He opened and closed his hands. What he needed to do lay right in front of him, waiting for him to get there.
Breathing hard, he pulled out his phone and punched out a number. He listened to ringing. A fine tremor ran through him. He felt sick with anticipation.
On the other end of the connection someone picked up.
Carling said, “Hello?”
His sire’s voice was as familiar to him as his own. They had, after all, known each other for centuries.
He sounded raw to his own ears. “You were tearing me apart with your contradictions. Ordering me to do this, then that. You weren’t safe for anyone to be around. You made promises and you broke them. You were going to stay on your island where you couldn’t do any more damage. Then you left.”
Time passed. It felt like years, but it might have been mere moments.
Carling said, “Yes, I did. All of that is true.”
His stomach clenched as he waited for her to take control of him. Not every sire could do so over a phone connection, but he was willing to bet Carling could.
Instead, she said in a soft, steely tone, “When I was fighting for my life, you tried to imprison me. You tried to have me killed. You banished me from the demesne I had created.”
Looking up at the ceiling, he admitted, “Yes, I did.”
Someone knocked on the door. He told whoever it was, “I need five minutes. Don’t disturb me. I’ll come out when I’m ready.”
“No problem,” said Xavier.
Julian listened to the younger Vampyre walk away.
“Why are you calling, Julian?” Carling sounded as cool and dark as an ancient river at twilight.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry.” He was shocked to find that his eyes were stinging, and he rubbed them. He was too old for this touchy-feely shit. He gritted his teeth. “I heard you were doing well, and I wanted to tell you I’m glad. I learned a lot from you, and we worked well together for a long time. I trusted my sire to have my back, and to fight for me when I needed it. You did all of that, until toward the end when you couldn’t anymore.”
Her voice gentled. “You were my best, brightest progeny. I was proud of you.”
“I need for you to set me free,” he whispered. “I can’t keep following the old orders you gave me. Once you asked if I wanted to become the Nightkind King. I said yes, and you set me to rule in your place, but that happened over two hundred years ago. Now… it’s a leash on my soul that never goes away.”
After a long pause, she sighed. “If I try to revoke an order that old over the phone, it might not take. Rune and I will have to come to you. Is that acceptable?”
Relief ran like sunshine through his body. “Yes,” he told her. “But it’s going to have to wait until after I kill Dominic and Justine.”
“What?” The end of the word snapped like the tip of a whip. “Is that why you invoked martial law?”
In spite of everything, Julian had to smile.
“Justine tried to kill Xavier,” he told Carling. “She slaughtered her household, kidnapped Melly, tried to kill me, and now she and Dominic are fighting to occupy Evenfall, but none of that is why I called you. Melly and I have gotten back together. She’s helped me think of a lot of things in a different light, including you. And I need to be free to make real choices for a future with her. Maybe that includes ruling the Nightkind demesne, but maybe it doesn’t.” He shook his head. “I can make that decision after I turn the traitors to dust.”
Their connection grew muffled, as if she had put her hand over the receiver. Still, Julian distinctly heard Carling say, “I made that demesne. I can bring it down if it misbehaves.”
In the background, Rune said, “No, darling Carling.”
“Damn it, Rune.”
“We aren’t going to storm a castle today. This isn’t your fight.”
“Oh fine,” she snapped. The connection became clearer as she spoke into the phone again. “Call me when you’re finished cleaning house. As soon as you’re ready for us to come, I’ll say these words in person. Until then, Julian Regillus, you are free of any obligation to the Nightkind demesne save those you choose for yourself. Your future will be what you make of it, and no longer what I order.”
Did the leash on his soul lift, or did he just imagine it? It was impossible to tell for sure.
He said quietly, “Thank you.”
“Melly’s good people,” Carling said. “She made you happy, and I’m glad you and she are together again. Give her my best.”
“I will.”
He disconnected, considering.
The conversation had gone so much better than he had expected. Almost, he thought, as if Carling had been waiting for him all this time to reach out to her.