Philip looked at Ian. “How in the hell are we going to explain this to anyone?”
The dragon prince was at a loss. “Honestly? I don’t know. I would suggest talking to Aiden first. When we were in Miami, right after Aiden met Mickala, she had explained to him she could turn back time. I’m not sure if Victor was aware or not.”
As luck would have it, just about an hour later, Aiden came home. He stopped in the kitchen, his eyes wide as he saw Ian, Nehela, Travis, and three people that he’d never seen in his life. “Um, Ian? What’s going on?”
Ian came to stand in front of him, his eyes wide. He resisted the urge to embrace him, knowing it would probably freak him out more than what he already was. “Aiden, there’s a lot we have to talk about it.” He looked over his shoulder. “This is Chad and Philip Knight, and Ari Sands, my grandfather and Mickala’s uncle. He’s also kind of the King of Elagon.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Aiden asked, his eyebrows raising so high, they disappeared into his hair.
Ian sighed. “You might want to sit down. This is going to take a while.”
After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally sat down at the bar, his eyes on the elf. “Nehela, what the fuck is he talking about?”
* * *
Her green eyes were sad, and she began explaining everything that had happened. When they told him about how Trey had killed his and Mickala’s daughter, then him, Aiden was shocked to see everyone getting upset. He shook his head, holding up his hands. “Hold on just a damn minute. So, you’re saying ten years from now, I died?”
“Yes. Just a couple of days ago.”
“And all of us,” he stared hard at Chad and Philip, and they had to remind themselves they were total strangers to him, “were in a highly successful band with Mickala. Victor died, and Mickala unleashes hell on Earth. Then, we get signed by this guy, who’s supposed to be head of Warner Records and King of Elagon, your grandfather, and Mickala’s uncle. Mika and I get married, have a daughter who Trey killed, and then a couple weeks after that, I die, and she and Michelle turn back to today?”
Ian nodded. “That’s the major points.”
“Okay, so give me some details. Yeah, Mickala told me about her and Michelle’s capability in Miami, but this sounds completely crazy. She said she’d never use it unless she had no choice. You said Victor died and Mickala lost her control. What happened?”
“Xiden. Someone paid him to kill you and Mickala. We think by Trey, but we never found out for sure,” Philip said.
Aiden had frozen at the name of his brother, and they could see the shell of disbelief cracking. Xiden was someone he’d told no one, not even Ian, about. “Ari?”
“It’s all true, Aiden,” he said. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it is.”
“And Trey’s the one who killed me and our daughter?”
Chad nodded. “He waited ten years. You got him to show his true self the first day of school, which I guess is tomorrow, but he waited years from then until we were all off our guard. I know there’s no way we can prove what we’re saying, but we’re praying we could make you believe us. We were like family, and it killed us to lose your daughter first, then you?” He shook his head. “Honestly? I don’t think we had a choice but to come back. Mickala would never have been the same without you.”
“I know you’re not crazy,” Aiden said after a long pause, his face thoughtful. “You all knowing about Xiden was proof enough. I hadn’t told anyone about him. So, where’s Mickala?”
“She and Michelle are upstairs, recovering. They used enormous amounts of energy,” Nehela said.
Aiden nodded. “When she told me about it, she said that it was hard as hell.” He eyed Travis. “So, you know?”
Travis nodded. “Mickala saved my life.” Aiden asked how. “Not long after the fight with Xiden, I was in an accident, and Mickala drove down to Miami and healed me. I had a dream, vision, whatever you want to call it, and when I asked her about it, Michelle had told her to tell me truth. Including what you went through in Miami.”
Aiden shook his head with a low chuckle. “I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone.” He looked at the brothers. “And we met before the fight with my brother?”
Philip nodded. “We had been playing for a couple months before that. We’d just won a local competition and were getting ready for a national one when Xiden came. Ian and Nehela stayed with us while Mickala was in the coma, then while she had the house rebuilt. You stayed with EJ in the apartment over the barn so you could be with Adelaide and Titus.”
Aiden looked at EJ, who shrugged. “You and Mickala would have offered me the apartment tomorrow once you lured Trey out. You had told me to keep aware, that you thought it might piss him off enough to kill me.”
“So, we must have gotten to be pretty good friends,” Aiden said.
EJ gave a sad smile. “Not as close as you and Ian, but I could definitely say you were my best friend.”
Aiden sighed, the shell finally giving way completely. “Okay, okay.” He jerked his fingers through his long hair, and they thought they saw them shaking slightly. “I believe you. How did I die? How did my daughter die? What was her name?”
* * *
“Her name was Victoria Selene. She was eight and a half. We were on tour, and she was at an apartment we had in New York. We were in Japan and had just finished the show and were asleep. Michelle and Travis were in New York with Selene while she was in school, and Michelle called. Someone had gotten into the apartment and stabbed her. He coated the knife in Kaldiss. When we got back, Mickala could still smell Trey’s scent in the air,” Nehela said, tears gathering in her eyes. She told him about how he’d died.
Ian shook his head. “I thought Mickala, and myself were going to go crazy. Mickala almost did. She came within a hair of destroying herself with her grief. I talked some sense into her, then that night, tonight, whichever, she and Michelle had the idea of come back to now, and trying to get Trey a different way.”
Aiden was quiet. “My daughter was seven?”
Nehela nodded, and he lowered his head, his eyes closed. “Aiden?”
“Call me crazy, but I can almost see her. She would’ve been beautiful.”
Chad smiled. “She was, and such a happy child. I don’t think I ever saw her mad.”
Ian had a sudden idea, and he dug into his wallet, hoping against hope. He couldn’t believe it, but Selene’s picture was still there, maybe because it was on him when they came back. He handed the photo to Aiden. “That’s her. That’s Selene. I took it about two weeks before she died.”
They all could see Aiden’s hand trembling as he stared at the picture, his eyes wide. They could see tears forming, and Nehela began going through her phone. “I don’t believe it. It’s all still here.”
She handed Aiden her phone, and the blood drained from his face as he scrolled through ten years’ worth of memories. He shoved it back into her hands, shaking his head. “Enough. I can’t take it anymore, because I feel like I can almost remember. Is that even possible?”
“I don’t know,” Ian said. “I don’t know how any of this works. Where is Victor, anyway?”
“Getting new tires on the Jeep. He should be back soon.” Aiden managed a smile, his eyes still unnaturally bright. “He might have a hard time with this one.”
“Maybe not, especially since we have the pictures.” Ian sighed, looking around. “Gods, it feels so strange being back here.”
The others agreed. Aiden asked a few more questions, but he mainly sat in thoughtful silence. Victor came back about thirty minutes later, and while the strange faces in the living room shocked him, he sat down and listened to what they had to say.
He didn’t seem to have a problem accepting their story, especially once they showed him the pictures. “I knew she and Michelle had the ability. One thing she said was she would only use it if she felt she had absolutely nothing left to live for. I guess between Selene dying, then Aiden gett
ing killed, she had to have reached her limit. I knew Trey was bad news, but I never imagined he was capable of anything close to this.”
Michelle was the first to wake up, and she greeted Victor warmly, kissing his cheek. “It’s good to see you again, Victor.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I’ve heard it’s been a while.”
She rolled her eyes. “You can say that again.” She hugged Aiden hard. “So, have they told you everything?”
He nodded. “I didn’t want to believe it at first, but then they showed me pictures. I told them it was strange, but I felt like I could almost remember, like the memories were right there, just out of reach.”
Michelle frowned slightly. “I suppose it’s possible, if the ties are strong enough to the one starting the reversal, and I can’t think of a stronger bond than the one you had with Mickala.”
“So, what are we going to do about Trey?” Ian asked, holding his arms. “Cause, I’m up for killing the son of a bitch now.”
Michelle laid her hand on his shoulder. “I think we’ll wait until Mickala wakes up to make any plans.” Aiden asked how long before she woke up. “There’s honestly no telling. She was the one who started the spell, so she used the most energy. It’s going to take her a while to recover.”
Victor pulled the willow bark tea out of the cabinet. “I have a feeling she might want this.”
“It would be a tremendous help,” Michelle said.
Victor began asking questions, but they were the same ones Aiden had asked. Aiden slipped out of the living room and made his way upstairs and down the hall.
* * *
He looked at Mickala, laying so still on the bed, her chest barely rising as she continued breathing steadily. Despite being asleep, he could see lines of sadness and grief on her face that he knew hadn’t been there when he saw her earlier that day. He took her hand, looking at her diamond engagement and the gold wedding band. He turned it on her finger gently, then he seemed to feel a light weight around his own finger. Looking down, his finger was bare, but he swore he could feel a ring around it.
He really noticed for the first time her black dress, and he thought back to the others. They had all been wearing black, even though Ian’s was in tatters. He remembered what Ian had said about her going crazy, but he’d talked her out of destroying herself. Ian must have gone through hell to get to her. That’s when it hit him. His funeral. They had come back the same day as his funeral.
Aiden sat beside her on the bed, her hand still in his, trying to wrap his head around everything he’d been told, the pictures and even videos he’d seen. He couldn’t get the image out of his head of Selene, his daughter. She’d been so beautiful, so young. He laid his forehead on the back of her hand. “I’m so sorry for everything that you’ve gone through, but I promise you, he’s going to pay.” He heard her murmur his name, and he looked up, but her eyes were still closed, tears sliding down her cheeks. When he wiped one away gently, her eyes fluttered open. “Where am I?”
“You’re in your room. Well, I suppose your old room would work better,” he said.
She sat up suddenly at the sound of his voice, her dark blue eyes wide as she started into his green ones. “Aiden,” she whispered, scarcely daring to breathe.
He nodded. “It’s really me. The others already told me and Victor everything that happened.”
She reached out, her fingertips centimeters from his cheek, but she hesitated, afraid that she was dreaming. “It’s really you?”
He took her hand, pressing it to his cheek for her. “I’m really here, love.”
She launched herself into his arms, knocking him off the bed, and they hit the floor with a thud. She was crying hard into his chest as he sat them up, and he stroked her hair gently. “It’s okay, Mika. I’m here, and I’m alive.” He held her tightly to his chest, feeling the pain radiating from her, and he closed his own eyes as he laid his head on hers.
It was several minutes before she could pull herself together, and she sat back to look at him. Tears were still falling silently. “They told you everything?”
“Even about Selene.”
Her eyes closed again as she shook her head. “I wish you could have seen her, Aiden. She was so beautiful.”
“I did.”
It startled her out of her tears. “Do what? How?”
Aiden shrugged. “I’m not sure how, or if it normally works like this, but all the pictures, physical and digital came back with you.” He told her about looking through Nehela’s phone. “We were happy, weren’t we?”
Mickala sighed as she nodded. “We really were. Aiden, we had everything we could have ever wanted. We were together, married with our amazing daughter, our family, and we were doing exactly what we had always wanted. Finally, we were at peace. That fight we had with Xiden was the last fight we had for a decade.”
“It sounds amazing.”
She gave a trembling smile. “Oh, Aiden, it was wonderful.” She wiped her eyes. “Where’s Victor?”
Aiden laughed. “He was in the kitchen, grilling the others about the future.”
He helped her to her feet, but she refused to let his hand go. “You’ve met the others?”
“You mean, Chad, Philip and your uncle. Who’s also Ian’s grandfather?” Mickala nodded. “Yeah. It’s strange. They all know so much about me, but they’re all total strangers.”
She managed a laugh. “Don’t worry. They’re family.”
“I think I can handle it.”
* * *
She took his shirt in her fists, then pulled him down to her, kissing him roughly. The fierceness of it took his breath away, but he quickly gave in. She was panting when she finally let him go, and he gave a weak laugh. “Wow. I just saw you this morning.”
“For me, it’s been three very painful, lonely days. I felt as if someone had ripped from my chest and torn into a million pieces,” she said.
He laid her hands on his chest. “Well, I’m here now, very much alive.” He hugged her again. “Come on. I imagine you’re ready to see Victor again?” He took her hand, then grinned down at her rings. “I see my future self has good taste.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. She looked down at the set. “I don’t know if I should keep them on or take them off.”
“They were from me, right?”
“Of course.”
He gently kissed them. “Leave them.” He suddenly seemed almost bashful. “I had actually bought you a set before we even left Miami, but I like these even better.”
“What?”
He laughed. “I’ve known you were the one for me. I can’t believe that it took me two years to actually ask you, though. That was my stupidity.”
They went downstairs and into the kitchen, and her throat closed when she saw a familiar dark blonde head talking to Ari and Michelle. The head turned, revealing a pair of dark brown eyes. “Hello, Mickala. I hear you were having quite the life. I knew you could do it.”
Mickala laughed, flying across the kitchen. She crashed into him, hugging him as tightly as she dared, fresh tears falling. It took a minute to realize he was embracing her just as tightly. She raised her eyes to his. “I’m so proud of you,” Victor said.
“Thanks, Dad.” His eyes widened in surprise, and she sighed. “I never called you that until the day you died. I didn’t turn back time just to relive the same stupid mistakes. This time, it’s going to be a lot different.”
Thirty Six
Unsettled Spirits
EJ cleared his throat. “What about my bastard brother?”
She looked at him. “Did you ever let him know you were alive after Miami?”
He shook his head. “No. I kept my energy hidden and stayed away.” His anger grew visible. “He didn’t even care enough to find out if I was alive or dead.”
“Good. Do it again. I don’t want him to know I know who he really is, besides a demon hiding the human realm,” Mickala said.
“What do you mean?” Aiden asked
, raising an eyebrow.
“You drew him out before, and he vanished, right?” she asked, and they all nodded. “I want to keep him where I can keep my hands around his bloody neck, even if it means killing him with kindness.”
Ian looked confused. “Mickala, I’m not following.”
“He played me for three damn years before you found out about him. It’s my turn to play him.”
Chad’s mouth fell. “Wait a damn minute. You’re going to pretend to be his friend?”
“Exactly. He thinks EJ’s dead, and we never found out about the truth about him. He’s got no reason to think that anything’s changed between us. Then, on my terms, we take him out.”
“How long?” Aiden asked.
“As long as it takes. A week, a month, a year. I don’t care.”
“No way in hell,” Aiden said, shaking his head. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to pretend to like this son of a bitch.” He apologized to Michelle, Ari, and Victor. “He kills my daughter, kills me, and has tried to kill you how many times?”
“You guys don’t have to, just me,” she said.
“And what will be the reason behind it?” Philip asked.
“That’s easy enough. He’s EJ’s brother, so you automatically don’t like him because of what happened in Miami.”
Aiden sighed. “I’m not going to lie, Mika. I love you, but I don’t like this at all.”
“Honestly? I don’t either, but he’s strong as hell, and I’m going to take some time to recover from the time reversal. I want to be at full strength. Besides, I want him off his guard as much as I was.”
“If you’re sure, then so be it,” Chad said.
Mickala took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, then raised an eyebrow at Ian’s muttered swear. “What’s wrong?”
“I was so glad when this school stuff was over. Now, I have to go through it again?”
There was laughter around the room. “Ian, you’ve played in front of tens of thousands of people for years. You can’t handle nine months of school?” Nehela said, and Aiden raised an eyebrow as she took his hand.
Releasing the Demons: Solarian Chronicles II Page 32