The Time King Read online

  Puzzle pieces began to slide into place for Will, and his little hairs stood on end as the picture came into view. He stopped turning when he faced the exit they’d come through. There was a horseshoe above the door; nothing strange about that. But it was painted gold, and as Will studied it, he came to the conclusion that it wasn’t painted gold – it was gold. Pure gold.

  Not iron.

  Most importantly, above the horseshoe was a beautifully scrawled text in green and gold that read, Aird de na fae, mar na fae intinn agat.

  It was a grammatically obscure form of gaelic. But Will had read a lot of obscure books.

  Mind the fae, for the fae mind you.

  Will let out a defeated sigh. “Crap.”

  He turned back around to face the bar in time to see the bartender slipping out through the half-door at one end before making his way toward a back door to the bar Will hadn’t given much thought to before. Will swallowed hard. His gaze slipped to Helena’s drink. Two-thirds gone now. He touched the potion. Then he looked back up at the back door, coming to a fast decision.

  He did his thing and strode to the bar, placing a hand on the stool beside Helena that was still empty. He slid into it with a warden’s grace. “Hey,” he said by way of greeting, adding a smile he hoped she would believe.

  “Hey you,” she replied easily, returning his smile and spinning to face him on the stool.

  Her attention and that smile floored him at once, it was just that strong. But alarms were going off in his head. He licked his lips and nodded toward her beer, which was now just about gone. “Here,” he said, picking up his own beer and taking a swig to show her it wasn’t poisoned. He swallowed and put it back down. “You need a refill. Have mine. I’ll drive when we head back out.”

  She smiled. “Thanks. I truly hate to see a good beer go to waste.”

  He slid it toward her, and she reached out to take it. Her fingers slipped over his. An electric pleasure zapped through him, passing over his hand to race up his arm and infiltrate the rest of his system like a drug. It was made stronger by the fact that she was trusting him – him, a complete stranger who had stowed away invisible in her car. Trust for a warden meant more than words could say.

  For Will, it meant just about everything. Especially since he was as of that moment betraying that trust outright.

  As Helena put his beer to her full, dark pink lips and took a long pull, swallowing it down, his heart both leapt and then sank. She’d tasted him, in a manner of speaking. She’d trusted him. And he’d done her wrong.

  But at least the second part of the spell was complete. He’d slipped the potion into the beer.

  “So your cousin’s night seems to have improved,” she said, nodding to the booths behind Will. He glanced over his shoulder to find Liam and Destiny laughing, each of them leaning heavily over the table toward one another.

  Will smiled and shook his head. “He sure got lucky.”

  “Everyone gets lucky at Lucky’s,” said Helena. He turned back to her wry smile and glittering eyes. She took another drink of his beer, and he watched her in quiet fascination.

  Everyone gets lucky at Lucky’s….

  “Helena,” he said softly, holding her attention long enough to make him feel like king of the world. She peered easily up at him through eyes that he could now see were multicolored, not only maroon but harboring shades of purple and pink, and deep blood red. They were the most stunning eyes he’d ever beheld. “Would you…” he said, having to focus hard to stay on target, “excuse me for just a moment?” He cleared his throat nervously. “I’m gonna hit the little boy’s room.” He smiled a self-deprecating smile.

  She grinned widely at him. “I’ll save your seat for you.”

  He stood, but found himself remaining there, staring down at her a lot longer than he meant to. Finally, when he noticed his throat had gone dry and his eyes kept straying to her lips, he forced himself to move. “Be right back.”

  He left the bar as quickly as he could, using those long legs to put safe distance between himself and the woman he had just betrayed. When he came to stand before the back door the bartender had disappeared through, he paused and glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one was watching.

  Darryl had begun another game of darts and was tucking wads of money into his coat pocket. Liam was where Will had left him, and Destiny was leaning forward to show him an entranced expression – and a whole lot of cleavage. Liam was grinning like a schoolboy.

  No one was watching Will.

  He pushed open the door, ducking into the shadows beyond at the same time he hastily pulled his weapon from the holster at the small of his back. He held it barrel down as he slowly took in his new surroundings. A long hallway stretched through dim lighting. There were doors to the right, three in total, two to the left, and there was a set of double doors at the end of the hallway. Every door was closed.

  Will slowly moved down the hall, listening intently for any sign of movement or life. He knew the bartender was down here somewhere, but there was no indication of which door he’d taken. There was no dust on the floor to disturb, there were no smudges on the gold doorknobs, and all was quiet.

  “It would nae be me yae’re lookin’ for now, would it young man?”

  Will whirled, lifting his gun to aim it between the bartender’s eyes. The man had appeared behind him without a sound and without warning.

  “Yae’ve got good reflexes on yae, I’ll give ye that. But that weapon won’t do lasting harm to my kind, and I think we both know it.” The bartender smiled warmly, and his dark eyes twinkled.

  “You’re a leprechaun,” Will accused.

  “Aye, I be that,” said the bartender. “Name’s old as time and I’m not in the habit o’ sharin’ it, but Lucky’s what they call me.” He chuckled. “For obvious reasons, no doubt.”

  “And Destiny?” Will questioned. “Is she another fae?”

  “Aye. But again, yae already knew that, didn’t yae Will Slate? That isn’t what you came tae ask me. So why don’t we speak like men,” he suggested, his smile slipping and his voice deepening as he stepped forward, “an’ get tae the heart of the matter?”

  Will considered the fae carefully. He thought about the bullets in his gun and the knife in his pocket and had to admit that neither would do much damage to the leprechaun, especially if the fae was as old as Will was guessing he was. The bullets had full metal jackets, so they were encased in steel which contained iron, and the stainless steel of his blade of course had iron too. But experience had taught Will that iron would only irritate a leprechaun. Not kill him.

  Iron was the bane of many fae. But there were a few species who kept coming at you no matter how much of the stuff you filled them with. Leprechauns were one of them. Theories were that they’d developed an immunity of sorts to iron because they dealt so much with money. Will recognized the theory as racist and couldn’t have cared less what the real reason was. He only cared that the leprechaun standing before him was unfortunately right. His weapon was useless.

  He lowered his gun and straightened. “The heart,” he said slowly. “You mean Helena.”

  “Aye. That I do.”

  “Were you reading my mind earlier? When we walked in?” Some fae could do that.

  The leprechaun chuckled. “I can see how it might have seemed that way. But I don’t need tae, warden. An’ I have tae say, rather than pull a weapon on me, I’m thinkin’ yae ought tae be thankin’ me for not tellin’ our wee special lass what yae did with her drink.”

  Will blinked. He swallowed hard. “It isn’t poison if that’s what you’re thinking.” He shook his head. “We’re trying to help her.”

  The leprechaun smiled. “Aye. I know, lad.” His gaze slid past Will to the door they’d both come through, and Will got the impression the leprechaun could not only imagine Helena where she sat at the bar just then, but actually see her. His expression became troubled. “That’s why I dinnae stop yae.”

 
Will took a deep breath and replaced his gun, facing the powerful fae empty-handed now. “You know what is going on with her, don’t you?” Will asked softly.

  “I do,” said Lucky simply. He met Will’s gaze again and lifted his chin. “There’s a darkness just behind her. Doggin’ her worse than the Night Terrors. Do what yae have tae. But if yae do her wrong, my kin and I will come for yae. An’ we know how to hold a grudge. Yae can bank on it.”

  Lucky pulled the towel from the apron he’d tied to his waist and slung it over his shoulder. “Now if yae’ll excuse me, I’ve got customers that need tendin’ tae.”

  He brushed past Will, and returned through the doors at the end of the hall.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Will lifted his hand toward the leprechaun. “Wha – wait! ” What had he meant by night terrors? And if he knew what was happening with Helena, did he also know what to do about it? How to stop Cain?

  But it was too late. Lucky had already returned to the crowded, lively room where the luck and glamor of the fae flowed freely and charged its patrons with good fortune, if even only for the night.

  Will put his hands on his hips and hung his head, closing his eyes for a moment to think. Half of Darryl’s complicated spell had been completed; there were only two steps left. And suddenly Will wasn’t so sure any longer. It was after all a warlock’s spell. A damn zombie warlock, no less. If there were ever a man filled with tainted black magic, it was Maelstrom. Did Will actually trust him?

  Not for a second. He’d already had Helena killed more than a dozen times. He clearly did not have her best interests at heart. You could stop it right here, he told himself. You don’t have to take this any farther. You can just face whatever comes her way standing at her side. You have a choice, Will.

  Part of the spell required a branding, for fuck’s sake. Will made a desperate sound and clenched his teeth at the thought of carrying out such an overtly horrible task. It made him feel sick, honestly sick. And he’d done a lot of sick things in his life. This was a new reaction for him.

  Aw, aren’t you just a real softy? an evil man chuckled in his head.

  Will opened his eyes and straightened. Cain had been so quiet, Will had forgotten he was there.

  Now me on the other hand, Cain continued, I wouldn’t mind a little rough play with my girl, and in fact… maybe I’ll just have to make sure we get around to it eventually. I’ll go ahead and take over when I do, since you’re squeamish.

  Son of a bitch.

  Cain pretended to be hurt. Is that any way to treat your bunk buddy?

  “Will!”

  Will spun around. Liam had come through the door that led to the back of the establishment. He, too, had drawn his weapon and held it low. “Hey, you okay man?” Liam noticed Will wasn’t brandishing his gun, then glanced down the hall, taking it all in. “What’s going on?”

  Clearly he wanted to know why Will had vanished, and what the hell he was doing back here. It was comforting to Will to know that Liam had his back even when he was faced with the perfect charms of a fae dream girl.

  “I’m fine,” Will lied. “Lucky is a leprechaun. I followed him back here, and we talked.”

  Liam’s brow arched. He gave him an odd look. “You talked.”

  “Yeah Liam. It’s what you do when you move your mouth and sound comes out.”

  Liam gave him an exasperated look and shoved his gun back in his pants, pulling his jacket back down over it.

  “Guys?! You okay?”

  Both boys turned to the door, which Helena had just come through. Will almost smiled when he saw that just like he and his cousin, she had drawn her weapon and held it down in front of her. She was looking at them questioningly. “What the hell are you doing back here?” she asked as she leaned and craned her neck to get a look down the hall around them.

  “Nothing,” they said together. The cousins looked at each other. Then Will said, “We thought there were monsters here, but we’re good.”

  Helena straightened and looked from one of them to the other. “You mean like fae and leprechauns?”

  The cousins stared at her. Liam said, “You knew about Lucky.”

  Helena made the same exasperated sound Liam had made a few seconds earlier and re-shelved her own weapon. “Of course,” she told them. “He’s been a friend for years. It’s the only reason we were able to find the joint. You don’t end up at Lucky’s bar unless he wants you to. And for what it’s worth, he’s not a monster. I’ve met quite a few humans, on the other hand, who fit the profile.”

  The cousins were quiet. Will for his part was feeling increasingly torn between shame and incredible frustration. They had pulled a weapon on one of Helena’s friends. Or rather, he had pulled a weapon on one of her friends. What must she think of that? Of him?

  “You probably think we’re total douchebags,” said Liam with his slightly embarrassed smile.

  “That’s because we are,” said Will with a shake of his head.

  Hey! Speak for yourself.

  Will ignored Cain and splayed his hands, empty, to Helena. “We’re sorry about this. Promise. We really didn’t know.”

  “We have a job to protect you,” continued Liam. “And this place is off the charts with dangerous tells.”

  “We’ve faced rogue fae before, and it didn’t end well,” Will told her. That was a major understatement. It was the fae that had taken Liam’s life in fact, and had offered up the chance for Darryl to resurrect him. “So we have to check out every possible threat,” Will finished with a shrug. Then he glanced at her lips, where she’d downed the beer with the potion. “Speaking of which, how are you feeling?”

  “Nope. No changing the subject,” said Helena. “Instead, why don’t we have a nice sit down talk about what exactly it is you think you have to protect me from. Deal?”

  “Deal,” they answered together.

  Helena turned and pushed through the door that lead back into the heart and soul of Lucky’s bar, and the boys followed close behind. The room was just as they’d left it, filled with life and good fortune. Except Darryl now looked up at them from where he was leaning against a pool table, drinking some red alcoholic concoction. Will met his gaze and nodded. Everything was kosher.

  Darryl seemed satisfied, and returned his attention to the game.

  Cocky British schmuck, said Cain.

  As always, Will ignored him. Helena led them back to the booth they’d vacated, and she slid in first. Liam glanced questioningly at Will. The look was easy to decipher: Who was going to get to sit next to her? But Will didn’t give Liam a choice. He sat across from Helena. So he could see her. Liam happily slid in beside her.

  “Where’s Destiny?” Will asked.

  Liam nodded to something across the room, and Will turned to see the waitress clearing off a small round table amidst the arcade section.

  “So you’ve met Lucky’s niece,” Helena teased, smiling an all-knowing smile. “She’s wearing a fetching… outfit today.”

  Will and Liam looked at Helena. Helena shrugged. “You think she always looks like that?” She laughed softly. “Last time I was in here, she was a petite brunette, size thirty-two A at most. Gorgeous, mind you, but definitely not the woman you’re seeing now. That fae is way talented, let me tell you.” She took a deep breath. “Now,” she said suddenly, her tone growing serious, “who is this baddy bad your warlock friend mentioned coming after me?”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Katrielle sat down slowly in the single chair at the round table. The large room was otherwise devoid of furniture, but far from devoid of people. “I mean no offense to you when I say this,” she told the room’s inhabitants. “But William Solan is stronger than any of you. He’s stronger than all of you. If he doesn’t want to be found, I may not be able to find him. And if I do, I might not be able to for long.”

  She placed her hands on the completely empty and blank table top and looked up. “This is the most difficult spell I have ever cast.�
�� She glanced from one to the next, meeting each and every pair of eyes. Power stared back at her, power that was ready to be tapped and used. She had a lot of help, and she was going to need it.

  They surrounded the table, twelve of the Thirteen Kings, a few very powerful high witches and warlocks, and some of the more frightening members of the fae court, both Seelie and Unseelie. Around the table, they spread in rings of coven heralds, high witches, seers, warlocks, vampires and dragons. Even Bones, the enigmatic “butler” was there. Lord Malek of the Malek Taal among the Unseelie fae was there. Druids, elementals, demons, Akyri, healers, and seers. Every power, both dark and otherwise, had been called upon to assist, and most had answered. The room was teeming with magic vessels at least forty deep.

  “Join hands.”

  They grasped each other’s hands, none of them hesitating, none of them falling prey to judgment or racism or bigotry. This was too important. The queens of their realms were gone. This was the only way to get them back.

  Without being told, they collectively closed their eyes, and Katrielle the ancient Nomad did the same. “Deus noctorum Cronos eternum,” she whispered softly, just under her breath. It wasn’t necessary to shout at Time. Somewhere out there, or possibly somewhere deep inside, there was a way into another word. One of many, many worlds, all pressed up against one another in the cellular fabric that made up the quilt of the multiverse. She had to find the right world amongst those many. And then she had to find a way in. How?

  You could not fool Time. There was no trickery. There was no easy way around. There was only one way with Time. So Katrielle planned to do the only thing she could. Assuming she could find it in the first place, she was going to walk right up and knock on the door.

  *****

  Will looked at Liam, and Liam looked right back. Neither of them wanted to say the First Vampire’s name, and Liam was probably still reeling over the fact that Destiny was a fae. Will for his part didn’t want to give the vampire in his head the pleasure of even mentioning him to Helena in passing. But the girl deserved to know.