Edge Of Tomorrow (Eternal Flames Maddox Book 6) Read online

“And why is that?” Ezra asked.

  “They live inside a mountain on the pass between here and what is left of Crystal. Jewel and the few fairies that are left and have joined with him, have placed spells on the mountain. If you are foe, the spells will kill you the minute you get too close,” Day explained.

  “Wait. You’re telling me that my mate has taken fairies on his side? Jewel detests fairies.”

  “Yeah, well, in this world you take help and allies where you can. After the remaining elves refused him, Jewel found others who would help him,” Kalen said.

  “And there is no way you should go to him anyway, Ezra,” Dain said, pulling Ezra’s attention. “We didn’t call you all here to be a part of this war, or to pick sides. We brought you here to help us to stop it. To try to turn back time.”

  “How do we do that?” Manny asked.

  “We brought you here so that Ollie and Wyn could see what has happened and hopefully change their minds about their mating. We think that if Ollie never rejected Wyndingo, then he wouldn’t have lost control,” Dain answered.

  “Then why the rest of us?” Manny asked.

  “And it’s his fault, not mine. Okay, sure I said I couldn’t mate with him then, but it didn’t mean forever. I told him why I couldn’t. It’s not my fault he went all ballistic and childish and couldn’t handle rejection,” future Ollie huffed.

  “He kind of has a point,” Frankie stated, and everyone looked to him.

  “What? It’s true. Just because his mate turned him down doesn’t mean he should have gone all powerful and blow himself up. Yeah, it sucks that his mate didn’t want him, I know it would have killed me if my Manny didn’t want me, but to kill everyone around me…That’s on Wyn, not Ollie,” Frankie said anxiously.

  “Hold on one minute―” Wyn started protesting and took a step toward Frankie, but Day jumped in and placed his hands on Wyn’s chest, holding him back and cutting him off.

  “This is the problem right here, Wyn. I had never known you to get this angry. Yes, you are a fierce dragon, but you’re not a youngling who loses control. I can see it in your eyes now, you are about to go into complete pissed off mode like someone killed your mate. Pull your power back now before you do it again and kill everyone who is left,” Day ordered.

  Wyndingo immediately pulled his power back and calmed. He looked to future Day in confusion. “How did you do that? You commanded me, and my powers died down.”

  “Day is the oldest living dragon now and Illan’s son, so he is now the leader of all dragons. I guess even here your dragon senses who to follow,” Ethan stated.

  Wyn looked between future Ethan and Day for a moment, then nodded and stepped back.

  “Okay, so it still doesn’t explain why you wanted me here too and if you said that two of us couldn’t be in the same space, then how are there two Ollie’s here and nothing is happening?” Manny asked.

  Future Dain replied, “We didn’t know if there would be consequences to having two of the same person, one from the past and one from the future in one place, so to be cautious I told Day to be very careful with that. But seeing as we seem to be okay with two Ollie’s being here, I guess it’s alright.”

  “So where do we go from here?” Manny asked.

  CHAPTER 9

  Sounded almost desperate, future Day said, "We have to find out why Wyndingo lost control. If we can figure that out, then we can stop the melt down in your time and none of this will have ever happened."

  Pascal stepped forward, asking, "How do you know that this will change your future? How do you know that if you stop Wyndingo from exploding that something else won't happen and you still end up with this future or one that is even worse?"

  "We don't, but we have to try," Morgan replied as he stepped back into the room, looking towards Angelo.

  "None of this makes any damn sense. I do not lose control," Wyndingo muttered.

  Morgan scoffed, "Really? Why do you act like you're so surprised, Wyn? You always keep everything bottled up. Even when you're pissed, you're always seemingly under control. You never talk to any of us. You stay to yourself, never sharing your feelings, hell until Illan called you to Crystal, none of us had seen you since the fucking war. Then when you come back, you insist on staying in Maddox, instead of with your clutch brothers."

  "Morgan, you don't understand,” Wyndingo replied in a whisper.

  Morgan nodded. "You're right, I don't understand. I don't understand why, when you were in so much pain, you didn't think you could come to any of us. I mean, at least talk to Illan, if no one else. There is only so long someone can go in their life, bottling up all that emotion, hurt, anger, whatever, before it catches up to them."

  "Morgan, I don't know what to tell you except I have good reasons for how I am. Illan knows why I have to keep my distance, and he―"

  "Illan is dead! Just like Jett, Justice, my Angel, and so many others! Get with the fucking program!" Morgan shouted, storming to the other side of the warehouse and pressing a button.

  Ethan screamed, "Morgan, stop!"

  The door raised up as what looked like blood fell from the sky. Morgan rushed to the opening. Throwing his arm out towards the falling drops, Morgan snarled, "Look out there, Wyndingo. Look at what your good reasons caused!"

  Angelo gasped and ran to Morgan, pulling him back. "Morgan, your arm."

  Emotions clogged Wyndingo's voice as he looked at the damage Morgan had just done to himself. "I don't understand how this happened, Morgan. After the las…I have worked too hard on controlling my powers for this to have happened. I don't know what else to say."

  Morgan looked down at Angelo, as Angelo shouted, "Someone get me a towel. Oh Gods, this has to hurt."

  Blisters covered Morgan's arms and the man didn't even flinch. Instead, Morgan rasped, "I stopped feeling pain the day you died, my Angel."

  Angelo looked at Morgan with tears in his eyes, whispering, "I have loved you since the day we met. I love your strength, your generosity, and your compassion. I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you, and honestly, I don't want to find out. Seeing you in so much pain just about stops my heart and breath. Anger is not how I would want you to live, Morgan. I know it might keep you going, but it is no way to live."

  "It's not all anger that keeps me going. I wanted to die the day you did, but you made me promise to keep our Paddy alive and cared for. I kept that promise," Morgan whispered.

  "Paddy?" Angelo asked.

  "Our son," Morgan replied quietly.

  Angelo gasped, "We have another son?"

  "Yes, we do. You didn't die during the explosion." Morgan gave a small smile, saying, "We were late getting to the Founders Day gathering." Morgan looked away, saying, "Anger is all I have left. Well, anger and now if Day, Dain, and Ethan are right, and we fix this, it means you may never have died."

  Angelo gently caressed Morgan's cheek, whispering, "We're going to fix this, my big hunk of chocolate. However, if for some reason this doesn't work, I want you to go on. I want you to go out there and find someone that will bring joy to your life and love to your heart."

  Morgan looked at Angelo, asking, "Would you?"

  Angelo took the bandages that were handed to him and wrapped Morgan's arm, whispering, "Future Morgan or present Morgan―I still love you.”

  Once he was done, Angelo stood and turned to Wyndingo. "We need to fix this. You need to fix this."

  Wyndingo tossed his hands in the air. "How do I fix something that I don't understand myself? For centuries I worked on control, so to find out that all of this is because of me is something I can't wrap my own mind around."

  "Well you need to figure it out. You both need to figure this out," Angelo hissed as he pointed to the future them's around him. "Because if you don't, this is our future."

  Wyndingo looked around at Future Day, Ethan, their children, Toby, Future Dain, and then to both future and present Ollie. Turning back to Angelo and Morgan, Wyndingo rasped, "During the Shuite war,
I did things I never thought I would do. Every day since then, I struggled to come to terms with my actions. I couldn't be around anyone. I left and worked on control of both my powers and emotions. I even considered―"

  Wyndingo stopped speaking, closed his eyes and swallowed hard before continuing. "The only thing that kept me going was the fact that if I allowed myself to die, my mate would be alone. When I saw how other mates helped each other, I thought that I had found an answer for my own future."

  Ollie stepped forward, "Wyndingo──"

  Wyndingo put his hand out, stopping Ollie from saying another word. Turning back to Morgan, Wyndingo softly continued, "It never crossed my mind that my mate wouldn't want me. Yes, I hurt. I hurt deeply, but what good would it do to talk about it? Ollie didn't want me. The pain I felt was one that I don't wish on my worst enemy, but I figured it was my punishment for my past. I was not out of control after Ollie refused me. I'm still not to that point, and if I felt I was, I would die before allowing myself to hurt anyone."

  Future Ollie clenched his fists and let out a frustrated growl, shouting, "I never said I didn't want you. I just asked for time! You are the one that took what I said as a refusal to our mating!" Future Ollie looked at everyone's confused faces, then drawing his brows together and pursing his lips, hissed, "None of you will ever understand and I'm not going to stand here and try and explain myself."

  Future Ollie turned and left the room. Day and the others all looked at present Ollie. Sighing loudly, Ollie replied, "He's right in what he says. I didn't refuse my mate. For decades, I had been in a prison, not of my making. Hiding in caves, alleys, abandoned houses. Digging through trash cans for food. I finally am saved by Dain and can walk down a street without fear of death, and the next thing I know, I find my mate. Until any of you can say that you lived that life, I don't think it's right to judge."

  Starting in the direction future Ollie had gone, he was about to exit the area when Wyndingo loudly stated, "I understood all of that. However, did you ever stop to think about what my life had been like? Maybe had you given me more than five seconds to say you didn't want me, then we could have talked it out and come to an understanding."

  Wyndingo sighed and dropped his head, then looked back at Morgan. "I may have been hurt, but I was not in any way that far gone that I would have lost control of my powers. So I don't know what happened. I'm sorry."

  * * * *

  Present Ollie made his way in the direction his doppelganger had gone. With all the doors and halls in this place, he could have gone anywhere. Just as he was about to give up, he heard someone shouting, "Ollie, where do you think that you can go without being killed?"

  "I don't know, Pelt, but I can't stay here anymore. It's just too hard."

  "I've never known you to be a coward, Ollie," Pelt stated sounding very disappointed.

  "I'm not being a coward. Day brought Wyndingo here. He said he was bringing Pascal back, he never said a damn thing about bringing Wyndingo with them."

  "Ollie, I'm not saying we can't go. I'm only asking that you wait another day or two before we do. Wolf and Drake are still healing, and you are beyond exhausted. You know that if Day hadn't found us when he did we would most likely be dead by now. Jewel was seconds behind him. Please, Ollie," Pelt practically begged.

  Present Ollie walked in to see himself grabbing a bag, saying, "Pelt, I'm not waiting because I'm going alone. I really appreciate everything you and the others have done for me. However, I can't ask you guys to keep putting your lives on the line. I'm just not worth it."

  Pelt went to say something, but caught a glimpse of present Ollie. "Holy shit!"

  Future Ollie looked at him, asking, "Is there something I can do for you?"

  Looking at Pelt, present Ollie asked, "Do you mind if I talk to myself for a minute?"

  "This is so freaky," Pelt replied as he started walking towards the door.

  Giving Pelt a sarcastic smile, present Ollie said, "Well if this amazes you, maybe you should go to the main room and see the rest of the freak show characters there."

  Pelt raised a brow, saying, "I think I just might."

  Ollie looked at his future self. "So, you're going to take off?"

  "What do you want?" Future Ollie asked sharply.

  Ollie laughed looking around his future setting, saying, "You know that being a dick shit might work on everyone else, but it's hard to be who I know for a fact, you are not."

  Future Ollie dropped his bag and turned away. "What do you want, Ollie?"

  "I want to talk to you about something I think you can provide an answer to," Ollie replied.

  Sighing heavily, future Ollie stated, "Ask then, so that I can get the fuck out of here."

  "What happened to upset Wyndingo at the Founders Day Celebration?" Ollie asked without hesitation.

  The other Ollie turned, tilted his head up looking indignant. "How the hell would I know? He was a fool."

  Shaking his head, Ollie replied, "No, Ollie, you are the fool. I am you and I know what we are capable of doing without thinking our actions out first. You can lie to everyone around you, but you can't lie to yourself. Come on, Ollie, we have always been ones to think we know better than everyone else. You did something that caused Wyndingo to lose it. I know it and you know it."

  Ollie watched as his future self struggled to deny what Ollie knew to be true. He knew guilt when he looked at it, and Ollie recognized his future self was acting out and angry because he had done something that caused this mess. When Future Ollie still said nothing, Ollie stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him. "We would never intentionally hurt anyone, Ollie. If you tell me what we did, then maybe we can go back to my time and not do it."

  Scoffing he said, "And then what? We just do something even more stupid?"

  Shrugging, Ollie sat on the bed across from his future self. "I don't know, Ollie, we tend to get ourselves into messes left and right. It's just that―" waving his hands around the room,―"this isn't right. I have to know what we did at the Founders Day Celebration. I have to do what I can to stop this hell from being real, Ollie, and I have no doubt you have promised yourself that if there was a way to turn back time and change things, you would do just that. So, here is your chance."

  "What if it doesn't work?"

  Ollie looked at his future self, saying, "That's it, isn't it? You're afraid that if I go back and change things, it might not work. Ollie, not doing anything isn't any better. What could be worse than dead friends and family? What's worse than fighting against men you looked at as friends from the moment you met? What's worse than your mate dying? Help me."

  Sighing loudly, future Ollie sat down on the other bed saying, "I was pissed at Dain."

  "What? Why?"

  "After I had left Wyndingo at the station that day, I had gone back to the office. Dain was waiting for me with this big smile. He asked me if I had met with Wyn. I told him I had. He asked me how things went. That's when I really looked at him. Dain knew that Wyndingo was our mate."

  "No fucking way!"

  Nodding, future Ollie continued, "I confronted him with it and he had this big ass smile on his face and I was still visualizing the look on Wyndingo's face when I told him I wasn't ready to mate. I told Dain he had no right to interfere with my mating and because of him, Wyndingo was suffering. I then told him he could go fuck himself, I was out of there."

  "So you left Maddox? That's what upset Wyn so bad?"

  Shaking his head, future Ollie said, "No. I went to talk to Pascal, but he was busy with Zen and seeing them so happy together hurt."

  "And that pissed you off even more."

  Looking up at Ollie, he said, "It wasn't just how I left Wyndingo. It was how Dain had manipulated me, too. You know how we have seen Dain since he took over as our ajutor."

  Nodding, Ollie replied, "We saw him, Kerrick, and Rune like fathers."

  "Yes, and the fact that he would use his power over me to manipulate me was like a dagge
r to my heart."

  "I get that, Ollie, but he loves us like a son as well. He probably thought he was helping us find what he has with his mates. It isn't like we went to Dain and told him our dilemma. Hell, we didn't tell anyone. I just listened to Morgan go off on Wyn about how he doesn't talk to people. He bottles up his feelings and doesn't share himself with anyone. We aren't any better."

  "I know. It took me a bit to rationalize things and come to that very conclusion. Rune called saying Dain had just told he and Kerrick what had happened, and that Dain felt really bad. Rune asked me to come to them and talk. I was on my way when I saw Wyndingo coming out of Dain's home and he was heading my way. I thought that Dain, Rune, and Kerrick were interfering with my life again and got pissed. Pelt was coming out of the club and I―"

  Ollie gasped, "Oh, by the Gods! Ollie!"

  "I didn't kiss him or anything! I would never do that. You should know us better than that. I just―knocked into him," future Ollie said, his voice getting quieter as he spoke.

  "Why would that upset Wyndingo?"

  "When Wyndingo saw Pelt with his arms around me, he thought that we were…you know…making out or something. Wyndingo grabbed Pelt and punched the poor guy so hard Pelt hit the ground. When he turned to me, I saw the soul breaking agony in the man's eyes. I tried to talk to Wyndingo and explain what had happened, but he pushed me away. I landed next to Pelt and Wyndingo took off. Rune must have come to see if I was almost there yet, and he saw everything. We had words and Rune went after Wyndingo."

  Present Ollie stood up and tossed his arms in the air. "I just wanted to experience life with what little freedom I had. How the hell is that so wrong?"

  Shaking his head, future Ollie whispered, "Like you said, Ollie. You can lie to the world, but you can't lie to yourself. We were scared. Our mating Wyndingo had nothing to do with losing our freedom. It had to do with loving someone again and having them ripped away because of who we are. Just like Mom, Dad, and our siblings had been. If you want to change our future, then you have to get past those fears."

  Present Ollie watched as something came over his future self and then he said, "Day's right. Talk to Wyndingo and explain the truth to him. Do whatever it takes to accept the gift that fate brought into our lives."