“I’ve got my own, thank you.”
I stood half in and out of my car and yelled at him. “You know, you don’t just win because you’re angrier than me. That is such a man thing. You freaking dragged me away and left Magnus to die.”
“I saved your life. For like the third time, actually. You’re welcome.” He dragged a box from under his seat, clicked it open and dragged out some jumper cables.
I started my Mustang and drove it down the slope toward his truck, stopping short, nose to nose. I popped the hood and jumped out of the car. “And another thing, if Magnus dies I will never forgive you.”
“You won’t need to worry about it, you’ve got no reason to ever see me again anyway.” He clamped one of the cables to his battery and then fed the cable across to my car’s battery.
I squinted my eyes. “We run in the same circles. Of course I’ll see you. I’m asking again, what are you even talking about? What do you mean you’re married, you had one job? Who’s ‘he’?”
Tyler leaned wearily on his truck. “Can you start your car?”
“Who’s he, Tyler?”
He took a deep breath. And another.
“Tell me.”
“Magnus. Magnus is ‘he.’ Now start your car. Please.”
“What?” I was so confused that instead of standing there until I got answers I sort of short-circuited and just went in and started the Mustang and revved it a few times and then he started his truck and then he got out of the truck and started removing the cables from his battery all the while I sat in the driver’s seat staring at the steering wheel. Wondering what the hell he was talking about. He was talking about Magnus? Like, what was with Magnus? Like he had something going on with Magnus that I didn’t know about? He was married?
Tyler dropped my hood and I turned off my car.
I stepped out, confused, shaking my head. “What is happening Tyler? You can’t leave me like this, I don’t understand. Please tell me what’s happening. I might never see him again and this is — I need to know everything.”
His truck was running, recharging itself.
“I’ve got to sit down.”
“Of course.” I sank down into the driver’s seat of the Mustang and Tyler walked around and dropped down into the passenger seat.
I couldn’t wait for him to get comfortable. “So what, you’re married?”
“Yeah, my wife, her name is Samantha. We’re newlyweds.”
I squinted at him, because now I was wondering if he was joking, bullshitting me. “Why haven’t I met your wife?”
He sighed. “Because she lives in the future, Katie.”
“Okay, what the hell are you talking about? You’re from the future? You’ve been bullshitting me this whole time? Who are you? Oh my god, are you one of Magnus’s brothers? Were you planning to kill him?” I clapped my hand over my mouth horrified. “Oh my god, you left him to die—”
“Katie, I swear to god, stop saying that shit. I am in no mood.” He drew out another long breath. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this. I don’t know the rules and I can’t even imagine what might happen — Magnus is my father.”
“What — your... what? Magnus is your...” I leaned my forehead on the steering wheel. “Tyler, can you say this very plainly so that I can understand?”
“Magnus is my father. Bella is my mother. I am next in line for the throne. For me it’s the year 2382.”
I shook my head on the steering wheel. “Why in the world? What?”
“I came back in time to 2018, to help him with you.”
“With me?” I turned my head to see his face.
“Yes, because those men killed you, here, on the night you guys tried to go back in time for Quentin. You died right there on that dock.”
“Really? I died?”
“Yep. Apparently Magnus tried to loop back and fix it, again and again, but the fight kept getting worse and still you died. He looped back and fought the men a third time but you died again and—”
“Oh no, that’s horrible.”
“He had to stop trying to fix it. He was still distraught telling me about it after twenty-five years.”
“Oh.”
“And watching Da cry is not easy.”
“That’s what you call him?” My voice was small, full of wonder.
He nodded.
“I’ve been there. If he’s crying I want to do anything to help him.”
“Yeah, me too.”
I watched his face for a few moments. “So you’re his son? You kind of look like him too. Now I see it, not in your coloring, you’re darker and smaller, but in your facial expressions. I don’t know why I didn’t notice it before.”
“I’m glad you didn’t, it would have complicated things a great deal.”
I ran my palms down the leather-wrapped steering wheel. “When did he tell you this?”
“A few nights after my wedding. I knew you died before I was born but he never told me the full story. I think my wedding made him relive it. He talked about it for a long time, told me everything.”
“Did he tell you how it worked?”
“He said he was watching you guys and helping you guys fight. But the fight kept changing: more men, more brutal, bigger storms, and your death came faster.”
“So he was an extra — himself?”
“Yeah, that’s as good a reason as any to not jump into your own past, huh?”
“Totally.”
“He watched you die and he saw himself die. And to call him broken-hearted would be an understatement. He called Zach, said goodbye, and left for good.”
“So I died and he never got to go back to Florida?”
“And my whole life he seemed very broken and I never understood why.”
“For twenty-some years?”
“Yep. I mean, kind of. I don’t think it was a straight twenty years for him. He took his throne from Samuel, but after a few years he left grandmother in charge and he—”
“Grandmother?”
“You know her as Lady Mairead.”
“Oh Jesus Christ.”
“Yeah, she was very different from how I know her.”
“I bring out the worst in her. Go on, I’m sorry I interrupted.”
“He began traveling, looking for the men who killed you, and fighting anyone that might want to claim our throne. He fought to protect me mostly. I worried about him a lot.” He flicked the air vent on the dash, up and down and back up again.
“For twenty years he just fought people?”
“Well, he and Lady Mairead have a way of jumping in and out of years, checking in, so they don’t age as fast.”
“So Magnus just checked in with you?”
“Yes, for a couple of months every year. The rest of the time I lived with my mom.”
“Oh. And he didn’t live with, um, your mother?”
Tyler shook his head. “No, he never did. He was alone my whole life.”
I chewed my lip. “I’m so sad for him, but I don’t really understand, not really.”
“He told me all about the night you died and how it proved we couldn’t use the vessels to go back and fix our own lives. He was so depressed. He wondered if he should have kept trying, if he quit too soon, but if there was nothing to do about saving you he didn’t want to go back and erase any of your time together. He had been torturing himself about it. Wanting to go to the past to see you again, but believing you would die anyway.”
Tyler shook his head slowly. “Imagine being faced with that, someone you love dies and you know you can see them again. You can change the past, but you don’t know if you can change it for the better?”
“That would suck.”
“Yeah it would. My wife, Samantha, and I got him talking about your life together on Amelia Island.” Tyler put his head back on the headrest. “He told me about the night grandmother told you Bella was pregnant and how you chose to protect me. He said you never faltered. Da said he was grate
ful to you for saving my life, because even though you were gone, he had a son, and I had been the only person that made his life worth living.”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
“And that’s why I’m here. I figured if he couldn’t fix what happened maybe I, a new actor in it, could.”
I fished around the backseat for a box of Kleenex and pulled out a tissue. “You were around for a long time.”
“I jumped in and out. I couldn’t really figure out when it was going to happen. At the wedding I knew.”
"You were the one who told me about the storms, you were involved in everything. He knew you before the day on the dock — wouldn’t he recognize you? Know that you were his son, or know that his son was Tyler, or something?"
"I have no idea. The Magnus I met here in Florida hasn’t had a son yet. The night I met Magnus at your housewarming party, I wondered if he would recognize me. I had a whole plan where I would act like I was there as a joke and then I would run away. But he didn’t recognize me at all. And when I was growing up Da never said, ‘Hey, son, ye look just like a bloke from Florida named Tyler.’ It’s like I looped back but only in the current time-line."
I sighed. “We know so little about these vessels we’re insane to use them at all.”
“That is true.”
“So you saved my life on that dock right there?”
“Yes. And now I’ve created a whole second trajectory of Magnus’s life. One where he’s my dad, but he doesn’t recognize me.”
“Oh no, Tyler, I’m so sorry, that’s awful.”
“Yeah. An unintended consequence.” He clenched and straightened his hands. “I’m a little worried my whole life might be ruined now.” He ran his hands down his face. “Who am I kidding, not a little worried, a lot worried.”
“Probably not though, right? I mean, no matter what we’ve done to history we haven’t messed up the big historical—”
“I’m a prince. Or I was.”
“Oh yeah, right.” I paused and thought it through. “So you don’t know if Magnus survives this, because this is a totally new timeline.”
“Exactly.”
“Okay.” I leaned back in my seat and we both stared out the front window.
Finally I said, “I owe you a huge apology. I had no idea you were there at such a cost and I didn’t know what your ulterior motives were but that doesn’t excuse it. I behaved like an ass. I’m sorry. Thank you for saving my life. If there’s anything I can do for you, ever, just ask. I owe you. Because of you I was able to go back and be there for Lizbeth’s birth and you know — that means something. If nothing else — if Magnus doesn’t — I did that.”
He gulped. “And I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. If Da hadn’t fought for his throne, Samuel would have killed my mom. I wouldn’t be here right now. So,” he half-smiled, “you do still owe me, but I’ll give you a break on some of it...”
I joked, “Although, you did tell me about the storms in Scotland. If I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have had all that terrible stuff happen to me at the hands of your evil grandfather...”
“Maybe, maybe not. I can’t tell what I changed, what happened before.” He rubbed his palms on his thighs and stretched his back. “Time travel, it’s the greatest thing and the absolute worst in one small machine.”
“And it hurts like hell.”
“True that.”
“So I’m kind of like your step-mom? I’m so embarrassed, I totally thought you were hot for me.”
“Nope. I actually think you’re very exasperating and totally self-absorbed. And did I mention how reckless you are?”
“Ugh.” I blew out a gust of air.
“But that being said, you’re perfect for Da. It’s really good to see him happy.”
I fiddled with the car keys, it felt good to have them in my hand after days and days of not driving. I was so glad we left them in the ignition. If I had had them in my pocket, they would have been lost and I’d be screwed. I asked, “What do you think will happen to him?”
“I don’t know.” Another sigh. “But I’m still here. I didn’t disappear into a cloud of black dust like in the Avenger’s Infinity War.”
“How do you know all that stuff? I swear you seem like you’re from this time period.”
“When I dropped in and out I spent a lot of time with Michael. I especially like Marvel movies. Thor reminds me of Da.” He grinned.
“Yeah, me too.” We smiled at each other for a moment. “Was he a good father?”
“He was really great. I mean, he wasn’t around as much as I wanted. It caused me some grief that he was away fighting, but when he visited, I knew he really wanted to be there.” He nodded. “It was good.”
“It’s good you have those memories. Even if he doesn’t. And I’m really sorry he doesn’t.” I sighed. “One more question, and this is... weird, but would you say your mom was a good mother? I mean, I’m asking for a friend.”
He gave me a small smile. “I’m not really comfortable talking about that with you, but I get why you’re asking, she and grandmother were not nice to you, and so I’ll just say when she was telling Da what a great mother she would be I was really, really, really surprised.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. But hey, it’s a new timeline, maybe she’ll do better.” Then he chuckled. “It was so hard being around Magnus all week without blowing my cover. I almost called him Da at least ten times.”
“That would have been so weird.”
“Here’s another thing. I got the deputy minister to get me a fake name and the credentials. My name is actually Magnus Archibald Caehlin Campbell the second, everyone calls me Archie.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Humph. I guess I should have thought about getting Magnus credentials. I could have taken him on an airplane.”
“Here.” He shifted in his seat and patted his pocket. “Wait, I left it under my seat.” He got out of the car and stalked up to his truck and returned a moment later. He sat back down and unzipped a messenger bag. “There’s this.” He opened a Manila folder and pulled out a birth certificate. The baby name was Tyler Garrison Wilson. He dug through the bag and found a passport and opened it to the name page. He got out his wallet and pulled out the driver’s license. “You can have these. When Magnus comes back, he can use them.” He passed me the rest of the pile. “There’s a high school transcript, a credit card, even a Jamba Juice club card.” He grinned.
“You aren’t going to need these?”
“Nah. I think I’m going to be busy for a bit. Princely duties of the realm. Da fights so I don’t have to, but that means I have to run the business of the kingdom, and if I’ve screwed it up and ruined it all — I’ll have to woo my wife back to me. Man, I hope she’s still there.”
“I hope so too.”
“Wait, and just in case…” He pulled a piece of paper and a pen from the messenger bag and leaned forward to write on the dashboard. He wrote about ten lines of script, then added a list. He considered for a moment and then wrote a little bit more. He got down to the bottom of the page, folded it and handed it to me. “This is for Da if you see him before I do. This is what he knows about General Reyes after years of fighting him. Maybe it will help him get the upper hand.”
I put the folded paper with the rest of the credentials in the glove compartment.
He put his hand on the door. “It dawns on me I don’t actually need my truck after all. I should just head home. Do you have some way to get it to your place?”
“Sure. I’ll send Quentin for it, I’m assuming he’s back.”
“Cool. Tell him I’m really glad he got home. And say goodbye to the gang, maybe I’ll see them around some day.”
“Definitely.”
He put his hand on the door handle. “Help me pick up all this stuff?”
We both stepped out of the car.
* * *
The vessel was laying where we dropped i
t in the grass. “You want it?” He asked.
“Don’t you need it?”
“Nah, when the shit got real there, grandmother gave me one to get away. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I already had one because I was her grandson, the heir to the throne. I might have given her a heart attack.
“Okay then, I think so, yeah. I would like it. Just in case.”
We picked up the weapons and the boxes of things that had been forgotten in the rush and put them all into the back of my Mustang.
Lastly, we hugged each other good bye.
“Here are the truck keys. Just come get it whenever.”
“I’ll do that. And thanks again Tyler, I mean, Archie.”
“If you see Da, tell him I liked fighting alongside him, that was cool. He should let me do that more often.”
I nodded and smiled. “I will, and if you see my husband tell him I miss him and to please come home.”
Archie walked away.
I got into the Mustang and drove it to the beginning of the woods, the edge of the trees and then I watched where he stood on the dock, looking down at the vessel as the storm built around him, dark and wind and flashes of light — his hand went up, goodbye, and though I tried to watch to see how it went, visibility went to zero. It was impossible to see — then without a doubt he was gone.
Chapter 57
I barely remembered the drive to Amelia Island. My mind was alternately spinning and fuzzing over with sleep. I stopped for drive-thru twice. Once for breakfast and coffee and once for a Coke and while I was at it some French fries. Both times I thought about curling up in the seat and sleeping in the parking lot, but I really wanted to get home. I had to sleep. I had to figure out what just happened and how to fix it. I had to—
The vessel was on the seat beside me. I was terrified it would hum to life and rip me away somewhere or that men on horseback would jump onto my car and sword me to death. It was like having something that was both lifesaving and very very deadly in my care. I had no idea what to do with it or how it would behave.
I had told Zach to move our house, but that was only yesterday afternoon. It was only the next morning. He was probably still at the hotel on their honeymoon. I really wanted to go home and curl up on my bed.
Entangled With You Page 19
