by Diana Paz
Brian showed up in his BMW and white tux, his blond hair trim and neat.
“So, this is Brian,” her mom said. “So handsome!”
Julia cringed. “Mom ... please.”
Brian smiled good-naturedly. “Good evening, Ms. Corona.”
“I’ll be right back,” her mom said, smiling from ear to ear.
Brian turned back to Julia. As always, his dark eyes searched hers. “This is for you.”
“Thank you,” she murmured as he put a corsage on her wrist, a large flower that reminded her of a daisy, but with purple petals instead of white. Several smaller flowers in varying shades of lilac and violet clustered around the edges of the flower. “It’s beautiful.”
“So are you.”
She waited for that special something she always felt as he looked into her eyes. When it didn’t come she almost frowned at him. This was not the way to start a romantic evening.
His hand lingered on her wrist, making little designs there. She smiled, feeling definite butterflies. “You look great,” she said, admiring him in his prom clothes. He was everything that Ethan wasn’t. Smiling, sweet, and he made her laugh. The Fates were not going to saddle her with some predestined grump.
“Thanks,” he said. “Your dress ... wow.” He took a step back to admire her before closing the space between them. For a moment it looked like he was about to kiss her, but he held back, eyeing the hallway her mom had disappeared into.
“We should probably get going.”
“Right,” she said. There would be time enough for that sort of thing once they were at prom. “Mom, we’re leaving!”
“Hold on, hold on,” her mom said, coming back to the living room with her camera.
They posed for pictures. Her mom kept telling them to stand close and look into each other’s eyes.
“Ugh, enough,” Julia said, pulling Brian to the door. “Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, Ms. Corona,” Brian called.
“It was nice meeting you! And, mija, be home by twelve-thirty, like we talked about,” her mom said. “Or call, if anything comes up.”
“I will!”
In the car, the air felt charged with excitement. She and Brian exchanged glances and talked about random things like how neither of them knew how to yo-yo, and what their favorite kind of gum was. She got the feeling he was as nervous as she was, and it made him seem even cuter.
They arrived at the Queen Mary. In a blur they had their pictures taken, picked up their mementos, and found their seats. She was so ready for some romantic atmosphere. She had obsessed over every detail of her hair and makeup, rubbed lotion with a hint of glow over her arms and legs and everywhere else. Basically, every inch of her body had gone through Brian-prep, and she was ready for some more butterflies.
She put her napkin on her empty plate and faced Brian. “Do you want to go outside for a little while?” She cleared her throat, trying not to sound too obvious. “Get some air?”
His eyes lit up. “Sure.”
Except for a few couples staring off at the skyline against the setting sun, and one couple trying for world’s most passionate make out session, the deck was deserted. Brian led her to the rail. The sun sent waves of glittering gold across the water. She turned up to him, hoping for the kiss his eyes had promised earlier, but he kept his gaze on their interlocked hands.
“Julia, I have something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while.”
Oh no. He glanced up and she recognized the look in his eyes. They had ‘I love you’ written all over them.
“Wait.”
“I have been waiting. I keep waiting for some sign from you, something that tells me this isn’t only about making out—” He laughed, embarrassed. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving blond spikes instead of the neat style from before. She liked it. “That came out wrong. I love making out with you, it’s just ... sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who—” he exhaled in a gush. His eyes searched hers. “Julia, do you love me?”
Her heart stopped. It started up again right away, but the aftermath of heat and something like pain left her speechless.
“Julia?”
Love him? Yes. Right? Didn’t she? He kept trying to look at her, but she forgot how to look back. Did he want an answer right now?
“Never mind. I guess I’ve known for a while.”
“Wait!” Of course she loved him. This was her dreamy, butterfly-inducing Brian. She loved him. Definitely. Probably. But he wanted an answer, so she said, “Yes. I do. I love you.”
His face fell.
Oh gosh, she was ruining this, totally and completely. She sucked at romance. She might love him, dang it. Why shouldn’t she? Brian was smart, cute, nice, and funny. Fine, so she wasn’t the type of girl who drew hearts around guys’ names, but he did make her feel swoony, and she liked kissing him. A lot. “Come here, Brian,” she said, taking his hands again.
Something flickered in his eyes.
“Kiss me,” she said, surprising herself. He was such a good kisser, and maybe that was enough to get to the love part. She lifted her hands to his shoulder and leaned up on tiptoe.
“Oh, Julia,” he whispered, taking her by the waist and kissing her.
Brian knew how to kiss. He knew how to put his hand at the small of her back, pressing her hips close to his body at just the right moment. He knew how to drive every thought from her mind except the crazy heat that made her breathless.
“Is this all we’ve got?” he whispered against her neck.
Did there have to be something more? What were they, thirty? She was about to ask him—or at least tell him to lighten up a little—when she felt a vague pressure in the back of her mind. Without thinking, she followed her desire to look up.
A shadow moved on the deck, up on the promenade.
Ethan.
He looked around, as if he wanted to find someone.
She tugged Brian behind a huge horn thing that stuck out of the deck.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she whispered, daring a glance around the horn. Ethan had his back to her, looking down the opposite length of the ship.
“It’s like you’re hiding.”
Julia almost shushed him. “No. Yes. It’s, uh, more private like this, don’t you think?” She snuggled against Brian before checking Ethan’s position again. Ethan glanced across the promenade deck once more before walking back inside the ship.
She exhaled.
“I like private,” Brian said.
He kissed her again, but she couldn’t keep kissing him anymore. Ethan was way too much in her head now to be kissing someone else. And she would not think about one guy while kissing another.
Brian noticed she wasn’t into it.
She shook her head, furious with Ethan for coming here to ruin her prom. Did he have some protecting to do that required barging in on her romantic moment with Brian?
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her throat burning. “I have too much on my mind right now.”
“Why don’t you tell me what it is?”
Maybe that was the problem. She had to keep such a huge part of her life secret from him. How could her heart stand a chance at falling in love?
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, sliding out of his arms. “I just need a few minutes.” She needed to get away. Just be far away from him. Ethan might show up at any moment. She wanted to find Ethan first and give him a piece of her mind.
As soon as she walked into the ballroom, Angie’s gaze shot over at her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, but Julia kept up her ruthless stride. “Wait,” Angie called.
Julia ignored her, pushing past the bodies in the darkened hall, the music throbbing with a loud bass. Just dance, just dance.
“Julia, stop!” Angie called.
Yes, stop. She needed the world to stop. Relief flooded her. She would freeze time and make everything stop. She let Angie catch up, then
grabbed her friend’s hands, but the magic didn’t form strongly enough between them. The mark on her arm warmed only enough to let her connect with Angie’s thoughts, nothing more.
“What’s wrong with me?” Julia asked. She had gotten so good at freezing time that it hardly took any concentration at all.
“It’s not only the two of us anymore, remember?”
Her gaze flew to the doors that led out to the deck, where Kaitlyn and her friends stood gossiping. There was no more magic without Kaitlyn. At midnight, even that much would be gone.
“Tell me what happened,” Angie demanded.
Brian stepped in from across the ballroom. Julia couldn’t believe how blazing hot her face became. He hadn’t seen her, and it was better that way. She needed to get to Ethan before he barged into the ballroom looking for her. “I’ll be back in a few.”
Without looking back, she ran out of the room and into the ship’s passageways.
Chapter 10
Julia
Julia didn’t know whether she was running from Brian or toward Ethan. Maybe it was both. She couldn’t get her head straight, and slowed to a stop in the dim corridor.
Yellowed wall sconces struggled to give light. The flowery carpet and glossy wood walls seemed to go on forever.
How far had she gone?
Did it matter? She wanted as much space between her and the ballroom as she could get before Ethan found her. She had no doubt that his protector antennae would send him her way.
The mark on her arm grew warm and she rubbed it. That must be him. Should she try to find him and get this inevitable meeting over with? It wasn’t as if she could wait in this spot forever.
She pushed herself off the wall, wondering which way to go. The long hallway stretched like a mirror image in either direction. She shivered, deciding to go left. This whole ship reminded her a little too much of the Titanic. Her stomach tightened as she headed toward one of the openings that might be stairs or might be a lounge. Or might be where some eighteenth century ghost waits for stupid girls who wander ships alone.
She glanced behind her as she gnawed on her lip, unable to help the tremor of fear in her chest. Everything she had ever heard about the steamship Queen Mary raced through her mind; that it was bigger and faster than the Titanic had been, that it had crossed the Atlantic over a thousand times before retiring ... that almost seventy people died onboard. Wasn’t this ship supposed to be haunted? Where is the ballroom? I want to go back!
A figure appeared at the end of the corridor. She tripped backward, banging her head against the wall.
He stepped into the gloomy yellow light and she exhaled in relief. It was only Ethan. His eyes remained darkened by shadows, a mess of black hair falling into them.
She swallowed beneath the intensity of his stare as he moved closer. What was up with him and invading her personal space? She reached for her wrap and found only bare skin. Her wrap was back in the ballroom with Brian. “Why are you here? Do I need protecting at prom?”
He leaned back. His eyes drifted over her face, soft for a moment. “You really don’t know me?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She fidgeted beneath his gaze. They had seen each other once at Indira’s tent and once at the park. What more did he expect her to know?
He took her hand and brought it to his chest, and she sucked in a sharp breath. “You don’t feel me at all? Here?”
She could feel his heart beating against her hand.
“Because I feel you. Every second of every day.” He brought his face close to hers. She closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of him ... salty, like he had just come from the beach, along with something else. Something that made her fill her lungs and lean into him. Wild, intimate thoughts raced through her mind, shocking her. She could take hold of his face and kiss him like crazy. They were alone here in this corridor. No one would ever know.
He looked down at her hand, turning it palm down. He brushed his thumb across the skin on the back of her hand, his gaze flicking up, appearing almost confused. “Find the other Daughters,” he said, letting go of her hand. “Go to Indira. That’s what I came here to tell you. You only have until midnight to be sealed to one another, remember?”
She let out a long breath. “Don’t you think I know that? We’re not going to go through with it. Tell Indira we decided—”
“What?” he roared.
Julia jumped as his voice boomed down the hallway.
“You’re going back to being normal, while I’m stuck as a Wanderer for the rest of my life?”
“Wow! Chill out!”
“Yeah, easy for you to say. After today you won’t be stuck, alone, in some game of fate.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Find Indira,” he said. His eyes shifted back and forth, and Julia struggled to understand the pain she saw in them. “There’s a lot you still don’t understand.”
“Explain, then,” Julia began. “No, never mind. We’re done with the magic. We’re letting it fade.” That was what she and Angie had decided. That was for the best. And the sooner she got rid of the magic, the sooner she could get this jerk out of her life.
His face became ashen. He took her hands again. “Don’t do this. Please, you don’t understand.”
“No. I don’t. Because you don’t tell me jack.”
His fingers interlaced with hers. “Please.”
Ice wrapped around her ribcage. Her eyes fluttered shut as her mind became crowded with images. She saw him, but it had to be a different person. In her mind he smiled—a shy flash of white teeth. His eyes were dark brown instead of silver, and they were lit up with the sweetest look in them as he watched her. His face was relaxed, his shoulders at ease, as they walked down the beach together. She shook her head back and forth against the sight.
The image melted into another, Ethan chasing her down to the shore, catching up with her in the waves. They kissed.
Her eyes flew open and she took back her hands. What was that? The future?
He shut his eyes. When he opened them he lifted his hand to her face, catching one of her curls. “Please don’t let the magic fade.”
She didn’t want to let it fade. Not really. All the magic she had learned, and the things she had never even tried ... They were letting Kaitlyn rob them. Why shouldn’t Angie get to fulfill her destiny? Why shouldn’t they get to keep the magic?
“How?” she whispered. “How can we get to Indira in time?”
“You’re the Daughter of Present.” His eyes searched hers. “Use your power. Journey there.”
She shook her head. “I’ve never been able to do that one.”
He came close again, this time without the edge of anger. “You can do it. You’re more powerful than you think.”
He stepped into her personal space like he was used to it, the most natural thing in the world, but she felt the heat from his nearness. She couldn’t slow her hammering heart. A tilt of her head would make their lips meet, and the very thought sent her gaze to his mouth.
His hand lifted, hovering a moment beside her face before grazing her cheek. Her heart misfired. She struggled not to lean toward him.
“It’s not supposed to be tonight,” he whispered, but his palm slid down, cupping her chin.
Tonight ... yes, tonight.
“Julia!” a girl called. “Where are you?”
Angie.
Of course she would come after her.
Ethan took her in his arms and whispered close against her ear, “Find Indira. Please, Jules, please don’t leave me alone.”
“Where are you?” Angie called, louder this time.
Ethan pressed his lips to her neck. She shuddered. He took one of her curls, sliding it between his fingers as he let her go.
Her breath hitched. He turned and raced down the opposite end of the hall without a backward glance.
A moment later, Angie appeared. “Thank goodness. What are you doing?”
Her wh
ole face went hot. A sick wave of scum bagginess overwhelmed her as she thought of Brian. “The Fates. Everything has my head messed up. I needed some time.”
“The magic didn’t turn out like we thought,” Angie said, her eyes dropping. She looked younger than usual in her pale pink gown and half-up hairstyle. Glitter trailed along the edges of her cheeks and shimmered in the pale light. “I think this is the right thing. We can’t seal ourselves to Kaitlyn, we just can’t.”
Julia didn’t answer. Angie slipped her satin-gloved arm around Julia’s bare one. Even through the fabric, their connection formed. Julia bit her lip. If she had Kaitlyn’s magic, she would be able to try to Journey them.
As soon as they reached the ballroom, Julia scanned the crowd.
“Where the hell have you two been?” a voice demanded.
Angie’s pale brows came together. She drew back. “It’s Kaitlyn. Let’s go.”
“Tonight’s the last night to be sealed,” Kaitlyn said. “There is no way I’m giving up the magic.”
Julia’s breath came faster. Ethan said she could Journey them anywhere she wanted to go. It would mean forcing the use of her power. Angie still held Julia by the arm. All she needed was Kaitlyn to come a little bit closer.
“You may as well know,” Angie said, her voice soft. “We’re not going through with it.”
Kaitlyn’s green eyes flashed. She closed the space between them.
The moment she was within reach, Julia grabbed her arm.
The magic flared to life between the three of them, strong and sweet, waiting for one of them to harness it. She only had a few seconds before Angie realized what she was doing. She drew in the magic as quickly as she could. As the power built, strange emotions filled her ... love, pain, and an envy so strong her heart beat faster because of it. Kaitlyn? Jealous of whom? Julia squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t be distracted by their emotions. She already sensed Angie’s confusion probing her mind.