by Diana Paz
“You have no right,” Julia yelled. “That’s the second time tonight. Let go of me now or I will freaking blast you!”
“What are you planning behind our backs,” Kaitlyn demanded.
Julia cried out as Kaitlyn tore viciously through her mind. Her thoughts and memories were ripped apart.
Her magic boiled up inside of her. So much for being like Angie and not letting Kaitlyn bother her, but Kaitlyn couldn’t just go picking apart her brain whenever she felt like it! Julia’s thoughts and memories were being ripped apart as Kaitlyn viciously tore through her mind.
“I said no,” Julia cried, sending a bolt of magic at Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn twisted, darting out of the way.
“How dare you.”
Julia’s beam of magic slammed into the wall, knocking down a shelf of crystals. “Me?” Julia cried. “You were digging around in my head. That’s not allowed!”
Her catlike eyes became razor sharp. “We’re never supposed to blast each other. You’re a jerk.”
“Blasting isn’t as bad as invading my freaking mind!” She took hold of Kaitlyn’s arm and forced their connection. With a cruel jab of power she began probing the membrane separating their thoughts. “How would you like it if I did it to you?”
An unmistakable feeling of panic gushed from Kaitlyn’s mind and coated every other emotion. “Let go! Let go or I’ll—”
She looked down at Kaitlyn’s palms, twin balls of light rolled within them. “See? You were about to blast me, too.” She thrust her aside. “It doesn’t feel good, does it?”
Angie, still curled up on the floor, made a small, whimpering noise.
“Oh crap,” Julia muttered.
She had forgotten that Angie was still recovering from whatever the heck had just happened. Now Angie propped herself up. She blinked, looking first to the destroyed shelf and the crystals strewn across the floor, and then up at Julia.
“I’m sorry,” Julia said, kneeling down to help her sit up. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said. “But, why were you thinking about Indira just now?”
Julia bit her lip.
“Tell us what’s going on with Indira,” Kaitlyn spat.
“I am,” Julia muttered, leaning back against the wall as her mark returned to its normal gold tones. “I heard Indira. I didn’t seek her out, but she told me things while we were looking through the threads.”
“She’s still trapped in the nether, right?” Angie asked.
“As far as I could tell.”
Kaitlyn’s glare darkened her green eyes by several shades. She straightened her shoulders and walked purposefully toward Julia. “All right, then. What did she say?”
“She said, we can go back into our own timeline to save Brian. She said she could help.”
“She’s tricking us. She wants us to set her free so she can help the Sorceress,” Angie said.
“That witch deserves to rot in the nether,” Kaitlyn said. “There’s no way we’re letting her out.”
“Not even for Brian?” Julia asked.
Kaitlyn gave her an unreadable look. “Not even for anyone.”
“She wouldn’t help Brian anyway, don’t you see? Indira’s only saying these things because she’ll do anything to get out.”
Julia shook her head. “But Indira can’t lie.”
The other girls fell silent. Finally Kaitlyn said, “She can’t lie, but that doesn’t mean she’ll actually help us if she’s set free. She has a way of phrasing things so that they aren’t lies but she still gets what she wants.”
Angie frowned. “Besides, if there was a way to travel in our own timelines, another generation of Daughters would have written about it by now.”
“Or done it,” Kaitlyn added.
“She can’t lie, though,” Julia insisted. It seemed wrong to take Indira’s side, but after seeing Brian transform into a creature in every timeline she had looked through, she wanted to believe that there was some way to help him. “Listen, letting her out of the nether would be a terrible idea. Fine. But she did say there is a way to Voyage through our own timeline. Maybe we can figure out how, without her help.”
“I don’t see how this could be,” Angie said. “Even if there were some sort of deep magic allowing us to travel within our own timelines, what if it’s at the cost of our lives? What if it’s at the cost of the existence of the world?”
Julia chewed on her lip. If there was a way to do this, maybe they could be the ones to do the tricking this time. “Now that Indira contacted me,” she said, holding out her hands once more, “let’s see if there’s anything in the threads that changed. Maybe we can see what Indira plans on doing, and beat her at her own game.”
The girls fell silent a moment.
“I finally like the way you’re thinking,” Kaitlyn said, offering Julia her hand.
Angie placed her hand in Julia’s as well, but this time an enormous swell of magic rose between them. Julia could feel it in the other girls, an unbearable wave of shared power. Golden beams of light shot out and wrapped around their wrists. Bindings as bright as sunrays held them connected and immobile.
“Oh my gosh, what’s happening?” Julia cried, gasping for air as an impossible wind tore through the room. Impossible not only for the windows being shut, but because even though the wind felt like a hurricane slamming against them, everything in the room remained utterly still. Even Brian’s hair was unruffled, meanwhile their own hair flew skyward and their thin pajamas whipped against their bodies. Brian didn’t even move in his sleep, his chest rising and falling peacefully as he lay unconscious on the sofa.
“The power is too strong,” Kaitlyn grit out, her eyes blazing like witchfire in the candlelit room. She tugged at her hand so hard, Julia was jerked forward. “I can’t break free.”
Angie squeezed her eyes shut as the magic seeped through her mind. Soon it would overwhelm her. “The Fates,” she whispered. “The summons. A portal must have been opened.”
Oh no! Julia’s heart nearly burst with each pounding beat. What if talking to Indira had changed their fates somehow? What if the portal opened because of something she was now going to do in the past… the future… whatever! It was too confusing to figure out. The ropes of liquid gold tightened around their joined wrists, just as they had the first time they Voyaged.
“What do we do?” Julia cried.
“We’re being compelled,” Angie yelled above the thundering wind and trembling earth. “Now there’s nothing we can do. Except obey.”
~ Chapter 12 ~
Angie
Angie’s chest rose and fell rapidly as the wind whipped her hair around her face. “Listen to the wind,” she said, continuing in their minds, The Fates are speaking within the winds of time. Can’t you hear them?
Julia stopped struggling against the magical bindings. Kaitlyn’s wild eyes sparkled in the darkened room. Angie watched them both through stinging, watery eyes. The unearthly wind swirling about them carried whispers. Strange, fearsome voices from beyond this world in a language Angie didn’t recognize, but somehow understood.
Begin with the Future, end with the Past.
The words repeated several times. She remembered them. It had begun this way before. Her eyes squeezed shut as the wind grew more forceful, blowing as though it were trying to carry her away. Her lungs filled with the strange, otherworldly air that whipped her hair and yet didn’t cause the candles in the room to so much as flicker.
Seek the sight of your Sister. Voyage through time. Journey through space. Do all that is needed, do all you desire, but you must not return until your task is complete.
“It’s really our task,” Julia said. “No warning or anything. We just have to go, don’t we?”
That’s the definition of ‘compelled’, last time I checked, came Kaitlyn’s derisive reply.
Angie smothered her ongoing irritation at Kaitlyn, knowing that a lifetime with her necessitated unwavering patience. Yes, Julia. We have to just
go… but we waited too long. We should have gone already... as soon as we understood that our next mission was going to be in the pirate era. The vision I was sent was a warning for us to prepare, so we could Voyage without being compelled. Angie’s worry grew like a bubble between them, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. Now that a portal has been opened, we have no choice. Now without clothes or supplies, we have to go into our mission anyway.
Julia’s peeking eyes darted between them, and Angie realized exactly how ill prepared they really were. Kaitlyn in her lacey, barely-there shorts and t-shirt, Julia in scoop-necked nightshirt that fell off one shoulder, and Angie in her pale blue camisole with ribbons and ruffled shorts.
Last time we were in prom dresses, Julia said. Now we’re in jammies.
What choice do we have? Kaitlyn replied, giving the golden bindings at their wrists another tug. As if in response, another blast of magical wind swept across them, punishing and fierce.
The magic won’t stop building, Julia said, helplessness making her voice a whimper through their joined mind. It’s so strong… I need… I need…
I know, Angie said. Magic continued to rush through the air, ruthlessly pouring into their bodies. The only way to end this is to begin our task, but let’s not make the same mistake we did last time. You have to start, Julia. Remember, the real timeline will keep moving forward unless you freeze time.
Julia’s head fell forward as her hair blew back. Angie saw the world through her eyes… through Kaitlyn’s eyes… they were a single entity now. A conjoined mass of thought and sensation. She was confused, proud, sweet, vain, jealous, loving, every single thing that each of them embodied. Every haphazard, venomous, beautiful part of the other girls was as much a part of her as her own soul.
Julia held the present in her mind, and Angie sensed her friend’s awe at how easily she was able to freeze time with the amount of power blowing through her from the winds of time. A gasp tore through Angie’s throat as a stunning rush of emotion crashed over her. The world froze almost before Julia finished casting the spell, leaving the present timeline safely locked in place.
And still the magic rose inside of her. Angie ached with it, the throbbing fullness coming in waves. “The threads,” she pleaded, and the words sounded much like a whimper.
Kaitlyn’s eyes on her were surprisingly gentle, but she abruptly shut them with a grimace. She groaned, slumping forward as magic coursed through her, leaving her glowing with a dull, throbbing light. “I have to—I need—”
“It’s okay,” Angie said softly. “Just release.”
“Oh-oh,” Kaitlyn moaned as she released her magic. The threads of time shot out in front of her. Kaitlyn’s sensuous sigh expelled from her chest in time with the spell, her eyes glazing white.
Magic rolled through her now that the threads of time were within reach. Nothing on Earth could stop her from Voyaging them. Not now, with the magic swelling madly through her body.
“What about Brian,” Julia said. “We still don’t know if he’s cured of the Scylla venom. What if it transforms him while time is frozen?”
She felt Julia’s worry over Brian and her greater concern about how Ethan would feel about her leaving his brother there. Until time moved forward again, Brian would remain on her basement sofa. Angie didn’t know if the Scylla venom had stopped, or if it would continue to course through his time-frozen veins. With the magic leaving her throbbing with the need to release, and the Fates refusing to set them free, she didn’t see how Brian could be helped. Right now the only thing that mattered was completing their task.
She held her breath as another wave of magic crashed through her. “If we can find the portal quickly, we can finish our task and come back to help him.” She looked through the threads, the burning ache of magic becoming unbearable. It was tempting to select any of them and finally be free of the magic, but she forced herself to look carefully, seeking out the brightest thread. She lifted it with her mind, compelling it forth. The thin, bright beam of light writhed, as if coming to life. Angie urged it closer, and the moment it reached them, the glowing ribbon blazed, causing her to squint and turn her head aside.
The powerful wind lashed at her body. She held on, forcing the thread to entwine their bodies.
“Voyage,” she whispered.
The world became utterly silent and devoid of all color. It transformed into a black-and-white ghost world. Sparks of light shot past them as the past came into clearer view, but still the world remained a grayscaled landscape of history… the sun rose and set more times than Angie could keep track of, initially only beyond the past few days, and then weeks and months until her home disappeared altogether. Only the street and a few houses surrounded them, and cars that looked like they belonged to the nineteen fifties. Even this was soon replaced by a field and ranches, and then even that much was gone.
Wilderness surrounded them. A dry country of shrubbery and low trees. Nearly a desert world that whirled with small animals and then… with people. The swirling images slowed, but the people, seemingly naked, grew less and less ghost-like and more and more vivid, until their semi-transparent forms became solid and real, with long, dark hair falling about their bare, gleaming skin.
Oh no, Angie thought, her heart hammering against her ribcage. Please don’t let this be the end of the thread.
But the thread carried them no further. Color seeped back into the world, a crisp morning in the near-barren land. Pigment filled in the bronzed faces of the people around them. Angie tried to stem her rising panic. Of all places for them to end up, right in the middle of a group of people? This couldn’t have been less ideal.
“Native Americans?” Julia blurted out. “What the—”
A bolt of magic was siphoned from her, causing her to gasp. A moment later they shimmered out of sight, becoming invisible.
Nice, Kaitlyn, Angie said. Maybe from now on we should become invisible before time traveling, just in case.
Several Native Americans began yelling and rushing into adobe structures, only to return with weapons.
Can we please move from this spot? Julia asked. Even though we’re invisible, we can totally still be impaled.
Okay, but don’t let go, Angie said. There’s no telling what they think about the fact that we appeared out of thin air. We can’t risk being separated.
The three of them stumbled back a few feet, trying not to bump into anyone as they remained connected. Angie attempted to create as much distance as possible between themselves and the crowd.
Just Journey us out of here, Kaitlyn said, and Angie didn’t miss the fear lacing her thoughts.
Julia’s agreement rippled through them, their emotions shared effortlessly now that the connection was well established. Angie felt Julia build the magic inside of her in order to have enough to Journey them.
Send her more magic please, Angie said. Journeying has always been difficult for her.
Angie sensed Julia’s pricked pride and immediately regretted her words.
I can do it just fine, and even telepathically, her muttered voice sounded wounded. Just… everyone be quiet. You’re messing up my concentration.
Angie glanced up as a hush fell over the excited crowd.
What’s going on? Kaitlyn asked.
An aged woman stepped out of one of the buildings.
Angie squeezed Julia’s hand. Hurry! There’s nothing we can do about the fact that they saw us, but the longer we’re here, the more danger we’re in.
I’m trying!
If you rush her she’ll never get it. We’ll be lucky to move five feet.
I’m getting it, jerk. Just be quiet.
Angie could feel each of Julia’s attempts, followed by a faint popping sensation each time she released and it didn’t work. Her fingers curled into Julia’s palm. She began tapping her thumb against the back of Julia’s hand, needing to calm herself as her heartbeat tripled in speed. And meanwhile, the people all crowded around the woman, who shuffle
d inch by inch to the spot where the three of them had disappeared. Angie walked backward another few steps, vaguely aware that the other girls followed her lead without question, even though the woman couldn’t see them.
Or… could she?
Angie’s breath caught. The woman sharp eyes shifted from the spot where the other people pointed. She peered directly at Angie.
Oh, wow. Julia said. She can totally see us.
H-how? Kaitlyn asked.
Angie swallowed tightly. That woman has magic. Daughters of Fate are the ones chosen to protect the world timelines, but we’re not the only ones born with powers…
Then get us the hell out of here, Kaitlyn said, her urgent voice piercing Angie’s thoughts like a dagger.
The woman began chanting, her hand raising as she pointed to Angie. Her other arm… her other arm… Angie’s eyes widened.
A mark encircled the woman’s upper arm. It glowed faintly as light built in the woman’s outstretched hand.
You must hurry, Julia, Angie said, desperation squeezing the air from her lungs. There was no telling if this woman had been trained or not. She was marked, but not every Daughter obeyed the Fates as she should. Indira was proof enough of that, if Angie’s suspicions were correct. It doesn’t even matter where we Journey to at this point. We just need to get out of here. Anywhere, do you understand? A hill, a different beach, it doesn’t matter!
But I need more magic, Julia said. I keep trying for anywhere, but you and Kaitlyn used so much just with the threads and Voyaging, there is hardly any left.
Angie squeezed her eyes shut and sent Julia all the magic in her being. Hurry, hurry, hurry.
The people followed the woman’s pointing and looked in their direction. Her glowing hands lifted and wind gusted. She thrust her arms forward and air swirled around the girls’ bodies. Dust rose from the earth until they could hardly see.
Kaitlyn’s voice, childlike and frightened, echoed through her thoughts. What’s she doing to us?
The wind grew stronger. No matter which way they tried to run, the dust cloud followed them until the wind abruptly stopped. The cloud of powdery dirt fell over them. Dust settled on their shoulders and hair, their arms and even their eyelashes and the tips of their noses, outlining their invisible bodies clearly. A collective gasp erupted from the crowd. Eyes flew wide and spears were raised.