What happened to your Uncle Liam? I ask.
He stayed behind, died a few years back. There are rules involved with time travel to prevent people from going back or forward and plucking people out at will. It’s a soul for a soul.
A soul for a soul. I repeat. Then Gage should have no problem coming back. I just need to find him. I hold my breath at horror of the Fems finding him first, if they haven’t already.
What’s your memory tell you? What happened that day your dad died?
I remember Chloe, and the intense panic I felt when I stepped inside the house—of course trying to kill future me with a baseball bat…but I never saw the boy she spoke of, and my father died in a car accident. It’s that last part that makes me cringe. It’s because of me he’s lived out his fate way more than anyone should. I perk up. Marshall says he could bring back my father, so it’s possible.
Logan lifts his head. He doesn’t think much of Marshall, so the thought of something good coming from him is doubtful.
If Marshall said it, then it must be true, he says.
So Sectors can’t lie?
He can if he wants, although it’s never referred to as lying. They’d refer to him as a deceiving spirit. What does this thing want from you anyway?
I’m startled to hear him refer to Marshall as a thing. A part of me doesn’t want to tell him about the whole super race hypothesis.
Super race. Logan sighs into the idea.
Crap.
Sorry, he folds our hands together. I keep surprising you like that.
I don’t mind that you know, although Marshall might have to kill you. I wish I were joking. There’s something else I’ve been meaning to tell you. He’s shown me two more Counts.
His eyes widen. I can’t tell whether he’s anxious or pissed.
“Who?” He says out loud.
“Nat and Ellis.” I take in a deep breath.
He mouths their names staggering in thought. His hand rakes through his hair a few times, perplexed by the news.
“I can’t believe Ellis,” he says. “I have to admit I wasn’t all that shocked when you told me about Brielle. I’m likely to believe just about anything about Brielle. But Ellis…” His thoughts wander. “We played little league, built dirt forts until the sun went down in the summer. Our families went on trips together a few times.” His head picks up a notch. “I bet the Harrison’s have known all along.”
“Ellis knew about me. But Brielle and Nat don’t seem to have a clue. Could it be possible they’re not aware of it?”
“Ellis Harrison is a Count.” Logan’s still trying to digest this. “Anything’s possible.”
***
Days drift by. The sad rhythm of the rain beats upon my bedroom window. I let my tears flow in silent concert. My heart breaks for Gage and the Oliver’s who I haven’t had the guts to face.
I go back each night with Chloe, but the results are the same.
Everybody at school asks how Gage is doing. I have to lie and say he’s getting better. The story is he’s got the flu.
If we can’t get him back, Logan says they’re going to have to file a missing persons report with the police and tell them he ran away.
Could he have lasted two years in L.A.? That is, if the Fems didn’t eat him? Chloe and I are going to try again tomorrow night after the game. I hope it works, and if it doesn’t I think it’s time to call in my last resort, Marshall. Although, I’m not above stealing money and hopping a plane to L.A.—shouting his name for miles before I sell my body to build a super race with anybody.
I lean over and grab a spiral bound notebook and a pen. I’m going to write him a poem and when he comes back I’ll read it to him.
I labor for hours, scratching out words, rewriting, adding and subtracting until I come up with something that remotely expresses the way I feel.
I let the spirit of the sad, sad, rain move me.
Long powerful strokes of anguish cut through me when I think of you.
Harrowing hurt, a mile wide, springs from deep inside.
I never knew I could feel this way about anybody—ever.
I hope you know the place you hold in my heart is real.
Come back to me and I’ll show you.
I’ll lead you right into that special place where we can be alone.
I can’t wait to speak these words to him, to see the look on his face when I say them. I try to imagine me tripping all over my apologies when I find him. Of course, knowing Gage, he would want me to forget all about it because he’s just that nice.
Then a very strange thought pops in my mind from out of nowhere.
I think Ellis Harrison and his light driving pot run may have just saved Gage.
44
Man Down, Man Up
It’s a crystal clear night, and the game is droning on forever. It’s painstaking, like watching erosion happen in real time. The moon shines down over us like a high beam. It rained yesterday, but not one drop today, so the playing conditions seem perfect.
It’s hard to cheer, not knowing whether or not Gage is safe—or alive. It’s the last quarter of the game, and we’re up by ten. Logan says the team’s playing for Gage tonight. I hope it’s the last night they’ll ever do that.
Five minutes left in the game. It feels as though my muscles are going to fail. I can’t live off of three hours of sleep a night. The human body isn’t built for this kind of speed, and neither is a Celestra’s.
I pan the bleachers for signs of Ellis. I see him intermittently, but he keeps disappearing, and I can’t keep track of him.
“I think that’s Logan.” Brielle leans into me.
“What’s Logan?” I give a puzzled look into the stands.
She clasps me by the shoulders and physically spins me around.
“Weren’t you paying attention? The whistle went off, he’s down.”
Whistles are constantly going off during the games. I’ve completely trained myself to ignore them for the most part.
A small army of EMTs roll a stretcher out onto the field.
“What happened?” I don’t bother waiting for a response. I grab Brielle by the arm and make her run down the field with me.
The ice-cold wind cuts through my lungs, makes them feel like they’re bleeding from the inside.
“What’s going on?” I fall on my knees next to Logan as close as I can get.
The coach is talking to him, slapping him gently before he gets up to brief the medics.
“What happened?” I lean over his face. His breathing is labored. He’s dripping with sweat and can’t keep his eyes opened.
“Hit my head.” His eyelids twitch. “Back hurts, can’t breathe.”
“Can I do something?”
He gives a wry smile and shakes his head just enough.
I clasp onto his forearm and close my eyes like I’m praying. I’m going to find Gage tonight with Chloe.
My Uncle has a connection that can help us. Don’t do it. Don’t go messing with the Fems. They can change things. Please, there are still things you don’t know.
The coach barks at Brielle and me to take off. I get up and brush the grass off my knees.
Why exactly are there still things I don’t know? Who does Logan think he is keeping these things from me? Of course I’m going to get Gage. I put him there, and I’m going to get him out.
I wait until they wheel him down the field before running over to him with the other cheerleaders. I rub his bare shin while Michelle whispers something right in his ear.
Feel better, and I love you, I say.
He raises his thumb as they wheel him away.
***
“Ellis!” I shout after him.
The crowd swirls in every direction and I hold up my hand until he sees me.
“What’s going on?” He clasps my hand in an awkward handshake.
“How’s your stash?” I ask, jumping on my toes.
“Down to the dregs.” He gives a nasty smile.
r /> “Well let’s go. I’m up for an adventure. I’ve got enough adrenaline in me to knock a few more of Carly’s windows out.” I wrap my arm around his shoulder playfully.
“Cool. Let me go take care of something real quick, and I’ll be right back.” He jogs over to a group of girls howling with laughter.
“Where’s the party?” Marshall’s breath tickles my cheek.
“Don’t do that.” I jump back and pan the area for Michelle. If Marshall’s still here she can’t be far behind. “I don’t know where the party is. Ask your girlfriend.”
“Snippy.” He leans in. “I hope that’s jealousy. How is young Gage?” He twitches his nose with amusement.
“Very lost. Would you mind telling me how to bring him back?”
“Where is he?”
“Two years ago, L.A. And have I mentioned with Fems?” I’m so frustrated with him I want to push him clear across the field.
“Fems and Logan and Gage oh my.” He wiggles his fingers.
“I’m not laughing. Are you going to help?”
“Are you going to let me woo you?”
“No.”
“Then my answer’s the same.”
“I can’t believe you.” I shove him hard in the chest. The thread of a pleasurable current rustles up my arms and fills me momentarily with the urge to latch on. “You have the ability to save Gage and my dad, and you won’t do it!” I feel the heavy weight of tears building behind my lids. I’m so pissed I want to hit him over and over—beat him.
“I’ll have you arrested for assault if you do that again Miss Messenger.” He says in his most professional voice. “Should you change your mind, my services will be on standby this evening.”
Michelle appears by his side. The dark circles under her eyes are caked over with foundation making her look more than ten years older. She threads her arm inside his and scowls at me. They saunter off in the crowd like a bona fide couple.
Un-freaking-believable.
“Let’s do it,” Ellis says, catching up with me.
“I need to make a pit stop at Chloe’s first. You in?”
His eyes close with discontent.
“Here we go,” he mutters under his breath.
45
Blind
Chloe stops sweeping the floor with her dresses and lasers a storm of intense hostility in Ellis’ direction.
“Why him?” She growls.
“I thought it’d be fun. Besides, Logan hurt his back.” I don’t let on that he’s pretty sure he won’t get back to the right year and why. “So Ellis, explain to Chloe about your never ending stash trick.”
“Is that why you brought me here?”
“Yes. It might lead to my never-ending Gage trick. Just, help me,” I say exasperated. “I’d go alone if I could figure out how to land five minutes ahead of myself.”
“You can’t.” Chloe rakes a brush through her hair so violently that I hear some major breakage occur. I almost warn her she’s asking for split ends, but then a year in a coffin’s probably not too good for her glossy mane, either.
“We’re still going to the party, right?” Ellis asks.
I shoot him a vicious look of discontent. He knows what happens to Chloe at that party. How can he be so moronic to bring it up right in front of her? Are all Counts this stupid? The opposition’s suddenly not looking so bad.
“If you’re good, just you and I,” I whisper while Chloe snatches a pair of jeans off the floor and heads into the closet.
“Awesome. I’d do anything to keep this stash going. You know how much money I’m saving?”
Freaking frugal Ellis is what I’m going to call him from now on. I hate to break it to him, but I don’t really care about his financial situation, and plus it’d probably be really good for him if he got off the stuff anyway. He’s going to end up some loser Count and I’ll be partially responsible. Then a major light bulb goes off.
“I’ll do as many runs as you want in exchange for a favor.”
“You wanna upgrade to a sledge hammer?” His face smoothes out in anticipation.
“No, the hammer’s working out pretty good.” One of these days Carly is going to find out it was me, and Ellis is going to be behind it—most likely inadvertently. “Get me a list—something on paper of all the major Count players.”
He shakes his head gazing out the window.
“Or no stash?” He asks.
“No stash.”
***
The three of us arrive back in L.A. and my old room is still destroyed beyond recognition. I have no intention of hanging out with a plate of milk and cookies for my old self this time either. Who knew I was so kick-ass, even if it was me I was trying to kill?
“So let me get this straight, you’re using the same bag over and over?” Chloe looks doubtful.
“Yup.” Ellis seems curt with her.
“There’s no way. It’s got to be a treble.”
Chloe exudes confidence, so naturally I believe her.
“A treble…” I say. Like when I thought I had managed to escape from Ezrina only to end up back there again, treble? “That means we’re going to get sucked back into that situation?”
“Bingo.” She says without emotion, picking up my book of poems and making herself at home on the bed.
“So, how do we create a treble?” I’d do anything to get Gage.
“You can’t fix anything like this with a treble. It has to play out—the sooner the better.” Chloe picks up a pen off the nightstand and starts rearranging my poetry.
“So Ellis and his stash mean nothing?” I can’t believe this.
“Per usual,” she quips.
I want to take Ellis by the neck and bang his head into the wall. And why is Chloe so calm?
“Don’t just sit there, do something.” I feel like picking up a bra off the floor and flinging it at her.
“You have Ellis.” She glowers at him. “Besides, this whole time continuum thing is far too small a space to contain the two of us.”
The covers rumple, and she’s gone.
“Crap,” I hiss. “What did you do to piss her off so freaking bad?”
“Technically, I haven’t done anything yet.” He sits down at the computer and starts scrolling around.
“Ellis, there are Fems out there after Gage—eating Gage. Don’t you have a sense of urgency to get up and do something?”
“No.” He doesn’t bother looking up.
“What did Gage ever do to you?”
“With him out of the picture it ups my odds of hooking up with you.” He gives a lazy smile before pecking at the keyboard.
The room shakes. A loud bang comes from downstairs, and Ellis pops out of the seat.
“We gotta find Gage,” he says.
“Oh, now you wanna help.”
“No, actually I want him to protect me.”
The sound of shattering glass rattles the house.
“We need to go downstairs,” I say, pulling him towards the door.
“Anyone ever teach you to run away from danger?”
“Don’t be stupid, Ellis.” I open the door. “That’s where all the fun is.”
The room goes dark. The house starts in on a series of violent blows, and I lose a hold of him.
Loud thumping footsteps methodically climb the stairs.
The bedroom window explodes letting in the muted light from outside. A wild jolt picks up the house and drops it. Ellis tumbles backwards right out the new gaping hole.
“Ellis!” I try to move towards the window to see if he’s all right, but can’t.
I feel something secure itself to my right arm. It’s a long black tail connected to something coming from the hall.
Oh, fuck.
46
Repeat
I didn’t mean to leave Ellis. Once I saw that smooth as velvet fur on the leather whip of a tail, I began to black out and somehow ended back up in my bed safe on Paragon.
A slow drizzle forms lit
tle beads of rainbow pearls on the foggy glass of my bedroom window. I perch myself in the built-in seat beneath it and lay my hand on the cool of the glass.
Chloe went back enthused last night, only to meet her fate. Ellis wasn’t even that hot on going to save Gage, and I dragged him anyway, just like I dragged Gage, and now it’s all turned into a big pile of crap. I’ve got no choice but to figure this out on my own. I don’t think Logan will be too impressed when he finds out I went back and lost Ellis too. Technically I didn’t lose Ellis. Most likely he broke his back when he fell out the window and lay helpless as a wild herd of Fems plucked off his limbs.
I take in a ragged breath. What am I suppose to do? I feel stupid just sitting here. My gaze falls on the poem I wrote for Gage, the one I thought for sure I’d be reading to him by now. Maybe I should write Ellis a poem too? I could write one for each person whose life I smashed to pieces—poetry noir.
My phone buzzes. It’s a text from Brielle.
You hear about what happened last night?
Oh shit. I have no clue what she’s talking about and to tell the truth I’m too chicken to ask.
Is it Logan? ~S
Nope. Michelle jumped off Devils’ Peak.
I shake my head and mumble the word no over and over. I can’t handle this anymore. I need to put a stop to this madness. It’s like I’m spraying bad luck all over the place.
Is she dead? Of course she’s dead. Who survives a drop like that? It’s got to be hundreds of feet.
She’s in ICU.
I take in a deep breath. OK, she made it. All I have to do is give her some blood or something—I can fix this.
Who am I kidding? I can’t fix anything. In fact, I tend to make things worse.
I text Logan. How R U? ~S
Stiff, but OK. Where’s Ellis?
He knows. Someway, somehow he found out.
Home? ~S
Sheriff’s out searching. He left his truck at school. He’s not home. You know something.