White Fire: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 5

by Michele Callahan

Elijah set his book aside and studied him, shock rounding his eyes. Nicodemus understood his brother’s reaction. He’d felt it the first time he’d looked in the mirror after the goddess blessed him. It was the first time in two hundred years either one of them had seen his face.

  “Nico?”

  “Yes.”

  Elijah stood and walked toward him slowly. “By the gods, what happened to you? How is this possible?”

  “After his escape, Prince Aron found the Timewalkers and the goddess. Let me show you, so you can tell the others.” Elijah was in charge of the detention cells and knew Prince Aron well, knew that the prince had been tortured and tested for centuries and never broken. Droghan had wanted Aron to be the leader of his Hunters, a dark lord without equal, and he would have been, if they’d ever been able to break him. Instead he’d escaped and all of their lives were about to change as a result.

  Nicodemus stepped forward and held out his arm to his older brother, skin bared to a forbidden son. It was the ultimate show of trust between them.

  Elijah grasped his forearm and Nico pulled his memories to the forefront of his mind so his brother would easily access them. He relived the moments in the Colorado cave, the touch of the goddess and the dark tide of evil that had been drawn from his soul. He told Elijah of the soul stone imbedded in his flesh and shared the goddess’s long misunderstood desires and purpose for all of her lost sons. He told Elijah about the dark prince they’d all referred to as “the Unbroken”, Prince Aron, and that the prince walked the Earth with a new Marked Mate. He sent Elijah images of the beach at the Darkwalkers’ new home, and of the kiss he’d shared with Emma. It was life, right at their fingertips. A chance to live outside the shadows.

  When he was done, Elijah staggered back, shock and a new and fragile hope on his face. “Is this true?”

  “Look at me, Eli. Look. At. Me.” Nicodemus threw his arms out and spun in a complete circle. “It’s true.”

  “I want to see it.”

  Nicodemus yanked the thin cotton T-shirt over his head and turned his back so his brother could see the Mark of the goddess, the Shen, on the back of his right shoulder. And imbedded in its center, a diamond-shaped soul stone. When he felt Elijah’s trembling fingers trace its outline he looked over his shoulder at his brother.

  “You must tell the others, Eli, the ones who can still be saved.”

  Elijah shook his head, a frown on his brow. “There aren’t many. A hundred, perhaps.”

  “I know. But the young ones, Eli. We can save the children. Tomorrow, at the Crux, tell the males who have even a spark of sanity left, tell them to embrace the dark, embrace the goddess, and she will save them all.”

  Footsteps echoed in the hall outside Elijah’s door and Nicodemus made one final demand of his brother. “Come to my home, tomorrow. We will figure something out. Don’t let that bastard keep you locked in the dark.”

  With a silent salute, he touched his fingers to his forehead and summoned a portal back to Florida, to his new home and a fresh start.

  Hopefully, after tomorrow night, his home would be overrun with new Darkwalkers, and the Gate’s relentless hunger would be sated by those who could not be remade.

  <><><>

  Ajax studied the online photos of the interior of the Washington State Convention Center and chose a secluded corner to open a portal. Emma held his hand as they stepped through, and he supposed he should be thankful for small favors. This was the first time she’d come within ten feet of him since he’d backed her up against the wall with her hands buried in his hair and his mouth on the swell of her breast.

  They stepped through in a back hallway surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows and a few potted plants. Emma shook her hand free of his hold immediately. Her cell phone pinged and she pulled it from her purse to check the message.

  “Wow. This guy’s freaky.” Emma scanned the information moving her small finger up and down on the touch screen.

  “What is it?”

  “Her schedule.”

  “What?”

  “Her schedule.” She looked at him for a split second, her eyes darting to his lips, before looking away. “Apparently, she downloaded one of those event Apps and marked all the events she planned on attending. Whoever this super spy of Katherine’s is, he hacked her phone App and downloaded her schedule.”

  “I don’t understand a word you just said. I assume this is all something to do with your telephone and computers?”

  “Yes. Let’s go. When we find her, I’ll talk to her. Understand? That’s my stone she’s got, not yours.” She looked at him again and her gaze seared him to his toes. This time, she looked at his mouth and licked her lips before looking away. His cock, barely recovered from their earlier encounter, swelled and he shifted uncomfortably. He would simply have to stop looking at her. That was the only way he could honor his vows to his people and remain sane.

  “I will allow you to speak to her first, but do not be surprised if she won’t cooperate with a human.”

  “God, I’m tired of hearing that word.”

  “What?”

  “Human.” Emma frowned and put her phone back into her purse. “It’s like we’re the aliens. This is our planet, your royalness, a fact all of you Immortals seem to have forgotten.”

  “We forget nothing.”

  Emma turned on her heel and walked over to read the directional signs on the walls. “Yeah. You’re very good at holding on to the past. You proved that last night.” She pivoted on her high heel and held up her hand. “You stay here. You look like a freak in those clothes. I’m sure security would stop you instantly and call in Homeland Security. I’ll be back.”

  He looked like a freak? He was a King. “They wouldn’t dare.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, they would. So, unless you want to draw a lot of attention, fight a bunch of innocent humans, and get us both in trouble, just port out of here and meet me, in this exact same spot, in an hour.”

  “You did not tell me I needed to change clothing. I would have done so.”

  “I know.” With that, Emma walked away from him, her hips sashaying in a sexy black skirt and her hair pulled up into a pile on top of her head. It seemed a blatant invitation for his lips and tongue to indulge in a leisurely exploration of her neck.

  Ajax shook his head and followed the stubborn woman into the throngs of humans wandering around the building. He did, indeed, draw a lot of attention, but he just glared at anyone who looked at him for too long. Soon, Emma was in a main hall, weaving her way between several hundred humans dressed in suits, men and women, young and old.

  When she passed the first group she stepped behind a pillar, where only he was watching her, and vanished before his eyes.

  Gods be damned. He’d thought the white fire was her only gift.

  He rushed through the crowd, trying to find her, but there was too much noise, too many high-heeled shoes, too much perfume, too many heartbeats.

  The little Timewalker thought she’d outsmarted him, but she forgot one very important thing…he was a forbidden son. He was a Hunter.

  He’d find her, even in a crowd of a thousand human females, he’d find her. It was only a matter of time.

  <><><>

  Emma took off her high-heeled shoes and dumped them in the trash, then pulled a pair of soft leather flats from her purse and put them on her feet.

  She rushed to the second level, not sure how long it would take the stubborn Immortal male to catch her, and she wanted to talk to Angeline alone. Girl to girl. If the former Queen of Itara had been born here, on Earth, then maybe she wasn’t as crazy as the rest of them seemed to be. Maybe she could be reasoned with. And if not, Emma would just follow her home and take what was hers.

  She couldn’t believe the Itaran female would be evil, not if Ajax had loved her, even in another life. Emma firmly believed that everyone had a soul, and it didn’t matter what body it happened to be born into, what planet it lived on, or in which stretch
of time. All of her jumping forward and backward in time had convinced her of that. A soul was truly immortal. You couldn’t kill it, behead it or burn it. And if the ridiculously honor-bound Itaran male trying to follow her had loved this woman, there had to be something redeeming about her.

  As much as Emma hated to admit it.

  She found the room she was looking for and crept inside, holding the light around her so she remained unseen. Her mother’s Timewalker gift, invisibility, was coming in handy. Now, she just needed to evade Ajax long enough to get that stone. Celestina had asked her to wait to blood the stone and take back her power, but she really didn’t want to wait. It seemed too risky and she felt too vulnerable, too weak.

  Get the stone first. Then worry about the details.

  Emma made herself as small as possible in a corner and waited for the attendees to file into the room for the next presentation. She shifted on her feet and did her best to remain still when she saw her prey enter the room.

  Angeline in the flesh was something to behold, and the men flocked to her like bees to honey. She was dressed in a conservative navy suit with a white blouse and tasteful jewelry. Her fingernails were a mild shade of pink and not overly long. Angeline handled the attention perfectly, smiling just enough to be friendly but not encourage any of the men. She shook hands and settled everyone into seats like the finest hostess, but Emma had to admire her strategy when all the men were seated and she took a seat in the back row, by herself.

  Perfect.

  It was hard to wait for the speaker’s introduction, harder still to wait for the lights to dim and a video presentation to begin. But Emma waited, and when things got dark and the presentation got loud, she slid into the seat next to Angeline and waited, sure the Immortal would sense her presence, despite her ability to bend light.

  The female stiffened in seconds and turned her head to invisible Emma to whisper, “I know you’re there. Who are you? What do you want?”

  Emma debated speaking to her here, now, but decided against it. “Meet me in the ladies’ room straight across the hall.”

  Angeline nodded and Emma left the room to go wait for her guest.

  The bathroom was empty, and Emma stood in the doorway to keep it that way. She only had to turn away one woman with a tall tale of overflowing toilets and a cleaning crew on the way. Too easy.

  Two minutes later Angeline approached. She towered over Emma by nearly a foot in her high heels, but Emma didn’t even flinch. “Hello, Angeline.”

  “Hello. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”

  “Yes, maybe I do.” Emma held out her hand, but didn’t offer her name as Angeline shook it. “I’m a friend.”

  “Shall we?” Angeline preceded Emma into the small ladies’ room and Emma locked the door behind them. Once they faced each other in front of the row of sinks, Angeline put her hands on her hips. “Well? This is your party. What do you want?”

  Emma saw no point in beating around the bush. “Ajax came to see you last night.”

  Angeline crossed her arms over her chest and Emma continued.

  “He gave you something that belongs to me.”

  “Finders keepers.”

  “No. Not this time.” Emma reached into her purse, very aware of a buildup of psychic power in the room. She had no idea what Angeline’s gifts might be, but she didn’t want to find out, and she really didn’t want to have to burn her to a crisp. But she would… “I know the stone is very rare and powerful, which is why I’ve come to offer you something even better in trade.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “Another soul stone. One that’s not sealed by my blood.” Emma pulled the black stone out of its hiding place and held it out on her palm in offering. “Even trade. I just want my stone back. And you can have this one.”

  Angeline couldn’t hide her surprise, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by a cool mask. “Where did you get that?”

  “Ajax cut it from his chest so I’d have something to offer you in trade. He knew what the stone would be worth to you, and knew this one would be even more valuable.” Emma took a step forward and the woman didn’t back away. “Look, Angeline, I know Ajax loved you, which means you must be a decent person. The stone wasn’t his to give you. It’s mine, and now I just need to set things right.”

  Angeline studied her but Emma just looked her straight in the eye and waited.

  “You’re tiny.”

  “Yes.”

  “Human?”

  “Yes.”

  “Timewalker?”

  “Yes.”

  Angeline tilted her head to the side and her eyes held decades of exhaustion. “Do you intend to battle the Triscani tomorrow night? Will you be there? With Ajax?”

  Emma took a deep breath and considered her answer carefully. “I will do whatever I have to do to eliminate the Triscani threat.”

  “Show me your Mark.”

  Emma didn’t have to do much, just tilt her ankle to the side and point.

  “Good enough then. I accept your bargain.” Angeline reached into her own bag and produced a soul stone with the Mark of the Timewalker engraved in its surface. She placed the stone on the countertop and Emma did the same with the one she’d brought to trade.

  “What do you know about tomorrow night?”

  Angeline picked up Emma’s stone, placed it in Emma’s hand and wrapped Emma’s fingers around it.

  “You’re very brave, for a human.”

  “Tell me about tomorrow night.”

  Angeline took the black stone Ajax had offered her and put it somewhere inside her own bag. “The Triads have been working to stop the portal from opening. They’ve been hunting both Droghan and the Triscani. They don’t want that Gate to open any more than the Itarans do. They have no desire for widespread panic on Earth. They prefer to keep the human population ignorant of the presence.”

  “It’s too late for that. The government already has an alien hunting team organized.”

  Angeline smiled. “Yes. But it is overseen by one of ours, and we never let them get far.”

  “The Triads have control of the military?”

  “They have people everywhere. But now, thanks to you, word is getting out to the people. They won’t be able to control eight billion humans.”

  “What do you mean, thanks to me?”

  “I saw the video of you posted on YouTube. You were confronting three of them. After they shot you, Ajax cut off the first Triscani’s head and then ashed three more. But that wasn’t even the best part.”

  “What was the best part? What are you talking about?”

  “The best part was watching him, a forbidden son, already black, already lost to the dark, pick up a tiny human female in his arms, cradle her like she was breakable china and vanish into a portal.”

  Emma didn’t remember any of that. Why hadn’t she asked Ajax how she’d gotten into her apartment? How he’d found her? She remembered being shot. She remembered the Triscani, but she’d been so freaked out when she woke up to find a Triscani Hunter sitting next to her bed that her brain hadn’t even thought to ask those questions. Ajax had killed to protect her, given up his soul to the dark and turned into one of them to keep her safe. She was speechless, her mind chasing thoughts around inside her head like a puppy chasing its own tale.

  “Portland? Two nights ago? I’m positive it was you I saw on the video.” Angeline raised her eyebrows.

  “There’s a video?”

  Angeline grinned. “Your little encounter went viral. Every conspiracy theorist on the planet has probably seen it by now, and copied it, and reposted it a thousand times faster than the government can take them all down. Everyone on the planet is going to be looking for you and your sword-wielding savior. Everyone. Be careful.”

  The ramifications were staggering. “It went viral?”

  “Yes. Four million views in twenty-four hours.” Angeline turned to the mirror and applied a muted red shade of lipstick that mat
ched her dark coloring perfectly. “Thank Ajax for me, when you see him.”

  “Thank him for what?”

  Angeline smacked her lips and finger combed her hair. “He left a beheaded corpse on the ground, and the human authorities got to it first.”

  “What does that mean? Why would you thank him for that?”

  “Because the Triads will be too busy trying to do damage control to monitor me.” Angeline walked to the door but didn’t leave. Instead she studied Emma for a long minute. Emma felt like she was being weighed and measured, and was found worthy. She was shocked how much the woman’s smile meant to her.

  “Thank you, Emma. For the stone.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “You’ve done me a huge favor. Having this stone means more to me than you could possibly know. So, I’ll reciprocate. My mother has spies in Droghan’s domain. They’ve reported that he knows the exact location of the rift that will allow all of the Triscani to escape tomorrow.”

  “Where? Tell me where.”

  “It’s called Carhenge. Google it. Because even though it’s a laughable replica of the original, the goddess is not without a sense of humor, and the site still manages to channel her power.” She opened the door halfway, then sighed. “Damn it, I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I think you ought to know.”

  “What?”

  “I offered Ajax my touch and my Mark. He refused, said he wanted someone else, someone who would make him wild. I don’t know if that will matter to you or not, but I just thought you should know.” With that, the woman who would have been Ajax’s Queen left Emma alone with her soul stone and a choice to make.

  Blood the stone now, or honor the request of Celestina, the Immortal Seer she’d met once, for two minutes? Blood the stone now and leave, or find Ajax and go back to fight with the others tomorrow night.

  She couldn’t hate Angeline. The woman seemed pretty decent. And very freaking tall, so much more suited to royal robes and the enormous male that she should have Marked and claimed as her own.

  And yet, even as she thought it, she knew it for a lie. The thought of Ajax with that woman made her blood boil. Which was stupid. Just stupid. He’d broken her heart, smashed it into hundreds of unrecognizable pieces like an elephant stepping on an egg.