“They wouldn’t mark you,” he said. “Not like this, anyway. It would be too easy for someone from the Rendezvous to find you again before you could get back to your father. The Rendezvous doesn’t like to use this kind of magic, but they will if they have to—and they would to save you. You mean too much to lose.”
“Right back at you,” I said without hesitating.
“Don’t exaggerate, Michelle.”
“Don’t downplay yourself in front of me.”
Andrew shook his head. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Hey, at least we know we can rescue you if you get in trouble,” I said, trying very hard to find a silver lining—especially when I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was trying to walk away from the conversation. He wanted to escape so he didn’t have to accept that I was right and that he was just as valued as I kept insisting he was.
Andrew smirked. “No, they’d take the mark off once they had me back in the Family,” he said. “This is really just a way to make sure I pay for every moment away from them—and to drag me back to them kicking and screaming—as if making me miserable isn’t enough.”
“For the record,” I said, my hand on the doorknob, “if they come for you, they’ll have to get through me first. Not to mention Elaine.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s my job. I’m the bodyguard—how many times do I have to remind you both?”
“Not listening to you,” I sang out, waving him off before I closed the door behind me.
With the door closed, I couldn’t hear the hustle and bustle outside the house as Theresa, Santo, and everyone else in the village put an evacuation plan into place. I could feel the thrum of energy in the air all around me, of course, but I could ignore that and focus instead on the captive woman in front of me.
I leaned forward and rested my chin on clasped hands. I had to admit that part of the reason I’d defended Andrew so fiercely was that I could empathize with him more than he realized. Not just because I knew the struggle of coming from a family that all our friends wanted to take down but also because, like me, Andrew wanted to love them anyway.
I’d never heard anyone call Andrew anything but his given name or the near-epithet “mercenary,” and yet here was this woman I’d never met who called him “Andy.” I had to think that when they were growing up together, it had been a term of endearment. And I had to wonder if she would have hesitated to put that beacon on him if she’d been allowed to spend more time away from the Family’s influence like Andrew had.
She was a lot like Christopher, my little brother, who couldn’t get out from under my father’s thumb. He was a puppet, desperate for our father’s approval, wasting away by throwing himself into whatever mission he thought would earn that attention.
The way Andrew talked about the Family, I could recognize some of that same desperation. They all wanted to keep the patriarch of the family happy; they wanted to gain favor and favoritism.
Wendy was still healing very slowly, the barest hint of her healing power sneaking through the ropes that kept her from consciously accessing magic, so I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts as I sat with her, though I didn’t take my gaze off of her. Not when I knew how powerful the Family was, and not when I had promised Andrew I wouldn’t let her get the drop on me. Still, I have to admit I jumped when the door handle turned—I hadn’t been expecting any visitors.
And I definitely hadn’t been expecting Tara.
Tara completely ignored my incredulous look as she sat down next to me, smiling as easily as if she was simply joining me to take a stroll through my past.
“Your sister would kill me if she found out I let you anywhere near a member of the Family,” I told her.
Tara waved a hand. “My sister has more important things to worry about. I have seen how I die, and I can assure you, I do not die here.”
“O . . . kay.” I shook my head. “I’m not entirely sure what the proper response is to that, if I’m honest.”
“I hear that a lot,” Tara said, a quiet smirk tugging at her expression.
I shook my head at her and then tipped my head toward Wendy. “So, what brings you here? This isn’t exactly exciting work.”
“Not at the present moment,” Tara said. “But there is much to come.” She paused and seemed to look elsewhere before she turned back to me with a sad smile. “What is happening now shapes the events of the future, so what would be the point of seeing the future when it is happening now?”
“Right. I didn’t understand a word of that.”
“Then I must not have explained myself very well,” Tara said apologetically.
“I’m sure you did, but I don’t have the same temporal vocabulary you do,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile. “And, to be honest, I’m distracted, so I probably wouldn’t have the brainpower to keep up even if I did have the vocabulary.”
Tara nodded, following my gaze to Wendy. “You care deeply about the Traitor,” she said. “He needs it. It is not easy to break from generations of tradition.” Her eyes sparkled with hidden laughter. “As you know—and will know.”
“I was just thinking about that,” I said. “The similarities between us.”
“Coincidences are very rarely coincidences,” Tara said, her eyes sparkling again. “I do not seek out every detail of any single person’s future, but those that shape the world all seem to come from the same mold. Often, their place in Time includes a litany of people of similar mind or circumstance.” She shrugged. “We learn by repetition and by example, after all. Being surrounded by those we can learn from only helps us to reach our greatest potential.”
“You mean there’s a reason we’re friends?”
“There is a reason for everything,” Tara said.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” I said.
Tara didn’t respond and instead fell into silence as she watched Wendy. “She softens his heart,” Tara said suddenly. “In a time that might have been, he was happy and playful. He has that soul, that heart and laughter. But this is the time that is, not might have been, and he does his duty. He tells lies and severs ties and never looks back. But she makes him want to throw that life away in favor of a new one. A better one.” She sighed. “It must be so hard to have a heart like that and to be forced to lock it away, to be trained to never let it out.”
“He’s choosing the Rendezvous now,” I said.
“He is choosing his heart,” Tara corrected me. Then, she paused and turned my way to fix me with one of her more penetrating looks. “You do the same. And I think you encourage others when they see how brave you are to do it.”
“There’s nothing brave about me,” I insisted. “I just help the people I care about.”
Tara shook her head and leaned back. “You have not learned from the Traitor, then. Would you call him brave to turn his back on his Family?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“And are you not brave to fight against your own family?”
“You make it sound more heroic than it actually is,” I said, rubbing my arms above the elbows—and then stopping when I realized that Andrew had said pretty much the exact same thing to me not long ago.
Tara’s smile widened. “Maybe,” she said and then turned her attention back to Wendy. “But know this: your heart has not gone unnoticed. And as you choose to follow it, others will follow theirs.” She smiled. “You have a good future. I am only sorry there is so much that must be done to get there.”
I let out a breath at that. “Yeah, well, nothing that’s worth anything is ever easy.”
Chapter 13: It’s Just a Day for Betrayals, Apparently
Tara, what are you thinking?”
I wasn’t sure whether to be vindicated or afraid when Theresa came bursting into the room. I mean, I’d told Tara her sister wouldn’t like her decision to stay there with me and a Family member—even an unconscious one. But I’d also told her that Theresa would probably take my head off, and I didn’t want to b
e proven that right.
Tara, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm and even smiled at Theresa as she got to her feet. “I wanted to keep the Balance company,” she explained. “There was never any danger in my sitting here while you enacted your plan.” She held out her hands and looked downcast. “And I did not want to get in your way.”
Theresa’s glare dropped immediately, and she stepped forward to envelope her sister in a hug. “You’re not in the way,” she promised. “You never are.” She pulled back so she could look Tara in the face. “Besides, I would much rather you get in the way than put yourself in danger.”
“I already told you: I’m in no danger,” Tara said. “I know how I die. It is not here. I told you that already.”
Theresa smiled tightly at that. “Yes, you did.”
I could see the loophole I knew Theresa had already picked up on, judging by her expression. Tara said she didn’t die there, but the evacuation meant they were going somewhere else—away from the one place Tara had ruled out as a danger to herself.
“Do you want any more help?” I offered. “We’ve just been talking.”
Theresa turned my way and shook her head. “You aren’t just talking. You’re standing guard. You’re exactly where you were told to be.”
“I still thought I’d offer.”
Theresa smiled and shook her head. “We’re almost ready to go. Santo is already leading a group of the younger and less powerful of my people out.”
“Good.” I got to my feet and brushed my hands off on my jeans. “I’m really sorry we brought trouble down on you guys.”
Theresa let out a long sigh that seemed to carry her patience with it. “I’m sorry I lost my temper with you,” she said softly. “I knew I was taking a risk allowing you to come here, especially bringing people as tightly watched as you, Elaine, and Andrew are.”
“Individually, they are tempting targets,” Tara mused. “Together, they are both unstoppable and irresistible.”
“Thanks, Tara,” I said dryly, and she beamed at me.
“She’s not wrong,” Theresa said. “That’s probably why Elaine sticks with you. If the Royalists want all three of you, there is safety in numbers.”
“I’ll make sure to remind Andrew of that,” I muttered.
“I’m sure he thinks it applies to everyone but him,” Theresa said, then pressed her lips together. “But this isn’t the time to talk about that. I came to get you. Our perimeter alert spells have already picked up a group of soldiers headed this way, and you need to leave with your friends before they get here.”
“What about Wendy?”
Theresa shook her head. “Leave her. She’s still healing, and it will take her some time to get out of here.”
“I’m pretty sure Andrew would say it’s a bad idea to underestimate her,” I said.
“Andrew thinks his family is the ultimate answer to everything,” Theresa said, waving her hand—and I couldn’t stop from snorting. She wasn’t wrong. “She’s unconscious, healing, and restrained. The Family may be formidable, but they aren’t unstoppable.”
“No, but they do everything they can to be as close to unstoppable as it’s possible to be,” I pointed out, coming to Andrew’s defense mostly because the paranoid part of me that had managed to evade my father’s forces so long couldn’t take the risk of not taking Andrew seriously. If Wendy escaped, things could get bad—fast. I wasn’t going to ignore that.
All the same, Theresa ushered us out of the room. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll put a perimeter spell around this room,” she said, pausing in the doorway to work a spell before she closed the door. “If she leaves this room, you and I will know about it.”
“That would make me feel better, yes,” I said. “Considering I promised Andrew I’d handle things here.”
“Blame me if you have to. I’m not afraid of him,” Theresa said, though this time, she had a hint of laughter behind her gaze at the thought of taking Andrew on.
“I’m not either.”
“No?” Theresa peered at me for a long time before she smirked. “Maybe not, but you do care too much what he thinks.”
“Yeah, I’ve been told that’s my Achilles heel—caring.”
“Your heart is your future,” Tara agreed, her eyes wide as she slowly nodded.
“Thanks, Tara.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled at me and then took her sister’s arm as we rushed to catch up with the others.
We were nearly there when we heard the sound of Elaine and Andrew’s argument. I’m sure it started quietly, but we happened to time our appearance around the corner exactly as Andrew lost his temper.
“You’re not seeing sense!” he shouted.
He was nearly toe to toe with Elaine, and though Andrew had almost a foot of height advantage over Elaine, she looked taller, somehow. Or more powerful. Either way, she didn’t look the least bit intimidated as she glared up at him, her hands in fists and her chin thrust out. I knew without even hearing what had already been said that Andrew would lose the argument—that was the body language of a princess who wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer.
“I’m not seeing sense?” she shot right back. “You’re the one looking at things too narrowly. If you split off, you’re painting a target on your back for the goblins to find you on top of the target your sister already put on you!”
“If I stick with the group, we can’t hide,” Andrew shot back. “You’re really willing to put everyone at risk like that?”
“We can deal with the Royalists,” Elaine said, waving her hand to dismiss his concern. “You know we can. And once we get out of goblin territory, then we can reassess—and you can tell me exactly where you stand with your family.” She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Now that you’re finally in the business of telling me the truth.”
I winced. Ooh. Low blow, I thought. But then, it was also a perfectly legitimate one.
Andrew knew it too, judging by how quickly he stepped back from Elaine. “I . . .” He let his stammered response hang in the air before he closed his mouth and nodded. “Yes. Of course.”
If Elaine noticed the shift from person to soldier, she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she looked past Andrew and, when she saw me, waved me over. “We need to get moving,” she said. “We can’t risk your father getting a hold of you again, not after all the work we put into helping you get your mind back.”
“Elaine—”
“Not right now.”
I frowned, but Elaine had already rushed past me to where Theresa and Tara were waiting with Tony, Aaron, and Izzy. It looked like we were the last ones to leave the village, though I could see Theresa sweeping the village with her gaze and with a spell, making doubly sure that she hadn’t missed anyone or anything.
“We’ll get you past the goblins,” Theresa told Elaine once she was satisfied that we were, in fact, the last ones out. “Once we’re beyond their territory, Tara and I will go back to our family.”
“And you know how to contact us if you get into any trouble,” Elaine said.
“If I had a cell phone number, I’d give that to you too,” I said.
And look, I’d meant it as a quip—and a quiet dig at the way Elaine relied on old-fashioned pen and ink and magic to do everything that humans could do a lot faster. But Theresa apparently didn’t take it either of those ways. Instead, she raised an eyebrow and then reached into her pocket to toss me her cell phone.
“I already know your number this way,” she said in explanation. “Besides, I know you can’t afford to buy one for yourself.”
I didn’t know what to do, so I could only say a quiet, “thanks,” and pocket the cell phone.
We followed Theresa through the forests silently, though underneath that silence, I could feel a sort of quivering anticipation in the air, like the forest was uneasy about letting us pass. I wondered if it wanted us to hurry out of its trees and undergrowth so we would get to the other side and move on rather
than starting a fight in its lush greens.
I paused and rested my hand against one of the trees. I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to comfort the forest. “It’s alright,” I whispered. “We’re passing through. We’d rather not fight.”
I absolutely hadn’t been expecting the forest to respond as sharply as it did. All at once, I could feel a sense of dread wash over me—so strongly that I doubled over, taking a few shallow breaths as I fought to get better control of myself.
Izzy was behind me with Aaron, and both of them rushed the few steps forward to catch up to me, supporting me at the elbows with matching looks of concern. “You okay?” Aaron asked.
“I’m fine,” I promised in a bare whisper. “But something’s wrong.”
“Okay, you’re going to have to pick one,” Aaron said, his head tipped to the side as he watched me. “Either you’re fine or you’re not.”
“No, I’m fine,” I tried to explain. “But the forest is trying to warn me about something.”
“The forest,” Izzy repeated, both eyebrows high. “Really?”
“I can’t explain it,” I admitted as I got my feet back underneath me and stood up straighter so that they wouldn’t feel like they had to support me. “Ever since I got my memories back, I feel more open to the world around me. It’s like the world was waiting for me to be a whole person before it would fully accept me.”
“You sure you’re okay?” Izzy said, though her tone had shifted from worrying to teasing.
I nodded. “You guys know Elaine and I can work with the earth and water and stuff—this is sort of like that.”
“Only this time, it involves conversations with the Amazon,” Aaron said. He grinned crookedly and held up both hands. “Hey, I’m not knocking it. I’m just saying it sounds a little weird.”
“I know.”
“It’s nice,” Aaron said, and when I gave him an incredulous look, he grinned wider. “Here I was thinking we’d hit our limit on weird.”
“You have the strangest priorities; you know that?”
“Hey, my outlook on magic has vastly improved since we decided to take a vacation,” Aaron pointed out. “While you’ve been wandering inside your own head, Izzy and I have been catching up on movies she missed while she was in a time loop and brushing up on our soccer skills and learning how to fight monsters.”
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