Chapter 24

“Tell me the outcomes of tonight’s follies,” Calnes says, leaning back on the pillows on the bed.

The slim figure, looking more like a bird, turns to regard him. Armera is not a creature of this world. As creator of the Brokers, she is from another entirely different. But like a bird, she has an array of colors of reds, browns and whites, very beautiful as well as mysterious. She smiles at the man, her one and only ex-Broker. “Yes, I forget,” she says casually, though she hasn’t forgotten a thing. “When I made you Santa Claus, I took away the majority of your skills. Seeing the loop of time was one of those skills.”

“Why must you tease me?” Calnes asks. “It is bad enough that you tear me away from my bed after I have spent the night delivering gifts.”

“You mean, tear you away from her?” Armera corrects. “You are lucky I did not kill her long ago.”

Calnes frowns, taking his eyes from her briefly. When he looks back, his frown is gone. “Yes,” he concedes.

“But I thought you were in love with me,” the alien says almost dismissively.

“I am,” the man admits.

“How can you love me and her at the same time?” Armera asks, turning from him. “Don’t tell me you would rather be in bed with her than with me.”

“My bed, yours ... What does it matter?” Calnes says, shaking his head.

“It matter a lot,” she snaps, spinning back around to face him.

“It must not since you force me to fuck your daughter,” he counters quickly.

The statement brings a smile to her face. “That is my form of torture on you,” she says, taking extreme pleasure from the thought. “I know you despise Rin. You always have since they never got along. I think that is wear the wedge was first placed.”

“Maybe,” he concurs. “If so, that was only after you put Rin before her.”

“Rin came before her,” Armera reminds him.

“You loved her just like you do Rin, as if she were your own,” he says, this time reminding her of the facts.

“True,” she agrees. “That was before your betrayal.”

“Was it?”

“That’s all in the past,” Armera says, meaning for this conversation to come to an end.

“With you, with the Brokers, there is not past, present or future,” Calnes disagrees. “It’s all a jumbled mess of time.”

“Time is funny like that,” Armera murmurs. “A constant loop, ever infinite and ever returning. I find it funny man’s concept of it, and remarkable how they have forgotten the true meaning of their saying history repeats itself.”

Calnes shakes his head, wishing he could just get up and leave. “Please indulge me,” he says, shifting.

“Has the mighty Calnes resorted to begging now?” Armera’s smile tightens. “It is not like you to beg.”

“And I’m tired of your games,” he says. “If not for her then this life you have put me in would be unbearable.”

“That’s the point,” she says grinning. “I could always change it.”

“Can you?” he asks bluntly. “From my understanding, time is set. Can you really change that past?”

“You’re absolutely right,” Armera says. “You and she were the grey areas of time. To go back and make such a change wouldn’t wreak havoc but it would makes things different. No, I like everything where it is and as it is.”

“I still, after all this time, grasp the concept,” the man mutters.

Armera smiles again at the thought. “You are not meant to,” she says evenly. “There are only the few races that really understand it because we are meant to.”

Calnes sighs. “As I asked before, please indulge me.”

“Very well,” the alien says, waving a hand at him through the air. “As you know all artifacts are null during this time. Poor Brianna changed back, and with the vial broken ... well, it wasn’t permanent. Would you like to hear Greg’s fate?”

“I can only imagine it,” Calnes says offhandedly. “Basically, with you and this game, I cannot imagine it turning out anything less than unfortunate.”

Armera puffs, but continues, “As you know, Lorena and her family remain the same, shifting back to normal like they do every year.”

“I’m surprised you let her live a normal life,” the man says.

“That was all you, Calnes,” she retorts. “I have no control over your elves. Honestly, I found it funny you let her leave knowing you’d have to eventually replace her. And that means fucking Rin again.”

“A small price to pay to give a little happiness to someone,” the man says, turning his head away from her. “Isn’t that what being Santa is all about?”

“Yes, I suppose it is,” Armera agrees as if it were like a bad taste in her mouth. “The werewolves don’t cause any trouble, which is a shame because what the werewolves of the dark ages did was wonderful.”

“Only someone like you would find joy in that,” Calnes quips.

“There was a time when you would too,” she reminds him.

“All in the past,” he remarks.

“Yes, all in the past,” she agrees. “Trey is lucky and unfortunate. He has three loyal creatures serving all his needs, yet he has to keep them hidden. That itself brings many troubles for him.”

“Typical,” Calnes snorts.

“You mustn’t act that way, Calnes,” she admonishes him. “You know that these are the choices your fellow humans make on their own.”

“Through manipulation,” he disagrees.

“They are presented an option. They make the choice. I do not take away their freewill.”

“You would if you could,” he accuses.

A devious grin comes onto Armera’s face. “Perhaps...”

“Go on,” he prompts, ignoring her pleasure at the thought.

“Owen finds that his newfound excitement brings devastating results.”

“No shit...”

“Ironically, his actions do affect another later on,” she continues.

“Of course it does,” Calnes says. “Nothing you do is by accident.”

“No, it isn’t,” she agrees with another smile. “Unfortunately for both Curce and us, Yoolock couldn’t feed. You know, one would think that he would have chosen something different—something lasting.”

“Curce is a parasite,” Calnes says with disdain. “He was a mistake.”

“A beg to differ,” Armera argues. “He is a necessary evil, if you will.”

“I’m surprised you can control him.”

“I know, especially since I couldn’t you,” she fires back. Then with a shrug, and before the man can counter, she continues, “Edith finds the inspiration she needed. The downside is she also found her old friend too inspiring to not take back with her.”

“And here I thought using sub-Brokers was for those that could swing either way without affecting time,” Calnes states.

“Remember there if freewill,” she reminds him. “Speaking of which, Mora goes on with her life and a new attitude about it.”

“I bet that gets under your skin,” he smirks.

“It’s Christmas,” she says with a shrug. “Besides, I only created the Brokers. Their success or failure means little or nothing to me.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of course,” Armera says with a nod. “I care not who wins.”

“No, of course you don’t,” Calnes says with a shake of his head.

“Since we’re on the subject of success, Garth of course doesn’t retain the attributes given to him.”

“That makes fucking Rin worth it,” he says.

“Yes, well...” she frowns. “And that brings us to Galen. Let us just say that his fate is not at all what he expected. Though I am quite certain that in the end he learned to make use of it.”

“So basically a whole bunch of lives ruined,” Calnes complains.

“Ruined?” Armera says stepping over to the bed. She crawls up on it to settle between the man’s thighs. Her hands begin to knead his thighs, fingers inches from his balls. “I don’t recall you complaining when I met you or when your world changed. These people are doomed in the span of time. They are nothing, they will be nothing and further more they leave no impact on time itself. There are rules Calnes for a reason. We live within those lines.”