The Next Chance

by Shannon Reber

  With that thought in mind, Noah pointed the laser at Lesley’s foot. He had to do it fast so he couldn’t talk himself out of the idea. He took in a bracing breath and hit the button.

  Lanac jerked when the beam of light touched him, his eyes flicking down to look at his foot. His eyes bugged when he saw the hole in his shoe. They went even wider when he realized the man he had possessed couldn’t move.

  Noah stepped back so he stood next to Ian. “You need to go, now,” he said calmly, pointing the laser right at the man’s chest.

  Lanac bared the man’s teeth, his eyes narrowed on Noah. “How dare you!” he shouted, his eyes pure black with no white around the iris at all.

  Ian leaned down and took the laser from Noah’s hand. “I will not make a deal with you, now or ever. Leave Flugel and stay away from all of us.”

  The demon let out a hiss of rage and pointed at Madison. “You will die. I will make certain of it. No matter--” he broke off as Ian turned the laser on and shot a hole straight through Lesley Flugel’s shoulder.

  Madison blinked a few times to activate the Hottie and all of a sudden, the helm of awe appeared in the air around the demon. Lanac screamed, his body jerking in pain as smoke billowed from him. It wasn’t smoke.

  The demon itself was driven out of Lesley’s body. It hung suspended in the air for a few seconds before it shot straight at Noah.

  Noah didn’t even have time to react. All he knew was that the darkness inside him was more profound than it had ever been before. He felt it grow until every last ounce of empathy was drained from his body.

  All that was left was anger. And he was angry. It was all their fault. Madison and Ian were standing in the way of the demon-uprising. It was their fault things had been so slowed down.

  He turned his pitch black pupils on them and sneered. “You will die screaming for this,” he said in a voice he didn’t recognize as his own.

  Madison’s eyes filled with tears. She lay still, her eyes fixed on Noah. “Do you know how powerful a hybrid can be?” she asked in a calm voice that shook at the end. “Half demon. Half human. Stronger than both without the weaknesses of the others.”

  Lanac turned Noah’s lips up in a mocking smile. “Yes, I am aware. This vessel is--”

  “That vessel is more powerful than you,” Madison interrupted, her eyes fixed on Noah’s. “Noah is more powerful than you are. Noah is an amazing, intelligent kid who has the power to kick you out of his body without anyone else’s help. Noah was raised by a woman who would have taught him right from wrong.”

  Lanac snickered. “The child is my son. He will obey because he is a child in need of a strong hand.”

  “Strong hands are easily broken,” Madison stated, her eyes still fixed on Noah’s. “I don’t know what happened in the future you come from. I do know that you are strong enough to change what’s happening to you now. Making a deal with the demon would only compound the issue. You can free yourself, Noah. You are strong, just like Quinn.”

  Noah heard Madison’s voice. He heard the words she spoke to him. He also heard the demon’s voice.

  The demon didn’t talk to him the same way Madison did. He ordered and barked. Madison spoke to him as Quinn did, like he was a person who was indeed as capable as she said he was.

  And love for her filled his heart. His love grew as he looked into his mother’s eyes. He felt whole for the first time in his life.

  Ian held out his hand between them. “Come on, pal. You came back to help us stop the demon-uprising. You can do this,” he said with no doubt in his voice at all.

  And the darkness inside Noah faded back. A pure, white light shone out of him, expelling the demon from his body. He was free . . . and he was human.

  EIGHTEEN

  My eyes were dazzled by the light that had shone from Noah. My mind was dazzled as well. He had done it. Noah had expelled the demon.

  I didn’t know where that demon had gone. All I knew was that my son was safe. He was an adorable little hero who had saved himself.

  Lesley groaned as he got to his feet, limp-edging away from us. We ignored him, too caught up in each other to care about him. Yes, he was a victim of the demon like we were. It was hard to sympathize with him right then.

  Tentatively, Noah reached out to lay his hand over mine. I wrapped mine around his and squeezed. My heart melted when Ian rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder and Noah leaned into him. We truly were a family. However the timeline had been altered, I was thrilled to see the little boy Ian and I WOULD MAKE.

  I still felt sick at the idea that Ian had been possessed in Noah’s future. It made my skin crawl even to contemplate it. Noah had been made in that strange, twisted future. I was sure other amazing people had as well.

  Noah tipped his head down, looking at me through his lashes. “Are . . . you mad at me?” he asked quietly, his bottom lip wobbling.

  “Why would I be?” I asked, squeezing his hand again. “You’re amazing, Noah. The most amazing kid I’ve ever met.”

  He blushed and glanced up at Ian. “We kicked that demon’s butt, didn’t we?” he asked, his face alight with eagerness.

  Ian nodded. “You and Maddie are too cool for words,” he said, leaning down to kiss my forehead.

  “You were super cool too!” Noah said with a toothy grin.

  “The coolest,” I agreed, loving the way those two interacted. It was downright adorable.

  Ian shot me a look that almost made me wish we were alone, then cleared his throat. “So uh . . . I’m a little confused by this whole ‘new timeline’ thing. Can you guys explain it to me?” he asked, turning his head from one to the other of us.

  Noah nodded vigorously. “The universe was at a turning point when Maddie was in a coma. It could go one of three ways. She could wake up on her own, she could die, or she could wake up with help. Whichever one actually happens, determines the way that things will play out. One of them happened. Then we changed it, which created a new universe. So now two exist. One where she woke up on her own, and one where you helped her with the help of a demon,” he said, his eyes alight with intelligence and simple joy.

  Ian considered Noah’s words for a moment, his brows furrowed slightly. “So if we find a way to stop the demon-apocalypse, that’s only in OUR timeline that it’ll be gone? It’ll still be happening in another timeline?”

  “There are a couple of different theories there,” I told him, thinking back over all the research I’d done on those theories after a long discussion on the subject with Quinn. “The answer is absolutely yes, or probably. It depends on which theory you go with.”

  Ian blew out a long breath. “Okay, let’s hear it,” he said, not sounding eager at all.

  I smirked at him. “One says that all timelines run concurrently, or side by side. They’re all happening at the same time. So Noah’s timeline didn’t stop when he left it. It continued on without him. In that case, yes. There are other timelines that are overrun by demons.” I shook my head slightly as he began to speak, going on in my explanation. “The other theory isn’t so much a theory. It’s just another way of looking at it. It’s that what’s here is all we can know for sure. It’s entirely possible that there are millions of other universes where there are other changes. There could be countless where none of us even exist. Say your parents never met or my dad died as a child, that kind of thing. Because we don’t know and can’t find out, it doesn’t really matter.”

  Ian released my hand and rubbed at the back of his neck. “That wasn’t an answer, Mads,” he said wearily, his eyes heavy with exhaustion and stress.

  Noah raised his brows at me. “I don’t believe in a bunch of universes. I think time is a line, not a spider web. I think when I went back, I didn’t go to another universe. I just went back in the line. I don’t think the demon was right that another timeline was created.”

  I shook my head. “The fact you were able to come back and change things means there are multiple lines. I never believed t
ime travel was possible before. Now that I know it is, it makes sense that there are universes out there where some version of me never opened the portal to hell. Or in another one, there is no me or any of these apostle guys.”

  Noah narrowed his eyes in a way that made him look almost identical to Ian. “Why would Quinn have sent me to some other universe?” he asked, his head tipped to the side as he tried to understand what I was telling him.

  “She didn’t intend to send you to another universe. She intended to fix hers. And maybe the attempt will change things for her too. We can’t know. The act of going back will either create an inescapable loop in time or another universe. It has to be one or the other.”

  He considered the idea for a bit, pursing his lips as he thought. “I don’t like the time loop idea. I think it’s flawed.”

  I smiled, marveling at the idea of an eight year old understanding such complex issues.

  Ian folded his arms. “You two want me to go sit over there so you can finish nerding without me asking stupid questions?”

  I stuck out my tongue at him. “I will never finish nerding, Ian. How do you not know that?” I asked, lifting a finger before I looked at Noah. “I don’t believe the time loop works either. I think that when you came back to our time to fix things, those things were fixed. This both does and doesn’t create a new timeline. The one you came from may cease to exist. It’ll be new now. It was unwritten by your decision, your power.”

  Noah’s eyes filled with tears. “I like that,” he said, his face scrunched as his tears spilled over.

  Ian rested his hand on my shoulder when I tried to sit up and hug Noah. What he did was to lift Noah up and set him on the bed next to me. The little boy lay down next to me and rested his head on my shoulder as he cried.

  And my heart flip-flopped in my chest. My son. I loved him so much and I had only just met him. Glimpsing what my future would look like through Noah’s presence was the kind of blessing I never could have imagined.

  The future had already been changed. The demon who killed me in the future had been destroyed. That meant I would survive.

  I would watch Noah grow into the boy he was. I would be married to Ian. My future was right there, his tears dripping on my shoulder.

  NINETEEN

  “Quinn said she sent Noah to the wrong time. When is the right time?” I asked, my voice quiet as Noah dozed against my shoulder.

  Ian leaned back in his chair, rubbing distractedly at his mouth as he thought. “Maybe before all this got started. If I tell you what’s coming, maybe that will change the way you react to things.”

  I narrowed my eyes. He made it sound like I had reacted badly to everything. Had I?

  I thought back over all the things that had happened. The cases I’d worked with Erkens had made me feel useful. My relationship with him had made me feel loved. My friendships had grown and become a stabilizing factor in my life. Was that wrong?

  Ian rolled his eyes at me. “Babe, you need to get some confidence at some point. I wasn’t saying you’d done anything wrong. I was saying that maybe if you knew what was coming, you might be able to make a plan on how to handle all this.”

  I raised my brows. “Get out of my head, Ian. There’s enough going on in there without you reading my mind,” I said with no heat in my voice at all.

  He gave me one of those smiles that made me feel warm all over. “Mads, reading your mind isn’t exactly the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I know you,” he informed, his eyes dancing.

  I considered his idea for a bit, then gave a slow shake of my head. “I don’t think we should go that far back in time. I’m wondering if maybe we should just go back last week, tell me not to open the portal to hell.”

  Ian leaned forward, his elbows rested on his knees. “Maddie, you can’t come with me. You were shot. In the heart. Yes, the poison is out of your system but the bullet still ripped a hole in your chest.”

  I opened my mouth to argue, closing it when Noah opened his eyes to look at me. “Ian’s right. You can’t come. It’s super bad for you to interact with a past version of you . . . like it could do bad things to your head. And you might even hurt the you from now, thinking you were a shapeshifter or a demon or something.”

  I scowled despite the fact I knew they were both right. It was true. That didn’t mean I had to like it.

  I looked back at Ian. “So . . . you’re going back to last week to talk me out of opening the portal?”

  He shrugged. “I guess. I don’t think it’s going to be too easy to convince you any of this is true, though,” he said, his eyes moving slowly to look at Noah. “Unless--”

  “No!” I half shrieked, horrified by the idea of him taking Noah back in time again, maybe into danger.

  “Maddie, you and Noah are on the same wavelength. If anyone could convince you, it’s him.”

  “He’s only eight,” I pleaded, fear for him so strong inside me, I felt sick.

  Noah sat up, looking down at me as I lay in the hospital bed. “That’s dumb. I’m the same age you were when you broke through a Safe*Zone security system. And I came back here to help stop the demon-uprising.”

  I laid my head back and smiled a little. “Look at me, wearing the Mom-pants for a few seconds,” I said, recognizing the same way Ian’s mom had always worried about him and Emma.

  Noah looked at my bare feet poking out from under the bed sheet. “You’re not wearing pants,” he said in a little boy tone that sounded both sulky and reasonable at the same time.

  Ian snorted out a laugh. “I should be recording this. I think you might have met your match, Mads,” he teased, his face red as his shoulders shook with laughter.

  I ignored him, my eyes still fixed on Noah. “I get that you and I don’t know each other. I get that you’ve been through a lot and are smarter than probably any kid in your world. The thing is, meeting you makes me understand that in the future, I’ll be the one who wakes up when you’re crying as a baby. I’ll be the one who wipes your nose when you’re sick. I’ll be the one whose job it is to keep you safe.” I rested my hand on his arm. “Seeing you woke up that part of me. I am worried . . . because I’m your mom and that’s my job.”

  He pursed his lips. “Technically, not really. I don’t exist yet in this timeline,” he stated matter-of-factly, his hand wrapped around mine nonetheless.

  Ian snorted again then let out a loud belly laugh. “Mini-Maddie in action,” he said, still laughing as he stepped over to stand next to the bed. “I don’t know how to use the Tardis anyway, Doctor Who.”

  Noah shot him a baffled look.

  I chuckled, smiling up at Ian. “Nice to know you’ve got some nerd buried deep down inside there,” I said, doing my best to resign myself to the idea of sending my future husband and my future son into the past to stop the world from ending.

  TWENTY

  Noah looked back over his shoulder as he and Ian stepped through the portal into the past. He didn’t know if he’d ever see Madison again and that was a lot more difficult than he’d expected it to be. She had called herself his mom. He’d never had that before.

  She looked desolate as their eyes met but lifted her hand in an encouraging wave. He lifted his hand as well, his fingers forming the sign for love. Madison returned the gesture, her eyes gleaming with tears.

  Noah turned back to the portal, doing his best not to cry as Madison’s hospital room disappeared behind them. His eyes filled with tears for a different reason as they were shoved back to the week before. It was not a comfortable process in the least.

  His head spun. His stomach heaved. His eyes watered. His ears popped. And Ian’s hand on his shoulder tightened to a level it hurt.

  By the time it was done, Noah felt as if they’d been run through a cyclone. He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision. It was harder than it had been the first time.

  Quinn had been sure it was safe to travel through time. Noah hadn’t been too sure. He wished he had been wrong.


  He could feel that there was something wrong. He hated the fact Ian had been dragged through that with him. He had a feeling neither of them had long at all.

  Noah blinked, turning his eyes up to look at Ian. He looked pale and clutched at his stomach like he was about to be sick. The green tinge to his skin made it clear that was indeed about to happen.

  Ian bent over to rest his hands on his knees. “That was not what I expected,” he gasped, his breaths verging on hyperventilation.

  Noah had no breath to speak for a few long moments. When he was finally able to breathe properly, he couldn’t think of anything to say. He simply stood next to Ian, waiting for him to collect himself.

  Ian blew out a long breath and slowly stood straight. “Are you okay?” he asked, looking down at Noah with concern.

  He nodded, still having no words.

  Ian tipped his head to the side, then crouched down to look him in the eye. “Noah?” he questioned, his eyes wide as he examined him. “You’re fading,” he whispered, his eyes frantic.

  Noah swallowed hard and gave a slow nod. “My future changed. I’m going to be gone pretty soon.”

  “Can we stop that?”

  Noah shook his head. “It’s the way it’s supposed to be. My timeline is gone because we fixed the problem.”

  “But this is a problem, Noah. You disappearing is not something I’m cool with.”

  “Once we fix this, you won’t exist anymore either. There’s already a you in this timeline and that version of you is the one who’s going to marry Maddie and be happy and stuff.”

  Ian leaned his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. “My time-traveling son from the future is telling me we’re going to disappear. My life is just weird,” he said with a hitch in his voice.

  Noah peered at him, a little startled to see that Ian was laughing. It wasn’t a happy laugh. It appeared to be more shock than anything else.