“How are we going to do that if approaching your past self creates a paradox?” I asked.
Kallie went silent for a moment, before she said, “I’ll leave a note for myself to find when I go search for my grimoire.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and stood beside her. “I hope this works.”
“It better, because this is our last chance,” she said.
We snuck back inside, trying to not be seen. Kallie led me into the fae cell block, and hurried over to her desk. She tore a piece of paper and scribbled something down, then shoved it under the mattress where she kept her grimoire.
“It’s done,” she announced.
Great,Oberi said.Can we go now?
Kallie snapped her fingers, and that familiar tilting of the earth rocked my body. This time, when I landed back in the present, my stomach clenched into impossible knots. I felt like I was going to hurl.
I got the sensation that I was walking. Every instance we traveledbackin time, we appeared in the same spot we left. When we returned to the present, we showed up wherethe present versionof us was, based on what they experienced in the new timeline.
My feet moved beneath me, but I didn’t know where I was going. My hands were curled around the back of Ava’s chair, but the blood on was gone. Sprigs shifted in my shirt pocket, and Rishi purred as he rubbed against my leg.
“Erasmus…” Marcus mused from beside me. “Gah! I wish I remembered more about him.”
I slowed until I came to a stop.
Ava reached over her shoulder to touch my hand. “Everything all right, Charlie?”
Her voice sounded strained. I remembered she’d been in pain earlier, but I was trying to place exactly where we were in the timeline. We’d sent Marcus to take her back to her room, so what was I doing pushing her down the hall?
“Everything’s fine,” I told her. “Kallie, what time is it?”
“Three-forty-nine,” she said in a detached voice.
Two minutes after we left the first time, but we’d spent two minutes in anewreality when Mad Dog had imprisoned the guards. I wasn’t quite clear what had happened in this latest timeline.
Thaddeus is dead,Oberi filled me in.You went to search for Dante’s grave and found it. You’re all headed back to your room together, since Kallie never pulled you aside and sent Marcus with Ava.
I don’t remember that yet,I told him.How do you recall so easily?
It’s simple for me. You experienced each reality in a linear progression. I experienced them all at once. I explained this earlier.
Forgive me for being a little confused,I replied.I’ve never lived a day multiple times, though I’m sure you’reso used to it.
Mock me all you want. I know a thing or two about this. You should have listened to me when I said you shouldn’t go back.
We put things back in order, so I don’t know what you’re worried about, I replied.
Regardless of the way things are now, time travel comes with consequences, especially for demigods, Oberi pressed.You and Kallie must both learn it’s not as simple as it seems.
We won’t do it again,I promised.
Oberi huffed, like he didn’t quite believe me, but he stayed close to my side and helped me navigate the halls.
Marcus groaned and staggered beside me. “I don’t feel too good. I’m going to head back to my room.”
I wasn’t feeling well, either. I wanted to puke.
Kallie said goodbye to Marcus, then followed Ava and me back to our dorm. I sensed she wanted to say something, but couldn’t in front of Ava.
We reached our room, and as I led Ava inside, I felt her barriers drop ever so slightly. What I saw on the other side was horrifying. Pain rippled up my back so intensely I nearly fell over, and my innards felt like they were being twisted from the inside out. My fingers tightened on the back of Ava’s chair as I steadied myself. When she’d said she was in pain, I didn’t realize it wasthisbad.
