Vengeance (36 page)

My throat clenches
at the thought.  I liked her.  I guess that just goes to
show that sometimes you never really know a person.  

“What about
Marius?  Which side was he on?”

Coen shrugs.
 “Neither.  He was unlucky enough to be caught by the
wrong people at the wrong time.  My guess would be he is in one
of the mines.”

“They are
gone,” I whisper, turning my face away.

“What do you
mean they are gone?”  Coen sits forward.  “How
is that possible?”

“Your buddy
Hendrix collapsed the mines.  Thesa barely made it out with her
life.  She said thousands of workers were killed.”

Coen leans back and
places his head against the wall.  “He must have found
it…”

I glance to Bastien
to see if he knows what Coen is speaking of but he shrugs.  “Found
what?” I press.

Rolling his head to
the side, Coen drills me with a gaze that makes my skin begin to
crawl.  “He found the source.”

Bastien’s grip
on my shoulders tighten as he pulls me closer under his arm. I go
willingly, needing to draw strength from him.  “The source
for what?”

“Not
for what.  For when.”  Coen amends.  He
scratches at the edge of his jawline, absent in thought.  I
can’t help but wonder if he has forgotten that he has changed
form and no longer has any facial hair.  “Buried in the
depths of this planet is a spatial anomaly.  We do not know when
it was formed or even how.  Only that it exists.  My kind
have spent thousands of years searching for it.  Some believe
that it is the source of all life.”

“Is
that why you are here now?” I ask, leaning forward but I
quickly realize that my stomach hinders that sort of movement now so
I sink back into Bastien’s embrace.

“I am here to
protect it, of course,” he answers as if it were the most
obvious explanation in the world.  “The power trapped
within the core of this planet is enough to destroy countless worlds
if it were ever to implode.  Having the anomaly in such close
proximity could be disastrous if such an explosion should occur.  It
could end our entire timeline, make it is if we never even existed.
 Hendrix was a fool to think that we could just bury it and
remain safe.  This is not something that can simply be ignored
or forgotten.”

“And what
would happen if the core of this planet were to explode near the
anomaly?” I ask.

Coen looks very grim
when he answers.  “I honestly don’t know.”

“How is this
even possible?  Shouldn’t something like that be out in
space instead of buried in the heart of a planet?” Bastien
questions.  His skin feels delightfully cool against mine and I
realize that my fever has begun to return.  Pressing my hand to
my belly I feel an immediate kick and smile.  At least I know my
children are still safe.

“Illyria had
to alter matter and stop time in order to save your life, Bastien.
 Any change, whether to the past, present or future affects our
timeline.  Things that should have happened no longer will.  You
surviving that attack set a new path of events into motion that no
one could have predicted because none could have known Illyria was
capable of such a feat.  I believe that when Illyria pushed on
the veil of time she did more than affect time but space as well.
 That is why Hendrix is here.  He discovered this power
source.”  Coen turns his gaze to me and then dips low to
stare at my hand.  “I believe that you possess the ability
to shift that anomaly, to move it to somewhere safe again.”

“But I can’t
do that,” I splutter.  “Even if I had a clue how to
do that, this stupid necklace is preventing me from using my
abilities.”

Coen smiles.  “I
was not speaking only of your abilities.”

My hand tightens
over my belly.  “My children?”

He
nods.  “You were once told that there has never been
anyone like you before, and this is true.  The same will be true
for your children.  Although Eamon may not possess any unusual
qualities beyond his visions of the future, he does share a bloodline
of great power.  One that is shared with Bastien as well.”

I turn to look at
Bastien and see his gaze is fixed firmly on Coen.  “How do
you know that?”

Coen smiles.  “I
am a seer.”

I slowly shift my
gaze to look at Coen and realize why he feels familiar to me.  “You
are Kaladan?  Sariana’s brother that was supposed to be
trapped on Murilian?”

His smile deepens.
 “I am not her brother.  I am her as well.”

“Whoa,”
Bastien is careful to ease me back against the pillow before he rises
to his feet.  “So you were Coen in my army, then you met
us in the woods to reveal our destiny as Sariana and then you went to
Calisted as what?  As Satal?”

“No.”
 Coen shakes his head and he offers Bastien an apologetic smile.
 “I was Callum as well on the outer rim.  I felt that
being your second in command would be a good position to be in to
watch over you.”

Bastien
blows out a breath and runs his hands through his hair.  “That’s
just messed up.”

“I told you
that my role is to protect and that is what I have done.  You
were never alone either, Illyria.  I have been watching you
since before you were born.  I was among your group once you
arrived on Earth as a man you knew as Thomas.”

I blink, shocked by
this admission.  Thomas was one of the elderly men that our
group cared for after the parents were killed.  He was kind to
me as a child.  Took care of me when my parent went on raids.
 He was the one who comforted me first when they did not return
that last time.  “That’s why you were so emotional
before.  I couldn’t figure out why you cared so much when
I discovered that you weren’t truly Bastien.”

He nods slowly.  “I
knew the path that your life would take and knew that you would need
guidance along the way.”  He hangs his head low.  “I
am truly sorry that I did not see the good in Hyde sooner.  It
is my fault that you were in danger from Hendrix.”

Bastien stops
walking and turns back to the man.  “Did you bring her
here?  Is that what all of this has been about?  To solve
this anomaly thing?”

Coen hesitates
before he looks up.  “Illyria cannot see into the future
for one very important reason...there is no future.”

I suck in a breath.
 “How can that be?”

“I once warned
you that you have the power to destroy worlds.  You also have
the power to save them.  I led you along this path for this
moment...to save countless lives.”

“And how does
she do that?” Bastien asks.

Coen
looks away and I feel my stomach clench.  Bastien closes the gap
between himself and Coen and seizes the man by his neck and lifts him
off the ground.  As Satal, he would have been difficult to lift,
but Coen is smaller.

“That I do not
know.  All I could foresee is that she had to come here.”

“And
my vision?” I ask, looking at up into Coen’s burnt orange
eyes.  “I saw the snake people attacking Earth,
slaughtering millions.  My dead husband Aloysius sought to stop
that from happening, but then I come here and discover that the snake
people are gentle.  Was my vision false?”

Bastien loosens his
grip on Coen’s neck so that he can answer.  “Not
false.  A different timeline.”

“Bastien,”
I whisper.  “Let him speak.”

I can see his
reluctance when he slowly lowers Coen to the bench and steps back.
 His muscles ripple along his arms as he tries to control his
anger.  

Coen
rubs his neck.  The red marks from Bastien’s fingers
linger on his throat.  “When you saved Bastien’s
life the night Aloysius died, you altered the future.  You know
this because that was the last time you could see your future.  I
had not thought it possible, but you proved me wrong.”  He
offers me a wry smile.  “Sariana did say that if anyone
could do it, it would be you.”

“No,”
Bastien growls.  “You told us that.”

Coen dips his head
in agreement.  “True.  The point is, the prophecy as
I told you was true...at that time. Illyria changed all of that.
 These people are a peaceful people, but under Aloysius’
rule they could have been deadly.”

“Aloysius?  I
thought he was trying to prevent the war,” Bastien frowns.

“He did, the
first time around.  The thing you have to realize is that we are
dealing with multiple timelines.  Aloysius went back in time.
 Illyria altered time.  None of this was ever supposed to
happen.  It certainly makes being a seer a very trying job.”

I glance at Bastien.
 “So if this is all true then why did I still marry Eamon
if the prophecy no longer applied to my fate?”

He turns to look up
at Bastien with a knowing gaze.  For a moment I watch Bastien,
seeing the internal battle taking place before his shoulders slump
and he sinks onto the end of my bed and buries his head in his hands.
 “I did that.  I made the choice for you and changed
everything.”

Coen nods.  I
can see the movement from the corner of my eye but do not turn to
look at him.  “You did what you thought was right,”
I tell him.

“As do we
all,” Coen inserts, “but that does not change the fact
that I could no longer see your future.  That terrified me.
 Though I could not see your future, I could see that of your
children.”

I stiffen and turn
to look at him.  “They have a future even if I do not?”

He dips his head
with enough hesitation to send a ripple of apprehension up my spine.
“At the moment they do.  I can’t tell what will
happen after today.  It all goes black.”

“So we are all
going to die?”

“That, sadly,
is an answer that I do not have.”

Bastien wipes his
hands across his face.  “And what about Eamon?”  I
whip my head around to look at Bastien, startled to hear my husband’s
name.  

Coen’s smile
doesn’t fully form and I get the distinct feeling that Coen
cares deeply for Bastien.  If it is true that he has been
following us all this time he must have grown attached.  “He
is on his way.”

“Eamon?”
I gasp.  “He’s alive?  He survived the attack
on the palace back on Calisted?”

“Yes,”
Bastien nods.  “He survived.”

I nearly whimper
with relief at the thought.  Eamon can be here to see our
children born but the instant the thought forms I feel a stabbing in
my chest as Bastien turns to look at me.  My lower lip begins to
tremble as I press my fingers against my mouth.  “I can’t
do this again, Bastien.  I can’t pretend that I don’t
love you.”

His pained smile
breaks my heart.  “I know,” he whispers.

Tears fall freely
from my eyes as he shifts to pull me into his embrace.  I wrap
my arms about him, desperately clinging to him.  How can I
endure this again?  Two times is not enough to appease my cruel
fate that it would demand a third farewell?

“Bastien,”
Coen calls softly.  Bastien presses his lips against my forehead
once before he looks up.  “Do not forget what I told you
before.  Though Illyria may have changed the need for the
prophecy, part of it still stands.  Only one of you can
survive.”

I cling to Bastien
as he slowly nods.  “I know,” he whispers, his arms
tightening around me.  “I have always known.”

“No,” I
cry out, refusing to let him pull away from me.  “Get
out,” I shout at Coen.  

I don’t even
hear him rise.  I barely recognize the sound of the door closing
as my heart shatters within my chest.  The sound of Bastien’s
resignation terrifies me.  I know that he believes he will be
the one to die, to sacrifice himself for me as he has done countless
times before.  I can’t let that happen.  I changed
fate once.  I will do it again if I must.

“I need you.”
 I cling to him, pulling him as near as my swollen belly will
allow.  Tears dampen my hair, plastering it to my cheeks.  “I
can’t live without you again.”

Bastien lifts his
hand and gently dries my face. “I hate how much I love to hear
you say that.”

I
laugh and press my cheek against his shoulder.  His arms envelop
me and I breathe him in, capturing this moment in my mind, sealing it
away where no one, not even Kyan, could wipe away that memory.

“I won’t
lose you again,” I whisper, curling my fingers into the fabric
of his shirt.  “I can’t.”

“You’re
married.”

“I know.”
I clench my eyes shut, feeling suffocating guilt rise up within me,
knowing that with all that I am I wish that I were free to be
Bastien’s.

“Eamon did
nothing wrong,” Bastien says, speaking over the top of my head.
 His voice sounds pinched and fresh tears begin to fall.  “All
he has ever done was to love you.”

“I know,”
I cry again, “but he is not you.  You are all I have ever
wanted.  Even when we were apart I dreamed of you.”

Bastien’s
hands tighten as he pulls away to look down at me.  “You
dreamed of me?”

“Yes,” I
whisper, staring up at him through damp eyelashes.  “That
is how I knew you.  I think a part of me was never allowed to
stop loving you.”

Bastien swallows
hard and glances away.  I reach up and gently pull his face
around.  “You have always been mine and I have been yours.
 Our love may not have been easy, but it has always been worth
fighting for.”

His eyes clench
tightly shut.  I can feel him fighting to remain in control of
his emotions, desperate to do the right thing but this once I wish
that he would let go.

“Kiss me,”
I whisper.

Tortured eyes look
down upon me.  “If I do I may never let you go again.”

“Would that be
so terrible?”

“No,” he
groans and plunges his hands into my hair, drawing my face to his.  I
can feel his hands quaking as he holds me, staring deeply into my
eyes.  “There has never been anyone like you, Illyria.  I
have never loved anyone so entirely before.”