Timespell (34 page)

Angie glanced around, gasping for breath as the truth sank in. They had done it. This time and place in history would be forever safe from the Sorceress, all events now made permanent and unalterable, including whatever influence and impressions she and the other Daughters had left.

Angie looked up as another cannon boom shook the earth. For once, Julia didn’t cower at the sound. She took a step forward, her hand clutching her throat.

Angie followed her gaze. A figure stumbled forward.

It couldn’t be. Angie shook her head. It wasn’t possible. His body had been torn to shreds.

Julia raced across the lawn.

“Wait,” Angie screamed, easily catching up with her. Julia tried to tear herself away with astonishing strength, but Angie hung on.
“Wait.
It can’t be him. We saw him die! It has to be a glamour.”

Ethan took another staggered step before sinking to the grass.

“It’s him,” Julia said, her voice thick with emotion. “Let me go.
Let me go!”

She broke loose and Angie followed after her, watching Ethan’s relief at the sight of her. Julia clung to him.

“You’re okay,” she sobbed. “You’re okay.”

“Of course I’m okay,” he said. He held her for a moment, unconcerned, his body whole, his shirt no longer soaked in blood—

His shirt.

It was dark blue, not white.

The Ethan who had died had been wearing different clothes.

Angie’s gaze snapped up.

The Ethan who had died ... could that have been an Ethan from another thread of time?

She clenched her skirts. The possibility that they just witnessed Ethan’s future exploded through her mind.

Cannons boomed as she caught Kaitlyn’s gaze across the smoky courtyard. Slowly, the dark-haired girl approached. Kaitlyn pressed her hand against Angie’s arm.
When I was with Indira, she was running from you. But you looked different.

Angie swallowed.
It wasn’t me, was it? Not dressed as I am.

No.
A small wave of guilt flowed out from Kaitlyn.
I tried to blast you. You were too good, though.

Angie didn’t know what to make of that lopsided compliment. Her thoughts remained trained on the events of Ethan’s death. Kaitlyn said another Angie had been after them. Perhaps Ethan and the three of them had come from farther along in the future to make sure Indira was hexed. Maybe without their help and Ethan’s sacrifice they wouldn’t have been able to do it. She twisted and untwisted the sash at her waist. Something Indira said came back to her.

Two years’ time ... In two years’ time, the events of this night would repeat, except tonight Indira had done something different. Whatever it was had led to Indira finally becoming hexed, though it had cost Ethan his life.

The gunfire became louder. She placed a hand on Julia’s shoulder.
I think I know what happened.

Julia’s voice entered her mind.
I do too. That was a future Ethan. That’s how he’s going to die someday. Saving us.

You can’t tell him,
Angie said, feeling her friend’s pain and resolve through their connection.

I will tell him. And I will save him right back.

You can’t. If he knows, he may do something differently. Whether he’s meant to die or meant to live in two years is up to the Fates.

No. We choose our own fate.

“Guys,” Kaitlyn said. “We need to go. Now.”

Angie looked across the courtyard. Hundreds of soldiers ran toward them, all with guns drawn and faces twisted in blood fury.

Kaitlyn’s eyes flashed white and Angie shuddered, seeing her look so exactly like the Fate who had taken over her body.

The golden threads spread out before them and Angie searched, looking for the only future showing the world frozen in time. The soldiers came faster.

“Hurry,” Julia whispered as a succession of cannons boomed through the night.

Angie looked through thread after thread. Wouldn’t
any
future be better than being killed by an army? What would happen if they went to a future that was days or months before their proper time?

“Angie!”

She found it, the world in its entirety as frozen and still as the pictures on a digital camera. She latched on and used the last of her magic to Voyage them through time just as the first set of gunshots were fired.

The past and future melded in her thoughts. The world swirled around them until at last they lay gasping on the ground. She rolled onto her back and looked up at the point of a glass pyramid. She sat up.

They were inside the time-frozen Louvre Museum of Paris.

Julia
sat up. She barely noticed the glass walls surrounding them on all sides. She didn’t care where they had ended up. All she knew was that Ethan was alive and she needed to bring him over.

“Where are we?” Kaitlyn asked.

Julia didn’t hear Angie’s response. She rose to her knees and thrust out her hands. Her eyes shut as she searched for him.

“Find me, Wanderer.” She focused all her energy on the sight of him, running for his life from a band of enraged soldiers.

Her hands filled with icy mist as he disappeared from the grounds of Tuileries. Please let him be okay, she thought, biting her lip as she imagined a bullet catching him at the final moment before she summoned him.

“Come on, come on,” she whispered, watching the swirls of pale gray take the form of a person. She remembered the last time she had summoned him ... the sticky feel of blood on his lifeless hands. Her heart stopped at the memory. She groaned at the wash of anguish. But the hands that pressed into her palms
were firm and warm, dry fingers interlacing with hers. Her right hand throbbed with pain as his fingers curled into her wound. She hissed, but didn’t pull away.

For a moment she could only look at him. “You’re okay,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him.

“You remembered me.” He buried his face in her hair, holding her close. “It’s the first time you remembered.”

She would never forget him after this. How could she have ever been so stupid? She hugged him tighter, savoring the feel of his soft stubble against her cheek. That’s how she had figured out that there had been two different Ethans tonight. The Ethan who died had been smooth-shaven. Her Ethan never was.

He pulled away, glancing at his hand in confusion. Blood painted his fingertips and he rubbed them together, his brows drawing close. “Let me see your hand.”

She extended her hand and he took it gently, concern etched across his features as he turned it over. At the sight of her wound, he sucked in his breath.

“How did you get this?”

She shook her head vaguely. “Indira ... it was the same blade she used on Kaitlyn.”

“You and Kaitlyn need a doctor,” Ethan said, pulling away. “You guys should teleport back home.”

She searched his eyes, tucking her hand against her chest. “How are you getting back to Santa Monica?”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out his wallet and passport. “I was going to ask for your help with these.”

Julia frowned softly as her gaze dropped to the documents. “I don’t understand.”

“You need to glamour them. Cast a spell on them that makes people believe whatever they need to believe to let me on a plane, so if it comes to that, I have a way to get home.”

“I don’t know any spell that could do something like that,” she said. “Seriously? That’s like mind control.”

Angie stepped forward, her lips disappearing as she pressed them together.

“Is there a spell that does this?” Julia asked.

Angie nodded mutely and held out her hand. Ethan walked forward and placed the documents in Angie’s waiting palm. Her mark of magic changed from gold to swirling, shimmering white. “Persuasion,” she breathed, her eyes sliding shut as her palm began glowing, surrounding the passport with pale luminescence.

“How long will that last?” Julia asked, more than a little shocked at the power of this new spell.
Persuasion.
They could make people believe anything?

“The item is charmed. It will remain that way until I remove the charm, but the lies people believe will only last a short time, especially without one of us there to keep the magic flowing into their minds.” She lifted her gaze to Ethan’s. “Be careful.”

He nodded.

Julia tucked her hair behind her ear. “I guess you’re all set, then.”

He nodded, his eyes lingering on her face. She felt the trace of his presence in her mind like a caress.

Let me know when you’re home safe,
he said.

I will.
She reached toward his mind, finding only a cool wall. Her eyes stung, but it didn’t matter that he still felt resentment toward her because of Brian. The only thing that mattered was that he was okay.

He withdrew from her thoughts, turning around and heading to the exit.

Angie held out her hand. “Ready?”

Julia bit her lip. Everything that happened had left her drained. But one glance at Kaitlyn sitting at the top of some stairs with her injured face in her hand settled it. “Yes, I can do it. I’m ready.”

Kaitlyn approached them. For a moment her gaze was vulnerable as she took Julia’s hand.

It’ll be okay,
Julia told her.

Kaitlyn kept her slashed face covered with her free hand. She didn’t reply.

Julia drew the magic into herself, grateful that Kaitlyn didn’t hold back. Julia waited until she felt swollen from the warm energy, her skin practically buzzing from how much magic coursed through every inch of her. It was enough to Journey them home. It had to be.

The world dropped away. Their bodies became ghost-like, speeding up through the glass pyramid and out toward the goal in Julia’s mind—a brightly lit Ferris Wheel, a rollercoaster, and hundred-year-old carousel. The Santa Monica Pier.

Mountains, cities, and soon the vast ocean sped below them. Whether it took moments or hours, Julia had no clue, but when at last the East Coast came into view she felt a rush of intense relief. At least if she lost her hold on the magic now, they wouldn’t land in the icy sea.

Land us here,
Angie said, breaking into her thoughts.
You can rest a minute.

Julia pushed forward, too focused to answer. She didn’t want to rest. She could make it to Santa Monica. She
knew
she could do it.

The dark night sky spread endlessly before them. They were a part of it, high as the stars, it seemed, but she couldn’t last much longer. Julia strained against the weakened pulse of magic emanating from her arm. They dipped, their bodies solidifying slightly as Julia’s magic weakened. The enormous Ferris wheel came into sight as they fell again, their now-solid bodies too heavy for Julia to Journey anymore. All she could do was aim for a patch of grass as they dropped.

“Sorry,” she said, breathless as she fell back on the lawn.

Angie sat up and smiled. “You did it!”

Julia tried to steady her breathing as she glanced at Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn watched her without the underlying malice Julia was used to. “Nice job.”

“Thanks. I guess it wasn’t my worst landing.” She got to her
feet and leaned against a nearby palm tree. “Should I unfreeze time?”

“Not yet,” Kaitlyn said, walking toward the sand. “I don’t want time to start. Once it does, everything is going to be different.” She turned her vivid green eyes back to them. “I don’t want it to be.”

Even in the dim lamplight, Julia could see the worry and fear lining Kaitlyn’s face. “Whenever you’re ready.”

They stood there, gazing out across the black, silent ocean. No wind whipped their hair, no waves pounded the shore. The entire world remained frozen, and Julia suppressed a shiver. Kaitlyn was right. Their lives were never going to be the same again. They belonged to the Fates now. She shut her eyes, sensing Ethan’s presence in the back of her mind. The familiar caress sped away almost as soon as she felt it arrive.

She tried to latch onto his presence before it fled, fumbling with their connection like she always did.
Ethan? I feel you—felt you.

Silence met her.

She pressed her lips together, her head dropping forward.
I’m back home. If you have any trouble with the airport or anything, let me know, okay?

Again, silence.

Her throat closed up as she withdrew.
He’s just so far away,
she thought, knowing more than an ocean separated them, and more than his brother stood between them. It seemed insignificant now, with the memory of his lifeless eyes still fresh in her mind. He may never care for her, but he was alive. And she would make sure that the night in Tuileries would never repeat itself.

Kaitlyn
gave herself one last look in the school’s scratched and tagged up bathroom mirror. Had it only been a week since prom? The girls’ locker room brought back a fresh wave of memories as she stared at her reflection. Her gaze was forever drawn to the scar, still pink from healing, curving like a hideous grin from the corner of her lip almost to her ear. It was raised and shining and ugly and made the skin on her cheek pucker and twist when she smiled. Not that there was any danger of her smiling, though. The thought of her mother’s thinly veiled horror every time she looked at her was enough to keep away any chance of that.

She had told her family that she had gotten into a fight. Her father wanted the head of the person responsible on a platter, but she had been an uncooperative victim. It wasn’t as if she could say much that would make sense. Her mother’s reaction had left Kaitlyn cold inside. She shut her eyes as her mother’s words echoed in her mind.
“There’s no hope then, doctor? She’ll be this way forever?”

“Your daughter is still a very beautiful girl. We did everything we could. With time, the color should even out. Perhaps the right make-up ...”