Chrysocolla (17 page)

“I’m not saying it again until you tell me what it means,” I replied. “Who is Miller, and what does that threat mean?”

Kye stood up and walked to the open window beside Ty. He didn’t turn back to me as he looked over the city.

“My life growing up stunk. It wasn’t just that he took me from you and was a terrible father. He was a terrible person overall. I don’t know if it was from jealousy, or if he was afraid that the history with his mother would repeat itself if you and I were together, but he always told me that if I interfered with you, he would keep all those I love from me forever. He would go back and change my past so that I never felt their love. I would never be loved by anyone.” He turned back to me, and I could see the fear in his eyes. I didn’t doubt for a moment that his life had been torture under Logan’s rule.

“He can’t do that. You can time travel; I can time travel,” I added. I wanted to go over and hug him. Logan would never hurt him again. He was done terrorizing our son. “He can’t control us.”

“And if he traps us in the pool house, we can’t do either,” Kye reminded me. I knew that was what Miller said Logan was going to do. I didn’t care. Logan wasn’t going to win.

“So we don’t even go back there,” I answered.

That was the simplest solution, and the one I planned to stick with. What power did Logan really have over me now? I was in my father’s land where he couldn’t time travel and I could, and my family was all with me. He couldn’t hold Seth over my head. We were all safe now. At least I kept repeating that in my head, hoping it would make it true.

“And you think it’ll be that easy?” Kye added.

No
, I didn’t think so. Logan was desperate; I saw that. He was going to do whatever it took to try to get us trapped. I just wasn’t going to let that happen.

“So what? Even if we’re trapped in the twenty-first century, it’ll be with modern conveniences. We have cells phones there. I know those work in the pool house. We’ll just call for help.” I still wasn’t sure how Logan could really trap us. The pool house was just a house after all.

“And you think Logan is stupid enough to let us just take a phone with us?” Kye was right about that. Logan was being rash, but he wasn’t stupid. It didn’t matter. I would find a way out.

I shrugged. Logan wasn’t thinking straight and getting more unpredictable as he continued to look for the stone we already found.

“I’m not going to worry about it. We’re here, and he’s wherever. Not our problem. I just want to finish getting married to Seti,” I replied. I had been taken away abruptly; we weren’t even finished with my wedding day.

Kye nodded. Getting married by the gods was the first part, but being stolen on my wedding night had put a damper on the celebrations. We only had a few hours before we were going to get all dressed up for a second time to finish all the formalities of presenting Seth and me to the people. My father was anxious to cement everything in the eyes of his people. He didn’t like my fate up in the air now that he had found me. I felt it in my bones. We needed to make the marriage official in the eyes of everyone.

“Want to go for a walk before the ladies find you?” Ty suggested as he continued to look outside.

I nodded. Walking or hiding was fine by me. Ty led the way to the gardens. I felt the flutter in my stomach as Seth was nearby, but he wasn’t outside. That was a bummer. I barely got to see him before I was whisked away back to the palace, and Seth led the guards around the city looking for Logan. From the feeling of exhaustion that crept up on me, I had a feeling that I wasn’t the only one lacking in sleep from the night before.

Kye led the way around the fountains and to my now favorite bench. It was positioned just right to see everything, but still be in the shadows instead of the harsh Egyptian sun.

“And who is Miller?” I finally remembered to ask him.

“My older brother,” Kye replied, sitting beside me.

My heart stopped a beat. I had more kids.

“Your brother?”

“Logan had another son before he ever had me,” Kye replied.

Logan
, he said.

“Logan has another child?” I asked in return. That was a hard one to comprehend.

“He was a mistake, and Logan always treated him badly. Logan blamed his mother for him being born without gatekeeper powers. Logan tried to swear that Miller wasn’t his, but the bone structure was more than enough to convince everyone that he was. The DNA tests only confirmed it, but that didn’t change anything for Logan. He still hated him and made sure Miller knew it every day he was around him.”

Kye watched the water as he paused in thought. I hadn’t seen that one coming. Logan had another child, and one that seemed to hate him as much as the other did.

I tried to picture Miller next to Logan. He was a bit taller, but just as fair. He didn’t inherit the purple eyes, and maybe that was why I never looked too closely at them together.

“Miller was the only person beyond you I ever really knew growing up, as Logan would make him take care of me from the time he took you away until he put Miller in the future to watch over Seth. He’s the only one who truly understands what life is like with Logan, and the only reason I never ended up like Logan, either. Miller kept me grounded. He kept me good. I owe him everything.” Kye stared up at the sky.

I should have taken Miller with me, no matter if he didn’t want to come. I was pretty sure Logan didn’t realize how close Miller and Kye were; otherwise he would have never left Miller alone with me. Now the only question was: why did Miller want to be left behind?

Ty stood up quickly from my side, and it startled me. I turned to ask him what was going on, but several people were now in the garden, making their way through the walkways to where I was sitting. I waited as I felt the butterflies flutter and grow stronger. Seth was with the people coming near.

My father stood with Seth as they stopped in front of me.

“We have some bad news. The wedding party will have to be postponed,” my father told me. My excitement crashed.

“What?” I asked, standing and looking to Seth for an explanation.

“We just got word that the Hittites have attacked one of our trade cities. Seti and his father must take the army north immediately to take care of everything,” my father continued.

“You’re leaving the country and its protection?” I asked. I wasn’t about to agree with that. We hadn’t even been completely married yet. He couldn’t just race away for some war.

“Seti is in charge of the chariots. He must be with the men. They depend on him to lead them,” my father replied, knowing I would object. “You have a few minutes to say goodbye, but he’s leaving, and we will have to wait to make the marriage official until he returns.”

“But what if that’s what Logan wants? What if this is what screws up everything?” I complained. I needed to keep Seth near me. Logan had to be behind it. He would attack and kill Seth the first chance he got.

Seth stepped forward and touched my cheek gently. “This is my life. It always has been, and always will be. I have pledged my life to protect this country and the people in it. I’m needed beside my father.”

I wanted to pout, but I saw it in his eyes. H was right; this was his life. He was always supposed to be on the front line. He was a soldier. I couldn’t keep him from it. War and protecting people was a part of him, just as time travel was a part of me. I didn’t have to like it, but I did have to accept it.

My father nodded to Ty and Kye, and they followed him as he made his way back through the garden, leaving me alone with Seth.

“How much time before you leave?” I asked, trying not to cry. This wasn’t how we were supposed to start our life together. It felt wrong. It felt set up. It felt like it was too perfect to keep us apart.

“Ten minutes max,” Seth replied, pulling me to the seat and onto his lap. “Sorry for the crappy wedding party last night. I should have been beside you; I should have protected you.”

I tried to smile even as I felt tears building. In the future Kye knew, Seth was fine, but everything was changing. We didn’t know Seth would be fine. It felt like to me that Logan was messing with things again.

“You are not to blame. No one expected Logan to come into the palace. He’s acting a bit too unpredictable,” I added and laid my head on his bare chest. He stroked my hair, which really made the tears want to come out.

“I’ll spend the rest of our lives making it up to you. I promise he will never get that chance again. I will keep you safe.” I wanted to argue that he couldn’t keep me safe while he was off at war, but I kept that to myself. I didn’t need to spend my last few moments with him, for what could end up being months, arguing with him.

“Do you have to go?” I asked. It wasn’t beyond me to plead. I really had a bad feeling about sending him off.

“Yes,” Seth answered before tilting my head up to meet my lips with his own.

Our lips touched; I could taste the saltiness of my tears as they came with the kiss. We were supposed to be safe. We were supposed to start our life together. This wasn’t right. My intuition told me so. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

“Promise me that you’ll never go anywhere near that pool house. If Miller is to be trusted, that’s always going to be a trap. Stay away from it,” Seth told me. I had no plans to head to the future and certainly not the pool house. I trusted Miller, even if Seth didn’t.

“Promise,” I said, as I noticed he was waiting for a verbal reply.

“And promise me you will never go anywhere without both Kye
and
Ty with you. You need their protection.”

“Wait, isn’t Ty going with you?” Seth couldn’t leave Ty behind. He was Seth’s personal guard. I had been around long enough to have heard the stories how Ty had saved Seth on more than one occasion. I had even seen the scars on both of them as they told of several close encounters with death. Seth couldn’t go to war without Ty beside him.

“He has to stay here now, and I gave him to you to protect you. He agreed to that. I will have to protect myself. He promised to keep you safe.” Seth leaned down to kiss me again.

“Umm.” Someone coughed from a little ways away from us in the garden. “I know you’re busy and all, but your father is getting impatient.”

I pulled back and smiled through my tears. Dee was standing and waiting for Seth.

“I’ll keep him out of trouble, Mari,” Dee told me as Seth stood but didn’t let go of my hand. “And I’ll have him back to you in no time.”

I smiled meekly. Seth leaned down and whispered in my ear.

“Nothing will ever keep me from you. Our fate was written together long before we were born, and Logan can’t change that.” He kissed my cheek and pulled back, dropping my hand.

No matter their confidence, I didn’t feel it. Something felt off. Seth was a warrior and would go off to war often in our lifetime together, but this was just rushed. It had to be connected to Logan. He had to have been the cause behind everything and the only question was: what did that mean? What was Logan planning now?

I watched the
clouds pass over me again. I wasn’t in the mood to talk and sat all day feeling the bond weaken as Seth drove farther away from me. I was more certain than ever that this was a setup. What I didn’t know was how Logan even pulled it off. He couldn’t time travel within the borders, and he couldn’t have gotten away quick enough to outside of them, either. How did he start a war he knew would drag Seth away? Without knowing how, I was certain that this was working right into his plan.

Was Seth the one thing he planned to use to lure me to the future? Seth having the last stone was kind of our trump card. If Logan was still searching, we at least had time to figure out what to do. Once Logan realized the stones were all gone, he’d start the next phase. I really didn’t want to see what that was going to be.

“You have to come in some time,” Ty said to me as he sat beside me.

No, actually I didn’t.

“Why didn’t you go with him?” I asked. It wasn’t right to blame Ty for Seth leaving, but who else could I blame?

“I don’t fault you for wanting me to go,” Ty added, trying to comfort me. “I get that I have failed you. I’m sorry you can’t send me away.”

“Go away?” I wasn’t trying to send him anywhere beyond someplace where he could be with his best friends.

“Yes, you’ve tried a few times now to send me off with Seti. I messed up. I get it.” Ty wrung his hands as he spoke.

That wasn’t what I meant when I wanted him to go with Seth. Instantly all my anger toward him was gone. Ty was genuinely upset at the events from the night before.

“It wasn’t your fault. No one knew that Logan would do that. The old Logan would have never exposed himself that easily. This Logan, we don’t know. You could have never guessed,” I replied. I wasn’t mad at him at all. “I just want Seti to be safe, and I know you have kept him safe all these years. I don’t want to send you away.”

“Mari, I’m your guard now, not his. And I’m a crappy one at that. You don’t have to be nice to me. I should have been prepared at the wedding last night. I should have expected something to happen.” Ty was blaming himself, and I couldn’t help but feel bad.

“Ty. It’s okay. I didn’t want you to leave because of last night. I wanted you to go with Seti because something feels off to me. I don’t know, but it’s just a gut feeling. This doesn’t seem right.” I couldn’t explain it more.

Ty turned to me, and his chocolate brown eyes searched my own.

“You didn’t want to get rid of me?” he asked, like he hadn’t just heard what I said.

“No,” I replied with finality. “You have been my friend since the moment I met you. I never want you to leave.”

Kye joined us and sat beside me on the other side. Their protection detail was a bit much if you asked me, but I wasn’t about to complain. I wasn’t completely certain why Logan was getting Seth out of Egypt. Was he going to try to take Seth, or would he go after me again?

“What is your gut telling you about everything?” Kye asked. He seemed as in tune with everything around us as I was, maybe even more so.