Destiny Redeemed (19 page)

“Please
be seated, Mr. Jansen.”

Across
the desk, the most powerful man in Nil sat with his hands folded in front of
his face, fingers steepled. Ryu studied his pose and waited for him to explain
about the offer he’d not been able to refuse.

“I
called you here to enlist your help in an additional aspect of the Amon Kalins
case.”

“Additional?”
Ryu asked confused. “Is there something more the Council would like me to do
beyond capturing him and returning him to Nil?”

“Mr.
Jansen, your file indicates you spent a lifetime in the British Isles. How did
you find that life?”

Unsure
of where this was leading, he generically answered, “Fine,” and waited for the
councilman to continue.

“Nineteenth
century England, if I’m not incorrect.”

Uneasily,
Ryu’s mind ran through the major events of that lifetime as he nodded in
agreement. A lifetime as an industrial worker, it had been nondescript compared
to others he’d had and certainly not a worthy topic of discussion for his first
private meeting with the head of the Council of Nil.

“I
so wish I could have seen the greatness of the empire,” the councilman said in
a faraway voice.

The
men sat in silence, and Ryu watched the other man’s features soften and then
harden once again. When the councilman spoke again, his voice sounded as harsh
as his expression looked.

“In
addition to capturing Kalins, you are to take his destined one to a location to
which I’ll provide directions.”

“The
healer?” Ryu asked in a voice that only partially told how shocked he was.

“Yes.
You will transport her to the location I give you.”

“Before
or after I capture Kalins?”

The
councilman smiled. “This is why I had you recalled, Mr. Jansen—for your
superior abilities. Before you get Kalins, if you will.”

Ryu
took a moment to once again go through the list of advantages Kalins possessed.
Sighing, he wondered why the councilman seemed intent on making the job harder
than it needed to be.

The
councilman squinted his eyes angrily and answered Ryu’s unspoken question.

“Amon
Kalins needs to feel the pain of losing his destined one because of something
other than his return to Nil.”

Ryu
chastised himself for forgetting the man’s ability to read thoughts, and the
councilman’s face broke out in a smile.

“Mr.
Jansen, there is really nothing I can’t know about you with the power I’ve been
given here. It’s an indispensable tool for the head of the Council to possess.”

Lulled
into forgetting where he was for a moment by the man’s change, Ryu asked, “You
didn’t possess this power in your lifetimes before here?”

“No.
I was a very common Aeveren for my time before I was offered a position on the
Council of Nil. As many of us even after the twentieth lifetime, all I could
boast of was a heightened sense of awareness with others, but even that I can’t
say I used as effectively as I should have.”

As
he listened to the man, Ryu felt as if he were intruding on a memory. Hoping to
escape what had become an uncomfortable situation, he carefully guided the
conversation back to the new requirement that had been imposed.

“Other
than finding the healer and taking her where you want me to, is there anything
else I should do?”

The
councilman shook himself out of his thoughts and rejoined Ryu in the present.
“Make haste, Mr. Jansen, in your fulfillment of this council’s demands. Get
Amon Kalins back to Nil where he belongs.”

When
he finished, he slid a paper with the location Ryu was to take Thea to. As Ryu
took the paper, the councilman rose from behind the desk.

“Mr.
Jansen, complete this assignment quickly and I’ll ensure your future with the
Aeveren council of your choosing.”

As
Ryu left the Council of Nil, he removed the paper from his jacket and looked at
the address.

London
.

*

Amon
opened his eyes and looked over at Thea still sleeping quietly next to him.
Hours of tossing and turning over his past left him exhausted, but worse was
the fact that today was the day he was to take Gethen home. This day had been a
long time coming, he knew, but that didn’t mean he didn’t dread it all the
same.

Thea
awoke and took his hand in hers. Raising it to her lips, she kissed the back of
it as she looked into his eyes. “What’s on your mind that’s bothering you?”

Amon
remained silent for a moment and then said, “We leave soon to take Gethen back
to his people.”

Stroking
his cheek, she seemed to understand his pain.
 
“I’m sorry, Amon. I know
Gethen is dear to you.”

He
smiled briefly and let out a sigh.

“Amon,
what else is bothering you?”

A
dozen things ran through his mind that he couldn’t tell her. He’d always heard
that at some point everyone’s past catches up to him and for the first time in
forty-seven lifetimes, he saw how true this was.
And it was different
than having to answer for his crimes to the Council. Then his biggest fear had
been the loss of his freedom. Now with Thea, he felt a different fear. Now he
feared losing her—her love—because of who he’d been all those lifetimes.

How
could she remain with a man who’d done the things he’d done?

He
couldn’t let her find out. Now, more than ever before, he needed the present to
be more important than the past.

He
ran his fingers gently over the lock of hair that rested near her cheek and
silently pledged to do whatever he had to do for her to never know the truth of
whom he’d actually been.

“Nothing
else, Thea. Just Gethen’s leaving.”

Slowly,
he rose to his feet and extended his hand to her. “Time to get ready.”

Pulling
her close to him, he kissed her head and hugged her. The feel of her arms
around his body made him forget for just a moment everything that tortured his
mind.

“I’d
stay here, like this, holding you for the rest of time if I could,” he
whispered.

As
Thea left for a shower, Amon thought about where they’d be going, a place he
hadn’t been since right after he’d left England lifetimes ago. Almost two
hundred years had passed since he’d set foot in the Irish countryside, and
while the land of humans and Aeveren had changed greatly, he knew the world of
the Sidhe had remained as it had been throughout time. A place of magick, the
kingdom of the Sidhe was forever untouched by the changes of the outside world.

How
much Gethen had changed in his time away from his people, though. Shunned for
his crimes, Gethen had been a wild, young Sidhe when he’d taken him. Since
then, through each lifetime, Gethen had found him, each time older and wiser
after their separation.

With
a stab of shame, Amon admitted to himself that he knew little of what Gethen
did in the years apart from him, other than safeguard his homes and wealth. Had
he spent all those years alone?

As
he walked down the stairs to prepare to travel with Gethen one last time, he
selfishly wished he’d change his mind and stay. But he’d made his choice.

He
found Gethen alone in the study, still pensive as he’d been before. With
sadness, he tried to imagine this home—a home he’d only had in his current
lifetime—without Gethen’s presence. Remembering what he’d thought about his
homes being empty, lonely places without a destined one to share them with, he
quietly chuckled at his mistake.

 “Sit
and talk to me, Gethen.”

As
the two men had done so many times before, they took their customary seats
facing one another. Knowing he may not have another opportunity to say his
goodbye alone with Gethen,  Amon swallowed hard and readied himself to bid
farewell to the one being who he’d spent more time with in the past seven
lifetimes than any other.

“Gethen,
I need to know you’re sure about this.”

A
look he hadn’t seen for lifetimes passed over the Sidhe’s face, and Gethen said
in a measured voice, “It’s better for everyone involved if I return to my
people...safer.”

Immediately,
Amon understood his friend’s choice. No reason for Gethen’s murder of the women
before Aine had ever been given, and Amon had long considered whatever had been
the reason to be a part of his friend’s past. But he had to admit that Thea’s
being his destined one had given him pause recently and had brought those long
forgotten crimes back into his thoughts.

As
he stared at the scar on Gethen’s face, proof of his past savagery, Amon’s protective
nature reared up inside him.

Gethen
saw the change in him and quickly explained. “I’ve felt nothing of the urges I
once had, Amon. My loyalty to you simply makes me want to leave before anything
possibly changes in me. Please know I would never harm your destined one.”

Pushing
down his concerns, Amon nodded. “I know, friend. Your loyalty to our friendship
was never in doubt.”

Silent
again, Amon began to say his goodbye to his friend the best way he knew. When
he was finished, Gethen smiled. “It has been the joy of my life to know you,
Amon.”

Thea’s
descent from the floor above ended the meeting, and by the time she entered the
study, both men were standing and ready to leave. Gethen left to find Markku,
and Thea stepped next to Amon and put her arms around him. “Everything okay?”

Half
lying and his stomach in knots, Amon forced a smile. “Yes. Are you ready?”

Thea
nodded. “Exactly where are we going?”

“Ireland.”

Tilting
her face up toward him, she laughed. “You and I have different ideas on just
what the word exactly means. I was looking for a little more specificity than
the name of a country.”

Amon,
charmed by her way of bringing him out of his sadness, smiled. “Specificity?”
he asked in a mocking tone.

“Yes,
as in maybe the name of the town we’re going to. Or since it’s Ireland, a county name would work,” she teased.

Amon
looked up to see Gethen and Markku walking down the hall toward them.  In her
ear, he whispered, “It’s a surprise, but I think you’ll like the house.”

Thea’s
face looked surprised. “What house?”

“Our
house. Or to be more specific, one of our houses.”

“One
of
our
houses?”

Winking
at her, he joined Gethen to discuss what Markku was to do upon arriving. With
one final look, Amon held Thea as they disappeared from his study, followed by
Markku with Gethen.

Amon
watched as Thea slowly opened her eyes to see the beautiful countryside of
southern Ireland. The charm of the land here amazed even him, and the wonder in
her expression told him she was just as impressed.

“Welcome
to your home in County Cork, my lady.”

Thea
stepped back away from him, opened her arms, and began to spin around, her long
blond hair fanning out around her.

“This
is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been!” she squealed as she
continued to spin.

“I’m
glad you like it.”

“Like
it? I love it!”

As
Thea slowed her turning, she staggered and tumbled to the ground, landing on
her back. Amon held out his hand to help her up, but she pulled him down to the
ground next to her, giggling her delight. The sound of her happiness thrilled
him more than he thought possible, and there, on the grassy hillside, he pulled
her close to him and stared up at the cloudless blue sky, for the first time
believing everything would be fine.

Softly,
she whispered in his ear, “Amon, I only hope I make you as happy as you make
me.”

Kissing
her, he showed her just how happy she made him, but moments later, he heard
Gethen’s voice in his head warning him of trouble. Looking up, he saw the
bounty hunter walking toward them up the grassy hill.

“Thea,
get to the house now.”

Frightened,
she jumped to her feet and saw the man Amon was now staring at. “Who is he?”

“Thea,
he’s a bounty hunter. I need you to get to the house. I’ll be there when I’m
done with him. Go now!”

Thea
ran as fast as she could toward the large Georgian home a few hundred yards
away. In horror, Amon watched as Ryu turned to chase Thea instead of him. He
was faster than she and would catch her before she reached the house!

In
seconds, Amon had teleported in front of Ryu, and he stopped him dead with a
fist to his chest. From behind him, he heard Thea scream and when he turned to
see if she’d made it safely to the house, Ryu disappeared from sight.

Enraged,
Amon stormed into the house behind Thea, bellowing for Markku. “Find out why
the fuck the bounty hunter sent for me just went after Thea. And find out fast.
Go!”

Markku
quickly obeyed Amon’s orders and vanished. Still in a rage, Amon sat down on
the couch in the living room to figure out what had happened.
Why would the
bounty hunter attempt to take an innocent woman? The Council is a bunch of
bureaucratic bastards, but even they don’t take women hostages. But Kiril isn’t
opposed to doing that and worse.

Amon
dismissed the idea that Kiril Gault and the Soren would be behind Ryu’s attempt
to take Thea. He and his group had always been allies of Amon’s, so it made no
sense that they’d want to make an enemy now, after they’d just helped him
escape from Nil. And the bounty hunter worked for the Council, not the Soren.

Thea’s
voice broke his focus on the question of who had tried to take her, and he
looked up to see her standing in front of him. The fear that remained in her
expression caused the anger to melt away from him, and he pulled her down onto
his lap.

She
nestled her face in the space between his neck and shoulder. “What happened back
there?”

Amon
stroked her hair and back, sensing how frightened she was. “I don’t know, but I
told you what I’d do to anyone who even made the mistake of thinking of hurting
you.”