    "What? You''ll have to explain." That was the damned oddest plan I had ever heard of. Yet, going through the front door sounded far more suitable than sneaking in the back. Stealth was not one of my skills and probably never would be. I walked with Daniel to the scrubbiest car he had ever driven. We got in, and he smiled.

    "Good to have you back, man," he said.

    "I guess." Not everything had returned to me yet. I was still trying to mesh up the last few months of memories against my prior life. Gaps were being compared against and large holes remained.

    "Well, when this is over we''ll go drink until one of us blacks out," Daniel said.

    Now the man was truly giving me a peace offering. We shared many drinks, that I knew. Hell, it was probably why Daniel was undercover as a bartender. There could be no doubt in his mind that I would show up at a bar eventually.

    Rachel''s voice popped into the back of my head, reminding me of something she said. Hadn''t my father taught me better?

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 21 - Maybe, if I could

    Daniel prattled the entire hour drive from Hyatt. The travel required using a lot of winding paths. These maze-like country roads had been the most boring part of working for Henderson. Manual labor felt bearable but driving was dull.

    "Careful in this place. It''s insane,¡± he said. ¡°These people look upon their cause as blessed by God like someone slid a petition onto the stack of shit he deals with and he just smiled and okayed racism and bigotry."

    I nodded as we bumped closer to Camp Grace.

    Daniel kept on talking. "Why anyone thinks God supports their prejudices is beyond me, man. If I were a higher power there''s no way I''d care about the lies these insecure people need to hear just to stand up for a cause."

    "Then why me? Isn''t the Order after me?"

    "It is, man, but I can''t do what needs to be done without breaking my cover.¡± He glanced at me and I kept staring outside. ¡°You''re here, and will pass for human for a bit longer. And they''d never expect a creature whose eluded them for years to just wander into their turf."

    "And why¡¯s that?" I asked.

    Daniel¡¯s fingers tightened on the wheel turning his knuckles white. "They''re too clever and over think things. Deep plots for remote goals. Hopefully, no one would expect us here, and we need to break some of your people out."

    "Of here?"

    "Of Camp Grace, yeah, man," he said.

    We passed a few cows that looked like they would be delicious once someone got them onto a plate. The idea of burned meat made my mouth water. Then I remembered the color of orange and red flames spiraling outward from me on the floor of Bottom Pit. I saw hints of the fires during the two fights Roy brought me to. Whatever I was at the core hadn''t been buried by the restriction of memories.

    I finally registered what Daniel said then shook my head. "My people are in Camp Grace, with those gun nuts?"

    "The correct phrase is civil minded, not gun nuts.¡± Daniel¡¯s grin made me want to punch him in the face. ¡°Granted some of the shit they listen to is nearly insane.¡±

    I tried counting trees with my spare attention span. At fifty, I lost track then started over. There were a lot of woods out here. The perfect kind of place to put a deluded bunch of Human Supremacists. Not to say that it was all forests. There were brief openings of plains, wine vineyards, little ranches, typical country stuff.

    "Daniel."

    "Yeah, man?"

    "I didn''t feel any different." In fact, the transition from James the fleeing migrant to Jay the disgruntled debt collector was nearly seamless. Everything coming back in a rush like that should have caused a disconnect or shattered my self-perceptions. I felt like my past was a puzzle being slowly put together. Not all of them shook loose from the box, but there more than I used to have.

    "So?"

    "You''d think losing my memories would mess with me. But everything felt normal," I said.

    "Sure. You were still you." Daniel was trying not to fidget.

    "I should have noticed something." There had to be a clue to my memory gaps beyond the wrist itching and insubstantial memories.

    "Nah, man," he responded.

    "I didn''t notice a damned thing. Or when I did my arm itched, my memory was off, but I was still me."

    "Exactly. That''s how it works." He sighed and waited. His words were trying to stall me, but his body language was giving up the defense.

    "How long have I been messed with?" It was clear that my memory had been screwed over a few times by now.

    "Memory wise?"

    "Yes.¡± I nodded.

    Daniel debated an answer. His finger rubbed up and down the steering column of his car. Wiping away at dust that accumulated on the plastic pieces until it was nearly pristine.

    "Has it been years?"

    He nodded.

    "Did my memory get messed before I left years ago, or after?" I asked while trying not to freak out. The car felt cold and stuffy.

    "Nah,¡± his head shook, ¡°the memory alterations only started after you and Rhodes split the first time, what, almost five years ago?"

    I yelled but didn''t strike him. Daniel kept calm and the car in one lane. It would have been impressive if I wasn''t busy being pissed. The reason for my anger wasn''t even at the when. All my ire was centered around the fact that I might have truly remembered events wrong. That defining moment between me and Kahina, where she nearly killed me the first time she tasted my blood, could have gone differently than I remembered. Thoughts of the damage I might have done, hurting her, while out of control, sent my anger into overdrive.

    The car grew heated. Breath came in gasps while both eyes crossed. Sensory overload started pouring in almost instantly. The rubber of tires trailing along the road. The sway of branches in the wind. A bovine''s face brushing through the grass. Daniel''s god damned finger rubbing back and forth.

    Repetitive motions helped and Daniel knew it. It was like listening to a clock tick, annoying but focusing. Everything dwindled to that motion and part of me absently counted each motion.

    I really looked at my friend. He was a Hunter. It was in those eyes. They had an edge of pity. His posture was both focused on the road and ready to react to my aggression. After all of his excited babbling earlier, now he was quiet.

    "Did I really hurt her? Had she been telling the truth? Why I can''t remember?" I shouted the questions out, one after the other across the dilapidated car.

    "I can''t tell you, man," he said.

    "Why? God damn it, why? Why can''t anyone just answer me." I turned away facing the passenger door, grabbing my head. I wanted to break down, to curl into a ball. Just find a deep hole and hide. Even Daniel couldn''t give me any sort of information.

    "I can''t tell you, man. I''m trying. I want to, but we''re under Oaths. Until you release us." Daniel sat there, letting me spin around in my seat trying to keep a grip on my head.

    "Why would I do that?"

    "To protect the remains of dying races.¡± He tried to smile but failed. ¡°They look, looked to you to keep them protected. To bring them together from a world that tried to erase them. For their safety, for Rhodes¡¯ safety, you went into hiding so the Order wouldn''t associate you with them."

    "Why can''t I remember any of this?" I couldn''t turn around and look at Daniel. My face was screwed up, and he probably wore that pitying expression. I didn''t need that from the last friend I had.

    "Muni took some, many, of the memories. Nearly killed her. The partial band on your arm mostly confuses everyone else, and helps you resist the desire to pull on your abilities." Daniel gestured to my wrist, where I vaguely remember placing an object on it.

    "That comes off, and a good chunk of your memories will flood back, and old habits will surface with them," the Agent continued.

    "A hurricane compared to the rain."

    "She''s said that, yeah man."

    "For her brother,¡± I said.

    "That was her price, man, and you agreed, but her brother''s been gone for at least a thousand years. No one knows who he is, what he looks like, or if he''s even alive."

    "She," I started to explain a half hidden memory. They were still jumbled. Parts of the past came to me and others felt lost. I couldn''t remember what I had eaten for dinner yesterday, but that was standard. "She''d given me one of his feathers. There was a response but..."

    Daniel¡¯s eyes lit up and the vehicle slowed."Really? So he''s alive, but what?"

    I stood there, trying to grasp at the memory. Nothing came up, though. It was too hard, too murky and finally I gave up then said, "No idea. It was strange, but kind of familiar."

    "Like your elf was?" Daniel asked. He was referring to when I tried tracking an elf by the name of Evan almost a year ago. That had been weird also, but they weren''t the same.

    "No. Something else." It didn¡¯t help that I had a layer of memory blocks on me. I almost knew where those were, but if we were going to head into Camp Grace, I would need to pass for human. Keeping the trinket active helped with that.

    "Well. Ain''t that a mystery for the ages," Daniel said. He leaned back and steered the car around a few more bends in the road. We were getting close to Camp Grace. I remembered these landmarks from delivering furniture and hated seeing them.

    "Whatever, man. We''ll make it work, whatever it takes. We take down the Order, then put you back to normal. Afterward, we''ll find Muni''s brother. I''ll help you."

    I didn''t say anything. Nothing that passed through my lips would be peaceful at this point. Everything annoyed me.

    "Time to put your thug face on."

    "You sure?"

    "It''s perfect for a place like this. The whole vibe is a tough guy who doesn''t ask questions. If anyone wants to know your history, share anything about your fights,¡± Daniel paused then sniffed, ¡°minus the whole Rhodes episode."

    "They won''t suspect?" I asked.

    "The trinket muddles that. You could call yourself a half man half bull monster who loves mazes and they''d never remember it."

    The picture made me chuckle. I pictured a bovine with a dumb human face on top, drooling on itself. My biggest thrill would be wondering how to get over a farmer''s fence for more grass. Or making crop circles for alien enthusiasts to find.

    "Pass," I said.

    "I''m just saying, don''t be afraid to express your ability to punch people."

    "Just a thug."

    "Too bad you lost the suit. Actually, scratch that, man, they prefer the military look here. Should have gotten you a buzz cut to clean up the shaggy head you''ve been growing."

    "Can''t win them all."

    "No. But the important ones, those we''ve got to win."

    Speaking of battles and wars reminded me of another question. "Has anyone told Roy?"

    Daniel¡¯s head shook. "I''m making Cliff pass on the message. Hopefully, he''ll put a delay on it like I asked."

    "Delay?"

    "Shush.¡± He waved an arm at me. ¡°We''re here."

    The gates of Camp Grace¡¯s main entrance loomed over our car. Those large chain linked and barb wire fences disturbed me, but for entirely different reasons. This place was a den of human supremacists. If there was a time to run, it was now.

    One leg bounced up and down to vibrate my side of the truck. A spot between the ears started to throb with a headache. Unease set most thoughts toward pulling my connections and perception of ownership that bound me to objects far away. Each one a desperate attempt to shift focus away from Camp Grace.

    Daniel, no, Zach. I had to correct myself since he was under cover. Slipping up and calling him another name would destroy whatever ruse the agent was trying to keep together. Zach was peaceful, just living another day, acting like a man arriving at work for another eight-hour shift.

    Hell. I couldn''t believe that I willingly went along with this whole plan. Get me inside? So I could break out Rachel and Tal somehow? I agreed without any real hesitation or thought. Too much of me blindly trusted Daniel to help me get back people who were family.

    Weird, but the word calmed me a bit. Family. Despite the episode in the warehouse. Looking back on it now I could see how the event was staged for people trailing me. Roy, Tal, and others had followed me out here to a town that was hours away from home. Roy wanted to get me back into fighting shape. They weren¡¯t willing to let me go once we reunited. Even half broken, a hollowed out version of my former self, they didn''t care.

    "Who''s that with you, Zach?" a gate guard asked.

    "Possible recruit.¡± Daniel nodded to the other man. ¡°I brought him in for the tests."

    "Another one? That''s the third since you''ve arrived."

    "I got an eye for people."

    I kept a stony face and refused to smile or show teeth. Based on Daniel¡¯s words, they would respect silence and my generally large presence. Ideas ran through my head. I could keep my hands out to the sides and low-key. Movements should be fluid, and when I stood still it would be nearly frozen. That would make me just like Roy¡¯s family. They were bouncers at Bottom Pit, I remembered it now. Their postures were perfect for this kind of crowd.

    If I could carry a hint of fawning puppy dog as I looked around, well, that would help as well. Enough to show I was impressed and hopeful. I would have to cover up the expression quickly.

    "You''re a true patriot," the other man said. It wasn''t empty words either. This was the kind of man who believed, not in God, not in righteousness, but in a cause. In the history of all the races, nothing was more dangerous than a person who fully committed to a cause.

    I would brave this compound of civic-minded gun toters to save a few. All to get my vaguely remembered family back. Tal was important to me for more reasons than I could sort out right now.

    "I don''t keep them. That''s the sir himself that gets them going," Daniel¡¯s accent sounded weird to me.

    "Truer words were never spoken, Brother Zach."

    I almost retched in my own mouth. These people seemed like bigger idiots every second.

    "We clear?" Daniel asked.

    The other man looked through our car again then nodded. "You know where to park. I''ll radio ahead and let them know. You''ll have to go through the normal pat down."

    "Sure. Thanks, Brother Mike," Daniel commented to the other man. I didn''t even care about the fellow''s name. It was a useless piece of information about a place I would hopefully be leaving soon.

    Daniel, Brother Zach, the Bartender, Sector agent, Hunter, my friend wore so many hats and titles I was starting to wonder who the real man was. Was the surfer accent fake? A way of relating to me? He hadn''t used it since we entered the compound. Instead, his tone was soft spoken, words stretched out longer, less excited.

    Hell. I was tired of wondering about his motives. We had known each other for a long time, and it was too late in the game for doubt. If I was bothered by all the back and forth, then there was no question he was struggling like crazy just to keep all the masks on straight. Daniel gave me a role, and I would see where it led.

    As we got out of the car someone came over and gave us a courtesy once over for hidden weapons. The inside of the compound wasn''t as disturbing as originally imagined. Daniel was carrying a handheld, I had nothing. Being patted down set me on edge even after recovering some memories.

    There were clearly different buildings set up. A few larger greenhouses, a bunker that looked to house a series of sleeping cots. Another for guns, ammo, shooting ranges. Oddly it felt like a bare bones version of Kahina''s home. Her property had been less self-sufficient. She had money and lived in a major city. Camp Grace had to grow its own food to cut down on costs. Their leader was probably paranoid enough to believe he could be poisoned if store bought food was brought in. Knowing Western Sector¡¯s finest, poisoning was likely.

    "Looks like one of the Fathers is preaching. You have to hear some of this." Daniel turned us slightly toward a gathering.

    Roughly thirty people sat in a clearing between buildings. Each armed in different bits of gear. Most of them at least had their weapons holstered or properly tucked away. One man stood on top of a flatbed truck, speaking into a megaphone. The midday sun behind him only served to heat people up that much more. Even with such tainted motives it was clear these militants, their training, and compound were nearly on par with Kahina''s people.

    It also meant she''d only survived due to clashing vampires against Order members. The home court advantage helped. Of course, she betrayed me and slept with someone else, so to hell with the woman.

    "We are on the verge of a new dawn!" the man shouted. His voice brought shivers to my skin. I couldn''t quite make out his face. Heavyset, not in the muscled way, he was overweight.

    "We sit here in an age where hunted are the hunters, where the prey turns on those pursuing us and ends the chase once and for all!" Each sentence ended in a raised voice, like a twisted prayer. "One man, one righteous man can take on one of the unclean monsters and end his life. They may have claws, and speed, and other unholy powers, but we have gifts they have shunned." The man¡¯s raving continued in the background, preaching to a captive audience.

    "He does a speech once every day or two, or before big events. Helps keep everyone focused," Daniel explained.

    "Seems zealous," I said.

    "Careful with your words. Especially if you want to stay here long."

    I raised an eyebrow at Daniel. Staying here long wasn''t part of my plan or desires. If I could sneak out with everyone tonight then things would be perfect.

    Finally, Daniel sighed. "He''s right, though. The scales are tipping more than anyone realizes. Vampires, wolves, elves, everything else. They may have extra abilities, but the gap closes quick in the face of enough firepower."

    I rubbed below my ribs where I was shot three times. There were dozens of close calls over the years. Moments where I should have died.

    "Dangerous times," I agreed.

    "Ain''t that the truth, man."

    There were all sorts of videos out there on the internet with new weapons. Shaggy had loved them. The right bullet would blow a hole in anyone''s head. All it took was a single sniper stationed outside someone''s door to remove a person. They had to be willing to sacrifice themselves to do it. Hate crimes were handled swiftly by Western Sector¡¯s finest. Daniel probably had an entire list of names from this one compound. He just had to do it before their plans went forward.

    The Elder spouting hate was right in that sense. One idiotic man could easily kill any race. An army might clear entire cities if the planning went deep enough. It would require a whole slew of well-trained crazies to pull it off. The small army here was uncomfortably close to the right amount of people. The real question was, could this group commit to such a plan?

    Daniel, no, Zach, kept right on heading for a dugout bunker in the back of the compound. He maintained an easy pace, not rushed, not leisurely, and came across like a comfortable man who knew exactly where he was going.

    "We''re headed back here,¡± he filled me in. ¡°They''ll do the tests on you first. Afterward, I''ll try to get approval to show you the enemy we train for."

    "Not just wolves?" I asked in brief confusion.

    "Wolves are on the lighter side of things. Their weaknesses we know, and through those crutches, we can control them. Nearly every wolf is registered with the government," an older man spoke as he joined us. He clearly had been eavesdropping on our conversation. The new person walked slowly, and Daniel adjusted to fit the man''s pace.

    "So, they¡¯re not a big issue then," I said.

    "They''re a controllable issue,¡± the new man said. He looked old but stern. ¡°There''s darker beings that escaped destruction. Some of those creatures prey on humans. The Order¡¯s focused these greater dangers first. Learning, studying."

    "This is Father Tom," Daniel gave an introduction.

    The older man nodded to one side. "Brother Zach." Our trio stopped outside the bunker. "Is this our new convert?" Father Tom asked.

    "If he passes the tests," Daniel said.

    "Does he understand our cause? Is he willing to support it?" Father Tom stared at me and I found myself confused at making prolonged eye contact. Most people couldn¡¯t handle it. The thought that a human would be willing to engage in a staring match felt amusing.

    "I believe so, Father Tom," Daniel spoke in an out of place subdued view. The change in his mannerisms made my pulse jump and part of my face twist up.

    "Very well. After the testing, I''ll hear his story personally. If I approve, you can show him the prisoners. Then we''ll see if he can stomach our cause."

    "Jeff here is a believer already, sir,¡± Daniel said, giving me another name for the new crowd. That meant he probably knew about Muni¡¯s trinket, which would make it harder to remember me when using a new name.

    "I''ll not be sold on any man''s worth until after the testing,¡± the older man said.

    "Of course, Father." Daniel was in his thirties, calling someone else father felt wrong. Like the man was a priest of some kind. Maybe he was, anyone could get a license online for fairly cheap.

    Hell, now I was dealing with a strange sect of religious gun nuts spouting humanity first beliefs. There were probably citing passages from the Bible that enforced their point of view. What was with these groups trying to cherry pick lines that supported their bigotry? They frequently grabbed a handful of paragraphs and put them up on banners like a rallying cry without taking note of all the other messages in the Good Book.

    Father Tom walked away. I watched his footsteps, trying to get a feel for both weight and size. Trying to reach out with my senses and feel the world about.

    Daniel grabbed my arm and squeezed tightly. "Don¡¯t do that stuff here, man," his surfer accent was in a low whisper. "Not yet."

    "What?¡± My forehead wrinkled.

    "Let it build. Let the perception build,¡± he spoke quickly while looking around. ¡°Don''t you dare try to pull on anything until the last moment. If any Hunters are here then we''ll be screwed if they notice."

    I withdrew my senses. Daniel was right. Extending myself here in the middle of Order training grounds was like asking to be shot. He proved the point by simply being aware of my attempt. Hunters could clearly pick up my abilities easily. Still, there were possibilities to my extra powers. Maybe I could leap out of here with Tal and Rachel.

    "Come on.¡± Daniel pushed me toward the door. ¡°We''d better complete the test quickly. Or they''ll get suspicious."

    "Don''t you know their handshake?" I hated this entire process. We were walking in the middle of an unknown place, talking about what shouldn¡¯t be done and Daniel worried about initiation.

    "No one is above scrutiny." He shifted back to Zach''s vocal tones and the words started dragging out more. "We must be on guard at all points. Traitors can come from any side, and our cause shouldn''t be stopped."

    Another pair, male and female, walked by and overheard part of Daniel''s little warning. The male nodded in a very serious manner. The female watched with narrowed eyes. There was a lot of barely buried anger in those orbs. I slowly registered that Daniel changed his tone based on our observers.

    "Inside." Zach held open a door at the bottom of three concrete steps. Someone had poured out the foundations of these buildings then carefully fortified them.

    Upon opening the door a woman shouted, ¡°You made it!"

    This place had a half and half population. Gender apparently didn¡¯t matter when joining a militant compound based on revenge against nonhumans.

    "That we did. Here''s the new recruit I mentioned a few days ago," Daniel said.

    "Really?" She looked me over, I stared into space from my position behind Daniel. "He looks like a serious one.¡±

    "Well, he''s got the experience.¡± Daniel stepped to one side and the door slammed behind us. ¡°I figured he might fit in good with Lance and his crew, but got to get him vetted first."

    "Oh right, tests. I''ll have to call in the others, you know how it goes."

    "Of course. We can''t be too careful with our mission," Daniel, with his Zach way of speaking, said.

    There was one chair and two long tables that had probably been delivered by Henderson''s. Through the door on the side came three men with guns. They took up positions around us. I tried not to let my face slip into panic. It was difficult, and no one would call me a coward for the brief moment of worry. Those were heavy duty pieces they carried.

    Daniel stepped back, and the tiny woman who was going to be giving me the tests appeared unfazed by the men with guns. She reached behind the desks into a short cabinet and brought up stacks of trays. Each one rattling differently than the others as they slammed down onto the table tops.

    One of the men yawned, clearly bored by the whole process. If things went south I would plow through him first. My only chance of success would be to put them into each other''s line of fire. Flipping tables wouldn''t save me here.

    No one was upset. This testing probably wasn''t painful. I wish Daniel had told me what the process actually involved. Looking around revealed that my friend, the agent, had vanished. My heart sunk, and the mask I tried to keep on slipped. My examiner pulled the cloth of the first tray and revealed a giant cross.

    I almost laughed as realization hit. They were testing to see if I was human or not. A real vampire would break out in a sweat and start panicking just from seeing the holy symbol. For me, the only thing averse would be if I actually had to touch it, and that was because of a red fog no one ever seemed to notice.

    "It''s daylight." I used my dumbest tone of voice. It felt like I was channeling Ted and his echoing of everyone else''s speech.

    "First test, clear.¡± She checked a box on paper nearby. ¡°Second test."

    "Silver?" I questioned. Sure enough, the woman pulled back the felt covering and revealed two small knives that looked to be high-grade silver.

    "Your hand please," she said while lifting up a knife.

    I shrugged, reached out then waited for her to do her worst. The woman opted for a simple thumb prick which was downright kind of her. Other than a drop of blood there was no reaction.

    "Second test, clear." She gave me a bandaid for my boo-boo and moved on.

    Wolf was the most likely thing for a man of my stature. The guards behind me relaxed a notch. They had been worried how I might react.

    In the remaining trays was an assortment of random objects. The line-up felt so familiar I was sure someone had taken a picture of my apartment wall. Iron, worn through rocks, horseshoes, four leaf clovers, and charms. These were the kinds of objects traveling peddlers would have sold during the Purge to ward off evil. There were barely any stories nowadays and it took me a decade to get my few pieces together.

    Clearly the Order had researched as well. They were testing to see if I reacted to any of them. What would I be if the four leaf clover did something? Or the rock with a worn through hole in it? Did this pile of salt mean anything? Maybe if Roy was here, or Rachel, their weakness might be among these items.

    If there was one obvious lesson to take away from these tests, it was that the Order believed there was a weakness for every creature. They just might not know the rules. I didn''t either but couldn¡¯t help but wonder, what was my weakness?

    For a moment, I saw the snarling face of one of Kahina''s former bodyguards. The man who had shot Julianne. He had called me a monster and asked the same question about weaknesses. At the time, I felt pretty susceptible to bullets. That was probably universal, though.

    None of the remaining materials did anything negative. They made me hold sage and, handle bark of all types. The long list gave me ideas should my home ever need to be upgraded. Some of this stuff was probably guesswork. Each one more far-fetched than the last.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    After each test she said a number and that we were clear. Thirty-two items later and I seemed to be okay. I looked outside, it was afternoon, which meant we had spent over an hour holding different materials while noticing nothing.

    Finally, the woman looked up and smiled. "He''s clear."

    I shrugged, not really trusting myself to talk.

    "Father Tom asked to see him next," the girl said toward a remaining guard. She motioned at him. There had been three, but two left immediately after the final step.

    The guard nodded and gestured for me to stand up. It was barely a step up from waving guns at me. People here were ninety percent rude to outsiders like myself.

    We went to a bigger building. My eyes scanned over objects for their placements. There were tons of items to anchor to or places for hiding if needed. I counted it all. Doorways, locations between buildings, people, armaments. All of it would help me with my powers and simply surviving. Despite my failure with Roy, there were definite signs of improvement. Being able to take a place after only a few minutes and pull strength was nearly a record.

    Once, when looking in the woods for Evan, the same process of ownership had taken tons more effort. Now it was improving. The perception was just out of reach, hovering, waiting for me to make a demand. Eventually, there would be a debt of sleep on the other end. Whatever route I went would require immediate results to get us clear. Pushing too much or for too long might send me into a brief coma.

    I looked around, trying to locate the fence and front entrances. The guard escorting me led to a building in the back, past the greenhouses and a cleared out piece of land.

    The man grunted then waved at the door to a small building. We weren¡¯t at the greenhouse, barracks or armory so this must be a commander¡¯s home. Well maintained pathways to the front door told me this place was central to the entire compound. The door opened in front of me. Another militia member was inside. He wore happiness on his face, fresh from amusement. His hand and head tilted in a welcoming gesture.

    I stepped inside. As Jay, I had walked into a lot of rooms that displayed someone''s ego. They kept expensive artwork, or cheap posters, signs of a personality. This interior wasn''t lavish. There were no signs of monetary abuse, excessive greed, or spending above one''s means. This room was concise, trimmed, and superficial.

    Father Tom probably didn''t spend much time in here. If he did, then maybe he wasn''t the decorating sort. Other thoughts probably occupied most of his time. It made me uncomfortable.

    The man himself sat in a chair. To his left sat a tablet flicking with bits of information. A book sat open in the middle of his simple wooden desk. On the opposite side was a small wooden box that looked familiar. I eyed the sides, trying to remember where I saw the carvings before.

    "Sit, please," he said.

    Father Tom was old, wrinkled, and had to be pushing late fifties. The man¡¯s eyes were lost in the depths of a well-worn face. Like the room, his clothes weren¡¯t expensive or decorative. Father Tom was the first person in this entire compound that didn''t have a firearm.

    "Leave us." He didn''t look up, but the guard clearly knew the message was for him.

    A moment later we were alone. Silence ensued. Father Tom turned his book over then started reading. The man¡¯s lips would purse together as if the letters rambling across the page were of intense interest. I waited. Silence was something I felt very comfortable with.

    This was a far cry better than being shot at and part of me wanted to enjoy the peace. Minutes passed. I studied everything in the room. Slowly glancing over each object and lined it up to the man in front of me. There was a bookshelf nearby crammed full of literature I had never heard of. It was impossible to divine if they were fiction or fact. There were names I had never seen. one was called The Art of War. Another was Gulliver''s Travels. They were all random nonsense.

    "Jeff Ager," Father Tom said at last.

    I tore myself away from the book titles and turned toward the older man. My head briefly nodded.

    "Brother Zachary states you may be a believer. Willing to join our cause," his voice was slower than the first time we met. Now he felt deliberate with his word choice and was probing for something. The man hadn''t looked directly at me. Despite that it was clear he was evaluating my every twitch.

    "Yes sir," my words came out stronger than I felt.

    "And you''ve passed the initial tests?" he asked. My heart thumped at the idea that there may be additional tests.

    "Yes."

    "Very well. Here." Father Tom closed the book in front of him and carefully spun it around on the desk. "Pick a page. Read me something that stands out. Whatever you''d like."

    I tentatively reached out for the book. Feeling the worn leather cover. Running my hand down the bumpy surfaces and over each embossed letter. This material was older than Father Tom. The title was foreign to me. What was The Iliad about?

    Better yet, was this another test to see if I picked an adequate passage? Or maybe a character evaluation? The older man was finally staring at me. His eyes kept watch on my face while I tried to remain passive. Pages slipped by and I picked the first convenient place to scan over the words.

    "Well?" Father Tom questioned and sounded genuinely interested.

    I read through the line twice to make sure I wouldn''t screw it up. Public speaking wasn''t a strong point.

    "Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another." I kept reading it quietly to myself while thoughts ran through my brain.

    What would he think of that? That I was a liar? That I hated liars? Both were true to an extent. I understood the need to lie and keep secrets, but I was growing to dislike them increasingly as time went by. The old man didn''t give much away in his face. Finally, I closed the book and turned it back to him.

    "A good line," he said at last.

    I shrugged.

    "There''s many good lines in these old works. A shame so much was slashed in translation. The various Sectors have done their job well."

    I waited for further explanation with a raised eyebrow.

    "This book, and its second half, both speak of things beyond the pale. A world we''ve tried to pretend doesn''t exist.¡± Father Tom took a slow breath and glanced at something on his tablet before speaking again. ¡°Creatures of the sea, great monsters. Beings called Sirens with voices that drew men to their death. Or a swirling abyss that would swallow ships whole."

    I blanched. That sounded uncomfortable. Old world sailors must have had a hell of a time just trying to make it across the ocean. Not like now, we could just fly over all of it without pause.

    "Before the Purge?" I ventured.

    "Yes. In a time when the fantastic wandered the earth and men like you and I huddled near the fireside for protection." He almost seemed in awe of those times. It was hard to tell from his calm way of speaking. "I''ve studied this book, among others, trying to glean information to help our cause."

    "Did you find anything useful?" I was genuinely curious. If a book offered hints as to other creatures from before the Purge, maybe I could find information about myself.

    "Some, yet, not enough. Most literary works disregard facts in favor of fantastical elements that would draw attention."

    Hell, that was less than ideal. Muddled details wouldn''t help anyone. Maybe it was best that the Order spent their time being wrong. If they were fighting me I preferred they be just as in the dark as I, if not more so.

    He leaned back and gestured to the book. "Old works, like this, are hard to find. Most come from outside the Sector, and get smuggled in like contraband."

    "So it¡¯s illegal then," I said.

    "And hardly our worst crime," Father Tom said. He was staring at the book again as if it would reveal a secret by being present. "Still, we do what we must."

    "I understand," my words were small and simple.

    "Now it''s your turn," Father Tom said.

    I grunted in confusion.

    "I told you and Brother Zach that I would listen to your story. Tell me why you wish to join us. Why you think you''re capable of pursuing our cause."

    Where to start? What was safe to talk about? Daniel had given me a tip. To tell anything needed about my combative tendencies. I tried to pull thoughts together out of the bits of my past which stood out.

    "I''ve always gotten into fights." My beginning was lame and honest. "Since public school. Then high school. Then my parents pulled me out and I found other places-" I paused then shrugged, "-well, you get the idea."

    Father Tom nodded. One hand slid idly back and forth across his table top. I noticed and wondered if the desk was as grainy as it looked. Father Tom twisted his hand and gestured for me to keep going.

    "Life didn''t take much thought, only one really, hit people. Then I started getting paid for it. Fights. Loan recovery." Hell. "Anything that let me vent. I was good at it. Fast forward, somehow I''d found a girl who saw past it." Or she found me. Maybe we found each other. Julianne had been responsible for our introduction but things had gone well.

    Father Tom nodded but otherwise stayed quiet. His eyes stared at mine as if nothing I said or did could truly unnerve him. Once again I felt conflicted at being disregarded as a threat.

    "Time passed, things were good. Then vampirism got involved." Everything stopped while my body uttered a long depressive sigh.

    "Vampires? Was it this girl of yours?" Father Tom prompted. His hand made the same sliding motion again, but on the book.

    "And our best friend. One ended up dead. The other..." I shuddered, remembering Julianne''s death was mostly a thing of the past. Yet, talking about pain only made it easier to relive.

    "Turned, or left?" he asked.

    "Turned," I confirmed.

    Father Tom hummed but said nothing else.

    "I left, ran away really. I couldn¡¯t handle it." I was almost lying now. Running from Kahina had been a partial truth, but I could have said running for her and still been as honest.

    "Did you get tested yourself? Vampirism is a powerful lure to those compatible."

    "I''m couldn''t make the change," I said.

    "Why is that enough to drive you to us?" Father Tom cut to the heart of the issue.

    His question was something I been spinning around since Daniel drug me here. There was only one honest answer. A truth that was deeply painful.

    "If there were only humans." I didn¡¯t know who to blame. Vampires, wolves, elves, all of them had a part in fucking up my life. "If everything else, didn''t exist..."

    The pause dragged on for too long, Father Tom leaned forward and asked, "Then?"

    "Then maybe things wouldn''t have changed. Maybe we''d just be living our lives somewhere peaceful." I could see it now. A world where none of us ever had to worry about the absurdities of territorial wolves. Where vampires didn''t risk death for extra years. Where fools like me wouldn''t have to make deals with elves.

    "You''d hope for a world where they were gone?"

    "Maybe. If I could, if anyone could just change things-" hell, here I was arguing against one of the very goals the Order had put forth. To one of their leaders no less, "-what would the price be?"

    Father Tom sat back from the desk, crossed both hands and stared in my direction. This wasn''t a subtle glance, wasn''t a sideways glare.

    "How much has Brother Zach told you?" he asked.

    "Not enough," I responded.

    Father Tom gave a wary smile. "Interesting."

    I defaulted back to my indifferent shrug.

    "I think that''s good enough for now," the man said.

    "It is?"

    "You raise a good point. No one wants to give up the things they hold dear. But in order to make the world a better place? To remove the possible pain of future choices? Would it be worth it?" He hit the heart of what I was trying to say.

    "Yeah." I nodded.

    "All the speculation in the world doesn''t reveal how someone might act when it''s time to make their decision."

    "Yeah." My shoulders slumped and face fell. He was right. How could anyone know what they would do until the possibility became reality? If someone held a knife above me, ready to reset the world, would they? How much suffering would need to weigh on a man before they were willing to commit?

    "Since you gave me a passage, I''ll give you another, something to ponder while Brother Zachary shows you to the final test."

    I turned, sure enough, Daniel stood at the door. He had snuck in sometime during my conversation with Father Tom. It was difficult not to throw him a mean growl.

    "Let me not then die ingloriously and without a struggle, but let me first do some great thing that shall be told among men hereafter." Father Tom passed the quote out slowly as if doling out wisdom from behind his simple wooden desk.

    My expressions needed a larger range of responses. I had raised eyebrows, questioning glances, and the classic shrug of indifference. That quote was disturbing enough to warrant a repressed shudder. Father Tom, if that passage was to be considered a self-reflection, was a man driven to achieve something great before death. Was he advising me which way he would act if given a choice?

    Briefly, I noticed my first visual clue about his life. There was a pale ring on his wedding finger. Father Tom had once been married, for a number of years judging by the tone difference. What had he lost? Would he unravel the rest of the world to remove the hurt?

    "You may leave now, Jeff Ager,¡± he said.

    I gave Father Tom a nod then went to join Daniel. The old man''s gaze was a heavy thing that followed me out the door. Twenty feet later and the undercover agent motioned me over.

    "What do you think of Father Tom?" Daniel had shifted briefly back to his normal Agent Crumfield voice.

    I guess it was safe enough to talk as we walked to the next location. Things were moving from one subject to the next and there wasn''t enough time to ponder what we talked about. Best to just handle one thing at a time. Tonight there would be time to have an internal struggle.

    "Mh,¡± I said, using the classic shrug of indifference.

    "Hard to pin him down huh?"

    "He''s intense." I shook off the feeling of that quiet room. Maybe it was just how he performed the test. Silence was as much a tool as endless prattle.

    "Driven,¡± Daniel said while shaking his head. ¡°Father Tom has been with the Order nearly his entire life and has worked hard.¡±

    A decanting opinion would do me no good here. I nodded slowly and hummed.

    "I''ve gotten approval to show you the face of our enemy, in order to help you join our cause." Daniel¡¯s word choice changed as we neared other people. They became we, it was no longer their prejudices, it was now our cause.

    If I didn''t know Daniel, if we hadn''t talked before coming here, I''d be completely disturbed by the attitude. Especially considering I was one of the enemies. If only they knew.

    "Enemy?" My head hurt the further we walked. The ground vibrated with a soft hum that felt familiar but impossible to pin down.

    "A monster. Like all nonhumans are." The agent pulled off fervent zealot well.

    We passed by another random person. This place was full of individuals going about their duties. Some came out of greenhouses, probably working on food. Others got into vehicles and left. There were at least fifty people in this compound, and there were probably another ten or twenty out and about somewhere.

    Here I walked, in a location packed full with at least sixty humans who hated monsters like myself. People who were angry enough to form a group together and learn how to use guns. They were dedicated. Were any angry enough to make the decision I talked about with Father Tom? Could they use me to reset the world? I rubbed my chest and wondered how many stabs would be needed before death finally won.

    "This world isn''t that bad, is it?" I whispered. Daniel was the only sounding board available.

    Another person passed us. The camp looked a lot more empty now than it had hours ago. Maybe people went back to their jobs, went home, or were holed up in the barracks-like building. I would have to figure it out.

    "People are stupid," Daniel said in surfer tones. "Something happens, a bomb goes off, airplanes are hijacked, wars started, and the old timers hang their heads and say ''what''s wrong with the world now ah days''. Like it hasn''t been fucked up all along."

    He seemed incised by the whole topic. As if he personally looked up the violence of the world and ran bar graphs showing how it was no better or worse now than it used to be. Maybe it was part of his training as a Sector agent, maybe it was his view on the world after years of dealing with all the races. Or working with the Hidden like myself.

    "They forget that wars constantly happen, people constantly kill each other. Everything we do is a mad scramble not to tip off the deep end into extinction." Daniel looked at me briefly and I saw his eyes waver for only a moment. "Eastern cultures have a curse. May you find what you seek. If you dwell on war, that''s all you find. If you seek news on violence, racism, hatred, that''s all you see."

    The three people at the bar came to mind. Their rambling argument over the state of the world. They''d cited current television. Rachel, whatever she was, had been glued to the tube, trying to get a picture of what was happening in far off places.

    The news reported anything remotely stimulating. Riots, strikes, fighting on the streets, reckless burnout vampires and their victims. It wasn''t designed to incite racism, but it served as an obvious example of our cultural norms. Still, some were outraged over every little act.

    "And the people here?" I asked.

    "Search for proof that what''s inhuman must be monstrous. All to justify their anger."

    "So-" my exhaustion was catching up, "-that''s all they find."

    "Exactly, man," Daniel said.

    "What then? Don''t look?"

    "Balance, man. Look beyond the negative. For every crazy, find someone sane, for each psychopath murdering children, find an elven doctor saving countless lives with a new vaccine. That bombing on the towers? Wolves and vampires dug out over fifty percent of the wreckage on their own."

    "Does that help?" I asked. We wove a slow path along the grounds while Daniel¡¯s eyes darted around.

    "Not enough." He sighed and sounded defeated. "Not nearly enough."

    I looked around where we were. On one side of the compound sat the looming metal fence. It stretched into the distance, separating this world from the one outside. Out there sat the normal world. On this side were at least two members of my family who needed rescuing. Only three hundred feet separated the two.

    "Last stop, then I''ll get you a bunk." Daniel motioned me over to the newest building on my grand tour of the grounds. "Here. The creatures inside this building aren''t human, aren''t wolves or elves, aren''t even vampires. It''s a whole ''nother breed of crazy. We need you to see what we''re up against."

    What Daniel really meant was that I should retain some control and not snap if things were bad. A few deep and steadying breaths passed through my body in an effort to find a center.

    "I''m ready,¡± I said.

    Daniel led the way. The inside was almost identical to a jail cell. One man sat at a table with a handheld device bleeping away. A single hallway revealed six doors, each made of heavy material, probably iron. They barely had slits to see through.

    "Brother Zach." The man at the table acknowledged our presence without looking away from his handheld.

    "We''re looking in six first,¡± Daniel said straight away.

    "You know the drill. Only one in a cell at a time." The prison guard pressed a button and glanced our way finally. "This the last one?"

    "It is." My friend nodded.

    "This guy looks like a moron. You sure he''ll pull his weight?" He glanced up and down my body slowly then frowned. I smiled, baring teeth on one side. The man didn''t even blink, in fact, he gave a similar grin right back.

    "Then he''s doing his job, unlike someone," Daniel said, his tone closer to the agent persona. The tone was professional and nearly unfriendly than surfer Crumfield.

    "So? You and I know this hellhole will be compromised. What, a few days left at most?" the man said.

    Daniel¡¯s fingers clenched and he lifted one through his hair. "Jesus, how do you just blurt that shit out, man?"

    "I do sweeps every hour, it''s cleaner than a blonde¡¯s bleached asshole," the man answered.

    "That''s a hell of a standard,¡± Daniel responded.

    "I aim to please. We''re moving on soon, right?" The man kept talking over bleeping sounds. I think he turned up the sound on his game just to piss Daniel off.

    "Maybe. That depends on Jeff," Daniel said. He turned to me and made a grand sweeping gesture at the guy playing games. "Eddy here''s one of ours, man. He''s an ass-hat but try not to pay attention to that."

    The introduction made me pause. One of the guards at the gate had talked about how Daniel had found a lot of recruits. Were they all undercover? Judging by the banter between these two, and the tone, it was likely that Eddy here was Western Sector as well.

    Daniel had snuck people into the Order¡¯s ranks before. Idiots exactly like these ones around me had tried to storm Pack grounds. Their goal of capturing Evan failed because of my friend¡¯s undercover operations.

    "I''ll be nice,¡± I said.

    "Don''t be nice. Punch him if you''ve got to. It''ll help the cover story. Just don''t kill the man," Daniel responded.

    "Sergeant Anal Cover would like to report that living is preferred-" Eddy paused, "-sir." He tilted an imaginary hat and kept at the game.

    Daniel walked toward one of the cells in the back.

    "Camera¡¯s still on in the cells. Audio doesn''t pick up conversation out here. You wanna talk, here''s the place to do it," the guard informed me. I turned around to see Eddy thumbing at same monitors behind him. "Everything inside is recorded. Don''t be stupid and blow cover."

    "Got it, Jeff?" Daniel looked at me with a serious face.

    I rolled my eyes then said, "I''m not stupid."

    "Good, man. Good." Daniel dragged me over to one of the doorways. I held back, wanting to ask other questions.

    "Moving on soon?"

    "Human authorities have been investigating this place for almost a year now. They''ll move soon to bring it down. The Order is throwing away this base and moving it. Western Sector will try to preempt their efforts and capture a few key Order members."

    "Father Tom?"

    "Maybe. Hard to say. We''d prefer to get their more extreme members first."

    "What about you? And Eddy?"

    "Depends on how it all falls out. Hopefully, you''ll get your people out during the confusion."

    "Convenient timing." I get here, and everything is about ready to go crazy.

    "We-" this time Daniel wasn''t talking about the Order. He meant Western Sector, "-may have spread some rumors to a few Order members we''ve got surveillance on."

    I just shook my head. "How long do I have?"

    "Days,¡± Daniel said. ¡°If that."

    "Fantastic," my dry word expressed precisely how I felt.

    "When the fireworks start, you get your people out. I''m trying to stall Roy and his people if everything goes right they''ll meet you on the way out." Daniel stared off for a moment then shook his head.

    "You sure?" I asked.

    "Fuck no, dealing with your patchwork family is a huge fucking headache, man."

    "Language, there are ladies present," Eddy said.

    "They can''t hear us,¡± Daniel responded.

    "I was talking about you." Eddy hadn''t looked up from his game. He was kicked back on his chair, balancing on two legs with feet up on a table.

    "Jesus, Eddy, I''ll put this shit on your review."

    "You wouldn''t dare, or I''ll tell your old lady about New Hampshire," the guard said.

    "That''s low, man, I hadn''t even met her then."

    Eddy flipped off Daniel without looking up. A moment later the prison guard was cursing a string that made Daniel look like a Saint. I guess he lost whatever game was in the machine.

    "Alright, man. I''ll check the door to make sure it''s clear.¡± Daniel spoke and I felt like he was warning me. I had no clue what could be inside there that might need to be cleared. ¡°Past the door is a second cage. Do not, go inside it."

    My head tilted with confusion. "Is it open?"

    "Lock''s probably broken," Daniel said.

    "It is, again," Eddy confirmed.

    Daniel sighed and kept on going. "Still, there''s a ward up that''ll keep her in place."

    "Her?" They were piling confusion onto me.

    "You''ll see.¡± Eddy shrugged and kept bleeping away.

    ¡°Why do this?" I asked.

    Daniel put both hands on my shoulders then said in a very serious voice, "Father Tom wants you to try and get her to talk. To spill everything she knows."

    "Is this Rachel?" I asked Daniel. He was peering inside a metal grate. It was reminiscent of the way Ted and Barnie had looked out Bottom Pit''s back door.

    "No, this is the lady who originally lived in Rachel¡¯s house."

    "Rachel didn''t live there?" I asked in confusion.

    "No, she was inserted after we abducted this woman. No one else noticed the vacancy, but we did. That''s how we knew she wasn''t human either."

    That made me pause. Then I worked through it. Rachel was affiliated with Bottom Pit, and probably only lived in Tennison because I ended up out there. Like Roy, Steven, Cliff, and so on. That meant no one suspected her because of a memory modification like Muni¡¯s. Hell, how many people were out here wearing personalized trinkets?

    "So this is another monster then?" My words were self-mocking. How many people had I murdered for Kahina? A kind old lady like that couldn''t be as bad as me.

    "You''ll see, then you¡¯ll understand and truly be one of us." Daniel reverted to his Zach tone. He must be talking that way for the sake of whatever cameras were recording the room. The man played me like a fiddle, turning my responses into a recruitment pitch.

    "Alright." I hesitated but nodded anyway.

    "So try to make her talk. If you can."

    "Why me?"

    "Why not?¡± He shrugged ¡°Besides, no one else has had any luck." Daniel¡¯s clever response annoyed me. There was nothing to be gained by looking into someone who wasn''t family. I was pushing myself into this place for Tal and Rachel, not anyone else, not even Daniel. "Knock ¡®em dead, figuratively. Wave at the camera when you''re ready."

    With that, Daniel shoved me into the room and slammed the door behind me.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 22 - White Lady

    The room was barely lit. A weak castoff glow came from an installation mounted on one wall and lit up iron bars separating the room into two parts. I had maybe three feet of space to breathe in.

    I looked around, carefully, and tried to get a measure for the cell. There was a wooden stool on my side. Otherwise, the room looked empty. The cell was devoid any monsters or signs of life at all.

    This was clearly a joke of some sort. Daniel might have led me into a trap. It wouldn''t be the first time he jerked me around like a pawn. I turned around to knock on the door.

    Danger. Feel something behind me. New weight. Close. Shivers crawl up back. Air confines. Barely breathable. Walls close tight. Head slowly cranes around.

    "Hell,¡± I let out the word carefully as my stomach seized. Daniel said don''t panic but a face was pressed up against the bars.

    Energy spirals. Uneven jerks. Spins around the cage. Solidifies for a moment. Feel it again. Feel face. Pressure against polished metal rods.

    "Hell. Hell." Daniel said not to panic and that was the only idea keeping me vaguely still. It might have been nervous fear. How could I remain stable though? A face had just vanished, then appeared again from emptiness, completely shoved up against the bars.

    Its features were hollow with empty sunken pits where eyes should be. Barely female curves were buried under pale drawn skin, dirty clumps of hair and threadbare clothing. Fear radiated off her in waves. It was too dark and confining in here. There was no room to run. I had to get out. My arm wouldn''t lift to knock on the door.

    That other cadence of thoughts had switched to fully active. I wasn''t drawing on any strength yet or laying claim. Survival mode with came with hyper awareness. Thoughts sat frozen on the cusp of fight or flight.

    Heart hammers. Thuds vibrate out. Back presses to wall. Body tries to hunch. Make myself small. Coiled. Defensive. Creature moves. Weightless in a moment. Heavy and real in another. Glow of spirit. A wild sick thing.

    Each time I blinked the person inside moved. They nearly faded out of existence then appeared at a new location in the cell. It would study a wall or stare at nothing. The path was random but looked confined within the walls. Not once did it appear on this side.

    "Hell," I uttered again.

    Caged. Form blurs on bars. Almost disperses. Loses weight. Look around. See charms. Warding stones. Defenses against the Old Things.

    Every few blinks I saw her pressed up against the bars with that reedy face trying to squish its way through. Not once did it have any expression. She, if it could be considered female, wore a blank stare that didn''t register my existence.

    A minute passed. The fear didn''t go away, but it did become familiar. Separation from my panic allowed my attention to travel around the room, trying to figure out what was going on.

    The camera''s tiny red light bleeped above me. It sat on this side of the bars. Daniel and Eddy were probably watching through the camera and laughing at me. Luckily their words were muffled by the heavy door and thick walls.

    Hanging around the creature¡¯s side of the room were small stones with holes worn in their centers, much like the one I had on my stairwell at home. They were similar to an item I had been exposed to during my testing hours ago. They must be doing something. Did they hold the weird creature in place? I tried to recall the words my other mind used. Warding stones, and old things.

    The idea of this thing being in a cage both reassured and bothered me. Was it so dangerous that they had to lock it up? What exactly had this creature done besides be disturbing as hell?

    Jittering movements kept right on going as I watched. Sometimes rapidly, one after the other. During its brief pauses, I could see the form of a young teenage girl. The exact age was hard to tell and her facial features were bizarre. She could have easily been eighty. Daniel had said she used to live where Rachel now lived.

    If she appeared on this side of the bars I might just shit myself. I took more breaths and tried to straighten up. My back had been so firmly pressed into the wall that it almost merged with me. Bits of my brain hummed in readiness. If needed, I would desperately pull everything I could muster regardless of Daniel¡¯s warning.

    How the flying fornication would I get her, it, whatever, to talk?

    "Hell."

    What could I do? What would a normal human male do to make the unnatural talk? Recite poetry? Look for trigger words like cake, pizza, boobs and explosions? Tell a joke?

    "Hello?" I barely managed to stutter the word out.

    Maybe the old Jay could handle this. The old Jay was probably incapable of feeling fear. This apparition gave off a similar vibe as Kahina''s NightShades. The flavor was different, and there was a lack of gibbering incomprehensible voices. Where they were maddening and noisy, this thing was like white noise covering pure static.

    "Can you see me?" This time, I uttered four words, and clearly had grown daring.

    The creature gave no verbal response. It almost seemed confused. Normally I sought to understand by studying people''s eyes and body language. This creature had no eyes, which made my guess half accurate at best.

    "Can you see me?" I asked again.

    It paused then stood still at a wall. Its head tilted around at unbelievable angles. An accelerated blur of motion to the bars followed. Perhaps it could hear, but not see. Was that because of Muni''s charm? Or was that because it was blind? My arm slowly waved back and forth in front of her face. There was no sign of recognition.

    I felt slightly safer and almost calm now that the initial rush of panic had washed over me. Whatever it was, was female, trapped, and blind. She couldn¡¯t have a real sense of smell either or it would be obvious an unwashed male stood on the other side of the bars. I stomped a foot on the ground twice but the weird energy creature showed no response.

    The next step would be to figure out how she interacted with the world. Once I made it past that hurdle I could get some sort of response. It was the same strategy I used when collecting debts. Figure out what gets someone going.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    One shoe came off and I waited for her to be on the other side of the room. The creature appeared on the jail cell¡¯s far side and I slammed the shoe against multiple bars.

    Metal rings. Air hums. Energy inside goes into frenzy. Moves like fledgling for food. Focused. Hungry. Desperate.

    She heard that. I rung the bars a second time when the opportunity presented. It gained the same response of sudden focus. One of her hands passed up and down the walls in fast forwarded jerks of motion.

    Her movements were almost like a vampire''s. Would blood make a difference? I had nothing to cut myself with, and no desire to at this point. Fast healing would result in questioning. We were being recorded which meant all my actions had to appear human.

    So far every action done fit within the normal human image, aside from staying in this room to start with. A sane person would be banging on the door to demand freedom. I reserved that bit of indignity for when the creature appeared on this side of the cage.

    I was getting brave and went for the bars a third time with my shoe. This time, hands shot out from between the bars and grabbed my arm.

    Danger. Arm trapped. Cold winds up limb. Pull. Desperately pull. Unable to escape. Her energy a latching yoke. Eyeless face stares directly at me. Deep. See nothing but holes. An endless abyss.

    Hell. Hell. Daniel said don''t panic. Daniel said...

    Pull on strength. Fight for life. Brace foot on bar. Scream. Roar. Floor vibrates. Escape her grasp. Power too much. I fly into wall. Crash. Hurt. Arm tingles.

    I was still pulling in every ounce of strength I could in panic. The walls felt cold and heavy. The floor was a solid thing pressing against packed dirt. For a moment, I could sense people in the other rooms. Daniel''s footsteps were rushing toward the door. A massive body sat exhausted in another cell. A tiny plump woman in a third.

    Creature backs up. I back up. Hug wall. She sees. Her mouth opens. Eye sockets widen. Her body shakes. Shivers. No jumping now. Too solid. Each foot presses lightly against the floor.

    We were both absolutely terrified. Neither one of us could escape the other. Then she screamed and the world shattered. Each piercing bit of her vocals sunk into the material around me. Items vibrated with a painful intensity, and my senses, doubling up with both the auditory and the tactile, were overwhelmed.

    I regretted every single decision that led me to this place, in this room, with noise sawing away at my mind. Saying yes to Daniel, talking peacefully with Father Tom, caring about Tal and Rachel.

    The door behind me opened. Daniel had one ear covered. His eyes watering. Eddy was similarly pressed. Both people grabbed limp arms and hauled. The screaming noises spun down the hallway after us. Once I was clear of the room Daniel went back and slammed the heavy iron shut. It didn''t help.

    I tried to focus and attempted to retract my senses. The screaming went on and on. No pause for breath came from the weird apparition trapped inside the cell. It was relentless, the yells of a monstrous woman gone mad.

    Other people showed up. Guns at the ready, looking for targets to shoot. The only potential victims were the three of us. I was the easiest, crawling desperately for the door. Trying to get away. Flight. Definitely flight. That scream outmatched everything my brain could comprehend. I had to flee and get away.

    Daniel and Eddy were trying to get me to calm down. Other militia members poured in behind us to check their prisoners or the dead. I couldn¡¯t feel anyone go into that weird woman¡¯s room.

    I broke through the small army and into the courtyard in eager panic for open sky. My arms hugged the dirt in desperation. Even here the ground vibrated with her scream. Not as intense, but sharp, painful, cutting. Slowly it died off but I couldn¡¯t calm down.

    "Relax. Relax, Brother. She''s trapped,¡± Daniel said.

    "Wha..." The left half of my face felt numb and both ears might be busted. Daniel had said something that was meant to be reassuring but it was gone lost in the ringing.

    "You alright?" he asked.

    That I heard. I tried to form a coherent sentence. One that adequately described just how un-alright I was. On a scale of one to ten, I landed somewhere in the hundreds. My mouth didn''t work correctly. I wiggled my jaw, kept my eyes shut, and tried to drown out as many sensory inputs as possible.

    People were shuffling around. The creature inside that pen could be heard again, wailing loud enough to be heard through solid concrete. It cut to the core, sending shivers rippling across my skin. This wasn''t the same as Kahina''s NightShades. This was a different type of disturbing.

    Finally I managed to ask a question, "What the hell was that?" There should be a prize for that. I could add it to the pile of hard-won achievements.

    "A White Lady," Eddy answered.

    "White what?"

    "White Lady.¡± Daniel¡¯s accent hung between surfer and zealot. ¡°We don''t have a real name for her. Though with what just happened, maybe we can dig up some lore and get something more accurate."

    My heart stuttered. "There''s more?"

    "Rarely. The Order has found four of them, only ever one at a time so far. This is the first one we''ve managed to capture." Father Tom had shown up as well. He was calm and thoughtful looking. I tried not to stare at the man. Weakness wasn''t a good idea.

    There wasn''t enough left in me to keep going. I needed to pass out now, in the middle of the enemy''s stronghold, with that White Lady creature so close. I stood, finding my legs pleasantly unstable.

    "She only takes certain bodies. Those that die while mourning a lost love of some sort. Always female," Father Tom continued his lecture.

    "Hell."

    "That''s the worst scream I''ve ever heard from her,¡± Daniel said.

    "What does it mean?" I asked while dreading the answer.

    "Death," Daniel said. "It means people are going to die." His voice was subdued and lacking any accent I had come to associate with Zach or his Sector agent tones.

    "And soon," Father Tom said with a frown.

    I nodded and almost passed out completely. Head dipped low. The world had blacked out for just a second.

    "...man, we''ll get you a bunk. Come on." Daniel tried to get a shoulder under mine but paused to look at Father Tom for permission.

    Father Tom nodded, and between Eddy and Daniel I was dragged to the barracks. They deposited me into a bottom cot. Sleep was desperately needed. The last forty-eight hours had been rough. My consciousness lasted long enough to turn lengthwise before passing out.

 Trials Of The Chief; Chapter 23 - I Hate

    When I woke my surroundings had changed. Gone was the Rachel''s extra bedroom. Gone was the Corner Market where I snoozed for an hour days before. Even the barracks I fell asleep in were no longer around me.

    Instead, there was a dimly lit room. Between me and the heavy iron door were bars. They resembled the set that had boxed in the White Lady. That single simple similarity sent me into a panic.

    I looked around the room then swept it with my normal sight and other vision. No creature in here with me. That calmed me some. Nothing on the walls. The walls were bare and a light fixture hung opposite where the other one had. The real question remained. Where the hell was I now? Besides trapped in a cage.

    The door didn''t budge. Metal rattled, shook, vibrated, but never once showed any signs of weakness. Unlike me, I had fallen asleep in an entirely unprotected place. This barracks couldn¡¯t be safe like my apartment or Rachel¡¯s guest room.

    Physically I felt fantastic and rested. That word still annoyed me, but now the reason was clear. Boss Wylde''s clicking heels somehow irritated me so much that even memory suppression couldn¡¯t wipe away the annoyance. She and Muni were the last people I saw prior to having my mind messed with.

    At least the jail cell was quiet. This time would be used to try and understand the situation better instead of blindly rushing to a new objective.

    Rachel was someone I knew from my old life. She knew how to say my name according to Roy. His explanation implied my true name was more complicated than Jay. That helped clear up why it was so easy to shuffle my first name around. Jay, James, Jeff, John, they were all pseudonyms. I had been replacing one lie with another.

    I established that Muni''s trinket helped people forget who I was by changing the name around. Did it also work on me? Was I activating its powers to an extent by thinking of myself as Jay? Would taking it off again help me recover the things lost?

    Taking off the memory messer had woken something in me last time. Tired, exhausted, and powerful. I recalled the sensation of burning heat and that powerful backward leap along with anger.

    That could be my trump card to escape. If things went to shit and there was no way out, I would pull off the trinket myself. It was on my arm somewhere. My eyes refused to remember exactly where, but with enough concentration, I could feel the edges of scratchy ribbon mixed with threads. It was a hand woven charm of some sort.

    I would eventually have to pull hard on the bindings that drew to home, or to Evan. They were far away so the perception was hard to activate. Trying to connect to Kahina was out completely out. She could go fuck herself. I wanted to kill Reginald just for good measure. Not to win her back, no, just to prove a point. I should have given into the impulse back at Bottom Pit. I should have leapt across the gulf between us and torn him in two.

    Pacing around the room didn¡¯t really help. Being on the other side of these bars felt weird. This room should only be a cell or two away from the White Lady. I shivered with unease. Shouting out wouldn''t do any good.

    If I sat in a position of strength then the Order of Merlin wouldn''t have trapped me in a cell. They locked me in here for reasons unknown and probably figured out I wasn''t human. How, was a mystery. Maybe actions with The White Lady had been a tip off, which meant there was another hunter here besides Daniel.

    I debated trying to pull on all my abilities and demolish everything nearby, but I didn¡¯t have enough control yet. Plus it would help to know the reason for being thrown in a cell first.

    It was upsetting but expected. Terrible situations always started with waking up in the morning. Like the nightmares crawling across my memory at Rachel''s, or ending up places I shouldn''t have been. Hell, those events must have been my clearly messed up subconscious trying to remember the past through Muni¡¯s blocks. The burning scent had been her charm overloading.

    Double Hell, Steven knew who I was the entire time and had tracked my phone calls to Kahina¡¯s cell. My attempts at faking a death would be ruined if she ever put the pieces together. Hours passed with me pacing around the room.

    There were no windows. Briefly, I pulled on my few lifelines to establish a location. I was fairly sure that the screaming white monster existed on the south wall¡¯s other side. A mystery person was to the right. Was it Tal, Rachel, or an unknown?

    I went back to my cot on the safe side of the room. My head tilted back and belly rumbled. Hopefully these Order people would bring me some food.

    "Hungry!" I yelled and banged my head slowly against the wall behind me. "Hungry."

    Time passed with no results.

    "Hungry."

    They recorded audio so someone must be listening. I flipped off the camera perched opposite my cot. One of those people had to be watching too.

    "Hungry," came a final depressive groan.

    Niggling sensations had worked their way forward in my thoughts. Nothing painful or terrible, but definitely nagging. My fingers felt it in the corners of this pitiful cot. Both feet pressed against the ground and felt the soft demanding vibration.

    It felt like someone was speaking. This background rattle was disturbingly similar to the sensations I had while tracking. I''d always grown used to the way things feel, and interpreting those feelings, the vibrations of air as sounds, or words. Every noise was absorbed into landscapes, different materials carrying the weight of sound in alternating densities.

    I left myself go again. Saw the world around me, just a little. A peek in the middle of enemy territory. Same as I''d done in the locker rooms.

    The vibrations were words. Deep and powerful words. I had to really focus before anything made sense.

    "Relax, kiddo," the voice felt worn, calm, and definitely female. I opened my mouth to say something but was cut off. "Quiet. Don''t give away the goose just yet."

    My eyebrows knitted together. These were words I was feeling. They originated from the very dirt beneath this cell. No one spoke them out loud. This was familiar, deep, and nearly dreamlike. Was it Rachel? Her words were soothing. I almost passed out trying to understand.

    "They''re coming, with slop,¡± she said.

    "Hungry." I banged my head backward again. Losing myself in these sensations. A vibration that nearly coddled me. Motherlike. Something unknown to me.

    "Hush, child."

    Why was the strange rumbling from the walls calling me child? Better yet, how did I understand vibrations like they were words? Things had gone from strange to bizarre. Rachel was a Hidden and clearly had some abilities. Maybe every race did, like wolves, elves, and vampires. Was she like me?

    My breath hitched and eyes grew misty. Getting air in was suddenly difficult. This person might actually be closer to my kind than ever suspected. Maybe I would grow up to be like her. That''s what families did right? I had a brief image of my future.

    In the thought I was in a house, cooking for the masses and throwing kitchen utensils at people. My weapon of choice would be a turkey baster. In another four years, I could hurl it with pinpoint accuracy at the heads of offending guests. Not that I had a real house, guests, or a turkey baster. Those were problems for a later date.

    The cell''s outer door creaked. Hinges weighed heavily on the framing. Metal swung inward to let a man slip in with a plate of food. This person wasn¡¯t Eddy, Daniel, or anyone else I knew. Maybe my undercover Western Sector friends had been captured.

    I stared at the plate. Rachel was dead on. Everything on it resembled slop, especially after her cooking for the last two months. The platter was left within arms reach. My visitor stayed just long enough to give me a dirty look, then left.

    One hand slowly reached through the bars for a bread roll. It turned out to be butterless and disappointing. The meat managed to be worse, which was a crime against any race. I really was dealing with a bunch of backwater savages. This food all tasted off somehow. Hunger made it difficult to be picky.

    It occurred to me too late that the food might be poisoned. Logically the idea made no sense. If they wanted me dead, then locking me up was counter productive. Maybe they were trying to get me to eat a truth serum. No, that thought made even less sense.

    Maybe this whole process fell under another round of tests. They might have been seeing I reacted poorly under pressure or showed an allergic reaction to ingesting items. Perhaps the whole trial had never actually ended.

    I cleared off the slop platter and used the last of the bread roll to mop it clean. I had been near starvation in the past and wouldn''t quibble over quality.

    Time passed while I played with the dish by pretending it was a frisbee. The plate made a poor spinning top and a worse drum. None of it solved my boredom.

    The rumbling voice I associated with Rachel was absent. She could sense me somehow, but I couldn''t sense her. Establishing a link would require a lot of work because people were always harder than objects. I''d done it with Candy, the elf I both hated and was thankful for. Sleeping with her once had been enough to track the lithe blonde through Pack woods.

    Rachel, on the other hand, had fed me for almost two months. We also had conversations and shared ideas which were probably more connecting than a single bout of sex. Hopefully anyway, sex and women often screwed up my sense of judgment, especially the good and slightly hateful kind. Despite Candy''s attitude afterward coupled with personal guilt, quality had never been in doubt.

    A lot of other ideas passed through my mind during the tedious hours. The worst thoughts involved wondering exactly what would happen in the next day or two. Others questioned what I might need to do in order to escape with Rachel and Tal. Killing would probably be involved.

    An hour later the door opened. Finally, I had a visitor whose purpose wasn''t to give me dirty looks and crappy food. Too bad the person who came in was Father Tom.

    I sitting cross-legged, propped against the wall opposite the screaming thing''s cell. The plate was poorly spinning on my middle finger. My hand turned toward the door in an obvious display. The middle finger continued to point upwards even after the dish clanked to the ground.

    "We know you aren''t human," Father Tom¡¯s words were slow again.

    An equally deliberate sigh escaped me. My other hand rubbed at the back of hair that had grown too long.

    "Yet your words spoke of something true,¡± he paused briefly to look at me, ¡°-that you almost hate the other races."

    Maybe I did, but being locked up pissed me off. Hate might have been too strong a word. I was at the very least annoyed and disappointed. Rachel''s rantings about baby killers had stuck with me as well. She was right, the three races that stood with humanity had come out smelling like roses.

    There had to be tons of other nonhuman races out there before the Purge. Almost two thousand years ago people decided it would be best to wipe them all out. Had they been given a chance to survive? Were they killed for being less human? Wolves, vampires, both shared the same base species. Both split off from the same family tree. And the rest of us? Whatever we were?

    "Do you know what you are, Jeff Ager?" Father Tom asked.

    "Male through and through," I quipped Julianne''s words before my mind registered the response then my face soured. That comment had been made mere days before she was murdered.

    "You don''t share any of the same weaknesses that our other discoveries do."

    I shrugged.

    "I feel flawed enough as it is." The anger, drinking, and foolish willingness to do what women told me were weaknesses of a sort.

    "These are dangerous times for your kind."

    "My kind?" I raised an eyebrow and looked over at Father Tom. The cat was out of the bag, and if he was going to persist that I was ''beyond the pale'' then it was time to live up to it.

    "Do you have any clue what I am Father Tom?" I sneered his title at him. "Because I don''t."

    "You''re a monster. Like all nonhumans."

    "Me? A monster?" I tried not to laugh. Part of me felt absolutely uncaring. The emotion reminded me of when I had spoken to Roy¡¯s family in Bottom Pit. They were beneath me, Father Tom was beneath me.

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Instead, I stood up and pressed my face to the bars then stared directly at Father Tom.

    "You said I almost hate the other races. Well, I do. I hate vampires, for taking away the things I cared for." Vampires had taken Julianne and Kahina. Both were lost to the fang one way or another.

    "I hate wolves. I hate their games, their bullshit." They blamed me for Julianne''s death. None of them had shown up quick enough to save her. They were as much failures as I was.

    "I hate elves with their clever deals and backstabbing." Candy, who screwed Evan up then forced me to stay away from Kahina. Never mind the justification. Never mind what I gained. The resentment was real.

    "Then there''s hypocrites like your Order." Hell, these were big words. "You idiots perpetuating the circle and don¡¯t even seem to notice. Your actions scream of old ways, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. It never ends," my voice raised in frustration. The room grew warmer. I stepped away from the bars and paced around feeling suddenly tired and worn. "All of you, everyone, your fathers, mothers, friends, killing any blood family I might have had. So what if you had a wife! At least you can remember your family! I came here-¡± my head spun as suppressed memories tried to surface. The words were there, but the thoughts behind them were muddled still, ¡°-I came here and found myself utterly alone.¡±

    Father Tom opened his mouth and I saw red. All the issues I''d been ignoring. All the thoughts that had been buildings quietly in the background. Not once had I been angry enough to share my real feelings. Not once had I truly let anyone know how fucked up their point of view was.

    I''d been questioning only myself and hadn''t realized that everyone else had problems too.

    "Shut up!" I burst and yelled through the bars, shaking them as hard as possible. Concrete holdings groaned under the pressure. "You call me a monster? Me? I never killed someone for what they might do! I''ve only killed to defend me and mine! Same as anyone does, human or not!"

    Who was I trying to convince? Did it matter? Father Tom left the room. It delighted the dark spots of my mind to see him shake a little on the way out. As a follow-up, someone would probably come in here and try to stab me through the bars in defense of their leader. They would likely scream about how I, a sub-human, yelled at such a distinguished man.

    I knew what kind of person I was. The list was short: male, bastard, monster. Only in those points I was not alone. My actions were in self-defense or to those deserving it. Violence had always been visited on the scum who refused to pay their debts. The family men got reminders first, warnings. I never just killed people for sport. I made up for it by helping Daniel find runaways. I had standards dammit.

    ¡°Who the hell am I trying to convince,¡± I said dryly to the empty room.

    The Order of Merlin was another story entirely. They were willing to cross some uncomfortable lines. Their hate speech earlier and attempts at killing Kahina had proven our differences. They even tried to use one nonhuman race to kill another. People like Father Tom probably considered those Pack mercenaries being killed a bonus.

    In the midst of my mental ranting, I finally remembered why the box from Father Tom¡¯s desk looked familiar. Wooden carvings of men holding up the lid danced around the edge. That container had come from Evan, in the woods one night. I passed it to Daniel, and from there to the fat angry Senator. That had Arnold Regious¡¯ ashes inside it.

    I paced around the room. There were too many things not making sense for me. The box, Evan, Daniel all of them were supposedly central to my existence and it was a giant question mark.

    Crumfield visited next. He held a gun in one hand while his face was borderline livid. One of the man¡¯s hands ran through his hair and pulled at the roots.

    I eyed him, unsure if his cover was blown as well. Maybe he got lucky. Everything looked the same as the Brother Zach persona. Stupid glasses, dyed hair, and makeup smudges that broke up the tan a bit.

    "I thought you weren''t like her. Thought you were just a sucker like so many are." He paced back and forth. We both walked back and forth in almost identical strides. "I believed you were a human. Wrong place, wrong time. Everything checked out! We watched that house for days!"

    No surfer or Sector agent vocal patterns were being used. This was pure Zach. I kept walking but felt more confused than upset. What the hell was going on?

    "Salted hamburger meat. Silver fork for the food. Cross on the bar counter. You didn''t notice any of it!" He waved one arm rapidly.

    I kept pacing but slowed down to match Daniel''s movements. The agent matched my own steps similarly. We paused at the same time, turned around at the same time. How long had we known each other to walk like mirrors to each other?

    "But no,¡± he said while waving an arm again. The gun¡¯s tip made me jump. ¡°Every thing to step into that house has just been another monster. Another thing out to get us poor humans."

    His words irritated me, but his actions were still reflecting mine. I let him do it. He might be trying to calm me down or deliver some other message. Daniel used to steer me around open fields by slowly invading my personal bubble until I veered off to the side. Occasionally he sped me up by walking just a little faster or slowed me down by being slower. He knew how to get me moving.

    "What do you think I look like? An idiot for letting someone slip past me. Now my faithful Brothers are subjected to additional review! They''re true believers!" He glared at me and now I really understood his anger. The people he had under cover were being double checked because of me. That would piss Daniel off.

    Some of the heated words I felt bubbling up after Father Tom slowly fell away. Daniel was worried about the people he brought in might be locked up, or worse. Was Daniel himself under suspicion?

    "They wanted me to prove myself, prove that I''m not a monster like you," he said.

    I stopped pacing and stepped over to the bars. Not pressing myself too close. Daniel worried me enough without putting myself near the firearm he carried. His hand kept flexing like he was dying to shoot me.

    "Why would I respond to salt?" I asked.

    He actually looked confused for a moment then winced. His eyes shut tight before an answer came out. "We thought you might be like that old lady."

    "Rachel.¡±

    "She''s weakest to salt," he said then nodded.

    "Salt?" My forehead wrinkled in puzzlement.

    "Exactly. Why do you think she does all the cooking? It helps her control what goes in the food. Purist salt is what does it. Not just the incidental stuff you find laying around."

    I felt let down. We didn¡¯t share the same weakness, so the chances of Rachel and I belonging to the same race had been reduced to zero. "So she''s not human,¡± I stated.

    "Lord no. She''s a monster. Remains of the Purge. A reminder of our forefathers'' failures. Their great compromise with the evils of this world."

    "Monster," the word escaped me. Never mind Daniel''s excellent acting. He was well and truly Zach right now. Tone. Posture. The way he walked around. The only thing left over from Agent Daniel Crumfield was the hair pulling.

    "Yes. Like you. A monster." Daniel looked nearly revolted, backing up slowly even though I was on the other side of metal rods.

    "That''s why I''m locked up."

    "You''re too dangerous to let run around. We have to study you, figure out your weaknesses."

    "Because if the monster''s in the cage, it can''t be out there in the dark.¡± I pulled back one cheek and growled. ¡°So you¡¯re safe.¡±

    "Shit, man." He tilted his head. "Ain¡¯t nobody safe here. All the worst monsters are in the mirror," his voice was low. Was it low enough to avoid the microphone?

    I was about to respond when Daniel lifted the gun and shot me in the thick of my leg. My body fell backward, face twisted in a snarl and eyes watered. I grunted poorly trying to choke out comprehensible words of anger. Language failed me as I cried out with a tone more primal beast than human. The walls rattled and ceiling creaked. This room felt suffocating then turned hotter.

    Fire rolled across my vision then struggled to get out. It strained to paint the world in spiraling orange hues. To reduce everything to rubble by dragging down the man-made structure and laying waste to the world around me in anger.

    I swallowed desperately trying to keep it back. Last time I let out that fire had been in Bottom Pit. That had caused me to black out and lose eyesight for days.

    Daniel¡¯s bullet hurt worse than being shot by Kahina¡¯s bodyguard. It hurt worse than the combined actions of Roy punching my face, yanking on hair then pistol-whipping me. Being shot felt like my leg had been blown off.

    He stopped outside the door before my eyes managed to focus. It didn''t matter, I was on the ground, moaning, rolling, trying to back myself up to the far wall away from the door.

    Gathering sanity took a moment. Both eyes were wild, arms pressed against the wall, leg draped limply across the floor. Blood dripped everywhere. Daniel¡¯s absence barely reassured me. I had to figure out how bad the damage was. What if this didn''t heal?

    Huffing, heart racing, I scrambled to tear down the pants. Hands yanked at the edges and with a savageness that would have hurt had there not already been an overwhelming amount of pain flowing through the limb.

    The torn fabric became a mop at the blood stain in order to see how much damage one bullet had caused. My wound looked small. There were no chunks of flesh missing and an exit wound showed on the other side. I looked around quickly and saw the bullet slug sitting in a wall.

    I dragged myself across the room in a panic. Whatever he shot me with was clearly super effective and I needed to understand. Fingers curled around it quickly to get the dangerous item under control. Then I bound up my leg, put pressure on the limb and prayed it would close up soon.

    Ten minutes later and the blood had definitely been staunched. Fantastic. I growled at myself as the word passed through my brain. The cot was in reach, I pulled the mattress off and grabbed the blankets. Rewinding cleaner fabric around my leg. Knotting it up with pieces of nearly threadbare mattress covers.

    No one else came in the room. Things started spinning in and out. Darkness tried to claim me the same way it always did while healing. I could fight this. I needed to remain mostly conscious. The camera''s red beep taunted me every few seconds. I laid there, propped up in the corner, huddling, trying not to shake from the pain.

    The ground vibrated with that same nagging sensation. Rachel might have been trying to talk to me again. I couldn''t risk pulling on my powers while trying to heal. Anything more might slip me over the edge into unconsciousness. Sleep would truly turn this into a nightmare. Not that my powers mattered after being shot by Daniel.

    I tried to keep my eyes focused. My mind kept spinning around the bullet but nothing about it was special. The size was small caliber and my wound straight through. It wasn¡¯t even explosive tipped and at most might pierce armor. He shot clear through me, so my skin wasn''t similar to armor.

    Was it because of Daniel? Because he was a Hunter? Another image flashed to mind. On top of that wooden box in Father Tom''s office had once been another image. When I held it there had been a large serpent with scales. When Daniel held it there had been a robe wearing man with one large knife held in one hand behind his back.

    Betrayer.

    Hell. I had never heard a name for Daniel in my head before. Other people got them. Humans were Pink Meat. Evan the Incomplete Servant. Kahina the Dangerous Mate. Tal the Mountain Elder. Now there was a title for the agent, Daniel the Betrayer.

    Beneath me the earth hummed in a soft tone. It sounded almost like a lullaby, and must have been Rachel trying to soothe me for some reason. We weren¡¯t the same race so why did I feel her? What kind of creature would be allergic to salt?

    I groaned and tried to hold onto the edge of awareness but started failing. Finally, the soothing song won and my mind slid into oblivion.

 Trials of the Chief; Chapter 24 - For those Never Born

    I came to with a rapid heartbeat and wide eyes. My body tried to stand up and escape. The world spun as I fell back to the ground with a fresh groan of pain. A bullet had pierced one leg. Feverishly I tore at the bindings to check the damage.

    Where blood had been spilling out there was now barely a scar. Time had passed, certainly, but how much? Once a wolf had torn my legs to shreds, that took nearly two days to recover. A cracked rib mere minutes. A clean gunshot wound might be easier.

    What time was it? My head shook back and forth trying to pull together any brain power just laying around. A quick test on my connections to home and Candy revealed that it was nighttime. It was obvious from the lack of warmth spreading through objects as my senses spiraled around.

    I started to pull together all my abilities and lay claim to this entire place. Conquest helped fuel the perception and soon parts of this terrible compound started to worm its way into my senses. There was enough to feel like escape from this slice of Hell might be possible.

    Rachel was in the next room. I needed to start there. Details and perceptions about her started to come together. Claiming a person wasn''t the same as linking with an object. An object''s link could break easily. A person''s link lingered on, always there, always present.

    Rachel¡¯s key features went through my mind in order to try and establish a clear link. She was short, stout, and cooked like a fiend who truly loved being in the kitchen. Her constant focus had been preparing meals for other people. To my knowledge she didn¡¯t have many other friends outside the group, but cared for me. The house had always been clean and tidy so Rachel clearly hated messes. Roy knew her and said the woman was family.

    I let my eyes close and tried to push my senses outward. Forming a connection with Rachel would be hard but every link helped give me fuel. Reconciling the events here in Tennison with my prior life as Jay kept throwing me off.

    Found connection. Stray thing long unused. All gravel, sand, and dirt. Rough against senses. Pull connection. See into other room. Gasp with surprise.

    What the hell? Whatever was connecting me to Rachel went directly to a statue and not a lively plump woman with a spatula. I tried not to get upset. Maybe this was part of her Hidden nature. It was night, and not once had I seen her when the sun went down. Did she turn into this object?

    Fly closer. Hover. Look. Uncertain. Brush against sculpted dirt. Feels solid. Warm. Almost breathing. Shape resembles her. Den Mother.

    My other mind thought of her as a den mother, but not my actual mother. She wasn¡¯t like me but qualified as family. Before I realized it we were connected by a thread. Similar to how I could feel Evan, or Kahina, or even Candy. This felt like finding a strange spot in the house that had gone unnoticed until now. Her connection was deep brown and gritty like loose soil.

    Next, would be Tal. Hopefully he was nearby and in decent condition. He hadn''t talked to me like Rachel did. They weren¡¯t like me in that sense. Roy¡¯s entire tribe, the last tribe, were a much different sort of beast. They were hulking battle crazed thugs.

    I tried to picture the man and felt around carefully for the edges of what made him tick. We had practiced together multiple evenings. He moved in a calm, steady manner and used a relaxed laugh. For some reason I always expected him to be militaristic and extra strict, but he always came off as relaxed.

    Tal had been one of the three holding me down that night in the Pit. He chanted along with Roy, telling me to let it all out in order to release a building flame. His grip had been weakened by age, but still felt familiar and dependable. The man held up his end of the beat without skipping a note. I called him something before. A name given by my other thoughts. Mountain Elder.

    Connection Weak. Unwanted. Male.

    I tried to knit together the bridge between us. Focusing on ownership of a living being felt almost dirty. In another sense, there was nothing more natural. Family mattered intensely, and something about the entire tribe felt distantly related. We were beyond cousins but less than blood relatives.

    Mountain Elder''s thread weak. Lackluster. No vibrancy. No thrum. I pull carefully. Dragging myself through dense wall. Across humid path for Pink Meats. Another cage. Bars. Strong. Laden. See Mountain Elder.

    I stared at his body through the tactile feedback provided through my link. He looked and felt terrible. I tried not to creep myself out at the near intimacy of my connection. Everything about this felt weird. His body was in terrible shape. My gun wound was a paltry thing next to what had happened to him.

    A multitude of bruises lined most of his skin. His jaw cracked along the back end. One eye felt swollen shut. Still, Tal was toughing it out. He sat up despite the pain and managed to maintain a firm position with both hands folded across his lap. Every bit of advice his family had ushered out to us during practice was being demonstrated. His spine was tall with the head pried back, both eyes were closed and a slow hum reverberated out.

    Study. Touch carefully. Feeling outer edges of wounds. Could heal. Maybe. Would need to be closer. To command.

    My head shook and thoughts were brushed away. Healing took a lot out of me. I still didn¡¯t know how it happened the first time. That was assuming I could even figure it out. I blacked out through nearly all of it. Something about my blood on the wound, and an order, and fighting a militaristic compound afterward sounded terrible.

    The connection was there at any rate. I could use them as anchors for my possessive mindsets. Everything around felt easier to register. Next, would be a matter of when. Daniel had said let it build but listening to his advice after being shot wasn''t appealing.

    I checked my other links. Kahina was where she should be. Or at least in the right direction. Back east many miles. Candy was clearly out of range as well, though her help would be questionable at best.

    Evan''s cord was surprising. Instead of being East back near home, his link connected to the trees outside this compound. I pulled the rainbow colored cord in desperation.

    Brightly colored link. Incomplete Servant. Near. Close. Can almost touch him. There. Lays in car. Huddled under woolen blankets. Flinches away from door. Heart erratic even in exhaustion. Jumpy man is nearly asleep.

    Evan should be able to see me like this. We had conversed before, and must be out here because of Daniel. That agent was the only man who might know all the different parts of my life enough to pull them together.

    I tried to get a feel for what was around the elf by following the air¡¯s path as it swirled. My senses traced along vehicle curves and around three heavy bodies which sat in other seats. Two in the back were nearly identical with an older one up front. His face less broken. There were spots on their skin which felt different from tattoo markings.

    These three were Roy and his sons. Only the twins had passed their rite to manhood, I vaguely remembered saying they were no longer runts. Part of my still unsorted and half-buried memories suggested these two would be considered Warriors now.

    There were a lot of things to piece together. It didn''t make sense and barely made any now. Being alone in the cell for hours helped give me perspective.

    I had to get Evan to wake up from his reverie. After that would be the matter of talking to him and hoping we could coordinate somehow. Communicating while in this form barely made sense but there was no time like the present to learn.

    Evan should feel my efforts to draw on our connection. Back in the cell, I sat resting against a wall with one hand clutching the wounded leg. Hopefully, anyone watching on the camera would be none the wiser to my actions. A Hunter might be able to sense me laying claim to people or believe this was part of an escape attempt. What exactly did using abilities feel like to Daniel?

    Back stretches. Shoulders roll. Left side uncurls. Right stretches. Brush through concrete. Heavy, dense. Oppressive. Pink Meats'' walls are sturdy.

    What I was doing now felt more intense than mere tracking. It was like dragging my senses in their entirety to another location. Normally this happened when I dove fully into the connection.

    Bound up then rush past concrete walls and through forged metals. Path goes past wired fences then over trees. Destination in offshoot path. Inside the front was a complex twisting of objects. See darkly tinted pink meat transportation. An engine. Such strange contraptions. Sons of the Mountain sit inside.

    I pulled on Evan'' connection again. One part of my senses focused on the multicolored cord that linked us. The gap between here and there was miles yet felt only a small bit away. Both lungs were filled with air as I waited for a response.

    A brush of wind startles an owl who rouses from listless watching then hoots. Air ripples with noise. Animal scurries in fear. Fuzzy tiny thing dashes across metal. Paws sliding and clicking.

    Incomplete Servant starts awake. His pulse is erratic. Face heavy with moisture then crinkles in worry.

    "Lord?" Words vibrate with panic. Incomplete Servant flushes with heat. He looks around. Can feel muscles tense and eyes strain. They narrow, close, and his head tilts to a side. His hand reaches for cold glass then presses against it. I watch with annoyance and amusement.

    "Is it James?" a second voice thick and garbling asks. His sound tries to shatter objects. There is barely disguised ferocity with anger from the Last Chief.

    "Lord?" Incomplete Servant ignores Last Chief. Unwise. "If you''re there, I can''t see you. My vision is still bound." Air glows then fades. Incomplete Servant is unable to perform his duties but knows he is being called.

    Hell. Evan could tell I was here but was nearly useless since Candy had bound him. It had to be past the year and day he''d been restricted for. Right? I rattled through the months in my head. Maybe Candy had renewed it somehow. If that was possible.

    Irritation ripples. I huff. Rushing air slams into windshield. Small Pink Meat vehicle rocks.

    I pulled on Evan''s connection softer the second time. The elf winced and was either too weak or exhausted in general. His constitution had been crap since Candy screwed with him.

    "That''s James then. Ask him if my father is there."

    "The Hunter told us..." Last Chief reaches back. Smacks younger warrior on head. Echoes. Other warrior sits. Passive. Unflinching.

    "If that Hunter was truly on our side then our family would never have been kidnapped." Last Chief¡¯s voice is stern and odd. Feel curve of face with prominent canine teeth which makes speaking a challenge.

    Incomplete Servant''s face presses against clear frail shield to peer outward. Breath coats glass with moisture.

    Listening to them argue was strange. I felt like a cat watching mice squabble below me. Instead of pouncing it was more interesting to swivel my attention back and forth in amusement. Every so often part of my face would twitch, back would roll and it felt like a tail curled.

    "Tell James to get our father out. Him and Rachel. We are too few to lose someone here." Last Chief shakes for a moment. His anger is barely under control.

    "He can hear you," Incomplete Servant whispers against glass.

    "We''ll meet him near the gate. If he can get this far we''ll carry the others. My boys are strong."

    "You place too much faith in a stranger."

    "He is no stranger to us," the Last Chief says.

    "We hardly know him!" One of Two whines as noise fills vehicle.

    "We should go get Grandfather on our own," Two of Two took up his brother''s protest.

    My other thoughts grew increasingly annoyed. I had been viewing Evan, Roy, his sons, as rodents beneath my notice. Now they were doubting me. Roy with his words, ''if he can get this far'' and both twins with their disbelief.

    I felt anger slowly creeping up on me. Normally I kept it suppressed by indifference, or channeled into my job. Drowned in drink. Any number of coping methods built up over a lifetime. But I was locked in a cage and the only thing to punch was a wall.

    Small irritation is growing. I growl but they are oblivious. Hard to reach them. Not close enough. Frustration increases. I stand then spread arms and all limbs wide.

    All presence and energy slams down. Like log falls. Heavy and unerring. Pink Meat vehicle jolts then bounces. Fingers curl into hood and pierce through. Paint tears, cool metal screeches. Lines etch the surface.

    Parting sounds surround my retreating presence. Roy''s hand slaps both brothers with a force that could turn rocks to gravel. Evan whimpered in awe. Tree branches fell down near the car.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Everything faded. Whatever trick allowed me to physically interact with their car took a lot of effort. A river of sweat pooled on my face. Steam filled the room and oppressive heat made breathing harder. A few hot rocks and some disturbing old men would complete the picture.

    I laid there, contemplating exactly how to move from here. The car served as a good destination to escape to if getting out of here without being shot was an option.

    The door opened but no one stepped in right away. I heard the sound of mild cursing as cold air swirled into the room. Hopefully, this wasn¡¯t Daniel, being shot again would suck.

    Sergeant Eddy ass-hat walked in. I turned with a wince away from the door. Dealing with anyone else was beyond me at the moment. The undercover agent pulled up a stool that he brought in with him and sat down facing me. His back was to the camera. I didn''t even have to see him to get that much response from my abilities. This place was starting to feel more like home now that I established connections to Tal, Rachel, and found Evan so close.

    My problems had increased too. Claiming ownership over things made me extremely possessive. A person was that much worse. Needing them to be safe gave me a boost but also turned my thoughts into a worry wart. Caring for Kahina during her transition had been one of the worst times of my life.

    "Audios out for thirty seconds, so listen close,¡± he said.

    I looked over my shoulder at Eddy for a moment, then turned away again.

    "You have to move before dawn. That''s an hour away. The Government''s moving in just after sunrise. Half the compound is gone already. Those that left last night never returned, scattering to predetermined points."

    A shoulder lifted in a shrug. At least Eddy would know I was paying attention.

    "Those left behind aren''t our men. Crumfield''s got two meeting points after passing his loyalty test. Father Tom will be leaving soon. It''s you, me, and a handful of the less faithful."

    My forehead slipped down and one eye closed. "What about you?" I asked.

    He sighed. "I didn¡¯t pass the loyalty test. That''s fine. This operation ends and I get to see my son."

    That was strange.

    "They''re still ordered to kill anyone who escapes. I''m just asking that you try not hurt them on the way out," Eddy said.

    A few people with guns, especially the type they all seemed to carry, would be more than enough to kill me, Rachel, Tal, Roy, everyone that mattered to me. Roy''s family might be strong in hand to hand combat, but this place was armed to the teeth.

    "How do I manage that?"

    Eddy didn''t respond. Instead, he glanced over his shoulder with the barest movement of his head. Guess our thirty seconds were up. If the place was half empty then who might be listening? Father Tom?

    "It doesn''t matter. You and the other three are history. After we''re gone the prison goes up like a Roman candle. No way we''re going to just let you monsters roam the streets."

    That got me off the cot. I stood up and limped toward the bars. My leg brought zips of pain with each step.

    "What?" I reached out for the bars. "What does that mean?" My demands for answers were ignored. Not that they were needed. I knew what it meant. The Order of Merlin loved their explosives.

    Eddy just shrugged and let himself out the door.

    "Hell." I stood there running my hands up and down the bar. They were damp from the cooling room.

    What had he said before leaving? There were three others here. I hadn''t tried anything with the White Lady next door. Connecting to her like I did Rachel and Tal was out of the question, but freeing her? Using her as a distraction? Would she kill people?

    Did I care? Not really, if Order members died it wouldn¡¯t bother me.

    After a few deep breaths, I managed to brave the approach to her side. One hand tentatively slid across the materials separating our cells. Nothing felt different between this wall and the other two. The sensations were standard for a building, grainy, lumpy, and cold all the way through.

    Above and to the right, hanging less than a foot away on the other side, sat a small rock with a worn through hole in its center. The object functioned as a lock for her cage. I could feel it through my links as the building grew clearer. Hovering in the room sat an uneven presence, the White Lady.

    What did she do when no one was looking? Daniel had implied that the White Lady took over other people''s bodies. So the figure inside wouldn''t be an old lady but might be something else. Could she be a disembodied version of the energy I saw while people moved around?

    If any of those things were remotely true, then this would be one of my stupidest ideas to date. I extended my senses into her wall and let myself pass slowly through. Mentally laying claim wasn''t the point. I wanted to know more about this creature before trying to risk my family.

    A figure sat still without even the standard heartbeat or breath of air. The being sat in the room¡¯s center. The wrinkle of her cheeks felt both old and young, fresh and glowing. She didn¡¯t breath and clearly that was as unneeded for her as it was for any vampire. All that existed inside was a heavy silence.

    After a minute, the White Lady took a breath and let out a sound far different than the scream I braced myself for. She sang. Without instrument, without accompaniment, and without rhythm. From the first muffled note, I was enthralled.

    She sang with such raw, unchecked emotion that it felt like the world was mourning with her. It wasn''t like other songs on the radio. There was no world ending. There was no last goodbye and the pain of parting.

    It was impossible to tell if she was truly lamenting about those people, or if she merely inspired the emotion of loss. Her vocals quavered in and out, weak one moment, strong and sudden a moment later. Each second she managed to push through was a hollow triumph of will. I wanted her to stop. Yet going into that room, facing her, had nearly driven me mad. Knowing she was capable of this kind of emotion? It made me wonder who the real monsters were.

    Her tune filled my head with images of a world that had already ended. The nonexistent words made me think of a billion lives lost. Places that were long forgotten with people, families, loves and entire tapestries of history that were reduced to a dream. Each vibration of her voice sung out in reverence to the existence of those never allowed to be born.

    In her song, there was no hero. There was no redemption. No one died for a cause. No families were torn apart with the hope of reuniting. Normal songs presented people who lost a link between themselves and someone important. This was worse. Worse because those connections had never existed in the first place. Were never allowed to exist. Lives lost and lives never lived were much different in their sorrow.

    If Daniel was right, if I was a reset button like so many feared, then this song was my fault. My fault, and those like me. If we didn''t exist then perhaps there''d be no need for this kind of sadness to ever exist again.

    Snot bubbled up. The song actually turned me into a sobbing mess. I was ashamed to even overhear her song. My kind had done this. That the existence of my species had allowed this kind of pain to be given to anyone was beyond redemption. I deserved a special spot in hell for even being related. Or maybe I was doing what people had done for millennia, filling in an empty meaningless situation with my personal fears.

    It felt like an eternity before she stopped singing. Her tone went on long enough to leave me exhausted, drained, and speechless. A creature capable of that kind of sadness couldn''t be trapped here. Not with the Order¡¯s monsters. I wanted to free her too, consequences be damned. After this place I would get Evan, or Candy, to show me these Sins of the People. The White Lady''s song would be tied to those events somehow.

    I sat there breathing slowly and gathering what little wits could be claimed. My heartbeat was erratic, face flushed, and the heat of this room had barely gone down. Time passed, ten minutes, twenty, maybe more. Pushing my senses elsewhere caused distortion. I had to act soon before the human government did.

    Both arms braced against the wall. I checked again on Tal and Rachel. My mind tugged on the connection to Evan in warning. There wasn''t much time for a better plan. Honestly, thinking ahead wasn¡¯t my forte anyway.

    I grabbed everything available to me. My need to get this patchwork family out here added to the inner fire. The desire to survive and return home added more kindling. Finally, a nearly suffocating rage that I worked hard not to acknowledge. Hatred for the people that had done this to what was mine. The anger that always bubbled around me lit the pyre of my powers aflame.

    Energy rushed through my shoulders. Muscles bulged then briefly warped. With a sudden scream, one fist broke through the brick wall. Pain lanced up past the shoulder, stuttering my heartbeat, jarring everything. A gasp escaped, then panic kicked in. That thing was on the other side and no amount of tear-jerking music made me comfortable sticking an arm into her cage.

    Fingers flexed to test my responsiveness. Their response made me hopeful, and I stuck my arm in further. My elbow bent and hand reached around blindly for the hollowed out stone. It was easier than expected to find. The little charm fell off the wall with a clatter.

    There wasn¡¯t any more time to worry about it. Fast movement would win the day. Retribution is swift, I thought. With the video cameras going other Order members could be here in moments.

    My hand bled and tingled. Fingers barely acknowledged an attempt to form a fist. The fact that bones hadn''t burst through my skin was a good sign. Next, would be the jail cell doorway out.

    Footsteps. Pairs. Running. Heartbeats pulse through air. Erratic. Mountain Elder tenses. Head tilted toward door. One eye puffy.

    I had to retain some control over this. Putting too much effort into my powers might cause me to black out. Now would be a terrible time to lose myself.

    Feel metal of door. Seek weak spots. Joints. Lock. Too tough. Ceiling. Cracks line. Loose. Bar rolls in its seating. There.

    A few of the cages bars were damaged from being shaken earlier. Either the Order hadn''t noticed when I was ranting at Father Tom, or they hadn''t cared. They were abandoning this place soon.

    The pole rattled as pressure was applied. Both arms strained and I pulled back. Muscles in my shoulders burned with the effort. It wasn''t enough to break the bar loose, but it bent enough to squeeze through. Thirty seconds or so had passed since starting this escape. Screaming came from behind. My back twitched as I slowly turned.

    Empty eyes. Bottomless. No orbs. Air loses motion near White Lady. Cold. I draw back. Not in cage.

    Hell. That wasn''t a good thing. She must have stepped through the wall and seen me. The White Lady stood there, like an old video tape paused during static. The creature stared at me and with black eyes. They went wider still while her mouth opened slowly like every scared woman I had ever run across.

    White Lady takes breath. Cold air sucks in. Energy in her form goes wild, lashes around room. Leeches room of life and causes dimness.

    Whatever she was doing managed to numb my senses. It was similar to when I tracked dead people. The connection just stopped existing. Whatever I had been tied to simply stopped having any life.

    Scream pours forth. Slithers across room. Vibrates walls, bars, and ceiling. My ears protest against the piercing sound. Teeth hum painfully as room heats. Foul undead thing dares confront me. I free her and receive disrespect as repayment? Will correct her understanding.

    Before it fully registered my foot stepped toward the White Lady. Fear meant almost nothing to the other voice in my head. That other presence ruled my actions with all the strength available to me. Fire hovered inside my mind, blurred the edges of vision with a flickering red haze. This heat was normally restrained by my worry of damaging other people.

    The screaming intensified as black pits which obscured her eyes faded. There sat startlingly human eyes wide in fear. Her body wavered as any person trembling in fear might. The sudden change to something recognizable halted my aggressive movements for just a moment.

    I took another step and growled. The White Lady shifted to her insubstantial form and fled through the wall, howling all the while.

    Feel footsteps. Difficult past constant vibration of White Lady. More, something beyond that. A net. Area lights up with little whispers. Feel it. Chatters. Something. All around. Unsure. Hard to understand.

    There was always a moment of calm serenity before something goes wrong, where everything freezes as if to taunt me with the inevitability. Seeing the White Lady pass through that wall was my moment. This had been a huge mistake. Daniel had said her scream meant one thing, death.

    The feel of footsteps pounding down our little hallway broke put my mind toward more important matters. Someone was outside the door. Heavy items in their hands. The smooth metal and odd balances, air bent around stock and barrel. They all carried weapons of some kind.

    One opened the door and I threw the dish that had been left behind with a little too much force. It connected with one man¡¯s head. I leapt through the doorway, barely avoiding the initial burst of bullets, and punched another man. My form wove in between them, throwing out more blows than needed. When they hit the floor I felt both proud and disappointed.

    Scream continue. Cuts through everything. Endless. Feel Incomplete Servant move locations. Mountain Elder attempts standing. Shakes. Weak. Knee broken. Feel pain as he stands anyway.

    I fiddled with the keys from a defeated Order member. Tal stood defiantly near the bars inside. His swollen eyelids probably inhibited recognition. My own gaze went around the room, looking for a ward or other mumbo jumbo. Nothing special lined his room.

    "James?" One eye was swollen completely closed. Dried blood pressed into his clothes. He held an arm across his gut while the other clutched at a bar for support. His face resembled a large boar with two slight tusks rippling under the bottom lip.

    "Or Jay. Your son¡¯s outside, if we can get to him," I said.

    "Son? They said you were dead." Tal''s confusion was obvious. He winced, either from the background noise or pain.

    "I got better." I opened the cell then dashed back to the hallway door. Tactile feedback told me there were no other people inside the jail cell. Screams from outside sunk into the walls.

 Trials of the Chief; Chapter 25 - The Great Beast

    Gunfire started slowly at first, then picked up in intensity. It felt like that night in the woods all over again. Could nothing be done without firearms? Were humans so weak that they had no other options? There wasn''t just one source either. A male voice shouted demands on a loudspeaker.

    The two Order members were still unconscious in the hallway. I stepped over them and toward Rachel''s cell.

    Inside was lined with salt. It sat crystallized upon the walls, spaces between bars, and pouches hung down from the ceiling. The floors too were dusted. Rachel was huddled on the cot. A look of worry had been locked on her frozen face.

    I took off my shirt and started brushing away salt to create a path from the doorway to her cot. Lifting her should be easy while my strength held. Once it came time to pay my debt of power I would pass out for sure.

    My head shook away weariness. We all needed to get to safety first. The large grandfather had limped down the hallway and was looking inside Rachel''s cell with a worried face.

    "Salt''s bad right?" I asked.

    "Yes," his single word was more of an affirmative grunt.

    "Does she react like wolves? If she touches this?" Wolves would welt from an allergic reaction. Their healing slowed down and reactions dulled.

    "Worse," he said more than just the one word but they were garbled.

    I checked our surroundings again. Senses slipped loose to capture every possible sensation around me. Having members of my family, however strange we were to each other right now, helped immensely. They were mine, found and claimed.

    White Lady stalks pink meat. Screaming in pulses now. Her cold leeching energy passes through air and walls. Shouts in direction. Pink Meat heartbeat ceases and body stands frozen. More than one has fallen. Corpses weigh upon ground.

    That was not good. She was killing them and Daniel would have my head. Could I stop her, though? Did I have a right? These people had locked up a creature and kept her caged. If Tal''s condition was anything to compare to then they deserved equal measure. In a sense, this qualified as justified vengeance, an eye for an eye.

    Mountain Elder breathing ragged and strained. Wheeze a tiny barely felt thing. He is prideful. Den Mother warm but immobile. Incomplete Servant lays in woods.

    We needed to leave now. I slipped a shoulder under Rachel¡¯s form and hefted her into a carry. Her body wasn''t completely solid. It sagged around me as we wove away from a salt littered floor. By the time we made it to the front door Rachel''s body had curled around my neck, arms and legs over each shoulder.

    There was a short two hundred feet to the fence. From there we could run to the car Roy sat in. Evan, Incomplete Servant, whatever, was another half mile into the woods. Could I carry Rachel that far? What about Tal?

    "Is there a plan?" Tal was sneaky for a half crippled guy.

    "Don''t know. Get out, go right. Head down. Hope no one fires at us," the words slipped out in my other voice. I wasn''t a plan man and never had been. We were in a step up or die situation.

    "It''s something."

    "Your leg? Gut wound? Will you make it?" My mind refused to get in line, and I didn¡¯t care.

    "Flesh wounds. I will make it." Pure grit kept his words firm, but his body felt like a train in the process of derailing.

    "I hear ladies dig scars." I channeled Steven''s one track mind.

    "I told you, son, girls worth keeping love battle scars."

    Hell, Tal had gone delirious. His head drooped down slightly and kept being pulled back up by sheer will. He was barely keeping his face from showing just how bad the damage was. The connection to Evan was pulled again. Maybe he''d feel my urgency.

    Woods and trees full of spotty energy. Life¡¯s marker waves to and fro. Nearby the dark spots of a White Lady¡¯s venting anger hang. Her cries underlay with fear.

    Servant waits with back huddling against tree. His hands press into bark and tremors radiate.

    "You have to tell him!" the Last Chief yells.

    "The Lord is not calling me! He is not..." Incomplete Servant''s words suddenly halt as his eyes widen. He feels my focus and senses the pressure.

    "Tell him! Run this way! There''s a small path out. An escape left by the Hunter!"

    "I do not..."

    Focus spins away as angry noise buries everything. The tone vibrates all matter. Head shaking does not help. Those who wait do not dare come close.

    "That way. Straight through there. Roy''s waiting with the two new warriors," I said to Tal. The word warrior rolling off my tongue made me pause.

    "Does he come for us?"

    "Maybe."

    I didn''t know if Roy would finally break rank and charge in. We didn''t have a choice either way. Eddy said there were explosives beneath our little prison block. Staying here was suicide, and that wasn''t accounting for the bullets being fired, or the specter out hunting down people and stilling their heartbeat.

    This was worse than the Brawl at Bottom Pit. There were too many people moving around and it felt even worse than trying to watch an entire household at Kahina''s. Too many different motions went by and none of these people were on my side. I would heft Rachel through the woods. Tal thought he could keep up.

    I kicked open the door and waited two seconds. No one seemed close but double checking was prudent. Tal stood behind me with labored breathing.

    "I can try to carry you both." If my fists could cave in the walls than perhaps lifting two people would be within reason.

    "I have my pride."

    "Fine. Follow me. If you fall, keep low." Maybe I could knock the old man out then carry him. He would probably dodge out of reflex and land his ass on the floor.

    "Son, you won¡¯t see me fall," Tal said with far more rigid words. He was struggling to be understood.

    I was going to outright run Rachel to the exit, hand her to Roy, then get back. Worrying about his ability to keep up caused me to hesitate. Each time my thoughts did a double take we grew seconds closer to explosions. The world was spinning and I could almost feel where the explosives were.

    Dawn¡¯s sun looms upon the horizon. Den Mother grows limp and less rigid.

    She wouldn''t wake up in time to run herself back. Even if she did the woman would be so confused that it''d be worthless. I managed to run to the fence and looked for an exit. My senses picked up the pathway opened a few panels down.

    Heavy blades cut air. Whirl in circle. Air carries too many tones. Screams. Man machines. Small bullets and Pink Meat vehicles abound, with their rubber grating against gravel.

    It sounded and felt like the heavy artillery had arrived. The human government had brought in choppers and armored cars. Their weight felt distinctive against the tapestry of our battlefield.

    Mountain Elder limps along but still stands. Last Chief waits ahead with feet pressing into damp boots. I run through woods quickly and nearly fly. Breath works in perfect unison with each stride.

    I had to be quick. Whatever was left of the Order wasn''t going down easily and had decided to fight like mad by having a shootout with federal authorities. The feds, for their part, weren''t firing back as much. I had been around this compound once. The Order had enough bullets to last until doomsday, and maybe a few hours beyond.

    In maybe thirty minutes, just after sunrise, the government might have been in place to infiltrate and takedown. Shock, awe, tear gas, all that stuff went off. The whole show had started early because of my breakout and the White Lady. Even now she was stalking through the ranks, both sides, picking off people without regard.

    A quick two-minute mile later and I stood next to Roy, huffing.

    "James," Roy didn¡¯t sound surprised. I had no time to be stunned myself. The family all held long pole arms in their hands with sharp tips that glinted in the darkness. Evan sat huddled against a tree, looking as bad as Tal had, but for different reasons.

    Mountain Elder stumbles. Feel White Lady¡¯s energy shift toward him.

    The sudden change in her movement made my back twitch with horror. Both eyes went wide and I turned about, dropping Rachel off with a rude clunk onto the ground. The old man was in danger.

    Paws tear into ground sending dirt clumps away. Large furry White Wolf goes pounding by me. Form familiar from our fight moons ago.

    Other connections hit me. The old white wolf that always hung around with Tal, Senior I think, was Holland from Bottom Pit. Had everyone really followed me? Even the waitresses, they were the cheerleading section of our evening practices. Cliff and his mother.

    Holland made better time than I could. Wolves, strong ones, could do a mile a minute until their burst of energy drained. Holland had been a fighter so he might be better than average. Attacking the Order compound as a wolf sounded dangerous.

    Tal was getting closer to the exit. I could feel him trying to get back onto both feet refusing to crawl. Evan was protesting about something behind us. Roy''s solid frame had started covering distance as well.

    I was almost neck and neck with Holland. He was agiler getting around the trees, and I was half out of focus, trying to let my senses guide each movement in order to find that place Roy had tried to bring me back to. The fights, the suggestions, ideas of ownership were all designed to keep me from being completely submerged. Tal was my family. If nothing else, I owed him for helping me down in The Pit. My attempt to focus only on Tal''s connection started paying off as another path through came to mind.

    Pulse hammers as Mountain Elder sputters. His feet kick and indistinct words pour forth in grunts. His face bleeds. Ground grows slippery beneath Mountain Elder''s body and the White Lady¡¯s chill approaches.

    Something was happening, and I wasn''t fast enough. My senses found a path upward, from one branch to another. Each one used to get me higher and higher. I bounded off one trunk and flew to another tree then barely touched down before shoving off to get even higher, like a panther, elf, or monster on the hunt.

    Finally, there was nothing left to jump up to. I didn''t hesitate or lose momentum but instead leapt off the highest point at least fifty feet in the air. My heart drummed calmly, air all around as landscape passed below. There I hung for a few blissfully exhilarating seconds.

    Freedom.

    Tal''s cord, that connection to his body, had grown weaker to the point of numbness. He was dying. As I descended the anger returned. The transformation of emotions left me mentally unbalanced.

    I landed, rolling over twice with my shoulders and head tucked in. That was a maneuver that would have never happened without letting instinct take over. I didn''t have time to contemplate the situation.

    Mountain Elder is close enough to see. Large Son of the Mountain lies upon the ground with both arms clutching his chest. The beat sputters. White Lady stands near venting anger as abyssal eyes stare down.

    I roar back in a challenge with my own anger. She dares to hurt what¡¯s mine and repays kindness with treachery. Will end her.

    The first premonition of catastrophe had been setting the White Lady free from her cell. That scene alone had told me things would be grim. Feeling her stalk around the camp, killing people one at a time was just the interlude. Now this? Tal? It was like watching a train wreck in action. I barreled toward her.

    White Wolf runs by half shifted. Fur ripples in air and tears at a still healing wound. He hunches over Mountain Elder then White Wolf¡¯s head swerves toward me. My eyes close to track White Lady''s energy. She is insubstantial, violent, and uncontrolled.

    Holland was still hurt from where I almost punched through his ribcage. The lingering burns were unusual for a wolf and meant he wouldn''t be much use in this fight. As if to prove my point, an Order member started taking pot shots at us from the cover of one building.

    "Go!" I yelled at Holland. "Take Tal!"

    Roy would be here soon. I just had to keep the White Lady distracted or kill her. There was a term for killing something that had already died, re-dead maybe, but only Steven would know.

    White Lady''s energy spider webs out as it spills across landscape in dark black lines. They drain everything as her energy crackles then consolidates.

    I ran for the spot she was about to reappear at. The White Lady¡¯s energy scattered around again. She seemed to refuse any consolidation if I was near. The actions left me fighting a shifting fog of blackness.

    The screaming stopped while she was incorporeal and left a strange silence. People still shouted on megaphones and chopper blades clattered above us. There was still a mess of things happening, but they all paled in comparison to that shriek.

    I should be gibbering in fear but if left alone the creature would hurt Tal. If there was one thing that made me lose self-preservation, it was protecting what was mine. Evan had said it almost a year ago. It was why a relationship with Kahina was so dangerous. I would tear down the world to keep what was mine safe.

    More, I demand more fire, more energy and strength. Limbs spread and body buffs up. She will be ended, traitors deserve punishment.

    I had to fight back a strange urge to expand and grow in size in order to cow the other monster. Fear would be ineffective, or the White Lady would have run by now. It was more likely that she was trying to kill everyone tied to her capture.

    Pink Meat vehicle¡¯s blades spin above. Air presses downward with uncomfortable draft. Heavy unfriendly bullets fly toward us. Desire to kill behind each shot. White Lady shifts target then centers her being inside hollow cabin of metal floating thing.

    She was aiming for the helicopter team. This creature only wanted to cease the life of everyone nearby. I doubted she could differentiate between the Order members who had locked her up and everyone else.

    I bent both legs and felt muscles shift around. Air folded behind me then pushed forward with a sudden burst of pressure. Wind pelted against my face, both eyes were nearly slits. A gasp escaped as air pooled again with the beating of my chest. I swear, for a moment, it felt like I flapped wings to gain altitude.

    By the time the White Lady was solid and present I had latched onto one of the helicopter''s skis. I looked down but shouldn''t have. Hell, I was hanging more than three hundred feet above the ground with little idea how.

    Screams from the cockpit as a gun was discharged. My free arm grabbed ahold of the ski as I pulled myself up. Legs twisted around the edge and I managed to find another handhold. Falling from this height would probably kill me. This was insane.

    Prey.

    The voice in my head refused to be swayed. Driving me forward even as the helicopter tilted sideways, dropping altitude at a startling rate. Trying to tip us over and dump the extra baggage.

    I pulled up, grabbed one of the men inside and shoved him into the front. The White Lady was focused, yelling at such a degree that ran counter to the rotor''s pounding spin.

    One man tried to take off his head mufflers and was saying something, words I couldn''t make out. I punched him and shoved the equipment back into place. Then grabbed at the White Lady with my other hand. She spun off, going for ground now that I was up here.

    Leap after.

    Knees buckled as I resisted the impulse to keep chasing. Daniel¡¯s people needed to get out of here. The Agent wasn''t here, had no idea what was going on, or who he was dealing with. Eddy was probably trying to be undercover if he wasn''t already dead in the crossfire. That left me to try and minimize the damages.

    "Get out of here!" I yelled in one man''s face. Air whipped around from the open door.

    I ignored it and leapt out the other side after the White Lady''s fleeing energy. Her dark cracking pattern was headed back toward the ground after some other target. The monster was unrelenting in her drive for vengeance.

    Behind me, there was shouting while human hands slammed onto metal. In a panic, the three-man helicopter crew was yelling at each other, words that felt like ¡®order one-oh-one¡¯. Their cries meant little as I tried desperately not to get in the way of these instincts. If I didn''t trust myself now, then this fall would have a single sudden outcome. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    White Lady flees off. Perfect. Hold limbs out to side to catch air. Fall breaks as other limbs straighten. Body breaks from unaccustomed actions. Repeat actions to try and right myself. Head pounds as exhaustion calls. These half measures are tiring.

    Nasty unnatural fractured energy runs like the prey it is.

    I slammed into a rooftop and rolled off toward the ground. My fingers grasped around something. Everything was numb but I could still move. Arms and legs fully functional despite the rocks digging into my thigh. My abs were wounded from the half collision with a building.

    The part of my mind that was still Jay, a sometimes bouncer, debt collector, bodyguard, those things I identified with, was stunned. That primal part of me, the one that hunted after lost possessions, thought in an odd pattern, fought like hell to reclaim ownership, protected what was mine with rage, that part of me was roaring in triumph because I gained a nonsensical upper hand. Somehow my fingers were wrapped around the edge of this White Lady¡¯s energy.

    My own sounds spread across the landscape. Ground rumbled with anger in a localized quake. This noise fought against the White Lady¡¯s shriek. Her sound slowly being drowned out by my own, even as I hauled that tendril of energy back toward me.

    Soon she solidified and I had a leg instead of blackness. A long, wiry limb that thrashed at unnatural angles. The other foot connecting with my face. Her horror etched face twisted back to glare at me. Deep pools of spidery black ink looked as terror-stricken as any human might in this condition.

    She wasn¡¯t human. Daniel had told me the White Lady took dead bodies. This was no mortal thing I fought against. This woman made nightmare killed without mercy. Her victims included Order members, federal employees, and worst of all she had attacked Tal. The last one was unforgivable. He was family. He called me son.

    My hands reached for her throat to end our battle. Each finger curled around her neck and thumbs crossed together. The White Lady kicked then tried to get a breath in for another mind numbing scream. Claw-like fingers with black ink tips reached for my face and hands but couldn¡¯t find purchase. These shoulders were too big while forearms blocked her movements. I locked down her arms just from a sheer size difference.

    God help me, I was smiling even as her life bled away. Killing her made part of me feel absolutely elated. The realization bothered Jay but didn''t upset my other mind. She had it coming for her transgressions and daring to harm what was mine.

    Her fingers gouged into my flesh. That energy spilled out of her, chilling my body as she tried to flee. Everything around me giving a wild kaleidoscope of feedback. One moment everything felt alive, then cold and lifeless.

    The thrashing slowly ceased. Her energy started to fade away. Each tendril of blackness that had sprawled across the ground had started to recede. My fingers kept their tight grip and started shaking her as a growl escaped. Blood ran in rivers down my forearms.

    Warmth blossoms in a rush. Mortar, metal, and glass all transform into to projectiles from force.

    I threw myself to the ground and covered my head as the building exploded behind me, then it was over. Debris was still thudding around. I peeked out from under one arm while breathing heavily and tried not to pass out from exhaustion. There was noise but my ears had gone deaf from the overload.

    Tal sat somewhere toward the treeline but he wasn¡¯t breathing right. His lack of muscle movement stood out like any other factor about the world around me. Roy¡¯s heavy hands were pressing up and down upon his father¡¯s chest in attempted resuscitation. The connection was active, the large man had a chance.

    My vision was blurred on one side from dust hanging heavily. Roy and Holland had protected Tal, though why the White Wolf was helping the old man was beyond me. They hadn''t known each other to my knowledge but both were old fighters. Maybe they had history.

    Trying to make a fist sent pain through me. One finger was dislocated. I shoved it back into place with a grunt of discomfort. My legs functioned enough to hobble across the distance. No one tried to stop me either. Bullets had died down while the loudspeakers and spotlights were strangely absent.

    I only vaguely noticed that all the federal firepower had pulled out. They were here during my chase with the White Lady, around when I ran Rachel off into the woods, but now, now they were gone in the distance somewhere.

    Tal''s face was pale. The slight yellow tinge to his eyes stood out even more now. I saw it all, felt it all, much easier. Roy, the others, they had a charm like I did. One that must discourage noticing the extra features. Their real selves were masked under false memories. Anytime I thought their hair had been short or braided it had been part of a lie. They were mostly without hair of any sort. Instead, they had tattoos and tusks tucked until lower lips. Only now, when Tal lay dying, were those extra details obvious.

    "I can heal him," I offered while kneeling down.

    "You can''t. Most gifts will not work on us," Roy''s words were iron over sadness. I could see the depression just around the hint of his eyes.

    "I''ve done it before." Once I had healed a Hunter, according to Daniel.

    Tal roused himself just enough to reach out a hand toward my arm.

    "You let an old man die with his scars, whelp." Tal''s grip was faltering.

    "I can''t let someone else die," I protested. Seeing another person close to me, even if the memories were muddled, would be painful. It was Julianne all over again, miles away from home and dead because of me.

    "We respect your choices, James. You will respect ours," Roy said without sounding happy.

    I stared down and debated breaking his wishes anyway. The cord connecting the old man was a rusty iron color. Laying at its core was an enrapturing deep silver, refined, pure. I sat there watching Tal''s body, torn between Roy''s promise of respect and my own desire to prevent another failure.

    Suddenly it was too late. Slowly Tal''s hand slipped as the cord connecting us briefly started to vanish. My other sight, those senses, showed the vibrancy of life turn to nothing.

    "He''s gone," I kept my voice flat. The words sounded opposite my inner feelings of seeing a person I had claimed die. It was a failure.

    "We must go too," the head bouncer said.

    "No. I''ll stay." I had something to deliver to the Order.

    "No,¡± Roy spoke firmly while shaking his head. ¡°We must all go. The family cannot lose anymore."

    "Take Tal. Take his body. Give him whatever burial he needs." The old man deserved it and I planned on letting loose. Having them around would be detrimental.

    "You''re coming."

    "I''ll catch up," I said the words but Roy would know my life for what it was. He knew, in the same way I understood Roy was grieving for his father.

    "James-" Roy wanted to give me an order like he did his sons, his remains of a decimated tribe. I could tell from his tone. There was something buried in his voice. Maybe he saw something in my face.

    It couldn''t be pleasant. My body was shaking, not from pain, but frustration. Inside sat boiled ire that I had to bury deep in the back of my brain just to stay functional. It shook me from the mounting need to claim vengeance for my failure.

    He studied, and I tried not to lose it right then and there. Tal was dead because of me. The Order had brought him to the compound, sure, but the old man had only been in this town on my behalf. All because I couldn¡¯t handle my own problems head on. That would change.

    Each and every situation that had driven me, each terrible consequence that haunted my past, all of it stemmed from the Order of Merlin''s actions against me. They might not be directly aware of the conflict due to following their agenda. Maybe they were unaware of my existence still.

    There would be some of their lesser members alive back in the compound. It was time they understood exactly who they were messing with.

    Holland said nothing but the wolf¡¯s grief was obvious. Packs wounds always ran deep. They mourned like no other race did but that didn''t make the pain any less.

    "Go. Get everyone back home!" I stood up while shouting.

    Home was at Bottom Pit. A gaudy, excessive, and cleverly disguised place. Our refuge for the inhuman in the middle of a metropolis. Parts of my memory crept to the surface, slowly, in bursts that shook my self-perceptions.

    Muni''s trinket, I could see it on my arm. It was charred piece of rubble that wouldn''t protect me anymore. She warned me, so long ago. Every piece of my true nature that crept through, each time I pulled upon the being I truly was at the core, every connection would eat away at the trinket''s ability.

    I ripped off the remains and stared at Roy. Daring him to object further. He looked back without flinching as if we were equals. This man that I admired in many ways, knew as a friend despite the holes in my memory, he looked at me with respect.

    "You will show them the Great Beast?" Roy spoke Tal¡¯s words.

    The old man¡¯s last story had been about the testing of his grandsons. Back then he referred to a Great Beast, having me play the role of this mythical monster. I knew the part. It was me, I was it if I just let it all go.

    "They''ll wish I hadn''t," I said. Just let it all go. Their words and that night¡¯s chanting filled my head like a drumbeat.

    "Good." Roy patted Holland''s shoulder. The Pack member looked up. I could see confusion, worry, and grief on his features. He bent over and picked up Tal''s limp body.

    Then they all vanished, past the chain link fence, past the trees, into the distance. Roy would get them out of here. Rachel, Evan, those that I claimed as mine were safe. Soon they would know exactly why I could make that claim.

    I strode back through the compound. There were a few people gathered whispering to each other. One person tried to take charge. One voice wanted to surrender, a few were whimpering while others had been wounded. I stood just out of sight. Not wanting to be shot, not right now. Bullets hurt me too much like this, but soon they couldn¡¯t.

    "Hey, assholes!" I shouted around the building''s edge. Their words weren¡¯t audible, but I felt them all the same. Sticking my head out sounded like a bad idea anyway. With heavy ordinances, I would be lucky to keep my brain inside its skull, at least as a human.

    Letting go would cause a strain on my system. Exhaustion happened with a minor use of my abilities. The fire had put me out for days and made me blind. What would the price for this final trick be?

    "We''re armed, and we''ll shoot!" one of the militia yelled.

    Their words made me chuckle before clarifying my position. "I''m not with the government," I said then laughed.

    "Go away!" They were hurt, scared, and backed into a corner. The smart among them would realize they shot at, and possibly killed, federal employees. The stupid might believe there was a safe way out of this.

    Whenever I called my abilities there was a chain tying me down. My conscious thoughts always rode along to keep everything in check by thinking of myself as human. I tried to picture myself as a normal human with odd powers, but nothing was that simple.

    I didn''t remember it all, not yet, but I felt the edges of something huge and dangerous. Inside me was this large creature worthy of respect, awe, and more than a touch of fear. Tal had called it the Great Beast. Words swam through my head. Let it out, they said.

    "You shouldn''t mess with things you don''t understand!" I yelled out. Hopefully, they would hear me clearly. My own ears barely functioned.

    "It''s one of them."

    "Oh no."

    "No, no, they were all in the cells. We blew it up," a high pitched man sounded shaky. The lack of bullets flying made their words easier to feel.

    "Not soon enough," a female said.

    "Did they escape?" Indistinct and muffled voices kept prattling. Words echoed in my head once more. They told me to let it all out over and over.

    "What do we do?"

    "We shoot him," another responded.

    "Will that work?"

    Let it all out, John, said Tal¡¯s voice in my head. His words were aged but solid. The old man had seen the fires come forth from me before, many times over the years. He didn¡¯t flinch and never had, not since the first time decades ago. The memory hung just out of reach.

    "You think I''m a monster." Everyone called me one as if it were natural. My attempts at being defensive failed. Deep inside I had always known they were right.

    Let it all out, his pleading voice said in my mind. Against that ran the memory of him orating to us that night in the Bottom Pit. He told the story of the Great Beast. I never had a chance to talk with him, not as John, or Jay, or anyone but a clueless vagrant who could barely fight. I wanted to, we had a past that I couldn¡¯t sort through now. Only one fragment of the past hung in my head, he had called me son years ago.

    "Sure, Tal," I whispered to myself. "I''ll do it. I''ll show you a monster."

    The anger, possessive nature, and ability to kill without remorse in the name of self-defense would all bother a normal person. A well-adjusted man wouldn''t step this far out of line. Most humans wouldn''t even dare. I was neither human nor well-adjusted.

    It all fell away like shedding a thick skin. Maybe the sensation was closer to a bird pecking free from their egg. My head hummed with pleasure, eager to drop this falsehood I subjected myself to. I wasn''t human and the Jay part of me had no clue what there was beyond that. My body knew what to do, the buried central ego understood completely. That voice at my core grinned and reached out as Jay fell apart into something else.

    World shrinks and head bows. A weight of muscle and bone shifting spreads from end to end. Arms, toes, and all that is, grow ever outward. Heat boils the air from a slow hurtful change. Pain expresses with a roar of rage.

    Then true freedom is realized. The sky is visible through true eyes. The wind brushes along a true body. Dirt curls under claws as I struggle to remember this form. My nose feels too long and teeth sharper. Each sensation is fresh, newborn, and welcome but should be felt at another time. Wonder is a youngling mistake.

    Step around Pink Meat hut with short walls. They are too small to hide my majesty. Walk into remaining meals'' line of sight. Pathetic creatures hold up metal sticks and try to work their jaws. One screams, less powerful than White Lady but annoying. Give mocking tiny roar back which overpowers her voice.

    I count wounded Pink Meats slowly. They watch me with stuttering heartbeats. Feel Govern Men in their large metal boxes. Near, but not too close. Might be some who watch and scout for their peoples. Their weakness does not scare me.

    I loom over leader. The female Pink Meat shivers then falls back, unable to stand in my presence. She is small now and nearly beneath notice. Retribution drives me to notice their presence. These Pink Meats brought Den Mother, Mountain Elder, and I here. This irritates me and stirs anger. Limbs stretch with a sudden spasm which startles me into looking over.

    The distraction was enough for the human side of me to surface in wonder. The creature I became had true wings. They were long leathery things covered in tiny scales. Each one felt sensitive but strong like armor. I turned, neck swiveling on joints that hadn''t been there moments before. The other wing looked like a mirror of the first. Was that how I leapt so high then caught the wind? Was this why the world looked so small while I tracked Evan in the woods so long ago? Had I always been this big in some sense? The questions went on and on. For a moment, I forgot my nearly captive audience.

    I slowly step body forward more. Pink Meats cower from fear. One dares hold gun as I look down with a glare. Head lowers until the mere mouthful of meat goes wet between the legs. Nostrils flare in disgust and the puff of air makes its heartbeat stuttered.

    Their fear amuses me enough to let it live. There are other warnings to be given. Some require death but this type is different. It requires life.

    "Do not touch what is mine," I rumble and the ground shakes with deep words. One large eye glares unblinking at tiny thing. Their heads are pathetically small.

    Pink Meat tremors and I chuckle. Another vibration in the darkness makes me laugh harder. Leader Pink Meat not alone in the rush of liquids down its leg.

    "Run, pink meat. Or I''ll gobble you up.¡± I grin and laugh.

    Pink Meat breaks, turns and runs with broken madness. Others flee, barely stopping to help their wounded friends. They run for Govern men vehicles with hands up high while their weapons are abandoned by my feet. Feel heavy, broken and hasty footsteps against dirt. One stumbles then dirt rakes at exposed flesh. Further away, tires rest against packed ground. Sand lines spaces between rocks. Little things shout cowardly surrenders.

    Elsewhere Incomplete Servant jitters and shakes. He is weak but alive. Den Mother demands answers as she huddles under cotton. Light doesn''t warm her skin and their metal chariot is silent.

    Good. Pink Meat members of this Order understand message. Vengeance is swift, personal, and clearly understood.

    I still felt heated, unhappy, and antsy. The tail slid around while the feeling of Order members leaving came back. The air grew warmer from a fire which always laid, forgotten, at the center of my emotions. It was a deep simmering flow that never truly went away. Finally, I understood why things were so wrong and remembered why there was so much anger. I wasn''t Jay. I wasn''t James, Jeff, Jason, or any other name. None of those labels were more than a skin for my disguise.

    How did I look to them? I towered over humans, larger than any horse and on par with the buildings around me. Wings stretched far from both sides. A limber tail swept around behind me. It curled around the edge of walls and crushed mortar with indifference. The heat flowed off my limbs in waves while huge teeth lined a long snout and wide jaw that pulled back like an alligator''s.

    They should have come to the same conclusion I had. I was a monster. Now they knew I would claim vengeance for their threats against me and mine.

    Rage turns to mourning. Tilt head back then shout toward sky. Flames pour forth as emotions are given voice by the flame.

    I was letting it all go and honoring the fallen warrior in the only method available right now. Spirals of fire flew upward, issued from a deep place in my gullet. I celebrated my sorrow with roar of flame and shouted sadness toward the rising sun. Finally, the flames sputtered and died. A small barely smoldering piece of the ember remained inside me.

    Head slips down while tail curls around body. Neck drapes across legs. Price to be paid as darkness comes to claim me. Here, in conquered ruins, I will lay.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 1 - Runt

    Ahead of me was a mouth framed by black feathers and slobber, glinting with giant teeth larger than my body. Its immense cheeks pulled in a snarl.

    ¡°Go away!¡± the mouth roared. A blast of air pushed me back. ¡°Or I¡¯ll gobble you up!¡±

    ¡°Try it!¡± I shouted, and ran screaming at the monster.

    The monster roared. It rushed forward then vanished into a puff of feathers. I slowed, finding nothing to slam against.

    Feathers continued to spin as they fluttered, giving way to a new scene. In the middle of what had been a giant monster¡¯s face was a large crow. It shook and hopped to the side.

    I raised an eyebrow while huffing.

    ¡°One day you¡¯ll break free,¡± the raven said in a familiar and foreign voice. It cawed, scratched the ground, and hopped.

    This was a voice I knew, but couldn¡¯t quite place. It felt like a memory but at the same time, I was living the moment.

    ¡°My charms cannot hold back the hurricane of your mind forever,¡± the raven said. Female, then it hit me where I¡¯d seen that shade of black before. It was Muni, but she¡¯d never looked like an outright bird.

    I could almost remember her changing shape, like a wolf might, but the recollection slipped away. The bird¡¯s face blurred but I could make out feathers intermingled with strands of jet black hair. A pale set of features appeared, with nervous eyes.

    My head banged against something solid.

    ¡°When the trinket wears off¡ª¡± The phrase stuttered and repeated. Feathers abruptly lifted then flew in all directions, blocking portions of my sight. Her body was buried under the swirl of feathers.

    My head banged against the material from before. Other noises teased the edge of my senses. A third bang shattered the memory of Muni¡¯s warnings. Strange sensations flooded in, nothing like the ones I¡¯d been feeling a moment ago. My eyes unwillingly opened. I hadn¡¯t realized they were closed. An indistinguishable sensation jostled me repeatedly. Words were being said in a frantic whispering I couldn''t make out. My thoughts ran askew from the sane.

    I felt beyond exhausted. The tank was empty and fumes ran out miles ago. Parents of triplets exist for years at this level. Lawyers working extensive cases suffer through. Students working two jobs and a full course load deem it worthwhile. This was the price for my actions.

    Every race had a price for their abilities that put them beyond the pale of normal humans. That was the balance imposed in the eons gone by. I''d never thought to ask why we had downsides, or who had imposed them.

    Was it God, perhaps?

    ¡°Come on!¡± a male shouted.

    ¡°We must escape. We can¡¯t be caught here. You know where they¡¯ll send us!¡± a second man who sounded exactly the same responded from a different direction.

    ¡°Atlas is a death trap,¡± the first replied.

    My senses tried to get a feel for the world and kept falling apart. Their terse words bounced around, hitting different objects. Voices mashed against unfamiliar materials. My eyes were open, seeing images, but I had no idea how to quantify the actions about me. Bright lights flickered behind us which hurt my eyes.

    Why couldn''t I have an easier price? Wolves had strength, reactions, and regenerated quicker than a human. They could communicate with their pack members. In exchange they had feral instincts to control coupled with an overriding need for hierarchy and leadership. Their biggest weakness was a fatal allergy to silver. No worse than peanuts in today''s society.

    ¡°Father''s waiting! Do you need help, runt?¡± one of the duplicate voices yelled.

    ¡°No!¡± a strained sounding younger person answered. The word originated next to my head. I couldn¡¯t piece together the sensation of being jostled with their locations.

    Someone carried me. That¡¯s why we jostled around. I struggled to lift any limb and gain some control. The world spun, my eyes rolled and started to close again. Grogginess plagued me. I''d be dead asleep right now if given a choice.

    Vampires had it much better. They were able to taste the air and see in complete darkness. Each one could be nearly serpentine in their grace with an alien allure that drew humans to their presence. Agelessness, speed, and the ability to ignore mental limitations on strength were all attractive. Their price was simple in its rules; a high chance of dying upon conversion and the constant thirst for fresh blood.

    ¡°Over here! It''s clear!¡± the farthest twin said. That made three people, at least, around me. The youngest carried me. The twins spoke with sharp cracks of noise. Their words echoed and demanded attention.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    In the background hounds bayed. Not wolves, but real live dogs. They were on the hunt. Their howls and yips got stuck in a loop of thought which played over and over until one of the twins shouted, ¡°Dogs!¡±

    ¡°Go!¡± the younger male carrying me responded.

    ¡°Don''t order us, runt!¡± one of the twins yelled. My eyes could barely see the edge of a large set of teeth jutting upward but nothing else about the face stood out.

    ¡°I am still your brother, afford me some respect!¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s right. We must run while we can!¡± the twin said.

    Their words garbled and mushed together. They were clear, but my mind told me how they sounded was a lie. My mind was muddled but they reminded me of Roy, the bouncer at Bottom Pit.

    ¡°I will escape or face punishment with honor!¡± the young one carrying me insisted.

    Even the hurdles elves handled seemed downright cheery in comparison. Facing a nearly crippling addiction might be doable. Surviving their strange customs with each other, the constant games of leadership and successions, or house politics that stretched out over centuries could be done. It''d be worth it for their grace, the communion with nature, an extended lifespan, or potentially casting illusions.

    Around me, tree branches bent and snapped. The sound of shouts, dogs, and gunfire continuously crawled through the terrain. Above, a large metal object subdued the laws of gravity with force. Air crashed in waves as blades spun.

    Instead of something sane, something normal, I was stuck with different burdens. My gifts were tracking, strength, and speed. The latest trick was turning into a giant fire breathing creature and grumbling at lowly peasants. The price was falling asleep at the worst possible time. What else was there? How many things about my very nature were tied to the race I belonged to? Then the question hit me; hadn''t my father taught me better?

    The surroundings slowly made more sense. My world was sideways, almost inverted because I was hanging over another person''s shoulders. My eyes rolled shut as waves of sleepiness tried to drag me back to the blissful silence my body desperately needed. Someone ahead ran a path through the trees. They looked like a rhino charging past brush when we should be led by a panther.

    One leg hurt still from being shot by Daniel. Muscles along my side and chest bounced against huge shoulders. Bruises ached along with fresh scrapes from the trees. Near misses of gunfire left nasty trails of red on a flopping forearm. There were wounds in too many places to keep track of.

    I attempted to view the face of the man carrying me. It was impossible to make out completely. His body was large and barrel chested with a tattoo wrapped around the far shoulder.

    ¡°Runt.¡± I fumbled the word.

    The figure ignored me, chose an escape route, and bounded off again. Behind us the sound of pursuit increased. Overhead something shining intense lights down through the trees kept our position obvious.

    ¡°Leave me,¡± I managed to speak.

    That tattoo meant he was one of Roy''s boys. He had three sons, tiny creatures growing rapidly, only that was then and this was now. They were no longer small boys on the verge of being giants. My mind drifted, thinking of the trees during one moment, then smashing together random bits of the past.

    Julianne''s face was almost a blur now. A year later and I could barely remember it. Her footsteps were always light. The curve of her brow had been a solid line of thin and plucked hair that formed whenever she got confused. She had brown eyes that turned amber from the side.

    ¡°Brother!¡± one of the two ahead shouted.

    ¡°You go! Tell Father!¡± the man carrying me responded.

    ¡°We will,¡± the other twin said. I sleepily called up the other name for him, One of Two, my other mind had called him. Or Two of Two. Hell, I was losing focus again and struggled to control my thoughts into a coherent line. Instead, my mind got stuck trying to remember how to count past three without using my fingers.

    ¡°We have you surrounded! Cease and surrender!¡± an artificially loud voice said. I wondered if God sounded as demanding as the person floating above us inside the creation of metal.

    Black spots appeared. The image burned through like wallpaper burning away to reveal an old layer. Feathers wove into the empty spaces. When my eyes closed an image of Kahina appeared in the blank spots, a snippet of time before we parted. We were happier then. I stared at nearly ruby eyes. Julianne smiled and looked at us from the side. Both were half drunk and someone had just told a terrible joke. Only Julianne was dead now.

    The memory shattered, leaving behind the oppressive battering air of our helicopter pursuit. Whoever carried me sounded ragged. His breath came in short gasps. He had an extra two hundred and fifty pounds slung over his shoulder, getting this far was a miracle.

    ¡°This was a terrible idea.¡± My attempted rescuer sounded upset at himself. His head constantly whipped side to side. Our path took a sudden turn to the side, breaking away from the other two we''d been running behind.

    Other moments passed through in flashes. Most of them made perfect sense until I paid attention. Nothing clicked right.

    ¡°Halt!¡± the man from above yelled.

    I felt guns being grasped and adjusting to point in our direction. Their distinctive sound caused our frantic escape to cease.

    The person carrying me backed up, then tried to put up his hands into the air. He dropped me to the ground without the slightest kindness for my situation. I slowly rolled to my back, not because I''d wanted to, exhaustion and gravity were winning.

    I finally saw a clear face to the person who had been carrying me. It was Roy¡¯s youngest child. His name hit me, along with half a dozen other flashes of the past that had been buried. There were too many forgotten aspects of my life that were working to the surface at once.

    ¡°Leo,¡± I labeled him.

    Other moments flooded by as my eyes tried to focus. Things surfacing were both pointless and vital to the man I was. Bits of the past that defined my actions, giving me reason for what was happening.

    ¡°Turn around!¡± Someone''s voice pelted the area again, amplified to an unreasonable level.

    Leo turned slowly, looking down at me, his face a mess of dirt and grime. There were leaves in his clothes and hair along with piles of mud on his boots.

    My eyes rolled back as two grown figures tried to tackle Leo to the ground. I almost managed a smirk as I watched the runt resist them. A third figure joined in and their combined weight forced the tiny hulk down. His face planted unkindly next to mine. I tried to watch him. Tried to give him some iota of respect for his defiance and attempted rescue.

    But retaining consciousness proved too much. The world went black, as it too often did.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 2 - To Kill a Monster

    Gravity pulled my body in one solid direction, revealing that I was on my back. The darkness won out and my mind stayed unfocused. Still, I saw the past. Images spun by containing facets of life that had been obscured by Muni''s trinket.

    Muni was someone I barely understood. She was old. Older than any elf or vampire I¡¯d ever met. The woman modified peoples¡¯ memories like other people could mold clay. Mine had been locked away under layers of misdirection coupled with misleading truths, until I pulled off the bracelet.

    My mind latched onto a solid chunk of time, one that taunted me. Kahina and I had a rough relationship. It felt like forever ago since we''d met in Julianne''s house during a messed up intervention. Each of us presented our side of the story but we''d both been wrong and right. I could almost see all of it but needed to keep piecing the memory together.

    It was like a puzzle. Jumbled bits joined to form an incomplete picture that steadily filled in. Then the final pieces clicked and the present faded. Instead, I relived a historical moment of my life.

    Kahina and I stood in the basement of my small home. Her being down there stood against all the prior memories of my mind. The recollection came with a shaky gut and arms moving like lumps of lead. This had been a rough point in our history and no longer did Muni¡¯s trinket obscure it.

    ¡°You can''t do this, Jay!¡± Kahina plead. We''d been fighting and even partially turned she cried bloody tears which made her face a frightful mess. She tried to cover up the weakness with her ice queen expression.

    I busied myself getting ready for a long trip. I wanted to do what was best for all involved. Doing so caused her to cry again because of me, especially in the weeks preceding this memory. Tears were too common at that stage of our relationship.

    ¡°I have to. You''re in danger,¡± I responded while packing a bag. Clothes were being shoved into the duffle and the contents of my basement home checked repeatedly for items worth taking.

    ¡°I''ll survive! We''ll survive this! You can''t just leave, not now.¡± Kahina''s words followed me as I whirled around the room. We were in my bedroom. We''d been down here because it was the most secure place I knew, and yet wasn¡¯t safe enough.

    ¡°They''ll kill you,¡± I said.

    ¡°I''m not some weak damsel!¡±

    ¡°Look!¡± I grabbed my cheap phone off the dresser and held it up. On it was a picture someone had texted me. It''d been taken while she was comatose, during the day. Next to her head was a knife and cross as a clear threat. Kahina had been defenseless.

    Kahina knocked away the phone in disgust. She said, ¡°You''re just giving in! Doing what they want!¡±

    ¡°And what other options are there?¡± I turned suddenly and crossed the few steps to her. My gaze stared down into eyes that held a hint of red fire; burning embers in a dim room. They were everything because they were hers.

    ¡°I''ll use my connections, hire people, and get better security. I''ll need them anyway to survive the change.¡± She tried to reason with me by repeating the same argument we¡¯d been having.

    While she made her plans, I made mine. I had already steeled myself to separate the two of us. Kahina and I would part until the danger had cleared. Once they won the shadow war, I¡¯d be free to resurface.

    ¡°That¡¯s not enough. That''s you.¡± I gestured to the fallen phone while trying to keep my voice stable. ¡°No protection. A knife away from death. Because of me! Because of what I am! I can¡¯t make you give up your life and everything your father left you. I don¡¯t want you to give it up and run away with me either.¡±

    I did. I still did. My chest ached and breathing hurt.

    ¡°I would,¡± she said.

    ¡°You can¡¯t. If we stay like this the world will burn,¡± I responded. ¡°That¡¯s what happens. That¡¯s what happens every time someone like me cares enough. We die upon the blade of a knife, or burn ourselves out in a rage. Either way, everyone dies.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re foolish. This isn¡¯t the dark ages.¡±

    Kahina stupidly ignored the substantial threat on her life. I remembered wondering, ¡®why would she bother for me?¡¯ My vices were many; I drank too much, fought everything that moved, gambled, and got angry easy. Even the past versions of Jay had been rather unsavory. Kahina Rhodes deserved better. But at the same time letting her go felt impossible, she was mine.

    In my memory I groaned and stepped away to start packing again. Shirts were switched out, more durable ones put in. I had been so certain our separation would be final, and the only sane choice left to me.

    ¡°You expect me to just forget you?¡±

    I''d held a pair of pants and slowly set them down with a sigh. As the memory played on part of my modern brain screamed ¡®Don¡¯t do it. Just stay.¡¯ Only because leaving had been useless in the long run. Five years had passed since this memory of Kahina and me in the basement.

    In times¡¯ wake sat broken relationships, confetti memories, self-doubt, and all for nothing. Now that I was probably captured and locked away somewhere, the results were worse than nothing. The past kept me from worrying about current events for another moment or two.

    ¡°No.¡± I picked up the pants again and rubbed my fingers along the fabric. Each grain and ripple tingled along my senses from both sides but the motion barely soothed me.

    I wasn¡¯t stupid enough to believe Kahina would move on or forget me. Yet, I needed her to, and hoped we might both let each other go. In the end, that would save us from this dangerous relationship. That way the world would keep going.

    ¡°Think about this, what it means for both of us! Our friends!¡± she pleaded again while stepping closer.

    ¡°It means you''ll get to live,¡± I whispered. Those words hadn''t been intended for her to hear.

    There was a pause in her responses. I could hear sniffling, then a giant unsavory snort that made pigs sound polite. It had almost made me smile. She made those same sounds when we went out to plays, especially the tragedies. She loved tragedies.

    Maybe she always knew how we¡¯d end.

    ¡°How can you place so much faith in that feather brained thing?¡± she finally asked. Kahina and Muni met months before this memory, and neither had been impressed with the other. The women in my life rarely got along. Julianne and Kahina were the exception, not the norm.

    ¡°She has a name.¡±

    ¡°It''s stupid. This is all so stupid! You''re an idiot!¡±

    I didn''t have to see her to know that her arms were crossed and face upturned. Kahina argued with the wall. She''d be more successful there anyway.

    ¡°The trinket Muni has will help you forget and help me forget. It will help everyone who ever knew me forget who I am. They won¡¯t know to look for me, and won¡¯t go after you just to push me. We can buy time,¡± I said.

    I didn''t mention Muni would be removing a chunk of people''s memories. Not everything ¡ªtaking too much would leave a person witless. I''d be remembered in some form, and I would be able to recall portions of my life. It would be enough to keep me going, even if all that was left was half a man.

    ¡°And you believe Daniel will just solve your problems while you''re out playing clueless vagabond?¡± She snorted again. ¡°I doubt it.¡±

    ¡°It''s the best option.¡±

    I almost lost the thread of my past then and there. That belief of mine which somehow linked her safety to my presence had been stupid.

    Still, at the time I could recall the certainty that our separation was her best chance. I would go away, she and everyone else would forget to an extent, and Western Sector could do their damnedest to hold off the end of times. Daniel had plans, he was an endless maze of plots, contingencies and alternate routes five layers deep.

    If I was out of the way the Order would go back to business as normal, instead of trying to flush me out by targeting those dear to me. If this went right the Order would forget I''d ever been near Kahina, Julianne, or Roy and our family. They¡¯d all forget, until we were ready or we couldn¡¯t stall anymore.

    ¡°What if someone else sweeps me off my feet?¡± She sniffed while talking. I tried not to cringe as my mind silently prayed she would find someone.

    Someone better, with fewer flaws, and who could keep her safe.

    ¡°Well?¡± Kahina demanded.

    There were no good answers.

    ¡°This is because¡ª¡± She started to ask a question but my head shook rapidly.

    ¡°No, it''s not. We''ve been over this.¡± I shoved another bit of clothing into my bag while searching for more necessities.

    ¡°You keep saying that, but I know it bothered you. That''s the real reason you''re leaving.¡±

    Yet again I stopped packing, and stood there thinking of what to say. I''d never been a man blessed with a serpent¡¯s tongue, no honeyed words flowed forth even if I tried. How could anyone expect me to be reassuring? No wonder Kahina worried about my reactions.

    ¡°We both knew what might happen,¡± I said.

    ¡°But...¡±

    Actions were louder than words. I quickly walked over and wrapped my arms around her, pressing us together. Her body stiffened and struggled to break free. She stopped after a few seconds but stayed tense.

    ¡°I was in the wrong.¡± I spoke slowly and carefully.

    ¡°But I took your blood.¡± She kept her voice steady.

    ¡°I wanted you to have it, remember?¡± My instincts had kicked in and things turned violent afterward. ¡°Intent should have been enough, I refuse to blame you for defending yourself.¡±

    We''d tried to follow an old ritual her kind practiced for a pairing between human and vampire. Even being a partial, like she was at the time, our bond would have created a link. It should have been a magnetic pull that would help draw people together. If I were human it''d also smooth the transition for shifting to full vampire.

    I wasn''t human. I knew it, she knew it, and that was the crux of our problem. Drinking even a little bit of my blood had roused me to anger. Then I became violent while Kahina reacted in defense and desire by aiming for more blood yet trying to fend off my rampage.

    Walls had holes punched into plaster. Cops had been called and only Julianne''s interference kept things remotely civil. It helped that normal police wouldn''t touch a vampire case unless forced.

    Julianne drove an upset Kahina home. My girlfriend had slept in her own apartment while I passed out on my bed in the basement, tossing and turning the entire time. It took a week for us to start talking again.

    There was no safe word that would have helped for what we''d done. No perfect preparation, or taking it slower. We''d started as basic as possible and things had gone downhill.

    ¡°You know that''s not the reason,¡± I said again.

    ¡°But I nearly killed you.¡± She was being silly. It would take a lot more than some blood sport to kill me. I survived gunshots, stabbings, arms breaking, and being thrown off buildings.

    ¡°And I you.¡±

    ¡°But I forgave you.¡± She sounded tired.

    ¡°And I you,¡± I repeated again.

    ¡°You''re afraid to stay.¡± Her words grew quieter. Somehow we managed to fall onto the bed. Her hand trailed a familiar path up my chest.

    Fear wasn''t easy to admit. ¡°I am.¡±

    ¡°They might really kill me?¡± she asked.

    ¡°And worse.¡±

    ¡°I still don''t understand what that means.¡±

    Back then I hadn''t explained the real problem to her. Maybe if I had laid out everything in plain words and figured out a plan that involved her, history would have been different. There was no way to make reality sound sane. How could I explain that my death, in the right circumstances, might unravel the world? Or worse, bathing in a vat of my blood could transform a human into a creature of madness and power.

    No one understood what another Merlin might do and the Purge made sharing the truth publicly impossible. Another human baptized in the blood of a monster like myself could steal the elemental gives and the power of command. Kingdoms had been razed to the ground as one man, the most legendary Merlin, tried to take over the entire Emerald Sector and waged war on Rome itself.

    The man had been insane and led humans along a second genocide. His manifesto babbled on about wiping out wolves, vampires, and elves. Daniel showed me the records once citing that Merlin''s entire family had been wiped out by wolves gone rogue. The legendary figure¡¯s hatred ran deep. The sector agent and I had talked about it, comparing Hunter histories with the things I knew.

    And I knew things he didn''t. Not because of personal experience. No, I understood the dangers because my father''s voice had told me so. His advice whispered in the far reaches of my mind. There were rules to live by, and warnings from the things he''d learned in a lifetime. We had an entire family line of lessons passed down from father to offspring, generational knowledge that had been embedded into my mind during gestation.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    I''d never actually met the voice¡¯s owner. His guidance was often deceptive in its simplicity, repetitive, almost always in threes. There, in the past where I held Kahina in a memory, his words repeated.

    Beware those with skins of envy.

    Beware those who den in fear.

    Beware those who breathe out hate.

    The Order of Merlin did all those, even if they covered it up with other names. Preaching all non-humans should have been removed during The Purge was one example. They were also willing to kill for their goals and, based on my slowly recovering memories, wanted to recreate a Merlin in this modern era.

    I had to become scarce. Daniel Crumfield, a Western Sector agent I''d known for most of my life, was of the same mind in this. The sooner I became invisible the safer everyone was. Making Kahina and everyone else forget would only add another layer of protection. They needed protection and I wouldn¡¯t be in a place to provide it.

    My mind was addled and memories distorted. Too many bits were coming back to me in the wrong order. I focused on the memory of leaving Kahina the first time.

    ¡°Will you come back?¡± Kahina asked in the relaying memory.

    I nodded and responded, ¡°If I can.¡±

    ¡°When?¡± she asked.

    ¡°I don''t know.¡±

    The lull was a fragile thing. I could almost feel it¡ªstruggling to hold onto hope coupled with a fear of loss. They were warring emotions that ruled our lives.

    ¡°I don''t like this,¡± she said. In that moment Kahina showed her first tone of depressive resignation. I didn''t want to spend our last moments arguing. Maybe she didn''t either.

    ¡°When I return, you''ll be a big shot vampire. You won''t need a thug like me.¡±

    She snorted at my statement but it sounded snotty. ¡°Please. I can¡¯t replace you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll have a house full of servants. Plus some old vampire trying to control you. And your father will be happy to see me move on.¡±

    ¡°I won''t make it through the transition.¡±

    ¡°You will,¡± I said and attempted a smile. ¡°You''ve got my blood in you. Even a little will make the difference. It¡¯s how it all started, you may be the purest vampire to exist in millennia.¡± I knew, because my father knew, and his father, and his father back at least six generations.

    ¡°But I won''t have you,¡± Kahina said.

    ¡°I''ll come back. It¡¯s impossible for me to stay away forever.¡±

    ¡°I hope so.¡± She nestled closer but wasn¡¯t looking for anything beyond the reassuring comfort of being near. That was fine, I was too mentally drained for sex anyway. It wasn''t like she was alone in being upset.

    After this memory, the next day, we wouldn¡¯t be together in the same way. What we were would become a distorted version of the truth once Muni blocked parts of my memory.

    ¡°I''ll wait for you, Jay,¡± she said so quietly I almost doubted my own ears. But we were in my home and everything here I felt as if it were my own arms or legs. Each stir of air like it passed through my lungs. Tying me to her had been unavoidable.

    I tried not to dwell on doubt and worry. Back then there was hope the new version of Jay Fields wouldn''t foul things up too badly. My only memories would be skewed versions of the past. Muni was ordered to focus on magnifying bad events which would keep me too upset to return.

    Thoughts about my unseen father floated through. He had other lessons regarding the claim I laid over Kahina and others. Just by knowing people I felt the connections slowly come together. Close friends, things, places, even the patchwork family I''d built around myself.

    His words always passed through with a slow yet demanding rumble. Whenever I pictured the words in English they almost always sounded straight from the Emerald Isles, a proper gentleman, but so very worn out.

    Still, his words were unbroken, unceasing, almost a mantra.

    What you claim defines you.

    What you claim relies on you.

    What you claim wounds you.

    Those words were formal dressing for a singular idea. What I claimed, was me, in a sense, with all the dangers that represented. It would wound me to leave her, so much that the only way to make it possible was to have my memories altered.

    I sat there with Kahina under one arm, staring at the ceiling of my cluttered bedroom, and searched through my father''s words for any wisdom that could be gleaned; anything that would give my chosen path a hope of success.

    I came up blank.

    The next day Muni had gutted parts of my memories and smeared over other blocks. There were many items that were too dangerous to leave in one piece. My nature couldn''t be buried completely without a mental crippling.

    I nearly killed the raven headed woman. Roy''s family had held me back, struggling, gasping, and finally sobbing. My blood and memories were vital possessions that sent me into a fit like any theft.

    After the mental blender I woke on a bus headed east.

    Julianne had agreed to keep my apartment. Theoretically I''d travel and find work, which I had. My memory would be shoveled around to think I needed to send cash home to pay for the space. Doing so would signal to Daniel and others that I was alive. Chances were I''d barely find enough to survive, so the rent would probably come out of my other finances.

    Hell, I remembered now. I had more money than anyone rightfully needed. Bottom Pit paid out a share of its profits to all members of the family and plenty of cash was stored away from fighting.

    My mind drifted in and out. That bit with Kahina and the past had been the clearest memory to resurface. A dozen others sat in jumbles sorting themselves chronologically before playing. Muni''s mechanisms couldn¡¯t be undone so easily.

    I managed to remember Daniel''s stupid code word, for all the good that knowledge did. The man was probably off in deep cover with the Order of Merlin. Last I''d heard, from one of his other Sector agent pals, Daniel was one of the faithful and had escaped the compound before the feds showed up.

    Hell. I shoved all the images from my past away and surfaced. Both eyes fluttered letting in natural light. The world felt heavy and uncomfortable. Skin on my arms puckered in spots, things lodged under flesh that stung when I tried to twitch an arm. Both thighs were tied down.

    My eyes were open but the sensation of using them felt alien and disjointed. A pale green color covered everything. Beeps pulsed through the air. I tried to swivel my head to the side but failed. My neck was braced. I attempted to lift an arm and found it equally restricted. A rattle of handcuffs was distinctive enough to set alarm bells off in my mind.

    I tilted my wrist, then twisted fingers around a chain linking me to the bed. For a third time I tried to curse but my throat didn¡¯t work. Those were definitely handcuffs.

    If that was the case, someone should be in as soon as they noticed their prisoner was conscious. Escaping might be possible. I tugged at the arm again, now that I knew what was holding me down.

    My hand refused to form a proper grip and my muscles were lethargic. Nothing functioned in a desired manner. I clenched my eyes, trying to stop the world from spinning. My mind tried to focus on ownership to pull a bit of strength for escape. Nothing came forth. No surge of energy and none of the primal thoughts which sounded like a rock born caveman.

    There had been a name for that voice. What had my father called it? Memories swam over me, blocking thoughts of escape. Words rumbled with pieces of history and people I''d fought in flashes. Roy, Tal, his family, we¡¯d had endless hours of brutal sparring in the early morning in an effort to perfect their dances. I enjoyed the battle as much as they did.

    Daniel had fed me leads and I''d found him missing persons, fugitives, criminals in hiding as an exchange of favors. Most of the waitresses at Bottom Pit had been brought back by me. They were a collective result of my efforts from fifteen to twenty-five.

    Roy and Tal, they were the first. His son Leo, the one who''d tried to rescue me, hadn''t even been born then. I''d run into scattered others of whatever race Roy belonged to and each had been lost. Each one attracted to the fighting circuits because of their love of combat.

    I''d freed three girls from a vampire household on the east coast. The fang face kept them in chains because of their unnatural beauty and submissive personalities. They couldn''t help how their race made them. Out of all the Hidden I¡¯d tracked over the years, those types of girls were the most prevalent. Females like them had survived The Purge where most other races were broken. No one found a glorified sex slave to be a threat, but every man in power wanted more.

    My reverie snapped when I heard distinct footsteps outside the jumble of memories. Two people approached. One had heavy sounding footsteps and the weight of a larger man. Cigar smoke preceded him entering the room. The second set of feet was lighter, less hurried, and almost lazy.

    ¡°Good, you''re awake. Now I can charge you and get you out of my backyard,¡± a gruff voice uttered. The man sounded like every grumpy police officer to cross my path.

    I didn''t say anything.

    ¡°I''m guessing you already know your rights, but in case you slept through the last go round, here they are,¡± he said.

    They must have run my prints. As the former version of Jay, I believed I had no Sector Identification, number, or affiliation and lived off the grid. That part of my history had been a lie. I did exist on paper. A rather long record was tied to these hands.

    My rap sheet was yet another aspect of my life buried in order to stay out of sight. No one could find me if I didn''t get caught or use credit cards. Now the attempt at subterfuge was botched beyond repair.

    ¡°You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to representation by a council member of the race you choose, should you be unable to afford counsel your governing body will be notified and may choose to provide counsel.¡±

    This idiot probably thought I was a wolf. My size, shape, attitude, all the little tells I had would rearrange into a lie. Muni¡¯s charm made sure people would chalk everything up to me being pack. That charm was charred to a crisp and removed.

    ¡°Everything you say and do can and will be used against you in a trial by non-racially biased peers. Your council may choose not to be present during questioning and no conversation between you and any member of the government shall be considered personal, private, or sacred.¡± He sounded eager and rushed through the last part.

    I kept my eyes closed and let the grogginess pass unchallenged. The second figure cleared his throat. He wore a plain white coat and inspected the machine¡¯s readouts, then looked at my arm. Two fingers pressed around the needle checking it. There was a bag hanging above, similar to the blood pouches I¡¯d given Kahina during her transition.

    ¡°I''m also required to advise you that you are currently under sedation for the safety of all staff members. This sedation is classified as a muscle relaxer and has been ruled to have no long term adverse effects, mentally, physically, or spiritually, on any species.¡±

    He annoyed me. The man talked on and my head swam from the onslaught of memories upon first waking. I opened my eyes and found the world still black, and counted backward from ten. It didn''t help me feel any better so I counted again. I was in the middle of my third lap when the doctor coughed and the law enforcement official sighed.

    ¡°Is he coherent?¡± The man¡¯s shoes squeaked as he turned. I couldn¡¯t really see any of them, only vaguely feel the parting sensations.

    ¡°He should be,¡± said the one with a lab coat.

    ¡°Hearing functional, understands English?¡±

    ¡°According to his file, yes, and yes,¡± the doctor said.

    ¡°Can you vouch as a witness that he has been advised of his rights and chose not to respond?¡± the person reading my rights said. I still didn¡¯t know exactly or who or what role he filled. He sounded like a grumpy desk officer.

    ¡°I heard you,¡± I finally chimed in, exhausted and annoyed at the same time. True anger would require less sedation.

    ¡°Good. Are you requesting council prior to hearing the charges laid against you?¡±

    The lighter set of footsteps padded out of the room.

    ¡°No,¡± I said.

    It''d do no good anyway. In all my travels I never once found a lawyer who might understand. Not to mention the entire legal system confused me. Daniel handled this shit and he was unlikely to be present.

    ¡°Good.¡± The man¡¯s voice paused. ¡°That makes this easy. I''ve got you for the murder of six humans, attempted murder of another seventeen, assault of three federal employees, attempted sabotage of military equipment worth more than your life, and an attempted escape from lawful custody.¡± The list came in a grumpy litany. I''d be willing to bet this man was somehow a distant relation to Barnie.

    Other memories surfaced in flashes. I''d been chasing a lead Daniel supplied me, looking for a strange creature living in the swamps. That brute had turned out to be Ted, a dim witted behemoth-sized man. Barnie, on the other hand, was pure human; shotgun touting, business, and almost broken upstairs. He and Ted came as a pair.

    Gods above, Ted could hit hard. I tried to bring a hand up to my face, remembering where the hunched titan had absently backhanded me some forty feet. The cuffs rattled and shook me out of another bout of history.

    ¡°Do you understand the charges against you?¡± the officer repeated himself while my mind wandered.

    ¡°Sure,¡± I said, trying to lean my head back. ¡°Everything¡¯s my fault.¡±

    He chewed something a few times that sounded squishy. After a few smacks he said, ¡°Legally, I''m required to ask if that''s a confession or antiquated sarcasm, in case you''re a vampire.¡±

    ¡°I was in the helicopter if that''s what you''re asking.¡± That was a more recent event. I''d leapt into the hanging vehicle, chasing the spirit creature. Honestly, I''d probably saved their lives, not endangered them.

    ¡°And the murders?¡±

    ¡°I killed the White Lady,¡± I admitted. Memories of her screams tore through my mind, making me wince.

    ¡°You admit to willfully ending lives of a species you do not belong to?¡±

    I chuckled weakly at the absurdity of his question. No one belonged to my species. My head bobbed anyway. He probably thought I was talking about a Caucasian woman and not some strange creature that leeched peoples¡¯ energy or stilled hearts by screaming.

    Technically, no one belonged to her species either.

    ¡°Good. Interspecies murders make my life a lot easier,¡± he said after a grunt.

    I didn''t admit the murder because he asked, but to see if I felt a shred of remorse over the actions I''d committed. It turned out there wasn''t any guilt over the deaths in defense of what was mine.

    Even with my mind sorting itself out, I knew remorse wasn''t something that plagued me. I''d been briefly worried about my lack of emotion, but the man I was at the core had never cared. Defending one''s belongings held no rules. Even humans would act like animals when their prized possessions were threatened. The fear of losing what we held dear could turn Saints into monsters.

    I''d questioned Evan, the elf who''d recognized me even in my disguise, asking if I was an Angel. He''d said that I was nothing so noble. In that he was right. I held a distinct advantage over Saints; I''d started out a monster.

    Losing Julianne? What I''d done to Kahina? The pain I''d inflicted on that literal bitch from the mercenary pack? I felt guilty about those things and more. There was a list of events in my life that I''d redo if the cost wasn''t so high. Five years. That¡¯s all I¡¯d earned.

    ¡°I get a call, right?¡± I asked, coming out of the deep thoughts.

    ¡°Legally. ¡®Course with your admission you''ll be shipped off right afterward. A full trial will still be issued to determine sentence length, but you''ve admitted enough for a go directly to jail card.¡±

    ¡°Hell.¡± I knew what that meant. There were three places in the world that housed interspecies offenders. Only one of them covered the Western Sector.

    His smile was tangible. ¡°That''s right, you¡¯ve booked yourself an express trip to Atlas Island.¡±

    ¡°How long could it be?¡±

    His head shook. ¡°To be determined at your hearing.¡± The man¡¯s shoulders bobbed to my faded tactile senses. ¡°I''m pushing for twenty to life myself.¡±

    ¡°I probably saved the lives of all those people.¡±

    ¡°Doesn''t matter. When a wolf murders some woman, color aside, it¡¯s a hate crime. Crimes by other races are considered dangerous¡±¡ªhe sounded grumpy and happy¡ª¡±to The Balance achieved by the Accord of Caesar.¡±

    My file probably said lone wolf with no pack from Daniel¡¯s handiwork. Thinking of the Western Sector agent caused other memories to flicker through.

    I chuckled then outright laughed as the latest chunk cruised through. It was Daniel''s words. I''d asked him why he bothered keeping me alive. The best method of keeping peace in the world would have been just to kill me in the same way normal people would disarm a nuke. His answer was still funny in a morbid sort of way.

    The law enforcement man paused his chewing. ¡°Laughing at anything in particular?¡±

    ¡°I should have gone to Atlas a long time ago,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yep.¡± His shoulders shrugged and the rustle of fabric lingered along my faint perceptions. ¡°I did wonder how you''d skated by.¡±

    Clearly he''d read the rest of my file. There should have been a line that said, ''Jay Fields, royally screwing his life up so the world can exist in peace.'' Maybe right after, ¡®Will punch for food.¡¯ They¡¯d never read the first wordy line without a hook.

    ¡°I''m only free for one reason, Officer.¡± My head felt numb and the words were slow.

    ¡°I ain''t got shit at home but a pizza to reheat. So, regale me.¡±

    ¡°I''m a monster. If even half of what I''ve done is on that sheet it''d be pretty obvious.¡±

    ¡°Yep. It''s an impressive resume for a hitter. But now you¡¯re repeating yourself. So, what''s the big secret? Why''d they let you fly free for this long?¡± He was chewing on something thick and heavy. Its scent filled the room as his saliva mixed with the edges of an unlit cigar.

    I could see it now. Daniel''s face as we hiked up a hill. We''d been at a park on the outskirts of town. Daniel was twenty, going away for college. Sector agents were required to earn a four year degree, even Hunter born. It was that day, there, on the hill, when I''d asked why Daniel was friends with me. His kind chased down all non-humans and ended their lives. It was in their blood as sure as the fire was in mine.

    The world had stopped. Chirping ceased, wind halted, and even the highway nearby seemed empty. Daniel¡¯s normally cheerful face, complete with surfer accent, fell away leaving an alien look. No emotion. Not even a ghost of exhaustion. He stared at me, serious, still, poised to do something, like the world centered upon his words as he uttered a vital truth of our relationship.

    I told the officer words I''d heard from Daniel, ¡°Sometimes it takes a monster to kill a monster.¡±

    Daniel''s words had continued. I didn''t say any more to the officer. My mind kept on happily recovering the lost moment again and again. ''I''ll do anything to keep humanity safe. Even if it means the betrayal of everything I hold dear. Even befriending the enemy,¡¯ he said. Daniel the Betrayer was the title my other thoughts had given him. Of me, of his own kind, of everyone¡ªfor the good of us all.

    The Western Sector motto. Everything for the peace.

    ¡°Right. Makes perfect sense. So, you''ll fit in at Atlas with the rest of the loonies,¡± the officer said. Without further questions he left the room, chewing furiously at his mouthpiece.

    I sat there, staring with unfocused eyes, wondering what to do next.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 3 - Atlas Island

    People signed papers, injected liquid into my veins, and shuffled me over to a pay phone. No one trusted me with a cell. It didn¡¯t matter; legally anything I said would be recorded.

    I only knew a few numbers by heart. Kahina¡¯s was one. Calling her was out because I¡¯d jerked the woman around too much for one lifetime. Maybe in sixty or so years I¡¯d look her up and we could try again. A flash of my father¡¯s memories suggested we¡¯d both live a long time. Being inhuman had perks.

    Evan didn¡¯t have a cell and would only depress me even more. Bottom Pit would answer, but calling them would lead to questions from law enforcement. Getting in touch directly was out. My files might link to Roy¡¯s family but I didn¡¯t want to put them under the law¡¯s gaze.

    Daniel Crumfield could have done something but was undercover and there was no telling who managed my information. Someone had probably been alerted. His fianc¨¦e, formerly known as Ann when under cover, might work. Eddy, who had also been undercover with the Order of Merlin might help. Who else did Daniel trust?

    Julianne had been in the know, but she died. Hell. If I¡¯d been me, wholly me, saving her would have been easy. I ground my teeth and tried not to get sucked back into the self-loathing. We were past that and in a new place shit storm. I was me at long last, and I¡¯d bide my time until these memory flashes settled, then take control.

    Julianne¡¯s brother, Thomas, could notify those involved. Trying to remember anyone else¡¯s number or name was difficult past the almost random bursts of memory passing through. I stood staring at a memory of a girl with a fantastic ass lap dancing for a solid minute before the phone in my hand fully registered.

    I dialed the bar. After four rings a harried sounding waitress answered. The background was loud with cheers. No telling what night it was, but there was probably a game on of some sort.

    ¡°JBG, how can I help?¡± Not a voice I recognized. She¡¯d also abbreviated the bar¡¯s name which might be a new practice. They¡¯d always just called it Julianne¡¯s before.

    ¡°Hey, Thomas there?¡±

    ¡°Thomas who? Who is this?¡±

    ¡°Jay, for Julianne¡¯s brother.¡±

    ¡°Jay? For Thomas. Uhhhh... all right, he should be around. Somewhere.¡± The person on the other end didn¡¯t even bother to muffle the line before yelling across the bar.

    ¡°Tom! Answer the fucking phone, you loser!¡± Voices broke out in laughter, shouts and jeers. Clearly there were more than a few people nearby. They chanted Tom¡¯s name over and over.

    ¡°What!¡± I could hear the man himself among the noise.

    ¡°Phone, moron!¡± There was a clank of noise. She¡¯d probably dropped the phone and went back to handling customers. Scratching noises nearly shocked me out of a drug induced stupor.

    ¡°¡¯Ello, man of the hour speaking?¡±

    ¡°Tom, it¡¯s Jay.¡±

    ¡°Holy Hell, princess, aren¡¯t you dead?¡± he said.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s fucking awesome, man. Want me to tell the ball and chain?¡± The wolf sounded drunk but excited. ¡°Scratch that, you should drop by and celebrate with us! Bring the old lady yourself. She didn¡¯t like us too much despite our build building get together.¡±

    ¡°What? No, listen.¡± Too many thoughts crossed my mind at once, distracting me.

    ¡°No, you listen!¡± his voice lingered drunkenly. ¡°I got the job!¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time,¡± I started to explain. These calls were often cut off, or so I¡¯d been told.

    ¡°I start Sector training next week! You gotta drop by. The guys are throwing me this party, strippers, strippers! I don¡¯t know where they found these girls but man. Both hands. Full¡ª¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re shipping me to Atlas.¡±

    Thomas laughed loudly into the phone. ¡°Got you too, huh? I thought the vampire thing covered all of it. They took Stacy away for a six month stretch on reckless driving!¡± Thomas was shouting in the background at the other guys. ¡°Jay¡¯s going to Atlas!¡±

    His crowd cheered, but they hopefully had no idea who or what it was about. Jay should be another name in a faceless crowd from Muni¡¯s charm. I rubbed the wrist where it¡¯d been.

    ¡°Tom, I need you to let my people know. It¡¯s important.¡±

    I¡¯d process what he said after this call. After this call, I might not be able to use a phone again. Atlas had rules, but as before, I¡¯d been told about the place and never been there.

    ¡°Hey, Jay, man, min or max.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You wayward or windward?¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Listen, you end up beach side, look Stacy up, she¡¯s serving out her time in minimum. I mean, unless some guy hits on her. Then she¡¯ll probably go max. That¡¯d be bad.¡± He booed drunkenly.

    ¡°Tom, can you tell my family!¡± Any of them would do. Roy would tell the others.

    ¡°Sure, man, sure! You have family?¡±

    ¡°Tom! These ladies didn¡¯t join us to be wallflowers! They¡¯re here for a party. You better get over here and¡ª¡± another voice I recognized yelled in the background. It sounded like Steven, a brown haired man who could pull in ladies with frightening ease. I prayed it was Steven, which felt like a contradiction. He¡¯d tell Roy and the others as long as Thomas babbled near him.

    ¡°Yeah. Okay! Okay! I¡¯ll tell your people. Wait, you got people?¡± Thomas replied while growing distant. The phone disconnected. Would this work? He¡¯d shouted my situation to the entire room. That was potentially good and bad.

    Hell. It was too late to worry about it. My next stop was Atlas Island. It occurred to me halfway through deportation that I hadn¡¯t asked once how Leo was doing. Had he been shipped off as well? Had his brothers escaped?

    That whole situation with Thomas becoming a Sector agent was weird. That sort of thing happened, but rarely. He was a full wolf, and his pack hadn¡¯t been doing too hot since Julianne passed on. Maybe getting him into Western Sector would help in more ways than one. Daniel might have engineered it just to get Thomas into a controllable position.

    Pack memory was one of the hardest to mess with according to Muni. The rest of us had to take her word. Thomas already knew more than he should, and by making him an agent he¡¯d have to break ties with his old pack. That felt almost too clever for anyone but Daniel.

    The chopper ride was boring. Two grown men kept unblinking gazes on me, and hands ready at their firearms. I was so sedated I threw up as we flew over the ocean. Being in a car had made me sick before, this was much worse. Especially when I understood why.

    I could fly. The thought made me grin even as I fought the latest wave of nausea. More memories rushed forward.

    My wings were expansive leathery extensions. I could almost feel the tingle of freedom from memories of nighttime flights. Never during the day, there were too many lights, too many video cameras, and phones with the ability to take pictures. It¡¯d be even worse now than it had been five years ago. Cell phones had come a long way.

    Once these drugs were out of my system I could shift and fly back home. It was more north than east. The cords that connected me to those things I¡¯d claimed grew easier to feel. Slipping into my other sight rapidly returned to automatic. The process would only increase in speed as my wits gathered. It might take a few days or weeks. Reconciling five years of memories against a lifetime couldn¡¯t be simple.

    Finally, having spent most of the ride dry heaving, we started to descend. Our destination was a massive block like fortress near a beach. Imposing gates and tall fences were electrified while their warning labels were worn from age.

    Atlas was a huge island. The prison sat on one side, where there was a vaguely beautiful beach, complete with huge barbed fences. That had to be windward, as the waves were blowing in from great swells all up and down the coastline. Watching impossibly clear water bob made me sicker. Fish, reefs, and a pod of whales; I saw them all while emptying the contents of my belly.

    Wayward was a giant forest that climbed around a short peak. Tons of nearly untouched land sprawled into the distance roughly sixty miles and ended in a high ridge. I could barely make out a tower on the far side. It reminded me of an insanely tall lighthouse driving into the sky, making an already impressive peak even more daunting.

    The stir of my other mind made my heart rate jump. It was groggy and sluggish, but very much interested. I wanted to climb up there and shout a challenge to all the pathetic creatures roaming this island.

    Mine. It will be mine.

    One of the guards shouted. Choppers blades made it hard to know what he said for sure. That didn¡¯t stop my two escorts from nudging me straight toward a roof access doorway. The entire time we shuffled I stared at the peak, wondering its purpose.

    Drugs made escape impossible to truly consider but I tried anyway. For example, these sector issued cuffs would only hurt a little when silver tore into my arms. I could heal. From there I could jump off. My thoughts were too mixed up though, what I really needed was a place to hide while recovering my memories.

    One guard opened the door. The other shoved me through. Our path didn¡¯t lead to stairs, it went to an elevator. Guns nudged my back to keep us moving.

    I counted floors as we descended in the elevator.  Red numbers went from twelve to six. Other numbers were on the control panel, basements markings.

    Elevator doors opened with an annoying chime. My two escorts nudged me out in silence. I obeyed because their guns were large and dangerous. Daniel would have known the models by heart, and probably be able to disassemble them on the fly while punching a guard in the face.

    Another memory flashed, Daniel had been sparring with Roy and his family. There was something dangerous about it though. Hungry, like he wanted to murder Roy. The Security Chief barely registered it, eager for combat and the thrill of a challenge. I¡¯d been no better. All of us driven by our nature to play with death like fools.

    ¡°Transfer of prisoner?¡± A voice almost exactly like Keeper, Kahina¡¯s vampire sponsor, greeted us, his tone absent and a barely tangible thing. He must be an older vampire, at least three or four hundred years of age. Time did funny things to their heads.

    I looked around this new room. A series of double gated bars were between our end of the hallway and the other. Not an ounce of natural light peeked through.

    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± an escort answered.

    ¡°Excellent. We received his file and are ready to welcome him,¡± the older vampire said.

    He was a reedy fellow. No glasses or any accessories, extremely short hair and a carefully trimmed goatee. The hairs were almost white and his skin paler than normal. I¡¯d seen albino humans once, but this felt closer to an albino vampire. I filed the rapid fire profile away.

    ¡°Sedation?¡± albino asked the guards.

    ¡°It¡¯ll hold until end of orientation. After that...¡± I could almost feel one of the guards shrug behind me.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s long enough to explain the rules. After that problems tend to resolve themselves.¡± He had a humorous smile on his face. Beneath the joke was a hint of a nasty temperament.

    No one laughed at the thin fellow¡¯s humor. Instead I slowly swung my head around, trying to gain some clarity and shake off the foggy feeling. If they thought the sedation would last a little bit longer maybe I could speed things up. My healing ability was near that of wolves. Claiming ownership of a place would make it faster. Giving me a cot, or a cell, anything, further accelerated the process.

    ¡°This way, Mr. Fields.¡± The man had a clipboard in one hand, checking off items as he went.

    I slowly stepped after him. My guards didn¡¯t join us. They stayed on the other side of the double doors.

    ¡°Welcome to Atlas Island,¡± he spoke, but it wasn¡¯t to me, not exactly. ¡°Through here.¡±

    He had a keycard. It passed in front of locks and they clicked open with a warning beep. Each gate sealed shut behind us.

    ¡°Our first stop will be the primary intake. We have two new members waiting for orientation which makes your timing fortuitous. It¡¯s easier to do this in a group. Nothing like starting off with friends.¡± He turned and flashed that same nasty smile, checking off another box on his clipboard.

    I didn¡¯t say anything, but walked through to where he was waving.

    ¡°Over there, Mr. Fields.¡± The man pointed to an x on the ground. There were other people as well. Only two of the markings had people standing on top of them. They were trussed with manacles that connected arms and legs to heavy weights.

    My partners were Leo and a moron I¡¯d never seen before. I couldn¡¯t gauge how Leo was doing while focusing on moving forward. Both eyelids were heavy and arms barely reacted. My brief glance revealed a blank expression with no hint of awareness about me.

    Our third member seemed disturbed by the whole process. He didn¡¯t have a standard wolf¡¯s build or reediness associated with a vampire. Neither ear had a point on the tip. He was human.

    Atlas didn¡¯t care. They were Western Sector owned, run, and sanctioned. This place took all offenders of interracial events. The other governments didn¡¯t have a choice, and there was too much demand for a place like this.

    ¡°Welcome to Atlas Island. In the next ten minutes you¡¯ll be given a number, new clothes, and a fresh injection of sedatives. This will give you time to adapt to your new companions. It¡¯s been my experience those imprisoned here as a result of violent crimes can be unstable without time to adapt. Later you will be given a bath and job to perform as part of your potential rehabilitation.¡± The clipboard carrying orientation specialist wasn¡¯t even looking at us. He flipped through notes. It was the same action I¡¯d seen Daniel do hundreds of times.

    There were two types of Western Sector employees. Those who found all their answers in the paperwork, and those who found all their answers in the field. Rarely did the twain meet except in cases like Daniel, and maybe Shaggy¡ªAnn.

    ¡°Each of you is here for different offenses.¡± He flipped through the papers again. ¡°Scratch that, two of you share an offense. Congratulations. You must already be friends. Social bonds are healthy to rehabilitation efforts.¡± His vacant voice woke up and sounded almost excited. The orientation man smiled briefly, stretching his faint goatee.

    Leo¡¯s eyes slowly slid up toward our speaker. No one said anything.

    ¡°Regardless of the duration of your stay, all rules at Atlas are the same. We do this because of our sincere belief in rehabilitation.¡±

    He loved that word. I decided to hate it. The word would join ¡°fantastic¡± in a special land reserved for detestable items. There, it would join kimchee and cat hair.

    ¡°I will address the hope of escape first. Here is a fact; should you choose to escape Western Sector will use their trackers, then pursue with shoot to kill orders. There are no outstanding escapees at this time.¡± Our tour guide to all things Atlas paused and let that sink in for a moment.

    Leo didn¡¯t move. The third prisoner barely blinked. I didn¡¯t know how to react either and kept my head down.

    ¡°Very well. Onward then. Here at Atlas we operate by a three strike system.¡± Now he was getting in our personal space while making eye contact. He leaned over slightly and peered upward into my eyes. I briefly considered tearing his head off. The thought made me smile which earned a return smile from the tour guide but the man turned and marched on.

    He stood in front of Leo.

    ¡°Killing a fellow inmate is considered a strike.¡±

    Roy¡¯s youngest shuddered. He couldn¡¯t even focus directly on the pale haired man¡¯s face. If Leo and his father were anything alike he would have been chomping at the bit to fight, drugs or not.

    ¡°Failure to meet basic performance on your job is a strike,¡± he said while walking to the third man. ¡°And, as always, failure to follow orders from a Caretaker or Warden is a strike. Isn¡¯t that right, Mr. Simms? Back for a fourth visit? Why don¡¯t you tell our new friends what happens on a third strike?¡±

    The man down at the end looked very unhappy. I could see him swallow, then shuffle his feet back a step.

    ¡°Well, Mr. Simms?¡±

    ¡°You go to the other side of the island,¡± he answered.

    ¡°And is that bad?¡±

    He gulped again and nodded sharply.

    ¡°Use your words, please. We endeavor not to be barbarians here. Being uncultured is a common ailment of our guests.¡±

    Mr. Simms¡¯s shuffling feet begged to differ. Hell. I¡¯d been here for thirty minutes and I already knew what was going to happen next. I¡¯d done the same thing to other people, many times. Fighters in the ring who begged, people who owed debts but couldn¡¯t pay, they occasionally got the same treatment.

    ¡°Yes. The other side is bad,¡± Mr. Simms answered while looking down and closing his eyes.

    ¡°In your last three visits you¡¯ve successfully avoided being sent to the other side of the island. Congratulations. You¡¯re clearly half a cultured human. Do you think you can avoid being cast over a fourth time?¡±

    I cleared my throat. This was building to the next step and boring. Humiliation as a demonstration of power only entertained the people in charge. ¡°Get it over with.¡± My voice was sluggish.

    ¡°Oh?¡±

    I could hear Mr. Simms whimper in relief as the pale haired man and his annoying goatee slid toward me. My eyes tracked polished shoes, tailored pants, and a stack of papers.

    ¡°He¡¯s screwed no matter how he answers. We get it. The other side is bad.¡± I bobbed a little while, trying to right my head and stare down at the man. I could feel myself struggling to shift but there was nothing to fuel it. If I¡¯d had wings they¡¯d be spread wide, making myself loom over the other figure. If I had fire this man would be half a cinder already.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure every moment over there is a fight for survival and people die.¡± There was probably still some barf on my face from the ride over. I ignored it.

    ¡°Why yes, Mr. Fields I do believe you understand my point,¡± clipboard man said.

    ¡°There¡¯s more, right?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Of course. What do you believe comes next, Mr. Fields?¡± The man had a half grin with puckered cheeks. He was enjoying himself. I wondered how many times in the past my face had the same smug expression. A dozen mushed memories compiled under a layer of drugs.

    I pushed on. ¡°Now you find someone. Give them a task. They refuse and get a strike, or obey and you¡¯ve established dominance.¡±

    I was annoyed with this entire place. Could it burn down? How much heat would it take? The walls felt dull and heavy. Trying to light this place on fire would be futile.  There had to be something wrong with me if I could talk to a person and analyze how flammable our surroundings were, while drugs coursed through my system.

    ¡°I¡¯ll bet you use the same line each time. What is it? Oh, you seem like the type who gets off on people licking your books. Try it.¡± I glared at the reedy man. ¡°Tell me to lick your boots.¡±

    I had to give the man points. He didn¡¯t seem thrown off but wasn¡¯t distant either. No, he was very much here, now, with us. His mannerisms were so much like Keeper¡¯s that it was creepy. Was he an elder vampire? It felt like a possibility. The fluid grace as he slid around. The desire to read paper instead of digital tablets spoke of an old-fashioned comfort.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°Excellent idea, Mr. Fields, since you so kindly offered,¡± he said and grinned, displaying two pointed teeth. ¡°Lick. My. Boots.¡±

    Leo laughed, it sounded more like an addled man wheezing. Memories flashed by of the young man. When I¡¯d first seen Leo he was ten or eleven and sent home from being in fights. His rage mirrored my own in so many ways.

    ¡°No,¡± I said.

    My response didn¡¯t surprise either one of us. The following backhand did. Its strength was such I went skidding across the room into a wall, where I thumped.

    I sat quickly and readied for a follow up strike that never came. My head swam and growls shook the ground slightly. The air in my immediate area grew heated. No additional attack came. In fact, the man giving us our orientation still had his clipboard tucked comfortably under one arm.

    ¡°Strike one, Mr. Fields. Only two remaining. Now, back to your mark.¡±

    The blast to my face hurt. Stiffness set in and moving my jaw made me wince. It served me right for being aggressive while handicapped. I¡¯d settle this once my head wasn¡¯t full of cotton.

    I staggered back to my mark, dragging clanking metal chains the entire way. How much had he just sent across the room? Three hundred pounds of metal and muscle?

    He continued his speech. ¡°Here at Atlas Island, problems solve themselves. They always do, given motivation and room.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked. I kept trying to lift my arm up to feel the side of my face. Repeated failures were marked by the repetitive ring of metal.

    Leo still attempted laughter. Wheezing in broken breaths.

    ¡°I¡¯m one of three Wardens. You may call me Warden Bennett.¡± He checked off a mark further down the page then moved his pencil back up the list. ¡°The Caretakers and I keep this place as orderly as one can expect.¡±

    Leo¡¯s drug addled gaze was focused on one of the Warden¡¯s hands. I followed the line of sight over and tried not to smirk. The hand he¡¯d hit me with was showing some signs of swelling. He kept it covered for the most part by the clipboard. Leo noticed, and now, so had I.

    ¡°Nice title.¡±

    ¡°It has its perks,¡± he admitted with a smile. None of us spoke and the Warden looked toward another guard at the door. ¡°First, as promised, new clothes. Keep in mind we honor all deals around here, and when I speak I mean precisely what I say.¡±

    A man walked stiffly carrying three plastic wrapped bundles of cloth. This one didn¡¯t make the same kind of eye contact. His suit was blue and zipped up with no tags, buttons, or anything loose to grab onto.

    The items were yanked out of their plastic and loaded into our arms. These pieces of fabric were flimsy. We were expected to hold them with our limited range of movement. Warden Bennett checked off another box and hummed at his clipboard.

    ¡°Ah yes, the carrot side of our welcome speech.¡± Warden Bennett started to lose focus on being present. Apparently this part didn¡¯t interest him like confrontation and smacking prisoners. ¡°Atlas is a place for those who have disregarded society¡¯s rules. Prove yourself capable of following the basic expectations and there are rewards. In laymen terms you¡¯ll be allowed visitation rights, yard access, and possible television privileges. Therapy will be provided for those seeking reform and demonstrating ability to adhere to the stipulated rules.¡±

    ¡°Phone calls?¡± Leo managed to get his head together enough to say something.

    Our third party member, Mr. Simms, shook his head sadly. His eyes remained downcast, focused on the floor.

    ¡°Calls are limited to those who demonstrate a willingness to return to an orderly society. I find few people behave to the expected caliber.¡± Warden Bennett checked through his papers again.

    ¡°Mr. Simms here performed quite well last time.¡± He smiled and let the papers slip back into place. ¡°I doubt you¡¯ll be so lucky, Mr. Fields. Men like you tend to get three strikes very quickly.¡±

    ¡°Suits me,¡± I said. At least they wouldn¡¯t sedate me on the other side.

    I¡¯d have to play it cool and wait until the drugs cleared my system. There were a ton of messed up memories to sort. Then there was figuring out if returning home would get me in hotter water. Being in jail might be a good thing. The Order of Merlin couldn¡¯t get a hold of me here. That¡¯d buy everyone some more time.

    ¡°How long am I here for?¡± I asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s a problem for another day, Mr. Fields. Today¡¯s remaining tasks, as we¡¯ve discussed, are getting you assigned a number, then to your cells. Ah. And fresh medical assistance to ensure a smooth transition.¡±

    Another guard came up with a strange looking device. The needle was obvious, but the small tube situated on the back made no sense.

    ¡°Your numbers come in two forms. One is an injection chip just under your skin. That was my brother¡¯s idea. I¡¯m more old-fashioned and prefer a simple name tag.¡± Warden Bennett walked to the third man and scooped something off a tray being held by another guard. ¡°See here, Mr. Simms. We still had your old number available. Would you like it, for nostalgia?¡±

    Mr. Simms whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut. The answer was clearly no, but Warden Bennett didn¡¯t seem to care.

    ¡°Welcome back, guest seven two three five one. I hope your stay is enjoyable.¡± Mr. Bennett used a joking tone to his voice, like he was saying something highly amusing, but no one else laughed.

    The image of beating Warden Bennett with the tray kept me amused while they stuck the needle in my arm. Imagining leaping into the sky with his body in one hand helped me survive the name tag being shoved in my hands. Dreaming of dropping him into the deepest ocean trench close by kept me sane as we walked down the hall to our cell.

    Each destructive thought that passed through my muddled brain assisted me in drowning the cries of other inmates shouting at us. Fresh ¡°medical assistance¡± played a part. Still, entire floors of people jeered. Wolves howled while humans rattled their bars. Other figures were sleeping in a clump of rooms we passed while descending. Verbal insults irked me but were minor.

    Three men with guns surrounded us as we walked. One took point with Warden Bennett. The other two were behind with hands on their weapons. This place was Western Sector run, so they probably had the training needed to end our lives quickly. The thought made me shudder. None of my abilities made me bullet proof in this human form. The wound on my leg from Daniel reminded me just how bad things could get.

    Hell. Suddenly a new thought flashed through my head. If this place was Sector run, there might be other Hunters here. I knew that bit of information, too. Hunters were normal people. Hunter Born like Daniel came into the world with a drive to fight monsters. They were given power, instinct, and ability that made them almost inhuman.

    ¡°Befriending the enemy.¡± Daniel¡¯s voice rang through. Muni¡¯s words chased after it. ¡°When the trinket wears off.¡± A memory from Muni played. Past issues were shoved back into their proper spots.

    Being shot by Daniel had hurt more than attacks from wolves and vampires. Wounds from a Hunter hurt worse than a normal human. I¡¯d been hit by normal humans, wolves, and vampires, and shrugged it off. A through and through wound from Daniel had hit harder than anything I¡¯d experienced in a long time.

    Warden Bennett showed us into a room just like the dozens we had passed walking down here. No matter the floor or race, each cot was the same. There were four beds on two bunks. A pile of thin blankets on each bunk. A crappy metal panel served as a mirror. No window. One light covered the entire cell in a faint yellow. Other cells had curtains, made from the sheets and wedged in the top of their cell doors. No one cared.

    ¡°Here we are.¡± Warden Bennett stopped in front of a new cell and gestured us in with his clipboard. ¡°The three of you will share accommodations. A reminder of the rules is posted on the wall inside. You¡¯re expected to follow them as part of your rehabilitation. Decide bunk orders on your own.

    ¡°Your schedules are listed on the wall along with a single clock. Destruction of the clock doesn¡¯t change your schedule. Strict adherence is expected. Failure to do so will result in a strike.¡± He checked the clipboard once again. We were crowded into the cell by three armed guards who stood next to the Warden. ¡°In case I¡¯ve not made it overwhelmingly clear, surviving Atlas is simple. Follow the rules. Those who are unable to do so will not last.¡±

    ¡°Unless someone else breaks them for you,¡± Mr. Simms said. I turned briefly to see him behind us, forlorn with eyes cast to the floor.

    ¡°That is also a possibility. Other guests may choose to break the rules. Consider it an exercise in interpersonal relations. Regardless of the instigator, violations of law will result in consequences.¡± Warden Bennett stared at the three of us as the door slid shut.

    One guard gestured for us to turn our backs to the bars. Mr. Simms went first, making it clear that he¡¯d been through this too many times. The guard undid his cuffs and they clanked free. Leo went next. I moved slower, still feeling sluggish.

    Soon after, our guards left. People grumbled nearby. Some chatted and insulted each other with derogatory names. But since my arrival on this floor the place was never quiet.

    Leo stared at Simms. Simms stared at the ground while breathing deeply. He wore a practically visible sheen of terror only being fought off by a stubborn refusal to recognize the world around him.

    There we stood, the three of us quiet in a sea of noise. People shouted for attention. Every time someone yelled Simms jumped. I didn¡¯t know how to treat the man. Simms was pure human; which meant he was either a dyed-in-the-wool killer, a radical protestor or a sucker in the wrong place with the wrong people¡ªfour times in a row.

    How stupid did a person have to be to get sent back to Atlas repeatedly? Even Roy hadn¡¯t dared violate the law enough to deserve this kind of punishment. He¡¯d be pissed once word of Leo¡¯s imprisonment reached Bottom Pit. Especially since it was because of me and a failed rescue attempt. Leo had dared violate Western Sector laws. However, based on my understanding, Leo he hadn¡¯t hurt anyone on the way out. He might be able to leave in a few months.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take the left side,¡± I said. Dealing with either of them bothered me. People and me needed a comfortable distance of about seven hundred miles.

    Leo shook his head and eyed the right two cots. He said, ¡°Bottom for me. Unless he wants to argue.¡±

    ¡°God, no. No. Do whatever you want. I¡¯ve been here often enough to know how high on the pecking order I¡¯m not.¡± Mr. Simms waved.

    It was easy to figure out why a man like Leo might want the bottom bunk. Being stabbed in the back was a tiny bit harder. Leo didn¡¯t claim the spot right away, he went over to the schedule and ran a finger along the text. I saw him squint at the letters, tilt his head, and mouth words.

    I sat on the left bottom cot, knees on the edge of the bed, head against the wall, and tried to clear my mind. Simms and Leo could solve their own problems. I¡¯d look at the schedule after they settled¡ªthough it was probably easy to understand. Doors would open, groups of us were allowed into an activity of some sort, making car plates, yard time, cleaning part of the building, whatever it was we were given. Then food and back to work, followed by more food. Finally we¡¯d be shoved back into the cell. Good boys and girls might get to watch television sometime during their day.

    ¡°You go by Mr. Simms?¡± Leo asked. He wiped the drool oozing from his face with a sleeve. His posture slowly righted itself.

    ¡°Nathan. Or Simms. It doesn¡¯t matter. You?¡± Nathan Simms lost focus and glanced around nervously.

    ¡°Leo Forge.¡±

    ¡°His name?¡±

    Leo at least looked at me before answering right away. Probably trying to see what name I wanted to go by. Now that the memory trinket from Muni was shattered there was little point in mixing things up.

    ¡°Jay¡¯s fine.¡±

    ¡°Okay. They¡¯ll probably keep us in the same bunk for a while. Normally you¡¯re paired with someone who¡¯s been around longer, but this is my fourth¡­¡± Nathan drifted, lost focus for a moment then regained his voice. ¡°Fourth time. I¡¯ll give you a tour.¡±

    ¡°How¡¯s the food?¡± Leo asked.

    ¡°Terrible,¡± Nathan said.

    ¡°Work?¡± the young man asked.

    ¡°Miserable.¡±

    Nothing good would come my way. I already had a strike. What would I do for two more? Smarter men would lay low but that tower was stuck in my mind. Not because it was some mysterious piece of my past. Not because it held a special meaning. It was a landmark, unique on the island, and overlooked everything.

    I wanted it.

    Leo continued to pry more information. ¡°Is there anything good about this place?¡±

    ¡°Most people leave each other alone. No one wants a strike on their record. Unless you do something to piss someone off.¡±

    ¡°What about wolves?¡± Leo sniffed in disgust. ¡°Or bloodsuckers?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re in groups. There¡¯s always a pack or two but they form based on what part of the Sectors they¡¯re from. Wolves. Wolves generally fight each other, and leave humans alone.¡± Nathan Simms was trying not to glance in my direction. I¡¯d glanced at him during our escort. Those sheepish eyes and quick expressions led me to a conclusion, that my mere presence made the man nervous.

    Maybe it was the low growling as I contemplated the best course of action. Measuring the value of two more strikes versus this supposed difficulty of going to the wayward side.

    Then those damn bits of memory hit. One more bounced through. An image of the room in Bottom Pit came to life as I stood in the office where I¡¯d seen Boss Wylde. From there I watched fighters battle each other for blood and money.

    A predatory smile made my jaws ache. The fight below had been both satisfying and a disappointment. In the memory I felt hands slide over my shoulders toward pectorals, not dark like Kahina¡¯s, no, these were pale white hands. The flashback abruptly ended while I tried to follow it.

    ¡°When¡¯s food?¡± I demanded.

    ¡°Dinner¡¯s at seven for our block.¡± Nathan ran his finger over the schedule. I didn¡¯t know when they¡¯d switched spots. ¡°Oh no,¡± he said.

    ¡°What?¡± Leo had recovered his physical acuity quicker than me. His face was still strung out, hair and the tiny series of knots were matted. He hadn¡¯t even changed into the new clothes yet.

    ¡°Block seven. I hate block seven,¡± Nathan said.

    ¡°Old friends?¡± I asked with a halfhearted smile.

    ¡°No. Seven is in the middle, we can get yard time during the day or night. That means we¡¯re in the group that tries to rile vampires and wolves. It can be bad.¡± His words were subdued.

    ¡°It looks like we¡¯ll have a shower first. As a group activity.¡± Leo sounded disgusted. ¡°Like high school wasn¡¯t bad enough.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t figure out why they¡¯d let us wear our clothes at all. Maybe they simply wanted us to have something familiar to return to before taking everything else away.

    No one said much of anything. I worked to remember more details of the brief memory but couldn¡¯t figure out who those fingers had belonged to. It was not the touch of a casual acquaintance. It was intimate and leading. It smelled like burnt cinnamon coupled with rose painted fingernails, and scalding heat.

    In addition, why had I been standing in Boss Wylde¡¯s office like I owned it? I¡¯d felt a sense of possession and ownership. Her office belonged to me somehow. Those memories didn¡¯t rush back. It¡¯d take me time to put it together.

    An hour passed in a blur. Even though the drugs were wearing off it didn¡¯t help my mind at all. Either it would take more time for everything to settle or pieces were missing. Muni told me that suppressing my memories was far too dangerous. Stealing them outright would have been worse.

    A guard rattled the bars. Contemplation of their frailty disturbed the woolgathering. Those slips of metal would be effective against a human, but negligible to anyone with enough strength.

    ¡°Shower time. Bring all clothes with you. Old ones will be turned in, to be returned upon release.¡± The guard¡¯s voice didn¡¯t waver, but his expression was apprehensive. Ready. One hand rested on his belt. ¡°I¡¯ll be escorting you to your assignments the first day. After that you¡¯re on your own so pay attention.¡±

    A fellow prisoner made a kissy face through the bars as we walked by.

    ¡°Hey, sweetheart.¡± The guard ignored him. Simms did his best to be inconspicuous.

    I gave him the best view of my teeth possible. The other man blanched. Someone across the way laughed. Leo said nothing, walking in a cadence too familiar to me. That shuffle, the measured pacing, the way his feet never really lifted off the ground. Abrupt flashes of memory showed the bouncers at Bottom Pit using that same footstep pattern when getting ready to toss an offender out.

    Roy¡¯s son was debating a fight right here and now. I coughed in a barely subtle manner. Leo looked back. I shook my head. His pattern changed almost immediately to a slower more relaxed pace.

    We were ushered into a relatively isolated stall. We were given no privacy. Mr. Simms sighed and stripped, folded his clothes and put them in a cubby hole next to where the guard had stationed himself. Leo and I followed suit.

    The warm water helped wake me then chased away the last bit of shakes and cleaned the remaining barf still riding my face. Even Leo looked a bit better. The orange jumpsuit that¡¯d given us served to drown the tint of his skin.

    I hadn¡¯t noticed it before but Leo¡¯s old clothes were rather clever. A series of lighter tones made the hint of green almost look like a dark tan. Jumpsuit orange and black strips helped distract from his skin color. Maybe I only saw it because I expected it. His eyes were less obvious as well, having that same light-yellow hue.

    Maybe he still wore a trinket from Muni that confused other people. No one asked why the new inmate looked slightly green with yellow eyes. Neither the guard nor Simms commented on the tattoos. They were minimal compared to the ones Roy and Tal had. Leo was younger with fewer achievements.

    Hunters, like that strange lady in the alley with her twins, could see past these charms. Memories flickered by of Daniel words. ¡°Gifts didn¡¯t restrict the Hunter for long.¡±

    Simms looked like your typical white guy with brown hair everywhere. He had few muscles and no real signs of major physical activity anywhere on his frame. Even his hands were without calluses. The man could be a paper pusher or serial killer.

    The water spraying made it hard to talk so I waited until we were putting on our new clothes.

    ¡°How long, Leo?¡± I asked. ¡°How long did they give you?¡±

    ¡°Six months. And a fine.¡±

    ¡°Does Roy know?¡±

    ¡°My father was at the hearing. He asked for a heavier punishment.¡± Leo sounded upset. ¡°He said I needed discipline and a healthy respect for the Law.¡±

    ¡°Tal? Did he get a funeral?¡± I asked.

    ¡°We held a wake. They fought over how to handle his remains. Father decided on cremation, he said it was the closest grandpa could get to a blaze of glory.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± Being burned to ashes would fit Tal.

    I tried to remember if I¡¯d ever seen a ceremony for the Tribe, but it¡¯d never been shared or was lost in my muddled mind. I could tell you how elven girls celebrated losing their virginity but not how Roy, a man who was essentially family, mourned for the dead.

    In fact most of what I knew was tied to their nature, and the fighting styles. Beyond that there was little ritual carried down the generations. Considering I¡¯d only ever found the ten of them, it was no surprise. Ten people, scattered across the country, could not uphold a tradition on their own.

    Leo asked, ¡°You couldn¡¯t save him?¡±

    ¡°Maybe.¡± I wasn¡¯t whole then, and even now it occurred to me how rough trying to heal someone could be. It drained me, drained the subject, and created a bond because of the blood. That bond was a dangerous twisting thing and could change the very nature of someone.

    ¡°He asked me to respect his wishes,¡± I said absentmindedly.

    Hell. Kahina had had a few doses of my blood. Daniel¡¯s fianc¨¦e had some as well. There was no telling exactly how it was impacting their nature. A vampire and a Hunter? Daniel¡¯s fianc¨¦e might escape any side effects.

    ¡°Seems a strange time to respect the Tribes¡¯ wishes,¡± Leo commented to the wall.

    Processing his statement took a bit. Was he talking about being failed during the Trial? Or had I done something else? There had been a swath of people upset over my plans to go into hiding.

    I mulled it over while we continued on to our next location. We moved from the showers, into our distracting faded-orange suits, and down to a smaller mess hall. Leo nibbled at his meal. Simms stared down in depression.

    I ate a bite and almost retched.

    ¡°Canned meat.¡± Displeasure tainted my words. This was barely real food and another reason to escape. I wanted burned cow.

    ¡°Yeah. It lasts longer.¡± Nathan briefly chuckled. ¡°The shelf life is higher than those who go to the other side of the island.¡± He idly ran his utensil over the plate.

    ¡°How long are you in for?¡± Leo asked me.

    ¡°Haven¡¯t been told. Still waiting for a hearing.¡±

    Nathan whistled and seemed to pull out of his self-pity. His eyes traveled carefully over my hands, shoulders, taking in my build and probably doing the same mental math I¡¯d been running through my head. There had to be a joke like this. Three men sat at a prison table, a linebacker, an office clerk, and a murderer.

    ¡°You?¡± I turned the conversation to Nathan.

    ¡°Four months. My lawyer tried to get me somewhere else, but failed. The judge reasoned I¡¯d survived here before, so no other place was suitable.¡±

    ¡°What for?¡± I asked.

    ¡°My sister¡¯s husband is a burnout. He keeps draining her.¡± Nathan managed to get through the admission without a stutter. I would have stuttered, draining anyone repeatedly was nasty. Vampires didn¡¯t have to feed on blood, but they could become addicted easily.

    ¡°You stood up for a woman?¡± Leo asked. The runt straightened with a bit of respect in his posture and voice.

    If Leo was anything like the rest of his family, the welfare of a woman was paramount. Roy and the rest of his kind had a healthy respect for females. It bordered somewhere between worship and willing to murder if they ever saw actual abuse.

    ¡°I tried. Again. And again.¡±

    ¡°Surprised he didn¡¯t thrash you,¡± Leo said.

    ¡°I used a cross. His Tribunal lawyer called it a hate crime. But what else could I do? It was my sister, and I don¡¯t know anyone who could take a vampire in a fight. I certainly can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like an asshole,¡± I muttered.

    ¡°Vampires.¡± Nathan Simms just smiled weakly and shrugged. ¡°They get like that.¡±

    ¡°Burnout? Sure he won¡¯t survive?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Fairly sure. He has no backing. Our only hope is that he¡¯ll be dead soon. But¡­¡± His stress was evident. There was a chance the partial vampire might kill Nathan¡¯s sister before it mattered. Western Sector and the Vampire Council wouldn¡¯t step in until it was murder.

    ¡°And you¡¯re in here,¡± I said while poking at the slop.

    ¡°Uh huh. Now you know my sob story.¡± Nathan took a heavy breath and shuddered then attempted a friendly smile. ¡°What about you, Mr. Fields?¡± Hell. Nathan was prying a bit too hard for someone who¡¯d been around for only a few hours. I felt okay asking about other people, but not sharing my own issues.

    ¡°Mh?¡± I dug in the food hoping for something edible to be revealed.

    ¡°What are you in for?¡± Nathan pressed.

    ¡°Depends on how long they were paying attention,¡± I quipped.

    ¡°Oh.¡±

    Leo shook his head with a frown. I¡¯d have to talk to Roy about his kid¡¯s grumpy demeanor. Not that I¡¯d expect happiness from anyone in here.

    ¡°He isn¡¯t in here for selling cookies,¡± Leo said around a mouthful of bread.

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t think so. I figured it was something serious. To stand up to Mr. Bennett like that.¡±

    ¡°Do you really want to know?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Probably not,¡± Nathan admitted.

    I told him anyway.

    ¡°Acquiring objects that weren¡¯t mine. Relocating other people¡¯s funds. Assisting the unfortunate with falling onto my fist over and over. Accidentally helping people to stop breathing.¡± I felt like Julianne for a moment. Her clever way of saying things boiled down to simple words. Theft. Racketeering. Violent beatings. Murder.

    The chain of admissions set me back. I ransacked my recovered memories, and tried to add up the numbers. I¡¯d induced broken limbs, throttled people until they passed out, beaten wolves until they were hanging on by a thread.

    I hadn¡¯t really been a killer until Kahina. Keeping her alive had ended more lives than the rest of my existence put together. Should that thought make me happy?

    ¡°You all right, Mr. Fields?¡± Nathan asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± I wasn¡¯t.

    Leo made a disgruntled noise and kept eating.

    ¡°You, Mr. Forge?¡± Nathan asked.

    ¡°Wrong place, wrong time.¡±

    ¡°Warden Bennett said you were in for the same crime. Did you¡±¡ªhe paused and inhaled deeply¡ª¡°help people stop breathing too?¡±

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Leo¡¯s never killed anyone.¡± I defended the younger man. Leo was barely twenty, though from his build and the tattoos he might seem close to thirty.

    Leo shifted slightly, looking down and away, as if trying to avoid this entire conversation. Either he was embarrassed or upset I¡¯d been the one to defend him. I shuffled through my memories and vaguely remembered adults of his race were expected to mount their own defense, physical or otherwise. Only children, runts as they were called, were considered weak and protected by the rest of the Tribe.

    By vocalizing this, I¡¯d reminded Leo of his rank back home. And as their Tribe¡¯s Great Beast, I stood above Roy in the hierarchy. I tried not to roll my eyes. No wonder the man and his entire family had bent over backward to help me. Not to mention the other people from Bottom Pit. The waitresses, Steven, even Muni¡¯s nephew.

    A thought struck me and stayed for a moment. Hell. I had family. Not just a vague semblance of one. They were real people working together to make their lot in life better. We each had our quirks due to racial drives but still, we made it work or gave each other space.

    Rachel was a short woman who had always been cooking. Between her and Tal I¡¯d gained people to look up to. Though Tal and I went through a strange reversal over the years, due to what I did for them.

    Each new member of Roy¡¯s Tribe had been a headache. Proud, headstrong, but Tal and Roy had been an amazing centerpiece. Roy demanded his people to act proper, to overcome their speech issues. That classical veneer on his character was a result of Roy¡¯s attempt at overcoming the natural drives his kind had. Self-discipline was everything.

    And I had descended into drunken depravity before returning to Bottom Pit¡¯s doorstep. They stayed with me as I recovered. Followed me to a strange town and established false identities. I let the memories slip away. Now was not the time to dwell on stupid choices. Doing so would keep me in prison for the rest of my life.

    ¡°How does this work?¡± I asked Nathan.

    ¡°This?¡± He looked around with a half shrug.

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    ¡°Keep your head low. Everyone else will do the same. Piss off the wrong group and they¡¯ll force you to the other side.¡±

    ¡°Does that include the Wardens?¡± I continued.

    There was a pause in our conversation. Leo¡¯s eyes flicked left to right, appraising the small room and other prisoners. He seemed to be checking for unwanted eye contact by watching feet, hands, and body language. At least he had the luxury of really watching people. I couldn¡¯t even look at my bread roll without some half-buried memory resurfacing.

    ¡°Any group,¡± Nathan finally said.

    ¡°So if we avoid them, they avoid us?¡±

    He nodded. ¡°Mostly.¡±

    ¡°You got enemies?¡± I asked. With three prior trips Nathan probably had all sorts of old buddies.

    ¡°No¡±¡ªhe hesitated and shifted his gaze about the room¡ª¡°friends, here and there.¡±

    I glared and shoved the last of the slop into my mouth. Rachel would be disappointed in their cooking. Maybe they¡¯d let me do something with this meat. If I could get in the kitchen at least part of the meals would come out decent.

    Eventually a guard escorted us to the next section. There we were assigned chores, dull tasks where another inmate showed me how to mop the floors. Leo and Nathan got stuck with cleaning as well but in different rooms at different times.

    Hours passed and still nothing was quiet. People chattered and banged on metal pipes that rang throughout the halls. Guards rarely shouted but when they did people listened. Time passed while I swept a water laden stick back and forth. Me and the bright warning sign traveled in hops across the floor.

    It was near midnight when someone took over and promptly complained about the state of the cart. I shrugged, cleaning wasn¡¯t one of my skills, much less when it¡¯d been shoved into my hands earlier. This was my first day and already I wanted to punch people.

    The lights had dimmed on our block, but enough lit the walkways. Leo was already on a cot, meditating on the backs of his eyelids.

    Nathan barely made it back before a guard shouted a final warning. As the paper pusher slipped inside, our gateway locked shut with a heavy clink. I didn¡¯t even bother to get up. Between mopping for hours, the drugs they¡¯d filled me with, and the completely crappy food, I was willing to pass out in a room with one person I barely remembered and a complete stranger.

    I sat arms over knees on my bed and watched Nathan as he traveled across the small cell. A fresh bruise was forming on his face.

    ¡°That a gift from your friends?¡± I asked while pointing with a finger.

    ¡°Yeah. Best friends.¡± Nathan fake smiled and climbed onto his cot. Leo tensed for just a moment then relaxed once the other man settled. They both lay there, still as could be for different reasons.

    I was growing aware enough of my surroundings to tell a few things. Leo¡¯s breathing was never truly at rest. His body stayed rigid and tense. Nathan¡¯s eyes never closed as he faced the wall. And me, trapped in a scattered flow of past memories, didn¡¯t manage to sleep either.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 4 - Landing

    ¡°Get your guard up, runt!¡± A voice, gruff even years ago, echoed in my ears. It startled me from a dream where I dodged across a mat while sparring with another figure.

    The voice had been Tal¡¯s. The other figure had been Roy. I blearily looked around and realized I¡¯d managed to fall asleep, only to be plagued by more memories surfacing in conflicting waves.

    Nathan¡¯s shiner was more obvious this morning. As the week passed, additional bruises and signs of scuffles appeared. A split lip showed up on day three. Ugly yellow and brown spots like fingerprints on his arm along with a slight limp developed toward the fifth day. Whatever was happening to him was none of my business. Nathan didn¡¯t share, so I didn¡¯t ask.

    People left me alone. That was normal. When I was on mopping duty they found reasons to take other hallways. When I ate in the lunch room, Leo was the only one to brave my presence. Even Nathan seemed to shy away after the first day.

    Leo did his job without complaint and followed orders given by the guards to the letter. His work was spotless and the results showed right away. By the sixth day he was allowed to call home, though he didn¡¯t take the Warden Bennett up on the personal offer. I suggested, rather strongly, that Leo check in and see how things were going. It was more for my benefit than his.

    The guards kept watch. Their eyes were everywhere I went. Western Sector trained, and maybe not cold-blooded killers, but assuredly effective with all sorts of unknown tricks. Shitting in peace was impossible and awkward.

    I hadn¡¯t got one decent night¡¯s sleep since arriving. My bed frame was bent from where I¡¯d panicked upon waking on day eight. Terrors, being out of place and uncomfortable, not in my home, each item a reason to be upset. Everything conspired to overload my mental pressure points. Worse still, these memory collisions were triggered by seemingly random events.

    ¡°So, new pelt.¡± A voice intruded upon the silence Leo and I passed our afternoon ¡®lunch¡¯ with. The words belonged to a slender male with a twisted gleam in one eye.

    Leo raised an eyebrow at me. I was trying not to break something fragile from the intrusion into my space.

    ¡°Which way you wagging?¡± the invader asked.

    I kept at my food.

    ¡°Talking to you, fuzzball.¡±

    The new person speaking was lean and narrow. This wasn¡¯t one wolf asking another about something. He body was too bunched and drawn. He worked out but didn¡¯t stretch and clearly had no range of motion. I mean, I could feel the knotted muscles.

    ¡°Yeah? That¡¯s fine. You wolves are all the same. Assholes. Think you own the place. You guys shit in corners like dogs? Maybe mark your territory by pissing all over the tables?¡±

    Leo kept an amused eye toward the two of us. Our insulter addressed the young man and switched targets. ¡°What you want, puppy? They say male dogs hump each other if they can¡¯t find a girl. Bet you been keeping each other nice and warm at night.¡±

    The runt shifted from amusement to dangerous irritation. His body flinched and readied for a quick lunge. I shook my head slowly.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, sit. Stay. Good dog,¡± the newcomer said.

    As Leo had put it, no one was in here for selling cookies. This was a place for those convicted of racial hate crimes. People still pegged me as pack even after I¡¯d removed Muni¡¯s charm. I¡¯d expected this sort of greeting earlier but we¡¯d been left alone for almost a full week.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t mess with him, Spike.¡± Nathan Simms¡¯s voice came from beyond the new guy. That was the first thing Nathan had said around me in days.

    ¡°Why? Simms, he¡¯s been bunked with you. The guys and I figure you wouldn¡¯t be bunked with anyone really dangerous. You got someone pulling strings for you. All this meat¡¯s just for show.¡±

    I glanced at Nathan and focused on the last of my food. Desperation kept me eating. The meat showed little signs of improvement despite my ranting at the cook about proper seasoning back on day four.

    ¡°I know. Meatball here prolly humped some old lady¡¯s leg in desperation. A broken face like yours must be begging the ugly hookers.¡± The other man sneered.

    My brow furled and brain tried to catch up. What was the point of pissing me off? Before I could figure it out the bell rang, signaling our return to work. Leo stood with his platter and I did the same, ignoring the obviously weak insults for what they were.

    ¡°Fucking wolf, run away, keep that tail tucked in!¡±

    My senses were in enough to control to feel the other man get up and shake his head. A disappointed frown crossed his features while he navigated the lunchroom to another group of people. Their mutters were too hard to pick out.

    ¡°Why ignore that?¡± Leo asked me quietly.

    I gave the classic shrug of indifference. There was no one answer.

    ¡°It¡¯s disrespectful. My father wouldn¡¯t have stood for it. He would have offered a challenge.¡±

    ¡°Your father wouldn¡¯t even be here,¡± I said.

    Roy respected the rules too much and valued order. His view wasn¡¯t based on actual law but a rigidly defined personal creed. I didn¡¯t have his discipline despite years of being in the same house.

    ¡°Still, why? You¡¯re¡±¨Che stopped himself and gestured with his hands¡ª¡°bigger than he is. Stronger. I remember how you fought my father. You could wipe the floor with half of this place before a guard even noticed. You could take a stand and push back.¡±

    Leo talked about that night in Bottom Pit where I¡¯d fought three rounds back to back. I¡¯d been drugged half out of my mind with rage following a barely remembered beat.

    ¡°He had the balls to sit next to me.¡± No one did that. Leo sat across from me. Nathan had sat near Leo the first few days. Until then no one had come within three feet of my presence.

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t bravery, that was stupidity,¡± Leo said.

    ¡°So he lives.¡± Unsorted memories flipped through. The new person, Spike, had been trying to do something. As a trap, it had been obvious, but the actual aim I didn¡¯t understand. And what kind of stupid name was Spike?

    I turned away from Leo and wandered down another path. My cart and mop were waiting somewhere else. Somewhere between cleaning the bathrooms and the cafeteria my mind zoned out again. By nightfall a few pieces had finally formed enough to play out more of the past.

    That night, in my dreams, I existed in pure nothingness. It was endless. Then things flickered as an audible chime swept across the landscape. I was aware again but had opened my eyes for the first time only to see a big fat void.

    My fingers were curled around a bundle of strings. I looked over and watched as the gathered mass thinned. Some were old and decayed; others faded out of existence entirely and vanished as I studied them. Even more burned at far ends that wound into the darkness.

    A sensation hit me. My other hand curled around soft skin. I wasn¡¯t alone and had been traveling through darkness with someone important. No one else existed in this bleak space. I remembered longer hair, a young girl who had maybe been five. I knew I was older, and someone important had yelled at me to keep her safe.

    I struggled to remember where I¡¯d been before the darkness. A small hint came through in the form of a voice. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was male or female, old or young. It sparked no memory. It was as if the voice stopped existing altogether and simply unwound itself from existence. The last note was a lingering tone of ¡®run.¡¯ We ran. Then staggered. Then finally wound down to a shuffle.

    Then we walked. Our exodus went on for so long that every sensation whittled down to two sets of legs trudging toward the far edge of nothing. We were exhausted beyond sanity. Each step more impossible than the one before it. Numbness tingled every limb.

    My hand curled around a space I couldn¡¯t feel. A voice shouted. I turned and found my hands empty where there had once been objects. No colors of connection, no knotted cords guiding me home.

    Fingers curled as I looked around. Every spot looked the same. Who had the other person been? A sibling? Focusing was too difficult, breathing was labored, the air heavy enough to be liquid. My thoughts were murky. Only a whisper of importance told me they were family. We were all that was left after...

    ...after what? What were we running from?

    The chime of awareness carried on, traversing the empty landscape toward a destination I couldn¡¯t see. I tried to pull on my senses and feel the world where my eyesight registered nothing. Tactile feedback was strange. Nothing felt right. Normally, air was never stagnant, pools of hot and cold would stir it into motion. What surrounded me was still and unhindered. Almost like there was literally nothing about me.

    A big fat dark nothing. Then there was light. Faint, but brighter than anything I¡¯d seen in an eternity.

    I looked about in confusion, only to find my hands were still empty. Quickly I turned and turned again to try to find the person left behind. No one lay on the ground. No fallen friends, sign posts, just nothing. Only me and the bright light in the distance existed.

    It brightened. My mouth failed to form words. To scream across the land, but the noise that should have issued forth was muted, and vanished as it left me. Numb thoughts registered. Where was she? I had to take care of her and bring her with me across this land.

    I¡¯d failed. I was alone. Even the voice telling me to run hardly existed anymore. My body shook, eyes watered, everything felt unreasonably cold. Whoever they were, they had been the last link to the old world. Now even that was gone.

    The space rattled. Something huge approached from far away. It was immense enough to shake existence. I spun and looked toward the looming light. Vibrations gnawed at my hearing then elevated to a boring drill on my skull. It got stronger still and the light grew in size along with the noise.

    My senses overloaded from wave after wave of feedback. I could see it now, and feel it. With the light was a wall of energy moving like a wave. A tidal wall a mile high raced too quickly to escape.

    I ran anyway.

    More shouts bubbled away into nothing. My feet failed to find purchase. I fell and pain that didn¡¯t exist slammed through both arms. My body fell to the side. The wall behind was almost upon me, growing to an impossible size. Everything rattled in time with the wall¡¯s rush. Existence grew brighter. The pounding jackhammer of noise worsened.

    I reached for a horizon. The other person out there needed me. They were gone, and I dug at the ground, pulling myself along without any thought but escape and finding them. Finally the destructive noises and tactical feedback proved too much. I wrapped my arms around my head and curled into a ball.

    The wave reached me. A second later my body swept up high from the ground. Something stranger than water surrounded me. I screamed and echoes rippled as the sound died. Another wave rushed behind the first, surging me even higher. My senses went crazy. Everything around me was flickering through different densities, different states of being. Pieces spun wildly, caught up in something huge beyond comprehension, I tried to find sanity.

    Near me was a concoction of existence. One moment it was a patch of grass, floating free from the earth. Then it spiraled away and shifted into a duck that quacked. Another heartbeat passed and even the duck was gone, replaced by another series of animals and finally dirt. I reached out to grab the clump of land, then it shifted to a statue. That, too, fragmented under my grip and slipped off into other parts of the wave.

    Larger pieces formed into chunks of land and slammed together like a jigsaw puzzle. My arms flailed as I swam through the strange substance toward something solid. Somehow I moved forward, by will or luck.

    Moments later I was firmly riding a piece of earth. My vantage point gave me a slim sense of security in an ocean of madness. I gulped deep breaths and looked past colliding pieces of existence in an attempt to find her. The one I had lost.

    Howling tore around each solid object, as if daring them to finish forming. In a fit of rage the item would spin apart just to form a new combination. My hands white knuckled onto the platform I anchored to. I, and the earth beneath me, spiraled. Dirt formed into bricks. Bricks formed into buildings. Some were torn down. Some were replaced in a blur with things seeming more modern. Ghostly figures who might be people tromped through, oblivious to my existence. Then more people, chattering at high speeds. Others swinging their arms up in down in labor. Those figures, too, vanished, as large metal carriages popped by.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    I was afraid to blink and afraid to move. At least the earth beneath me hadn¡¯t disintegrated like everything else. Still the landscape transformed. Each piece looked increasingly solid compared to the one before it. The howling noise slowly lessened in intensity.

    Then the world went into free fall. My gut traveled upward, threatening to lose anything my stomach might have. Sanctuary, my bit of earth, fell along with everything else. Air, real air, whistled by as gravity reined in this errant bit of dirt. My eyes closed in panic, I prayed the landing would be soft. My grip faltered. I reached desperately for my secure haven in a landscape of madness.

    The earth fell faster than I did. Beneath me pieces thudded together. Buildings. Metal lines littered the ground, trailing far into the distance. Large box like things sat heavy on the strips of man molded minerals. And I was falling straight toward the latticework landscape.

    Be not afraid. The Elements are our gifts.

    A voice nagged me. It belonged to a man older than anything I could conceive of. His words were hard to focus on as I rushed without pause toward a too solid ground.

    Fear not the Sky. Air bends to our will.

    Instinct threw my arms out an angle, fingers splayed wide. Air grew heated. I was transforming without conscious thought. Hundreds of feet from the ground meant seconds before collision.

    Fear not the Heat. Fire gives life to our hearts. Voice to our rage.

    Everything grew hotter. My limbs cracked and groaned, ripples passed by and suddenly they were something else entirely. Two arms became guide posts for wings unfurling from twisted muscles near my spine. No longer did I exist as simple human flesh, these were wide spans of leather.

    Still, my body had too much momentum. Both wings broke against the wind and barely slowed the fall. I passed through clouds which had only recently formed. Rain pelted down triggering another set of words from a voice that couldn¡¯t exist in the weird nothingness from before.

    Fear not the Water. Each drop brings Clarity to our mind.

    Clarity showed me how to survive the fall. Capturing the wind full on would shatter too many bones and no amount of healing could save me. Not from this height. I maneuvered into a nose dive then flung my wings out again, slicing with the downward movement. My body spun and tilted enough to brake with the wind and not against it.

    I struggled to steer myself away from the metal ribbons lining the ground, off to a clear field of dirt and grass. There sat the same one I¡¯d held on to in desperate moments before. It had clicked into place where it belonged.

    Braking with the wind couldn¡¯t slow me completely. I slammed into the ground at a sharp angle and carried on for a dozen feet. A trail of displaced dirt lay behind me.

    Both eyes were wild and my chest heaved. One arm tilted oddly but hurt no worse than everything else. My fingers grasped against the ground rhythmically, feeling each ounce of dirt as it rubbed my skin. It was the most welcome feeling I¡¯d had in an eternity.

    Fear not the Earth. Solace lies in its arms.

    Slowly my thoughts caught up. Everything hurt. My face felt wet and one eye refused to open all the way. Both legs moved weakly and trying to sit hurt like hell. But I¡¯d landed from my first flight as a young boy. I wanted to roar in triumph but felt too battered.

    I sat up and grunted, then slowly wiggled my arm. A bone above the elbow had broken. Life had come with pain, but even at my age I understood it was transitory and would heal. Moments passed as I weakly put the pieces back into the place. Wobbling ensued as I crawled out of the hole. Sustained movement was hard and everything went sideways as I fell over again. My body itched, shook, and rippled with waves of pain.

    I closed my eyes and called upon my ability to sacrifice wakefulness for enhanced healing. The earth¡¯s grip lulled me into a more relaxed state. This was one of the elemental gifts from old times.

    Another creature¡¯s soft absorbent soles pressed against crisp grass and fallen leaves. I was not alone, not anymore. I looked up and pulled my mind together. Time had passed, enough for the sun to travel a few feet across the sky and my arm to improve.

    ¡°Dude,¡± a voice said.

    I scrambled out of the grove I lay in. A wince crossed my features as pain shot up from the hip.

    ¡°Dude, you all right?¡± the high-pitched voice spoke again. Those words crawled into everything around me. It felt like the first time I¡¯d ever heard someone talk.

    I didn¡¯t have the will to battle or strike first. My gaze locked on the boy¡¯s eyes, searching for signs of aggression. I¡¯d rend the other figure apart and flee to stay safe.

    I would protect her. That¡¯s what my parents trusted me to do. Only she had been lost in the spinning existence. All thoughts of pain were replaced by sudden overwhelming worry.

    ¡°Was there anyone else? Anyone with me?!¡± I shouted rapidly.

    ¡°Someone else? Who fell? From the sky?¡±

    I nodded sharply, and stared at the boy. We had to be about the same age, but after that landing nothing else mattered. Not my age, not his, not where we were or how it¡¯d come about. The only thing that mattered was finding the person I¡¯d lost track of.

    ¡°No, man, no. Just you,¡± the freckled boy said. He had red hair that looked almost ghost like at the ends.

    ¡°Dear Gods,¡± I said.

    The world started spinning. My head somehow wound up between my knees as chest muscles heaved. Heat built again, uncontrolled and uncalled for. An entire lifetimes worth of tears sprang forth as I sobbed at the failure. It was too much for me.

    ¡°Let me help you, man. You don¡¯t look good.¡± The boy stared down at me. I managed to get halfway to my feet with a hand pressed against one knee. My other hand waved him off. Breathing grew labored as my throat bulged. Still the heat grew.

    I tilted back and opened wide to scream again. The element¡¯s gift gave voice to my raging sorrow. Flames spiraled forth, bathing everything in crimson hues. Then I fell, too tired to keep myself upright.

    ¡°Whoa, man.¡± The other figure was still in the distance. His soft soled feet slowly plodded closer. ¡°Dude,¡± he said with a strange feeling smile. Then my senses faded.

    The boy, that young freckled face, was Daniel Crumfield. The first person I¡¯d ever met upon landing. But where had I been coming from? My memories hadn¡¯t played that part out for me. It felt like nothing had existed before the earlier chime which had swept across the land.

    The chain of memories stopped running its movie reel in my head. I sat in a rush while breathing deep labored gasps. My face felt hot and sweat dripped. The blanket beneath me was soaked.

    I reached out with my senses. It was early morning and my work shift had ended hours ago. We¡¯d been locked in and I¡¯d crawled to the bunk and passed out almost immediately. Reliving the memory must have hit me shortly after unconsciousness.

    My cell mates wore different expressions. Leo¡¯s gaze studied, not my eyes, but everything. No snarl of anger or twisted lips graced his features, only tightened eyebrows.

    I stared the runt in his eyes and dared him to respond.

    Nathan ignored us both from his bunk. Sweat colored his clothes and he stared firmly toward the ceiling.

    ¡°Tell me you killed that noisy fucker,¡± a stranger¡¯s voice whispered from a few cells over.

    No one answered him. Leo did smile for a moment, almost a smirk. The runt rolled over and proceeded to go back to bed.

    ¡°Whatever. At least some of us can finally get some fucking sleep.¡± Other people grunted. Too many had heard me as I relieved the frightening nothing.

    I put a hand up and felt wet trickles riding down my face. I¡¯d been crying¡ªloudly¡ªjudging by the grumbles from our neighboring cells. Crying was a weakness that couldn¡¯t be afforded in prison. I glowered and stayed awake the rest of the morning, waiting for a shift bell to signal the day¡¯s start. The schedule for today would be yard time first thing.

    Guards ushered us out the door for mandated exercise time. Others stood on high walls with guns loaded and ready. Concrete was smoothed out by layers of slick paint. People here couldn¡¯t scale them quickly.

    I looked for the quietest place in the yard. The only clear spots were out in the open. Even those didn¡¯t have much space. A group prowled the eastern wall. Wolves if I were to gauge their constant watching of other people. In unison three or four of them would check out different people.

    Atlas Island had its own form of pack. They didn¡¯t rule the place and kept watch on normal people. Humans of all sorts hung near the weight benches. Only some actually worked out while most stared or talked to each other.

    I paced in the small patch of freedom I¡¯d claimed. Grass had been trampled underfoot. Roots had been smothered by packed dirt. The top layer was almost dust from a dry summer. Slowly I let myself claim this tiny base. Another part of my brain tried to connect with the jail cell cot.

    ¡°Your bitches already marked that spot!¡± the same jeering asshole as earlier yelled across the yard. People chuckled, even the wolves perked to attention, their heads swiveling as one in my direction.

    ¡°Piss indoors!¡± Spike shouted.

    Other comments kept coming, and every time I concentrated on the feeling of connecting it shattered. I tilted my head back and squeezed my eyes as tight as possible. Sweat dripped down my face. The air started to heat up.

    It¡¯d be so easy to change into my other self and murder him.

    ¡°Jay.¡± Leo¡¯s voice was low. ¡°Not here.¡±

    Runt has no right. Will rend. Leap over small wall. Take mountain top. Challenge rulers of this place. Make it mine.

    My eyes cracked open and gazed at incomprehensible surroundings. I could feel people¡¯s body language. Most had a clear line of sight to me and their heads were focused in my direction. Even the guards watched.

    Burning caressed my insides with a deep heat strong enough to haze the air. Leo moved, obscuring my position from some of the onlookers, but he could only cover so much with his body.

    I wanted to punch the man. Even now commentary floated through the air. Footsteps tromped across the yard, each fall of shoes more irritating than the last.

    Pink Meat. Breath laden with stench. Weight uneven. Slender rods of man minerals line his pockets. Extra mass stored in shoes.

    ¡°Jay.¡± Leo¡¯s voice sounded further away the more he spoke.

    My mind was reliving the moment of freedom. That time where I¡¯d stood against the Order of Merlin and stopped hiding my true form. The freedom of revealing the Great Beast buried under a human shape called to me, promising blissful freedom and unopposable dominance.

    ¡°We can¡¯t. You can¡¯t. It would put everyone in danger. You, me, father, the entire Tribe. The girls,¡± Leo continued.

    A dozen snippets of the past rushed by reminding me of the power. Unleashing here would be good. I could silence the Pink Meat and put the Furry Things in place. These walls would be demolished. I smiled at Leo and the young male blanched.

    ¡°Not here. Sir, not here. Fight him with fists if you must, but not the other. Not here. Wait for my father before doing anything rash.¡±

    That jolted me just enough to form a word. ¡°Roy?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Yes. The Chief is coming here next week. He wants to consult with you.¡± The runt¡¯s words were still low.

    Footsteps were almost upon us. I glanced behind him at the oncoming humans.

    ¡°Would he be disappointed if I killed just a few of them?¡± I asked. I could stop at one, or two, or maybe all of them.

    ¡°Life shouldn¡¯t be taken lightly.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± I questioned, truly puzzled.

    Our guests were too close. One placed a hand on Leo¡¯s shoulder and I saw the younger man flinch in surprise. They¡¯d snuck up on him.

    ¡°What are you ladies chatting about?¡± Spike asked.

    It was enough to distract me, not completely, but between Leo¡¯s attempts and the change of focus I was losing heat.

    ¡°Move your hand,¡± Leo said to the newcomer. I gave the group a good hard look for the first time. Some wore light white shirts. Others were topless, as if showing off a muscled physique would help them be intimidating.

    ¡°Relax, we¡¯re all friends here.¡±

    ¡°¡¯Cept him,¡± one grumbled while glaring at me.

    ¡°Yeah, wolves should stick to their own. But you, you¡¯re one of us. Unless you¡¯re a dog lover. You ain¡¯t a dog lover is you?¡± Spike smiled like they were in on a shared joke.

    ¡°Hardly,¡± Leo said. He smoothly stepped away from the offending person and drew closer to where I stood.

    ¡°Look, boys, he ain¡¯t a dog lover, but he knows all the tricks, heel, sit, speak.¡±

    Leo repeatedly glanced in my direction, looking for a sign. I had nothing to give him. My brain was getting scrambled listening to this stranger.

    Some had tattoos, nothing like Leo and his Tribe¡¯s. Most had shortened hair, others outright bald. There were even a few females in the group, ones who looked a smidgen harder than the guys.

    Then I realized what this was. They were trying to force us onto a side.

    I glanced behind me toward the wolves. They stood, waiting on something. It was hard to say what for sure. The guards wore amused expressions. One spat, and a wad of chewing tobacco splattered against asphalt.

    It wasn¡¯t dark enough for vampires, but they were typically more solitary. No elves either, no, there were actually elves out here too. There was a weight on one side of the yard that didn¡¯t match the figures.

    Then I started laughing. Everything in this place was a giant joke. Rarely had I ever been on anyone¡¯s side but my own.

    ¡°You got a point?¡± I asked. I needed to hear to get the admission.

    ¡°No point, just me and the boys¡±¡ªnot one of these men looked under the age of twenty. Leo, big as he was, looked more like a boy than the rest of them combined¡ª¡°believe strays should be put down.¡±

    Strays?

    ¡°Fuck off,¡± Leo spoke up for us. ¡°Just go away before you get hurt.¡±

    ¡°So you is a dog lover. Great.¡± Spike stepped closer to me, getting into my face. I just grinned and the stupid man didn¡¯t know how dangerous his position was.

    Pulse beats loud. Other Pink Meats anxious. Carry weights. Rods of smooth metal. Guards look on. Air tense.

    I bumped my chest into the other man while smiling, my arms open and ready. It¡¯d only take a moment to twist his neck beyond human limits. ¡°Don¡¯t start something you can¡¯t finish,¡± I said. An eyebrow raised in amusement while irritation claimed my lips and cheeks.

    ¡°More of us than you, we¡¯ll send you to the other side, puppy. Just try it.¡±

    One cheek pulled back to a near snarl but stopped at an aggressive smile. This man had no idea what he was doing.

    A lot of my life was still unsorted. Moments flickered in and out in spurts. But I did remember one thing so far. Jay, before my four-year vanishing act, before the fight with Kahina, that Jay took shit from no one. It was time to get back to basics.

    ¡°What you got to say means nothing to me, bitch, nothing at all. You go to your place and get off our side of the yard.¡± Spike rattled meaningless words.

    ¡°That so?¡± I said.

    ¡°That¡¯s how it works here.¡± Spike frowned.

    ¡°Or you¡¯ll make me?¡± I asked.

    Leo shuffled uneasily. He was close, along with a dozen humans. A mouse could fart and everyone in our circle would hear it.

    ¡°Ain¡¯t none of us in here because we like your type. We¡¯ll put you in your place, mutt.¡±

    I leaned in and pretended to whisper, ¡°You¡¯ll try.¡± Then pulled back, still smiling. God I wanted to break this little maggot¡¯s neck. ¡°And you¡¯ll die. You and your friends,¡± I continued. ¡°You¡¯re nothing to me.¡±

    Fighting would be easy. These men looked tough, probably had been in many street fights, but I was more than a wolf. And they were challenging me, in the midst of my attempt to claim an area. In front of my family. Disrespect would not be tolerated.

    ¡°You got no pack, no one here but your little bitch on your side. How you gonna stop us?¡±

    A bell rang, signaling the end of our conversation. Guards shouted that we should get marching inward.

    I let Spike back away. His face was twisted in disgust and spit flew from his mouth to the ground. The crew following him waddled backward and stepped in behind the thinner man.

    Leo and I slowly walked forth, letting the humans exit first. Even the wolves who had been sitting in the shade made it indoors before us. They¡¯d probably heard everything but hadn¡¯t exactly stepped up.

    ¡°This is bad,¡± Leo said.

    I believed it to be fantastic. So insanely fantastic that the word didn¡¯t even bother me.

    The longer I pondered the idiots in front of us, the more I realized much of their brain power was dedicated to self-delusion. It took serious mental labor to stay racist. Our world would be better off without them taking up precious oxygen.

    ¡°You can¡¯t just threaten people,¡± Leo said as we slowly walked inside.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you love a good fight, Leo? They¡¯ll give us one.¡±

    ¡°Not like this. A fight has rules, honor, not some senseless purpose.¡± The young man presented his erroneous belief.

    Bottom Pit may have rules to every fight, but the real world didn¡¯t. There were no restrictions in combat besides the personal ones.

    ¡°Clearing mindless sheep from the world is a perfect purpose.¡±

    ¡°No. This¡­¡± Leo paused and I felt the distance between us grow slightly. He still kept pace as we walked. ¡°You¡¯re not what my father said. Not what you were. What happened while you were gone?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t myself. And now I¡¯m remembering, finally remembering everything. I wasn¡¯t always a coward.¡± Running from the Order to save Kahina had been the start of a self-destructive pattern, a lack of belief in myself.

    ¡°Taking a life doesn¡¯t make you brave,¡± Leo insisted.

    ¡°I pushed back, just like I¡¯d always done!¡±

    ¡°No, my father said you both fought your natures, strove for discipline. That wasn¡¯t discipline, that wasn¡¯t self-control, you were practically inviting them into a bloodbath.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It is one thing to fight for respect, another to consider murder from annoyance. My father would be ashamed if he knew.¡±

    Leo¡¯s reproach shut me up. I had been acting differently. It was more than not wanting to be a coward. My pulse was running fast. Eyesight had dimmed just slightly as the conversation went on. Parts of my mind sifted through memories searching for reason for the sudden change in perception.

    Sleep came slowly that night.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 5 - You Smell

    Once unconscious my mind slipped into the past, picking up where it left off from my prior landing. Seeing history replay itself both captivated my senses and came with a strange detachment. The upside was that I knew names for all the objects that had so mystified my younger self.

    Child me woke up alone, in an empty field of metal with beaten down grass. Trees and broken piles of dirt littered the landscape. Long smooth pipes stacked in hollow pyramids. Everything was new, these objects, the way they were put together. The large noisy boxes that came through on iron wheels.

    I learned later it was a train yard. The boxcars were parked on unused tracks. Most of this place had been shut down in recent years, since with trucks and highways and bypasses it¡¯d become ineffective to run the rails for most businesses.

    Days passed while I searched the area, studying, and learning.

    There were buildings. People marched on their way between places unknown. Some were happy, some sad, many indifferent. I watched them go into a building with a clown¡¯s face on the side. They came out with bags of food that smelled heavenly.

    But I was young, smaller than all these people, and alone. I kept watching, looking for scraps. People would eat half a hamburger and throw the rest out. Three days of hunger overrode caution.

    On the fourth day I stole a family¡¯s discarded leftovers. Their child had barely eaten half the meal before they huffed off with grumpy faces. That moment of sheer fright, narrow minded focus on food, and poor coherency was a low point in my life.

    Hunger pushed me past caring. The half nibbled food barely slowed me down. Filth in the garbage paled in comparison to my current sleeping arrangements. Nothing mattered aside from reducing the gnawing inside my belly.

    This pattern went on for a few days before large men in blue tried to capture me. They had shiny badges on their chest pieces, a star covered by a bird I didn¡¯t know. Their words were cautious but kind. Their postures were ready and wary.

    I ran from them, to the first place I¡¯d landed, and hid in the piping. Later that night it started to rain, but I was too scared to go back to the place with food. The men with sticks in their belts made me afraid and the disapproving looks as I dug into discarded wrappings bothered me.

    They weren¡¯t like me.

    I let out some heat, stoking the fires inside with fear and desperation. The small increase in temperature helped me stay dry.

    Those funny men in blue, which I later learned were police, stuck around for another day, driving my barely contained hunger to new levels. They even left a completely untouched meal sitting out in the open. My kind was crafty enough to know a hunter when we saw it, and those two were certainly trying to lay a trap.

    A voice crawled across the back of my mind, warning me of the tricks of lesser creatures. The words were indistinct but their mumbled meaning was clear.

    My mind kept trying to pull on a time from before the land of emptiness. Even the sensation of falling had become faint and hard to concentrate on. That portion of the past had grown extremely dreamlike. They were memories that only existed in the imagination of a drunken story teller or a man reliving the past in fresh chunks.

    Days of hunger later and I was huddled in my small refuge. The pyramid of pipes served as a poor shelter from the rain.

    The other person I¡¯d been traveling with was nowhere to be found. She should have been. I choked back tears of frustration but couldn¡¯t control the partial gasps for air. My mind kept trying to find her, like I always could before. The same way I found anyone who mattered to me.

    But there was nothing. Not even a face to summon up.

    ¡°Hey, man.¡± A boy stood outside the pipes. The same one I¡¯d seen upon landing in this new place. How had he found me again?

    He was clothed in some slick thing that water wasn¡¯t catching on. It covered his entire body and went over his head like a helmet. Up above was another strange bowl shaped object that further reduced the rain.

    I didn¡¯t respond.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you have a home?¡±

    I glared and curled into myself, arms crossed over knees, body withdrawn. One eye cast toward an escape route on the other side.

    ¡°Your parents must be worried, man,¡± he said.

    They probably were, but I couldn¡¯t remember them any more than the girl I¡¯d been escorting. My brows furled. I think my parents had told me to run with her and keep her safe from something.

    A sniff escaped.

    ¡°You a run away? My dad says people do that sometimes. But their parents always worry. Even when the kid¡¯s grown up. He says it don¡¯t matter what happened.¡±

    ¡°Go away,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°You¡¯re not the boss of me. My dad says I don¡¯t have to let other kids order me around, that I¡¯m different.¡±

    I remembered shaking. I remembered being so alone, and desperate for food or comfort. I needed to find those left behind in that strange tidal wave of pure existence. My body shook with terror about meeting other people. Men in blue had chased me three times by now. A woman in some funny yellow dress had come out and yelled at me once. Two people buried in dirty browns screamed and threw things the day before.

    Hunger. Failure. Grief. It was too many emotions for a small child and too many problems that couldn¡¯t be worked through by my limited experience. Maybe now, decades later, I could have dealt with them. But in this memory of mine, I¡¯d been too young.

    ¡°You hungry, man?¡± The boy, light skinned, freckled, and red headed sounded concerned. Nothing in his posture was like the adults. He didn¡¯t ooze guile or lean toward me ready to spring.

    I nodded weakly and barely held back a storm of tears.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go get food. You stay here, okay?¡±

    What else could I do? I would run if someone else¡¯s footsteps came, but the hope of food would keep me rooted there.

    True to his word, the boy brought back a full meal with extra fries. He sat six feet away, chattering mindlessly while I tore into the poorly dressed meat. For the first time in days I almost felt full.

    That boy, who looked comically baby faced, had been coming to my rescue most of my life. Later he would be a friend, a Hunter, and Western Sector agent. This was the childish version of Daniel Crumfield.

    I woke and groaned as the speakers blared a morning alarm. A day of chores passed while my mind felt like burnt scrambled eggs. Leo and I met after the day¡¯s tasks were completed.

    ¡°Two days until my father¡¯s visit,¡± Leo said in low tones.

    I grunted. We were back in the yard again for the second time this week. Spike had fought with someone else and been denied privileges for four days. He seemed to be the sort who pushed other people¡¯s buttons a lot.

    Turned out Spike didn¡¯t just prod wolves, he annoyed humans, too. Leo had informed me of this and many other things during his last week of scouting. It was strange receiving a report from the field, as though I was a commanding officer he had to check in with.

    ¡°I can survive two days.¡±

    ¡°Unless you piss more people off.¡± Leo seemed unsure for a moment, looking around at the figures nearby.

    People here were amazingly nosey and still maintained distance. Even during chores there was this intangible bubble where most people weren¡¯t willing to get into fights. The three strike system with almost certain death on the other side of the island had an impact.

    ¡°Group seven does swings,¡±¡ªhe kept right on going¡ª¡°but we haven¡¯t seen many vampires yet. I guess most of them hit their three strikes quickly and go to the other side.¡±

    I raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°Yeah, strange right? The few people who talk down at the presses say fangers prefer to live feral on the other side. Not too many burnouts either, most of them dare an escape or don¡¯t survive the transfer.¡±

    ¡°So we¡¯re stuck with mostly humans and wolves.¡± I repeated Leo¡¯s unnecessary information.

    None of the species in here mattered to me. The only one that might have made a difference was an elf, but they rarely broke the law. They were too busy dealing with their own insane addictions and customs while working hard to keep things covered up.

    ¡°The humans are split like the wolves. Most here just try to keep their heads down and avoid getting a strike. Others band together and risk getting a strike to push others over.¡±

    ¡°Like Spike¡¯s group.¡±

    ¡°Exactly.¡± Leo rolled one shoulder and circled his foot on the dirt before continuing. ¡°Spike¡¯s faction is one of the bigger ones, they push loner wolves over to the other side and hope they get killed. They really hate wolves.¡±

    ¡°And what do the packs do?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Keep to themselves. Most seem to be in here on charges of recklessness, not actual murder. They get therapy sessions and an intense form of rehabilitation.¡±

    ¡°Any Alphas?¡± Alphas were like steroid using wolves. Their regeneration, battle drive, and ability to take charge of a pack were all a step up. Part of it was inborn, and in some cases the gift took to certain people.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t figured that out yet,¡± Leo said.

    Silence stretched on while Leo paced. His feet wove familiar patterns. He was at least getting his practice in where he could. Our four cot cell didn¡¯t have enough room for leg practices.

    ¡°Two days?¡± I repeated the timeframe while looking up. The sun was obscured by thin, rapidly moving clouds.

    ¡°Two. Even someone with a strike can have visitors who are deemed worthwhile to the inmate¡¯s rehabilitation.¡± Leo frowned and his movements stuttered for a beat.

    ¡°He told you this?¡±

    Leo looked hurt, stuttered his footsteps again, then managed to pick back up. ¡°No. My brothers answered the phone and told me.¡±

    ¡°You mean the twins.¡± They were older than Leo and adopted, I believed. One day they hadn¡¯t been there, the next they were. I had returned with Ted and Barnie that day. Roy didn¡¯t provide an explanation for his new sons, and I never asked.

    ¡°Cast and Poll, yes,¡± Leo said.

    I stared across the yard at the other groups. My eyes didn¡¯t stay in any one location very long. My other senses had grown stronger the longer we stayed here. Staying restrained would get tougher as the weeks wore on.

    The growing ease partially resulted from my memories coming back. Less stood between me and the man I had been. That view, the presence, everything I¡¯d been was geared toward living life using my abilities at the drop of a hat. The more in tune I became, the harder hiding would be.

    Evan had told me learning what I was would change things. Muni had said much the same thing. The only issue was figuring out what portions of my life were still missing. The last few nights had been summoning bits of the past that were sorted, analyzed, and shoved into mental closets for later review. I spent my days in muddled exhaustion and tried to reason through whatever batch of shit filtered through my mind the night before.

    ¡°How¡¯s Nathan?¡± I asked without giving our third roommate a glance. I could feel him standing to the side of Spike¡¯s group, rubbing one arm uncomfortably. There must be bruises which made him flinch as his fingers traced over skin.

    ¡°He¡¯s being beat when no one¡¯s looking.¡± Leo¡¯s voice held the same disapproving edge his father¡¯s would. It disgusted the teen to look upon a man who wouldn¡¯t stand up for himself.

    ¡°He¡¯s trying to survive,¡± I said.

    ¡°Poorly.¡±

    I shrugged. No one was perfect. Hell, I had no room to judge what another man did for survival. I¡¯d run. Not just for Kahina, not just for my family, but for myself. No amount of self-deception could blind me to selfish preservation¡ªit certainly had been the driving factor. Fear of those close to me being hurt in ways I couldn¡¯t protect them from hurt the most.

    What you claim defines you.

    What you claim hurts you.

    The litany rolled through, making my head shake. I swallowed dryly and rubbed an arm much the same way Nathan Simms did. Leo glanced over but said nothing. Our yard break ended and the second work shift came and went with relative peace. At night my mind slipped into the past.

    ¡°Hey, man, you there? I know you are.¡± Daniel¡¯s sharp tones of youth hit the walls like a nail. ¡°You smell like brimstone.¡±

    I¡¯d been crawling across one of the building tops doing surveillance. The wet puddles of stagnant water were warmed by a bright sun. At Daniel¡¯s words I leaned over an edge and peered down.

    ¡°What¡¯s brimstone smell like?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Sulfur and barbecue pits. And cat piss.¡±

    ¡°Sounds bad,¡± I said. My own words were a bit deeper but no less biting.

    ¡°That¡¯s what my dad says. He says he fought a wrinkly thing that smelled like that.¡± Daniel smiled widely.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    The expression scared me. No one I knew smiled in such a way. The vague memory of a large toothy grin flashed into my mind before the same mouth opened to devour a four legged animal in a single bite.

    ¡°Your father hunts?¡± I asked. While pulling away from the edge.

    ¡°Yeah! It¡¯s what our family does. We hunt monsters.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want to come down now. My mind had already raced through the words and linked a conclusion.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a monster,¡± I insisted loudly. According to this boy I smelled like brimstone and cat piss. That meant something bad, right? I¡¯d studied the other people wandering around. None of them were like me. None of them had the fire, none of them changed shape.

    Some had fur. There had been two strange beasts sniffing through the yard one night. I remembered growling at them to chase them away. One had turned into a female and tried to call out to me. They had eventually left after hours of trying to coax me out of the hiding place I¡¯d found.

    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± I said to the redhead. Daniel had climbed up a nearby set of stairs then approached.

    ¡°What? No, why?¡± He sounded wounded, almost whiny while approaching.

    The action made me nervous and I glanced behind me.

    ¡°I can go where I want.¡±

    ¡°No. Stay away.¡± I scrambled across the roof, down the far side, and off into the abandoned train yard.

    ¡°Man! I wanna be friends!¡± he yelled.

    My feet kept running. I found the path to my other hiding spot. Upstairs, around a corner and inside an old office down the end of some rattling walkway. Slow prowling had resulted in me locating this hidden nest. It served as somewhere to rest and no one would disturb me.

    Daniel didn¡¯t catch up and I spent the rest of my day in the same way as those prior; exploring and cleaning. Days of scrounging had resulted in many resources. The broom had been more useful than the funny smelling liquids. Its bristles were strange, and a little too big for my hands, too tall for a little child like me.

    Watching people work across the street had finally clued me in on the strange object¡¯s usage. Sweeping the room and walkway clear of dust and cobwebs was a triumph unlike anything else in my life.

    Wooden planks lined one wall. I¡¯d shoved it to the side in order to get metal bars and other remains into here. Most things had gone toward fortifying the room against intruders. Nails pried from unused furniture. A chair dragged up the stairs. Two tarps draped across bolts in the wall formed a tent against leaks in the ceiling.

    All in all, I¡¯d been rather proud.

    And alone.

    I spent my childhood nights tossing and turning from worry. When that failed I stared at the den in search of things to improve. Little things nagged at my senses. Back then my abilities weren¡¯t as strong. Now I could feel things with ease from across the room just by thinking the room was mine.

    Then, when I was a child, it had taken weeks to form any sort of bond. Even after all that investment and work the place was still nearly lifeless to my tactile feedback. My only awakened abilities were the fire and change. Those were a part of me. Even during those younger years. Warmth had always been at the center of my being.

    Hours later, when I dared the rooftop, Daniel was gone. He had left the bag of food which was cold. That didn¡¯t stop me from grabbing it and shoving the food into my mouth.

    I attempted to sleep but ended up staring at the metal ceiling and wondering what the boy really wanted. When that confused me enough I tried to remember the other person I¡¯d dragged through nothingness. Neither question was answered that night, or for many more to come.

    The next morning, back in prison, I sat in a lunch room. My shoulders felt hunched from the sheer mass of people around me. None pressed against my sides but their numbers were too many for my comfort. A good culling would free up lots of space.

    ¡°Your father still coming?¡± I asked.

    ¡°He gave his word.¡± Leo slowly sipped at his soup. The way he¡¯d been bringing the spoon up amused me. Kahina had a household full of people who could learn a thing or two from his manners.

    ¡°Good.¡±

    Roy would have a plan. We could talk without restriction hopefully, now that the veil had been lifted from most of my memories. He¡¯d ask what I needed. I just had to make a choice before the man got here.

    I had no clue what the best option would be. Daniel would.

    ¡°They should have given you a time.¡± Leo frowned.

    ¡°A guard told me.¡± I shrugged. One of the men here had dropped me a few lines before my work shift started.

    ¡°When then?¡± he asked.

    ¡°It should be at wakeup, first thing,¡± I said. Our work day had been starting just before noon. Swing shift meant being woken up late then working through part of the night. The days had been getting longer which gave us daylight out in the yard.

    ¡°When will he see you?¡± I asked Leo.

    Leo chose not to answer.

    Soon lunch ended and the two of us traveled to our separate destinations. I wasn¡¯t exactly sure how I¡¯d been put on mop and bucket duty, but it was wonderful. These hours of quiet work happened to be the only solitude I got. Freedom without other people made my muddled memories survivable.

    Occasionally I saw others during my rounds. They were like me, people who sought a quiet moment of contemplation to help them crawl away from imprisonment. Some stared at walls, others the back of curved hands covering their faces. Their tension seemed to reflect mine.

    Dipping the mop into my water bucket reminded me to relax my shoulders. Scrubbing off grubby tiles tired my arms. I¡¯d started putting all the strength I had, minus the extra abilities, into my cleaning. It served as exercise which kept me pleasantly exhausted each morning.

    The job I¡¯d been given wasn¡¯t important, but it was useful. Other people would find it demeaning but not me. I¡¯d been spending my life cleaning the areas I lived in and that wasn¡¯t likely to change.

    Near dawn I checked the cleaning materials back in and waited while a guard recorded every item used. Each container returned was measured for their total amounts and weights. As if I¡¯d use bleach to poison someone else¡¯s food. There were easier ways to kill someone.

    Then, once cleared, I lumbered back to our cell to be locked in for the night. Nathan was already in his rack staring at the wall. Leo was doing curls using the sheets and his foot.

    ¡°Tomorrow,¡± I stated.

    Leo paused between sets and nodded slowly.

    ¡°Is he visiting you?¡± I asked again.

    Leo shook his head and motioned for me to clear the floor. I crawled onto my side and lay back. Next to me the younger runt started doing a round of pushups.

    ¡°Want me to pass on anything?¡±

    Leo again declined to answer and continued with his exercise routine. Minutes later I was asleep, reconciling those previously shrouded memories against my life.

    As a child, I had a small concept of written words. The idea of weeks was intangible, months an unanchored word, seasons nearly mythical. Years later my new family would teach me these words, but the young Jay Fields had no clue.

    So when I stood in front of the restaurant before dawn and tried to understand the signs and posters nothing useful resulted. There were big squiggles and little ones. Hand written things and strange uniformed text. Nothing stood out, everything blended in a mash of colors.

    The pictures were mouthwatering.

    Nighttime was most peaceful. It¡¯d taken me days to figure out crossing the street. Metal objects with angry people inside honked loud blaring things in my direction. Like everything else I learned by studying those who navigated the strange land.

    But only when I wasn¡¯t hungry.

    My mind couldn¡¯t conceive that someone needed to cook the food or that people worked in exchange for money. No, all my brain knew was hunger might be resolved if I dared brave the inside. I¡¯d survived nearly two more weeks before growing desperate, and Daniel hadn¡¯t been by in days.

    He¡¯d sneaked into my small sanctuary. We¡¯d gotten into a child¡¯s fight, one where he¡¯d broken my nose, and I¡¯d scratched his side and nearly broken his arm. The fight ended in him not returning.

    Hunger drove me to the food place again. I took a chair from the ground and swung it toward a window. The crash of glass shattering was sudden and sharp. An alarm went off moments later, the noise piercing everything worse than the car horns. Worse than the wailing sounds of sirens on police vehicles.

    My head hurt. I stood there, pressing hands to temple and warring between the noise and my hunger. Soon two cars showed up.

    ¡°Hands up!¡± The words were almost in slow motion. They distorted against the backdrop of sound. Moments later another car pulled up and someone else got out.

    This was more than one or two people. All were men in blue with those shiny badges on their chests. They had small things in their hands they brandished like weapons. Their weight felt light.

    ¡°Drop the weapon and put your hands up!¡± Words were still distorted but the intent was clear. I snarled while hurling the chair.

    They ducked, and one pulled the trigger. I barely had time to sense a boring sensation as the projectile hurled through air toward me. It missed, sailing into the restaurant¡¯s interior.

    And I ran.

    They shouted more words I couldn¡¯t understand. The sirens and building security alarm overpowered my then meager senses. My strength was paltry, just barely that of a grown adult.

    I wound through alleyways, across empty streets, and spiraled around the neighborhood toward home. Footsteps behind me faded the longer our chase went on.

    Finally, huffing, I made it to the building I¡¯d claimed as home. This place was my small piece of sanity in a foreign world. There, I hid, hungry and shaking, with both arms wrapped around my legs, holding back every emotion from flying out into the world without me. Heat came, as it always did, my breathing becoming more labored. I remembered fighting the urge to yell, the pounding thrum of my pulse.

    Words poured through, not my father¡¯s wisdom, not his reassuring words of guidance. This was something else. A voice wholly mine and terrifyingly angry.

    Burn them all.

    It was the first time I¡¯d ever heard it. Nothing like father¡¯s words which were both distant and caring. Nothing like the chatter of other people. This was personal, intense, like I¡¯d opened all my senses for the first time and peeked outside of my eyes to cast judgment upon the world. Projecting a desire for flame and ashes upon an existence that dared deny me food.

    I shivered and swallowed for a distraction. Anything to stave off the gnawing hunger and the mad voice it induced. The voice stayed silent. I huddled in my refuge, arms still crossed over my legs, while heated air slowly dispersed throughout the room.

    I knew anger and it scared me.

    The memory faded and my past let go. A leg jerked back, reacting to a prod that had barely registered.

    ¡°Wake up,¡± an unfamiliar man said.

    My eyes blinked away cobwebs. Our cell was dark. A figure rattled the bars with an annoyed look. One of the guards had come down for reasons unknown.

    ¡°You Jay Fields?¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡± The word slurred as I sat.

    ¡°Visitation is today. Get yourself together and I¡¯ll escort you.¡±

    I looked at Leo and Nathan, then realized they had barely stirred. The guard must have poked my foot through the bars.

    ¡°¡¯Kay.¡± I hit the sink, stared at the shitty mirror, and recalled the professional figure I¡¯d been months ago. In Kahina¡¯s employ I had been a man worthy of respect. Wearing the Deckard suit would have helped mitigate my gruesome image.

    Then I¡¯d be someone Roy wouldn¡¯t be ashamed to know. I wouldn¡¯t be that little boy, hungry, tired, and scared. Reliving those memories over the last few nights made my life disjointed. I got lost between now and then.

    I fought to keep my breathing even as the guard put cuffs around my wrists. I worked to keep my steps measured as we walked past a few early risers who felt the need to glare. We traveled through the security gate, past more guards who watched with a wary eye in my direction, to an elevator and downward.

    The guard didn¡¯t talk much other than to give orders. He reminded me of the rules of conduct and warned getting out of line would be a strike on my record. He suggested strongly I behave no matter what happened. I just agreed to everything.

    They walked me into a decent room. There wasn¡¯t a lot in it, just a table and two benches. The guard sat me down, bolted the chains to the seat, and went to stand outside the door. Roy was on one side of the bench and didn¡¯t seem pleased.

    Roy looked just as crisp and professional as I had when working for Kahina. Most so, he really wore the suit. The man had a way of carrying himself that made everyone else seem like a slob.

    It amazed me he could strip all that off, be tattooed then ruthlessly fight people to near death in a pit. He had found the balanced between man and monster I struggled to achieve. Separating those two personalities required an intense discipline. More flashes of memory poured through and shifted off to the side. There was no time to get lost in them now.

    Later I¡¯d sort through it.

    ¡°James,¡± Roy stood and greeted me. My mind shifted into the other vision for a moment and saw the solid outline of the bouncer¡¯s form. His kind rarely had any energy going to and from. Their actions were always firm, not in flux. It was like the only thoughts of action in their mind were either acted upon or completely disregarded.

    I tried to shake but my chains rattled.

    ¡°Hi, Roy.¡± My eyes examined the metal tether for weakness. He seemed to be waiting for me to start.

    ¡°The trinket¡¯s busted.¡± I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. ¡°Charred, and I¡¯m not sure how much longer I can keep myself under control.¡± Snapping at Leo had been a bad sign. Wanting to kill Spike and his friends had been a worse one.

    Roy nodded.

    ¡°I will contact Muni to get you a new one.¡± The man was even decisive with his words. Problem, immediate solution. His struggle was for clarity as everything Roy said came out a weird mixture of crisp and marble mouthed.

    ¡°No.¡± Never again. ¡°The price is too much. I can¡¯t do it again.¡±

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± He switched to a more fatherly tone. We¡¯d known each other for most of my life and he still flipped over to worry.

    My head shook and eyes cast down for a moment. Both hands grasped upward at air. ¡°I¡¯m still sorting out the memories. They¡¯re jumbled, messy, and painful.¡±

    Silence ensued. I tried to stay calm and composed. It wasn¡¯t working too well. These chains irked me. Being locked in this room grated on my nerves. Admitting my memory was a muddled mess added a layer of nervousness into my emotional mix.

    ¡°How was the funeral?¡± I ventured into another topic.

    ¡°Insufficient, but those who knew the old man were there. Almost all of our family, many fighters from his ring days.¡±

    ¡°Must have been some crowd.¡± The girls would have made quite the lineup. Two dozen beautiful women mourning the death of Tal would have emphasized the loss.

    ¡°They were respectful. My father was a pillar of our community. Even our new members were restrained.¡±

    The wake would have been another story entirely. Bottom Pit might have been shut down completely. People would have been drinking and brawling, celebrating a warrior¡¯s life with exuberance.

    ¡°Have there¡­¡± Moments flashed by. Faces blurred as each person from the family struggled to stand out in my mind. I shook the sensations off. ¡°¡­ been many new additions?¡±

    ¡°Some. Not as many. Hunter Crumfield did what he could, but his interest has always been in you, not us. Keeping the family together has been¡± ¡ªRoy frowned¡ª¡°challenging.¡±

    I leaned my head down and tried to scratch an itch. The chains rattled.

    ¡°Daniel¡¯s like that.¡± I sighed. ¡°Steven¡¯s new? Some of the girls? Muni¡¯s godson?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Steven¡¯s part goat or similar. Daniel mentioned pan pipes, and to keep him away from his family. A few others of the tribe or the ladies have turned up.¡±

    I frowned and tried to remember the names of their species. Daniel had access to lots of information as a Hunter. His kind, Hunters, had compiled a large database on the races. Habits, pathologies, extra strengths and especially our weaknesses.

    ¡°Are we enough?¡± My lips twisted and I tried to remember what the next few steps would be.

    ¡°To go public?¡±

    I nodded. Roy had talked to his father about going public before. It was an option but the cost would be difficult.

    ¡°Perhaps. We¡¯ve expanded over the last few years. Would you believe the girls wanted to open a dance studio and theater?¡±

    I smiled. That was really good news.

    Roy smiled too, and kept going. ¡°My boys suggested Rachel open a bakery, but she declined,¡± he said.

    I laughed. Rachel had issues leaving wherever she¡¯d claimed as home. The fact she¡¯d picked up and moved to Tennison for me was downright amazing. Yet another aspect of my history that hadn¡¯t fully registered.

    Hell. They¡¯d all uprooted their lives just to help me. The smile soured as my mind whirled around what had been happening. The amount of work everyone had gone through to help me.

    Roy noticed the change in mood and shifted his answer accordingly.

    ¡°Some of the others have been working with government officials, getting a feel for which way they¡¯d lean. We have no sure answers. Hunters like Crumfield know we¡¯re out there, but no one knows how many, or how concentrated we¡¯ve dared become.¡±

    ¡°No, then. We can¡¯t risk it,¡± I said. All those people back at Bottom Pit, the girls, Ted and Barnie, Roy¡¯s tribe, would be in trouble if we went public. It took hundreds of years for humans to accept the three races already in existence. We, people like us, were all supposedly dead.

    Where did that put me?

    ¡°Are you sure? Being public would give us legal recourse, but it¡¯d also put our more frail members in danger.¡±

    ¡°Hell,¡± I muttered. ¡°I¡¯m not sure of anything. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s the best way to go. I don¡¯t know how to keep everyone safe. Plus the fallout, the worry. People would riot and burn down your homes.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what we worry about,¡± Roy said, and nodded. Neither of us said we were afraid of it, but we were also responsible for those near us. ¡°Hunter Crumfield showed us the Sins. They implied things could go wrong.¡±

    I nodded while my gut tightened. The Sins of the People was a visual story elven clans kept a record of. It helped them explain why they had to be part of the Purge.

    I vaguely remembered some of the wording now. Without Muni¡¯s charm in my way these things were becoming more apparent. And Roy was right to be worried. Humanity had reacted out of fear before. People like me had reacted out of rage before. Such a battle would only escalate and result in more death.

    ¡°Do you plan to stay here?¡± Roy switched topics.

    I huffed and tried not to think about the Sins right now. It didn¡¯t work right without an elf. Everything about it felt like a badly told bar tale until seeing the presentation.

    ¡°Maybe. I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s best. Fighting the charges means risking exposure. Staying here keeps me near Leo,¡± I said. This place annoyed me but the alternatives weren¡¯t great either.

    Roy nodded but said nothing of his son¡¯s welfare. It struck me as weird since runts were meant to be protected until they were warriors. This whole throwing Leo into the legal system spoke of more than simple runt status.

    ¡°They¡¯ve got a trial set for you with a list of charges. The case is still building though, so it might be a while,¡± Roy said.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter!¡± It only took a few crimes to put me away for one lifetime. ¡°I¡¯m guilty by the law! Every single action I¡¯ve done can be considered a hate crime since there¡¯s no one else like me!¡±

    My arms slammed down. The table dented and chains groaned. Air grew heated and I struggled to get myself back under control. I rapidly wound the metal around my forearm and held tight, as if my surfacing mind could be restrained through a physical binding.

    The outburst was unexpected, to me and Roy. For just a moment his energy fluctuated in defense. I saw a swirl of essence as one he almost backed in to a fighting stance. One ghostly arm swept up and the other back. But Roy, the physical version, hadn¡¯t moved an inch.

    My guards were less composed. Two came in the door, one with an electrical taser out and ready to go. My fingers were up and body huddled. They reviewed the room¡¯s status briefly before unhooking the chains and ushering me out.

    I managed to speak again and said, ¡°Find Daniel.¡±

    I could feel Roy¡¯s attention locked on my retreating form. There was no swirl of movement or sign of a nod. He sat still and kept silent as they yanked me away.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 6 - Solitary Pity

    The past rolled through, as it had repeatedly for days. At least these thoughts were becoming more linear. Individual items cropped up randomly, but at night it kept a single thread. Maybe I had Muni to thank for that.

    This time I was a child again, and my dwelling had been invaded. Three people stood, poking and prodding everything. I could feel each disturbance of desks, shuffling of the tarp and stir of air.

    Their talking was harder to understand. One voice was deep, but didn''t feel in charge. Another voice registered with sharper tones. A woman whose sounds were bored and edging into annoyed. The man in the middle touched nothing. He stood while his minions went about their disturbing inspection of my home.

    I was in an air vent elsewhere in the building¡ªhiding off in a corner and waiting for them to leave. Not that anything up there was of any value. No food, no money, nothing of consequence to normal people, but this was my home.

    That only made sense in an abstract way. My thoughts as a small child had been muddled half the time. Almost instinctual instead of reasoned.

    Those thoughts had picked up the invaders¡¯ footsteps from outside. Unhurried weights pressing mud and concrete down as the three walked up. Options were weighed and escape routes barely considered before one was chosen. I chose an exit then quickly crawled forearm over forearm down a metal pathway.

    "He might be down here," the bored female said. Her words had become more distinct and chased after me. I felt her kneeling before the ventilation duct I''d crawled through.

    "Kid!" the deeper male shouted down the tube.

    I had to get elsewhere immediately and should have left a long time ago. This den wasn''t worth fighting over, and I was too small for a battle on their scale. These three people were all bigger than I, moved with a stable grace.

    Danger. Flee.

    The voice in my head was back, and useless because I''d already made a move to escape. I slowed to reduce noise while shuffling around a corner. There were twists and turns to the shaft, one combination would lead outside.

    "Kid¡¯s going down this way. Over here!" Her words were easiest to pick out. They carried further into the objects about me than the two men.

    I hesitated after she yelled. The woman¡¯s tone warbled with a vibration reminding me of someone, but I couldn¡¯t tell who. Was she mad at me or her comrades? Perhaps if it had been just her I might not have run.

    Their footsteps were harder to feel as they moved out of the sanctuary I''d worked on. Hearing distorted from layers of metal. Sound echoed in odd ways as I crossed more corners.

    Must escape.

    I mistakenly turned left instead of right and found myself at a dead end. My arms and legs banged loudly as I worked to back up and go out the right exit. Sunlight greeted me down the correct turn.  For a moment I winced as something pounded behind my eyelids. A beat, like my heart was thudding louder than ever before.

    Escape was so close, so important, that I missed the large shadow moving. The larger man I''d felt upstairs grabbed me from the tunnel¡¯s exit. His arms struggled to get a lock on my flailing limbs. I snarled, growled, and kicked anything that moved.

    Hunters! Dangerous!

    "Whoa, this is no malformed pup," the large man said.

    "No, he''s not," the third person spoke. He stood still back a ways while the other two were too close. "A pity. That would have been easier."

    Both feet jerked and my gut clenched, frantically trying to kick my way to freedom.

    "This a one oh one?" the man holding me asked.

    "Likely. I''m not sure what kind though,¡± their leader responded.

    I struggled, and they talked right over my head. The girl was busy clinking objects.

    "He''s some sort of fire attribute, and is strong as hell." The large man had me pulled tightly against him. Arms wrapped around mine, legs locked against one side to prevent violent kicking. "Whoa, boy. Calm down," the one holding me said.

    I shouted words that made no sense. Garbled half spoken things. The sensation in my mind was creeping up and swallowing vision in its wake. Heat turned up, steaming the air.

    "Not going to be able to hold him much longer!" the large man bellowed.

    "I got ¡¯im!" she said.

    Clinking preceded a pair of cuffs being clamped over my wrists. I jerked my hands and arms trying to break this binding. They persisted through my efforts.

    Too weak. Too young.

    "They on?" the big one asked.

    "Drop ¡¯im," she said.

    Suddenly I was flopping on the ground. Both feet struggled to get under me but nothing worked right. My arms jerked over and over struggling to get purchase.

    "Not a wolf. Not an elf in disguise. Daylight so not a vampire. Definitely a one oh one," the female judged.

    I managed to get my legs in order and tried to bolt between the female and smaller man. The man did something that tripped me up, and like a flash he was pressed over me, pinning my smaller frame to the ground.

    The world grew heated but it wasn''t enough. There was no fire, only warmth. Inside my head the deeper voice was repeating itself. Giving me impressions of their clothes, listing each twitch of this trios¡¯ muscles as a reason to escape.

    "I''ve got to ask, kid. You''re not a wolf, right?"

    A what? I huffed with pain, almost squeaking.

    "See, wolves have rights, and god knows I can''t stand the paperwork nightmare that''d be. If you''re a wolf I may just kill you to save myself the headache." The dangerous man held me down and snarled in my ear.

    I shuddered, either from pain or his tone of voice. Eventually my head shook. I wasn''t one of those fuzzy things.

    "Good. You got parents?" their leader asked me.

    I shook my head again while trying not to seize up. The man was heavy and he showed no signs of lightening the load. The other two hadn''t moved very far from behind us.

    "No hopping like that one in Dales," the irritated woman commented.

    "No spitting either. God, that thing was gross," the large man who¡¯d captured me said.

    The woman jerked my head around and rubbed my temple. "I don¡¯t feel any weird bumps. Nothing on his mop top. Looks like he''s just a kid. A filthy one." Her face winced briefly.

    "Could be a disguise. Unless filth is a sign." The larger man brushed off his clothes from all the dirt and grime.

    "No. Dirt¡¯s just dirt. It doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re monsters, but the heat, this heat is something else."

    "Listen, you two," the man pinning me grunted. He struggled to hold me in place. The way he held me down, twisted just slightly, was nearly gentle despite my squirming.

    "Yeah, none of our business. One oh one''s are yours."

    "Good, now help me get him into the car," the one holding me said.

    "You sure?" she asked.

    "Christ, you two, do you want me to kill this kid?"

    "Not really," the larger man said. "Jo?"

    The female stood off to the side. I could make out part of her features from where I was pressed into the ground. My face melded with dirt on one side, the other eye watering.

    "Yeah. Let¡¯s get the kid up," she said while fighting back a frown that added years to her features.

    As soon as my legs were operational I kicked. They barely flinched, instead braving the damage to grab both legs. I bent one direction, then the other.  Nothing got me loose, and with my arms bound by those cuffs it was even harder to make headway. Not to mention they were each at least half again my size. Even the female dwarfed my childish body.

    One opened a door into their noisy metal box. The two males wedged me into the back while I struggled and screamed. Not one sane word had popped out of my mouth this entire time. Then they slammed the door shut.

    I dashed around the little compartment looking for handles, signs of structural weakness, small places to crawl into and hide. Finally I curled up near the far end, glaring at the other figures who stood outside talking.

    Moments passed, then the larger male and female left. The other male, who had pinned me down before, got into the front through another door. The sudden nearness sent me scrambling to the other side of the rear cabin and away from the dangerous man.

    Another head popped up from the front. This figure was smaller, red headed and annoyingly cheery. The same boy who''d shown up before was now sitting in the front with no fear of the larger male.

    "Hey, Dad, you found my friend!" Daniel said.

    "Yeah?" The man raised an eyebrow and turned around to glance at me again. "You sure, little man?"

    "Yeah, big man! This is my friend. He smells like brimstone. Only without the cat piss."

    "Does he now?" His gaze turned harsh for a moment then slackened as the younger boy looked up. I watched the transformation pass by so smoothly it might have been imagined.

    "Only sometimes. Like when he''s mad or hungry. He''s hungry a lot."

    "Most boys are." The older man smiled at Daniel. It looked nothing like the other boy¡¯s too wide grin or the teeth from my memory.

    "He''s not a monster though, not like the one you told me about!"

    "No. I agree, he''s not like the others." My belly rumbled and Daniel¡¯s father almost smiled at me. It nearly broke what little sanity I had left to get a look like that. One part pity, part worry.

    "So you won''t..."

    "We''ll see how it goes, little man."

    I remembered how to speak in proper English. "I want my stuff," I muttered. Daniel¡¯s father gave me a calculating glare, put his car into drive and hit the gas.

    That night¡¯s memory recall ended, leaving me sweating in the cot with my hands clamped over my mouth. Nathan¡¯s body lay still, and Leo¡¯s body took slow, deliberately even breaths.

    The days went on.

    I stood in the cell counting items, trying not to panic. Something was missing from my small stash of items but my thoughts were so scrambled I couldn''t figure out exactly what it might be. I''d been unable to sit here safely and keep things guarded.

    Going into the yard, doing my work, roaming the area, everything came with risk. It was impossible to stop. I collected gleaming rocks, stole coins from another man¡¯s cell, and even a bar someone had dropped from the workout bench. Not because I needed a weapon but because of the reflection.

    My nature had compelled me. I recognized the actions for what they were. The desire to gather these objects coupled with a need for patrol. Like some weird cat bird dog mixture of insanity. It was part of my nature, a giant beast with the leathery wings needed to hoard.

    Small treasures were hidden when no one was looking. The bar went above the cell door. Coins and rocks into the unused mattress above me. Nothing clever enough to stop a real search.

    This sort of thing had been happening to me since the first day. Find a place to call my own. Start amassing useless belongings. At least I hadn''t dug through trash or anything outright filthy. Even the rocks were carefully washed and scrubbed clean.

    And like all things I owned, there was a slowly forming connection. Threads of energy and lifeless colors would call me back each night as surely as the guard¡¯s announcements over the speakers.

    Nearly three weeks and no one had tried to stab me. No one even approached me for conversation besides Leo. Spike had been out for two days without incident. Simms stopped conversation all together.

    He wasn''t mine, therefore his problems were his own to deal with. I carefully felt each rock and went about my day. Lost in thought and growing scarily secure in the false peace Atlas Island was offering.

    ***

    The father¡¯s car rattled and bounced across bumps. Divots jerked the vehicle into other lanes. Each jostle made the boy in front frown. He didn''t like the car.

    I hated it. The movement made me sick. I slid down as far possible and covered as much of my head as I could with bound arms. Between elbows and forearms was a view of crisscrossed lattice.

    Home was growing farther away. Too far.

    "What are you going to do with my friend?" the boy asked.

    "I''m not sure yet, little man."

    They spoke about me like I wasn''t present. Correcting them was beyond me. My stomach heaved despite the effort to swallow it down.

    "You all right back there?"

    Nodding was difficult, instead I shivered and swallowed again.

    "He looks sick, big man. Can we stop?" the boy said.

    "Sure." Noise clicked and the car slowly curved to one side. Noise vibrated through as dirt ground under heavy pressure.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    I swallowed again, tasting salt and ash. My arms trembled and vision blurred.

    In my head there was an unset growl. Not anger or rage, not fire or distinct words. It unhappily keened until the vehicle fully stopped.

    "Is he going to puke?"

    "Maybe," the father said.

    "Let him out!"

    "No can do, little man. I''m not going to risk you to whatever he is. What if he can fly?"

    I was too young to do more than glide.

    "He''s my friend!"

    "So you''ve said." The father¡¯s voice sounded displeased. It barely registered beyond the slow pounding of my heart.

    I was so far from home now. Farther than I''d ever dared walk.

    How would I find her if I left? What if she showed up needing my help? No one would be there. These people, this father and son who hunted were ruining it all. I fell onto the floor and lay curled between metal and upholstery.

    "Why''s he upset? Doesn''t he want to go home?"

    "Lots of these things"¡ªthe father paused and almost sounded embarrassed¡ª"I mean non humans, find it hard to leave an area. Some get very violent."

    "Like he tried to kick Jo." The child sounded cheery. His voice was closer. I peered up and noticed he''d been staring at me. My arm covered my face and blocked the two out of sight. At least the nausea was easing.

    "You will call her Josephine, only her close friends use Jo."

    "But Jo¡ª" Daniel paused. "Josephine likes me."

    "Until she gives you permission you will use her full name. Or Miss Kallum." Even though Daniel¡¯s father sounded distracted, I sneaked another glance. Both of them had their faces near the metal, watching me for signs of anything.

    "Ugh. Motion sickness?" Daniel said. Only a child''s voice could twist with that disgust.

    "Where did you¡ª" The father sighed. "You''re probably right. Kid, you ever been in a car before?"

    I jerked my head back and forth once, like I was shaking off something gross.

    "Ever been in a vehicle of any sort?"

    I was breathing easier. Leaving my space on the ground didn''t feel right. Anywhere else back here would put me closer to their peering faces.

    "Train, plane, bus, anything?"

    "Or a bike."

    "Or a bike," the father agreed.

    I chose not to respond. My heart hammered fast still, the onset of sickness was replaced by an awkward fear. Their words, the judgment and almost wounded tone.

    "What do you think, little guy?"

    "Huh?"

    "Think about the hints we¡¯ve gotten so far. Your friend has no family and says he¡¯s never been in a car." The older man¡¯s voice stayed low. "Heat, smells like brimstone. He looks like a boy about your age. Not human, not a wolf, not a vampire or elf. So he¡¯ll be one of ours. Think on your lessons, what could he be?"

    The father was talking out loud for someone¡¯s benefit. He hadn''t talked like this when chasing me or working with the other two. It finally registered he was using me as a lesson.

    "Wanted his stuff? And motion sickness?" the boy said.

    "All might be signs, or might not be. What fits?"

    "I dunno."

    "What else is there?" the father asked.

    "Uhhh..." There was a pause and sharp intake of breath. "His fingers?"

    "Maybe. What do you see?"

    "He keeps rubbing the carpet."

    I did? A pleasant numbness had crept to my palm. Both eyes shot to my hand in accusation.

    "He speaks English,¡± the boy added another detail.

    "And some Greek if I heard right, but what does that mean to us, little man?"

    At that age, I had no clue what Greek could be.

    "That he''s not a demon. Demons are bad and scream a lot. In funny words."

    "Demons are bound to speak in Latin. You''ll have to start learning soon." The older man sighed.  "Right though, not a demon, not any of the long lived races or he probably wouldn''t know English. Maybe something that hibernates, but he has no Emerald Isles accent. It could be a protected voice, but there¡¯s no itching, so he¡¯s not psychic. What else?"

    "He''s super touchy about his belongings too, big man," the boy said. Big man must have been a kind name for his father.

    "Oh?"

    "Yeah. Me and him fought about it. Up there in the warehouse." My nose still hurt from where the boy had kicked me during our fight.

    "You told your mother that was from a bike accident."

    "Oh, yeah"¡ªthe young man then corrected himself¡ª"it was a bike accident. I was biking."

    "Is this where your allowance has been going?"

    "No¡­ maybe¡­" He sighed. "Yes. He was starving."

    "So the break in, the thefts, and the police reports about a homeless boy were all him? The local pack also reported a possible runaway but they couldn''t locate him."

    I felt a lot better physically, but not very well mentally. They had just kept right on talking over me this entire time.

    "Stop talking like that,¡± I demanded, and growled.

    "Like what?" the boy asked.

    "Like I''m not here."

    "Say please!" the young boy said.

    "What''s please?" That wasn''t a word I knew. Not from anywhere in my mind, not from the memories imparted by my father. Not from the slow rumblings in the back of my head that had finally died down.

    "It''s what you say when you want something." A disapproving frown was across Daniel¡¯s slightly freckled face. "Otherwise you don''t get it."

    There were too many strange words. "What about those other things."

    "What other things?"

    "Vampires. And those wolves. The elves. Police. A bike. Cars. Trains."

    The father looked surprised, then sad, then finally turned away from the rear where I was locked up. "All right, I''ve made up my mind," he said.

    "Don''t kill him, Dad!" Daniel squeaked.

    "I''m not, he''s going to Forges. I don''t know anywhere else to put him, and Tal owes me."

    "I don''t like them."

    "You don''t like his son, just because he''s stronger than you."

    "What about my things?" I pressed up against the bars, confident they wouldn''t attack me. They were taking me somewhere that might help provide sanity in this strange world. The first real ray of light I''d had since landing.

    I may have been ignorant of items like planes and cars, but I was animal enough to know danger and being alone was a huge risk. The only person who¡¯d been vaguely kind so far was the boy in front who¡¯d fed me. The mere thought of a warm meal made my belly rumble.

    "Okay, food, then Forges. If he decides to maybe Tal will take you to get your stuff." The father looked at me through the reflective object hanging in front of us.

    "Hamburgers!" Daniel shouted, eager for food himself.

    "Hamburgers. Please." No one could say I didn''t learn quick.

    ***

    Prison moved slowly over the next week. People argued. Wolves and humans kept to different walls in every room. People made calls when allowed, others simply disappeared. Two were stabbed, both human, a wolf was sent to the other side of the island. One lucky person was released for redeeming himself in the eyes of our fine system.

    None of it mattered to me. None of it touched me. I''d walked around with a bubble few dared cross. Maybe it was the constantly angry glare I gave everyone. Maybe it was the man I''d slammed into a wall when he ventured into arms¡¯ reach.

    Maybe it was because of what I was. As memories started to unfurl, it made sense. There was a vibe about me which scared most people off. Instinct was a powerful drive, and I''d never been the type to get along with others. The mopping and cleaning served me well. It was quiet and beat working the textiles like Simms or pounding out license plates like Leo.

    Despite it all, I was strung out mentally. It impacted my rest and left me exhausted each morning. Sometimes I rested against the wall. Other moments found me bracing against the cart while my legs wobbled. Reliving the memories wasn''t unpleasant, but made focusing difficult. The capture of my senses, relaying past words and scents, textures, even emotions was making me feel volatile.

    It worsened as time passed. Days later I stood out in the yard, unfocused on the skyline. The emptiness and swirling air distracted my senses and calmed me. Water might have been better but swimming activities were frowned upon.

    Spike stood on one side, watching everyone. He didn''t seem to have any specific malice for me over anyone else. Leo was near me. His stance and attitude felt strangely protective and distant at the same time. Working at Bottom Pit as a bouncer should have helped him learn to be ready for danger, and still be distant enough that people could have a good time. Plus Roy''s tribe was both distant and protective of the ladies working there.

    The teen¡¯s eyes were closed as his body twisted from one strange posture to another. Those movements stirred memories and reminded me of evenings in Tennison¡¯s park. Other people had tried to haze him the first few times but the hulking teen had ignored them and eventually the taunts died down.

    The bell sounded for everyone to hustle inside. Our shift in the yard was ending and another group was being allowed outside to play.

    I wasn''t even sure what happened exactly. One moment Leo was walking in peacefully just to the front of me. The next he''d shouted, punched a man in the throat, back elbowed another in the face, and finally spun and grabbed another man with his arm locked across the human¡¯s throat.

    My side also hurt.

    "Down on the ground!" a voice blasted across loudspeakers. Noise bounced off walls, rippled through bodies, and sank into weights. I felt each vibration.

    Most people hit the ground fast. A few were simply calm and knelt as if this were a standard day. I stood there, confused. Trying to understand what had happened. My mind had been reliving a mixed mash of moments from Bottom Pit. I pressed one hand against a throbbing pain in my abdomen.

    Authoritative voices shouted. Footsteps hustled downstairs, through hallways and across the yard. Heavy objects of metal were leveled and pointed in our direction. Leo had pushed away his victim and backed up, hands in the air, but he refused to lie down.

    I slid my shirt to the side and noticed a shallow, barely bleeding wound. On the ground an object glinted.

    My brows creased in confusion. I''d been in a daze but hadn''t been completely unaware, had I? Somehow I''d missed the hostility and attempted gutting.

    Two fellows glared in my direction. One wore an equal amount of confusion on his face. The other looked upset. I recognized him as Spike. I''d thought he was just generally mad at the world, but he hadn''t let it go. He had gotten too close.

    And both seemed surprised at my resilience. The mean repetitive shouts closed in. Leo was forced onto the ground and two others tried to get me.

    My mind had been lost in the clouds and memories of years gone by. Now, far too late, I started to get upset over the attempt to hurt me.

    "Silver?" I asked. The shiny metal lay on the ground.

    The voices were close enough to understand. "Down now!" a chorus repeated.

    "You tried to stab me with silver?!" I struggled to push past the two guards who wedged between me and the other man.

    "Down, or that''s a strike!" the guard demanded.

    "I''m not a fucking wolf!" I broke through and kicked the man on the ground in his side. The brief flare of anger coupled with my abilities sent him rolling across the yard.

    Other humans tried to stand but by now there were too many guards. Rifles bashed into heads, cuffs clinked on wrists, and more orders shouted.

    By the end of it we were all on the ground while the prison¡¯s medical team examined the man I''d kicked and my wound. I was okay, increasingly so as the minutes passed. My side hardly hurt but my pride was aggravated. He hadn¡¯t been so lucky.

    Men with guns cleared the yard quickly. People stood behind one set of bars, nosing into our group¡¯s activities. Bringing up the rear was me and the man I''d kicked. He lay on a stretcher and I was ignored for an hour. Finally the male nurse took a few extra minutes analyzing the hole in my shirt and lack of obvious wound on my side. He shrugged and declared me healthy.

    Guards escorted me back to the cell. I tried not to glower but it was hard. Being stabbed, being mistaken for a wolf, poked and prodded while they took my temperature and men who trained their guns on me. Everything was an insult.

    They hustled me back to the cage and locked me in. Leo looked slightly worried. I shook my head to clear the latest round of memory induced fuzz. Every moment, every half seen object, triggered more recollections.

    The nurse reminded me of the first time I''d been to a doctor at the age of twelve. I''d kicked the man in his balls and snarled at the nurse who tried to draw blood. It hadn¡¯t gone well.

    Guns being pointed at me triggered flashbacks of standing in the middle of a downtown gang, one where I held a man by his throat in complete defiance of the ordinance raised against me. He¡¯d owed only four thousand dollars.

    Jeers and shouts brought up memories of standing in Bottom Pit, opening night, throwing my hands up against the protests of an electrified crowd. I threw them up again and rattled the cuffs still on my arms.

    I looked past the worried face of Roy''s son and checked my hiding places for tampering. The urge to canvass my belongings was habit, almost ritual.

    "You all right?" the teen asked.

    I finished my studying glare around the room and settled on Leo''s face. I nodded, then sighed.

    "I''m not a wolf,¡± I said. As if that one statement justified kicking another man so hard he¡¯d been carried off on a stretcher. My mind had devolved to a train wreck.

    Leo shrugged. The motion lifted his thick shoulders and I saw his face overlaid with Roy¡¯s. He said, "It happens to all of us. The trinkets fill in certain blanks. My girlfriend keeps, kept, asking to meet my pack."

    "My trinket was destroyed." I barely registered the idea that Leo had a girlfriend. He was a teen with a built body. Of course he had someone.

    Leo paused and digested the response.

    I paced.

    "Is that strike two?" he asked.

    There were no good answers to that question. I barely registered the first offense, where I¡¯d defied Warden Bennett. "Probably. Not officially."

    The silence stretched. We could hear people whispering to each other. Some outright yelled. I struggled to rein in my senses and not feel their noisy vibrations trail through the air.

    "Are you getting a new trinket?" Leo asked.

    My head shook immediately. "No. Nothing like what I had before. It¡¯s¡­" Messing with my memories had repercussions. Muni herself had said so.

    Leo tilted back and stared at the top bunk. I sat and waited. No one had taken off my cuffs and breaking them would probably be a third strike. I had to retain some options at this point just in case staying here on the friendly side was worthwhile.

    Hours later and the cuffs hadn¡¯t been removed. I dared sleep, and the past once again stole my senses.

    ***

    The place Daniel¡¯s father drove to filled the entire corner. This building was tied into a string of rundown places. Had my senses been stable I could have identified the entire row of businesses as deathtraps and near condemnation. It was a step up from the near abandoned train yard I''d been squatting in.

    Men were inside. Daniel''s father herded us toward the far corner where an older man coached a much younger person. The person punching a giant bag couldn''t have been past twelve or thirteen. An age older than me, but still just a child. His shoulders already curved with early muscle. His movements were rigid and disciplined.

    The old man watched every swing and punch. His eyes studied the movements while checking for mistakes. He stopped the younger man, corrected a foot, said some disapproving words, and went back to the punching bag.

    Other people talked. They were too noisy for me and I tucked my head against a shoulder to block the sound. Vibrations from feet pounded the floor. Weights clinked with a disjointed rhythm. Everything issued forth noisy madness. It was nearly as bad as that pile of metal things had been. Cars, I think.

    Words were said that didn''t make sense above the hum of background sounds. I couldn¡¯t control my senses enough to separate them out correctly. The lack of understanding set me on edge. I scooted toward a wall and searched for the exits.

    Daniel¡¯s father would have none of my attempts at shrinking away. He grabbed me by the shoulder and guided us to the punching bag. The older man looked over, grunted, and stepped away, leaving the younger one on his own. The boy kept punching, barely missing a beat.

    "Crumfield,¡± the old man said. There was displeasure in that greeting. No hands were offered for shaking, no hugs. Their cold attitude and skipping of social pleasantries confused me.

    "Forge.¡± Daniel¡¯s father was equally cold. He used the same gaze upon the old man that he¡¯d used on me. They sized each other up. It felt like watching two creatures get ready for a fight.

    I couldn¡¯t remember where I¡¯d seen that sort of tense stance before. I also didn¡¯t understand their glares at that age. But now, decades later, it was easier to see it was a desire to fight. Something between these men screamed battle, the kind ending in blood.

    "Who¡¯s the runt?" Forge asked.

    "It''s complicated. You got somewhere to talk?"

    ***

    Knocking on the bars shattered my recall.

    "Warden passed the verdicts down. No strike. You¡¯re headed to solitary instead."

    I grunted, unsure if that was good or bad.

    "You''ve got one minute," the guard said. Western Sector agents here weren''t overly hostile. I had yet to see any of them get into inmates¡¯ faces, or do much of anything other than give orders and patrol.

    The inmates weren¡¯t pushing their luck either. Not with the three strike system. I''d started to realize the brilliance of having capital punishment in a place like this. No matter what the inmates experienced or did, there was a certain amount of care and support given for those who got along.

    Those who didn¡¯t would go to the other side of the island, where no one gave a shit about their survival. There would be no nightly safe haven, no interaction with other people. Instead they''d be hunted by feral vampires and wolves or extreme humans.

    Why should the guards get upset? Do better and get to go home. Exist in a strange sort of limbo. Or go to the island¡¯s other side in a modern death sentence. Those were our choices as inmates.

    The guard sighed as I ambled over. He asked, "You faking a mental disorder to get on the warden¡¯s good side? Because it seems to have worked."

    Vampires were notoriously kind hearted to the mentally infirm. To them an unhealthy mind was a thing to be cared for, because it meant a loved one would never be able to join them in eternity.

    I shook my head.

    "Well it turned your outburst from disregarding orders into self-defense," the guard said.

    I shrugged.

    It didn''t matter. The situation was just proof that even a three strike system wasn''t enough to prevent an attempted stabbing in the yard. Murder only counted as a single strike out of three. If that wasn''t a measure of this place¡¯s preferences, then what was?

    I turned to Leo. He looked unhappy but kept quiet.

    Hopefully he''d be okay. His reactions were quick and strong, but he was still half a child. Roy and his kind were tough, but not like me. They didn''t heal like a wolf or vampire might. Being stabbed would be deadly to someone like him and that worried me.

    "How long?" I asked.

    "One week," the guard responded.

    That''d put me at five or six weeks since assaulting the order headquarters. Time moved funny with my messed up memories.

    The door opened and the guard gestured for me to move on. "Let¡¯s go," he said.

    We walked down the row of cells. People from our group were out and doing their tasks. Work hadn''t stopped for most of us. Spike glared from a floor above. He''d been locked up too but wasn''t going to solitary like me. The human hadn''t kicked another man or disobeyed an order to hit the deck.

    Farther we traveled, around a security checkpoint, and another.

    "Any word on my hearing?" I asked. I hadn''t gotten an official sentence yet, or had my charges addressed. The law had shipped me off to Atlas as soon as possible after my bedside confession.

    "Not my business," the guard responded.

    "Will anything happen while I''m in solitary?" Only a few of Western Sector¡¯s employees were visible. Most stood at the end of our hallway by double doors. There were multiple closed down this walkway with heavy doors and latches on the outside that covered their windows. A few presences walked around in their cells. Some were heavy or agitated; others almost comatose.

    "Visitations and hearings are postponed. Your lawyer should know. It''s fairly standard for anyone at Atlas."

    I didn''t have a lawyer.

    We traveled for another ten minutes to a different wing. Everything looked the same inside, so visually it was hard to tell. From my muddled senses, we were about a quarter mile away from my original cell, and a few floors down. We were still above ground level.

    "In you go," he said.

    At least the man acted decently to me.

    I stepped inside, taking in the freakishly white coloring. Nearly everything was polished. There was no mirror but in a corner sat a shower stall, sink, and cot. No television or form of entertainment. Some bars ran across the ceiling though, maybe to workout with.

    The cell was fifteen feet in length. Just enough room to stand and pace for the next week. The joke would be on them. Solitary was how I liked my life and sleeping away a day was little effort. Hibernating like a bear was one of my many ¡®abilities.¡¯

    That thought caused Julianne¡¯s face to flash in my mind. The dark skin, amber eyes, and half smile as she joked with me. She¡¯d died in order to help me. She could have been saved. God, I¡¯d fucked up so many times.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 7 - Again!

    Roy, though I didn¡¯t know his name then, stood punching the bag. His movements would slow briefly, then the boy shook them off and kept hitting. I¡¯d found myself huddled against one wall while Daniel rambled mindlessly.

    ¡°How old are you? What are your parents like? Do you have a cousin? I have a cousin and she¡¯s stupid.¡±

    The lack of response hardly slowed him.

    Roy kept training. His stamina was incredible, even then. The rhythmic punching combined with other noises. One man held mitts up near the ring. Another was jumping rope. Punch. Punch. Click. Click. Thump. Thump. Punch. Punch. The noises drowned conscious thought.

    ¡°Hey, man, it¡¯ll be okay, okay?¡±

    Daniel¡¯s words slipped by my enthralled state. Eventually they faded away and the older larger man stepped into view.

    ¡°Runt. Stop and go cool down.¡± Some words were clear, others weren¡¯t. Runt, stop, and go were almost perfect.

    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Roy¡¯s words fit his features. His young voice sounded abnormally firm. He lacked flab or childish fat, like so many kids I¡¯d seen at the restaurant.

    All my observations were almost passive. A sense of unease crept over me as the room¡¯s rhythm changed again. There was more thumping which made my heart rate speed up. I looked to see the old man motioning me toward another room.

    ¡°Come here.¡±

    Tal¡¯s sudden presence sent me scrambling further down the wall and away.

    ¡°Retreating is only useful when there¡¯s something to be gained,¡± he said.

    My only anchor since free falling into this strange existence had abandoned me. I panicked and tried to recall what he¡¯d been saying. Had he told me what to expect? What the rules were?

    The older man¡¯s face was so hard. It felt like tempered iron, though I didn¡¯t have the words for such an idea at that age. Not because of his oddly tinted skin, not the crow¡¯s feet around his face, not the already peppering hair.

    It was his eyes. They were frighteningly firm and unwavering. When he looked at me, he looked nowhere else. There was nothing else in existence.

    Tal, the muddled name came through. It was a strange mix of my modern mind interjecting thoughts into a memory. He frowned slightly and repeated, ¡°Come here.¡±

    He implied there were no other options. I could delay, waffle, beat around the bush, and avoid eye contact for as long as possible, but I would end up in that room eventually.

    I hadn¡¯t been inside any place but my broken-down rail yard. I hadn¡¯t even gone inside the restaurant.

    The thumping of my blood increased. Noises from the others in the gym beat a disharmonious cadence. I tried to break from the memory and remember how a group of people could perform the same movements while breathing in time.

    My head shook but no words came out. Tal took a step in my direction and nearly scowled.

    ¡°Inside, runt.¡± He paused then pointed at me. ¡°Now.¡±

    The teen kept hitting his punching bag. Other people inside the main room minded their own business. No one seemed to notice or take offense at this treatment.

    He stepped forward and it felt like the world lost track of a beat somewhere. A second step and the older man got behind me, then twisted and locked my arms. My heartbeat hammered desperately. I yelled and struggled to get free.

    My protests were useless in the face of his motions. My arms bent in a way that robbed all strength. Moving wrong shot pain into my joints, which encouraged cooperation. He pushed me inside the room and toward a stiff chair.

    I was freed and moved away from the iron wrought man. Not that it¡¯d be enough. My vision darted around the room. I put the chair between us and stood near a wall. My back pressed into cool wood.

    Tal ignored the posture and paced slowly. ¡°Now. There are rules to living with me, runt,¡± he said. ¡°I will feed you, I will clothe you, I will teach you how to survive in this world.¡±

    I barely registered the words while searching for an escape. This room seemed to be an office of some sort with no other exit. The material next to me felt brittle and thin. Windows were still new to me, but at the same time I¡¯d known them for years. My mind was having trouble existing in two moments at once.

    Tal continued, ¡°You will listen when I give orders. It¡¯s simple. Failure to listen will result in punishment.¡±

    I remembered things growing dimmer. My heartbeat was too loud and being trapped with no form of escape was sending me into a panic spiral. The larger man was too dangerous to risk escaping by. Not after how he¡¯d handled me before.

    Escape. Flee. Will return to den.

    The voice was back. Its words slammed across my dimming consciousness. The pounding grew worse, inner heat had started to grow. I yelped, whimpered, and finally did what any logical creature would in the face of so much pressure.

    I passed out.

    ***

    I woke in the prison cell, screaming and clawing at the walls in order to escape. Heavy bricks had grown heated. Someone outside the door shouted at me. Vibrations poured through every ounce of the wall as my rage sought an outlet.

    Physically I was in solitary at Atlas Island. I knew that much. But at the same time I was a young boy trapped in a room with the much taller and scarier Tal. Alone in a new world. Bereft of the people I¡¯d known.

    He wasn¡¯t going to push me around again. I¡¯d grown stronger to make sure. I¡¯d spent years learning every trick he could offer me and more. He couldn¡¯t fight me anymore in this small space. I¡¯d beat him once before. I¡¯d beat him and left that home. I¡¯d established myself as the stronger male.

    ¡°Get back!¡± I shouted. ¡°Go away! Or I¡¯ll gobble you up! You¡¯re too weak, old man!¡±

    The walls were designed to hold wolves and their reinforcements held despite my efforts. Soon I passed out, only vaguely aware of the damage I¡¯d caused about me.

    ***

    My past resumed from where it¡¯d left off. The childish person I was had been moved to a dark room. The ground beneath me was warm and soft. Much softer than the hard floors of my abandoned train yard.

    ¡°The runt¡¯s half wild.¡± Tal¡¯s slurred words came through a nearby wall. He and another figure whispered to each other.

    ¡°No kidding. He might as well have been birthed from a rock. I mean, he¡¯s not stupid. Kid learned please, speaks perfect English, and has a haircut. The worst ones don¡¯t have haircuts.¡±

    I knew the voice. It made it through my muddled thoughts as belonging to Daniel¡¯s father. My body stilled to make listening easier. Their words were muffled by the thudding of my heartbeat and the punching bags outside.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect him to just pass out.¡± The older man almost sounded bashful.

    ¡°Did you give him the full drill sergeant experience? Because that nearly sent me screaming for the hills in boot. Even Hunter training was secondary to those terrors.¡±

    Drill Sergeant? Was it a title? Like a Legionnaire? It sounded important and worthy of respect.

    ¡°I might have,¡± Tal responded.

    ¡°Jesus, Tal, he¡¯s not the same species you are. Not by a long shot. Your boy might be able to fit into the mold, but this kid¡¯s, well you said it¡ªhalf wild.¡±

    I held my breath while listening, afraid to move and alert them to my wakened status.

    Daniel¡¯s father grumbled then huffed. I was surprised they were so well behaved, given their barely disguised hostility before. He asked, ¡°You sure you can look after him?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Tal said with certainty. ¡°I¡¯ve raised one boy, no reason I can¡¯t raise another.¡±

    A muffled snort of amusement came from the wall¡¯s other side.

    ¡°Your boy is boxing against kids almost twice his age, and winning. That¡¯s hardly raising a child by standard methods.¡±

    ¡°My runt¡¯s got talent. Wouldn¡¯t be fair to overly restrain him.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not unfair to him, just the other kids who don¡¯t know any better.¡±

    ¡°Once he¡¯s old enough I¡¯ll be putting Roy into the interracial competitions, he¡¯ll thrive there.¡±

    ¡°And this other one? You gonna try to make a fighter of him?¡±

    ¡°Maybe.¡±

    ¡°Kid¡¯s got spunk, and strength. Bet he¡¯d give Roy a run for his money in a few years.¡±

    ¡°I doubt it.¡±

    ¡°If you say so. Look, I only dropped by because you wanted to talk this out. I¡¯ll try to be available but it¡¯s hard.¡±

    ¡°I know.¡±

    ¡°And I only brought the boy to you because I¡¯d rather this than losing him in foster care. If anyone would understand his condition it¡¯s you and your son. But¡ª¡±

    The words were cut off as Tal spoke again. His words slow but clearer than normal. ¡°I¡¯m not so addled I¡¯ve forgotten how things work. I know you risk much allowing me and my boy to live. If taking in a stray is the price, I¡¯ll accept it.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you even thought to bring him here.¡±

    There was a long pause and a heavy sigh from Daniel¡¯s father. He said, ¡°We¡¯ve had our differences, Roy.¡±

    ¡°That we have, Crumfield.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re law abiding, no past history worth noting, clean. Therefore I¡¯ll see past all the Hunter History and keep civil.¡±

    ¡°And me and my boy appreciate it.¡± Tal was hard to understand through the wall, past the dim vibrations.

    ¡°That¡¯s what it¡¯s really about, right? The kids. We¡¯d do anything to keep them safe and happy. That¡¯s why I let this wild child slide. My little man likes him. What else can I do?¡± Daniel¡¯s father asked. ¡°I can¡¯t let him down. But I¡¯ll be watching, and may the Gods have mercy if I¡¯ve made the wrong choice.¡±

    ¡°You would have killed a child?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d think twice, but Born Hunters wouldn¡¯t. They¡¯ve got the drive that I don¡¯t. You think Roy¡¯s a handful? Wait until Daniel¡¯s nature starts kicking in. His mom left journals. She went from stalking boys to stalking the wolves next door in about a week.¡±

    ¡°She was worth respect.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, until this job got her killed. But I can¡¯t let that taint everything. Your¡ª¡± Daniel¡¯s father paused and I could feel his head shake, even though he was in another room. There was a swig of liquid splashing followed by a gasp. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, I guess. If you¡¯ll excuse me, I need to reassure the little man that his friend is still alive and figure out what¡¯s left for homework.¡±

    Tal nodded once. I didn¡¯t even question being able to feel them move despite a lack of eyesight. It simply was how things had always been. Tal said, ¡°My runt is waiting as well.¡±

    ¡°Are you still staying up all night training? I remember you never stopped, even during boot camp. You would be up, all night, working. I think it¡¯s the only thing that prevented us from stabbing you. Once we realized you were doing twice as much work as us¡­¡± Daniel¡¯s father trailed off. I struggled to mix past memories with current ones in order to recall his name, but couldn¡¯t. We¡¯d never been close.

    ¡°Discipline is a constant battle,¡± Tal said.

    ¡°All right, I¡¯ll see myself out. Keep me informed about your boarder.¡±

    ¡°If I see fit.¡±

    Daniel¡¯s dad snorted again and both men stepped into the hall.

    Tal, the larger one, opened the door to where I¡¯d been put. A sliver of light spilled in, nearly blinding me. Slowly Tal¡¯s face came into focus. His face was softer than it had been. Our eyes met over the room¡¯s distance and through my crossed arms. I didn¡¯t waver, instead searching for any sign of aggression from his stance.

    ¡°It¡¯s been suggested¡±¡ªhe took great pains to sound clear. I could see the hint of misshapen teeth below the ridge line of his bottom lip¡ª¡°I was too harsh. Tonight you should rest if you can. Tomorrow we¡¯ll eat, and start over.¡±

    He waited for me to say something. I didn¡¯t. Eventually he gave up and closed the door.

    Looking back on my past, with adult eyes, it was easy to understand what was happening. The harshness exhibited by Tal had been a product of his attempts at self-control. Everything he did, the firmness of action and word, was designed to keep a rigid lock on himself.

    But as a child, I didn¡¯t understand. He seemed more like a prison guard than a father.

    I sat, huddled on the bed rewinding everything through my mind. Picking apart words, tones, the pauses between words, anything for a clue on what to expect. During my thoughts all the noises from below departed. One set of footsteps after another. A door slammed and bells jingled multiple times until finally one set of sounds remained. Sharp repetitive motions from downstairs prevented true silence from overtaking the room.

    Thump. Thump. Whoosh.

    ¡°Again!¡± came the older man¡¯s voice.

    Thump. Thump. Whoosh.

    ¡°Again!¡±

    On they went through the night. I remembered Daniel¡¯s dad asking if they trained at night. Their actions below were preparation for something, but at a young age I didn¡¯t know what. Eventually I lost consciousness, still in the bed and rolled in layers of blankets.

    Morning startled me. Light filtered through weak blinds. Noises such as metal dragging across tile kept me twitching. The scraping sound made my skin crawl. Porcelain bowls slammed down with a clank. Spoons curled at the inner edges of thick material, scooping up tiny porous bits of grain.

    I didn¡¯t know what any of those things were, then, and each noise, each feeling, sent me into a frightened panic. I dove from the top of where I¡¯d been resting to the far side, looking around in dawn¡¯s light for a place to escape to.

    I braved the unfamiliar noises for a window. The latch took too long to figure out, so I stood with my face against glass, trying to see if I could get away and home to my refuge.

    There were so many cars. Those objects had nearly hit me multiple times before. They made loud blaring noises, sounding like angry birds. This place was far more crowded than my train yard.

    The door opened behind me with a groan. I turned to see the boy from before. The one Tal called runt, and I¡¯d later learn to be Roy. He¡¯d been up most of the night hitting something, and had still managed to wake up before me.

    ¡°Breakfast is ready,¡± he said.

    My head cocked to one side and tried to puzzle through his tone. It wasn¡¯t friendly, kind, luring, or mean. It didn¡¯t set off any alarm bells. He sounded tired and acted as if my existence was irrelevant. Roy, who was almost a teen, closed the door and walked away.

    A few minutes later I braved that side of the room and tried the doorknob. This was the first one I¡¯d ever run into. It didn¡¯t pull like the restaurant¡¯s front door. I couldn¡¯t just push it out of the way like the broken doors at the train yard.  Eventually I figured out how to turn it and was so delighted I forgot my fear for a moment.

    Tal stood at the bottom of a flight of stairs. His hands were large but deftly unknotting laces on a pair of shoes. He glanced to where I stood.

    ¡°Come on down, boy,¡± Tal said.

    I didn¡¯t move. Tal¡¯s face grew agitated, then calm, then angry again. I watched him rein in multiple times before a deep breath issued and control was established.

    ¡°There¡¯s food for you,¡± he said.

    That had me down the stairs in moments, but wasn¡¯t enough to risk venturing within arm¡¯s reach of the larger man. I skirted him and dashed into the next room where a small table sat in a crowded but orderly kitchen.

    Roy didn¡¯t care one ounce and shoved a plate into my hands and gestured toward the table. He didn¡¯t say anything else and returned to the stove. Judging by the bustle and setup, younger men did the cooking.

    I started picking at the food with my hands.

    ¡°You know what a fork is, boy?¡± Tal asked.

    I shook my head and picked at the meal. It sounded important so I paid attention to every movement. It was a bit of effort, considering how hungry I felt.

    Tal¡¯s face twisted around the eyes but didn¡¯t match the pull at his lips. He came off as annoyed and pitying at the same time.

    ¡°Eat then, whatever way¡¯s comfortable. We¡¯ll work on the rest later.¡±

    I nodded and my eyes glued on the two males. This food was even better than the hamburgers. The material was yellow, fluffy, and clumped. Streaks of orange littered between the groups creating goo that stuck to my fingers.

    And so my first meal with the Forges passed, me an unmannered heathen, Tal trying not to be angry, and Roy giving off an air of disciplined indifference.

    If only I¡¯d known then, what I knew now. Like so much in my life, hindsight made remembering hurt.

    ***

    Noises poured forth. Everything rang from what could only be a blown eardrum. Moments ago the ground had been shaking from a violent earthquake. I could see hairline fractures forming across the top of my cell. The metal surface they¡¯d called a mirror bent crosswise. Bedding had been shredded. Everything was displaced as my mind rewound through the latest set of memories.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    The world felt new again. The raw sensations from my younger self lingered. I held still, feeling the dense nature of metal versus a more porous brick. Gouges were missing from the cell¡¯s lining. Steel rebar poked out like shattered bones from the wall.

    I shook my head and snorted in frustration. My body rumbled. The lights were too bright. I¡¯d been fitfully sleeping. Something blared on the speakers and I struggled to pay attention.

    ¡°Attention, all inmates, you are to stand in the yellow circle identified at the rear of your cell and await further instructions.¡±

    The rear of my cell? Looking around didn¡¯t bring clarity, only recognition of the whirlwind mess that had engulfed my room. Sheets were charred at the ends and scorch marks decorated the walls. A series of small explosions could have gone off and created less damage.

    ¡°Attention, all inmates,¡± it started again.

    My forehead scrunched with effort, trying to disengage myself from the past. I wanted to be free of the childish past. I had survived this far. I wasn¡¯t a small, hungry, scared boy learning about unfamiliar surroundings.

    Only, in a way, I still was all those things. This jail was familiar but new. My hunger had only grown. I must have eaten food but didn¡¯t know how long solitary confinement had gone on for.

    ¡°...stand in the yellow circle...¡±

    Following directions was within my abilities. I shuffled toward the destination which lay buried under destroyed objects. One arm felt hot. My shoulder blades itched. I wanted to grow to the larger version of myself and escape. Something dangerous was nearby but hung out of sight. I could sense currents moving deep underwater, immense and agitated. It moved like my tail did when annoyed, only bigger.

    I shook my head repeatedly. A clammy feeling crawled over my skin. Both lungs gasped for air, each breath more labored than the last.

    Everything shook again, worse than the prior occurrence jolting me out of the past. Both hands covered my head and I ducked to the ground. Heat in the room spiked along with the feeling of suffocation and annoying lethargy. I felt heavily sedated again, but couldn¡¯t be.

    Need to escape. Need fresh air. Need to eat.

    ¡°And await further instructions,¡± came the message¡¯s repeat.

    The room stopped vibrating. My stomach felt bloated and the hungry feeling numbed and faded, leaving a disturbing absence in its wake. I still felt heated but as things stayed quiet even that drifted off, leaving me huffing and struggling to control my breathing.

    I couldn¡¯t afford to transform here, not with the risk of Hunters. Whatever danger there was must have abated. Again the warning message looped. I lay, curled on the ground, recovering.

    Someone knocked loudly on the door before shouting, ¡°Inmate one, three, seven, four, four, please step back. Any attempt to escape will be met with a lethal response.¡±

    Right, because I felt mentally and emotionally equipped for a jailbreak. Instead of shouting back my first response, I settled for ¡°okay¡± and tried to at least sit.

    One guard opened the door with his hand tightly clutching his firearm, ready to shoot. Two more stood behind him with clear lines of sight. They shifted uneasily.

    ¡°Confirmed,¡± he spoke into a shoulder piece. ¡°One, three, seven, four, four, is alive and appears unharmed. Room¡¯s a mess, though. Put him down for a contraband check.¡±

    Garbled words bounced through the equipment.

    ¡°You able to stand?¡± the guard asked.

    I didn¡¯t nod and slowly climbed to my feet. The guards trailed my every move with their guns.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a pair of arm and leg restraints, once they¡¯re on we¡¯ll holster, sound fair?¡± he said.

    Cue the indifferent shrug. What was I going to do, hold out for a better deal? Bullets hurt and getting shot wasn¡¯t on my list of desires.

    I turned around slowly. They clinked everything into place and allowed me to sit. One guard left and the other two stayed for some reason.

    My eyebrow raise was question enough. One guard shrugged. ¡°Orders said to secure you,¡± he said. They were Western Sector guards but it was likely Warden Bennett wanted to talk.

    It felt worth confirming. ¡°Warden¡¯s orders?¡± I questioned.

    ¡°You got it. He signs the paychecks. We dance his tune.¡±

    Neither one gave me dirty glares or sideways glances. They were really treating this like a job. Maybe they were messed up from the big shake earlier but they didn¡¯t let it cause hostility.

    Then again, I didn¡¯t put up a lot of argument either. I would be willing to bet people like Spike might mouth off. Attitude garnered attitude in response.

    ¡°You get earthquakes often out here?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No,¡± the other guard responded. His jaw set firmly to one side.

    Both guards remained near the door, leaving me the interior. They alternated between my figure and the walls. More than once I could see them looking at my hands, likely the fingernails for any sign of what had dug grooves in the walls.

    ¡°They assigned you a psyche yet?¡± one asked. He sounded a bit more soft-spoken than the other guard.

    I blinked.

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t had a sentence come down yet,¡± the gruffer man answered for me.

    ¡°Really? Given these walls, you¡¯re going to need a mile of rehabilitation. You couldn¡¯t have scored high with this kind of outburst.¡± The lighter toned guard shook his head while scanning the damage.

    I couldn¡¯t tell much difference between the two beyond a slight difference in skin color. One was brown from more than a tan, the other a slightly tanned white. Both wore a suit that blocked almost all their features.

    ¡°I have anger management issues,¡± I admitted.

    ¡°Hah. I¡¯ll bet.¡± The gruff darker one shook for a moment.

    His friend nodded and said in a surprisingly friendly tone, ¡°Need a psyche, they¡¯ll help you get on track.¡±

    It didn¡¯t matter how many times I thought about it. Their attitude toward inmates was out of place.

    I raised an eyebrow and played along. ¡°Oh?¡± I said.

    ¡°If you work at it. I¡¯ve seen people come in here all wound wrong. There have been a few who¡¯ve really tried, talk to a shrink, attend the sessions, really work at it. Even a wolf can get back on track, sometimes easier than humans or vampires. It¡¯s good, too, you stay straight out there, means less shit for us to worry about.¡±

    ¡°Or they don¡¯t,¡± came my bitter response.

    They shuffled uneasily for a moment. Maybe they didn¡¯t like the idea of us dying in here. I couldn¡¯t say for sure what made them pause their friendly advice.

    ¡°How many strikes they got on you?¡± the darker one asked.

    ¡°One and a half,¡± I replied.

    ¡°Half?¡± The whiter guard smirked. ¡°Ain¡¯t a thing. Guess they can¡¯t push you over until a sentence comes down.¡±

    ¡°Now, Marshall, you shouldn¡¯t be revealing trade secrets like that,¡± a bored voice said.

    Warden Bennett had arrived, and now I knew the whiter man was named Marshall. Unless Marshall was his title.

    ¡°Warden Bennett, sir. I was just trying to help,¡± the man who might be Marshall responded with a jerk.

    ¡°Caretakers. You¡¯re dismissed.¡±

    Warden Bennett stepped into the room and glanced around. His face twitched in surprise that was rapidly reined in. Neither of the guards remained in sight. They¡¯d left me bound tight so security wasn¡¯t an issue. The Warden hit like any other vampire so he wasn¡¯t exactly defenseless.

    I offered a conversation starter. ¡°He was chatty.¡±

    ¡°Marshall had a brother who stayed with us briefly. He righted himself after a lot of work.¡± The Warden took a single deep slow breath. ¡°It is possible to redeem the wrongs that earn people their stay, and make no mistake, correcting people¡¯s ability to interact with society is what Atlas is all about.¡±

    That was a load of shit, so I called him on it. ¡°Or sending them to the other side to die.¡±

    ¡°Society has no place for those who can¡¯t function within its bounds.¡±

    I repeated Western Sector¡¯s motto like a puppet, ¡°Everything for the Peace.¡± This place was their correctional institute. It made sense their ideals would encompass its actions.

    ¡°Indeed, Mr. Fields.¡±

    My head shook slowly.

    ¡°Why are you here, Warden? I assumed you¡¯d get me booted to the other side as quickly as possible.¡±

    ¡°Were things so simple, perhaps. The state of this room could be considered a strike were I inclined.¡± Warden Bennett walked over to one of the walls and inspected the scorch marks.

    ¡°However, as Marshall said, until you¡¯ve been given an official sentence, it¡¯s unwelcome to put your life at risk in any severe fashion.¡±

    ¡°Then what?¡±

    ¡°What relation do you have to Western Sector?¡±

    The question caught me so off guard it was impossible to hide the surprise from my expression.

    ¡°I¡¯ll save you the how. Every inmate to Atlas has a check run. Your case warranted further investigation. I found it carefully filed away through layers of tape, which only served to intrigue me.¡±

    I leaned back and rested my head against the wall and suppressed a sigh.

    ¡°By all normal processes you would have been bundled up and shipped to Atlas years ago, but there¡¯s no record on file of any attempts. Then nothing for years, and the last finger on your sheet belonged to Daniel Crumfield.¡±

    I didn¡¯t even know what to say. The truth was out, but Warden Bennett didn¡¯t seem like the type to ask questions when he was missing puzzle pieces.

    Vampires. Hell. Decades of time to learn skills, to read faces, hear heartbeats stutter at any attempted lie. Even asking the right questions would speed my pulse enough to reveal something.

    Warden Bennett flipped through his sheets of papers. I wanted to rip them out of his hands and see exactly what was written, but small typed print put me to sleep.

    ¡°I wondered exactly what was going on, and this earthquake only serves to alarm me more.¡±

    ¡°Get to it, Warden.¡±

    ¡°Assume anything we talk about will be kept in the strictest confidence, and I only ask to ensure you are not a threat to my facility. I¡¯ve invested too much time and effort into making this run smoothly.¡±

    ¡°Still waiting for a question,¡± I said.

    ¡°I believe Jay Fields is a cover, and you¡¯re assuming the identity of a man who died years ago. Are you undercover?¡±

    My heart jumped. Dead? No. But Warden Bennett had given me an out even if he hadn¡¯t intended it. Hell, maybe someone really was looking out for me. Had Daniel been clever enough to stamp the file just in case? His mind was a maze of plans.

    ¡°Are you asking if I¡¯m on a sojourn?¡± I threw out the word in desperation. I¡¯d heard Daniel¡¯s fianc¨¦e utter it to a pack inspector. The term was a code word to imply Western Sector agents were undercover as someone else.

    ¡°Are you?¡±

    Gods above, I had a chance. I had leverage. The man himself had wandered right into my cell, isolation he placed me into, then just gave me a solution. My heart hammered. This would be dicey.

    I stood and let our height and bulk differences do the work for me. Warden Bennett with his albino features seemed even more pale than normal. He stood in the wreck of my room with his clipboard. My hands and feet were bound, but he was still worried about something.

    Hell. He was taking carefully shallow breaths, which was a sign of stress for any vampire. They tasted the air for signs of danger.

    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t answer that.¡± My response was deliberately vague.

    Both eyes rolled down his features, looking, truly looking. I sized him up like a fighter in the ring, or a debtor who was trying to hide things. He was prey, my prey, in my cell.  Angry pleasure thrummed across the back of my mind.

    ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s be purely hypothetical.¡± His voice held steady. The man was pressing forward at least.

    Warden Bennett leaned out of the room and glanced side to side. I assumed he¡¯d be calling for help or making sure we were truly alone.

    He turned back to me and posed a real question. ¡°If, perhaps, someone were to come to Atlas on a sojourn, what would their aim be?¡±

    ¡°Not you.¡± Technically the truth. I wanted nothing to do with the Warden or this place.

    I¡¯d seen vampires nervous, and Warden Bennett was almost sweating bullets despite my answer.

    ¡°And my facility?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Then they¡¯d be here for a person. Someone who is a threat. Unless...¡± His eyebrows creased and for the first time since we¡¯d met I saw the clipboard discarded. It clattered to the floor as he went utterly still.

    Warden Bennett blurred into motion toward me. I stepped back and my arms clinked in their bindings. He blinked twice, glaring at me and breathing sharply, then flittered back across the room. Strangely, I could feel where he was moving.

    ¡°Is this about my Guardianship?¡± He was agitated, both eyes spiraling and a vague tint of red crept across his pale skin. ¡°That was the earthquake wasn¡¯t it. It¡¯s waking up. But that¡¯s impossible, we¡¯ve adhered to all the...¡±

    He stopped moving again. I waited on my side of the cell to avoid startling the vampire. The last thing I needed was a Warden of Atlas Island upset with me as he panicked about some secret getting out of control.

    I didn¡¯t know for sure, what the pale man meant, but he clearly felt unnerved.

    ¡°Something¡¯s wrong. But how could they predict that something, no, that wouldn¡¯t be beyond them. They knew, they knew and sent you here to see. No¡ª¡± He snapped up the fallen clipboard and flipped through the papers as if it held answers to what his mind was going through. It didn¡¯t. I mean, hopefully there weren¡¯t secrets stored on a clipboard, of all things. ¡°Very well. My brothers and I know our duties. We will resolve things. You¡¯ll see. Then you can report we¡¯ve cared well for all our charges.¡±

    What delusion had crossed his anachronistic mind? He said duties, like there was an entire list on his job description besides ¡®Let people at Atlas kill each other.¡¯ It also involved the other Wardens. There were two brothers I¡¯d never seen. They must be busy elsewhere with this guardianship task. I guessed they were taking care of something more than inmates and facility.

    ¡°Best get going then, Warden Bennett.¡± I grinned and tilted my head slightly.

    ¡°Guards!¡± Bennett backed out the door and slammed it shut, leaving me smiling in the midst of my torn room.

    Without a clue I¡¯d managed to shift the tables of power. Now I was a ticking time bomb watching over him for some sort of performance improvement. I was a threat or a safety precaution against his charge going out of control.

    By the time guards unchained my arms and legs I¡¯d started to worry. That hadn¡¯t been the look of a sane vampire or one thinking calmly about a problem. He¡¯d been afraid, not of me, but of those he suspected sent me forth. What the hell had I just pushed the Warden into?

    Word came down an hour later that my solitary stay had been extended but I¡¯d be allowed supervised visitation rights. They¡¯d successfully separated me in order to track my movements.

    At least they gave me clean sheets and replaced the shined metal with an unbent version. Atlas could be accommodating.

    ***

    Tal had been trying to get my attention for a few minutes. Each call in my direction made him more irritated.

    ¡°Boy.¡±

    In the memories replaying, childish me had a strange object in my hands. Wooden blocks that slid together. I could feel the edges inside and out, but taking it apart wasn¡¯t clear.

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you, boy.¡± Tal stood directly over me. I shuddered and scooted out of his shadow to the nearest wall. He sighed and shook but the feelings were distant. ¡°This is foolish. We need a name for you.¡±

    Days ago they¡¯d asked me what I should be called, but my mouth didn¡¯t form the words right. Saying the sound didn¡¯t come with the right rumbles of earth and a single low note. Human mouths couldn¡¯t produce the word.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I agreed. We had covered the subject once, and I didn¡¯t really care as long as they didn¡¯t try to touch me again.

    ¡°What do you want to be called?¡±

    ¡°Boy seems fine,¡± Roy suggested. Most of the time he was quiet and worked hard. He said less than I did, which was nothing like Daniel the chatterbox.

    I could almost separate my mind into the present and past. Watching these events from decades ago came with a certain amount of disconnect. But I knew Roy and I were never very sociable, even as children.

    ¡°It¡¯s not right to be without a name,¡± Tal grumbled.

    ¡°You won¡¯t use it until he¡¯s proven to be a man.¡± Bitterness had barely been covered up by Roy¡¯s dispassionate tone.

    ¡°Having a name and being recognized by it are different things. Until I was a Champion people just called me the challenger.¡± They seemed more concerned with jostling each other than me. I stood against the wall, fussing with the puzzle. My stomach would be rumbling soon but the problem helped distract me.

    Tal went on, ¡°In the army no one ever addressed me by anything other than rank.¡±

    The father and son seemed oblivious to the others¡¯ feelings. I could see the older man explaining his views on respect. The younger male was desperately trying not to roll his eyes while skipping a jump rope.

    All this passed through my mind while fingers struggled with the wooden blocks. I finally put too much pressure on the wrong spot and a piece snapped off. Seconds later I¡¯d crunched the whole delicate puzzle to bits and felt my lip quiver. It wasn¡¯t fair.

    ¡°Boy seems fine,¡± Roy said again. ¡°He doesn¡¯t respond to anything but food anyway.¡± I¡¯d bent over to pick up my broken puzzle when Roy said the magic word.

    ¡°Food? Hamburger? Other meat?¡± I perked up.

    Roy¡¯s head shook. ¡°See? He¡¯s bottomless. Call him Pit.¡±

    ¡°So are you. Boys. I swear a girl would have been easier,¡± Tal said with an annoyed frown. ¡°Maybe Crumfield will have an idea.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t even use his name right, why does it matter?¡±

    ¡°All sorts of things require a name. Sooner or later we¡¯ll have to send him to school.¡± Tal sounded like he was chewing on his inner lip. ¡°It¡¯s been a week since he¡¯s broken anything. He¡¯s learning control.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not control,¡± Roy said.

    I gave Roy a sidelong glance only to see him staring at me from a few feet away. He studied me like I did the busted puzzle. A quick glance his direction picked out key features. Father and son both had protruding lower jaws where bottom teeth stuck out at an uncommon slant. Both had slightly yellow skin which no one else mentioned.

    I¡¯d seen all sorts of skin colors since landing in this world. One man had been a bright red and afraid to be touched. Another, a deep black and without hair on his head. Two smaller children had tiny eyes and wide smiles in light yellow skin.

    No one cared about color difference. There were other differences that made some nervous. One man, white skinned, was treated with wariness by everyone but Tal. He moved quickly but in a sloppy manner, yet still managed a straight line. As if he couldn¡¯t make himself turn when moving fast.

    A flicker of motion headed my way. It sent me scooting farther from Tal. He gave me another glance and I tried to pretend that I wasn¡¯t watching them back. They were nice enough but having people close by was uncomfortable.

    They had food, though, and that was a far cry better than where I¡¯d been. Even if Tal had declared all my belongings to be trash and refused to bring most of it home.

    I got to keep a few marbles that had been scattered and lost in one office. They were hidden between mattresses in my new room upstairs.

    Tal pointed at me. ¡°Say that name, the one you tried to do before.¡±

    I attempted once more but nothing sensible came out. It felt like trying to speak with duct tape over my mouth. There was so much missing. It might be easier once I¡¯d grown up. I could hear the edge of a memory, or a rumble that came from my father.

    The replay of my childish past shook for a moment. Even then, my dad¡¯s voice had been in the back of my head. Present, hard to pick out, and belonging to a figure I¡¯d never seen before. It bothered me now, as an adult, to be so close and so far from the man who¡¯d sired me.

    ¡°Jaor?¡± Tal asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s not right.¡± I shook my head and kept at the puzzle. The pieces could go back together if I moved carefully. They had material in one of the drawers which helped put frail wood constructs back into one piece.

    ¡°How about we pretend to shorten it to just the first letter. Jay,¡± Roy offered. He frowned in annoyance.

    I shrugged.

    ¡°Jay works for me,¡± Tal agreed.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.

    ¡°You are a strange boy,¡± the older man said. Roy paused for a moment and switched from the rope to something else.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I agreed. Their opinions didn¡¯t matter as long as food kept arriving regularly. I¡¯d suffer nearly anything to avoid that gnawing hunger which had plagued my first few weeks.

    ¡°Roy, you¡¯re still working with him, right?¡± the older man asked.

    ¡°We¡¯re on the kindergarten books.¡±

    We had been. Reading hurt my head. Letters were tiny and squiggly creations made by demons. I knew then, at a young age, that there were demons. My father had told me.

    Tal nodded, then ordered, ¡°Good, keep tutoring him. He¡¯s still too ignorant.¡±

    The last word set me off. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I paused in my attempt to reassemble the broken puzzle and stared at Tal Forge.

    He sighed and answered with, ¡°It means you don¡¯t know a lot of things.¡±

    Now I was mad. ¡°I know a lot.¡± Failing to understand wasn¡¯t my fault. Nothing here made sense or felt familiar. Nothing lined up against the thoughts rolling around my head.

    ¡°Oh yeah? Like what?¡± Roy challenged me.

    Tal stood back and looked between the two of us.

    ¡°I know your feet are wrong when you do the swoosh swoosh smash at night.¡± I felt proud of my first answer.

    They both looked confused. I was probably being ignorant by not explaining it right, but that was hardly my fault. Then Tal¡¯s face grew worried and he stepped into my line of sight, not getting closer, but definitely focused. His face bordered between worry and upset.

    ¡°Have you been sneaking downstairs at night?¡± he asked.

    ¡°No.¡± I stayed in my room most nights. Blankets piled around me, pillows and other objects pulled into the corner like a fort. Inside my safe spot, I studied the marbles I¡¯d gathered.

    Tal stepped closer. I stepped back. He asked, ¡°How do you know his foot is wrong?¡±

    ¡°I feel it,¡± I said with all the sheepishness a young child could muster. Saying I felt things would be crazy, but no one else seemed to pick up vibrations quite like I did.

    Roy had stopped all his exercises as an angry expression fell across his face. The jaw grew firm and his eyes narrowed. ¡°Likely story,¡± he said.

    I nodded. ¡°You only step twice.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± Roy questioned.

    ¡°That¡¯s not how it should go.¡±

    Roy started to say something but was cut off by a sharp look and half growl from Tal. ¡°Explain yourself, boy.¡± He¡¯d already forgotten the name decided upon.

    I couldn¡¯t say it right, but showing them was easy enough. ¡°You should step like this.¡±

    My feet weren¡¯t big like the people in my memories. They didn¡¯t move with the same grace or speed. But I could see a picture in my head of a lot of men standing and moving in unison. Their feet created a beat like a solid drum being banged upon the earth.

    The memory within a memory swept me away. I saw men who looked like Roy and Tal, saw how they moved. Felt their vibrations. Mimicking what was in my memory was a far different thing. I tried and proceeded to fall on my face.

    Tal¡¯s breath took a sharp intake and he looked pensive.

    ¡°Stand up. Do it again,¡± he ordered.

    Falling had brought me too close to Tal¡¯s larger form. I¡¯d seen him hit punching bags, hold mitts for other fighters down here, so being within his grasp frightened me.

    I shook my head.

    Tal couldn¡¯t restrain himself. His face pinched as he got closer. I stepped back and found myself against a table.

    ¡°Show me again, runt,¡± he said.

    I shook my head.

    ¡°Show me now.¡± Tal turned on full drill sergeant mode and pointed aggressively with a finger. His stance seemed to swell and fill the room.

    That caused me to retreat more by wiggling past the table and toward the stairs. I didn¡¯t even have to reach out and feel for a wall. I knew the route up to my room like any normal person could touch their elbow by reflex.

    ¡°Show me,¡± Tal said, much louder. I could feel people in the other part of the building shift their bodyweights. Some heads turned to peer toward us, which only made me feel more hunted.

    ¡°You should offer him food.¡± Roy¡¯s voice broke through the winnowing world view with the magic word.

    I paused and cocked my head in the younger male¡¯s direction. Even Tal paused.

    ¡°Hamburger?¡± Tal asked at last. ¡°Would you show us again for a hamburger?¡±

    I almost caved but wanted more. My mouth hung open slightly and drool formed.

    ¡°Steak?¡± Tal offered, clearly onto a bribe tool.

    That got me. I¡¯d fail any number of times for a medium rare slab of cow. Not just the ground up leftovers, but a whole chunk carved off. Tal got cable television. I¡¯d watched the food channel avidly for the last two days in the main living room upstairs. I¡¯d even sneaked out at night when the others fell asleep just to turn it on. They showed images of something called ¡®barbeque¡¯ that I wanted to smell and taste very badly.

    ¡°Just like on channel seven! Steak. Medium rare. Seasoned to perfection!¡± I shouted all the phrases and dodged past Tal to the largest open space of their house. The home itself sat attached to the gym. All thoughts of other people working out faded away as I prepared to earn myself a real meal.

    I stomped one foot down, attempting to mimic the deep thumping pound from my memories. ¡°The other foot. Like this. It must beat. Thud. Thud. Thud.¡±

    I stayed slow in my motions and still failed to get the placement right. Despite this I kept attempting to go through, saying the beats with each movement. They were important to the army of people in my memory, so they must be equally important to Tal and Roy. Food was riding on my success.

    Whatever I did made the other two stop and stare. Even Roy put down the jump rope and huddled next to his father. They reminded me of puffy birds watching crumbs of food.

    ¡°Where? How? No. Who taught you to move¡­ like that?¡± Roy seemed flabbergasted and upset. Like I¡¯d stumbled on a secret treasure trove of food that I shouldn¡¯t know about.

    ¡°Was it your father? Or someone else?¡± Tal tried to pry an answer out of me. My motions were falling apart.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my steak? I showed you the thud. Thump. Thump.¡± I repeated the steps eagerly.

    Their distraction would make the steak harder to get. At that young age I¡¯d made it my life¡¯s mission to find all the edible material in their home. Some of the metal boxes all in a row downstairs had wrapped bars. I¡¯d been chastised when eating one.

    I assumed, at the time, that those bars were some form of poison. Only a monster would leave such terrible tasting food inside an attractive wrapper like that.

    ¡°Who was it?¡± Tal was suddenly too close again and I shrank back.

    ¡°No one,¡± I responded.

    ¡°How do you know we do this?¡± Tal said.

    That question was easy. ¡°I feel it.¡±

    ¡°Feel?¡±

    ¡°You know. Feel. Like, touch. Every night after dark. Swoosh. Swoosh.¡± I scowled and scrunched my eyebrows and shook the table to represent the rumble. ¡°Again! Your words shake the walls. Shake.¡±

    There was another pause just before Roy could no longer control himself. For the first time since my arrival, the younger boy laughed; truly sounding his age. He bordered between not quite a teen yet not a child. Roy laughed for a long, long time.

    ¡°Steak now?¡± I asked.

    Tal smiled faintly.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 8 - Probably boned.

    In the land outside my convoluted memories, two more days had passed, along with two more minor earthquakes. Each one was followed by Warden Bennett stopping by to glare inside my cell with his pale skin and annoying goatee.

    My return smile was full of false confidence and superiority. There wasn¡¯t an ounce of justification to it. Sensations were too messed up reliving the past memories anyway. The longer they kept me in this room, the better I felt. The biggest concern outside this cell was Leo.

    During those two days, I¡¯d come out of a memory doing half motions in the tiny cell. It was mostly the footsteps and slides. Tal¡¯s words and commands echoed across the years even though the old man was dead.

    That realization would hit me briefly. I¡¯d been reunited with him at Bottom Pit, then again in the small town. He¡¯d been looking out for me two decades later, and I couldn¡¯t even recognize him until the very end.

    I couldn¡¯t recognize myself. Sometimes I¡¯d find myself standing in front of the reflective metal staring at my face. It wasn¡¯t the face of a young boy, fresh to a strange world and lost. It didn¡¯t fit with the growing child in my memories.

    The two timelines were still jumbled. There¡¯d be a flash and I could see a younger version of Roy behind me, glaring on with a mix of disapproval and other submerged emotions.

    It took us nearly ten years to find a balancing point between ourselves. Coming to terms with the kind of creatures we were. Roy¡¯s kind, Tal, Leo, their brothers, were all cut from the same cloth. They were naturally muscled creatures with slightly discolored skin and eyes. They wanted to fight. They were borderline savages unless they managed to keep under control. They all longed to fight and see who was on top.

    They¡¯d been obsessed with learning the dances from my memory. To them, they were an incomplete series of martial forms used by creatures with excessive strength or natures beyond the pale. It made sense, their arts had been created by generations of battle obsessed brutes where only the successful survived.

    Both men were obsessed with learning this material artform. Knowing more than either one, as a child, simply added fire to their desire. They both hungered to know, but at the same time they were worried why someone outside their kind knew anything at all.

    Swoosh. Swoosh. Step. Step. Wall, spin, arm up out to the side. Punch twice. Turn and sweep the leg. Each motion was designed to flow into the next. They could turn into another pattern easily, or link together in new chains, but the full unblocked series of moves looked exactly like a dance that vibrated the air.

    I relived the learning process moments at a time while actual sleep stayed broken and disturbed. It was getting hard to tell what was now and the past.

    ¡°Fields,¡± a guard called. I shook my head and huffed out of the latest flashback.

    I¡¯d been thinking of my third grade teacher. The only one who¡¯d actually tried. She had dark hair and pale skin on a tiny frame.

    The guard was none of those things, but he was polite as cuffs were placed on hands and feet. He didn¡¯t tell me to wait inside the cell, though. Instead I was escorted along two halls, down the elevator and into another room.

    A woman sat inside. Her build didn¡¯t belong to the dark-skinned Kahina Rhodes. It didn¡¯t match Boss Wylde¡¯s with her freckled complexion. She wasn¡¯t Candy, a deceased Julianne or my third grade teacher, but that last one was close.

    ¡°Ms. Sauter?¡± I said haltingly. It took me time to figure out who this visitor was.

    It was the blue eyes. I¡¯d seen them on her daughter as well. Sky like, mixed with a slightly tanned skin that seemed to have hardened over the last year.

    She smiled, but her eyes squinted just so against tightened cheeks. Her expression wasn¡¯t attempting to be friendly, it was guarded.

    ¡°Mr. Fields.¡± Ms. Sauter acknowledged me with a slight nod.

    ¡°What¡ª¡± I didn¡¯t even know where to start. This reminded me of how Tal had reacted when my corrections had come forth. I felt even more disconnected from reality.

    ¡°I had an appointment with Stacy. She¡¯s a guest of Atlas as a result of... disturbances.¡± I looked around. A briefcase was on the floor, some electronic device off to one side, and a phone.

    Then there were her clothes. There was the decorative jewelry just like the last time we¡¯d met, but that jacket on the back of her chair, the way she held her hands. It all screamed business professional.

    I knew exactly what Stacy had done, which was rescue me from a shitty situation, but played dumb. ¡°Why visit me?¡±

    ¡°To extend an offer. We, myself and two others from our pack, are part of a national group offering counsel and other legal services to wolves in need.¡±

    ¡°Wolves in need¡­¡± I trailed off in wonder for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not a wolf.¡± That had to be out of the way first thing. With Muni¡¯s charm gone, no one would remember me wrong. No one would smell this body and picture a furry creature that might lick a face or sleep on someone¡¯s feet.

    Hell. The last person I¡¯d cuddled with had nearly lost her head twice because of me. That was hardly adorable. Plus, Spike had attempted to stab me with silver and set me off.

    But I¡¯d always had a weakness toward ladies.

    Now it was Ms. Sauter¡¯s turn to be confused. ¡°But you¡¯re¡ª¡± She sniffed, followed by a study of my neck and shoulders. Quick glances to the typical stress areas of a wolf.

    ¡°May I see your hand?¡± she asked.

    They were still bound with some slack between legs and arms. I managed to get an arm up which forced the other one into my crotch.

    ¡°Huh. But you don¡¯t smell¡­¡± It occurred to her what other options there were.

    If I wasn¡¯t human or wolf, and clearly didn¡¯t have pointy ears despite attempting to superglue the tips one summer, well, what remained was worrisome at best.

    ¡°That¡¯s strange. I could have sworn you were pack the last time we met,¡± Ms. Sauter said.

    I smiled weakly.

    ¡°A lot has happened since then.¡± A lot was still happening, even if most of it was in my head at this point. Atlas Island itself had been rather peaceful aside from the earthquakes. Whatever foundation the prison was built on seemed sturdy. Only a few cracks here and there.

    ¡°Well,¡± she said while leaning back. My hand was dropped kindly on the table.

    ¡°Well,¡± came my tired response. ¡°Thanks anyway.¡± I started to stand and head back to the door when Ms. Sauter called.

    ¡°I think I can still help you, Mr. Fields.¡±

    ¡°Why bother?¡±

    Why did any of these people reach out to me? Some answers I knew. Daniel helped because he needed a tame monster. Candy helped because of her twisted addictions and desires to keep me under control. Leo helped because he was desperate to win my, and his father¡¯s, respect. Julianne had helped because we were friends.

    I shook my head and listed my own crimes. ¡°I failed to get your money back. I got you into a fight with your husband, right in front of your daughter. Hell, I even stole one of the rings that dropped after you shifted and chased your husband.¡±

    That bit of guilt had been building for a while. She had shifted in a rush to chase after her fleeing husband and left behind two rings. They were shiny and abandoned, so naturally I picked them up for my personal collection.

    ¡°You did what? You took that ring?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said with a nod.

    ¡°Why on earth would you take my jewelry?¡±

    There were a lot of halfhearted reasons. Her husband had owed money was my excuse if anyone caught me. I could have said it looked abandoned on the sidewalk. That it might have dropped off someone else.

    Or ¡°Because it was pretty,¡± I admitted.

    She started packing up her stuff. The briefcase opened and in slid one electronic device, then a second. Her jacket came off the chair and was halfway to the shoulders before she paused and counted. I saw her lips move, one to ten like a mantra. A moment later her face forcibly relaxed.

    ¡°Mr. Fields, do you still want legal representation?¡±

    ¡°No. Go home. Take care of your little girl.¡± The one who was now short a father due to something I¡¯d been directly involved in. I¡¯d fucked up enough lives.

    ¡°I¡¯ll sit down, if you will, Mr. Fields. We should talk this through.¡± Off came the jacket, back onto the chair, down went the briefcase onto the ground.

    Clearly she was crazy. I rattled my way to the door.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°Sit the fuck down, Mr. Fields, or I will make you sit.¡±

    I turned and looked at Ms. Sauter. Her face twisted in a snarl, form slightly disfigured, cheekbones warped. Quick calculations went through my brain. Ms. Sauter was the mother of a teenage daughter and a lawyer of some sort. I¡¯d upset her with the missing ring talk. Above all that she was a literal bitch and high in the pack hierarchy.

    I sat the fuck down, noisy chains be damned, and refused to make eye contact. Maybe it was the insecure childhood I¡¯d been reliving. Maybe memories of being thumped in the head by the first female Alpha I¡¯d run into plagued me. It could be blamed on my general weakness for doing what women told me to do.

    ¡°Now. Here¡¯s my offer. I, and the firm I associate with, will take your case and mitigate the charges to the best of our ability. Mitigate, at best.¡±

    I risked a glance. Ms. Sauter looked annoyed and rubbed her hands together with uneven jerks. I could feel the finer grooves of her fingers, where skin rippled in swirls, brushing along the much larger bumps of thread. My brain threatened to fall into the patterns and study how her clothes were made.

    ¡°In exchange, the debt over my husband¡¯s recovery will be wiped clean. You will provide a sworn statement as a witness to Stacy¡¯s involvement during the conversion of Kahina Rhodes. And. by God above, Mr. Fields, you will return my ring.¡±

    My body had been turned away, almost sulking, but now I looked directly at my proposed lawyer.

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to leave Atlas?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Regardless of my efforts you¡¯re probably boned on some of it. I would need time to catch up with your case, read over the charges, and see what sort of legal precedence could be applied.¡± She paused, confused.

    I turned to face her directly instead of to the side like a lost boy. The memories of my past which unraveled every night shouldn¡¯t keep screwing up how I acted.

    It had taken years to get used to people and dealing with people of this world. Adult Jay Fields feared no one and faced them head on. I had to stop letting my mixed up brain take control.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t freedom better than this? At least out there you¡¯re able to decide for yourself. In here, everything is on someone else¡¯s timetable. Eating, sleeping, work.¡± She managed to look even more uncomfortable. Both hands jerked off the table and back to her sides for a quick shudder. ¡°I don¡¯t know how anyone stands it.¡±

    I let her self-compose while thoughts ran through my head. Would it be better to be outside and free? The Order of Merlin might still try to hunt me down, but good luck tracking a giant serpent in the frozen northern tundra. Maybe I could find a cave and set up a television dish with some power generator. For dinner I¡¯d eat a seal straight from the iceberg, freshly burned to a crisp.

    ¡°And the other thing?¡± I asked. Before everything else, this mattered.

    ¡°What other thing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a pack member.¡±

    ¡°As far as our firm is concerned, nothing about it would be unusual. We extend services to those affiliated with pack as well, simply because we¡¯re considered the experts in these matters.¡±

    ¡°You know what I meant.¡± I locked eyes with her for a moment and struggled not to blink.

    She had more control than any other pack member I¡¯d seen. She didn¡¯t even bat an eyelash. ¡°That might actually help us. I¡¯ll have to check, but there¡¯s wiggle room,¡± she said.

    What did it hurt? Sitting in here, going half mad with memories flooding in and out already taxed my mind enough. Waking up in cold sweats and feeling like a lost child could only be improved by a legal ground to exist on.

    ¡°I can pay,¡± I said.

    The words hurt. Parting with money was against my personal code. Still, even I knew lawyers weren¡¯t cheap. If Ms. Sauter truly wanted to take this case on there¡¯d be so much paperwork involved she might drown. I had been a bad boy over the course of my life.

    ¡°Good.¡± She kept steady.

    ¡°Do you know where Bottom Pit is?¡±

    ¡°I know of it.¡±

    Of course she did. She was a pack member, even if she didn¡¯t seem like the elitist or seedy type. Pack always knew where the fights were.

    ¡°Go there. Talk to the bouncers, tell them James sent you,¡± I said.

    ¡°James? A pseudonym? Legal or street name?¡± Miss Sauter had gone into business mode. Her hand was a bit steadier now, jotting things onto the tablet she¡¯d recovered from her briefcase.

    ¡°Not legal. A go by. Roy Forge, their head of security, is a childhood friend. They were, sort of my foster family. Someone there will remember¡ª¡± Briefly, images flashed through my mind. Memories of talking to people about handling my cash and where to store it rushed by. ¡°Will¡ª¡± Gods, speaking through the onslaught grew difficult. My body tightened and breath hitched. One arm wound up the loose chain as I struggled to keep in one piece, as if physical tightness could help my mind stay together.

    The world tilted sideways and went further back in time. Suddenly I was a child again. Roy took labored breathes right next to me as we went through an endless amount of sit-ups. Tal screamed in our faces. ¡°Again!¡± he said.

    ¡°What do we do when we fail?¡± the old man yelled.

    ¡°WE TRAIN!¡± Roy yelled back. I couldn¡¯t even eke out that much but my stomach burned from endless sit ups.

    ¡°What do we do when we succeed?¡±

    ¡°WE TRAIN!¡± he answered again. Roy Forge had been made of iron from a young age.

    The past sped out as quickly as it came leaving me bemused and rubbing away the pain of memory at my core. Ms. Sauter¡¯s face, back in the here and now, looked very concerned about something.

    ¡°Mr. Fields?¡± Ms. Sauter said. I couldn¡¯t even remember her first name. Part of me felt terrified of trying to recall it in case more of the past punched me in the gut.

    ¡°Jay, please.¡± Only Daniel insisted on using my last name like that, and he was being clever with it. ¡°Bottom Pit. Roy Forge. James sent you.¡±

    ¡°And then?¡±

    ¡°Ask him.¡±

    Another thought occurred to me.

    ¡°They¡¯re¡­¡± How do I tell someone that she might be walking into a den of nonstandard races? Wolves would know by smell, but Muni had the entire place layered. ¡°He¡¯s someone I¡¯ve known since childhood. He took care of some of my things, money, while I¡¯ve been in trouble.¡±

    ¡°Is this more legal trouble?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have an honest answer. My brain was still working through the past and present memories. Robbing a bank seemed unlikely but maybe there was a similar poor choice buried in the missing parts.

    ¡°No. Roy is a different sort of trouble.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± Ms. Sauter brought her hands together and pinched the inside of her palm. After a deep breath she started again. ¡°It will take me a week or two to get things together. Until then, please try to remember every detail you can. About the charges that might be against you, about your work under Kahina Rhodes. Anything.¡±

    ¡°All right.¡± I¡¯d tell her anything she wanted to know, except the things that shouldn¡¯t be shared.

    Our meeting was over. Ms. Sauter flagged the guard and escaped, looking both excited and stressed at the same time. Moments later they escorted me back to my torn up solitary cell and closed the door.

    I stood there and wondered too many things.

    Warden Bennett paced by the door and paused for a moment to breathe in. His footsteps felt pensive, his weight froze in awkward jerks while the world kept on moving. His vampire bursts of speed fluttered about the hall. In the end he never stepped into my cell.

    My getting a visitor likely set off his alarm bells. Had I created more trouble for Ms. Sauter? Roy would be trouble for her, but she seemed like a tough lady.

    I glanced toward the door and felt guards stroll by. My senses were harder and harder to control. Each day brought more of the world under my grasp. People¡¯s very presence in my surroundings grated on me.

    It made sense why I drank so much.

    Moments of the past flashed by again. Daniel¡¯s teenage face, still freckled, still redheaded. At that age he¡¯d less of a tan, but after fifteen it would really take off.

    ¡°You have to try this, man, it does awesome things. Here, man, drink, drink.¡± He seemed so giddy and happy. I was theoretically fourteen myself. Legally, we were far too young for liquor.

    ¡°It¡¯ll help, man. I think. My dad says there are three kinds of drunks. Angry, excited, and sleepy.¡± Daniel turned out to be the excited type.

    I¡¯d been the sleepy kind. My mind drifted slowly as Daniel chattered his brains out about anything and everything of note in his life. Most of what he said went over my head. Stories about his life, about what his father had seen, creatures, legends, things that didn¡¯t ever make complete sense.

    That moment faded away as I worked to keep myself in the here and now. More days passed. Solitary lasted longer than the original proposed week. I didn¡¯t care one way or the other.

    No one explained the reasoning for my delayed egress into the world. In my idle moments I¡¯d theorized Warden Bennett was keeping me under watch. The ground continued to shake, smaller tremors that felt duller with each day.

    The world drifted in and out. Memories of Ms. Sauter plastered against teachers who tried to rein me in. Guards overlapped police officers who had dragged me home to a disapproving Tal Forge.

    Time moved funny in isolation. Spans where it felt like days were only hours. Minutes sped by in single blinks. Walls warped in and out as vision swam from mental exhaustion.

    Some nights I groaned. Others I held rigid and desperately tried not to tear up the room any more. A lifetime of control was coming apart at the seams. Before, it¡¯d been easier, because I hadn¡¯t had anything to control. Something about knowing what man I¡¯d been in the past made the here and now feel wild.

    Miss Sauter didn¡¯t return with any news. Nothing came in from Warden Bennett. No visitations by Roy or any other family member.

    Eventually they returned me to general population and the world felt wrong. Not just me and my worn out mind. The shared cell was certainly the same one. I felt the little pockets of items I¡¯d hidden around the room. Some had moved, others were tampered with, but none actually missing. The intrusion rubbed me wrong, but it had been expected.

    I stumbled to the schedule on the wall and noticed my name had been crossed off for the rest of today. There were other markings for tomorrow and the days following. Basic jobs but no allotment of yard time. It might be a punishment for being so good at kicking another man in the ribs.

    Leo¡¯s schedule had him in the same place. His had some other item marked Rec., likely due to successful performance. Apparently he¡¯d been a good boy during my absence.

    Nathan¡¯s activities were unchanged from the rotation he¡¯d been on before my stretch in solitary. I frowned. Was the man really going to survive here?

    The cell gates were open, allowing us to roam around the floors while guards stood above. Normally, when we weren¡¯t performing assigned duties, we¡¯d been set loose until lockdown later at night. None of it mattered a ton since I stayed near my bunk to protect my meager collection. Or to stay sane.

    The furthest I voluntarily dared was at the edge of my shared cell, where I quietly studied other people. They were always in clumps of three or four. Some scuttled between here and there passing messages. Females existed but seemed to group up on their own. Occasionally, women, and men, vanished behind curtains with other people. No doubt they plied an age old trade for goods or services.

    My shoulder rolled to one side as moments and twitches were observed. Tearing up the wall and being on my own had left me sore. My body ached from stretching at all hours of the day.

    I studied the crowd while absently scratching my side. Most people here were human, maybe about forty percent werewolves. Less than five percent were elves. One used an illusion to make his ears appear rounded. Two huddled in the top corner, skittish about coming out of their cell.

    And the smaller group belonged to three partial vampires. I hadn¡¯t seen them in the yard, but vampires didn¡¯t function well during the day. All three were together, slapping each other and gesturing to members of the crowd while making comments.

    No natural light shone in from any windows. I only knew it was nighttime from the aware vamps and cold brick on the edge of my tactile senses.

    Everyone here was a violator of Sector crimes. Accidental and deliberate, but not all crimes were murder or anything close. Robbery from an elven clan would rate as a cross race offense. There was a television show based on entrapping would be trespassers with illusions. They¡¯d leak rumors online and then send those stupid enough to try to jail after exposing them on national TV.

    Leo had been right. Most people here seemed to resist the lingering hostility. When a human bumped into a wolf there were angry glares but no spoken words. Different groups would curse and flip each other off but never actually approached for a confrontation.

    Guards watched from above with indifferent gazes. From their perch nearly anyone could be brought down in moments. Their guns felt heavy and fully loaded, fingers clutched stocks but never reached around to the trigger.

    Between their looming presence and the barely displayed hostility below things felt almost normal. But at the same time this entire system was designed to punish those who didn¡¯t fit within the rules.

    I still only had one official strike. No privileges were given and none were taken away. I turned back into the cell and counted my belongings once more, to be sure they were all in the right place.

 Prince in The Tower; Chapter 9 - Focus on

    ¡°He only ever wants to talk about you,¡± Leo said one day as we both stood at the rail. Below us people moved around.

    I didn¡¯t know how to answer that. Parent child relations were a skewed thing in my mind. Flashes of the past still attacked me nearly anytime I tried to remember something. They were confusing, with every ounce of raw emotion I¡¯d felt the first time.

    ¡°It¡¯s frustrating,¡± Leo continued.

    ¡°I¡¯m not an expert on your father,¡± I answered.

    ¡°You¡¯re his friend. You grew up together.¡±

    A bit of the past hit me. I was a young boy who¡¯d lived with Tal and Roy for two years. They didn¡¯t treat me as family, but as a roommate taking part of all the activities. I went to school with Roy, which was frequently a disaster. At night I¡¯d be drilled in basic exercises.

    I stood there in a ring against children my own age. Heavy padded gear lined my head and hands. Everything restricting and confusing. Part of me was excited, but the rest was worried on what might happen.

    ¡°Want advice?¡± Tal said in the memory.

    Young me nodded.

    ¡°Pick a goal. Some fighters go in to win, others not to lose, some settle for just a single punch. Whatever works for you, just pick a goal.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I responded.

    ¡°Runt,¡± Tal¡¯s sharp word made my head jerk up.

    ¡°Yes, sir?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t compromise your goal. You pick winning, you win. You pick a single punch, make it a wallop.¡±

    The scene skipped again as Leo tried to unload all his teenage angst on me. His words were lost under the pressure of my mind pulling events together. I knew now Tal had never really figured out how to handle family members.

    The old man had left me alone with Roy. He preferred to watch fights from the sidelines, like a spectator and not a coach. He cared for how the fight looked from all aspects.

    I ignored the growling voice in the back of my head. It wanted to fight.

    Roy stepped into view and made me lose concentration. He said, ¡°Remember, none of them out there matter. Just you and your opponent.¡±

    He was doing his duty as an older tribe member, according to Tal, by checking the gloves and headgear. He put a small piece of plastic between my lips. Then Roy turned and scanned the other fighter. The other boy was equally scrawny and had been swallowed up by blue plastic to my red.

    From Roy, the words sounded easier to believe, easier to relate to.

    ¡°What if I lose control?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You won¡¯t. Just remember what we¡¯ve practiced. Father may be a bastard but he¡¯s taught us well. Remember yourself, remember the rules.¡±

    Roy managed to keep his face straight. At times, he felt and acted dead. Other times he boiled on the edge of lashing out.

    I bit the mouthguard and nodded. The headpiece pressed uncomfortably into my scalp. The gloves were too tight and heavy.

    Of course I lost it, punching like a crazed child long after the fight had ended. I remembered the hands pressed against me, pulling me from the fighter I¡¯d been going wild on. Later, in the car, amid angry glares from other children¡¯s parents and a passive side glance from Roy, I shivered violently.

    Tal got into the vehicle after taking care of the aftermath. I learned later that I¡¯d been removed from the bracket and banned from their program.

    I¡¯d done wrong. I expected Tal to turn and point with an accusing finger in my direction. The older man took another route than the expected berating. ¡°Did the advice help?¡± Tal asked.

    I gave him a worried glance. Adults tended to get upset with me. Teachers, police, and store owners. Nothing I did fit in with what was expected.

    ¡°You won,¡± Tal said.

    ¡°I did?¡±

    ¡°Technically. Did you focus on winning?¡±

    ¡°I guess.¡±

    ¡°Good. We¡¯ll start with that. Focus.¡± He nodded. ¡°It works for everything. Pick a goal, and don¡¯t let go.¡± Tal started the car, sounding upset and happy at the same time.

    ¡°Hamburgers, please,¡± I muttered.

    Fighting made me hungry.

    Leo was still babbling by the time my mind came down. His expression pinched more around the edges with every sentence. The tightness of his shoulders and short breaths were serious and upset. It wasn¡¯t even anger at our situation, but with his father, and only that.

    Never mind the mass of people at all corners of our prison wing. They only bothered Leo when someone tried to talk to him. I¡¯d watched two people try to start fights with the teen and both had ended up on the ground with a broken bone, but no one officially witnessed a thing.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you work at Bottom Pit with the others?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Only part time on the busiest nights. I have homework, and college exams.¡±

    ¡°Huh.¡± I sniffed and pressed a hand against my temple.

    Roy and his kind didn¡¯t strike me as the college type. Then again, classical music and professional suits also went against the image. Roy existed by only operating in extremes.

    Leo kept going. ¡°Not that it matters to my brothers. Or uncles, or anyone in the Tribe. If it¡¯s not punching people for glory then it doesn¡¯t matter. Not saying I¡¯m against a good fight, but there¡¯s more to life.¡±

    ¡°Sure there is,¡± I said. Hell. This guy was practically my nephew. I should be better at giving him advice.

    I had nothing useful. My solution to problems had been liquor. It had been another form of running away, I could see it now. Prison, reliving the past, and living in Tennison gave me perspective.

    ¡°You think prison is the best place for soul searching?¡± I asked him.

    Someone passed by and laughed. The new person was a gruff human who seemed amused at everything. He slapped the younger man on the back, which earned a glare from Leo.

    ¡°Sure is. Better than when you¡¯re dying in a ditch from a stupid knife wound,¡± the newcomer said. He smiled and kept edging toward destinations unknown.

    Leo stared at the man¡¯s back, then at me. I shrugged. Leo realized he was talking to a brick wall and drifted into silence, watching the crowd. He studied a budding conflict on one side, which never came to fruition. We went our separate ways for work.

    More days passed, including disapproving glares, needless insults, and sweat inducing memories. One morning, I woke in my cell from a phantom pain that had happened years ago. My ear rang for hours after recalling a punch from the past. Sometimes I¡¯d be half awake, grunting from exercises Roy had drilled into me over the years. The line continued to blur.

    Flashes of Kahina made me happy until the current situation set in. Those moments were shoved into a mental box to keep the past in proper order. They hurt though, and I almost wanted the fresh pain to stay. Those moments of the past seemed more real than dragging days of repetitive schedules.

    One night, maybe two months and change into our stay, Leo had had enough of Nathan¡¯s bruised form. I shook to awareness as the young man started in on our human companion.

    ¡°How long will you let this continue, Simms?¡± Leo asked.

    I had to applaud the young runt for not slurring his words like his family did. He was far clearer most of the time.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± came the stuttered response. He cast his eyes away.

    Their talking bothered me. ¡°Leave him be, Leo.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s pitiful. I¡¯d thought there was something worthy of respect from his reason for being here, but this is nothing.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s just trying to get by.¡± I half shrugged while staring at a rock I¡¯d found outside. It was shiny enough to distract me.

    ¡°You two don¡¯t understand,¡± Nathan Simms muttered.

    Leo shook his head. ¡°What¡¯s to understand? You let yourself be pushed around. You told us you fought a bloodletter but refuse to stand up in here. It makes no sense.¡±

    I snorted. That was almost the pot calling the kettle black. Leo was an entirely different person around his family. Literally the runt. No matter how much he argued or postured, his brothers, the twins, had passed their trials into manhood where Leo hadn¡¯t.

    Which, unfortunately, was my fault. It probably explained why Leo was always hovering near me. He was trying to prove himself worthy. The attempted rescue in the woods was another action in the same vein.

    ¡°It¡¯s not easy.¡± Nathan Simms hugged himself tightly.

    I frowned and considered how I¡¯d been treating Leo.

    ¡°Look at me. I¡¯m not like you, I¡¯ve seen how others act. They¡¯re all afr¡ª¡± he started over ¡°Nervous about approaching you. Either of you. I don¡¯t get it, and I can¡¯t...¡±

    ¡°Wait, put up with this abuse? Is this to get back to your sister?¡± Leo asked. He glared at Nathan. I had no clue where the sudden stroke of genius came from but it made sense.

    Nathan shook while rubbing one arm against another and nodded his head jerkily.

    ¡°If I fight back, I¡¯ll go to the other side and die. There¡¯s no other choice.¡±

    I¡¯d seen the type. Lots of people had ended up in terrible situations trying to do what they believed to be right. Hell, I was a prime example.

    ¡°There¡¯s always a choice,¡± I muttered. ¡°It¡¯s just two crappy choices.¡±

    ¡°Like what?¡±

    ¡°You could have killed the vampire the first time.¡±

    ¡°Then I¡¯d be stuck here forever,¡± he said.

    ¡°But your sister would be safe, right?¡± I asked.

    Nathan stood there. Chances were this line of reasoning was nothing new.

    ¡°That burnout she¡¯s shackled to is still alive, angry, and here you¡¯ve been stuck. Is she even alive?¡± The sooner we sorted this, the quicker I could go back to being addled.

    I didn¡¯t need to turn my eyes away from the rock to feel Nathan¡¯s features contort. Eyebrows lowered and lips curled. His arm twitched. If it¡¯d been me I would have punched something by now.

    ¡°She¡¯s alive. I call her every time I can,¡± Nathan answered.

    ¡°So your great plan is to survive, get out, and do this all again?¡± I asked.

    Leo busily twisted part of his sheets and wove it through the upper bunk. Cheap cotton threading rubbed against skin and smooth metal. Simms wasn¡¯t using the bed right now, and it felt like the youngest Forge intended to get a sweat going.

    The rock in my hands captivated my attention. There were divots, grains cutting in different directions, and a very porous inside. I passed my palm over it, trying to understand what it might turn into if I carved away at the edges. Chess pieces seemed overplayed.

    ¡°What else can I do?¡±

    ¡°Kill him,¡± I said flatly.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Leo almost looked ashamed. ¡°You¡¯re not serious.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not in here for selling Girl Scout cookies.¡± The words came out with a distracted taint. I hadn¡¯t really been paying attention to their words or my conversation.

    I turned back to the rock. Maybe it could be rounded enough to form a marble? There was enough solid matter inside it¡¯d be possible. Some of the grains were turned wrong and it¡¯d require a lot of sanding.

    ¡°Killing isn¡¯t easy,¡± Nathan Simms protested.

    ¡°It is. Doesn¡¯t matter who, or what race. Especially if you¡¯re fighting to protect what you care for.¡± I looked at their faces. Both wore expressions I could already feel. A mix between being disturbed and a bit frightened.

    I refocused on my rock and ignored them.

    Night passed. Nathan limped more the next day. Leo bubbled with anger but kept his mouth shut this time. Our input was unwanted or impossible for Nathan to follow.

    Once again time passed. Eventually, I received word Ms. Sauter was returning to Atlas Island. I¡¯d managed to stay on strike one despite my tendency to push peoples¡¯ buttons. Spike hadn¡¯t helped any. I¡¯d been watching his barely subtle abuse of Nathan for days now.

    The time came, and I was escorted into the visitation room. There sat Ms. Sauter in the same clothes, with the bag and two electronic devices on the floor next to her.

    ¡°Mr. Fields,¡± she greeted me.

    ¡°Ms. Sauter,¡± I responded in kind.

    She got straight to the point. ¡°Did you have time to put together the details for my case with Stacy?¡±

    They hadn¡¯t provided me with writing utensils, and my memory was fifty shades of broken, but I¡¯d managed to clear up a mental recount of the events.

    My potential lawyer was okay taking a verbal statement. She recorded it onto a tablet program that converted everything to text. We read it over and corrected some items, and then signed the screen. I felt like the thing was near breaking as my finger dragged across the thin layer of plastic.

    I hummed. Her device was a neat toy, though. I couldn¡¯t see myself carrying around something that big, ever. I¡¯d probably get lost trying to figure out how to get off the main screen. Maybe they offered classes as a part of their rehabilitation attempts.

    My resume would know no bounds. Collections, protection, and all-around puncher of faces. Next, I could be a self-proclaimed master of digital button pressing. I shook my head and tried not to sigh at my own stupidity.

    ¡°What now?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Now, at least as far as Stacy¡¯s concerned, I take your statement, combine it with the other evidence, and shove as much of her activities under Tribunal Protection as I can manage. The rest goes onto the pack.¡±

    Ms. Sauter fiddled with a finger, twirling a nonexistent ring around. I pretended not to notice. She¡¯d had two rings, both missing because of me.

    ¡°How is Stacy?¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s running around here somewhere. Hooking up with one trashy inmate after another. She hasn¡¯t been stable since...¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Stacy and Julianne had been an item, and now they weren¡¯t. My fault again. ¡°Another sin on the pile,¡± I said and sighed.

    Ms. Sauter huffed and pulled her hands apart. Moments later she was flipping a practiced finger through the digital device. She stopped over various notes while pursing her lips.

    ¡°Either way, a deal¡¯s a deal.¡± The pad flipped over showing me squint worthy letters. ¡°Here¡¯s a list of charges to be filed against you by¡±¡ªshe took it back for a moment and scrolled down¡ª¡°a lot of people.¡±

    ¡°Sounds hopeless.¡±

    ¡°Parts. There are holes all over the activity. A period of years where you drop off, then some of it¡¯s covered by Tribunal law too.¡±

    ¡°Is...¡±

    I paused and tried to figure out what had happened. According to Daniel, Muni was cleaning up parts of my sordid actions. I¡¯d been working to keep Kahina protected during the most violent portions, aside from Camp Grace, the Order¡¯s little militia training outpost. They had held me as a hostage then tried to blow me up. That could hardly be my fault.

    I fiddled with the tablet enough to scroll down. Sure enough, they had me involved in a lot of the action, but the worst action had been marked by Ms. Sauter in bold and underlined. Confessing to killing someone outside my race was an easy charge against me.

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you the same advice I¡¯d give my own pack,¡± she said. ¡°You need to figure out how much of this you want to fight. Most of the charges won¡¯t stick without evidence. This entire swath here is sketchy at best.¡±

    She fidgeted with her empty ring finger again, then tucked back her hair and cocked her head to the side, looking at the digital screen. She raised an eyebrow. ¡°Almost like it happened to someone else.¡±

    I shook my head and tried to remember how long it¡¯d been since a woman actually looked at me. Ms. Sauter had a teenage daughter, too. I took a breath and blinked through the stupid thought passing by my brain and moved onward.

    ¡°It feels like someone else was there. But it was me. But here for this vampire stuff like Stacy, I¡¯d prefer not to¡±¡ªhow did I put this tactfully without giving too much away?¡ª¡°not to involve anyone from her household. If I can.¡±

    ¡°Well, I can leave those charges alone. They weren¡¯t what landed you in here anyway.¡± She paused again. ¡°Though your statement is a matter of public record and the Rhodes household might pick up on it. She¡¯s got a good legal team on retainer, and her husband is twice as vigilant.¡±

    Hearing about Reginald set me on edge. I almost broke my chains in frustration. I wanted to put my foot through that man¡¯s head. Kahina¡¯s husband, Reginald, was a royal asshole who would be solved another day.

    ¡°Right then.¡± Ms. Sauter wasn¡¯t stupid. Wolves were better with body language than any other race. ¡°I talked to your friend.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± My teeth ground together.

    ¡°Mr. Forge.¡±

    Familiarity calmed me down. ¡°Roy,¡± I confirmed.

    ¡°Yes. He¡¯s rather¡­¡± She paused, looking flustered for a moment.

    ¡°Large.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s one word. I would have said brutish,¡± Ms. Sauter quickly responded.

    ¡°Would you believe he listens to classical music?¡±

    ¡°Really?¡±

    I smiled as somewhat friendly memories passed through.

    ¡°He used to play violin in high school,¡± I said.

    ¡°That sounds impossible.¡±

    ¡°He broke more than a few.¡± Those incidents had resulted in Roy being frustrated and angry at everything. I could tell he¡¯d had a bad night when the vibration of string snapping preceded stair stomping and the dull thud of a punching bag.

    Ms. Sauter was happy. The wet look to her eyes and how she stared off into the distance were both obvious clues. For a moment I swore she almost bit her lower lip, considering something.

    ¡°His son is in here. Leo Forge. Same cell.¡± I dropped the hammer, trying to clear one problem before it began. ¡°With a much lighter sentence.¡±

    ¡°Oh.¡± She visibly deflated.

    I shrugged. ¡°He¡¯s a nice enough kid, but he¡¯s struggling to figure out how to be an adult. Roy¡¯s, we, had a tough childhood. Imagine the buried rage a wolf deals with, from childhood until the day you die.¡±

    Ms. Sauter cleared her throat and checked her watch. ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of time to talk about other people and their parents.¡±

    ¡°You brought up Roy,¡± I said. She also was interested in him which shocked me.

    Her body dipped just a little as if physically avoiding my words. She flipped through the device.

    ¡°Some notes, depending on how we want to pursue this.¡± She flipped the tablet around again then zoomed in on a few lines of text.

    I read through it briefly and applied my limited legal understanding to what was in front of me. The effort was a failure since legalese made no sense to me.

    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked

    ¡°The Accord of Caesar. Written during The Purge.¡±

    One line stood out among all the other gibberish. ¡°And this part? It¡¯s still¡±¡ªI swallowed and tried not to feel sick¡ª¡°still valid?¡±

    ¡°At its core? Vaguely. Legally there¡¯s been no announced cases. Though there were a few reforms here in Western Sector.¡±

    ¡°Then this says¡­¡± The idea she was pointing out was too much to believe. My mind could barely register more than faint horror.

    ¡°As translated¡ªroughly, from the original Greek¡ªall those belonging to an unrecognized race are to be killed on sight.¡±

    Fantastic. Fan-fucking-tastic. This law was a death sentence for existing. I groaned and swallowed back bile. My senses turned inward and magnified the sound of pounding.

    This wasn¡¯t from a memory, this was from an onset of stress brought about by a helpless situation. The law wouldn¡¯t apply to only me. It would affect Roy, Leo, the girls, and most of Bottom Pit¡¯s staff. Technically, we were all required to be killed.

    ¡°So it¡¯s true,¡± she said while staring at me. Her eyes moved back and forth looking at my body language.

    I didn¡¯t answer her and tried to figure out a way through things, one not ending in an unfair sentence. Daniel might have ideas. He was smart. Roy was disciplined. I¡¯d grown up with them on either side of me. What did I have?

    ¡°I¡¯ve done a bit of research along this line before, for a thesis paper when I was still in law school. The original Accord was written two thousand years ago, but it¡¯s been amended a few times since then.¡±

    Part of me wanted to leap at her and shake until answers poured forth. The other part of me realized there was a giant metal table, chains, and Ms. Sauter was only a vaguely polite wolf who had chased off her former husband with teeth.

    I swallowed and made eye contact.

    ¡°The actual letter of the law still basically says the same thing, but in theory all we¡¯d need to do in order to have legal grounds to file under, would be getting recognition for any¡±¡ªshe looked around and pulled back the tablet again¡ª¡°race that may not already be listed.¡±

    ¡°So?¡± I couldn¡¯t follow the logic. ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°Enough of the public would need to recognize an alternate species, preferably in a way that doesn¡¯t unleash a mass outcry.¡±

    ¡°Has anyone tried?¡± I asked.

    Ms. Sauter licked her lips nervously. ¡°There¡¯s nothing publicly documented,¡± she responded.

    Of course there were no records. Western Sector¡¯s finest probably squelched it all. I muttered, ¡°Everything for the peace.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    I shook my head. Ms. Sauter probably wasn¡¯t in on that particular conspiracy. People like Daniel, his father, and many others had been removing evidence. They continued The Purge in secret, nearly two thousand years after it started.

    ¡°Care to explain, Mr. Fields?¡± she asked.

    ¡°No.¡±

    The real concern was revealing what I was, without trouble. Muni had to be working with Western Sector in order to remain untouched. Daniel¡¯s fianc¨¦e mentioned licenses back at Julianne¡¯s bar. A single comment from almost half a year ago stuck with me.

    ¡°Well. I¡¯ll keep working on the motions and paperwork. If nothing else it¡¯s a fun project to fill the nights.¡± A flicker of muscle twitches passed through her face as she packed up everything. The sentence bothered her but pursuing it would be rude.

    ¡°Maybe Roy can help.¡±

    She stared at me.

    ¡°Or not. Whatever you can do is fine.¡±

    She shook her head. ¡°I can do a lot. I¡¯ll file as your legal counsel, dismiss what¡¯s easy to argue. Give me a month, I¡¯ll have something. From there it¡¯ll depend on what you want.¡±

    As if I had a clue. I went with the easy answer, ¡°All right.¡±

    ¡°Try to behave.¡±

    I said nothing as she left the room. Moments later the guards came to get me.

    Thoughts occupied most of my consciousness. Sorting through harsh moments in memory where Daniel and I had talked about this very subject. Or more recently, Roy¡¯s words to his father months ago had alluded to the same solution. They¡¯d talked about it in the car when I¡¯d been lost under Muni¡¯s second charm.

    We could go public. The old man had been against it. Roy, on the other hand, seemed eager. Could Ms. Sauter help on that front? No. No one could. Not really. It was only a matter of time before the wrong person figured out what I wasn¡¯t.

    Then I¡¯d be killed. This ongoing ordeal would have accomplished truly nothing. It wasn¡¯t even my own death that bothered me. Not really.

    The waitresses at Bottom Pit, Roy, Leo, the twins and all the tribe members were at risk. Ted and Barnie might be smart enough to run. Barnie would try to get out but use too many explosives in the process. Western Sector agents would slit his throat while he slept.

    There were dozens of people I¡¯d worked hard to bring together. Some arrived on their own, like Rachel. We weren¡¯t all perfect friends, but we were alike in our outsiderness. Going public would mean every single relationship got scrutinized.

    Roy had visited me here in a Western Sector owned prison. His son had tried to rescue me out from under federal custody. And the laws of those races that had survived threatened all of it. The whole line of thinking made me angry and worried in one go. Would could I do?

    Burn them all.

    I shook off the angry suggestion of my baser nature. My other mind, part of me since childhood, gave a worse alternative for all of us. Still, the idea had merit. I could kill those who put me and mine in danger and simply continue until everyone gave up or I lost.

    Burn them until the threat has been ended.

    No. Hell. That would just make it worse. I was a rational, functioning person. I earned an income, legitimate or not. For now I was technically law abiding by staying in the prison. The majority of me knew, with years of restraint beat into me by Tal, violence couldn¡¯t solve everything. But that voice didn¡¯t care.

    I ignored inmates and crossed the bottom floor toward the stairs. Someone shouted at me. Part of my consciousness picked it up. The rest was lost in a muddle of self-searching. There had to be a route through my problems that wouldn¡¯t put my family in harm¡¯s way.

    I¡¯d made deals, held promises, and scrambled my own memory in a bid for time. Punching everything in existence wasn¡¯t an option. Kahina had been threatened by a simple picture showing how easily someone could end her life. What would I do if someone threatened the others?

    I couldn¡¯t protect everyone. Saving one woman had nearly killed me multiple times.

    My fists clenched in response to the thoughts flowing through me. More shouts came from behind me. People moved out of the way in a wave, but didn¡¯t actually look in my direction. I felt footsteps shift behind me. Fabric brushed against more woolen threads. Something sharp and weighted bobbed to the rear.

    Air vibrated from a sudden thrusting motion. Instinct kicked in and I swayed to the side. A hand grabbed my dipping shoulder and pushed me off balance and my heartbeat stuttered.

    ¡°Fucking mutt!¡± A familiar male voice. ¡°Keep him down!¡±

    Feet come in. I curl. Kick. Hit inside of Pink Meat¡¯s knee. Pink Meat grunts. Above. Fingers curl around metal stock. Jailers ready weapons to fire.

    More feet came in and kicked. People rushed. A swirl of sensations flooded into my head and the general population shifted. I didn¡¯t see a glint, but felt it stab forward again.

    Grab one Pink Meat. Pull leg into path of blade. Sinks deep. Hear weakling scream. Smile. Above two jailers level guns. Their voices shout.

    I swung my legs, got them under me, shifted my weight and threw one man into another. My foot shot backward and caught another in the gut. I reached out to grab a third assailant, hurling the human up to the guard¡¯s nest which disturbed their line of sight.

    The thought registered that they¡¯d been about to shoot in my direction. I felt briefly amazed my natural reaction included keeping tabs on the men with guns.

    My human missile screamed, ¡°Don¡¯t shoot!¡± and clenched his eyes shut. I felt it all, and Western Sector¡¯s finest didn¡¯t hesitate. One person smoothly moved to throw cuffs on the man.

    I needed space. Everyone looked the same in their jumpsuits. They had the same skin and colors. Anyone too close got a fist to the face, side, whatever was available. I twisted, moving better than expected. My eyes and senses absorbed faces and intentions in chunks. Some backed up, others hovered to the side, blocking exits so I couldn¡¯t escape.

    ¡°Die, mutt!¡± Spike, who¡¯d been in the crowd, yelled. He swung a glinting object at me.

    I swept my arm through quickly and knocked away the metal. Guards shouted. Another man flew at them, knocking down one of the Caretakers.

    An alarm sounded above. Its noise immersed my senses in a haze. I tuned out everything and continued to fight.

    Others made poor feints in my direction. They understood nothing. I¡¯d been reliving years of practice in the last month. All the lessons from Tal were fresh in my mind. I¡¯d been doing exactly as trained, by focusing on one person at a time, pushing back attackers until my newest target went down.

    Spike was stupid enough to become the latest target. I punched him and his body crumpled with a groan. He attempted to curl and I shouldered past another inmate to keep Spike in the fight.

    I lifted my prey, Spike, by the neck, a snarl across my face. Leo was in the distance struggling to get through. I could see Nathan Simms standing up top, one hand clutching his side, likely still tender from yet another beating.

    His weakness pissed me off further. He needed to understand there was a very clear way to deal with those who threatened you.

    I believed whole heartedly in permanent forms of conflict resolution. I was not a man who could talk things out. I stared at Nathan for a moment before clenching my hand around Spike¡¯s flailing form.

    His neck snapped and his hands, which had been digging at my arm moments before, flopped lifelessly.

    Death caused the others to pull back. Guards swarmed. Leo stopped abruptly, holding on the outer edge of my audience. I shrugged and dropped the limp body of Spike. My hands raised behind my head.

    ¡°Strike two for inmate one, three, seven, four, four. Any further resistance from any party will extend the punishment.¡± Warden Bennett¡¯s voice came from loudspeakers, but my senses knew where the man stood.

    He was in a room with long wires streaming in from other parts of the prison. A tenseness to his pose was hard to pick out from the siren¡¯s drone. I felt enough to know he was frowning.

    I smiled.

    I had a solution to a few of my problems.

    In here, Atlas Island, I would simply eliminate a recurring headache like Spike. Leo¡¯s strange view on the world wouldn¡¯t stop me. Violence might not be the best answer, but I didn¡¯t know how to be wise.

    I only knew how to battle. It was all I¡¯d been trained to do from a young age. Focus on a problem. Fight it. Survive.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 10 - Too quiet

    They threw me back into the same solitary cell. Warden Bennett read me a series of results from my ¡®little stunt.¡¯ He didn¡¯t seem phased by me killing Spike and acted as if it¡¯d been expected.

    Of course in his mind, perhaps murder had been inevitable. Problems tended to resolve themselves. He¡¯d classified me as a murdering brute from day one.

    I snarled and opened my stupid mouth again, ¡°Don¡¯t you have anything better to do than bother me?¡±

    There was a pause and Warden Bennett managed to go still. Too late I forgot he was a full-fledged vampire, in the room with me, and my brain felt foggy. Fighting humans had been one thing, throwing people and pulling on my strength another.

    Plus, during the fight, I¡¯d pulled on my own powers to toss people. What kind of alarm bells did that set off to the Western Sector employees? Were Hunters in here?

    Warden Bennett, after his momentary lapse in movement, responded simply. ¡°I¡¯ve stepped up my end, and will continue to do so until the situation passes. Your actions have helped, which I assume was the point to the little drama.¡±

    I¡¯m not sure if my surprise was concealed or not. After a moment I gave the Warden my best flat stare. ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I think you¡¯re doing your job excellently. I do not envy those who go...¡± He almost looked sheepish. ¡°Well, I shall say this, if you ever find yourself in a different line of work, do look me up. I¡¯ve need of individuals who can rile a crowd. Talents against the grain are always in demand.¡±

    I chewed on a lip and wondered which way this conversation was going. Warden Bennett believed I was undercover somehow. Go team secret password sojourn. Using it had been a form of cheating, but it wasn¡¯t exactly something normal people would slip into conversation.

    ¡°It¡¯s one of my few skills,¡± I muttered dryly.

    ¡°Indeed.¡± The vampire turned and closed the door. The guards didn¡¯t even bother looking my way.

    I surveyed the cell. In the last few weeks they¡¯d managed to patch many holes with fresh cement and bolted down iron covers over other spots. The mirror was new, again, and the toilet functional.

    Fantastic.

    I¡¯d decided how to handle the here and now, which was to simply kill those who were hell bent on hurting me. If I could murder droves of wolves to defend Kahina, I could off one racist piece of shit to keep from being annoyed.

    But it didn¡¯t help the terror of going public with my inhuman nature. Ms. Sauter might have ideas and the legal background but Daniel was the only person with intelligence I trusted.

    I crossed my arms and flopped onto the bed, searching my memories for answers. Somewhere in the past Daniel might have left clues.

    ***

    I was a child, staring across another bowl of breakfast cereal. A giant raven with black feathers puffed up outside. It didn¡¯t look in the window at me, but instead stared into the distance.

    Something aggravated the creature and it cawed twice and flew away. A single black feather, caught by a parting breeze, fluttered down. The moment passed and I sat up in the small room Tal had allowed me.

    Another memory spun by. It took me a moment to track what was happening in this moment of the past.

    Shouting echoed from downstairs. Tal was arguing with someone. They shouted back. None of the specifics registered because the conversation had happened before. It was simply the latest trainee trying to measure up to Tal¡¯s insane standards. I¡¯d heard the man working with person after person.

    He worked hard to train normal humans into something resembling warriors. His words, not mine. I¡¯d recently learned what humans were, along with hundreds of others.

    I¡¯d been repeatedly lured with food into working with Roy at night. He didn¡¯t slow down the pace and Tal¡¯s expectations cared not one whit for my young age. We got it worse than those other people who only practiced during the day.

    As a child none of it made real sense. I only had one real person anywhere near my age and Roy existed without questioning his father¡¯s orders. I assumed it was what young people did in this world. Even Daniel adhered to this insane standard.

    School was an experiment yielding poor results. There was no reason for me to stay, and home was easy to find. Multiple times I¡¯d just walked out and gone back to Tal¡¯s. People came in and frequently found me eating food from the fridge.

    Sometimes the police would find me first. Other times the teacher would try to stop me. After a while I got to stop going.  Breaking a teacher¡¯s nose and attacking the police when they came into Tal¡¯s upstairs rooms had set the tone for my social interactions.

    Then the memories settled and played real details. I could remember punching a kid during a fight weeks before. Tal had congratulated me for winning my fight. I still felt pride at that.

    Daniel¡¯s father was over and in a heated argument with Tal, about me. I felt their words through the floor. Sensations within Tal¡¯s lair were very easy to read, especially at night when there were fewer people.

    ¡°There¡¯s no good options. The runt needs an outlet.¡± Tal sounded un-phased by the other man¡¯s shouts.

    ¡°There¡¯s got to be an alternative. Putting him in the human circuits is too big a risk, and there aren¡¯t wolves his age. Young don¡¯t survive the change, except when it goes wrong.¡± I felt Daniel¡¯s father put a hand to his face and wince. ¡°This would have been easier if he¡¯d been a wolf like we suspected.¡±

    ¡°Jay won¡¯t last without an outlet. Especially not until eighteen. He needs something.¡±

    ¡°What about your son?¡± Daniel¡¯s father said.

    I perked up and tilted my head. What about Roy? How would Roy help?

    Daniel himself certainly wasn¡¯t helping. He¡¯d run upstairs to the bedrooms with a bag full of food. I sat upstairs in my room, jealously guarding the doorway. Daniel couldn¡¯t come in, not if I had my say.

    ¡°C¡¯mon, man, let me in. We¡¯re friends, right?¡± he said.

    ¡°No,¡± I responded. I moved away from the door to focus on the adults below me.

    ¡°I brought food.¡±

    I opened the door immediately. I stepped out and closed the door, then flopped onto the ground. If Daniel wanted to eat, we¡¯d have to do it out here.

    ¡°Okay, man.¡± He sat outside of arm¡¯s length, and rustled through the bag for items.

    I¡¯d recently learned about fries. They weren¡¯t as good as a hamburger and a far cry from steak but there was something enjoyable about the hot crispy ones. They were hard shelled surprises of crispy, like tortoises.

    Daniel shut up long enough for me to hear more of Tal¡¯s words as they rumbled through the building. ¡°Jay¡¯s getting too rough for Roy to keep up. Soon, very soon, there won¡¯t be many who can stand up to him alone. Not if he snaps again.¡±

    ¡°Jesus, Tal, I don¡¯t want to hear that. Things like that give me ulcers.¡± During their pause I distractedly fidgeted. I understood the words they were saying, but the context was broken. It didn¡¯t seem real.

    Daniel¡¯s father continued, ¡°I don¡¯t want to put the kid down.¡±  Chills traveled up my spine, both in my memory and now in the cell. The adult sounded cold when he talked of ending my life. ¡°But if he¡¯s out of control, and can¡¯t restrain his instincts, I may have to.¡±

    They paused their conversation while Tal ran his hands through his hair. Tal himself was checking equipment all over the bottom floor. I could feel fingers trace through laces as he picked up a glove.

    ¡°It¡¯ll kill Daniel.¡±

    Tal grunted in response and explained, ¡°Jay¡¯s just too strong, and it grows worse when he¡¯s riled up. I¡¯ve been working to instill discipline¡±¡ªTal shook his head¡ª¡°but in a few years this will be beyond the boy and me.¡±

    ¡°What else can I do? There¡¯s no one like this, Jay, is his name? And the books haven¡¯t provided me any hints on what sort of creature he is.¡± Daniel¡¯s father waved his hands while talking. ¡°Nothing anything in the archives either, and if I ask Central they may catch on.¡±

    Tal waved. ¡°No. I didn¡¯t ask you here for that. You risked much letting me and Roy slide, I¡¯ll figure out something else.¡±

    Something bopped my nose. I blinked and lost the tactile sensation helping me eavesdrop on the adults.

    ¡°Are you gonna eat that?¡± Daniel¡¯s words were almost as muffled as Tal¡¯s. I blinked and looked sharply at him. He had a giant burger shoved into his face and was trying to talk around it.

    I could see a silly grin.

    ¡°You¡¯re weird,¡± I said. Daniel was odd for a human, and I¡¯d run into a lot by then. They were all strange. Lots of them loved to talk and refused to leave me alone.

    A crunching sound came out of the far room. At the end of the hallway was where Roy typically practiced. Seconds later he stomped by us, a barely restrained amount of anger crawling across his face.

    Down the stairs with a series of thumps. Then he shouted at Tal.

    I blinked. Tal and Daniel¡¯s father worried about my issues, when Roy was a walking powder keg himself. He was officially a teenager. According to the television shows I¡¯d watched, that was a bad time for mood swings.

    Granted, I only had a few shows to gauge by since dramas were less interesting than cooking shows. I¡¯d been salivating over a barbecue show. There was an elf who constantly boasted his food was the best and offered money to anyone who could win in a blind taste test. One episode had left me slobbering and nibbling on a remote control.

    I¡¯d recently learned plastic was not edible. The memory faded with me grabbing the food from Daniel and shuffling downstairs to see what Roy had stirred up.

    ***

    Morning¡¯s sunlight was so close I could feel it on the other side of a double thick wall. Sometime during the mental playback I¡¯d crawled to the closest side and managed to stay upright.

    One eye twitched. My body hurt from a strain equal to trying to right a semi-truck hell-bent on going the wrong direction. With my arms, before it ran me over.

    No. I had fought a truck head on and was blurring a memory together with the current time. A flash of the past hit me. I stood, arms wide, braced against an oncoming truck of unfair size. It slipped away as another series of unrelated thoughts passed my mind.

    Each moment was fresh and raw as if it happened moments ago, instead of years. I reeled with dizziness and barely kept from face planting into the ground. Dozens of emotions hit me, a throbbing forehead, phantom pains from broken bones, and sucking in breath in sharp gasps. The events weren¡¯t what drove me batty, it was the sensations resurfacing with it. Every so often Kahina¡¯s face would float by.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Seeing her face hurt just a little bit less than reliving physical pain. The replaying memories made me shake and chatter uncontrollably. How had I held it together over the last few weeks in general population? Out there I¡¯d managed to keep going without anything too obvious.

    Now though, it¡¯d gotten worse. Maybe I just needed personal space to let myself break down. I prayed it would end soon, and that my mind would settle.

    ***

    Years passed. Things happened, but most were lost in the flow of my mind fast forwarding. Everything had changed, but so many things felt the same.

    The gym had slowly adapted over the last three years by going from mostly boxing to some mixed studio. Roy had purchased more property from the businesses next door. Expanded and put in a few rooms for people to rent. Our single focus sport became the kind of place that did Yoga, martial arts, and boxing. The old man had managed to coach a few champions and crowed it to anyone who¡¯d listen.

    Roy wasn¡¯t doing badly, all things considered. His self-control had been tested thoroughly over the years. He¡¯d had a girlfriend, lost her to high school drama, got another. Then swore off them after that relationship imploded. I had no advice for him. Oddly, when it came to Roy, I was almost timid. Adult me might label it as a mix of awe and respect. After all, he¡¯d suffered under Tal¡¯s tutelage for years more than me.

    We trained at nights. He studied, high school homework, and had managed to reduce the number of violin strings being snapped to one a month.

    I only got to fight against people at the gym, adults mostly. It was something, and each battle was a moment of happiness. I looked forward to it. We, mostly Tal, had decided I was thirteen now. Though by the height and muscle I¡¯d put on recently, thirteen seemed wrong. I was almost Roy¡¯s size and he was years older.

    Both of them were getting sharp on the criticism. Roy caught a number of mistakes slipping past Tal.

    Tal gave orders and struggled to bribe me into action. Many times he simply ordered. The other fighters kept their chatter focused on techniques and rarely talked about anything else. Roy was angry half the time and snapped if I asked questions.

    So I stopped asking. My reading comprehension was low. Numbers and higher math were terrible. The only thing I had any success in was punching things. It turned out I was also extremely good at holding a pad and correcting people who couldn¡¯t figure out how to use their waist properly.

    ¡°Hips,¡± I said.

    On the other end of the pad was a girl in her mid-twenties. She¡¯d joined our kickboxing classes and was working up a sweat. Her hands kept slipping downward.

    ¡°What?¡± she said with a ragged word.

    ¡°Turn your hips more.¡± My voice had started cracking, so I kept sentences short.

    ¡°I am.¡±

    I shook my head. She was light, had too much hair in a ponytail, and entirely too tight clothing. I barely noticed, though.

    ¡°I am,¡± she insisted.

    I shook my head again. ¡°You¡¯re not.¡±

    ¡°Maybe show her,¡± Daniel¡¯s voice floated over. He wore workout clothes and had turned into a toned but lanky teen.

    I waved.

    ¡°Hey, man.¡± Daniel smiled and tilted his head a bit. His face wasn¡¯t super tanned yet, but it¡¯d grown in depth over the last year. ¡°Sometimes people learn by showing, instead of just talking about it. Here¡±¡ªhe stepped closer¡ª¡°I¡¯ll show you with hips, and without.¡±

    Daniel swapped places with the female.

    ¡°Keep moving,¡± I told her. My words were Tal¡¯s, learned over long hours of endless practice. He expected everyone to perform at a basic level. Plus, I had to earn my food money for the month.

    Tal refused to simply pay for my meals anymore.

    ¡°Again,¡± Daniel said. I braced for the incoming kick. ¡°With hips first, so you see how it should look.¡± He exaggerated the motion and I had to put more strength into the pads.

    ¡°Without,¡± he said. My friend demonstrated the two methods a few times. This woman and he were about the same weight, and he¡¯d made me grunt from the force of his kick.

    ¡°It¡¯s all in the hips,¡± Daniel finished.

    I nodded. ¡°Punching is the same.¡± I managed to keep myself stable and only cracked a little. ¡°Your body tilts, adds force to the blow, engages more muscles.¡± Tal had taught me that last line. The explanation behind engaging muscles took me a long time to understand.

    ¡°More muscle work means more definition, more calories burned, and all that.¡± Daniel perked up and smiled.

    The redhead had ventured into to strange territory. I didn¡¯t really know the ins and outs of what these calories things were. I could feel muscles move, so that clicked. Theory and names were beyond me.

    I nodded in agreement. The girl switched with Daniel and tried a few more times.

    ¡°Better,¡± I said after a few kicks.

    ¡°Hey, man, I¡¯ll catch you after, all right?¡± Daniel waved. I could feel his footsteps trail across the room for a few moments before I shifted my senses back to the woman.

    Daniel went off to another corner and found a bar hanging from above. He and Roy were well trained. They didn¡¯t even need bribes of food.

    ¡°All right.¡± I kept holding the giant pad, bracing a bit more as the force of her kicks increased slowly with her improved movement.

    We switched to punching with small mitts.

    Soon the hour was over. The client wiped her forehead with a towel and tried not to let her face quiver. I wasn¡¯t familiar with the emotions as a child, but now, reliving the moment as an adult, I could see both relief and worry on her features.

    It must have been embarrassing to be corrected by a bunch of young teenagers like ourselves. It¡¯s probably why she was one of our last trainees of the night. The place had cleared out and no one would pay attention to her.

    I put our practice gear away carefully after wiping the pads down. Tal Forge had been very specific on how things should be done. Failure resulted in more laps, more pushups, more exercise, and less food. Losing food was unacceptable.

    Daniel waited patiently and stretched to cool down from his exercise. Unlike everyone else, the redhead was never coached. He was bounds ahead of even Roy in terms of conditioning.

    And unlike Roy, who did things with a straight face or me who did it just for food, Daniel seemed almost happy. A grin was plastered across his features anytime he worked out. I¡¯d heard going crazy happened to humans occasionally.

    ¡°So I¡¯ve been thinking, man.¡± Daniel helped himself to the pads I¡¯d just cleaned and put away. He held them out.

    I punched them in turn, as Tal had drilled me to do. Each hit let me release tension. Hitting things felt great. ¡°Uh huh.¡±

    Daniel shook his hand then raised it for me again. The material flapped lightly and the sensation of it brushing through air made me happy. He said, ¡°About your situation.¡±

    ¡°Uh huh,¡± I repeated.

    ¡°And it¡¯s a mess.¡±

    ¡°Uh huh.¡± He probably meant how I¡¯d dropped out of nowhere to land in an abandoned train yard. This whole world felt strange and I sucked at research. Reading was hard, and slow. Dry books from the past were even worse. Television shows were much easier but a lot of them repeated themselves.

    ¡°You ever say anything else?¡± he asked while putting out another pattern for me to hit.

    ¡°Uh huh.¡± This time I smiled a little while putting more force into punching the pads. Daniel was sturdy. Not like Tal or Roy, but oddly harder than most humans.

    His eyebrows bunched as I connected with left, right, then right again. ¡°You should be careful doing that.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡± I hit the next three.

    ¡°That thing you do. Whatever it is when you¡¯re¡­¡± He frowned. His mitt covered hand waved at me. ¡°Here. Hit it again.¡±

    I did, lightly, while confused.

    ¡°Again.¡± Daniel frowned. ¡°But harder.¡±

    I changed to a better stance and put more effort into the swing, twisting my hips and bringing the body in line before swiveling back to a ready position.

    ¡°Not like that, harder. Like you were before.¡±

    This time I growled and increased the energy of my swing. Parts of my senses tingled and a slight heat crawled up my arm. The same heat resided deep at my core.

    ¡°That. Whatever that is.¡±

    I paused, frowned, and went for a stronger punch, this time putting more energy into it. Daniel nodded as my fist connected.

    ¡°Yeah. That, I can feel when you do it.¡± My friend, or as close as I had to one, seemed agitated. I could see it by the way his jaw tensed, and the posture of his arms and shoulders.

    I pushed again and put more into it.

    Daniel shook his head like he was seeing double and trying to shake it off. I¡¯d seen fighters do the same thing in the ring when a blow came too hard, or it rang in uncomfortable ways.

    His arm hung loosely as he cursed. I stared blankly. Tal and Roy did not believe in cursing. They felt resorting to foul language meant a lack of self-control and discipline. Others at the gym were more impulsive and used expletives frequently.

    He raised both mitts, ready. ¡°All right, again. But this time without the extra,¡± he said.

    I rolled my shoulders and attempted to calm down. Roy and Tal were big on knowing when to be violent. This wasn¡¯t a ring, this was practice.

    We continued fighting. Daniel told me every single time he felt the extra power being pulled. I found it interesting to know someone else could detect what I was doing. Daniel keyed in quicker as the week went on, and I learned what my natural strength was versus empowered.

    It turned out I could still hit hard even without the extra edge.

    ***

    I paced the room and counted blocks, toes, and bodies nearby. There were fewer than before. The jail felt less packed. People talked but their volume no longer bore into every ounce of stone in the area.

    My head shook and fingers curled against mostly whole bricks. There were a few grooves from prior tantrums but most of the time they were under vague control.

    I only beat the walls with human strength. Daniel taught me the line between acting like a monster and being human. It did nothing to control my bouts of anger and rage.

    Guards, or Caretakers, or Western Sector Hunter people stood outside the door. There were two and only those two in this entire stretch. They mumbled to each other while I heard¡ªor, more accurately felt¡ªsnippets of conversations from across the building.

    Focusing on them meant the past stayed away.

    A woman shook her head. She was bound in chains and sitting at a small table that could barely hold a good meal. She was familiar but felt too thin to be Stacy. Still, the woman moved like a wolf, and felt annoyed. One leg bounced up and down. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll make it back. They aren¡¯t going to let me. They¡¯re sending more people to the other side of the island, one a day.¡±

    ¡°Stacy?¡± I asked, but neither woman could hear me. They were floors away in another wing of the building.

    Ms. Sauter responded, ¡°Keep your head down. You know the rules here, and I can¡¯t get you moved until the judges agree with Jay¡¯s statement.¡±

    ¡°What about Thomas? Can he give a statement? He started working with them, right?¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s¡­¡± the other wolf paused.

    ¡°A complete idiot sometimes. But trust me, he loves you,¡± Julianne said to Kahina.

    The sudden disconnect make my heartbeat stutter. I¡¯d forgotten what she sounded like. A mixture of gruff and playful that vibrated when she spoke. The air shook around her from an intensity normal people didn¡¯t have.

    But Julianne was dead and the memory was from almost seven years ago. Why had I thought of her?

    Because of Stacy. My memories were still a mess. In a split second I was kneeling in the woods, cradling Julianne¡¯s dying form. Julianne held up a hand, pleading with me.

    ¡°Take care of my girl,¡± she said to me.

    My head dipped in agreement. I wanted to go back in time to change what happened. If it were possible to alter the past.

    But time didn¡¯t march backward. I¡¯d cast Kahina aside a second time to keep her alive. That decision would haunt me for the rest of my life. It could compete with all my other terrible decisions; disguising my nature, or not remembering enough to keep Julianne alive, or even letting the fucking Order of Merlin into pack woods.

    Julianne died, was dying, and died again as my mind relived the moment. I screamed and banged on the wall with a fist as I crumpled to my knees. She would have made a hell of a wolf. She would never get the chance. Her death was my fault in a dozen different ways.

    I cursed Muni for agreeing to suppress my memories. That thought vibrated until her words echoed again. Her form, a hopping raven, alighted onto Julianne¡¯s dying body. Memories blurred.

    ¡°My charms cannot hold back the hurricane of your mind forever,¡± the raven said. It hopped and avoided my imaginary arm backhanding it. ¡°When the trinket comes off, there will be hell to pay.¡±

    ¡°Fuck off, Muni,¡± I yelled. ¡°Go away, or I¡¯ll burn you to a cinder!¡±

    The memory of Muni chirped then fluttered away. Black feathers spun all around, taking the past away for a moment.

    I sniffed and let myself be swept to another part of the jail. I was responsible for other people, and Roy¡¯s son couldn¡¯t be allowed face the same fate as Julianne.

    ¡°Sir, Mr. Fields is still in solitary,¡± Leo said. His body stiff and eyes locked on the man.

    Last Chief shifts slightly. Controlling agitation. Will shift back in seconds. Bitter Whelp¡¯s heart beats strongly. Toes curl. Hands flatten upon tabletop.

    Roy carefully measured every single movement. His son, which my inner mind thought of as ¡°Bitter Whelp¡± couldn¡¯t keep his nervousness from expressing itself.

    ¡°Do we know how long?¡±

    ¡°No. He should be on strike three and pushed to the forest, but the Wardens haven¡¯t done it yet.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    Leo shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know, sir.¡±

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Jay would survive the other side. It wouldn¡¯t matter what they send against him.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. There¡¯s rumors of a dark monster in the woods. Something that isn¡¯t one of the major races.¡± Leo¡¯s head turned side to side in a motion that might be to scan the room for eavesdroppers. ¡°Like us.¡±

    Roy moved slightly and resumed holding still. ¡°Have you made progress figuring out what they might be?¡± He ran a tongue across his teeth and flared his nostrils.

    Roy¡¯s unease worried me.

    ¡°No, but there is something wrong with this place. Earthquakes every other night, small ones, but consistent. There are fewer people than ever. The caretakers are finding any excuse to send people to the other side.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s been no news about it,¡± Roy responded. His cheek twitched ahead of schedule. ¡°Not even the tremors.¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about how. The people we¡¯re against could easily stifle news reports. What we need to focus on is the truth behind their enforced silence.¡±

    Leo nodded but his eyebrows were tight. He felt confused. Roy shook his head and stared toward the small room¡¯s rear door. There were other footsteps passing by as guards checked in on the father and son.

    ¡°They wouldn¡¯t prevent the news if there wasn¡¯t something to hide. We were right to suspect this place as housing a potential family member.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Leo stammered.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Jay¡¯s abandoned the trinket. Soon he¡¯ll be in control of his powers. He will find the unknown here. He will decide if he returns home with us, or is culled for the safety of us all.¡±

    Leo bit his lip and clasped his hands tightly. He nodded. I felt his head stutter. Roy¡¯s body lifted with a deep breath before he nodded in return.

    Roy led into a speech. ¡°If you complete this trial¡ª¡±

    Leo quickly nodded again then cut off his father, ¡°I know. I failed you in front of the tribe members and this is my punishment.¡±

    Roy¡¯s face hardened but he lifted an arm and banged the table. It dented sharply around his hand. Two guards rushed down the hallway toward their room. Leo flinched.

    It was too many motions for me to absorb at once with my tenuous grasp on the now. I fell backward onto the ruined leftovers of my cot. Being vertical reminded me of another time, almost two decades ago.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 11 - Only The Gods

    Daniel and I lay on our backs atop Tal¡¯s gym. I didn¡¯t know how much of the property Tal owned, but he had access to the roof. Up here the air felt quieter and less annoying. The uncoordinated pattering of the people below faded between layers of material.

    There were a few buildings nearby that were even taller, and those annoyed me. I wondered how easy it would be to tear them down like the television shows sometimes displayed. I¡¯d watched a show that spent an hour explaining how forces piled against each other to support high rises.

    Daniel rambled about his latest topic. ¡°So, man, I found these words in Latin, right? They talk about a concept only the Gods understand. You know, Gods?¡±

    I nodded. Daniel had been going away for weeks at a time for his training. Each time he returned the young man had new theories and ideas on my nature and the mystery of my missing person.

    ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t tell anyone about them or I¡¯ll get in trouble. But Dad says most are dead. The, uh, my teachers, man they get all touchy whenever someone mentions them by name.¡±

    Daniel rambled a lot of the time. I let it pass over me and stared up. Thick clouds to the west were laden with water.

    ¡°Ab Inito.¡±

    ¡°Abs are neato,¡± I mumbled. A scent of roasting meat was hanging in the wind. I could feel the heavy spices adding a slight change in texture that even a dog might not smell.

    ¡°No man, ab inito. It¡¯s used in legal contracts, or old horror stories. It means, from the beginning.¡±

    I grunted. He¡¯d have to start over from the beginning for anything to make sense.

    Daniel shook his head. I felt skin and hair crinkle as he moved against the roof¡¯s hot tiles. ¡°Remember how you described things when you first came to? The night when I saw you landing in the train yard?¡±

    I¡¯d spent most of the last few years blocking those memories. When they crossed my mind I became angry and sad at the same time. Almost a decade later and I still felt upset over my failure, but angry at the powerlessness of being a small child.

    My hands were much stronger now. I could hold onto her, whomever I¡¯d been traveling with, and never let go. The gods themselves would have to strike me down in order to tear her away. Only, I still remembered nothing but the vague sensation of there being someone.

    I said nothing, uncomfortable, but listened to Daniel anyway. He¡¯d always been a thinker. I could talk to him about the utter nonsense of my life and he¡¯d simply accept it.

    ¡°From the beginning. I think the chime was the first noise of time catching up with you. Like you were existing in a place that was being remade from the beginning.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Elves have these legends called The Sins of The People. A story they share with their Speakers.¡±

    I nodded as if it made sense. Speakers were elves who could cast illusions to fool the eyes. I rarely used my actual eyesight so the idea sounded worthless.

    ¡°Anyway, in their story, they say the world has been restarted a bunch of times. Like, we¡¯ve existed seven times, or something. But at the end, or start, they talk about how they sacrifice this creature called a Lord and alter history.¡±

    The confused look on my face felt over the top. Slight drool dripped from the scent of delicious food. One eyebrow seemed stuck up high. I wanted to leap off the roof and hunt the person grilling meat.

    ¡°So, I think you were displaced when one reality left and the other came rushing in. Like, you existed.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°A lord got offed, and you kept existing while the world rebuilt as you were somehow able to traverse between the timelines. That happened once, according to Dad. But only, like, Gods can do it, if they still exist. Which is wicked awesome man, you¡¯re like a boy god.¡±

    That didn¡¯t help my understanding at all.

    ¡°Huh?¡± I asked my question again, hoping for clarity.

    ¡°I dunno, man, it¡¯s all like, quantum physicals and theoretical. Time travel¡¯s untested, but elves say they¡¯ve done it! What if that¡¯s what happened to you? You were somewhere eating cereal or something, then elves did their thing, and it ripped you out of the old reality? Then you just survived until the new one formed around you. That nothing, that absence, it was because reality didn¡¯t exist.¡±

    My head shook. The ideas he spoke of weren¡¯t clicking upstairs. Logic had never been my skill but I wanted to be half as smart as Daniel someday. I simply needed to focus on this instead of the annoying movements of a beginner class downstairs.

    ¡°That thing with the dirt turning into clay and a brick or building, that was time passing by! The ghost people were people traveling! It makes perfect sense.¡±

    ¡°But why only me?¡±

    ¡°I dunno, man.¡± Daniel deflated and looked glum. I¡¯d explained it to him, the feeling of missing someone else. The person I¡¯d been traveling next to.

    ¡°Well that doesn¡¯t help,¡± I said, finally invested in the conversation.

    ¡°No man, every little bit helps. Do you know what that means, if you can travel between timelines? Do you have any clue?¡±

    ¡°Not a single one.¡± Of course I didn¡¯t have a clue. I was a teenager whose world revolved around working out and punching people.

    Daniel started to speak but his words died off. I struggled to understand all the different ways this would matter. Maybe I¡¯d left the other person behind in another timeline. I wondered if there were seven of these things existing next to each other, like buses sometimes traveled in packs. The person I¡¯d been missing might be on another bus.

    What on earth had made me consider different realities to be equal to city buses? The concept was absolute nonsense. As if I could simply get off the bus, walk to the next stop, and get onto a new one.

    At that age, I¡¯d only ridden a bus a few times. Now, I could navigate almost any city in the Western Sector, and knew enough to realize no bus went to other realities.

    My mind warred with being a teenager versus being in my thirties. Time had passed, I was no longer a child. The disconnected thought pushed me out of the past again.

    I woke, staring at the ceiling, and felt doubled over with hunger. The scents of the past rooftop haunted the present. I plugged my nose and slowly relocated my senses to a more current timeline.

    The walls rumbled briefly. My stomach answered in kind. Hunger brought up a dozen different moments in the past. Tal cooking and frowning as I asked for a third helping. The memory shifted forward to years later.

    It was the same cramped kitchen with a small alcove for the table. Rachel moved around. She was a short stern lady who believed in chastising misbehaving children with kitchen utensils. She bustled, pushing Tal out of the way. He smiled when the shorter woman wasn¡¯t looking.

    Roy came in through a back door, bruises on his skin and a black mark on one eye. He turned slightly and dashed to his room.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Tal asked as he followed Roy up the stairs. I followed them long enough to determine neither person was headed to my small den.

    Dishes clattered. Cheap utensils smacked the table repeatedly. I turned and smelled spices which made my mouth water.

    ¡°Eat up,¡± Rachel said. ¡°Growing boys need more food, and you need more than most.¡±

    I smiled and laid into the food she¡¯d made.

    I attempted to hold onto the memory and follow it through, but got nothing beyond the brief glimpse. It vanished, along with a dozen more meals from across the years. Me sitting with Daniel, chowing down on food. Rachel was in the later years. Tal, attempting to make real food but clearly helpless with anything more than cereal or oatmeal. Each one was a brief flicker that sorted neatly into a pile.

    My fingers scraped against the cell¡¯s floor. A desire for food displaced me nearly as much as everything else. It didn¡¯t even feel like a memory, not really. It felt like an event from my current time, not the past.

    I¡¯d slowly managed to square away more bits of the past into shit that made sense.

    Muni was a black feathered raven in the same way I was a giant, winged, fire breathing creature. She ate memories and somehow her presence lingered in my mind as I relived the past. Her original words had been a warning stuck in a loop.

    Tal had been an adopted father, of sorts. He hadn¡¯t been great. He¡¯d been gruff, stern, and expected me to fall in line like a soldier. The man also provided food and I was a sucker for meals.

    Roy had been a distant older brother, both of us molded by Tal¡¯s expectations. It twisted us, but at the same point, the strictness probably helped. There were no tough but kind guidelines with children who could punch through walls when throwing a tantrum.

    We spent years fighting in rings. We weren¡¯t wolves, but our bouts were often one sided against normal humans. Between endurance, rigorous training, and excessive strength, standard people couldn¡¯t compare.

    Daniel spent his time researching and asking questions. He, along with the other two, helped me understand my abilities that set me apart from everyone else.

    It took me years to figure out no one else felt the world in the same manner I did. And even longer to realize there were multiple races with weird ticks. Elves were rarely seen at Tal¡¯s home, but Daniel played with them in the forests.

    I did not like going into the woods, despite how some elves treated me. They gave me funny looks and smiled as though I belonged right there with them. One even gave me a crown. The memories felt wrong when compared to my encounters with Evan and Candy.

    Rachel¡¯s face arrived during my teens. I liked Rachel a lot. She made food, whereas Tal made disasters. She and Tal dated for a long time, or whatever it was old people who were too stubborn to talk in front of children did.

    Tal had died too. The last memory I had of Rachel was her huddling in a car with the others of Roy¡¯s tribe, and Evan.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ¡°What a mess,¡± I muttered to an empty room. ¡°What a Gods forsaken mess I¡¯ve made.¡±

    Confession only made the regret tangible. There wasn¡¯t enough time in the world to sort through my entire past. Not when other events were happening outside, plus a deep gnawing hunger made it hard to breathe.

    It might have been the air. It felt denser than normal. As if an innumerable amount of weight pressed upon my shoulders. The earth rumbled again, slowly.

    Then I felt something wholly distinct from the past¡¯s mess of mind fuckery. It had nothing to do with the emptying jail cell that was Atlas Island. There was something out there, huge, and moving.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± I asked. My senses slid off the object. They traveled through water and air bubbles.

    The upper range of my abilities, blocked or unblocked by Muni¡¯s charm, reached sixty miles. Easily encompassing the island and a chunk of ocean. It was enough to feel the object moving around for miles.

    Whatever it was, it easily dwarfed my winged form. The creature moved sluggishly, and felt like a long tube, or a snake. Only the size made no sense compared to the shape. Its body lethargically rippled in waves to propel along a sandy section of ocean bed.

    ¡°Holy hell,¡± I muttered.

    Was that Warden Bennett¡¯s charge? A giant fucking sea snake that could knock over this building like a toddler fighting blocks?

    I shook with a strange mixture of excitement and fright. That monster would absolutely wreck the hell out of a city if it ever got loose. Alternately, my senses could be really messed up and detecting something not there. It felt too alive to be a submarine or carrier. It wouldn¡¯t be a pipe line that funneled oil.

    My head swayed as I checked again. Memories crashed into my mind, bringing up dreams of feeling planes fly above me, and my brief annoyed elation at knowing other creatures could soar through the air. Flying wouldn¡¯t help me against a sea creature unless it came out of the water. I wasn¡¯t a puffin, able to fly and swim with ease.

    The earth rumbled again in what might have been an aftershock. I felt the cement walls of our building crack while something immense heaved itself onto land. My other sight shook apart at the seams as a spider web formed in the mortar.

    Cracks in the room mirrored the ones mentally plaguing me. This jail housing was going to hell and wasn¡¯t my fault, not like Warden Bennett accused. The large creature in the water had to be causing these earthquakes, simply from its size.

    I decided it was time to change this situation.

    ¡°Knock knock.¡± I rapped against the study door loudly. This thing should have caved under the pressure of my nighttime rampages but had held.

    ¡°Little pig, little pig.¡± I swayed while reciting Bottom Pit¡¯s code for the backdoor. ¡°Let me out. Or I¡¯ll huff.¡±

    Knocking rattled down the hallways. I could feel it echoing and sinking into concrete and steel rebar. The materials swallowed my shouts with their man-made indifference.

    ¡°Knock. Knock.¡±

    I could barely hold myself against the door. Memories of shouting then punching adults who fought back dizzied me. Being forced to swallow my anger and hurt because Tal expected us to be men. They were even madder when I won.

    ¡°Little pigs.¡± My words were probably not the best choice of wording when talking to law enforcement. I felt like the hallway had emptied.

    Hell.

    ¡°Knock.¡±

    The vague echo of footsteps tangled with my senses. It felt like there was a riot happening downstairs. Dozens of bare feet pushed against dirt and sand. Skin ground roughly against the granules and roots were unearthed. Hard plastics and metals pushed back. Shouts were absorbed.

    People were fighting outside; guards against inmates, if my wild tactical sensations could be trusted. To the north, a pack of wolves with matted fur stopped. Their heads moved as one toward the island¡¯s northern end, opposite the prison¡¯s beachhead. Chains rattled, a huge pressure pushed against the north beach. The white tower overlooked it all, indifferent and unmoving despite the shaking earth.

    I hated using my abilities in a new place because it took too much time to separate out the sensations. All those bits of feedback painted a strange picture of this island¡¯s true nature.

    ¡°Let. Me. Out.¡±

    A man in heavy armor stood outside the door. His soles were thick and a plastic visor sat upright. His head shook and body moved funny. He tensed then left while a faint hint of liquid trickled into his fabric.

    ¡°Quiet down. Warden¡¯s been notified you want to talk. He¡¯ll be here when he gets around to it. Inspecting the facility...¡± Things fuzzed again, words from memory telling me to stop complaining about a disappeared toy.

    The guard finished his speech, ¡°Until then, shut it.¡±

    I mumbled and banged on the door despite being warned. ¡°Little pig.¡±

    Western Sector guards, even one who watched over a prison like this, were made of strong stuff. The man didn¡¯t react, didn¡¯t argue, and told me to shut up again.

    I fell to my knees and tried to keep my head in one piece.

    People were in an upstairs office, rutting away like animals. I felt it. Their cries were absorbed by a couch. There were two men downstairs engaged in the same activity, with far less happy sounds pouring into the small cell¡¯s walls.

    I could feel all that shit and it was unbearable. It¡¯d been easier as a child. All these sensations were simply a curiosity. I¡¯d lived for years as a suppressed human and felt absolutely disgusted.

    Being alone, in a cell, with nothing but random highlights of a checkered past hurt my sanity. Especially since many of them were filled with fighting in some form. Tal exploded on me one day and I torched a dozen objects while Roy held me back. Neither man spoke a word of an apology.

    I failed to contain the shaking. Failed to prevent myself from being racked with sobs. Decades of my life where I¡¯d been a stronger man, indifferent to those beneath me, in charge. By the Gods, I could breathe fire and turn into a giant creature with wings to fly free through the air. The power to command, healing, perks that had made me a cocky young adult.

    And I was reduced to a mess on the floor.

    Muni¡¯s voice crawled in imaginary gaps between memories. I grasped the words and tried to chain them together. There was something important.

    ¡°When the trinket comes off...¡±

    Her face flashed. Littered with dark feathers threatening to swallow my mind. Soaking everything around them. The background blurred, our setting, events leading up to her words, all dimmed.

    I clutched my head and struggled to remember more of Muni¡¯s warning. I¡¯d heard those words before while being jostled across Leo¡¯s shoulders. The attempted woodland escape felt like so long ago.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± yelled the guard.

    I growled and hit the door harder than intended and felt it crack just a little. Not enough to send me into a rage, but enough to cause the guard to jump. His hand went through the air and clutched a gun. The safely clicked off and he drew it in a single movement.

    His pointless self-defense could be ignored.

    Was there anyone nearby who might help me stay focused? I could handle it better when meeting with Roy. He reminded me to stay rigid and professional. There might be someone who could call Muni and help smooth out this nonsense.

    Evan, the elf named Incomplete Servant, was hundreds of miles away. Kahina was no longer mine, but I tried, spinning my thoughts through the air at a rapid speed. Her cord was a tattered string¡ªI couldn¡¯t connect.

    There weren¡¯t many choices. Tal was dead. Rachel¡ªmy memories of her were jumbled and hadn¡¯t ironed out yet. She was the closest thing to a mother I¡¯d ever had. Flashbacks of being hit by her wooden utensils assaulted me, causing me to flinch.

    Leo, he had phone privileges and was close. We knew little of each other, but he was Roy¡¯s son, and Roy was the closest thing to an older brother I had. The absurdity of my makeshift family helped focus the world.

    Wooden trees, battered and strong. Branches slap against skin. Breathing heavy as Failed Lion runs. Pants. Breath stains air with fog. Paws jut behind him. Running footsteps. Feel jags and spikes of uneven laughing.

    What? The world focused on the problem. Those sensations that had come with my attempt to reach Leo were completely unexpected. Plus his nickname was weird. Failed Lion.

    Was he running from someone? Had he been evicted to the northern side of the island? Was it my memories jumbling up and playing a perceptional trick on me?

    I cast out again.

    ¡°Just a little bit farther!¡± Female tenor, half growled. Another figure travels with Failed Lion. Thing is tall. Joints awkwardly bent. Familiar.

    ¡°This is insane!¡± Failed Lion tries to yell. Voice hoarse. Tired. Impossible.

    ¡°Come on!¡±

    ¡°Why did the Warden do this?¡±

    ¡°No time! You can¡¯t let them bleed you!¡± Female makes noise again. Yanks at Failed Lion¡¯s arm. He shakes loose and moves. Chasm passes underneath as they jump. Heavy weight collides with the ground.

    Hell. Leo was on the other side of the island and somehow Stacy was with him. I couldn¡¯t figure out how long I¡¯d been drifting in and out of consciousness with my memories all muddled. Being in isolation made keeping time hard, it wasn¡¯t like my senses were honed enough to target a clock. Not with all the shit plaguing me.

    ¡°When the trinket comes off. There will be hell to pay.¡± Muni¡¯s voice peeked out again from behind my memories. ¡°You will remember, everything has a price, and all debts will come due.¡±

    We stood in my apartment, upon the tiny back porch. Muni hadn¡¯t wanted to come in. She hated being indoors.

    ¡°I know,¡± I said.

    ¡°You will suffer. Your mind is like a hurricane. A wash of memories both yours and not yours.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re from my father. He, Daniel, thinks my dad imprinted memories into me somehow.¡±

    Muni shrugged. Her face shifted slightly making one eye seem all the larger. There were irises in there somewhere, swallowed by pitch black pupils and framed with dark hair.

    She pressed her hands together, pinching the flesh between fingertips from worry. Her head shook as she clicked with her tongue.

    ¡°I speak from experience.¡± Muni clicked again. ¡°Gifts like mine, and my brother¡¯s, have an origin. They come from a tree where our kind were birthed. Thought and memory are ours to feed upon and change.¡±

    I¡¯d heard all this before. But at the same time, I managed to exist separate from the past. This admission of her abilities felt new. It felt right that a person who was a raven might share an origin with a tree.

    ¡°Tell me, Jay. You¡¯ve wings, have you ever flown in a thunderstorm?¡±

    I nodded. Darkness, on stormy nights, was the best time for me to fly. My large scaled form could use the clouds to hide and still stretch. Lightning and electricity were another form of energy, and absorbed as fuel for the transformation.

    ¡°Imagine capturing the storm. Imagine holding it to one place with strands of ribbon. Imagine telling the wild storm it¡¯s a harmless summer cloud. While no one looks the storm rages, it tears upon itself and thrashes as nature intended.¡±

    ¡°Like telling a lion it¡¯s a housecat. Then one day it remembers it¡¯s really a lion and goes on a rampage.¡±

    Her head shook. ¡°I do not like cats,¡± Muni said. ¡°Snotty creatures. Always staring with their hungry eyes.¡±

    I nodded to Muni¡¯s words and felt a jarring sense of disconnect. The past had already happened. I wasn¡¯t really talking to her, but instead remembering a prior time with extreme detail.

    ¡°The man I did this for. He was powerful. A forgotten cripple of a god whose family had been torn away by magics beyond our ken. His sons, powerful men, killed before their time. He¡¯d expected a war to end all wars and instead woke to find the world around him was no longer the same.¡±

    I knew why. It was those damn elves. The same event had happened to me. Cast from one timeline into the next, both of us losing something in the process. For a moment, I felt envious this other man Muni spoke of had remembered anything at all. I only had my father¡¯s guidance, which was closer to a series of life lessons.

    Muni continued, ¡°He could not be bound for long. He pretended to be another man, live another life. A mortal one. He had a wife and son. Only human, but there was love.¡±

    That sounded a lot like what I needed to do. Minus the children and wife. Without Kahina, there would be no purpose, and children had never been in our future.

    Muni paused and stared at a tree. She reminded me of a bird, who might fly away in a panic at any moment.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked.

    ¡°They died in a car wreck. He woke, and saw again the horrors he¡¯d tried to forget. Then came anger, rage, and a soul filled with the need for vengeance. He turned into a beast, a monster, and called up the lightning and storms of old.¡±

    I could breathe fire. Summoning lightning felt like a myth.

    ¡°Really?¡±

    ¡°He brought a storm. The kind of storm only angry gods might summon. From a rage that could not be quelled without a sea run red by blood.¡± Muni backed into the wooden railing and ran fingers through her hair. ¡°Over forty Hunters died that day. Your friend Crumfield¡¯s mother was there. His father as well. I remember their faces.¡±

    I¡¯d asked Daniel where his mother went, once. All I¡¯d ever found out was she¡¯d died to non-human monsters. Hunters, as a matter of fact, worried me. Daniel was the only person I¡¯d ever met to cause damage I couldn¡¯t outright heal. My nose still had a scar from where he¡¯d broken it during our childhood.

    ¡°And in the end, they slew a god at the price of a small city. The news covered it up by saying a hurricane hit the coast.¡±

    There had been a few terrible events over the years. She alluded to earthquakes causing tsunamis and hurricanes wiping out coastlines being cover stories. It struck me as odd to think some of these large scale disasters might be lies to disguise Hunters fighting monsters.

    ¡°Who was it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No one remembers it but me, and I will never tell another soul. But that doesn¡¯t matter. Once the seal breaks, I will find you, and do what I can to smooth it out.¡±

    I¡¯d bargained with Muni, a creature, half raven, half something else. With our deal she would take away my memories, or block them, in exchange for finding her brother. Blocking them would force me to stay low key due to ignorance, and help prevent others from finding me.

    As for finding Muni¡¯s brother, I¡¯d attempted multiple times and failed. Her feather, or the one she claimed was owned by her brother, led nowhere. I had to keep trying. One of Bottom Pit¡¯s three overarching rules had been very simple. Everything has a price.

    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I need your gifts to find my brother, but I cannot risk becoming a target for your rage either. So you will only see me after I am gone.¡±

    The memory vanished into a flutter of feathers.

    Through the shaking, through the blur of memories swimming over my head, one thought solidified. Warden Bennett had made a move in reaction to the threat I¡¯d uttered in ignorance.

    ¡°Hell,¡± I stuttered. My legs gave and arm refused to lift. There were bloodstains from where I¡¯d pounded upon the wall.

    Muni¡¯s voice echoed for the umpteenth time. ¡°All debts will come due.¡±

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 12 - Censure Everything

    Daniel and I were lying on the roof. I couldn¡¯t tell if we¡¯d been there for days, or if this was some new chunk of life. Everything blurred at the wrong angles and compounded my confusion.

    ¡°History class is boring. Extra boring, man,¡± he said. His voice broke in the middle which made me snort. I¡¯d heard Roy do the same puberty cracking. Roy got all flustered when his composure couldn¡¯t prevent the occasional squeaks.

    ¡°Aren¡¯t your parents giving you the secret version?¡± I said.

    ¡°It¡¯s still just quick notes. Battles here, fights there. Great War heroes who were Hunters. Hunters, and the bad guys seem to come from all walks.¡± Daniel sat up to look over at me. Behind him, I could see a new high-rise building that had been built a few months ago. It annoyed me and obstructed my skyline view.

    ¡°Hitler was pure human you know,¡± Daniel said.

    ¡°If you say so.¡± I had never met anyone named Hitler. Any name that sounded like it should be punched couldn¡¯t be common. Maybe if I¡¯d stayed in school instead of ditching to explore the town, I might have heard about this guy in need of a beating.

    He flopped back and resumed cloud watching. ¡°It¡¯s funny how clinical it all is,¡± Daniel said.

    I wanted to be up there. As soon as a storm rolled in, I would leap off the top of this building and take to the skies. From there I¡¯d test out this new building¡¯s supports and see if there were treasures on the top. One night I¡¯d been up there, and a man came out with a bag full of jewels. It was easy enough to glide in and pluck them away while his back was turned.

    ¡°Very distant,¡± Daniel continued.

    The memory of my nighttime capture of stolen goods had distracted me. ¡°Huh?¡± I asked.

    ¡°All these people, you know they lived entire lives, months, years, and all that¡¯s left are some out of context quotes we use to judge their character. Turning mere mortals into saints and demons.¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer. Daniel was working up to another philosophical rant. My prior distraction was far more useful. The jewels had apparently belonged to a store on one of the bottom floors. They were worth money, but I refused to return them.

    ¡°Seriously, man, time distills us all down to the highlights. After a while even those become muddled. I read a book once where Aliens classified Earth as ¡®Mostly Harmless.¡¯¡±

    That caught my flighty attention. ¡°Mostly harmless? That¡¯s it?¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s this passage, where the author says he wrote out a long compelling story and editors cut it down to those two words. I think he even said mostly and harmless weren¡¯t even next to each other. The alien editors changed that, too.¡±

    The moment disconnected me briefly. It made more sense in hindsight than it ever could have during the original conversation with Daniel.

    ¡°Aliens, huh?¡±

    ¡°Sure, man. Science Fiction generally makes it into the public. We, well, Western Sector, only guts the fantastical writing. It¡¯s sad, man, really sad.¡±

    Western Sector had apparently spent hundreds of years censoring everything that crossed the ocean to our shores. In the Emerald Isles or anywhere in Europe, wide spread story suppression was harder. Secrets grew with a country¡¯s age, and dirty laundry piled up.

    Daniel snorted. ¡°Man. The government fears an accurate portrayal of our brutal history more than the idea of space invaders. All that¡¯s left are clinical, barely tangible, out of proportion, highlights. Then my dad tells me to learn from the past.¡±

    ¡°Aliens are unlikely.¡± I shrugged.

    ¡°And ruling a Kingdom is a dirty business,¡± Daniel snapped.

    But, I could fly through the air, so maybe aliens were possible. Maybe one of them could turn into a leathery winged creature like myself. Wolves might be from a foreign moon.

    ¡°But, man, how are you going to quote a guy and think that¡¯s all he stood for? That he didn¡¯t have dreams or hopes outside of one stupid line?¡±

    My shoulders rolled along the cement roofing. I said, ¡°You signed up for it.¡±

    ¡°I signed up to keep the peace. To help our blue marble keep rolling until our glorious overlords invade from far away planets. And someone has to ensure assholes like you don¡¯t pester the future slaves. Might as well be me.¡±

    ¡°But aliens can be put in books.¡± I chugged the remainder of my beer and stared upward. The sudden idea of a beer in my hand caused another disconnect.

    Right, I was almost seventeen. Daniel and I had been coming to the roof for years now, talking whenever he had a spare weekend. He¡¯d been the one to steal beers from his dad and bring them over. No, wait, his voice was cracking.

    The past moments were blending poorly.

    ¡°Can¡¯t censor everything.¡± Daniel¡¯s tone managed to shove a verbal shrug and surfer dude together. I couldn¡¯t tell if this was the young preteen version, or the older man on the verge of going to college.

    I sat abruptly and dove for Daniel. ¡°This needs to stop!¡± I shouted at him.

    He puffed into a cloud of pitch feathers. The sound of a raven¡¯s caw filled my head as more memories came. My body rolled onto the rooftop, suddenly alone in a dim recreation of the past.

    I did remember later, I made the mistake of asking Rachel about Hitler. She beat my backside blue and screamed about him being a child killer.

    Her parting words, ¡°You¡¯d think a boy who lost his own family would know better than to ever speak such a horrible man¡¯s name! You don¡¯t celebrate monsters by putting them into history books, you bury them. Let the earth swallow them whole until nothing is left of their foulness. Mark my words, I¡¯ve buried monsters, and the world is better for never learning their names.¡±

    I remembered running up the stairs to my room. Perhaps, if I had told her he sounded like a man that needed to be punched, she might have been kinder on me.

    The past faded and left me gasping from a welt on my rear that had long vanished. Each labored breath took conscious effort as it gasped. I shook my head violently to get out the emotions.

    Downstairs, a man was stabbed by a makeshift weapon. Two vampires cornered a human and laughed as they broke his arms. Three floors away a cook poured silver shavings into someone¡¯s meal.

    Nearby, crisp clean footsteps came to the doorway.

    ¡°Mr. Fields.¡± Warden Bennett stood in the doorway. His arms were clasped in front of him over a clipboard. It budged with papers.

    ¡°Let me out,¡± I gasped.

    ¡°If I do, it is very likely you will meet your third strike,¡± he said calmly.

    My eyelids fluttered as sensations poured over me. Twenty miles away Leo shouted to Stacy. The creature I¡¯d felt before was no longer in range. The ground stayed still.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Send me over.¡±

    Leo was over there. It would be easier to protect him if we were closer. Though at this point my abilities lacked any sort of control. I briefly wondered about turning into my other form and simply blasting my way out. Would Warden Bennett look smug then? A fresh hole into daylight might help unfuck his internal clock.

    It would please me to no end to watch the vampire collapse suddenly as his vampire nature took over.

    ¡°I cannot in good conscience enable your self-destruction. This, facility, is meant to be a place where people choose to turn away from the path of barbarism, or are put out with the other animals.¡±

    I snorted.

    ¡°Your jail¡¯s turning itself inside out. There¡¯s¡­¡± I drifted, then coughed wetly. The floor felt cold, but there was comfort in sitting there. ¡°Fewer people here every day. Being shipped off. Then that water snake, causing all these earthquakes.¡±

    ¡°What did you say?¡±

    I shook my head. I¡¯d said way too much about the events in my head. Isolation and a muddled mind were screwing up my self-control.

    Warden Bennett¡¯s face appeared right next to mine. He¡¯d gotten close while my mind replayed a memory of a living tree. It¡¯d bound me with roots. I¡¯d been twenty-one and searching a forest for two lost girls.

    My hand reached out to grasp his head. The Warden moved faster. He stood in the doorway again, straightening his thin tie.

    ¡°How can you tell? You¡¯ve been in isolation, and none of my employees would have passed you notes.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a gift,¡± I muttered.

    Warden Bennett didn¡¯t even flinch. His nose lifted slightly. That was the only sign of agitation.

    ¡°That sounds dangerous. But, I suppose that is how you¡¯ve gotten your current assignment. They would not have put someone here without the tools to handle their job,¡± Tal said.

    Only Tal wasn¡¯t Tal. I closed my eyes tightly and shook my head again. The past had intruded upon current events once more. Tal was Warden Bennett. Still, the old man might have liked the Warden.

    ¡°You¡¯re clearly mentally unhinged. Isolation can do that.¡± Warden Bennett tightened his lips and made a note on his stack of papers.

    I stared blankly at the man and watched as my vision crossed. Warden Bennett wore a business suit, but he¡¯d have been at home in a military uniform. Maybe he¡¯d served with Tal. Daniel¡¯s father and Tal had been army buddies, after boot camp. Remembering their connection triggered another tide of the past. It lapped like waves on the ocean shore outside.

    ¡°What¡¯s worse, you might be suffering whatever the price is for your alternate gifts.¡±

    That¡¯s right. Warden Bennett thought I was an undercover Western Sector agent. They clearly knew people beyond the normal four races existed. Why hadn¡¯t it occurred to me before?Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Sandy, Shaggy, Ann, whomever Daniel¡¯s fianc¨¦e was, knew about ¡®weird¡¯ cases. She¡¯d known about Muni. The memory took over briefly. We were running from the Order of Merlin¡¯s mercenaries and struggling to find Kahina. Shaggy led us into Julianne¡¯s bar and confronted Muni.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have your papers revoked!¡± Sandy shouted.

    Muni¡¯s face pinched tightly as she regarded the undercover Hunter. I could see the raven tresses now, a disguise covering up feathers and ribbons.

    I stared too hard and the memory turned into more goddamned feathers.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± I yelled abruptly. ¡°Fuck. Fucking hell. Where is Muni!¡±

    She¡¯d promised to help straighten me out once the trinket failed. That bit of the past couldn¡¯t be a lie.

    Based on a glance, Warden Bennett seemed lost. Maybe he had no clue what to make of me. My eyelids fluttered while he straightened his tie, again.

    ¡°I will see about getting you a psychiatric waiver based on possible mental disorders,¡± the Warden said, before exiting quickly.

    Vampires treated mental health problems like other people treated cripples. Or maybe it was closer to humans and their damned kitten videos. I hated cats.

    I swam in between moments and growled. The chamber they¡¯d shoved me in was less of a mess than the first time. Either I was better controlled as my memories progressed, or I¡¯d grown weaker.

    My hand pressed in an eye socket to relieve imaginary pressure. Fingers on the other arm tightened and rubbed along the fabric. A dozen similar moments from the past flooded through. Daniel stood out in a lot of them. He rubbed a finger up and down fabric while talking to me.

    I grumbled at him and asked, ¡°Why do you keep doing that?¡±

    ¡°It calms you down, man. Your senses find focus in the tiny details. I¡¯ve done it for years. Since you we were kids.¡± He grinned sheepishly.

    The past vanished before it gained more traction. Now I knew why he¡¯d always had that habit. I got up, tore off the beddings and wound them tightly. One arm held it in place, while the other pulled desperately to give my senses a focus.

    Fabric rustled. The rough sound felt louder than chopping wood. I concentrated on each thread, rolling against each other as they passed by. I¡¯d been in control of these senses once, and by the Gods, I would master myself again.

    It took a lot more effort. At times I was six and screaming. In the next second I felt twenty-five while bending a woman over, relishing the sensations pouring through her body. The tightening of skin, quickening of breath, rising temperature, all screwed me up.

    Each time a memory hit I struggled to sort it out by age. Teenage awkwardness was easy enough. Sex went into a more adult range. Kahina¡¯s face only belonged in a few timeframes. She, and the various positions we engaged in, also did not belong to the childhood era.

    I continued mauling the twisted cloth until it frayed at the end. If Muni wasn¡¯t around to solve my problems I had to force the pieces together with willpower, which I¡¯d never been particularly heavy on.

    It was bad enough that I didn¡¯t register them slipping food into a slot at the door. Worse still, by the time I noticed they¡¯d deposited dinner, or breakfast, it was impossible to tell if the meal had ever been edible to begin with.

    My senses kept going out of control. They expanded like a heartbeat, taking in bits of sensation from all over the island. People were pushed to the outer walls by guards. A voice played across the loudspeaker, mumbling words distorted by the foliage.

    I could feel vaguely familiar footsteps. There weren¡¯t many figures inside the jail cell proper that I knew. Leo was outside. Stacy too. Neither Ms. Sauter or Roy were anywhere nearby. I could feel the pathetic¡ª

    Weak of flesh. Weak of will. A ball of Pink Meat sacrifice.

    My other mind cut in as I started to track our former cellmate, Nathan Simms. Nathan was currently in the infirmary. His leg had been thickly bundled by a solid feeling product. There were bandages across his chest.

    I realized it had been some time since I used an anchor to track anyone within my range. It might have been my screwed up perceptions. Normally tracking people required an object, or for them to be in a place I believed I owned, such as my apartment. Why then, could I sense the entire island?

    Mine. This is my home.

    The voice was wrong. But it spoke from a place that remembered being in my apartment basement. A dozen days passed by in a blink, causing me to lose focus. Each one involved my self-perceptions shouting ¡®Mine¡¯ over and over. The object my past self was being possessive over changed.

    In one moment, it was a plate of food Roy had reached out to take away. I snatched it back and growled.

    A voice of out the blue made my senses tingle. I felt a light body, thin, shorter, and annoying. There were two people pacing behind it who felt almost feline. They wore suits that reminded me of Kahina¡¯s employees.

    My re-ex-girlfriend¡¯s face flashed by. She smiled and I lost myself in those eyes, which were turning red along the inner irises. A soft light from a candle that smelled like peppermints illuminated one side of her face.

    Dangerous Mate. Mine.

    I shook my head and pretended not to hear that stupid echo of the past. I pretended not to remember I¡¯d foolishly bought her those scented candles. She always smelled like freshly crushed mint leaves. There¡¯d been hope that she¡¯d smell what I did in her presence.

    Reality destroyed the past. I felt as the lighter person stepped quickly down a hallway. She shoved a hand against some door and it slammed backward hard enough to crack on the hinges. The sound, or more accurately, the feeling of concussive force rattled a wall.

    Men inside reached for guns. Warden Bennett stood in the office and raised a hand.

    ¡°My target is here,¡± she said.

    For some reason I couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint, that voice caused my body to shake and lips to tighten.

    ¡°Agent Brand. I wasn¡¯t aware you were visiting. Still chasing a ghost?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not required to check in with you,¡± said the tiny female. I managed a dry swallow and filed the name away. To burst into Warden Bennett¡¯s office, she must have been someone special.

    ¡°Why, of course not. As an esteemed member of the Special Task Forces, you¡¯re not required to check in with anyone. Which tells me, yes. Your fool¡¯s errand brings you to Atlas. Very well, how can I assist you? Within reason, of course.¡±

    I struggled to remember her tone and pitch. They were harder to place. Distance, despite my extra senses, distorted pitch and tone. I had to hear a person multiple times to file them away. Warden Bennett had interacted with me on multiple occasions, he was easy.

    ¡°Has she been here?¡±

    ¡°You mean the black bird? No.¡± Warden Bennett moved quickly to stare out a dark window. I hadn¡¯t realized the sun had set. ¡°I¡¯ve read the reports. According to your allegations, I wouldn¡¯t know if this, Muni, had been here. I might not know if she were in the room with us. Though it is my understanding she¡¯s a fully licensed exception to the Accord of Caesar.¡±

    ¡°Dee, Don, get an access card.¡± She pointed. ¡°We¡¯ll start with the altar on the far shore. If Muni is anywhere, it¡¯s going to be with the rest of the dead bodies. Her kind can¡¯t help themselves.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Warden Bennett turned and walked over to his desk. He sat down, pulled out a binder, and then a page. What was on it, I couldn¡¯t tell. The finer points of ink weren¡¯t obvious to my senses.

    Threads, air currents, limps, and tensed muscles stood out more than paper. Like every other stray thought in the last month or two, dozens of other memories were triggered and overlaid each other. The jumble made me lose Agent Brand and Warden Bennett¡¯s conversation.

    I wondered if they had first names. The Warden¡¯s words caught up with me and drove away the thought. He held out a plastic card to one of the twins. ¡°Do be careful. While most prisoners have been conditioned to avoid the path to the altar, not everyone is civil enough to avoid lashing out. Especially if it allows them to skip being guests of honor to a quelling.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure we can handle a pack of wild dogs,¡± the male, Don, said.

    ¡°All bark,¡± Dee responded.

    ¡°Or the vampires. All bite.¡±

    ¡°And no bark? That¡¯s silly. More like snakes.¡±

    ¡°All rattle?¡± Don responded to his sister.

    ¡°Are you two quite done?¡± Agent Brand asked.

    They strode across the room and grabbed the keycard, together, and fought over it. Warden Bennett¡¯s posture remained stiff. He managed to ignore the insults being hurled his way, where the twins compared him to a snake.

    My mind swept away, reliving a moment from months ago. It¡¯d been after Kahina completed her transformation, but before I¡¯d suffered relocation to Tennison. There¡¯d been a period where my eyes were useless from overusing the flame during a fight with Tal, Roy, and a third. I didn¡¯t remember the name.

    I could feel them. My other mind had called them the Lithe Twins. They¡¯d been graceful, like cats. Then the other woman, had my mind had a name for her? I¡¯d back peddled onto a roof to get away, but not before she pulled off the trinket. Don and Dee, they were all familiar. I¡¯d marked them in my mind as people to watch out for.

    That damnable woman had tried to kill me. She¡¯d been the one to remove the trinket in the first place. She¡¯d been the one to reveal who I was and ruin the plans that were laid. Because of her, Roy and the others had been forced to mess up my mind even more.

    It was her fault. Rage welled abruptly. I screamed. There was pressure in my neck. It pushed hard and caused both shoulders to bunch.

    I knew the cost of casting this out in human form. My eyesight and senses would burn away until regeneration solved the problem.

    But I couldn¡¯t stop.

    The fire poured forth.

    Another moment of blindness hit me. I had been thirteen and been in a roaring match with Tal over food and girls. Tal believed I should ignore women until I¡¯d gotten older. It wasn¡¯t even a school girl, since I¡¯d been returned to home schooling.

    ¡°He was breathing fire,¡± Tal repeated.

    I huddled in the most secure corner of my bedroom. The blankets felt familiar but every other sense keeping me anchored in the world had shut off.

    ¡°Is he blind?¡± Roy asked.

    ¡°Just keep him calm until the Daniels get here.¡±

    Fingers rubbed up and down the fabric. At the same time, my hands wrung against the sheeting from my solitary confinement.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have to do anything. He looks dead,¡± Roy said. ¡°His eyes aren¡¯t focused. He¡¯s been in that corner for three hours and hasn¡¯t moved once.¡±

    ¡°He breathed fire.¡±

    ¡°You said that already.¡±

    ¡°It set off the sprinklers. He actually breathed fire out of his mouth,¡± Tal repeated.

    ¡°And he calmed down under the water,¡± Roy stated.

    Fear not the Water. Each drop brings Clarity to our mind.

    I remembered the mantra. My father¡¯s words, which had beaten into my head, were the only thoughts to survive the gulf between timelines. That¡¯s how Daniel explained it. Whatever the reason, they stuck with me.

    ¡°Voice to our rage,¡± I muttered.

    Footsteps shuffled, but I couldn¡¯t feel their rhythm. My own feet kicked to push me further into the wall. There were no other places to go. I closed my eyes, not that it made a difference.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Be not afraid. The Elements are our gifts.¡± My chest heaved. ¡°Fire is rage. Born from anger. A gift.¡± I snorted.

    ¡°The elements?¡± Roy asked. He shook his head. The smell of food lingered in the air but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to leave the corner¡¯s safety.

    Hunger could be addressed once they were gone. Guilt went into the mental box to be processed over a meal. Tal¡¯s downstairs would be an utter wreck. The flame had totaled a chunk of the gym and forced Tal to start rebuilding.

    ¡°I know what he is,¡± Tal muttered.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I recognize the chant. Or something close. From your great grandfather¡¯s old stories. Old as the dances.¡± Tal spoke slowly and Roy said nothing. The plate clattered and slid across the floorboards toward me. I fumbled for the dish. ¡°His stories used to tell of creatures before the Purge. One was a huge winged monster that ruled the skies and called fire and earth to its bidding.¡±

    Fear not the Sky. Air bends to our will.

    I didn¡¯t know what Tal meant. His words gave me hope in unraveling my own nature.

    ¡°What am I?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The Great Beast,¡± Tal muttered.

    The memory shattered into a hundred black feathers. I stared at the bricking about me. The metal had melted. My clothes and bedding were cinders. A hole in the cell¡¯s rear displayed daylight, which was the only fact keeping my room from being suffocatingly tiny.

    I huffed. With each deep breath the air vibrated and ground rumbled. I had cause to be angry. None of the choices I made resulted in positive outcomes. She¡¯d pulled my cover after I agreed to find a lost child related to Muni.

    It wasn¡¯t simply Agent Brand, whoever the hell she was, but me. This entire time in jail I¡¯d been forced to reflect on every aspect of life bringing me to this status.

    Tal reminded me my other form was a creature of fire and earth that flew through the sky. My father¡¯s words, we had gifts from the elements, with a sky-high price tag. Using abilities required energy. It required catering to my nature.

    I took slower steadying breaths in an effort to calm down. Rain pelted in from the hole in my cell. The water reminded me of the final gift. It¡¯d been the reason I¡¯d calmed down when spewing fire both in the past, and now.

    Fear not the Water. Each drop brings Clarity to our mind.

    The ground continued to rumble. I felt the madness but distantly. I¡¯d had successes. Kahina lived. My adopted family survived along with all the other stragglers I¡¯d brought together.

    What you claim defines you.

    That was it then. In all the self-searching and memories rushing by, I needed to hold onto one simple fact. I had a replacement family, to make up for the girl I¡¯d lost decades ago.

    What you claim relies on you.

    Daniel continued to search for leads. Roy held the small community together while I did what I could. They relied on me, not to be their leader, not exactly. It¡¯d been in my very nature even when I returned. My job was to find those lost and bring them back to somewhere safe.

    What you claim wounds you.

    Leo was part of the family. He needed to be kept safe. Muni was part of the family. She needed to avoid her pursuers. Even if it killed me. Even if it meant I¡¯d have to fight that creature on the other side.

    Being weakened by my own emotions couldn¡¯t stop the need to help them. My earlier bout of fire had blinded me, but a trace amount of my senses still lingered.

    ¡°What was that?¡± a faint voice asked.

    ¡°Feeding time,¡± another responded. But I couldn¡¯t rightly say who was speaking.

    The walls of my cell still rumbled from aftershocks, even as darkness claimed my mind as it had my sight.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 13 â€“ Medical Ward

    Unconsciousness didn¡¯t prevent my mind from processing the memories. More drifted by, some in whole pieces, many in tatters. I remembered Daniel bringing Rachel in and saying she¡¯d been a part of their program for ages. There was a story there I¡¯d never learned.

    Muni visited frequently. She was another person Daniel claimed had been scouted by Western Sector¡¯s agents. Privately he told me they were races deemed by some factions within the Hunters to be ¡°Sufferable.¡± Muni had simply shown up one day and incorporated herself into their programs.

    Daniel¡¯s father, also named Daniel, had felt the same way about me. I¡¯d been lucky to be found while still a child. Adults were harder to excuse. Having the red-headed boy as my first friend helped immensely.

    As the past came and went, other sensations would overlay them strangely. There was a pressure on my arms. It tightened frequently. After that a bright light would flash across my eyes. I¡¯d groan and attempt to see beyond the bright spot. No amount of effort turned the world visible.

    Other words mixed in between my memories. Words like sedation along with tones of worry and concern. Anger and rumbling. More lights. More memories.

    Then an abrupt and a sharp pain forced me to sit up. Huffs escaped rapidly while my mind looked around. Danger was everywhere, and this wasn¡¯t where I¡¯d passed out.

    Lights above me were either broken or suffering from an electrical outage. They flickered on briefly with a sharp buzz then slowly faded out. Thick plastic blocked daylight from coming inside. This certainly was not the isolation cell I¡¯d been spending time in.

    It had all the trappings of a medical ward. Rows of bottles sat behind a triple locked shelf. Pieces of the safety glass were shattered. There were signs of torn up bedding and broken metal frames on the gurney next to me.

    My hand clutched one side where something sharp was sticking out. I pulled out a thin blade at least six inches long from where it¡¯d been embedded into flesh. Fingers pressed against the wound but blood slipped by in a small dribble.

    ¡°Use the compress next to you.¡± The words were nervous and vibrated strangely. My senses were picking up the reverberation as her words were swallowed by solid objects.

    I blinked a few times and tried to make out who was talking. They were an indistinct ball of blackness.

    Questions could be saved until after I staunched the flow. I pressed the pad into my side with what strength was left to me. Every muscle felt worn. The simple act of lifting my arm and pressing with fingers caused aches.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She didn¡¯t sound apologetic.

    ¡°For?¡±

    ¡°Waking you up like that. You were being swept under the tide of memories.¡±

    Hell. I didn¡¯t even need to consult my resurfacing history. The talk of memories and the foggy feeling over my mind were enough.

    ¡°Muni?¡±

    Silence.

    ¡°It¡¯s you, right? You said you¡¯d help fix this.¡± The world spun and I lay back for a moment. Now I knew Muni had been the one to stab me. The wound hurt more than when Spike had shived me in the yard. Weakness and being in a human form made my skin easier to pierce.

    My eyes swept closed. The loss of consciousness that resulted frightened me into sitting up again. I winced from pain and looked under the bandage. The blood flow had nearly stopped.

    ¡°Hurts,¡± I muttered.

    ¡°Their sedation kept you from breaking more while enthralled.¡± The woman stepped closer. I could make out a bit more of her face. It was a mess of black feathers and tresses.

    ¡°Sedation?¡± I asked.

    My senses were able to reach out for more details. I reviewed multiple memories where I¡¯d burned myself to blindness. There were dozens to choose from, and normally it took a few days to recover.

    ¡°You¡¯ve been sedated for days. The Warden believes you to be a hidden race whose gifts make you mentally disabled. He seems to be mixed on how you handle you. He stated you should be on a third strike. He¡¯s vexed at the violation of his own rules.¡±

    I tried resting one arm on a side rail but ended up slamming into it instead. Uneven jerking resulted in my arm being pulled back and coddled. The brief motion hurt even more than lying.

    ¡°What happened?¡± My face felt numb and words slurred as bad as Tal¡¯s ever had. Even my thoughts were moving slowly.

    ¡°The trinket failed and released a flood.¡±

    She stopped and waited for me to respond. My thoughts went in circles a dozen times before landing on an explanation. Agent Brand had removed it first.

    ¡°I took it off,¡± I said. Muni was close enough to make out fully. Her face looked human. I¡¯d expected a raven.

    ¡°I warned you.¡± Muni¡¯s head cocked to one side and then back. Eyes flickered to the exits and windows. ¡°Everything has a price.¡±

    ¡°How do I stop it?¡± Even now I was struggling to stay anchored. Woozy drugs battled against the sharp throbbing pound.

    I¡¯d reminded myself of the importance of protecting my family. That self-assertion did no good when my mind was all screwed up. At the moment I couldn¡¯t eat a sandwich without remembering a dozen other sandwiches across the years.

    ¡°All rivers run a course,¡± she said.

    ¡°Rivers. Oceans,¡± I mumbled. She¡¯d told me that before and compared my mind to a hurricane.

    I felt another rumble. This one was not caused by my going wild and pulling on excessive powers. A light fixture above me swung as it flickered. The electricity buzzed and renewed dimming light.

    Muni¡¯s face was unrecognizable from the one she presented in the bar. Gone was the pale waitress with jet black hair and ribbons. Finally, under all the illusion and misdirected memories, was her real face. The same dark shades littered across feathers.

    ¡°The strongest memories would surface first. Hard, like a balloon held underwater until it bursts.¡± She paced slowly. I lost my mind and saw her, overlaying with other moments. A bird could have hopped along in the same manner.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± The first recovered memory had been of my nature. Second had been the truth behind Kahina and me breaking up. Then Daniel¡¯s purpose, and the bizarre reality as I landed. Each one lingered strongly for different reasons.

    ¡°My part of the bargain has been met. You promised me my brother. You said you had a clue.¡±

    ¡°I remember.¡±

    ¡°Where is he, Great Lord? Where is my brother?¡± One hand pinched and dug at the straps holding down my legs. Every attempt was a poor example of depth perception and coordination.

    ¡°Not here.¡± Memories spun by me as I attempted to hone in on the one discovery I¡¯d managed to gather. Tracking her brother¡¯s feather had worked, exactly once, when I¡¯d attempted to hunt him down in the abandoned train lot. There¡¯d been vague sensations of empty space where something solid should be. Near, but far. Huge but tiny. The emotion had been distorted beyond belief.

    ¡°You promised me!¡± She took the most daring step of her life toward me and almost immediately backed up. ¡°This was so much easier when you remembered nothing. I didn¡¯t have to be scared of you then. But I need the memories of the real you. I can¡¯t pull them out of your mind like I can with others.¡±

    ¡°Drugged. Tired. Why be scared now?¡± How long had she been around Julianne¡¯s? Muni could have followed me for years and I¡¯d never know for sure. This entire conversation was suspect in so many ways.

    ¡°Because you terrify me,¡± she said.

    ¡°Why?¡± My eyes drifted to one side and narrowed to slits. ¡°I don¡¯t hit girls first.¡±

    ¡°You hold too many memories for one man. All powerful, deep things that burn and drown me if I pry. No one else is like that, no one but you. Not even him. The dead god whose name I hold.¡±

    ¡°And that¡±¡ªI struggled and creased my brow¡ª¡°scares¡±¡ªexhaustion dragged at my senses and even the sharp pain had started to dim¡ª¡°you?¡±

    ¡°More than anything.¡±

    I gave up the struggle and fell backward onto the cot I was half strapped to. Muni¡¯s words gave me nothing new. We¡¯d talked about this much and more prior to utilizing the original trinket.

    ¡°Except losing your brother forever.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Great Lord.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± This was a question I didn¡¯t know the answer to.

    ¡°Because I¡¯d be alone.¡±

    Silence reigned as the lights flickered above. My senses weren¡¯t ranging far enough to detect the source of the problem. The medical ward, or nurse¡¯s office, whatever Warden Bennett considered this place, should have had other people in it.

    ¡°Being the last of your kind is a terrifying thing,¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes, Great Lord.¡±

    ¡°I understand.¡± The sympathetic words slipped by without thought. ¡°I do understand...¡± Drugs did funny things to my mental filters.

    Hell.

    ¡°My brother, Lord? Do you know where he is?¡±

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t exist, Muni.¡± If he was alive I¡¯d be able to track him down. The drugs addled me another handful of breaths before I remembered. There¡¯d been a connect to that strange big and small sense.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± she said.

    Years ago, I¡¯d tried to track Muni¡¯s brother for her. Part of my duties, obligations, the deal. Many reasons for one action.

    Normally, for people, things, I¡¯d be able to get a direction, a pull. For those deceased I¡¯d get nothing.

    Muni¡¯s brother had been a sense of direction without clarity. There were possibilities there, which I only knew of because Daniel and I had discussed possibilities over the years.

    ¡°He might be, in another time. Line.¡± My chest hurt. ¡°Along with someone I left behind.¡± If it was possible for gods to come through the changing between worlds, maybe it would be possible for someone to exist on the other side.

    Was that even possible? The lingering sedation made it hard to think clearly. I could remember discussing the facts with someone but it felt distant.

    She tapped a tray with her fingers. The repetitive sound annoyed me. ¡°You must find him.¡±

    ¡°I honor my deals,¡± I muttered.

    A fairly large amount of drool had dribbled out the side of my mouth by now. My slack jawed expression and inability to swallow made me feel foolish. Muni might forgive me for being a bumbling idiot.

    There was something important I needed to tell Muni. People hunted her, in the same manner as the Order of Merlin chased me. Their end goal might not be world breaking but having a being that could alter memories wouldn¡¯t be good.

    I missed some logic with that thought. There were other factors. Shaggy had said Muni was licensed. I remembered having that thought once before. Warden Bennett knew of Muni, along with other Hunters, or Sector agents.

    The lines between all these factions felt thinner than ever. Hunters were a group in play. Their members apparently split between those helping ¡°acceptable¡± Hidden, those bent on wiping them out, The Order of Merlin, and hopefully a few who simply didn¡¯t care.

    Assaults from the past hadn¡¯t stayed at bay during my entire drug induced sleep. Downing the bottles nearby wasn¡¯t an answer. I¡¯d burned a hole in the jail cell. Muni had shown up, finally, and maybe she had long term answers.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°What do I do?¡±

    ¡°Survive.¡±

    The doors slammed open. ¡°Found you!¡± a female shouted.

    Muni turned. Her face pulled back and nose pointed. Hair turned into feathers. She fumbled something into my hands. My mind clouded over as the bed they¡¯d strapped me to fell over. Clattering noise echoed in my senses.

    Sharp heels dug into the ground adding more sounds. The yowls of large angry cats crawled. I heard the fluttering of a bird as black feathers spun across the room.

    All I could consciously register was that Muni hated cats. Lights flickered above. Shadows cast about. Wings obscured the lights along with heat, long tails, and red feathers.

    I stared and attempted to understand what the hell a red feather was doing in with all the black ones. It burned away, releasing heat which caught bedding on fire. My hand reached to put out the flame before it spread.

    Then I saw what Muni had passed me. Dozens of ribbons laced together with beads woven between them. She¡¯d given me a charm. It might be protecting me from the others.

    Cawing mixed with yowls. I managed to kick a gurney at the cat shadows. It skittered across the room and slammed into one of the cat people.

    ¡°Unacceptable,¡± a wheezing male said.

    ¡°Undesirable,¡± a female responded. Their voices were both scratchy and high pitched.

    My eyebrows wrinkled. An open window let in gusts of night air. Fresh feathers scattered around. Red burning ones were everywhere, catching pieces of the room on fire. I turned and attempted to delay one of the suits Agent Brand had brought with her.

    Don and Dee both landed nearby upon all fours. One had paws anchoring on the counter. They had huge muscled shoulders that tore through their suits. Their legs were equally enlarged, more so than any wolf in battle form.

    They were fucking cat people. Or something. The sight made me pause in utter confusion. I¡¯d seen a lot of different creatures masquerading as humans over the years, but feline versions of wolves were utterly new.

    Don, or Dee, wiggled and prepared to pounce. Glass shattered. Agent Brand, still out of sight, yelled, ¡°No!¡±

    Bandages, padding, blankets, and more flew across the room. I turned and caught a glimpse of Don and Dee pulling themselves through a narrow window with disturbing ease. The noises grew distant.

    They¡¯d ignored me completely and gone after Muni.

    I struggled to stand but could only flop. All my strength meant nothing under the face of drugs meant to take down wolves. My metabolism didn¡¯t burn like theirs.

    Wolves had different gifts. We had different costs. The nature of my burdens included a heavy desire to sleep. If a drug put a normal wolf to sleep, it could put me into a coma. That twist was tied to burning and storing energy.

    Leo and Tal paid a price too. They were stronger than average humans. They were natural born warriors who dominated any strength based field. The pattern was clear, humans were a baseline. Everyone other race gained a little and lost a little.

    There were dozens of black feathers all about, which made me ask an equally important question. What price did Muni pay for her memory powers?

    I struggled to find focus. The world drifted in and out and I lost time. It was impossible to tell how much.

    A lighter weight shuffled. It felt human sized, thin, tiny, and I jerked my head around, searching for the source. My senses honed in on the room briefly before going wide again. The rapid changes caused me to lose focus.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I asked, without expecting an answer.

    My senses reported shuffling feet. They were stiff, bare calloused toes. I followed the sensations around the medical ward to figure out where the person sat.

    Someone sat in the dark corner, rocking. The blurred form grew more distinct as I focused my senses upon the shape. Human, thin, and white skinned under perfectly black hair. With each detail the haze grew more defined.

    Muni sat in a corner near the window, huffing wildly. Her hair was matted and sweat poured down in rivers. I couldn¡¯t tell if she was terrified, exhausted, or both.

    ¡°Are you?¡± I managed to get myself to a kneeling position. The room spun.

    Muni put up a finger and found the strength to back up another foot. Her legs worked better than mine but the sensation of stiffened foot lingered. Like crows¡¯ toes. Jointed, rough, tough. She stood on wobbling limbs, turned and a pulled a cloak of feathers over her body.

    Moments later a raven stood on the frame of a battered window. Its head tilted leaving one beady eye facing my direction. Muni, or the raven, cawed softly and flew off into the night.

    This time, the corner had nothing remaining.

    I sat still, wondering how much of what I saw was real. Or maybe they were simply memory charms messing up my perceptions of what had happened. The latter felt familiar, like she¡¯d done the very same mind tricks to me more than once over the years.

    Muni did not return to offer enlightenment. I had to trust she could take care of herself against that trio. If she couldn¡¯t, then I¡¯d have to find the energy and strength to help protect her by fighting a red feathered creature and two cat shapeshifters.

    I could think myself in circles. Hell, I¡¯d been doing exactly that for almost two months or more. No, we were closer to four months. That¡¯s how long I¡¯d been at Atlas Island and I hadn¡¯t noticed. Time moved wrong as the past swallowed the present.

    Going insane would have to wait. There was some large monster off shore that probably came up for this ¡°quelling¡± event Warden Bennett had mentioned. I could only imagine what that implied. It was beyond time to leave this jail, island, and find someplace new to settle down.

    Leo, Muni, and even Stacy had to come with me. Leo was like a nephew I hadn¡¯t really paid much attention to. Muni, a long-lost cousin. Stacy would help me keep Ms. Sauter working for us. We, the other Hidden and me, needed something more legal to be allowed out in public. Everyone relied on a shady backroom deal the Western Sector agents had cooked up for acceptable risks.

    Someone nearby hacked. I turned to see Nathan Simms. He stood in an open doorway with a crutch under his arm, his hands clutched tightly around its edge. His body curved badly and leg repeatedly slipped.

    ¡°Mr. Fields?¡±

    ¡°Simms,¡± I responded. My own body wanted to crumple like his, but weaknesses displayed could be taken advantage of. That wonderful tidbit of information came direct from my father.

    ¡°Thought they¡¯d sent you over with your friend,¡± he said. ¡°Everyone else has. The Caretakers have been finding excuse after excuse to give people strikes.¡±

    Nathan shuffled past overturned objects and unfolded towels, straight to the cabinets with prescription bottles locked away. He rattled the door then winced. A crutch slipped and down he went.

    ¡°Anything broken?¡± I asked.

    He eyes tightened and lips curled. Nathan pointed to a brace on his leg. ¡°Leg, and a bone in my foot, if you¡¯d believe that. I should be getting a cast next week, assuming this place holds together long enough. Or one of Spike¡¯s remaining minions doesn¡¯t just kill me. If there are any left.¡±

    My cell mate¡¯s arm shook. He repeatedly propped up the crutch but couldn¡¯t keep it firm on the tiling. His rubber stopper on the bottom had worn to the wood. Nathan gave up and lay back, casting a listless gaze toward the ceiling.

    I struggled to stand. My body¡¯s limits were fully defined with years of practice. This wasn¡¯t the worst I¡¯d been hurt. Everything healed eventually.

    ¡°Again!¡± Tal yelled in my ear. Only he hadn¡¯t. ¡°Get up and do it again!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m getting up,¡± I muttered.

    ¡°You do that,¡± Nathan responded. He waved an arm in my direction and turned back to the cabinet. ¡°Maybe get me some pills.¡±

    I stared blankly. The past reared its ugly head. A sudden voice from the past made me jump.

    ¡°What do we do when we fail?¡± the old man yelled.

    ¡°WE TRAIN!¡± Roy yelled back.

    ¡°We train,¡± I agreed.

    Neither figure sat in the room with me. They were ghosts of the past causing me issues. The figments were right. I¡¯d failed plenty in these recent years. The answer would be to get back up and train. At this stage in life, there was no time to practice. We were down to do or die time.

    ¡°Some fighters go in to win, others not to lose, some settle for just a single punch. Whatever works for you, just pick a goal,¡± Tal¡¯s dead ghost whispered.

    Pick a goal and go for it. That¡¯s what Tal had taught me.

    ¡°Punch them all in their faces,¡± I muttered.

    ¡°Whatever does it for you,¡± Nathan said.

    My eyes crossed as the past and present blurred. Separating out times didn¡¯t matter. Getting up fit in line with what Tal and Roy had beat into me over the years. Quitters were to be reviled. Tal died with a humongous number of wounds, because of me.

    For all my loose morals, I still felt guilt. It kept me cold at night and rose the fires of rage at past failures.

    Leg muscles ached as they stretched. One arm helped me brace myself. Steps were unsteady and my lower back hurt even more. Lying down for days came with side effects of sore muscles, stiffness, and dizziness.

    ¡°You can just lie there. Someone will come by and put you back in a gurney. Or maybe they¡¯ll call it strike three for being disorderly.¡± Nathan sniffed. ¡°Might be a few hours before anyone notices.¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the nurse?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Most staff went to the mainland. Anyone who can use a gun is on the fences. Anyone who can¡¯t, got shipped home yesterday. There was one nurse who said she¡¯d stay to take care of us. Some black-haired woman,¡± Nathan drifted off, and whimpered.

    He might mean Muni. I couldn¡¯t remember what the clothes had been, but as always, what I remembered meant absolute shit compared to reality. Not to mention whatever the hell had gone on with Muni and her pursuers.

    No, the second task would be to get Nathan his drugs so the man would stop complaining. Then I could help myself to the cell, check over my stupid belongings, and work to track down Leo. I remained undecided on the giant serpent in the water. It could have been a mixed up memory but that felt, literally, unlikely.

    I found myself braced against the locked supply cabinet. The framing was tough on the outside, but there were weaknesses in the material. I felt a spot where they¡¯d poured in super glue. On another side they¡¯d put in long bolts. One corner had less reinforcement.

    I moved to the back, wedged fingers in between the shelf and wall, gathered a small amount of strength and pulled the shelving. Glass crunched. Pill bottles clattered around the room. The bolts they¡¯d driven in were exposed and stuck out at funny angles. Metal framing had been warped.

    Nathan stuck out his crutch and used it like a scoop to pull back bottles. He went through a dozen before finding the one he wanted.

    ¡°Pain killers?¡± he asked, holding out the bottle.

    I shook my head. My crutch fit in a different sort of bottle. Liquor dulled my senses, which had its uses. I debated finding a drink to help keep my senses reined in. Right now it would be a waste of sanity, assuming one of the inmates or guards would spare me a drink.

    ¡°Suit yourself. Us mere humans can¡¯t compete.¡±

    Nathan was already heavily dosed with pills. His body felt sluggish and eyes dilated. He popped another pill then swallowed it dry. Soon he¡¯d be full on loopy.

    If he wanted to overdose, so be it. I hoped he¡¯d keep his sister somewhere in the back of his mind. He¡¯d been sent here because of her, or so he said. Maybe Nathan moonlighted as a vampire slayer on a mission.

    That meant nothing. He felt like a broken man and barely moved as the pills set in. Nathan pulled in a towel from Muni¡¯s earlier battle and used it as a pillow. He grunted and turned to one side.

    ¡°You going to be okay?¡± I asked, while not actually caring.

    ¡°No.¡± He stuck out a tongue and licked dry lips. ¡°Should take a few more of these. Maybe some of the other bottles. Better than joining them over there. You know¡­¡±

    The hallway felt empty but I still doubted my own senses. My head shook again as I slowly walked toward the door. Nathan flopped behind me.

    ¡°It¡¯s ironic. That¡¯s the word, right? Ironic, they broke my leg because of you. They got sent to the other side first. Now none of them are around, but you¡¯re still here.¡± He gave a few weak chuckles then banged the crutch. ¡°And none of it means shit because that asshole finally finished the job!¡±

    My heart skipped a beat. That asshole probably meant the burnout he¡¯d been protecting his sister from.

    ¡°She dead?¡±

    ¡°Tactful fucker, aren¡¯t you? All those muscles must be pushing out your brains. Yeah. My sister is dead. What¡¯s the point of this now? I should have staked him.¡±

    ¡°You should have,¡± I agreed.

    ¡°Fuck you.¡±

    I was smart enough to know his words were a mix between bitterness, anger, and lack of hope. I stood there trying to absorb how this fit in, and came to the conclusion that it meant nothing at all to me.

    ¡°So you didn¡¯t. You came back here how many times, and now you¡¯re thinking about overdosing to escape? Glad I¡¯m not a human.¡± I shook my head and proceeded to throw his own insult back at him. ¡°At least all these muscles keep me from thinking of stupid shit.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t true. All these muscles didn¡¯t do crap to stop me from dwelling on stupid crap. Suicide wasn¡¯t the answer, but part of me wished to crawl away from all this insanity. Doing so was impossible. Dozens of people entrusted their lives to me.

    ¡°Fuck you, meat for brains,¡± Nathan said. He banged the crutch against the ground and smacked bottles.

    He¡¯d lost his sister. I¡¯d lost Julianne. She¡¯d been close enough but those memories stayed thankfully distant. Being swept under the tide wouldn¡¯t do any good. Right now, I needed Tal¡¯s lessons over the years.

    ¡°This man I knew, raised me like his own.¡±

    ¡°Boo-hoo,¡± Nathan said.

    ¡°He beat the shit out of me nightly. His own son, too. Said it was to make us stronger.¡± One day Roy beat the heck out of Tal back. The entire dynamic of our household changed after that. Tal actually thanked him.

    ¡°Lovely.¡±

    How weird was it that Roy¡¯s race actually relished a strong leader? They fought for it. That had been the whole point of Tal¡¯s abuses. He needed someone to be stronger than him and to know his son could be a leader. He needed it like I needed to stockpile treasures.

    ¡°Being human would have been easier,¡± I said.

    I knelt next to Nathan and pushed the crutch. He leaned back and flared his nostrils.

    ¡°I hated him for those abuses. I loved him for taking care of me. And I needed to fight. I still do. But we never gave up fighting back. Never. Not after the first year, or second. Not until ten years later when we finally beat the old man.¡±

    Roy had known. He, Tal, and his brother had fought to help me release pent up pressure. That¡¯s what I was, good for only three tasks. Fighting, fucking, or sleeping. And I needed the combat.

    Nathan searched my face for signs of whatever interested the man. I stared at him and used my senses to count warm bodies on the island. They moved too fast, but there had to be hundreds on the other side.

    ¡°I ain¡¯t a priest,¡± he said.

    ¡°And you¡¯re not dead, either. Your sister may be. But you aren¡¯t. Fight, or give up.¡±

    Consoling wasn¡¯t my strong point. Putting up with someone else¡¯s whining wasn¡¯t either. I had enough of my own issues. At the very least, I knew enough of my own nature to realize that giving up had never been an option.

    Maybe I should simply transform and go burn the entire forest to a crisp. The idea was tossed away. I could sense a looming conflict that would require me to be on top of my game. Transforming took energy.

    Plus, Nathan was roaming free and this set of rooms hadn¡¯t had another soul in it. Muni could be blamed. Her memory charms might have made people forget the room existed. Outside there could be a nurse walking the halls trying to find a room that didn¡¯t seem to exist.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you intend to do, Nathan. And I mostly don¡¯t care. But I, for one, plan on making fewer mistakes.¡±

    Being a drunk upon returning home had been one of many errors. I aimed to right myself from here forward. That¡¯d been one nice perk to reliving huge swaths of my life, all the places I¡¯d fucked up were happily highlighted.

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°It means a lot of people are about to have very bad days. So for you, get out while you can.¡± About a hundred people were in the jail that used to house five times that. I counted boots and vests since their material stuck out with more distinction than jail clothes.

    ¡°Find a boat. Swim. Hide. Or live and find the piece of shit vampire and kill him this time,¡± I added.

    ¡°Can¡¯t,¡± he mumbled. As our conversation went on, I felt improved and less sedated. Nathan sank further under.

    He was still here. Nathan Simms had the devil¡¯s own luck. Cursed enough to be sent to this hell hole repeatedly. Somehow he¡¯d also managed to survive without being killed or sent to the other side despite being bunkmates with me.

    ¡°You haven¡¯t been sent over,¡± I said.

    I could feel them. Hundreds of footprints, lost in the jungle. They were like ants crawling across my skin. The sensation irked me, and once my memories were under control, the powers which were equally wild should be straightened out.

    I hated the armies of man. My lids drooped and head shook. That wasn¡¯t my thought, not entirely. It was an imprinted one from generations of my forefathers. I couldn¡¯t follow that rabbit hole of thoughts or I¡¯d never come out.

    ¡°I told you. Everyone¡¯s gone. Spike¡¯s friends. The wolves. The vampires. There are more guards than inmates now. Makes me wonder who¡¯s a prisoner here. ¡°

    ¡°You haven¡¯t been sent over. You know what that means?¡±

    Nathan rolled his eyes.

    ¡°It means even Warden Bennett thinks you¡¯re not a barbarian. You¡¯re not a monster. But you could be. A reformed man would have been sent home. That¡¯s how it works.¡±

    Fuck him. We¡¯d been talking and I¡¯d managed to inspect every corner of the nurse¡¯s room. My wounded side had healed. There were no signs of food. Nathan could drift off peacefully and I¡¯d go do what I did best.

    I walked back to the door, again, with more energy than before. As my hand came up to touch the framing, Nathan gave a parting shot.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a monster,¡± Nathan said in his drifting tone.

    I smiled and responded, ¡°I am.¡±

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 14 - I Am The Monster

    Nathan stayed behind. It was safer that way, but I closed the door and locked it behind me. Maybe that¡¯d keep any of Spike¡¯s leftover gang from busting in.

    I moved slower than I wanted. The jail had all sorts of doors but most were left open or had been damaged. Wolves had gone on a rampage at some point. Concrete was torn and claw marks displayed. Blood lined some walls in long smears.

    The dirt bothered me. I considered going for the cleaning supplies and making this place better. Having my home messy, however misguided that belief was, disgusted me. It was criminal to live in such squalor.

    My senses continued reporting random facets. I knew about a man two corners away before he even heard me coming. Figuring out if a door was unlocked only took a moment.

    ¡°Bring him in,¡± the Warden said, half a dozen floors away.

    The inmate from before came around a corner. He dove for me with the blade out, like an idiot. With two quick motions the weapon twisted around, stabbed him in the gut, and I pushed him away. The man slammed into the wall and bones broke.

    ¡°I¡¯m already on my way,¡± I grumbled.

    My current concern was leaving his guards alive. Atlas Island may be a layer of Hell, but it served a purpose. Many of the inmates might go absolutely insane if they found out races beyond the big four existed.

    And Daniel would probably frown on me killing too many people.

    I paused near the showers and rubbed my face. The idea of murdering someone came too easily now. There were lots of arguments for removing problems forever.

    I¡¯d done it before. Kahina¡¯s bodyguard duties required lots of deaths. But before that. The past hit me again.

    Daniel told me what to do through a phone. ¡°They all need to be removed. They can¡¯t be allowed to continue doing what they have.¡±

    My target must have heard Daniel because he screamed, ¡°I have a family!¡±

    He squirmed and flailed long tentacles at me. They were like octopuses. They attempted to find purchase but the man had no strength left. He was already bleeding out.

    The children inside, however, were still very much alive. They were innocent babies, if monsters that¡¯d eaten human flesh could be called innocent. Their own mother had been the first victim according to my research.

    ¡°You have to. If word gets out that creatures like this are still around, it will be bad. They¡¯ll crack down. They¡¯ll push the blood test law through.¡±

    I closed my eyes. Kids were kids. They hadn¡¯t had a chance to make a decision or a poor choice. What would have happened if I gave in and mauled someone for a stupid children¡¯s meal?

    ¡°They¡¯re not part of this!¡± he shouted.

    ¡°You know what you have to do,¡± Daniel said through the phone. ¡°And if you can¡¯t, I have to. I¡¯m two hours away if I drive fast.¡±

    The man shouted again, his weak arms flailing against my own. I tightened my grip and didn¡¯t look as his life ended that much quicker.

    Then it was the children. Monsters like he was, with tentacles instead of arms. The only mercy I had was making sure the process went quickly. It made my stomach twist. Rachel would disown me if she ever found out.

    By the time Daniel arrived they were cinders. The house had been razed to the ground and I lay against bricks, huffing from exhaustion. Guilt didn¡¯t plague me. I told myself repeatedly it was better them than my small family.

    Daniel stepped out of a slick car, folded up those stupid sunglasses and walked over slowly. There were three guns on him. His car had even more hidden away.

    ¡°Are they all taken care of?¡± he asked.

    I said nothing. The nature of our agreement had so many complexities. Killing the father in cold blood hadn¡¯t bothered me.

    ¡°I know you don¡¯t like this kind of work,¡± Daniel said. ¡°But it¡¯s necessary.¡±

    My nose sniffed. The dry air and warm embers pleased me. It served as a bitter offset to the fact that somewhere in these ashes were three dead bodies. Rain poured down softly, clearing my mind.

    Past memories floated away. I stood in the prison showers running cold water over myself. My clothes soaked. Layers of grime from days in the cot sloughed off.

    I¡¯d have to stay human and find my way to Leo. From there it would be getting them back to safety. There were probably boats or escape vessels on the island.

    Then I¡¯d have to kill the giant sea serpent. That¡¯s what I was, a monster who killed monsters. How many people were used to quell it over the years? For all my murders, I¡¯d never eaten people.

    Pink Meat. All meats are the same. With enough fire. Little difference.

    My other voice kicked into high gear. Internal thoughts were separate from actions. I had to remind myself that the choice to become a real horror lay in my own actions. I could still tell the difference.

    Fingers cut through the air. Men shuffled through. I turned around in time to see men with guns pointed at me. Daniel had been right, they didn¡¯t use flashlights or red dots.

    ¡°Prisoner, we need you to come with us,¡± a man said. He walked up slowly with one arm out and handcuffs.

    ¡°Mind if I finish?¡± I asked.

    My clothes were still sopping. The guards shuffled. One lifted his gun a bit higher, which was stupid. If I¡¯d have been a vampire, it might have been possible use that moment, tear the gun away, and open fire on the others.

    I didn¡¯t like shooting guns.

    ¡°No. Now.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I closed my eyes and reached for the water faucet. The guys fanned out behind me getting better lines of sight. Their footsteps gave me a headache.

    They could riddle me with bullets. It would take a few seconds to transform. This room would be a wreck and my body cramped. Every option sucked.

    They bolted me in the cuffs. I measured my options once again. Being escorted to Warden Bennett fit into my current needs. If he turned hostile along with all these guards, life would get tougher. My shoulders bunched upon that thought.

    All possible escape routes would put my health at risk. I still needed more time to let my messed up mind run its course. That was the message I got from Muni. Well, that was how I chose to view it.

    They dragged me up the stairs. I feigned being exhausted despite having mostly healed during the shower. The escorts were forced to put a little more effort into dragging me along and slowed their step.

    We took a more direct route than the one I¡¯d been traveling. They held all the keycards and stepped right past the mess of this entire prison.

    A dozen hallways and twists later, our glorious leader banged on a thick door. I¡¯d zoned out in order to focus on Leo, who still ran with Stacy in the woods. They were hiding in a tree.

    ¡°Warden Bennett!¡±

    I widened my eyes and attempted to focus. The guard¡¯s voice had been loud enough to jerk me back to the moment.

    ¡°Come in,¡± a soft voice said from inside.

    The Warden¡¯s perspective still struck me as mixed. He believed me to be something I wasn¡¯t. But that something was actually closer to the truth than being a simple ex-bounder.

    These last few years, with my suppressed memories, had been a form of sojourn. That is, I was undercover, even from myself. I worked like a Western Sector asset would, Muni being a prime example. We fit roles in keeping these other races hidden from the world at large.

    It made me wonder if talking to Ms. Sauter about possible legal recourse had been a good idea. Daniel could have found an answer, but he might also have found it easier keep me as a semi-secret asset against less wholesome creatures.

    The guards took off my cuffs, left, and closed the door behind them. It clicked shut. Warden Bennett did not turn around. He stood on the other side of a desk with both hands clasped behind his back.

    ¡°Mr. Fields. Or would you prefer your inmate designation? Or perhaps something more home grown?¡±

    ¡°Jay. I¡¯ve only met one person able to say my real name,¡± I responded.

    The Warden said nothing to my declaration. He stared out a wall to wall window in this narrow office. It faced east. There were no signs of a sunrise that might make him comatose. Only the moon above shed any light, lapping upon ocean waves.

    ¡°You¡¯re not the first obscure race I¡¯ve met,¡± he said.

    The silence stretched on until I responded, ¡°Okay.¡±

    ¡°I knew you weren¡¯t human from the first time we spoke. Humans taste of fear, even when they¡¯re being brave. Except those considered sociopathic, which is a, needed, disorder. But even their hearts stutter and skin clams. You did neither. You weren¡¯t afraid of me.¡±

    He remembered that first day vividly, apparently. I didn¡¯t. They¡¯d had me heavily sedated. The only reason I could find for not falling asleep was airsickness at the helicopter, and having been out for a number of days prior.

    ¡°It was the drugs,¡± I responded.

    ¡°And hitting you felt like hitting a wall of lead. Wholly unpleasant. I had to reset my bones three times. It was effective in creating the appearance of an uncivilized barbarian.¡±

    That hadn¡¯t been my aim at all but had been useful. Warden Bennett seemed to classify people into three categories. Those inside of society, those outside in need of culling, and the undecided few needing a push either way.

    Undercover Western Sector agents, as he thought of me, were in the first group.

    ¡°But here we are,¡± he said.

    This is why vampires annoyed me. They liked to remunerate about events that led them to some special moment. They did so slowly. Not that I¡¯d been one to talk with my memory all screwed up. I¡¯d been dwelling on the past far more than I ever wanted to.

    ¡°Now what?¡± I asked, once again breaking the silence.

    ¡°Do you know what a sojourn is, Mr. Fields?¡±

    ¡°A journey,¡± I answered, quicker this time. Stretching the silence meant longer to move onto whatever point the Warden wanted to make.

    ¡°Inaccurate. Sojourn means a temporary stay. In a way, everyone who passes through here is on their own sojourn. You might be too young to know its history but we use it as a code word. A belief that at the end of this, temporary stay, we might be able to return to whence we came.¡±

    I stayed silent. The old distant Warden Bennett had been easier to deal with because he asked lesson questions. He still loved to give a speech but currently he came off as resigned. That was the only description I could attach to how he stood at the window without moving.

    ¡°Not all are so fortunate. Many perish. In some cases, because they¡¯ve never had a home to return to. Do you understand what I mean?¡±

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said quietly. In all my memories the idea of home, a place to call mine and only mine, was paramount.

    ¡°Home is a powerful concept. Home means safety. Loved ones. It is where we rest ourselves. Without a real home to return to, rehabilitation is impossible.¡±

    My head swam. For a moment I saw happier times. Bottom Pit, Roy and his family, the waitresses, and even a certain Boss Wylde. That struck me as confusingly out of place. I hadn¡¯t thought about her much since we parted ways in that warehouse.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°I agree,¡± I admitted.

    ¡°My brothers and I have been away from home a very long time. On our own sojourn. One that felt unending. Yet here you are, and the charge that kept us away from our loved ones stirs. Ever hungry despite the precautions. Stronger, despite time¡¯s passing.¡±

    There were multiple insinuations buried in his statements. He signed up to guard a monster, not run a prison. The monster was strong despite the passage of possibly hundreds of years. It liked food, which was probably what these quellings were for. I hadn¡¯t actually felt it being fed yet.

    More understanding dawned on me. ¡°You¡¯ve been drugging the people who get fed to that serpent.¡±

    He turned slightly and unclasped his hands. They tightened into balled fists. A few tense breaths passed as Bennett reined himself in.

    ¡°Hardly people. And they¡¯ve been feeding each other to the beast like savages. The dregs of society maintain some order by casting lots. Didn¡¯t Simms tell you about this?¡±

    Simms hadn¡¯t spoken of the other side. He hadn¡¯t said a damned thing about them deciding lots. Agent Brand¡¯s conversation with Warden Bennett was how I knew.

    I said nothing. Warden Bennett stepped closer to the window and pressed a hand against the glass.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. For over seven hundred years I¡¯ve had this charge. We were told it¡¯d be a simple journey. To guard the beast until they found a way to kill it for good. Then my brothers and I could go home. To end our sojourn and be released, having upheld the greater good.¡±

    His shadow bothered me. I struggled to figure out why as the Warden rambled on. We¡¯d been talking for too long and I needed to leave.

    ¡°We¡¯d go home to our families. Only they¡¯re dust and I remain. They chose the sun.¡±

    My eyebrows wrinkled. That didn¡¯t line up with the rest of my knowledge. He kept speaking of his brothers as if they were alive, but he¡¯d just said only he remained.

    ¡°I¡¯ve long wondered if perhaps we were lied to. That they knew there¡¯d be no way to defeat the monster. Not without an utterly inhumane weapon that would have to rival the gods in power.¡±

    I could shake the two guards off, pick up the table and bash someone with it. That¡¯d get me shot though, and if one of these people was a Hunter Born like Daniel, being shot would hurt even more than normal.

    ¡°Why the confession?¡± I asked.

    ¡°All journeys must end, Mr. Fields. As with many of our guests, confession assists in rehabilitation. Bottling up emotions is counterproductive.¡±

    My eyes fluttered in annoyance.

    ¡°Return to your cell. Don¡¯t be a fool like me.¡± His head hung and shook. I watched thin tightened shoulders for signs of aggression, but he had none. ¡°Everything for the peace. What a lie.¡±

    It finally registered why his shadow bothered me. In truth there were dozens of reasons but most of his statements weren¡¯t worth mulling over.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a question.¡±

    Warden Bennett sighed and turned around for the first time in our entire conversation. He stepped out from behind the table and I got a good long glimpse of his shadow. There were no faces in it, and I slowly realized there never had been.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you have one of those creatures in your shadow? A Night Shade?¡±

    That¡¯s what Daniel had called them. He said the name came from me, but I hadn¡¯t sorted that part in my memories yet.

    ¡°The Night Shades?¡± His lips tightened as he slowly blinked. ¡°I suppose your gift allows you to see them. Very well, I have never bound with one. I haven¡¯t seen a sunrise in almost six hundred years. As they are limited, the Shade I would have been twinned with went to another out in the world.¡±

    ¡°What does that mean?¡±

    ¡°It means if I stand here much longer, the sun will send me home.¡±

    That sounded final. It reminded me of Nathan¡¯s potential drug overdose downstairs. He could be checking out right now. These people around me were choosing to give up because they had nothing left to fight for but the thoughts in their heads.

    The difference between us was simpler than I thought. I had too many people who counted on me. They were my reason to keep going.

    ¡°Are you?¡±

    ¡°Am I what?¡±

    ¡°Are you going to stand there until morning?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It is hardly your business.¡±

    He slowly pressed a button on the table. A buzzer sounded and immediately two men bearing guns and dressed in in full armor swept into the room. They checked the corners, then lowered their weapons.

    ¡°Once again, go back to your cell. Rest, and pray your handler chooses to pull you out before my men follow their orders,¡± Warden Bennett said. He nodded. ¡°Mind your manners.¡±

    That ended my meeting with Warden Bennett. He warned me to stay in my position. He acted like my part in all of this had ended.

    It hadn¡¯t.

    They walked me to the general cells, shoved me through a thick gateway, and had me turn around to remove the cuffs. There were a few dozen individuals scattered in pockets. Some took note of me. Others huddled on their cots and mumbled.

    Those who remained felt human. None of the wolves or vampires were still present. It was a shame, I felt a good fight would help clear my mind of weeks¡¯ worth of nonsense.

    A book sat casually on my cot. I eyed it, trying to figure out what the trick was. Picking it up revealed nothing, but the surface felt familiar. Etched lettering and a title that took me time to recall.

    The Iliad had arrived to Atlas Island. A banned book reached a place it shouldn¡¯t have. A passage inside had been highlighted for me. It said, ¡®Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another.¡¯

    A message from Father Tom. He was still alive, had escaped the Western Sector roundup of their compound, and knew where I was. Or did he merely suspect me for not being loyal enough? Those were questions for another time. I had to conserve energy and make it into the woods.

    What I really wanted, was to hit someone.

    ¡°Where is she?¡± a sharp accented voice shouted. The words pierced my skull and crawled inside while my eyelids fluttered in annoyance.

    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you! Don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t noticed you twice now. You smell like her twisted creations. You reek of them.¡± Her tone turned sour.

    I turned around. Agent Brand, the tiny woman who¡¯d threatened to beat me senseless with her graceful and annoying twins, stood across the rails from my cell. Her face became a scowl, while the two human looking cat people stared on with passive expressions.

    My head tilted back and I stared at the concrete ceiling.

    ¡°Oh, thank the gods,¡± I said.

    ¡°Where the fuck is Muni!¡±

    Her two cat minions or bodyguards swayed slowly with their hands on the rail. They were like pendulums on a clock.

    ¡°I know you know her!¡±

    Agent Brand¡¯s vendetta made no damn sense to me. Clearly they had history together, which felt like a weird game of cat and mouse. Red feathered bird, two cat people, and a raven.

    My head couldn¡¯t handle all these attempts at clever thoughts while feeling every single person in the prison walk away. There had been a dozen people nearby, but once Agent Brand started screaming across the bars, they all backed into corners

    Pathetic. Cowards.

    I tried the truth. ¡°She turned into a bird and flew away.¡±

    Agent Brand pointed at me. I debated simply backing down or instigating a fight. ¡°Don¡¯t play with me, criminal, I¡¯ll have you sent over.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s not really a threat,¡± I responded while faking a smile.

    The one time I¡¯d been direct and honest apparently went over her head. That made no sense considering Agent Brand had been there during the entire mess.

    ¡°That bitch is here for you, I know she is. Bring her, now!¡±

    My senses reported the movement around me. Inmates shuffled farther away. There were guards tapping on old glass monitors in a few rooms. Someone spoke to Warden Bennett and he took a slow deep breath but continued to gaze out the window.

    As for Agent Brand, I thought about her demands for at least three breaths. The results were, I didn¡¯t know where Muni was, right now I didn¡¯t care, and Agent Brand didn¡¯t want Muni for a heavy feather on feather make out session.

    ¡°Listen, Agent Brand? She could be up your ass and I¡¯d never remember.¡±

    ¡°Oh ho.¡± She shook her head rapidly.

    We had ventured into full on crazy town. Whatever the hell Muni had done, clearly pushed her sanity to the edge.

    I continued, ¡°Though I suspect she¡¯s not there. The stick you¡¯ve got up there probably takes up¡ª¡± My conversational banter was cut off as the cat-people-duo-whatevers launched themselves over the rail and across the gap between our walkways.

    The last real fight I¡¯d been in had involved crushing Spike. This proved to be more exciting. I grinned. The far railing bent under a sudden burst of force.

    My excitement dimmed. They were both still human shaped but they cleared the distance. If they were simply cat versions of wolves, this would be boring. Wolves in human form were easy to defeat. Wolves in wolf form were more annoying, and those halfway were a lot more thrilling.

    I threw The Iliad at the female, Dee. She landed poorly on my side of the prison. Agent Brand went for a weapon. It felt like a heavy metal blade instead of standard issue guns.

    Silver. Iron. Simplistic. Hardly worth noticing.

    One foot extended back to catch Don in his stupid face. His nose crunched. Dee clawed her way over the rails. Someone a few cells down shouted. The cat twins screamed.

    ¡°Detestable!¡± Don sputtered.

    ¡°I¡¯ll trade you,¡± Dee growled. She pulled herself up and over the rail.

    They came in quickly. This time I had full use of my senses. The battle fit in with so many others. Each swing helped me stop thinking about the past. There was only now, only the fight.

    ¡°High,¡± Don said.

    ¡°Low,¡± Dee responded.

    They dove at me. Don bounded up and grabbed the bars above. His fingers scraped against metal and bent the bars. Dee came in from below, tackling my feet.

    I leaned back, put up my hands and grabbed Don¡¯s feet which had been kicking at my head. He grunted and started to pull away. My body twisted to one side, using all my weight to yank him down and onto his sister¡¯s head. Dee spun away, claws out, and tore into Don¡¯s rear by accident.

    He yowled.

    ¡°Idiots,¡± Agent Brand said.

    They recovered quickly and attacked faster. They swung long claws and I let instinct keep me moving. My body felt warmed by the thrill of battle. The ember of rage at my core pumped out a fresh wave, turning the room stifling. A hand burned and cracked.

    ¡°One oh one,¡± they shouted quickly while recovering from their unintended collision.

    I stepped down the row and searched for a weapon to bludgeon them with. Agent Brand leapt across the gulf. She got more distance than the others, and grabbed a rail to the floor above. Her foot aimed for the back of my head.

    She missed. I rolled forward. Dee swiped me with inhuman hands and nails cutting the air. I pulled back but not quick enough. The sharpened nails ripped a fresh ribbon across my face.

    My feet moved an automatic pattern to increase our distance. The small amount of space let me consider the type of monster I was dealing with. They moved faster than wolves but seemed to have less striking power. Agent Brand felt like a light bird next to stringy alley cats.

    The analogy wasn¡¯t too far off.

    ¡°Get away!¡± an inmate shouted at me. He threw his cot against the bars. ¡°You monsters won¡¯t get me in trouble.¡± The bars rattled as more objects were thrown.

    ¡°You won¡¯t escape me this time!¡± Agent Brand shouted.

    So, she remembered me. Technically this was my first time actually seeing her. Every other event had been through muffled senses.

    Dee and Don alternated their attacks with brutal coordination, their reactions quicker than a wolf¡¯s. Agent Brand kept swinging her stupid blade. I caught her hand and squeezed my fingers around the weapon.

    She jerked her arm, but whatever race she belonged to did not come with superior strength. The twins attacked from behind. I spun her to intercept their motions.

    My skin sizzled and hand ached as bones reshaped. Agent Brand¡¯s nose turned up as she snarled.

    ¡°You¡¯re trying to use fire? On me?¡± she asked.

    I smiled, my face aching from the barely repressed transformation. Her red burning feathers obviously related to fire. The best answer to someone immune to my gifts was simple.

    ¡°You¡¯re the dumbest.¡± Agent Brand¡¯s ranting gave me an opening.

    I lifted the hand and balled it into a fist. She pulled back and raised her blade. My fist smashed into the blade, shattered it, then crunched into her face. She flew backward, over one of the rails.

    The two cat people went wide eyed, then dove after their third companion. I stepped to the ledge and debated how much I wanted to chase down three floors.

    Beware arrogance, for arrogance leads to death.

    Imprinted words vibrated through, disorienting me. Pride was dangerous. It got people punched. Following them to press an advantage might be equally dangerous, and there were dozens of footsteps stomping through the jail.

    Fighting Brand had not been behaving like Warden Bennett asked. I stood still and waited as men with guns came in from all sides.

    Below, the petite woman rubbed a jaw that remained unbroken. It was a shame, but I hadn¡¯t pulled on extra strength to make the attack really count. But they¡¯d also restrained themselves by staying in their human forms.

    ¡°Prisoner, you¡¯re ordered to stand down,¡± one of them said.

    I slowly lifted a hand and thumbed at blood pooling on my chin. The action brought easily ignored aches and made me realize how badly my clothes had been shredded during that brief scuffle.

    ¡°He¡¯s a one oh one!¡± Agent Brand shouted.

    The guards were well trained and didn¡¯t flinch, their muscles taut and weapons steady. I turned to see them with my own eyes and took a slow breath.

    They backed up. I saw why. Steam poured from my mouth and one hand no longer resembled anything human. Despite not pulling on my strength, my body hadn¡¯t stayed under control.

    Tal would be ashamed. He¡¯d trained us to control ourselves. Rigid, downright painful discipline to never screw up, ruined in one of the worst places. Part of me felt gloriously happy, because punching her in the face had been a long time coming.

    My body quivered as self-control warred with the desire to break everything in sight.

    ¡°Hands down, prisoner,¡± the guard said.

    ¡°Just shoot him!¡± Agent Brand suggested from below.

    I glared at her. She shot daggers back. Getting under her skin made me smile. Throwing these guards would make me happier. Wrecking Warden Bennett¡¯s little kingdom even more would have made me laugh in a voice capable of shaking mountains.

    Agent Brand refused to look away. I played her ballsy staring game and piled up facts. She was weak, moved quick, but the twins moved faster. They flanked her like bodyguards but had very little emotion on their faces.

    My freshly suffered wounds slowly healed and itched like mad. My arm eventually stopped transforming, returning to something resembling human. The guards stayed on high alert the whole time.

    I stared at the trio below as guards came up and cuffed me. They¡¯d just seen my hand be utterly inhuman, or wolf-like, and still felt the need to put silver cuffs on.

    They jerked me away. One held up a copy of the book that had been left for me.

    ¡°Contraband,¡± the guard said while frowning. ¡°Illegal books.¡±

    ¡°Someone left me a present,¡± I responded dryly.

    ¡°That¡¯s two strikes, one for the contraband. One for fighting an Agent,¡± he said.

    ¡°Well that makes four and a half.¡± It might have been only three, but it didn¡¯t matter. I needed to go to the other side of the island anyway. This way I¡¯d get an escort instead of needing to sneak through the abandoned parts of a nearly empty jail.

    They said stuff. I ignored them and counted my wounds. It helped keep me stable and in current events. We walked down corridors, again, and outside toward the giant wall separating the island¡¯s two territories.

    Then they shoved me into a small room with two doors. Agent Brand pushed guards out of her way. They shook their heads and kept guns leveled over her.

    ¡°At dawn, they¡¯ll send you over. Then your ass is mine,¡± she said.

    I shook my head. Whatever was going on in her brain was chump change compared to a giant people devouring sea monster. Maybe it pissed her off that she wasn¡¯t being taken seriously.

    They closed the door and left me in darkness. That was all I got, an obvious threat from a scrawny pale woman who only knew how to have vendettas. She probably had a perfectly sane reason, like Muni skipped out on a really important parking ticket.

    The darkness made it harder to hold onto present events. I let my senses roam enough to pick up the area. Above me was the tall fence, while my temporary home sat between these two versions of jail. Two dozen heavily armed guards could be felt pacing.

    I took inventory by poking my flesh. Small jabs of pain from my side helped prevent the past from sweeping over me.

    Blood had soaked into my clothes. There were tons of scratches all over that didn¡¯t heal fast enough. Despite my performance and pushing back Brand¡¯s trio I hadn¡¯t walked away unscathed. Their claws were sharp, like razors that¡¯d torn along my skin.

    Hubris made me believe that fighting against the three of them would be easy enough. I¡¯d treated it like a warmup for some bigger fight. They weren¡¯t like the scrubs at Bottom Pit¡¯s brawls. Don, Dee, and Agent Brand were highly trained.

    They were also the lesser of my possible enemies. It was fucked up how the fight had left me in worse shape, berating myself over poor choices, and oddly happier.

    Then there were the others, lost somewhere in the forest that swallowed Atlas¡¯s other half. I struggled to pull on the cord to Leo and follow it along.

    The connection caught for a single moment, long enough for me to hear Leo say, ¡°What the hell is that?¡± and feel the ground groan under enormous pressure.

    Then I blacked out.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 15 - Useless Revelations

    ¡°Harken to me,¡± a sweet voice said. It hummed at a pitch that felt like a violin being played, if such a thing were possible.

    I jerked to with a start.

    A lanky woman, or man, or some weird mix of the two, crouched in front of me. Gender didn¡¯t matter so much as the white and black wings on its back. They were folded tightly. It was like a snow owl on a human body.

    I was utterly beyond lost. This wasn¡¯t new, given how the last year had been going, but it was annoying. I struggled to remember where I¡¯d just been but lost focus under the weight of this person¡¯s stare.

    The only clear thought was how many goddamned feathers were fluttering around this stupid island. Black ones on Muni. Red on Agent Brand. Now white. At least the person¡¯s eyes were distinct enough. One eye was blue and the other red.

    ¡°Who¡ª¡± My mouth numbed like I¡¯d been dipped in yet another round of drugs. I couldn¡¯t even growl in annoyance.

    ¡°Don''t worry about me. We each have our stories, and mine isn''t important. But yours is, silly mortal. At least to those who can set me on fire should I not listen.¡±

    I felt dizzy and tried to place where I¡¯d heard those words before. A hand reached to push the person back but lost strength halfway.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The second attempt was easier.

    ¡°Not a Hidden, but in hiding. Yes? I¡¯ve been asked by that shrew to come see if you¡¯re well. Apparently she doesn¡¯t believe Roy. Which is a shame, your brother in spirits has no concept of subtly. Still, the motley crew frets like hens.¡±

    The voice and style of talking down to me started to ring a bell. There¡¯d been someone at Bottom Pit during my last visit. My eyes had been burned out and I¡¯d never seen what they looked like, but they also called me a mortal.

    "I don''t understand. How..." I drifted off from exertion. This was a terrible time of night for me to wake, especially after being stabbed. Too many things were happening in a row. The memories bled over into the now and made it all a muddle.

    "As you wish. Let me say this. There are, were, realms tied to this mortal plane, and when the elves performed their rituals, over and over, there was a price. Those other realms were torn and revenged, those left here were cast into the void, and only some of us made it."

    Hell, these drugs were too good. Half of what the figure said didn''t even register.

    "You too?" I finally asked.

    "Not all of us survived the walk, and some went mad."

    He, she, the white winged person, must have meant the space between worlds. Where the chime of existence had been and all those items transformed from one object into the next. They called it a ¡°walk¡± as if it were simply striding between realities.

    "Mad?" I needed to know if the person I¡¯d been with survived. Maybe they had gone mad.

    The androgynous person smiled and lost focus. I, too, drifted as my mind clouded over again. The fact that we both were drifting on confused me.

    "Shush. Maintaining a connection is hard enough. Your mind is weakened by whatever that bird brain did to you." There was a light press of fingers to my lips. The skin felt soft but firm. "I have questions.¡±

    "Okay..." This was clearly a twisted dream. I tried to make out the other figure somehow. There wasn¡¯t much beyond white wings and glowing eyes. They were red and green now, or was that blue? My vision rolled back and blackness swam over.

    "Before the purge, there were many fantastical creations. Before the world was sundered and restarted by those foolish elves, there were Gods and demons. Before your kind died for their sins, there were other monsters."

    Now my mind was stringing together a dream based on vague memories. My kind was comprised of creatures larger than houses and had leathery wings. When we flew, the sun was blotted out.

    "Your kind, creatures older than the Gods of man. Born of a lost age in a lost world. Older than I am, which is quite impressive considering you are mortal and I am not." The sweet musical voice made me even sleepier.

    "Okay." I watched the eyes. They bobbed in the darkness and gave off an eerie light that kept switching colors. Blue and green? Green and red? It was so hard to focus; this had to be more than drugs.

    "I told you, most of mankind''s gods were killed after the Purge, and others went mad. Some hid. Your kind became fewer. Other monsters died, but not all."

    "So?" I knew all this.

    "So, why have you survived? What purpose does your existence offer when the very gods have been killed, imprisoned, or driven mad?¡±

    Daniel¡¯s face popped into my mind. A memory swallowed up the moment. Daniel stood on the hillside and repeated the words to me. "Sometimes it takes a monster to kill a monster."

    ¡°What a sad fate,¡± the person said. ¡°It is a frustrating thing to be enslaved by our natures. Worst still, to be enslaved by those who call themselves friends.¡±

    He, she, shook its head.

    ¡°What of time, will you give of yourself to tear the world apart again? To alter it, as your breed has before you?¡±

    This person must have meant dying to alter history. That¡¯s what Daniel said happened. It¡¯s what Candy, the elf, had alluded to. The past could be altered, in a sense, but this world would never exist. I¡¯d seen what remained as time recreated existence.

    Nothing, a chime of noise, a tidal wave of creation.

    ¡°If I have to,¡± I answered.

    What the hell did this other person expect from me? I managed to formulate my thoughts enough to know they were sent here, or somehow causing me to dream about them, because of Boss Wylde. That much made sense, but the rest of this conversation annoyed me.

    ¡°That worries me.¡±

    ¡°Me too,¡± I responded. There had been a time, when I¡¯d spoken to Father Thomas about altering the world. I¡¯d seriously considered it. ¡°But if I have a choice, I won¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Your nature changes those around you. You gain power, and lose freedom. One day, you may not have a choice. That¡¯s what happened to the greatest of your kind. And his wife, and sons, and daughters. Enslaved by their ties.¡±

    I shook. He¡¯d said something that made my heart stutter and blood run cold. ¡°What am I?¡±

    ¡°Mortal,¡± they said. I could make out the light-hearted amusement in their melodious voice. ¡°Foolish. Male.¡±

    ¡°My race,¡± I clarified.

    ¡°The gods are gone, leaving us unchained from destiny. I am no longer their messenger on earth. You are no longer their beast in the darkness. Wolves are no longer the raving wild kin. Vampires found their redemption.¡±

    There were so many words and focusing on them was impossible. I struggled to make sense of them anyway but found no meaning to answer my question.

    ¡°What am I called?¡±

    ¡°You are the last. Call yourself whatever you like.¡±

    The ground shook. White wings fluttered and feathers cast around. I expected red and black ones to mix in with the others.

    ¡°Morning comes. I¡¯ll reassure the little fire elemental of your survival. I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be thrilled to know. Though I know not what she¡¯ll make of this Agent Brand. Do flames attract each other? Do your wings call out to mine? Or is it simply we have none of our own kind, and seek company in those who share traits?¡±

    My eyes rolled in exhaustion. I hadn¡¯t told the other person about Agent Brand. They knew Agent Brand had a relationship with fire, and that they had feathers to spare. Maybe because it was a dream.

    It felt like the other dreams, with Muni¡¯s black swirls obscuring my sight. Maybe they were all related somehow, birds born of the same tree.

    ¡°Go away,¡± I mumbled. ¡°Before I gobble you up.¡±

    No other words were spoken. No noises or rumbles, simply silence as the eyes closed and white wings closed in on themselves. Then I woke to a crack of morning sunlight widening up.

    My head throbbed. Muscles were tight and my legs huddled against my chest. My clothes felt crisp from dried blood and one leg tingled. Popping sounds came from everywhere as my spine and arms clicked back into place.

    ¡°Good morning, potentially uncultured individual. You may exit your cell now, or stay and hear more of a prerecorded message,¡± Warden Bennett said. Or, I guess, not Warden Bennett, but an intercom playing some premade message.

    I turned slowly and felt my neck ache with the motion. There was an intercom up in a corner of the room that continued to speak.

    ¡°Should you wish to return to civilization someday, it is suggested you report back to this location in seven days. Should you qualify to be reunited with the general population of Atlas Island, your inmate number will be called out.¡±

    That made no sense. I planned on flying myself back to the mainland once I was done with Atlas. Events here were coming to a head and it probably wouldn¡¯t matter anyway.

    ¡°On the far end of this island is a beach. On that beach is an outcropping. When you hear a bell, it is expected that you and your fellows volunteer someone to stand in that location. This will demonstrate your ability to function as a community.¡±

    Complete bullshit. I stepped to the doorway and looked outside. Lots of trees stood about thirty feet away. It didn¡¯t feel like there were people in the woods. How did anyone eat? Vampires could survive for a long time without eating, but wolves would starve quickly.

    ¡°Failure to find a volunteer will remove rations from the entire island for two days. This is a gentle reminder that following established rules has a positive impact upon your wellbeing,¡± Warden Bennett¡¯s message continued.

    I raised my eyebrows and sniffed. They had an answer. Food was provided as long as people sorted themselves. It explained what Warden Bennett had been talking about to Agent Brand. They¡¯d spoken of inmates volunteering each other as sacrifices. Their reasoning was simple, either someone gets fed to the beast, or everyone starves.

    I¡¯d bet volunteers weren¡¯t exactly pleased to be eaten. Not to mention the wolves who turned feral at some point. The vampires would be worse but at least they only prowled at night. I had all day to figure out my next move, provided regular humans, random races like myself, or elves weren¡¯t screwing around out here.

    But Leo and Stacy were alive. That counted. Still, all the ideas people shoved at me recently fit high into the useless revelations category. Knowing the other creature was ¡°a messenger¡± to gods that no longer existed meant absolutely nothing to me.

    ¡°This concludes the message. Please remember survival is contingent upon demonstrating an ability to follow rules. Rules are the foundation of civilization. Without civilization we would all be barbarians.¡±

    He wrapped up his speech and I confirmed the goals which mattered. Find Leo and Stacy, ensure they survived. Fight or kill the giant sea serpent if it tried to interfere. Remove anyone else who sought to sacrifice my extended family. Then the last goal, get the hell off this island and find some place safer.

    And I had all of society¡¯s worst animals, or barbarians, to contend against. It sounded kind of fun. There would be lots of people to punch in the face.

    ¡°Come on out!¡± Agent Brand shouted. Her words made my mind briefly go static.

    I could run for the tree line to get away from them. They would probably be more agile in a longer chase. Endurance was my strong suit, bursts of speed were possible but required pulling on my powers. My perceptions weren¡¯t where they needed to be anymore.

    She stood above me, twenty feet up, on top of the wall. I twisted my neck to one side to get a better look. Dawn¡¯s light illuminated the back of her head.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°Well? You can¡¯t stay in there forever. Eventually you¡¯ll get hungry, and the food¡¯s that way.¡± Agent Brand pointed into the woods.

    I raised an eyebrow and wondered how long she¡¯d chase me. Last time we¡¯d parted ways I¡¯d been escorting someone Muni claimed was her nephew, or godson, or something. For all I knew, that boy could have been related to the actual God she once followed. How twisted would that be, a literal God-son who thought he was mortal?

    ¡°This is Atlas, no one gives a shit if you¡¯re a one oh one, you¡¯ll get shot like everyone else if you can¡¯t follow the rules. Now get out here so I can beat the fuck out of you!¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s rather impatient, our lady.¡± Don sounded far away. I felt a little bit of the male¡¯s movements as he lay atop the fortification. He and Dee felt like they stretched out on a sunbaked bit of brick.

    ¡°Very much so, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Dee responded. Their voices didn¡¯t carry like Agent Brand¡¯s. It helped she was leaning over and way too eager to chase me.

    She couldn¡¯t be that old. Don and Dee had no crow¡¯s feet about their eyes but that meant nothing. If they were like wolves, age showed in their fur and how long it took them to respond in conversation.

    Agent Brand looked twenty, or twenty-five. She might be even younger. I had no experience with people from her sector. Asia kept its borders tight, and had for ages.

    ¡°Get going, man. Or I¡¯ll just shoot you instead.¡± She waved at me with her hands. ¡°Or just tell me where Muni is and I¡¯ll make Warden Bennett take you back to gen pop.¡±

    She didn¡¯t look like a Western Sector native. She didn¡¯t have an accent like the Emerald Isle sector might, or any other country I knew of. Her skin was a mix of whitewash and pale that reminded me of The White Lady, but with less terror inspiring hair.

    Or I can eat you.

    I shook the idle thought away. Eating cows was one thing, people quite another. It didn¡¯t matter if she could transform into a bird and would possibly taste like chicken. My stomach rumbled at the thought of a well-cooked meal. Deep fried anything, bacon, hamburgers, a hundred images of food floated through my brain from various parts of the past.

    Those memories were far more enjoyable than being punched in sparring matches. Food was a worthwhile subject to dwell on.

    The rambles of Agent Brand eventually registered. ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯m going down there and shooting him. I should have shot him in the jail cell. I should have shot him in that stupid alley. I should have shot Muni at least seven times by now. But no, I need her alive¡­¡± her voice drifted off.

    Agent Brand seemed to ramble a lot when she was mad.

    I could run out as a human or transform and fly away. As much as I hated doing it, I needed to figure out which option would be best.

    ¡°Goddamned jerks. I don¡¯t want to shoot people. I don¡¯t¡­ really. I just want answers, but no,¡± she muttered to herself, but my senses were strong enough to pick up the vibration of her voice as it traveled.

    My current goal of reuniting with the others would be easy enough. Running straight to them through the woods would mean dodging Agent Brand. She¡¯d follow me straight to those I wanted to protect. We could fight in the woods but that¡¯d leave me wounded.

    The giant version of myself would be intimidating, though, and that was the route I loved.

    I felt my body start to burn almost immediately. Muscles tightened and stretched as bones shifted. My limbs grew heavy. I stepped out of the small room and let the remaining transformation sweep me away.

    Room of confinement too small. Woods filled with ants. A Great Beast in the waters. Air heavy with their anxious fear.

    The change came automatically. It was simply a matter of letting self-control go. Large wings jerked outward, surprising me with their sudden development.

    I had a few seconds to study the change. My arms had become huge. I sat on all fours, very confused about the sudden shift to a body that felt much like a dog¡¯s. The wings spanned a huge amount of space. My head was high enough to reach the wall¡¯s top.

    Three guards stood next to Agent Brand¡¯s minions. The two cats in suits shrank back and snarled. Their faces twisted as a shift threatened to overpower them.

    For once, the female twin spoke first, and all by herself. ¡°That¡¯s a lot bigger than I expected,¡± Dee said.

    Amusing Desert Lioness. All pride and puffy tail.

    I smiled. She might have a tail but it was harder to make out. Something about this form caused my vision to feel dimmer. Instead I relied upon other senses.

    One of the guards had enough presence of mind to lift his weapon. ¡°Inmate, I¡¯m going to have to respectfully ask that you go into the fucking woods and¡ª¡±

    Demands are not tolerated from lesser creatures.

    ¡°Fuck off? Die?¡± I asked. Only my words weren¡¯t spoken from my mouth. A gaping maw full of more teeth and tongue than any human could handle wasn¡¯t made to speak normal words.

    When I spoke, the ground rumbled for me. I snorted hot air at his helmeted head. Don snarled. Agent Brand shook hard enough to be vibrating, her arms and legs knocking together.

    I could feel the other two guards lift their weapons. Their fingers hovered over the triggers. My body stayed tense, waiting for them to take that final plunge and pull the trigger. Had they been warned? Were they prepared to die firing?

    Another thought stilled my slowly wagging tail. It wrapped around a tree trunk forty feet away and tightened. Wood splinted as the thought finished forming.

    Did they not fire because they assumed I¡¯d be friendly? Was it because they were Hunters and knew their guns could seriously hurt me? Or even worse, were they simply used to the large monster on the other side of the island?

    Annoying creatures. Too many. Less than the Pink Meat made city. Still, they are annoying.

    Having so many people around on the island drove my other mind to distraction. I took an opportunity to push down the impulsive instincts and once again debated what to do next.

    ¡°Is that it?¡± Agent Brand asked. ¡°You¡¯re a big fucking winged lizard? So what!¡±

    They were stupid, and I needed to cover the miles to reunite with Leo. If she didn¡¯t get a clear hint from me transforming, she never would. Then we¡¯d deal with each other in a more serious manner.

    I turned and made ready to fly. A dozen repressed memories from the past hit me and before I fully understood, my body was already in the air.

    It was both a curse and a blessing to have my mind still jumbled. Lots of events were easier to remember, such as the thrill of flying. I remembered diving off buildings downtown before cell phone cameras became a major device. Five years had passed since the last time I truly took to the sky.

    Freedom. To claim the sky. To claim the ground. Fire and water. This is mine. All I see is mine.

    I screamed in joy, or roared. My ears muffled and dimmed. My senses filtered out until I realized it was a loud rippling sound vibrating the area and causing trees to sway.

    Wings beat behind me. My gamble on getting peace and quiet through intimidation had failed.

    The guards talked to each other as I flew off.

    ¡°That shit¡¯s going to give me nightmares,¡± one said. She felt female under all the padded clothes. Hips flared out wider than normal and she had broad shoulders.

    ¡°I fucking hate this place.¡±

    The first one responded, ¡°You know the rules. It¡¯s not on this side of the wall, so it¡¯s not our problem.¡±

    ¡°Amen.¡±

    ¡°I still fucking hate this place,¡± the woman repeated. Their guns were still lifted in the air and pointing at my back. ¡°You think that freak will come back?¡±

    A heavier weight leapt past the guards causing them to swear in unison.

    ¡°I bet he¡¯ll get¡­¡± The male guard¡¯s words were lost as a sharper cry from behind demanded my attention. My neck muscles bent slightly to get a view of the creature behind me. The wind bunched under my wings. I stopped thinking about the huge masses of air being pushed away from me.

    Agent Brand had also transformed. Only instead of a red feathered raven, she looked more like a hawk made of liquid flame. Drops splashed and evaporated into air behind her. The sight was hypnotic and I lost track of which direction I flew in.

    She squawked behind me. I didn¡¯t know what else to call the noise. Giant birds bigger than a school bus, one of those half-sized ones for smaller counties, shouldn¡¯t squawk. They probably had a much more dignified name like, a yell, or cry.

    I loved the way fire fell from her body. It singed the air and built up a haze like steam. Comparing this to the unsightly version of Agent Brand who yelled angrily felt confusing. They were way different in terms of attraction.

    We ended up winging well past the woods while my mind fought its attraction to shiny objects and powerful females. My weakness, in the same manner vampires hated crosses and fell asleep during sunlight.

    Agent Brand struggled to catch up. Her dignified squawks led the way.

    Danger. Large creature stirs. Moves quickly. Water forced to the sides. Cutting. Huge masses of muscle. Danger!

    My primal mind with its constant litany went from calmly admiring the bird¡¯s feathers to utter panic. Something large was shooting out of the ocean toward us, like an orca might fly upward to snatch a seagull.

    I tilted my wings abruptly. My body veered to the side as a huge creature breached the ocean¡¯s surface.

    Water scattered all over the air, driven upward by its breeching body. Clumps splashed against my batting wings. Each drop sent thoughts into overdrive. It was like the world slowed down. I couldn¡¯t see the creature clearly, not with these eyes. Something about this winged form of mine melded senses together to form a picture, rather than the sharper sight, hearing, and smell of my human form.

    Eyes, a long maw, sharp ugly teeth, and more muscles than any sane creature could stand.

    Seeing the creature, and feeling it, were very different. My senses while in solitary made me think of a snake. There were long frills on it that hadn¡¯t been apparent before. Ribbons reminded me of fish. I¡¯d seen eels in tanks. This creature resembled one of those, only a million times bigger.

    It twisted mid-air. Coils big enough to crush a bus looped and writhed as it sought prey. My other mind utterly blanked. Information still poured in but the shower of water and massive bulk twisting next to me swallowed every iota of awareness.

    It did not feel lethargic from the repeated feedings. It felt very active, and angry at its territory being invaded by us.

    I flapped my wings and righted myself. My tail curled to keep this huge bulk in one place. Legs grasped out with claws three feet long. I saw my limbs swing in the air and marveled at how different they looked.

    They¡¯d been smaller before. Five years of pretending to be human had made me a stranger in my own body.

    Agent Brand winged through the air behind me. Her body moved in slow motion. It turned to one side and sailed through a loop forming in the sea monster¡¯s coils. It was like watching a fuzzy arrow in flight. She cried out, a sharp piercing noise that made the sea monster¡¯s eyes widen.

    Leviathan. God Child of the Oceans. Kin to Jor the Traitor.

    My mind processed a dozen different thoughts at once. I pushed them back and ignored the surfacing memories from generations of fathers.

    The monster reached its apex and continued twisting before descending into the ocean. Its bulk slammed down sending a fresh wave outward. My mind couldn¡¯t conceive of the force behind so much bulk. Before, when staring at those Western Sector agents and Don and Dee, I¡¯d felt large and in charge. Next to this creature, I did not feel like a giant monster. At all.

    Tons of water splashed outward from the creature. A growing wave headed straight for shore. Even with that much size, the water now going toward land shouldn¡¯t have been so large.

    Unless, maybe its nature somehow amplified the waves. I beat my wings against the air. The amount of force put out by my limbs was far less than the amount required to lift my bulk. Vampires moved faster than human muscles and bone should allow. Wolves transformed. Elves made illusions to fool eyesight.

    Figuring out why the giant sea creature could cast off forty foot swells by simply falling into the water wasn¡¯t as important as knowing it could. Fighting the monster would be an absolutely terrible idea. Not without a lot more power, strength, and less ocean for it to rule in.

    I wondered how big a fishing rod I would need to pull this creature out of the water. Then I realized that it only took a person being sacrificed to reel in a monster this size. With so much bulk, the better question was, why hadn¡¯t it left the area to eat a city instead?

    Teeth, sharp, nasty, filled with strands of lesser ocean creatures resurfaced and snapped toward Agent Brand. The red feathered hawk squawked with far less majesty than before. Her attempted path through the creature¡¯s coils met with a bad ending.

    The Leviathan closed filthy teeth over her wing. I felt the crunch as she cried out. Her other wing broke as tons of weight yanked her down into the ocean. My first instinct was to rescue her, and I shifted into position for a dive after the two.

    Agent Brand¡¯s bird eyes were wide. Liquid flame gushed, landing on the creature¡¯s descending form and sparking. I reached out claws and grabbed around her, thankful the teeth were on the other side of her burning bird body.

    I landed both claws and flapped hard, demanding the elements to aid me. Air pooled under my wings in a fight against a creature multiple times my size.

    Agent Brand¡¯s body burned like a bonfire. The sea monster¡¯s lips sizzled. My claws felt happily warm, as though wearing a pair of awesome slippers.

    My other mind split between groaning in pleasure, marveling at tingles reaching all the way up my legs, and worry over the larger beast. I pooled air again and bunched my body to assist with yanking.

    Agent Brand¡¯s body came apart. Her body split in two as the unchewed half pulled away. I struggled to get altitude before the rolling waves below caught us both.

    The sea monster¡¯s huge form sank below. Its body moved in labored gasps. Bones crunched in its mouth. Each motion brushed against my senses giving me too much detail.

    The ash within my claws grew warm, but not unpleasantly for the first few seconds. I flapped onward toward land, in case the creature felt like thrusting itself into the sky to grab us both. Brand¡¯s bird form became scalding, growing worse. I struggled toward land but felt more energized than ever. It was as if my body absorbed the heat.

    I¡¯d never lifted an elephant-sized bird before but it felt like I¡¯d be able to lift two, or three of them. The warmth made my toes cry in pain and snout happily drunk. That¡¯s what it was like, carrying Agent Brand made me delirious.

    I carried her straight toward Leo. He sat along a cliffside dozens of miles inward. A small river cut a thin groove into the land. The tactile senses told me he and two others were on high alert.

    The earth rumbled. That huge sea serpent bellowed and thrashed slowly under the waves. I now understood where the earthquakes came from. It could move the earth and water, either due to its bulk or gifts like my own.

    I winged on. The energy rush faded as Brand¡¯s body lost heat.

    Agent Brand¡¯s body was half made of dull feathers and ash. Those pieces of plumage still glowing crumbled at the ends, forming a solid pile that made me itch. I wondered if she¡¯d return to the shorter female form or stay a bird while dead.

    My strength gave out. Without an extra source to pull energy from, fire, I couldn¡¯t keep going forever. Pulling air under my wings took power. Staying in this form didn¡¯t use any, but it was like being in neutral.

    Finally I couldn¡¯t keep carrying myself and Agent Brand. I dropped her without any kindness. My body cruised a few seconds longer before dwindling to a human form. The extra mass simply faded away as if it¡¯d been made of dreams.

    I stood on wobbly legs, then walked back to the giant bird body of Agent Brand. It was cold of me to simply watch. I felt certain a bird with half their body missing and bleeding glowing drops would die. If that¡¯d been me, I¡¯d have been a sorry sight as well.

    Her bones turned to ash. It was like a vampire. They too burned away when death came for them. This much was familiar. I¡¯d never expected to watch a giant flame chicken perform the same trick.

    Her body collapsed into a pile of gray. The trees around us protected her from being scattered by wind.

    A single flame inside must have still burned. I couldn¡¯t tell for sure, since my senses were jumbled from the return to humanity. I sniffed and tightened my nose. Parts of her crumbling form must have gotten up my nose and it itched.

    That fire sparked and soon the entire pile of ash was burning once more. A fire that grew brighter than any flame I¡¯d ever seen, as if the sun was twenty feet away and going supernova.

    I closed my eyes tightly and stepped back from a heat too strong for me. Blisters formed on my face that stung, ached, then popped.  My eyelids burned away. I felt energized, but instead of using that power to channel my abilities, it felt like my body bent itself toward healing.

    ¡°What,¡± I muttered, surprised I could talk straight.

    It¡¯d been quick, brutally fast, and by the end my body had returned to a weird normalcy. That wasn¡¯t what confused me the most.

    Agent Brand stood in an even smaller pile of ash. Gray soot littered her shoulders and made her skin even paler by comparison.

    ¡°Dammit!¡± she shouted.

    My mouth hung open. Agent Brand was younger than she had been. Though maybe I¡¯d simply felt it wrong, or her now vanished clothes made it a lie.

    So, she could turn into a giant bird, be killed, and resurrect from the ashes as a younger person. It made absolutely no sense. Who was I to talk? I turned into a giant winged monster that breathed fire and caused the earth to rumble.

    I sat, rubbed my hands over my charred hair, and contemplated what the hell was wrong with the world I¡¯d known. Dealing with monsters had been much easier when I¡¯d had my memories suppressed and believed myself to simply be an altered human.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 16 - Ownership

    The jungle wasn¡¯t exactly peaceful. Dozens of people watched us through the trees as we walked. Agent Brand followed me, all the while complaining in a language that made no sense but conveyed the tone of every irate girl I¡¯d kicked out of a bar. She came off as entitled, snappy, and spoiled.

    I wanted to throw her across the island back to where ever her feline guardians were. Then she could return to doing whatever it was fire birds did when they weren¡¯t bothering me.

    My abilities were muted after the transformation. I fought to keep focused and refused to let the simple transformation put me into slumber. Something about the heat from Agent Brand¡¯s fire form had helped fuel me but it ended up being a wash after regenerating rapidly.

    I tried to sort through memories and figure out if such an event had happened before, but nothing came to mind. The closest I could remember was walking through the woods with Julianne while on the way to find Evan. This wasn¡¯t the same, and the woman behind me might have the same height, but nothing else matched.

    And she was utterly unclothed. I may have preferred my women a bit taller and more mature, but it¡¯s difficult not to notice when you¡¯re being followed by an athlete whose ass felt firm.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look back!¡± she shouted at me and threw a rock. ¡°Asshole.¡±

    My anger issues were minor compared to hers. I really shouldn¡¯t look, but Agent Brand wasn¡¯t married. She had no wedding ring. The whole growing younger and spawning from a pile of ash was weird, but I had my own issues.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re wearing anything! You¡¯re naked too.¡± She muttered the last line.

    I stared down and slowly realized the air I¡¯d been feeling didn¡¯t come from my extra senses. There certainly was a large breeze. That made sense, I¡¯d been a huge monster flying through the sky moments before. Clothes would have split.

    Then it hit me. Poor Leo must have been carrying my naked ass through the woods while trying to escape law enforcement. How weird had that been? I laughed at the idea of the police arresting one linebacker carrying another utterly naked man in the woods.

    That set off Agent Brand. She cursed in a language I didn¡¯t understand. I laughed harder and abruptly snorted. For some reason her harmless anger and naked form were comical.

    I hadn¡¯t been around many women during my time in the jail. They were there, to be sure, but most were in packs or guarded. No one wanted to come near me, anyway.

    ¡°What are you laughing at?¡± she shouted.

    We were close enough to Leo and the others that I could put off answering her. Instead, I lifted a finger to my lips and pantomimed for silence. Not that it mattered. Stacy would have heard us coming from a mile away.

    ¡°What, you¡¯re scared of those whimpering sacks out there?¡±

    I grumbled. Dozens of people were out there watching us. This island only had so much space. Even if the creature off shore ate someone every day, it¡¯d take another year or two to clear everyone.

    Shouldn¡¯t it? My grip on the math was getting fuzzy. There¡¯d been a large number of earthquakes. The creature was obviously still stirring out there, if it had enough strength to leap out of the ocean for us. I suppose meal wise, each person was like an opium laced piece of popcorn, where Agent Brand and I were closer to drumsticks.

    The thoughts helped me drown out Agent Brand. She pushed past me and strode toward the riverbed. I shook my head and stepped after her. At the river¡¯s edge stood two women, half clothed and washing their linens.

    Near them was a third figure, Leo, facing the woods and watching our approach. He had a tired expression.

    ¡°Leo, you¡¯re still alive,¡± I said. Of course, I¡¯d known he was still alive. The original intent had been to praise him for surviving out here, but it came out backhanded.

    ¡°Where. The fuck. Is Muni!¡± Agent Brand shouted. ¡°This isn¡¯t her! I followed you because you had to be going to her. There¡¯s no way you¡¯d risk exposure like that without the ability to wipe out peoples¡¯ memories!¡±

    I felt fairly sure she¡¯d stated no one cared if I was a one oh one. Whatever it was they considered the call sign for races beyond the big four. Obviously she¡¯d been lying or simply goading me into action.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯re exposed too,¡± I told her.

    ¡°That was you?¡± Leo asked. His eyes tightened.

    Behind him the two girls dismissed us. I ignored them as well. Stacy preferred ladies, and she¡¯d been dating Julianne. She¡¯d also helped me keep Kahina alive and threatened to tear me a new asshole at some point. So my feelings on her were mixed.

    Plus, when I caught a glimpse of her and the other way more muscled woman, both topless and dripping water, about a dozen memories of other ladies came to mind. I decided to stay away from the mental trigger and focused on the young man.

    I didn¡¯t need to remember all my years of sleeping around before Kahina. It would have helped pass some nights in solitary, but being aroused in the woods with murderers wouldn¡¯t be a good time.

    ¡°Great,¡± Agent Brand said. She crossed her arms and glared at the young man. ¡°You stink like Muni too.¡±

    Leo blinked slowly and closed his eyes tight. He covered his face and turned away from Agent Brand.

    ¡°Jesus. Does no one wear clothes around here?¡± he muttered.

    Right, she was naked too. There had to be a joke in here somewhere. A wolf, a flame hawk, and a muscled woman alone in the woods with only a young boy for company. No, it was all sorts of wrong.

    I covered my eyes as well and groaned. This side of the island was meant to be a constant battle for survival, not the opening to a bad porno.

    ¡°Stacy!¡± I shouted to her because Leo had completely shut down.

    I could feel Stacy turn. Her assets way more noticeable after visually confirming she wore nothing. It was like my other senses were far too happy to report in size, shape, and elasticity. Leo at least had the decency to look away.

    ¡°Please tell me you have spare clothes out here,¡± I groaned. Her companion had like a six percent body fat rating, or at least it felt like something absurd. She moved like Roy did, with the air of discipline and years of martial arts practice.

    ¡°What? Fucking hell, princess, can¡¯t a girl enjoy the view without your ugly ass mucking it up?¡±

    I rolled my eyes. Stacy had a type, or a height, I guess. Agent Brand was probably close to Julianne¡¯s size. Then there was that stupid nickname. Julianne¡¯s brother, Thomas, had been the first to call me Princess.

    Leo, surprisingly, answered instead, ¡°There¡¯s a few pairs. The Caretakers send over clothes with goods as part of their encouragement to civilize us. Not that everyone cares. No one but me wears a shirt half the time.¡±

    ¡°Can¡¯t be wearing tops when I¡¯m just going to need to shift and fight off those assholes again,¡± Stacy said. ¡°But these pants are super stretchy. I could fit like two of your friend in them. Or just her, if she wants to join me.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I couldn¡¯t figure out if that was Stacy the aggressive wolf in the wilderness talking, or if she¡¯d always been that forward. A year ago she¡¯d dressed mousy. All bets apparently were off now. Time changed everyone.

    ¡°And tell me you¡¯re not as bashful as this idiot. Not when you¡¯re wearing nothing.¡±

    Bashful, I wasn¡¯t. I had no reason to be. If anything, being in jail and reliving some of the most grueling moments of my life had helped burned away anything gained over months of heavy drinking.

    ¡°It¡¯s going to get cold,¡± I answered dryly.

    Stacy nodded and smiled. ¡°Sure it will.¡±

    Agent Brand muttered and rubbed her face with her hands.

    ¡°Is there any chance Muni will show up?¡± she asked.

    I shrugged. It was possible. She¡¯d been on the island somewhere and probably didn¡¯t fly away. She had a vested interest in keeping me alive. I cared about keeping Leo and Stacy alive. It was a nice big happy circle.

    ¡°Great. All right, kid, where¡¯s Muni?¡± Agent Brand walked directly toward Leo. Leo turned himself to the side and blushed.

    The other woman I¡¯d never seen before rolled her eyes and continued washing shirts. Her hair had been tightly braided and she had finely detailed tattoos on her back.

    I glanced from Leo to the other woman, then back and forth a few extra times. Those markings reminded me of the ones Roy and Tal and all those in The Last Tribe had, but they centered on different ideas.

    Roy¡¯s family crest had a starburst that curled out in waves. This woman¡¯s were way softer, but they followed the same curls and lines. It, radiated, I think was the best description. At its core was an eye and crown instead of the sun.

    Having noticed, it was the slight bumps under her lower lip that looked like overbite and yellowish skin and eyes that were the real clues.

    If Roy and his wall of muscle were one type, she would be a female version. Tall, muscled enough to make her breasts look like extensions of pectorals, and the way she moved. They were all hints.

    ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°I have no clue who, or what a Muni is,¡± the woman answered.

    ¡°I got nothing,¡± Stacy said after.

    I couldn¡¯t remember seeing a female version of Roy¡¯s race, ever. A dozen males. Never a female. I¡¯d assumed they only came in one gender, stupid, but with Tal¡¯s broken grasp of their lineage, there weren¡¯t a ton of details. Even Daniel had only found records of men.

    Agent Brand sighed heavily and flopped down. Someone tossed a shirt at her and she stared off distantly while shaking her head. The woman muttered, alternating between two languages and almost too quiet for my senses to pick up.

    Leo came over and said, a bit too loudly, ¡°Here. They¡¯re drawstring so one size fits all.¡± He plopped next to me, apparently eager to be with someone who didn¡¯t challenge his sensibilities.

    I slipped on the sweatpants and rolled up the pant legs. They would fit nearly anyone, even a shifted wolf. Stacy and the others wore similar clothes. Gray, dull, and clearly mass produced for savages to attempt being part of civilization.

    Warden Bennett really believed in trying to redeem people. Or at least, this set up did, I mused, and kept an eye on the surroundings. Other folks were rolling around out there, but as sunlight drifted away, they too pulled back. Some stopped near trees, picked up debris. Others gathered and spoke to each other but my senses were getting fuzzy.

    It might have been a lack of energy, realizing slowly this place in no way resembled home, or being distracted by three women behind me who were getting along far too well.

    Which, I couldn¡¯t completely understand. Stacy, sure, she hated men for the most part. Or me, or had mental mood swings regarding our complex relationship. Hell if I knew anymore what her issues were, but, she¡¯d suffered Leo for days. I¡¯d felt them speaking before.

    So we could be on the same sort of team out here. Us against all those other creeping people in the forests who were probably like Spike.

    I almost¡ªfor a second¡ªregretted outright killing him.

    The girls gathered supplies for a fire. I stared dumbly while drifting in and out. So many people moved around us. Then there was nature, simple nature. Ants, bugs, birds, trees. Leaves were the worst. They curved air and rustled as thick winds blew through.

    I struggled to reel in my senses. Going this batty shouldn¡¯t have happened. I struggled to recall the parts of my life which explained how these powers were tied to ownership.

    Only they weren¡¯t, were they?

    ¡°I need to be able to protect myself out there,¡± I said.

    The others spoke but their words didn¡¯t register. My mind had already chased down the bit of past which helped clear up what was happening. It¡¯d been years ago, before I left Kahina the first time.

    Daniel paced in my apartment. His footsteps sharp; pressed against the floorboards. Whenever he stopped a nervous muscle would tap repeatedly.

    Muni stood in a corner near the back porch¡¯s sliding door. She picked at fingernails and her hair.

    ¡°Look, man, when you go away, you¡¯ll still have your powers. That¡¯s what¡¯s dangerous. It¡¯s like what happened with¡ª¡±

    Muni clacked her teeth which caused Daniel to shake his head. They glared in some silent exchange.

    ¡°What we need to do¡­ is make you think it¡¯s harder to draw on your power than it really is. We¡¯ve got to make you think differently or you¡¯ll just burn through the charm.¡±

    Daniel¡¯s foot beat, rapid fire against the wood, his shoes leaving dents in my flooring. I stared at his foot and pushed down a wave of annoyance.

    ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Muni said. I checked with my senses and felt that she stood there, and wondered if maybe it was a lie. Maybe we only remembered her being part of the conversation, but she wasn¡¯t.

    Daniel kept going, ¡°Your powers work based on energy. But if we make you think they¡¯re tied to people you care about, or things you own, it¡¯ll let you pull them out to keep yourself and those around you safe.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s still too much,¡± Muni added.

    Daniel waved his arms. Muni froze in her preening and watched the Hunter with an unwavering gaze. He ignored her and went back to pacing. ¡°We can¡¯t gut him. You tried that with Yoodinn, and then what happened?¡± Daniel spoke a name that didn¡¯t sound right. He stretched it out and added an odd accent in the middle.

    The raven-haired woman didn¡¯t respond and watched for signs of aggression.

    ¡°We have to give him an outlet. It¡¯s like the aggression, the fighting. I need to hunt monsters. He needs to establish dominance over a region. It¡¯s instinct. We have to use that desire to cripple him.¡±

    She picked at feathers woven into braids and bounced a leg.

    Daniel pointed at me. ¡°You have your own store of energy, right? I mean, we¡¯ve talked about it, but I need to make sure. This whole plan relies on you being able to use yourself as a fuel source. We can¡¯t fuck that part up, man, we just can¡¯t.¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°And you can get more from the elements around you, but doing so alerts Hunters like myself. We can feel it, and I don¡¯t know what your limits are, but too much would probably alert the entire sector.¡±

    They were right. The gifts of the elements, fire, air, earth, water, were mine to use. Burning my own energy simply made me tired, but borrowing from the world would cause other problems.

    Nature reacted poorly to pulling on its powers. Pulling on wind became a storm. Pulling on earth became a quake. Pulling on fire, well, the idea was clear enough. It was worse than simply alerting Hunters like Daniel. Natural disasters would follow.

    ¡°And doing that, now? It would be a death sentence. It¡¯d be exactly what the Council needs to do a second Purge. Public, brutal.¡± His pacing made me nervous. ¡°Blood tests. DNA. Camera phones? The goddamn internet? It would turn into a modern-day witch hunt and those fucking elves might unmake us all. It¡¯s bad enough there¡¯s conspiracy nuts we have to quash every other month. Seeing you over a city, now? At best families would tear themselves apart and we would be at war with the other sectors.¡±

    ¡°I know, Crummy.¡± I swallowed. ¡°I know.¡±

    Muni had given me a trinket to hide my form from others. It helped them forget when I did break free and wing over a chunk of landscape. By moving around the country, chasing leads from Daniel, it kept the sightings as flukes. People ignored flukes.

    ¡°All those tasks I¡¯ve sent you on. Those ones you didn¡¯t like.¡± He pointed at me and I fought back a growl. ¡°The people you¡¯ve brought back. Those are positive examples, man. Those are showing you help keep the peace. We need that. But if you forget all about those goals, those missions and simply act on instinct.¡± He shook his head. ¡°When you go under, you¡¯ll need a limiter to prevent that.¡±

    ¡°Even if it¡¯s a lie we make up for you, a bit of past that was never right,¡± Muni added.

    We¡¯d circled around this plan for months. Daniel had probably been thinking about it seconds after Muni¡¯s existence became apparent. I couldn¡¯t imagine what that was like, coming into work one day and finding out a creature capable of altering memory had simply inserted herself into the Western Sector organization.

    ¡°So, we let you think those connections you have, the cords you feel tying you to claimed objects, is the sole source of your power. But eventually you¡¯ll realize that it makes no sense. Eventually you¡¯ll realize that it¡¯s all you. Your power. You taking it from the world.¡±

    ¡°And then?¡±

    ¡°And then, I hope you¡¯re fighting something worth going public for, because there¡¯ll be no going back, man, not for you, or any of us.¡±

    Muni snorted.

    ¡°They¡¯d find you eventually.¡±

    ¡°They haven¡¯t yet,¡± she responded.

    The memory shattered into black feathers. I gasped heavily and found myself sitting on the ground with my face cupped in my hands. My life was a lie. I¡¯d participated in deceiving myself because of the worst-case scenarios Daniel was afraid of.

    ¡°Jay!¡± Stacy yelled in my face.

    My arms moved but fell limply to either side. I didn¡¯t have the focus to fight back. She reared her arm back, ready to slap the shit out of me. I blinked at her.

    Apparently I''d given her the attention she wanted. ¡°We¡¯ve got a few rations from the last food drop," Stacy said.

    My stomach growled. ¡°Food sounds good,¡± I responded. It¡¯d been almost a full day since eating anything. Shapeshifting in that huge form had drained me, then hiking through the woods with a grumbly and narrow focused Sector agent hadn¡¯t helped.

    Everything, I hoped, would feel better after a meal.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 17 â€“ Whole Opening

    They¡¯d set up a campfire and were sharing about each other. That was insanely against my nature. Both the fire out in public with so many prying eyes, and the whole opening myself up to others. Being friendly went against my nature.

    The latest shock to my mind had left me numb. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else. Arms a stranger¡¯s. When the world went away, it took me a full second to realize I¡¯d simply blinked and forgotten to open my eyes afterward.

    ¡°That sea god is a lot bigger than the reports,¡± Agent Brand said. She wore a loose shirt a few sizes too big. Her skin was smudged with ash still, despite her efforts to rinse off in the stream.

    ¡°Sea god?¡± Leo asked. He had fewer issues now the ladies had decided to wear shirts.

    It ruined part of my day, but so be it. Now wasn¡¯t really a good time to investigate the single life on a crowded island. Besides, other creatures were stirring.

    ¡°Names for those creatures are almost pointless. A lot were once revered as Gods before they were captured or killed during the initial Purge. Though¡±¡ªAgent Brand stared up at the darkening sky for a moment in consideration¡ª¡°it¡¯s different back in the Eastern sectors.¡±

    ¡°Is that where you¡¯re from?¡±

    ¡°Not entirely,¡± she said with a downright wicked looking smile. It belonged on a sixty-year-old spinster who plotted people¡¯s deaths, not a teenager.

    Agent Brand was a confusing person. She felt younger than the first time we¡¯d run into each other in the alley. Perhaps dying somehow cost her years. Wouldn¡¯t women kill for that sort of power? I¡¯d known people who tried to become vampires simply for a chance at eternity.

    ¡°There are cities out there. Cities where one oh ones rule. In what used to be China, before it collapsed, there¡¯s a city of eternal night. For two thousand years the sun has never shone once. Never.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been there?¡±

    ¡°Once.¡± She cast her eyes down as lips tightened. ¡°The city is a prison. There are creatures there that would horrify you to learn of. But it¡¯s half a world away and they can¡¯t leave.¡±

    ¡°A prison?¡± Leo asked. He was almost cute in his inquisitiveness.

    I¡¯d been told the tale of this city by Daniel once before. In it, was said to be a woman so old she¡¯d met Jesus. Daniel claimed she was a spider, and had cast a web over the city; inside she fed on the souls of those unlucky enough to come to her for protection.

    So, we¡¯d both decided not to venture there. I wasn¡¯t sure there was enough fire in the world to deal with a two-thousand-year-old spider.

    ¡°Yes. Like Atlas, but different. A different cage, where prisoners are trapped with a different monster.¡±

    He looked around and shuddered.

    Leo was the youngest of us all. He¡¯d dealt with the stray races which gathered at Bottom Pit, but none of them were terrifying monsters. Worrying perhaps. A race of warriors with the constant urge to beat each other senseless would throw humans off.

    But cannibals who ate their own mothers, like the fang toothed squid children I¡¯d personally burned to a crisp, hadn¡¯t made it to his home. He was protected from the worst monsters. He didn¡¯t exist in that version of the world.

    I hadn¡¯t either, not really. Not for years. Even being a collections agent for Julianne was practically being a girl scout. How had Leo put it? I wasn¡¯t in here for selling cookies.

    Gods help me. It was so much worse.

    ¡°How much do you know about Atlas?¡± Agent Brand asked the young man.

    He shook his head.

    ¡°That people get sent here when they attack another race,¡± I answered.

    ¡°How about that no dead bodies ever come back? How about that no one can really remember what happens if they¡¯re outside the walls? Even pack bonds get shattered then blocked. It¡¯s hell for wolves.¡±

    ¡°But packs were together in the yard?¡± Leo asked with a wince.

    Stacy leaned against the muscled woman. This third woman, whose name I still didn¡¯t know, stayed rigid and refused to relax despite Stacy¡¯s need for contact. They were apparently really close and managed to position themselves back to back.

    ¡°Were they? Or did they just stand together and pretend? Take it from me, they¡¯re not really in packs. They¡¯re like dogs finding a more comfortable place but they¡¯re not connected like we¡¯re used to.¡±

    A wolf¡¯s inborn desire for connections must be tough. To be here, on Atlas, and completely isolated from their old pack bonds? That was probably a bit worse than my first few days after landing in the train yard.

    ¡°Sounds terrible,¡± Leo responded.

    Then there was him. Away from everyone he¡¯d ever known, except for me; the murderous uncle who stayed on the fringes of his family. How out of place must he feel?

    ¡°We had a few members who came back from Atlas, in our pack. They don¡¯t talk about it. They¡¯re broken and terrified of returning here. But I never knew what happened to them, not exactly. What happens in Atlas, stays in Atlas,¡± Stacy offered.

    ¡°Thomas didn¡¯t seem to know.¡±

    ¡°Thomas is an idiot. Julianne had all the¡ª¡± she paused and tightened her mouth a moment. The woman she leaned against turned slightly and Stacy shook off the moment of funk. ¡°She had all the brains.¡±

    I nodded.

    ¡°It¡¯s easy to explain. I mean, look around. They just let one oh ones wander around without giving two shits,¡± Agent Brand added.

    ¡°What¡¯s a one oh one?¡± Leo asked.

    I sighed. The boy was almost downright ignorant. He¡¯d been out here for almost a month and knew enough to survive and fight, but when it came to the reasons behind problems, he hadn¡¯t learned anything.

    So, I answered this time. ¡°It¡¯s someone who doesn¡¯t fit into the four major races. Western Sector trains every law enforcement personnel to call for help should something exhibit signs of being remotely outside the norm. It¡¯s their first lesson upon reaching the big leagues.¡±

    ¡°That makes no sense. The news says the Purge is over. I thought¡±¡ªhe grimaced¡ª¡°the monsters were dead.¡±

    I snorted.

    ¡°The news says a lot of things,¡± Agent Brand piped up. ¡°I¡¯m sure giant serpents off the coast of one of the world¡¯s biggest prisons won¡¯t make it to the seven o¡¯clock.¡±

    Stacy laughed with tight muscles. She pointed at me and Brand. ¡°That¡¯d go over well. About as well as a winged dinosaur and a red space chicken. Or a¡ªwhat do you call it¡ªa tribe of sons of the mountain? Whatever those are.¡±

    ¡°He¡¯s no Ogray,¡± the other woman said. ¡°He¡¯s barely a half breed.¡±

    Leo¡¯s teeth ground. He glanced at me, then turned his head away sharply. The past washed over me, arguing with Roy and Tal. Leo¡¯s mother had been human. A thin woman who was a tall bean pole. She could have turned sideways and vanished.

    She¡¯d died giving birth to Leo. Cast and Pol were from another mother. She died too.

    I huffed and lamented my recovered memories. Knowing the past had benefits, but realizing those little bits of history wouldn¡¯t help me keep everyone safe and alive.

    It also didn¡¯t tell me what an Ogray was. I mean, it could be an original gangster ray, or some foreign creature. Names of species rarely helped do more than sort them into piles.

    ¡°Ogray?¡± Leo asked, much quieter. Maybe he realized how many questions he¡¯d been asking.

    ¡°Just ignore it. Ogray is another useless name for some species with only three people. It doesn¡¯t matter what your one oh one is. Half of us don¡¯t have names. Me. Him.¡± She thumbed in my direction.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Leo¡¯s expression widened. Stacy snorted. The other girl kept her serious face.

    ¡°Not like it matters anyway. When you leave the island, no one remembers anything,¡± Agent Brand said.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked, then realized how stupid that sounded. There could only be one creature working with Western Sector who screwed around with memories.

    ¡°It¡¯s probably Aunt Muni,¡± Leo answered. ¡°She¡­ came to me in the jail cell and said to be careful. She¡¯d put a charm on the island. A big one to help hide a really mean creature from outside eyes. It¡¯s why no one has said anything about it back on the mainland.¡±

    I raised an eyebrow at Leo. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯ve seen her.¡±

    Leo nodded automatically. ¡°But she told me not tell anyone but Jay.¡± His words grew slower with each syllable. His lips puckered briefly. ¡°Damn.¡±

    He¡¯d been acting deferent to the ladies.  My head swam. Memories hit me again and filled in the blanks. Roy and Tal had bowed to nearly anything Rachel said. When Roy had girlfriends, he¡¯d put them well before his own wants and desires. It was either a trait of their species or simply how they¡¯d been raised.

    It explained why Stacy put up with Leo. To her, Leo would be a non-threat. Too young, stupid, and easily led around.

    ¡°Whatever. It¡¯s not like anyone here could kill the damn thing anyway. The fun part about our races, any races, is it¡¯s all a stupid balancing act. The sector agents, or Hunters, or whatever, they did a study with powers and ratings.¡±

    I tuned out for a moment and struggled not to let her younger, brash voice irritate me. She¡¯d been annoying before and now it was like being with a teenager all over again. I¡¯d been less annoyed by elves and that was saying something.

    ¡°If you add up all the benefits and weaknesses against a normal human, it almost balances out. Humans are a baseline. Wolves get their regeneration and speed but¡­¡± Agent Brand paused for a moment and raised an eyebrow at Stacy.

    The female wolf, also known in my head as The Bitch, shrugged. She clearly didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Since they¡¯re severely allergic to a fairly common metal, it balances. Plus, their pack bond thing? Most wolves get really testy without a pack. I¡¯m surprised any of them make it out of here, if their pack bonds get severed.¡±

    ¡°More like numbed.¡± Stacy licked her lips. ¡°Like an arm or leg that¡¯s fallen asleep and won¡¯t wake up.¡±

    ¡°Vampires, they¡¯re a bit above average.¡±

    ¡°Vampires aren¡¯t alone. They¡¯re actually two races,¡± I said, thinking of the Night Shades.

    Agent Brand gave me a confused look, making her face pinch even tighter and turning her eyes into slits. I shrugged. She could glare at me all she wanted, I had answers and no desire to give more than I had.

    I wondered if Warden Bennett had made it through the day. Had he stood in that window until sunrise and ended his sojourn?

    ¡°What about you? A giant¡±¡ªLeo paused and tactfully chose not to say fire chicken¡ª¡°bird seems unbalanced.¡±

    ¡°Sure. But it¡¯s not tough. Just fire. And every time I die, I get younger. You¡¯d think it¡¯s great, until you¡¯re younger than your kids. Until your husband doesn¡¯t look at you anymore because he thinks he¡¯s cradle robbing. Then when you finally do grow up enough that it¡¯s not awkward in public, he dies of a heart attack. Twenty-five and sixty-three? Not exactly widely accepted. Not even if you pretend to be an elf.¡±

    Agent Brand¡¯s head sank down onto her folded arms. She looked smaller than ever and completely lost in the huge shirt.

    ¡°I¡¯m more like a niece to my own children. The best part? It¡¯s hereditary. Or more accurately, a curse that¡¯s passed on. If I die enough that I¡¯m too young, one of my daughters gets it next. I can¡¯t give it to my kids. I can¡¯t let them suffer as I have.¡±

    Leo looked green. ¡°I thought being so angry I broke my teacher¡¯s arm was bad. My entire family makes military boarding school look lax.¡±

    ¡°Anger¡¯s an easy curse,¡± the muscled woman responded.

    Stacy snorted. ¡°Try having men inside your head. God. Would you believe I like it better out here? No pack. No one thinking about how my ass looks loudly enough to be heard half a mile away. No one crying about Julianne.¡±

    She shook her head. I pretended not to notice the downcast look, tight jaw, how her fingers dug into her arm.

    Leo might have heard some of it from Stacy, maybe he hadn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t tell how much of my disconnected bits of life had crossed over. Julianne didn¡¯t act like she¡¯d known about Bottom Pit, but she had to know about Roy and Tal.

    ¡°Not that me and her being together exactly helped. Assholes. If anything, they just imagined the two of us a bit too loudly. We¡ª¡± Stacy faltered for a moment. ¡°We were going to form our own pack once she transitioned. Just us.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t find the memories explaining that.

    ¡°So what¡¯s your story?¡± Agent Brand asked while pointing to the third female. ¡°I mean these two I know. They were on the list of known associates for Inmate Fields here. I¡¯ve been up and down his file a million times since finding out his relationship to Muni. But you, you¡¯ve been over here a while and I¡¯ve never heard of you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m from another place. Somewhere¡­ with fewer, cars, or helicopters. That¡¯s the words for them. Fewer people. More monsters. Many, many more monsters.¡±

    I perked up. There weren¡¯t many people from outside the sector who¡¯d arrived here. It was possible other places were completely different in the four races, and we simply didn¡¯t know because of the news.

    It seemed unlikely though. The Purge had been global. At least in this sector and most of the European ones. Asia and South Africa were far harder to figure out. I¡¯d never been overseas, only heard rumors.

    ¡°I found myself in a city made by men and being accosted by some person in a blue suit. He waved a weapon in my face, so I took it and beat him senseless with it.¡±

    ¡°You mean a police officer?¡± Stacy moved away for a moment, then leaned back against the woman. She ignored the motion, as if Stacy¡¯s brief rejection didn¡¯t matter.

    That, too, reminded me of Roy. All purpose of action without any extra motions.

    ¡°They were arrogant and demanding. It annoyed me. More showed up. Then more. Then eventually they hit me with an electric device and I woke up here.¡± She didn¡¯t actually answer the question about who she beat up, just people in blue clothes. It had probably been police.

    ¡°You never told me that, Debbie.¡±

    ¡°I have told you I don¡¯t like pet names. It¡¯s Deborah.¡± The hard-muscled woman didn¡¯t look like a Deborah or Debbie. ¡°And you never asked.¡±

    Brand rolled her eyes with pure teenage annoyance. ¡°And you¡¯re, whatever he is? The same sort of creature?¡±

    Deborah didn¡¯t respond. She didn¡¯t uncross her arms and stared off into the tree line.

    We¡¯d stayed by the river. Apparently they were secure enough in their ability to fight off vampires lurking in the night. I¡¯d spent dozens, hundreds of nights in the woods like this.

    An image hit me. Meeting a woman made from a tree. She¡¯d moved slowly with inhuman eyes. She¡¯d been deemed safe enough and brought back to Bottom Pit. Her tree relocated with her. What good did this knowledge do me now? None at all. It was simply another piece of history to sort into a pile for later.

    By the time my mind pulled out of it, Leo had started stomping around our fire pit after apparently hitting critical mass. ¡°Sure, even if she is like me. Or purer, or whatever, how does that balance out?¡±

    ¡°If you had less discipline, you¡¯d be a wreck. Even as a half blood,¡± Deborah snarled. ¡°Eventually even a coward like you will be the first to sign up for a battle. You¡¯ll fight, if you want to or not. But you¡¯ll be stronger as the Ogray¡¯s nature overpowers your weaker human side.¡±

    ¡°I know how it works,¡± Leo snapped at her. ¡°But why? How is that balanced?¡±

    Stacy shrugged. ¡°Wolves have anger issues too. Or just women. I mean, no girls grow up wanting to be pack. That means surviving the change and putting up with the mental alterations. I mean, if all you want to do is fight, then whatever.¡±

    Leo tapped himself on the chest. ¡°But I didn¡¯t ask for it. I didn¡¯t grow up wanting to change races. At least you got a choice.¡± The teen¡¯s words were downright venomous.

    ¡°The only one here who got a choice is her.¡± Agent Brand pointed to Stacy, then to me. ¡°And maybe him. I guess. I don¡¯t know what his deal is either, but I doubt he volunteered for it.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah. Balance, right? That¡¯s what you said? It all evens out? So I get strong or whatever. Maybe I¡¯ll play football, but I don¡¯t want to be like my dad, searching for opponents to fight every weekend. He sits down in front of a computer, searching for fighters to challenge. Just spending hours watching videos and grunting about how no one is strong enough.¡±

    The teen grunted a few times in demonstration. It was clear Leo really didn¡¯t like fighting as much as the rest of his family did. Hell, even Roy with all his discipline relished combat. He treated it like fuel for his existence.

    ¡°Then there¡¯s Uncle Jay.¡± He used air quotes when saying my name. ¡°Toughest fighter in the Sector. Takes on me and my brothers, beats us senseless. And we¡¯ve been trained to fight hand to hand since we were old enough to walk.¡± His lips quivered and voice broke.

    ¡°Then he asks for more. Demands it. Takes on my grandpa, dad, and Nick like it¡¯s not enough. Three men who¡¯ve got a hundred years of practice between them. Then he breathes fucking fire everywhere. And that¡¯s not even his final form.¡± Leo closed his eyes and I could feel the small tremor pass through him.

    ¡°How in the gods name is any of that balanced or fair? How?¡±

    He stopped, deflated. His breath steamed in the cooling night air. Wind shifted and blew smoke behind him.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s got something. What¡¯s your deal, Jay?¡± Agent Brand asked me.

    Leo shook his head. ¡°He won¡¯t tell you. He never tells any of us about himself.¡±

    ¡°How long have you known him?¡± Brand followed up.

    ¡°Since I was a kid. He grew up with my dad. Even Dad doesn¡¯t know everything. Grandpa knew more but they won¡¯t tell us. Hell, even that Hunter, Daniel. He knows stuff and orders my dad around. But no one will share his¡±¡ªhe cast a dismissive gesture in my direction¡ª ¡°big secrets. They tell me to keep him safe. That Uncle Jay is weak right now. That he may not be able to think straight.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s stupid,¡± Agent Brand said. She paused and frowned while staring up at the sky. Apparently thoughts had occurred to her, such as perhaps Muni messing with me.

    Leo shrugged, a mockery of my own typical indifferent response. His cheeks tightened and hands balled. I¡¯d seen the look before, of a man who wanted to punch me but couldn¡¯t bring himself to start a real fight.

    What should I say to that? As his ¡°uncle¡± and Roy¡¯s sort of brother? I couldn¡¯t figure out how one guided a child. I¡¯d never had my own or understood anything about them.

    ¡°Everything has a price,¡± I said quietly.

    For all my strength, it wasn¡¯t enough to simply waltz through life. There, among all the crap floating around in my head these last few months, was even more advice from my father. I still couldn¡¯t remember the man, or large leathery lizard, himself, but his words were a constant.

    Beware love, for love of others becomes sacrifice.

    Beware arrogance, for arrogance leads to death.

    Beware heroism, the Gods gave this lethal gift to man.

    I knew I wasn¡¯t a hero. That was a gift reserved for people like Daniel. Mortals who fought monsters. I¡¯d known, somewhere in the recesses of my imprinted memories, his abilities were a gift from the Gods. Daniel himself had told me once before, so it wasn¡¯t new.

    Those were my weaknesses. Women and family. My own stupid pride. Hunters. Foolhardy arrogance and self-sacrifice for love were both faults which I¡¯d indulged in too many times to count.

    Hell, I sat on an island, when it would have been simple enough to escape and find a hole to live in forever. Yet, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to even consider the thought of running away. Even during my memory suppressed years I¡¯d still gravitated toward keeping my mishmash family safe.

    ¡°Everything,¡± I repeated.

 Prince in The Tower; Chapter 18 â€“ No More Sacrifice

    They kept talking. I put my non-committal attitude up front like a wall. Deborah at least managed to let Stacy close to her. I had no one, and nothing.

    It bothered me. Not enough to do anything. I missed having someone to rely on, not a friend like Daniel or Julianne, but someone who had a physical connection.

    And, as screwed up as it was, I missed Kahina. It didn¡¯t matter that I¡¯d chosen to leave her, twice, in a terribly fucked up manner. It¡¯d been around a year since we separated.  It wasn¡¯t her, exactly, that I missed, it was the connection.

    Or more specifically, I actually felt comfortable talking to her. None of these people near me fit into the extremely narrow circle of trust. None of them. Julianne had, but her girlfriend and potential life partner, Stacy, didn¡¯t. Daniel had, but Daniel had to distance himself to make this stupid plan work.

    Beware love, for love of others becomes sacrifice.

    I¡¯d given up years of my life in order to stay hidden. By doing so, those I cared for were able to survive longer. The problem with our entire game, the Order, Western Sector, us Hidden, is we were trying to stay out of the news.

    What you claim defines you.

    I¡¯d claimed a lot of people. It wasn¡¯t that a perceived ownership directly fueled my powers. They formed connections. Those links, the cords of energy my other side pulled on, changed us both.

    What I claimed, became altered. That¡¯s why so few people or items were brought close. Instinct let me know there were fine lines between an outer circle of belongings, and those directly attached to me.

    Worse, the change wasn¡¯t one way. It went both directions, especially with people. I¡¯d never be the same as they could never be the same. Keeper, Kahina¡¯s vampire sponsor, had talked about purity. Kahina had been able to kill Night Shades by reaching into a wall. The memory had almost faded, but her pillar and a few others had a thread of scales through them. Had that been tied to me having scales in the other form?

    I¡¯d changed her. Even if our time together was done, she¡¯d also left a mark on me. Much different than the life I¡¯d been living before her.

    I¡¯d changed Tal and Roy as well. They knew more of their tribe than ever. They¡¯d started forming a group instead of being scattered. Had their true natures been altered as well? Were they less bestial than their forefathers because of me, or because of the modern times?

    And what the hell was an Ogray whatever?

    I glanced across the fire pit at Deborah. She cupped her hands in front of her and faced the moon. What that position helped her do, I didn¡¯t know. The sight certainly distracted me, not from an attraction point of view, but from admiration of form.

    Deborah, wherever she¡¯d been before Atlas, had clearly worked her ass off to get muscles which popped in such a fashion. It wasn¡¯t even like I cared about her specifically. She represented hope for Leo¡¯s race, not mine. She didn¡¯t look like the type to be wooed by any man. I assumed she¡¯d need to be bested in one on one combat over and over to even get on board.

    There were examples of my personal belongings changing their nature too. They were stronger. Such as the sword which cut through thick armor with ease. Or the shield deflecting bullets.

    Daniel and I had been really close, could he have changed to? Would he be a super hunter? Could he have been brainwashed to support me?

    My lips quirked. At least Daniel, Leo, and Stacy, had others to guide them and shape their expectations. Even Agent Brand had lived with her condition and had it passed down from a relative. She knew what to expect.

    I had voices in my head. They were mildly useful and I could finally focus on specific problems to sort out. At least out here my head could almost think clearly. It was the air. It didn¡¯t feel recycled. They were talking, but not aggressively at me. Even Agent Brand looked downright relaxed.

    So, I started through a long list of questions that had been building up.

    Did every one of my race have gifts of the elements? I believed we did. Did we all have memories passed down from our fathers? Mine had come from a long chain of them, passed back at least four generations. Were there memories from a mother? None I could recall. Females weren¡¯t mentioned much in any of the mantras of flashes of a past that didn¡¯t fit.

    Then a question stumped me. Were there any others of my kind in this version of reality? Was I alone? Daniel stated the last of my race had been killed by Hunters nearly seven hundred years ago, by a knight named George. They¡¯d had a name, but it had been burned to cinders in the ongoing Shadow War. Apparently keeping records had been a pain in the ass before the internet.

    It was getting easier to sort through specific bits of knowledge. Making the night better. I had to pretend we were friends on a campout under the stars.

    ¡°So what are we going to do?¡± Leo asked.

    I jumped because I hadn¡¯t realized the young man had gotten so close. My tactile senses and general awareness were messed up after arranging memories.

    Leo sat next to me, with his gaze fixated on Deborah¡¯s rear. Stacy stood and intercepted the line of sight. I smiled weakly and shook my head. Stacy wasn¡¯t any better, since she¡¯d been fixated on Agent Brand. Brand was asleep next to the fire. A few stray sparks would catch her shirt on fire.

    ¡°We can¡¯t stay here forever. Those two have broken more than a few people¡¯s arms, and the vampires spend more time finding places to hide than hunting. From what I can tell they¡¯re terrified wolves will find them during the day. Even the burnouts.¡±

    Leo had practically exploded about me earlier, but here he sat, babbling away like feeding me information would somehow result in a magic answer.

    ¡°We could too. It¡¯s not hard. Vampire scent sticks around like bleach.¡± Stacy sniffed, then yawned.

    I felt tired too. Sleep could be fought off by accessing other energies. Hiding my abilities wouldn¡¯t matter out here. What would Hunters do, storm out here and chase me instead of the giant ugly sea serpent sanctioned to eat people? That¡¯d be fantastic.

    The word fantastic triggered thoughts of Boss Wylde. She loved the phrase with an abnormal fascination. Her first name wasn¡¯t Boss, of course. That¡¯d be silly. Her proper name was Lacey Wylde.

    I stared into the fire between us all. Only it wasn¡¯t fire anymore. It was her. Red hair, freckles, and a body dancing like flame. If flames had a human body that danced and enticed the eye, it would be Wylde. Fire incarnate. She made Brand¡¯s transformation look like a part time job.

    ¡°Do you know how hard it is to find a man who can take the heat?¡± she asked me.

    My toes burned pleasantly as they dug into embers. Someone far away grunted in confusion. Fire didn¡¯t bother me. I loved it. To me, the heat was an expression of all the primal emotions.

    ¡°No,¡± I answered honestly.

    It wasn¡¯t that I felt clueless. It was Wylde, which was a name far more suitable for her than Lacey, slowly removed her top while asking me the question. Thinking coherently went right out the window.

    My eyebrows bunched as the impossibility registered. She wasn¡¯t here. Not in the woods. That bit of dancing flame wore less than any modest woman might, belonged to an illusion of flame.

    Or did it?

    ¡°Jay,¡± the fire whispered. It grew a solid foot in height and the color deep inside changed.

    I tilted my head and wrinkled my forehead. Nothing else happened. I sat there huffing at the fire pit. Stacy dropped in a new piece of wood and the fire slowly engulfed its new fuel. She checked the pit¡¯s edges and shoved back in some ash and pulled out other clumps.

    ¡°Would you believe being a wolf is really useful out here? We have to know how to camp when we¡¯re working with new pack members. I kind of miss those days.¡± Stacy walked to the edge of the pit and sat. ¡°Julianne and I used to talk about finding a reservation and going out. Just the two of us.¡±

    ¡°You are very talkative,¡± Deborah said.

    Stacy bunched tightly and cast her eyes down. For a moment she reminded me of the mousy clothed woman she used to be. Then she righted her shoulders and stared straight ahead.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t had a chance to just¡­ talk about it. With anyone. Not those counselors they had at the jail. Not my pack. Not even Thomas.¡±

    That made sense.

    Who had I talked to about my problems? Stacy at least had the bravery to talk aloud about her problems. I simply bottled mine and pretended they didn¡¯t exist. Liquor had only done so much. Having false memories gave me time but never actually addressed the problem.

    That guard had said I could try to put in hours with counselors as part of the rehabilitation process. I hadn¡¯t. Leo had said I never told anyone about my past. I had, and Daniel was missing in action, Kahina had her memories removed to keep her safe, and Julianne was dead.

    Talking about my past fucked people up. There was no kinder way to state it. I resolved to keep my new memories secret, even from those who knew parts of it. Even if Muni and Daniel knew too much, I¡¯d be extra careful.

    Stacy talked softly of the things she wished she had done with Julianne. She complained about Julianne never taking breaks to go on weekend getaways. There was some resentment. Stacy implied, in words I didn¡¯t fully register, that Julianne had been keeping ownership of the bar for me.

    I cast my eyes back to the fire and stopped looking across its haze to the other people. Once again my choices had screwed up others.

    ¡°And all he says is that everything has a price,¡± Stacy finished with a snort.

    ¡°He¡¯s not wrong,¡± Deborah said.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t say he¡¯s wrong. I¡¯ve come to terms with Jay¡¯s fuckups. Even Thomas agrees. But it¡¯s like vampires with mental patients. Or wolves with their wilder pack members, it¡¯s a soft spot. We love them, but they¡¯re dangerous.¡±

    Despite looking away, my other senses still picked up too much. Stacy¡¯s lips tightened and Deborah shifted. Leo stood, facing the woods. His head cocked to one side so he could hear us as he kept watch.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like it either,¡± I abruptly said. The others stilled for a moment, even the normally steady Deborah. I swallowed and continued, skirting my past but at least trying to air some feelings, ¡°Brand said it. I¡¯m not normal. You saw me flying overhead, right?¡± I didn¡¯t look up but felt Stacy roll her eyes and Leo nod. Brand snored by the fire.

    ¡°So, imagine being that. I don¡¯t even have a name for it. There¡¯s no one else like me that I¡¯ve found, and I¡¯ve looked. The only other person I knew of is gone. I can¡¯t find her¡ª¡± I clammed up for a second and took a deep breath. Despite my earlier resolution and keeping my past quiet, I¡¯d almost slipped.

    They were lucky I¡¯d recently transformed. Doing so often left me calmer after the fact. Almost like the sedation they¡¯d used on me during the first day.

    ¡°But everything I¡¯ve done, has been for the peace. Just like a sector agent. Unofficially. A hidden monster to fight others. Leo could tell you what I¡¯ve done. Daniel could too. Julianne could have, maybe she did. I don¡¯t know what you two talked about while I was gone.¡± In truth, I didn¡¯t care. Julianne couldn¡¯t have explained everything to Stacy, or else her entire pack would know.

    They didn¡¯t. Julianne¡¯s grandfather might. I didn¡¯t have time to search out those memories and triggering them in a rush was getting thankfully harder.

    ¡°Brand, wake up.¡± I toed her lightly. She grumbled, swatted my foot, and stayed sleeping.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    I could shout and shake her violently, but the thin girl had already proven violent and unstable. Letting her sleep might be better.

    ¡°So, all this heartwarming talking is good. I¡¯m sure it helps.¡± I frowned and sniffed. ¡°But we can¡¯t afford to do this. Right now there are ten people over there waiting to ambush us. They¡¯re muttering to each other about Leo and how weak he looks.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s always people out there,¡± Stacy said. Her scalp pulled back and tightened.

    ¡°There¡¯s a pocket of vampires that way, about half a mile. They think they¡¯ve found the perfect place to hide at night. One where the wolves won¡¯t find them. There, they can ride out the day, and at night they¡¯ll attack the humans for fresh blood.¡±

    I¡¯d been doing more than thinking this entire time. Lots of people were all over the island and with a small bit of focus I could hear their words as if we were standing next to each other.

    ¡°It¡¯s only going to get worse.¡± I shook my head. ¡°And I can¡¯t think of a safe way off this island for everyone, without stopping the sacrifices, removing the reason for this side of the island, and getting everyone back to a more normal prison.¡±

    ¡°How would you stop the sacrifices? I mean, everyone is only getting food because they¡¯re taking the weakest, or loners off to the cliff.¡±

    Daniel said it best. If we went public, it would need to be with a decisive victory for the status quo on our side. To be a recognized race by the Accord of Caesar, and not be killed upon public reveal, we needed to have enough people rooting for us.

    ¡°I kill the monster,¡± I said.

    ¡°You are nowhere near its size,¡± Stacy said. ¡°I don¡¯t think you could kill King Calamari back there.¡±

    ¡°Closer to an eel,¡± Leo corrected.

    I wanted to cheer the kid on for being right, and at the same time I wanted to punch them both. It wasn¡¯t anger talking, more of an idle urge to see them go flying for a few minutes. Stacy would heal, and Leo might break something but he could tough through it.

    The idea made me smile. It beat talking in circles and sharing my feelings. If I could drive out my thoughts with some brief cathartic violence it would be even better. I mean, I was trained for it. That was all.

    Deborah narrowed her eyes and looked me over. I felt her neck muscles tense and bulge, which rippled through her back. Maybe I¡¯d given off a subtle signal of impending violence, or maybe she felt the other people creeping closer. They were there, but it was like being aware of ants crawling across my skin. Annoying, not dangerous.

    And, as much as it bothered me, I needed to fight someone. My people were out. These other guys were strangers. Worse still, they were perfectly willing to form gangs and catch stragglers. They were sending people to their deaths.

    I stood abruptly and realized what I had to do. I needed to go punch them all in the face. It would solve my brooding, give the scavengers someone else to be distracted by, buy us time to figure out how to murder a giant sea monster, and help me resync my abilities with the labyrinth of memories I¡¯d been experiencing. The risk, that¡¯d I¡¯d be stabbed by someone using a tree branch as a weapon.

    Somehow I couldn¡¯t find it in myself to worry.

    ¡°Stay here. I¡¯m going to punch people until I feel better,¡± I said.

    Behind me they whispered to each other.

    ¡°Is that smart?¡± Stacy asked.

    What a stupid question. I could turn into a giant lizard and murder people with droves of fire. A few vampires and wolves would be vicious but easily handled. Even if they got a bite out of me, I had nothing to fear.

    They couldn¡¯t turn me into one of them. Unless I drained enough of my own personal reserves to fall asleep, it would be a one-sided face stomp.

    Deborah answered, ¡°It¡¯s foolish to go against overwhelming odds. We only hold a position because we displayed strength and can weaken them, even in defeat.¡±

    A dozen people ahead of me shuffled. They found spots to hide behind trees. Some got into position, likely to act as decoys. They were stupid. I could feel them all moving with ease.

    ¡°If you¡¯re part of a tribe, like me, you should know he has another name. At least, one my grandpa used during the last warrior trials,¡± Leo said. He spoke weird words uniquely tied to his race¡¯s historical practices.

    ¡°You still hold trials?¡± Deborah asked.

    Leo stayed silent as I leapt over the small stream. It was only ten feet, so clearing the distance took no effort.

    ¡°We started again once there were ten of us. My grandpa was our Teller, and my dad¡¯s the Chief.¡±

    Deborah¡¯s muscles flexed and loosened repeatedly while Leo continued talking. ¡°Uncle Jay says he doesn¡¯t know what his kind is called, but we have a name for them. My grandpa said he was The Great Beast. And if what he said is right, he¡¯s the last one. The last true monster.¡±

    They were silent, save for Brand, whose soft snores could be felt as she shivered near the fire.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, that sea serpent is pretty big,¡± Stacy said.

    ¡°If the stories are true, his form that flew overhead is nothing compared to what Jay can really do.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know what stories he meant.

    That made me angry. Roy and Tal had spoken about me, of my kind, and not told me all the tales. That really pissed me off.

    The Tribe keeps secrets. From me.

    Had I grown so distant from them during these last few years? Five years where we didn¡¯t communicate by anything more than postcards? Brief meetings at Bottom Pit and the visitor¡¯s center didn¡¯t do anything to build a bridge between where we were and where we¡¯d ended up.

    Two people were in the nearby trees. They stayed quiet, and I grabbed one from behind. He screamed as his arm jerked out of its socket and kneecap shattered under a kick. I shoved his broken form to the side, smiled, and walked to the next tree.

    I moved faster than they expected, almost as quick as a vampire, but not quite. The bush rustled when the human hiding there realized what was going on.

    They shouted now, their screams of budding worry and terror a joy to hear. All that anger and potential panic were pushed aside as I handled the simplest task in the world.

    I broke anyone I could. The group of humans scattered, while a few remained, unconscious or attempting to crawl to safety. There were a few parties of wolves roaming. From their words, they seemed to be searching for a safe place to rest for the night.

    It wasn¡¯t even hard. Three wolves tore away from me at high speeds. Their lack of connection to each other was obvious by the fact that they went in different directions. Those still in human form struggled to fight me off, but most were self-centered.

    A fourth wolf lunged for me. The attacker, larger than a huskie with splotchy fur, breathed heavily. His bulk hit me. I twisted to one side and rejoiced at the sudden crunch; its spine snapped in two different directions. It yelped then fell limp.

    I¡¯d done this before, fought an entire pack of wolves who were in a shared bond. They gave me more challenge than this band of unbound rabble.

    For a moment I almost felt pity. The wolf stayed in its current form, but I could feel the age of bones under my arms. Malnutrition and fleas. Maybe he didn¡¯t care that death had welcomed him with open arms.

    I was sure this small band didn¡¯t care about each other.

    Two human shaped wolves ran for me. They yelled. I couldn¡¯t hear their words under the mess of sensations flooding me. Leaves rustled in the distance. A bird fluffed in its sleep. Agent Brand shivered near the fire as the others looked on.

    The one on my left swung wildly, with a half-shifted fist, his face a mangled mess of wolf and human features. His body was either stuck halfway, or he didn¡¯t have the self-control to keep his form stable.

    I exchanged blows. My forehead to his malformed arm. My fist to his stomach. He doubled into a ball as the wind evacuated his body. The misshapen monster clutched a broken hand.

    His friend barked, like a broken toy poodle. I laughed snidely and spun over the deflated form of his companion. My foot caught the poodle man in the face.

    I curled fingers into a transformed claw. They tore across the kneeling man¡¯s form and I turned to the second one and gutted his stomach.

    They weren¡¯t even remotely close to each other. I could tell because the minute two of them were heavily wounded, the rest ran. No one even bothered shifting to a partially human form. They fled as blood oozed from the dead one¡¯s eyes.

    I frowned. They wouldn¡¯t be attacking Leo or Stacy tonight. They wouldn¡¯t be attacking anyone in the near future.

    It kind of annoyed me. I stomped toward the third gathering I¡¯d felt. Vampires might give me more of a fight. They were always good for a dose of arrogance and aggression.

    On the way I rolled my arms and flexed my fingers. Every muscle felt more limber and relaxed than it had been in years. They were stretched and honed by months in the jail cell and reliving my younger life. Age, however, had added on muscle and miles more strength to them compared to being a teenager.

    I vaguely recalled punching through a reinforced granite wall with a single drive. My body hadn¡¯t even leaned into the blow. The damage it left was noticeable, but now that I remembered how to partially shift myself the scales should prevent surface scars and remove the need for healing.

    There¡¯d been a reason I could fight monsters and win. I kept circling around it because the part of me that had wandered for four years couldn¡¯t reconcile everything. If I¡¯d had this strength, saving Julianne would have been easy.

    Keeping her alive twenty-four seven was much harder. There were prices. Once I ran out of energy I¡¯d pass out. While asleep I¡¯d be defenseless prey.

    I wasn¡¯t a math guy. I knew breathing fire cost energy in direct relation to how long I used it. My other senses cost next to nothing. Communicating over miles like the time I¡¯d slammed on Roy¡¯s car hood drained a lot out of me. Turning my arm into a weird mix between human and scaled lizard took a few drops.

    The vampires. That¡¯s where I¡¯d been running to. I stopped as one of them popped into my face. She quickly shifted from hissing open mouthed anger to surprise as I led the way with a punch.

    The tree behind her cracked as her body catapulted in the other direction. My arm hurt from the sudden impact but it would heal. Healing took another tiny burst of energy.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked, rubbing surely broken ribs.

    I actually paid enough attention to understand these guys.

    ¡°An angry sober asshole out for blood,¡± I said. This one had stuck around to ask questions. I mean, being honest and accepting who I was had to be a step somewhere on the rehabilitation process.

    ¡°Where did you come from? You¡¯re not a vampire!¡±

    Such stupid statements resulted in punching people. I nodded to myself then walked calmly toward her.

    She hissed. Two bodies sped from the bushes nearby with arms stretched out like lances.

    I¡¯d known they were there. My body swayed back even before they¡¯d fully committed to the attack. Vampires were stupid like that, slingshots with no ability to stop mid strike.  They constantly telegraphed their moves and over extended.

    The fight continued. There were more than three vampires. By the time I¡¯d disabled one, more attacked. I felt each thump of feet, vibrating the ground as they stepped around throughout woods. Their fingers curled into fists, folding loose skin with no muscles. Vampires, even partials, only breathed scents from the air.

    Each action served as a tell. I¡¯d sensed hundreds, maybe even thousands of vampires over the years. None of them surprising. Human fighters were more creative. Wolves were faster and more lethal. Vampires were like small razor-sharp cockroaches.

    Ticks.

    I corrected myself as two more attacked. They smelled blood from the wolves, or those battered humans, or my own bruised body. It¡¯d heal. I¡¯d heal. By the end of the night, no one would dare come near us.

    Claim is made. Word will spread. Lesser gnats will fear our wrath.

    Miles away stood the four people I¡¯d left behind. Like lemmings, standing sentinel against the darkness while watching for predators. They might be smart enough to realize what I fought against.

    Did they hate me because I simply waded into all these people out here without a care? Did they worry? I couldn¡¯t hear their voices anymore and that made me happy.

    ¡°Arghghh!¡± a man screamed as something in his body snapped. It didn¡¯t matter what. I hadn¡¯t even realized there¡¯d been pathetic challengers in front of me. People who thought they could bully and bluster their way into claiming my island.

    Mine. All is mine. I whelped here. This is home.

    The word pounded. I hadn¡¯t grown up on this island, but in a sense, I had. That very idea had me muddled beyond sense. In order to banish the confusion, I hunted more enemies.

    I fought more fools who weren¡¯t fast enough. Part of me, the one who had been in control for five years, worried about fighting alone. These people were banished here for harming other races. They weren¡¯t saints or good boys and girls. They were, most likely, murderers without remorse.

    I prayed one of them might inject me with a sedative. I wondered if that creature was tough on the inside. How much energy would it take to transform inside its belly? No, that was stupid. Western Sector must have tried to blow that thing up with a bomb. Unless they liked having a garbage disposal for all the world¡¯s worst assholes.

    The vampires still attacked. Clearly my mind had time to wander, which meant they weren¡¯t doing a very good job. Even if I got distracted, their blows were weak. They were malnourished, like the wolves. All tooth and nail with no strength.

    Off shore, where the giant creature writhed slowly, lay my real fight. All this would buy the small gathering of family members time to escape. Agent Brand wouldn¡¯t simply give them a free pass, unless Leo somehow offered up Muni.

    My inattentions finally caused me problems. The stupid vampires nabbed me. Two held me. Four lay on the ground, disabled. One was missing his heart and the hole sizzled.

    I laughed at my own stupidity. Even ticks carried diseases. Even bugs could be deadly.

    The ones holding me screamed. Their feet shuffled. My muscles strained to drag them along. I felt warm, heated. Thoughts boiled with annoyance; transforming into rage.

    Kill them all. Lay claim to this territory. Will call for the fire. Bring it forth.

    It wasn¡¯t as simple as breathing flames. There were other sources of fire. In the end, there was one main source, as powerful as me in its own way.

    Mistress of Flame. Fire of the Heart.

    Oh Hell. I paused my footsteps for only a moment. One of the vampires who had been holding me hung limply on the ground. His body didn¡¯t have the strength or purchase to keep me in place.

    The other vampire latched its teeth into my arm. The sudden pain drove all worry about poor decision making away. I yelled. The other voice in my head screamed in anger and delight. The pieces of my mind were finally unlocking, settling in place, and I felt nearly whole.

    COME!

    My mind ordered. A foggy memory clicked. I could finally remember who those warm red nails had belonged to. I stood at the top of Bottom Pit¡¯s offices, glaring down at fighters. In my office.

    Behind me stood Lacey Wylde. Those flames had been saying my name. No, not the actual fire, but her. The closest connection my mind could make was a woman who could transform into a fire elemental. A being made of flame.

    COME!

    The fire pit, miles away, streaked through the air, creating a wave of heat behind it. And I screamed at the stupid bloodsucker in front of me. A burnout doomed to die. Their worn body cracked from misuse and an ill paired virus.

    They¡¯d die soon. I swung on the one biting my arm, and as I did, the fire arrived and latched itself on my fist. We punched straight through the nibbler¡¯s head.

    Flame engulfed the screaming vampire, and his body shriveled to ash almost instantly. I reached back and slapped the one who had lost purchase and hung limply on my other side. They too turned into ash.

    I stared at my hand. Flame licked along fingertips and tickled.

    ¡°Jay,¡± the fire said in a crackling voice. There was a question tied to female undertones.

    Annoyance. Too many roaming. Ticks. Furry Things. Pink Meat. Savages to be put in their place.

    ¡°We¡¯ll talk later,¡± I dismissed her.

    The fire flared and stung briefly, then cooled to a near caress.

    People were dead people.

    I stared at the murdered vampires and wondered if I¡¯d gone overboard. Had rage so consumed me I wantonly destroyed them? My footsteps faltered again as the sour memory of killing those young children hit me.

    Rachel would be upset. I couldn¡¯t remember if she¡¯d ever found out. It bothered me, but only for a moment. Worry over the little den mother¡¯s feelings, along with moral implications over the recently killed vampires, went out the window.

    I had not been their judges or sent them here. I had not been their jury or found them guilty. But I would be their executioner, if they did not flee before me.

    It was all I knew how to be. On I went, into the night, one dangerous monster among droves of humanity¡¯s violent offenders. I simply had to convince myself that only Nathan was here for justifiable reasons.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 19 â€“ Your Way Out

    I sat still on an overlook that watched the ocean. To my right was the rising sun. It burned a ribbon of orange across the water. The gentle lapping calmed my fire fueled rage.

    To my left, down the island¡¯s edge a few miles, was a pile of unconscious bodies near the sacrificial altar. I didn¡¯t feel bad about leaving a bunch of killers next to each other. A caring person might have, but the choices were letting those close to me get picked off while we dragged out this nonsense, or putting other people in harm¡¯s way first.

    I hadn¡¯t killed that many. For the most part, I¡¯d hunted anyone moving, pounded them into unconsciousness then sped through the trees until arriving on the beachhead. A five hour rampage before I burned out.

    My hands were human again. Rough, calloused, and streaked with dried blood. A few hours ago one had been engulfed in flame and clawed like a demon made of scales and bone. I¡¯d called fire to my fist and swung it like a set of brass knuckles.

    It wasn¡¯t entirely off. These brass knuckles had lit people on fire. Fire that was somehow Boss Wylde, or a portion of her, and it talked. As if any of that made sense.

    I¡¯d known, demanded, and received a portion of her power. Part of me certainly knew what I¡¯d been demanding. I even knew who, I just hadn¡¯t managed to reconcile that bit of knowledge with the rest of my life.

    And I¡¯d done it before, too. Not a full bonfire, but something smaller. I¡¯d yanked out one of Kahina¡¯s bodyguards by their face and left a permanent scar.

    It was part of the gifts of elements. They were mine, to an extent, to use. They gave me power. I breathed fire because ages gone by, my race had struck deals with the primordial elements.

    How the hell would I explain that to anyone? Much less the current embodiment of fire being Wylde from Bottom Pit? I flashed to the past and let the memory fill in some blanks.

    I could drive myself crazy thinking about all the random shit to pop up in my life during these last few months. Hints were all over, sure, but it was still a mess of epic proportions to sort the different events.

    Fire was a gift. The gift came from elementals like Boss Wylde. Elementals were a goddamned race like vampires, wolves, humans, elves, and all the other shit I¡¯d been dealing with. That wasn¡¯t even a good name for them, since they came in all shapes. Or they did in theory. I¡¯d never found any others besides Lacey Wylde.

    Far out from shore, the ocean rippled. It could have been caused by an undercurrent but hadn¡¯t. The real enemy, one worthy of fighting, curled in a listless sleep. Even the slightest curl of its huge body caused the water to thrash.

    I wanted to fight it. Yet, the timing wasn¡¯t right. I needed air to breathe. Going to it now would end up with me being snapped out of the sky like a seagull fighting an alligator.

    Rest. Soon, cry for the enemy. Murder him. No threats.

    All well and good impulses, but none of it helped me with the actual defeating a monster part. In my other form, I could be bigger than a two-story house, depending on if I¡¯d taken a breath or puffed up. Wingspan meant a lot. But that creature could crush submarines in its coils.

    I walked back to the camp slowly, my legs unsteady from a dozen nicks and bruises. Some from the people I¡¯d fought, others from a reckless disregard of personal safety. The blood would have set off every vampire on the island, but most were out cold or hiding. Even feral wolves knew better.

    In that brief moment, my mind slipped to the past.

    ¡°Magic is dying in this world,¡± a woman said, her words stern as she walked in clicking heels.

    ¡°What?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Before we were otherwise engaged. You asked why there weren¡¯t more of us. Magic is dying. Or dead. Or less. I haven¡¯t figured out which.¡±

    She only wore heels. I couldn¡¯t remember when she¡¯d stopped taking off clothes, but at some point I¡¯d been unable to hold myself back.

    I shook my head and kept walking through the island. Memories of Boss Wylde were attractive and all, but otherwise out of place. We¡¯d had an off and on relationship prior to me committing to Kahina. I needed to compartmentalize my life and stop thinking about useless bits of the past.

    Ahead, Leo snored. Brand paced. She faced the rising sun and let it bake her skin. I felt the warmth, even from here, miles away. Far fewer people were in the woods which reduced the ants-on-skin feeling I¡¯d been dealing with for days.

    Teeth playfully nipped my ear. The sensation of very feminine curves pressed against my back. Silk sheets lay around us and heat poured out of a fireplace.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you see in her,¡± Boss Wylde whispered. ¡°She¡¯s half dead already. You¡¯ve seen the way she cringes whenever I walk into the room. Yet this girl thinks you¡¯ll be swayed by her?¡±

    Women were strange creatures. Boss Wylde wasn¡¯t possessive of me. Not as long as she got a piece. But a simple lay and a life mate were extremely different levels of the relationship spectrum.

    ¡°That¡¯s what Julianne says.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t tell me you actually want to find a girl, have a few babies, and be a father?¡±

    Was that so wrong? I couldn¡¯t explain the strange desire to settle down. Somewhere during my early twenties I¡¯d hit a wall, where simple lust meant nothing. My father¡¯s words didn¡¯t have an explanation for what amounted to a second puberty.

    ¡°What are you going to do when she¡¯s not strong enough? What are you going to do when you choose this, mate, and she becomes too dangerous for the Hunters to let live?¡±

    ¡°Shut up,¡± I said, slamming my fist into a tree. It cracked under the sudden pressure. The past fuzzed for a moment and I limped further.

    Even using Wylde¡¯s flame as a crutch wasn¡¯t a perfect solution to the loss of energy. Hours of late night chasing had left me drained. That was why memories of her were flooding in, I was too physically damaged to keep myself mentally stable.

    I passed by a tree, and there she was again. This time in a chair, spinning around. She wore the red dress. Years had passed since we¡¯d called off our relationship.

    Lacey smiled at me. Her teeth were shaved down to points and a tuft of hair spun with fire. I could feel the heat that beckoned me. She was surely naked under those clothes.

    ¡°All those powers. All that fire. Like a candle sputtering in the winds of time. What good does it do anyone? You¡¯re running away from the very woman you swore was your heart.¡±

    I said nothing, because speaking at all would admit she¡¯d been right.

    ¡°And now you want Muni to help you. Fantastic. My little raven, muddling about in your mind. To keep her safe.¡± Lacey¡¯s eyes rolled unkindly. She rubbed a table top made of pure, polished obsidian.

    ¡°How do you know?¡±

    ¡°Anything under the sun I can listen to. Anyone speaking by a fire at night is within my sight. You know this. Your gifts came from my kind. A melding of elements and the oldest creatures upon earth.¡±

    I tuned her out. Lacey knew a lot but her knowledge came from a different place than my own. Her gifts stretched further than my own. That was the price for melding together four different elements.

    My knowledge was far more convoluted and less useful. Only some moments had memories and those weren¡¯t my own. I tried to separate out now and then but failed. Why I could remember words from my father, who existed in another timeline or something screwy, but not other faces, was beyond me.

    The voice of my father¡¯s words threatened to tip me over. Other parts of the past jumbled along a dozen different moments before I managed to right myself. I stood at the camp facing Agent Brand.

    Her face pinched with a frown and head hung to a side.

    ¡°You done with your dick measuring contest?¡± she asked.

    Stacy, a giant wolf, was sitting near the fire with Deborah snoring next to her. Her ear twitched then settled.

    I didn¡¯t want to deal with her, any more than I wanted to deal with the rest of my life. The allure of crawling into a pit and sleeping for years hit me strongly. If it weren¡¯t for those few people near me I¡¯d do just that.

    So, straight to the point. ¡°Brand,¡± I said with false calmness. ¡°How do we get that creature to shore? I¡¯m going to kill it.¡± Or die trying.

    The others stirred.

    ¡°You want to do what?¡±

    ¡°Kill the giant sea monster that¡¯s being doped by Western Sector¡¯s prison system. Kill it for sure and secure my worth as a pet monster they won¡¯t be able to do without.¡±

    ¡°Pretty sure you can¡¯t,¡± she responded.

    I felt like a broken record for thinking it, but my memories didn¡¯t care in the slightest about repeating themselves. Daniel¡¯s stupid words. To him, it was about keeping humanity safe.

    ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out.¡±

    Brand yawned while stretching inside the loose shirt. Leo blushed and turned away. Stacy growled quietly, but it sounded way too pleased. It was apparently enough to make Stacy want to shift to human form. She got up and padded behind a tree. Deborah woke slowly but didn¡¯t move beyond opening her eyes.

    So, they were fully awake and busy walking around to straighten up the makeshift camp. Agent Brand kept talking as if the answer didn¡¯t really bother her.

    ¡°Top of the tower, one of the Wardens lives there. He has equipment and watches the sea through filtered lenses. When it starts rolling too much, he¡¯ll sound the alarm. Then it plays all over the island.¡±

    Strange. I hadn¡¯t felt anyone up there when my senses were going wild. They were more honed now, and I certainly felt better about owning the island, especially after hunting all across it last night.

    It was hard to reconcile the sense of ownership not being needed, versus the illusion I had to feel a connection. Objects helped, for certain. Maybe Daniel had been lying, or my nature had been unclear. It was also possible young me simply believed he owned everything.

    Stacy walked up shaking her head. ¡°Not this again. You can¡¯t kill it. It¡¯s too big. That¡¯s the whole point of this stupid hellhole. You either work with people and survive, or go out on your own and die. You heard that creepy vampire¡¯s warning like the rest of us.¡±

    ¡°I can kill it,¡± I said.

    ¡°Right,¡± Stacy said.

    Agent Brand shook her head while walking to the fire. She poked around searching for food in leftover cans I hadn¡¯t noticed before. They must be from the food drops Warden Bennett¡¯s message mentioned. Daylight and fewer people walking around made it easier to notice the small things.

    She said, ¡°They tried to use dynamite on it about sixty years ago. Didn¡¯t work. They thought about a nuke, but couldn¡¯t get it to sit still long enough to fire one down its gullet. The thing doesn¡¯t care about biological warfare. I mean, the file says they try a new virus or something every other year.¡±

    ¡°Everything has a weakness,¡± I said.

    ¡°So far it ignores anything that isn¡¯t lethal doses of hemlock,¡± Agent Brand said. She plopped down with a can and munched out of it without any regard for the quality of food. ¡°Even that only slows it down. Like, I guess, hippies on too much weed. Lazy and lethargic.¡±

    Now that she wasn¡¯t screaming about Muni every five breaths, Brand was actually helpful. I didn¡¯t have a lot of ideas on how to defeat it myself aside from brute force. It was just wrong something out there had more size and strength than me.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.

    Agent Brand¡¯s eyes rolled as her head shook. ¡°Let me get this straight. I just said its weakness is something that kills normal people quickly, but you still want to summon the sea monster to shore, murder it, then leave Atlas Island like nothing happened?¡±

    ¡°Yep,¡± I said.

    ¡°You realize that¡¯s insane.¡±

    We turned into giant flying creatures. It was a giant sea serpent that¡¯d been feeding on heavily sedated people for hundreds of years. Insane clearly didn¡¯t reach the right levels of description.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°And why do you need to kill it to escape?¡± Agent Brand asked. ¡°You could survive forever out here. At least according to the others who said you went on a rampage last night. You¡¯re worse than the two cats.¡±

    I didn¡¯t know where Don and Dee, Agent Brand¡¯s twin bodyguards had gone to. They could have run out after us, or might be filing paperwork somewhere. They hadn¡¯t been included in last night¡¯s adventures.

    ¡°Because it¡¯ll snap us out of the air if we fly over?¡± I answered her question.

    Agent Brand rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s only on this side. It wouldn¡¯t snatch anything out on the other side. That¡¯s how helicopters fly in, or boats with supplies. It¡¯s smart enough to know food gets brought in from that side.¡±

    Great. We were dealing with an intelligent sea serpent with size, strength, and the terrain on its side. Nothing could go wrong.

    ¡°You¡¯re sanctioned. You can get away with flying back somehow. I¡¯m fairly sure they¡¯d shoot my leathery ass down and my cover story is¡ª¡± I didn¡¯t know where the hell Daniel was. He¡¯d been missing during this entire stupid adventure.

    ¡°Being a Fenghuang doesn¡¯t make me immune to bullets,¡± Agent Brand said. ¡°It makes it worse. You saw what happens, a trigger-happy agent who isn¡¯t in the know fills me with lead like an old gangster movie, I die, and come back even younger. Then I can outlive my grandchildren. I can¡¯t begin to explain how awkward it is to be murdered by some off the grid monster, then show up four years younger and fight it a second time. I lost ten years to this four-armed ape and by the end I looked like my children.¡±

    Self-depressive nonsense wasn¡¯t interesting. I focused on the next concern. Knowledge would help me learn more about what sort of creature the agent turned into.

    ¡°What¡¯s a fang hang?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Fenghuang. You really don¡¯t know anything?¡±

    It sounded like a word from the Eastern Sectors.

    ¡°I live under a rock,¡± I responded dryly. It was fairly close to true. My actual basement home was below ground level so there were probably rocks nearby that qualified.

    ¡°Do you even know what you are?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I responded.

    If she¡¯d been awake last night, instead of sleeping, she might have known. Daniel had never found a name for my species. The elves simply called me Lord, or our kind Rulers. A vague description meant little.

    It wasn¡¯t like we¡¯d gone up to elves and demanded a different name. Daniel wanted to avoid them.

    ¡°How have you survived without a classification or a name? They gave me, Don and Dee, a simple ultimatum. Register and join, or die.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got friends in high places,¡± I mumbled quietly. Daniel and his father must have kept me out of the system. They kept Roy and the others out as well, since none of them were directly working with Western Sector.

    Apparently it depended on who caught us. My mind replayed a dozen memories from my past, attempting to reconcile my prior perceptions against Agent Brand¡¯s reality. They were quashed.

    ¡°Why does the damn thing need to eat a human to be sedated or whatever?¡± Leo demanded.

    ¡°Because it likes people. The other pink meat.¡±

    ¡°Is that a useful stratagem?¡± Deborah asked. ¡°For this enemy you can¡¯t kill? Drugging them is dishonorable, but if the sizes are unequal, then you use all resources.¡±

    The four of them mulled it over. I searched my memories for ways to get stronger, even if only temporarily. Deborah was right though, if we couldn¡¯t overpower it, then bringing it down to our level would help. Well, down to my level.

    Brand¡¯s form didn¡¯t seem fight worthy. She had claws but nothing else. There wasn¡¯t enough strength in her body to pull that creature out of the water and we¡¯d all be pulled under. That might happen to me anyway, but I could get out easier once waterlogged. Bird feathers probably couldn¡¯t.

    ¡°We could drug me and dose the thing to slow it down,¡± Brand offered. ¡°But I¡¯m not doing it for free.¡±

    ¡°Fantastic,¡± I said while rolling my eyes.

    She¡¯d want to pin down Muni. Muni wanted her brother. I didn¡¯t have time to solve either problem.

    ¡°If we survive I¡¯ll get you Muni. You hurt her and I¡¯ll tear you limb from limb until you¡¯re a toddler,¡± I said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hurt her, I want her help!¡± she shouted.

    ¡°Great. Pin that until we kill the giant sea serpent. Otherwise none of this matters.¡±

    ¡°Or we could just avoid it,¡± Agent Brand said angrily. I didn¡¯t know why she was upset toward me. ¡°Hell, I¡¯ll put in a transfer request for you and your friends. Then no one¡¯s at risk.¡±

    That was a really good idea. Why hadn¡¯t she offered earlier? She should have suggested transferring them out prior to talking about dosing herself in poison. Maybe she valued her life so little that dying felt like a natural answer.

    ¡°I will not run from a fight,¡± Deborah said.

    ¡°It¡¯s not running. It¡¯s survival,¡± Leo said.

    Deborah¡¯s face twisted in disgust. ¡°You¡¯re pathetic.¡±

    Leo exploded. ¡°What, you¡¯re going to accuse me of not being a warrior? I already knew that! I failed the test. I failed the goddamn test.¡±

    ¡°Then you are just as pathetic as I¡¯ve suspected since we met!¡± she responded while looming over Leo.

    He sat on the ground angry and bunched. His head shook as the young man vented.

    ¡°Why?¡± he asked. ¡°Because I didn¡¯t fight you, either? Go fuck yourself. I don¡¯t want anything to do with this nonsense. I never did. I¡¯ve already taken steps. I¡¯m not going to kill the woman I love when she gives birth. I¡¯m not going to do what my dad and every other stupid man in our tribe has done.¡±

    Deborah glanced down at Leo¡¯s crotch then back up. If it was possible, the look of revulsion on her face ratcheted up another notch.

    ¡°You gelded yourself?¡±

    Leo¡¯s lips tightened. Stacy¡¯s head shook slowly but she wore a different look. Her jaw had dropped slightly and eyes watered.

    Deborah shook, visibly shook. Her normally calm composure had gone out the window and I watched through my other sight as her energy swung around. She was torn between striking Leo for his effrontery or fleeing.

    She chose to walk off in slow stomping steps.

    Agent Brand sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t let her get you down. If I had known what I know now, I would have done the same thing. Three daughters. Seven granddaughters. Each of them at risk because of what I am.¡±

    Stacy shifted into a wolf and padded after Deborah. We watched them go.

    Agent Brand said, ¡°So, no on the legal route out? Because that way, no one¡¯s at risk. You have a lawyer, right? I¡¯m sure we could find some clever way to work together and get everyone home safely. Then you call Muni and everyone ends this happily?¡±

    But then I wouldn¡¯t get to fight a giant sea serpent in an epic battle of monster versus monster. It would keep everyone safe, and my main goal in life was to do that. That¡¯s what I¡¯d hidden my memories for. That was why I¡¯d walked into the stupid Order of Merlin compound. Wanting to keep the people near me secure was the first impulse, always.

    ¡°You need a minute?¡± Agent Brand asked.

    ¡°I need an eternity,¡± I said. Even that wouldn¡¯t be long enough to sort out my piles of shit.

    ¡°You know vampires, they have this saying. Eternity is too long for anyone in their right minds.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re in jail. There¡¯s a pile of potential victims sitting there for the desperate. We¡¯ve got a few minutes at least.¡±

    She snorted. ¡°I¡¯ve hunted for Muni for decades. What¡¯s a few hours? Or days? You, you get yourself a pint of ice cream and cry like a girl if you want. Then we can go find Muni.¡±

    I took back all my thoughts on her being useful. She simply wanted me to stay alive to find Muni.

    It didn¡¯t make her second suggestion wrong, but it did sour my budding warmth toward a more legal route. I needed to be smarter about my choices.

    Simply escaping would keep everyone safe and maintain the status quo. That would end up working against us. Our stupid Shadow War with the Order and Hunters hadn¡¯t gotten easier in four years. From what I could remember, we were actually in a worse situation.

    Fighting the big serpent may lead to my death but killing it would solve a huge problem for Western Sector. Even if only some parts of them knew about the monsters still roaming our streets. Worst case, I¡¯d die and then the Order¡¯s stupid dreams would be over. I could beat the serpent, be too valuable to get rid of, or lose and still ensure the biggest prize that the Order was after ended up in a monster they couldn¡¯t kill.

    Or maybe they could, given another dozen years. What would happen if science moved even further along? Cell phone cameras made life harder. Eventually humans, a few crazy ones, could probably come up with some virus that wiped out wolves en masse.

    I sighed heavily.

    ¡°Cats got your tongue?¡± Agent Brand asked.

    ¡°You believe in the gods?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve helped kill gods,¡± she said.

    ¡°How about fate?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t met that bitch, but when I do I¡¯ll give her a piece of my mind.¡±

    I glanced around and wondered if there was such a thing as a god of fate. Gods, sure, I understood. Not on a personal level or from experience, but Muni had talked about being with one as they chose what amounted to death by police.

    ¡°Well. I¡¯ve got two choices. Get everyone out safe. Let this monster continue to eat people. Keep surviving.¡± She opened her mouth and I rolled my eyes. ¡°Yes, and get you Muni. For all the good that¡¯ll do.¡±

    She shivered for a moment. ¡°Or?¡±

    ¡°Like I said. I want to kill this thing. Not just to keep people safe, but so we¡¯re recognized as people helping humanity. We¡¯re going to become public eventually. Muni can¡¯t cover me, the others, this island forever.¡±

    I shook my head and fought back a snarl of annoyance.

    ¡°What do we do when someone hacks satellites up there? Takes pictures of that monster coming to the surface and posts them online? I mean, someone smarter than me has to have thought about it. We¡¯re racing against technology. All of us.¡±

    I hated today. My mind was clearer than it had been in days but the thoughts left aggravated me.

    ¡°So, the other option. Go up the tower, see when it gets called up next. Dose me up with a dozen times what we normally give people and let me get chomped. Then you¡¯ve got to kill it, gut it, and get my body out before I die over and over until I¡¯m a fucking toddler or this curse gets passed on.¡±

    The half-formed idea had been bad enough in my head. It didn¡¯t sound any more attractive being said out loud.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said.

    ¡°Are your brains made of kimchi?¡±

    I scratched the back of my head.

    ¡°Then you need to make me a promise,¡± she said.

    I raised my eyebrows in surprise. ¡°Muni?¡±

    ¡°Not just Muni. If I die, Don and Dee will find my family and see who the curse passed on to. You get the next in line to Muni. She¡¯s got to know a way to fix this.¡±

    There were other options. Muni had feathers, sure, but Lacey had fire. Maybe Lacey could give an answer to Brand. Would that help her?

    I stood abruptly and paced. Now the choice was to give Brand a chance at an answer, but the answer may make her unable or unwilling to help me. No, there was one thing I knew for sure, I couldn¡¯t add more debts to my life. Owing Muni was already too much.

    There was also a huge chance Lacey hadn¡¯t landed on the Western Sector¡¯s radar, at all.

    ¡°I might know someone else who could help,¡± I said. ¡°But I need something in return.¡±

    ¡°You need my help to kill the Ryuujin.¡±

    ¡°And I need Don and Dee, who are almost here, to take Leo, Stacy, and, I guess Deborah, and get them back to Bottom Pit.¡±

    The others were already nearby. Leo had been dozing off but woke to stare blankly in our direction. His earlier outburst had ended with a silent glare. I imagined days of exhaustion out here with the two girls in an uneasy truce must be wearing on him. I also didn¡¯t know how Deborah and Stacy hooked up. They might have mentioned it but I¡¯d already forgotten.

    ¡°What are we doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to ask Agent Brand here to get you an escort back to the safe side of the island. Then once you¡¯re there, and on a chopper to the mainland, she¡¯s going to help me kill the giant sea snake.¡±

    I worried whatever fight we had with the sea monster might spill over to the rest of the island. Agent Brand might have pull. Her ordering Warden Bennett implied she had a lot of pull within the government.

    ¡°If we¡¯re good enough, there¡¯s a chance we won¡¯t have to stop hiding.¡±

    Leo¡¯s body drained of color and Stacy¡¯s wolf ears cocked. Deborah ignored it all as if nothing mattered. It was more likely she had no clue about the problem, since she came from some backwater location where police were a distant concept.

    ¡°Look, I can get them out. I can get them on a helicopter straight toward the port. But I don¡¯t know who else you¡¯ve got with answers. I¡¯ve been looking, for a long time.¡±

    I cast my eyes down and buttoned my lips tightly. Daniel would have been able to weigh the risks. He wasn¡¯t around. He¡¯d warned me that I may need to make my own choices and hope they were the right ones.

    It was just hard. After years of being guided by his layered plans, I somehow doubted he¡¯d expected me to be out here on an island talking to a flaming chicken about Lacey. Hell, I wasn¡¯t even sure they¡¯d ever met.

    I mean, Daniel nosed around, but she¡¯d always been normal around Daniel. She was normal around everyone. Sure, extremely domineering, cowing to some, literally hot in the sack, but never made of pure fire and ready to melt their faces.

    ¡°Well?¡± she said.

    ¡°Well?¡± Leo demanded even louder.

    Now he was up in arms against me. Fantastic. I didn¡¯t know how to answer the question right.

    ¡°I know a¡ª¡± Betraying secrets was too annoyingly hard. Dozens were in my head. Only half belonged to me. ¡°I know a being whose true form is pure fire. Like you¡¯re a bird. Or Stacy¡¯s a dog.¡±

    ¡°Or you¡¯re a giant winged gecko?¡± Stacy offered. She was putting on a shirt off to the side. I hadn¡¯t even noticed her shift, but her face flushed and she bounced while getting dressed.

    It¡¯d wear off soon. Wolves were pumped full of adrenaline after the change. Hell, I didn¡¯t know Stacy could even shift so fast. Was that a natural thing, or a side effect of being around me too long?

    I checked my bindings. A small thin one went to Stacy. It felt like fox fur. There were dozens of others that hadn¡¯t been active in ages. It was easier to see them without Muni¡¯s charm blocking my mind. It answered my immediate concern. Yes, I¡¯d connected to Stacy.

    ¡°Is that even possible? A being made of pure fire? Not like, a human that¡¯s been changed? All the stories I¡¯ve seen, every race started human. You know a¡­ fire being?¡±

    ¡°Intimately,¡± I said.

    ¡°Do all straight women bend over easily for you?¡± Stacy questioned. She looked annoyed about it.

    ¡°No,¡± I said. They didn¡¯t. The waitresses at Bottom Pit slept with anyone who asked. They didn¡¯t count. Wylde cared about me because of the fire elemental gifting.

    Kahina had been special. I glowered at Stacy then shook my head.

    ¡°He does look like a proper warrior,¡± Deborah answered.

    ¡°Not me. I¡¯m a widow, twice,¡± Agent Brand replied.

    Stacy shook her head.

    ¡°Can we get back to the whole safety thing and going public?¡± Leo demanded. ¡°Or at least how you¡¯re getting us off this island?¡±

    ¡°The cats will be here in a few minutes, and I need a fire. The¡ªelemental¡ªwon¡¯t be happy with this many people knowing her secret. We should call her before then.¡± I rubbed my head and fumbled for parts of the fire from last night.

    The most recent adventure in outdoor camping had been in the woods where Stacy¡¯s pack roamed. She pushed me out of the way and went about assembling a proper assortment of kindling.

    ¡°How big?¡±

    ¡°Bigger is better,¡± I answered.

    ¡°Not even,¡± Stacy muttered. ¡°The best things come in tiny packages.¡± She coughed then pounded her chest for a moment and refused to look around.

    I¡¯d lay money on her implying a certain preference for women. Agent Brand and Julianne were roughly the same size, but way different skin tones.

    Never mind. As with many other thoughts, now wouldn¡¯t be the right time to dwell on them. I walked a careful mental tightrope in order to stay in the moment. Slipping would confuse me, even if only for a moment.

    Even that brief series of thoughts made me lose track of time. In front of me, the fire burned brightly. I took a breath, rubbed my hands together to fight back a chill that had nothing to do with the weather, and bent over.

    ¡°Lacey,¡± I whispered to the fire. ¡°I know you can hear me.¡±

    Nothing answered. I closed my eyes and sought my other sight. There, a cord of liquid flame trailed off toward the sun. How long had that connection been there, and I¡¯d simply never noticed? The answer would be¡ªat least five years.

    I felt my back unfurl. The extra limbs were actually wings that folded against my back. Not in reality, they were like astral projections of my true nature. I could separate out the sensations now far easier than when I¡¯d first returned to town and started everything into motion.

    Mistress of Flame. Fire of the Heart. Come now.

    She had other names. Everyone did. Fire of the Heart made sense. Lacey was tied to one of my gifts. That flame was certainly at the center of my being. It fueled everything. Mistress, went in a completely different direction. Not a Mate, but certainly a woman I¡¯d known in a biblical sense.

    The fire crackled then flared. A deep blue hung at the lower end where they¡¯d been nothing. Then it spoke.

    ¡°John,¡± it whispered followed by a long-dejected sigh. ¡°Or Jeff? Or James. Or is finally you, at last?¡±

    The others shifted but I didn¡¯t take note of which way they moved. It was an annoyance, an afterthought.

    ¡°Is anyone else hearing this? Why do I know that voice?¡± Leo asked.

    ¡°The fire is moving on its own,¡± Stacy helped.

    Of course the fire was moving on its own. It¡¯d grown large, at least four or five times the size of a normal bonfire. It resembled a human with arms dripping in ways a fire shouldn¡¯t move.

    It solidified. Deborah backed up. She took a stance with her fists out and ready.

    ¡°Jay? I thought it was another fluke,¡± it whispered. ¡°Tell me it¡¯s you.¡±

    I sighed. Leave it to Boss Wylde to work on getting the upper hand. She couldn¡¯t simply show up and answer a few stupid questions so Brand and I could murder a giant sea monster. That would have been better.

    Come. You hear me. I am me now. Come.

    The fire suddenly flared and Boss Wylde stepped out and into our small camp. Her presence in the middle of these other women really threw me off. Her clean skin, immaculate clothes, and still hair were far different than the others.

    ¡°You just ate our fire,¡± Stacy accused the new woman.

    I turned to Brand to tell her this was Lacey, only to find the agent on her knees with her head touching the ground in front of her.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 20 â€“ Kindling

    The formerly on fire female completely ignored a subservient Agent Brand. She strode around me, where I knelt, exhausted and annoyed upon the earth floor.

    ¡°You wanted the comfort of the cold earth. Its embrace of clarity that helped you stay calm. And I wanted you to fly away and set the world ablaze. And here we are.¡±

    ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time,¡± I said.

    ¡°There is only now,¡± she responded while stepping slowly. ¡°Especially with your kind.¡± Despite being on the soft earth of a tropical island, she still managed to click her heels.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t call you here to argue.¡± I couldn¡¯t even figure out what sort of fight we¡¯d been having. Giving into the thought would send my mind careening into the past again, to a conversation at least a decade ago.

    ¡°No. Of course not. You called me, as you always do, for a woman. Another woman. Yet another woman.¡± Boss Wylde sighed theatrically and rolled her eyes. ¡°In this now. When I can finally be me and talk to you. It¡¯s not about us.¡±

    I bit the inside of my lip hard. Among all the memories I couldn¡¯t afford to focus on, there was a simple realization. Boss Wylde liked to be in charge. She assumed she knew best.

    Arguing with her felt like talking to a brick wall. I couldn¡¯t figure out how to convince the two of them to talk without a long-winded line of babbling, which would put me far over my quota for a lifetime of sharing.

    I decided to put the effort onto Brand. ¡°Here¡¯s the best source of all knowledge about fire. Ask her about your youth thing.¡±

    ¡°She¡ª¡± Agent Brand started with some nonsense excuse I didn¡¯t want to hear.

    ¡°Start by standing up. She¡¯s not a god. Bowing to her power is what she expects of kindling.¡±

    That specific line came from a fantastic memory of Lacey explaining under no uncertain terms that I should be pulling her hair and taking what I wanted. It¡¯s what she did. It¡¯s what I did. It went into one of the mental boxes with a sigh.

    Boss Wylde raised a thin eyebrow at me and smirked. She bent down and placed hands on both sides of Agent Brand¡¯s face and puffed her cheeks like a little girl.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t she though? Kindling?¡± Boss Wylde shoved her to one side and walked a circle. ¡°And you¡¯re hardly one to talk about standing up. You quit. Though there was hope when you laid one into Roy¡¯s face.¡± She fanned herself briefly. ¡°God that was hot.¡±

    ¡°Kindling?¡± Brand asked.

    I wondered if she¡¯d be so strangely demure with Muni. This might be a weird relationship between fire bird, fire elemental, and memory messing bird. Did birds of different feathers flock apart?

    This wasn¡¯t getting me closer to fighting a giant sea serpent. I mean, only one day had passed since being let out onto the wild side of the island, but we weren¡¯t moving fast enough.

    ¡°Boss?¡± Leo said.

    ¡°Runt?¡± she said with a head bob and pure disrespect.

    Right, there were three others here. Stacy was outright confused. Deborah still looked ready to punch people. I suspected she¡¯d eventually try but punching an elemental would be as easy as fighting a White Woman.

    And I had no clue if Leo had known Lacey could travel through fire. Probably not. Still, my involvement would only keep Lacey¡¯s focus on everything but answering Brand¡¯s questions. I decided on the wisest option available to me.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to take a nap. If anyone wakes me, I may kill them.¡±

    ¡°Even me?¡± Lacey asked. I felt happy she didn¡¯t push some lame offer to sleep with me or bring up the fact that we¡¯d shared a bed in the past. Lacey loved to argue, not flirt.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I answered.

    Leo and Stacy did most of the talking. Agent Brand took short gasps and kept darting her eyes around. I could feel hot breath spilling into the air. Lacey glared at my back as I found a spot to lie down.

    They hadn¡¯t sorted out whatever they needed to. I suspected that me being in the middle of the conversation wouldn¡¯t help, but Brand still showed no signs of moving.

    ¡°If you¡¯re brave enough to attack me, you¡¯re brave enough to talk to Lacey! She doesn¡¯t bite.¡± Though I equated bravery with foolishness.

    Lacey smiled. Her lips puffed out creating a distinct pattern in the air. I drowned the thought out and rubbed dirt on the ground.

    ¡°You attacked him?¡± Deborah whispered. Her body was still taunt but Stacy pressed against her showed signs of being effective. I wished my other senses would mind their own business.

    ¡°You attacked Jay?¡± Lacey said at the same time. She turned to the still kneeling woman with a raised eyebrow.

    They were talking. Hoping for more would be unreasonable. I closed my eyes and struggled to get my senses back inside a box. They were spread out all across the island. Nothing specific, they followed the tactile feedback as people traveled about on their routines. A boat cut across the water, slowly, hardly creating a wake. It carried food and new prisoners from the mainland.

    A dozen washing machines cleaned clothes. Steam escaped through pipes back at the prison.

    I needed to relax and let go. The last few months had been hell. Solitary confinement had been safe enough but there were so many damn people. Their footsteps grated on my nerves. Messed up memories and all were even worse.

    It felt like I could finally relax. My mind had mostly sorted itself. All the smaller enemies were defeated. The people around me were safe enough. Leo wouldn¡¯t attack me. Stacy had proven herself to at least be willing to cooperate. Lacey wouldn¡¯t kill me. Brand might get violent but she¡¯d behave.

    Then my mind wandered to less wholesome thoughts. Ones triggering hundreds of memories of the past and left me longing for the safety of home and the comfort of a woman. That, too, jumbled. My breathing slowed as the world faded away into darkness.

    Sleep, joyous undisturbed sleep. I dreamt of nothing. My thoughts, distant and unfocused, stayed that way until I felt nails sliding over my stomach.

    They were warm beyond belief. Hot, like coals fresh from a fire. I enjoyed the heat like another person might value a hot stone massage. But at the same time, I didn¡¯t want anything to do with Lacey¡¯s amorous advances while out in the woods of a jail cell island.

    ¡°I told you not to wake me,¡± I said while fighting back a snarl.

    The hands teased an annoying trail across my stomach. My abs clenched and brain tilted sideways. She wore nothing, or close enough to nothing that it was apparent on my bare back. I¡¯d been in jail, reliving memories with startling realism and no release.

    ¡°Wake up? You¡¯re already up,¡± she whispered. Her presence had its intended effect.

    ¡°I need sleep,¡± I groaned.

    Lacey whispered in my ear, ¡°Not even for sex?¡±

    She had aggression. Lacey didn¡¯t tease or flirt when she could take what she wanted. The fact that she hadn¡¯t ventured the last few inches to grasp her goal set off alarm bells. If getting laid had been her goal, my pants would have been off.

    ¡°Do you know how hard it is to find a man who can take the heat?¡± she practically purred in my ear.

    Then Lacey laughed and I felt warm. My eyes opened, and red flames danced in front of them. Her body scattered into flames that lit up the grass I¡¯d been lying on.

    I sighed, and slowed my breathing. It took a moment to put together what had happened. She¡¯d been there, sure, but the moment I moved she reverted to flame.

    ¡°Princess!¡± Stacy shouted.

    Water splashed me in the face. Air sizzled and there were pops from around me. Teeth nipped at my ear as the fire died out.

    ¡°Did I kill her?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I answered.

    ¡°How do you know?¡± Stacy asked. ¡°I mean, not that I wanted to kill her. A bit of an arrogant bitch for my tastes, but that dress was nice.¡±

    I wondered briefly if Stacy had been this open with her admiration of the female form prior to going to a jail island. Julianne might have appreciated it. Maybe Stacy would have an absolute party at Bottom Pit, where the waitresses wore very little.

    Never mind, that introduction would be for another time. I answered her question based on what little knowledge I could string together. ¡°Elementals are forever. As long as there¡¯s a flame in the world, she¡¯ll survive.¡±

    That included lava, fires spurting in deep dark caves, or people¡¯s fireplaces. There were so many people in the world that Lacey would be impossible to get rid of. At least that¡¯s what I was told.

    Daniel once spouted long winded scientific words at me. I tuned him out. Lacey would be unkillable unless I tried really hard to grab her like I had with the killer White Lady creature. Despite the knowledge that they were hard to kill, we¡¯d never found any other elementals besides Lacey.

    There I lay, wet, naked, and annoyingly aroused. Worse, on an island filled with murderers, rapists, and monsters. Life conspired to make awkward situations even worse.

    ¡°I need pants,¡± I mumbled. The sky above had darkened and a fat moon hovered slightly out of reach.

    ¡°Well at least we know what your old lady saw in you,¡± Stacy said. ¡°Not my type, but no reason to be shy.¡±

    Fabric hit me in the face. I flinched, and grasped the object, realizing someone had thrown me another set of pants. I reached out to feel for the others and found most were half a mile away. Brand walked along with two people who moved in the same swaying motion.

    ¡°Fire¡¯s out?¡± I asked calmly.

    ¡°Well. It sputtered. There¡¯s some ash, but yeah I think it¡¯s gone. Again,¡± Stacy offered.

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re taking this in your stride.¡± Stacy simply rolled with all this nonsense. She¡¯d been so aggressive when we first met, then angry, combative. Now she was like, ¡®Sure, we¡¯re on an island, but there¡¯s some fine eye candy around here. Never mind that one of them turns into a flying bird the size of a dinosaur.¡¯

    She didn¡¯t actually answer or provide a reason.

    ¡°What was that? We watched as the fire crawled over to you. I thought the Boss was going to come out again, but she didn¡¯t,¡± Leo said. ¡°But if fire could molest a sleeping guy¡­¡±

    ¡°It was revenge.¡± I picked at the crumbled remains of my sweatpants and shook my head. She¡¯d have a hard time burning me with anything short of a lava flow. My clothes were nowhere near as durable. ¡°Let that be a lesson, Leo, never tease a woman if you won¡¯t deliver.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± he warbled.

    Stacy snorted.

    ¡°And even if you¡¯re in an open relationship¡±¡ªI made air quotes¡ª¡°you¡¯re not.¡±

    This time Stacy outright laughed. I groaned, and fumbled to put on the replacement pants Leo provided.

    Branches snapped as people got closer. I took note of the size and shape of those moving through the woods. Two of them softly complained to each other while the third broke through the brush to our camp.

    I stood slowly and dusted off ashes left over from Lacey¡¯s entertainment. At the small clearing¡¯s edge stood Agent Brand, still in a plain shirt. On either side of her stood the two cat, wolf, shifter whatevers, Don and Dee.

    ¡°You guys ready to go?¡± Brand asked while looking at the mess around my feet.

    Deborah stepped in from the other direction. Stacy walked over slowly and sat down. I vaguely remembered how Tal had another wolf who followed him around for a time, a white furred man who¡¯d been a fighter. Maybe they had some sort of racial bond going on.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°We¡¯re ready.¡± Stacy didn¡¯t look ready. She frowned slightly and shuffled her feet where she sat.

    Deborah shook her head and crossed her arms. ¡°You sure about this plan? There are many flaws in it. A battle leader should have better ideas on overcoming their enemy.¡±

    The twins in suits also shuffled. They were far less controlled in their motions. In unison they shifted their gaze toward the ocean¡¯s edge. They sniffed and swayed in a clearly feline way. At least, it was to me. In the same way wolves would twitch their scalps like canines.

    ¡°This plan is terrible,¡± Don said.

    ¡°The word should be horrific,¡± Dee responded. They shared a glance and nodded.

    ¡°Or idiotic?¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± Dee confirmed with a wide shrug. ¡°Both and more. Killing a god?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not a god,¡± I mumbled. These pants were tighter than the last pair. It probably wouldn¡¯t matter. Sometime today I¡¯d be in my other form battling for my life. However, right now, missing pants bothered me.

    ¡°Have you seen it? It¡¯s very awe inspiring,¡± Don mentioned.

    ¡°Indeed. And hard to kill. Those make a god, right?¡±

    ¡°Well, and money.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve had this discussion. Power matters more.¡± She clapped her hands together as if chiding a younger sibling. ¡°That¡¯s how you make a god. Mix awe, difficulty to kill, and power,¡± Dee corrected her twin.

    ¡°Money would help,¡± Don said.

    ¡°But not as much as power.¡±

    Brand rubbed her face slowly with both hands. I glared at her, then shook my head in dismissal. At least we¡¯d made progress and I felt vaguely rested.

    I assumed events were headed in the right direction anyway. Lacey had gone. Brand acted like she, or the twins, were going to escort my small group of people back to the island¡¯s ¡°safer¡± side. Their talk must have gone well.

    As to their critiques of my plan, I had no desire to rehash old nonsense. I¡¯d done enough of that in these last few months to last a lifetime.

    I tuned them out and stomped off for the tower. It would take time for them to get back to the safer side. Though if that creature and I thrashed about, the entire island would be at risk. Assuming I could even get the stupid thing to fight on land.

    This plan was half baked. My life hadn¡¯t amounted to much better. I wondered, while walking, if Father Thomas had been right. Maybe the world would be better off without creatures beyond the pale. Would this island exist without that large monster off the coast?

    Maybe in another form. There were two other jails in the world for those performing race based crimes. They couldn¡¯t also be based on sacrificing people to evil unkillable monsters of the deep. Right?

    I mused and did my best to ignore the events going on all over the island. For example, I certainly didn¡¯t pay attention to the people fighting out near the altar. My waking pile of potential sacrifices were upset, yelling, tearing at each other, and being stupid.

    Stacy and Deborah headed off with Don and Dee. I certainly didn¡¯t notice how well formed the females were. Lacey¡¯s teasing had put me on edge and part of me wanted to bang holes into the trees simply to release some tension.

    But since I thought of completely normal things like baseball and television shows, everything stayed peaceful until we reached the tower¡¯s base. A giant white pillar jutting out of the forest with a control room at the top annoyed me too.

    I studied the base and wondered how easily the entire building could be toppled. It was maybe forty or fifty feet around. Enough for a spiral staircase to be inside, assuming we could get past the reinforced door with signs of being clawed at by wolves. There were gouges that normal fingers couldn¡¯t have made. The hinges were bent and twisted, perhaps from attempts to pull them off. Despite all the damage, the door remained firmly rooted.

    What confused me was I couldn¡¯t feel the inside of the building. It reminded me of a solid basin, filled to the brim with concrete.

    ¡°Come on,¡± Agent Brand said. She pointed up the tower¡¯s side.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°The first floor is all anchoring, along with two floors below it. If we want up to the control room, we¡¯ve got to climb to a trick panel.¡± She pointed again. It made less sense the second time. ¡°You¡¯re not scared of heights are you?¡±

    I snorted and followed after Brand, who was already pulling herself up using handholds I could feel but not really see. They were painted in such a way that they didn¡¯t stand out.

    We scaled to the second, then third floors and wind blew as we pierced the immediate tree line. My eyes drifted up, only once, to find she still hadn¡¯t put much on in the way of clothes. The large loose flapping shirt left nothing to the imagination.

    Images translated from tactile feelings repeatedly showed me females, felons, and final enemies. I worked to explore the larger creature¡¯s body for weak points while keeping an eye out for handholds on the tower. Splitting my senses between those two tasks helped me stop acting lecherous to all the women. Something about determined and well-formed females kept dragging my mind back.

    Climbing was easier than it looked. They were fairly solid spots to latch onto that showed signs of barely being used. The grooves for our fingers were undamaged and smaller. They were clearly from human-sized hands, not wolves or feral vampires.

    Brand got to a small ledge, shuffled along it without pause, and put her fingers to a small keypad. The position looked, and felt, awkward. I could have memorized the numbers but decided it wouldn¡¯t matter. A panel maybe two feet wide slid up and Brand dodged into the safety of the tower¡¯s insides.

    I stuffed myself into the gap with a grunt.

    ¡°Well. That was the first part. The layout states there¡¯s a second door upstairs with another code. Luckily I memorized them.¡±

    Agent Brand knew a disturbing amount about this island. I wondered how long she¡¯d studied it, or maybe she and Daniel were closer than I¡¯d thought in ability. Maybe she knew him. I pursed my lips and pretended the idea hadn¡¯t crossed my mind. Being suspicious now would be utterly useless. What could I do, throw her off a cliff and watch her turn into a bird and fly away?

    I¡¯d have to chomp her in two. Despite our first meeting being in an alley I had lost my hostility toward the younger girl. Or older. It¡¯d be easier to think of her as an elf, where physical appearance meant nothing to actual age and experience.

    We walked up a round stairwell. There were no signs of food or other stores. I expected a bed but saw nothing. There were posters hanging on the walls and board games. A dozen books worn along their spines sat in one corner.

    Layers of dust covered everything. No one had been here in years. Brand sniffed and walked slower through the tower. Her toes wiggled to shake off dirt.

    At the top was a normal sized door. The keypad next to it had an old dial that Brand slid back and forth then pressed a button at the top. A dull green light popped on and once again I was struck by the sheer age of this place.

    Inside the top floor were more materials that might have been high tech fifty years ago, but were now archaic. The room had two dozen devices, tons of camera parts, video feeds going into old monitors, and a single window about a foot wide facing west.

    We stood there and stared. I¡¯d expected another albino sort of vampire who spoke in distracted tones.

    ¡°There should be a Warden here,¡± Brand said.

    I saw a pile of ash near the foiled up window. Clothes piled around the remains. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out where Bennett¡¯s ¡°brother¡± had ended up. He¡¯d died. It couldn¡¯t be suicide. There were no signs of other creatures venturing this far into the tower.

    How then, did they know to set up the alarm? I ignored the pile and followed wires around the room. It looked like there was a simple motion detector of some sort that blipped softly every time the large monster in the ocean wiggled.

    Brand huffed and shook her head. ¡°You know, they tell us during orientation that we¡¯re expected to give everything for the peace. They just don¡¯t tell you that the everything is literal. Bennett and his brothers are, were, over three hundred years old. Can you imagine that? Being a slave to other people¡¯s happiness for that long?¡±

    Brand walked over the machinery and flipped switches. One of the screens dimmed while two others came to life. There were signs of radar being used. I shook my head. This device did nothing useful for me.

    ¡°It must have worn on him. Sitting up here in a tower, day after day, watching a giant monster eat person after person. And all he could do was press the alarm button.¡±

    ¡°What else could he do?¡± I asked. ¡°Leave? Vampires don¡¯t change their habits easily. I doubt he noticed after the first fifty years.¡±

    Brand shot me a disapproving look. I shrugged it off by fingering a streak of dust. It almost bothered me to think this could be a man¡¯s remains. Maybe Bennett¡¯s brother had noticed and it simply took centuries to wear on him. The question still stood, what else could he have done?

    Luring the giant monster to another country might have bought time by making it someone else¡¯s problem. Letting it venture into the deeper oceans would have meant leaving a beast capable of rolling over any coastal city alive and unchecked. Killing it proved too difficult.

    I nodded to myself. ¡°All right. Then we do this. Watch for the beast.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ve still got to get it grounded, if we can. Even if we see it rising, even if I get myself dosed beyond sanity, and let it devour me, then I die over and over¡ª¡±

    ¡°Giving it the worst case of stomach indigestion ever. And hopefully turning its insides into cinders while I drag it out of the water and gut it.¡±

    ¡°I saw the size differences. The thing weighs more than you do by a mile.¡±

    Our only option while waiting was to discuss strategy. Brand really wasn¡¯t my type, at all, so other options were out. Plus, she had grandchildren. That struck me as weird. Being part bird also confused me.

    ¡°You zoning out again?¡± she asked.

    ¡°If Lacey¡¯s feeling in the mood she can help me get enough power to be on equal footing. I think. We¡¯ve never tried it.¡±

    ¡°Then how do you know?¡±

    I wrinkled my forehead. Knowing something was possible, and understanding how the knowledge had come to me were two different tasks. It was the same feeling as correcting Roy and Tal on their stances. These imprinted memories held too many secrets.

    Like, how the hell had they survived that other space with the chime noise?

    ¡°I know the Ryuujin could take thirty minutes or days to surface for the next quelling, but I¡¯m cranky and hungry. So answer the question.¡±

    ¡°I doubt it¡¯ll be that long,¡± I responded to stall for time.

    ¡°Regale me,¡± she said. It reminded me of the gruff police officer I¡¯d first seen upon waking up. I pictured Brand with a heavy cigarette smoking up a storm. In only a shirt. After sex.

    The mental imagery didn¡¯t get better. She flicked a hand and flame came forth briefly, then sputtered out. The ability caused part of her hair to twist with red feathers dripping flames. Muni¡¯s powers might operate the same way.

    Was her ability hereditary? Is that why Muni wanted her brother so badly? There were too many loose ends on that front so I brought myself back to the shorter woman¡¯s question.

    ¡°I just know. The same way you know how to fly. The same way we change into those other forms.¡±

    ¡°So it¡¯s part of your race. I can see how your nephew Leo got so upset. That¡¯s a lot for one person. Transforming, durability. That weird thing where you know more about others than you should. Now you¡¯re saying you can channel a fire elemental?¡±

    ¡°I haven¡¯t said that.¡±

    ¡°I may look like I¡¯m a dumb ten-year-old.¡± She looked like a late teen. With a heated face and angry pouting stomp. ¡°But I can put together two and two. Your other form has something to do with heat. Remember? You tried to burn me, before.¡±

    I had. How she got from there to using Lacey was beyond me. The entire logic leap felt farfetched.

    ¡°You have fire. You know a fire elemental. She is¡ªintense.¡± Agent Brand glared at the ceiling for a moment and seemed to be carefully picking her next few words. ¡°And very friendly toward you?¡±

    I chuckled.

    ¡°And if you can call her from fire, she could probably power you up, right? I thought about asking her to do it for me, but the side effect may be me losing even more years in one go.¡±

    That made sense. I didn¡¯t know for sure what would happen if I used Lacey¡¯s power. It might make it easier for me to change. I¡¯d certainly have more command of the element of flame, perhaps even being able to pull it up from the earth¡¯s depths.

    The repercussions, once I let go, would be more powerful than normal. I resolved to at least fly to someplace safe before letting go. Assuming Lacey wouldn¡¯t simply set my clothes on fire and say no.

    She should understand the desire to fight. She loved battle, the conflict, watching two people tear at each other like giants from a lost age. That¡¯s why Lacey agreed to watch over Bottom Pit during my absence.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be risking my life. And passing this curse on to someone else. You owe me if we¡¯re going to do this together. Tell me what to expect.¡±

    I rubbed my head slowly and sorted through a dozen bits of information. My father¡¯s words were suppressed and the images with them torn into for more details.

    ¡°Come sunrise, just after the sun crests the island¡ª¡± I was fairly sure that¡¯d be when Lacey was at her most powerful, when the sun could hit us in full during the fight. Why, or how her powers worked I didn¡¯t know. ¡°I¡¯ll call Boss Wylde. And if she¡¯s feeling generous, she¡¯ll let me pull upon a purer form of the flame than I normally use.¡±

    ¡°How much? Purer, I mean. My own flames are, closer to water in how they act.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never done this before. I¡¯ve never had to fight something insanely big.¡±

    Huge wasn¡¯t the word to describe it. In my other form, I felt large and powerful. This creature dwarfed the fire breathing version of myself.

    Leviathan

    ¡°It¡¯s a leviathan,¡± I repeated the name my primal mind used. It¡¯d called the creatures in vampire shadows, Night Shades, and Warden Bennett agreed. Leviathan might be this creature¡¯s name.

    ¡°What the hell is a leviathan?¡± Agent Brand asked. She pointed at the video feeds which faced west. ¡°It¡¯s a Ryuujin.¡±

    ¡°You have your stories. I have mine. If you want me to answer your question, stop talking.¡±

    Brand sighed, and pantomimed buttoning her lips. I had never seen anyone do that before in real life.

    ¡°If she says no, that thing eats you and you die, I probably die, and maybe it goes wild enough from a tummy ache to create a tidal wave.¡±

    ¡°And if she says yes?¡±

    ¡°The extra power should help me increase in size.¡± The elements were our gifts. That¡¯s what the voice of my father had said. ¡°And if I take in only one, well.¡±

    ¡°Well what? Can you take in more than one? Are there more elementals? Like metal. Or forest. Or gold?¡±

    ¡°No.¡± I squinted then shook my head.

    Agent Brand shrugged. Her elements were nonsense sounding. I only knew of four, but the world had been filled with strange creatures. The various sector governments had been too effective during The Purge.

    One of the screens started beeping. Brand stood and stared at the monitor. She sighed and blew out air slowly.

    ¡°Whatever. You still ready for this?¡±

    I shrugged. It wasn¡¯t sunrise yet.

    ¡°No,¡± I answered. ¡°It¡¯s not sunrise.¡±

    ¡°You need flame, right? Not the actual sun?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll work. But the bigger the flame, the more power she¡¯ll be able to channel.¡± Hopefully. It wasn¡¯t like Lacey sat down and said, ¡°Here¡¯s how all of my powers work.¡± When alone we passed time by watching the fights below, or engaged in more adult activities.

    Oddly, it wasn¡¯t too different from Kahina. We had talked in public a bit, but not about anything major. I fought off the umpteenth sigh for the night and resolved to be more interesting for the next woman. Assuming I ever found another person I could risk getting close to.

    ¡°I can shift pretty fast. You go to the platform. Keep that thing distracted from the normal people. I¡¯ll get a fire started then dose myself.¡± She pressed the button and an alarm sounded. The siren carried all over the island. I could feel it embedding into every tree, rock, and cutting across the air until it faded near the island¡¯s far side.

    ¡°If we time it right, I¡¯ll look like an unwilling sacrifice that you¡¯re keeping it from, and it¡¯ll get mad, irate, and snap me up without thought.¡±

    ¡°Then I use the fire.¡± I nodded. It made sense. Then I had to pray to whatever Gods Daniel¡¯s kind had murdered, that Wylde would be willing to assist.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± she said. ¡°If I help you survive, Miss Wylde has promised to seek an answer to my curse.¡±

    ¡°Did she?¡±

    Brand nodded. ¡°She said you¡¯d want to fight the Ryuujin.¡±

    ¡°Did she say she¡¯d help me?¡± Here we¡¯d been talking about me borrowing Wylde¡¯s power and it sounded like Brand already had the answer. I¡¯d been worried over nothing.

    ¡°I did ask. She said it would depend on if you were nice to her or not.¡±

    Fuck me sideways. I hadn¡¯t been nice at all. She¡¯d bathed me in flame by way of revenge. This plan was already going to pieces.

    Annoying Mistress of Flame. Plays power games. Unwelcome. Untimely. A distraction.

    ¡°Come on.¡± Agent Brand reached for a small ladder set into the wall. She yanked a thick latch and slid it to one side. The lock had partially rusted and the grinding on my senses made my teeth hurt.

    By the time I looked up again, Brand was out the escape hatch and soaring through the air. Her wings burned the night air. A wave of wind blasted into the lookout tower by her wings stirred up the Warden¡¯s ashes.

    I didn¡¯t know where she planned to dose herself on hemlock. Her knowledge of the secret layout to this tower was beyond normal. She simply adapted to crazy situations and plowed ahead.

    We were both risking our lives over a stupid and easily avoided fight. Yet, we sought answers to our personal problems while putting others first. For Brand it was preventing the curse which ruined her life from destroying her descendants. For me, it had been getting Leo and Stacy off the island and keeping those close to me safe.

    On the way out of the ceiling hatch, as the Warden¡¯s ashes drifted above, it occurred to me the Wardens, Brand, and I shared another trait in common. We continued giving of ourselves to keep the world ticking by.

    Until the day we came up short. I may not have been an official sector agent, but their motto made sense. Everything for the peace.

 Prince In the Tower; Chapter 21 â€“ For The Flame

    I shifted. It felt like blowing up, puffing full of air, and stretching all at once. The tower¡¯s top grew crowded, and soon I felt like a cat perching on a far too small fencepost. My wings spread wide. The ground no longer felt so far away. I stood on thickened hind legs and sniffed the air. Salt hung heavy with sea spray.

    Waves along the west rolled. Beneath those waves the Leviathan slowly coiled, steadily approaching shore for its sacrifice.

    Brand soared ahead. She¡¯d lowered herself over the trees and set the top limbs aflame. Every few seconds she would cry a piercing sound that vibrated my bones.

    People, like ants, ran through the woods. They exclaimed a number of different words¡ª lost in a muddled haze of sensations. I mused that their lives hung in the balance.

    The notion was discarded. They weren¡¯t family. Their lives weren¡¯t as important. Maybe they had led lives and were someone¡¯s children. Those who survived the upcoming battle should count themselves lucky.

    I leapt from the tower. My hind legs drove into the fortification with extreme force. Its base crackled and slowly started to topple behind me.

    By the time it crashed, tearing apart trees under its weight, I had taken to the air.

    Mine.

    For a minute, I aimed straight toward the moon. Its glowing light called me in ways that the budding forest fire below couldn¡¯t compete with. I wanted to follow the crescent glow for hours in a never ending game of chase.

    The ocean rolled. I felt waves part with more force than they should have. Waves fifteen feet high formed in an instant and careened toward Atlas Island. I veered back on course, remembering my self-assigned task.

    Kill the sea worm.

    I debated demanding Lacey¡¯s attention. The fire hadn¡¯t grown to be large enough yet for any real power. Leviathan turned its rising head and squinted beady eyes in Brand¡¯s direction. Water poured down in buckets.

    Once again the sheer size impressed me. It was all I thought about, mostly from jealousy. If Brand was a regular bus, then I was two double decker buses. That creature belonged a few sizes further up the scale. It could curl in a football stadium in the same way cats occupied their tiny beds.

    Despite the darkness where I flapped, it turned and locked on me. I huffed and gathered air under my wings to propel myself higher.

    On the island¡¯s eastern end, the side facing Western Sector¡¯s mainland, boats sped along. Laden with people in chains. Helicopters flew away.

    They flee. Lithe Twins must have warned Pink Meats.

    Don and Dee had left hours ago with my small group. Maybe they issued an evacuation. I wondered about the hundreds left on this side of the island. Warden Bennett simply may not care about those deemed too savage to retain their presence on the kinder side.

    ¡°Fuck them,¡± I growled. The words rumbled and earth below thrashed, as if speaking words my mouth couldn¡¯t form correctly.

    I spoke like the voice in my head. Deep. Dark. If the devil had been real he¡¯d panic at hearing the two word declaration.

    Size and strength. This creature had both. I owned the sky. I owned the earth. I breathed fire and called her my Mistress.

    ¡°Let all those dead gods hold witness, I will take the ocean from you, worm,¡± I said. The ground echoed in time and rocks heaved.

    TRY

    It responded. The fact that it could speak into my head made me pause for a moment. Had it heard all my thoughts about the Pink Meats? How long had it listened to me?

    Brand¡¯s cry pierced the air once more. Her wings lit the night as she flew toward the altar. Behind her a long tail, longer than her entire body, trailed in a mixture of fire and feathers. Trees burned. Brush turned to cinders. Prisoners screamed in terror.

    I took flight after her, straight for the sea serpent in the distance. It moved sluggishly, as if immense weights looped about its body. My mouth opened in a roar, shaking the earth below.

    People pointed up at me, their tiny arms like toothpicks. Trees closer to bushes in size. Bushes like insignificant leaves. And the enemy.

    Will fight. Will claim. Will be undisputed ruler.

    The enemy opened its jaw and lunged at me. It fell forward and slipped under my flying form. I raked claws along its hide and snarled as the talons glanced off thick hide. It felt like scraping metal.

    Giant Sea Slug.

    I thought disdainfully. The creature had a thick hide that seemed designed for shrugging off even my claws.

    WORMY FIRE BAT

    It responded.

    Hell. Mental banter. Just what I wanted to deal with while risking my life. I sneered then angled my wings in a wide U-turn. Beneath me the rest of the creature¡¯s body wiggled. The ocean¡¯s waters shook with budding waves caused by the leviathan¡¯s deceptively fast undulations.

    My efforts would buy Brand time. She would play as a sacrificial pawn and further wound the beast. By then it¡¯d be too slow and I¡¯d simply need to harass it and hopefully open up deep gashes in its hide that would keep it out of the water.

    Would a creature from the ocean care about bleeding? Whales might, because carnivorous animals would gather. There were no whale-sized sharks to take this monster down. Or, if there were, Brand hadn¡¯t filled me in.

    The leviathan met me a second time, striving to swallow me whole as I flew overhead. My senses gave me an edge in feeling the ripples of muscle which would propel the creature. It kept swimming toward shore, getting more purchase as it reached shallow waters.

    I felt Brand¡¯s body shift. Her weight changed very little but the heat and bulk dissipated. Fluffy feathers became strands of hair and she stood near the altar, pushing over a few people who were still unconscious.

    All the others I¡¯d left were gone, having fled at the first sight of the giant creature. I could feel some limping away with companions slung over their shoulders. One wolf clawed at the stones to the safer side of the island.

    No guards were present to shoot him. They¡¯d gone. I could feel their heavy weapons laden with metals on the large boat. A second chopper spiraled through the air.

    My senses snapped back in time to dodge another lunge from the sea monster. Its huge teeth snapped closer than ever and the hot smell of sour fish suffused the air. I snorted and pulled myself higher, gaining altitude and pretending not to notice Brand.

    She frantically injected herself with syringes and groaned. The noise rippled softly, a cry almost as sharp as the one she gave while a bird. I knew the tiny Asian teen muttered words but they were buried in the overwhelming ripple of water and air.

    I longed for the silent serenity of earth. The low steady hum of constant motion became muted by rock. Moles, worms, and bugs scratching paled in comparison to the constant swish and whoosh of other elements. All of that would have been preferable to playing tag with a creature that could snap me in two.

    By the fourth pass the creature was getting too close for comfort. I had a sense of its timing. It knew my path couldn¡¯t shift that quickly. Small bursts of fire drove it back.

    Finally, I felt Brand in position. She stood, naked, and felt abnormally cold. Around her wrist was a rope, like she¡¯d been tied in place upon the altar. I flew toward her, directing the monster¡¯s attention to the bait.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    FOOD. EXCELLENT. SMELLS DIVINE.

    Those weren¡¯t its exact thoughts, but the closest my mind could translate. How it smelled anything with all the muck was beyond me. It wiggled through the water and reared above Brand with a speed I hadn¡¯t experienced.

    I stared at Brand. She glared at me and shook her head in jerky denial. It was official, I did not like this plan at all. The idea she¡¯d be sacrificing herself to give me an edge on a creature I could hardly dent didn¡¯t sit well.

    But what were our options? Leave and let Western Sector continue to sacrifice people? Never mind, I¡¯d had those thoughts before. We were in this stupid venture together.

    The thought didn¡¯t make me feel any better. There¡¯d be a clock on how long Brand might survive. I¡¯d have to pray to those Gods I swore by, while begging Wylde for power, and not getting eaten.

    The Leviathan loomed above Brand. It wiggled and hissed with a thick tongue hanging out of its mouth like a puppy¡¯s. I landed on the creature¡¯s back and took advantage of its distraction to get in a few good tears.

    It fucking ignored me, as if I was merely scratching its back. Which I might well have been. The sheer disrespect of not even acknowledging my efforts to rend its guts irked the hell out of me. I beat my wings and twisted claws that had found small amounts of purchase.

    The added weight helped tear off ribbons of flesh. Not enough to seriously wound the beast, but green-blue liquid oozed from between its rubbery scales. It turned and snapped.

    I squawked in outrage. The fact that I made such an undignified noise set me into retreat. My hind foot caught on the creature¡¯s hide. It rolled and twisted after me, slinging around my body.

    Somehow the idea of battling with other giant monsters was not one of the pieces of advice my father had given me. Daniel also had little to say on the subject. I blacked out briefly as the world spun faster than it should have.

    I went flying away and tumbled through the air. Instinct kept my wings pulled in until I reached a more stable tumble. They went back out again and air pooled, providing a solid platform to push against.

    For a moment, I wondered exactly how any of these powers worked. I could feel the air tightening and becoming denser under my wings. It pushed back to give me lift. But if I wanted to pool it in the other creature¡¯s face, that couldn¡¯t happen. It was instinctual knowledge.

    Why then¡ªdid fire bend to my will? I remembered, Lacey. It wasn¡¯t my will, it was her power being given to me, only temporarily.

    A huge fire was in front of me. I reasserted my position, Brand¡¯s, and the roaring flame. Lacey should be easy enough to pull through with this flame. If she could manifest a small amount of power from a bonfire, a forest fire would give her miles more to work with.

    I brought myself high again and prepared to dive onto the Leviathan. If claws wouldn¡¯t work, perhaps sheer force of mass would.

    Tongue runs over teeth. Sharpness tingles. Jaw sets. Prepare to attack sea slug once it devours Bright Burner. Will eat. Will be weakened. Will be defeated.

    It reared at the last second and shied away from devouring Brand. Giant eyes glared at me.

    TRICKERY

    The leviathan¡¯s voice bellowed. If my own rumbled off the deep earth, this one carried for miles. Piercing clearer than Brand¡¯s fiery cry and with a stiffness of liquid sloshing in my ears. Water stirred at its outcry as earth did for me.

    It knew. It knew because the Godsdamned other voice in my head had fucking spilled the grand plan out loud. How on earth could I battle this creature when it kept gaining strength and I couldn¡¯t match it?

    The leviathan snorted and twisted. A large coil of the beast¡¯s body bore down upon the altar where Brand stood. She yelled and fell to the ground. I felt the crunch as her body squished into paste.

    Heat flooded immediately after. Her body turned into a single pyre amid an island aflame. How many years had an unguarded thought cost her?

    Worst still, based on my multiple attempts to do serious damage, I may not be able to defeat this beast. We¡¯d destroyed the habitat that kept it docile.

    I needed Lacey¡¯s power. Whatever gift she could bring to the fight would help me. I could become the creature that had razed the world to ash a dozen times over. Only for a little bit, only long enough to defeat this creature and secure our safety as beings outside the big four.

    Wylde had more than enough flames to listen. It may not be sunrise, but this could be enough fuel. I winged higher and lifted my head to face the sky.

    Come! Mistress of Flame. Heart of the Fire. I call upon our pact. Give me your devouring flames.

    I pulled on the flaming cord connecting me to Lacey. It spun in all directions. Toward the sky above where sunrise peeked over the edge. Toward the raging fire that devoured half an island¡¯s forest. Toward the ocean floor, and on beyond the depth into what would probably be lava.

    FLAME BE QUENCHED.

    The beast twisted and pushed itself up with an attempt at straightening out. I swear, if the creature had arms it would have been flailing wildly for the invisible cord. I watched as its body thrashed, disturbing the ocean and rippling through the intangible fire which connected my senses to Lacey.

    It was aware of my cords. Somehow the enemy could see them. It was in my head, like the background voice I had but radically different. The Leviathan¡¯s eyes traced the red path to the coastline. Giant water laden facial features narrowed. It slapped its absurdly large tail at the cord.

    The creature reeled back and opened its maw. Water gushed and its top half bulged. It felt almost exactly the same as me pouring out flame.

    Air splits. Waves curl. Sand sifts. Everything stirs. Danger comes.

    I winged away as the creature built up to blast water. The jet of ocean shot through the air. I turned and let out a wave of flame. Steam formed almost instantly as water and fire met. Drops pierced through in my direction, like a gentle rain compared to what had been a focused torrent.

    There were only so many blasts like that I could fire before being gifted more of Wylde¡¯s powers. Strange, there in the back of my brain was a sort of fuel tank that had always existed. Only now I could feel the damn thing. I¡¯d already used almost a third of my energy reserves.

    Our fight had taken a turn for the worse. What would Brand do now? She should be able to rekindle herself from the flames. Would she shift and fight? I couldn¡¯t imagine her fire doing much more than my own. Not without being buffed up by Wylde, assuming it could happen.

    The Leviathan puffed again. More bolts of water were incoming. I veered away as soon as the sensations hit me. His breath weapon had an easy tell. The swelling of its large body and the ocean¡¯s local level dropping.

    It seemed unfair. My weapon of fire died off as soon as it left my body. Spreading like a fan but not staying in concentrated form. It shot lasers. Or water beams, or who the hell knew. One tore through the air. I dodged to the side and felt razor-like droplets pelt against my wings.

    Somehow the creature acted like a fire hose, flinging water high into the air. Two more beams came in rapid succession. With each one the water level around it dropped. More liquid spilled into the ocean¡¯s gap.

    Below me, the enemy bobbed unevenly. Its tail reached down to the seabed to stabilize the blasts a little. I wove through the air, evading more bolts of water powerful enough to make my wings collapse.

    Did it have a limit? I closed my eyes briefly and let my senses absorb everything. The ocean below it sank and swayed. Sand shifted. Fish and other animals fled. The fire behind me sputtered as waves crashed into the short line.

    Brand¡¯s remains still smoldered. Lacey hadn¡¯t answered. The fire on shore showed no signs of coming to me like the small bonfire did last night. It flickered, devoured nature greedily, and acted indifferent. I knew she was out there.

    Unless¡ªhad the Leviathan had somehow disrupted my summons? Could it do such a thing?

    I might not be able to win. The ashes where Brand had fallen flared even hotter. The trees near the brushed altar shone blue with a stronger heat than before. I heard her cry pierce the air.

    The leviathan beast swam quicker than before. It wiggled through boiling ocean and fought for stability. I¡¯d irritated the daylights out of it.

    A low hum of watery thoughts that couldn¡¯t be deciphered crept into my skull. I fought the desire to shoot back my snide responses and conserved what fuel for the fire remained. Our path ventured out over deeper waters, letting it slip beneath the waves where I¡¯d do no damage.

    I tilted my head and couldn¡¯t bring myself to wing lower. Even with three hundred feet between me and the ocean¡¯s surface, I still felt unsafe.

    The creature surged and tried to snatch me out of the air. I briefly imagined myself, a stupid pelican fighting against an orca, and swerved to one side. I counted myself lucky that tactile sensation fed me a nearly constant awareness of everything nearby.

    It sprang past me and I beat backward with my wings. Its popup snake like movements were nothing new, but the speed kept catching me off guard. I burned my reserves and raked claws along its thrashing back. Fire buffeted out, cooking the few spots my long transformed fingers had torn earlier. The leviathan yelled as it flopped back into the ocean.

    Waves sprang up. I felt the droplets and it was as though my thoughts became quicker and clearer. If Lacey wouldn¡¯t answer, and Brand¡¯s plan had failed, withdrawing might be the only way to salvage this. We could fight another day, once Lacey and I had hashed put events.

    The waves were wild but wouldn¡¯t swamp the mainland. Western Sector agents could probably cover up the events up on this island. Muni would clean it up, if she still worked with them.

    We¡¯d be safe to continue life as we had. In hiding, fearful of the day we were made public. We¡¯d wounded the beast a little. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to flee and transform in some mainland forest. Even if they took pictures, only a few could equate Jay the fire breathing lizard to Jay the drunk bouncer.

    Weakness. Once again weakness.

    The ocean beneath me rolled. Clots of dirt came out, flung by the creature¡¯s large tail. Mixed in with the ocean flooring was coral, fish, and even a small whale. Even if I thought about fleeing, it did not.

    I chided myself. There was no time to pull out of the fight.

    Wings beat as air bunched. The gift of elements which fueled my powers made sudden shifts easier, but not quick enough. There were too many objects to dodge.

    A second loop of the leviathan¡¯s coils sprung out of the ocean, straight for me. I blasted fire to clear a path. Barbequed seafood fell and the sea monster¡¯s coils continued to swing in my direction.

    I tucked my wings in and twisted for the gap. The monster¡¯s face met me on the other side and it closed jaws around my wing. It jerked and attempted to get better purchase. I curled my claws into its mouth.

    It spun backward with a powerful twist of massive muscles. I spread my good wing and attempted to call pockets of air into being, to fight against the inevitable.

    But I lost. It yanked me under. Cold ocean water piled in above my head. The creature carried me rapidly for miles. I struggled to get free. My body threatened to lose what little air remained. The fire of my breath couldn¡¯t oppose this.

    More. Need more flame. More embers. Enough to set an ocean ablaze. Mistress of Flame! COME!

    Lacey chose not to listen to my pleas. Water clogged my ears, and I swear I could hear Boss Wylde laughing at me. The idea made me mad.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 22 â€“ Kin-Slayer

    Lacey gasped as she rode hard, atop my very naked and utterly human body. Her mouth hung open as her body sought the peaks of pleasure that even elementals could reach. Of course monsters appreciated procreation.

    ¡°We can¡¯t fight our nature, Jay,¡± she said with half breaths.

    My mind was filled with fog and singular purpose. Still, I tried to play along by asking, ¡°What?¡±

    The moment shattered. My body had been encased by something huge and far more unpleasant. Water pressed against my ears and wormed its way into canals. Scratches on my scales cried as they were forced backward and felt as though they might peel off.

    Then Lacey and a moment from the past recaptured my senses. I fought for air in both memories. My body moved in a rhythm as old as mankind against Lacey. Her warmth burned my skin. I buried my face between pushed up breasts and fought the better fight.

    ¡°That¡¯s how you do it. Be a real man, Jay. None of this ¡®please¡¯ shit. Take it. Take it,¡± she demanded.

    The Leviathan swung me around, sending my serpentine form flying into a reef. I reached out, striving for the much more pleasant, if oddly timed vision of Wylde¡¯s naked body. All that resulted were chunks of sea life grasping into me with their own form of desperation.

    I struggled for air but found none. The ocean¡¯s surface was above me somewhere. Not miles, but too far for wings not designed to cut through this much liquid. There were no good ways to survive.

    Up, the next step had to be getting airborne along with fresh oxygen. I shrugged to pull in pockets of air under my wings. Something responded, the water spiraled. Small whirlpools formed hundreds of feet above us. I gained purchase¡ªon what¡ªI didn¡¯t know.

    The leviathan chased after me, crashing into my side and driving me into the ground. My body flopped and air bubbles escaped. I gulped and struggled to regain the air. Why couldn¡¯t my gifts include the ability to live without breathing?

    A vampire would have survived. Dozens of them were back on that island, dying in droves from flame. I felt their muffled cries as the fire ended their lives. They might not have been able to handle the giant serpent but they could breathe under this forsaken ocean.

    I, however, couldn¡¯t see. My attempts to roar in defiance resulted in me swallowing additional salty water. It burned and sizzled then oozed between lips that couldn¡¯t form a perfect seal. I coughed up dirt and felt bones of charred fish stick in my craw.

    Lacey¡¯s laughter pulled away my senses. Then anger, a scream of outrage and glass cracking.

    ¡°I¡¯ve told you, time, and time again, Jay. I don¡¯t give permission. You take it,¡± she said. Her hand bled and the floor sizzled where droplets touched.

    ¡°If you want to sleep with other girls, I appreciate that. It¡¯s you taking what you want. If you want to leave me altogether, then do it. That¡¯s our arrangement. We take.¡± The broken glass was placed on my table. She walked across the room to a cabinet and pulled out another glass.

    I stilled and paid attention to every movement. A dozen sensations of people below. Roy¡¯s tribe, they sparred, they moved in waves. Others danced along with them, stretching muscles. Part army, part relaxation and bonding.

    ¡°That¡¯s how the flame works,¡± Wylde said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t ask permission. It doesn¡¯t beg for more fuel. It simply takes, Jay. It takes, and takes, and takes. Then one day, it dies.¡±

    She drained the glass and poured herself another.

    ¡°You¡¯re okay with that?¡± I asked.

    Wylde rolled her eyes and shook head while staring at the ceiling. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I am what I am. You are what you are. But we¡¯ll never be more than this. Not until you learn the lesson.¡±

    ¡°Take what I want?¡±

    ¡°And there you are. Asking again. Like a puppy needing its master¡¯s approval.¡±

    I shook my head. She told me to take what I wanted, and I had, multiple times over the years. She said to walk away, if that¡¯s what I wanted, and for Kahina I planned to. What was the use if Wylde didn¡¯t mean what she said?

    My past vanished again as the large creature swam at me with jaws open. I balked and pulled away, trying to weave in the water as my foe. The leviathan slammed into me again. This time it sent me upward. I clawed my way to the surface and gasped for air.

    A fresh dose of oxygen didn¡¯t clear the spots in my eyes. One wing hung limply from where it¡¯d broken. Blood in the water mixed with mud to obscure our battlefield. I struggled to reach the surface. My body got pulled under as the huge creature swam by.

    Water filled in over my head leaving me spinning in a circle and bumping off its scales. I lashed out and tore, uselessly, at the swift creature. It spun in a U-turn, moving much how I had in the air. Our roles were utterly reversed.

    Coward.

    I thought loudly, knowing full well the creature could be listening.

    WEAKLING

    It responded. I couldn¡¯t figure out ways to project my thoughts in a ruse or misdirection. The water boiled with our conflict. I pulled at anything and everything existing, screaming inside my mind. Nothing came.

    ¡°TAKE IT!¡± Lacey shouted.

    That had to be the problem. I was asking, I was calling, but none of that meant grabbing hold of the power. Daniel told me my abilities could be activated without ownership, and that¡¯d been true. But some skills did not come from simple kindness.

    Monsters did not ask for permission. What other name could belong to a creature such as me? Civilized? Polite? Heroic? None of those fit me in the slightest. I found new purpose.

    I¡¯d take the power. That had been her point. Maybe the years had made me a bit wiser. It only took a muddled mind, a dozen flashbacks, and a bigger monster beating the unholy hell out of me.

    Fire would still be needed. Getting to shore seemed impossible. The sun would be too far away. I hastily swam and let currents push me around as the leviathan sought to get a firm chunk of my flesh.

    Our dance in the water continued as I struggled to spin in search of a power source.

    There were places where fire sat closer to the surface. Volcanos were the best location. If pulling fire off the red feathered Agent Brand could give me energy, calling up lava should fill me to overflowing.

    The very notion of pulling fire from the earth for more strength made me giddy. It might have been the lack of air or the pounding of my ears. Maybe being knocked around turned me delirious. I started to see Wylde¡¯s face, laughing at me under the seabed.

    Piles of muck formed a thick layer along the seabed. I struggled to feel the heat. The island hadn¡¯t formed on its own. Lava plumes or something similar were within my range. I trailed toward the lava, struggling to make it to the seabed instead of up for precious air.

    ¡°Take it, if you dare.¡± Lacey smiled. Or had smiled. Deprivation once again weakened my mental barriers between then and now.

    I called to the deepest parts of the earth, where fire still rolled under thick layers of dirt and crust. The ground shook even more than it had at any point of our fight.

    Lava seeped through the cracks and boiled along the seabed. I swam to the lava and prayed it wouldn¡¯t burn me to a crisp. Or maybe it would and that¡¯d be okay, too.

    ¡°You only need to call my name, Jay. Take me into your heart and together we could burn the world to ash.¡±

    The fire had always been there. I pushed down the echoing words of my father¡¯s deep thrum before he could repeat himself. The elements were our gifts. Wylde, an elemental herself, said that they weren¡¯t simple gifts. They were prizes to be taken.

    ¡°Am I, Jay?¡± she asked. I couldn¡¯t tell if she spoke in the now, or the past. ¡°Fire¡¯s a capricious mistress. Prone to burn your flesh just as often as I warm your body on the cold nights. Would you really have me?¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a coward now,¡± I answered.

    My eyes blinked. Around me lava boiled and bubbled to the surface. The earth deep below pushed and heaved. I felt it part as more of the earth¡¯s boiling liquid shot to the surface. The magma crawled toward me, ignoring the ocean¡¯s current. Too heavy to be moved by mere words, or too proud.

    Perhaps it wanted to obey.

    Do not ignore me, Mistress. Do not dare. The life of what is mine stands at risk.

    Time spun once more. I felt the leviathan hissing and circling the outflow of lava. Large teeth snapped at me. It seemed afraid and agitated. Then those sensations were gone and I stood in front of Lacey.

    ¡°You¡¯re threatening me?¡± Lacey asked. Where her voice came from, I couldn¡¯t say. A place below the ocean, where only heat ruled. ¡°I¡¯ll protect this place for you, until you return home. But not because of a threat.¡±

    ¡°Why then?¡± I asked.

    Lacey smiled. My vision wavered in the haze as the ground rolled. ¡°I don¡¯t give answers.¡±

    ¡°What do you give?¡±

    Lacey opened her mouth and a word died before completion. Her eyes shifted and watered for only a moment. She glanced down and shook her head.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Go away. For another woman.¡± Lacey took a deep breath. ¡°I promised not¡­¡± She drifted off. I felt it as her heartbeat raced, face flushed redder than the flame, and eyes closed slowly.

    That was then. Before going back to only being friends with Lacey. I¡¯d wanted to separate myself from the old life, if only a little. To find more time for Kahina and give her everything she deserved. That rift had never been repaired.

    I do not ask.

    I swam through water and ignored the burning sensation. My body afforded me some resistance to the elements. Even breathing seemed like a distant concern for another soul. My nose flared as the ocean swirled.

    The lava bubbled. It cooled and fresh layers burst through. Those cracked and erupted then kept right on going. I placed my claws into both while using both distorted back legs to push me forward against the swirl.

    Chunks of matter flew at me. They spun through the water, bouncing off each other. Ocean beds were torn up by force equaling a hurricane. I hung on and roared, getting a mouthful of water straight to the lungs.

    For a moment, I thought I was back in that nothing between. Matter spun and formed. A duck died before my eyes, turned into bone, then into grass. I pushed that brief overlay of the past away and focused on screaming at Lacey, in the here and now.

    My grip faltered. There were no words for taking power from someone else. It wasn¡¯t an inborn skill or concept taught to me by a voice from the past. I¡¯d called a fucking rabbit before me. It¡¯d supplicated and died to fill my belly. Calling living fire could be no stranger.

    Lacey could simply deny me, but I didn¡¯t believe she wanted to.

    Come Mistress of Flame. Come Heart of the Fire. You are mine.

    She didn¡¯t say anything. The words I¡¯d heard must have been those of the past, spoken in tense moments of our final time together. Before this shitty island. Before my relationship with Kahina. Before the leaving city. The heat though, started at my fingertips and caused blackened claws to fill with red.

    Energy trickled up my arm, bringing with it a pleasure so intense it hurt, or a pain so strong it felt good. I opened my mouth and yelled. Water around us pulled back, or was pushed away. My senses dampened by the rapid changes.

    I felt myself shaking. Or more accurately, vibrating with an intensity I¡¯d never felt before. The world had no more color. All that existed were shades of gray and heat so overwhelming it felt like my belly expelled lava.

    The heat burned. My body heaved. I heard a cry as the water around us boiled. The sea serpent had to be in pain, and must have been too enraged to flee. Now it suffered the price.

    Lava streamed in huge bubbling gasps, far more than the trickle prior. It split the earth and shot into the air all around. The sudden shift knocked us off balance and flopping to one side. Sea gave way as earth formed a new island. First a singular pillar, then a mile of rock. I hung on, screaming as we lifted out of the water.

    The Leviathan fell to one side, flopping and rolling. It hissed at me. I dug in with claws that cracked red like lava. The creature¡¯s body couldn¡¯t move as easily without water to create buoyancy.

    I stood on top of the newly forming island, to the side of an outcropping where lava flowed around me. There, I screamed, roared, and flooded the area with the sound of my triumph. Even the hacking feeling of sea water invading my lungs had dimmed to nothing as energy, unlike anything I¡¯d ever felt before, suffused my being.

    Now. For you.

    The earth formed new shapes under the breaching volcanic eruption. Ash shot into the sky as it peaked. More oozed out of the side, expanding our new battleground.

    I felt larger than before. My head moved in a way that somehow looked down upon the waves and forming island. The lava gushed all around, forming thick rivers that meant almost nothing. My mouth dripped hotter liquid, if such a thing were possible.

    YOU DARE?

    It questions. I snort and pull my head back. It deserves to be looked down upon, as it had so many other creatures. Weak Pink Meat humans may be, this creature has not known of the same simple lessons I did. Beware arrogance, for arrogance leads to death.

    I sniffed and leaned over. The warmth of my stomach dribbled like fiery drool. It scalded the creature. My claws dug into its body, no longer unable to find purchase. They were larger than before, many times larger.

    My claws dug in harder. I placed a back foot on the creature¡¯s midsection and raked. Its guts poured out, filling the air with a muffled foulness.

    The leviathan heaved to whip its tail at my head. I managed to block with the wounded wing. It crunched and I bellowed in pain. More flaming liquid flowed from me. I felt the leviathan¡¯s thrashes increase. Its life ebbed away. My hind foot raked again, and sank into the leviathan¡¯s belly where liquid sloshed.

    Its surges of motion shook everything, but the earth already rumbled. I could almost pick out the differences between shakes caused by the enemy¡¯s movements, and my own trigger of Wylde¡¯s power.

    My senses struggled to make sense of our surroundings. People spoke in the distance. Wolves cried to each other. Humans picked up leaves and created poor masks to block the ash. They were indistinct as the island still burned.

    Parts of the shore were heavily saturated with water. I couldn¡¯t feel anyone in the multi-floored jail that had been my temporary home. The lack of sensation confirmed my feelings from earlier. They¡¯d evacuated.

    I cast my senses farther away. The small party consisting of Leo, Stacy, and Deborah sat huddled on a beach under armed guard. Dozens of men carrying high caliber guns watched over an entire shoreline of prisoners. More people were arriving every minute, while an equal number of cars drove away at high speeds.

    Even there, the earth rumbled.

    ¡°Do you see that fog?¡± Leo asked. ¡°It goes on for miles.¡±

    ¡°Smells,¡± Stacy muttered. ¡°Like rotten fish and ash. Do you think¡­¡± she trailed off. ¡°Do you think he beat that thing?¡± Stacy¡¯s forehead sloped as if she struggled to remember the monster.

    ¡°There were creatures in the fog,¡± Deborah said. ¡°An ill omen. I don¡¯t see the Agent.¡±

    ¡°It looked like giant monsters. The kind my mom used to tell me stories about. But we couldn¡¯t see them this far away, could we? It must be our imaginations,¡± Stacy¡¯s voice peaked while her pulse quickened.

    The monstrous sea serpent thrashed under my claws. Fires sizzled and sputtered. The ocean floor we¡¯d once sat on had become a second island, next to Atlas. Could they see it from the mainland?

    Could they tell how large I¡¯d become? Did they see the red flaming claws piercing through the fog like a lighthouse beacon? I felt like fire incarnate and wanted someone to notice.

    Its head whipped around. Long thin lips drew back in a snarl. I snapped at its face to keep it in place. More drops of lava dribbled from my mouth onto its skin. Holes burned into the creature¡¯s flesh. Impossibly huge muscles twitched uncontrollably.

    Shut up and die. Sea Slug.

    That was a rude response. Tal had taught me better. He wanted me to respect worthy foes. This had been the toughest fight of my life. Not the longest, though it certainly felt drawn out. Even now I still heaved for breath.

    That new voice twisted into my mind.

    JOR-COUSIN. I NAME YOU. KIN-SLAYER.

    It projected the words. The other voice in the back of my mind snorted distastefully. This defeated Leviathan may have scales and size, but we were not the same. We were not related. I had only one like me in this world and they¡¯d been lost in the void.

    I snorted. Steam billowed. My tail turned and dug long spikes into the dying creature¡¯s body. It didn¡¯t have the strength to protest. These childish actions provided no release for budding anger.

    I am not your kin. You unbalanced Sea Slug. Hunger personified. Worthless. Base. Abomination.

    The way my mind said abomination startled me. My ears flattened and mouth pulled tight. The ground hissed as the earth finished its violent thrashing.

    KIN-SLAYER

    It whispered again. The flopping motions slowed to a crawl. My arm ached and body shook as muscle strain took a toll. The heat in my stomach still raged and my mind struggled to stay whole. With each passing second exhaustion pulled at me but my body cried out for more.

    I could burn down the nearby island and keep up this strength. Nothing could ever challenge me or threaten to take away what belonged to me. The earth would give me more, if I beckoned. Fire and a line of lava that would erupt and trail along under me. I could crack the tectonic plates with sheer force of will and Lacey¡¯s powers.

    Who could stop me? The Gods were dead. Muni and Brand had said so. The greatest threat I¡¯d ever known lay beneath me, gutted and weakly gasping. I embodied fire, took it into myself, and I could take anything I wanted for the rest of eternity until the world had nothing left to offer.

    WE ARE THE SAME

    It fixed me with a lax eye. Water gushed and wavered. It was as if the leviathan¡¯s body continually oozed layers of flesh made of bloat from living in the sea too long. The smell fouled the air, mixing with steam vapors and silt.

    No. You are dying. I am fire. I took your life.

    YOU WILL SEE

    Something pushed my head. Thoughts that weren¡¯t my own. Familiar in how they came, and annoying. My vision blacked out and senses narrowed as another dozen memories rushed in. Unwanted and useless.

    I pushed the thoughts away with a curl of my claws. The leviathan¡¯s body unclenched as it fell to the side and stopped moving. I glared at the dead worm at my fingertips and sighed. My tail lashed slowly, knocking over what remained of the landscape.

    Kin-Slayer. What of it? I¡¯ve no true kin.

    They¡¯d been lost. My failure had cost the only blood relationship I could have possibly had. But this time I¡¯d won. I¡¯d proven myself the most useful monster.

    My chest panted. The single breath sent fresh burning liquid to the rock where it sizzled and cooled. Ocean water still swirled around the island. Waves could be felt in the distance, cast off by the last few tail thrashes of the leviathan.

    They would reach the shore and flood that small area. Boats would dash to pieces in the harbor. My small family, away from their home, would drown during the aftermath of this great battle.

    Home.

    Before it really registered, my enflamed wings were already beating a path home, back to the shore I¡¯d left behind. Back to a small part of the only family I had.

 Prince In The Tower; Chapter 23â€“ Powerâ€™s Price

    I¡¯d observed a number of behaviors over the years. Action came easier when people didn¡¯t stop to think. Simply deal with the problem, make a choice, take or give.

    Consequences came even swifter and with far more bite. Power¡¯s price could be a heavy burden. Women who chose to be wolves sacrificed. Wolves couldn¡¯t bear children, were tied to a pack, with sleepless nights during which they prowled.

    I did not envy Stacy. She¡¯d chosen to be what she was and still got a difficult deal. I¡¯d decided to fight that creature, against sane reason, then subjected myself to an overwhelming power that reshaped the earth and pushed back the ocean.

    Even now I flew, high on borrowed strength from a creature who devoured others like kindling so she could survive.

    The ocean boiled. Fresh steam billowed in droves, swamping the ocean. I took another breath and unleashed more flame from my innards, attempting to vent the pressure.

    My wings beat in long slow flaps. The air struggled to keep me aloft. I flew close to the ground, unable to bring myself as high into the sky as I longed for.

    I did not envy Kahina and her responsibilities to her household. Having a family who relied upon one person to hold it together must have been hell. What did Roy feel when I¡¯d left? Or Lacey? She¡¯d been right to be mad at me.

    Killing the leviathan had done something else. Not only had it pushed thoughts at me, but impressions along with it. Memories floated by in the same haze I¡¯d experienced before when recalling the Sons of the Mountain, dancing in their combat practice.

    I could feel parts of the dead monstrosity¡¯s life. It¡¯d woken here, mad and hungry, alone and tired. It roamed the seas, looking for something.

    I sucked in another breath and blew out fire, pushing back the water. It hissed and steamed before boiling off my too hot skin. The brief flinches of water brought clarity.

    Days and nights passed in flicker. Fish grew smaller, or the creature¡¯s perception grew larger. The hunger remained, gnawing hard at the creature¡¯s belly. At mine. I knew those feelings, those cold lonely nights where the world felt wrong.

    It was searching for others like it. Kin, family. Like I had before hiding away.

    Terror filled me. I¡¯d been searching for someone left behind. The messenger person had said some went mad walking between worlds. What if I¡¯d just killed the very person I¡¯d sought for decades? What if I¡¯d really killed the closest thing I had to actual blood relations?

    We¡¯d been completely different.

    The moon¡¯s reflection caught me. I glanced to the water and saw myself. Large wings cracked with unhealthy red. Veins shone like liquid magma. Something like napalm dripped from my mouth. The edge of my long jaw had become stockier, like blocks instead of the smooth ridges they had been a day before.

    Lacey¡¯s power had changed me. I couldn¡¯t say it was for the better. Had the leviathan¡¯s power changed it? My father¡¯s memories held no answers.

    I breathed out flame again, to purge the world of my reflection. My wings beat in a struggle to go higher. A wall of water loomed ahead. It slipped lower still as my constant assault upon the ocean played havoc with water levels.

    I couldn¡¯t tell how much ocean we¡¯d burned away. I couldn¡¯t tell how much had been displaced during our battle. Every eddy banged and pulled against my senses. There were too many swirls to account for them all. The leviathan¡¯s power and my own ignored natural laws.

    ¡°Do you guys hear that?¡± Stacy asked from a million miles away. She cocked her head to one side and glanced up.

    ¡°Something large moves overhead,¡± Deborah said. ¡°It¡¯s hidden by the fog, but you can see where the air sways. Red that doesn¡¯t belong to the sunrise.¡±

    ¡°Oh no. Oh no. That¡¯s Uncle Jay.¡± Leo stood abruptly. He ran for the guards, yelling in a panic, ¡°Someone give me a phone! Please! I need to make a call.¡±

    His words fell on deaf ears. The guards waved guns at him.

    I pulled back my senses and focused on the road ahead. Wings beat, muted and heavy. Miles passed.

    Ahead lay home. At the end of dozens of cords were the people I¡¯d gathered. I could finally return to them, as myself. Older, maybe wiser, and triumphant for our cause. Bottom Pit would be my only refuge. There were no others left. Muni couldn¡¯t hide me again, not like before.

    I needed rest.

    Wylde¡¯s power burned off within me. I struggled against my desire to call forth more flame. Liquid seeped down elongated cheeks and trailed off. Pounding deep in my chest echoed in my head as the power sought an outlet.

    I couldn¡¯t relax and let it go but tried anyway. With each mile my control slipped a bit more. The wreckage from my battle lay behind, half a county away in a few slow breaths.

    My wings carried on. The other voice in my head grew drowsy. Miles passed by where I drifted in and out. I woke to a pain in my wing. Material sloughed off and ripped behind me. A skin, or extra weight, lost across the distance behind me. My tactile senses reached out briefly and felt the odd material left behind. Smooth, porous, almost like an ash imprint of a lizard¡¯s skin.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    Rain poured ahead. Thunder rolled through the sky, accenting the downpour. I didn¡¯t need to the light to see, but the jolts served to keep me slightly aware.

    The world grew larger. I found more strength to carry on. Every mile another few bits would flake away. Each one made the stormfront I¡¯d been flying into more apparent. I blinked, then closed my eyes entirely and relied upon extra senses to keep from crashing.

    Rain pelted giving my senses a dull perspective. Words from my father, about water giving us clarity, slowly came to mind. I had no strength left to worry and struggled on. I knew, with water¡¯s gift, this flight would end with my face in the dirt.

    Clarity didn¡¯t help. I hoped by the end I¡¯d find someplace safe to rest. Passing out amid the ruins of an Order of Merlin base a second time would be a huge risk.

    Father Thomas. He¡¯d known of the leviathan. He¡¯d known where I ended up. The Order would be out there, waiting for signs of my continued existence. My body felt heavier than ever as the realization set in. I¡¯d decided to fly over land as a giant winged creature.

    It was too late. There, ahead, was the city I¡¯d left. A highway below me had cars along it. Heavy rain should obscure most images. People never looked up.

    Must reach safety. Home. Must stay aware. Danger everywhere. Pink Meat and guns. Will tear weakened hide.

    I struggled to stay coherent. The leviathan¡¯s memories were pushed back. Others took their place. Then I sat on solid material rubbing my fingers against wet cement. Rain poured in this bit of past.

    This remembrance came right before I¡¯d submerged myself in the wanderer¡¯s lifestyle. Daniel and I stood on the rooftop of my apartment complex. Julianne¡¯s bar could be seen just over the edge.

    ¡°Listen, man.¡± Daniel patted me on the shoulder. ¡°There¡¯s a chance this could all go horribly wrong. The Order of Merlin could find you. Some Hunter who doesn¡¯t know who they are could feel your power. Or maybe you do too much for a girl. Or elves gut you like stuck up assholes.¡±

    I laughed, a short, half felt bit of mirth.

    ¡°Man. I¡¯m not joking. I know your weaknesses: strong women, your stupidity, and shiny objects.¡±

    ¡°Hey,¡± I said.

    ¡°You¡¯re not stupid, stupid. You just¡ªmake stupid choices. You can¡¯t help it any more than Tal and Roy can help constantly being at odds. Or those girls you rescued being airheaded and very, what¡¯s the polite word¡­¡±

    ¡°Promiscuous.¡±

    ¡°I think that¡¯s the biggest word you¡¯ve ever said,¡± Daniel responded with an elbow jab.

    I rode out the brief indignity, suppressed my inner grumbling, and nodded. The girls Daniel meant were those I¡¯d brought back over the years. There were a lot of them, and they weren¡¯t ignorant. They simply enjoyed partying a lot and were easily lured into the bedroom. Energetic was a kinder description.

    ¡°So while you¡¯re under, I¡¯ll be trying to get everything in place. Me and a few others, we¡¯re dedicated to making this work. But if that day comes, when you end up on a news channel or something we can¡¯t stop, then we may have to be enemies.¡± Daniel glanced down and swallowed. ¡°If the council decides you¡¯re better off dead.¡±

    I thought back to the train yard from so many years ago. A month of childish hunger, a complete sense of abandonment, and loneliness. Daniel had simply bullied past all of that. If it weren¡¯t for him, I would have been dead of starvation or killed by police for being essentially feral.

    The world wasn¡¯t kind.

    ¡°I won¡¯t hold it against you,¡± I said. Daniel could have killed me a thousand times over. He¡¯d been there since the beginning. Tal, Roy, Julianne, and even Kahina, all came later. They were all secondary.

    If there were still gods, then maybe they¡¯d taken pity on me by making sure Daniel had such a kind soul. The years had made him harder, as they did to all of us, but he still struggled against insane odds to keep everyone alive. Even making friends with a monster like me.

    I don¡¯t think many people could have taken that route in life.

    ¡°I know you won¡¯t, man. But I don¡¯t want that. It¡¯s why we did all this. Not just to find your family. Not just to stop evil creatures from killing humans while others remained oblivious. We¡¯ve been operating in the shadows¡ª¡± he shook his head. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ve been operating and Muni has just wiped people¡¯s minds. Sorry, man, sorry. I know you have no concept of stealth.¡±

    I shrugged. He was right.

    ¡°But we¡¯ve been building you up so you¡¯re far more valuable alive. I can only hope when that day comes everyone else will see it the same way.¡± He rolled his eyes and bobbed his head. ¡°Assuming we don¡¯t all die in an alley somewhere. I mean, I¡¯ve trained for this but we¡¯re going next level here. Super ninja spy stuff, man. Deep deeper cover.¡±

    Even if we did survive, the threat of sacrificing me to start the world over, would never go away. Elves would freak if they learned a creature like me still existed. My kind were a symbol of every single atrocity their forefathers had committed. The Sins of the People was not a publicly shared tale. Imagine the outrage of finding out elves could wipe out everyone by putting me under the knife. Or that humans could wipe out all the other races.

    I¡¯d been trying to deal with the truth for years. Maybe that¡¯s why none of my relationships had been serious until Kahina. The looming fear. Cancer patients probably felt the same way.

    ¡°Maybe you should just kill me,¡± I said quietly.

    ¡°Nah, man.¡± Daniel actually teared up. ¡°I can¡¯t. What kind of friend would I be?¡±

    ¡°A smart one. One willing to give everything for the peace.¡±

    ¡°Well. I¡¯ve got to draw the line somewhere. Even if the council demands, I don¡¯t know if I could¡­¡±

    Now he had me misty eyed and I didn¡¯t like it. A growl escaped as I worked to shake off the ache in my jaw.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, man. I won¡¯t tell anyone you know how to cry. And you sure as hell won¡¯t tell anyone either. Because you won¡¯t remember for a long time,¡± he said.

    I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. There were no perfect words for moments like this. None of my father¡¯s guidance spoke of showing appreciation to another being. Obedience was assumed. Roy and Tal didn¡¯t believe in the words ¡°sorry¡± or ¡°thanks.¡±

    While I mused, I felt the quick motion of Daniel wrapping something around my wrist.

    My mind clouded over. The last words I heard were, ¡°But if someone has to bring you down. It¡¯ll be me.¡±

    Then I felt pressure against my face and neck jerk to an abrupt halt. Water poured and the earth stayed firm. I reached out with one arm while struggling to retain awareness.

    The world didn¡¯t look right. Moments mixed together. Under my outstretched claws the leviathan died, but it had already passed. On the ground of a metal filled scrapyard I lay, gasping as my life was taken away.

    What had happened? I¡¯d been flying then assaulted by the past. A memory triggered by something I¡¯d felt or seen.

    In the now, I lay upon cement, in a train yard and gasped. Daniel stood in front of me. He shook his head and smiled weakly.

    ¡°Guess I can pull the trigger.¡± Daniel lifted his chest slowly with a deep breath and fidgeted with a large barreled sniper rifle. ¡°Sorry, man,¡± he said.

    Am I home?

    The other voice in my head whimpered from confusion. Daniel raised a hand to his mouth then whispered. The piercing noise barely registered.

    People moved. Their bodies blurry against my senses. Bits of fire lingered, leftovers from the power I¡¯d taken from Lacey. The entire scene reeked of sour sweat and metal. Like the first time I¡¯d come to this world.

    I wondered, as blackness came, why my chest hurt like hell and legs refused to move.