White Fire: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 5 (10 page)

Beheading. She’d have to agree with the Seer on that one. That didn’t sound good. “But how did you steal it in the first place?”

“I asked, and you gave it to me.” Celestina winked at her. “And then we anchored your jumping power to a soul stone.”

“I knew it!” Emma raised her voice, then hurriedly brought herself under control. “Where is it? How do I get it back?”

“Loverboy has it. Probably in his pocket.”

“Ajax?”

“That’s what I said.”

“No, you said loverboy.”

“Isn’t that what he is?”

God. It was like arguing with a four-year-old. “How do I get my jumper back?”

“Hold the stone in your hand and blood it.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes. It was created by you, by your blood and your intention, so your intention will also destroy it.”

“I didn’t…”

“Yes. You did. Just not yet…” Celestina backed away and put her hand to her lips. “Shhh. Don’t tell anyone. But don’t take it back until you absolutely have to. Preferably not until your head’s about to roll. Please. I still have a few things that I really need to do but I had to tell you now, in case I don’t come back.”

With that, the Seer vanished into thin air. No portal. No poof. Nothing. Just gone. Emma had always wondered what it looked like when she jumped.

Cool.

Didn’t matter if Emma wanted to ask more questions. She gave up that idea and just grinned. She could want all day, the Seer was gone.

And as soon as she got that soul stone from Ajax, for the first time in her life, she’d be free. She’d have her jumper fixed, Ajax could go be with his Queen, and Emma would be free to go live her own life. No duty. No prophecy. No smoking hot Immortal King to lust after.

It was going to be a great day.

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After Nicodemus and the other Darkwalkers left in their dramatic show of defiance and complete lack of respect, Ajax and the others had decided that they didn’t have much in the way of options. The goddess was determined to open the Gate, and Droghan was trying to stop her.

That was all they knew. They had no idea where this great battle would happen. There were too many new variables, too many unknowns.

Last time this great battle had happened, Robbie and the Darkwalkers hadn’t existed, Aron had been imprisoned by the Triscani, Raiden had been on another planet, Ajax and Angeline had been Marked Mates on Itara, and Emma…

None of them had any idea what to think about Emma.

Bran claimed that Emma was destined to be a powerful Queen, but refused to reveal his source of information. He also told the group about dozens of missions where he and the other Archivers had sent Timewalkers to divert Droghan’s attempts at genocide of the entire human race. The Archiver was convinced that Droghan knew about Emma’s existence and her destiny, and had been trying for centuries to eradicate her line.

Ajax didn’t know what to think, or hope for. Bran and Teagh were both close to Ajax in age, but where he’d spent centuries locked away, they’d been living and learning and coping with the world. He had to trust them, and their judgment.

The only similarity between this battle and the last one was Bran and Celestina on board their ship with the rest of the Archivers. And if things went bad, Bran assured him that they’d jump back in time and do the whole damn thing again.

Except this time, Teagh would not be with them. He refused to leave Katherine behind and had chosen to remain on Earth. Not that he could blame Teagh. If he had a Marked Mate, he’d make the same decision.

But, he did not. Emma was not his to claim. The goddess herself denied him. He had no direct link to the goddess, and no soul stone to protect him from Triscani evil. No Mate. No throne. No gods damn clue what to do about any of it. He felt like he was unraveling at the edges and the only one who could hold him together was beyond his reach. Maybe forever.

A male did not refuse a Timewalker’s Mark. Ever. Not if he had a single functioning cell inside his head. Which, apparently, he did not. The Mark was the sign of a direct blessing by the goddess, of power and divine destiny.

But Emma was human, and he needed an Itaran Queen. An Immortal. A female from a high-ranking lineage to help him reclaim his throne. He had a duty to his people. The prophecy guaranteed his seat on the throne, but not the respect or adoration of his people.

He wanted Emma. He wanted her kiss and her fire, her passion and her surrender. But to claim her would do the little human a huge disservice. She’d be hated and hunted on his home world, and he had to return and assume the throne. He couldn’t doom her to that existence. He couldn’t court her love knowing he would deliver her to a life of political intrigue and resentment. She’d be happy in his bed, and miserable out of it. It was no life for the blue-eyed beauty.

Everything Ajax thought he knew was slipping from his fingers. He did not feel like a King. He felt like an imposter. The Darkwalkers refused to obey him, the Itarans didn’t know he existed, the one woman he’d ever claimed as his own no longer appealed to him, and the one he ached to touch he couldn’t claim.

As he’d heard Zoey whisper to Aron last night, the entire situation was “Fubarred”. Which, he’d discovered, meant “fucked up beyond all recognition.”

He had to agree.

Emma had been eyeing him for hours as he walked the beach. Not with idle curiosity or desire in her eyes. She was stalking him like a cat hunted a mouse. Like she would play with him before she killed him.

Or slap him if he tried to kiss her. He knew that keeping his distance was the best way to protect her, but seeing her in Nicodemus’s arms had broken something inside of him, something that refused to be returned to rights.

Ajax had never been jealous of another living soul, not once. He been born with royal blood and even though he had lost his mother and his siblings at fourteen, he had been whisked away to Itara, given palaces and servants and power. He’d had a beautiful bride and beautiful things on both worlds, homes on both worlds, riches and good food and laughter.

And now? Now he was dirty, and broken, and alone. And who did he have to blame? Only himself.

Ajax had left the house hours before. He’d watch the sun rise over the water and tried to meditate, or pray, or beg the goddess for help and an explanation.

Her answer was silence. And then he saw Emma watching him from the patio, creeping closer every few minutes as if she worked up her courage to come speak to him. She had saved his life, more than that, saved his soul. He would give her anything she asked for, if it was his to give. Unfortunately, his future had been set long ago. His life was not his own. He belonged to the throne on Itara.

He had instructed Bran to bring him a warrior’s clothing, and so when he stood he felt more like himself. The false trappings of Teagh’s clothing and humanity were gone, and instead, this Itaran soldier’s uniform would serve as a reminder of what was to come. Without them, it was too easy to get lost, too easy to forget his duty and begin to dream.

“Emma, why do you stock me like a jungle cat?”

She quit pretending to study the palm trees and turned to him, closed the distance until she stood staring up at him on the path. Her auburn hair was pulled back behind her head in a braid and she’d abandoned the skirt she’d worn last night in favor of indecently small white shorts and a dark green T-shirt that didn’t hide the ties of a swim suit that teased him from the back of her neck.

He’d seen the tiny scrap of material Teagh’s Mate wore to swim, an item she called a bikini. He wondered if that would be Emma’s choice as well, how her petite curves would look, not in the red of Katherine’s bikini, but brown, like chocolate on her skin.

She was no longer barefoot, and he regretted seeing her feet covered in pale sandals.

He’d wanted to walk barefoot on the beach with her, as Nicodemus had done. In fact, he’d tried to invent an excuse to walk with her all morning, and come up empty handed.

“Katherine took you shopping?”

“Yes.” She blushed and he wondered what he’d said to embarrass her. “It’s nice to have clothes that actually fit. I’m too short for Katherine’s stuff.”

“You are perfect. Her clothing is too long for you.”

Her cheeks pinked. Perhaps she wasn’t yet in love with Nicodemus.

“Thank you. I think.” She lifted one dainty hand to rub the side of her neck and looked up at him, bit her lip. “I need to ask you for something. Actually, I need you to do three things for me.”

“Ask.”

“Okay.” She lowered her hand from her neck and squared her shoulders. “I need you to keep this conversation a secret.”

“Done.”

She smiled. “I need you to give me the soul stone you’ve been carrying around in your pocket.”

The slight grin he’d felt spring to life by her approach died a painful and immediate death. “Why did you not ask me about the soul stone before?”

“Because I just found out that you had it this morning.”

“I would be happy to give you the stone, Emma, if I could. But I no longer have it.”

“What do you mean, you no longer have it? What did you do with it?” She stood in the sand, unmoving, as white flames sprung up to dance on the skin of her feet and sandals. By the gods, she was furious. “Where is it?”

“I returned it to its owner.”

“The hell you did.” She crossed her arms and stared at the blue sky as if the small puffs of cloud would provide divine answers. “Who did you give it to?”

Her eyes narrowed when he remained silent for a heartbeat too long and she lowered her gaze to his. “Let me guess? The magnificent, beautiful, perfect Angeline?”

“Yes. It was hers.” Ajax reached for her, but she backed away. “I am sorry, Emma. I had no idea you would ask about the stone. I knew it belonged to Angeline the moment Raiden laid it on my chest. It saved me. It brought me back from madness and broke me free from that cage. Having a piece of her soul with me helped me control myself when the darkness wanted me to kill. I had to return it to her. It was powerful, and I did not feel right keeping it from her.”

“God damn you.”

“What is it? What did I do wrong? How was returning the stone to its creator a sin?”

A tear gathered in the corner of her left eye and he wanted to wipe it from her cheek, but didn’t dare move. Emma was incensed. Hurt. Emotions clouded her clear blue eyes faster than he could ever hope to catalog them or respond. But the underlying emotion, the one constant, was pain.

“Where’s Angeline? Where is she?”

“Colorado.”

“Of course, keep the little woman away from the fight until it’s over. Keep her thousands of miles away while the rest of us figure out how to try to survive a freaking army of Triscani Hunters.” Emma called for her mentor, both telepathically and with a voice raised in frustration with him. “Bran!”

“What is the problem, Emma?”

“You’re an idiot. That’s the problem.” Emma held up her hand to stop him from stepping closer, but he ignored it. Let her burn him up, he needed answers. He grabbed her hand as she yelled for Bran again.

“Tell me. Now.”

“Let me go.” Even as she said it heat arced between them, heat and pain and sweet fire that he’d not tasted since she’d burned him clean on her kitchen floor.

“No.” Emma tried to free her hand, but Ajax refused to let go.

He pulled her a step closer, his desire to claim her at war with his conscience, his duty to his people, and his destiny as her Mark poured through their joined hands and lit his entire body on fire.

“No. No. Give it back.”

If he took her Mark, the Triscani would kill her. He’d be painting a giant target on her back and begging every Triscani on the planet to turn her to ash. The Immortals on Itara would reject and ridicule her.

He couldn’t do it, not when he knew it would put her at risk, when it would make her the Triscani’s primary target.

“As you wish.” Gathering every ounce of self-control he possessed, he refused the Mark, pushed her sweet fire back into her body, and hated the pain her saw in her eyes.

When it was over, she tugged her hand from his and panted, out of breath, no doubt as aroused as he. And just as hungry for more.

“I don’t understand why your body even reacted to my Mark. You already have a Marked Mate. Or did your precious Angeline turn you down?” She studied him and threw her hands in the air. “Oh my God. She did. No Angeline? So, now it’s on to plan B? Is that it? The poor little human girl still isn’t good enough for you even though the perfect, Immortal goddess that you really want turned you down?”

“No, Emma. I did meet Angeline and speak to her, but she is not the female I knew. I do not love her, and I did not ask for her Mark.”

“Yeah, well, you didn’t want mine either.” Emma doubled over as if he’d punched her in the stomach and raised both hands to her temples.

“You are wrong, Emma. I can’t accept your Mark yet because it would make you a target for the Triscani Hunters.”

“That’s an excuse. You’ve seen what I can do to Hunters.” She tugged on her hair, as if angry with it, before standing before him with her arms crossed.