Time Eternal (11 page)

Silence. She was so tired of questions not being answered. Rei, her parents, the director.
And now these two big apes!
She could feel the gasket on her already tightly lidded temper was about to blow. She took a deep breath before turning to Knox, hoping he would take pity on her. “Well?”

Silence again.
Goddammit!
“Fine. I’ll ask the director myself.” She turned her back on them and faced the elevator door.

Within thirty seconds, the elevator reached Level 5. As she quickly stepped out, so did Knox and Butch. She turned around and scowled at them. “Where’re the two of you going?” She didn’t even bother to hide her black mood.

“The director’s office.” Butch’s curt reply pissed her off just as much as their refusal to answer her question barely thirty seconds ago.

She stepped in front of them, blocking their forward movement. “Why?”

Knox finally spoke. “You, Skyla. You.” He sounded as agitated as she was, but there was also a hint of concern in his voice.

She took a step back. “What do you mean me?”

“We can’t talk about our mission without prior authorization. You know that.” Knox paused as if to think better of it. “Come with us and let the director decide.” Both of them got around her and proceeded toward the director’s office. Skyla quickly followed behind them.

When they reached the director’s office, Curtis was not there. Wherever the director was, Curtis always was too. He didn’t just turn away people who did not make appointments; he was the director’s tactical officer, her quasi second-in-command. It was very strange, but it was all the better for Skyla. She did not have the time to maim anyone at the moment, and if Curtis was his usual charming self, that would definitively push her over the edge. She wanted answers. Now.

Before Knox and Butch could knock on the office door, a faint female voice came through the heavy steel. “Come in.”

After they stepped inside, the director looked up from her computer. “I thought I’d given you two orders not to speak with anyone else before or after the assignment.” Her voice was stern but not surprised, as if she had expected Skyla would show up with Knox and Butch.

Knox took a step forward. “Ma’am, we ran into Skyla inside the elevator on the way up to debrief you. And since the assignment concerns her, I thought she had the right to be here for the debriefing.”

The director’s back stiffened slightly, and her eyes turned furiously cold. “Well, Agent Sittler. I’m afraid I didn’t get the memo from Homeland Security that you’d been promoted as the head of TSCCA. So the next time you think of not following my direct order, you’d better be ready to face the consequences.” Her severe tone made Skyla and Butch flinch, but Knox held his own. He remained expressionless.

“Director,” Skyla stepped in front of Knox as if she could protect him from her aunt’s wrath. “I made them bring me along.” Then with measured steps, she walked up to her aunt and took her hands into hers. “Please, Aunt Laura, tell me what’s going on? Who’s Rei? He’s here because of me, isn’t he?”

Her aunt held her gaze for a long moment, and she saw the answer to her last question in her aunt’s eyes. She was going to be sick. Her head started spinning again until Knox put his hands on her shoulders from behind, silently supporting her, soothing her nerves. His hands were like Rei’s, big and strong, but there was no sizzling electricity coming off him as she had felt from Rei, not five minutes ago. “Aunt Laura, please tell me.”

“Agent Sittler, Agent Stone. Did you get a positive ID from your mission?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Knox and Butch answered in unison.

Their reply didn’t seem to surprise the director. She nodded at them. “That’s all for now. Please wait outside.” Once the door was closed, the director turned to her. “Are you ready to know the truth?”

For a tenth of a second Skyla wanted to shake her head, but the part of her that was beginning to wake wanted to know, needed to know. Her mouth suddenly felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls. She swallowed hard and then nodded.

•●•

Rei was lying on the floor, still panting from the kiss and body-to-body contact with Skyla Gray. The last thread of doubt about her being Elizabeth had evaporated as soon as his lips touched hers. She still tasted like warmth and sunshine, even though she had become someone else, someone as cold and ruthless as he was, a lethal warrior of her time. It had been almost half a millennium since he had felt Elizabeth. Skyla was his Elizabeth. The curve of her body, the breathless yielding of her mouth to his ferocious demand, and the bone-deep recognition of each other were all the signs he needed to shatter any doubts. Even now, his heart was pumping rapidly from the taste of her, the feel of her, the certainty that he had finally found her. As each decade had passed, he started to fear the worst, that Elizabeth was truly lost in time as her uncle had told him. The time machine she had escaped in was only a prototype. It had never been tested on another human being. Even her uncle could not deduce which time period she might have gone to or whether she had survived the journey.

He got up from the floor and hastily put on his clothes. He wanted Elizabeth back now, and he needed to make sure Director Jensen and her government knew how serious he was. Once he reached Level 5, he passed by the hand and retinal scanners just as he had before. He was about to step into Direct Jensen’s office when he saw two familiar hulking figures inside the seating area, half-guarding the area, half-speaking quietly and intensely to each other. Muttering an old Serbian curse about a goat and its private parts, he readied his body for battle.

“Gentlemen.”

Both Knox and Butch immediately drew their guns and pointed them in his direction. “Son of a bitch. How did you get past the security protocol?” Butch snarled at him.

Still preferring not to shed blood unnecessarily, he spread his arms out to show he was unarmed. “Same way I did the first time I got inside Director Jensen’s office.” He answered the question in a bored tone as he walked up to them face-to-face, warrior-to-warrior. A risky move, but time was up. He needed this to end right here, right now. “I need to speak with your director and Skyla.”

Without taking his aim off Rei, Knox said quietly, stoically, “She does not know you anymore.”

Rei knew that much already, but it did not lessen the pain of hearing it said aloud. He schooled his expression to hide any hint of pain or doubt. He could not afford to show any weakness in front of these men. Men who fought alongside his Elizabeth, men who would give their lives for her if they thought for even a moment that she was in danger. “She’ll know me again.”

“Bastard, where’ve you been these past twelve years?” Butch’s voice dripped with venom. “We saw what happened to her at the end. What Fernando Medici tried to do to her. Where the fuck were you?” He shoved Rei back, testing his resolve. With another hard shove, Butch snarled at him again. “She came alone, she woke up alone from a three-month coma, and now you think you can just waltz back in and claim her?”

A red haze was slowly clouding Rei’s vision. He knew the only reason Elizabeth would’ve risked using the untested time machine was if something horrific was about to happen to her—something that would cause her to flee and leave her family behind, the family she loved so much that she had chosen to give away their love in the face of Medici wrath. The gods he bargained with and served had saved his life and given him immortality along with the ability to travel through time. Only after he had struck the bargain with the deceptive gods did he find out it was forbidden go back in time to save her, to save them. So he had never had confirmation of what he had suspected. Now Butch’s words were like a hot iron poker piercing through his heart. He wanted to howl, to lash out at anyone for his failure to protect Elizabeth. He clenched his teeth and challenged them. “What I can or cannot do with Elizabeth is none of yours or anyone’s business. Are you two letting me pass, or shall we get on with it?”

The Hulk-like marine rushed at Rei. He was ready for it, easily deflecting the powerful blows. He knew what was coming, and he purposely taunted them, provoking them. Butch took his bait. They circled each other a few times, testing each other before they went into a full-scale fistfight. Both of them landed severe, though not lethal, punches and jabs at each other’s non-vital organs. Knox could have stopped them at any time, but the doctor chose to stand aside, observing them, no doubt looking for his weaknesses. Rei finally saw an opening to bring Butch down, and when he was just about to sweep his leg across Butch’s lower body, a commanding voice quietly spoke.

“Enough.” It was a soft, feminine voice, but commanding nonetheless. Butch reluctantly let go. Then Rei saw Agent Skyla Gray standing next to Director Jensen. Elizabeth. All the air punched out from his lungs. He knew he had finally found her, yet he still couldn’t believe it.

Skyla stood at-ease next to the petite director. Her back was straight, and her expression was icy. But her eyes, the same liquid, luminous deep brown, stared at him, searching hard. After a moment, she broke eye contact. He knew right then and there that the good doctor hadn’t lied. Skyla really had no memory of who she was and what they were to each other.

Wiping a thin trail of blood from the corner of his mouth, Rei took a step toward her. Director Jensen immediately cut him off. “Agent Gray has been briefed on the situation and has agreed to work with you to stop the assassination plot.” She turned to face her agent, her niece. Skyla returned a slight nod before the director continued. “And Agent Sittler will accompany Agent Gray to ensure the success of this joint mission.”

The hell he would be saddled with and distracted by some guy who still carried a torch for his Elizabeth. His plan was to bring his Elizabeth back and make her remember who she was, who they were to each other. He was about to let them know exactly just that. Director Jensen raised her palm. “This is our condition. Take it or leave it.”

Rei looked at Skyla. He thought he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes, recognition of what they had meant to each other. But her gaze turned cool and collected immediately, now with a hint of wariness. Smart girl. She should be wary. Because he had no intention of coaxing her back to him. This time, he would claim his Elizabeth, body and soul. The profile his men gathered on Agent Gray indicated she was headstrong and fiercely independent. She was trained to carry out her missions with laser focus and stone-cold accuracy. The profile resembled nothing of his Elizabeth. His Elizabeth was headstrong but compassionate, and her love of life was so infectious that she had almost changed him, a spy and a killer, for the better. There was a brief period in time when he actually believed he could have the happy-ever-after ending because of Elizabeth. But that was another lifetime ago.

Given that Elizabeth had changed so much and had no memory of their past, he couldn’t afford to waste any more time arguing with the iron lady. A third wheel it would be, lethal or not. Reluctantly he nodded his consent. “We’ll proceed immediately as time’s running out.”

As soon as he spoke, the director’s assistant appeared at the door with two bags. Skyla went to him and took one of the two bags from his hold. Knox followed suit and picked up the second bag. Both of them headed out the door. Rei quickly followed them. He knew they were heading to the portal room, but he took hold of their wrists instead. “Allow me.” That was all he said.

Skyla could still feel the spinning sensation after her feet touched solid ground, but she was prepared for it this time. She waited for it to subside before opening her eyes. And there he was, Rei, looming in front of her. Without thinking, she balled up her fist and flung it out. There was a satisfying snap as her fist smashed into his jaw. Rei’s head reeled back, a surprised look on his face. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw Knox tensing up, ready to have her back for whatever reason.

Rei’s head was still tilted slightly sideways from her blow. In an icy tone, she said, “The next time you drag me through time without asking me first, I’ll break your nose.”