Destiny Redeemed (33 page)

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“You
don’t need to explain. I knew the answer to that question the first time you
looked at me.”

Amon
stood up and smiled. “I do like a woman who can make up her mind.”

Just
as Thea finished explaining that she’d been in love with him since the day they
met and wanted to marry him from that moment, they heard a knock at the front
door. By the time she joined him downstairs, he had a summons from the Council
at Nil in his hand and a bounty hunter on each side of him

“Amon,
what’s going on?”

“I
have to go for a little while. All the information where the houses are and
where my money is located is in the desk drawer there. Don’t worry. Everything
will be okay.”

He
wasn’t sure how truthful those last words were. If he wanted, he could slip
right through the bounty hunters’ hands and be lost to them in a million places
in time, but he was too far away from Thea to grab her to take her with him,
and he wouldn’t run without her.

Reading
her thoughts and sensing her worry, Amon said, “Destiny wouldn’t bring us
together just to separate us. Believe that and believe I’ll be back.”

“Amon,
I remember what you said about your past. They’re not going to let you come
back to me, no matter what destiny has planned. I’m going with you.”

Amon
began to protest, as the bounty hunters said, “We only have orders for you.”

“I
don’t care. I’m coming.”

The
two men shrugged and mumbled about hoping to get bonus pay for bringing in two
people.

As
they hovered over Amon, Thea marched up and put her arms around him. “I have no
intention of letting you go now, Amon Kalins.”

*

Before
he could put his arms around her and again tell her he loved her, they were
standing in the chambers of the Council at Nil, his wrists and ankles shackled.

He
was a prisoner once again.

Amon
watched as Thea looked down between their bodies, stunned at the restraints on
his wrists. His black dress shirt remained on his body as it had at the house,
but against its darkness was the silver metal that kept his arms immobilized in
front of him.

She
released her arms from holding him and took a step back. For the first time,
she saw him as who he was.

“Thea...”
he began, but what could he say? He belonged in this place.

He
waited until s
HH
he lifted her eyes to meet
his, desperate to know what she was thinking after his powers had been taken as
soon as he’d gotten there. Did she see him like he saw himself—a criminal who
deserved the punishment he’d receive?

Quietly,
she spoke to him, and her words buoyed his hope that she still loved him. “I
know what you are, and I don’t care. You’re still Amon, my destined one. Have
faith. Destiny wouldn’t bring us together to separate us.”

Somehow,
when she said it, he believed it.

Amon
lifted his hands to hold hers and bent down to kiss her. He hoped to God she
was right but feared this would be the last time he’d ever feel the softness of
her lips against his.

“If
this doesn’t end the way we want it to, remember what I said at the house. I’m
sorry that’s all I can do,” he whispered to her.

The
sound of the council members coming in to the chamber made him turn around and
look up. Instinctively, Thea stood in front of Amon, her arms slightly out at
her sides, to protect him from whatever they planned to do.

“Mr.
Kalins, I see you’re not alone,” Naomi Cooper said with almost an air of
respect in her voice. “Have you brought the rest of your entourage with you?”
she asked as she scanned the area around them.

“Gethen’s
dead, councilwoman.”

Even
over the mumbling noises of the fellow council members, Amon heard Naomi
Cooper’s sharp intake of breath. As tears threatened her eyes, she composed
herself and began to speak to him as if it were only the two of them in the
chamber, her voice hitching on the first few words.

“I’m
so sorry. How did it happen?”

“Your
bounty hunter killed him with Anjer,” he said as the sad memory of his friend’s
last moments flashed through his mind.

“And
you then killed the bounty hunter?”

Amon
knew she knew the answer to her question but sensed she wanted to hear him say
it, not to confirm his guilt but in some way assuage some guilt of her own.

“Yes.
I killed him for murdering Gethen.”

“Gentlemen,
your services are no longer required. You may leave.”

The
bounty hunters moved from Amon’s side and silently left the chamber, leaving
Thea standing in front of him.

“Thea,
you may stay, but you must move to the side during these proceedings and remain
silent,” the head councilwoman commanded.

Thea
stood defiantly staring up at the council members. “I’m here to plead Amon’s
case, and I prefer to stay right where I am.”

Suddenly,
the chamber went silent, and the councilwoman’s angry response shot back at her
in ancient Etruscan. “Move to the side now or I’ll remove you from these
proceedings!”

Amon
watched in confusion as Thea reluctantly moved off to the side, and he wondered
exactly what had been said. But his attention was quickly directed back to the
proceedings before him.

“Now,
Mr. Kalins, as to you, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

Unlike
the first time a year earlier when he stood in this same spot to hear the
recitation of his crimes, he dreaded what would be said now because Thea would
hear just who he’d been for so many lifetimes. He turned to her and saw her
wide eyes looking up at him and knew he couldn’t let her find out who he’d
been.  Not all of it. 

“Councilwoman,
I request my destined one be removed from the chamber,” he said flatly as he
stared straight ahead.

Thea
grabbed his arm and tried to turn him toward her. “Amon, no! Don’t do this!”
she pleaded as he struggled to look away.

“It
looks like she prefers to stay, Mr. Kalins. I’m inclined to accede to her
wishes as she is a respected healer of our people for forty-five lifetimes.”

Amon
hung his head in resignation. She’d hear everything and refuse to remain his
destined one, just as Sevine had. He knew he was going back to Nil, never to
see Thea again, but it was killing him that what she’d think of him after he
was gone wouldn’t be how much he loved her but the details of all his crimes.

“So
to begin, Mr. Kalins, could you please provide this Council with details on your
powers? All of them, please.”

Amon
saw where they were going with this. He’d list each of his powers and then
they’d have him confess to his crimes once again, categorized by the abuse of
each power. They’d use his powers to show how much a monster he was.

“I
have the ability to manipulate time—I can travel back in time, return to the
current time, stop time. I can teleport within time in addition to through it.
I can insert ideas into others’ minds, and I can read people’s thoughts.”

Despite
having much of this information in front of them, the Council sat silently,
some with their mouths agape, at the laundry list of his powers. For a moment,
he enjoyed the feeling of superiority it gave him, but then he remembered what
was to come next. Turning to Thea, he saw the shock on her face at hearing the
first complete list of what he could do.

“That’s
quite an impressive list, Mr. Kalins.”

For
a brief moment, Amon wondered if he was supposed to answer the councilwoman.

Yes,
I’m impressive. Now let’s get this inquisition over so you can throw me back
into that shithole you call Nil.

“Careful,
Mr. Kalins. You aren’t the only Aeveren with impressive powers.”

“Then
use them and send me away. But don’t force Thea to listen to an entire hearing
of what kind of fuck I’ve been for far too many lifetimes.”

Several
council members rose from their seats and approached Naomi Cooper’s table. As he
waited while they surely discussed his lack of respect, he turned to Thea to
speak to her for possibly the last time. “I’m sorry, Thea. Why didn’t you
leave? Now you’re going to have to listen to everything I’ve done.”

Thea
stepped next to him and took his hands in hers. “Amon, I don’t care what they
say you’ve done. I don’t care if you admit to every crime they claim. I love you.
You are the only person in forty-five lifetimes to be meant only for me. That’s
got to count for something.”

Standing
on her toes, she kissed him sweetly on the lips and then whispered, “I don’t
think she likes it when people argue with her. Instead of anger, use charm.”

 “Let’s
continue, Mr. Kalins. Please inform this council of the reason the former head
councilman had to hold a centuries old grudge against you.”

Now
it begins.

Amon
took a deep breath and tried to remember Thea’s words from a moment ago. “In my
time as Riordan Blake, I committed adultery with his wife.”

He
knew he had to finish the explanation and that Thea had already heard Adams tell the sordid details of his real crime, but the words seemed stuck in his throat.

“And
she committed suicide after I abandoned her.”

To
his surprise, no one in the chamber, including Thea, made any shocked noises.

“This
Council has heard the details of Victoria Adams’ death at your first trial, Mr.
Kalins, so there is no need to reiterate the information here. And if the
Directorate’s records are accurate, while you may have never been punished for
your crime until this last year, the sons you had as Riordan have been.”

“My
sons?” Amon asked, unsure why or how they would be punished for his crime.

“Yes.
It seems Mrs. Adams was the daughter of a witch who cursed them, and while I’m
not at liberty to divulge the information, I can say they’ve suffered for your
actions, Mr. Kalins.”

The
sick feeling of regret churned inside him. He’d never truly paid for what he’d
done to Victoria, but his sons had? He could only imagine what Victoria’s mother had done to them, a witch hell bent on vengeance.

“So
this council must now deal with your more recent offenses: your escape from Nil
and the murders of Kiril Gault and Ryu Jansen.”

At
least none of those were unknown to Thea, but Amon knew that didn’t help him.
He was still going back to Nil.

“Mr.
Kalins, it may surprise you to know there is no penalty for your escape from
Nil. A fortunate bureaucratic oversight due to the simple fact that there have
been only a handful of escapes and this council has no official penalty in
place for any punishment.”

Amon
saw the sheepish look on the council members’ faces as Naomi Cooper explained
that he was going to get off scot-free for escaping from the supposedly
impenetrable and inescapable Nil. They hated how their oversight gave him an
out, even if it was for just minutes as he stood there.

But
Kiril Gault’s and the bounty hunter’s deaths are a different story.

“Now,
as to the deaths of Mr. Gault and Mr. Jansen, there are official penalties for
those crimes. However, we will hear any defense you wish to present now, Mr.
Kalins.”

Amon
wasted no time beginning his defense for stabbing Kiril. For this crime, he had
no remorse whatsoever. “Kiril and Harold Adams kidnapped Thea. Gault chained
her up with his human slaves and when I got to her, had a dagger to her throat.
He would’ve killed her if I didn’t kill him first.”

“So
you killed him to defend your destined one’s life?”

Amon
looked up defiantly. “I don’t regret his death. As her destined one, I have
every right to defend the woman I love.”

Satisfied
by his explanation, Naomi Cooper moved on to Ryu Jansen’s murder. “And your
defense of your actions that resulted in the death of Mr. Jansen, a bounty
hunter for this council?”

He
dropped his head slightly at the memory of the man lying on the ground next to
him as he faded away from his life. “The bounty hunter murdered my friend,
intentionally stabbing him with a knife coated in Anjer, a poison deadly to the
Sidhe, that he likely received from this council as a tool to capture me.”

Amon
knew his tone hadn’t been deferent or charming, but he didn’t care. If he was
to blame for Ryu Jansen’s death, then the Council shared part of that blame.
And he blamed them for Gethen’s death as much as he blamed himself.

“So
your killing him was revenge?”

“Yes,
I tried to reason with him, but he had nothing to live for, no reason to not
blame me once Adams was out of power and all the things promised to him disappeared
into thin air. So he killed Gethen because he couldn’t get to me.”

“This
council apologizes for the actions of Mr. Adams and the tragic consequences
from them.” Naomi Cooper closed the folder in front of her and continued. “I’m
ready to pass judgment. Do any of my fellow council members object?”

Amon
waited for any objection, but none came.

“Then
the chambers will be emptied. This will be a closed verdict,” she announced.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Thea
grabbed Amon’s arm, intending to resist if they tried to force her from the
chamber, but she quickly realized the councilwoman had meant she would deliver
the verdict without her fellow council members present.

“What’s
happening?” she asked Amon as she watched the Council and their assistants
leave their places above them.

“I
don’t know, but I don’t think I have much time, Thea. I need you to know that
I’ve never regretted all the things I’ve done as much as I do right now. I
don’t know why you were stuck with me as your only destined one, but don’t ever
forget I love you more than you can ever know.”