“You only knew her for six weeks, Ajax. And frankly, I don’t think you really knew her at all.” Bran stood and brushed the sand from his clothing. “She was weak, Ajax. The Mark she was miraculously born with made her a King’s bride, but if she’d just been a normal female, would you have even looked twice? Did you look forward to crossing wits with her? Did she fire your blood? Did you ache to touch her?”
The answer to all of those questions was no. She’d been his home, somewhere he could belong when no one else on Itara had wanted him around. She’d taken him into her bed and her heart, had publicly supported him, and been a source of constant comfort.
He cared for her. Yes. But she did not fire his blood. Didn’t get inside his head and drive him completely insane. But she’d been loyal and caring. She’d made a worthy Queen.
“I gave her my word. I made a vow.”
“Which is why Emma’s Mark disappeared from your ankle within a few hours of your arrival here.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Ajax looked down at his sandaled feet, pulled the pant leg aside to inspect his bare ankle. No Mark. “That Timewalker did not Mark me.”
“The hell she didn’t, you idiot.” Bran shook his head. “She burned you up and left a Mark on your ankle. You were on fire at the time, which is probably why you didn’t see it, but it was there. Doesn’t matter, because it’s too late now. Your stubborn ass already refused the Mark. I don’t think you can make her give it to you twice. You could ask Raiden how he took Mari’s Mark back from Teagh, but I don’t think even he knows.”
“Mari gave her Mark to Teagh?”
“For about five minutes. Raiden was being an idiot and her power needed another host. Snooze you lose, my friend.” Bran took a deep breath of ocean air, as if to clear his head. “Emma’s power is frightening, Ajax. I think she’s the key to winning this war with Droghan. She needs an anchor, she needs a Marked Mate. If that’s not going to be you, she’s going to need to Mark another male. Soon.”
“I made a sacred vow to Angeline.”
Bran’s smile was grim. “How did I know you were going to say that?” He shrugged and opened a portal. “Okay. Let’s go, Romeo.”
“Now?”
“No time like the present, Ajax. You want her? You better go now. The Crux is days away. You’re out of time.”
Ajax stood and inspected the dark brown pants and white shirt he’d had to borrow from Teagh. He did not look like a King, but his clothing shouldn’t matter. Not to a woman whose heart was destined to belonged to him.
He refused to believe that Angeline would not heal the empty ache in his heart. She was his Marked Mate, his bride, his Queen. Even if she didn’t know it yet.
He’d given his word, a blood oath, to the female. Yes, it had been in a time and place Angeline would not remember. But Ajax did remember, every minute detail and the sacred weight of his promises to the female.
That didn’t stop the quick flash of rage he had to suppress at the thought of Nicodemus touching Emma. And it didn’t stop the stupid voice inside his head from chanting three words to him, over and over.
Emma is mine.
Bran stepped through the portal and Ajax followed, determined to claim his Immortal Queen and start a new life. His inner voice, his base desires, had never ruled him before. He was a male of honor, a King whose oath was sacred and whose duty dictated his path. He could not afford to falter on the eve of his greatest battle.
No matter how haunting Emma’s touch, or how hot she made him burn. She was, after all, a human. And the Itarans would never accept a human as their Queen.
Chapter Six
Bran escorted Ajax straight to the small office building where Bran swore he’d find Angeline and pointed her out through the office buildings windows. Then the coward left him alone, said he didn’t need Bran’s help to “be a fool”.
There were no guards. No half-bloods nearby. Was her mother’s hold on this territory so powerful, so complete, that they didn’t fear attack?
Did it matter? No. Their lack of watchdogs would just make taking her that much easier.
Ajax studied her through the first-floor window. She sat at a desk, typing into a computer. Completely focused. Beautiful. Her black hair a silken waterfall around her shoulders.
It should be red fire.
He knew that if she looked up, he’d see eyes the color of amber. Just like he remembered.
They should be blue, and full of mischief.
Shut the fuck up.
He refused to argue with himself. This was going to work out. He would keep his vows and dismiss the small, fire-haired female from his mind. He wanted Emma, lusted for her. Yes. But she was not his Queen. Not of noble lineage. Not his Marked Mate.
He’d learn Angeline over again, and she him. They’d find a new passion and fire of their own. He did not need to mourn the loss of Emma when he had a bounty before him. Emma was like a daydream, a thought that could never be.
Angeline was real. His duty and his future. She’d loved him once. He could relight that fire, make it burn hotter. He had to. Or he’d go insane.
Unable to wait another moment, Ajax opened a portal and stepped into Angeline’s office, her private sanctuary. There were only two other females still in the building, and they’d both already called out their good nights to his Queen.
She looked up and removed her hands from keyboard, slid them along the top of her desk slowly, but kept them in sight, as if she knew who she faced, and didn’t want to make any threatening moves.
“Oh, my God. Ajax.” She leaned back in her chair and took in his odd clothing. She grinned when she saw the sandals. “Not exactly what I’d expect from an Itaran King. What do you want? Have you joined a Triad?”
“I did not come on behalf of any Triad.” Ajax was confused.
“Then why are you here?” Straight to the point, and no hint of fear in her eyes. She stared him down like she faced down dragons every day and won.
This was not the sweet bride he remembered. Yes, she was still smart, still beautiful, but those were the only similarities. If he touched her, would she still Mark his flesh? Would they still be compatible? And did he even want to know when all he could think about was red hair and blue eyes?
“How do you know who I am?”
“Are you kidding me? Every Triad on Earth has had good old-fashioned Wanted posters of you plastered in every war room since before I was born. I knew what you looked like since I learned to recognize a face.” Angeline stood, shock rounding her eyes and her hands shaking. “What do you want from me?”
“In another life, in another time, you were my Marked Mate. You were my Queen.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth.”
“How did you know I’m Marked? It’s one of my mother’s most closely guarded secrets.”
He made a point to stare at her right breast, where he knew, from prior experience, the Mark sat just below and outside of her nipple. “We were intimate. You were my mate. I knew everything about you.” He studied her, this gorgeous, courageous female, and didn’t want her. He had no desire to taste her kiss or touch her skin. He did not want to bury his fingers in her long, dark hair.
“In this other time, this other life, did you love me? Were we true Marked Mates?”
“Yes.”
“And if we are compatible, and I were to Mark you again, would you take me back to Itara? Away from the Triads?”
“Yes. After we win the coming battle.”
She looked him square in the eyes and held her hand out, palm up, across the expanse of the desk. Her pale pink silk shirt stretched tightly over generous breasts. He looked from her hand to her neatly organized desk, to a bookcase stacked with law books, to the walls where noted an abundance of framed plaques bearing her name.
She invited his touch, invited him to accept her Mark. “Okay. Ajax. Let’s do this.”
Ajax stared at her hand. Who was this wo
man? Not an Itaran politician, but a female posing as a human and working in human law? The framed documents on her wall said she had a degree in law from a place called Harvard. Still, she was a full-blooded Itaran with a highly ranked maternal lineage.
“This is why you’re here. Just do it. Let’s just see where this goes.” Her hand waited atop her desk, palm up, fingers wiggling in invitation. “Go ahead, Ajax. Touch me. I promise I won’t bite.”
Ajax stared at her hand, reluctant to make contact. He’d been prepared to woo and cajole, to argue and seduce…not look into the confident gaze of a woman who knew who he was, had Triad connections, and just saw him as her way off the planet. This woman knew nothing about him, yet offered him her Mark in trade for a new life.
Emma had gifted him with her Mark, too. And she’d asked for nothing in return.
Ajax reached out to place his palm in her open hand but just couldn’t do it.
He didn’t want her. Angeline, the love he remembered, didn’t exist anymore. When he looked at her, spoke to her, no love welled up from his heart, no untamed desire to touch her. He felt numb.
Nothing. A big fat zero.
When Ajax pulled his hand back and left it clenched at his side, Angeline sat back in her chair and looked up at him with regret in her gaze. “No? I can see in your eyes that you want someone else.”
“I do. But I loved you once.” He saw no reason to deny it. He could leave her with that much at least.
“What was I like, in my other life?” She rose and grabbed a leather work bag from the floor next to her desk, set it on top and inserted several files and writing tablets in its pockets.
“You were lovely, delicate and cultured. You were a strong ally in the political arena and many people trusted you. But our love was tame, Angeline. And I’ve discovered that I want something wild.”
“Good luck.” She grabbed her keys and her eyes were saddened with regret. “I’m going home. I won’t tell mommy dearest you were here. She’d have a complete meltdown and send out a squadron of assassins to hunt and kill you. Between your love life and the coming battle with the Triscani, I figure you’ve already got your hands full without dealing with that crazy bitch.”
“She’d never find me.”
Angeline laughed at that. “Oh, yes she would. Trust me. You have no idea what you’d be dealing with.” She walked around the desk to her door, pausing with her hand on the handle. “Go. Get your new Queen, Ajax. Just don’t do it until after the battle, because I know for a fact that their number-one priority is turning her to ash.”
“Wait”
“What is it?”
“I believe this belongs to you. It saved my life, and now I return it.”
He held out the soul stone he’d carried in his pocket, stone that bore her Mark, the Mark of the goddess, and placed it in her open palm.
“A soul stone?”
“Yes.”
Angeline wrapped her hand around his gift and held it to her breast. “Thank you.” She walked out and left him standing alone in her office. He stood there until the sun had set and darkness descended. He was not heartbroken. He was relieved. But that didn’t solve his problem.
He had no Queen. The strong political ally he needed on Itara didn’t exist anymore, and the one female who fired his blood was human. He couldn’t accept the Timewalker’s Mark, even if Emma was the one woman he wanted, not if he wanted her to survive the Crux. She was too fragile, too mortal, and had no Itaran blood. His people had fought his reign because he was male. If he brought a human Queen to the table, they would never accept his rule. If the Triscani didn’t ash Emma, an assassin would kill her within days of her arrival on Itara. The twisted hallways and dark meeting rooms of the Itaran political landscape were treacherous at best, even for an Immortal.
But it didn’t truly matter, not yet. His former Queen was right about one thing, if he had no Queen, the Triscani wouldn’t have one to turn to ash.
<><><>
Emma tried to smile as she listened to the laughter and easy camaraderie of her new friends. A small fire burned along the beach to her left. Katherine had supplied a good number of patio chairs and when the Darkwalkers arrived, given them the task of carrying them outside.
What was supposed to be a meeting had turned into a party due to the obvious and painful absence of their leader. Ajax had disappeared several hours ago and not returned. Not that she should care, it wasn’t like he belonged to her anyway. She figured he was out searching for his Queen, Angeline.
The other Timewalker women and their Mates were gathered on the back patio. The women were roasting marshmallows and occasionally singing along to music supplied by Zoe’s phone and a tiny set of speakers. Bran had started the fire on the beach and she joined him soon after. The Darkwalkers followed and soon their somber circle formed with Emma at its center.
Bran wouldn’t meet her gaze, which Emma took as confirmation that Ajax had, in fact, gone after his Marked Mate. The other five males wouldn’t stop looking at her, especially their leader, Nicodemus.
As Katherine had promised, the Immortal was hot. He was just as big as Ajax, but instead of dark mahogany, his hair was spun gold and fell to his shoulders. Instead of dark green eyes, his were a soft gray ringed by a darker layer of blue so dark it looked black. His eyes identified him as Itaran. So did his ridiculous, godlike good looks.
She just didn’t want him.
“Come get me when the meeting starts.” Emma rose from her chair and headed away from the house, the fire, and the overload of males on the beach. She held up the hem of Katherine’s white skirt and walked along the edge of the water in bare feet. The white gauzy skirt hit Katherine just below the knees. On Emma’s much shorter frame, it touched her ankles. The Bohemian-style top Katherine loaned her was too long as well, but it reminded her of the yellow roses in her mother’s garden.
None of the women had shoes that would fit her, so she walked barefoot in the sand rather than traipse around in her high-heeled boots. Katherine had promised to take her shopping tomorrow. There was a small shopping center in Tavanier, a few minute’s drive from the house. The clothing she had arrived in was stacked neatly in the corner of the guest bedroom, the notches in her boot heel, a sad joke to her now. She’d burned the souls of at least a hundred Triscani from Ajax’s body. She didn’t have enough space on her boots to make notches for that.
Soon it wouldn’t matter anyway. If Bran and Teagh were telling the truth, in a few days either there wouldn’t be any more Triscani, or they’d all be dead. Either way, those boots were toast.
“Emma. May I walk with you?” Nicodemus called out from a few paces behind her and she stopped, turned around.
“Sure.” She waited for him to close the gap and started walking again. Sure. Why not?
He fell into step beside her in the sand, careful not to touch. They had all been very, very careful not to touch her.
“I am Nicodemus.”
“Yes, I know.”
He seemed stumped, but determined to talk to her. “Where are you from, Emma?”
“Everywhere.”
“I’m sorry, I meant, where do you live? Now?”
“Portland, Oregon. West coast.” She grinned then, because all these guys were like lost Dukes from another century. Noble. Honorable. Very proper.
Clueless.
She decided to take pity on him. “I’m not from anywhere. No one place is home. I grew up on Itara, but I’ve spent time on both worlds, in so many places I’ve lost count.”
“You’re so young. How is this possible?”
She smiled and walked with her toes tickling the edge of the surf. “I’m older then I look.”
“But you are human? A Timewalker?” Emma glanced up at him from the corner of her eye and decided that he looked like a lit candle in the darkness. He was dressed head to toe in black, like a Goth rocker, but his golden hair fell to his shoulders and danced and the wind like a golden flame.
“T
hat’s what they tell me.” They walked in silence for several minutes before Nicodemus spoke again.
“Thank you, Emma, for what you did for our King.” When she said nothing he continued. “Do you love Ajax? Do you intend to Mark him?”
“I used to believe that I would love him, but I think now I was mostly in love with an idea, never a man.” She stopped walking and turned out, toward the sea as if the massive amount of water could wash away her mistakes. “And no, Ajax went to collect his Marked Mate. That is why he is not here, why we’re all stuck waiting for him.”
Nicodemus faced the water as he stood next to her. But when he turned to face her, she knew her reprieve was over. “Emma. I realize that we do not know one another. But perhaps it is time for both of us to take a chance on something new.”
Emma rotated to study his face, the soft play of the oceans waves on her left and the forgotten beach fire far behind her. He was asking for her touch, asking her to Mark him, to choose him. He stood before her, a stranger, and offered her the world, when Ajax had offered her nothing.
“May I?” Nicodemus held out his hand but made no move to get closer. The decision was hers.
“You’re asking permission to hold my hand?”
“An honorable male never touches a female without permission.”
God. She was tempted. She was. He was big and beautiful and strong. And he wanted her. It was in his eyes. He’d treat her like a goddess.
Which did nothing to help her cause, because what she wanted more than anything was to free of the whole lot of them. No Immortals or Triscani. No fate or destiny or duty to a people who would hate, resent and reject her, just like Ajax had rejected her. She’d Marked him, felt the heat and lust roll through her blood, and he’d returned the Mark almost immediately and adding insult to injury, gone off in search of his real Queen. She felt like a fish that had just slipped the hook, but the hole left behind was too raw to be healed just yet. It had been a big hook, and she’d swallowed it whole when she was a very little girl.
White Fire: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 5 Page 6
