“Shorty, she can’t stay home. She has too much work to do, and Char can’t do it all alone. It’s too bad there isn’t someone else Char could call to fill in for ya, Sweets. I’m sure one of us would do it if we didn’t have finals this week.”
Jax sat down on the corner of the bed. I could tell the wheels were spinning in her mind.
“Yeah, but finals aren’t until tomorrow, and yesterday we literally did nothing in class,” I said. It was the truth. We hadn’t done anything in class because we hadn’t had class.
“We didn’t?” asked Jax.
I shook my head. “Nope. It’s pretty much just study time right now. I don’t even get why we have to go to class this week. I’d watch the bakery for you, Sweets, but I’ve missed too many classes this year already. Stone threatened to kick me out of school if I missed any more.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not working at a bakery,” said Alba. “I don’t do baking, and I don’t do customer service. They’re not my thing.”
“You can say that again,” said Holly. “Well, I have to turn a paper in today, so I can’t miss class.”
“It’s okay, girls, it’s really not necessary. I can go in to work today.”
I tried hard not to look at Jax. I wanted her volunteering to be authentic and not forced. It took her a second of milling it over in her mind for Jax to finally nod. “I’ll take your place today, Sweets.”
Sweets looked at Jax coyly. “Oh, Jaxie, I can’t let you do that.”
Jax stood up. “No, I want to. Really.” She smiled excitedly. “It’ll be a great change of pace. Besides, the fact of the matter is, there’s no way I’m passing this year anyway. Without my powers, I can’t pass a single finals exam. You girls all have a chance to move on to the next year. You all need to go to class. Plus, I really want you all to find some time to get to the library to figure out how to reverse the curse.” She nodded as if she’d made up her mind. “Plus, it’s my fault you’re sick anyway. I want to do this.”
Sweets cocked her head sideways. “That’s so sweet of you, Jax. I think maybe I’ll let you. I really could use the sleep. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
I beamed at her. “Okay, well, then, if that’s settled, Jax, you should probably be getting off to work. Do you need a ride?”
“It’s only a few blocks away. I can walk.” Jax pulled on her pointy-toed witch boots over her pink striped leggings. “Are you going to be okay here alone all day, Sweets?”
Sweets nodded. “Linda will keep an eye on me. Mercy, can you hand me my phone? I should call Char and let her know that Jax is going to work for me today.”
After tying the laces on her witch boots, she stood up. “Tell her I’m on my way!” Jax leaned over and wrapped her arms around Sweets’ neck. “Okay, well, I hope you get to feeling better soon. I guess I’ll see you girls later.”
I handed Sweets her phone and gave Jax a wave as I finished braiding my hair. “Bye, Jax.”
Everyone said their goodbyes, and seconds later the four of us were alone in my room. Alba shut the door. “Jeez, I thought I was gonna have to give her the boot myself.”
“It happened exactly like it should have.” I looked at Sweets. “Sweets, how long will it take you to get ready?”
Sweets stood up and peeled off her nightgown, revealing that she was fully clothed underneath. “I’m ready.” She stopped short of moving and gave herself a once-over in the mirror. “Although maybe I need to do something about these circles under my eyes.”
“You’re fine, Sweets. Jax was seeing things. Alright, let’s go get Reign, and we’re outta here.”
Holly clapped her hands together excitedly. “This is going to be so fun spending the whole day with Reign. How do I look, girls?” She struck a pose, putting a hand on one hip and tossing her perfect blond waves back over her shoulder with the other hand. She wore a short skirt, wedge sandals, and a sleeveless blush-colored button-down blouse that exposed all of her cleavage.
Alba groaned. “Like a working girl, same as always.”
“Alba, you’re so mean!” snapped Holly, adjusting the small gold bracelet she wore on her wrist.
“Mean? It’s called honesty.” Alba pointed at her shirt. “That outfit is completely impractical. We’re doing magic today, not going clubbing.”
“I know that.”
“Maybe if you wore your sneakers or buttoned up your shirt or something.”
“I’m certainly not wearing sneakers with this outfit, and…” Holly looked down at her boobs. Her bra had them lifted and smashed together so the sides were touching. “This is how my shirt’s supposed to be.”
“If that was how it was supposed to be, they wouldn’t put the buttons there. But they did put the buttons there, so that means you’re supposed to button it up. Hurry up. We don’t got all day.”
Holly ran her fingers through her hair. “I don’t have to listen to you, Alba.”
Alba fisted a hand and held it up in front of herself. “Yeah? How about you listen to my—”
I jumped between the two girls before Alba could finish her sentence. “Nope. This is not happening. There is no fighting today.” I looked at Alba and then at Holly. “I’m talking to both of you. Got it?”
“We don’t have time for this, Red.”
“Call a truce. Just for today. Tomorrow, after we’ve saved Sorceress Stone and gotten Jax’s powers, then you can do whatever you want. Today we need to work like a well-oiled machine.”
“Fine. Whatever. Truce,” sighed Alba.
Holly nodded in agreement. “Yeah, truce.”
“Now hug it out,” said Sweets, pointing at them both.
“Oh, hell no! I ain’t hugging her.” Alba’s head shook disdainfully.
“Yeah, Sweets. That’s not happening. We’ll be good. You have our word. Come on, let’s go get Reign!” said Holly, breezing past me out the door, her shirt still unbuttoned.
Downstairs, Reign had a hiking backpack slung over one shoulder. “It’s about time. Jax left five minutes ago,” said Reign. “I packed us some food and a few emergency supplies. I wasn’t sure how long we’d be gone.”
Holly grinned from ear to ear and smoothed her hair down over her shoulders. “You’re so smart, Reign. I’m glad you’re going with us.”
“I’m thankful you all allowed me to go. All I want to do is help my family, especially Jax. She doesn’t deserve the hand she was dealt.”
I winced. Reign hadn’t been dealt a very good hand either. “Neither do you, bro.”
“Alright. Enough of this mushy-gushy stuff. Can we get out of here now?” asked Alba.
“Yeah. After you, girls.”
17
Before leaving Habernackle’s, I texted Libby and Cinder and told them we were on our way. The night before, Alba had texted them a list of ingredients we needed from the potions lab for our little wormhole time travel experiment. Despite the somber reason for our plan, I couldn’t help but be a little excited about getting to put our magical skills to use, especially doing it side by side with my brother.
Libby and Cinder were waiting for us in the quad when we got there. “Reign, this is Libby and Cinder.” I pointed at the twins.
I knew the girls had seen my brother before. He’d been to campus once or twice, but he hadn’t bothered to learn all of my friends’ names. “Hello,” said the twins in unison.
Reign gave them a what’s up nod. “Hey.” Then he looked around the quad. “So, where are we going to make this wormhole?”
Early-rising students milled around, here and there. With no classes for the day, it was pretty slow in the quad, but there were a few people around us.
Alba curled her lip. “You think you can say that a little louder, Slick?”
Reign lifted a brow. “I can sure try.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and pretended like he was going to yell.
Holly giggled at my brother’s lame joke.
I rolled my eyes and tugged on his arms. “Ca
n you quit? Alba’s right, this is a super private matter. We can’t afford for anyone to find out what we’re doing. Why don’t we talk about this on the back lawn? It’ll be more private back there.”
“For sure,” agreed Alba. “We’re gonna need a lot of space for what I’ve got planned. Plus, this spell requires running water.”
Sweets furrowed her brow. “Like an outdoor spigot?”
“No, like a river. I know exactly where we’re going,” said Alba. “Follow me.”
I buried my hands in the front pocket of the new Halestorm hoodie I’d found at the secondhand store downtown and followed the group past the low retaining wall that enclosed the quad and down the cobblestone sidewalk. Even though the sun was out already, the temperature hadn’t gotten very high yet, and it was still chilly. I glanced over at Holly in her sleeveless shirt, skirt, and heels. “Aren’t you cold, Holly? I’m freezing.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of cool. I suppose I should’ve brought a jacket. I wasn’t thinking we’d be outside all morning.”
I knew what she was thinking. Impress my brother. It’s what she was always thinking. Comfort came second to showing off her assets to boys.
Reign pulled off the Sherpa-lined flannel jacket he wore and put it over Holly’s shoulders.
Holly’s eyes lit up. “Reign, that’s so sweet of you. But I can’t take your jacket.”
Reign winked at her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m wearing a long-sleeve shirt and jeans. You’re wearing a mini-dress thing. I think you need it more than I do.” He rubbed his hands together and then, with laced fingers, he extended his arms in front of him, cracking his knuckles. “Besides, we’ll be firing up some magic soon. That’ll surely warm us up.”
Holly grinned and settled into the jacket. “You know, I don’t think I know much about the kind of magic you do.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I don’t either. Spill, big bro.”
Reign lifted his chin to smile at both of us coyly. “Wouldn’t you like to know!”
“We would, actually.”
Reign wiggled his fingers. “Let’s just say I’ve got more than one trick up my sleeve.”
I could tell Holly wanted to cling to his arm, but she resisted. She was trying to play it cool. “Are you going to show us sometime?”
“Maybe. I definitely don’t like using my powers for no reason, but if something ever comes up, I won’t hesitate to use them.”
Cinder looked around. “Alright, I’m bored already. So, what’s the plan?”
Alba pointed ahead at the big empty field just behind the Institute’s buildings. The grass had finally greened up, and Seymour Hartford, the school’s custodian and maintenance man, had mowed it just the day before. The scent of freshly cut grass hung in the air. “There’s a small river that runs through campus. It’s that way. We’ll do the spell there.”
Following Alba’s lead, I took a step off the cobblestone sidewalk and onto the lush green carpet. Small pieces of dewy grass clung to my Converse sneakers. “Eww, it’s all wet,” I complained, holding my feet up. At this rate, they would be soaked by the time we got all the way to the brook on the other side of the field.
Holly stopped on the path and looked down at her sandaled feet. She wrinkled her nose. “It is?”
Alba looked back at her. “See, what’d I tell you? You shoulda worn your sneakers.”
Holly rolled her eyes. Then she reached down to take off her shoes. “It’s no big deal. I’ll just go barefoot.”
Reign looked at down at her feet. “Don’t do that. How about a piggyback ride instead?”
None of us could believe our ears. My brother was offering Holly a ride? On his back?! I mean, I understood, she was wearing sandals and he was wearing army boots, but still. Weird.
Holly smiled excitedly. “Yeah, Reign. That would be great.”
Reign unloaded the backpack he’d been carrying and handed it to me. “Carry the food?”
I sighed but took it from him and slung it over my shoulders. Reign squatted slightly and Holly climbed aboard. “Jeez, Holly, you’re light as a feather,” said Reign, standing back up again.
She squeezed her arms around his neck. “Am I?”
“Yeah, do you ever eat?”
Holly giggled. “Of course I do. You’re just super strong, that’s all.”
Alba and I rolled our eyes. The flirting made me want to vomit, I could only imagine it was doing the same to Alba and the rest of the girls. But we had to ignore it and press on, there was work that needed to be done. Our large group tromped across the damp grass, and when we got to the graveyard in the center of the field, Alba hooked a left. We kept going until finally, we came to a narrow river that ran all the way from our campus straight through the heart of Aspen Falls. The spot Alba picked was a wide-open flat plain where the river had narrowed. The sound of rushing water and birds chirping in the branches of nearby trees filled the air. “This’ll do.”
Libby and Cinder looked surprised. “I had no idea there was a river back here,” said Cinder.
Libby looked around in awe. “Me either.”
Alba nodded. “We saw it when we took flying lessons last fall. I think it’s gonna work perfectly.”
Cinder handed Alba the backpack of supplies she’d brought from the potions lab. “So now what?”
“Now, we make a wormhole.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing, Alba?” asked Holly, still clinging to Reign’s back.
“Yeah, of course I know what I’m doing, Cosmo. Why?”
“Well, if it’s so easy to do that a couple of relatively inexperienced witches can do it, then why isn’t time travel a big thing?”
Alba looked at Holly blankly. I could tell it was something she’d never considered. “I don’t know. I guess because not everyone in the world has powers. Maybe more people are doing it than we realize. I really don’t know,” she admitted.
“Maybe people don’t do it because it’s morally wrong or something,” suggested Sweets.
“Morally wrong?” I asked. “How’s it morally wrong?”
Sweets shrugged. “I don’t know. Churches and other religious organizations probably disagree with time travel for some reason. Maybe that’s why more people don’t do it.”
Alba squinched her eyes like we were giving her a headache and shook her head. “No. More people don’t do it because it’s hidden in some obscure magical book on the third floor of the Great Witch’s Library, and it’s protected by a ghost. That’s why more people don’t do it. It worked just fine for Davis Krasnikov. At least in the parts that I read.” She mumbled that last part. “Listen, are we gonna sit around debating the moral and ethical implications of this, or are we just gonna do it?”
“Wait a minute. You didn’t even finish reading the book?” asked Holly.
“I got through the important parts! I can’t believe you guys are questioning me right now. I didn’t see any of you staying up late to read with me.”
Reign stood up straighter and helped Holly down off his back. “I think we should just get started. This could turn out to be a very long day if you all keep arguing with one another.”
I stifled a laugh. Reign didn’t even know the half of it. This was like the tip of the iceberg with their arguing.
“Alright, alright, let’s get started.” Alba navigated down closer to the edge of the creek and opened up the bag of ingredients. She pulled out a small knapsack and handed it to Libby. “Here, you and your sister take this and sprinkle it in a circle over there where it’s flat.”
Libby looked around. “How big of a circle?”
Alba pulled the book out of her bag and flipped through the pages of the book until she found the passage she was looking for. “Krasnikov made his circle six meters in diameter.”
“How many feet is that?” asked Sweets.
“About twenty,” said Libby, pouring out a portion of the contents of the bag into her hand.
“I’ll walk it off for yo
u,” said Cinder, counting out the measurements by walking.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing at the dark granules that Libby poured on the ground in a circle.
“It’s finely ground magnetic powder,” said Alba.
“Magnetic powder,” said Reign with surprise. “Whoa, I had no idea that’s how you made a wormhole.”
“Well, hang on to your boxers, because there’s more.” Alba walked over to Libby and held out her hand. “Pour out what you need to finish the circle. I need the bag for the other side of the river.”
Cinder poured a handful into her sister’s hand and handed Alba the bag. “Here you go.”
Alba handed it to Sweets. “I need another circle on the other side of the river. It needs to be the same size as this one.”
Sweets took the bag as Alba pulled a long, pointed chef’s knife from the bag.
Sweets’ eyes widened. “Holy macaroni! What’s that for?”
Alba dropped the knife onto the ground. “It’s for slicing open a new time window.”
I wasn’t sure if I understood what she meant. “A new time window?”
Alba nodded. “It’s like cutting a door out of a wall.” She walked to the edge of the small river and tossed a second knife to the other side. “I need you on that side, Sweets. Take Cosmo, she can help you.”
Sweets locked arms with Holly, and together the two of them walked to the creek’s bank and looked to the other side. It was too wide for them to jump across, and I knew neither of them wanted to wade through the water. “A little help here?” said Sweets.
“Ohhh, let me,” I begged, wiggling my fingers. “I need the practice.”
Holly lifted one carefully sculpted brow. “We should trust you?”
“Yeah, Mercy, you better not drop us,” agreed Sweets.
“I’ll try not to.” Even though I didn’t feel confident, I was badly in need of practice if I was going to pass my kinetic energy final. I smiled as I concentrated on collecting the needed energy from things around me.
Alba eyed me wearily. “You sure about this, Red?”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry. I can do it. One at a time, though. Sweets, you’re first.”
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