Chapter 12

Chapter

12

I yelped at the unexpected drop in the ley line, faltering to a knee when vertigo hit me. I mentally scrambled to renew my hold on the line. It tasted different, angry maybe, that I was trying to bend the rules of time so far, if energy could be thought capable of such. Eyes clenched shut, I forced my mind past the resistance until the rough connection smoothed and the flow renewed.

I was still connected to the demon collective by way of the spell itself, and I could feel the energy-spindling curse gathering up my life's force as I sloughed it off, moving backward through time. The twined spells were working. All that was left was to register the process.

"Evulgo," I whispered to drop what I'd just done into the collective as a unique expression of magic. I was sure no demon would ever even think to look for it, seeing as my actions were being spread out over who knew how many years. I could feel them, lightly in my mind, their collective thoughts rising and falling like the tide as the days and nights passed. "Jariathjackjunisjumoke," I added to set me as the originator of the spell, and finally, "Ut omnes unum sint," to seal it. It was done. Now all I had to do was survive the trip.

My breath came in with the dry choking feel of sawdust filling my lungs, and I held it, squicked out by the continued, utterly weird sensation of my body's energy spilling from me as if it was being pulled into a tube. My head began to hurt, then ache.

"I can do this," I whispered as my fisted hands pushed into the damp cement. The length of black gold that Al had given me to gauge my passage shook in my grip, the two ends glinting. Five years. He had broken it five years ago. When it mended, I could stop. Not a moment sooner. Too bad my head was beginning to feel like a migraine and a heart attack had a baby.

The booms and crackles of a magical fight were gone, replaced by an odd rise and fall of that headache-inducing whine. I slowly pried my eyes open, panting as I tried to figure out where the light was coming from. A big nothing hung past the red-sheened bubble that protected me. It wasn't dark, and it wasn't light. My mind had no reference. It was as if the entire universe was in this small bubble, and perhaps for me, it was.

It was almost like being stuck in a line jump, but unlike a line jump, I still had my body. I could feel the cold of the cement and the grit between my fingers. The scent of blood from my circle was thick in my nose. I was here, present.

"I can do this," I said again, teeth clenched. The chain in my hand was slowly losing its tarnish, but it was still broken. My vertigo was awful, and worried I would collapse and break my circle, I drew less on the line to slow my passage down.

"Morgan," a high voice rasped in pain. "Oh, God, let me go."

I spun, my butt hitting the cold cement as I lost my balance. It was Elyse, curled into a tiny ball behind me. She was in my circle.

Shocked, I stared. "How the hell did you get in here?"

Elyse struggled to find my gaze, her focus distant. "Let go. You're pulling on a line through me. Burning. Let go…"

Through her? I thought, realizing now why the line felt wrong. "How did you—" I caught my next words. "You're not supposed to be here!" I said as I figured it out. My circle was down. Elyse had taken it, and now it was Elyse's circle that contained the spell, not mine. She must have assumed control of my circle right as the spell invoked. It was no wonder she was in pain. She was channeling the entire ley line.

"Let go of me," she groaned again in agony. "You will rot for this. I promise you. Stop the curse. Stop it!"

"You idiot!" I rolled to my knees, startled when her coat winked out of existence. "What did you think was going to happen?"

"Stop the spell!" Elyse screamed, eyes mere slits. "I can't let go of the line. It's burning!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have tried to take control of the spell!" Frantic, I looked at the length of chain. It hadn't mended, but Elyse…Elyse was shaking in anguish.

"You're burning me alive," she rasped, head down.

Son of a moss wipe, I thought. "Stet!" I shouted, my sympathy warring with my annoyance as I let go of the ley line running through both of us. I should have known when the taste of the line shifted, I thought as the spell ended with a soul-snapping thump.

I jerked, choking down a gasp of surprise when a burst of white light slammed into me. Elyse's protection bubble had fallen, and I pulled the scent of warm, mucky water deep into my lungs as my eyes teared and I coughed the sensation of dust from my lungs. I blinked as the light dimmed and the world slowly became understandable again. It had only been the light of the moon, but it had seemed as if the sun had gone nova.

Lips parting, I stared out from under the bridge at the softly lit park, only now believing what I had done. Thirty seconds ago, the moon had been a bare sliver almost below the horizon. Now it was nearing full and hanging high among the trees. Shocked, I reached for the bridge's support. The stone was warm under my shaking hand, and as I straightened, a sharp ting…ting, sploot drew my eyes as something bounced to the edge of the footing and into the ugly green water. Whatever it had been, it was gone.

"It worked!" I exclaimed, then winced when the couple walking their dog noticed me and continued on, heads close together as they gossiped. I'd done it, and I touched the outside of my pocket to make sure the snapped stirring rod was still there. It was, and I exhaled in relief.

"What the hell did you do with my clothes?" Elyse croaked from the base of the footing. "I think I'm going to be sick."

I turned to see Elyse kneeling over the water, trying not to throw up, stark naked apart from her socks. She was younger, too, her dark hair long and having a simple cut. I closed my eyes in a strength-gathering blink. I looked pretty much the same. Almost, I mused, sighing at the demon mark decorating the underside of my wrist. At least I still have my clothes, I thought as I shuffled my jacket off and draped it over her.

Elyse clutched at it, but I wasn't going to hold her hair back as she fell into dry heaves.

Al's chain lay on the cement like a broken promise, and I picked it up. I stood, slipping the necklace into a pocket, and tried to figure out how far I had managed to get. My hair was longer, bound in a braid I recognized needing at least eight pixies to make—Matalina must still be alive. Then there was that demon mark, a single slash through it, a promise to pay Al back for saving my life. If I had one on my foot, that would narrow the time down as well, but I wasn't about to look now. I ran my thumb against my fingers, feeling a prickling of smut on my aura, but it was the tentative touch on my neck that gave me the best idea of when we were as the flash of arousal nearly brought me to my knees, flaming all the way to my groin.

"Crap on toast," I whispered, breathless and kind of ticked. It was my vampire scar, and it was full and potent, almost new. Five years? Not a chance. Two maybe, I thought as I peered out at the world, worried.

Elyse had gone quiet, and I rested one shaky hand on the bridge, the other on my neck, as I wondered when we were. It was warm. There were leaves on the trees. Summer.

"Where is everyone?" Elyse wiped her mouth, glancing at my heavy shoulder bag before peering up at me. "You think it's funny? To spell my clothes off? You are an ass, Morgan! You hear me? An ass!"

What, by Tink's little pink rosebuds, am I supposed to do with her? "I didn't take your clothes, and your friends are fine."

Elyse staggered to her feet. If she wasn't so haggard, she'd look like a frat boy's dream in my bedazzled leather jacket hanging mid-thigh. "Oh, so they just magically vanished for no reason? What is your problem!" she shouted, and then she cried out in sudden, unexpected pain, her face creased as she staggered, reaching for the curved wall of the bridge. "You singed me!"

"Elyse, wait," I said as she stomped to the embankment.

"Orion?" the woman called as she picked her way up in her white socks. "Yaz!"

For one moment I thought I'd let her just go, and then I hiked my shoulder bag higher and started after her. She hadn't gone far, and I found her at the base of the bridge, mouth agape as she stared at the moon peeking through the trees thick with leaves. "How long was I out?" she whispered, fear pinching her expression. "What did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything," I said, then put up a hand, asking for patience. "This is not my fault," I added as she slowly inched away. "You couldn't just let me go back and get the mirror."

"Go back?" she echoed, and I nodded. "You mean like in time?" she squeaked, her attention darting to the moon.

"As far as I know, Orion and Yaz and Adan are fine." Sympathy and a little guilt tightened my chest. "Ah, how badly are you singed? I didn't know that would happen."

Elyse smacked my reaching hand away and retreated two more steps into the bushes. "You are in so much trouble," she said, her eyes on my demon mark.

"For what?" I glanced at the two people pushing a stroller to the parking lot. "I haven't done anything illegal," I said softly. "I think. I need to find out when we are. I swear, if I didn't get far enough into the past, I will leave you here to take the long way home."

But I wouldn't. She could do too much damage, and worry tightened my chest as I looked for a trash can and maybe a receipt with the date. I doubted the charm to spindle my life force had spindled hers. She might not have any other choice than to take the long way. Stasis charms only lasted three days before they spontaneously broke to prevent death by dehydration. At least, the contemporary ones did.

"My God, you really think you can go back in time?" Elyse said, half hidden in the bushes to make her white socks stand out. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." There was a trash can twenty steps away, but I wasn't ready to walk away from her yet. "I honestly didn't know it would hurt. I'm, ah, sorry about that, but you shouldn't have interfered with the spell."

Elyse's eyes narrowed. "Why am I naked and you aren't?"

"Because I spent two hours yesterday in a secondhand shop finding clothes that existed five years ago. Ah, you don't happen to know when you bought your socks, do you?"

The woman pulled my jacket tighter about herself and glared. "Take me back. Now."

"Um, right. Just sit and let me find out when we are." Motioning her to stay, I edged away, my new-again boots thumping as I strode to the overflowing trash can at the water's edge. It wasn't my fault if she was stuck here, but I still felt responsible.

"Slick?" Elyse shouted for her familiar, and I grimaced, ignoring her. She wouldn't get far in only my jacket and a pair of socks. Head down, I began to pick through the trash for something with an expiration date, finally finding a yogurt cup: August 20, 2007. It wouldn't be the exact date, but it would be close.

I exhaled as I dropped it into the trash bin. August 2007. Upside: the original ever-after still existed. Downside: both Newt and Al would know me. I'd have to get Newt alone, get the mirror, and dose her with her own forget charm without her caretaker/familiar Minias knowing.

"You have to undo this," Elyse said from the bushes. "I can't do eighteen again!"

A familiar, cheerful ping came from my bag, and I swung it around, trash forgotten. My old phone had connected to a tower. I had the date. Gotta love it when things go right…

"Where's my pin?!" Elyse shouted. "Morgan, did you take my pin?"

Seriously? She is worried about a pin? Hands shaking, I dug my phone out. My lips parted. One fifteen a.m. July 28. I had just missed my birthday. But that didn't throw me as much as the text. It had posted a while ago and was from David. He was frantic. Three of his one-night stands had committed suicide.

"Oh, crap on toast," I whispered, my breath leaving me. Staggering, I felt for the bench and sat down. It wasn't August. It was late July.

Kisten is alive, my thoughts sang, but my gut hurt as I stared at the moon, feeling betrayed. This was bad. Al was actively trying to abduct me. Ivy's girlfriend Skimmer wanted to kill me. Trent was trying to blackmail me into being his lackey. In about forty-eight hours, I was going to arrest him at his own wedding. But the worst? Kisten was still alive. I couldn't warn him. I couldn't stop it.

"I can't do this," I whispered, gaze unseeing on the townhomes across the park. Elyse was worried about having to do eighteen over? How about sit and do nothing knowing the man you loved was going to die twice to keep a monster from eating you alive and enslaving what was left?

Hand at my middle, I stared at David's frantic texts. I'd seen them first two years ago, and they still filled me with fear. He would be jailed for manslaughter, the church would be condemned, and Kisten…

I forced myself to take a breath, vision swimming.

Kisten would be made into a blood gift before the night was over. I wouldn't know he had died for days. But I knew now, and it hurt. Bad.

"How did I ever survive my life?" I whispered. But it was obvious. I had my friends. Ivy, Kisten, Jenks. The pixy kids. Ceri across the street, and Keasley. David, who was about to have the worst week in his life. I couldn't talk to them. Any of them. Not to help me. Not to help them. "This had better be worth it," I whispered.

And then my head snapped up at Elyse's angry shriek.

"Don't touch me! Back off!" she shouted, and I got to my feet, hand fumbling in my bag for my empty splat gun. Two men in uniform stood before her as she backed farther into the bushes.

"Ma'am, we are not going to hurt you," one said, and my reach for my gun faltered. It was the I.S. Me and the I.S. were not on the best of terms at the moment, and I shrank deeper into the shadows. "We only want to make sure you're okay. Get you some help."

"I don't need your help," Elyse snapped. "I'm the lead member of the coven of moral and ethical standards, and you will turn and walk away. Better yet, go arrest Rachel Morgan. It's her fault I'm here."

"Non constat," I whispered as they sent their gaze to follow her pointing arm. Relief was a quick flush as I felt my mind dip into the demon collective and the curse to make me hard to see invoked. I hadn't been sure if I'd be able to. It was only my body that changed. My mind and all the connections I'd made were still there.

I blinked fast, refusing to let the tears of relief start as the two officers spun back to Elyse, the fun and games clearly over. Al had given me the curse so I'd stop using the elven equivalent that Trent had shown me. Al was a thought away, and I wondered what he'd do if I reached out and summoned him here. Right now. I could do it. The demons were still cursed.

Something akin to grief clenched my gut. Damn you, Elyse.

"Ma'am, come with us," the taller officer said as the second made a quick call on his two-way. "We'll get you some clothes. Something to eat. A warm cot."

"I am not crazy, and I'm not homeless," Elyse said, then gasped as one reached for her. "Let me go. You will take your hands off me. Stop it! Let me go!"

But it would be days before Elyse could tap a line, thanks to me, and the two I.S. officers had her easy.

"Morgan!" she shrieked as she struggled, and I slid even deeper into the shadows, my heart pounding when I hid behind the tree, unable to watch them wrestle her into submission and tote her to their car. She screamed and fought, but I let them do it. I wasn't sure why, only that I was confused and angry, and maybe a night in the drunk tank would do her good. That, and if I got caught or seen, it would cause a lot worse trouble.

"Just down her. Down her!" one of the agents exclaimed, and then Elyse's protest cut off. Her silence was almost worse than her protests, and I peeked out from behind the tree as they pushed her into the cruiser and shut the door.

"Hollows Mental Health?" the second officer asked, and the first shook his head, little more than a silhouette under the chancy streetlight. "She thinks she's coven."

"Indecent exposure and resisting," he said. "A night in the spell-drunk cell. If she still thinks she's coven in the morning, someone else can deal with it."

"Works for me." Head shaking, the man crossed to the other side of the car and the two got in. I could see them talking, but the car didn't move, and I stayed where I was, wondering if perhaps I should have done something. If she contacted Vivian, it would complicate matters. But to be seen would be worse. If they recognized me, they'd show up at the church wanting answers my other self couldn't give. I could maybe down them from behind, but the risk they'd see me was too great.

Still, I gave it some thought, startled when a soft frothing in the water behind me turned into a watery, purple-veined face.

"Rachel," Sharps said, nothing more than two eyes and a mouth. "Everything okay?"

I hesitated, my initial reaction to flee faltering. He thought I was my younger self. Not only that, but he was seeing through the demon's unnotice curse. "Ah, hi, Sharps. Heyde-hey."

"Heyde-ho," he answered, his body taking on more definition. "I didn't hear you cross the bridge. You get new boots?"

My gaze went from the parked squad car to my old boots, brand-new now and without a scuff. "Um, yes. I didn't mean to bother you. I was doing a spell under the bridge."

"So I saw." Sharps eased down in a froth of bubbles. "I would have come over sooner, but I thought the I.S. was here to jolt the pond. Who was that? You got a new partner?"

He obviously thought I was me from two years ago, and I began to relax. "No. Just someone I'm trying to help," I said, and he bobbed his head, algae falling into his one blind eye.

"She knocked this into the water. I thought you might want it," he said as a thin, purple-veined arm snaked from the water and set a M?bius strip pin on the retaining wall.

"Oh, my gosh, thanks," I said as I picked it up.

But he was already melting back into the pond, reluctant to let the headlights of the I.S. car find him as the engine started and they began to leave.

"Take care of yourself, Sharps," I muttered as I hoisted my shoulder bag higher and began making my way to the bus stop. I had to get to Fountain Square, where I could hop a bus to anywhere both sides of the river. Maybe by the time I got there, I'd know where I was going. Piscary's to beg for Kisten's life? The ever-after to bargain with an insane demon for a mirror to save my own? Or perhaps door number three, the I.S. to bail out Elyse before she contacted Vivian?

Either way, I was going to need one heck of a disguise.

Or maybe not…