Was was he implying? "Sir?"
"Your badge is waiting for you whenever you're ready to come back to the force, Detective Amethyst."
He smiled in partial shock as Chief Daniels headed into the front lobby without another word. Was this actually happening? Dean got his dream job back. The apology from his boss was the cherry on top. For years, he had done whatever he could to get some sort of approval from the man he looked up to.
After the initial shock wore off, Dean stepped into the interrogation room that had been altered to be more accommodating. A twin bed sat in the middle with a table and lamp on the left side and metal tray with Niki's medication on the right. Dressed in baggy sweatpants and a black tank top, sitting on the bed with mountain of pillows behind him, was Niki.
Dean grinned. "Hey, Cream Puff."
Niki scowled as he took a cup of steaming tea from the bedside table. "Ugh. Not you, too. Cleopatra's out there, huh?"
"She is. Do you two have a thing?"
"Not really."
"How are you feeling?" Dean asked.
"Better now. My dad works fast. I hadn't even woken up all the way before I was changed and in bed. I tried telling him that I can't sleep right now, that I have to find Jack, but he wouldn't listen to me."
"Leo's right. You need rest. Your bond with Jack is the only reason you're up and moving around after all the abuse your body has suffered. You can't keep going like this. You're young and you think you're gonna live forever, always able to recover from any injury that comes your way. But trust me. It's not like that for long. Take the chance to relax while you can."
"While I can?" Niki's eyes narrowed. "You're looking nervous about something. What aren't you telling me? Is it about Opal?"
"No, it's not Opal. Well, it kind of has to do with her, not directly."
"Dean, tell me what's going on."
"How much do you know about what is going on here in the present?" Dean asked.
"Dad told me everything. It's bad."
"It is bad. You know about the tower?"
"Yeah. Zurvan Tower."
Dean sat on the edge of the bed and took a moment to collect his thoughts. How could he ask Niki to do something like that? "Niki, what would you do to get revenge on the people who killed Jack's family, who stole his high school education from him, who hurt Ellie, who took your girlfriend from you, who tortured you and put it on the internet? What would you be willing to do?"
His response was instant. "Anything."
"You mean that?"
"What do you have in mind?" Niki asked, setting his teacup aside.
"I'll cut to the chase. There are two weak points in Zurvan Tower that can bring the whole thing down with well-placed explosives. Xander will be there tomorrow night to watch Opal's execution live-streamed from the White House steps. It's too late to do anything to save her, but you can avenge her. We will both have a backpack with a specialized bomb inside. We will ride into Memphis then infiltrate the tower and plant the explosives. This has the capability to wipe out a good number of the Zurvan Syndicate and Xander in one attack. And if we do it at the right time, word might get to D.C. and be enough for them to call off Opal's execution."
Niki stared blankly at him. "You want me to carry a bomb into a tower."
"That's the basics of it."
"Is this a sick joke?"
Dean shifted on the bed. "Um, no. It's serious. What's wrong?"
"Look at me. What do you see?"
Where was he going with this? "I see a brave young man who I'm happy to call a friend."
"Not that. I got most of my physical features from my mother's side, and since I can remember, people haven't let me forget it. One time, I was skateboarding near the airport and I went inside with my backpack on from school. I just wanted to use the vending machine and get a soda. There was this woman who pointed at me and started screaming. She called for security, who tackled me to the floor and dragged me outside in zip-tie handcuffs to wait for police and the bomb squad. You probably remember that."
"I was off duty at the time, but I heard about it. The officers searched the bag and found nothing dangerous. I didn't know that was you."
"It was me. I was a kid and so scared. You don't even know what it was like. And then recently, to be told that I was being sent to Guantanamo? I'm not that, Dean. I'm not. I've tried all my life to not be labeled a terrorist. Now you want me to strap a bomb to myself and go into a tower to kill hundreds of people?"
Dean's shoulders slumped. "This isn't about terrorism. You know that. Niki, I never thought anything of the sort about you. Do you really think I'm racist?"
"No. But other people are. I don't want them to think of me like that."
"They won't. This is about you being a hero. You have the chance to take out Xander and his followers, saving lives in the process. This is war, Gunner."
"What if I'm done?" Niki asked. "What if I'm done fighting? What if I've had enough?"
"I'm not going to force you into this. If you don't want to do this, you don't have to. I'll be honest. Barry says we have an eleven percent chance of us both making it out alive. I've already decided that I'll be going to that tower tomorrow night. I just need to find my partner in this. If that's not you, then I won't push it. I won't feel any different about you either way. I know it's a lot to ask."
The Time Knight's eyes darted to the side. "Can you take those drugs out of here? I can't have them here."
"It's catching up with you now, isn't it?" Dean asked.
"Every day, I feel myself sinking deeper and deeper into this scary, empty place that I can't get out of. It's like quicksand. The more I struggle and pretend that I'm okay, the faster it pulls me under. I stared having flashbacks. I broke down crying like a baby for no reason. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. Every time I see myself, all I see is what they did to me. My body and my mind are covered in scars that aren't going away. Dean, I'm not okay."
"It's okay to not be okay."
"You don't get it. I'm scared."
There had to be a way to make him know things were not as bad as they seemed. "They're not going to take you again."
"I'm scared of myself. I'll show you something, if you promise to not tell Jack." Niki pulled up his shirt to show the freshly opened wounds that had been stitched before. Now blood oozed from the gashes and redness radiated from the cuts and shallow stab wounds. "I did this."
Dean recoiled. "What did you do?"
"I kept pulling out the sutures. I'm not right in the head. Help me."
"I will. I'll help you in any way I can. I know it's not easy, but you can recover from this. You're strong."
Niki rolled his eyes. "Everyone says that. I was trained to be strong, to be a protector, to be a warrior, but I don't feel strong right now. Sometimes . . . sometimes I just want it to stop, you know? I want it to end. I still hurt every minute of the day from my injuries. Cleopatra had a medic who was from our time. He examined me back in Alexandria and said that I . . ."
"What is it, Niki? You can tell me."
"He said I can't have kids. Something they did to me tore something or damaged something, I don't know. But I can't. Everything is useless. I can't even use it. I can't feel it, other than pain. I know it's dumb, me focusing on that when people say I'm lucky to be alive."
"It's not dumb."
"I loved her, you know?" Niki asked, pulling the loose strings out of the blanket on the bed. "Opal? I loved her so much, but she wanted to wait before we made love. Now we never will. Even if I did find a way to save her from her execution, I'm broken. She deserves a full man, not this."
"All I can tell you is to not give up hope. There are always second and third opinions. There are tests they can run and medications and operations. Don't give up on it yet. You're too young to be pessimistic about life. And no matter what comes of this, you are very much a man. Don't you worry about that. You're brave, stalwart, and you'll fight to the death to defend the people you love. T
hat's what it means to be a man, Niki."
"I'll do it."
Dean froze. "Do what?"
"I'll help you take down the Zurvan Syndicate. Even if there's only a slim chance at taking out Xander, I'll take it. I need to accomplish something with my screwed up life. There's something I want in exchange. If I die and you live, I need to know that you'll look after Jack."
"You have my word. Get some sleep. Take the night to cope. If you need to cry, then cry. No one's going to judge you. If you need me, I'll be out there, just a call away." Dean took Niki's hand and patted it. "I care for you, Niki, like you were my own. Please don't go into this hoping to sacrifice yourself. We still have a chance of getting out alive, even it's a small one. We can do this. You've faced worse and came out on the other side. Goodnight, Niki."
Chapter 30
Pink cherry blossoms blew into the room on the nighttime breeze to land on Jack's face. The gentle kiss of soft petals was enough to wake him. He looked up at the wooden rafters and banners on the walls that were covered in writing that appeared to be Japanese. He pushed himself up from the tatami mat to take in his surroundings. It was a warm yet modest room with lanterns flickering on the glossy black tables where scrolls and calligraphy brushes were laid out in neat order. Bundles of colored cloth and white silk hung on a rack in the back corner next to a wooden bathtub. Standing in the tub with her back turned to him was Ellie.
Jack gawked at her bare back and her long black hair that cascaded over her shoulder. Water droplets glided down her light brown skin to vanish in the rising stream. His mouth went dry, his palms turned clammy, and his heart raced. As his imagination traveled to other places, Jack held the plain dark blue kimono tighter around his torso.
Ellie held her arms over her chest and turned around. "Jack, you're awake."
"I . . . I . . . y-yeah."
She giggled and turned back around. "Sorry. Our host will be back in an minute. He has my clothes."
The thought crossed Jack's mind. "He? Did he see you . . . naked?"
"Jack, he's nice. Kage is a Chronomancer who knew we were coming, so he waited a few miles down the road, then brought us here. This is his castle."
"We're in Japan?"
"Feudal Japan, I think." She nodded towards the open window. "You should check out the view."
He was more focused on the beauty in front of him. "I'm looking at it."
"Jack, you're making me blush."
"Why? You know I love you. One day, we'll be married and I'll finally be able to show you my love with every inch of my body."
"You promise?" Ellie asked, gathering her hair over one shoulder.
"Excuse me for interrupting." The thirty-something Japanese man with his hair hanging to his waist walked into the room, his bare feet tapping on the floor below the hem of his long black robe. He brought a stack of fabric over to the bathtub and took Ellie's hand. He had a youthfulness in his playful eyes, but they sparkled with something darker.
Jack watched in enraptured anger as Kage helped Ellie out of the bathtub and dried her off with a length of fabric. He ground his teeth together in growing jealousy. This stranger got to run his hands all over the woman he loved? How was that fair? He had one way of shutting it down faster than an emergency warp. "She's a minor. She's sixteen."
Kage scoffed then continued dressing her in a pale purple kimono with tiny white flowers up the back. "I have no interest in seducing your girlfriend, Chronomancer Carter."
"You know who I am?" Jack asked.
"Everyone knows who you are, Sam. You didn't think I'd forget you, did you?"
"Uh, no. I'm Jack Carter. Samuel was my father."
Kage gave a shallow bow. "I see. Forgive me for the mix-up. The last time I had a visitor here, it was a young Samuel Carter who had just discovered time travel. He was around your age. Well, you can call me Kage. This is my castle. There's nothing else you need to know."
Jack had learned to not be trusting of strangers, especially any who were Chronomancers. "Do you eat other Chronomancers, too?"
"Excuse me?" Kage asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're not old enough to have seen my father when he was a teenager."
The stranger wrapped an obi around Ellie's waist and tied it into a large bow in the back. "Like I said, there's nothing else you need to know about me. Is it common practice to verbally attack your hosts in 2021? Has society devolved that much since the last time I went to the present?"
Jack felt momentarily bad. "I'm sorry."
"I have done things in my long life that I am not proud of. However, I learned the error of my ways and moved on from them. The hardest person to forgive is often yourself. I, unfortunately, had to learn that the hard way. I lost my family, my friends, my master, and my betrothed, all in one night. I moved on. So, tell me, Jack Carter, why did you come to my castle in the middle of the night? What can I, a lonely man lost to time, do for you?"
"I didn't mean to bring us here. We were being chased through the Titanic by Syndicate agents. We got trapped in a flooding part of the ship. I guess I warped us randomly right before we drowned. Oh, God. You're not Syndicate, are you? Don't hurt her. I'm the one Xander wants."
Kage only huffed and rolled his eyes before clapping his hands. Four women in silk kimonos entered the room, carrying cushions, a steaming teapot, and trays of colorful food. He waited until they were done and had left as silently as they had entered before going to the low table and sitting. He motioned for them to join him as well.
Ellie sat next to Kage and smiled as he poured her a cup of green tea into the delicate cup. "Thank you, Kage."
"Please eat, drink, talk. You both look like you've been through more than your fair share of hardship. You should protect his lovely blossom from any more pain. Scars have no place on her blushing petals."
He hissed at his host. "Stop talking about her petals."
Ellie snickered from behind her teacup.
Jack stopped at the window to glance outside into the calm night that smelled like sweet fragrant perfume. Pink blossoms filled the air above the expansive mountains that stretched to the sea on the horizon. Trees and sloping roofs of the buildings of the castle were bathed in moonlight between sheets of mist. Ellie was right. It was a stunning scene. No matter what time period it was in, it would have been breathtaking. It was amazing that Kage had been able to find them all the way out there.
He joined them at the low table with his legs folded. The smells immediately swept over him. Jack hadn't noticed how hungry he had become from all the running and fighting.
Raw red salmon, orange slices of tuna with lines of fat, and cooked shrimp lay on beds of rice and seaweed. Cups of sake steamed next to the chopsticks, sour plums, and ginger that had bee prepared for them. Salty soup filled the room with tantalizing aromas. Every piece of the elaborate dinner was placed perfectly, turning it into a work of art.
Kage smiled at Ellie with interested eyes. "Eat as much as you desire, my lady. You look like you haven't eaten in days."
Ellie shrugged as she picked up a slice of salmon with her chopsticks. "Nothing good, anyway."
"Why have you not fed her, Jack?" Kage asked, pouring himself a cup of steaming sake. "Do you subscribe to the strict translations of Iskaydrian Law? You must know that this beautiful woman is Iskaydrian as well. The laws cannot apply to her."
"It wasn't him, Kage." Ellie tucked her damp hair behind her ears. "The Syndicate kept me in a cage."
"This Xander Sutcliff did that to you?" Kage asked.
"He forced me to marry him. He did terrible things to me. But Jack saved me from that. I owe him everything."
"Do you love him?"
Ellie took Jack's hand. "With all of my heart."
"Tell me, Jack. Where do you go from here?" Kage asked.
"I don't know. Probably the present. I have to find my Time Knight before the Syndicate kills him."
"I can take you two to the present if you are too weak to do it yourse
lf. I don't mind."
Jack stuffed some rice and fish into his mouth. "Can I ask you something?"
"Anything. I may or may not give you an answer."
"How did you find us all the way out here? Did you know we were coming?"
Kage leaned back on his hands. "I was told you would be arriving, so I went down the road and found you shortly after."
"Who told you?"
"My Time Knight. He's a sage man who has the ability to sense when Chronomancers warp anywhere near him."
"Do all sages have that?" Jack asked.
"No. Each sage has special abilities. It's part of the reason they're so expensive. Some of them can kill just by looking at a target, some can heal the wounds of their Chronomancer, and others can open tears in time at will. They're amazing creatures."
He scowled at his host. "They're human beings."
Kage gave a lopsided grin. "Did I strike a nerve?"
"I have a sage boy named Thyme. He's not my Time Knight. He's my son. That's the closest thing I can think of to call him. I love him. I don't want him to grow up in a world that thinks he's an object or an animal. He's so much more than that."
"I agree. I meant nothing by my word choice. Abejide is like a brother to me, a brother with genetics from halfway across the world and who looks nothing like me, but a brother, nonetheless. I know Abejide sticks to my side when we go into town, but he is the one who truly has the power between us. The citizens here used to be leery of him because of his skin color, bu they've come to adore him. I realize having him here distorts the timeline, but I couldn't leave him. See, I stole him from another Chronomancer who treated him worse than I'd treat this fish we're dining on."
Jack relaxed enough to continue eating. "I saved Thyme from Alvezenden."
"It is good to know I am in the presence of a man of similar thinking. Where is your sage, then?"
Where had Thyme gone? "I don't know."
"Then finish up and I'll take you home."
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