Rectify Injustice (The Exceptional S. Beaufont Book 6)
Page 34
Mama Jamba actually laughed at this. “Who says I’m pretending? Actually, half the time I’m pretending not to know what I know, but you already had that figured out.”
He rubbed his head, a persistent headache returning. Hiker knew that inside the Castle he shouldn’t have headaches or any pain, so if this one refused to go away, there was a good reason behind it. Mama kept telling him it was self-inflicted. He kept contending that Quiet was mad about something or other and didn’t want to get rid of it for him.
“It’s both,” Mother Nature said, watching him rub his temples and referring to their prior conversation about the headaches, although he hadn’t said anything. It didn’t matter. Hiker knew she was right. She knew pretty much everything, even what he was unwilling to admit right then.
She pointed at the gold token sitting on the surface of his desk, a stubborn expression on her face. “You aren’t getting rid of the headaches or the guilt or any of the rest of the residuals until you deal with the past.”
He threw up his hand, letting his temper get the best of him. “The past is over and done with. Don’t you get that? I can’t undo it. I can’t fix things. I can’t make anything better when history has already been written and that book closed.”
She picked up the gold harp from on the coffee table in front of the fire and laid it on the desk next to the gold token. “You’re wrong, son. Believe me, my best friend is an expert on this subject. Time is a relative thing. This isn’t really about undoing the past. It’s about coming to terms with it. Only when we do that can we move forward.”
“I’ve moved forward!” he boomed, knowing he was fooling no one.
Mama Jamba laughed at him. “You’re about as stagnant as a puddle of week-old swamp water in the Louisiana bayou.”
He rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this, Mama.” Hiker glared at the stack of papers on his desk of cases that needed his attention.
She shook her head. “Believe it or not, this is all you should have time for. Fix your personal life, and you’ll find fixing the world’s problems are immeasurably easier.”
“I don’t have a personal life!”
Mama Jamba nodded as she made for the door to his office. “You’re telling me, son. Which is why you don’t want anyone else to either.” She pursed her lips at him from the exit to the study. “You’ve always been like that. Maybe because you assumed if your own twin brother couldn’t love you, you weren’t deserving of anyone else’s love.” Mother Nature thought on this for a long moment. “You know, Thad not loving you was his problem, not your shortcoming, just as you not loving others is yours and not theirs.”
Hiker was about to tell the old woman where she could put her sage wisdom, but she turned and left the office, humming the song, “What the World Needs Now.”
He let out a guttural protest as he regarded the gold token and the harp. Maybe if he did what Mama Jamba and Sophia kept pushing on him, they’d see they were wrong. Then they’d let this mess go and stop putting their noses into his business.
With a resigned spirit, Hiker grabbed the harp and slid it into this jacket pocket. He’d found just having the harp on him made him feel more relaxed, and when things got really intense, strumming the instrument had immediate results. Like earlier at the dining room table when everyone in the Castle was wearing away at his patience.
Hiker didn’t know what good it would do to revisit the past. Part of him wholeheartedly believed it was an incredible waste of time. The other part of him only marginally thought it might offer some good.
Because he wanted to believe the latter and prove Mama and Sophia wrong, Hiker picked up the gold coin and turned it over until it said, “Reset Point.”
Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
The symphony of noise inside the Castle was a stark contrast to the present moment for Hiker Wallace.
How long had it been since he heard so much going on in the Castle, he wondered as he opened his eyes in the reset point. He couldn’t remember, although the current date did feel like yesterday. How could it not when it had been etched onto his soul?
The reset point was the day before the Great War started. That was the day Thad Reinhart had challenged the Dragon Elite, threatening war on them and the world at large. It was the day evil magicians had stopped mortals from seeing magic and rendered the Dragon Elite useless. It was the day Hiker’s twin brother had tried to kill him. He hadn’t been successful for one reason.
It wasn’t because the dozens of men lined up next to Hiker alongside their dragons had stepped in and saved him. It wasn’t because Hiker defended himself from his brother. No, even though Hiker knew Thad had wanted him dead for all their lives, he had never been able to stand up to his twin. Not until recently, when he knew it had gone on for too long and not stopping his twin would destroy the planet. Back then, Hiker had been powerless and seized with paralysis when threatened by Thad.
Hiker survived the attack the day the Great War started because of one person: Ainsley Carter.
The shapeshifting elf had been a delegate from the elfin council, advising the Dragon Elite and other governing bodies. She had been considered a supreme source on strategy and political preparedness. Even then, it had been hard for most to believe the woman was so astute on worldly matters because like she was now, Ainsley never took anything seriously. At least, that’s how it appeared on the surface.
Those who underestimated the elf’s flippant nature were usually left holding the losing hand when she served them up an agenda they hadn’t expected nor could contend with. Ainsley Carter was brilliant. She was the only woman to have ever entered the Gullington, not including Mama Jamba, of course. Ainsley had been the one who stepped in front of the attack meant to kill Hiker.
“Stupid girl,” Hiker muttered to himself, blinking to clear his vision as he looked around the office of the past. It was the same one he’d just left, only several centuries earlier, but that wasn’t how he knew he’d arrived in the past. He knew because everything was black and white.
Hiker held up his hand, and as Sophia had informed him, his form was still full of color, although everything around him was in shades of gray. The hollering in the hallway took him back in a way he hadn’t expected. He suddenly remembered when there were dozens of dragonriders, all ready to defend the planet for the good of all. That had been before the Great War. Before those at the House took over, blinding mortals from magic. Before Ainsley nearly lost everything because of a stupid decision.
Stranger than hearing the Castle filled with noise was to look around Hiker’s office and see himself pacing in front of the bank of windows that overlooked the Pond. Nothing had changed outside in a few hundred years, either.
“See, I told Mama this was ridiculous,” he said to himself, knowing those in the past couldn’t hear him. He was a ghost walking through their reality. As he’d suspected, he was right. “Nothing has changed. Nothing ever does. We just keep repeating ourselves.”
Although Hiker knew he couldn’t be heard or seen, he was still spooked when he heard his past self say, “I know you’re there.”
Present Hiker stiffened, wondering how his past version had sensed him. Then he heard her voice at his back.
“And here I thought you never noticed me,” Ainsley said as she came into the office, looking different than he remembered.
How could he forget the way she used to wear her red hair, braided intricately down her back with jewels and pearls neatly tucked into the strands. She wore a blue dress that was both classy and revealing, showing her chest and collar bones. The most striking thing about her was the way she carried herself like the dignified delegate she was. Her chin was held high with confidence but hiding under the surface was the always-present teasing smile that was Ainsley’s trademark.
The black and white version of Hiker turned and put his back to the bank of windows. “You know that’s not true.”
She swept into the room, and her eyes narrowed with a hint
of mischief. “What I know is that you wished you never noticed me.”
Hiker sighed, both the present version of him and the one from the past. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
“The men are ready,” she said, angling her head toward the hallway where the noise of dozens of dragonriders could be heard.
Hiker nodded solemnly, his hands still pressed behind his back.
“You realize a war is imminent,” Ainsley stated, suddenly all business.
“I don’t know that,” he replied firmly.
She marched up to the leader of the Dragon Elite and looked into his eyes. “You’re deluding yourself if you think you can negotiate with Thad Reinhart. It isn’t even worth the risk.”
“Miss Carter, although I appreciate your input—”
“I remember when you used to call me Ains,” she interrupted, heat flashing on her face.
The present-day Hiker gulped. He hadn’t remembered calling her that, not until right then. How could he have forgotten?
“I told you,” past Hiker told her. “That’s over. We aren’t going back to it.”
“Because you’re scared,” she challenged, not wavering from her position in front of him.
Hiker hadn’t forgotten how she never stood down. Ainsley had always challenged him—since the beginning. He almost laughed, remembering how infuriating it had been at their first few meetings…but then, that had been why he’d fallen in love with her.
He shook his head, dispelling the thought. It was like a disease trying to take over, and he wouldn’t let it. He wasn’t going to get sucked into the past. It happened the way it had for a reason. Ainsley wouldn’t listen to reason. She wouldn’t accept they had no future. Because for as intelligent as she was, she was impulsive and made a bad decision. Yes, one that saved Hiker, but also sentencing her to something probably worse than death.
“A war doesn’t have to be inevitable,” past Hiker said, stepping around Ainsley and striding for the door. He pivoted and faced her when he was a safe distance away.
Present Hiker stood between the two, tethered between them as they faced off.
“It is though, Hiker,” Ainsley argued. “I’ve gotten communications from several sources. Something is happening to mortals. Things aren’t right. This is bigger than the dragonriders. This is bigger than any of us could have conceived.”
He shook his head. “No, this will pass, just as we have circumvented dozens of wars over the years. That’s my job as the leader of the Dragon Elite, and I will continue to resolve disputes so that tomorrow, your world knows mostly peace.”
“What about you?” Ainsley demanded. “You sacrifice your own happiness because your first responsibility, your only one, is to the Dragon Elite?”
As cold as ever, Hiker nodded. “I told you, there can’t be anything between us. It complicates my role here. It confuses your job for the elves.”
“What if I didn’t work for the elfin council anymore?” she asked and took a step forward.
Past Hiker copied the movement, taking a step backward. “You can’t do that. You can’t give up everything you’ve worked for…for me.”
She shook her head. “That’s what you do for love, Hiker. You sacrifice your life. You change everything for the hope of something better. That’s what the Dragon Elite do, so why wouldn’t I? Why wouldn’t you?”
He narrowed his eyes at her, but deep inside, there was something breaking. She was getting through to him, and both versions of Hiker were afraid what she could say next that would break his resolve. That was why he spun and marched for the door.
“I can’t do this with you, Miss Carter,” Hiker said, retreating fast.
“Don’t you walk away from this!” Ainsley yelled, her face blossoming red.
He halted and looked over his shoulder at her, real regret in his eyes.
Sensing him caving, Ainsley took another step forward, pleading with her every movement. “Please. Give us a chance. We’re good. We’re better than good. I have a reason to believe we could be great.”
Past Hiker closed his eyes for a half-beat. Present Hiker remembered the internal struggle he’d felt back then. Acutely he remembered wanting to run to the elf. Tell her he loved her. That it had always been her. Then he felt the always present conflict that told him he wasn’t fit for love—never had been. That was the voice Hiker Wallace chose to listen to that day.
Letting out a long breath, past Hiker said, “Maybe in another life, but not this one. We just aren’t meant to be.”
“I love you,” Ainsley argued, conviction covering her face and vibrating in her words.
He pressed his lips together and simply nodded.
It burned present Hiker up. It infuriated him that he couldn’t just return her words and say the one thing he knew to be true, even if it scared him. The look that crossed Ainsley’s face next was his penance.
“I must go,” Hiker said, his attention drifting to the noise in the corridor of the Castle.
“I have to tell you something,” Ainsley urged, stepping over to him.
A warning crossed past Hiker’s face as he shook his head, making her stop abruptly. “No, not right now. Tell me tomorrow or another day. Right now, I’ve got to focus. I’ve got a war to avoid.”
That actually made present Hiker laugh. There was no avoiding what was coming. It was why Papa Creola had created a reset point. In case things never recovered, there was a place to go back to—to start again.
“Hiker.” Ainsley reached out, suddenly appearing vulnerable.
He shook his head sternly. “Good day, Miss Carter. I will see you tomorrow during the negotiations. I expect you’ll be there?”
Present Hiker nearly screamed. If there was a way to tell the fool he used to be not to allow Ainsley on the battlefield, he would have. All he could do was yell to a room full of lost souls who couldn’t hear him.
“Yes, I’ll be there, Mr. Wallace,” Ainsley said, sucking in a breath and seeming to brace herself. “Good day.”
Past Hiker nodded in a business-like fashion and walked out the door, leaving Ainsley to stand alone in the middle of his office.
Present Hiker thought that was the end and felt betrayed by Mama Jamba for making him see this memory. It, as he’d expected, changed nothing. Ainsley had saved him out of foolishness. He had chosen not to love her because it wasn’t an option for the leader of the Dragon Elite. How he could have ever allowed her to give it all up—her career as a delegate for the elfin council. No, things happened the way they did because there had been no other way. There never had been, and there was no way to change that.
Hiker pulled the gold token from his pocket, preparing to go back to the present when something glistened on Ainsley’s cheek and caught his attention.
It was a tear.
Another one joined it as the elf began to cry. In a dignified manner, she wiped her cheeks and pressed her hand to her stomach.
“By the way, Hiker,” she said, speaking to him like he was still there. “I’m pregnant with your child.”
Chapter One Hundred Seventeen
The weight of love had never seemed so heavy for Hiker Wallace as at that moment. As he stared at the elf and heard her secret, it all became clear. It had been centuries, but now he knew why Ainsley had sacrificed herself for him. He understood why she’d offered to give up her position with the elfin council. He knew why she didn’t want to give up—even after everything he’d put her through. It made him angrier than he had ever been in his entire life.
The gold harp in his pocket couldn’t help him then. Nothing could quell the fire in his gut.
With a force that would break a diamond, Hiker pressed down on either side of the gold token, breaking it in two and ending the reset point forever.
He spiraled through a black vortex until he was dumped back in his office in the present time. Everything color once more.
He peered at the two halves of the coin and felt more broken than the gold token.
He wouldn’t have allowed Ainsley to go into the negotiations the next day. He wouldn’t have denied her the life she continued to beg him for, and he would have loved her fiercely.
The new information changed everything.
He had to help Ainsley recover her memories from before the attack. He had to help find the cure so she could leave the Gullington for good. Then Hiker had to prepare to lose her forever because once she knew the truth, she would leave and never look back at the man who had scarred her for life.
Chapter One Hundred Eighteen
The President of the United States was apparently easier to get an audience with than Zac Efron, according to the sources Sophia had talked to. She’d actually met with the President since her role as a Dragon Elite gave her such privileges. However, Zac Efron wasn’t a politician. He was a movie star and the same rules didn’t apply to him.
Sophia knew the biggest complication would be getting past his bodyguard. Ramy was apparently a no-nonsense sort of guy who was fiercely protective. No one got to the star unless they went through him first. Sophia worried that telling the obsessed bodyguard she needed Zac Efron for a mysterious mission where the details were even unclear to her would probably not go over well.
She wished Lee at the Crying Cat Bakery had given her more information. Sophia had gotten a message from the baker that she’d have the location of the katana by the end of the day. So it was up to Sophia to get Zac Efron. Then she could complete the mission and wash her hands of fulfilling her end of the bargain tied to getting the twenty million dollars.
Lunis and Sophia stood outside the gated mansion in Beverly Hills. It was where Zac Efron lived according to Mortimer and his brownies. It was reassuring to Sophia that Zac was considered a good enough person that the brownies cared for this home. She still wondered why in the world this mission would require she bring the musically inclined star along.