Edge Of Tomorrow (Eternal Flames Maddox Book 6)

by Cree Storm

  "Ollie, I don't know if we can. It was hard enough opening the portal the last time," Nelson said nervously.

  "I know, Nelson, but we have to try. I think if I pass some of my energy to you guys, it might help. If four of us are needed to hold this thing open, imagine what we can do if there are five of us," Ollie replied.

  "You need to hurry, because I feel our energy draining by the second," Helio stated.

  Wyndingo grabbed a hold of Ollie. "What if you can't get back?"

  Ollie gave Wyndingo a very determined look, saying, "I have to try, Wyn. I can't let our friends continue to destroy each other because of my mistakes. There were things I should have talked with you about. I should have at least tried to explain things, but I always have to do shit on my own. Well, that stops here and now. I'm going to get help and we're going to fix this shit, then when we go home, you and I are going to have a serious talk."

  "I found one here. I don't know where it's going to take you, Ollie," Nelson said, sounding even more nervous than he had earlier.

  Ollie looked scared, but determined. The future Ollie shifted and Pascal plucked a few hairs. The five brothers stood there making a humming sound as Pascal whispered words Wyndingo couldn't hear. Present Ollie gently touched each of his brothers, as a dark entrance opened. Letting out a deep breath, Ollie walked through.

  Wyn heard a noise and could see the butterfly dragons dropping to their knees, sweat was coming down their foreheads and their breaths were short almost as if they were panting.

  "I. Can't. Hold. It. For. Much. Longer,” Briar rasped.

  Helio closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. "Me either."

  "He needs to hurry!" Future Ollie shouted.

  Wyndingo rushed to his future mate, and gripped his shoulder lightly. "You have this, Ollie."

  "I'm weak, Wyndingo. With all the hiding, fighting, lack of food, and injuries that won't heal. I am weak," future Ollie said sounding almost defeated.

  Wyndingo snorted, "Ollie, you may be from the future, but you can never tell me you are a weak mate. You have survived when so many wanted you dead. You helped keep Pelt, Wolf, Drake, and Edge alive as well. You returned to help your family and friends when you knew at any time someone could have killed you in your sleep. No, Ollie, you are not weak."

  The black portal started pulsing. Pascal hissed, "They're coming."

  Wyndingo heard the butterfly dragons make a horrific sound. Turning, he could see them lying on their sides in agony, doing their best to keep the world at bay. "Not going to be soon enough."

  "Just try to hold on a little longer! I have an idea!" Wyndingo shouted.

  Racing around, Wyn picked up and moved Day, Dain, and the others on their team one by one and took them away from the foe they were in battle with. He then rushed to the others and placed them in a circle. He was moving York to be with the others, when suddenly it was like the play button was hit and everyone began to move.

  "What the fuck?" York shouted, grabbing Wyn by the waist and flipping him to his back. He drew up a short blade knife and was about ready to plunge it into Wyndingo's chest when someone shouted, "Yorkie! What are you doing?"

  York froze and slowly raised his head, his gaze fell on Timmy and he gasped, "Nugget?"

  Wyndingo pushed York off of him and stood up. He could see Suneth was holding the little gargoyle back as York was trying to come to grips with seeing his mate after so long.

  "What sorcery is this?" Jewel shouted.

  Wyndingo turned to see Ezra doing his best to keep his mate from getting up. "Calm yourself, Jelly Bean."

  "By the Gods! Ezra?" Jewel gasped.

  "Zev? Where's Zev?" Jett shouted as he looked around the street for his future mate.

  Within seconds, the large mountain green dragon was standing in front of Jett, sniffing and cooing. Jett placed his hand on the dragon's cheek, with tears in his eyes, whispering, "Well, hello there, handsome. Do you mind shifting so I can see that all is well? I mean I really need to make sure all your parts and pieces are intact in this place you call hell."

  Zev shifted back. "Jett?" Zev rasped as he grabbed his mate and brought him into his arms, holding Jett for dear life.

  "What is going on? How are you all here?" Future Day asked.

  Wyn watched present Ollie make his way to his brothers, saying, "I went and got them."

  "Why? It's too dangerous for them to be here," Kalen argued.

  Ollie rolled his eyes. "Are you serious, Kalen? You might be a great warrior, but you have no clue what it means to have a mate. If anyone can get this war to end, it's the three people I brought here."

  "I don't understand," Fiere softly replied.

  Ollie turned to Jett. "Your mate has been fighting against Day since the explosion on Founders Day."

  Jett gasped, looking at Zev. "Is this true?"

  Zev turned away and Jett asked again, more demanding, "Is it true?"

  Sighing, Zev nodded, rasping, "Yes."

  "So has York," Ollie said as he turned to the king, saying, "Suneth, your and Wade's men split against each other. Some are with Jewel and some with Day. My future self told me that Ozcog killed Wade in battle."

  "But why? Why would you separate from your chimera? You are brothers," Suneth gasped.

  Sulyx stepped forward. "You were killed, and Wade was your mate. He chose our side. Ozcog Kanuz, Asbuth, and Qavex didn't agree. "

  "Because Wade was reacting to his pain and in the end, he knew he had chosen wrong," Ozcog replied, landing between Suneth and the others. Turning he said, "It is good to see you again, my king. Even if it is only for a short time."

  "Thank you, Ozcog. Tell me what you meant when you said Wade knew he had chosen wrong?" Suneth asked tearfully.

  "I was working patrol when I saw Wade at the location of the explosion. He was sitting where you had died. He was talking and didn't hear me come up on him. He was saying how sorry he was for fucking everything up so bad. When he saw me, he said he was sorry. He knew you would hate what he had done to our chimera. He begged me to kill him. I told him he could come to our side. I begged him to join us. He said it was too late for that and raised his gun. I didn't have a choice, Suneth."

  Suneth voice was shaky when he placed his hand on his long-time friend’s arm and gently squeezed. "You did what you had to do. He’s right, I hate what has happened to my family."

  "I don't understand any of this, Zev," Jett rasped.

  "I had to avenge you, Jett. None of this would have happened had they allowed me to kill Ollie. Had he mated with Wyndingo, Wyn wouldn't have lost control. You would still be alive today if not for them. I had to avenge your death before I could join you," Zev said quietly.

  "How could you possibly think I would ever blame Ollie for what happened, Zev? How could you think that I would be remotely okay with you fighting against our brothers? I know I screw with everyone, but I love each and every clutch member as my own. I would never have wanted any of this," Jett answered with such sadness, Wyn felt himself tearing up.

  Jett grabbed Zev’s face between his hands. “And you of all people should know better than to judge Ollie for his choices of whether he mates or not. Do you even know why he refused Wyn? Did you ever stop to think that maybe he had a good reason? A personal reason that maybe none of you knew about? Like what you went through with me. It took you twenty-five years and almost losing me to get your shit together and for us to mate, so why? Why would you want to kill Ollie in the first place for wanting to wait on his mating?”

  Zev gave him a guilty look and swallowed hard, then replied, “Because of him I lost you, baby and the pain was too great. I…” Zev cut himself off and looked down.

  Timmy pulled out of Suneth's hold and went to Wyndingo. "I want to go home, please."

  "Nugget, you can't go. Please, just let me touch you, even if it is for the last time," York begged.

  Timmy shook his head. "You are not my Yorkie. I want to go home, Wyndingo, please. I need to ho
ld my mate."

  "But I am your mate," York shouted as Wyndingo took Timmy to where he had entered from.

  Shaking his head, Timmy didn't even turn around. "No. My Yorkie would never hurt Wyndingo or any of our family and friends. My Yorkie would never hurt anyone on purpose.” Slowly, Timmy turned to everyone saying, "You are family. You are loved by everyone and there isn't a thing Lonny or Sunny wouldn't do to keep you all together and safe."

  "Timmy, this was no mere mistake. Wyndingo killed our mates because Ollie refused his mate," Jewel shouted.

  "That may be, Jewel, and it sucks, but that was a mistake," Timmy said then waved his hand all around him. "This was by your choice. You all have dishonored your mates and your leaders. You all are to blame for this stupid war. At a time you should have come together, you chose to pull apart. I'm glad I died in that explosion."

  "Nugget, you don't mean that," York gasped.

  Timmy looked at York, tears coming down his eyes, saying, "I mean every word. I'm glad that me, Lonny, Sunny, Justice, and the others died. Because this…this war. How you all are acting, seeing the man I love go against everything he ever stood for…that…that…would have hurt far worse than any death could. Illan and the others would be just as ashamed."

  With those words, Timmy looked at Pascal begging, "Please, let me go home. I don't want to see anymore. I can’t look at him like this. My Yorkie is good and loving, and he would never do this. My Yorkie would never dishonor his people, or me like this. Please, Pascal, take me home to my Yorkie. My heart hurts and I feel like I just want to lay down and die seeing that he turned into this."

  CHAPTER 13

  Everyone stood in a large circle, frozen in place as they watched Timmy beg to be taken away. Jett looked around at all their faces and couldn’t believe that this is what had become of them.

  “Jewel, how could you do this? This is never what I would have wanted for you,” Ezra stated as he looked into Jewel’s eyes.

  “But Wyndingo killed you, Ezzy. He killed you because of Ollie and his selfishness,” Jewel sneered and looked over Ezra’s shoulder to present Ollie.

  “His selfishness in what, Jellybean? In not wanting to mate? Where is it written that mates have to mate? Who said it was law that once paranormals found their mate they had to claim one another right away, or at all? How many of the people we know mated instantly?” Ezra asked and turned away from Jewel and looked out over the group. “Of those of you who have mated, how long did it take you to claim your mate? Did you look at each other and just jump each other’s bones? No? Who’s to say how long it should take for a mated pair, or threesome to claim one another?”

  Ezra turned back to Jewel and cupped his cheek. “I understand the pain you must have felt, love, but to turn around and demand Ollie be killed for not mating is so wrong on so many levels. What was between he and Wyndingo was exactly that, between them, and no one else should have a say.”

  “But because of it, Wyndingo blew you all up!” Jewel argued.

  “I know, love, but think about the pain he must have been in to cause something like that. Seeing as all of you, and your pain, was so great that you wanted to kill one of your own, then took arms up against your brothers, your family, you should understand. And this” ― Ezra turned and waved his arm around, motioning to the world around them― “Timmy is correct. What Wyn did was not a choice, it was an accident, but this, you all made this choice. You all chose to take sides and fight against each other and destroy this fucking world!” Ezra’s voice raised, until he was yelling at the end.

  “This is not what any of us wanted back then. We were working hard to come together and build our alliances. But more than that, Illan, Justice, and Destrain were accepting us all as part of them. As part of their family. No one was being excluded. They were even working on bringing the fairies that were left after Fallon’s death into the fold.”

  Ezra grabbed Jewel’s shoulders and leaned in so their faces were only a few inches apart. “Why would you think that I would want this for you? I would never want you to suffer, Jellybean. I can only imagine what you were going through when you found that I was gone, but this is overboard. This was too much.”

  “But I had to avenge your death, Ezzy,” Jewel cried, tears freely running down his face.

  “There was nothing to avenge, love. Wyndingo didn’t walk up to me, or the rest of the council and whip out a gun and start shooting. He didn’t murder us in cold blood. And all of this. You must have seen what magic was doing to this world, so why would you keep using it?”

  Jewel’s bottom lip quivered as the tears continued. “I’m so sorry, Ezzy. I just hurt so bad and I missed you so much. My heart was shattered, and I needed to…” Jewel pressed himself into Ezra’s chest as he broke down and sobbed. Ezra wrapped his arms around Jewel and held him tight.

  Jett moved away from Zev and stepped into the center of the circle. He met future Day’s gaze, then moved on to Ethan, then the next, and continued turning in a circle, meeting each of their gazes before he finally stopped on Zev.

  “We were family! Not just associates or friends, but family! Brothers! Looking around I see that Finn isn’t here, so I am guessing he is not in this despicable future. But I must say, I don’t care what side you were fighting for, you were wrong. All of you! Those of you who immediately called for Ollie’s head and tried to kill him, even more so. And the rest of you who allowed it to get this bad, I in no way expected you to just hand Ollie over for them to murder, but you should have tried harder to work for peace.”

  He swung his gaze to Jewel and his guys. “And who made you the mating train referees to begin with? Who the hell appointed any of you god or fate? As Ezra said, how many of us know the stories of all our matings and how they each had their own hardships?”

  Jett turned back to meet Day’s gaze. “You, me, Finn, Zev, and Morgan all came from different parents, but Illan took us all in as we lost them. We five had spent our whole lives together, raised as family. Brothers. How could you disrespect that bond? Or you, Morgan?” Jett turned to face Morgan, then Zev. “Or you, mate? We were the beginning of our world coming back together. Of reuniting and bringing peace to all paranormals. Day, you and Ethan mating was the catalyst for all paranormals to come together and put aside any petty differences and work together to make our world better. To bring safety and protection to all creatures great and small.

  “If Illan and Justice were here right now, what do you think they would have to say about all of this? How horrified and disappointed do you think they would be? All of those who were lost, what do you think they would say to you if I went back and brought them here right now? Do you think any of them would be pleased with what you have done?”

  Jett looked around at all of them again, staring each one down, silently. “Maybe that’s what we should do? Bring them here and let them see what monsters you have all turned out to be. All of you who have lost a mate, or someone you loved, think about what they would tell you right now if they stood before you? Have we learned nothing from the Shuite War? I know most of us who stand here now are too young to have been there, but we were all always told about the war our whole lives. Why? So that we would never make the same mistakes again. That war was because of a mating too. Two mates who wanted to be together but were being ripped apart.”

  Jett turned to face Zev. “All matings have their problems, especially in the beginning. You took twenty-five years to accept me as your mate. Morgan, what problems did you and Angelo have in the beginning? How about you and your mates, Dain? I remember you not wanting your mates and rejecting them to begin with. And Toby, what about you and Nash? How many years did the two of you dance around each other? And it took you almost dying for both of you to get your heads out of your asses.” Jett swung around and faced Avery. “And you, how do you think your mates would react if they saw you now? Disappointed? Disgusted? Ashamed?” Jett said forcefully to Avery. Avery’s bottom lip began to quiver as tears rolled down
his cheeks. “If I remember correctly, your mating didn’t go so smoothly either in the beginning. So what if Ollie needed time, or outright refused his mate. That is none of your business. Any of you. And turning against your best friends? I never thought I would see the day where you would fight against Manny. I can’t even begin to find the words to tell you how much that disgusts me. Now you all stand here looking like you’re ready to battle again. Why?”

  “They were all locked in battle when I came to get you three. They had kidnapped the Manny of their time, and the others were trying to get him back,” present Ollie explained.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?! So what, so you could use the power of the fucking white phoenix against them? Because you haven’t fucked up this world bad enough already, you needed to go even more insane and follow the humans lead and go nuclear? How do you not see this?!” Jett screamed as he threw out his arms to the side and turned in a circle, motioning to the world around them.

  “Did you really want to make it worse? What the hell were you thinking? Why do you hate the other side so much that you just figured, hey, let’s blow up the rest of this fucking planet and so what if we kill ourselves in the process?”

  “They’ve been keeping Ollie hidden from us for all these years. Last week, they snuck onto our land and took the last goat for themselves. Then today we find them stealing seeds from Pascal and Zen’s place. That’s our territory,” Jewel argued.

  Kalen stepped forward, yelling, “We never had Ollie until this week, and we had no idea you had a damn goat.”

  Future young Illan added to the argument, “And you all have stripped what’s left of Crystal bare and we have never set foot there. We have been living off Maddox all these years. It is you who shouldn’t be here. Maddox is our territory. You didn’t see us kidnapping any of you, or using magic against you when we caught Rory, Six, and Shadow breaking into the old Army surplus store a few weeks ago. Unlike you animals, we only attack when you attack us first.”