Royal Hearts (24 page)

He released his hold on her. “Thank goodness.
I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to get you out of his spell.
You need to know him and his trickery if you are to go against
him.”

“You mean, I have to confront him?”

“You’re the queen.”

“But I don’t remember being a queen. I don’t
know anything about defending myself.”

“Yes, you do. Remember the Paler who attacked
you in the parking lot? You may not remember who you are, but you
still possess your queenly abilities.”

She sighed. “I don’t know. It still doesn’t
seem possible.”

“There has to be something we can do to help
get your memories back. William got here with his memories intact.
He knew that he was coming back here. He had to have had some form
of communication with Omin’s clone. If we could figure out what he
did, it might give us insight into what to do about you.”

She wasn’t sure if she should encourage him
about the whole time travel thing, but in the end, she said, “I
wonder if Lisa or Carson might have an idea of what’s going on.
Carson is William’s best friend. Maybe William let something slip
to Carson.”

“That’s a good idea. Can you find out?”

“I’ll have to give Lisa a call when I get
home. And speaking of home, I’d better head back before I get in
trouble. I might,” or might not, “be on my own in the future, but
I’m still a teenager who has to report to her parents in this
time.”

“I know you can take care of yourself, but I
wish I could go with you.”

Despite the situation, she chuckled. “My
parents would flip if I brought you home and told them it’s
perfectly fine for you to stay in my bedroom because we’re married
in the future.”

He grinned. “At least I can walk you to your
car.”

She headed for the door. “Is it weird?” She
glanced at him as he joined her.

“Is what weird?”

“Well, you know that you’re married to me,
but for me, it’s as if we’re just dating.”

“As long as I can be with you, it really
doesn’t matter. Yes, I miss being intimate with you, but I figure
even if you don’t regain your memory, we can always marry again so
it will be real for you, too.”

“Wow. I can understand why I wanted to marry
you instead of bringing William back with me to Raz. You know, from
when I was in the past before.” Okay. It was a ridiculous story.
Time travel and other planets and all. But something about it was
beginning to seem like it was the truth. Maybe she was going
crazy.

“Ann?”

She turned to him, surprised when he took her
in his arms and kissed her. There was something familiar about the
kiss, as if they’d done it before. It just felt…right, like it was
meant to be. Alright. Now she really was going crazy because she
was beginning to believe him.

After the kiss ended, he cupped her face in
his hands and whispered, “I love you so much.” Before she could
respond, he took her hand and opened the door. “I know. You don’t
remember any of it. I don’t expect you to say it in return. I just
wanted you to know how I feel about you.”

Since he relieved her from having to say
something, she decided to walk in silence with him to the car.

“On Raz, this is the time in the evening when
we’d go out for a nice walk in the garden with Katherine,” Hathor
said, gazing up at the sky.

She glanced up at the sky with him. “You miss
Raz.” She mentally kicked herself. Raz might not even exist.

He nodded. “And Katherine. It will be good to
get back.” He squeezed her hand. “Together.”

Since she didn’t know what else to say, she
decided to go with, “I’ll give you a call later tonight after I
talk to Lisa. She may not know anything about how William got here,
but she may know how to find out.”

“Okay.” He kissed her again, this time
letting his lips linger on hers.

She melted in his arms as he deepened the
kiss. He brushed her lower lip with his tongue, and she tentatively
opened her mouth to receive him, surprised by the spark of pleasure
that shot straight through her when their tongues met. Kissing him
was certainly nice. She wouldn’t mind doing this for the rest of
her life. She just hoped he wasn’t a lunatic.

***

Present day

Galaxy: Mystic

Leader Paff sat at his chair in his warship.
The massive fleet following his spacecraft was armed and fully
ready to attack anyone who was in league with Omin’s clone.

“Second Commander Jaz,” he spoke into his
telecommunicator. “Come in, Second Commander Jaz.”

Again, he didn’t get a response.

The Olympians and Jaz’s team should have
already arrived on Earth. Could Omin’s clone have built up a
military force in such a short period of time?

Paff’s nerves were on edge. He hadn’t been
able to do much since he found out about Omin’s clone, but now that
he was actively pursuing him, he couldn’t relax at all. Could he
really win against someone as powerful as Omin’s clone?

He groaned. He tried calling Jaz again. Just
as he expected, no one answered on the other end. She was in
trouble. He had tried to reach Guards Falon and Lino with as much
success. No one was responding to him.

He called for the captain of his large
ship.

Captain Hanty came into his office. “Yes,
Leader Paff?”

“I was wondering how much longer it will take
to reach Earth.”

“I estimate a day’s travel, Leader.”

Paff sighed. Was that fast enough to help Jaz
and her team help queen Ann? Was it enough to defeat Omin’s clone
before he did so much damage that both Earth and Pale would be in
jeopardy? “When will we travel back into the past?” he softly
asked, trying to hide his apprehension.

“When we get to the Average Galaxy, we will
make the necessary arrangements.”

“Thank you, Captain. You are excused.”

“Yes, Leader.”

As the captain left, Paff turned to the
window behind him. Two-thirds of his entire fleet followed behind
him. He had brought his best warriors along. He’d taken very few
chances with this war. He knew that if they failed on Earth, then
Pale would be threatened. If he could eliminate Omin’s clone right
now, he could prevent a lot of future damage.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Six years in the past

William’s house

Dayton, Ohio

Planet: Earth

The door to William’s bedroom flung open.
William jumped out of his chair, the device in his hand. He gasped
at the menacing figure that stood before him. It wasn’t human. He
wasn’t sure what it was. It was tall and pure white. He gulped the
lump in his throat, unable to speak.

The creature walked over to William and took
the device from him. “You are quite curious about this thing,” the
creature noted, mildly amused. “Humans… You are boringly
predictable.”

William swallowed as the Paler turned the
device over in his hands.

“You must want to be with Queen Ann very
much. Would that be an accurate statement?” the thing asked
him.

William hesitated but finally nodded.

“As I recall, you insisted on coming back to
this time, with your memory intact, so that you could have her for
your own.”

Again, he nodded.

“You might even be willing to do anything to
get her. Would that be a correct statement?”

He just stared at the Paler, unsure of what
to say.

“How is it going so far? Have you
accomplished your goal?” the thing asked.

“No.”

The thing’s eyes widened. “No? Why not?”

“Someone else got her instead.”

“Hathor?”

Surprised, he said, “Yes. She’s with him. But
how did you know it was him?”

“Hathor wouldn’t let her go without a fight.
I’m dismayed you weren’t able to overcome him. You had the benefit
of her not remembering him. Lucky for you,” the thing smiled, “I am
willing to give you another chance.”

“You’ll send us back again?”

“No. You messed up before, so it’s pointless
to pursue that avenue again. This time I offer you my way of doing
things, which I think you’ll find much more efficient.”

William took a deep breath then indicated his
agreement.

“You can still be king of Raz. All you have
to do is insert this chip in her hand.” The creature took out a
clear instrument that was in the shape of a gun, and in the thing
was a chip. The chip was ready to be inserted as soon as someone
pulled the trigger.

“What will the chip do?” William asked,
glancing uneasily from it to the creature.

“It will make her yours.”

William’s eyebrows furrowed.

“This chip will make her fall in love with
you and want you to be her king,” the creature told him. “I sent
you back in time, so what makes you think I can’t do this as
well?”

After a couple attempts to speak, he finally
found his voice. “Are you Alexander Napoli when in human form?”

“The one and only.”

“But you’re from that place called Pale?”

“Indeed I am.”

“Why would you do this for me?”

“Who said I was doing this for you?” The
creature laughed. “I am doing this for me. With this chip inserted
into her, she will no longer be a threat to me.” William began to
ask another question, but the thing quickly silenced him. “Do we
have a deal or not? Because if not, I can always do this
myself.”

“I’ll do it!”

“I thought you might agree. I wouldn’t waste
a lot of time. The sooner you get the chip into her, the
better.”

William took the chip injector.

The thing glanced at the device and shrugged.
“You can keep it. It’s worn out its use.”

William watched the strange alien leave the
room, his head spinning with the possibilities looming ahead of
him. He raised the gun to his eyes and examined it. It was small
enough to easily hide in his pocket. He should be able to insert
the chip into Ann’s hand without too much trouble.

This was his third chance to get to be with
her. The first time, she said no and left. The second time, Hathor
got in the way. Now, this time, he would succeed. He had to. This
time he would do everything he could to make sure he ended up with
her.

***

Ann’s house

Xenia, Ohio

Planet: Earth

Ann felt awkward around her parents now that
she knew they would die in the next couple of years. She wanted to
say something, to warn them, but she was afraid of disrupting the
sequences of events that were meant to be on Earth. She had
disrupted it before when she told William about Raz, and now he had
a hand in bringing her back to the past, which had the potential to
ruin her future with Hathor and Katherine. If she hadn’t let
William remember that she was the queen of Raz, then he wouldn’t
have gone to such lengths to bring her back here. And she’d
remember her marriage with Hathor and their child.

She wondered if she was technically married
since she was stuck in her past without any memory of the future.
It was too weird to think that she was married so young. Was she
still the queen of Raz? Did she retain any authority as queen? Or
was all of that void until she went back into the future?

And…the most pressing question of all…was it
all true?

Pushing everything aside, she called Lisa.
She wanted to spend time with her parents, but now that she knew
Alexander Napoli wanted to make everyone take the mind-controlling
chips, she didn’t have a lot of time to spare. That was one thing,
at least, she knew without a doubt.

As soon as Lisa answered the phone, she
quickly explained everything that she had just learned. It took her
almost an hour to go through everything. She still didn’t
understand all of it, but she had figured out enough to connect the
dots for a coherent explanation.

After she finished, she noticed the prolonged
silence on the other end of the phone. “Are you still there?” she
asked.

“Yes, I’m here,” Lisa assured her. “I’m just
stunned.”

“Me too.” She glanced around her room.
Everything was just as it should be. She remembered decorating it
several months ago. Only, it might have been years since she had
done anything to this room. Turning her attention back to Lisa, she
said, “I need your help.”

“What can I do?”

“Well, I told you about William and how he
also came back to the past, only he remembers everything. You
mentioned that he seemed strange, right?”

“Right.”

“And Carson said he noticed a change in him
recently?”

Lisa paused. “You’re right. He said it’s like
William changed overnight.”

Ann released her breath. This only led her to
believe Hathor was telling the truth, but still… Could she really
afford to believe it? “What is it about William that has
changed?”

“Let’s see. Carson came over here earlier
today. He just had a big fight with William. William was upset
because you cancelled your date with him, and he blamed Carson for
it. Carson didn’t think that was typical William behavior.”

She didn’t see how that would give them a
lead as to how she, Hathor and William got back into the past, so
she asked for more information about the argument William and
Carson had earlier that day.

“William punched Carson in the nose,” Lisa
said. “He got him pretty good, too. It took awhile for the blood to
stop flowing.”

Ann grimaced at the image in her mind.

“Oh, William said Carson ruined his chances
of being a king. I don’t know what the place he was supposed to be
king of was called though. Carson didn’t remember it.”

“Raz?”

“It could be. Hey, isn’t that where you said
you’re the queen?”

“It’s where Hathor says I’m the queen.”

“So, you’re really a queen of another
planet?”