“Will you help?” He headed toward the counter.
“You think I will have better luck persuading her? I still have no idea what kind of help you seek to offer.”
“You were the one who brought her to Energo last time. I assumed it would work again.”
“Last time?” I let his words sink in. “I hope you are not referring to the Essence. That was another time.” I had been the one to bring Charlotte to Energo, but in the end it had been the right thing to do. I was a different man back then, and I was done apologizing.
“This was another time too, but I mean Ainsley. I have traveled time to get back to you.”
“There are few Elves that can do that.” I had thought it was a lost art. Maybe nothing was lost. My father had brought back a darkness like no other after all.
“As I told you I am the son of Adaline.”
“I vaguely know the name.” I downplayed my knowledge.
“Has the reputation of her power truly faded in Belgard?” he headed behind the counter.
I followed. “Not completely, but that does not matter. You claim I brought Ainsley to Energo in another time? What time?” I was unsure of what to make of his time travel claim, but I would hear him out.
“A few days from now.”
“Then why not get her from Energo?”
“I needed to get her before you poisoned her.” We stepped into a back room.
The room was completely empty. “I would never poison her.” I would never hurt a hair on her head. I opened a few other doors. One led to a bathroom, and another a freezer. There was a third door that was locked.
“You never intended to.”
I turned a corner and found an exterior door. I pushed it open, finding an empty alleyway. “Where is she?” I stepped outside.
“We will find her.”
“We need to find her now!” Fear, anger, and confusion swirled through me. “Whatever you think you know about me, you are wrong. I would never hurt her.” I cared for her in a way that made no sense. Why was I having such a visceral reaction to his words? I had been accused of many things in my life, and usually I could shrug them off, but not this time. My anger at the accusation, mixed with my worry over Ainsley’s safety, was making me feel out of control.
Elron stepped outside, letting the door close behind him. “It was not intentional. It was your father.”
“My father is dead.” Rage flowed through me. The one relief I had was the knowledge that the man who had cursed my life was no longer among the living. He had been my only family for much of my life, but hearing of his death had been a relief. He could never hurt anyone else. I would have a chance to make up for the mistakes I made while following his lead.
“He is—but not his soul. We have no time for this conversation.” He hurried into the alley.
“You cannot accuse me of poisoning an innocent girl, blame it on my father, and expect me to drop the conversation.” I hurried along with him, torn between demanding answers and putting all of my concern into finding her. Was anything Elron said true? Could I be a danger to Ainsley? If so, then maybe finding her would be a mistake.
He stopped and turned to me. “Do you want to find her, or not?”
“Of course I want to find her.” I needed to find her. That reality came like a slap to a face. Even if I wanted to stay away I couldn’t.
“I know how you feel about her. I can see that now. It is good for me to see this. To see how you view her before your father’s influence. I will not interfere with fate.” He spoke with a regal air, and I finally made a connection between the names he spoke earlier. He was royal. He was the heir of the North Loriet Elven line. That knowledge did nothing to change my desire to find Ainsley.
“Stop all this gibberish and tell me where to find her.”
“She is likely on her way home right now.”
“And you know where her home is?” I barely knew anything about her, but at least I had her name. That was one good thing I got from the Elf.
“She is staying in a home you know well.”
“In this world?” There weren’t many places I knew well in Charleston anymore.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“There are only a few houses here that I have even been in.”
“Exactly.”
“Her eyes. There is something familiar…” I pictured those eyes a darker shade of blue.
“I will cut to the chase. She is a Winthrop.”
“But I know all the Winthrops.” I knew Charlotte and Kevin, their mother, and their uncles.
Elron clasped his hands together. “Monty never even met his daughter. At least from as far as I can tell.”
“She is Monty’s daughter?” Shock flooded through me. “Was that even possible?”
“Yes. And that is why your father was able to use Ainsley to help himself. She is of Winthrop blood.”
“My father is dead.” I refused to believe he could somehow still be alive. That possibility terrified me as did the thought I could one day hurt the girl—hurt Ainsley.
“Let us find Ainsley. We will have to explain everything to her, and maybe you will believe it when you hear it for the second time.”
“I will never believe it.” My father was dead, and he could never come back.
4
Elron
Things did not go as planned. This should have been easy enough. Find Ainsley and bring her to the realm of the dead before she was poisoned. Seek help from her father and return us to the correct time. Easy enough. Or it should have been. I should have known nothing would be easy with time travel.
Ainsley had come with me fairly easily the first time I met her, but of course she had already been in a bad situation at that point, and she understood. Her choice then had been to stay lost in the woods, or come with me for a chance to save herself and the man she loved. This time she was blissfully unaware of the dangers lurking around every corner. And perhaps even more importantly, she was not yet in love, not in any real way anyway.
Without her love for James she was different. That realization was important. With it I could hatch a new plan. She thought I was unhinged and a danger to her. What she needed to understand was I was there to protect her. Maybe James could help me accomplish my goal.
I was still reeling from the way things had unfolded. Before giving me a chance to explain she had run off and managed to find James. I should not have been surprised. Fate has a way of ensuring people meet if they are meant to, and I had no doubt Ainsley and James were fated to meet, but it definitely made my job harder.
“Where is her car?” James asked as we rounded the block and returned to the front of the shop. “Are you sure it is gone? We cannot leave this area until we are positive she has.”
“We cannot be sure,” I admitted. “But why would she have waited?”
His forehead furrowed. “How did you find her?”
“I cannot reveal all my methods.”
“Yes you can. You claim to be back in time. Can these methods be any more secretive than that?”
“At least you believe me on that.” And I was grateful. I needed any help I could get.
“Believe is a strong word.” He started down the block looking inside parked cars.
“Then what word would you use?”
“I am giving you a chance. Either way you are from Energo and have taken an interest in Ainsley.”
“And you care for Ainsley? Already?” I knew he did, but it was still worth asking. Love was one of those things impossible to fully understand. Fate was too, and in this case the two were completely intertwined.
“Yes.”
“Interesting.” I had always been taught to believe in fate. Elves let fate guide us, even if we did not openly admit it. It was why I did not seek to take Ainsley even though she rightly should have been mine. Fate had other plans, and I could not step in the way.
“Should we assume she left?” He wrung his hands at his sides. “I cannot imagine w
hy she would hang out here to wait.”
“I would suggest splitting up, but that may be too great a waste of time.” And beyond my personal desire to save time, I knew none of us had much of it. The future was still happening out there.
“It is only a short walk to the Winthrop’s.” He straightened. “That is likely our best bet if you are right about where she lives.”
“I am.”
“Fine.” He started down the street in the opposite direction at a fast pace. “Are you going to tell me why you are back in time aside from all that poison talk?”
“It is not merely talk.” I knew it would be hard for him to hear, but that only made it more important. He needed to grasp the importance of our mission. We had to get Ainsley to Monty even if it was the last thing we did.
“But there has to be more. You would not have come back to save her alone.”
“No. Not that I do not care—but the darkness unleashed by your father must be stopped, and I need Ainsley poison free to accomplish that.”
“So what is the plan? To off me so she is never poisoned?” James’ face was deadpan.
“You think I plan to kill you?” I wondered at his calm demeanor. There was no anger.
“Maybe. I figured I would find out.”
“Do you want death?” Was that why he was so calm? Was it something he secretly craved?
“No. Not unless it is for a good reason, but I have no fear of it.”
“Which is why your father did what he did.” It all made sense. Blake connected Ainsley’s life to James’ so he would not immediately sacrifice himself. He must have known the kind of bond they would share, and that James would do anything to protect her.
“I know you expect me to ask what he did, but I do not want to know if it is something we can’t avoid.” His eyes darkened, and I realized he was probably deep in thought.
“We cannot avoid it.”
“Then why go back?” James watched me. “I thought you wanted to help her.”
“I will. Or rather I will take her to the one person who can help.”
“And who is this person?” James slowed down as the sidewalk narrowed. Then we crossed the street. The water in the bay was beautiful in the moonlight, and it made me miss home even more.
“I will tell you when I tell her.”
“And you think she will handle this well? Does she have any clue she is not completely of this world?”
“No idea at all.” At least that was the story she shared with me. I assumed her words were honest, and I had no reason to question it.
“And you think convincing her will be easy?” he asked.
“I thought it would be—it is harder than anticipated. I am glad to have found you.”
“Because you believe for one reason or another she will trust me?”
“Yes.” I stopped in front of the large white house I knew belonged to the ruling family of Belgard.
“Just because I lack your ears does not mean she views me as like her.”
“Were you so blind to miss the way she looked at you?” Her eyes had moved to him immediately, and her posture changed. She was a different girl as soon as she met him.
“She ran from me.”
“Actually she ran from me. She only returned with you.” She might have been annoyed with his presence at first, but quickly the pull between them was back. Even playing with time could not change it.
“Because she was running from me.”
“Then I will repeat what I said. Were you so blind to miss the way she looked at you?” I smiled. There were many things about women I did not understand, but I understood her look completely. I refused to accept that James did not see the same thing. “Any man would be lucky to get that sort of look from a woman.”
“You are attracted to her.” He was not asking a question.
“Yes. But I know she is not mine to have no matter what is needed for the balance.”
“The balance?” His brows moved together.
“Yes, the balance. I assume you understand what that means?”
“You assume wrong.”
“Your people never explained the balance to you? The only way to hold off the darkness?” Were the humans of Belgard that foolish?
“No.” He was telling the truth.
“I will keep it simple. For years our people,” I gestured between the two of us. “Kept the darkness at bay through an alliance. If we could stay strong, we could stay in the light.”
“What did this alliance involve?”
“Every so often the royal family lines would need to be merged. It worked for years until your people refused to turn over one of their daughters to my family. Everything fell apart.”
“Turn over their daughter?” James frowned. “That sounds barbaric.”
“But it worked. The Cipher could not return. I am not placing all the blame on your people, but the damage was done.”
“You said something about what is needed for the balance when you admitted to your feelings for Ainsley.” He looked up at the house and then back at me. “Do you believe that if you were with Ainsley whatever you claim my father is able to do will not come to pass?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Fate has already spoken about Ainsley. This is the course of things.”
“I wish I had the same faith in fate that you have.” He looked down at the ground.
“You do have it, if you only let yourself believe.”
5
Ainsley
"Grace, I'm telling you the guy had pointy Elf ears.” After slipping out the back of Yogurt Love—without locking up—again, I hurried around to my car. I had no choice. Spending more time with those actors, or nut jobs, or whoever they were wasn’t going to help. I had been so sure they were actors until I watched them fight. That part made no sense. It was taking things too far.
At least they had been so intently focused on each other I was able to get away. No matter how deeply attracted I was to James, I had to stay away from him. Anything I imagined between us was fake. He was either paid to be there or completely out of his mind. Neither of those were things I needed to get involved in.
I had hurried around to my car, immediately inserted my key, and put it in drive. I wasn’t going to give them any sort of opportunity to catch up with me.
I didn’t call Grace right away. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear the answer to whether she was behind the events of the evening.
The plus side to the late hour was the limited traffic, which made driving around downtown Charleston far more enjoyable.
It was dark out but that didn’t stop me from looking at all the storefronts and old buildings. I loved that about my adopted home city—the history was still visible. I loved the city. It wasn’t my hometown, yet it felt more like home than the place I grew up. I wondered if most people felt that way about the city where they attended college.
I circled the block once before driving the opposite way from home. At least the temporary home where I was housesitting.
Finally I picked up my phone and called Grace. I drove around with no particular direction in mind while I told her everything about the night’s events, and I was beginning to think that was a mistake. On top of everything else now she probably thought I was crazy. She had quickly assured me she had nothing to do with it. In some ways that was a relief—I didn’t need to be mad at her, but it once again brought me back to why someone else would have set me up. By the time I explained the part about Elron’s ears I regretted calling her in the first place.
She laughed. "Elf ears. Gotcha. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but you really think someone would have gone through the time and effort to prank you to that extent? No offense but—"
I finished her sentence for her. "I'm not that important."
"That's not what I was going to say." She sighed. “No need to be so dramatic.”
Maybe not in those exact words, but it was what she was thinking. I was sure of it. I couldn’
t afford to be too critical though. She was my one friend left, and the only one of my so-called friends I didn’t lose in the whole step-sister and boyfriend saga. "Whatever, anyway I can't believe you were going to cancel on me." That bit of news hadn’t made my night any better.
"I wasn’t really going to cancel on you."
"What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously. Maybe she wasn’t behind the Elf, but evidently she was up to something.
"I may have had my cousin show up to meet you instead." Her voice lilted. She was nervous.
"What!" I was yelling now. Luckily I had my car windows rolled up.
"It's not as bad as it sounds. Most girls think he's hot."
"And that helps how?" The principle was the same. She was trying to set me up on a blind date—without telling me. A blind date sounded bad enough when you knew about it. Being tricked into one? Forget about it.
"It's time you moved on." Her voice was gentler.
"I have no interest in moving on. I’m over Dale. That doesn’t mean I need to start dating someone else." I was over him, but that didn’t mean I was over what he did. Or what my step-sister did. That kind of hurt takes a long time to heal. I wasn’t ready to have my heart and ego crushed again. There were plenty of other things to focus on that did not involve dating.
"Dale wasn't the right one. He didn't deserve you, but you can’t let that stop you from finding Mr. Right." Grace was trying to be helpful. I reminded myself of that before I replied.
“Mr. Right doesn’t exist for all of us. I know you found someone, but I might be cut out to be alone.”
“You’re twenty-two years-old.”
“And your point is?” I didn’t see what my age had to do with anything.
“That’s too young to talk like that.”
“I don’t mean forever. I get that I’m not spinster age yet, but I need a break. Right now I like being on my own. Ok?” I shouldn’t have had to explain myself. It wasn’t like I was always asking to be the third wheel with her and her boyfriend or anything.
“You should still meet my cousin.”
Forged in Light (The Forged Chronicles Book 4) Page 3
