by Cree Storm
Jewel took off after the young kid and Ezra grabbed him around the waist, holding him back, but Jewel started yelling, “You’re fucking insane, you little shit. And a fucking liar! I know you took the damn goat! None of my people would have taken off with the damn thing, so it could only be you.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Jett demanded, and everyone froze. “Do you even hear yourselves? They took your goat, so you kidnapped Manny and wanted to use him to blow them up? Are you fucking kidding me?”
“We didn’t take their damn goat,” future young Illan mumbled.
Jett swung around and stared at him, giving the kid the evil eye. “Step the fuck back off. If your grandfather could see you now, he would smack you upside the head. I’m surprised Day hasn’t done it yet.”
Future Day gave Jett a smirk. “Only because he’s standing too far away.”
Jett caught a movement to his left and turned to see York trying to slowly back away. His face a mask of guilt. Suddenly Jett had a thought. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
York’s head snapped up and their gazes met. Jett could see the fear and guilt in the dragon’s eyes. “You took the goat.”
Jewel gasped,” What? No. York would never do that.”
“Yet he did. I can see the truth in his eyes,” Jett stated.
“It was the last thing I had left of my nugget. It had gotten too old to give milk and they started talking about killing it for the meat,” York said, then swallowed hard. “It was all I had left.”
“Oh, Yorkie,” Timmy whispered, tears running down his face.
Everyone remained quiet for a moment, then Jett turned and looked to future Day.
“And what do you have to say about all of this, Day? How about you, Ethan? Seeing as you are now the leaders of your breeds,” Jett asked.
Future Day took a step forward. “We have tried very hard for all these years to try to stop this. To end it and bring everyone back together. But when all you have to deal with is closed hearts and minds, it’s hard to get sense through.”
Jett sighed heavily, then softened his voice as he met Wyn’s gaze. “I understand it was a blow to you, Wyndingo, but really? My mate refused me for twenty-five years and you didn’t see me blowing up a whole damn town. The issue here is not that Ollie needed time, or refused his mating, it is Wyndingo not having control of his shit. You had friends, family, who you could have gone to. You could have talked to someone. Reached out and asked for advice and guidance, but you kept everything bottled up like you always do, and this is the result. But I’m not even blaming you. I know the complete anguish of having a mate refuse you and your mating, and it ain’t pretty.”
He turned around, looking at everyone again as he continued, “I am blaming all of you. You all chose this. You chose this! You chose to go against each other and dishonor your mates, our family. You chose to fuck up this world beyond repair. You chose to raise the next generation with the same anger and mistrust.”
Jett turned toward Fiere and took a step closer as his eyes softened. “My nephew. You look so much like your father, and the way you are standing there all hyped up and ready for battle, you’re just as intense as he was. But he would never have wanted this for you. Finn was brilliant. He was a hell of a lot smarter than most people knew, and he would have tried to use his brain first to stop all of this, not take up weapons. And especially against those he called brother. Like his best friend over there. Your Uncle and my mate. You dishonor him.” Fiere swallowed hard and looked down.
Jett turned back and moved in a circle again, looking at all of them. “You all dishonor us and yourselves. I agree with Timmy. If this is what the future you looks like, then I want no part in it. I can’t stand to see anymore. My heart is breaking just looking at you all. I am horrified by what I see and what I have heard, but more importantly, I’m ashamed. I’m ashamed of each and every one of you.” Jett swung around and met Zev’s crying eyes. “And mostly, I’m ashamed of you. I have always been proud to call you my brothers. Proud of each of you as you have made our family grow. Proud to have you all as my new brothers. And I was most proud to have you as my mate, Zev. Now all I see when I look at you is shame.”
Zev took a step toward Jett. “No, baby―”
Jett cut him off as he said softly, “Save it. You lost all right to call me baby when you disgraced me and my memory by wanting to harm Ollie, then by turning on your brothers.”
“No, Jett, please,” Zev pleaded as tears ran down his face.
“How could you honestly think that I would have wanted you to murder Ollie? You of all people knew me better than anyone and should have known that I would have been the first one there to protect him. Even if our places were reversed, and you died and I lived. It would have destroyed me losing you, but that wouldn’t have given me the right to destroy others.”
Jett walked back to stand beside Timmy, then looked back at the group who all stared at him with tears in their eyes and guilt written all over their faces. “I agree with Timmy. Get me the hell out of here. My heart hurts and I need to go home to my mate. The mate who is loving and honorable. The man I love, not this poor excuse for my Zev.”
Zev covered his face with his hands and dropped to his knees as he wept openly.
Ezra pulled away from Jewel and looked around. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. I want to go home to my love, too. To my Jewel.”
Jewel lurched forward and grabbed Ezra’s arm as he cried, “No! I am your Jewel. Please, Ezra, I love you. I have had to live without you for so long, don’t make me have to give you up again.”
Ezra placed his hand over Jewel’s and gently removed it. “If our coming here changes your past and none of this ever happened, then thank the gods. But even if it changes nothing, you all need to live in this time. This place. Is this really how you want to keep living? Or do you want to put all this bullshit aside, say you’re sorry, make amends, and try to heal and rebuild this world, as well as your relationships? You all need each other for survival from what I have seen. And you never should have broken apart to begin with.” Ezra stepped back away from Jewel and walked to stand beside Jett and Timmy.
Suneth stepped forward into the circle and rubbed his hand across his jaw as he looked around. “I don’t know what else to say that hasn’t already been said. I do know that when Wade and I mated, we talked about our men coming together to form one force. One family. We knew from the start that our guys would make a great team, but to now see what you have become…I don’t even have the words. And to know that my mate turned against Day and all of you in the first place is a pain I have never felt before. I am only grateful that he came to his senses before he died and knew he had been wrong. I don’t know if us coming here will change anything, but if nothing else, I hope it at least opened your eyes to how wrong you all are.”
Suneth moved back to stand beside Timmy. “You can take us back now, Ollie. I can’t bear to see anymore.”
CHAPTER 14
A loud boom rang through the air and everyone looked up. Black clouds began to form overhead and swirl. Lightning flashed, and the wind picked up.
“Shit! We need to take cover!” Future Day yelled.
“Damn it. We’ll never make it back in time!” Future Logan said.
“Let’s go,” future Jewel ordered and turned, as all his followers did the same.
“You’ll never make it!” Future Day called out.
“Yes, we will,” Jewel said and held up his hands, and a portal began to grow.
“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Jett screamed. “Have you learned nothing?! Magic got you into this mess and you’re still going to use it?”
“We don’t have time for this. Look, the black dust cloud is coming!” Ethan yelled over the growing wind.
Everyone turned to look where Ethan was pointing. Ollie’s eyes opened wide when he saw the huge wall of black dust coming their way. But something looked weird about it. He squinted his eyes to try to figure out what i
t was. “Is there something inside it?”
Someone grabbed his arm and he turned to find Wyndingo there. “We have to follow Day and the others and get off the street.”
“But what about the rest of them?” Ollie asked.
They turned to find Ezra had lifted Jewel off his feet and was running behind Day and his people. All of Jewel’s side where just standing there not sure what to do.
“Rory, York, Six, Shadow, Nuzan, Sulyx, let’s go!” Suneth ordered. Without a second thought, they all turned and followed Suneth. Finally, all the others joined them, and everyone was making their way down the road behind Day and his people.
“We need to get Helio and Briar!” Ollie yelled.
“I’ll get them. You two go now!” Future Ollie yelled back and took off in the direction where the two butterfly dragons sat, still looking drained and tired.
“He can’t do it alone, Wyn. We have to help him,” present Ollie said. Wyn nodded and they took off after future Ollie.
Just as they reached him, Ryder stepped up on the curb and grabbed one of Helio’s arms as future Ollie grabbed the other. Wyn and present Ollie helped Briar and the six of them made their way down the street as fast as they could go.
A thunderous boom crashed across the sky as the lightning began to go crazy. Bolts flashed by the hundreds, slamming into the earth. “We’ll never make it like this. Give him to me,” Ryder said and picked Helio up. Wyn followed suit and picked Briar up, and they all ran for the doors to future Day’s place.
“Come on!” Rhys screamed from the doorway as he waved them in. Once they made it through the door, Rhys slammed the door behind them and locked it.
As soon as they turned toward everyone, future Day started yelling out orders, “Fiere, Kalen, take Helio and Briar to the medical room and have Donny take a look at them. I think they just need to rest but let’s make sure. Amelia, Drake, Justice, go with Dain and Kerrick to get some herbs and first aid to start helping everyone. Pelt, can you give Casimir and Aracas a hand and get some cots down here for everyone? Twix, Toby, Nelson, how about we check our supplies and see if we have enough for everyone for the next few days and get some food and water out here. This storm looks like it may last awhile.”
They all nodded at Day and took off to do as he said as he called out their names, as others followed behind to give a hand.
“What was that?” Present Suneth asked.
“That is a dust storm. It’s like a hurricane over land and picks up all the dust and dirt, but the winds can reach over two hundred miles per hour and it can last for days, burying everything in a few inches to a few feet in this soot-like dust.”
“You don’t want to be caught out in it and breath it in because like when a volcano blows, if you inhale the ash, when it gets into your lungs and mixes with the moisture there, it turns into a concrete and you drown,” Jewel added.
“It looked like something was inside the cloud. Like something was slithering around,” present Ollie said.
Day and Jewel looked to one another, then away quickly.
“What?” Ezra asked.
“It’s nothing. Just be glad everyone made it inside,” future Day responded through clenched teeth, then turned and walked away.
Ezra turned to Jewel. “What was he hiding? What is in that dust cloud?”
Jewel bit his bottom lip and looked down and began to fidget. Ezra cupped his cheek and raised Jewel’s face until their gazes met. “What is it?”
Jewel cleared his throat. “Death Stalker Scorpions,” he mumbled.
“Excuse me?” Wyn said.
Jewel sighed. “Death Stalker Scorpions. But worse.”
“What does that mean, Jewel?” Ezra asked.
Baldwin stepped forward. “Your little man there took some Death Stalker Scorpions, who by the way are fucking deadly as hell, and used his magic to make them a thousand times worse. They multiply like fucking rabbits and live all over the desert areas, and as soon as one of those damn storms form, they pick up the creatures by the tens of thousands and drop them along as it goes. By the time this storm is over, we’ll have thousands of the little hellions all over the damn place and we’ll have to watch ourselves for weeks, so we don’t get stung. One sting and it’s instant death within seconds. They already had a weird look to them with their strange yellowish-green coloring, but once elf boy over there was done with them, they fucking glow like little aliens. I guess that was the good part about it though, huh? Makes it easier to see the little fuckers when they kill you,” future Baldwin grumbled, then turned and walked away.
“You created them? Why?” Ezra asked. Jewel just gave him as droll look like to say, Really?
Ezra sighed as he shook his head, then stepped around Jewel and walked away.
Suddenly the walls began shaking and it sounded like something was hitting the roof. “What is that?” Present Ollie asked.
“That would be the storm that has finally made it here,” Jewel grumbled and walked away from them, heading into the corner where most of his people were gathered.
“I can’t take this anymore. Come with me,” Ollie said and grabbed Wyn’s arm and pulled him away.
“Where are we going?” Wyn asked.
“We need to talk. In private,” Ollie answered and continued to lead the way through the facility.
How big was this fucking place? Shit, they must have turned down six long corridors by now. They had to be far away enough from everyone else. Ollie stopped at the last door in this hall and tried the knob, then smiled when he found it unlocked. He turned it, then pushed the door open, only to find stairs leading down. He sighed and dragged Wyndingo down the stairs, the door closing shut behind them.
“We have no idea where we’re going here, Ollie. Surely, we’re far enough away from everyone else for this to be considered private,” Wyn said, but didn’t hesitate in letting Ollie lead him along. The first door they came to was open and Ollie entered. Once inside, he turned and closed the door behind Wyndingo and locked it, then released his hand and leaned back against the door.
Wyndingo slowly walked deeper into the room, looking around at his surroundings. “Where the hell are we?”
“I know Dain almost as well as his mates. Even though, to this Dain, it was twenty-five years ago, but you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” Ollie stated.
Wyndingo turned to face him. “What does that mean?”
“It means that Dain, no matter where he is, will always have a lab. That lab will always be far away from where everyone else will ever be, just in case one of his experiments goes wrong. Once I found the stairs leading down, I knew this would be where his private lab would be.”
“So, now that you’ve gotten us far away from the others, now what?” Wyn asked.
“Now I tell you the truth,” Ollie stated and took a step away from the door. “I told you I didn’t want to mate with you because I didn’t want to lose my freedom. Well, that was partly true, but it was an excuse. I know from watching all the other mates that just because they mated doesn’t meant that they can’t be who they are or do what they want to do. Although, when Nash told Toby to go home during that battle at Suneth’s, I thought for sure Toby was going to either castrate Nash, or make him sleep on the couch for a few months.”
“So if it wasn’t that, then what was it, Ollie?”
Ollie looked down at his feet and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Everyone leaves me,” he whispered.
Wyndingo stepped closer. “What?”
Ollie sighed and looked up, his eyes rimmed with tears. “Everyone always leaves me. My parents, friends, my siblings, Nelson, Toby, now Pas. Eventually everyone leaves me. And you’re all…” Ollie motioned with his hand up and down Wyn’s person, “and I’m, this.”
Wyn raised a brow. “What does that mean?”
“You’re you. You’re big and tough, and strong, and fierce. You’re a god damn hero who runs into buildings that are on fire
while everyone else is running out of them. And I…I’m none of that. I’m a small little creature and not much bigger in my human form. I’m what most would describe as a twink, with loud clothing choices and an even louder mouth. I say the craziest shit and don’t apologize for it and I won’t change. I refuse to change.”
“I wouldn’t want you to change, mate,” Wyn said as he took another step closer.
Ollie argued, “You say that now, but just give it some time. You may mean it right now, and be okay for a few months, hell maybe even a few years, but then someday I’m gonna open my big mouth and say something totally inappropriate or wear something completely scandalous and embarrass you, then you’ll start to feel differently. Then you’ll start to change how you feel about me, and I’ll wake up one day and you’ll be gone.” Ollie choked on a sob as he blinked rapidly, pulling the tears back.
“Oliver, you can’t know that,” Wyn said softly as he moved closer.
“Yes, I can. You wouldn’t be the first. Friends I had when I was younger, suddenly couldn’t hang around with me anymore because their parents found out I was gay. Then other friends stopped wanting to be with me because I dressed too loud and crazy, or they didn’t like how I talked. My parents and some of my siblings were killed, then Nelson left because of me. Toby, Pas, and I lost our home and had to move around. Hiding in abandoned homes, caves, boarded up warehouses and anywhere else we could find. We had to move around so those after us for who we are wouldn’t find us.”
“Why would Nelson leave because of you?” Wyn asked gently.
Ollie looked down and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “Nelson was the oldest and he was taking care of the rest of us. He worked hard all day, then came home and tried to handle three pain in the ass brothers. That last night we were all together, we sat down for dinner and I started complaining because we were having mac and cheese again for like the third time that week. Pascal kept kicking me under the table and telling me to be quiet, then Toby jumped in and told me to stop being a baby. He grabbed my dish and took it to the kitchen and said he would make me a hot dog and cut it up in the mac and cheese to make it better. But he came back and said we didn’t have anymore. Well, big mouth here started bitching again about us never having enough to get by and why wouldn’t Nelson let me and Pas go out and find jobs like he and Toby had. Nelson reminded me, like I was an idiot, that we had everyone in the paranormal world after us and it was dangerous enough for he and Toby being out there working for humans and not having an ajutor. They couldn’t risk me and Pascal as well.”