Read Online White Fire: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 5 by Michele Callahan - Free Book Online

change.”
    “Have you seen her? Met her? Is she still…” Ajax’s question trailed off. What did he want to ask? Was she still what? Beautiful? Sweet? Soft and serene? Was she still his, the female he’d loved?
    “No. She is not exactly what she was before. I have been watching over her since your escape. She’s a cold one, works in her mother’s domain. Smart as a whip and sneaky.” Bran sighed. “But she won’t remember you. Doesn’t miss you. Doesn’t even know you exist.”
    “Her soul will recognize mine when we touch.” Ajax had carried that belief for hundreds of years, while his mind had been rotting and his thirst for killing had ridden him hard in his prison. He’d thought of her.
    “You only knew her for six weeks, Ajax. And frankly, I don’t think you really knew her at all.” Bran stood and brushed the sand from his clothing. “She was weak, Ajax. The Mark she was miraculously born with made her a King’s bride, but if she’d just been a normal female, would you have even looked twice? Did you look forward to crossing wits with her? Did she fire your blood? Did you ache to touch her?”
    The answer to all of those questions was no. She’d been his home, somewhere he could belong when no one else on Itara had wanted him around. She’d taken him into her bed and her heart, had publicly supported him, and been a source of constant comfort.
    He cared for her. Yes. But she did not fire his blood. Didn’t get inside his head and drive him completely insane. But she’d been loyal and caring. She’d made a worthy Queen.
    “I gave her my word. I made a vow.”
    “Which is why Emma’s Mark disappeared from your ankle within a few hours of your arrival here.”
    “What the hell are you talking about?” Ajax looked down at his sandaled feet, pulled the pant leg aside to inspect his bare ankle. No Mark. “That Timewalker did not Mark me.”
    “The hell she didn’t, you idiot.” Bran shook his head. “She burned you up and left a Mark on your ankle. You were on fire at the time, which is probably why you didn’t see it, but it was there. Doesn’t matter, because it’s too late now. Your stubborn ass already refused the Mark. I don’t think you can make her give it to you twice. You could ask Raiden how he took Mari’s Mark back from Teagh, but I don’t think even he knows.”
    “Mari gave her Mark to Teagh?”
    “For about five minutes. Raiden was being an idiot and her power needed another host. Snooze you lose, my friend.” Bran took a deep breath of ocean air, as if to clear his head. “Emma’s power is frightening, Ajax. I think she’s the key to winning this war with Droghan. She needs an anchor, she needs a Marked Mate. If that’s not going to be you, she’s going to need to Mark another male. Soon.”
    “I made a sacred vow to Angeline.”
    Bran’s smile was grim. “How did I know you were going to say that?” He shrugged and opened a portal. “Okay. Let’s go, Romeo.”
    “Now?”
    “No time like the present, Ajax. You want her? You better go now. The Crux is days away. You’re out of time.”
    Ajax stood and inspected the dark brown pants and white shirt he’d had to borrow from Teagh. He did not look like a King, but his clothing shouldn’t matter. Not to a woman whose heart was destined to belonged to him.
    He refused to believe that Angeline would not heal the empty ache in his heart. She was his Marked Mate, his bride, his Queen. Even if she didn’t know it yet.
    He’d given his word, a blood oath, to the female. Yes, it had been in a time and place Angeline would not remember. But Ajax did remember, every minute detail and the sacred weight of his promises to the female.
    That didn’t stop the quick flash of rage he had to suppress at the thought of Nicodemus touching Emma. And it didn’t stop the stupid voice inside his head from chanting three words to him, over and over.
    Emma is mine.
    Bran stepped through the portal and Ajax followed,