The Timekeeper (9 page)

“Azriella, wait. Okay, I cheated. I didn’t deny my actions, never lied about them. I’m sorry. I didn’t conspire against you, only your father. You should’ve had the land that was rightfully yours. He’d been doing a lousy job in his old age and you would’ve done better. It had nothing to do with me, it was always for you, Az.” He managed to spit on the last word out as I reached the door to the bar.

I couldn’t stop myself from spinning on him and pinning him against the dirty wall of the building, wrinkling his fine silk shirt. I tried not to be overpowered by the scent of jasmine clinging to him. I didn’t want to acknowledge the truth I heard in the statement.

“Zev, I told you not to say that to me again. You don’t love me, you never did. This isn’t a game to take over everything that’s my father’s anymore. You won’t ever get your hands on my Kingdom now. You destroyed our family and you annihilated my trust. I wouldn’t get close to anyone for centuries because of you. When I finally did and decided to marry again, you ruined the joining ceremony on my wedding night. Something I’ve never been able to forgive.

“You have no idea what love is Zev and the next time you say that to me, I swear I will cut that tongue out of your mouth.” The expression on his face informed me that he took the threat seriously. I hoped I meant every word. I prayed someday I would hear him say those things to me and know without a doubt they were true.

I released him and threw the door to the bar open, and stormed in. I didn’t know if he would follow me
,
or if he thought better of it. I started to second guest my threat and I had no intention of letting him in on my secret
.
I still had feelings for him, and could see in his eyes, he did then and always would love me. I’d been telling myself for two centuries now that this was easier, lying to myself to in hopes I would forget about him
.
I never planned to acknowledge his feelings for me.

I sat at the bar and tapped my fingernails on the black top in rapid secession. Drake immediately poured me a double rum and coke and gently placed the glass in front of me, making sure to place a red napkin down as not to ruin the finish of the counter.

“Looks like your going to need the another. I see Zev found you, should I call Darius?” I nodded my head slightly and watched as Drake slid over to the corner silently to use the phone.

“Azriella, please listen to me. I never meant to hurt you. I will always have feelings for you. I can’t forget the night we conceived Amelia, or when you gave birth to her. Remember how happy we used to be, when we were close? You shared everything with me, and I gave you everything I had to give. All I pray for is for us to be like that again. I want my family and my home back. I made mistakes, but there has to be someway to make up for my shortcomings. I’ll do anything to get you to forgive me, merely tell me.” I glanced at Drake and he flashed me the five-minute sign.

Excellent, the big scary Dragon would be here in no time. I just had to hold out until his arrival
.

“Please leave me alone. I recall everything Zev, the good and the bad. I remember giving you chance after chance to change. I committed to memory the tears and the pain you caused me then
,
and now. I’ve kept in mind the shame of begging my father for your life, knowing I was stupid to let you live
.
I have a strong recollection of when you doing everything wrong on one of the most important nights of my marriage to Azul.

“There’s zero you can do that’s going to make me forgive you. Absolutely nothing. I don’t hate you, I never will, but if you keep coming after me, I’ll have you killed, Zev. Your death is not something I would enjoy, so please don’t force my hand.” The pain became evident in his eyes. I didn’t know what he expected to me say or do
.

Stop my life and run into his arms? Leave the husband who’d stood by my side for more than a millennium and had never done me wrong? None of those options were anything I was willing to do
.
We couldn’t be one big happy family again
.
Zev had destroyed the chances of that when he killed our marriage and my trust.

Even our daughter wouldn’t speak to him, pretending she didn’t recall who the former Duke of her homeland had been, just who the current Duke was. If you asked her about her father
,
she would simply tell you my Dragon husband raised her and he’s the only father she’d ever known. Zev shamed his family, and now he had to live with the consequences for the rest of his life.

When I heard the door to the bar open and close I glanced at Drake, who appeared nervous, which meant my husband had finally arrived. I slid my eyes back to Zev, who didn’t seem to notice he was seconds away from being pounced on. I smiled and I saw the hope return to his face, as if everything I had just said to him was wasted breath. He kept that expression right up until Darius landed a huge hand on his shoulder.

“Zev, I could’ve sworn we already had this conversation. You claimed you were going to leave my wife alone, and I promised I’d refrain from castrating you. It seemed like we had an understanding, but it appears you may have misunderstood me after all. Allow me to reiterate.” Zev quickly stood up and backed away from him.

Fear crossed his face. I guess pursuing my forgiveness wasn’t important when faced with mortal peril.

“Sorry, Azul. I don’t want any problems, I needed to talk to her, she’s my wife too, and not that it counts for anything anymore
.
You and Azazel have seen to that quite well, my own daughter won’t acknowledge I exist more often than not
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I remember our agreement, Dragon, thanks for reminding me.” Zev spun on his heels and took off out of the bar as quickly as his legs would carry him.

“About time.” I said. I was at a loss for words. Zev had that kind of power over me. I didn’t want to tell Darius what Zev wanted. It would only make him angry and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with a broody Dragon.

“No problem love, Drake said he followed you in. I’m glad he called me, and ecstatic you asked him to. It’s a pleasant change to feel needed.” I rolled my eyes, but was secretly grateful he hadn’t started pestering me for details.

He was unlikely to push me about what was said. This wasn’t the first time that my pesky premier husband had done something to upset me, and even before Azul and I started our relationship, Zev had been a problem.

One of the many reasons I’d fallen in love with my second husband had been because he was always around for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on. He by no means thought less of me and he had seen how hard my separation had been with Zev, even though it was toward the end of the disaster.

He didn’t ever ask for anything in return, only that I allow him to protect me as he was sworn to do. He loved my daughter and granddaughter like they were his own. I cherished him everyday of my life afterwards. I leaned against him for support. His muscular arms would never turn me away.

“Yeah, Drake is a great guy. I really just want to go home right now. If that’s okay with you, I’ll meet you there.” He nodded. I needed to be alone for a little while.

“Wait, Princess. I have something to tell you before you leave, but I’m not sure it’s going to make your day any better.” Great, bad news from Drake, that never panned out well.

“What now?” His dark face matched my attitude, sulky.

“Two Angels showed up here looking for you. They didn’t leave names, but it wasn’t Chester and Gideon, and they definitely weren’t with the Order. Watch out for them, they’re renegades and if they’re hunting you, they don’t want to take you out to dinner and buy you a drink.” I nodded and glanced back at Darius. He looked concerned.

“I’ll follow you home. Drake, thanks for the heads up. Call me if they come in again. We’ll have to catch up on how much you owe me later.” I heard Drake chuckle as I turned back toward the door.

“Sure thing, bro.” Darius tossed an arm over my shoulder and walked me to the car parked in the back lot behind the store. I was glad he’d come so quickly. When I reached my car and unlocked the door, he pulled my arm and spun me around, pinning me between the metal and his large body. He smelled of cloves and other spice I couldn’t put a name to, and it made me want him immediately.

“Are you going to be okay getting home, or should I drive you?”

I shrugged, “I’m fine, I just want to be alone for a little while, besides you’ll be right behind me. I’ll pull over if I need you to drive and we’ll go back for my car later.” He smiled and leaned down to kiss me.

There was something about being pinned between the vehicle and his hard body that was urging me to take him in an alleyway, and as much as I needed a distraction right now, this wasn’t the place.

“I’ll see you when we get home.” I ran my hands along the hard plains of his chest and hopped in the car. I turned the music up as loud as I could without blowing my speakers and pulled out of the parking lot, headed in the direction of home. I was over today
,
and wanted nothing more than for it to be over with me.

Sometimes, I just wanted to sleep. I’m sure you can relate. When you’ve had an awful day and nothing sounds better than curling up in a ball and hiding under the covers
.
You could pretend the day was all a bad dream and when you woke up zilch had happened.  Flip over the damn ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door and tell housekeeping to get fucked and come back later. Sleep was the reboot and refresh part of life, and I wouldn’t find any.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I realized I’d been dragged into a meeting with the Oracles stationed in the mortal world. Rather than being in bed, I found myself situated in the hallway of our designated assembly area in Portlandia City
.
The building, which housed the Order of the Seers, several blocks down from the High Council’s Administration offices, is not where I wanted to find myself standing in.

This group of Oracles had no contract with the Order. In fact, we are above the Seers in the Council’s pocket. A separate sect working behind the scenes of the political machinations of the Council, with no ties to the government in case everything went to pot. We even had our own name, just because we’re so special, The Timekeepers of the Fates. I didn’t come up with it and frankly thought the moniker was stupid, but whatever. It never came up for a vote.

Ugh, this wasn’t my idea of a good time. The makings of everything falling apart had been laid out before me in rapid succession. Miscellaneous Angels pestering me, something bothering my husband, my first spouse stalking me, a Goddess attempting to kill my goddaughter, and now I had to deal with Allis Mundi and Council crap I wouldn’t give a flying leap about. It only made me wonder what could happen next
.
Although
,
I didn’t plan on putting a lot of thought into the possible future right now, I didn’t care
.

I walked down the hall slowly, taking in the familiar sights of the seldom-used building, attempting to shake off the bad day that never seemed to end. This little powwow had better be important, because if it’s trivial
,
I was turning around and walking out. The girls knew not to drag me in unless something dire arose, so chances were pretty good a catastrophic situation had occurred. Nothing made me feel any better. This was just the icing on my already extremely fucked up cake.

The six women gathered around the round table in the middle of the chamber. The large room was void of Guards, no supervisors, no one else, all indicating I had wandered into a closed-door session
,
and everyone appeared here astrally.

Nothing about this spelled easy to deal with, and also told me that I could forget sleeping for the rest of the week. I was going to be pulled in and out of otherworldly meetings for the remainder of the week, and if things didn’t improve quickly, I would quit. I’m getting too old for this shit.

“Ladies, I hope this is important. I’ll call this meeting to order, and pray we find a quick resolution. Tell me what’s so damn imperative you needed to drag me out off bed in the middle of the night, rather than following the proper channels?” I skimmed the room, surveying all the women who currently served under me.

A smattering of hues littered the area
.
Each woman wore her colony’s colors, ignoring the robes designating Council service. I made sure to wear the High Council’s official’s attire, but only for my own convenience.

I trusted every single one present. I’d handpicked the best from the Oracle pool I worked with when I started this gig. Half the Seers I approached weren’t interested in being placed in the mortal world
.
I only needed six, so I asked twelve. I had back up Oracles I used as replacements when one retired. The youngest, and boldest, of the group stood up and gave me a slight bow. Awena, the troublemaker, then met my eyes and shot me an impish smile
.

She was daring and charming, standing in front of me like a friend giving advice rather than an agent reporting a situation. Awena was adorned in the silver robes of the Northern Ice Colony. Her white-blond hair hung below her waist and her eyes resembled pools of mercury surrounding a black pupil. She had a slender figure, but her fine features were striking beautiful and cold
.
Awena was true creature of the north
,
without a doubt
.