“No. Thank you,” I cut her off but did it gently. “I don’t mind the stares I receive here, dressed as I am. What I do mind is being wrapped in white.”
“Well, I certainly don’t mind if you don’t.”
I stared in surprise, the difference from her Walker on this subject putting me off balance.
She stood and glanced around the table. “Would anyone else care to join us?”
Back from a decent meal, which did include the most delicious French silk pie, with only Mr Damon and Mrs Damon accompanying me—the rest declining for various business reasons—Mr Damon led Isolde and I back into the conference room. I stopped and stared at the pile of luggage in one corner of the office. The One, Reese, and Roselle were already inside the room.
I grumbled, “Isn’t that a little presumptuous?”
“Not at all,” the One murmured quietly, his back to me. He sat on the couch facing the dark windows, appearing to be reading from a book. “I like to be prepared.”
I glanced at Roselle. “Tell me some of that is yours and Reese’s, and not all his?”
Roselle stared back at me, cool and collected. “We’re not friends, Ms Jules, no matter the relationship you may have had with my Walker. You and I have barely said a few sentences to each other, so please don’t imagine to know me.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, watching her face closely. “That was just polite conversation, but it’s good to know the real Roselle has a stick up her ass.” With that, I nodded once and moved around the haughty expression she gave me to peruse the different books at the end of the room. I had only seen a study like this in King Collins’s office. It was weird that he and the One may have something in common.
I found a small, ancient book on Shadows and very carefully pulled it out, delicately opening the creaking front cover, merely to shriek when the damn rickety thing flew into the air when the One’s voice spoke quietly behind me. Breath coming in gasps, I muttered, “Shit.”
I jerked around, my head back, following the soaring book.
But I banged smack into the One, my hands flying to his bare, flexing stomach.
A jolt of stars unlike I had experienced before crashed through my mind, a force I couldn’t pull away from. The tidal wave of power took me under, and the rip-tides twirled me in a rush of recollections incomprehensibly in fast-forward. The first memory was of me, sick and racing into the study to try to convince the Rulers not to make me attend dinner with the other spirits—where I met the Walker Leric. Every subsequent memory or thought, the real and the spelled, I’d had of him or any of the Walkers was crashing through my mind in a breakneck burst. The memories gushed all the way through to breakfast this morning and me arriving at the Temple. Then suddenly the power was gone.
I groaned with illness, my head still spinning, unable to keep my body from going utterly limp. I barely noticed when the One gripped me around the waist, keeping me from falling. His voice was gruff as he barked at someone, “Get back. I’ve got her.”
Feeling ten kinds of nausea from that fucking ride and unable to say a damn thing, I didn’t argue when he gently held me and sat my person on one of the conference room chairs. He placed the left side of my face on the cool marble before releasing me. I kept my eyes shut against the swirling, jumbled mess of vertigo.
But I could still hear their conversation as I inhaled shallow breaths.
“Well?” Roselle asked.
“Everything she told us is true,” the One spewed. I heard the definite menace in his tone that had been absent since I arrived here. “Every goddamn bit of it.” Something shattered in his wake, and he growled, “That mother-fucker is dead.”
“We’ll get him.” Roselle’s voice was instantly soothing, yet clipped and affirmative. “You know we will, so you might want to sit and calm yourself.”
“Christ, Roselle,” he muttered. “I don’t need to be coddled right now. I need a fucking knife in my hand and the bastard’s throat embedded on it.”
“How the hell did this happen?” Reese growled quietly, closer to me and pissed the hell off. “How did we have our essence stolen without any of us knowing?”
Roselle muttered, “We obviously slipped somewhere with distraction or drinking or sex or sleeping, who the fuck knows, but the point is, we became too lax and let a psychopath take a part of us to play with in his own demented time.”
I tried blinking my eyes open, listening to Reese and Roselle argue heatedly about becoming too sloppy in their vigilance. I stared at the bookshelf, blinking repeatedly until the freaking thing stopped spinning on me and the books remained upright. My stomach settled, and I placed my hands on the table, gently pushing myself to sit upright on the chair. The book I had started to look at was in front of me, along with a glass of water. I blinked until my gaze landed on the One’s profile. He stood staring out the dark windows, not participating in the discussion between his commanders.
A hundred foul names to call him rushed through my mind. I said not one.
I sipped from my glass, glaring…but a kernel of respect for the man flared to life.
Because he kind of reminded me of…myself.
His actions were what I would have done were the situation reversed. We were not about to just blindly trust what others said, knowing when to fight dirty, and doing it.
His eyes flicked in my direction, then back to where he stared unseeingly through the window. “Are you feeling better, Ms Jules?”
“Yes.” I took another small sip of my drink.
He made a simple statement on a small growl with no apology. “I like to be prepared.”
“Yes, so you’ve said.” I sat my glass down. “But should you ever do that again, when it’s not warranted, I will hurt you.”
Roselle paused in her speech, glancing at me. “You put your hands on him.”
I tapped my fingers on the table. “I did say warranted, in case you missed that part unless, as well as that stick up your ass, you’ve also got a hearing problem I need to know about?”
She stared for a long moment, and oddly, her lips twitched. “An ass issue is enough without adding the ailment of a hearing problem, don’t you think?”
Unbidden, I huffed with a chuckle. “I’m kind of digging the hot-and-cold vibe you’ve got going on.” I nodded once. “It suits the first in command.”
“Thank you.” Prim words, then she was back to arguing with Reese. They were not really the cutesy couple their Walkers had been.
I flicked a finger at them, asking Mr Damon, “Have they always argued like this?”
His brows lifted with a slight teetering of his head. “Pretty much, yes.”
I hummed quietly then took another drink of water, my stomach completely settled now. I ran my fingers through my hair. “Do I look like I’ve been put through the wringer?”
His lips quirked. “No, although I have heard his power can be…uncontrollable.”
I snorted, placing my glass on the table. “Everyone should try it sometime.”
Dry words. “I think not.”
I did like this man, the One’s real father. “Well, it’s about time to make my call, so if you could quiet the boisterous couple I would appreciate it.”
“Quiet,” the One ordered, again with simple words. “Both of you.”
And beautifully, they both shut up.
“That works, too,” I muttered, letting my Core flare. My eyes glowed as I waved a radiant hand in front of my face. This time I tried what Reese had mentioned, just asking for King Collins. My screen flared neon blue and the sound of familiar voices in the background could be heard. I asked, “King Collins? Are you there?”
The voices instantly died down. King Collins asked, “Caro?”
“That would be me,” I mumbled. “Are you decent for viewing?”
He chuckled quietly. “Yes.”
I eyed the screen, unsure of how to bring in the video. “Hold on. I’m having technical difficulties.” I glanced around the screen to
the spirits staring at me. “Reese, you didn’t tell me how to make it go regular.”
Mr Damon answered with a bit of amusement. “And that would be Reese’s biggest hang-up in life, never finishing anything.” He sighed, but with a smile. “Just finish calling.”
“Oh.” I blinked at him. “I guess that was a no-brainer.” I turned my attention back to the screen and blew the stars into it, calling to King Collins. The screen abruptly showed all I had asked for. Sitting in one of the Shifter living rooms, everyone was there. I grinned. “I did it.”
“Can I touch it?” asked Elder Farrar instantly, standing and coming toward the screen. “This is really ingenious.”
My eyes widened and a tiny squeak emitted from my pinched lips—I was more than a bit freaked for him if he did, but unable to say so.
Intelligently, he stalled. “Actually, I don’t think I need to touch it after all.”
“Or you could, and we could all get a good laugh out of whatever made her face scrunch up like that,” Elder Jacobs murmured, chuckling unobtrusively. But his hilarity halted and he glanced at me. “Hey…I…um…” For the first time, I watched him stutter. “Is there…uh…I would very much like…”
It was Elder Farrar’s turn to laugh, vaguely pointing a finger at him. His humored gaze held mine. “He wants a dose of the protection you gave us.” Golden eyebrows rose. “He heard from someone how amazing it was.” He leaned forward, mock whispering, “Don’t do it, Caro.”
I laughed outright at the cross expression Elder Jacobs gave Elder Farrar.
But I quickly cut off my laugh when Queen Cooper asked, “What are they talking about?”
My lips pinched.
I swear there was the longest pause in which faces quickly blanked, no one looking toward her or King Collins. Which meant I could make the pretty good guess that they all knew they were together-together somehow.
“Caro?” Queen Cooper growled after eyeing everyone. “What do I need to know?”
“I can’t say anything, as you know,” I stated with calm words, covering for my King, who was all kinds of flustered and barely able to keep his face void of emotion. “But I can say a few of them acted a bit drunk or high for a small while.”
More like an hour, but whatever.
“Oh.” Queen Cooper flicked her golden locks over her right shoulder. “That’s not so bad.” She glanced at everyone like they were crazy. “I’m not exactly innocent, people, I can be told things like this.”
Elder Farrar quickly jumped in, creating a distraction. “Caro…” He grinned extra slowly. “Did you like the questions I wrote for you?”
My jaw dropped. “You did that on purpose?”
He shrugged a shoulder. “I thought you could use a laugh.” He held up a finger. “But I do endorse quite a few of those questions.”
My brows lifted and I spoke dry words. “Yes, we all need to know where he got his nipples pierced.”
A few of their eyes popped wide and they started chuckling.
Elder Farrar held up his finger, stating, “If you found that out, we would know who he trusts with sensitive body parts.” He nodded as if he were a genius and the group of Rulers around him were idiots. “Good information to have.”
I waved my hands and explained, “We are being listened in on, by the way.”
“We know,” they all pretty much said at once, still chuckling.
My brows puckered. “I did call for a specific reason.”
King Collins smiled. “We know that, too. You want to ask if the One can come here.”
I blinked, my gaze darting to Elder Farrar, my eyebrows rising a bit heatedly.
“Now, now.” Elder Farrar chuckled at my expression. “Don’t give me that look. I told you this morning I can’t alter time. If I knew the One would be coming to the Manor, it is neither here nor there.” He waved a hand at their group. “They figured it out on their own once King Collins told everyone you wanted to talk with us.”
I rested back on the chair, staring at them pointedly. “And the verdict would be? Since you’ve all had time to discuss it?”
Elder Zeller asked, “We actually want to know why you would allow it.”
The answer to that was simple. “I believe they want to kill the bastard as much as we want to.” A shoulder shrug. “Plus, it’s the stipulation from the One. It’s what he wants in exchange for a name they have of the individual responsible for this.” I cleared my throat harshly. “Thanks to the questions I did ask, which were my own.”
“Nicely done,” Queen Ruckler murmured, nodding her head at me in one of her rare approvals. “But we’d also like to ask the One a question before we make our decision.”
“Understandable.” I peered around the screen and crooked my finger at the One, then moved my chair back a smidgen to give him room. I bent and picked up Isolde when she yapped at me from the ground. I held her close to my chest and petted her head as the One moved around the side of the table. He leaned over and placed his hands on the table in front of me, but he still gave me access to view the screen and also, I noticed, gave me plenty of space.
The One gave everyone time to analyze him before he stated simply, “I’d first like to say, I’m sorry for any hurt and anguish this asshole inflicted on all of you. Especially Ms Jules. Secondly, I’d like to say that if you should let me and my two Commanders into your home, we will help you find him, though I cannot promise I won’t fight for dibs to kill him. And lastly, I want to thank you for your love, kindness, and guidance that you’ve given the spirit Elemental under your care.”
Every single one of them blinked for long moments.
Finally, King Collins stepped forward to stand closer to the screen. His gaze flicked to me, holding there. “You’re sure about this?” I knew he was asking more than what he said, but I still nodded—although I wasn’t entirely sure. He turned his regard back to the One. “We have no questions for you. You did exactly as we needed from you. But it stands to say that while you’re in our home, you treat everyone here with respect and courtesy, because honestly, with what we’ve been through, someone may just lose it and kill you merely because you look like the bastard.” He stared steadily at the One for a long moment before his brown eyes came back to me, and he waved a hand. “You can shut it off, Caro. We’ll see you at home shortly with your guests.”
I waved my glowing left hand and cut my power off. “Well, you’ve gotten what you want.”
The One pushed off the table, lifting abruptly, and paced away. “Not yet, I don’t.”
No, I didn’t believe he had.
Because I truthfully thought he wanted the bastard dead for this.
I glanced at Mr Damon. “The name, please.”
He lifted his brows. “I’ll tell it to my son. When he’s there and safe, then he can tell you.”
Ah…he was ticked that King Collins had threatened his baby.
The One peered out into the night again. “They have plenty of reason to be confused, with what this man did to them.” He shook his head. “It’s not their fault.”
“It’s not yours, either,” Mr Damon countered.
“Is it not?” He tapped his lips lightly, his profile majestic in the dim light of the stars. “It began with us, as Roselle correctly stated. He wouldn’t have had the opening he did through to Ms Jules if it weren’t for me.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Mr Damon reiterated. “You are not the wicked inside this spirit. That is whose fault it is. His. Not yours. Not mine. Nor any of the others who had Walkers. Or any of the Royals outside the Temple. It is his fault. Focus your blame accordingly, and you’ll be more clear-headed, son.”
The One turned sharply, moving toward the luggage. “We should go now and meet them while they’re all together. They’ll feel safer in their numbers.”
With little to no fanfare, the four of us made our way through the Temple after the One had talked to his father quietly for about ten minutes. I didn’t miss how the One shielded
me the entire time from the gawkers. On the dark beach, as I gave a private wink at the gaping Guardian I had spoken with when I first arrived, Reese placed a hand on the One’s shoulder while gripping Roselle in his other arm. Tristan stepped a paw on the One’s bare foot.
And he peered at me while I stared at his nose. “I’ll take us directly there.”
My lips pinched as I stared at his outstretched hand.
I shook my head calmly. “I left from there, so I don’t need your help on this.” I paused, then I added, “Thank you, though.” His hand gradually dropped. I opened my Core and pulled myself and Isolde back home to the Elemental’s kitchen, blinking at the afternoon sunlight pouring in through the windows. I breathed in the scents. “Home sweet home.”
Introductions went smoothly, the One, Reese, and Roselle all very professional. And also sympathetic in their greetings. It helped that Queen Ruckler and Elder Merrick both covertly sniffed and gave them their scent approval—the spirits apparently not smelling of the dead. Tristan was testy though, barging through all the Rulers and Elders, knocking legs and stepping on feet as he growled at everyone to get out of his way. Until he got to me at the back of the Ruler’s group and started twining his way around my legs.
Queen Ruckler lifted her eyebrows. As I was knocked to and fro, trying to keep a grip on Isolde so I didn’t drop her, she stated, “So the real Tristan really does like you.”
It was a statement, and I yelped as Tristan started bumping me forward. “Yes, which I said the first time you saw the other one.” I grunted again when he bumped my butt with his head none too gently, still working me forward. Understanding where he was pushing me, I griped behind me quietly, “I’m with the other team, Tristan.” He didn’t seem to give a shit, knocking me too hard one last time. I shrieked, doing a windmill with one arm as I started to fall, Isolde tumbling out of my other hand.
My momentum jerked to a halt as a swift, muscled arm scooped under my stomach, my feet no longer on the floor, and a fast tanned hand caught Isolde’s whimpering tiny frame. I grunted, the wind knocked out of me from the hold against my belly. Isolde instantly started growling quietly, but the One, the man who had caught us both, crooned softly, “Be quiet and just give me a second with Ms Jules, then I’ll put you down.”
Chosen Fool (Forever Evermore Book 5) Page 18
