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Osco climbed up onto the wagon. “Lyric, I’ve got room on the box for one more,” Osco called. He patted the seat next to his.

Lyric wrapped her arm around mine. “I’m staying with Rafi. She needs me.”

Osco’s shoulders dropped in disappointment. He yanked his hood up, steered the donkey around and snapped the reins. Seconds later, the old cart disappeared into the trees.

We took off in our usual formation: Austri in the front, Lyric and me in the middle, Madigan at the back, bow ready. Our newest addition lumbered along the side, keeping a watchful eye over all of us.

“I feel like a baby elephant surrounded by the protective elders,” I said.

“An elefun?” Lyric asked.

“Elephant. Biggest land animal. Revel could use one like a pet dog.”

We laughed, and Lyric snuggled closer and looked around. “I hate this place. Always gives me the creeps.”

“You could have ridden home on the wagon,” I teased. “Seemed like Osco was anxious for a passenger. Of course, he only asked you, so I guess he was only anxious for one specific passenger.”

“Stop.” Lyric tugged my hand gently. “It’s true, Osco and I were sort of a couple, but it has been a long time since we’ve seen each other. I know Osco, and there’s no way he was sitting around all these years waiting for my return. I’m sure he’s had plenty of girls since then. I just want to get home to my family, then I’ll think about dating again.”

Her words made my shoulders sink. Lyric was going home to a family, but I had no one waiting for me on the other side of the Wilds. Lyric noticed that my pace had been slowed by my heavy thoughts. “Everything all right?” she asked.

“Everything is fine.” I forced a smile. We left the trees with their thick, ungainly foliage and earthy fragrance. Austri led us to a dirt path that still had the fresh tracks and hoof prints from Osco’s wagon. The surrounding trees were dense, and they varied in shape and size. I could name most trees in my area and at Dante Fell, but I’d never seen any of the species surrounding us. Most were well over a hundred feet tall, and while some had tiny diamond-shaped leaves, others had massive flat leaves that glistened even in the waning light. Austri was moving faster now, no doubt still dreaming about his pint of ale.

We walked around a thicket of trees and into a small clearing. I stopped cold.

Lyric still held my hand. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been here before, Lyric. I know this place. I saw it recently in a glitch.”

Madigan caught up. “No dawdling, you two.”

Lyric scowled at Madigan. “Give Rafi a chance to take in some of this. It’s kind of a big deal, right?” She looked at me for confirmation.

“Kind of doesn’t really capture it. I’m freaking out, Madi. I’ve seen this place in a glitch. I think I was running. No, I wasn’t running. I was in a rucksack. I think I was an infant.”

Madigan whistled to stop Austri and Revel.

“Keep moving,” Austri yelled.

Madigan help up a hand to let him know we’d move soon.

“How can I remember this place if I was only an infant?” Something else occurred to me that made me lightheaded. “I think I was on my mom’s back, and the wolves, the beasts we saw today⁠—”

Revel came toward us. “We need to keep moving.”

I gazed his direction. His thin braids flowed back and got lost in his long thick hair. His hazel gaze caught mine again. “And I think Revel was there, only younger. He helped us get past the wolves,” I said quietly.

“He was there, and it wasn’t a glitch,” Madigan said. “You have the power to time travel in your mind. Like when you see five seconds into the future. You can go far back in time. Some people with your power can even see back before they were born, through the eyes of their direct blood ancestors.”

Revel reached us. The youth was gone, but the intense hazel eyes were the same. Just like today at the river, Revel had saved me from a nightmarish death back then. And mom, too.

“You did know my mom,” I said to him. I could see his throat move with a swallow. “The last time I saw you, you were right here in this clearing with your axe. You saved us from the wolves.”

Revel didn’t say a word. He motioned with his head for us to move forward. And we did. The Wilds was not a place to linger, that was for darn sure. I pulled my cloak tighter around me, lifted the hood up to protect my ears from the cold and fell deep in thought about all the new revelations. It was a lot to process, and I was doing it all with one lousy donut in my belly.

As we walked, I tried to remember more of the details of my last glitch. Madigan told me I’d been mind traveling, that somehow I could see events that happened in the past. I was always searching for a reasonable explanation for my glitches, but traveling mentally back in time was not on the list. Was it possible? Was that why I could occasionally see into the future? But if that was the case, why could I only see a pathetic five seconds ahead? The more I thought about all of it, the more I wished it was just a form of psychosis. I wasn’t the kind of person who could be trusted or gifted with a power. I was little Raphael Willow, lover of flowers, lizards and books. I wondered if it was a power I could give back? Why couldn’t I have the power to speak easily in front of large crowds or the power to dance on stage in a big performance? Those were powers I could get behind.

I was deep in thought when something familiar and wonderful invaded my sense of smell. I lifted my nose and breathed deeply. “Cinnamon rolls,” I blurted. It was silly to imagine that we were passing a bakery in the middle of a dense, unfriendly forest. “My mom used to make them Christmas morning,” I told Lyric. “I must be homesick. I can smell my mom’s cinnamon rolls.”