Time Eternal

by Lily Worthington

  “How did you survive the Last Battle? Historical records show none of the royal family survived.” Her tone was almost detached, like a historian merely observing history. But to him, it was more than history; it was his past, his life, his being. The brutal memories of the Last Battle rushed back, and his body tensed up as if he was in a combat again.

  “That’s correct. My family did not survive, except my brother and me.”

  “How?”

  “By the gods.” He could see the confusion on her face, and he could also feel the metallic taste rumbling off Knox again.

  “The gods?” She sounded skeptical, which he actually found amusing. It seemed the more the human race advanced in their technologies, the less they remembered or believed in the creators of all lives.

  “Yes,” he reaffirmed his answer.

  She reflexively turned to Knox, consulting her partner just as she always had during their missions. The doctor’s face was perfectly still, although the taste of metal was stronger now.

  He continued. “Since the dawn of time, there have been many gods. There’re always some truth in myths and legends. It’s the arrogance of mankind who chose to forget their makers, their legacy from divine creators.”

  Knox spoke for the first time. “Which gods did you say spared your life and your brother’s?”

  “I didn’t.” Pausing and looking straight at Knox, he was weighing whether he should force Knox’s hand now or later. After all, information was always the most valuable currency in his world. And he saw no gain from doing so at this moment. “It’s not your concern which gods I serve. Just know that before any of your powerful technological advancements, pure powers existed.”

  “You expect us to believe you just like that?” Skyla snapped her fingers together, challenging his explanation. He respected her analytical mind, her skepticism of things she could not touch or see. Even after she had leaped through time, this was part of who she was, a scientist at heart.

  “The woman Knox saw in my room was a maiden of one of the gods I serve. Throughout the centuries, she has served as the bridge between my men and the gods.”

  “She was the one who healed your leg.” Knox spoke calmly, as if he was stating a fact that the sun rose from the east. Rei only nodded in agreement.

  “And this is how the gods ensure your and your men’s immortality, a healing maiden.” Again Knox spoke like he was merely stating some well-known facts.

  Skyla caught on to Rei’s suspicion too. “Knox, how do you know all this?”

  “It’s not important.” He gave her a weak smile. “What’s important is that we know what we are dealing with now, and we need to make sure our mission won’t be compromised.” He started to get up, but Skyla stopped him.

  “Wait, I want to know how exactly Rei and Sloan survived the Last Battle.”

  “I see that you’ve already found out Sloan is my brother.” Smiling a little, Rei saw no need to pretty up what he did. “I traded my soul, and my brother’s, with the gods.” In reality, it was no better than trading his soul with the devil, if there were one. The gods were just as manipulative and cruel as any of the folklore devils whose stories had been passed down throughout the generations. Yes, the devil was a big fat lie to scare people into behaving. The truth was that the gods were both good and evil. It was humans who refused to believe that divine beings could be both. Over time, people had invented Lucifer, the devil, as the adversary of their divine gods so that they could blame the inherent evil within human nature on some unseen being. Blaming Satan for leading their men and women astray instead of taking responsibility for the fact that it was, had always been, and would forever be humanity’s choice to allow evil to exist among themselves.

  “My countrymen and I held on behind our city walls for five days, but the sheer number of the Turks was just too overwhelming. At dawn on the sixth day, they breached our wall.” He paused a little. Once again, he was seeing the bloody battle in his mind’s eye. “I told Sloan to take our father, the last true king of the Serbian Empire, out of the city through the underground tunnel. But my father refused to leave his sons and royal guards behind. He fought on like the true warrior he was as the Turks poured into our city. My brothers and I dutifully surrounded our king and killed as many Turks as dared come our way.” The memory was bitter, but Rei smiled a little from remembering his brothers. “Did I tell you I had eight brothers? My parents’ marriage was a love match. My mother always wanted to give my father a girl, a princess, but only sons came out of her tiny body. She died from childbirth after my youngest brother was born.” Taking in a deep, painful breath, he recalled, “Cibor was only fourteen when a saber pierced his heart right in front of my father, right in front of me.”

  His voice turned hard and angry. “Cibor was my father’s favorite. My mother gave up her life to give birth to my youngest brother. My father loved Cibor like he had loved my mother. Seeing his youngest son dying in his arms, my father’s grief clouded his survival instinct. He didn’t know a Turk was behind him until it was too late, until two spears went through his back. That was also when the sky was blanketed by darkness, thousands of arrows were shot at where we stood. I looked up and knew it was the end. I rushed to my father, but I was too late. I saw my brothers and the royal guards all go down at the same time. I too was pinned down by the shower of arrows.”

  He turned to Skyla and spoke with such regret and intensity, “My last thought was of you. I told myself I would trade my soul to be with you again.” He raised his hand to touch her cheek, so soft and warm. He felt her tense up, but she did not refuse his touch.

  “That’s when I thought I saw you kneeling next to me.” He smiled bitterly again. “I heard you say something to me, but I could not make out what it was. I could feel the poison on the arrows was already reaching my heart. I knew I would die soon. I remember I reached my hand up to you, wanting to feel you again just like in the past, like now. With my last breath, I cried out for vengeance. That’s when I felt the fire and ice surging through my body. The intensity of the freezing pain and the scorching heat repaired my body, and at the same time, blinded me for a few moments before it was over. I blinked my eyes and saw it was not you who kneeled next to me but someone else.” He turned to look at Knox, again wanting to see his reaction but found none. Interesting. He is definitely hiding his secret.

  He turned back to Skyla. “From her pale complexion and the dress she had on, my first guess was that she was from the north. I asked her why and how she saved me. She simply told me that her masters and mistresses had plans for me. And that now I would serve them just as she served them. I was about to tell her to go to the underworld, but she cut me off, waving her hand in a circle. Images of you and Fernando di Medici came alive.” He had to stop himself from being consumed by the familiar rage every time he remembered what the handmaiden had shown him. Rei breathed in deeply before continuing. “I saw what that monster did to Elizabeth, to you. His lust for you was so perverse that he threatened not just you but your father and uncle. I saw how afraid and helpless you were, huddling in your chair while enduring his disgusting touch.” He had to hold his fists tightly so that he wouldn’t lash out at something irrationally. He continued slowly, “When you refused his groping, he slapped you so hard on your face. That was when I knew I had to live, not only to avenge my father and my people, but I must find you and make Fernando pay.”

  He spoke the last sentence through clenched teeth before he laughed softly, as if he was laughing at himself, or maybe at the irony of how events had been unfolding in the last few days. “I agreed to the bargain. Then I looked around and saw that everyone who mattered to me was dead, or so I thought until I heard a faint grunt not too far off my father’s left side. It was Sloan, and he was about to take his last breath. I turned to the maiden and demanded she save him too. Her eyes went opaque for a brief moment, and then she said the gods would only agree to save my brother if I’d agree, as the head of my house, to trade
Sloan’s soul. And that I would raise an army for them to do their bidding, without question. And that was the end of the beginning.”

  A long moment passed. His hands reached for hers. “Now you know my story. I’ve been searching for you for almost five centuries. And I’ve traded my soul with the gods to find you.” There was a flicker of pity and sorrow in her sable brown eyes. He wanted to hold her and tell her that he had no regrets for what he had given up for her, for them. Before he could say anything, Knox snorted rudely.

  “Not the whole story, I’m afraid.”

  He really wished he could send Knox back to wherever he came from. It took him great control to ignore the pointed comment. He simply stood up and reached his hand down to Skyla. “Let’s go. Sloan and his men should be back soon with more information on what happened at the dock earlier. And I have a strong feeling that Mr. X was not the ultimate buyer of the missing piece of the time machine. I know the gods. If they’ve finally let me find you, Fernando shouldn’t be far behind.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Skyla had been lying in bed for the past hour, staring at the ceiling while her mind reeled with memories of her past and her present. When Rei mentioned Fernando di Medici, she knew the past he narrated. She was there. She remembered it as clear as day. And when he suspected Fernando was part of the game that the gods were playing with them, his normally sure, confident voice was almost undone by worry, almost fear—fear that the past would repeat itself. She smiled to herself. It was such a romantic sentiment, star-crossed lovers finding each other after long centuries, facing their enemy once again. She would have loved to see the happily-ever-after ending of this love story, but she knew first-hand how sick and cunning the bastard Fernando could be. After all these centuries, he was still after her. Actually it was Elizabeth he was after, but he had no idea who Elizabeth had become, what she had become. Skyla actually looked forward to coming face to face with him again. This time she was ready to fight for herself.

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, she flipped back the quilt, put on her robe, a plain hip-length cotton terry robe in rosy purple, and went downstairs to the kitchen. She was going to make some of her mom’s warm milk with honey, hoping it would soothe her again just like it always did when she was younger, when her dreams were plagued by night terrors after her coma. The thought of her mom, her adoptive mom to be accurate, brought a wistful smile to her face. She now also remembered her life, Elizabeth’s idyllic life, with Papa in Florence centuries ago, until Rei showed up. Until they had fallen in love, until the life that she knew came crashing down on that fateful day. She considered herself very lucky, though. After her escape through time, she had found a new family who loved and protected her just as fiercely as her papa and uncle had back in Florence—albeit a new family that had been formed under a cloak of deception. She was, still, grateful for the second chance in life. The time machine could just as easily have brought her somewhere else, some other future time in which she might not have been given so much love and protection.

  Her bare feet padded through the darkened hallway into the kitchen. She immediately saw an outline of someone sitting by the rustic wooden dining table at the back where a wall of the windows led out to a tranquil garden. The pale moonlight streaming through the windows created a shadow around him. But judging from the crackling sensations now running all over her skin, it could only be one person. Rei. She should have turned around and left. Any time they were near each other and alone, her body always ended up going crazy for him, and she detested such lack of control on her part. She had been rigorously trained not to have an emotional reaction to anything for any reason during a mission, but just one look, one touch from Rei, and all her well-honed discipline went out of the door.

  She hated that someone could rattle her so easily, and she hated that she had no control of her reactions to him. But instead of running away like Elizabeth would have done, Skyla squared her shoulders and walked into the kitchen, aware his eyes were tracking her movements like a medieval dragon waiting for his prey to step into his lair. As soon as she passed the threshold of the kitchen door, excitement began to course through her veins, as if she, too, were anticipating the cat and mouse game, or in this case, the big bad dragon chasing a determined maiden. The playful thought made her tense and smile at the same time. Since when had she thought of herself in such a medieval fashion? It was funny as hell, though.

  Managing to keep her voice neutral, she said. “Sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m just going to heat up some milk and will be out of your way in a few.” Dear Lord, was that her voice? All breathy and seductive.

  “Stay.” His voice was velvety smooth. It was meant to put her, his prey, at ease, but all she could feel was the high voltage charge crackling in the air, pulling her to him. Ah, shit.

  It took every ounce of the agent to overcome the hormonal teenager inside her, to steady her hands and open the old-fashioned looking refrigerator—well, at least it was old-fashioned by her twenty-first century standard. She searched the database in her head; all TSCAA agents were taught all relevant historical trivia. The refrigerator was the newest model from Electrolux, the Swedish company that pioneered home refrigeration units in the late 1920s. It had a curved, white, porcelain-covered front and sides with metal door handles, stylish yet homey at the same time.

  While she was heating up the milk, she watched Rei out of the corner of her eye. He was still sitting there and had not spoken another word. The milk came to a boil within a few minutes, and she poured it into the mug where she had just dropped a generous dollop of honey.

  As she was turning to leave the kitchen, Rei spoke, “Have a seat with me.” His voice was firm and commanding. But he seemed to realize his tone sounded harsh, and he added, “Would you? Please?”

  Her body felt compelled to stay. Before she could censor her reaction, her traitorous legs were already moving in his direction. Giving up on fighting the inevitable, she quietly sat down next to him. For a few moments, they both sipped their drinks silently. Now that she was much closer to him, she could see Rei was bare from his waist up, wearing a pair of gray cotton pajama pants. Argh. Not helping! The warmth radiating off his body made her want to sidle up next to him like a cat on a cold winter night. The moonlight created shadows across his sculpted shoulders and muscular chest. A chest that was smooth and hairless like the Calvin Klein underwear models on the Times Square billboard. But Rei’s masculinity was pure and raw, not the least bit of contrition. Skyla had to keep swallowing the hot milk to keep her jaw from dropping and her hands from reaching out for bulging biceps, or her tongue from licking down his chest to his washboard abs.

  While her mind—and body—were imagining all the things she wanted to do to him, Rei just sat there, at ease, holding a steamy mug of something in his big hands. She and Vivi used to check out a guy’s hands first, assuming the whole thing about big hands and big feet was a good indicator of a guy’s anatomy. As soon as that thought surfaced, she groaned inwardly. Great, now she was picturing the size of his…of his… She slammed that door shut immediately. Instead she asked, “What’re you drinking?”

  “Kuvano vino. It’s a common winter drink from my homeland.” He seemed to be pleased that she was curious enough to ask. He smiled at her. “It’s a boiled red wine, with sugar and nutmeg, usually served with a slice of lemon or orange. But Hebert forgot to restock either today.”

  Skyla was not prepared for such a devastating smile from him. He was not the most handsome man she had ever seen, but he had by far the most sensual smile. It made her toes curl. She had to modulate her voice so that it would not give away how much he affected her. “That sounds delicious.” She could already feel the warm spiced wine flowing over her tongue.

  Rei nudged his mug to her. “Have a try. You used to love it.” A knowing twinkle flashed across his eyes. Daring her to accept another piece of her past, of their past.

  She normally would have turned such an offer down. Alc
ohol and combative missions could, literally, be a lethal combination. But his smug dare did her in. So she picked up his mug and took a sip. Instantly, the sweet floral aroma and the robust, hearty notes from the wine burst through the caverns of her mouth and nose. It was like drinking a piece of warm sunshine. “Hmm, this is good.” She spoke with a contented sigh and took a bigger sip of the ambrosia.

  She heard a soft chuckle coming from him, and her body responded in such a feminine way, like a bee to honey, surging in anticipation of the sweetness and pleasure to come. Her DNA remembered them being together in such contentment and happiness, even as her mind had been trying to delay the inevitable acceptance. But with each passing minute, being with Rei and remembering more of her past, her mind was slowly surrendering to her heart and soul. And at this moment, Elizabeth and Skyla were finally in accord with each other. It felt like home, sitting here with Rei in the quiet, dimly lit kitchen. It felt safe. But suddenly, as if her mind were afraid to acknowledge such harmony between them, she felt the need to probe him about the past.

  “Tell me what happened to you after you left my father and uncle’s house in Florence.”

  Rei looked surprised that she knew about his visit to Elizabeth’s family after she was gone. Not wanting to betray Sloan, she simply said, “The director told me that from Knox and Butch’s fact-finding trip.” Actually, the only things the director had told her were that her father and uncle had lived out their lives quietly after her supposed death from a fire, and that both of them continued working on the time machine. Nothing fruitful had come of it, at least nothing known to the history books. She was relieved to know that her family did not suffer further from her bold defiance of the Medici family. It was a huge relief to know that, even though Skyla had been telling herself the past did not matter anymore, she had no interest in knowing who she was, who Elizabeth was.