The Timekeeper (31 page)

“I was clueless about your royal lineage. I never thought I’d fall for a Princess. It didn’t change my love for you. After I found out you were married, and you had a child by the estranged husband, my heart refused to waiver
.
Nothing matters, my feelings haven’t changed
,
you were my world then, and now
.
” I ran my fingers along the muscles in his back and he sighed.

“After all these many years, I should remember
,
I can’t own or control you. My only job is to love and protect you. I’m your Guardian, husband to the Princess of the Deep Desert, dau
ghter of the Demon King Azazel.

“How does the prophecy go? The greatest Princess of Assassins the land will ever know shall bed three husbands. The first mate will father the seed of mistrust
,
and the granddaughter of Assassins. The Assassins take the seat when the beloved Princess perishes.

“The second lover is to protect her from the first, give his life and sire no children in the service of his Princess. The third marriage fathers the heir to all the lands
,
and mourns for his lost love. It’s been so long since I’ve heard that, I can’t remember the rest
.
I’ve been told the desert people are starting to hope again.” I smiled
.
I was impressed he still remembered it at all, and amazed the Djinn continued to pass the legend down to their children
.

The legends had long been forgotten by most of the colonists, but the Assassins kept them alive, waiting for the successor they’d sworn their allegiance to, the inheritor I would bear. The citizens had given up on the prophecy when I’d refused to take my final husband. It appeared now the old stories had resurfaced.

It was time to fulfill my destiny and stop avoiding my duty as I’d done for so long. If it was necessary to die early from this lifetime, I would.  Some things are inevitable.

“I suppose it’s coming time to find my place in history. Putting off my life’s purpose wasn’t one of my better ideas. Now I’m being forced to cram a lifetime’s worth of events into a couple weeks. For the longest time, I refused to believe the prophecy, even though I’d been shown in the strands. When I finally acknowledged the weave, I tried to avoid fate, hoping everything would go away.

“How can you carry on knowing you’ll fail to protect me, that I’m going to die?” He stood up and almost knocked me over, wrapping his arms around me to both steady and support me.

“I always hoped we’d be able to rewrite the future. I pray the fates are wrong, but I accept the course laid out in front of me. Fate be warned, I’ll fight to the death to alter this path. I will give my life for yours, my Ella. Have faith, Ella. Countless prophecies counteract the situation around your demise. Only the hags hold the knowledge of what’s in store for us, but you made the right decisions.

“We must find the road we’re meant to walk. Mislead the Council, lie to them
,
and sail them down the river. Rumor is they’re already suspicious of you, they might start making arrangements to take your life permanently, not overthrow you.” I rested my head against his chest.

This was one of the few places I felt safe. Even if this mortal body died, he’d track me down again in the afterlife of Aliis. In this world
,
we’re nothing but players on a stage. The directors of this drama would find themselves without a cast soon, and had reason to attempt assassination and hope for a better troupe. However, the stagehands and crew sided with the dramatis personae.

I had no idea what I was going to do, but I had to do something. The Council couldn’t be left in power
.
They’d taken the land from its rightful owners. Every territory had been stolen with treacherous acts. Too many innocents had died in the process and it disgusted me. Those monsters had forced natives to bow to their laws and attempted to wipe away the cultures that had been in place for centuries. The Council would pay and eventually I’d get the revenge the people demanded.

Darius held me for a long while
.
I’d lost all track of time. It wasn’t until Dalvin walked into the living room, clearing his throat to get our attention, that Darius finally let go.

“Princess, you have some guests.” He ushered in Chester and Gideon, who bowed, kneeling.

“We’ve come to offer our apologies for the behavior of our Fallen brethren. We are grateful you haven’t been injured. As soon as we heard what had happened we immediately went to our superiors for reinforcements. The Order prepared to come after you, but were beaten to it by your Dragon.” Gideon spoke to the ground.

I stepped away from Darius, and moved toward the Angels like the Princess I was, tall and proud. They stood silently, surprised by my actions.

“I accept you’re simply here to try and force me to disclose the location of Warde and Neal. I will not now or ever betray the ones loyal to me, no matter their race or past. I’m sorry, but I refuse to help you. I offer the possible trail to the Wings of the Daemons instead
.
” Gideon’s eyes flashed upward, gazing at me with anticipation.

“On one condition, Gideon. You’re never to speak to me about Warde or Neal again, unless you intend to tell me something useful. Accept the fact I’ll never reveal their location
,
and they keep my protection until the day I die the true death.” They could take the deal or not, the outcome of this negotiation meant nothing to me. I wasn’t in the business of helping Heaven
.

Gideon and Chester glanced at each other, Chester nodded at his partner. Gideon spoke, taking the lead as usual.

“Princess, we agree to these terms. Please tell us where they took you. The Daemons won’t travel far from their dens. We should be able to track them, whether they’ve abandoned their safe house or not.” I nodded, I seldom made agreements with Heaven’s mercenaries, but this seemed like a worthy cause. For a split second I thought about Zamir, the way his lips felt against mine and I shivered, but not in the manner I’d admit to. 

“Search around Colorado Springs, close to Manitou Springs. You’ll find their trail in the area. Zamir is dead
.
At least
,
we left him in terrible shape. I’m not well versed in killing Angels, but death couldn’t have been far off.” Gideon’s eyes flashed at Chester. 

“There are few ways to kill an Angel, Princess. I doubt he died, but I’m sure he’ll carry the scars of the damage you inflicted on him. Unless you ripped off his wings and took his head as well, he’s going to be one angry Zamir.” I chuckled and they eyeballed me.

“We did take his wings, but decapitation somehow got left off the menu. He’s also missing a better part of his bowels.” Chester’s face stayed impassive, but Gideon appeared shocked.

“Don’t be so surprised
,
Gideon. I may not hold the same titles in this world as I do in Aliis, but the skills never leave a person. I’m as deadly here as I am in my Djinn body, as are my Guardians. Someday your kind will stop thinking of women as something other than a pretty faces.” Gideon quickly bowed his head, but the shock still hadn’t worn off
.

“I beg your forgiveness, Princess. I didn’t believe the Elders when they explained the extent of your training. Even with the serious injuries he sustained, you’ve only managed to make him one of the Fallen. He’s still alive, probably being nursed back to health by his fellow Daemons. He’s not going to forget what you’ve done to him, Princess. Wings are a very precious thing, and we don’t take parting with them lightly.” I nodded and chuckled
.

“Well, I suppose I’ll just pray the Order catches him before he locates me.” For the first time, I spotted a smile cross Chester’s face.

“Let us all hope that’s the case, Lady.” Chester spoke with a vow. The Angels turned and let themselves out. I found myself in yet another situation I had no control over. I peeked at Darius, and he didn’t appear nervous with the new threat to my life.

“Perhaps next time we ask how to kill an Angel before we give it a try?”

I laughed at him, “You think? Hindsight’s twenty-twenty, big guy.” We both sat down on the couch. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Dalvin. I groaned, the sneaking impression I wouldn’t enjoy this latest in
terruption crawled up my spine.

“We have a small problem, Princess.” I rolled my eyes and let my head fall back, glaring at the ceiling.

“Of course we do, Dal. Problems seem to hover around me like vultures waiting for me to die.”

Darius chuckled, “What’s going on now Dal?” He glanced at me, but directed everything he said to Darius. Poor Dalvin, with my apparent attitude malfunction it was no wonder he refused to speak to me. He fidgeted as he spoke. All the men near me blamed PMS, which for the record, was not the case
.

“Drake sent word. The Council needs to see the Princess immediately. An emergency meeting is being held in light of some recent events.” I looked up, was I never going to catch a break?

“What events are those, Dalvin? I’m sure Drake gave you more information.” Darius glared at me
.
I shouldn’t be nasty to Dalvin, but I couldn’t help myself. I was tired of being needed; over being screwed with, and really needed a nap on a tropical beach somewhere.

“The Council found Jaylynne Kwan. According to our sources, Jaylynne was part of the genetics experiments. They made an administrative order to track her behavior and location. Dante managed to keep her hidden by planting moles in the admin offices. They seem to have caught on to his charade.”  Poor Dalvin cleared his throat and started to speak with a little more confidence.

“Dante has yet to make a formal request for aid, and I doubt he will. He’ll try and sweep this under the rug. The Council believes you had something to do with hiding her.” I chuckled
.
This was the last thing I needed
,
thank you Dante
.

“As usual, they blame me for things I had nothing to do with. I find it ironic I never get blamed for anything I actually do. Besides, the whole accusation is unfounded. I haven’t been in Aliis to help orchestrate shenanigans of this magnitude. Even if they knew I travelled around Aliis astrally, they couldn’t put me anywhere near this mess.

“The Council will simply have to accept their old foe, Dante Nicolai, got the better of them. Inform those muffin-heads
,
I will not be making their meeting.” I looked at Dalvin but he didn’t move.

“As you wish, but it won’t be effective. The Chairman made it clear, this is not a request. You are to show up for the meeting on your own, or he’ll make sure you come by force.” I glared at Dalvin. I couldn’t believe the Chairman found the nerve to threaten me.

“And how did he propose that? The fat bastard can send whomever he likes after me
,
the effort won’t do him any good. He should know better.” Darius put a hand on my leg
,
attempting to calm me.

“What exactly did he threaten, Dal?” Thank goodness someone had their head on straight, it certainly wasn’t me. I was close to losing my cool at any moment.

“He threatened the life of Dexter Sloan.” Dalvin barely spoke above a whisper
,
but the name seemed to echo through the room. I stood up at once
.

“What time is the meeting?” If the Chairman wanted to wage war on me, then he was in store for a serious confrontation.

“Tonight, around nine o’clock mortal time.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. I had four hours to prepare. I was done with the Council and their games. Small changes to my original plans were in order. Unfortunately, I’d be forced to play with them for the next couple of weeks. They’d officially pushed me over the line.

“Dalvin, I want my Assassins to glue themselves to Dexter immediately. Someone let him know of the situation and the precautions taken. No one is to be seen in Portlandia
.
We can’t raise suspicions. Make sure to dispatch my Royal Assassins. The Council lacks any knowledge of the Guards working for me and my patrols won’t be pegged.

“If one hair on that Vampire’s head is harmed, I’ll kill the disgusting swine and his groupies. Send word to the Chairman
,
I will be graciously in attendance. I’ll pretend I don’t know anything about the threat. They’ll believe I planned on attending the meeting all along. Go now.” Dalvin bowed and ran out of the room. Nothing like having to think quickly on your feet to wake a girl up, threats helped too
.

“What are you going to do, sweetheart? I get the impression you plan on storming the city.” I chuckled, in a way, I was.

“I’ll go through the next two weeks as loyal as the day is long. They will never know the difference. This war will begin sooner than the fates planned. I’ll tell them the fall won’t start for the next year or so. I can plan around the lie and get everything on track by the end of the month.” Darius appeared nervous, and rightfully so.

“I will not be held accountable for the inaccuracy. I’ll be dead and back in Belt ta `Demm by then. Our agreement stands, and they’ll be forced to abide by the terms. Those power hungry monsters shall not bully me any longer. We’re going to war. I’ll speak to my father as soon as possible. He wants to see me anyway.” No one threatens my husbands and lives, that’s just not the way I roll.