Page 4 of The Time Of Queens

“You’re right, I am from the future.”

“HA! See? I knew it! You owe me a tiger cub!” she said, wagging a finger at Adam who was now frowning.

“Prove it,” he said firmly.

I took in a deep breath, reached for an apple from the bowl next to me on the side table, and while rolling it round in my hand, I told him,

“Your Demon is Abaddon, a mighty beast who was made by the devil himself. But when you became uncontrollable, he cast you into a pit to live out the rest of your days. Pip got sent to Hell after she was tricked into bringing the plague to London and they all believed you would eat her. You didn’t, against all odds, you fell in love, and she went to the surface to find yourcounterpart. I believe Adam Fitzwilliam was your name. But if that isn’t enough to convince you, then she has a habit of tying you up and annoying your Demon side by running from you. Although, we all know the reason why is to help tame your beast, so as you can control him better… good enough?” I took a bite of my apple and saw for myself the shocked look on his face.

“No… no one should know all of that, least of all a mortal,” he stammered, looking first to me and then to his wife.

“No, I can imagine only Lucius knows, seeing as he was there and helped Pip do all of this.” At this Pip was beaming, looking between me and her husband with a big knowing grin on her pretty face. Then she nodded to him and said,

“See, what did I tell you!”

“Look, I get it. This is all bat shit…” I started to say, only she was quick to interrupt me.

“Oooh I like that word.” I gave her a smile before continuing on, because of course she liked that word, she used it often in the future.

“…My point is, I know you both. I’ve known you for thirty years, in fact, you kidnapped me for Lucius.” At this Pip burst out laughing and looked to Adam.

“Are you hearing this, my sweet?”

“I am, my dearest one,” he replied in his usual loving way.

“Like I said, we have history, lots of it. But through it all, you guys are like my family. Pip is my best friend,” I told him, making his features soften, especially when she went bat shit at this, bouncing off the bed and into my arms before hugging me tight.

“Oh, my lord! I have a best friend… I always wanted a best friend! Can we keep her… please, oh please!?” Of course, naturally, I hugged her back and felt myself even close my eyes as the emotion washed over me. However, when I opened them again, I found Adam watching me with interest. He released adeep sigh before raising to his feet and placing a hand at his wife’s shoulder.

“Alright, my love, let’s give her a little space.”

“Oh yes, can’t go strangling my best friend now,” she said, winking at me, making me wink right back. If anything, she was even more innocent and childlike now than she was when I had first met her. Basically, she was just as lovely and adorable.

“Why are you here?”

“Oooh good question that, well done, Honey,” Pip praised, patting his shoulder, making him grin down at her. Jeez, these two, they were just the cutest.

“It’s a long story but…” I paused to take a deep breath before telling them, “…I am the King’s Electus.” At this Adam’s eyes widened before he was suddenly hissing,

“Fuck.”

Pip’s mouth dropped into a perfect O shape and Adam snapped his head back to her, making her shrug her shoulders and lift her hands up. I leaned closer and whispered,

“This is the part you usually say, my bad.”

“Oooh I like that too…My bad,”she said, trying it out for size.

“Damn it, Winnie!” Adam scolded, slashing a hand down through the air and her face fell… because well, it wasn’t usual that you saw Adam get mad at her. But before she could say anything, I placed a hand on her shoulder and got to my feet, walking closer to where he stood at the window.

“Okay, so I know it sounds bad.”

He gave me an incredulous look, so I held up a hand to stop him from saying something to the effect of ‘yeah, no shit, Sherlock’.

“But trust me, if he discovers who I am to him, he will never let me get back to my own time, and then the whole reason I am here in the first place will be for nothing.”

“And pray tell, why are you here?” he asked, his voice firm but no longer mad at least.

“I don’t know yet but Fate… well, Fate always has a reason,” I told him, looking back at Pip as if to make my point. His eyes followed before he closed them, knowing exactly what Fate had in store for him all those years ago. Hence why he released a big sigh, and asked,

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