Too Long a Soldier (Kingdom Key Book 3)

by TylerRose.

  He hooked her foot and put her on her back. On the way down, she caught his other knee and brought him down on top of her. Hand tight in her hair, he thrust his tongue into her mouth in a kiss he couldn’t hold back any longer. Her tongue continued the battle, hands in his hair to grip and pull. At least she didn’t bite. He slid the phone into her cleavage before disengaging their mouths. Staring down at her and she up at him, both heaving for breath and startled by the…the whatever that was between them.

  Then she was gone.

  “Shit!”

  He beat the hell out of his car with his fists, cursing himself out for being so stupid. When he had nothing more to say to himself, he drove to the garage. He went up to his computer. Knowing the car recorded everything, he uploaded the video to watch that fight again. And again. She was good. There was no doubting that. In fact, she was just as good as he was.

  No one was stupid enough to bother him when he was in this kind of mood.

  He went to Chen’s studio for his three o’clock session. As Chen came to the front, Jerome saw Tyler in the other room spinning a staff as well as he did. Seeing him, her eyes hot with anger, she threw the staff at him like a torpedo and vanished again.

  Jerome caught the six foot bamboo length and looked to Chen. A reproving expression all but slapped him in the face. The Sifu was not happy, which meant a bad two hours was about to happen for Jerome.

  “One hundred hand stand pushups and an hour in side to side splits for staff impact training.”

  “What did she tell you?” Jerome asked, accepting the punishment without protest and kicking off his shoes.

  “You said something inappropriate and hurtful. That is not how you gain the trust of a wounded animal, Disciple.”

  They went into the workout room. Jerome could smell her scent in the air, musky sweat and sexual arousal. He realized he recognized that scent, had been noticing it in this room for several weeks. He’d thought there was a new student and thought nothing more of it.

  “She’s been here for weeks and you didn’t tell me?” Jerome asked as he bent to put hands on the floor and swing up to a handstand and starting the difficult pushups.

  He could not use the wall for support. If he didn’t go low enough, the push up wouldn’t count and Chen would tack on five more for every improperly performed repetition.

  “It wasn’t my place to tell you anything,” Chen said, watching carefully. “You cannot have everything your own way. Some things must be done her way.”

  Jerome could still taste her kiss, feel her tongue on his, the heat and strength of her body during the fight and that briefest moment of passion. Nine…ten…

  “She also said the kiss was so hot she had to go before anything more happened.”

  Jerome lost his balance as he lowered for the 11th pushup. He fell ungracefully to the floor with a painful thud. “She what?”

  “I am certain you heard me. Begin again. We will have a lesson on respect and trust, which you both need to build each with the other.”

  A lesson that left Jerome battered and covered with bruises, and with an unpleasant cracked rib. Opening the car door, he saw a small hardcover book on the driver’s seat. White book with colored squares, duct tape wrapped around the center to seal it closed. Three layers, like he would do if he wanted to seal a book. He picked it up and sat, wondering how it could have been left in his locked car. Knife out of his pocket, he sliced the tight tape and opened the book.

  护理和喂养女神

  The care and keeping of the goddess.

  His own handwriting filled the page, filled most of the book, all in Chinese except one line under the apparent title

  Yo, stupid, you’re about to fuck things up, so pay attention.

  Back to Chinese.

  I don’t know if you’re a younger me or if you’re a different Jerome from a parallel timeline. Frankly, I don’t care. The single most important person in the entire galaxy has made contact with you. Do whatever you have to do to make her stay. Do whatever you must to make her feel safe and secure. Adamantine will arrive on February 19th and she knows what needs to be done to be successful in killing him and stopping the invasion.

  She probably doesn’t remember everything she learned in this life she’s about to leave. She might remember as time passes but I cannot count on that. The most important things for you to know are in this book. Read it once. Remember it. Then put it away. Do not ever let her read it. Don’t tell her what’s in it. We’ve agreed she will not ask but she made that promise to me, not you, and I’m not there to enforce it.

  Number one: She cannot refuse you. It’s in her very nature to provide what you want. If you tell her to get you something, she will get it. If you tell her you want something, she will make it, do it, find it, or get it for you. If you decide to have her, she cannot push you away. The burden is on you never to take advantage of your power over her. It is your responsibility to check yourself, rein yourself in, to be the man I think you better be.

  Number two: If you ever make her a promise, don’t you dare ever break it. Once her heart is broken, it is very hard to heal. It is almost impossible for her to trust anyone at this point. You have to be the one person she always can trust to have her back. You have to be all in. Always and in all things.

  Number three: She is one big raw nerve with a fuse about a millimeter long. Don’t let her being angry make you angry. Be calm when she is chaos and fury.

  The rest of his day no longer important, he went for a drive to Walbridge Park, to sit in a quiet spot along the Maumee river and read the entire book. On one of the grassy terraces used for Independence Day fireworks, he read it through a second time.

  Number 34: She’s already been to hell and back. She’s done things and made decisions that haunt her. If she doesn’t want to talk about something, don’t try to make her. When she’s ready, she’ll talk your ear off. Let her.

  Number 35: If she’s off and ranting, just agree with her. Don’t fight. Don’t justify anyone or anything. Don’t downplay her emotions or perception of the event. Just agree. Trust me on this. You’ll fuck it up once and learn why. When she’s gotten it all out, that is when you can make her see reason.

  Number 36: Know when to take charge and when to let her take the lead.

  The last entry was not numbered.

  This may be one of the most important things. Do not allow her to suck your dick. Nails taught her to latch on and suckle as if she was nursing. I suspect she would take your Staff Power. Maybe that’s what she’s supposed to do. Maybe it’s not. I’d prefer she not do it until it becomes necessary. If you’re reading this for the first time, it’s far too soon.

  She’s ready to leave me, so this will be all I can tell you. You’ll have to figure the rest out on your own. Good luck, bubba. You’re going to need it.

  Book read for the second time, he watched the water a few minutes before heading home. By the time he got there, the bruises and cracked ribs were healed.

  “Goin’ to Giuseppe’s tonight?” Gable asked when they passed in the hallway.

  “No,” Jerome said, and turned left into the command center.

  “Can you find Tyler?” he asked of the room’s lone occupant, the machine with the memories and knowledge of the living being he used to be.

  “I already know where she is,” Landra Ahr replied.

  “How?”

  “Her atomic signature does not match that of the planet. Not to mention the phone you gave her has a tracking program integrated into it. Through one or the other, I know where she is every minute.”

  “Could you find her anywhere in the galaxy?” Jerome asked.

  “Not instantly. The farther away she is, the longer to find her. Why?”

  “Just something she said. Do you already have some kind of alarm system for unauthorized teleporting in the building?”

  “No, but I could,” Landra Ahr said.

  “How long before you can have it in place?” he a
sked. “Shorter is better.”

  “You and Tyler have reached an agreement?”

  “Agreement, no. But we’re beginning to have an understanding,” Jerome said. “I want her under this roof before the end of the month. She won’t do that unless I can prove to her that she’s protected here.”

  “I will make teleport alarms a top priority. I may have another protection for you to offer her,” Landra Ahr said, pointing to a screen coming to life on the table. It showed a layout of the warehouse in line form. “This is your energy signature. You left your room and went downstairs.” A green line traced his path. “Here she is by the window. You walk toward her and…”

  Her blue dot vanished.

  “How close was I when it happened?” Jerome asked, suddenly very interested in Landra Ahr’s technologies.

  “That was at five feet. The entire time you were in or beside the car, I did not detect her. Not until she got angry.” He pointed out a spike of blue. “This is you two fighting.”

  Their signatures pulsed in time. Interesting.

  “Can she feel me at that distance? Five feet?” he asked.

  “She feels you for miles, Jerome.”

  “Miles? How many miles?” he asked, suddenly even more serious. Her arrival had made things all too real for the first time.

  “At least five.”

  “Good to know. Where is she now?”

  “Paris, on top of the Eiffel Tower.”

  Jerome snorted. “So much for low profile.”

  “It prevents you from showing up uninvited.”

  “Okay, Staff Power is supposed to prevent telepaths from reading my mind,” Jerome complained.

  “It does. I am merely thinking like she would. I have met her several times under different circumstances. Only one person in this building teleports. Roc could never go so far. She can only go quarter of a mile at best, and it can be very draining for her.”

  “I see your point. Call Tyler. Tell her to meet me at Northtowne Mall.”

  “No,” Landra Ahr denied.

  “No? Why not?”

  “I am not going to be your buffer. You will have to deal with her directly. You must if you’re ever to establish your bond with her.”

  Jerome scratched his eyebrow. “Directly is dangerous.”

  “I did warn you.”

  “Yes, you did. Which reminds me. Did you know Chen had been there to teach her Kung Fu?”

  “I know a great many things I am not permitted to share, Jerome. As does she. When we can, we share. When we cannot, your anger does not help matters. Do not be angry with her when she cannot tell you.”

  “So I’ve been told already today. Fine. Lemme go make a phone call. What number you give her?”

  “It’s already in your phone.”

  “Did she tell you to bring the phones when you came here?” Jerome asked.

  “I have over 40 of these communication devices. We did bring a force with us, remember? I salvaged as many as I could from the wreckage on Earth’s moon.”

  “Oh,” was all Jerome could answer. “Let me know when the teleport alarms are up and running.”

  He went next to his bedroom, putting the journal under his pillow to reread later. He was going to memorize the thing. Going out to the back deck, he pressed the number that dialed her. She did not answer, which he expected.

  “Seems I never like the way we leave things,” he began into the voicemail. “You ran away from me again. You need to stop doing that. Landra and I have been discussing security around the warehouse. I have a couple things to suggest. Call me back when you’re ready to talk seriously. I can’t help you until you stand your ground.”

  He remained at the rail, leaning on it and watching a butterfly flit around the flowers where they’d sat. Another Monarch. What an incredible moment, to watch her commune with nature like that. He sat in chair at the table, thinking over the day and what to do next. Items began to arrive, brought out by Roc and Starbird.

  “She’s not going to call tonight,” Starbird said as she deposited the platter of baked potatoes. “In her own time, which will probably be noonish tomorrow.”

  “How would you know?” he glared at her.

  “I’m a woman of some experience, dude. She’s in the driver’s seat. Moving in here gives you the keys. She’s not going to give that freedom up easily. I sure wouldn’t.”

  “I guess you just know everything,” he snapped, and jogged down the stairs.

  “What I do?”

  “It’s not you, hon,” Gable said, kissing her check as he passed to take a seat. “He’s got a major jones on and she ain’t playin’ by his rules. He’s also not sure he’s over Monica.”

  “Monica? She died a year and a half ago almost. I’d think he’d be over that by now.”

  “Humans aren’t necessarily as pragmatic as Taveragians and Bomarians,” Gable reminded her. “Monica was the first chick he wanted to marry. She got into a car accident after they argued. He still feels guilty over that. Just let it be. He’ll figure it out. He didn’t go to college, but Jerome is smart as fuck when it comes to people.”

  A drivedown the Anthony Wayne Trail and through Downtown, he turned right to go over the Cherry Street Bridge. He ended up at the same restaurant on Front Street, the site of their first dinner. The night that had started all of this. Common ground. Neutral ground. Two hours after the first time he called he was in a booth and put in his order. He called her again.

  “I’m not gonna play this game with you. You know where I am. I’ll be here until I finish eating. If you don’t come before then, I’ll know you’re not serious about working out our issues.”

  Five minutes. Their drinks arrived.

  “Your friend not here yet?” the waitress asked.

  “She will be,” he smiled, and got out his cigarettes. Eye on the flame as he lit one, it flared, and he looked up to see her in the other seat. “I can’t help you if you won’t stand your ground, little girl.”

  “It ain’t that easy, old man,” she shot back without hesitation and with so much anger on her face.

  Short fuse indeed. Far shorter than his own, and that was saying something.

  “Knowing when to run has saved my life more than once,” she said. “Escape to a safe place, evaluate the situation, then proceed.”

  Mozzarella sticks arrived, halting more words before they got angry with each other.

  “What does Landra Ahr propose?” she asked, calmer and reaching for one as the waitress walked away.

  “He can have alarms set up for each room that will immediately alert him to sudden appearances. Anyone tries to come, we all know it instantly.”

  “Okay, then what? Who comes half way across the solar system or the galaxy to help me? None of you, so what good is that?”

  “Where you stayin’ now have an alarm for unauthorized incoming teleportation?” he asked pointedly. “You’re at Chen’s, aren’t you? I know damn well he doesn’t have that kind of tech.”

  She glared at him.

  “At some point you have to trust your team of allies, Tyler.”

  “Team? I’ve never had a team. Not one that worked for me. Men have stood guard around me because they’ve been ordered to by Princes, Lords, and Emperors, and following only the orders of those Princes and Emperors. I’ve had teams assembled around me to imprison me, some more subtly than others. I have killed friends and lovers because they turned out to be neither. Never once were any of them there to serve me and only me. Always there was someone else giving the orders and deciding the agenda. So I don’t do team. I am not a team player. I trust myself because I’ve been burned too many times by enemies disguised as allies.”

  Such heart-stopping fury she contained.

  “Okay, then forget the team,” he said, remembering the one about agreeing with her. Now seemed like a good time to employ that. “You’re the one who trusted Landra Ahr enough to give him a lot of very sensitive information. You’re trusting me to help you
save the world. Go with that. Trust me. No one else.”

  That shut her up. Her eyes were still hot but she didn’t have another harsh comeback.

  “Did you know your energy signal is undetectable when you’re within ten feet of me?”

  “And?” she questioned, not so off guard as he had wanted. “So what.”

  “I’m not trying to control you. I’m not trying to chain you to me. Your concerns were being found and being kidnapped. If your energy cannot be seen whenever we’re in a room together, there’s less chance they’ll find you.”

  He had to pause as their dinners arrived. Not burgers this time, however. Chicken breast and mashed potatoes for both.

  “If there are alarms, at least we’d know when and why you disappeared. You mentioned the Congress. I bet you told Landra Ahr where it is. I’m sure he could make contact and we could raise hell. You’re used to going it alone. Okay fine. Being alone has its downside too. Believe me, it’s nice to know someone’s got your back. So here I am. I got your back, babe. To the end.”

  She chewed a bite, green eyes staring at him with no emotion.

  “So say something,” he prompted after a moment, and dug into his meal.

  “You talk too much.”

  “Wanted to get it all out before you went running off again,” he smiled, and was met with hard silence.

  “I only go as far as I need to in order to think and see clearly. You have no idea what your energy can do, Jerome. Sure, my own energy signature disappears from a scan. Most of my telepathy can go too,” she informed him. “Any time I’m close to you, I’m giving up a piece of my defensive power. So you fuckin’ better have my back.”

  “You need to go to France to get your telepathy back?” he asked, watching her mix the corn into her mashed potatoes.

  “It was already dark there. I could see the stars. Sometimes I need to immerse myself in the vastness. It helps me feel better when I’m feeling trapped.”