Ecstasy in Darkness (Alien Huntress #5)(99)
Author: Gena Showalter

Her frown deepened. “How do you know?” Clearly, she didn’t remember.

Still. The question pleased him. Already he was changing the future. “Just do. Come on.”

She pocketed her phone, and he pulled her into motion. Faster, faster, his determination to save her so intense his shaking renewed. He led her away from her apartment building and to a nice coffee shop. Inside, he forced her into a chair and motioned distractedly for Noelle and the trainees, who had followed them, to find their own.

“Buy her the biggest butterscotch latte they have,” he commanded Noelle. “And do not let her leave. Do you understand? Her life is at stake.”

Confusion fell like a curtain over Noelle’s features. “O-kay. How, may I ask, is her life at stake if she doesn’t get a latte?”

He ignored her, his gaze locking on Ava. Such pretty pink skin, such healthy blood flowing underneath. That wasn’t going to change. Not this time. “Stay here,” he said, willing to beg. “There’s an army of Schön warriors stationed around your apartment. If you go there, they’ll kill you. Do you understand? I’ve seen it. And for God’s sake, whatever happens, remember that I love you.”

Her jaw dropped. “You—what?”

In this new reality, he hadn’t yet told her that, had he? “I love you. I love you for who you are, what you are, though we’ll discuss turning you into a vampire at a later date. Perhaps after I allow someone to almost kill me. But until then, stay safe, damn it.”

“Almost kill you?” All the color abandoned her face. “Stay safe? McKell, what are you talking—”

He kissed her, hard, silencing her. He allowed himself to enjoy, because he couldn’t help himself. He’d come so close to losing her, was so relieved by this second chance. When he raised his head, her eyes were glazed, her lips red and swollen.

“I love you,” he repeated, then turned away. A bell chimed as he left the shop.

Part of him expected Ava to follow, but he didn’t pick up her scent as he headed toward her apartment. Last time, he’d tried to freeze the queen and had failed. He’d tried to choke her and had failed. There was only one other thing he could think to do. And it meant …

Shit! It most likely meant losing Ava, he realized, bile churning in his stomach. Even after reversing time, he still might not be able to keep her. He almost backtracked, almost returned to her, gathered her up, and ran away with her.

But he had to do this. He couldn’t allow that bitch of a queen to walk freely, so powerful, so assured, threatening his woman and those she loved. He would rather die keeping Ava safe than live while she remained in danger.

The bile mixed with another round of determination. His plan might still fail, but he would have tried. He would have done all that he could to protect his woman. That’s what mattered.

Enough pondering, worrying, obsessing, he thought. Wouldn’t do to warn the queen of the fate that now awaited her.

The moment he spied Ava’s building, he slowed his steps, waiting … waiting … A doorway opened, just as before, glittering so prettily in the moonlight. McKell gulped back the lump forming in his throat, stopped time before he could change his mind, and sprinted forward. The queen hadn’t been able to fight him right away last time, which meant she wouldn’t be able to do so this time either.

He only had a minute, maybe two, to do his damage.

She was there, he knew she was, for he could once again smell her rot. Rage overtook him as he remembered where she’d stood. You’re going to pay, female. He beelined for her, stretching out his arms.

Behind him, he heard Ava shout his name. “McKell! What are you doing? McKell!”

Damn her! Of course she hadn’t remained behind. He’d been a fool to think she would. That wasn’t in her nature, was one of the many reasons he loved her.

He couldn’t allow her near the queen or the queen’s men, so he increased his speed. Boom! He slammed into the bodies, four that he could tell, continuing to surge forward. He heard a feminine gasp, several male grunts, and drove them all straight into the waiting doorway.

Ava screamed, “Nooo! No! McKell! Where are you—”

As before, the suction began the moment he approached, pulling him faster and faster. Soon he lost the foundation under his feet. His world began to spin, the air darkening, thickening. The queen and her men shrieked, a horrified choir, and he lost his grip on them, too. Down, down he fell, still spinning, faster and faster.

Was this the eternity that awaited them all? To spin and spin and spin? Fine. He could accept that. For Ava, he’d suffer anything.

“McKell. Finally.” A man’s contented purr drifted into his ears.

McKell’s momentum slowed, the spinning ceased, and he was eased to his feet by gentle hands he couldn’t see. His surroundings blinked into focus. A black sky was dotted by the very flickers of light he’d seen on the threads of time, an endless maze of midnight, both perfect and horrific because there was no beginning or end.

“Welcome home, my son.”

Home? Son? He shook his head in denial, anger rising. “Who are you? Where are you?” Come out and fight me, you bastard. “Where are the ones I brought with me?”

“I’ll tell you about them. In time.” A second later, a man stepped from the darkness. He was tall, taller than McKell, with ankle-length black hair and eyes that glowed bright green. He looked human, for the most part, with a long forehead, a slashing nose, and a wide chin. His limbs stretched more than normal, and his body was a little thinner than average. He wore some kind of bodysuit that molded to his pale, pale skin.

McKell didn’t rush him. Not yet. Information first. Killing second. “Are you the one who’s been calling me?”

“Yes.” Like the purr, the deep voice whispered straight into his head—but the man’s lips never moved.

What kind of powers did this being wield? “Why?”

“I don’t think you’re ready to hear the answer.” Still no movement from those lips.

“Tell me!”

“Give me time, and I will—”

“Tell me, damn it!”

The pause that followed his second demand extended uncomfortably. He thought he would be thrown back into that endless spin. Instead, the man sighed. “You’re not ready for the truth, but I can see now that you will not calm down until you have answers. I wish I could fault you for your impatience, yet you are your father’s son. And I—I am that father. Your father.”