Destiny Redeemed

by Gabrielle Bisset

  When Amon finished the letter, he returned outside to Gethen. As he handed it to him, he pressed it into his palm. “Be careful, friend. You know what they’ll do if they catch you.”

  “Have faith. Remember, we’re in Ireland, the land of my people.”

  As Amon watched, Gethen took a few steps backwards and slowly dissolved into mist.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Gethen reappeared in the exact location Amon had told him the councilwoman’s quarters could be found. Jean’s contact had warned of the sentry who stood guard outside her rooms and had suggested her private chambers as the perfect place to rematerialize. The room was dimly lit by only wall sconces, and as he listened for the sound of voices, he heard nothing. She was alone. Carefully, he began his search of Naomi Cooper’s quarters.

  It didn’t take him long to find her. In an ante room of her office, she sat alone reading a book. Gethen stood silently in the doorway and waited, hoping not to frighten her into sending up the alarm.

  Lifting her head from the book, the councilwoman trained her gaze on him as if she were deciding if he were real or an apparition. Slowly, she closed her book and placed it on the table next to her.

  “You’re a long way from home, my Sidhe friend,” she said in a soft voice.

  “You know what I am?”

  Nodding, Naomi Cooper stood and walked toward him. When she’d reached him, she placed her hand on his and smiled.

  “No matter how long I’m gone from the world outside, I can’t forget your people. Once, lifetimes ago, a Sidhe rescued me from the clutches of one of my people and took care of me. Your presence affects me just as his did.”

  Gethen attempted to move his hand from hers, unable to control the emotions she caused in him, but she refused to release him.

  Looking away, he pleaded, “Please don’t.”

  The councilwoman saw the scar on the side of his face and gently touched it with her fingertips. “Who did this to you, Sidhe?” she asked as she felt the raised scar.

  Fighting the emotions welling up inside him, he whispered hoarsely, “One of your people.”

  Her face grew sad and she dropped her hand. “I’m sorry. Even friends like Aeveren and Sidhe sometimes wrong each other.”

  Looking back at her, he said seriously, “I deserved this mark. It was I who wronged her, madam.”

  Nodding her understanding, Naomi Cooper gestured toward a chair near hers to offer him a seat. When they’d sat down, Gethen remained quiet for a moment and then removed the letter from his coat.

  “What is your name, Sidhe?”

  “I am called Gethen.”

  “Gethen, please call me Naomi.”

  Gethen let a small smile appear on his face, and he handed her the letter. “I’m here on behalf of Amon Kalins.”

  The councilwoman raised her eyebrows in surprise but said nothing. Gethen waited for her to alert her sentry, but she remained still.

  “He needs your help. He’s uncovered something going on between the head of the Council here and the head of the Soren.”

  “Amon Kalins is an escaped prisoner from Nil. It’s my duty to inform you that I sit on the council that convicted him and sentenced him to spend his remaining lifetimes here in Nil as punishment for his many crimes. Why would I help him against the head of my council? What proof does he have to substantiate these wild claims?”

  Gethen handed her Amon’s letter and watched as she read it and folded it again.

  “This bounty hunter he refers to—Ryu Jansen. He’s been a loyal employee of this council for years.”

  “He took Amon’s destined one. Why would a bounty hunter from your council kidnap a woman instead of taking the man he’s supposed to bring back here?”

  The councilwoman appeared to consider Gethen’s question for a moment and then turned to face him. “Thea? And he can prove this man took her to the Soren headquarters?”

  “Yes.”

  “I must admit I find it hard to believe any member of my council would associate with anyone from that group, least of all Kiril Gault.”

  Gethen waited, hoping her next move wouldn’t now be to call the guard.

  “However, Gethen, your friend is correct when he writes that I have been an outspoken opponent of some of the choices my council head has made. I believe in Aeveren laws, and his decision to conduct a no-holds-barred mission to return Amon Kalins to Nil by using his destined one’s past is one I believe to be very wrong. It is, however, a great leap to say that this means the head of the Council at Nil is in collusion with the head of the Soren.”

  As he waited for her to continue, Gethen knew he had to make his point stronger or he’d fail Amon.

  “I know better than anyone else as Amon’s servant for the past seven lifetimes what he’s done to belong here. But his destined one has done nothing, and your leader has placed her in the hands of a man who possesses female slaves for the sole purpose of his pleasure. Every moment Kiril Gault is free to do as he pleases because of his association with the head of your council is another moment Thea may be serving as his slave.”

  As she listened to the information Gethen gave her, Naomi’s face showed her sorrow at the idea of Thea’s fate. When she’d said nothing for a few minutes, Gethen rose to leave, saddened by his failure to help his friend this one last time.

  “What should I tell Amon?” he asked, hopeful she’d answer that she’d at least look into the allegations made.

  “Where is your friend now, Gethen?”

  When she saw the look of suspicion in his face, she explained, “I won’t give him up yet. You may trust me.”

  Unsure if he was signing Amon’s death warrant, he said slowly, “Ireland, at his house in County Cork.”

  Standing, she held her hand out to take his and smiled. “Then that’s where we’ll be going.”

  Gethen’s look of surprise amused her, but quickly he remembered the trip back and became concerned. “I can’t be sure you’ll handle the trip. Aeveren don’t travel well between the worlds.”

  “Not to worry, my Sidhe friend. Now take me to him.”

  Gethen looked down at Naomi Cooper’s hand in his and focused his mind on Ireland as they both dissolved from her rooms in Nil.

  *

  Amon stood in the room where just hours before he and Thea had made love and tried to focus his mind on hers. Each time he felt a connection, it was broken just seconds later. He felt relief as he received no clear sense that she’d come to any harm, but he knew his words to Gethen earlier may have been merely wishful thinking.

  But they were all he had for now.

  Gethen’s voice in his head called to him excitedly, and Amon quickly teleported to the living room downstairs to find his friend standing with a woman. Stunned, he silently asked Gethen if he’d taken her against her will, but quickly saw no fear in her expression.

  “Amon, this is Councilwoman Naomi Cooper.”

  Extending his hand to greet her, Amon shook hers and offered her a seat. As he sat across from her, he realized what he was seeing was supposed to be impossible.

  “Ms. Cooper, how is it that a council member is able to leave Nil?”

  Smiling, she explained, “We may leave when we choose. It is just assumed we can’t leave because we do so infrequently. To spend time outside of Nil will only encourage us to want what we left behind when we chose to accept a position on the Council. I felt this was a situation that called for me to return to this world, however.”

  “Gethen gave you my letter?”

  “Yes, your Sidhe friend gave me your letter and explained about your destined one’s kidnapping. I admit, it’s more out of concern for her than belief in you that I chose to come here.”

  “I’m grateful for whatever reason brought you here,” he replied as he looked over at Gethen and silently thanked him.

  Nodding, Gethen excused himself and left Amon to speak to the councilwoman alone.

  Naomi watched him leave and turned to Amon. “Yo
u have been very fortunate, Mr. Kalins. You’ve been blessed with the loyal friendship of a Sidhe and a fourth destined one. A healer, no less. And yet I remember quite clearly the crimes you were convicted of. You seemed to be favored by fate.”

  “I have. But the one who will suffer the most if the head of the Council at Nil has his way is my destined one. I may not deserve Thea, but she doesn’t deserve to be held by Kiril Gault.”

  Amon listened as she apologized, and then they sat quietly studying each other until he broke the silence. “May I assume by the way you’re looking at me and the slight tug I just felt in my mind that you possess the power of telepathy and you’re using it on me?”

  The councilwoman folded her arms across her chest and sat back in her chair. “Yes to both. You didn’t think I’d simply trust a convicted prisoner, did you?”

  Amon watched as Naomi’s skepticism faded with her look into his thoughts. Stroking his chin, he said, “Then you know I’m telling the truth, or at least what I believe to be the truth. If I may be frank, Ms. Cooper, I don’t have time to pass any more of your tests. Every minute I spend here with you is another minute Thea may be in danger. So if you don’t mind, let’s cut to the chase.”

  “Fine. I believe you’re telling the truth, and I do find the idea that one of our bounty hunters has been to the Soren headquarters rather damning, but to him, not the head of the Council. Are you sure it isn’t this bounty hunter that has an ax to grind with you and wants to punish you through your destined one?”

  “That only makes sense if I’d ever met him, which I don’t think I have.”

  “How would you know? Unless one is your destined one, you can’t recognize them from one life to the next.”

  Amon couldn’t disagree with her logic and preferred not to explain how easy it was to bribe a Directorate worker for that information, but he was sure it wasn’t Ryu Jansen who had the ax to grind.

  “Don’t you think if he wanted revenge on me he’d had said something about it to me? No, your bounty hunter isn’t the person calling the shots. I know Kiril Gault. He wouldn’t be bothered associating with one of your lapdogs.”

  “Yes, you know Kiril Gault, Mr. Kalins. Kiril Gault, the head of the main opposition to all Aeveren hold dear—the laws of our world. A man who wants to subjugate all humans and a man who’s behind much of the darker side of our world.”

  Amon was growing impatient with Naomi Cooper’s need to discuss his past. “Yes, I’ve associated with Gault and hundreds like him over the lifetimes. Yes, I’ve done some bad things in my past. If you came here to conduct your own personal hearing and retry me, you’re wasting your time and mine. I’m every bit as bad as you think I am and more. And if anything has happened to Thea because of the head of your fucking council, I’ll make sure the rest of his time is full of more pain than you could ever imagine. He’ll die by a thousand cuts as I slowly drain the life from him drop by drop in as many lifetimes as I can.”

  Silently, he called to Gethen to take the councilwoman back to her quarters in Nil. When he’d returned, Amon stood and said curtly, “The councilwoman needs to go back. Take her.”

  Dutifully, Gethen approached Naomi to take her back to Nil. She stood and faced Amon, who looked down at her warily.

  “And no matter what happens, I won’t be going back to Nil, and if that means I have to kill every bounty hunter you send after me, then so be it.”

  “You’ve convinced me, Mr. Kalins. I’ll look into what you allege about Councilman Adams.” Turning to Gethen, she asked, “May I rely on you to convey any information, Sidhe?”

  Gethen nodded and Naomi turned back to face Amon. “Godspeed, Mr. Kalins. I’ll do what I can to find the truth and help your destined one. I only pray that what you believe isn’t true.”

  *

  Alone again, Amon walked back upstairs and sat on the bed. His heart was filled with regret for getting Thea involved in his life. While he knew Aeveren biology would have eventually brought them together, he blamed himself for selfishly not walking away when she’d run from him.

  She’d be safe now.

  Even that he couldn’t be sure of. If the head of the Council at Nil was willing to break Aeveren law and give a bounty hunter details on her lifetimes, would he have sent him to detain her hoping she’d provide the information he wanted? And she’d disobeyed the council’s edict not to help him, from the head of the council no doubt, so possibly she’d have been punished for that.

  He ran his hand over the pillow she’d rested her head on and thought of her blond hair fanned out over it as she slept. Before he could stop himself, he thought about Kiril’s sex slaves and how he’d seen him pull them around by their hair as they wailed in pain. His hands curled into tight fists as his mind raced with images of Thea being abused by Kiril—his hands tearing at her long hair as she crawled across the floor behind him, tears streaming from her eyes as she cried out in pain.

  I’ll kill him. So help me God, I’ll kill him.

  Amon knew he couldn’t think about what Kiril could be doing and still keep his sanity. Just the idea of what he might do made murderous rage build inside him. He’d take care of his former friend when the time came, but for now, he had to believe Thea was unharmed.

  To distract his mind, he focused on the head of the council, replaying his trial and the councilman’s words. At the time, he thought he’d been a bit too pleased at his capture, but over time he’d decided it had probably been no different with any other prisoner. But why did the head of the Council at Nil seem hell bent on punishing him? Had they known one another in a previous lifetime?

  Amon ran through lifetimes of experiences cataloguing men and women he’d known, but he knew the futility of this. No matter how many things he’d torture himself with, he’d never be able to know for certain why this one man despised him so much.

  While he thought about this, he heard someone call his name from downstairs. Recognizing Markku’s voice, he made his way down to the kitchen where he found the magickian helping himself to something to eat. Amon wondered if the man simply didn’t respect him or if he didn’t remember how angry he’d been just a short time earlier.

  Peaking his head out from inside the refrigerator, Markku began rambling on about what he’d found out. “Amon, it’s huge. Much bigger than we thought. I can’t even get near the Soren headquarters. Fuck, they saw me coming! And I just got back in, goddamnit!”

  Before Markku could get lost in self-pity, Amon closed the door and guided him to the table.

  “Slow down, Markku. Tell me everything.”

  Markku sat down, took a deep breath, and began again. “I did just what you said to. I went to my guy at the Directorate to find out who this head of the Council was before but no dice. Council members’ information is impossible to retrieve. So I asked him to check on any connection between you and the bounty hunter.”

  “And?”

  Shaking his head, Markku continued. “Nothing. Fuck, you’ve never even been in the same country at the same time until this lifetime.”

  “I knew it.”

  Taking a bite of an apple, Markku continued. “But here’s something interesting. Your bounty hunter lost his job at Nil last year. They let him go after he failed to bring someone in.”

  “I guess he’s become a dedicated civil servant again,” Amon said sarcastically.

  “Well, something like that. They brought him back specifically to get you.”

  “Why? Why him?”

  “No idea. My guy couldn’t find one reason why this particular bounty hunter would be brought back at all. Fuck, they routinely fire hunters who fail to bring in their assignment, but they don’t recall them after only one year.”

  “Markku, there must be something.”

  “Amon, I’m telling you. Nothing. He doesn’t even have any serious power. He can heal faster than others. Every other power he needs to catch someone like you he has to get from the goddamned council.”

  “Any ide
a who recalled him?”

  Chewing another bite of apple, he answered, “The head of the Council of Nil himself.”

  “Mr. Adams.”

  “How’d you know his name?”

  Amon leaned back on his chair. “I’ve been to Nil, Markku.”

  “Well, the interesting part of his recall is that this Adams didn’t offer it up for a vote with his fellow council members. It was all him.”

  “So something about Ryu Jansen makes him such a great bounty hunter that he needs to be the one to bring me in? But he’s fired for not doing his job, and his only power is that he can heal fast?”

  Amon continued, “Anything in his past that we can connect to Adams?”

  Markku shook his head. “Sorry, Amon. My guy couldn’t get anywhere near the head councilman’s files. Security’s tighter than a drum on that.”

  Amon stood up from the table and patted Markku’s shoulder as he passed. “Thanks, Markku. Don’t go anywhere. I’m going to need you to get Thea. None of my powers work well inside Soren headquarters.”

  “I’ll do what I can, but I’m back to being the bastard at the family reunion as far as they’re concerned. That’s what I don’t get. They wanted you out of Nil. Fuck, I spent the last year on the outside looking in for what I did...”

  Markku realized what he’d said and stopped. “I’m sorry, Amon. I never intended for you to go to Nil.”

  Amon nodded but said nothing. The truth was he was sent to Nil for the things he’d done, not because of Markku or anyone else, and he knew it.

  As he silently sat thinking about this fact, Gethen returned from escorting Naomi Cooper back to Nil. Pale and weak, he fell onto the couch immediately after reappearing in the living room.

  Struck by how fragile he looked, Amon went to his side and knelt down next to him. “Gethen, what happened? Were you captured?”

  “No,” he answered weakly. “I’m fine.”

  After a few minutes of rest, he began to speak again, but his voice was still strained. “Naomi wants you to know the council members like her, who don’t like how the head councilman is conducting the Council’s business, are mobilizing behind her. She’s started an inquiry, but she warned that these bureaucratic decisions can take a long time.”