Black Gate: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 4 (23 page)

Bran scowled. “You think the Queen and the First Circle, the House of Judgment, would want anyone to remember this? Their exalted Queen Sora, the Queen who won the Thousand Years War, as a ruler who sacrificed her own son for power?”

Raiden scoffed. “No. But they’re fucking Immortals. Surely some of the bastards alive today were around when all this was going on?”

“I’d bet they all know. It’s probably the white elephant in every room. But who’s going to publicly go against the reigning Queen and her Angelus Mortis?” Bran bent over to pick up a small shell from the beach and threw it into the waves. “They fucking know.”

Teagh agreed. “They must know. The Gate knows. The Queen knows. Angel’s Fire and Darkness. They were to be in perfect balance.” The Gate had whispered the tale to Teagh countless times. Shown him images of the faces who’d made the deal. The Queen herself, Queen Sora, had been one of the first to be turned to ash when her son went mad.

“What went wrong? How did we end up with Triscani?” Raiden wanted answers. Teagh didn’t blame him. Raiden carried the curse of the Gate, was a Forbidden Son.

“Many Itarans refused to sacrifice their sons to eternal service of the Gates. A civil war erupted between the Queen’s family and some of the others. Since the Queen’s family line were the only ones to make a blood oath to the Gate, their females were the only ones to receive the gift of Angel’s Fire, and their sons the only ones to receive the dark gifts.

“When it became known that the Queen’s line produced only sacrificial sons, none of the Itaran men would give them male children. Only daughters were born for decades, and the few sons who were already alive either died in the civil conflict, or had no idea how to cope with their new power. Each son was supposed to be taken to the Gate to receive a soul stone, a direct link to the Gate that would siphon energy from them and help sustain the Gate’s hold on the darkness.”

“Let me guess? They didn’t take their sons to the Gate. Didn’t get them soul stones.” Bran’s words were commentary, not questions.

“No. They did not. And their sons went mad. Lost control of their power. Became what we call the Triscani.”

“But there couldn’t have been many. A few dozen? A hundred?” Raiden’s blades appeared and started spinning as he thought aloud. “The Immortals don’t exactly breed like rabbits.”

Teagh sighed. “No. They don’t. And the Itaran men have complete control of their bodies. Even if they would mate with the Queen’s line, they refused to give them male children.”

“So the women seduced human men, like my father.” Raiden’s disgust was plainly written all over his face.

“A few of them, yes. But most of the Triscani soldiers are the sons of half-bloods. Born to those who had no idea what would happen to their sons. The higher ranking Triscani are Immortals, or true forbidden sons. The Queen’s own son went mad and turned her to ash. Her successor also refused to honor the agreement, and made male children in her line forbidden. Since that time, nearly all sons born to the Mater Mortis have been half-bloods, and executed at birth.”

“Or hidden and raised in secret, like the King and his twin brother.” Bran added.

“And like me.” Raiden looked up suddenly and opened his arms as Mari walked into them. He held her close, but spoke to the men. “Okay. So where did the soul stones come from then? And where did you get the one that you gave to Mari after I healed her?”

“The few male children who served, in the beginning, were given stones. Their stones were, and still are, the only soul stones in circulation. The stones were retrieved from the beheaded remains of their original owners.”

Mari gagged and pulled the white stone from her pocket to stare at it. “That’s disgusting.”

Teagh agreed. “And dangerous. When its original host dies, the stone’s ability to trap and hold energy remains, but its link to the Gate is severed.”

Bran frowned at him. “Why did you never tell me any of this?”

Teagh allowed his regret to show in his eyes. “The knowledge changed nothing for us. I did not want to give you false hope.”

“You could have asked the Gate for a stone and put it into Ajax. Being linked to the Gate would have been better than leaving him locked up. At least he’d be sane.”

Teagh shook his head. “I did.” Bran’s eyes rounded in shock and Teagh reluctantly told him the rest. “I placed a stone within his chest a few years ago, as soon as the Gate revealed its sad tale to me. It did not help our cause.”

“Why not? Why wouldn’t it take all those Triscani souls he carries and feed the damned Gate?”

“I have been pulling evil from his physical body for centuries. The stone I placed in his chest did nothing. The stones are not linked to the Gate, they are not active and the Gate has not helped him. I do not know why. I’m not convinced anything will help at this point. Even if we could get our hands on ten or twenty stones and place them in the King’s chest, the Darkwalkers were meant to be hunters of evil and protectors of mankind. But the King was already insane when I placed the stone within him. He may be beyond saving. His mind may be gone.”

Raiden protested. “Well, evidently he talked to Katherine. Told her his name and that you two bastards were the ones who imprisoned him.”

Teagh didn’t like the sound of that. “The Triscani are still capable of communication, Raiden. I’m not surprised that he spoke to her. Doesn’t mean he won’t kill her the first chance he gets.”

“We have to do something.” Raiden looked as frustrated as Teagh felt. They’d done what they could with Ajax when he’d turned into a Triscani. The King was too powerful to let go. They couldn’t kill him without risking that they’d lose the upcoming battle with the Triscani. For centuries they’d both believed they’d find a solution, a way to save their King. But they were running out of time and options.

“We have to move him, you know that. We can’t allow Droghan to have access to him. I’m going to kill that Immortal bastard. Cut his head off and piss down his throat.” Bran threw a couple more shells into the waves. “But I don’t know where else we can keep Ajax. He’s too damn dangerous.”

“Yes. He is.” Teagh’s head ached just thinking about it. Their friend, their brother, and he’d not only lost his Queen, his mind and his freedom, but to discover that the bastard Droghan had been tormenting him? It just wasn’t fair. The King had saved all of them, ashed over a hundred of the Triscani scum before he’d lost his mind. He deserved so much better.

“Well, we only have a couple weeks to figure something out, or they’re going to take out the whole damn planet.” Raiden finger combed his hair again. “Maybe I should get one of those stones, start hunting and turn some of those Triscani fuckers to ash. Give the Gate a snack so it’ll leave Katherine alone and buy us some time.”

“You have no way to activate the stone.” Teagh protested the idea. “It would also place Mari at risk.”

Mari wrapped her arms around Raiden’s waist. “I assume, since you didn’t kill these guys, that they had a logical explanation? And you’ll fill me in on all of this later? And we can trust them, again?”

Raiden kissed her cheek. “Yes, amata mea.”

Mari smiled. “Good.” She turned to face the other two men. Her long black hair shimmered with silver and blue highlights in the moonlight. She was still as beautiful as ever. Short, feminine, and ripe with curves. But she didn’t tempt him as she had in the past. Teagh found he’d developed a taste for tall, willowy and strong.

Mari’s gaze was too bright. “This all sounds fascinating, guys. But we have a teensy, little problem.”

Teagh looked behind her and saw that the path that led to his patio door was empty. His heart skipped a beat and dread turned his feet leaden in the sand. “Where’s Katherine?”

Mari wiggled a bit and bit her bottom lip. “Weeeell, that’s kinda what I came to tell you. She’s gone.”

Chapter Eleven

Katherine knelt on the cold metallic floor and wondered what to do next. She’d called his name, several times. Poked his shoulder with her finger. Shaken him.

Nothing.

Was he in some kind of stasis? A coma? A deep hypnotic trance? How the heck did these Immortal guys do this kind of thing? And how bizarre that the inside of a transdimensional black egg would look more like the inside of a polished, stainless steel thermos? Gave a whole new meaning to the term “genie in a bottle”. Her life had gotten so damn weird she actually wondered, for a few seconds, if there really was such a thing.

“Ajax?” She knelt over him now, determined to roll him over. She gripped his massive shoulders and pulled with all her might, rolling the giant Immortal onto his back. His left shoulder landed on top of her thighs and the chains rattled ominously, their clinking rattle too loud in the small space.

How was she supposed to get him out of those damn chains? There was no key that she could see, and no door either.

Shut up, Katherine. One problem at a time
.

“Ajax! Come on. Give me something, here. Wake up.” He slept on and she reached over to brush a long strand of dark hair from his forehead, lowered her voice to a conspirator’s whisper and leaned in close enough for her lips to brush his ear. “Come on, Superman. A lot of people are looking for you.”

One second he was unconscious, the next he held her trapped against him in arms too strong for her to break. And he bit her. Tore into her arm and shoulder like a rabid dog.

Katherine cried out and screamed at him to stop. Her blood was a slimy, oozing mess that covered his lips and chin. The warm liquid ran down her chest to soak her shirt and bra. The sterile air in the chamber was suddenly sickly sweet with the smell. He paused his attack to roll his cheek in it, lapped at her blood like a cat licking cream.

What the hell?

“Ajax, stop! Don’t you remember me? I’m here to help you! What are you doing?”

Her soft plea caused him to recoil and he shoved her away. Dark green eyes trapped her in his shocked gaze. He took in her injuries and looked down to see the blood coating his chest. Regret and disgust shined from his eyes and he held out a hand in apology, the chains sliding ominously against the hard, cold floor when he moved.

“I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to hurt you.”

His apology had come out a gargled mess of words she barely understood, as if he hadn’t used his vocal chords in a long, long time. The words held little weight when his mouth and chest were already covered in her blood. Then the prisoner whispered to himself, “Ajax’s Mate. What have I done?”

She crawled away from him and summoned the Gate to come fetch her. Ajax’s Mate?

No wonder this didn’t look like the inside of that stupid black egg. She was somewhere else entirely. Trying to rescue the wrong man. She placed her hand over her deltoid to try to stop the bleeding where he’d taken a particularly nasty bite of her shoulder. Shame filled his eyes and she felt sorry for him. But she couldn’t deal with another Immortal problem. Not today. “You’re not Ajax.” The Gate opened a portal behind her and she leaned back, more than ready to leave. The bites hurt like a son of a bitch.

“No. Please. I’m sorry. I didn’t know who you were. I thought you were an enemy. Ajax is my brother.” He held out his hands, an entreaty for her to stay. To listen.

“Oh, my God! There are two of you?” Katherine looked around once more, inspected the metal room, the manacles, and the thick bolts that linked him to the wall. “What is this place? This is not where I meant to go. Why are you here? Where is Ajax? I must find him.”

“I don’t know. I’m sorry I hurt you. Please? Please help me.” The Immortal held out his hand, obviously afraid she was going to leave him to rot in this cage. And she was. At least for now. He’d survived God only knew how long. He could wait another day or two for her to get her shit together and come back for him. Scratch that. She’d free Ajax and the badass Immortal King could come and get his brother himself.

“I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to go. I have to find Ajax.” Katherine pushed against the smooth wall and slid up to stand before him, just out of reach. “I’ll send someone for you, if I can.”

The Gate pulled her through and Katherine cursed the sting of her bleeding wounds as she scolded the entity for sending her to the wrong place.

The source.
The Gate communicated with her in images, showed her the D.N.A. in her body, and his, the man in the box. They did, indeed match.

How? How was that possible? The D.N.A. was supposed to belong to Ajax.

The Gate heard her question and showed her the image of two unborn babes linked to each other in the womb.

“Twins?”

The Gate agreed, relieved that she understood.

“Okay. Then take me to the
other
one.”

Almost instantly she stood before the odd-shaped cage. The Gate, eager to please and happy she was staying, opened a doorway in the prison for her this time around, like a gentleman holding the door on a first date. She thanked the entity and stepped inside.

This was more like it. The inside of the egg was about the size of her living room back home, and looked like a small cave with black walls. Two soft lights glowed with just enough light for her to make out the man’s face, kind of like looking across at her date just before they start to play the movie in a theater. A well-worn chair rested against the wall next to a small table stacked with books and magazines. What she could only describe as a hospital bed took up most of the space. Metal bars crossed it and the man lying face up on the bed looked exactly like his brother…except his skin was charcoal gray, nearly black. Covered to his waist by a soft blanket, he was about the same size as his brother. Big. Built. He was still gorgeous, he just looked more like a stone statue than a real man.