Too Long a Soldier (Kingdom Key Book 3)

by TylerRose.

  “Acknowledged. You have a plan?” Landra Ahr asked.

  “Of course. We’re gonna hole up here for a couple days and see if her wrist is better or worse. If it’s worse, we’ll go to the hospital for an x-ray. Either way, we’ll be home in two or three days. Tell Gable to call Warren and cancel all my appointments.”

  Call ended, he took the bandage off to get another look at her wrist. Swelling was noticeable. He got several buckets of ice from the machine and stashed them in the freezer, took her shoes off and put her feet up. And produced a fat one from his cigarette pack.

  “Wait!” she said, waving the lighter out. “How many of those do you have?”

  “Three including this one.”

  She took it between finger and thumb and made a copy appear between pinkie and ring fingers.

  “Spark the copy. Maintain the original,” she said, and made five more copies.

  He humphed a smile. “You amaze me sometimes.”

  “You should see what I can do with a pounder bag,” she teased.

  “You’re gonna get me all excited in a minute.”

  She focused on a full size coffee machine from the basement store room and brought it to her, then their favorite mugs from the warehouse and a canister of Gable-roasted Kona coffee grounds, bottle of sugar, and bottle of powdered creamer.

  “Priorities, man,” she said to his questioning expression. “Coffee is at the top of the list.”

  Press of the on button and a fresh pot began to brew.

  They passed the day quietly, watching movies and talking about this and that. Jerome did a lot of listening. She was too angry to cry. He kept a cold pack on her wrist, checking the swelling each time he changed the pack, and eventually rewrapped the wrist. They ordered room service for supper.

  Come sundown, Jerome took to checking the balcony. He had that itch at the back of his skull…and was right. Around 11, Landra Ahr showed up.

  “I’m fine,” Tyler protested as Jerome removed the bandage.

  “I will see for myself. You’ve barely recovered from your hip injury,” Landra said, scanning from fingertips to elbow to see what she’d done this time. “You have cracked two bones in your wrist. We will go to the bed so I can properly tend them.”

  “Oh, Jesus, I’m fine,” she spat, turning angry that fast.

  “You are not,” Jerome cut off her tirade. “You have a broken wrist. Let’s go.”

  “Christ! It’s a pain in the fucking ass having allies.”

  “Yes, it is. Let’s go,” he insisted.

  On her back with the arm out straight as Landra Ahr instructed, in a split second he jabbed her in the upper arm with a needle and injected a dose of Keepelquer.

  “You bastard! That was not necessary!” she complained.

  “Yes, it is. You don’t need to be awake for this. Good night,” Landra Ahr said.

  “You’re going to stop doing that,” she said.

  “No. I won’t.”

  She was out. Landra Ahr injected small doses of modified bone growth serum directly into the cracks of the two tiny bones and wrapped her hand and wrist in Taveragian cast bandages. A good spray of water to activate the hardener and he held the arm immobile for the five minutes it took to dry.

  “She will have to wear the cast for about two weeks. When will you return home?”

  “The vibration of the cycle will be rough on that arm. I think she should teleport back tomorrow. When’s she going to wake up?” Jerome asked.

  “Eight in the morning. It’s a much smaller dose than I have administered previously.”

  “I’ll get her to port back and I’ll ride up after she’s safely home.”

  “Very well,” Landra Ahr agreed. “See you about noon then.” He stepped onto the balcony and launched from there.

  Ten in the morning,after breakfast with Jerome, she teleported to the warehouse and made the mistake of arriving in the kitchen. Tony was at the table, come to visit with Gable.

  “What happened to you now?” Roc exclaimed, seeing Tyler’s forearm in a cast.

  “We will talk about it when Jerome gets here. Until then, leave me alone.”

  “What’s got your snatch in a twist?” Tony scowled.

  In a blink he was pinned to the wall, her psychokinesis choking him.

  “Never look at me. Never think of me. Never speak of me and never speak to me,” she seethed, exerting her will in a set of commands she’d not issued before.

  She dropped him in a gasping heap, Storming out, she didn’t bother to ask Landra to get out of the way. She teleported to the other side of him and walked up to her room in her own steady time.

  Slouched in her chair, facing the window, she stewed and fumed. Pain in her wrist fueled her anger. Of course, Landra knocked on the door a moment later.

  “Go away,” she glowered.

  The door opened and he came in. “You will go downstairs and undo what you did to Tony.”

  “No. Leave me alone. All of you just leave me alone!”

  “Negative. With your old enemy on Earth, you are always in danger. I will remain until Jerome arrives.”

  He said nothing more and neither did she. Headphones on, pipe to her lips she did her best to contain the rage ready to explode at any second. The minute she felt Jerome arrive, she ported down to the kitchen. Gable came up, having left.

  “I’ll be brief,” Tyler addressed the group. “The enemy from my previous existence is here. He brought the Rovan drug with him. I broke my wrist breaking his face on the highway. Take nothing for granted. Talk to no one. Trust nothing. Trust no one. Soon as I find him, I will eradicate him.”

  “How is he here?” Roc asked. “You said you killed him.”

  “I don’t know how and I really don’t care. My wrist hurts really bad and I’m in a really bad mood. I’m going to my room. Just leave me be for a couple days.”

  She walked, however. Gable caught up to her at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Sis, wait up.”

  She stopped, one foot on the second set of steps.

  “No one has asked how you are?” he said. “Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not. I wanna find the son of a whore and blow him to kingdom come. I’d really like to kill something right now but I can’t. So I’d really like to just be alone.”

  “So that arm wrestling match is off?”

  She never could be mad at him. She guffawed a brief laugh. “Unless I can use my cast as a club? Give me an hour and come to my room alone.”

  “Okay. Should I ask what for?”

  “I have something that I want to share with you,” she said. “Only you will get it.”

  She continued up while he went back to the kitchen, and wasn’t surprised when Jerome came knocking on her door a minute later. Having anticipated him, she picked up the fat joint and lit it as he approached the window seat.

  “Go on and say it,” she prompted, holding up the white roll.

  “Okay. Tony is a stupid fuck sometimes. He was outta line.” He toked long and deep and handed it back. “It’s pretty simple. I’m not going to get between you and someone who’s pissed you off. Not now and not ever. I’m just gonna tell them they stupid and step aside to let you have at ‘em.”

  She smiled one of the most dazzling, sincere smiles he’d seen on her. “I’m liking that plan.”

  “I know you want to be alone. I respect that. You know I do. But out of practicality, I think you need to sleep in my bed more nights than not, and make sure someone always knows where you are.”

  “Landra Ahr has a permanent scan on me now,” she said. “Started the second I appeared in the apartment. I’ll make sure to tell him when I’m leaving and where I’m going. If Solomon is going to try anything, it’s going to have to be a complete surprise, sneak attack. If I have half a chance to fight, it’s going to be big, loud, and ugly.”

  “I would expect nothing less, babe. Does the arm hurt?” he asked.

  “Not as much now. The pot i
s helping.”

  “Good. I’ma nudge for a few minutes.”

  He lifted her like she was nothing and put her to sit across his thighs on one of the big chairs for kissing and mauling with hands.

  “You’re sexy as fuck when you’re pounding the shit outta someone, you know that?” he said about half an hour in.

  “I do now. Not to ruin the moment we got goin’, but Gable is going to be here in a few minutes.”

  “What for?”

  “You wanted me to not be alone,” she said.

  “Yeah, but you’ve never asked him to come up here before.”

  “Today I am. It’s brother/sister stuff. I am the youngest of seven children but for the first time in my life, I feel like I have siblings.”

  “You have six brothers and sisters? Where are they?”

  “They all died at birth or within six months.”

  “Oh. Damn. I’m sorry, Ty. I didn’t know that,” said with plain truth.

  “It’s okay. Obviously I never met any of them. It’s not that I’m sad over them. I have almost no emotions about it. I always felt bad for my mother, to have lost so many babies. It’s part of why she is as she is across all the timelines. That intense sadness. I can relate to that.”

  He smiled at her. “Okay, you have brother/sister time with Gable doing whatever it is that you’re going to do that you don’t want to tell me about.”

  “Thank you for understanding,” she said, and swung her legs over to stand up off his lap.

  He got up and delivered one hard smack to her ass. “I’ll just leave that with you.”

  She had about ten minutes to reposition the chairs at the end of her bed, to face the large flat screen television on the wall. The small table between them, and her blanket. Three raps on the door announced his arrival, and she could feel his self-conscious vibes. He’d not been in this room since he and Roc had made it up for her impending arrival.

  She brought a box to her hands and opened it. “This is a dvd player. Hook it up just like a VCR. Inputs are on the left side of the screen. Sit it on the bottom shelf.”

  He turned it over this way and that to look at the device, and had it hooked up in half a minute. When he turned around, he found her with cast-bound right arm straight up between them, pinkie finger standing in the air.

  “You will swear. Cross your heart and hope to die – and you know I would kill you – stick a knitting needle in your eye – which you know I would do before I killed you – that you will never reveal to any person on Earth what I’m about to show you.”

  He hooked his pinkie finger with hers. “I swear, cross my heart and hope to die, stick a knitting needle in my eye, that I will never tell anyone on Earth what you’re about to show me.”

  “That includes Starbird.”

  He went rigid with the addition, struggling with the notion of not telling his girlfriend. “Not even Starbird.”

  She held up a DVD box.

  He saw it, the meaning not registering. Then blinked. Blinked again, eyes opening wide with realization of what he was seeing.

  “Star Wars…Episode One?!” He seized it to look at closer. “Where’d you get this? When’d it come out?” he asked, turning it over. “Is it real?”

  “Absolutely real. In the planning stages now and will be in theaters summer of 1996, following the re-release of Episodes four, five and six.”

  He gave an involuntary inward gasp. “Re-release?”

  She nodded, smiling. “With updated special effects and deleted scenes.” She reached behind herself to show him the silver packaged box set of Episodes IV, V and VI.

  “Oh my god! I think I just came in my pants.”

  “There’s more,” she said, taking back the set and Episode I. And showed him the next box.

  “Episode II? No way!”

  “Anakin begins his walk to the Dark Side,” she said, and held up one more box.

  Gable screeched an AAAAAAAGGGHHHH! “No fuckin’ way! Are you shittin’ me? Oh my god! Episode III. Anakin becomes Darth Vader! Oh my god. Tyler! I love you!” He kissed her hard and fast on the mouth. “Can we watch them? Can we?”

  “Why do you think you’re here and just set up a dvd player?”

  “Food. We must have food. Roast beef sandwiches?”

  “Okay.”

  “K!”

  He zipped downstairs. Rather than bother with trays, he used grocery bags. A full two liter of pop, unopened chips, dip, rolls and deli roast beef, mayo, mustard, romaine lettuce, knives, plates, napkins, bucket of ice, and a serving tray dangling from his fingertips.

  “What are you doing?” Roc asked in the midst of gathering supplies.

  “Um…Tyler and I are going to have an…um…a conference. Yeah. We…um…don’t want to be disturbed.” He picked up bag loops. “Bye!”

  He opened the pop first, knowing she couldn’t with her wrist in the cast, and forgetting about her psychokinesis. A fresh box of tissues sat on the table between the chairs. Sandwich plates prepared, feet up in chairs, he reached his right hand toward her, pinkie up.

  “Okay. You will swear,” he said most seriously. “Cross your heart and hope to die. Not that I could kill you, but still. That you will never tell of my geeked out reactions to anything. You must particularly not ever tell Jerome.”

  She took his pinkie with her left. “I will never tell if you will never tell. You must particularly never tell Jerome.”

  He cracked a grin. “Deal!”

  She sparked her pipe and clicked play. About an hour later someone knocked on the door.

  “Go away!” they shouted in unison, passing the pipe once more.

  When it was over, he took down the trash while she got the next movie ready.

  “What are you two doing?” Jerome asked him in the kitchen.

  “None of your business,” Gable replied, hastily dumping more ice into the bucket.

  He grabbed a bag of Chips Deluxe cookies from the cookie cupboard and hurried back out.

  “He won’t tell me either,” Star shrugged.

  When the triple feature was over nearly ten hours after it had begun, Gable knew a profound need to go for a long jog.

  “Tyler, you are the bestest sister ever,” he said before heading down the stairs with the last of their trash.

  He’d never said that to anyone before, and no one had ever said anything like it to her. Both wondered if that was what it felt like to have siblings.

  “Tyler?” said with taps to the open door. Jerome.

  “Yeah?”

  “Giuseppe wants to know when you’ll be able to come back to work.”

  She was silent a moment, assessing her physical condition. A month since she’d awakened after the battle. The pain in her hip was minimal. Her arm would be fine in a week.

  “Tell him I’ll be there Friday.”

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Landra Ahr scanned through the cast, finding the two bones had healed as expected – if a few days faster than anticipated. Using his cutting laser, he sliced slowly through to the bottom layer of bandage. He cut slower than he needed to.

  “In recent weeks, I have noticed you are becoming more reckless. Less concerned with your own safety or discretion and more apt to act out.”

  “So what.”

  “What is going on inside your head, Tyler?”

  “I will do as I must to obtain my objective. The cost to myself is irrelevant,” she replied flat and emotionless.

  “Where does this sudden lack of self-preservation come from? You were cooperative when Solomon first appeared.

  “Self-preservation is a form of fear. For the five thousandth time, I do not feel fear. Are you done?”

  “With the cast, yes. Talking to you, no.”

  “Then we are done,” she said, rubbing her prickling, itching arm. “What I do to obtain my objectives is not, and never will be, up for discussion.”

  His metal hand closed gently around her left forearm. “Please talk with me
. Your demeanor since you saw him has deteriorated to minimal interaction and short temper. You are not yourself. What is going on?”

  “How would you feel if Adamantine showed up on your doorstep tomorrow? How would Jerome feel if Honcho knocked on the door right now? I’m fucking furious,” she bit, and yanked her arm out of his hand knowing he’d let go rather than hurt her. “He’s masking himself from me. I’m masking myself from him. Soon as I know where he is, he’s dead.”

  “What if he comes for you first?”

  “Not in this house. He’s a game player and mind fucker and that’s why I rid myself of certain emotions in the first fucking place. Without the doubt and regret, without the fear, he’s got nothing to play with. I have to go to work. I’ll let you know when there’s something to discuss.”

  She teleported directly to the restaurant, appearing in Giuseppe’s empty office. She expected an uneventful night, and intended only to work on Fridays and Saturdays. A quiet shift it was. When the last patrons were out and the crew was on closing, she said good night to Giuseppe and ported home.

  “No,” she said upon seeing Landra Ahr standing guard outside her door.

  “I have stood here nearly every night,” he said. “We remain at high yellow alert until you have dealt with Solomon.”

  She glared at him. Without word, without warning, she ported to Mickey’s house for the night and went to work from there the next day. And wasn’t surprised to see Jerome come in restaurant door at eight o’clock. He suddenly found himself as the go-between when he’d wanted Landra Ahr to be the go-between when she’d come to live at the warehouse.

  “Take your dinner break with me.”

  Normally she would stay on duty through the first show and take her break between, before going onstage herself. She acquiesced and went to the family side with him.

  “You went to Mickey’s last night, right?” he asked after they’d placed their orders.

  “And I will again tonight if he’s outside my door.”

  “Why are you suddenly resistant to him being there?”

  “Because I am.”

  “Come on, Ty. That’s no answer. Don’t shut me out now after we’ve made so much progress,” he pushed.