Quanta Rewind

by Lola Dodge

  “It’s safe now,” Tair calls to his sister.

  Cassie flops back down on the sofa and picks up the gaming console she dropped. “Skin serum? Since when are you such a delicate flower?”

  Tair keeps reading his tablet as if he hasn’t been bothered. “What about your excuse? Sickness is a weakness, Cass. At least our parents understand vanity.”

  Cassie grumbled. “Next time I’ll say I’m booked for a facial.”

  “Careful, or she’ll drag you to the spa.”

  “Screw that. I’d rather have a contagious disease.” She paused her game. “How much longer is this vacation?”

  “Two days. We can survive two more days.”

  “Let’s hope.”

  “Wow.” I blinked back to the present. “You and Cass really partied hard.”

  “You saw her?” Tair responded a little too quickly.

  “Sorry.” I winced. Now was not the time to slip misleading comments. “Just in the past. Your mom wanted you to go to a picnic, but you claimed sensitive skin.”

  “I remember. Cass wouldn’t let that go for weeks.” His sad smile tugged at my heart.

  For a long time, Cass and Tair had only had each other. Their parents were full Seligo, and everything I’d ever seen about their pasts had shown them both as isolated in the glitzy world of social-climbing Helixes.

  I couldn’t help it anymore. I had to say the cliché support thing. “We’ll get her back.”

  Pushing his glasses up, Tair gave me a real smile. “I’m planning on it.”

  Chapter Ten

  ALTAIR

  It didn’t take long to find a hotel that would rent us a room without ID. We parked in its underground garage and scrambled the closest security cam. Knight found two more micro cams in our room—one in the main space angled toward the extra-wide king bed, and the other in the bathroom’s narrow shower. He smashed them both under his heel.

  The proprietors probably supplemented their income selling blackmail vids. It would’ve indicated the hotel was seedy anywhere else in the world, but on Ibiza, everything was luxe. Not a speck of dust covered the room’s clean white surfaces. We had built-in shelving, vases of fresh-cut orchids, and a sprawling balcony that overlooked the beach.

  A shining facade to hide the corruption underneath.

  Quanta and I tossed our packs into the corner near the sliding door, and I drew the curtains closed. We weren’t staying long enough that we needed to unpack, but we did need to prep the room for a kidnapping, and the sun was already setting.

  I claimed the desk so I could start readying tranquilizers. Dex and Devan headed back outside to hunt us new outfits under cover of her illusions. Our targets would spend the night drinking and dancing at the clubs, and we had to look as if we were there to do the same. Quanta and Cipher sat on the bed to review the Black Helixes’ names and faces while Knight organized our weapons and tech gear.

  We all had our roles and were taking the right precautions, but I couldn’t relax. Quanta was being too tight-lipped on the specifics of this night. It felt like she was hiding the details on purpose. When Dex and Devan returned laden with bags, Quanta’s groan confirmed my fears.

  “Did you have to pick that dress?” She asked.

  “What? Your visions ruined my surprise?” Dex grinned far too wide for comfort. “My style is impeccable. I chose well for you, ladies.”

  “You let him pick?” Cipher glanced to Devan in horror.

  Devan wiped a sheen of sweat from her forehead. “I don’t know what anyone wears to a club.” She blinked a little too much, and her usually brown skin was tinged with gray. If she was that exhausted, clothes were the least of our worries.

  “You look like you could use a rest.” I got her a bottle of water from the fridge, and Cipher cleared a chair.

  Devan sat like her knees had given out after a marathon. After a few sips of water, she let out a breath. “I’ll be fine. It’s always like this on the run.”

  I’d keep a better eye on her from now on. Our running had only begun, and Devan was the cornerstone of our plan. Without her, we had nothing. She had to be feeling the pressure down to her bones.

  Humming with nervous energy, I drummed my fingers against my leg. I wasn’t the only restless one in the room. Now that we were close to taking action, no one wanted to sit still.

  Only Dex was immune—or pretending to be. He passed out the bags of clothes with a too-wide grin. “Ladies? You want the bathroom first?”

  Cipher lifted her chin and headed for the bathroom without checking inside her bag. Quanta followed, muttering about see-through fabric. When the door shut behind them, Knight and I both fixed our glares at Dex.

  “What?” He lifted his hands. “Gotta look the part, right?”

  “I might have to kill you.” Knight shook his head as he started digging com equipment out of his pack.

  “Or thank me. You too, Orpheus.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Unfazed by our coldness, Dex kept grinning smugly to himself. I ignored him. I wasn’t in the mood to joke.

  Too much was riding on this night.

  Chapter Eleven

  QUANTA

  Cipher folded her arms in front of the bathroom mirror, but the motion made her glittery top bunch up in all the wrong places. Making a disgusted noise, she put her arms straight at her sides. That was the only way to stop the backless thing from falling forward and flashing everyone from both sides.

  Although “everyone” was just me at the moment, and I had my own problems. The mini dress I’d glimpsed in the future looked a hell of a lot more sheer in the too-bright bathroom lights. The white fabric clung tight as rubber, with a quarter of the coverage. It had little peekaboo mesh stripes, so even though I had more covering me than Cipher, I was leaving way less to the imagination.

  Not that I was squeamish about showing my body. I’d had surveillance cams in every cranny of my room in Nagi’s prison, and I would’ve lost my mind a long time ago if I cared about being seen naked. But this… In public…

  I tugged down my hem for what felt like the hundredth time in the five minutes I’d been wearing the dress. It just wasn’t comfortable, and I was going to have to remind myself not to fuss with it all night. I’d already seen the future. Helix girls wore even less with no self-consciousness, and Cipher and I both needed to get over our hang-ups if we were going to blend.

  Giving up on my hem, I leaned into the mirror. My hair was a tangled mess as usual. It didn’t seem worth it to comb when it just got tangled again, but tonight I’d have to make an exception. I got to work with a brush while Cipher drew on her makeup. By the time she was done, the hazel of her eyes popped.

  “Can you do mine like that?” One of the future Quantas looked painted like a clown, so I already knew what happened when I tried to do it myself.

  “Sure.” She rummaged in her makeup pouch. “Silver will look awesome on your skin tone.”

  “I’ve never worn makeup before.” And even if tonight ended up a disaster, at least that part would be a little fun.

  “Really? Close your eyes,” Cipher said as she leaned in with a color stick.

  I closed my eyes. The timeghosts didn’t swamp me as much as they used to, but when Cipher stood this close, her little corner of the universe sucked me right in.

  Cipher sits in front of a bathroom mirror wearing a fuzzy robe, her blue hair falling in soft waves as she draws on her makeup.

  Mona steps into the doorway holding a pile of clothes. “I’ve got some options…” Her voice trails as she gapes. “Holy shit. You look awesome.”

  Cipher gives her a half shrug. “I’m not inept. Just lazy when it comes to girly things.”

  “What are you smiling about now?” Cipher asked, bringing me back to the present where she was brushing something onto my eyelids.

  “You and Mona.” I hadn’t gotten to spend too much time with the two of them together, but I’d have to be blind not to see their friendship—a
nd how protective they were of each other.

  Cipher’s hand stilled. I cracked an eye open. She was chewing her lip ring like she’d forgotten I was standing here. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have reminded you.”

  She shook her head, coming back to life a little. “It’s not on you. I can’t forget her for more than a minute.”

  “She’ll be thrilled you went out dancing in that outfit.”

  Cipher snorted, but cracked a little smile. “No kidding.”

  If I could make her laugh, I’d keep piling it on. “And the heels Dex got us.”

  “No. I don’t do heels. Ever.”

  Now I couldn’t help grinning. “The future says otherwise. You’re too short to be a Helix.”

  She scowled as she finished the last touches on my makeup, but I liked scowly feisty Cipher a lot better than guilty sad Cipher, and I’d do what I could to keep her on the right side. Finally, she stepped back. “You’re done. We just have to put some gunk in your hair to keep it straight.”

  Silver shimmered around my thickened lashes, and peachy pinks colored my cheeks and lips. Between the makeup and the dress… The spotless mirror glass showed the nicest reflection I’d ever had, but it still didn’t feel like me. If anything, it reminded me of my clone.

  I shuddered, then rubbed my arms. The clone was gone, and this was just me playing the latest role I had to play to survive. Nothing new there, although I hoped I was nearing the end of that necessity. It would be nice to just be myself for any length of time.

  Cipher adjusted her top one more time, then took a deep breath as she reached for the doorknob. “Dex is going to be such a dick about this.” Pushing back her shoulders, she strode into the room.

  I peeked around the doorframe, and Knight’s expression was even better than expected. First he went still, face slack, then his gaze flicked up and down once. Twice. Three times. He looked like all the air had been sucked from the room.

  “Well?” Cipher asked.

  “You look amazing.” The love on his face twisted into irritation as he turned to Dex. “But I’m going to murder you. How am I supposed to concentrate on anything except protecting her? She’s going to be eaten alive in that club.”

  “She’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much.” Dex caught me peeking and whistled. “You staying in there all night?”

  My gaze swept past Dex. Tair sat at the desk with his science equipment. He hadn’t glanced at Cipher, but he turned to watch me step out of the bathroom.

  His gaze didn’t sweep. It devoured, taking in every speck of me in a nanosecond.

  My pulse kicked up and I resisted the temptation to look at the saucy futures. They were fuzzy anyway. Not likely with four other people in the room. I tugged my hem down again, and his hand drifted to his chest.

  I smiled. “Cardiac arrest?”

  “Yes.” Tair rubbed at his heart. “I think so.”

  I grinned like an idiot. Tair was always so buttoned up, I loved it when his less put-together side slipped out. Being the only one who could bring that out of him always made me feel a little special.

  Devan cleared her throat. “Can I use the bathroom now?”

  “Go for it.” Cipher waved her over, then hiked up her top.

  It wasn’t really the time for a sappy moment. Still, I didn’t want to stand around or I’d start pacing, and there wasn’t enough floor space. I joined Tair, perching on the edge of the desk. My hem slipped up almost obscenely high, but the constant fear that I’d flash someone kept me from worrying too much about tonight.

  “Are you going to be comfortable in that?” Tair asked.

  “Not even a little, but I’ll deal with it.” I doubted the club would let me in wearing one of Tair’s T-shirts over leggings, which would’ve been hugely preferred.

  He gripped my hand. “Are you comfortable with the plan?”

  “More or less.” We needed the Helixes to walk out of the club on their own, so any security cam footage showed them going happily home with their conquests. Cipher and I weren’t thrilled at being the bait, but Devan and the guys would be waiting in the wings if the situation tilted. “I can always rewind if there’s trouble.”

  “Are you sure? We haven’t tested your powers nearly enough.”

  “Positive.” The whole thing with the clone really had screwed with my mojo, but I’d never been able to rewind time on a dime, so I wasn’t worried that I hadn’t been able to while we were training in the hangar. It took blood or a serious near-death situation to jolt me into the right focus for reversing space-time. Speaking of which—“I’ll set a new reset point here.”

  “Take as much time as you need,” Tair said, patting my arm.

  While Cipher and the others fussed with their tech gear, I took a few deep breaths. Now that I couldn’t lean into Tair’s senses as much, I had to make my own reset point, and that meant coming fully into the present. Not an easy task, but I grounded myself in the warmth of Tair’s hand and his presence at my side as I blanked all the thoughts and timeghosts from my mind.

  Sitting on a cool white comforter, cozied up to Tair. Dex and Knight play bickering as they mounted tech gear to the walls. The odd thickness of the foundation on my skin. Cipher typing into her comp like a maniac. And the subtle scent of the ocean outside.

  Scanning the room, I memorized every detail and painted a picture in my mind. I kept fleshing and fleshing the image out like a sketch until a wave of dizziness spilled down my body, making my vision double.

  I let out a breath. “Got it.”

  Just to check, I opened myself to the flow of time. Futures still flickered in and out, and pasts still ghosted around, trying to catch my eye, but the fixed scene glowed the boldest—like the one drawing outlined in marker in a field of gray pencil sketches. If the worst happened later, I could hit reset on the game and bring us back to the save point.

  Simple. Not easy, but simple.

  Not that I wanted our plan to go wrong, but the future showed a thousand ways it could and probably would. So I was ready for the worst.

  Who knew? Maybe I’d be pleasantly surprised, and kidnapping would be easier than it sounded. The idea that we had more than one chance to clear the obstacles at least gave me a hit of confidence.

  “Okay.” Cipher glanced up from her com. “I’ve got a dummy number set, so all I have to do is message the goons. What should I say?”

  Dex snatched the com and started typing. “Hey, big boy. Remember me? Kissy face emoji. Where’s the party tonight?”

  “Who would—” Cipher tried to grab back the com, but Dex held it above her head and hit send.

  “And done.”

  “That’s so lame.” Cipher scowled as she reread the message.

  “Trust me. The male mind is scary easy to play.”

  “He’s not wrong.” Knight shrugged.

  “But Big Boy? Don’t you guys have standards?” Cipher asked.

  “Not really,” Knight said. Cipher swatted him.

  “Seriously,” Dex said. “If a hot girl messages me her sink is broken, you better believe I’ll be there in ten with a wrench and a smile. Pants optional.”

  I didn’t care what anyone messaged anyone as long as it worked, and the near futures were holding steady with a cloud of glittery clothes and thumping bass. As far as I could tell, we were still heading out for a night at the club.

  Cipher’s com buzzed, and she read the message with disgust. “Commander Todd says meet us at Ocean Heat after eleven. Don’t wear a bra and you get in free.”

  I wrinkled my nose at that one. “Guess we’re getting in free?” Although not to anywhere we’d go if there was an alternative.

  “Fan-fucking-tastic.” Cipher started to fold her arms, froze halfway as her top bunched, and then let out a frustrated growl.

  Ocean Heat sat right on the water, and its music thumped so loud that dancing spilled onto the beach. So did the club’s huge line.

  I hated the idea of standing around. Devan was distorting our
faces with bent light so we looked vaguely like ourselves, but more airbrushed and with different hair colors. She was also blanking out Cipher’s tattoos and projecting Orange Helixes onto our forearms. Devan had faked her own appearance—making herself a pale blonde—but the longer we waited, the longer she was burning her power. Plus, there were too many drones buzzing around surveilling. We’d be instantly screwed if one of us got recognized.

  I’d feel a lot safer inside under the strobe lights. Could we speed this up?

  Careful not to let off a glow, I scanned the closest futures. I lead the group to the ropes at the front. The bouncer grunts. “You on the list?”

  “You could put us on the list.” I bat my fluffed-up eyelashes.

  “Lemme scan you.” He grabs a handheld gadget and reaches for my very fake arm tattoo.

  Yeah. That wasn’t happening. I planted myself firmly in the line and the others settled behind me. Luckily, it moved pretty fast. The bouncer wasn’t scanning anyone at the moment, and girls in skimpy clothes—especially braless ones—got waved in as soon as he gave them a solid leer.

  How wonderful.

  At least we looked like we belonged. The guys cleaned up nice. They wore cargo shorts that could hide lots of weapons and sleeveless shirts with printed patterns. All three of them had the arm muscles for them.

  Tair had left his glasses in the room, and wore his hair gelled and tousled. His jaw looked all chiseled and the club’s flashing lights set off the gold tones in his skin. It took a whole lot of determination not to sidle up to him, but we weren’t here for fun.

  If we survived, I promised myself we’d all go dancing together. With Mona and Oliver and Cass.

  I didn’t even know if I liked dancing yet, but it would be something to look forward to. Which we all needed right now.

  My heart beat faster as we stepped to the front of the line. After a few more loooong moments, the bouncer lifted the rope.

  Pushing aside everything else, I focused on the swirling futures. Whatever threat came at us first, I had to make sure I saw it coming before it took us all out.