Chrysocolla (3 page)

“We made it. We’re putting the past back in order, the way it’s supposed to be. I was supposed to be here. I was always meant to meet Seth and fall in love with him, but here, in this time. I’m doing exactly what was meant for my life,” I said. I was beginning to appreciate fate, especially since it wanted me to be with Seth. “Seth has returned to his father’s side, and will be entering the city tomorrow with my mother. We put it all back in place. Wasn’t that what we were expected to do?”

Kye nodded as he continued to look over the city. He wasn’t smiling or happy about my assessment. The frown stayed on his face as he scanned the horizon.

“By being here we are restoring order, right?”

Why wasn’t he happy? We did exactly what he planned. We were on the right track now. According to Kye, within the borders of Egypt we were safe and would follow the fate that had been planned for us. Why didn’t making it back make him happy?

“We didn’t win,” he replied, he ran his hands through his longer deep red hair.

“What?” I asked. “But we did it. We changed everything back.”

How could we have not won? The goddess made it clear that we had to correct the past in order to fix the future. We did exactly that. I walked closer to Kye. He looked serious even though I wanted to find him joking right about now.

“I don’t know what went wrong, but this doesn’t change the future. Logan still wins,” Kye replied.

He turned his violet eyes to me. He was serious. How could he know Logan would win? Logan didn’t stand a chance. I had no plans to leave the past, and even if we did, I now had five stones embedded in me. I wasn’t about to get stuck again, and now I had five chances to make it home if I needed to. There was nothing to do now but wait for Logan to give up. I didn’t plan to part with the stones, and I wasn’t going to use them. He could never become a god now. Our history would be restored. How could it be that we still failed?

“Why? How could you know that?” I asked.

I wasn’t about to believe we had lost. I had just gotten the life back that I was supposed to have all along. I had my Seth, my mother, and my friends. Everything was in place. We were living in the past the way it was supposed to be. When Logan finally realized he lost and gave up, I could take Ty back to the future to live his life the way he wanted. Everything was fine. Everything was more than fine. We did exactly what we planned.

Kye turned his eyes back to the city. “If you’d won, I wouldn’t be here.”

That made no sense. “What?” I asked, standing and joining him.

Was he serious? We had just executed a plan that he’d made. Would he really plan something that would result in his disappearing? That wasn’t right. Kye was my friend now. He was part of my life. How could putting the past together make it so that he wouldn’t exist? I didn’t want him to go anywhere else.

“I’m the mistake in the future that changes everything,” Kye answered, placing his face in his hands. “I failed you again. Somehow, Logan still wins.” He turned his eyes back to me. I could almost make out faint tears. “I’m still here.”

I stood in shock and stared at him. I didn’t understand, but the tears that looked like they wanted to spill over his eyes told me that this was very serious. I moved to join him, but he quickly stood and walked to the other side of the room. He paced around a bit with his back to me. Turning abruptly he left through a doorway that I assumed went to the river. I was alone.

What did it mean? We just risked everything and won, at least I thought we won. If Kye was sure it wasn’t over, then we had to prepare for Logan to return. I didn’t want to get stuck again. I didn’t want to lose my ability to travel. One thing was certain: I wasn’t going to trust Logan ever again. If I’d learned one thing, it was that behind his charm, Logan wasn’t the guy I ever thought he was. I wasn’t going to fall again for his smile and kind ways. Logan wasn’t that man. I knew that much now.

Kye walked back into the room and directly over to me.

“It looks safe from the river,” Kye replied. “But I’m still going to ask your father to move you to another room. There are guards out there, but I doubt a few men would stop Logan if he showed up and decided to take you by force.”

All the emotion from only moments before was gone. He was back to being his soldier self.

“You think he’s going to take me by force?” That thought scared me a bit. If he came for me, I doubted he would take Kye with him this time.

“He has no choice now. To get his future, he is going to have to trick you or force you. I’m betting on force. He isn’t a very patient person, at least when it comes to you, and I think you might not be trickable this time either. He has to know that by now.” Kye shrugged and began looking around the edges of the room. His tears were completely gone.

My stomach turned at the thought of being Logan’s prisoner. It could be a really long time since I was a time traveler. If Logan chose to not return me to the time I was born, I wouldn’t ever die, and essentially I would live forever as his prisoner. Living forever with someone you loved sounded nice, but this did not. A long life didn’t sound too inviting now.

Kye was satisfied with the first wall he checked and moved on to the next. I had no clue what he was looking for, but he was very thorough in examining the walls. His face was set in concentration as I approached him to watch.

“How do you know this isn’t over?” I still didn’t understand that much. I needed an explanation.

Kye paused where he was looking but then went back to examining the wall. He didn’t reply as he looked it over. When he was satisfied with that wall too, he finally turned to me.

“You won’t be safe until Seti makes it back here. I hope he isn’t too far away,” Kye answered, but it wasn’t the answer to the question I’d asked.

I grabbed Kye’s arm and stopped him from moving to the next wall. I felt the warm tingles I had felt before with him. There was something with Kye that was different than Logan. Was I able to tell who the good guys were? I felt the same warm tingles before. It wasn’t the same as with Seth, but more like how it was with my mother or with my father. My heart stopped a second as I looked closer at him, and realization set it.

“Kye, how are you related to Logan?” I asked. I thought back through every conversation I had with Kye about his family. Kye had never denied being related to Logan, but he never confirmed what I assumed was that he was Logan’s brother.

Kye didn’t move but stared right back at me as I worked through my memories.

“Are you his brother?” I asked already knowing that he wasn’t.

“No,” Kye replied as he watched me.

Logan’s same purple eyes stared at me, but it was different to look at Kye's eyes. They were the exact same color, but so unlike. I saw the compassion in them. I saw his goodness. For the first time, I saw myself in him.

“Are you…?” I couldn’t even ask.

I already knew, but I needed him to confirm it to make it true. I held my breath and stared at him. The words couldn’t come out. Kye saw that much.

“I am your son. Logan is my father,” Kye finally replied, still watching me with his purple eyes. He was waiting for me to react.

“You’re my…” I couldn’t say it. It was too improbable. I was looking at the face of a grown man who technically was just as old as I was. How could he be my son? I had no children, and there were no plans in the immediate future, yet here I was looking at the face of the child I had yet to conceive. It was too surreal. How was it even possible? I wanted him to say he was joking, but he wouldn’t. He wasn’t lying. I felt it. He was family. I just didn’t expect him to be my son. I hadn’t even considered having children yet. That was for a time long away from now. I was just a college student in her freshman year. This was meant to be a year of exploring, not of life-changing events such as children. This was too much. I felt my legs giving out before I could even think another thought.

Kye’s arm snaked around me as my world blackened. The warm tingles followed his touch. It was just too much to understand. My head was on overload and shutting down.

Water trickled near
my head. It wasn’t the sound of the river, but it was still water. I was comfy and felt like I was lying on a pillow in the sun, just like a cat. I could smell flowers that fragranced the air around me. It was nice. It was refreshing to be comfortable, but soon reality set back in. I remembered what I was thinking before I passed out. I wasn’t just taking a nap. I needed to open my eyes and find out where I was now. Slowly I opened my eyes and decided right away to shut them again. I wasn’t in direct sunlight, but it was surely mid-day. Water continued to run nearby, and I had no clue where I was. That was motivation enough to get my eyes open. I cracked them a little at a time as I adjusted to the bright day. Even the shade I was lying in was bright. Thoughts raced through my mind, but I concentrated on the bright sun instead.

“I’ve been wanting to tell you all along, but Logan forbid me. He said it would be too much for you to handle,” Kye said from beneath me. He was the cozy pillow beneath my head. “Was it too much?”

Kye’s voice was laced with concern. I felt bad for making him worry. I was fine, just shocked.

I sat up slowly and tried to ignore the throbbing in my head. It was a bit much to grasp, but it made more sense now that I had time to think a bit. From the moment I met Kye, there was some sort of connection. I wondered how no one else saw it, either.

Now that I looked at him, he was physically a blend of Logan and me. With his deep red hair that matched my mother’s more than mine, and his purple eyes, it was easy to see him now. He looked very much identical to Logan in height and facial structure and maybe that was enough for everyone to overlook his similarities to me. I doubt that if anyone else—for even a second—had thought Kye was who he was, they would have gone along with his plans. Kye wasn’t betraying his brother, but his own father.

“This isn’t a set-up, is it?” I asked cautiously. I trusted Kye. I didn’t trust Logan.

“No. I’m not setting you up. I really want you to end up with Seti, not Logan.”

Kye leaned back into the sun comfortably now that I was off his lap. He looked relaxed, but his voice said otherwise.

“But Logan is your father, right?” I asked.

I now understood why Kye was worried. Because just being alive meant that I would end up back with Logan at some point. The part was that I didn’t understand why Kye was taking a side against Logan. Logan was his own father after all. And I didn’t know anyone that wanted to disappear. Kye wasn’t just going to die if we changed fate. He was going to have never existed at all. I was confused.

“Father? Sure, by blood, but that’s where it stops. Trust me. He’s never been anything more than a sperm donor in my opinion. That man was never a father in any capacity to me. He couldn’t win father of the year if he tried,” Kye replied bitterly.

There was much behind his venom, and I wanted to know more but was unsure of how to ask. Did Kye hate me, too?

I stood up cautiously, and Kye quickly moved to help me stand. Concern laced his face. All of the anger he had when he talked about Logan was gone. I waved off his help and took the couple steps to the ledge in front of me. I sat down across from Kye and looked into the pool at my side. I hoped he didn’t have any more shocking news, as I would end up wet this time. I dragged my hand in the water a little and felt the refreshing touch of cool in the hot air. Big, yellow fish swam lazily around.

I had a son. That was still hard to grasp. And he was pretty cool. I mean, I was friends with my son. That was even stranger. Logan and I created a guy as nice as Kye. It sounded improbable, but it wasn’t. He was sitting only feet away from me.

“Are you feeling okay?” Kye asked still completely worried about me.

“Yeah, just a little dizzy, and this sun is a bit much,” I added, shading my eyes. “Not used to this sun. I’m pretty sure it was winter when we left home the last time.”

Kye smiled, but it was still strained.

“I’m sorry,” he began, but I cut him off.

“Did you like me or hate me like you do Logan?” I wanted to think he liked me, but I wasn’t sure about much now. He wasn’t who I thought he was, and I couldn’t help but question everything he had told me thus far.

“Do you think I’d be here if I hated you?” Kye replied, now his smile was genuine. “I’ve always loved you. You were the only reason I kept going all these years. You didn’t deserve what Logan did to you. I had to save you.”

That helped a bit. I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to be hated by Kye, especially after finding out he was my son. We lapsed into silence. I had many questions but didn’t know where to start. How long did we have before Logan ended up getting me? Was I happy with Logan, or just a prisoner? Would Logan find a way to use the stones in my arms? What was Kye like as a child? Was he a good baby or a colicky one like one of my friends’ little sister? Did he have a best friend? What did he like to play with? Where did he go to school? What was our life like? Here I was his mother and yet I knew nothing about him. To be fair, he hadn’t been conceived yet, but it was strange. Kye had tons of memories, but I had none.

Kye looked around us as I thought through everything. He was letting me have my time. I took a moment to really look at him. Physically Kye was my age, somewhere in his late teens or early twenties. He was larger than Logan by a little bit and certainly more muscular from his years serving in the military. When we were dating, Logan used to joke that I’d have to marry him some day, as we would make really beautiful babies. Guess it wasn’t a joke. Maybe he knew already that we would. Kye was quite handsome, and the added muscle didn’t hurt his appearance either. Why did Logan send his own son to live with the military while he lived as a prince? It was very confusing. I never really understood Logan as it was, but as a father he was even stranger.

“Why are you going against Logan?” I asked finally.

“Have you met him?” Kye asked rhetorically. I didn’t answer. Kye sighed and toned down his anger. “I’ve spent my whole life wishing you got to choose your parents. I would have never chosen Logan, even as a baby.”