Apparently I’d taken that trait into my next life, too. I wasn’t going to keep making the same mistakes.
He opened the box. Oberi took the key in his mouth, since he was the only one of us who could interact with this timeline.
“Thank you,” I said, and Kallie cast a time portal. It bloomed in front of us. Its power was so strong I stumbled back a few steps.
Oberi went to step through it first, but a loudthwacksounded through the alley. Oberi was blasted backward, and he gave a pained whimper as he smashed into the side of a building. Everyone gasped in unison, and I felt my insides twist in fear.
“Oberi!” I rushed to him and knelt down beside my Familiar.
Oberi shook his head as I cradled him in my arms.Well, that was quite the experience.
“What happened?” I demanded.
I tried to pass through the portal, but it won’t let me through with the key,Oberi said sourly.I don’t think the Divinity Keys are capable of traveling through time.Their magical ability overpowers the timeline, so they can’t be moved through it.
“What’s he saying?” Kallie asked. “My portal feels fine!”
“Oberi says the Divinity Keys can’t be taken through time,” I translated. “They must be too powerful.”
“So what are we going to do?” Kallie asked in frustration.
“What if we hide it somewhere else, so we can find it in the future?” Ava asked.
“That changes too much,” Kallie insisted. “We’ve already altered enough as it is. If we hide it somewhere else, who’s to say the Warden won’t find it before we make it back to our time? That could changeeverything.”
“There is no safer place than that bank vault,” Frank said. “If I had put the key into the vault in your timeline, then I’m gonna do it again. I can’t delay it any longer. I’ll place the key in the vault, as it should have been all along. It’ll be safe for you there until you figure out another plan.”
“There has to be another way,” I insisted.
“There isn’t,” Ava said. “This plan failed. There are too many variables we can’t account for. We have to follow through with how things should’ve been and come up with something else.”
It’s our only option, Oberi agreed, before giving Frank the key once again.
“Go,” Kalie pressed. “We’ve already wasted too much time.”
“Guess I’ll see ya in another life.” Frank took off at vampire speed and was gone.
“Are youcrazy?!” Danny yelled. “You can’t send him off! We wereso close.”
“Hardly,” Kallie said flatly. “You’re a fucking moron, you know that? You don’t know what you could’ve changed by telling him about us!”
“It doesn’t matter if I broke the rules, because I actually did something about— whoa!” Danny cut off as Kallie pushed him through the portal. He gave a scream as he tumbled into it and through time.
“Let’s get out of here,” Kallie said.
Before Ava went through, she said to me, “Should we have warned Frank? We know that he’s killed after he puts the key in the vault.”
I hesitated. “If we did that, Frank would’ve survived, and the Chancey from our timeline wouldn’t have been born, because Frank’s soul wouldn’t have incarnated into our angel friend. And my gut is telling me Irene was one of Ivy’s past lives.”
“I agree. They deserve to be together in our timeline,” Ava said. “It’s good we didn’t say anything, even if it means Chancey’s past life has to end.”
We followed Kallie through the portal, and my stomach churned until we were back in the training room.
Danny must’ve tripped coming through the portal, because he was on the floor. I marched straight up to him and grabbed him by the collar. I immediately siphoned his vampire strength without thought and yanked him upright, pinning him to the wall.
“Are you insane?” I roared. “You were supposed to follow my orders! Do you have any idea what you might’ve done?!”
“Things didn’t go according to plan,” Danny said in a casual tone. “You said anything to get the job done. I had to improvise.”
