My voice was bland, blasé, even if a little raw, tears still choking me. “I’ll be fine.”
King Bridges forehead crinkled. “I gave her an even smaller dosage than the other four because of her weight.”
“I’ll be fine, so please move along in whatever you’re going to say, because, as everyone here I’m sure knows, mum’s the word for a spirit Elemental,” I stated coolly, keeping the answer relatively simple.
And…everyone in this room was breaking my heart all over again as they peered at me…like a stranger from under hooded lids…everyone, absolutely everyone.
So, sitting frozen on the couch for the next hour while I slowly started to move bits of my body, trying not to burst into tears as they continued staring at me as they were, the Kings talked endlessly about the perils of knowing the future, trying to change the future, the temptation to know the future, and ordering each of the Prodigies to never tell another soul I was from the future. Then the danger my life could be in with the information I had inside my brain, to the point, the Kings then stalled, going into a discussion themselves about spelling me to forget the future, but since it wasn’t a Law, and when I kindly interrupted, threatening to make them forget they even knew this information—in a roundabout way—they instantly moved past that issues when King Samson said I was telling the truth, and continued on in their long discussion of the threat that was…me.
At the end, when each of them ran out of things to say and dismissed us, the Kings probably sporting a few new wrinkles from their impassioned speeches, I stood on shaking legs, gripping the arm of the couch carefully, making sure I could stand alone, because that was what I was, alone. I lifted my black purse with the pink skull on it, placing it over my shoulder, and walked calmly, and carefully, from the mansion to my car. No one stopping me as I went.
Chapter Eight
Two weeks.
In the two weeks after that dinner I had seen no one, except for the multiple tails I now had, not only Elder Jacob’s men following me, but King White’s as well. Everyone had forsaken me in the light of my lies. I couldn’t say I blamed them, my actions inexcusable to those who trusted me. My nights now empty, only filled with a routine I made myself do to not fall too deep in a slump, but always ending in the bathroom, enjoying the scalding water to wash away every damn tear my body could shed as I sobbed, my neighbors probably worrying it was the return of the old me.
I had finally come to terms no one was coming to see me, and written letters to the Prodigies, placing them in the outgoing mail at work that day, apologizing again and hoping for something more in the future with the subtlest of hints…but Elder Cain Alek Merrick was another story. Our relationship had been different. I wasn’t sure what I would say to him, but I planned to sneak onto his property the next day to apologize—again—in person. If after covertly probing him on what I feared, hoped, wasn’t true, that I could have been that stupid…again…the two weeks being alone without him somewhat clearing my head.
A worry that had begun to creep in on me three days after the dinner.
A weakness he may have played off of, being my inexperience in sex, a gateway to someone’s trust. His subtle questioning. The way he always left to move his car every evening, a chance for the tails to see him enter…then leave…only to sneak back inside unseen. The real probability of why Elder Jacobs and Elder Merrick hadn’t told the Kings they had met me before. Possibly…another beautifully played game at my expense…their own study.
I prayed I hadn’t been played. Not that way again.
So, late that evening, returning from watching a movie all by my lonesome at the local movie theater, I was less than pleased to walk into my apartment to find it somewhat filled with uninvited guests. King White was sitting at my small dinette, reading through a magazine I had purchased. Elder Jacobs was half dozing on my recliner. And Elder Merrick was sitting on my couch, feet propped on the table, the room only dimly lit by the kitchen light I had left on while he studied…my gun…he held in his hands.
“You forgot to lock your door, Ms. Farrow,” King White stated merrily into the quiet as he flipped a sheet of my magazine.
No, I hadn’t. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” As if I didn’t know, my voice void, while I closed and locked the door behind me, moving past all of them into the kitchen to retrieve a Coke from my fridge, dropping my purse on the counter.
“Since you turned down my invitation to a private dinner—”
“Your dinners are so pleasant; after all, I imagine it was shocking I rejected the invite.” Yeah, I had turned down an invite—another formal affair on old stationery—a few days ago, not about to trap myself into being drugged again…to possibly disappear.
His lips curved as I sat across from him at the dinette. “Yes, I can understand your misgivings.” He tilted his head to Elder Jacobs and Elder Merrick. “Especially after it was explained to me what has been going on behind my back.”
I stilled completely, swallowing my drink slowly at the confirmation. Feeling the blood drain from my face, my heart stuttered, then stopped, only to pound rapidly. An eerie ache settling like a rock around my heart. I swallowed again, feeling like I was going to puke, as utter hatred bubbled inside of me from the betrayal of the most intimate kind. Brown eyes scanned over my face, red eyebrows quirking in silent question when I started chuckling, a purely malicious sound. I ran a hand through my hair, setting my Coke down calmly, even if my hand was shaking somewhat. “Yes,” I inhaled shallowly, my tone like a cold chill, even if shaking somewhat, so I cleared my throat, “I had suspected.”
“I thought as much, since I don’t imagine much gets by you with enough consideration,” King White murmured softly, his head cocked as he watched me. He flicked his hand to them. “I thought I would let them explain, so as there would be less bad blood between you and I, seeing as I had—,” he cleared his own throat, his voice clipped, “no fucking clue any of this was occurring.”
Ever so slowly, I turned my frigid gaze to Elder Jacobs and Elder Merrick, staring at them mutely, my thoughts like fiery ice.
Elder Merrick’s own voice void, not peering up at me, eyes trained on the gun as he rotated it in his hands. “I wondered about this.” Another rotation of the gun while he studied every detail. “I even looked it up. We don’t have guns like this right now.”
I didn’t even look at the gun I hadn’t even thought of them not having in this age, staring only at the man on my couch. “When did you really first see me?”
Navy blue eyes peered up to mine, a cold intelligence, a brutal ruthlessness he had hidden to me, watched calmly, black curls dangling about his face. “When you were dancing with the Prodigies.”
I huffed a cold chuckle, even as Elder Jacobs shifted on his seat, a sure sign he hadn’t known this little fact. And…not only that…my lips curved with my simmering hatred for him, utterly loving the fact it must have been a rude awakening the next morning after he had thought to dupe me to realize I wasn’t a Shifter, and then, I thoroughly enjoyed the frigid hatred he didn’t bother to hide entering his own gaze as I laughed in his face.
Elder Jacobs cleared his throat after a moment, sitting forward in the recliner, putting himself into my line of eyesight to catch my gaze. “It wasn’t entirely Elder Merrick’s fault to deceive you as he did.” I quieted some, trying to reign in my anger, raking hair off my face with a damn still slightly shaking hand as I turned my attention toward him while he continued. “When we saw you outside the hotel with the Prodigies, we thought it surprising you recognized us so quickly, thought perhaps we had met before, but since neither of us forgets a face, and we knew we had never met you, we brushed it off as an oddity, our faces recognizable because of our history and position.”
I had recognized Elder Merrick instantly when I had rolled over that morning, right along with recognizing Elder Jacobs instantly outside the hotel.
He waved a hand. “But, after we followed you, ran the background checks, and r
an your prints on a glass you’d used from the limo,” he shrugged a shoulder, sitting back on my recliner, “you didn’t exist on any databases, so Elder Merrick and I…did what we do best.”
My mind whirled, realizing they had already done a fingerprint check…and the bit he was blatantly telling me they were damn spies.
Elder Merrick efficiently released the clip on my gun and begun a quiet study of each of the silver bullets without flinching. “Now that we know you’re from the future, Elder Jacobs and I believe you knew us before.” He rubbed on one of the bullets, peering at it more closely. “In the future, I mean.”
I snorted, glaring at him. “Fuck you.” Oops, we had already done that, hadn’t we, which I bet chaffed him like no other.
“Hmm.” He peered more closely, ignoring my anger. “Which means, we knew you, too, since this,” a flicked hand around the room, “is the past for the us of the future, if you are truly meant to be here.” I went quiet, thinking that through slowly, even as he asked, voice still void, “How did we really meet in your eyes?”
“Elder Merrick…” King White murmured a quiet warning.
A cold, direct order. “Answer the question.”
My nostrils flared, but he did have my damn gun in his hands, so I sucked in a breath, keeping it simple. “I met you and Elder Jacobs for the first time in a formal living room after a dinner.” Not to mention, he hadn’t seemed to like me very well, which made sense now, the him of the future with this as his past, and…there had been something in both of their eyes, and even an odd comment by Elder Jacobs…I shook my head. “Yes, I think you both knew me. There was something there you both tried to hide.”
“Hmm.” He started putting the bullets back in the clip. “We only knew each other briefly?”
“Somewhat,” I stated vaguely, not going into details. “I went back in time not too long afterward.”
“But, we didn’t tell you.”
Not a question, but I stated, “You couldn’t alter time.”
He grunted, slamming the clip back into place on the gun, eyeing me coldly with his own simmering hatred.
Elder Jacobs interjected then, taking over, stating calmly, “As I said,” my eyes turned to him, “Elder Merrick is not only at fault for this. Since I was currently busy with another affair, it was decided between us Elder Merrick would take the lead in a private investigation of you. And after learning more about you during the interrogation, it was quickly surmised it would work.” His lips actually quirked. “You should feel somewhat fortunate, Ms. Farrow. You appeared to only need companionship. Had it been me doing the investigation, instead of someone who despises mixed-faction relations with a vengeance, I would have used a more sensual approach.”
My face stayed blank. “Yes, that’s very fortunate, because I probably would have killed you while you slept one night had you deceived me like that.”
Ah…that idea had merit.
Dark eyes stared back at me calmly. “Was that a threat?”
“Did you sleep with me to gain information?”
“No.”
“Then it wasn’t a threat.” I kept my mouth shut after that, seeing as how my gun was in the hands of the man I was threatening.
Elder Jacobs sighed heavily. “I understand you’re upset, Ms. Farrow, and I can’t even say I apologize for our actions because we were moving in the best interests of the Prodigies, but you shouldn’t take out your hurt feelings on King White. He had no indication of what was transpiring while we conducted our private research,”
I waved a hand, jumping from my seat, not able to sit still any longer. Anger burst forth as I had never felt before…because there had been a slim possibility I had actually started to have feelings for Elder Merrick. Real damn feelings for a prick who had fucked me as part of his job.
“Don’t fucking tell me what I’m feeling!” It was even worse than the Walker Leric, because whereas the Walker had spun a twisting loyalty within me, Elder Merrick had started to worm his way into my damn heart. Not a lot, but he had still managed to get there, which burned like acid down my throat.
All three were utterly still, staring at me quietly with varying expressions, I realized there were tiny little stars popping off any of my exposed flesh, like sizzling bursts of anger.
Well, that was a new one.
I swiped a hand over my face, swiftly moving to the patio door, opening the blinds and the door, sucking in oxygen to try to calm down. “Fucking betrayed again.” I shook my head, chest heaving. “Goddammit.”
Elder Jacobs’s voice was extremely slow. “It had to be done.”
Eyes flared, nowhere near calmed, I glared at him over my shoulder where he was still staring at me in shock. “I never would have hurt the Prodigies. I explained that. And all I got in return was your fucking deception.” My furious gaze went to Elder Merrick’s, who was decidedly not shocked, actually resting against the back of my couch calmly while staring at me coldly. “Congratulations, you bastard. You played it perfectly.” My head tilted toward the front door. “Now, since I understand why you did what you did for the Prodigies, I’ll give you ten seconds to get the fuck out my apartment before I really show you what I can do.”
Even from his relaxed state, his wolf growled quietly at the challenge.
King White threw up his hands, his expression still wide-eyed on me, and the tiny, bursting stars. “Both of you, just calm the hell down.” He ran a hand through his red hair. “Christ, this is getting out of hand.” He stood, quickly moving between Elder Merrick and my hate-filled stare down, and actually placed a hand on mine, only to jerk back shouting, “Shit!” He waved his hand as if I had burned him, but he breathed even, stating over Elder Merrick’s low growl, “I had nothing to do with their actions, Ms. Farrow. And the reason,”
I waved a hand, cutting him off, my hair blowing in the night-time breeze from outside, moving to my front door, opening it and holding it there. “I know why you’re here now.” I shook my head, voice void. “I won’t work for you, King White. I have no bad blood for you, as you put it, but I can’t. Every action I make here can have consequences on the future.”
His mouth opened—
A flash of brilliant gold.
Time…stood still.
Utterly and completely.
King White stood frozen, one foot forward on the ground as he had stepped, mouth parted the barest bit, his opened suit jacket stopped in mid-wave. Elder Jacobs quiet and still where he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. Elder Merrick still resting casually on the couch, one arm over the back of it, feet crossed on my coffee table. Silence rained down around us, the sounds of life outside gone, only our breathing heard as they blinked slowly at me.
Except…I wasn’t frozen.
I twisted about, eyes wide, the furious anger inside me subsiding instantly in the threat of danger, my body no longer zapping with stars as I peered for the source of this potent, prevailing magic. I lunged toward the couch, half falling on top of Elder Merrick’s frozen body, a guttural choked noise coming from him as I grabbed the gun from his hand on his lap. Pushing off him, I swung it toward the kitchen’s entrance where a man stood calmly wearing an enormous golden robe, his features I couldn’t see, but his eyes were glowing golden under his robe. I pivoted, placing my back directly in front of King White’s, protecting him, growling, “Who the fuck are you?”
The robed man chuckled merrily. “You defend him even after what he’s put you through while you’ve been here?”
My finger hovered on squeezing the trigger. “Who are you?”
He shrugged. “I’m Elder Harcourt.” He waved a robed hand. “Now, put the gun down before you get hurt.”
My breath caught in my chest, the gun shaking a bit in my hand, and I quickly lowered it, knowing utterly this Mage—the most powerful Mage in the world—wasn’t lying. The three around me were making choking noises as they tried to get free from this state, but he was too powerful. Oh, God. If he was here to take
me back, I sure as hell wanted to be taken, nothing here in this lifetime worth a damn anymore. “Elder Farrar thought I was meant to be here.” I licked my lips. “But…are you here to take me back?” Fear and anguish ripped inside me, heartbeat pounding just as hard as my lungs were, afraid he would say no.
Elder Harcourt’s hooded head nodded a bit as he hobbled closer to me. “Yes, it’s time for you to return to your time, your stretch here done.” I heaved a broken, exultant sigh, feeling faint as he moved, somehow managing to keep that hood so I couldn’t see him. I heard him inhale heavily before he blew hard, a shimmering gold floating from under his hood directly over me, falling down onto me in a floating mist, and suddenly, my clothes felt different, my purse over my arm heavy with the gun no longer in my hand, and my hair I could see was white with pink streaks. The frozen three around me went mute, their gazes stuck on the me of the future, my clothes exactly as I had left the future in, not a big difference than what I had been wearing a moment ago, except for my hair.
“There. Much better,” Elder Harcourt stated cheerfully, and began walking behind me, his hood still low on his face, but he paused. “Any last words for those here, young lady?”
My gaze landed on Elder Merrick’s, and somehow, even frozen, he managed to stare back at me with as much hatred as I felt for him. My lips curved the barest bit, a purely feral gleam, and I flipped him off. “See you in the future, asshole.”
Elder Harcourt chuckled grandly behind me.
Elder Merrick made a loud, deep gurgling noise that sounded remarkably like, “Can’t wait, bitch.”
My lips only stayed curled as I watched him with furious glowing eyes while a remarkably strong arm wrapped around my waist from behind for how slow his steps had been, and his hooded head dipped down toward me, murmuring, “This’ll just take a moment.”
A flash of bright gold erupted around the two of us, and then we were inside a serene golden shimmering escape of nonentity, glittering and majestic, beautiful and powerful, so damn prevailing, it stole my breath. My eyes stayed wide open, and a second later, I was standing on the sidewalk of Choep, New York, gunfire and explosions erupting around me. “There you are. Back home.” A flash of gold behind me, and he was gone.
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