“She’s already at risk, Olivia. You know that.” He pulled me close and began to rock me side to side.
“I do. But the risk of not telling Emily seems too great.”
“Do what you think is best,” he said, squeezing me tightly.
It felt great to be enveloped by his warmth. For a few too-short seconds, I savored the contact.
Then, Roman said, “I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to ask Grey Feather to bless our union. I’ll ask him tonight at the fire ceremony.”
“It’s all right. We don’t need to rush things,” I said with my cheek pressed against his chest. “I’m so happy to be engaged to you, sweetheart. But the ceremony will happen when it’s meant to happen. I need to talk to Emily, and we both have to figure out where the journal is and find out how to defeat Balthazar.”
“You’re right.” He kissed the top of my head and drew away from me. “And I need to see what Earth Bear has to show me. Until tonight, my beautiful flame.”
He brushed his lips against mine, pivoted, and strode toward Earth Bear’s teepee.
I pushed inside the teepee to find Emily on her back with her arm thrown over her eyes.
“Goodness, I’m exhausted,” she said without removing her arm. “Harvesting buffalo is hard work.”
“I know. Next, we must scrape, stretch, and tan the hides.” I dropped next to her on the fur-covered floor.
“Ugh,” she said. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to move for a week.”
I rolled to my stomach and propped myself on my forearms, gathering the courage to speak.
“Emily,” I finally said.
She whipped her arm from her eyes and turned to stare at me.
“What?” she said, alarm evident in her high-pitched voice.
“What’s the matter?” I said, wondering what alarmed her.
“That voice. That’s your ‘uh-oh’ voice.” She pushed up to prop herself on her hands.
“I have an ‘uh-oh’ voice?”
Emily nodded, her expression as severe as if we faced a firing squad.
I let out a nervous chuckle. “Well…I have something to share with you, and it will sound far-fetched. But please listen to me and let me get through the whole story. I’ll understand if you don’t believe it at first. When my father told me, I didn’t believe him. When Roman was told the tale, he didn’t believe it.”
Emily’s brows drew together. “So, Roman didn’t believe you when you told him what you’re about to tell me?”
“No, no, I didn’t tell that part right. Roman shares the same, um….” I looked toward the top of the teepee, searching for the right word. “He possesses a similar ability… It’s the same one as me.”
Emily sat up and clasped both my hands in hers. “Olivia, you’re scaring me. What are these so-called abilities?”
I exhaled and blurted, “I was born on November 3rd, 1994.”
“What?” she said breathlessly, her brow furrowed.
“What I said. I was born in a cave in Peru in the year 1994. I’m from the future. One and a half years ago, I time-traveled to ancient Rome, where I met Roman. Then, when Marcellious and Roman were about to kill one another in something called the Roman Colosseum, I time-traveled the three of us here.” I gripped her hands like my salvation depended on them.
“Wait, slow down,” she said, releasing my hands and putting her palms out. “You’re telling me that you, Roman, and Marcellious can travel through time?”
I nodded vigorously. “That’s right. I was born at the apex of a solar eclipse, and my abilities were bestowed upon me. The same thing happened to Roman and Marcellious. They’re twins. And now, there’s something called the darkness that is after me. This darkness kills the people I love.”
I leaned forward and pressed my hands to her knees. “I wouldn’t tell you any of this, but the chief told us this morning that there is terrible darkness, eviler than my own, that’s after us all. And I’m afraid if I didn’t tell you and it came after you, well….”
