“Can we have pizza?”
“Ask your uncle. If he says yes, then we’ll have pizza.”
“Yeah!” The girl threw her arms in the air to celebrate, then she pushed herself off of the chair. Something told Maya that Uncle Cosmo was easily persuaded by the little girl, so it was a foregone conclusion what dinner would be. As soon as her feet hit the floor, Misty raced out of the room.
“Cosmo is here?” Maya looked up at Apollo.
“Yes, he is. And Naomi is spending a lot of time here. Can’t say that it’s too surprising.”
“So … they’ve already left the island?” Maya looked confused. Apollo nodded. “But I thought he wanted to find his mate.”
“Yes. And he did.”
Maya frowned, “Who?”
Apollo tilted his head to the side. “Naomi, apparently.”
Maya felt like her brain had stopped working. “Really?” Memories of him expressing an interest in her business partnerwere starting to come back, but it seemed surreal to see it actually happen.
Again, he nodded. “I haven’t had much time to talk to them. Between taking care of you and Misty, my hands are too full to discuss much.”
“Huh,” Maya sat still and looked at a picture on the wall. “Naomi found a mate. And it’s Cosmo. I’m not sure how to feel about that.”
“Me neither.” He smiled at her. “Now it’s time for you to get a bit of sleep. If you would like, I can—”
“Cullen!” Maya nearly shouted, her eyes getting wide. “I have to get to my shop!” She swung her legs over the bed, still feeling a bit wobbly.
“Whoa, whoa! Hold on, Maya, you need to rest.”
“I’m running out of time, Apollo. I have already taught him how to work with glass and clay. Isawwhat we made at the wedding.”
“What—you saw something you haven’t done yet?” He looked confused.
“I have to get back to make sure it happens. I will not create a time paradox like my grandmother did. She killed thousands with it!”
“I don’t understand, Maya.”
“I was intercepted on my way home and was forced onto the island. I need to make sure that I am at my shop to help Cullen make something for his brother’s wedding.” She rubbed her head. “I have to bend time twice to make things work. And time is running out.”
“You are in no state to go anywhere.”
“You are right. I can’t do it alone. I’ll bend time so that it is just after the wedding. You take me to my shop—I won’t run into myself that way. Then I can bend time again for Cullen, sowe don’t have to fold time around us twice. It feels suffocating enough just bending it once.”
“Wait, Maya, I think we need to—”
Maya wasn’t listening as she shimmied her body so that the dress she wore that night appeared on her. Next, she looked at Apollo, her mind cycling back to the first time she had seen him. Once she had his attire in mind, she redressed him to match her memory. Then she wrapped time around them, taking them back to the time right before she was accosted by the woman outside of the venue.
Standing in the same bedroom, nearly a week earlier, Maya felt a little off, but her body was much stronger. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Apollo looked a little pale as he said, “I’m not sure—”
“Right! You don’t know where to go.” Forming a memory in her hand, she reached up and pressed the directions into his mind. “There. Now, we need to—”
“Daddy!” Misty ran into the room. “I thought you left! Can we read?” She stopped and looked at Maya. “Who is that?”
Apollo looked at his daughter, not sure what to say as his mind tried to catch up with everything that had happened. Maya leaned over and said in a low voice, “If you want to bring her, my shop is safe.”
“I have no idea what is happening,” he said softly.
