Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

Marco's POV

“Mister Sanchez, what can I do for you? I’m having a terrible day,” Katherine sighs into the phone.

“Katherine, we need your help. Something’s wrong with Kas,” I pace around the living room, cause ain't no way I can stand still right now.

“What’s wrong with her? Out with it,” she snaps. There ain't no concern for Kas in her voice. She just sounds annoyed. Kas was right about this bitch.

“She is hysterical, and it seems like she’s in a lot of pain. She keeps calling for Amari,” I explain as patiently as I can.

“Well, that is probably because Amari passed away sometime last night or this morning,” her voice is so cold and uncaring that you'd think she didn’t give a shit about Amari. It makes me feel like she just threw a bucket of ice water at me, “Just tell your Alpha to keep giving her all those hugs and kisses until she gets over herself.”

“Wait? What do you mean, Amari and her mate passed away?” I ask. How can she say it with no emotions, like it doesn’t matter that her sister died? °

“What don't you understand? She didn’t come down for breakfast, so I sent someone to fetch her. They found her and Jasen dead in their bed. Deceased, gone, kicked the bucket...0h, that's right, you're Hispanic...Muerte. Comprende?”

I'm trying to think of what Mama would say in this situation, even if this lady did just throw down her racist card on the table. I think she would say ‘Marco, sé amable ahora, sé enojado mas tarde’ [Be nice now, be mad later]. “I-I'm really sorry for your loss, Katherine”

“Aren't we all, Mister Sanchez? If Kas had just drank the damn wine Deon gave her last night, none of this would be an issue. She'll be fine. I'm sure what she is experiencing right now is the bond she shares with Amari breaking,” Katherine says, like it ain’t no thing and hangs up the phone on me.

Ilook at my phone, thinking about everything the woman just told me.

Dionysus was telling the truth.

Katherine hired him to be at the event. '

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None of this would be an issue.’ The wine was poison, and she knew it. She hired a god to kill her sister? Even thinking about it sounds crazy, but how else do you explain it?

‘Tell your Alpha to keep giving her all those hugs and kisses’. What made her say that? I put my hands on my hips and look around the room, trying to put the pieces of the conversation together.

“Carly?” I mind link her.

“Hi Marco, everything okay?”

“This hotel, what made you book here? Is this the only five star one around?”

“No, there were others, but Santoro Enterprises staff said all of their VIP guests stay here. They were able to get us a special rate for the rooms.”

Ilook around again. You gotta be fucking kidding me. I’m so fucking stupid.

“Carly, we're cutting the stay short. Get everyone packed up. Contact the airport; get our flight switched to this afternoon. The earlier the better.”

“O-okay? Marco, what's going on?”

“Security breach. Everyone needs to be ready to leave in half an hour. Mind link communication as much as possible. I know you can't with Delilah, so just talk as little as possible with her. Got it?”

“No problem, Marco. I'll let you know when the cars are downstairs.”

“James, Bronx, you're not gonna believe the phone call I just had. It's time to leave. Carly is already making arrangements,” I switch my mind link to them.

Once we're on the plane, Delilah gets her doctor bag of potions and goes with the rest of the ladies into the bedroom at the back of the plane to see if they can help Kas feel better. We stay out in the main area and discuss what's going on. It's real uncomfortable cause Bronx is so angry that it’s making the rest of us feel like we have to submit to him.

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“She double crossed her own sister?” Tyree asks with a surprised look when I finish telling them everything.

“Think about all that mythology crap we learned growing up, Tyree. All them gods and goddesses backstab each other all the time. No loyalty. I mean, I can't believe Katherine did it to Kas cause that's her damn sister and if you ask me, it sounds like she killed Amari and Jasen too. Ain't no way them two just woke up dead after being perfectly healthy yesterday,” I add. °

“Every single suite we were staying in had microphones in the walls and mini cameras hidden. They were watching us the whole time,” James says leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, “I should have been more thorough when we checked in.” '

“You know for next time, James,” Bronx stands up and starts pacing, “But now that we know, we need to do everything we can to protect Kas from Katherine. When I spoke to Milo last night, he said Tessa is doing really well at Blood River. She’s a good security strategist and an expert in Krav Maga. Speaking of which, James, I want you to havea couple of training sessions with her. See what else she can teach us."

“Of course. I'd be glad to,” James nods. Bronx stops pacing and looks more serious, “Milo also said anytime they mention Katherine, Tessa breaks down again and is useless for the rest of the day. Think of it like when you guys were on Ops teams and had to rescue hostages. It takes months or years for those people to recover from those experiences. We know that. Now imagine someone being held hostage

for thousands of years. She acclimated to her environment to survive. There’s no handing her off to her family. We should plan on her staying with us long term. She's one of us now and we need to take care of her until she dies.”

“Shit,” Tyree mumbles under his breath.

“We seriously underestimated this, Katherine. Myself included,” Bronx crosses his arms in front of himself, “ When we get home, we're regrouping with our Beta and Gamma to come up with a better plan. To protect Kas and Tessa.”

“Excuse me, gentlemen?” Musu, Carly, and Diane are standing by the curtain at the back of the plane smiling at us.

“Is Kas okay?” Bronx jumps to attention, ready to go to Kas.

“Oh yes, Alpha, she’s fine,” Diane reassures him, "She asked to speak with Delilah and Marco...privately.”

When Bronx turns around, I'm pretty sure he’s gonna pounce and strangle me to death, but he sits down and glares at me while I walk to the back of the plane instead.

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Kas and Delilah are sitting on the bed. Delilah is holding three vials of green liquid in one hand and wiping tears away from Kas’s face with the other.

“You okay, Kas?” I try to smile, but her puffy eyes and red nose make me feel bad for her.

“I will be,” she sniffles, “I have no choice. Please sit down, Marco.”

I slide the door closed and sit on the edge of the bed, “Alright, whatever you got to say, make it quick before your husbands take turns murdering me for being in here with you two.”

“I've moved the timeline up,” Kas says blankly.

“Because of Amari?” There’s an uncomfortable feeling in my chest, cause this is all getting too real too quick.

She takes two of the vials out of Delilah’s hand and hands one to me, “If you drink this, it will force you to keep i ta secret. That’s the only way I'm going to talk about it with either of you. Delilah has already agreed to drink it.” I take the little tube out of her hand and look at it, “This shit ain’t gonna poison me?”

“No,” Delilah shakes her head, “but it will prevent you from speaking about this conversation.”

“What happens if I try?”

“Your, uh, your throat shuts and cuts off your breathing until you pass out,” Delilah shifts her eyes around so she don’t have to look at me.

Kas sniffles and holds up her vial like she wants to take a shot. Delilah does the same. I look in the vial again and hold it up with a sigh. We all throw them back at the same time. It has a sweet, then kinda sour taste but seems harmless enough.

“Alright, so what's goin’ on?” I hand the tube back to Delilah.

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Kas explains her impossible trip to Mount Olympus and what really happened to Amari and her mate.

“You got Zeus’s power inside you right now?” I ask, looking her over. She looks like shit, but I assumed it was cause of losing her sister.

“A good bit of it, yeah. It’s uncomfortable too. I need to get it out as soon as I can,” Kas says shifting in her spot, “Plus, since Leticia has the Mavri Magea in one place, I can’t wait much longer.”

“Kas, what if you're not ready? What if you haven't learned enough magic or how to harness your powers?” Delilah puts her hands over her mouth and whispers.

“When I was with the Mavri Magea, I could feel their power feeding me, strengthening me. I wasn’t taking it from them. It was like they were sharing it with me. It felt...right. We shared memories. It helped fill in all the things I've forgotten over the centuries. I know who I am now and don’t want to forget it. The only way to do that is to see this through to the end.”

“Let's see if we can help you stay in the light, mon ami,” Delilah takes Kas’s hand, then takes mine with her other one. Kas holds her other hand out to me and I take it so we make a little circle. Delilah and Kas both close their eyes, so I do, too. I feel a warmth coming from their hands that feels like I'm holding a cup of coffee. When I open my eyes, it fades away. I don’t know what just happened, but I feel more calm than I did when I came into the room.

“Thank you, you two. I appreciate you more than you'll ever know,” Kas smiles, “Can you send Bronx in? It seems like a good time for a nap with my mate.”

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