Time Eternal

by Lily Worthington

  As his men moved out, Knox spoke. “I know where they’ve taken her.”

  Rei whipped around and glared at Knox. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  “You knew all this time, and you were just here doing nothing?” It was a rhetorical statement, not a question. His chest vibrated in deep rumbles.

  If Knox knew how furious he was and how close he was to beating the crap out of him, he didn’t let on. He replied back calmly, “Her fate is not with me. Only you can save both of you.”

  What a load of cryptic crap—again! He had no time to play games. He strode up to Knox and grabbed a fistful of his thermal top. Clenching his teeth, he demanded, “Where did they take her? And if they harm even a hair on her…” Before he finished his threat, he was pushed off Knox by an invisible force. The force came with a metallic taste, while the air was suddenly charged with static energy. Rei’s men felt it too because they all took a step forward, standing ready to protect their commander.

  “They left through an underground tunnel, which leads to the River Arno, to the exact spot that you and Elizabeth used to visit. Butch and I saw them coming from the bolt hole. He is waiting there, making sure they won’t get far.”

  Rei turned to leave immediately, and his men started gearing up to follow him. Knox held out his arm, stopping them. “Only Rei. The gods won’t allow any more interference.”

  What the fuck? Rei turned back around and charged up to Knox again. “Who are you?”

  And again, Knox just looked at him calmly, although his eyes were grim. “At the moment, it doesn’t matter who I am. All that matters now is Skyla. Only you can change what should have been.” Rei hated cryptic messages, but he also knew Knox was right. There was no time. If the gods wanted him alone to save Elizabeth, to save Skyla, so be it. He would give his life for her. Turning to his men, he ordered. “Stay here and wait for me.” Before he sprinted out, he stopped in front of Elizabeth’s father. Now fear etched the old man’s face.

  “I’ll bring her back safely.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  As soon as Antonio set her down, her left leg rounded out, aiming where it would hurt most. He easily deflected her signature power kick; obviously he had expected it. As she was about to make another go at him, someone grabbed her hair from behind. A sharp knife pressed against her throat. “I said move and die.” Fernando’s menacing voice sounded right behind her. Without lessening the pressure of the knife on her throat, he walked in front of her. His eyes were crazed and frantic. Skyla remained still, even though all she wanted was to punch him out. Fernando took her stillness as submission and roughly dragged her out of the tunnel exit.

  Once Skyla was outside, she recognized where they were. They were at a desolate, downriver part of the Arno; she and Rei used to come here in the summertime when wild flowers were blooming and trees were at the fullest, so full that whenever the winds blew, the leaves made music, the music of nature. But now winter had rendered the land barren, devoid of anything living. A ship was anchored about a mile down the river; a contingent of soldiers was disembarking from a small rowboat by the riverbank, and coming up toward them. They bore the Medici’s coat of arms.

  A rough hand pushed her forward again, toward one of the soldiers walking up to them. Feeling the security of being surrounded by his soldiers, Fernando’s voice was now back to his calm, arrogant self. “Tie her up inside my cabin. We are setting sail immediately.”

  Momentarily free of Fernando’s tight grip and his sharp knife, she knew it was her only chance to escape. If they took her to the ship, neither Rei nor her team would be able to find her again. There was not exactly GPS in the sixteenth century. With her bound hands, she reached forward, pulled a sword out from the sheath at a soldier’s side, and plunged it into him. Then she turned around to do the same to Fernando when someone fell on top of her.

  “Antonio!” Skyla was momentarily confused, thinking Antonio was attacking her, until she saw the huge blood stain on his chest with the end of a sword protruding out. She tried to catch his falling body, but her bound wrists made it impossible. She fell back to the ground along with his bloody body. The crashing force knocked her breath out.

  Her cousin’s face was completely ashen, and now the blood was trickling instead of gushing out around the end of the sword. She called his name again. His eyes opened. “Elizabeth, I’m sorry…”

  Before she could administer first aid, several of Fernando’s soldiers yanked her up. She tried with all her might to throw them but was easily subdued by their massive force.

  A cold, clammy hand crushed her jaw. Once again Fernando’s eyes looked crazed. “Elizabeth, I knew your cousin’s loyalty was never with me. He was a spy sent by my enemy, but I played along. I twisted him into doing the most degrading things he could have ever imagined because I knew he had to hold his cover at all costs, including betraying his own family, betraying you.” With a hideous, cold smile, he squeezed her jaw painfully. “I suppose he’s finally reached his limit. He tried to save you from my men, but my sword was faster.” He bent down and pulled the sword out of her cousin’s back, which was dripping with Antonio’s crimson blood.

  It took Skyla a moment to process what Fernando was saying. No, he was lying. But immediately, horror surged through her. What Antonio had said to her earlier in the tower. What he had said about protecting what was his…

  She looked at her cousin’s body, back up at the loathsome Fernando, and then down at her cousin again. In her heart, she knew it was true. Her cousin was not entirely in league with Fernando, at least not when it came to his family, their family.

  She wanted to beat the crap out of Fernando, but she knew she needed more information. Schooling her anguished expression, her chin tilted up in a show of defiance. “Who was my cousin working for? And how did you know where to find me?”

  Fernando must be thinking he had the upper hand once again. He looked very pleased. “Antonio worked for the fallen French king, of course.” Arrogance covered his thin face. “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Elizabeth. Didn’t your beloved papa and uncle tell you who Antonio’s mother was? The bastard princess of the French King, Henry II. Antonio wanted to finish what his grandfather couldn’t, reclaiming the throne the French King abdicated after the defeat of his army in the 1553 invasion of Tuscany.” He barked out a laugh. “Your uncle went to France as an exchange scientist when he was still a young scholar, and he met Elaine de Francias, the illegitimate daughter of the king. Imagine, a poor scholar and a princess falling in love. What a cliché.” His laughs became sneers. “Both your papa and uncle fell in love with aristocrats, above their stations. Ah, yes, I can see in your eyes that you didn’t know your mother was an aristocrat, either. How ignorant of you. Intelligence is power, my dear. And you are supposed to be in the intelligence business, are you not?” He let out another burst of his sickening laughs again.

  She was speechless. Too many new pieces of information she didn’t know. Her mother. Antonio’s mother. As children, she and Antonio had asked their fathers many times about their mothers. Every time, their fathers told them that their mothers were village girls whom they fell in love with but who had heartbreakingly died in childbirth. How many times they had told Antonio and her that their mothers were no one important?

  Why did they hide this from her? And how many more twists of her ancient history would there be? Before she could ask more questions, roaring cries and a crash sounded behind Fernando. Rei and Butch were charging at him and his men. The guards quickly took up defensive and offensive positions. Fernando seized her by her throat, pressing his sword against her again—the sword that was still dripping with her cousin’s blood.

  “Watch them die.” He growled next to her ear and scraped his slimy tongue down her cheek, and all the while, the crazy bastard stared straight at Rei, provoking him, challenging him.

  •●•

  Rei reached the tunnel exit in no time. He was familiar with the downstream area of the
river. He used to coax Elizabeth into coming here with him, under the pretense of studying the lush plants and flowers so he could steal a few private moments with her away from the watchful eyes of her cousin. He’d never thought he would come back here. Yet here he was, under an entirely different circumstance. His gaze swept the surrounding area quickly. Butch was crouching right behind a big boulder, looking down at the small cliff. The big guy put up two fingers, signaling him to be quiet. Rei immediately changed his footfalls to quiet his steps and walked over to him. He got into the same position as Butch and saw Skyla being held by two soldiers in front of Fernando, who was holding a sword dripping in blood. A motionless body was face down by his foot.

  “That’s Antonio on the ground. He tried to save Skyla, but Fernando got to him first.”

  Rei was stumped by what Butch just told him. “What?”

  Butch turned to him briefly. His voice was still low, barely audible. “Apparently Antonio switched sides, and it seems Fernando was already prepared for it because he pushed his sword through Antonio’s back even before Antonio had taken the first step forward trying to save our girl.”

  Now that was an unexpected turn of events. Rei could tell in his bones that things were about to go from bad to worse. He was about to make a move, crashing the party below, when he heard Fernando speak.

  “Elizabeth, I knew your cousin’s loyalty was never with me. He was a spy sent by my enemy in France…”

  Rei reeled from the revelation. He had hated the bastard for centuries. How could it be possible that Antonio was one of the good guys, fighting for the restoration of the rightful heir descended from the French king? Did the gods know this? They had to. They knew everything, and they played everyone like humans might play chess.

  Butch tapped his shoulder and gestured down the river where a ship was anchored. Fernando was going to take Skyla away from Florence. They had no time to waste now. It would be much more difficult to track Fernando and Skyla once they had set sail. He and his men were not prepared for sea travel. By the time they were ready, at least a day if not more would be lost.

  He turned back to Butch and pointed down the boulder. Holding up three fingers, he counted. One, two, three… He swung above the boulder and leaped down, letting out a war cry like he did at the Last Battle. Butch followed right after him.

  The coward heard and saw them coming. Fernando immediately seized Skyla and swung his dripping sword, pressing it against her neck. Rei’s heart nearly stopped, and he almost missed the guards charging at him and Butch. There were more guards than they had initially seen from above the boulder. They were definitely outnumbered. Shit.

  No time to over analyze it. They both made quick work of the wall of soldiers coming at them. The otherwise tranquil, deserted riverbank was now riddled with fallen bodies. Clashing noises predominated the otherwise silent scene. There were still too many guards between him and Fernando and Skyla. But then he saw an unobstructed opening and picked up a spear from a fallen guard. He arched back and leveled his upper arm. With a heave, he shot the spear forward. As if he and Skyla had fought together many times before, she ducked down and punched Fernando at his groin. He let out a painful groan, bending over, gasping for air, and had no chance of stepping away from the trajectory of the spear. It pierced through his chest. Fernando staggered and fell over on his back.

  Rei ran for Skyla, but he was stopped by another wave of soldiers. Luckily, Butch caught up with him just in time, skewering the soldiers left and right like they were target practice. He nodded his thanks to Butch and quickly closed the last few paces to Skyla.

  “My God, I thought I’d lost you again.” He grabbed her and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly, afraid of ever letting her go. And she returned his embrace just as fiercely.

  After a long moment, she looked up at him. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Yes, love. Vivi and Gus were knocked out by a powerful sedative, but your father’s confirmed they’re fine.” He pulled her back to him and said softly on top of her head, “Skyla, marry me.”

  He felt her body stiffen. He knew she was unsure about their future together, especially since she was no longer the Elizabeth he knew. He was about to tell her it did not matter who she had become, that in fact he felt more connected with her now because of who she was, a warrior in her own right, a warrior who had seen blood and darkness just as he had, when a blurry vision like a mini-tornado appeared next to them. He barely had the time to push Skyla behind him when Mr. X stepped out of the theatric, self-contained wind funnel. It all happened too fast. By the time he saw the sword, glowing blue in Mr. X’s hand, it was already too late. The sword was buried into his chest, aimed right at his heart. No mortal weapon could kill him, but he could feel the lethal and ancient power melting through his ribs. Skyla screamed as he slumped down. Velvet darkness engulfed him rapidly, completely. He tried to call out to Skyla, but thick, copper-tasting liquid clogged his vocal cords, so thick that there was no room for his throat to move. And it was getting cold. The dampness of it reminded him of the bone-deep chills from the winter in his homeland. It also reminded him of the day he lay dying on the battlefield next to his family. Yes, this was his end. He knew it, had no doubt of it. Elizabeth. Skyla. He called out to her in his mind as the last of his consciousness slipped away.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “Rei!”

  Skyla was stunned. One moment she was about to say yes to his proposal, the next moment he pushed her behind him before his body staggered against hers, just like her cousin’s had not long ago. She fell on the ground, and when she looked up from Rei’s falling body, Mr. X was standing there, holding an odd-looking sword. It glowed an eerie blue and was dripping with blood. Rei’s blood. He smiled at her enigmatically.

  “No…” Her agent instinct was kicking in, demanding she apprehend Mr. X. It was the Agency’s directive, but her soul was screaming for Rei. The pool of blood around Rei was getting larger by the second. She watched in horror. Agency directive be damned. Dropping down next to him, she pressed both her hands on his chest, trying to stop his blood gushing through her fingers. “No, no, no…”

  “Rei, stay with me! You promised you wouldn’t leave me again. Dammit, fight!” She hissed at him, applying more pressure on his chest. “Fight!” His eyes slowly opened, but they were unfocused.

  “Elizabeth…” Blood was choking past his already-blue lips. “I love you, my sweet.” He raised his cold hand on her tear-stained cheeks.

  “Shh…” Skyla didn’t dare to let up her hands from his wound. “It’s okay…” Her voice was trembling. She knew the inevitable. “I love you too. We will get you back to the headquarters. Knox will work on you like he did the other night. You’ll be fine.”

  His eyes were shut again, but a faint smile was on his lips. He looked almost peaceful, as if he had accepted the ending, their ending. “I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner, Elizabeth.” His hand moved over hers, whispering now. “I wish we could’ve had more time together. I…” His hand slipped away from hers and dropped next to his lifeless body.

  Skyla was stunned. Her brain took a long while to process what was happening. Then she howled. “Rei!”

  Heavy sword blows and grunts sounded not far from her. If she was in her collected agent’s mind, she would have picked up Rei’s sword and defended her team, but she didn’t care. She stood up, raised her head toward the sky, and yelled out, “Whatever gods you are, you get your asses down here and save him!” Her fists clenched at her sides. “Or I swear I’ll find your hole and make you all pay!”

  Silence, except the fighting noises behind her. She whirled around in a full circle, looking for any sign of the gods that Rei had served. Nothing. No sign of those cowardly gods. Then her eyes caught a shimmering apparition to her left.

  “You!” Her hand shot out and shackled the handmaiden’s wrist like a band of steel manacle. Fiery freezing cold burned through her hand. But she refused to let go. This was the
first time she had seen the handmaiden. Her beauty was magnificent, befitting for a divine being, but her expression was cold. So cold that it reminded her of the Antarctic icescape she had visited years ago —desolate and eternally frozen, yet so peaceful and beautiful.

  “Save him,” she demanded. Her voice sounded raw and feral.

  The handmaiden remained expressionless. “I cannot.”

  “What do you mean you cannot?” Skyla looked down at Rei’s lifeless body, his once warm, handsome face now ashen. She looked at the handmaiden again and was surprised to see a hint of sadness in her frozen green eyes.

  “This is the price he must pay for betraying the gods, for saving the congressmen, for saving your world. He knew the risk.”

  He knew the risk? “He has served your gods for centuries, faithfully, tirelessly. Are you saying they won’t save him because he went against their wishes?” Anger, grief, and sorrow bombarded her. She wouldn’t accept defeat so easily. She grabbed the handmaiden’s slim wrist tighter, so tight that it would definitely leave bruises. But she didn’t care and snarled, “Take me to them. Now.”

  “Let her go, Skyla.” Knox spoke quietly behind her. His voice was commanding.

  She shook her head tightly but didn’t bother to turn around and look at him. “No.”

  “Skyla, listen to me. This was meant to be centuries ago. One of you must die so that the other can live. You and Rei cheated death once. Fate won’t allow that again.” His voice was just as calm as the handmaiden’s.

  What? She turned around to face Knox but still didn’t let go of the handmaiden’s wrist. Skyla didn’t know which was more shocking—that Rei knew the consequence of defying the gods, yet he still did what he did, saving her world from plunging into a complete chaos and the likelihood of World War III, or that Knox spoke about the gods as if he knew them intimately.