Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
Evan
“It’s okay, Uncle Nick. Um, I let Spencer know that we’re on the way. He’s so excited to see you,” I soothed. “We are all so happy to have you back.”
I’d called Spencer as I made coffee for Uncle Nick, because I wasn’t showing up with his dad unannounced. Also, I wanted to ask before letting Nick wear one of his suits. Uncle Nick didn’t fit in mine, and if we were bringing him to the party, he needed to be dressed accordingly.
Shit, how was Auntie Ilena going to take this? Good, I hoped.
“Oh.” Nick frowned. “Nothing makes sense. I wasn’t even in this country. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is leaving for work and reminding Spencer to be on time so that we could run some experiments. How could I have been unconscious and unidentified for so long?”
Uncle Nick looked a lot like I remembered, just a little older, and completely grey-haired. He seemed fit and healthy, just a little haunted.
If I’d lost over twenty years of memories, I’d be haunted too.
“Do you remember your research?” I asked, glancing over at him as we drove.
“Why wouldn’t I? Oh, I need to call Demitra.
She probably won an award for our work, didn’t she?
Does Spencer help her now? Did he become a scientist, or does he work for his grandfather?
Though I suppose it would be one of my brothers.
My parents are probably gone.” He frowned.
“So many people are gone. And you, you’re all grown up. ”
“Your father is still alive and here actually. Very spry for his age. Your mom passed away only a couple of years ago.” This made me hopeful that Uncle Nick and Auntie would still have plenty of time together. Though his other parents passed years ago when Spencer and I were young.
“Oh?” His hand went to his heart. “And Ilena is well.”
“She made us so much food last night,” I chuckled, recalling our feast. “I think she’s a little lonely. She travels a lot.”
“Oh. I didn’t mean to leave her alone.” Nick’s brow furrowed.
“We know, Uncle Nick. Spencer has a biotech company. Basically, he took what your fathers taught him about business and what he learned from you about science and uses it to fund projects that will change the world. Grace, and my other mate Wes, work for him,” I told Uncle Nick, going back to the topic at hand.
He remembered his research. Huh.
“I still don’t understand how I got here.” His fingers tapped nervously on his thigh.
“Um, Uncle Nick, do you want to know what happened?” I didn’t want to hide this from him.
“What happened?” He sucked in a breath.
“There was a super collider explosion. Almost everyone thinks that you died in it–including your wife. I went to your funeral,” I admitted. “Many people died that day. Spencer had left right before it exploded, and he was fortunately okay.”
“Thank goodness for that. Oh.” That stricken look reappeared, then went thoughtful.
“The super collider exploded? What were we doing that day? I don’t remember.
Did we rip a hole in time and space and somehow I ended up someplace else?
Was there a time push? I never asked them exactly when I ended up in the hospital, and they didn’t tell me how many years I’d been there. That would explain it.”
I didn’t know what a time push was. But I was guessing he thought a super collider explosion could somehow make him go forward in time and possibly move locations?
“What about Demitra?” he added.
“She was there with you that day. Um, do you remember your other research?” I asked. “We know about the omegas, well, we being my pack. Spencer also knew that you didn’t die in the explosion and eventually shared that with us.”
Nick froze. “You know about the omegas? That’s dangerous knowledge.”
“Yeah, though not everyone knows. Auntie doesn’t.
Beyond the barest basics, there’s a lot our pack doesn’t know about what happened.
One thing we are aware of is that the super collider didn’t explode because of an experiment.
The Temporal Authority made good on its threats to shut down your project.
They took you and Dr. K away, exploded the super collider, and not only did many people die, it made people afraid to carry on your type of project,” I said as I drove.
He swore in Greek.
I continued, “You haven’t been in a hospital unconscious for all these years.
You’ve been in Temporal Authority prison for your crimes.
I think it’s stupid that they did that. Helping omegas is really noble.
They let you out for good behavior, but they took all your memories because it’s one of their rules.
While we knew that there was a possibility of you coming back to us, we weren’t expecting you, because we weren’t sure if they’d actually let you go. ”
“This is a lot…” He was quiet for a moment. “You’re telling me that those temporal agents, the ones we were told not to worry about, arrested me, imprisoned me for years, then took my memories?” His eyes teared as he looked at me.
“Yes.” My heart broke. I loved Uncle Nick. He’d taught me so much over the years.
His head bowed. “What about Demitra?”
“She was taken too. We were told that she had died in prison. Mrs. K will be at the dinner. Also, she knows about the omegas. But I’m not sure what else she knows,” I said.
“Yes, she would help a little sometimes. Thank goodness she’s all right. Spencer keeps in touch with her?” His look went tentative.
“She works for him. When he started this company, he lured her out here,” I added.
Nick went quiet again. “Demitra didn’t make it. She was a talented scientist. I was also the one who kept pressing her to continue every time we were told to stop. Though some of it was because the others told us not to worry about it. We… we trusted them.”
His scent went salty again as he looked away.
“You saved lives, Uncle Nick. And as far as we know, they’re still here, safe, and living happy lives,” I assured him.
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. “Will your parents be at whatever this party is?”
I shook my head. “They passed away a while back in a car accident.”
“Oh, I am so sorry to hear that. They were good people.”
“Thank you. My sister Sonja will be here with her fiancée, but Sasha won’t. Riley, my little sister that you’ve never met, lives with me and my pack. Which is me, Spencer, Grace, Brennan, Jett, and Wes. I’m not mated to Spencer, but I’m mates to everyone else. Spencer’s only with Grace.”
“The tiny one.” Nick nodded. He frowned. “Why did they bring me here and not to Ilena?”
“Short version? Grace was a witness to something for the Authority. It scared the fucking shit out of us when they took her, and we were afraid she wouldn’t come back.
The guy who brought you to us is an agent of some sort.
While she was there, she asked about you and Dr. K, and when he mentioned that you might be released, she asked him to bring you to us.
And here you are. Just in time for Spencer and Grace’s mating party.
They bonded a few weeks ago.” We stopped at a stoplight, and I used voice-to-text to send Spencer a message that we were almost there, and he should come out.
I wasn’t sure how Spencer wanted to do this. Especially since so many people were here, including Uncle Nick’s dad. We wouldn’t want to give Spencer’s grandfather a heart attack.
Or Auntie Ilena, for that matter.
“Their mating party? She knows about the Temporal Authority. You said that she works for my son. What does she do?” Nick asked.
“Grace is a theoretical mathematician. She works with qubits and string theory. Right now, your son has her trying to make a virtual super collider,” I told him. “You’re going to like her. And not just because she’s also Dr. Thanukos.”
He beamed. “I love it. You’re an omega? I didn’t expect that.”
“Me neither. I was in my twenties and in the military when it happened,” I laughed. “I’m an advocate for the Omega Center now.”
His head bowed again. “I missed so much.”
“But you’re here now, Uncle Nick. Um, I’m pretty sure that the Temporal Authority won’t let you take up your old research.
I say this because Grace isn’t allowed to do hers.
But now, you can travel and do all sorts of things with Auntie,” I said.
“She’s been working her way through the list of places that you were going to visit when you retired. You could start with that.”
“Oh. My poor Ilena, alone for so long. I suppose I could. I’m not sure I have the taste for my research anymore now that I know so many were lost because of it.
Traveling with her sounds nice. I was always too busy to do so before…
” He grew quiet again as we turned down a street full of very fancy old homes, many with hedges and fences.
“They’ll be happy to see me, won’t they? ”
“Spencer looked for you. He saw you taken and tried to find you. He’s so happy to have you back. Auntie will be, too,” I added as we drove through an open gate.
“Prison.” He swore again in Greek. “They took so much from me.”
We pulled onto a massive brick circular driveway. Spencer stood in front of the giant home, looking nervous in a suit. His tie, vest, and pocket square matched Grace’s pale gold dress.
“There’s your boy, Uncle.” I turned off the ignition. “Yeah, it’s awful that you lost so many years just for helping people. But you’re back with us now. Your son and wife are well. Get your revenge on the Authority by making the most of your life.”
Uncle Nick’s face lit up. “Oh, just look at him. You’re right. Now, I need to go hug my son.”