White Fire: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 5 (13 page)

For decades she’d been told Ajax would be that man. Not that he’d be in love with another woman. Not that he’d have a Marked Mate before he’d ever met her. And not that he’d reject Emma’s Mark twice, and run back to his ex the moment he heard Angeline was on Earth.

She deserved the fairy-tale ending. She deserved happiness. She deserved a man who would put her first, want only her, love only her.

Emma grabbed his head in her hands, her palms to his cheeks, and pulled him from his exploration of her neck until they were nose to nose, eye to eye.

“Stop. I’m sorry.” Emma knew he’d see her tears, but she didn’t care. “I can’t do this with you. I just can’t.”

She held him still and pressed her lips to his softly, both tribute and farewell to a little girl’s dreams. This was her goodbye. She knew in her heart that once she had her stone and the battle was over, she’d leave Ajax behind.

There was no way the few Timewalkers and Darkwalkers in Florida could defeat several thousand Immortal Triscani. They’d be hunting the Triscani for years. Perhaps Ajax would go back home to Itara, and perhaps he would not. Either way, she just wasn’t enough of a masochist to be around him day after day, year after year, for an eternity of constant reminders. She refused to torture herself that way.

Perhaps she’d seek out Nicodemus and his Darkwalkers. The hunt for Triscani was one mission she could sink her teeth into, and after tomorrow there would be enough Hunters on the loose to keep her busy for a very long time.

She’d get her stone, fry as many Triscani as she could at the Crux, and leave this messy pseudo-relationship behind her. Really, she should be rejoicing. She’d spent years of her childhood ranting against her fate, battling her wanderlust and trying to tame herself into a creature fit to be a Queen, when all she really wanted to be was free. Free of the responsibility. Free from destiny and the burdens Bran had placed on her shoulders from the time she could walk. Free to be anyone, do anything. Just free.

She lifted her lips and looked deeply into his eyes. He was hurting. She could see his pain and resignation, regret and desire. They all flashed through his gaze as she held him.

But there was no love there. She wanted a man to look at her the way her father looked at her mother, the way she’d seen Teagh look at Katherine, like she mattered.

If Ajax had looked at her like that, she would have tried to make it work. She would have tried to control her temper and her wild side, would have tried to be a true and proper Queen. She would have fought a million Hunters, if that was what it took to protect him. She would have risked everything.

Not once, in all the years Bran had been talking nonsense in her ear, had Emma ever imagined that Ajax simply wouldn’t want her enough to do the same.

Emma released her hold on him and motioned toward the bedroom door with her head. “If you’ll excuse me please, I need to get dressed now.”

Ajax remained silent but walked from the room, closing her door softly behind him. She had no idea what he was thinking and refused to dwell on it. She had to get that stone back from Angeline. If she didn’t, she’d never jump again. And, according to Celestina, Droghan the Immortal traitor, would cut off her head.

Even confused and hurting over stupid Immortal men, she preferred her head to be attached to her body.

Emma put all thought away but getting ready as quickly as possible. According to Katherine’s source, Angeline was at a conference for attorneys who specialized in corporate takeovers and acquisitions. No doubt she served her mother’s interests on Earth extremely well. But Emma couldn’t show up in shorts and sandals.

She pulled her go-to black skirt and jacket from the closet, rust-colored silk top and black pumps. She dressed quickly and pulled her hair up into a chignon, the stylish up-do what she hoped a corporate executive might wear. She applied her makeup sparingly and didn’t have much for jewelry, so settled on a simple gold chain necklace and small gold hoop earrings.

When she was done, she stepped back and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked settled and confident. A consummate and conservative professional. She’d fit right in with all the suits.

She considered driving up to Seattle, then decided against it. Ajax could open a portal for her, and once she had her soul stone back, he could bring her home. It was the least he could do.

Now, time to go get her life back.

<><><>

Nicodemus opened a portal and stepped into his half-brother’s private domain in the Triscani kingdom. He was uninvited, and he was fairly certain his closest brother believed he was dead. Most likely, his brother had thanked the goddess for that. He would have too, the condition he’d been in when Eli last saw him. He’d been a Triscani Hunter, lost to the rage and hunger of the souls he’d consumed, lost to the dark.

Elijah sat in a chair reading one of the latest human spy thrillers. Elijah was in for the night, his sword and armored uniform stacked neatly against the wall of his quarters. His door was closed. None would dare enter Elijah’s private lair unless invited. To do so was to risk their life. Even the Hunters avoided him. He’d ashed at least twelve of them and still looked human. Still maintained control. Barring their escaped prisoner, Prince Aron, Elijah was one of the eldest, scariest, most self-controlled bastards Nicodemus had ever known.

Elijah claimed he read the humans’ books to understand human society. Nicodemus knew he read them because they helped his brother remain sane.

“Elijah.”

Elijah set his book aside and studied him, shock rounding his eyes. Nicodemus understood his brother’s reaction. He’d felt it the first time he’d looked in the mirror after the goddess blessed him. It was the first time in two hundred years either one of them had seen his face.

“Nico?”

“Yes.”

Elijah stood and walked toward him slowly. “By the gods, what happened to you? How is this possible?”

“After his escape, Prince Aron found the Timewalkers and the goddess. Let me show you, so you can tell the others.” Elijah was in charge of the detention cells and knew Prince Aron well, knew that the prince had been tortured and tested for centuries and never broken. Droghan had wanted Aron to be the leader of his Hunters, a dark lord without equal, and he would have been, if they’d ever been able to break him. Instead he’d escaped and all of their lives were about to change as a result.

Nicodemus stepped forward and held out his arm to his older brother, skin bared to a forbidden son. It was the ultimate show of trust between them.

Elijah grasped his forearm and Nico pulled his memories to the forefront of his mind so his brother would easily access them. He relived the moments in the Colorado cave, the touch of the goddess and the dark tide of evil that had been drawn from his soul. He told Elijah of the soul stone imbedded in his flesh and shared the goddess’s long misunderstood desires and purpose for all of her lost sons. He told Elijah about the dark prince they’d all referred to as “the Unbroken”, Prince Aron, and that the prince walked the Earth with a new Marked Mate. He sent Elijah images of the beach at the Darkwalkers’ new home, and of the kiss he’d shared with Emma. It was life, right at their fingertips. A chance to live outside the shadows.

When he was done, Elijah staggered back, shock and a new and fragile hope on his face. “Is this true?”

“Look at me, Eli. Look. At. Me.” Nicodemus threw his arms out and spun in a complete circle. “It’s true.”

“I want to see it.”

Nicodemus yanked the thin cotton T-shirt over his head and turned his back so his brother could see the Mark of the goddess, the Shen, on the back of his right shoulder. And imbedded in its center, a diamond-shaped soul stone. When he felt Elijah’s trembling fingers trace its outline he looked over his shoulder at his brother.

“You must tell the others, Eli, the ones who can still be saved.”

Elijah shook his head, a frown on his brow. “There aren’t many. A hundred, perhaps.”

“I know. But the young ones, Eli. We can save the children. Tomorrow, at the Crux, tell the males who have even a spark of sanity left, tell them to embrace the dark, embrace the goddess, and she will save them all.”

Footsteps echoed in the hall outside Elijah’s door and Nicodemus made one final demand of his brother. “Come to my home, tomorrow. We will figure something out. Don’t let that bastard keep you locked in the dark.”

With a silent salute, he touched his fingers to his forehead and summoned a portal back to Florida, to his new home and a fresh start.

Hopefully, after tomorrow night, his home would be overrun with new Darkwalkers, and the Gate’s relentless hunger would be sated by those who could not be remade.

<><><>

Ajax studied the online photos of the interior of the Washington State Convention Center and chose a secluded corner to open a portal. Emma held his hand as they stepped through, and he supposed he should be thankful for small favors. This was the first time she’d come within ten feet of him since he’d backed her up against the wall with her hands buried in his hair and his mouth on the swell of her breast.

They stepped through in a back hallway surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows and a few potted plants. Emma shook her hand free of his hold immediately. Her cell phone pinged and she pulled it from her purse to check the message.

“Wow. This guy’s freaky.” Emma scanned the information moving her small finger up and down on the touch screen.

“What is it?”

“Her schedule.”

“What?”

“Her schedule.” She looked at him for a split second, her eyes darting to his lips, before looking away. “Apparently, she downloaded one of those event Apps and marked all the events she planned on attending. Whoever this super spy of Katherine’s is, he hacked her phone App and downloaded her schedule.”

“I don’t understand a word you just said. I assume this is all something to do with your telephone and computers?”

“Yes. Let’s go. When we find her, I’ll talk to her. Understand? That’s my stone she’s got, not yours.” She looked at him again and her gaze seared him to his toes. This time, she looked at his mouth and licked her lips before looking away. His cock, barely recovered from their earlier encounter, swelled and he shifted uncomfortably. He would simply have to stop looking at her. That was the only way he could honor his vows to his people and remain sane.

“I will allow you to speak to her first, but do not be surprised if she won’t cooperate with a human.”

“God, I’m tired of hearing that word.”

“What?”

“Human.” Emma frowned and put her phone back into her purse. “It’s like we’re the aliens. This is our planet, your royalness, a fact all of you Immortals seem to have forgotten.”

“We forget nothing.”

Emma turned on her heel and walked over to read the directional signs on the walls. “Yeah. You’re very good at holding on to the past. You proved that last night.” She pivoted on her high heel and held up her hand. “You stay here. You look like a freak in those clothes. I’m sure security would stop you instantly and call in Homeland Security. I’ll be back.”

He looked like a freak? He was a King. “They wouldn’t dare.”

She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, they would. So, unless you want to draw a lot of attention, fight a bunch of innocent humans, and get us both in trouble, just port out of here and meet me, in this exact same spot, in an hour.”

“You did not tell me I needed to change clothing. I would have done so.”

“I know.” With that, Emma walked away from him, her hips sashaying in a sexy black skirt and her hair pulled up into a pile on top of her head. It seemed a blatant invitation for his lips and tongue to indulge in a leisurely exploration of her neck.

Ajax shook his head and followed the stubborn woman into the throngs of humans wandering around the building. He did, indeed, draw a lot of attention, but he just glared at anyone who looked at him for too long. Soon, Emma was in a main hall, weaving her way between several hundred humans dressed in suits, men and women, young and old.

When she passed the first group she stepped behind a pillar, where only he was watching her, and vanished before his eyes.

Gods be damned. He’d thought the white fire was her only gift.

He rushed through the crowd, trying to find her, but there was too much noise, too many high-heeled shoes, too much perfume, too many heartbeats.

The little Timewalker thought she’d outsmarted him, but she forgot one very important thing…he was a forbidden son. He was a Hunter.

He’d find her, even in a crowd of a thousand human females, he’d find her. It was only a matter of time.

<><><>

Emma took off her high-heeled shoes and dumped them in the trash, then pulled a pair of soft leather flats from her purse and put them on her feet.

She rushed to the second level, not sure how long it would take the stubborn Immortal male to catch her, and she wanted to talk to Angeline alone. Girl to girl. If the former Queen of Itara had been born here, on Earth, then maybe she wasn’t as crazy as the rest of them seemed to be. Maybe she could be reasoned with. And if not, Emma would just follow her home and take what was hers.