Electus (Regnum Series Book 1)

by K. M. Link

  “I wish I had something to give you for the pain. The only doctor I know around here...” she trails off.

  “What?” Quade inquires.

  “She is not available at the moment, is all,” Tia finishes, debating on telling Quade about the situation with Javan. By law, she is required to keep everything secret. However, Tia feels Javan broke his word to her, so what would it even matter at this point. Besides, he is going to need to kill me eventually. However, Quade already doesn’t trust him. She rather not fuel the fire and let Quade confront Javan.

  They enter their hallway, Tia still assisting Quade the best she can. When she peers ahead, Tia finds Lucas attempting to open her door with his key.

  “Hey, Lucas,” she calls, startling him. “I think you got the wrong door.” She smiles warmly at his blunder. He must be just getting in from a night of partying, she thinks. If only Tia had joined everyone in drinking, her night might have panned out differently.

  “Oh, yeah, you are right. I’m not paying attention. They all start to look alike after a while.” he laughs, nervously. Lucas tries opening his own door, right next to Tia’s and shuts it behind him.

  Tia opens her door, allowing Quade enter first. “Lay down on the bed, I’ll grab something cold to reduce your swelling.” She helps him climb on top of her covers, then heads for the bathroom, collecting a wash cloth. Tia gathers ice cubes from the tray in the freezer and places them inside the wash cloth for him. As Tia passes the door, she notices it is still hanging open. She shuts it and ensures it is closed tightly.

  “Here, this should help a little,” she offers, resting the cold press on his cheek. Tia hadn’t seen him this beat up since the second event of the Electus. The day that my choices changed the course of this week. Maybe it’s better if I don’t have the right to chose anything. Apparently I pick the worst direction.

  “Thank you, Tia,” he groans, absorbing the cold wash cloth.

  “Don’t thank me. I’m the reason you even look like this right now,” she responds, angry at herself and everyone else.

  “You are insinuating I look bad, eh?” he jokes. Tia rolls her eyes, but the corner of her mouth lifts.

  “How did they capture you?”

  “Right after I met you two, last night, to hand you the potion, two men approached me outside the hotel. The one guy asked if I had a light for a cigarette. I said ‘sorry, don’t smoke’ and he kicked me in the stomach. The other guy grabbed me from behind. Next thing I know, I’m at that house,” Quade responds.

  “I should have left you out of this,” she sighs.

  “Don’t blame yourself,” he reassures her, placing his hand on her hand that is holding up the cold press. Quade takes his other hand and caresses her cheek. “I was so afraid that I would die without getting the chance to tell you...”

  “Tell me what?” Tia has a feeling she already knows where this is heading, but does not wish to refuse his chance to say it. I owe him that much.

  “That I love you, Tia. You have to know that by now, but if I don’t say it, I’ll regret it the rest of my life,” he remarks calmly, as though he planned it for days.

  “Quade, I’m sorry but...” she begins.

  “No need to say anything,” he responds. “It’s okay.”

  Tia’s heart rips in two. Now is not the time for this, she thinks.

  “Can I ask for one thing, though? Plea of an injured man,” he poses, lifting the corners of his mouth slightly.

  “Anything,” she responds, out of guilt, pain for her friend, she isn’t sure.

  “Can I have one more kiss? Just one kiss where you don’t pull away,” he requests, his hazel eyes glued to hers. Tia doesn’t speak, just moves closer, leaning in to Quade. His lips feel familiar, and warm, like his friendship. It’s sweet and short, but perfect. They release from their kiss and hold each other, for several minutes.

  “Thank you,” he mumbles, and Tia can tell he has peace about it. They let go of one another, and Tia leaves him to hold his cold press so she can start packing. Neither of them speak for quite a while.

  Once Tia is finished with putting everything away, she assists Quade with his packing. His belongings are thrown all over his hotel room. Tia refuses to let him do too much since his face is still rather swollen, and, in a way, regrets the offer.

  “One week, Quade,” she gasps, “you were only in here one week. Were the maids too afraid, when they walked in, to clean it?”

  He just smiles back at her with his usual grin, “It’s a gift.” Tia rolls her eyes and finishes searching under his bed.

  "So, is it true that you and Javan are an item?" Quade asks, finally. Tia is in the middle of throwing his dirty clothes from the Electus, in the hamper.

  "There's a lot you don't know about that,” she responds, pained by the question.

  "Like what?" he continues. Tia decides she has no choice but to spill to Quade about what happened this past week, along with what Merve told her earlier. He will make his own assumption if I don’t.

  "He's a dead man,” Quade retorts. "I can't believe that asshole. He is dead, Tia! Once I find him, that is.” Tia rolls her eyes. Never mind the fact that Merve raped her, all Quade cares about is ripping Javan a new ass hole.

  "Quade, think about what you are saying. Killing him is not an option. He is too powerful,” Tia notes, part of her is angry with Javan, the other part of her remains rational. Besides, in a short amount of time, he won her over. He must be really good at his job, she thinks.

  “Someone needs to do something about it,” Quade grumbles, stuffing his suitcase. At least I made him angry enough to help.

  "I will figure it out, just follow my lead until we arrive in Elatus,” she advises. "Until I can devise a plan, it's better to keep a low profile around him."

  Tia's chest still aches from the thought of his deceit. Each moment she recalls from this week, cuts her deeper. Every look he gave her, each time he touched her, and his kiss are all difficult to process at this time.

  "Well, does my face appear to be any better?" Quade changes the subject, sensing Tia's pain.

  "It'll pass, but people will definitely notice. I wish I could have Allison look at it. She is an amazing healer. Her I still trust."

  "How can you get ahold of her without Javan is the question,” Quade adds.

  "He made sure that I only had access to her through him. Urgh!" Tia has the desire to throw something. "I should have just drowned last night, it would have saved everyone so much pain,” she remarks through gritted teeth.

  "No,” Quade asserts, “don't you ever say that again, Conscientia Trumble. You being dead won't solve any problems. You have the inside advantage now. You know what they want. All you need to do is find a way to stop it. Find your parents, maybe that is why Osborn gave you that necklace. Maybe he realized you have what it takes to find them.”

  “Locating my parents is impossible. They went into hiding, they could be anywhere on the planet, Quade,” she rejects his comment.

  "Start with Elatus. That's where we are heading. What better place to begin,” he assures her. “Plus, they might have watched the Electus this past week. There is always press coverage on who was sold to whom. If they don't have access to video coverage, they could at least snag a paper. Maybe, they are searching for you, as well. Now they will know where to find you."

  "What if they don't want to find me?” she questions, her eyes glowing pink.

  "They will,” he answers, placing his hand on her shoulder. There is a knock at the door. Quade heads over, checking the peep hole. "It's Kira,” he remarks, opening it.

  "Hey, I just wanted to—what happened?" she gasps at his face.

  "Got into a fight last night. Some guy has issues with Regnumians, and it escalated rather quickly,” he responds, thinking on his feet.

  Kira reaches out to touch his bruises with her hand. "It looks painful.”

  "It's alright, swelling reduced,
actually."

  Kira glances behind him, noticing Tia straightening his bed. "That didn't take long," Kira scoffs. Quade peers back at Tia.

  “Oh, no, it's not what you think, she just came over to help me pack cause I'm injured."

  Kira rolls her eyes. “I wanted to speak to you in private."

  "Its okay, I was leaving, anyway,” Tia chimes in. “Have fun." She exits the room and heads next door to her’s. Tia finishes gathering her belongings, checking each part of the hotel suite. She catches a glimmer of silver on the bathroom floor. Tia picks up the necklace Javan gave her and places it in her pocket.

  Then she remembers her necklace and Mr. Tersus's hanky are still in the night stand drawer. Tia opens it up and reaches inside. Her hand makes contact with the bottom of the drawer. Tia glances inside. Her heart stops. The necklace and hanky are gone.

  Tia and Quade meet the rest of their group in the lobby at noon, just as Javan requested the night before. As they imagined, everyone notices Quade’s bruises and questions him about it. He just tells them the same story that he gave Kira, on how he was heading out to meet them for drinks when he had a run in with some guy. It was enough for Delilah, Daniel, and Nathan to buy into.

  “Do you know who it was? Did you see his face?” Nathan probes. Delilah is standing next to him, holding his hand. Tia directs a slight smile at Delilah, who gives a half-hearted grin back. She knows that Delilah must wonder what is going on after what she witnessed last night.

  “Nah, it was too dark,” Quade responds.

  “I wonder where Mr. Leporem is,” Daniel pipes up, checking the clock on the wall. It’s almost ten after.

  “It’s unlikely for him to be late,” Quade adds, hiding the disgust in his voice. Tia’s stomach knots up.

  “Maybe he meant meet him out front at noon,” Nathan offers.

  “Nah, he would have checked the lobby if he didn’t see us out there,” Daniel notes, scratching the back of his head.

  “All we can do is wait, I guess,” Nathan remarks, moving his hand from Delilah’s and wrapping it around her slender waist. She is still quiet, every now and then glancing at Tia, who is beginning to sweat. All at once, her body feels overwhelmingly ill.

  “Maybe he was out late partying,” Daniel jokes, “a leader like him, could get any woman he wants.”

  “Probably paying for some girl’s cab right now,” Nathan adds, chuckling.

  “Are you alright?” Delilah finally asks Tia.

  “Yeah, just didn’t eat anything today, my stomach...” Tia doesn’t finish her sentence, the room disappears, and all she sees is her mother in the woods.

  It’s a continuation of a previous dream. Javan Leporem just snapped his finger and Osborn disappears, revealing Tia’s mother. She doesn’t speak, just points behind Tia, who is nearly knocked out by an owl. She isn’t sure how it missed her, until she peers up and finds Javan lying on top of her. He pushed her out of the way. Tia turns back toward her mother, who opens the box, allowing the owl to enter, once more. She closes the wooden box, then smiles at Tia.

  “Tia?” Quade’s voice calls. She stirs, staring up at Quade, who is peering down at her.

  “Huh?” she moans, her mind catching up with reality.

  “You passed out, are you alright?” Quade asks her, assisting her to her feet. She nods, then glances at the clock. It’s twelve thirty. “Where is Javan? Is he here yet?”

  “No, Tia. Don’t worry about that. Come over to the couch and sit down,” Daniel commands, puzzled as to why she is referring to Javan by his first name.

  “Hey, why don’t you two go see about finding her some water?” Delilah suggests to Daniel and Nathan.

  “Alright, we will be right back,” Nathan responds, kissing Delilah on the cheek, then heading down the hall.

  “I think he is in trouble,” Tia admits to Delilah and Quade.

  “Who?” Quade interjects. Picking up on what Tia is concerned about, Delilah answers, “Mr. Leporem.”

  “Who cares if he is,” Quade retorts, still annoyed.

  “Quade, I think we are wrong about him. I just have this feeling, something is off here,” Tia responds, her stomach still in pain.

  “Where could we find him?” Delilah inquires, sitting down next to Tia.

  “We could try his hotel, but I have a feeling that is not where he would be,” Tia mentions, then remembers she has the pendant he gave her in her pocket. She pulls it out and presses her thumb on it.

  “What’s that?” Delilah pries.

  “It might give me an idea where he is,” she answers. Several minutes pass, and there is no response. The silver remains solid.

  The boys return with water for Tia. “Where is he? It’s almost one. We are going to miss our flight,” Nathan mumbles.

  Tia peers up at the door to the lobby, watching Jacob enter. Her heart sinks at the sight of him. She knows there must be something wrong if he is leaving the car. Allison follows after him, along with another man, whom Tia does not recognize. He must be Javan’s assistant.

  “Jacob, what’s going on?” Tia approaches the group.

  “I’m guessing you haven’t seen him, either,” he speaks for the first time in Tia’s presence. “He is not picking up his phone. No one has seen him at the hotel since last night.”

  Tia turns to Quade, who appears concerned. Everyone but him and Delilah look confused as to why they are approaching Tia on the subject of Javan’s disappearance. She turns back to Jacob and the rest.

  “When was the last time any of you saw him?” Tia quizzes them.

  “The last time I saw him was the other night,” Allison responds. “He had an upset stomach from indulging in a bottle of wine.”

  “I saw him yesterday, before the bidding ceremony,” his assistant adds.

  “Last night m’am, when I dropped y...when I left him at the hotel,” Jacob corrects his sentence, realizing he was not to speak of that.

  Tia knows that she was the last to see him. His frightened face still burned in her memory. He disappeared after she jumped the gate. After Merve told her Javan was a pawn in Mr. Avery’s plan, she assumed he met with Mr. Avery to inform him that she was captured. Could it be possible he was kidnapped as well? she wonders. Tia grazes the pendant, once more, with her thumb. She holds out hope he has his somewhere near by.

  Suddenly, Tia feels a warmth radiate from the necklace, etched in the pendant is a fingerprint, then the address, 1900 Grange Hill Drive.

  “What?” Quade asks, watching her facial expressions.

  “I know where he is,” Tia responds, then sprints toward the door with her bag.

  “Where?” Jacob calls behind her, everyone else following from their group. Tia shows him the address on the pendant. He stops and stares at her. “Are you sure, Miss Trumble?”

  She nods, then jumps in the back of the car. Quade crawls in beside her, Allison sits up front. The rest stay at the hotel lobby. It doesn’t take long for them to arrive. Tia takes a deep breath, hoping she isn’t too late. She jumps out of the car, walking up the path. Tia pulls out the key, unlocking her front door.

  The house is a wreck when Tia enters. Whoever was there trashed what little possessions they had. Her heart stops and she prays Edwin isn't dead.

  "Edwin!” Tia calls up the stairs, hoping he will answer.

  “Mr. Leporem!” Jacob shouts behind her, startling her. Neither one answers to their voices. They continue to search, each room even more destroyed than the last. Tia approaches the kitchen, then down the cellar stairs. There appears to be two bodies in the corner of the basement. Tia runs over to the men.

  “Edwin, Javan, wake up.” She begins to shake both of them. Their chests rise and fall, but they are unresponsive. From what Tia can decipher, they were hit over the head.

  “They can’t hear you,” a familiar voice calls from the other end of the basement. Tia turns around, detecting the man from the video last night. Immedia
tely, it all connects in her mind. Though he speaks in a more mature tone, she is face to face with Lucas.

  Chapter 20

  Tia finds herself blinking, repeatedly, at the sight of the gangly boy from Novo. For the first time since she met him, Lucas appears strong and confident. His glasses are ever present, but his posture is solid and his hair slicked back. Her mouth is dry, and her palms sweaty as he aims a gun in her direction. Could this really be happening? she wonders, frozen in place.

  “What’s the matter, Tia?” he questions her, cooly. “A little surprised to see me?” He holds up the necklace that Javan was supposed to be wearing and dangles it in front of her. “I thought this was creative of him, trying to keep you safe, thinking Mr. Avery wouldn’t find out. I suppose Javan has a soft spot for you after all. Thankfully, I found it just in time for it to bring you here to me.

  “Mr. Avery will be so pleased to know that I was the one to catch you. After you and your little friend escaped this morning, I was concerned we would never find you again. We assumed that you were smart enough to take off somewhere and hide, but no. Even after Merve feeds you the bullshit story about Javan, you still come to his rescue.”

  “So, Javan isn’t working for Mr. Avery, then?” Tia questions, backing up closer to the wall. Lucas laughs, a deep chuckle.

  “My dear, you really aren’t as bright as everyone thinks you are. I was the one who spied on you, it was my idea to use my key to sneak into your hotel room. It was my invisibility powers that Mr. Avery needed to keep a close watch. Do you realize how easy it was to use my magical skills when Javan pays no attention to his capitol’s magic tracker?”

  “Maybe he just trusts his people, unlike some leaders,” Tia spits, disgusted.

  “That is a huge deal with him, isn’t it. That stupid obstacle in the last stage of the Electus. ‘You just need to trust the person,’ what a pussy challenge.” Lucas rolls his eyes. “The only challenge this week was trying not to laugh at the sight of you two in your little romance.