The Lost Queen Book 2 - Kehlani

43. Chocolate

Then the elevator dings. Everyone looks at it, nobody got announced. Dipak has his sword out and is halfway to it when a man I haven't seen since I was a kid steps out. I stand up and stare at him. He stares back at me. "Kehlani?"

"ELEK." I scream and run to him. I jump and he catches me.

He spins in a circle. "Wow you grew up. What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here? This isn't even our planet."

"This is my planet."

Then another man comes in from the elevator. He smiles at me, "You remember me?"

I run to Alden and wrap around him. I'm never letting go.

"I'll take that as a yes. And I'm not taking your mate from you. You and Elek were kids. He didn't belong there. And you're his mate's sister. That would not have been good."

Elek gives him a dirty look. "We were kids, Leo. Nothing was going to happen between us."

"I see in probabilities Elek. You know this. Once that number started to rise, I couldn't chance it." Leo sits down. "I'll fill everyone in. In one of Elek's past lives, he was a commoner in a village on another planet. Well, his father, in that life, put him in sword lessons at the castle. I'll give you 1 guess who was in his class." They laugh. "Yep, it was fine really. They got to be friends. He was always attracted to her, but we can understand why. She looks a lot like Nadine. He, of course, had no memory of Nadine during that lifetime. But once she turned 340 or right around there, I had to pull him out. She was starting to like boys more and noticed him too. We couldn't chance that."

"Why did you leave me like that?" I stare at Leo. I know he could have helped me.

Elek answers, "We checked on you. Leo made it, so your brother couldn't get back to you. The only person who could have brought down that wall was your mate."

Leo smiles. "I couldn't alter the timeline. I couldn't make him be born earlier. All I could do was make sure nobody could hurt you anymore. Your body was safe. You weren't even there. I made it, so you felt like you closed your eyes 1 day and opened them the next. I did what I could for you."

I don't even know what to say. "Thank you."

"I wish I could have done more. Even 1 minute like that is too long." Leo turns towards everyone else. "Elek is ready to come back."

Elek turns green and nearly falls over. I grab a chair and drag it over. I make him sit. "It's not that bad. It'll be fine. Remember the time you had to fight with the guard?"

He chuckles and wipes his eyes.

Dipak stands up. "Can you step out, so we can deal with this please? And summon Nadine here."

"Yes sir."

I give Elek a hug, "It'll be ok." Then I walk out with my people and some of Dipak's people.

Tobias takes me, Alden, and Victor down to the cafeteria. I run for a table and pull Tobias and Star with me, "So what happened?"

Victor puts his hand up. "Wait, I want to hear too. But I need that." He takes off for the food. Alden follows him.

10 minutes later, they sit with us. Alden puts something in front of me. "Chocolate cake." He hands me a fork and winks.

I take a little bite. Then I try to shove the whole thing in my mouth.

"NO. BITES WOMAN."

I nod fast and yell, "BRING ME CHOCOLATE EVERYTHING."

"Do you want to hear what happened?"

I nod fast and shove a chocolate cookie in my mouth. "That's enough chocolate." I shake my head at Alden. "You're going to get sick, baby."

I shake my head again as a lady hands me something. "It's a s'more sweetie."

I eat it and stare at Tobias.

"I'll do the short story. Elek and Leo were Nadine's mates too. But Elek went off thinking he was a God. He killed Leo for being weak." My eyebrows shoot up. "Well, the actual Gods took Elek. They made them work off that life and the mistakes. All this time Elek has been gone trying to get his head right or something. Leo will never return as Nadine's mate though. He became a God. So now, Elek is up there asking if he can come back, I guess."

"Are they still mates?"

"Leo can break the bond if she wants it broken. It's up to her."

"Wow. Now I see why he was green." I shove something else in my mouth before Alden can grab it.

Star nods. "I saw some of it. Leo was a guy from the village. He was mates with Pinky. I'll explain later. But Elek went crazy with power. He thought he was a god or something. He said Leo was weak and killed him."

"What do you think she's going to say?"

Tobias smirks. "No idea. We've never been close. She wouldn't discuss 1 of her mates with me. I got along with Nik the most. Once Elek realized he was her mate, I got along with him. Before that, he was threatened by me. I did flirt with her though."

I nod fast, "Who wouldn't? Look at us."

They chuckle.

"Elek really hurt her." Star shakes her head. "I don't know either."

"Try this sweetie." The lady smiles at Alden. "It's not chocolate."

I take a bite then try to shove it all in my mouth too. I get the majority of it before he gets it away from me.

Then Mason and Tye sit with us. Mason smiles, "Are you trying everything?"

"I HAVE NEVER HAD CHOCOLATE BEFORE. CHOCOLATE MORE."

Alden stands up. "NO MORE."

"Oh, you have to try this." Tye runs off.

I nod fast. I'm a little jittery but I'm ok.

"Nadine doesn't know what to do yet. Dipak's going to pull everyone back in a few minutes."

"Where's Elek?"

"He's still up there. He's a disaster, but nobody even knows what to think about this. It might take her years to figure out."

A brain walks up to the table. "A decision has been made. You may return."

"Or she might figure it out right this second."

We laugh and stand up.

"COME HERE."

I run for Tye. He hands me a bowl. I take a bite and I swear my insides do a happy dance. I shake and shove more in.

He cracks up laughing. "It's a brownie sunday. Chocolate brownie, chocolate ice cream, then chocolate fudge on it. What's your favorite part?"

"FUDGE... BROWNIE."

He laughs and leads me back to everyone.

Alden tries to take it and I try to stab him with the spoon. Mason shakes his head. "We do not stab people over food."

"MINE." I get in my own elevator. Tye about falls over laughing. Mason shoves him in with me.

Tye and I get to Dipak's office before they do. I'm standing in the middle of the floor shoving the rest of my dessert in. Dipak, Elek, Leo, and Marcus are staring at me.

"I've never had chocolate. Or ice cream." I shove it in faster as the elevator dings.

Tye tries to take it and I try to stab him. Marcus stands up and crosses his arms. "We do not stab Tye."

I nod fast. "MINE."

"You're going to get sick."

I shake my head and shove the last bite in as Alden takes the bowl. Tye laughs and goes into another room. He comes back with a wet cloth and helps me with my face. Then I get my hands. I'm ok.

Tobias looks at Tye. "She's sitting by you."

I sit down and shake all over. I can not sit still. Tye leans in and whispers, "If you're going to get sick, aim for the empty chair beside you." I nod fast.

Dipak stands up. "Elek is not staying in the castle, but he is free to go to his parents or wherever he wants. She wants more time to think. She didn't think he was ever coming back. So she prepared for that."

I jump up. "HE CAN COME WITH ME." Then I turn and throw up in the empty seat.

Tye jumps up and grabs my hair. I throw up 3 more times away from him, then I start sobbing. I puke again, then he picks me up. "Relax. You're fine." Alden tries to take me and I throw up on him.

"There's a washroom right around this corner." Tre takes him over. "Let Tye deal with her. He did it."

I cry and hold onto Tye. He rubs my back. "You're alright." He sits down and I start to fall asleep. He shifts me around, so I'm not straddling him.

I hit the ground and it jars me awake. I pull myself up. Everyone at the conference table is staring at me. I plop down on the couch and cry. Alden picks me up and I wrap around him.

"You're ok. You needed to sleep that off. You ate too much chocolate. We tried to tell you." He goes back to his end of the table. I straddle him and snuggle in. I feel his fingertips on my back and out I go.

I wake up to Nadine yelling. I don't catch what it is about. I sit straight up on Alden and stare at her. "I DON'T WANT HIM HERE."

"HE'S NOT HERE, WOMAN."

Tre stands up and holds her. "He said he would give you space. He's going with them, but he wanted to see his parents first. He'll give you time baby." She hugs him and seems to calm down.

I turn around and stare at Dipak. "Sorry I threw up everywhere."

"It's alright. We were hoping you threw up on Tye."

I shake my head fast.

"Yea, we know he gave that to you. Instead, you got Marcus, Alden, and Tre. Tye dodged all of it."

Tye smiles. "I didn't know you'd throw up or how much you had eaten before that. I wouldn't have shown it to you right then. It is good though. I knew you'd like it."

"It was amazing. I want another 1."

Alden kisses my head. "Let's try real food first."

I hear the elevator ding and peek over as Tre carries Nadine out.

I snuggle Alden. "She's sad."

Dipak smiles. "Yea she is. She's confused too. She doesn't know what to do. Did anything ever happen between you and Elek? Did you kiss or anything?"

"No. Leo wasn't wrong though. We were friends for 10 years. Then 1 day Elek was suddenly cute. I don't know why." They chuckle. "A week later, Leo came and took him. I was sad then. Elek was my first friend. And he was gone. Leo said he had to though and someday we would see each other again." I shrug my shoulders.

Tye nods. "Are you really ok with him going with you?"

"Yes. He's still Elek. He's my friend."

"Is he still cute?"

"Everyone at this table is sexy as hell."

They crack up laughing.

Alden kisses my head and smiles.

"Alden is the sexiest though." I wiggle into him and they start arguing. I stretch. "Did the boys run off to screw yellow people again?"

Marcus answers, "They went to grab some stuff for Tobias. Then they are going to Elek's parents' castle. He hasn't seen them in quite a few years."

Alden pats my butt. "We should probably head over there. If he wants to stay with his parents for a while, I'm not going to argue. I'll let you know. We only wanted to make sure you understood the parasites. That was different, and I didn't want your group to get caught with them unaware."

"Thank you for that. That was something we've never heard of. I don't even think Tre knew what to think."

I laugh at Dipak. "Did you see him keep pointing at stuff then shaking his head?"

He laughs. "Yea. That was funny. He kept opening his mouth to say something, then he would shake his head."

Marcus stands up and leads us to the elevator. "It takes a lot to get him confused."

Alden and I make our way to the shuttle.