“Not yet. As this is a pack matter, they’ll want to get approval from Alpha Erikson.”
Then my chances of keeping my memories look like absolute shit.
“I have to do something. Can I go back in time and stop this?”
Fergus shakes his head. “Imagine how different the world might be, for better or worse, if we had the ability to go back and change things. The witches have measures in place to prevent tampering with the past or future,and even if anyone found a way past those, manipulating timelines is a grave offense.”
“So what can I do?” My chest tightens, making it hard to breathe. I can’t lose Lyall, not again.
“Breathe, boy.” Fergus rubs my back. “If you truly are fated, then this is not where your story ends. You will find your way back to each other, but not if you give up.”
He’s right. I’ve got to stay strong and fight for us the way Lyall did. No matter how much time passed, he never gave up on me.
I’m not about to either.
Apparently, I’m under the equivalent of house arrest. I found out when I tried to leave, despite my granddad’s warning, and walked into a wall of muscle on the other side of the apartment door. The TTA enforcer had ordered me back inside. I’d obeyed and cursed him out before slamming the door on his ugly mug.
I’d had to call in sick to work and missed a whole day. When I can finally leave to go to the meeting, the enforcer drives me to a big office building across from Bryant Park. It doesn’t look like anything special. The lobby’s full ofnormal-looking people in business attire going about their lunch break.
The elevator takes us up to the very top floor, and that’s when things get weird as shit. We pass people dressed in all sorts of odd clothing lined up to get passports and IDs. There’s a guy dressed like a pirate. A knight in full plate armor. A woman who looks like she walked off the set of a Jane Austen movie. I feel like I just walked into a supernatural DMV.
The enforcer leads me to a quieter hallway full of cubicles and then to some private offices. He opens the door for me, revealing a small sitting room. As far as interrogation rooms go, at least it looks cozy.
“Have a seat. Ms. Cartwright will be with you shortly.”
I’ve only been seated five minutes when the door opens, and recognition slaps me in the face. It’s her! The woman Lyall and I encountered when we went ice skating. She smiles at me and it’s polite enough, but my shoulders still stiffen with apprehension. “Soren. How good to see you again. How are you feeling? My enforcers told me you had been bitten.”
“I’m fine. Ms. Cartwright, please don’t take my memories away again.”
She sits down opposite me. “Unfortunately, that decision is out of my hands.”
“Then can I talk to whoever makes that decision and tell them I don’t consent to having my memories ripped out?”
“How much do you know of your past?”
“All of it.”
“And how did you learn about it?”
I wet my dry lips. “Lyall took me back in time. We didn’t tamper with anything. He showed me my history, and I didn’t betray the Erikson pack, Ms. Cartwright. The pack thought Lyall had been in on the attack. I lied so he wouldn’t be punished.”
“Do you have proof to back up your claims?”
“Yes! Can someone, I don’t know, look at my memories? Is that a thing?”
Ms. Cartwright waves her hand dismissively. “We already reviewed your case. Your memories showed that you had betrayed Alpha Erik and his pack. There is nothing more to discuss.” “That’s not true!”
“It’s what we have on file—”
“Then whoever reviewed my memories did a piss-poor job because that is not what happened!” I unclench my fists and force in a slow breath to calm myself. “I want my case reopened and all the evidence reviewed properly.”
“That is out of my hands. You would have to schedule a meeting with my superior, Kirsten Harding. She’s the head of the Travelers Council.”
I exhale slowly. I’m getting somewhere. “Tell me how.”
Ms. Cartwright looks me right in the eye. “No. I don’t think I will.”
The hair on my neck stands up. “What? Why?”
